Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Shen Yi explains that the Cangwu Hall Master sent the commander and other Authority Holders into danger to test the limits of Shen Yi’s Authority—and to judge whether he should fear him. Shen Yi says his display was meant for everyone, including someone concealed deep within the Hidden Light Hall.
• Byron leads Shen Yi and Xilos into the hall’s sealed inner depths, where she reveals that the sanctuary is nearing a split. The Cangwu Hall Master and his allies favor staying cautious and avoiding the black fog; Byron and Aoyue favor a different course, while another hall master remains opportunistic.
• Byron explains that the Cangwu Hall Master sealed the sanctuary not to protect it from outsiders, but to prevent challenges to the stagnant order he has maintained. Feng Qingyao’s claim that the black-fog entity could be destroyed—and Shen Yi’s arrival—threatened that order.
• If Shen Yi stays, the sanctuary may fracture; if he leaves, the Hall Master can preserve the appearance of unity. But Byron warns that the Seven Halls hold back the Dead Domain’s danger, and their collapse could let the black fog stir.
• A deep rumbling signals that someone is awakening at the sanctuary’s heart. A radiant woman appears: Enrosis, the Fifth Hall, whom even Byron has never seen in her true form. She fixes her silver eyes on Shen Yi, and a familiar voice begins to speak.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi recognizes the Hall Master’s strategy and sees how his presence has destabilized the sanctuary. He is amused by the suggestion that he should stay to resolve its internal disputes, but takes seriously Byron’s warning about the consequences of its collapse.
• Byron reveals her knowledge of the sanctuary’s political divisions and explains the stakes without pressuring Shen Yi to choose sides. Her composure breaks briefly when Enrosis arrives.
• Xilos realizes the purpose of Shen Yi’s earlier display and questions whom he intended to influence.
• Enrosis emerges from long concealment and immediately focuses on Shen Yi, setting up a significant encounter.

Significant themes

• Control versus change: The Cangwu Hall Master preserves order by suppressing disruption, even as that order may conceal a greater danger.
• Fear and political manipulation: Shen Yi’s power is tested and interpreted as a threat; the Hall Master’s actions are driven by fear of losing control.
• Collective responsibility: The Seven Halls’ unity serves as a barrier against the Dead Domain, so internal conflict could endanger the wider world.
• Hidden truths and awakening: The sanctuary’s deeper secrets—and Enrosis herself—are beginning to emerge.

Key plot points and events

• The system identifies Enrosis as a potential match for Shen Yi, noting her ancient Authority, deep guilt over failing to save her people, and strict demands for sincerity and loyalty.
• Enrosis senses the faith of many Elves on Shen Yi. She explains that Elves give their faith to those who save and sincerely protect them—not for power or profit.
• Shen Yi realizes the traces come from the Elves he rescued and created, including Xilos and those brought from the Bottom of the Rock Prison. Their trust has accumulated into a powerful bond without his noticing.
• Enrosis recognizes that Shen Yi has helped preserve and even create a new line of Elves. She offers him the last legacy of her destroyed people: a wisp of white light containing powerful laws.
• Shen Yi hesitates, asking what will become of Enrosis, but accepts the gift after she says he is better suited to carry it. Its energy awakens the Flame of Continued Combustion and floods him with warmth and vitality.

Character developments

• Shen Yi begins to understand the lasting significance of his actions: the Elves’ faith in him is not something he sought, but a result of the protection and care he gave them. He also shows caution and concern for Enrosis before accepting her offering.
• Enrosis shifts from solitary grief toward trust and hope. She entrusts her people’s final legacy to Shen Yi, believing he can succeed where she feels she failed.

Significant themes

• Faith earned through care: The Elves’ devotion arises from sincere protection, not authority or self-interest.
• Legacy and survival: Enrosis’s gift carries the final remnant of a vanished people, while Shen Yi’s actions have helped their race endure in a new form.
• Guilt, trust, and renewal: Enrosis’s sense of failure is met with the possibility that her people’s legacy can continue through someone she trusts.

Character interactions

• Enrosis reads the Elves’ accumulated faith on Shen Yi and explains what it means, helping him recognize the impact of his past choices.
• She offers him her people’s last legacy; Shen Yi questions the cost to her and accepts only after hearing her confidence in him.
• Byron and Aoyue observe quietly, sensing the depth of Enrosis’s attachment and the importance of the moment.

Key plot points and events

• Enrosis transfers a swelling mass of white light—her Authority—to Shen Yi. He is immobilized as it enters him and cannot defend himself.
• Xilos tries to pull Shen Yi away and questions Enrosis, but Enrosis insists the power is meant for him and has already been given.
• Byron and Aoyue realize Enrosis is not simply sharing her Authority: she has cut it out whole and is purifying it, removing every trace of her influence so it cannot shape Shen Yi.
• The process is consuming Enrosis. Her aura has weakened by more than thirty percent and continues to fade, yet she keeps standing to prevent the transfer from breaking.
• Byron warns Xilos that Shen Yi has already begun absorbing the power; interrupting now could waste Enrosis’s sacrifice and endanger her. Xilos lowers her hand and lets the process continue.

Character developments and interactions

• Enrosis demonstrates the depth of her resolve: she risks her life to give Shen Yi a clean Authority, seeing the act not as repayment but as a chance for the Elf race’s revival. She remains composed, offering little explanation despite her deteriorating condition.
• Xilos is protective of Shen Yi and alarmed by Enrosis’s sacrifice. Though she wants to intervene, she restrains herself after Byron explains the danger.
• Byron recognizes the mechanics and cost of Enrosis’s act, calmly explaining them to Aoyue and Xilos.
• Aoyue shifts from confusion to horror as she understands that Enrosis is destroying her own Authority’s imprint—and herself—in the process.
• Shen Yi remains silent and helpless throughout the transfer, while the others watch and debate whether it can be stopped.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice for hope: Enrosis spends her own life to create a possibility for the Elf race’s return.
• Giving without possession: She purifies the Authority so Shen Yi receives its power without inheriting her influence.
• Trust and restraint: Xilos’s concern conflicts with the need to trust Enrosis’s choice and allow the irreversible process to continue.

Plot points and events

• Enrosis gives Shen Yi a wisp of light, and he immediately falls into a sealed state of deep comprehension.
• Xilos fears the light may harm him and demands an explanation. Enrosis is visibly weakened, having lost at least a third of her presence.
• Byron and Aoyue realize the light is not an ordinary gift: Enrosis has torn away the core source essence of her Authority over life.
• Enrosis painstakingly purified that essence so Shen Yi could absorb it without inheriting her traits, allowing it to develop according to his own nature.
• The process has severely damaged the foundation of Enrosis’s Authority. But Shen Yi is already immersed in the essence, and interrupting him could be dangerous.

Character developments and interactions

• Xilos reveals how deeply she cares for Shen Yi, seeing him as a companion she would follow in life or death. Her fear and reverence for Enrosis clash as she learns the scale of the sacrifice.
• Enrosis acts from profound gratitude, guilt, and attachment to her people. Her sacrifice suggests not only repayment, but an act of entrustment—or a desperate wager on Shen Yi.
• Byron and Aoyue, usually composed, are shaken by the unprecedented cost and significance of Enrosis’s choice.
• Xilos confronts Enrosis, while Byron and Aoyue help interpret the gift’s true nature. No one can intervene once Shen Yi begins absorbing it.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and responsibility: Enrosis gives up part of her own foundation to offer Shen Yi a chance at greater power.
• Gratitude, guilt, and legacy: Her act is rooted in centuries of grief over her people and world, and in the hope that Shen Yi can carry forward what she could not.
• Identity and inheritance: Purifying the essence frees Shen Yi to shape the Authority according to his own nature rather than Enrosis’s.
• Risk and trust: The gift may transform Shen Yi, but its effects are uncertain, and those who care about him must wait helplessly.

Plot points and events

• After Enrosis gives Shen Yi a wisp of Authority radiance, his consciousness is pulled out of the Hidden Light Hall and into a strange, timeless state.
• He witnesses visions of the seven halls and the worlds beyond being consumed by black fog and chaotic laws. Their people—including Authority Holders—are destroyed.
• The visions give way to an endless void where Shen Yi has no body, senses, or ability to contact anyone. His Flame of Continued Combustion and Shadow Authority are also inaccessible.
• Shen Yi tries to stay calm and search for an escape or anomaly, but finds only absolute darkness and silence.
• The passage of centuries wears down his awareness: his thoughts grow sluggish, his sense of time and self erode, and his consciousness begins to fade. By the end, he is still lucid, but only barely.

Character development

• Shen Yi’s resolve is tested by extreme isolation and powerlessness. He avoids panic and persists in observing and thinking, but prolonged emptiness gradually undermines his identity and will.
• Xilos, Byron, and Aoyue remain outside the experience, watching Shen Yi with concern and guarded hope as his aura changes.

Significant themes

• Isolation and endurance: Shen Yi faces not ordinary loneliness but separation from existence itself.
• The fragility of identity: Without memory, sensation, or power to anchor him, even his belief in his own past begins to waver.
• Cosmic destruction and meaninglessness: The visions of worlds erased by black fog foreshadow an overwhelming catastrophe, while the void makes existence seem insignificant.
• Time’s corrosive force: Centuries of unchanging nothingness gradually weaken Shen Yi despite his resilience.

Character interactions

• Xilos, Byron, and Aoyue share a silent, anxious vigil, their hope focused on Shen Yi.
• Enrosis’s gift is the catalyst for Shen Yi’s ordeal, though Enrosis is not present in the void and Shen Yi cannot reach anyone from there.

Plot points and events

• Nearly dissolved in the void Beyond the World, Shen Yi briefly sees an emerald leaf appear and vanish. Its presence suggests a reality deeper than Authority or rules: a foundation that makes existence possible.
• He tries to examine it using his Flame of Continued Combustion and Shadow Authority, but neither power works in the void. Doubting his perception, he nearly gives up.
• After almost five hundred more years, as his consciousness fades to its last remnant, a tiny flower appears: three green leaves and three iridescent petals.
• Shen Yi reaches toward it with a thought. A gentle warmth answers, gathering his scattered existence and transforming him into a stronger, more stable body—one composed of something beyond ordinary flesh or energy.
• His senses return at extraordinary intensity. He can perceive matter moving through the leaves and intricate Rule Veins across the petals, including strands of life-rules spreading around the flower.

Character development

• Shen Yi moves from despair and near surrender to renewed curiosity when he senses a deeper principle of existence.
• His transformation marks a fundamental change in his nature: he is no longer merely a being who wields familiar powers, but one whose existence has been reshaped at a more basic level.

Significant themes

• Existence beneath power: Authority and rules depend on a deeper foundation, and may fail when separated from it.
• Life in nothingness: The leaf and flower represent vitality emerging and enduring in a void hostile to existence.
• Transformation through connection: Shen Yi is restored not by force or a conventional blessing, but through contact with something more fundamental.
• Perception and discovery: Even at the edge of dissolution, curiosity draws Shen Yi toward an unknown reality.

Character interactions

• Shen Yi’s only direct interaction is with the tiny flower: his faint thought reaches toward it, and its warmth responds by rebuilding him.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yi undergoes repeated cycles of destruction and rebirth as the Primordial Beginning Authority transforms and strengthens his body and Rule Veins.
• The authority harmonizes the Flame of Continued Combustion and Shadow Authority, which had once been distinct forces. A gentle black-and-white radiance now nourishes and repairs him, healing damage from past battles and easing lingering spiritual burdens.
• Shen Yi tests the new power. Touching the void with its tranquil white light sends his thoughts racing backward through his recent experiences in the Hidden Light Hall, revealing details he previously missed.
• His presence becomes profoundly changed: his power draws inward and blends with the surrounding rules, making him seem less like an outsider and more like a natural part of the Hall.
• Enrosis confirms her judgment that Shen Yi is better suited to the power than she is. Byron and Aoyue realize that his change is fundamental, not merely an increase in strength.
• Shen Yi understands that Primordial Beginning did not replace or absorb his other powers. Instead, it gave them a shared foundation, allowing them to coexist and develop in harmony.

Character developments

• Shen Yi reaches a new level of integration and control. His powers become more balanced, his perception sharper, and his presence quieter and harder to discern.
• Enrosis shows relief and confidence in Shen Yi’s suitability for the Primordial Beginning Authority.
• Byron and Aoyue move from sensing Shen Yi as a dangerous outsider to recognizing the deeper significance of his transformation.

Significant themes

• Harmony through integration: Different powers can retain their nature while gaining a common foundation.
• Transformation beyond raw strength: Shen Yi’s greatest change is in how he exists in relation to the rules, not simply how much power he possesses.
• Creation, renewal, and restoration: Primordial Beginning strengthens him through repeated rebirth and repairs both physical and spiritual damage.
• Perception and insight: The authority lets Shen Yi revisit experience with extraordinary clarity, exposing truths hidden in earlier moments.

Character interactions

• Enrosis interprets Shen Yi’s transformation and tells him he is more suited to Primordial Beginning than she is.
• Byron and Aoyue observe the change and respond with growing astonishment, recognizing that Shen Yi’s power has become both more profound and less outwardly detectable.
• Enrosis then explains how supreme Authorities differ, beginning to place Primordial Beginning in the broader context of such powers.

Key plot points and events

• Byron demands to know what Enrosis gave Shen Yi after sensing a profound but unfamiliar change in him.
• Enrosis explains that Primordial Authority existed at the beginning of creation, before Authorities had fixed forms. As a bearer understands it and follows a path suited to their soul, it develops into a unique power.
• She reveals that Feng Qingyao’s legendary strength was partly rooted in a small fragment of Primordial Authority she absorbed early in life.
• Enrosis gave Shen Yi the last complete wisp of Primordial Authority remaining in Beyond the World.
• Within Shen Yi, the new power begins to connect forces that had previously remained separate. It also stirs the accumulated Power of Faith he had largely ignored.
• Shen Yi’s system announces that his origin is being reconstructed and his abilities reassessed. His panel identifies his new Existence-Rank Ability as Primordial Beginning, which can strengthen his abilities and unite them under one origin.
• Many of Shen Yi’s abilities reach the display limit of level 999, while some gain new effects. His Primordial Authority integration is at 11%, and his Existence-Rank Foundation is 10. The chapter ends as the calm outside the hall is interrupted.

Character developments

• Shen Yi receives a foundational power that may reshape his entire existence. He recognizes that the displayed numbers cannot capture Primordial Authority’s full potential and understands that he can absorb only a limited amount for now.
• Enrosis reveals knowledge she has kept hidden and appears relieved and resolute, as if transferring the final wisp lifts a long-held burden.
• Byron and Aoyue are visibly shaken by Enrosis’s explanation, especially by the revelation about Feng Qingyao and the last complete wisp.

Significant themes

• Origins and transformation: Primordial Authority precedes all established powers and takes form according to its bearer.
• Unity and potential: Shen Yi’s separate abilities may now be brought together under a single origin.
• Hidden foundations of greatness: Feng Qingyao’s famed power had an obscure primordial source.
• Power beyond measurement: The system’s level limits and progress figures offer only a partial measure of what Shen Yi has gained.

Character interactions

• Byron directly challenges Enrosis, while Aoyue listens closely; both react with astonishment to Enrosis’s revelations.
• Enrosis explains the nature and history of Primordial Authority, then turns her attention to Shen Yi and confirms what she gave him.
• Shen Yi quietly examines his new power and system status, reflecting on the faith accumulated from those who have followed him.

Key plot points and events

• The Cangwu Hall Master arrives at the Hidden Light Hall with another allied hall master and a crowd of followers. He tells Shen Yi that his decision is final, despite Shen Yi and Feng Qingyao’s efforts to change it.
• The Cangwu Hall Master and his ally reveal the Kunwu Branch, an ancient artifact from the deepest reaches of the Death Abyss. Unlike the corrupting Black Fog around it, the branch remains perfectly unchanged—and its presence causes the Holy Land’s rules to tremble.
• Shen Yi refuses the Cangwu Hall Master’s offer to turn back. The brown-robed hall master attacks, and the Cangwu Hall Master supports him by suppressing the surrounding rules.
• Shen Yi fights both at once, wielding white-hot fire threaded with a nearly transparent power that drains warmth and renders Authority powerless. He withstands gravity-based attacks and breaks a net of gravity chains with a single thread of flame.
• Their battle tears through the Holy Land, destroying barriers, star wreckage, and layers of rules. By the chapter’s end, roughly a tenth of the Holy Land has collapsed, and the clash is still underway.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi remains composed and resolute, declining to retreat and demonstrating that his unusual fire can counter even powerful Authorities.
• The Cangwu Hall Master is determined to press ahead. Though he does not directly join the fight, he actively aids his ally by manipulating the rules.
• The brown-robed hall master attacks Shen Yi with the Authority of gravity, but repeatedly fails to overcome the fire surrounding him.
• Enrosis silently sides with Shen Yi; the Cangwu Hall Master recognizes his refusal to remain neutral. Aoyue cautions Shen Yi, while Xilos stands ready beside him.
• The Cangwu Hall Master acknowledges Shen Yi and Feng Qingyao’s political success in winning Byron over, but insists it will not change his course.

Significant themes

• Resolve against pressure: Shen Yi refuses to yield even when outnumbered and threatened by an ancient artifact.
• Power and its limits: The two hall masters’ coordinated Authorities devastate the Holy Land, yet Shen Yi’s fire neutralizes their attacks.
• Escalation and collateral damage: A conflict between powerful individuals endangers the entire Holy Land, turning the setting itself into a casualty.

Plot and key events

• Shen Yi continues fighting two hall masters while a huge crowd gathers to watch. The spectators realize that the Sacred Land’s leaders have been unable to defeat a junior, threatening the institution’s reputation.
• Pressured to end the fight, the Cangwu Hall Master uses the Kunwu Branch, a last-resort treasure from the Death Abyss. Each sweep consumes the Sacred Land’s own rules: the first two destroy roughly a fifth of the land, and a third, heavier strike further compresses Shen Yi’s fiery defense.
• Shen Yi is forced back a few steps, but remains standing. The hall master offers to end matters if Shen Yi retreats; Shen Yi refuses.
• A message from Winnie reaches Shen Yi: Authority Holders have attacked his allies elsewhere, though they are safe. Shen Yi realizes the conflict is broader than his duel. His flames intensify, and his next blow scatters some of the rules gathered around the Kunwu Branch.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi remains defiant under overwhelming pressure. The attack on his allies changes the emotional tenor of the fight: his response grows colder and more forceful.
• The Cangwu Hall Master reveals how far he is willing to go to preserve Cangwu Hall’s standing, sacrificing the Sacred Land itself to overpower Shen Yi.
• The other hall master urges the Cangwu Hall Master to stop holding back, concerned that a prolonged fight will ruin the Sacred Land’s reputation.
• Aoyue is alarmed by the use of the Kunwu Branch and asks whether she and the others should intervene. Enrosis says there is no need, while Byron watches without revealing her thoughts.

Significant themes

• Power at a cost: The Kunwu Branch is devastating precisely because its use consumes the Sacred Land’s foundations.
• Pride and reputation: The hall masters escalate not just to win, but to avoid public humiliation.
• Loyalty and widening conflict: News that Shen Yi’s allies have been attacked turns the battle into part of a larger confrontation.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yi withstands repeated attacks from the dark-brown-robed Hall Master. His Flame of Continued Combustion dissolves the Hall Master’s green rule-power attacks, though the Cangwu Hall Master’s use of the Kunwu Branch keeps Shen Yi under pressure.
• Their battle badly damages the Holy Land, exposing broken Rule Veins and sending debris into space. Xilos joins Shen Yi, while Aoyue challenges the Cangwu Hall Master over risking their home.
• Shen Yi realizes the Kunwu Branch draws power from the Holy Land itself. The weapon suddenly rejects the Cangwu Hall Master and flies away into the ruins.
• Byron questions the Cangwu Hall Master’s judgment, noting that two other Hall Masters no longer support him. Two new Hall Masters arrive, announce that permission to use the branch has been revoked, and invite Shen Yi to talk.
• Enrosis secretly urges Shen Yi not to refuse. Shen Yi agrees, ending with the question, “Talk about what?”

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi remains composed and confident despite being struck and surrounded; he observes how the Kunwu Branch works and ultimately accepts the invitation to negotiate.
• The Cangwu Hall Master grows increasingly desperate, exhausting his rule power and relying on the Kunwu Branch. Its rejection leaves him shaken and isolated.
• Xilos checks on Shen Yi, showing concern after the battle.
• Aoyue confronts the Cangwu Hall Master about endangering the Holy Land.
• Byron openly challenges the Hall Master’s authority and choices, while Enrosis quietly influences Shen Yi’s decision.
• The two arriving Hall Masters present a more measured approach, proposing discussion instead of further combat.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: The Kunwu Branch’s strength depends on the Holy Land, so wielding it threatens the very place it is meant to protect.
• Authority and dissent: The Hall Masters are independent, and the Cangwu Hall Master’s actions have cost him support.
• Composure amid conflict: Shen Yi’s restraint contrasts with his opponent’s escalating desperation, shifting the confrontation toward negotiation.

Key plot points and events

• After Shen Yi agrees to demonstrate the Flame of Continued Combustion, the seven Holy Land Hall Masters clear the area around the battlefield.
• Shen Yi asks whether there is a teleportation gate to the Death Abyss. The Hall Masters reveal that an old gate leads to the outskirts of the Dead Domain, but it has been unused for years because scouts sent there stopped returning.
• The Hall Masters warn that the current Black Fog eruption is far worse than past outbreaks and that few who enter the Dead Domain survive. The gate must first be cleared of lingering Black Fog, a process expected to take thirty minutes to an hour.
• Shen Yi says he will leave immediately. Enrosis privately warns him of the danger and asks how confident he is. Shen Yi answers, “Completely,” believing the Black Fog feels familiar and may be under his control.
• The two Hall Masters lead Shen Yi and Xilos deeper into the Holy Land toward the gate, through increasingly dark, ruined surroundings.

Character developments

• Shen Yi is decisive and willing to enter a deadly place without delay. His unusual sense of familiarity with the Black Fog—and possible ability to control it—drives his choice.
• Enrosis remains cautious but does not try to stop Shen Yi. His confidence in Shen Yi is mixed with visible concern.
• Xilos silently stays close behind Shen Yi, watchful and loyal.
• The Hall Masters reveal their fear and reluctance regarding the Dead Domain, though two still help Shen Yi reach the gate.

Significant themes

• Courage and risk: Shen Yi chooses to face a danger others avoid.
• The unknown and forbidden: The Dead Domain has become so deadly that its gate has effectively been erased from public discussion.
• Trust and uncertainty: Enrosis and the Hall Masters warn Shen Yi, but ultimately allow him to decide for himself.
• A possible connection to danger: Shen Yi’s sense that the Black Fog is familiar hints at a deeper relationship between him and the threat.

Character interactions

• Shen Yi questions the Hall Masters directly, pushing past their hesitation about the gate.
• Aoyue explains the gate’s history and the disappearance of its scouts, while the other Hall Masters silently confirm her account.
• Enrosis privately challenges Shen Yi’s confidence, then accepts his answer.
• The two Hall Masters guide Shen Yi and Xilos toward the gate, while Xilos remains close and alert.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yi, Xilos, and two Hall Masters reach a ruined teleportation gate leading to the Dead Domain. The Black Fog has consumed much of the site, and the gate’s seals are broken.
• The Hall Masters explain that nobody who entered through the gate returned. Once Shen Yi crosses, he cannot teleport back until he stabilizes the area on the other side.
• Despite the danger—and the Cangwu Hall Master’s open skepticism—Shen Yi orders the gate activated and steps through.
• Shen Yi senses that the Black Fog may be connected to him in an unexpected way: rather than fearing him, it may be meant to obey him. He believes some dangers cannot be put off until he is fully prepared.
• He signals Xilos to remain behind with Enrosis. After he disappears, the Cangwu Hall Master predicts he will soon die, but Enrosis silences him. The Black Fog around the gate begins to churn.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi remains composed and determined, accepting the risk because he believes the mission cannot wait. He keeps his uncertain insight about the Black Fog to himself.
• Xilos is deeply worried and wants to follow, but obeys Shen Yi’s instruction to stay. His resolve leaves her with little room to argue; afterward, she reacts angrily to the Cangwu Hall Master’s mockery.
• The Cangwu Hall Master warns Shen Yi about the danger, then treats his decision with contempt and predicts failure.
• Byron and Aoyue offer practical warnings and show concern, though they recognize they cannot change Shen Yi’s mind.
• Enrosis checks the Cangwu Hall Master with a curt command, defending the moment’s gravity without elaboration.

Significant themes

• Risk versus preparation: Shen Yi accepts that waiting for perfect readiness may mean losing his chance to act.
• Resolve and responsibility: He proceeds despite the possibility of being stranded, while protecting Xilos by leaving her behind.
• Uncertainty and hidden connection: Shen Yi’s sense that the Black Fog may obey him hints at a deeper relationship between them.
• Skepticism versus trust: The Hall Master expects Shen Yi to fail, while those close to him express concern rather than ridicule.

Key plot points and events

• In the Holy Land, the Hall Masters argue over Shen Yi’s disappearance into the Dead Domain. The Cangwu Hall Master regrets that the others withdrew access to the Kunwu Branch, believing he could have subdued Shen Yi. The others counter that using the Branch was already destabilizing the Holy Land and could have caused further destruction.
• Enrosis observes that the Kunwu Branch is unlikely to harm Shen Yi much now. The Cangwu Hall Master leaves, hoping Shen Yi survives.
• Inside the Dead Domain, Shen Yi finds a gray, lifeless landscape covered by an increasingly dense Black Fog. The rules still exist, but they are too weakened to respond to his power; an ordinary Authority Holder would likely be overwhelmed.
• Shen Yi spots a vast dike separating the relatively calm fog nearby from the violently surging Black Fog beyond. He recognizes the region past the dike from a fragment of memory he saw through Feng Qingyao—and recalls that the sword came from there.
• Rather than cross the dangerous barrier immediately, Shen Yi stabilizes the fragile portal so he can return. He then turns to investigate a strange impression he experienced while absorbing the Primordial Beginning Authority: that he might be able to command the Black Fog.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi acts cautiously and methodically: he assesses the danger, avoids rushing beyond the dike, and secures his return route before pursuing his purpose.
• The Cangwu Hall Master remains proud and dismissive, blaming the others for preventing him from fighting Shen Yi, while the other Hall Masters prioritize protecting the already endangered Holy Land.
• Enrosis offers a more measured assessment, recognizing that the Kunwu Branch has little power over Shen Yi.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: The Kunwu Branch can draw on immense rules, but using it threatens the stability of the Holy Land.
• A hostile, decaying world: In the Dead Domain, the rules themselves are present but nearly inert, making the environment dangerous even for powerful beings.
• Caution versus ambition: Shen Yi’s restraint contrasts with the temptation to explore the unknown beyond the dike.
• Hidden connection and potential: Shen Yi’s possible ability to command the Black Fog hints at a deeper link between him, the Primordial Beginning Authority, and the Dead Domain.

Plot points and events

• Shen Yi enters the Dead Domain to test whether he can influence its black fog. He repeatedly reaches toward it, using primordial Authority to suppress its instinct to attack him.
• The effort badly strains him: he coughs up blood, his aura becomes unstable, and the rules around him are damaged. At last, he beckons rather than trying to pull the fog toward him. Several nearby masses respond and gather closer.
• Shen Yi realizes this may someday let him shape where the black fog gathers, perhaps making places safe or dangerous. He recognizes that this is only a distant possibility: he cannot truly command the fog, and crossing the embankment into its deeper layers would be too dangerous.
• He returns through the portal to the Holy Land, where Xilos, Enrosis, and Aoyue have been waiting. Xilos reports that Byron has gone to help Winnie and the others, whose situation is chaotic, and that others are eyeing their former territory.
• Enrosis has prepared a portal to send Shen Yi onward, but says she must remain in the Holy Land. Shen Yi insists he can handle the situation alone.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi shows persistence and ambition, enduring serious physical and spiritual strain to explore the fog’s limits. He also tempers his bold vision with a clear-eyed understanding of his present weakness. Though others are concerned, he chooses to proceed without help.
• Xilos is visibly relieved when Shen Yi returns, but quickly shifts to urgent concern as she updates him about the crisis around Winnie’s group and their territory.
• Enrosis quietly anticipates Shen Yi’s needs by preparing a portal before Xilos finishes speaking. She cannot accompany him because she must guard the Holy Land.
• Aoyue waits with the others but has no speaking role in this scene.

Significant themes

• Power through patience and persistence: Shen Yi’s breakthrough comes only after repeated failures and careful adjustment.
• The cost and limits of power: His contact with primordial Authority exacts a heavy toll, and a small response from the fog is not mastery.
• Ambition balanced by restraint: Shen Yi imagines controlling the boundary between safety and danger, but knows he is not yet capable of doing so.
• Self-reliance and responsibility: Despite the support around him, Shen Yi chooses to face the next crisis alone.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Yi, Xilos, and Enrosis emerge through a portal into the remains of Shen Yi’s small world. It has been shattered into countless floating fragments, and the people who were there before—including Winnie and Wen Ke’er—have disappeared without a trace.
• The wreckage has become a battlefield for unfamiliar Authority Holders from many different origins. Shen Yi surveys them with his Shadow Domain rather than intervening at once.
• On the way to a concealed cache, Shen Yi discovers that its deepest, best-hidden spatial node has been removed with precision. He also senses the lingering mark of a Restriction combining fire, earth, and lightning, which Xilos identifies as Hall Master Byron’s power. Shen Yi wonders whether Byron came specifically to dismantle his contingency.
• A group of intruders mistake Shen Yi’s unassuming aura for weakness and approach, hoping to claim a share of the spoils. Shen Yi reveals that the ruined world is his territory and traps them in his Shadow Domain.
• He uses his flame of continued combustion to drain heat from the area, leaving the attackers’ rules intact but rendering their powers ineffective. He releases a few weaker intruders so they can spread word of his strength.
• Other Authority Holders stop fighting among themselves and begin converging on Shen Yi, choosing to unite rather than attack him separately.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Yi remains controlled and confident despite finding his world destroyed and his allies missing. His concern for Winnie and the others is brief but clear; he quickly turns to assessing the intruders and defending his territory. His calculated decision to let witnesses escape shows that he uses fear and information strategically.
• Xilos watches for signs of the missing group, shares Shen Yi’s concern, and recognizes Byron’s distinctive aura. She remains alert but lets Shen Yi handle the confrontation.
• Enrosis stays quiet and observes the fighting from a distance, her already faint aura seeming weaker still.
• The intruders initially treat Shen Yi as an easy target, but his sudden display of power changes their assessment and prompts their forces to gather against him.

Significant themes

• Power hidden behind appearances: Shen Yi’s inconspicuous aura invites greed, but his actual control of the domain overwhelms the attackers.
• Territory and ownership: The intruders see the ruined world as spoils to divide; Shen Yi reasserts that it belongs to him.
• Order collapsing into chaos: A carefully constructed world has become a battlefield where disparate factions fight and form temporary alliances.
• Strategic intimidation: Shen Yi deliberately spares witnesses, turning his demonstration into a warning meant to travel beyond the immediate encounter.

Plot points and events

• A group of Authority Holders ambushes Shen Yi and his companions, with their leader demanding that Shen Yi surrender the women.
• The attackers target Xilos and Enrosis instead of confronting Shen Yi directly. Xilos burns away a black-and-green mist attack, while Enrosis disperses another strike with her aura, though it leaves her weakened.
• Shen Yi counters the ambush: he crushes the silver-gray woman’s hand, withstands the burly man’s attempt to sink the ruins, and briefly stops time. He then drains the effects from the rules across a long stretch of ruins, forcing most attackers to flee.
• He captures the silver-gray woman and the short attacker to question them. They reveal that a rumor had drawn nearly two hundred people to the supposedly ownerless Shattered Universe, with an unknown patron supplying directions and coordinates. A hidden mechanism kills the short attacker before he can reveal more.
• Shen Yi reaches a protected fragment and finds Winnie. She tells him that Wen Ke’er left with Hall Master Byron. Shen Yi takes Winnie into his domain and surveys the devastation left by the intruders.

Character developments

• Shen Yi shows greater control and strategic restraint: he protects his companions, decisively defeats the ambush, captures witnesses rather than killing everyone, and stops questioning the prisoners once it becomes clear they have been silenced.
• Xilos demonstrates improved command of her White-Hot Flame and responds effectively when the group is attacked.
• Enrosis reveals formidable defensive power, but using it visibly costs her strength.
• Winnie is reunited with Shen Yi, while Wen Ke’er’s departure with Byron raises an unanswered question.

Character interactions

• The burly attacker attempts to bargain with Shen Yi and then targets the women; Shen Yi’s dry reply underscores his contempt.
• Xilos and Enrosis hold back initially while Shen Yi stands between them and the attackers, then fight when threatened.
• Shen Yi signals Xilos to protect the weakened Enrosis.
• The captured woman provides information under questioning, but the short attacker is killed by a concealed force before he can speak freely.
• Winnie cautiously confirms Shen Yi’s identity before telling him where Wen Ke’er went.

Significant themes

• Power and protection: The attackers exploit perceived weakness, while Shen Yi’s presence allows his companions to resist and survive.
• Control versus chaos: Shen Yi’s mastery over time, rules, and his domain overwhelms the attackers’ attempts to manipulate those same forces.
• Hidden manipulation: The rumor and the lethal failsafe suggest that a larger, unseen party orchestrated the gathering.
• Consequences of conflict: Shen Yi wins, but his arrival leaves the universe fragment devastated and drives even neutral observers to flee.

Alvin learned that Shen Yi had returned after defeating most of the forces in a Shattered Universe, while Byron confirmed that Shen Yi had seen Wen Ke’er’s friends. Shen Yi remained amid the ruins and challenged a group of powerful Authority Holders who arrived, leaving them stunned but unwilling to retreat.

• Alvin watched Wen Ke’er help Lilith recover and considered the growing danger around Shen Yi.
• Byron arrived and told Wen Ke’er that Shen Yi had resolved most of the trouble in the Shattered Universe and seen Winnie, Fei Mi, and the others.
• Shen Yi killed the Authority Holders who had stayed in the Shattered Universe, while Enrosis, Xilos, and Aoyue’s projection watched.
• Several powerful Authority Holders arrived through a spatial rift and saw the scorched ground and the dead.
• Shen Yi asked the newcomers whether they would come meet their deaths or make him kill them himself, and they reacted with shock but did not retreat.

Shen Yi’s companions faced Authority Holders who had come to exploit his shattered Microscopic Universe, and Xilos unleashed her full power to destroy them. Shen Yi ordered her to keep the few survivors alive as he prepared to face them himself.

• The Authority Holders mocked Shen Yi and his companions after arriving to seize territory in the shattered Microscopic Universe.
• Xilos asked Shen Yi to leave the attackers to her, and he agreed.
• Xilos unleashed the flame of continued combustion, killing more than twenty Authority Holders and burning away over half of those watching from the outskirts.
• Several powerful Authority Holders struggled to extinguish Xilos’s fire, which clung to them and continued burning.
• Xilos asked whether Shen Yi wanted her to keep the remaining attackers alive, and he told her to do so.
• Aoyue asked whether Shen Yi had spared others earlier for this purpose, and Shen Yi denied it as the white radiance in the Cosmic Void grew brighter.

Shen Yi and Xilos destroyed the Authority Holders who had attacked them, then Shen Yi questioned the survivors about who had hired them. He used a harmless flame of continued combustion to burn away a Restriction inside one Authority Holder, leaving the source of the attack still unknown.

• Xilos burned the Authority Holders in the Cosmic Void, leaving only four who had approached Shen Yi and his companions.
• Shen Yi demanded to know what the attackers had been offered and who had sent them, but a violet-red beam killed one Authority Holder before he could answer.
• The remaining four stripped away their defenses and begged Shen Yi for mercy, while Aoyue confirmed that such Raiders were common Beyond the World.
• One Authority Holder offered Shen Yi Authority Fragments and crystals, but Shen Yi told him to swallow a small flame of continued combustion.
• The Authority Holder swallowed the flame, which spread through his body without harming him, and Shen Yi used it to burn away his Restriction.