Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Advancement! First Fate Lifeforger!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After the Frost Wyrm is defeated, Bai Zhou stands victorious in the ruined city while the remnants of his summoned Ancient Dragon Elephant and Rainbow Unicorn return to his weapons.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia notice that Bai Zhou is undergoing another breakthrough. His Sea of Ignorance surges, his Bai Yang Fate shines, and his spiritual foundation begins transforming.
• Bai Zhou’s six Secret Technique Imprints—formed through his mastery of various techniques—merge into a single Secret Technique Foundation.
• Above this foundation, a new Contract Technique Imprint appears, created from his perfected Destiny Contract, Blade-Flipping, Sword-Overturning Cosmos Form.
• His Personal Destiny flows into the Contract Technique Imprint, empowering all of his spirituality with the contract’s traits: chaos, reversal, aggression, and destructive force.
• Bai Zhou’s spirituality increases from 1,000 to 1,444 units, while each unit becomes roughly twice as powerful. Even a small amount can now kill a Level 3 Professionist.
• Testing his new strength, Bai Zhou sends a single unit of spirituality underground, where it drills through stone and concrete with terrifying destructive power.
• He then combines his newly empowered spirituality with Ice Pact: Dormant Dragon, unleashing an enormous ice dragon attack that merges the power of winter with the world-overturning force of his Destiny Contract.
• Bai Zhou officially advances to First Fate, becoming a First Fate Lifeforger and confirming his status as a true Destined One.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou completes a major advancement on the Destiny Path. His cultivation progresses from the Professionist stage into the Lifeforger stage, and he forms his first Contract Technique Imprint.
• His understanding of his own power deepens. He realizes that Personal Destiny can alter not only reality but also the nature of his spirituality, giving him a massive advantage over ordinary Lifeforgers.
• Bai Zhou gains confidence and pride in his achievement, calmly reporting his advancement to the others after demonstrating his new strength.
• The Gem Witch is shocked by Bai Zhou’s transformation and struggles to interpret his new attack, humorously comparing it to martial-arts techniques and joking about portable speakers.
• Fang Xiaoxia continues to provide comic relief through her literal, analytical responses and playful speculation about the Gem Witch’s powers.
• Miss Ya quietly observes Bai Zhou’s breakthrough and arrives to witness the announcement, reinforcing her role as a knowledgeable mentor and evaluator.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation through perseverance: Bai Zhou’s Secret Technique Imprints are described as the accumulated “footprints” of his blood, sweat, battles, failures, and triumphs.
• Knowledge becoming power: Secret Technique Imprints represent perfected skills, while Contract Technique Imprints represent profound understanding of the world’s essence.
• The importance of foundation: Bai Zhou’s six perfected techniques merge into a stable foundation capable of supporting a higher-level Contract Technique Imprint.
• Individuality and specialization: A Lifeforger’s Destiny Contract determines the unique qualities of their spirituality, meaning strength depends not only on quantity but also on the nature and hierarchy of one’s power.
• Transformation and advancement: Bai Zhou’s breakthrough marks a new stage of existence, emphasizing that becoming a Lifeforger is a fundamental evolution rather than merely an increase in strength.
• Humor amid epic power: The chapter balances grand mystical concepts with jokes about martial arts stories, portable speakers, and Bai Zhou’s insistence that his attack is not “Dragon-Subduing Whatever-Palms.”

Character Interactions

• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia observe Bai Zhou’s breakthrough and react with astonishment.
• The Gem Witch jokingly misidentifies Bai Zhou’s ice-dragon attack as a martial-arts technique, while Fang Xiaoxia expands the joke by suggesting the Gem Witch might possess a portable-speaker function.
• Bai Zhou corrects them, insisting that the event should be understood through mysticism and the Destiny Path rather than martial-arts concepts.
• Miss Ya appears beside the women and silently witnesses Bai Zhou’s transformation.
• Bai Zhou finally turns to the three women and proudly announces that he has advanced, identifying himself as a Destined One and a First Fate Lifeforger.

Chapter Summary: “Then Sorry for the Trouble, Miss Witch—Let’s Continue Our Alliance!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Gem Witch advances to First Fate Lifeforging, but her excitement is immediately tempered when Bai Zhou demonstrates overwhelming power through the Blade-and-Sword Destiny Contract.
• She realizes that, despite her breakthrough, the gap between her and Bai Zhou has grown even wider. His rapid progression—from Extraordinary to Titled and then Lifeforging within days—makes him seem almost inhumanly gifted.
• Reflecting on Bai Zhou’s earlier battles and her own experiences alongside him, the Gem Witch recognizes that his strength is not the result of effortless superiority. He has repeatedly survived desperate situations and grown through hardship.
• The Gem Witch acknowledges that Envy Cell has influenced her emotions, intensifying her admiration, frustration, and unwillingness to fall behind. Bai Zhou explains that such emotions can be controlled and transformed into motivation, strengthening one’s mind and reducing the risk of mutation or loss of control.
• Bai Zhou also explains his unusual interpretation of Sloth Cell: his frantic activity is merely preparation to eliminate every threat so that he can eventually live peacefully and sleep more. The Gem Witch accepts this logic and realizes that envy, like sloth, can be redirected into a positive force.
• Bai Zhou gives the Gem Witch a black book and asks her to continue their alliance and return with him to the Blood Worship Cult. Though embarrassed by how his wording sounds like a marriage proposal, she accepts and even asks when they will leave.
• Before returning, Bai Zhou proposes visiting the legendary Holy Relic Institute, once one of Tinghai’s ruling powers alongside the Blood Worship Cult. He reveals that its hidden treasury is waiting for him to inherit.
• Displaying the Holy Relic Seal, Bai Zhou explains that the vault may contain immense treasures, including Ashes, Black Boxes, Magic Potions, artifacts, Spirit-Name Secret Treasures, sleeping Sun Knights, and possibly even the legendary Holy Relic.
• The group prepares to leave immediately and claim the inheritance, with Bai Zhou confident that the expedition will succeed.

Character Developments

• Gem Witch: Her advancement gives her confidence, but Bai Zhou’s strength forces her to confront the enormous distance between them. Rather than surrendering to inferiority, she converts admiration and envy into determination. She openly admits how much Bai Zhou has enabled her progress and recognizes him as a major benefactor in her life.
• Bai Zhou: He continues to reveal his unconventional worldview, turning apparent laziness into a strategy of resolving every obstacle so he can rest later. He also shows increasing trust in the Gem Witch by inviting her to continue accompanying him and involving her in the next major adventure.
• Fang Xiaoxia and Teacher Ya: They observe the unusual compatibility between Bai Zhou and the Gem Witch with surprise and amusement, recognizing that the two share an almost instinctive understanding.
• Qiao Sisi: Though largely asleep during the chapter, her earlier reaction to the Envy monster helps the Gem Witch understand the pain of admiring someone whose heights seem unreachable.

Significant Themes

• Admiration, envy, and self-improvement: Envy is portrayed not only as a destructive emotion but also as a potential source of ambition. The Gem Witch learns to turn feelings of inadequacy into motivation.
• Growth through adversity: Bai Zhou’s rapid advancement is linked to repeated danger, struggle, and survival rather than effortless talent alone.
• Mental resilience and control: The Destiny Cells influence their hosts emotionally, but mastering those emotions can strengthen the mind and reduce the dangers of mutation and loss of control.
• Alliance and mutual support: The chapter emphasizes that no one progresses entirely alone. The Gem Witch’s growth depends partly on Bai Zhou’s assistance, while Bai Zhou values her continued partnership.
• Unconventional interpretations of destiny: Bai Zhou’s personal understanding of Sloth demonstrates that Destiny Paths can be shaped by individual perspective rather than rigid stereotypes.
• Inheritance and the past: The coming journey to the Holy Relic Institute connects the characters to the lost powers and secrets of Tinghai’s history.

Character Interactions

• The Gem Witch compares herself to Bai Zhou and vows to one day stand beside him as an equal.
• Bai Zhou warns her not to let Envy Cell control her, while encouraging her to use its influence as spiritual training.
• Their discussion of Sloth and Envy brings them into unusual intellectual agreement, making Fang Xiaoxia and Teacher Ya view them as exceptionally compatible allies.
• The Gem Witch sincerely thanks Bai Zhou for helping her reach Lifeforging and calls accepting his alliance one of the best decisions of her life.
• Bai Zhou formally renews their alliance by asking her to accompany him back to the Blood Worship Cult.
• Their partnership immediately expands into a new adventure as Bai Zhou invites her and the others to help claim the Holy Relic Institute’s hidden treasury.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• After the battle in the ruined district, Bai Zhou and the Gem Witch clean up the remaining traces and discuss his advancement along the Destiny Path.
• The Gem Witch explains that Bai Zhou’s former Adventurer stage corresponds to the Trickster Path, while his current Trialist stage corresponds to Magician.
• She speculates about Bai Zhou eventually becoming a Brave One or Dragon Slayer. Bai Zhou’s Destiny gives him a strong intuition that Brave One is a genuine higher title on his Path, and that Dragon Slayer may exist as well.
• Bai Zhou reflects on his childhood fascination with heroic legends and realizes that, in the modern world, he may truly have the opportunity to become the kind of legendary figure he once read about.
• Once the battlefield is mostly cleared, Bai Zhou leads the Gem Witch, Fang Xiaoxia, and Miss Ya away from the ruins. Their departure is lighthearted, filled with jokes about mystical companions, cartoons, food, and their next meal.
• Blood Shadow appears and attempts to add poetic narration to the scene, but Fang Xiaoxia silences and drags her away.
• The group disappears into Tinghai’s Lower City, setting out toward an uncertain future and the distant goal of becoming a Brave One.
• Later, mystic societies and Authority personnel arrive at the devastated battlefield. They are stunned by the enormous crater, claw marks, giant footprints, twisted steel, deep cracks, and other signs of an impossibly destructive conflict.
• Investigators speculate wildly about monsters, Giants, Godzilla-like creatures, mecha, or other cinematic beings. They conclude that the destruction exceeds what the Lower City can manage and begin reporting to higher authorities or retreating.
• The Authorities are already stretched thin fighting the Blood Worship Cult elsewhere. Tinghai is revealed to be suffering from two simultaneous major crises, both indirectly caused by Bai Zhou.
• The chapter ends by emphasizing Bai Zhou’s growing influence: he has become a major force whose actions can shake the entire city, even while he quietly leaves the scene and allows others to deal with the consequences.

2. Character Developments

• Bai Zhou gains confidence and ambition. His realization that “Brave One” may be part of his Destiny Path transforms a childhood dream into a possible real future.
• He also becomes increasingly aware of his own importance. Unlike when he first entered the notice of powerful figures, he now has enough influence to disturb the balance of Tinghai itself.
• The Gem Witch remains playful, imaginative, and irreverent, but she also recognizes Bai Zhou’s potential and helps him think about the higher stages of his Path.
• Fang Xiaoxia shows practical, energetic behavior despite exhaustion and battlefield injuries. Her familiarity with the group is growing, and she acts decisively when stopping Blood Shadow’s dramatic interruption.
• Miss Ya remains quiet and aloof, contributing terse remarks while traveling with the others.
• Blood Shadow continues to provide comic relief through her theatrical personality and desire to narrate events poetically.
• The various investigators and Authority members experience a major shock to their worldview, realizing that the scale of supernatural phenomena may be far greater than they previously understood.

3. Significant Themes

• Dreams becoming reality: Bai Zhou’s childhood fantasies of heroes and dragon slayers may become achievable through the Destiny Path.
• Adventure and trials: The chapter presents adventure not as simple excitement, but as a sequence of trials through which legendary figures are forged.
• Growing power and consequences: Bai Zhou’s rise means that even small actions by him can create citywide disturbances and force major organizations to respond.
• The unknown scale of the Mystic World: The ruined battlefield challenges investigators’ assumptions about what supernatural beings and powers can exist.
• Youthful fellowship and new beginnings: The group’s casual jokes and shared journey contrast with the destruction behind them, emphasizing that a new adventure party is forming.
• Chaos beneath ordinary life: Tinghai appears to be a modern city, yet beneath the surface it is being shaken by cults, monsters, powerful mystics, and hidden conflicts.

4. Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou and the Gem Witch exchange teasing dialogue about Path names, homophones, future titles, and mystical identities.
• Their discussion prompts Bai Zhou to reflect seriously on his potential as a Brave One and Dragon Slayer.
• The departing group jokes about the Gem Witch’s strange flying object, Fang Xiaoxia’s supposed connection to cartoon characters, and their preferences for breakfast foods.
• Blood Shadow tries to turn the group’s departure into a poetic moment, but Fang Xiaoxia humorously prevents her from doing so.
• The four travelers display growing camaraderie despite still being unfamiliar with one another, behaving like the beginning of a newly formed adventuring party.
• The investigators and Authorities do not meet Bai Zhou directly, but their fearful reactions demonstrate the indirect impact of his actions and the widening circle of people affected by him.

Chapter Summary: “Lakeside Market; The Thousand-and-First Resistance Repair!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Authorities arrive at the ruins of the Lakeside Market after a violent confrontation involving the Blood Worship Cult, the Five-Colored Guards, gigantic monstrous beings, and a mysterious Mecha-like entity.
• Qiao Sisi and several Spark Society members—including Xiao Lin, Xiaomi, and Liu Jie—are recovered alive but seriously injured. They are transported to medical facilities for treatment and questioning.
• Investigators detect overwhelming spiritual traces, suggesting that multiple extremely powerful Lifeforgers—possibly at the level of 3-Life Lifeforgers—fought at the site.
• Emerald Flame, a Titled Transcendent, seals the area and orders a full investigation. She concludes that the event is connected not only to the Blood Worship Cult but possibly also to the Five Elders Institute and the mysterious criminal Sloth.
• The incident successfully causes the Authorities to become highly suspicious that the Blood Worship Cult is pursuing a larger hidden objective, advancing Bai Zhou’s plan to redirect their attention.
• Bai Zhou leads the Gem Witch, Fang Xiaoxia, and others to a moonlit circular lake identified through the Holy Relic Seal. They discover that the normally deserted location is crowded with ordinary people holding what appears to be a late-night market, possibly a “Ghost Market.”
• At Blood Worship Cult headquarters, the Holy Son’s body violently explodes after the Demon brain attached to his head repeatedly denies something. A parchment emerges from the brain announcing the successful “thousand-and-first denial,” which concealed the Tianjing Differential Engine’s monitoring and resisted “historical repair.”
• Another version of the Holy Son appears, retrieves the brain, and replaces it on his head. Behind the Needle Throne are 1,001 identical masses of rotten flesh, implying that the Holy Son has repeatedly died and reconstructed himself.
• A countdown inside the brain shows just over nine days remaining, while enormous flesh masses chant “Blood,” suggesting an approaching major ritual or catastrophe.

Character Developments

• Emerald Flame is shown to be powerful but deeply unsettled by the scale and mystery of the ruins. Her fear of Sloth grows as she considers that he may be capable of summoning or becoming a monstrous entity.
• Bai Zhou demonstrates strategic success: although the Authorities do not understand the Blood Worship Cult’s true purpose, they now believe a larger conspiracy is underway, making future operations easier for him.
• Qiao Sisi and the Spark Society members are revealed to have survived the battle, but their injuries emphasize the extreme danger of the conflict.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia become increasingly exasperated by Bai Zhou’s unexplained nighttime expedition, though they continue following him.
• The Holy Son is revealed to possess an abnormal, repeatable form of resurrection or body replacement. His calm reaction to exploding and reconstructing himself suggests that this process has happened at least 1,001 times.

Significant Themes

• Hidden conspiracies and misdirection: Bai Zhou manipulates events so that the Authorities focus on the Blood Worship Cult’s supposed grand plan without discovering his own objectives.
• The limits of human understanding: Emerald Flame and the investigators are confronted with forces so powerful and strange that even their instruments fail to measure them.
• Identity and repetition: The Holy Son’s repeated deaths and replacements raise questions about whether the figure called the Holy Son is one person, a series of bodies, or something more artificial and ritualistic.
• Historical manipulation and resistance: The “historical repair” and “thousand-and-first denial” imply a struggle against an unknown system capable of observing or correcting events.
• Impending catastrophe: The countdown and the masses chanting for blood establish that the current chaos is preparation for a larger event.

Important Character Interactions

• Emerald Flame orders her deputy to evacuate and treat the injured Spark Society members, then seals the ruins after noticing suspicious movement.
• Bai Zhou jokes with the Gem Witch about admiring the moon, while Fang Xiaoxia supports his literary reference to Su Shi and Zhang Huaimin. The Gem Witch humorously complains that they were forcibly dragged into the expedition.
• Bai Zhou, the Gem Witch, and Fang Xiaoxia share their suspicion when they observe the crowded lakeside market and wonder whether it is a Ghost Market.
• At headquarters, the Holy Son interacts with the Demon brain attached to him in a grotesque symbiotic relationship. After the brain triggers his explosion, he calmly reattaches it and disposes of his old body, revealing the ritualized nature of his repeated reconstruction.

Chapter Summary: “Worshipping the Moonlight, Fishmen Leap into the Lake!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou, Ya, the Gem Witch, and Fang Xiaoxia hide in the mountain forest overlooking a strange midnight market beside a lake.
• The market appears ordinary, selling food, tools, livestock, and household goods, but several details seem unnatural:
  • It operates around midnight.
  • The residents dress like fishermen despite living beside a freshwater lake.
  • A strong fishy, rotten smell hangs over the area.
  • Laughter and other sounds abruptly stop, suggesting concealed fear or unnatural restraint.
• Bai Zhou and the others avoid entering the market because it blocks the route to the Hidden Vault of the Holy Relic Institute beneath the lake. If the residents are hostile, bypassing them could leave the group vulnerable to an attack from behind.
• Ya explains that local customs and folk traditions can preserve traces of supernatural influence. A midnight market near a mysterious lake may reflect the Hidden Vault’s long-term impact on the region.
• Bai Zhou notices that the townspeople’s clothing resembles that of fishermen and recalls that the founder of the Holy Relic Institute may also have been a fisherman.
• When midnight arrives, three bell chimes sound. The market’s activity suddenly stops.
• The residents begin a synchronized and horrifying ritual:
  • Vendors violently mutilate themselves and their goods.
  • Everyone turns toward the moon and worships it with rigid, practiced movements.
  • Their inhuman physical features become visible: bulging eyes, distorted faces, rough necks, and rotten, fishlike odors.
• As the moonlight intensifies over the lake, scales, gills, and webbed fingers suddenly appear on the townspeople. They transform into grotesque fishmen without any detectable spiritual reaction.
• The fishmen crawl and leap into the lake one after another, apparently returning to the water as part of the ritual.
• Bai Zhou realizes that their transformation resembles a crude, weakened imitation of the Thousand-Faced Moon. The Dead Sea Scrolls react, confirming that the transformation is connected to something familiar and dangerous.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou demonstrates caution and analytical skill. Rather than rushing into the market or activating his Personal Destiny, he observes patiently and weighs the strategic risks.
• He also recognizes his own lack of knowledge about local customs and gains a deeper understanding of how ordinary cultural practices can conceal supernatural clues.
• His suspicion develops into certainty as he connects the fishermen-like residents, the lake, the Holy Relic Institute’s founder, and the moon-centered ritual.
• Ya acts as both mentor and strategist. She explains the historical function of markets, the significance of remote local traditions, and the importance of studying modern society during archaeological investigations.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia are visibly shaken by the residents’ transformation, revealing that even experienced supernatural investigators are disturbed by the scene.
• The townspeople are revealed not as ordinary villagers but as ritual participants or transformed beings linked to the lake and moonlight.

Significant Themes

• The supernatural hidden within the ordinary: The market initially appears mundane, emphasizing how terrifying supernatural forces may be concealed inside familiar customs.
• Folk tradition as evidence: Ya stresses that local history, customs, and rituals can preserve clues about ancient supernatural influence.
• The danger of incomplete knowledge: Bai Zhou’s strength does not eliminate his need to learn about culture, history, and regional practices.
• Transformation and loss of humanity: The residents’ shift from ordinary people into fishmen suggests corruption, ritual possession, or a return to an inhuman origin.
• The moon and water as ritual forces: Moonlight, the lake’s reflective surface, and synchronized worship combine to activate a hidden ritual.
• Imitation of greater powers: The fishmen’s transformation appears to mimic the Thousand-Faced Moon in a crude and weakened form, hinting at a connection to a much greater cosmic or supernatural entity.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou communicates silently with Ya through the Heart-to-Heart Connection Ritual, asking whether the midnight market could be a local custom.
• Ya responds by explaining the nature of markets and the significance of supernatural influence on isolated communities.
• Their exchange becomes an impromptu teacher-student lesson, with Bai Zhou listening seriously and applying Ya’s knowledge to the situation.
• Bai Zhou silently signals the group to remain hidden, and the others follow his cautious strategy.
• The group witnesses the fishmen’s ritual together, but Bai Zhou reacts most intensely because the transformation triggers recognition connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Thousand-Faced Moon.

Chapter Summary: “Iron Chain Linkage Small Ritual, Fishman Mating, ‘You Come!’”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou observes Fishmen gathering beneath the moonlit lake and confirms that the strange moonlight is connected to the Thousand-Faced Moon. The moonlight briefly reveals a grotesque, mutated world, while the Dead Sea Scrolls absorb the influence.
• He notices a possible connection between the Fishmen’s moon worship and the Holy Relic Institute’s founding ancestor, who was also supposedly a fisherman. This suggests that the lake, the Fishmen, and the Institute may share a hidden origin.
• Bai Zhou, the Gem Witch, and Fang Xiaoxia secretly follow the Fishmen into the abandoned Ghost Market and prepare several rituals for underwater exploration:
  • Underwater Breathing
  • Diving Procession
  • Waterflow Traversal
  • Iron Chain Linkage
  • Heart-to-Heart Connection
  • Concealment of spiritual fluctuations
• The three descend into the lake while Ya remains separate, protected by an ability that keeps the water away from him.
• Using the Iron Chain Linkage and Heart-to-Heart Connection rituals, Bai Zhou, the Gem Witch, and Fang Xiaoxia remain physically, spiritually, and mystically connected as they follow the Fishmen through the depths.
• They pass through a fissure lined with what appear to be countless human teeth, suggesting that people may have been transformed into Fishmen or sacrificed to gain passage.
• Beyond the fissure lies an ancient underwater graveyard filled with hundreds of earthen mounds and worn stone tablets.
• The Fishmen perform a bizarre ritual over the graves. Bai Zhou initially interprets it as a ritual dance, but Ya identifies it as mating, possibly functioning as an offering to an unknown entity.
• The Fishmen avoid a massive submerged ancestral hall guarded by a sealed Bronze Gate. The gate bears spiral patterns identical to those associated with Bai Zhou’s Holy Relic Seal.
• After mating, the Fishmen worship the ancestral hall in a ritual resembling their moon worship, then leave the graveyard.
• Once the Fishmen depart, Bai Zhou and his companions approach the Bronze Gate. He realizes that its seal is powerful enough to kill even his Mecha-form body instantly, making force useless.
• When Bai Zhou produces the Holy Relic Seal, the gate responds. He hears a vast voice calling, “Come!”
• Bai Zhou receives a vision of a seven-colored horse carrying a figure identical to himself. The figure wears a crystal skull as a crown—the same Crystal Skull connected to the ruins of Evening City and the secret of defeating the Holy Son.
• Golden light and thunderous voices emerge from the sealed gate and the Crystal Skull, calling directly to Bai Zhou: “You come!”

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou becomes increasingly aware that his Holy Relic, the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Thousand-Faced Moon, the Crystal Skull, the Holy Relic Institute, and the Fishmen are all parts of a much larger hidden mystery.
• He demonstrates growing confidence and competence by organizing the underwater expedition and applying multiple rituals with ease.
• His caution and imagination are emphasized through his fear of underwater dangers and his decision to link the group together so no one can become separated.
• Bai Zhou also shows embarrassment and self-consciousness around the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia, especially when their wet clothing reveals their figures. His awkward glances and Ya’s reaction add comic tension to the otherwise horrifying scene.
• Ya remains detached, powerful, and enigmatic. He refuses to join the linked group and seems to understand the Fishmen’s behavior and sacrificial rituals better than the others.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia function as cautious but cooperative members of Bai Zhou’s team. Their contrasting reactions—curiosity from the Gem Witch and prideful confidence from Fang Xiaoxia—add personality to the expedition.

Significant Themes

• Hidden connections and ancient origins: Seemingly unrelated myths—the fisherman founder, the Fishmen, moon worship, the Holy Relic Institute, and the Crystal Skull—begin to converge.
• Ritual and sacrifice: The Fishmen’s mating and worship are presented as forms of ritual offering, suggesting that devotion in this world may involve both sexuality and grotesque physical transformation.
• Transformation and mutation: The Fishmen, the teeth embedded in the fissure, and the Thousand-Faced Moon’s vision all evoke the corruption of human bodies and identities.
• Buried history: The graveyard, submerged ancestral hall, and sealed Bronze Gate imply that the most important truths have been deliberately hidden beneath layers of time, water, and death.
• Destiny and identity: The vision of Bai Zhou’s own likeness riding the seven-colored horse suggests that he may be connected to the ancient events behind the Holy Relic Institute. The Crystal Skull’s direct summons indicates that his role may have been predetermined.
• Knowledge as danger: Bai Zhou gains crucial information, but each discovery reveals an even more powerful and terrifying mystery.

Important Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou silently coordinates with the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia, establishing himself as the leader of the infiltration.
• The three form a literal and mystical chain underwater through the Iron Chain Linkage and Heart-to-Heart Connection rituals, reinforcing their reliance on one another.
• Ya stays physically and emotionally apart from the group, observing them with cold detachment while providing key interpretations of the Fishmen’s actions.
• Bai Zhou and Ya share an awkward exchange of glances underwater; Ya’s glare suggests she notices his embarrassment and wandering attention.
• At the Bronze Gate, Bai Zhou is the only one who receives the direct vision and summons, marking him as uniquely connected to the sealed power within.
• The chapter ends with the ancient force behind the gate calling specifically to Bai Zhou, transforming the expedition from an investigation into a personal summons.

Chapter Summary: “Open Sesame, a Treasure Beyond Compare!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou awakens after experiencing a mysterious vision connected to the Crystal Skull. Unlike the others, he saw something within the Holy Relic Institute’s Hidden Vault, but an ominous force warns him not to describe it aloud or even put it into words.
• He begins questioning the relationship between the Crystal Skull, Evening City, and the Holy Relic Institute. The Skull has summoned him before, apparently existing both beneath the ruins of Evening City and somewhere within the Institute.
• The group examines the sealed Bronze Gate leading into the Hidden Vault. The Gem Witch uses her enhanced analytical abilities to determine that the entire underwater shrine is connected by an immense spiritual seal. Opening the gate without the proper key could unleash enough power to destroy the lake, surrounding mountains, and the treasures within.
• Bai Zhou studies the gate with the Celestial Pivot and discovers that the lock is missing half of a beast-shaped key. The Holy Relic Seal resonates with the door but cannot open it, suggesting that the Institute’s defenses were designed for a legitimate heir carrying both the seal and the missing key.
• Refusing to leave empty-handed, Bai Zhou decides to “pick” the lock using the forbidden Ancient Script and his Sketching Brush. He orders the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia to retreat, while Ya remains beside him.
• Bai Zhou writes the forbidden script onto the lock while jokingly invoking “Open Sesame.” The script triggers a violent black whirlwind filled with demonic apparitions, devastates the nearby lakebed, and ultimately destroys only the lock.
• The Bronze Gate opens, revealing an underwater ancestral hall filled with rows of sealed black coffins. The coffins contain incorrupt corpses of powerful Lifeforgers, including many at the Three-Life Lifeforger level.
• Each corpse is surrounded by extraordinary radiance, indicating that the coffins also preserve ancient knowledge, Secret Treasures, equipment, Magic Potions, and other inheritances. The group realizes that this is the true foundation of the Holy Relic Institute—a vast collection of priceless legacies capable of rebuilding the Institute at its former peak.

2. Character Developments

• Bai Zhou becomes increasingly aware that his growing knowledge only reveals deeper mysteries, particularly the connection between the Crystal Skull, Evening City, and the Holy Relic Institute. His Adventurer nature is reinforced by his determination to advance despite danger and uncertainty.
• He demonstrates greater mastery and boldness by using the forbidden Ancient Script as an unconventional lock-picking method. His confidence, ingenuity, and willingness to take risks are emphasized, though his method nearly causes a catastrophe.
• The Gem Witch shows major growth as a Lifeforger. Her former Wisdom Eyes have developed into an ability capable of analyzing complex objects, spiritual structures, and seals. Her insight establishes her as a powerful and knowledgeable companion.
• Fang Xiaoxia feels pressured by the others’ progress and realizes she must become stronger rather than remain stagnant. This awakens her competitive spirit and causes the Blood Shadow within her to react approvingly, like a proud parent.
• Ya remains calm and observant. She is the only companion who refuses to retreat from Bai Zhou and is both impressed and bemused by his reckless use of the forbidden script.

3. Significant Themes

• Knowledge creates more questions: Bai Zhou reflects that understanding more about the world often makes one more aware of one’s ignorance. The Crystal Skull and the Hidden Vault expand rather than resolve the central mysteries.
• Progress and self-improvement: The characters’ increasing strength inspires Fang Xiaoxia to pursue her own advancement, while Bai Zhou’s Adventurer Path emphasizes constant forward movement.
• Ingenuity versus established rules: The Holy Relic Institute created an almost impenetrable seal, but Bai Zhou bypasses it through an unorthodox and destructive technique rather than following the intended method.
• Hidden legacies and historical power: The coffins represent the accumulated achievements of past extraordinary beings. The chapter presents inheritance as the true source of an organization’s enduring strength.
• Humor amid danger: Bai Zhou’s absurdly casual “lock-picking” and insistence that he is an honest man contrast with the terrifying power of the forbidden script and the immense danger surrounding the gate.

4. Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou tries to question the others about what they saw, but the Crystal Skull’s warning prevents him from sharing his vision.
• The Gem Witch explains the danger of opening the shrine and concludes that the gate cannot be breached without its missing key. Bai Zhou then uses his own analysis to confirm her deduction.
• Fang Xiaoxia and Bai Zhou silently compare themselves with the Gem Witch, recognizing her rapid growth and feeling motivated to improve.
• Bai Zhou orders the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia to retreat before attempting his dangerous technique. Their stunned reactions afterward highlight how incomprehensible his abilities appear, even to the experienced Gem Witch.
• Ya witnesses Bai Zhou’s method for the first time and recognizes the same forbidden script he previously attempted to copy. Her reaction combines surprise, admiration, and disbelief.
• Once the gate opens, all three companions share the shock of discovering the coffins and realizing that the Hidden Vault contains an unparalleled collection of ancient inheritances.

Chapter Summary: “Second Destiny Contract, Solar Refinement, Sun Fist!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou, the Gem Witch, Fang Xiaoxia, and their companions pass through the opened Bronze Gate into a submerged shrine filled with coffins.
• The water becomes unusually pure and spiritually charged near the coffins. Contact with this spirituality gives the group visions of the Holy Relic Institute’s past:
  • Its former prosperity, with apprentices, mentors, warriors, and powerful Extraordinary Ones.
  • The institute’s decline, the deaths of its high-ranking members, and the sealing of the shrine beneath the lake.
• Ya explains that the visions are caused by the concentrated spirituality of the deceased. Because the corpses were not allowed to release their spirituality naturally, the area has become saturated with lingering memories and “ghost-like” phenomena.
• The group realizes the shrine is not merely a tomb. It is a ritual site built on a Corpse-Nurturing Land, designed to preserve the corpses and their spirituality.
• Ya identifies three layers of containment: the special terrain, the shrine’s ritual structure, and the sealed coffins. The apricot-yellow seals appear to have maintained the corpses’ spiritual condition.
• This raises major mysteries:
  1. Why did the supposedly righteous Holy Relic Institute know and use corpse-cultivation techniques?
  2. Why were the corpses being preserved?
  3. What secrets or purposes were connected to this hidden vault?
• Ya suggests that the institute may have preserved both corpses and valuable inheritances. Coffins with intact seals remain dangerous, but those whose seals have decayed are considered failed cultivation attempts and can be opened safely.
• The group opens roughly ten deteriorated coffins. The corpses mostly disintegrate, leaving behind treasures such as Magic Potions, books, knowledge, and an Extraordinary Weapon close to the level of a Spirit-Name Secret Treasure.
• In the final coffin, Bai Zhou discovers a jade book that resonates strongly with his Adventurer Path. It transmits knowledge directly into his mind and reveals a powerful technique: the Adventurer Path Destiny Contract—Sun Fist.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou shifts from excitement over discovering “treasure chests” to serious concern about the shrine’s dark purpose. His curiosity about the Holy Relic Institute deepens, especially as he considers possible connections to the Crystal Skull, the Blood Worship Cult’s Holy Son, Evening City, and even himself.
• His Adventurer Path visibly reacts to the jade book, confirming that the book contains a Destiny Contract specifically suited to him. This suggests a deeper historical connection between Adventurers and the Holy Relic Institute.
• Bai Zhou remains eager and opportunistic despite the danger, enthusiastically leading the group in opening the coffins.
• Ya demonstrates extensive knowledge of spirituality, corpse cultivation, rituals, burial traditions, and the Holy Relic Institute. He acts as the group’s guide and interpreter, while also encouraging Bai Zhou to focus on practical gains.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia are unsettled by the corpse-cultivation discovery but continue participating in the investigation and treasure recovery. They become increasingly impressed—and suspicious—of Bai Zhou’s seemingly limitless knowledge and abilities.

Significant Themes

• Glory versus decay: The Holy Relic Institute’s former brilliance contrasts sharply with its hidden, morally troubling corpse-cultivation practices and eventual destruction.
• Death and the passage of time: Even the most powerful individuals eventually become forgotten corpses. Time erodes glory, bodies, seals, and even death’s remains.
• The ambiguity of morality: The institute was remembered as an upright enemy of the Blood Worship Cult, yet its secret practices challenge its heroic reputation.
• Preservation and misuse of the dead: The shrine prevents the corpses’ spirituality from returning naturally to the world, turning death into a controlled ritual resource.
• Inheritance and destiny: The coffins preserve knowledge and artifacts for future generations, while the jade book’s resonance with Bai Zhou suggests that destiny—and perhaps history—has specifically prepared this discovery for him.
• Adventure and archaeology: Bai Zhou humorously frames tomb exploration as the proper work of Adventurers and archaeologists, blending irreverence with genuine historical discovery.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou and Ya communicate through the Heart-to-Heart Connection Ritual, with Ya explaining the spiritual phenomena and guiding Bai Zhou’s interpretation of the shrine.
• Ya repeatedly redirects Bai Zhou from speculation toward practical concerns, especially the distinction between intact and failed corpse-cultivation coffins.
• Bai Zhou shares Ya’s conclusions with the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia, who react with shock and amusement at his familiarity with forbidden or obscure knowledge.
• The group cooperates cautiously to open the deteriorated coffins, gradually becoming more efficient as they recover each artifact.
• When Bai Zhou touches the jade book, its brilliance overwhelms the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia, while only Bai Zhou receives its transmitted knowledge. The discovery establishes a uniquely personal connection between Bai Zhou and the ancient Adventurer inheritance.

Ending

The chapter ends with Bai Zhou receiving the secret transmission of the Upper Clear School’s Solar Refinement technique, titled “Sun Fist.” The technique manifests as a devastating punch that creates and detonates a miniature sun, marking Bai Zhou’s acquisition of his second Destiny Contract and a major advancement of his Adventurer Path.

Chapter Summary

This chapter is an author’s thank-you note rather than a story chapter.

• Key events: The author thanks the reader “Ruqingshan Lanmeng” for contributing 1.1 million Qidian Coins, making this the novel’s first Silver Grand Alliance Leader and Yu Lu’s first such supporter. The donation also funds a birthday event for Fang Xiaoxia in early September.
• Author updates: Yu Lu has been writing side stories and organizing the ending of Volume Two. The volume is expected to conclude around August, after Bai Zhou clears Tinghai and defeats the Holy Son. Bai Zhou will then travel to Tianjing and enter the international stage, where he is expected to make a dramatic debut.
• Bonus chapters: The author currently owes eleven bonus chapters and promises to release them after organizing the plot.
• Character development: No new character actions occur, but Bai Zhou’s upcoming transition from local conflicts to worldwide prominence is previewed.
• Themes and interactions: The main focus is gratitude toward readers, community support, and the relationship between author and audience. The chapter also builds anticipation for Bai Zhou’s future rise and encourages readers to continue reading and vote.

Chapter Summary: “The Third Trial! Noble Fate Within Reach!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou obtains the jade scripture Sun Fist, a powerful Destiny Contract from the Adventurer Path, hidden within a dissolving corpse in the Holy Relic Institute’s underwater ancestral hall.
• Sun Fist is revealed to be an explosive, close-range technique that generates immense power within the user’s body and releases it through punches. However, it damages the internal organs and may shorten the practitioner’s lifespan.
• Ya identifies Sun Fist as potentially a protector inheritance of the Dao Gate, possibly originating from the Zhao-Song imperial family and later preserved by the Upper Clear School.
• Ya confirms that Upper Clear School is now based in Little Xuandu, one of the Eastern Federation’s supercities and the headquarters of the mysterious Dao Gate. The school is connected to ancient Daoist traditions and possesses significant influence.
• Ya explains that the Dao Gate contains multiple branches and extraordinary traditions. Although its main path is separate from the Destiny Sequence, its strongest practitioners can rival or surpass ordinary Destined Ones.
• Ya warns Bai Zhou that the Dao Gate’s “protectors” often use inherited techniques from other Paths, acting as powerful agents who defend and spread the Dao Gate’s influence.
• Ya agrees to improve Sun Fist or reduce its harmful side effects before Bai Zhou begins cultivating it. With Sun Fist, Bai Zhou could potentially advance toward becoming a Two-Life Lifeforger and eventually fight the strongest figures in Tinghai.
• Before they can proceed, the underwater ancestral hall begins shaking violently. A massive creature approaches, creating a storm and powerful currents despite being at the bottom of a lake.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia identify the creature as a gigantic Tiger-Striped Whale. Its whale-like roar and mountain-sized shadow overwhelm the area.
• The creature’s pressure locks onto Bai Zhou, causing his Personal Destiny and the Trialist Destiny Path to react intensely.
• Bai Zhou realizes that the whale fulfills the condition of the Third Trial from the Roman Secret Lore: “Cross the storm and ride the waves with a whale!”
• Rather than fleeing, Bai Zhou embraces the trial and prepares to confront or ride the giant creature in pursuit of forging his Noble Fate.

2. Character Developments

• Bai Zhou grows increasingly ambitious and recognizes that his current Personal Destiny is no longer enough against rising opponents, especially Destined Ones. He becomes determined to obtain a Noble Fate and advance to the Two-Life Lifeforger realm.
• He demonstrates greater confidence and battle readiness by interpreting the giant whale as a destined challenge rather than a threat to escape.
• Bai Zhou’s relationship with his Trialist Destiny deepens; the Path instinctively responds to the whale as the enemy or challenge destined for him.
• Ya reveals both her extensive historical knowledge and her limitations. She explains that much of her knowledge comes from ordinary books and encourages Bai Zhou to value all forms of learning.
• Ya shows strong concern for Bai Zhou by insisting on modifying Sun Fist before he practices it. Her protective behavior makes Bai Zhou feel as though he is being cared for by a loving elder.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia act as alarmed scouts, discovering the approaching monster and fleeing to warn Bai Zhou.

3. Significant Themes

• The pursuit of destiny and transformation: Bai Zhou seeks to turn an ordinary Personal Destiny into a Noble Fate through trials and overcoming extraordinary challenges.
• Power and sacrifice: Sun Fist represents overwhelming strength achieved at a serious bodily cost, emphasizing that advancement often demands sacrifice.
• Knowledge as universal and practical: Ya argues that all knowledge—including history, science, stories, and cookbooks—can be useful in navigating the Mystic World.
• Inheritance and cultural continuity: Sun Fist connects the Adventurer Path, Dao Gate traditions, imperial history, and ancient secret inheritances.
• Teacher-student trust and care: Ya’s guidance is not merely intellectual; her concern for Bai Zhou’s safety demonstrates a growing emotional bond.
• Facing rather than avoiding destiny: Bai Zhou’s instinct is no longer to flee from overwhelming danger. He recognizes the whale as the next step in his predetermined trial and willingly moves toward it.
• The return of the heroic challenger: The imagery of dragons, gladiatorial arenas, storms, and whales frames Bai Zhou’s path as a mythic journey toward kingship and greatness.

4. Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou consults Ya about Sun Fist and the mysterious Upper Clear School.
• Ya teaches him about the Dao Gate, the history of Upper Clear School, and the importance of broad learning.
• Bai Zhou responds enthusiastically, sharing examples of ordinary books and stories that have helped him understand life.
• Ya and Bai Zhou develop a warm, teacher-student dynamic: Bai Zhou enjoys her long explanations, while Ya finds his patience and eagerness rewarding.
• Ya praises Sun Fist’s compatibility with Bai Zhou but cautions him about its lethal drawbacks, promising to refine it.
• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia urgently warn Bai Zhou about the giant creature, while Bai Zhou initially misunderstands them before recognizing the danger.
• The chapter ends with Bai Zhou emotionally and spiritually accepting the whale as the challenge required to begin the Third Trial and forge his Noble Fate.

Chapter Summary: “Guardian Armament, [Shadow of the Deep One]!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A gigantic creature rises from the lake behind the ancestral hall. Initially resembling a massive fish or whale, it is revealed to be a mountain-sized Fishman with a fish head, humanoid torso, scales, and a tail.
• The ancient Fishman appears to be the source or progenitor of the moon-worshipping Fishmen living in the nearby town. Its appearance and aura suggest that it may once have been human.
• The creature unleashes a devastating storm filled with chaotic, annihilating spirituality. Bai Zhou avoids it using his secret movement technique, Three Thousand Three Hundred Vortexes.
• The Fishman undergoes a horrific transformation, with flesh, tendrils, bone spines, fins, wings, and other features repeatedly growing and dissolving across its body. Bai Zhou recognizes this as an advanced application of the [Thousand-Faced Moon] from the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• Bai Zhou realizes the creature’s mutation resembles what could happen when someone uses the Dead Sea Scrolls without his control or intermediary methods. He questions whether the Fishman was transformed willingly or involuntarily.
• The giant Fishman does not initially attack. Instead, it circles the ancestral hall, leading Bai Zhou to conclude that it is guarding something connected to the Dead Sea Scrolls and the origin of the town’s Fishmen.
• When Bai Zhou approaches the darkness behind the hall, the Fishman attacks. Gem Witch warns him that the creature has a tremendous advantage underwater, but Bai Zhou accepts the fight as part of his third trial.
• Bai Zhou begins a life-or-death battle against the Fishman, whose power is equivalent to a powerful Lifeforging Second Life expert and may rival a Destined One in its underwater environment.
• During the battle, Bai Zhou notices a mysterious point of light hidden behind the ancestral hall. Looking at it triggers severe contamination, causing him to nearly grow scales, fins, and other Fishman traits.
• Bai Zhou suppresses the mutation using the [Soothing] character. He concludes that the hidden object is the source of the Fishman’s transformation and suffering.
• The contamination also reaches the Dead Sea Scrolls, but the chained Forbidden Canon absorbs and digests it.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls identify the hidden object as a weapon left behind by a previous host: [Shadow of the Deep One]. The armament can transform its user into a [Deep-Diving Mermaid] form and can only be equipped underwater or near bodies of water. The Scrolls instruct Bai Zhou to seize and add it to his collection.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou demonstrates exceptional mobility and combat skill by evading the Fishman’s destructive storm with Three Thousand Three Hundred Vortexes.
• He gains a deeper understanding of the Dead Sea Scrolls and the dangers of the [Thousand-Faced Moon], recognizing that its effects differ depending on the user and may lead to uncontrolled mutation.
• Bai Zhou shows growing investigative insight, deducing that the Fishman is not attacking randomly but is bound to protect a hidden object.
• His third trial begins in earnest, forcing him to confront an opponent stronger than himself in an environment where the enemy has overwhelming advantages.
• Bai Zhou also discovers a new potential armament, [Shadow of the Deep One], which may expand his underwater capabilities but carries clear associations with mutation and contamination.
• Gem Witch acts as a cautious supporter, warning Bai Zhou about the dangers of underwater combat and preparing to intervene when he becomes vulnerable.
• Fang Xiaoxia remains connected to the battle through the Heart-to-Heart Connection, sharing Gem Witch’s alarm and concern.

Significant Themes

• Transformation and corruption: The Fishman’s grotesque mutation illustrates the dangerous, uncontrollable consequences of using forbidden knowledge without proper safeguards.
• Identity and lost humanity: Bai Zhou wonders whether the Fishman was once a villager and whether its monstrous form was chosen or imposed upon it.
• Guardianship and suffering: The Fishman appears to be both a protector and a prisoner, bound to guard the source of its mutation while enduring constant pain.
• Knowledge as power and danger: The Dead Sea Scrolls provide powerful abilities and new information, but they also connect Bai Zhou to dangerous forces capable of altering body and mind.
• Trials and fate: Bai Zhou’s confrontation represents his third trial and a test of whether he can attain the same level of Noble Fate as Destined Ones.
• Courage against overwhelming odds: The image of the small, determined Bai Zhou facing a colossal monster evokes the archetype of a hero confronting a dragon despite being physically outmatched.

Important Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou and the giant Fishman: Their confrontation begins when Bai Zhou approaches the guarded area. The Fishman’s attacks are initially defensive, suggesting that its aggression is driven by its duty to protect the hidden object.
• Bai Zhou and Gem Witch: Gem Witch repeatedly warns Bai Zhou about the Fishman’s underwater advantage and moves to rescue him when he freezes during battle.
• Bai Zhou and Fang Xiaoxia: Fang Xiaoxia receives the battle through the Heart-to-Heart Connection alongside Gem Witch and shares concern for Bai Zhou’s safety.
• Bai Zhou and the Dead Sea Scrolls: The Scrolls absorb the contamination, reveal the identity of the hidden armament, and direct Bai Zhou to claim it, reinforcing their role as both tool and quasi-independent entity.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou identifies the guardian monster as a mutated fishman connected to the weapon [Shadow of the Deep One], which was forged through the second chapter of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Moon-Forging Ode.
• He realizes that contamination from the weapon seeped into the lake, mutating the residents of the nearby town. The fishman was likely the first infected and became the Hidden Vault’s guardian.
• The enormous Deep-Diving Mermaid attacks Bai Zhou underwater. The Gem Witch intervenes, shielding him with multiple Violet Rainbow Walls, but the monster easily breaks through her defenses.
• Bai Zhou protects the Witch and begins fighting the fishman alone. His Blade-Flipping, Sword-Overturning Cosmos Form allows him to manipulate the battlefield, partially counteracting the fishman’s enormous advantage in its underwater environment.
• The Witch explains that the chaotic Water-Affiliated Spirituality makes the lake equivalent to a powerful home-field domain for the monster. Bai Zhou cannot rely on the surrounding spirituality and must expend his own reserves.
• As the battle drags on, Bai Zhou begins losing strength while the injured fishman grows increasingly frenzied. Realizing that ordinary combat will not be enough, Bai Zhou awakens his strongest battle state: Battleflame, also called Divine Intent Pierces the Sun, Battleflame Incinerates the Body.
• Battleflame eliminates the suppression caused by the underwater environment and transforms Bai Zhou into an overwhelming combatant. He switches to the saber [Wait] and unleashes [Heaven’s Will Returns to Ashes].
• The attack manifests as a miniature sun beneath the lake, completely burning the Deep-Diving Mermaid to ashes. The third trial, [Cross the Storm, Ride the Waves with a Whale], is successfully completed.
• After the victory, Bai Zhou’s Battleflame fades, leaving him severely exhausted. A “shackle” within him breaks, and his Personal Destiny begins undergoing a dramatic transformation toward Noble Fate.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou demonstrates increasing confidence, tactical judgment, and willingness to protect his allies. He deliberately sends the Gem Witch away because he believes the fishman is too dangerous for her to fight safely.
• He shows a growing understanding of Personal Destiny, recognizing that it allows Lifeforgers to create a localized “personal reality” and overcome environmental disadvantages.
• His battle instincts and identity as the King of Battle become more prominent. Battleflame reveals his ability to adapt to hostile environments and fight without being suppressed by the enemy’s home ground.
• Bai Zhou’s successful use of Heaven’s Will Returns to Ashes proves that his heaven-bestowed secret technique has become significantly stronger since his advancement to Lifeforger.
• The Gem Witch is shown to be brave and highly capable, despite her frustration at repeatedly facing enemies far stronger than expected. She worries about Bai Zhou and recognizes the danger of the underwater battle.
• Fang Xiaoxia reacts with amazement and humor, misinterpreting Bai Zhou’s transformation as a “Super Saiyan” form and joking that he must be an alien.
• Ya remains observant and knowledgeable, though she is irritated when Bai Zhou jokes about her ability to overhear others’ comments.

Significant Themes

• Personal reality versus environmental power: Lifeforgers can use Personal Destiny to impose their own rules on reality, allowing them to overcome hostile conditions.
• Adaptability and true heroism: Bai Zhou embraces the nature of an adventurer by fighting on an enemy’s home turf rather than relying on ideal conditions.
• Protection and sacrifice: Bai Zhou chooses to bear the greatest danger himself so the Gem Witch will not be injured.
• Transformation through trials: Completing the trial does more than secure victory; it causes Bai Zhou’s Personal Destiny to evolve and brings him closer to Noble Fate.
• Mythic heroism: The battle is framed like an ancient heroic legend, with Bai Zhou resembling a Brave One who defeats a monstrous guardian beneath the waves.
• Contamination and forbidden knowledge: The weapon forged from the Dead Sea Scrolls demonstrates how dangerous comprehension and contact with higher, unknowable powers can be.

Character Interactions

• The Gem Witch saves Bai Zhou from the fishman’s initial attack and attempts to hold it back with her gem magic.
• Bai Zhou then shields her, thanks her for intervening, and orders her to withdraw while he handles the battle.
• Their exchange reflects mutual trust: the Witch worries that Bai Zhou cannot survive underwater, while Bai Zhou confidently accepts responsibility for the fight.
• Bai Zhou jokingly warns the Witch about Ya’s ability to overhear conversations, provoking Ya’s silent irritation.
• Fang Xiaoxia and the others watch in shock as Bai Zhou transforms and ultimately defeats the Deep-Diving Mermaid.
• The chapter ends with everyone witnessing the aftermath while Bai Zhou alone experiences the internal breakthrough toward Noble Fate.

Chapter Summary: “Advancing to Noble Fate! Weapon Acquired!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou’s Personal Destiny, Bai Yang Fate, undergoes a violent evolution within his Fate Space. The process resembles the digestion of a Magic Potion, but unlike ordinary Lifeforgers, Bai Zhou gains nourishment by surpassing himself through Trials.
• His Destiny successfully evolves from ordinary Destiny into Noble Fate, completing the advancement in a single, uninterrupted transformation.
• After advancing, Bai Zhou’s Personal Destiny expands dramatically:
  • Its natural coverage grows from a thin layer around his body to a spherical domain over one meter in radius.
  • When combined with the Transcendent Divine Intent Domain, the range expands to nearly three meters.
  • His overall Destiny quality, quantity, speed, altitude, endurance, and output power increase by roughly four times.
• Bai Zhou tests his new abilities by flying through the lake underwater. His speed becomes close to the speed of sound when amplified by the Transcendent Divine Intent Domain.
• The advancement also greatly strengthens his Destiny Contracts. His Blade-Flipping, Sword-Overturning Cosmos Form becomes powerful enough to break through the giant Fishman’s defenses without relying on the secret technique Heaven’s Will Returns to Ashes.
• Bai Zhou realizes that his former weakness—having insufficient Personal Destiny despite possessing powerful abilities—has finally been resolved. Although he is a newcomer to the Noble Fate realm, his amplified strength places him among the strongest individuals at that level.
• After stabilizing his advancement, Bai Zhou discovers that the Forbidden Canon Dead Sea Scrolls is reacting to the death of the Deep-Diving Mermaid.
• He enters the darkness beyond the ruined shrine and finds the source of the Fishmen’s mutation: a living-looking, fish-scaled suit of armor radiating intense contamination.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls identifies the object as the weapon Shadow of the Deep One, a relic left behind by an ancient Decayer, and begins converting or recovering it.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou reaches a major power milestone by advancing directly from ordinary Destiny to Noble Fate rather than progressing from Quasi-Noble Fate. This gives him a fourfold increase in both Destiny quality and quantity.
• His confidence and sense of freedom grow as he experiences his vastly improved flight and movement capabilities. His advancement confirms that his Trial-based path can produce results comparable to, or greater than, conventional Lifeforging.
• Bai Zhou also becomes more aware of his position among Noble Fate users. He recognizes that he is still a newcomer, but his Transcendent Divine Intent Domain gives him exceptional combat potential.
• Fang Xiaoxia reacts with relatively little surprise because she already holds an almost absolute belief in Bai Zhou’s abilities.
• The Gem Witch is visibly shocked and uncertain, sensing that Bai Zhou’s Personal Destiny has reached a level she considers nearly incomprehensible.
• Ya also watches Bai Zhou with astonishment and admiration, though her reaction is not explored in detail.
• The Deep-Diving Mermaid is defeated, leaving behind the mysterious weapon responsible for the Fishmen’s contamination.

Significant Themes

• Self-transcendence and inner potential: Bai Zhou’s advancement is powered not by an external ritual but by surpassing his own limits, reinforcing the idea that the human body contains an unexplored “small universe.”
• Courage and persistence: The evolution of Personal Destiny must be completed without hesitation. Bai Zhou’s progress reflects the Adventurer path’s principle of advancing boldly and never retreating.
• Power through accumulation: Bai Zhou’s strength comes from the combination of a stronger Personal Destiny and the Transcendent Divine Intent Domain. The chapter emphasizes how amplification becomes exponentially more valuable when applied to a stronger foundation.
• Freedom and mastery: Bai Zhou’s flight symbolizes the liberation associated with becoming a Destined One. Within his domain, he can treat himself as Heaven’s Will and command the surrounding laws.
• Dangerous knowledge and contamination: The weapon’s connection to the Fishmen’s mutations introduces a darker mystery. The Dead Sea Scrolls’ warnings suggest that understanding the weapon may itself bring annihilation or corruption.
• Unprecedented advancement: Bai Zhou’s direct leap into Noble Fate distinguishes him from ordinary practitioners and reinforces his exceptional, possibly anomalous path.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou reunites with the Gem Witch, Fang Xiaoxia, and Ya after his advancement. All three are stunned by the transformation of his Personal Destiny.
• Fang Xiaoxia’s unquestioning faith in Bai Zhou contrasts with the Gem Witch’s disbelief and analytical caution.
• Bai Zhou briefly acknowledges their reactions but prioritizes investigating the weapon, showing his focus and practical mindset.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls acts almost like an autonomous guide or sealed intelligence, issuing cryptic warnings before identifying and recovering the Shadow of the Deep One.
• The chapter ends with Bai Zhou claiming—or beginning to claim—the dangerous weapon that served as the source of the Fishmen’s contamination.

Chapter Summary: “Deep-Diving Mermaid! Sea King Reaches the Summit!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou discovers and equips the ancient weapon [Shadow of the Deep One], a weapon left behind by a powerful Decayer.
• The armor transforms him directly into the [Deep-Diving Mermaid], bypassing the usual trials required to obtain the form.
• The transformation radically alters his body: scales cover him, gills emerge, fins and membranous wings grow, his spine lengthens and develops bone spurs, and his eyes become fish-like.
• Underwater, Bai Zhou gains extraordinary speed, agility, defense, and offensive abilities. His spirituality changes from sunlike energy into highly corrosive Water-Affiliated Spirituality.
• The weapon effectively raises his combat strength to the level of a 2-Life Destined One while underwater, making him potentially capable of fighting even stronger opponents.
• Bai Zhou discovers the weapon’s serious drawback: it releases powerful contamination that affects both the environment and living beings. It can mutate fish, induce Ill Omen, and mentally assimilate its wearer.
• The contamination nearly overwhelms Bai Zhou, filling his mind with obsessive “fish” thoughts and causing his body to swell. He injures himself to regain focus, activates [Soothing], and removes the armor before absorbing the contamination back into the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• He concludes that the weapon is dangerous but could serve as a powerful last-resort trump card, especially in battles near water.
• Bai Zhou realizes that, with his recent advancement and new weapons, he has effectively become one of Tinghai’s major regional powers.
• His companions—Fang Xiaoxia, the Gem Witch, and Miss Ya—immediately question him about the transformation and his sudden progress, leaving Bai Zhou embarrassed and unsure how to explain his seemingly impossible achievements.

Character Development

• Bai Zhou gains tremendous confidence in his strength but also becomes more aware of the dangers accompanying power. The transformation reveals his potential as a terrifying underwater predator, yet he must actively resist becoming a monster.
• He demonstrates decisiveness and self-control by striking himself, using [Soothing], and abandoning the weapon before the contamination can fully consume him.
• Bai Zhou’s self-image shifts: he begins to recognize himself not merely as a rising fighter but as a genuine major figure within the Mystic World.
• Despite his growing power, he remains modest and socially awkward about appearing boastful, especially when questioned by his companions.
• Fang Xiaoxia displays intense curiosity and fascination with Bai Zhou’s new form, immediately treating the transformation as another “Sea King” development.
• The Gem Witch and Miss Ya become more observant and suspicious, having witnessed Bai Zhou’s rapid advancement and recognizing that his abilities conceal extraordinary secrets.

Significant Themes

• Power and corruption: The weapon grants overwhelming strength but carries contamination that can destroy the wielder’s mind and body.
• Mastery versus assimilation: Bai Zhou must use the weapon without allowing it to redefine him as a monster.
• The cost of advancement: Reaching the summit brings danger, scrutiny, and responsibility along with status.
• Environmental contamination: The weapon’s influence spreads beyond its user, harming enemies, allies, wildlife, and the surrounding waters.
• Identity and transformation: Bai Zhou’s change into a fish-dragon-like predator raises questions about whether power can be used without surrendering one’s humanity.
• Hidden greatness: Bai Zhou’s rise to regional prominence contrasts with his desire to remain low-key and avoid drawing attention.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou’s transformation is witnessed by Fang Xiaoxia, the Gem Witch, and Miss Ya, all of whom react with surprise and curiosity.
• Fang Xiaoxia openly questions how Bai Zhou transformed without completing the usual trials and jokingly asks whether the new form includes a trident.
• The Gem Witch and Miss Ya scrutinize him because they have seen his rapid advancement firsthand and know that his explanation will be difficult.
• Bai Zhou internally struggles with how to answer them without exposing his secrets or making his accomplishments sound like deliberate boasting.
• The chapter ends on a humorous contrast: Bai Zhou has become a terrifying, highly powerful underwater combatant, yet his immediate problem is explaining himself to three curious women.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou explains that the recent expansion of his Personal Destiny is connected to his Forbidden Canon, the Dead Sea Scrolls, though he initially avoids revealing the full truth.
• The Gem Witch realizes that Bai Zhou’s Personal Destiny has genuinely evolved from an ordinary fate into a Noble Fate—something she considers nearly impossible in the current Mystic World.
• Bai Zhou confirms the evolution but withholds the deeper secret behind it. He explains that fusing his Personal Destiny with his Divine Intent Domain allowed him to survive and fight effectively even before the advancement.
• The Gem Witch is shocked by the revelation but quickly accepts it, recognizing that Bai Zhou has earned her trust through his many extraordinary accomplishments. She promises not to reveal his secret and congratulates him on overcoming what had seemed to be his final weakness.
• While exploring the area behind the submerged ancestral hall, Bai Zhou’s equipment, [Shadow of the Deep One], begins vibrating and appears to sense its place of origin.
• The group discovers a mound surrounded by numerous Eastern and Western religious statues, including Lord Guan, Buddhist figures, Zhong Kui, the Virgin Mary, and Jesus on the Cross. Behind the Cross is a sealed metal door, suggesting that something dangerous is hidden inside.
• Bai Zhou realizes that the equipment is not drawn toward the location but frightened by it. At the same time, the Dead Sea Scrolls detect something buried nearby.
• Beneath the mud, Bai Zhou finds half of a crimson, transparent claw or fingernail-like fragment covered with strange red hairs. The fragment reacts violently to the Dead Sea Scrolls, emitting an intense golden light.
• Bai Zhou’s Holy Relic Seal also activates and reveals the fragment’s origin: it is a piece of an actual Holy Relic.
• Despite being only a tiny fragment, it possesses immense divine power and could serve as the core material for transforming thousands of Dark Puppets into Sunlight Soldiers or even Sun Knights. The discovery confirms that the Holy Relic Institute’s greatest secret and treasure is hidden in this submerged location.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou demonstrates greater openness with the Gem Witch, admitting that his Personal Destiny has advanced even though he continues to conceal the complete process behind it.
• His achievement removes what the Gem Witch believed was his last major weakness, making him even more formidable.
• The Gem Witch shifts from disbelief to admiration and trust. Although she feels inferior when comparing herself with Bai Zhou, his accomplishments motivate her to improve rather than discourage her.
• She also gains a clearer understanding of how extraordinary Bai Zhou is: he achieved victories against Demons, Monsters, Saints, and other powerful enemies while possessing an ordinary Personal Destiny.
• Ya quietly observes Bai Zhou and appears to want to speak with him, suggesting growing concern or interest, though she does not yet express it.
• Fang Xiaoxia continues to provide comic relief through the group’s mental communication channel, contrasting with the Gem Witch’s more experienced and serious perspective.

Significant Themes

• Growth beyond established limits: Bai Zhou’s Personal Destiny evolving into a Noble Fate challenges the accepted rules of the Mystic World.
• Hidden potential and secrets: Bai Zhou’s true abilities and the origins of his advancement remain only partially revealed, building anticipation for future developments.
• Trust and confidentiality: The Gem Witch recognizes the danger of Bai Zhou’s secret becoming public and responds by promising to protect it.
• Admiration versus rivalry: Although Bai Zhou’s achievements make the Gem Witch feel ordinary, they also inspire her to keep advancing.
• Sacred power and danger: The Holy Relic fragment represents both tremendous potential and an unknown threat, while the surrounding religious statues imply that something dangerous required powerful seals and protection.
• The unknown nature of the Mystic World: Both Bai Zhou and the Gem Witch confront phenomena that contradict their existing knowledge, reinforcing the idea that even experienced practitioners understand only a fraction of the world’s mysteries.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou uses humor and deliberately vague explanations to deflect the Gem Witch’s questions, while she sees through much of his evasiveness.
• The Gem Witch challenges Bai Zhou about his Personal Destiny but ultimately respects his boundaries and reassures him that she will keep his secret.
• She praises his accomplishments and acknowledges that his success is far beyond what ordinary “geniuses” could achieve.
• Bai Zhou and Ya share a brief but significant moment of mutual uncertainty when they discover the sealed mound and its ominous contents.
• The entire group reacts together to the fragment’s blinding light, retreating defensively before realizing that it is not immediately attacking them.
• The chapter ends with Bai Zhou and the others confronting the shocking truth that the object buried beneath the ancestral hall is connected directly to a Holy Relic.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou, Fang Xiaoxia, the Gem Witch, and Teacher Ya discover a fragment of the legendary Holy Relic: a piece no larger than half a fingernail hidden in the Holy Relic Institute’s secret vault.
• The fragment emits an enormous divine light and reveals mysterious, rotating patterns containing countless shadowy, human-like forms. Looking at it triggers piercing screams and severe spiritual contamination.
• Bai Zhou and his companions begin mutating. Bai Zhou is covered in red hair, loses control of his body, and risks losing his sanity. Fang Xiaoxia and the Gem Witch also suffer mutations, while Teacher Ya remains mostly unaffected.
• Bai Zhou’s [Soothing] character and the Moon Wolf within his Fate Space fight the contamination, but they struggle to remove it. Even the normally dangerous [Shadow of the Deep One] becomes completely docile in the fragment’s presence.
• Bai Zhou realizes that the contamination is invading his Fate Space and searches for another solution. He takes out a seemingly ordinary half-brick obtained from the Civilization Graveyard, which he named [Occult Killer] or [Spirituality Killer].
• The brick instantly suppresses and erases the Holy Relic’s contamination. However, it also disables Bai Zhou’s Rituals and suppresses his spirituality, leaving him unable to breathe underwater.
• Bai Zhou uses the brick to strike Fang Xiaoxia and the Gem Witch on the forehead, removing their contamination as well. Afterward, he presses the brick over the Holy Relic fragment, completely suppressing its supernatural effects.
• He stores both the fragment and the weapon associated with it, successfully claiming a piece of the legendary Holy Relic.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou demonstrates quick thinking and resilience while suffering extreme mental and physical corruption. His ability to use [Soothing], rely on the Moon Wolf, and improvise with the [Occult Killer] emphasizes his resourcefulness.
• He also reveals a humorous, impulsive side by curing Fang Xiaoxia and the Gem Witch through bluntly hitting them with the brick, while attempting to hide what he did.
• Bai Zhou’s ambitions expand dramatically. He begins considering the Holy Relic fragment as the key to awakening and taking control of Luo Tunan’s unfinished Black Warrior Army.
• His long-standing habit of fighting alone begins to change as he imagines becoming the commander of a massive Sunlight Legion or Solar Knight Order.
• Fang Xiaoxia and the Gem Witch survive the contamination but are confused and irritated by Bai Zhou’s methods, especially after being knocked unconscious or dazed by the brick.
• Teacher Ya remains calm and observant but becomes highly wary when Bai Zhou considers striking her with the brick.
• The Moon Wolf returns as a protective force within Bai Zhou’s Fate Space, defending its territory against the Holy Relic’s invasive corruption.
• Luo Tunan’s Last Will reacts to Bai Zhou’s plans, reinforcing the goal of taking control of Tinghai before beginning the larger journey toward the stars and sea.

Significant Themes

• Power hidden in the ordinary: The humble half-brick appears worthless but possesses greater anti-spiritual power than Bai Zhou’s strongest abilities, contrasting mundane objects with supposedly sacred relics.
• Survival through ingenuity: Bai Zhou cannot overpower the Holy Relic directly; he survives by recognizing the limits of his abilities and using an unconventional tool.
• The danger of forbidden knowledge: Merely looking at the Holy Relic fragment causes madness, mutation, and spiritual destruction, emphasizing the hazardous nature of divine artifacts.
• The transition from solitude to leadership: Bai Zhou begins imagining himself not merely as an individual fighter but as the leader of an army, marking a major shift in his role and ambitions.
• Suppression versus domination: The brick does not merely resist the fragment—it completely nullifies it, suggesting that seemingly insignificant forces can overturn overwhelming supernatural authority.
• Foreshadowing conquest: The fragment may allow Bai Zhou to awaken the Black Warrior Army and transform it into a Sunlight Legion, setting up future conflict over Tinghai and attracting the attention of powerful enemies.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou warns the others not to look at the fragment, but Fang Xiaoxia and the Gem Witch are already partially contaminated.
• His [Soothing] ability and the Moon Wolf work together to protect him, while the other characters lack comparable defenses.
• Bai Zhou rescues Fang Xiaoxia and the Gem Witch by striking them with the brick, leading to comic confusion and suspicion when they awaken with bruised foreheads.
• The Gem Witch questions how many secrets Bai Zhou is hiding, while Fang Xiaoxia focuses on identifying who attacked her.
• Teacher Ya silently recognizes Bai Zhou’s intentions and quickly distances herself to avoid being struck.
• The chapter closes with Ya realizing that Bai Zhou, once accustomed to fighting alone, is now moving toward becoming the leader of an army numbering in the thousands.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou examines a strange, sealed metal door hidden behind a fallen statue of Jesus in an underwater vault.
• He tests the door with his Spirit-Name Secret Treasure, [Wait], using the powerful Moon Ember Sacred Oath Slash, but the attack leaves no mark.
• Bai Zhou determines that the door is made of an extraordinary material and is surrounded by occult concealment. Any attempt to attack the surrounding earthen mound would likely transfer the force back onto the door.
• He rejects using [Occult Killer], realizing the artifact suppresses spiritual entities and techniques but has almost no physical power against an object of such overwhelming durability.
• Bai Zhou considers using the Forbidden Ancient Script to open the door, but his Life and Death Intuition warns him that repeating the technique so soon could provoke fate and cause a much greater disaster.
• The Gem Witch discovers a crack behind the fallen Cross. When the Cross is moved, the group finds a person-sized hole violently clawed through the supposedly indestructible metal door.
• Red fur and five-fingered claw marks reveal that whatever was sealed inside escaped previously. This explains why the surrounding statues were overturned and covered in dust, and why a red-furred fingernail was found earlier.
• Fang Xiaoxia worries that the escaped creature may still be nearby, secretly watching them. Miss Ya senses no immediate threat.
• Since [Shadow of the Deep One] apparently emerged from the same hole, Bai Zhou suspects the Holy Relic or other dangerous entities may already have escaped.
• Miss Ya sends her amphibious Three-Legged Fathead Fish, acting as a scouting familiar, into the passage. Through its vision, she confirms that the interior is safe enough to investigate.
• Bai Zhou looks inside and sees numerous enormous coffins suspended in midair by mysterious ropes. Their aura is simultaneously rotten, dead, and alive, resembling but vastly exceeding the power of the Blood Worship Cult’s Five Elders.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls react to the coffins. Their chains rattle, and the artifact reveals that the vault contains multiple Corpse Cultivation prototypes, identified as battle-capable Silver Corpses, or “Living Decayers.”
• The Scrolls state that unlocking the third chapter would grant the techniques of Corpse Cultivation and Corpse Manipulation, allowing Bai Zhou to record and convert the corpses and “drive the Corpses back to the sea.”

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou remains cautious and analytical despite being tempted by the possibility of discovering a complete Holy Relic. He carefully tests the door, evaluates the limits of his artifacts, and refuses to recklessly use the Forbidden Ancient Script.
• His curiosity and ambition increase once he realizes the vault may contain valuable remnants or weapons, but his survival instincts continue to restrain him.
• Fang Xiaoxia displays practical fear and comic relief, openly preferring not to encounter the red-furred monster or whatever remains in the vault.
• The Gem Witch shows genuine terror upon discovering the clawed opening, emphasizing the danger of the sealed chamber.
• Miss Ya demonstrates the abilities of a Destiny Hunter by using the Three-Legged Fathead Fish as a remote scout and sharing its vision. Her calmness contrasts with the group’s fear.
• Bai Zhou begins to understand that the Dead Sea Scrolls are not merely a source of information but may provide a powerful system for cultivating and controlling corpses.

Significant Themes

• Curiosity versus caution: Bai Zhou is tempted by forbidden power and hidden relics but recognizes that some actions may provoke catastrophic consequences.
• The limits of power: Even a Lifeforger wielding a powerful secret treasure cannot damage the door, underscoring the overwhelming strength of ancient mystical artifacts.
• Containment and escape: The ruined statues and clawed breach suggest that seals can fail, and supposedly imprisoned horrors may already be loose in the world.
• Life, death, and corruption: The Silver Corpses exist in an unnatural state between life and death, embodying the chapter’s focus on decay, resurrection, and forbidden transformation.
• Forbidden knowledge and fate: The Forbidden Ancient Script and Dead Sea Scrolls offer immense power, but both carry dangers associated with violating natural or cosmic rules.
• The relationship between artifacts and their wielders: Bai Zhou’s tools have highly specific strengths and weaknesses, forcing him to rely on judgment rather than brute force.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou explains the door’s supernatural defenses to the Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia, establishing his role as the group’s primary analyst.
• Fang Xiaoxia suggests attacking the mound, but Bai Zhou explains why that strategy would fail and might trigger disaster.
• The Gem Witch’s discovery of the hidden crack prompts the group’s renewed investigation.
• Fang Xiaoxia’s fear that the escaped entity is still observing them heightens the group’s anxiety, while Miss Ya calmly denies sensing anything nearby.
• Miss Ya sends her Three-Legged Fathead Fish into the opening, allowing the group to investigate without entering immediately.
• Ya’s cryptic insistence that Bai Zhou look inside leads him to discover the suspended coffins and the vault’s true purpose.
• The Dead Sea Scrolls respond directly to Bai Zhou’s discovery, revealing that the vault’s corpses may become usable under the Scrolls’ third chapter.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou discovers a hidden underwater chamber containing six enormous coffins, each suspended by rune-covered ropes.
• He realizes the coffins hold half-completed Silver Corpses, beings comparable to third-rank Decayers—an extraordinarily powerful force.
• The chamber appears to have been designed to both cultivate and restrain these corpses. At its center is a circular altar with a broken Cross, suggesting that something once worshipped and imprisoned there has escaped.
• Bai Zhou gets stuck halfway through the entrance. Fang Xiaoxia pushes him inside while the Gem Witch observes and gives instructions through their mental communication channel.
• Beneath each coffin, Bai Zhou finds instructions explaining how to handle a different supernatural phenomenon:
  • Sacred Voice and weeping
  • Sacred Bone growth
  • A tide of Sacred Thought
  • A roaming Sacred Shadow
  • Overflowing Sacred Marrow
  • Shedding Sacred Scales
• An inscription on the central altar reveals that the coffins contain former Directors of the Holy Relic Institute who willingly underwent a “Final Baptism” after sacrificing themselves to the Sacred.
• Bai Zhou concludes that the “Sacred” was actually the legendary Holy Relic, proving that the Institute’s ancient legends were based on reality.
• He also suspects that the Holy Relic’s Final Baptism may be connected to the Corpse Cultivation described in the Dead Sea Scrolls, raising the possibility of a deep relationship between the Holy Relic Institute and the Blood Worship Cult’s forbidden canon.
• Responding to the Shadow of the Deep One inside his Trojan Horse, Bai Zhou swims upward and inspects the coffins.
• He discovers that one coffin, associated with the Sacred Shadow, is empty and partially opened, implying that its Silver Corpse escaped.
• Another coffin has been violently breached. It contains scattered fish-scale armor plates linked to the Shadow of the Deep One and the remains of a destroyed, decayed human body.
• Inside the remains, Bai Zhou finds a lingering Last Will repeating: “Bring back the Holy Relic!”
• When Bai Zhou examines it, the Sloth Cell in his saber resonates with the Last Will, causing it to shatter. Its fragments then attack him.

2. Character Developments

• Bai Zhou becomes increasingly aware of the immense historical and supernatural significance of the chamber. His confidence is tempered by confusion and unease as he realizes that the Dead Sea Scrolls, the Holy Relic, and the Holy Relic Institute may be connected.
• He demonstrates practical caution by avoiding the ropes and carefully investigating the coffins rather than disturbing them recklessly.
• His understanding of the Holy Relic changes dramatically: he moves from skepticism and speculation to recognizing that the Institute’s legends were literal truths.
• Bai Zhou also discovers a potentially important connection between his saber’s Sloth Cell, the Shadow of the Deep One, and the Last Will left by the destroyed corpse.
• Fang Xiaoxia remains helpful and energetic, physically assisting Bai Zhou when he becomes stuck.
• The Gem Witch acts as a cautious observer, warning Bai Zhou to report immediately if anything goes wrong.

3. Significant Themes

• Buried truth and distorted history: Ancient legends dismissed as exaggeration are revealed to be factual, suggesting that history has concealed or misunderstood the true nature of the Holy Relic Institute.
• The danger of knowledge: The more Bai Zhou learns about the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Holy Relic, the less certain he becomes. Knowledge brings revelations but also exposes deeper mysteries and threats.
• Transformation and loss of humanity: The Directors’ “Final Baptism” may have transformed them into Silver Corpses, echoing the Sun Knights’ loss of human identity after their own baptism.
• Containment versus escape: The chamber is built around suppressing powerful supernatural entities, yet at least two have escaped, emphasizing that even elaborate seals and rituals can fail.
• Obsession surviving death: The Last Will’s repeated demand to restore the Holy Relic shows that devotion and purpose can persist beyond physical death, becoming dangerous supernatural forces.
• Hidden connections between rival factions: The possibility that the Holy Relic is related to the Dead Sea Scrolls challenges the apparent opposition between the Holy Relic Institute and the Blood Worship Cult.

4. Character Interactions

• The Gem Witch and Fang Xiaoxia communicate with Bai Zhou through the Heart-to-Heart Connection while he explores.
• The Gem Witch jokes about being trapped herself but then orders Fang Xiaoxia to help Bai Zhou.
• Fang Xiaoxia enthusiastically pushes Bai Zhou through the narrow entrance, successfully freeing him.
• Bai Zhou thanks Fang Xiaoxia, while the Gem Witch warns him to communicate immediately if he encounters danger.
• The final supernatural interaction occurs between Bai Zhou and the Last Will: resonance with the Sloth Cell causes the Will to break apart and attack him, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou experiences a vision from the perspective of a being sealed inside the underwater coffin. When the coffin is disturbed, the being emerges, only to have its head and body instantly pulverized by a passing translucent red Skeleton—the Holy Relic.
• The Red Skeleton escapes the Hidden Vault after tearing through the door. Sealing statues depicting religious and mythological figures briefly suppress it, but the Skeleton releases an even stronger force, destroys the statues, and flees into the lake.
• Pieces of the dead being’s flesh remain attached to the Skeleton, including an eyeball and ear. Through the eyeball, Bai Zhou witnesses an ancient event: a mysterious Black-Cloaked spellcaster summons and controls the Red Skeleton.
• The spellcaster delivers the Holy Relic to a former Director-General and Supreme Governor of Tinghai. The latter rejects those titles, changes from a formal suit into a blood-red robe, and declares that he will henceforth be the leader of the Blood Worship Cult.
• The Cloaked Figure reveals that he intends to travel to Tianjing to pursue an unknown answer, while the newly proclaimed cult leader remains in Tinghai.
• The Blood Worship Cult leader dismantles the Holy Relic and fuses its bones with strange energies, creating seven “brand-new Seven Sins Cells,” each corresponding to one of the Seven Deadly Sins.
• The vision ends. The Last Will in the coffin disappears, having apparently achieved peace, and leaves Bai Zhou three sticks of Soul-Calming Incense.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou gains crucial historical knowledge but is left deeply unsettled. He realizes the Sloth Cell he possesses was created from part of the Holy Relic, explaining why the Last Will vanished after encountering him: it believed the Holy Relic had been returned.
• Bai Zhou becomes increasingly suspicious of the official history connecting the Holy Relic Institute and the Blood Worship Cult. He now suspects the Cult possessed and divided the Institute’s Holy Relic long before the Institute’s eventual destruction.
• The ancient Blood Worship Cult leader is revealed as powerful, calculating, and driven by an unknown goal. His transformation from government official to cult leader marks a decisive rejection of Tinghai’s established order.
• The Black-Cloaked Figure appears to be an immensely powerful ritualist with a personal mission connected to a mysterious “answer.” His departure for Tianjing suggests a larger conflict beyond Tinghai.
• Bai Zhou recognizes an uncanny resemblance between the ancient cult leader and the present-day Blood Worship Cult Holy Son. He begins to fear they may be the same individual, rather than merely members of the same bloodline.

Significant Themes

• Buried history and corrupted origins: The chapter reveals that the origins of the Seven Sins Cells may be directly tied to the Holy Relic, challenging the assumed opposition between the Holy Relic Institute and the Blood Worship Cult.
• Identity and continuity: The resemblance between the ancient cult leader and the current Holy Son raises questions about immortality, reincarnation, inherited identity, or an individual who has survived through changing identities.
• Transformation and ideological rejection: The former official discards his governmental identity and embraces the role of cult leader, symbolizing a total break with institutional authority.
• Obsession and release: The Lost Soul’s obsession is finally fulfilled, allowing it to disappear peacefully. The Soul-Calming Incense represents the soothing or resolution of corruption, trauma, and spiritual unrest.
• Power and manipulation: The Red Skeleton is shown to be overwhelmingly destructive, yet the Cloaked Figure controls it like a puppet, emphasizing the scale of the forces involved.

Character Interactions

• The Cloaked Figure summons and controls the Red Skeleton, then presents it to the former Tinghai official.
• The two men discuss their agreement and goals. The former official accuses the Cloaked Figure of abandoning Tinghai, while the Cloaked Figure states that Tianjing offers a better chance of finding his desired answer.
• The former official’s conversion into the Blood Worship Cult leader establishes their partnership and reveals that the Holy Relic was intended to become the foundation for the Cult’s Seven Sins Cells.
• Bai Zhou does not directly interact with the ancient figures, but he witnesses their conversation through the remnant eyeball and interprets the vision afterward. His discovery of the cult leader’s resemblance to the Holy Son becomes the chapter’s central mystery.

Main Revelation

The Holy Relic was divided into seven components in ancient times and transformed into the Blood Worship Cult’s original Seven Sins Cells. The ancient man who founded or led the Cult strongly resembles—or may actually be—the present Holy Son, suggesting a hidden continuity stretching across centuries.

Chapter Summary: “A Head Above the Rest, the Crystal Skull!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Zhou asks Ya to clarify the meaning of the title “director” and learns about Tinghai’s ordinary and Mystic World power structures.
• Ya explains that the Mystic World is governed by the Ordinance Hall and six major institutions: two Level 1 organizations, four Level 2 organizations, and their branches. Their leaders are generally powerful Three-Life Lifeforgers, while deputy directors are usually Lifeforgers Above Level 6.
• Bai Zhou suspects that the mysterious “director” he is searching for could be the missing Director of the Black Box Special Management Department.
• Ya firmly rejects this theory, describing that Director as a legendary founder of Tinghai’s modern Mystic World, formerly known as the Chief Administrator or Chief Resetter. No one else has ever held the title.
• Bai Zhou concludes that the person associated with both “director” and “Supreme Ruler” must predate the Federation and the current official institutions. However, Ya insists that no such figure appears in Tinghai’s known history.
• Bai Zhou connects the Blood Worship Cult’s former cult leader and its current Saint Son, suspecting they may be the same individual. The Saint Son’s obsession with the Seven Sins and possession of Seven Sins cells suggest a centuries-long conspiracy.
• He decides to investigate the Blood Worship Cult’s past leaders and history, believing evidence of the Saint Son’s survival and identity change may reveal the truth behind the larger conspiracy.
• Ya discovers a vivid mural inside the underwater trove. It depicts a red skeleton drifting across the ocean while carrying a chained book identified by Bai Zhou as the Dead Sea Scrolls.
• Hidden in the mural’s seaweed-like “hair” is a translucent crystalline skull. Bai Zhou recognizes it as the missing Crystal Skull, an artifact believed to have been buried beneath the ruins of Evening City and capable of restraining the dangerous Black Box entity, Brain in a Vat.

Character Developments

• Bai Zhou gains a clearer understanding of Tinghai’s institutional hierarchy and how it differs from Evening City’s simpler power structure.
• His reasoning becomes more confident and analytical as he connects scattered mysteries: the missing director, the Blood Worship Saint Son, the Seven Sins, and the ancient conspiracy surrounding Tinghai.
• Bai Zhou realizes that he is approaching the core truth behind the Saint Son and the many unresolved mysteries involving Major Luo, Dr. Zhang, the Blood Worship Cult, and his allies.
• Ya reveals deep knowledge of Tinghai’s history and shows unusual reverence for the legendary Director of the Black Box Special Management Department. Bai Zhou infers that Ya may have personally known or encountered him.
• Ya also becomes suspicious of Bai Zhou’s unexplained ability to recall ancient secrets, noting that his knowledge seems less like ordinary deduction and more like sudden possession or revelation.

Significant Themes

• History and hidden power: Official institutions represent only the visible structure of society, while older and more dangerous forces may exist beneath recorded history.
• The limits of knowledge: Every answer Bai Zhou gains creates further questions, reinforcing the idea that greater understanding also reveals deeper ignorance.
• Identity and continuity: The possibility that the Blood Worship Cult’s former leader and current Saint Son are the same person raises questions about survival, reincarnation, transformed identities, and long-term manipulation.
• The approach to truth: Bai Zhou views the increasing danger as evidence that he is nearing the central truth, comparing his investigation to a hero reaching the final fortress of an adventure.
• Buried and submerged secrets: The underwater setting and submerged mural symbolize ancient truths hidden beneath Tinghai’s surface history.

Character Interactions

• Bai Zhou and Ya engage in a sustained investigation through their Heart-to-Heart Connection, with Ya providing historical and institutional knowledge while Bai Zhou supplies deductions and hypotheses.
• Bai Zhou challenges Ya’s assumptions about the mysterious director, but Ya’s reverence and certainty force him to abandon that theory.
• Their discussion of the Saint Son and the former cult leader leads both toward the possibility of a conspiracy spanning from before the Federation to the present.
• Ya’s discovery of the mural interrupts their discussion and redirects their attention from historical investigation to the physical evidence hidden in the trove.
• Bai Zhou’s recognition of the Crystal Skull establishes a direct connection between the underwater treasure, the ruins of Evening City, and the dangerous Black Box entity.