Chapter Summaries

Fang Wen regained a body through Rebirth and immediately began replacing much of it with machinery while studying Lu PingAn’s ship. Lu PingAn had her sign a contract and assigned her to upgrade the ship in exchange for Enlightenment Lake Water.

• Fang Wen examined Lu PingAn’s ship and asked for Enlightenment Lake Water to use in her mechanical-life research, but Lu PingAn refused until she could show results.
• Lu PingAn recalled how Fang Wen had used Life Coins to gain Rebirth after losing her body, then modified her new half-human, half-beast body with mechanical limbs and an auxiliary biological brain.
• Big Cat warned Lu PingAn that Fang Wen was nearing Rule-level and might develop a powerful Rule through her research, so Lu PingAn had her sign a contract.
• Lu PingAn learned that Fang Wen’s new innate ability was Metal Control and assigned her to improve the ship’s weapons and mobility systems.
• Fang Wen agreed to take on Lu PingAn’s increasingly extravagant ship upgrades after he promised her plenty of Enlightenment Lake Water.

Lu PingAn carried a group of refugees across the sea on his crewless ship and learned that Lu Lu had helped spread the teachings called Teacher Says. When they reached the refugees’ home, he found it burning under attack by Eight-Clawed’s servants and promised to reclaim it.

• Lu PingAn let the refugees stay aboard his ship while he kept the Courtyard’s existence secret and listened to their account of fleeing a sea beast.
• Lu PingAn learned that Lu Lu and his apprentices had written Teacher Says using his teachings and others’ stories.
• Lu PingAn adjusted course to help the refugees return to their village, expecting to deal with a sea beast.
• Lu PingAn discovered that Eight-Clawed’s servants had burned the village and that the refugees faced despair at the sight of them.
• Lu PingAn stepped off the ship and promised to return the refugees’ home to them.

Lu PingAn tested his pure scholar combat abilities while fighting the Octopus Race on shore, using fire, cursed weapons, and malicious rhetoric to slaughter their forces. After discovering the limits of his words, he left the remaining killing to others and waved to an approaching ship from the bloodied beach.

• Lu PingAn landed at the burned fishing village and killed a Three-Headed Snake that attacked him.
• Lu PingAn provoked the Octopus Race with fire, then used a mask and his Fish-Slaying Trident to drive its fighters into a frenzy.
• Lu PingAn used his Stay-Behind Student's Rhetorical Metaphor to empower weapons and afflict nearby Fishmen and snake people with hostile descriptions.
• Lu PingAn learned that his rhetoric could not make the Fishmen accept the reality of being dead, then covered himself in flames and ended his test.
• Twenty minutes later, Lu PingAn stood alone on the beach and waved to the people aboard an approaching ship.

After helping the fishermen defeat the Otherworld Invaders, Lu PingAn celebrated with a display of fire that revealed how his combined abilities could reshape reality. He then searched the surrounding area for Space Rifts, closed or cleared the threats he found, and left worried that invasions were spreading across the world.

• Lu PingAn reflected on his homeland and the strength of Lu Mouren’s Stay-Behind Student ability after the slaughter ended.
• Lu PingAn shaped flames into Kongming Lanterns and fireworks, using his layered abilities to alter reality and delight the fishing village.
• Lu PingAn left the village despite the fishermen’s pleas and searched nearby for Space Rifts with the Eye of Truth.
• Lu PingAn found four rifts, helped clear the invaders that had emerged, and judged the unstable openings could be guarded until the world corrected them.
• Lu PingAn suspected that Otherworld Invaders were landing across the world and wondered whether he should act to protect ordinary people.

While patrolling the war-torn region, Lu PingAn took in young Fishermen who wanted to join his crew and then headed for a meteorite said to contain fragments of World Authority. He found several rival groups already gathered there and prepared his crew for battle.

• Lu PingAn accepted that the Fishermen would stay in their village and reflected on how little anyone could do to stay safe during the war.
• Young Fishermen who had their village's permission asked to become warriors or sailors, and Lu PingAn let them join his ship.
• After clearing nearby Eight-Clawed aliens, Lu PingAn followed local directions toward the meteorite and learned that others had arrived at least three days earlier.
• Lu PingAn spotted Dwarves, Fish Heads, and Long-Hand warriors near the meteorite and ordered his crew to prepare for battle.
• Lu PingAn trained the new recruits, found that they learned combat skills unusually quickly, and abandoned his plan to send them away after experts examined them.

Lu PingAn considered how universal screening and access to supernatural knowledge could help the Long-Hand Tribe and Free Fishmen survive. Big Cat suggested that the Courtyard might someday provide knowledge over great distances if it gained enough fragments and this world's authority, and Lu PingAn declared he would give hope to those seeking a way forward.

• Lu PingAn concluded that universal screening could turn the population into Professionals, though it would kill many people, and learned that the Long-Hand Tribe and Free Fishmen had unusually high success rates.
• Lu PingAn recognized that churches and factions monopolized supernatural knowledge and planned to sell Tier 0 and Tier 1 knowledge cheaply.
• Lu PingAn realized that universal screening was likely as demigods and Tier 8s needed troops and the residents needed a chance to survive.
• Big Cat told Lu PingAn that the Courtyard might enable long-range transactions if it gained this world's authority and fragments such as Wisdom, Life, and Space.
• Lu PingAn said he would give hope and a road forward to those who sought them, even if he could offer only a fleeting light.

Lu PingAn continued searching for shards and traveling across the changing world, learning that shards could empower formidable hosts and that civilization was rebuilding. He found a way to contact his friends through the Savior Army, which invited him to meet its local leader.

• Lu PingAn retreated after witnessing a battle between a quasi-god and a suspected deity, then learned the shard had empowered a reviving Ancient Divine Beast and left the quasi-god severely wounded.
• Lu PingAn learned that only two of seventeen newcomers had failed to advance and that Long-Hand Tribe Javelin Throwing had become a widespread class developed further by its practitioners.
• Lu PingAn left marks and notices as he searched for his friends, while observing stronger cities, expanding agriculture, and new industries.
• Lu PingAn saw that Sun Flowers he had improved had spread throughout the world as sources of light and heat, though their magical power had faded.
• Lu PingAn found a way to contact his friends through the Savior Army, which offered assistance in exchange for meeting its local leader.

Lu Lulu learned that Xue Yi was traveling to Garden City after receiving a message that their Creator had returned, and she prepared to reunite with their old group. She identified Rou Yiran, formerly Lai Lai, as another member already in the city.

• Lu Lulu explored Garden City, where the Demonic Plant God’s domain and demonic plant trade had flourished under Mr. Liu’s return.
• Lu Lulu received a coded letter and used a Communication Flower to speak with Xue Yi.
• Xue Yi told Lu Lulu that she was coming to Garden City because their Creator had returned and planned to gather there.
• Lu Lulu realized the group would stay in Garden City and began preparing to host them as the local Landlord.
• Lu Lulu recalled that Rou Yiran, formerly Lai Lai, was a Rule-level member of the group and a senior figure in the Demonic Plant God Church.

Lu PingAn sought help from the Savior Army, then traveled toward Garden City to find allies and expert guidance as he struggled to develop his Gardener abilities. He refused to rush his advancement, but unexpectedly encountered someone who could guide him.

• Lu PingAn used a Communication Flower with help from a local Savior Army leader, then decided to seek guidance from Old Liu in Garden City.
• Lu PingAn left his contact information with the Savior Army and sent Xia Qin a letter asking her to meet in Garden City.
• Lu PingAn practiced cultivating magic plants but repeatedly failed to care for them properly.
• Lu PingAn realized that advancing as a High-Tier Gardener required developing a domain of his own rather than treating magic plants as tools.
• Lu PingAn abandoned the idea of advancing hastily and continued experimenting with local magic plants until he encountered someone who could guide him.

Lu PingAn sought guidance from a Tier 6 Gardener and learned more about connecting with nature, while realizing that his Parasitic Tree nature made the traditional Gardener path difficult. He began spreading his Spirit Energy into the surrounding world but concluded that he would need to find a different path.

• Lu PingAn asked around for a High-Tier Gardener and approached Gray Taboo, a Tier 6 Gardener, offering payment, rare demon plant seeds, or Forbidden Knowledge for guidance.
• Gray Taboo recognized Lu PingAn as the Lamp Artisan because his Flame Flowers had become popular templates for many useful demon plant variants.
• Gray Taboo explained how Life Perception, Spirit Energy Emission, and connecting with nature supported a Gardener's abilities.
• Lu PingAn tried to draw nourishment from the earth through his Demon Vine but found that it only gathered soil, while Gray Taboo advised him to extend his Spirit Energy and vines into the environment.
• Lu PingAn spread his Spirit Energy through the surrounding nature and began to understand how Gardeners could become part of nature, but he realized he needed to find a new path.

Lu PingAn struggled to find a way for his Gardener spirit to merge with the world without abandoning his heavily cultivated body, but studying other High-Tier Gardeners offered no clear answer. In Garden City, his Spirit Energy unexpectedly let him control lamp flowers across the city, and he bought more to investigate this strange ability.

• Lu PingAn considered cloning, spreading his spirit, and using magical plants to merge with the world, but rejected borrowing Xiu Yi's path or forcing an evolution with omnipotent fragments.
• Lu PingAn visited four High-Tier Gardeners in three cities, learned about their territories and magical plants, and watched Mei Yuge defeat a lord who specialized in aquatic battlefields.
• Lu PingAn arrived in Garden City and saw how its Gardener power had transformed the environment into a vast forest of symbiotic magical plants.
• Lu PingAn bought lamp flowers from local shops, then discovered that his Spirit Energy could make them respond to him and switch off lights across the city.
• Lu PingAn bought lamp flower seeds and potted plants to take back and study after sensing that the flowers were connected to him.

Lu PingAn explored his ability to control lamp-flowers before arranging a reunion with his former team. Rou Yiran returned as a Rule-level priest and Potion Master, and Lu PingAn began discussing her return and a possible deal for a High-Tier Gardener.

• Lu PingAn used his spirit energy to make the lamp-flowers flash in patterns, then realized his influence was limited by the range of his Spirit Energy Emission.
• Lu PingAn booked an entire inn floor, displayed his Golden Scales Emblem, and spread word of where he could be found.
• Rou Yiran met Lu PingAn and revealed that she had become a Rule-level powerhouse and the seventh-ranked member of the God of Watching's Inner Circle.
• Rou Yiran said she wanted to return to Lu PingAn's team and offered to recruit a High-Tier Gardener in exchange for his help obtaining resources and negotiating with Old Liu.
• A woman carrying potion bottles entered the inn, and Lu PingAn recognized her as Lu Lu Lu Lu.

Lu PingAn met Old Liu, Garden City's master, and learned about the dangers posed by World's Will, divine incarnations, and fallen gods. After discussing Lu PingAn's unusual path and possible ways forward, they began negotiating cooperation over obtaining Fragments, and Old Liu agreed to return Rou Yiran to his team.

• Lu PingAn met Old Liu outside Garden City and they recognized each other's extraordinary transformations.
• Old Liu explained that World's Will's personality had descended into the mortal realm and warned Lu PingAn to seek help against its manifestations.
• Old Liu described the True God incarnations and fallen gods competing for Fragments, warning Lu PingAn not to hunt them.
• Lu PingAn revealed his unconventional path and bottleneck, and Old Liu offered several possible ways forward.
• Lu PingAn and Old Liu began discussing cooperation to obtain Fragments.
• Lu PingAn asked for Rou Yiran to return from Old Liu's church, and Old Liu agreed to give the order.

Lu PingAn and Mei Yuge walked through Garden City, where familiar knockoff shops and popular sugary drinks revealed how locals lived amid poverty, disease, and danger. Lu PingAn recognized that the city’s native residents had developed their own businesses and cultural life, leaving them a civilization rather than a people who could be easily displaced.

• Lu PingAn complained about copied shop names, and Mei Yuge suggested that trade companies used violence to eliminate rivals.
• Lu PingAn and Mei Yuge discussed how locals eagerly bought extremely sweet drinks because they had few other treats and little reason to worry about long-term health.
• Lu PingAn asked whether people would trade lifespan for power, and Mei Yuge said many would because war, famine, disease, and pollution threatened their lives.
• Lu PingAn observed that native residents now ran shops and pursued cultural interests, and he concluded that they had become a civilization despite the city’s uneven development.

Lu PingAn led the Big Ship toward Kulin City to investigate murders that might point to a death-related host item, while the group tested its members’ fighting skills and Miss Rou presented him with a new potion. Lu PingAn’s potion-enhanced mental projection reached beneath the ship and revealed a giant beast lurking there.

• Lu PingAn explained the different fragment categories and chose the Kulin City murders as the team’s priority, hoping to find a fragment connected to death, life force, or aging.
• Mei Yuge challenged Eve in the Gymnasium and was easily countered, then Miss Rou entered the arena and quickly lost her match.
• Miss Rou gave Lu PingAn Brain Gold No. 1, a Wisdom Springwater potion designed to help project mental power.
• Lu PingAn drank the potion and projected his mental power far beyond the ship, discovering a giant beast beneath it.

Lu PingAn defeated the Naga Sha Daye and let Eve devour his giant beast mount, strengthening the ship. After Eve asked him to locate the Fishmen’s homeland and supplies, Lu PingAn agreed to investigate and finish the conflict quickly.

• A giant beast attacked the steel Big Ship, while Sha Daye ambushed Lu PingAn and called him an enemy of the gods.
• Lu PingAn used magical plants, sacred flames, mines, and a curse to overwhelm Sha Daye aboard his ship.
• Sha Daye tried to escape, but Lu PingAn trapped and killed him with a giant hand made of vines.
• The Big Ship transformed and tore apart the giant beast from within, and Eve blocked its escape and devoured it.
• Eve asked Lu PingAn to locate the high-tier Fishmen’s homeland and logistics, and he agreed to pursue them.

Lu PingAn cleared waves of invaders, turned their remains into fertilizer, and continued developing carnivorous magic plants aboard the Big Ship. As he arrived at Kulin City, Hua Xueyi entered its shrouded streets alone, and some of her mercenaries went after her while the rest waited for reinforcements.

• Lu PingAn gave Mei Yuge the Serpent Princess's Divine Gift Trident after washing away its divine traits and replacing one with a trait of her choice.
• Lu PingAn cleared the invaders near the spatial rift, harvested their Biomass, and used it to expand his Garden aboard the Big Ship.
• Lu PingAn repelled further attacks and studied the different plant organs and modules involved in bloodsucking, eating flesh, and draining life force.
• Hua Xueyi led her mercenaries to the mist-covered Kulin City and entered alone after telling them to wait.
• After Hua Xueyi failed to return, some mercenaries entered the city to search for her, while the rest waited and received unexpected reinforcements, including Lu PingAn.

Hua Xueyi entered the fog-shrouded city to investigate its grotesque, seemingly self-aware corpse monsters and discovered that the land itself was devouring life. With her way back erased and danger closing in, she pressed deeper into the fog.

• Hua Xueyi found a mass of stitched-together corpses rolling through the fog and continued investigating rather than return.
• Hua Xueyi encountered more corpse monsters, including centipedes and Thousand-Hand Giants, and saw them pursue prey, fight, and merge without any apparent controller.
• Hua Xueyi sent golden snake-like strands of hair to scout, but they found corpses mimicking the behaviors they had followed in life and began losing contact with her.
• Hua Xueyi tried to retreat, but the fog had erased her metal-cell trail and obscured the way back.
• Hua Xueyi sensed that the land was devouring life and walked deeper into the fog despite the danger.

Lu PingAn met mercenaries from Kaiwei City who had entered the fog-covered city to investigate, and suspected they intended to loot its inheritance while claiming to conduct rescues. After defeating a squad that challenged him, he waited for Hua Xuejie to return, but she did not come back by nightfall.

• Li Yong introduced the Kaiwei City mercenaries, and Lu PingAn learned that their strongest leader, Golden Moon, was only at the peak of Law Decree.
• Lu PingAn inferred that the mercenaries suspected the city had fallen and hoped to profit from its inheritance, while he offered to overlook any looting he witnessed.
• Mei Yuge told Lu PingAn that Golden Moon was Hua Xuejie's title and that Hua Xuejie was expected to meet them after taking missions along the way.
• A fifteen-person mercenary squad challenged Lu PingAn, but he defeated them in about forty seconds and earned wary looks from the others.
• Lu PingAn sensed the fragment's energy but could not locate its source with the Eye of Truth, then waited for Hua Xueyi, who did not return by nightfall.

As the mercenaries waited for the missing scouts to return, Lu PingAn discovered that the Great Mist was a living aggregate and developed a way to burn it away. The test succeeded, leaving the group ready to enter the city.

• Lu PingAn observed how Lamp Flowers had become part of the mercenaries’ daily lives and recognized his role in adapting them for this world.
• The mercenary leaders learned that the Great Mist was a living aggregate, while Lu PingAn suspected the city's residents were already gone.
• Lu PingAn sent Cat Cat to inform the mercenaries of his assessment while he worked on a way to clear the mist.
• Lu PingAn created a Life Burning Lamp Beam using nearby Lamp Flowers as materials.
• A squad of mercenaries crossed the mist with the torches and returned, leaving ashes where the lights had passed, so Lu PingAn prepared to set out.