Chapter Summaries

After Xu Mei’s death, Mu Chengen faced one of her admirers and discovered how much his new Otherworldly strength had changed him. He defeated the man’s hired Sunglasses Men, while the Tiger-skin Parrot’s First Question about ruling Ordinary People remained unresolved.

• A furious admirer called Mu Chengen a murderer over Xu Mei’s death, and the Tiger-skin Parrot posed the incident as the First Question about how Otherworldly Users should handle Ordinary People’s provocations.
• The Half-Fat Man arrived with Sunglasses Men and accused Mu Chengen of killing Xu Mei, citing a newspaper report about her death and the Beauty Water he had given her.
• Mu Chengen laughed at Xu Mei’s death and said that strength, money, and women mattered most, then dodged the Half-Fat Man’s slap and knocked him down.
• When the Half-Fat Man paid the Sunglasses Men to attack, Mu Chengen fought them and knocked all twenty or thirty Ordinary People to the ground.
• Mu Chengen questioned the frightened Half-Fat Man about Xu Mei and considered killing him, while Wenren Sheng watched Mu Chengen’s transformation into a Newborn Otherworldly Species.

Wenren Sheng treated Mu Chengen after the Half-Fat Man shot him, then watched as the gunman died after firing at Wenren Sheng. Mu Chengen survived and learned a lesson about showing off, while the Tiger-skin Parrot taught him a far more ruthless response to provocation; Wenren Sheng called the police and kept everyone at the beach.

• The Half-Fat Man shot Mu Chengen in the back after Mu Chengen let him go, and Wenren Sheng began treating the wounded man.
• The Half-Fat Man aimed at Wenren Sheng and fired, but the bullets struck Wenren Sheng's armor and fell harmlessly to the ground.
• The Half-Fat Man accidentally shot himself in the head while inspecting his pistol, and Wenren Sheng chose not to save him.
• Wenren Sheng healed Mu Chengen, who woke up and thanked him for saving his life.
• The Tiger-skin Parrot told Mu Chengen that he should eliminate anyone who provoked him, and Wenren Sheng called the police to handle the incident.

Wenren Sheng accepted the Sole Supremacy Society’s Screaming Mine mission and investigated the haunted Sanan gold mine. He uncovered the source of its mysterious disaster and destroyed the resentful spirit, leaving the mine’s secret to be explored further.

• After the beach incident, Wenren Sheng asked the Tiger-skin Parrot for profitable work, and it offered him a share of the gold mine’s annual output if he resolved its Mysterious Disaster.
• Wenren Sheng arrived at the mine with Karen and entered alone using his Armor Puppet.
• Wenren Sheng navigated the mine’s branches using his Extraordinary Memory and found two skeletons trapped beneath a huge gold nugget.
• Wenren Sheng used Mystic Eagle Eye to spot a deathly pale hand clinging to the skeletons and identified it as the source of the mine’s screams.
• Wenren Sheng attacked with purple mist and cleared away the resentful spirit formed by the miners’ fear, anger, and hope of survival.

Wenren Sheng explored the mine and learned that its collapse had been caused by the owner’s greed and unsafe mining practices. After finding three mysterious sites and taking the Weird Television, he left the mine and asked the Tiger-skin Parrot to investigate the owner and the mine’s production records.

• Wenren Sheng encountered a Black Mist Humanoid, which blamed Hans Miser for the miners’ deaths and asked him to kill the man.
• Wenren Sheng found two skeletons locked inside a mine rest area and discovered that an old television was replaying the miners’ final conversation.
• Wenren Sheng had the Armor Puppet carry the Weird Television and finished exploring the mine’s three mysterious locations.
• Wenren Sheng analyzed a support pillar, researched construction materials from home, and concluded that greed and unsafe materials had caused the tragedy.
• Wenren Sheng contacted the Tiger-skin Parrot and asked it to find the owner of Screaming Mine and the mine’s production records.

Wenren Sheng uncovered the cause of the Screaming Mine disaster, but after learning Grandet was dead, he destroyed the Black Mist Humanoid and failed the mission. He resolved to trigger the event again, while Wu Shanshan asked him to teach her the Mysterious Healing Art.

• Wenren Sheng deduced that Grandet’s greed and his supervisors’ embezzlement had caused the mine collapse and the miners’ vengeful haunting.
• Wenren Sheng learned through a prophecy that Grandet had died two years earlier from illness and destitution.
• Wenren Sheng told the Black Mist Humanoid that Grandet was dead, then destroyed it when it accused him of lying.
• The system marked the Screaming Mine mission as failed, and Wenren Sheng decided to trigger it again.
• Wu Shanshan asked Wenren Sheng to teach her the Mysterious Healing Art, and he told her to study medical texts before beginning.

After learning that his first attempt at the Screaming Mine failed because he rushed and trusted an unverified report, Wenren Sheng investigated the disaster again and uncovered the Heaven's Mandate Society's trap. He completed the event, gained Mystery Points, and began looking for a way to keep himself disciplined.

• After his girlfriend left, Wenren Sheng reflected on failure and realized he had been too eager to resolve Mysterious Disasters.
• Wenren Sheng sent Tiger-skin Parrot to verify the mine's history and Hans Grandet's background, promising half the reward for success.
• Three days later, Tiger-skin Parrot reported that Hans Grandet was a member of the Heaven's Mandate Society who had used the mine to lure and kill Otherworldly Users.
• Wenren Sheng uncovered the truth behind the Screaming Mine and completed the event, earning 88 Mystery Points and raising his Mystery Points limit to 321.
• Wenren Sheng admitted he had trusted testimony instead of checking evidence himself and resolved to avoid becoming complacent.
• After hearing Fat Doll call to his mother from the backyard, Wenren Sheng decided he needed something else to restrain and supervise him.

Wenren Sheng joined Wang Wenwen and Zhao Han on a trip to Mount Tai after the Seed of Mystery warned him of a mysterious birth. As the group climbed toward East Mountain Summit, the reason for Wang Wenwen’s plan remained unclear.

• Wenren Sheng worked on designing a puppet supervisor while Zhao Han finished her college entrance exams and felt alienated by how easy they had been.
• Wang Wenwen asked Zhao Han to predict an auspicious time and place for her secret plan, and Zhao Han chose June 26 at East Mountain Summit.
• On June 23, Zhao Han insisted Wenren Sheng join them, and the Seed of Mystery gave him a prompt about a mystical birth.
• Wenren Sheng brought Wu Shanshan along, and the four traveled to Mount Tai before beginning their climb on the evening of June 25.
• An old man told the group that Mount Tai’s strong yang energy kept evil away, while Wenren Sheng noted that Otherworldly Users were stationed at the mountain’s foot.

At Mount Tai, Wenren Sheng and the others witnessed mist from the Great Ocean Graveyard spread around the sunrise and form two strange vortices. After testing them with the Puppet Man, Wenren Sheng realized they formed a Trade Gate that exchanged items and displayed goods.

• Wenren Sheng reflected on overproduction and wealth distribution in the Divine Land while the group waited for sunrise on Mount Tai.
• Mist from the Great Ocean Graveyard spread from the red sun toward the summit, trapping Wenren Sheng and the tourists.
• The mist stopped and formed two enormous vortices, prompting Wenren Sheng to summon the Puppet Man to investigate.
• Wenren Sheng sent Alien Power into the vortices and discovered the black vortex consumed it while the white vortex produced crystalline beads.
• Wenren Sheng identified the beads as useless currency, tossed them into the black vortex, and saw the white vortex display images of goods.
• Wenren Sheng concluded that the two vortices formed a Trade Gate.

Wenren Sheng discovered that the vortices at East Mountain Summit traded handmade items for natural goods, then watched the Patrol Division seal off the mountain. Three days later, he attended a high-level meeting where officials began presenting their investigation results.

• Wenren Sheng told three Black Shirts about the vortices and helped them test how they worked.
• Wenren Sheng found that the black vortex accepted handmade items and returned white beads, which could be used to select goods such as valuable agarwood.
• Wang Wenwen recognized the vortices as the prophecy Zhao Han had mentioned and rushed back to the mountaintop to record evidence.
• More than a hundred armed helicopters and countless Black Shirts arrived, secured the mountain, and questioned Wenren Sheng and his group.
• Wenren Sheng and his companions signed confidentiality agreements and were allowed to leave, while tourists remained detained.
• Three days later, Wenren Sheng attended a meeting at the Capital Patrol Division, where a senior official presented preliminary investigation results about the vortices.

Wenren Sheng listened as Patrol Division leaders debated how Divine Land should use newly discovered trade vortices and whether technology or Mysterious Power should take priority. They agreed to use tributary labor while building domestic production, leaving the dispute over which force was fundamental unresolved.

• The host explained that black intake vortices absorbed Mysterious Power, Mysterious Objects, and handmade goods, while white shipping vortices converted them into currency and goods, and noted that five more vortex sites had appeared overseas.
• Director An proposed using tributary states such as East Island to produce handicrafts, while the host warned that restricting the flow of Mysterious Objects could cause resentment and Director Wang cautioned against managing tributaries too closely.
• The host concluded that Divine Land should use tributary labor while gradually mobilizing its own citizens, and Director An asked whether the trade system was a trap designed to lure them into deindustrialization.
• Director An argued that technology and mechanized production were essential foundations, while Director Xing countered that Mysterious Power was fundamental and suggested guiding some Ordinary Persons into handicraft work as automation expanded.
• Wenren Sheng saw that both leaders favored developing technology and Mysterious Power, though they disagreed over which should take precedence.

Wenren Sheng warned a high-level meeting that the Trade Gates might be exploiting humanity as well as providing benefits, prompting officials to investigate their origins and risks. After the meeting, senior leaders praised Wenren Sheng and voiced hope that the younger generation would grow strong enough to protect the world.

• Wenren Sheng told the officials that the Trade Gate might be connected to the Great Ocean Graveyard and could become a danger as it grew stronger.
• Director Wang agreed that treating the Trade Gate as a resource to exploit could end disastrously, and the host called for investigation and caution.
• The host reported that six Trade Gates existed around the world, and Director Wang warned that other powers might ignore calls to stop using them.
• Director Xing proposed gathering evidence of the Gates’ dangers, exploring them, finding their controller, and eliminating the hidden threat; the host approved the plan.
• After the meeting, Director An praised Wenren Sheng to the division chiefs, while Director Xing and Director Wang expressed confidence in the younger generation.

Wenren Sheng proposed using artificial intelligence and Puppet Technology to enforce regulations, but Director Xing warned him against surrendering human authority to puppets. At the Xie Family estate, Xie Cangyue discussed the whirlpools’ effects and the immense cost of obtaining Otherworldly Species, while Xie Linghui worried about the people who would die in the process.

• Wenren Sheng praised the seniors’ work and suggested that big data, artificial intelligence, and Puppet Technology could automate the enforcement of regulations.
• Director Xing explained that puppet enforcement could cause serious problems, and Wenren Sheng dropped the subject.
• At the Jinling Xie Family estate, Xie Yanjie asked Xie Cangyue what the two giant whirlpools would produce, and he said they could yield Petrification Potion and accelerate the evolution of Otherworldly Species.
• Xie Cangyue told Xie Yanjie that obtaining Otherworldly Species would require enormous amounts of materials that could not be valued simply in money.
• Xie Linghui remained silent as he considered that the undertaking would likely kill even more people.

Wang Cuiyan used Prophecy Art to verify that Wang Wenwen’s Fat Doll could not be casually fabricated, then agreed to raise him while keeping custody open for later discussion. The family discussed the black-and-white vortex’s rewards for artistic skills, and Zhao Han reluctantly faced learning Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting.

• Xie Cangyue explained to Xie Yanjie that the six families would use their Trade Gates because refusing would leave them behind.
• Wang Cuiyan questioned whether Fat Doll was really a heavenly gift, but Xiao Huang’s Prophecy Art could not predict him, so she agreed to raise him for now.
• Wang Wenwen handed Fat Doll to Wang Cuiyan and asked her to treat him less strictly.
• Wenren Sheng left to assign summer homework to the trainees while Wang Cuiyan discussed the black-and-white vortex and its artistic requirements.
• Wang Wenwen promised to teach Zhao Han Music, Chess, Calligraphy, and Painting and turn her into a great abstract painter.

Wenren Sheng gave Wu Shanshan a famous elegy, and Wu Liansong resonated with it so strongly that he advanced to the brink of Master Level. After he woke, he spoke of seeing Shanshan’s mother, while Zhao Han wondered what the Seed of Narration meant by calling her grandson the Wang family’s Ancestral Grandson.

• Wu Shanshan asked Wenren Sheng for a poem, and he wrote an elegy for her to give Wu Liansong.
• Wu Liansong read the poem, became overwhelmed with grief, and began communicating with the mysterious world as dark yellow light emerged from him.
• Wang Cuiyan organized a watch around Wu Liansong, while Wenren Sheng and Wenren De guarded him for two days as he advanced.
• Wu Liansong woke and told Wu Shanshan that he had seen her mother and understood what she wanted to do, then thanked Wenren Sheng for the poem.
• The Seed of Narration said Zhao Han’s heaven-sent grandson would become the Wang family’s Ancestral Grandson, leaving Zhao Han curious about the title.

Wenren Sheng helped his mother Ouyang Ling pursue a breakthrough with a poem, then taught Painting Skill to elderly students as part of the Patrol Division’s new program for Ordinary Persons. The class stirred powerful memories among the students, and Wenren Sheng noticed that some had become dangerously agitated.

• Zhao Han congratulated Wu Liansong, who withdrew to rest while Wenren Sheng sensed his sorrow over his advancement.
• Ouyang Ling asked Wenren Sheng for a poem, and he recited verses about how parenthood makes life seem to pass more quickly; she left to enter seclusion.
• Wenren Sheng told Wenren De about Ouyang Ling’s seclusion, but his father doubted that a poem could help her break through.
• Inspector Liu assigned Wenren Sheng to teach Painting Skill to elderly Ordinary Persons as an experiment for future Patrol Division courses.
• Wenren Sheng’s lesson inspired the students to paint and remember their lives, but he noticed that some had become overly agitated and their vital signs had changed intensely.

Wenren Sheng and Inspector Liu discovered that classwork infused with students’ emotions yielded valuable beads from the white vortex. Meanwhile, Zhao Han learned that an ancient bark painting had vanished from her hometown and prepared to investigate with Wang Wenwen, suspecting a link to the vortex.

• Wenren Sheng and Inspector Liu brought his students’ classwork to the Summit of Eastern Peak, where Inspector Liu fed it into the black vortex.
• The white vortex produced valuable beads for each drawing, and Wenren Sheng explained that the students’ emotions had made the works valuable and that it would happen only once.
• Zhao Han received a call from her father about an ancient painting missing from the Old Wang Family’s Ancestral Hall.
• Wang Wenwen suspected someone had stolen the painting to exchange it for benefits from the white vortex.
• Zhao Han invited Wang Wenwen to investigate with her, then called Wenren Sheng and President Zhao to let them know.

Wenren Sheng allowed Zhao Han to investigate an ancient painting mystery in her hometown, while the case revealed an unexpectedly broad conspiracy around soaring antique prices. Zhao Han’s careful investigation pointed to three Wang Family suspects, but her prediction ruled them all out, leaving the real culprit unknown.

• Wenren Sheng approved Zhao Han’s trip and alerted the local Patrol Division, then received a prompt about the mystery of a four-hundred-year-old painting.
• In Zhao Han’s hometown, neighbors told her that Wang First Son’s family had likely sold the painting, and Zhao Han learned that rising antique prices had become common knowledge.
• Wang Wenwen suggested that foreign interests might have leaked news of the price surge to raise the Patrol Division’s acquisition costs.
• Zhao Han reviewed the Wang Family’s access to the Ancestral Hall and identified Wang First Son, Wang Second Sister-in-law, and Wang Fifth Son as the likeliest suspects.
• Zhao Han used the Seed of Narration to predict which suspect had taken the painting, but it declared that none of the three was correct.

Zhao Han and Wang Wenwen used the prophecies to reconsider their suspects and sent the Fat Doll to investigate Wang Fazhang. Through the doll’s disguise, they saw Wang Fazhang hand the stolen painting to a masked man, who destroyed the Gecko’s disguise and drove it away.

• Wang Wenwen pointed out that Zhao Han had wrongly ruled out wealthy suspects because the ancient painting could now be exchanged for a Mysterious Object.
• Zhao Han reconsidered Wang Fazhang, while Wang Wenwen warned that the prophecies’ failure to identify him directly meant they should proceed carefully.
• Wang Wenwen sent the Fat Doll, disguised as a Gecko, to investigate and used Illusion Art to watch what it saw.
• The Gecko saw Wang Fazhang give the stolen ancient painting to a masked man in a wealthy household’s study.
• The masked man said the painting would serve as an experimental object and told Wang Fazhang to keep collecting handmade antiques.
• The masked man spotted the Gecko, shattered the window with a beam of white light, and sent it crawling away.

Wang Wenwen and Zhao Han reported the ancient painting thief after mistaking a masked man's attack on their puppet for proof that he had seen through its disguise. Wenren Sheng learned the truth, then warned Inspector Liu that the stolen antiques might be smuggled abroad through Trade Gates, leaving the authorities struggling to contain the trade.

• Wang Wenwen and Zhao Han called the local Public Security Bureau and Patrol Division and sent them a recording of the masked man driving away Gecko.
• Wenren Sheng received 25 Mystery Points after the ancient painting mystery was resolved and praised his trainees for handling their assignments well.
• Wenren Sheng reviewed the puppet's memories and realized the masked man had thrown a knife at it out of aversion to crawling creatures, not because he had recognized its disguise.
• Wenren Sheng called Inspector Liu and warned him that thieves might smuggle antiques out through the Trade Gates.
• Inspector Liu told Wenren Sheng that the Patrol Division lacked the manpower to block every route and that sending undercover agents abroad posed serious dangers.
• Wenren Sheng and Inspector Liu discussed tracing the stolen goods to likely destinations such as America and South America, while Wenren Sheng worried that greed and the Trade Gates' promise of alien species could make the smuggling crisis worse.

Wenren Sheng accepted Inspector Liu’s task to stop the outflow of antique artifacts in exchange for permission to freely borrow recovered items, then brought the work to Tianxing Club for company support. At the shareholders’ meeting, Wang Cuiyan proposed tracing smuggling routes, but President Zhao worried that the plan would be difficult to carry out and would offend powerful people.

• Wenren Sheng accepted Inspector Liu’s task and negotiated the right to freely requisition recovered artifacts instead of Merit Points.
• Wenren Sheng submitted the dangerous official task to Tianxing Club and requested the company’s support.
• President Zhao convened Tianxing Club’s shareholders and explained the antique-smuggling problem and the club’s reasons for taking the task.
• Wang Cuiyan proposed using Prophecy Art and increased surveillance to identify the routes used to smuggle artifacts out of the country.
• President Zhao noted that tracking tens of thousands of artifacts would require too much Prophecy Art and that tighter surveillance would offend powerful people.