Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan wins a three-aces hand against Zhu Wu, who accuses him of cheating.
• Xia Feiyan discovers three cards are missing from the deck. Chen Xuan has secretly used his Thousand Thoughts Swords to move cards—and makes it appear that Zhu Wu has the missing cards in his pocket.
• Zhu Wu insists he was dealt a straight flush, but cannot blame Zhao Jin. Zhao Jin angrily tells him to leave, and Zhu Wu storms out.
• The classmates agree the disputed hand should not count. Chen Xuan points out that the game is still active between him and Zhao Jin. Unable to challenge the result without admitting to cheating himself, Zhao Jin folds.
• Chen Xuan claims the 300,000 stake and says he will arrange payment through a bank transfer. The room’s earlier judgment of him fades once they realize how wealthy he is.
• Chen Xuan gives Wang Xingyu 2,450 to split with Cheng Yu, then warns him not to gamble again.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan demonstrates his supernatural precision and ingenuity, using his powers to outmaneuver the cheaters while concealing how he did it. He also shows generosity and concern by sharing the winnings and cautioning Wang Xingyu.
• Zhu Wu is exposed as a cheat and leaves in anger when Zhao Jin refuses to protect him.
• Zhao Jin tries to preserve his standing among the classmates, but Chen Xuan’s reasoning corners him into folding and accepting the debt.
• Xia Feiyan recognizes the missing cards and realizes Chen Xuan’s hand matches the cards she dealt him, leaving her stunned by the impossible transfer.
• Wang Xingyu is initially nervous around Chen Xuan, then accepts his help and takes his warning seriously.

Significant themes

• Bluffing and accountability: Cheaters who accuse others risk being exposed, and Zhao Jin must either honor the game or damage his reputation.
• Power beneath appearances: Chen Xuan’s subtle abilities overturn the classmates’ assumptions about him.
• Generosity and responsibility: Rather than keeping the winnings, Chen Xuan shares some with his classmates and urges Wang Xingyu to avoid gambling.

Plot points and events

• After the card game, Lin Qing asks Chen Xuan whether it felt bad to take advantage of the others. He admits he feels no guilt, noting that an ordinary person might never have learned about the abilities involved.
• Chen Xuan meets Gu Zhaoning in the hotel lobby, where she has brought her friend Su Xingwan to consult him.
• Zhu Wu and several associates ambush Chen Xuan over the card game. Gu Zhaoning’s father’s bodyguards quickly subdue them. Chen Xuan tells the guards to hand them to the police, and the group moves upstairs to avoid the crowd.
• In a top-floor suite, Su Xingwan explains that for about a year she has suffered recurring, intensely realistic nightmares. She experiences pain and injury in them and once spent two weeks dreaming she was being hunted, even jumping from a building and breaking her legs. Though she wakes physically unharmed, the experiences leave her afraid to sleep and disrupt her work as a band’s lead singer.
• Doctors have found no physical or neurological cause, and their treatments have failed. Gu Zhaoning hopes Chen Xuan can help, suspecting Su’s condition may resemble her own.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan remains self-assured and blunt, answering Su’s doubts about his youth by pointing out that even renowned doctors have failed her. He is curious but has not yet identified her condition.
• Lin Qing stays beside Chen Xuan as his trusted assistant and lightly teases him after the game.
• Gu Zhaoning is protective and supportive of Su, bringing her to Chen Xuan and arranging a private suite. Her father’s bodyguards accompany her as a condition of her trip.
• Su Xingwan is skeptical of Chen Xuan’s age but candidly describes her frightening symptoms, revealing how deeply they have affected her.

Significant themes

• Hidden supernatural ability: Chen Xuan reflects on how people outside Jiangcheng may be unaware of ability users.
• Limits of conventional medicine: Su’s distressing symptoms persist despite extensive testing and consultations.
• Trust and vulnerability: Su must recount a deeply personal experience, while Gu Zhaoning vouches for Chen Xuan and his discretion.
• Consequences of pride and aggression: Zhu Wu’s attempt to intimidate Chen Xuan ends abruptly when the bodyguards intervene.

Key plot points and events

• Su Xingwan explains that she has suffered for a year from vivid, endless nightmares in which monsters kill or torture her. Other doctors have dismissed the problem as imagination, and lack of sleep has left her weak.
• Chen Xuan initially says she is not ill, provoking Su Xingwan’s anger. After she collapses, he attributes her dizziness to exhaustion and poor sleep.
• He claims her nightmares signal that she is about to awaken an ability and frames them as a kind of “Tribulation.” This is largely a bluff: his observations reveal an unexplained ability and faint spiritual energy, leading him to suspect that a Shadow Demon has attached itself to her.
• Chen Xuan proposes entering her dream to fight the monsters, explaining that this is a way to reach a Shadow Demon. Su Xingwan reluctantly agrees to try.

Character developments

• Su Xingwan begins angry and distrustful after repeated medical dismissal, but gradually listens, apologizes for her outburst, and finds the courage to accept help. Her endurance through a year of nightmares is emphasized.
• Chen Xuan remains calm and confident, but his explanation mixes genuine insight with speculation and deliberate bluffing. He recognizes that her symptoms may fit a Shadow Demon’s influence, though he cannot be certain.
• Gu Zhaoning consistently trusts Chen Xuan and advocates for her friend, encouraging Su Xingwan to take the chance to face the nightmares with support.

Significant themes

• Being believed: Su Xingwan’s distress is compounded by doctors dismissing what they cannot explain.
• Fear, exhaustion, and resilience: The nightmares have severely worn her down, yet she has continued enduring them.
• The uncertain boundary between illness and supernatural change: Chen reframes the nightmares as a possible awakening or spiritual trial rather than a disease.
• Facing danger together: Chen’s offer to enter the dream transforms Su Xingwan’s ordeal from a solitary struggle into a shared one.

Character interactions

• Su Xingwan clashes with Chen when she thinks he is dismissing her, while Gu Zhaoning tries to calm her and later supports Chen’s proposal.
• Chen reassures Su Xingwan that he can help, explains his theory, and offers to confront the dream monsters alongside her.
• Gu Zhaoning helps persuade Su Xingwan to accept the plan, stressing that she will no longer face the nightmares alone.

Key plot points

• Chen Xuan seeks help from Liu Shuyue on how to enter Su Xingwan’s dreams and defeat the Shadow Demon. Liu lends him a Smoke-Soul Pillar and guiding talismans, explaining that Soul Smoke can link people’s consciousnesses.
• Chen prepares to enter Su Xingwan’s nightmare with Lin Qing and Gu Zhaoning. Though he initially refuses to bring Gu, she insists on supporting her friend; Liu’s instructions confirm that several people can enter together.
• Su Xingwan’s nightmare begins in a bleak, silent room. Feeling abandoned and hopeless, she considers ending her life once the dream is over.
• Chen, Lin, and Gu arrive in the dream. Their familiar voices and Gu’s embrace break through Su Xingwan’s despair, and the once-lonely nightmare becomes unexpectedly lively and safe.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan takes responsibility for helping Su Xingwan, using Liu’s equipment and even an ability that lets him fall asleep quickly. He is cautious about exposing others to danger, but ultimately accepts their choice to join him.
• Gu Zhaoning shows strong loyalty and courage despite her fear. To enter the dream, she asks for help falling asleep; Lin knocks her unconscious with a hand chop.
• Lin Qing supports Chen’s plan, explains Liu’s guidance, and helps reassure the others. In the dream, she gently gives Su Xingwan space while Gu comforts her.
• Su Xingwan is revealed to be emotionally exhausted and close to giving up. Her friends’ arrival makes her feel less alone, even as she denies that she was crying.

Significant themes

• Companionship against despair: The presence of trusted friends turns a frightening, isolating nightmare into a place where Su Xingwan can feel safe.
• Hope and emotional vulnerability: Su Xingwan’s forced toughness gives way when she thinks help will not come; a small sign of connection changes her state.
• Care expressed through action: Chen, Lin, and Gu take unusual and risky steps to support her, showing that their concern is practical as well as emotional.

Key events

• Su Xingwan thanks Chen Xuan for entering her nightmare with her. The group notices that their dream appearances reflect their inner selves: Xingwan looks like a rebel fighter, Lin Qing like a punk, Gu Zhaoning like a schoolgirl, and Chen Xuan like a disheveled professional.
• Xingwan reveals the nightmare is a near-exact version of Shencheng, centered around Wanhua Gymnasium. Chen Xuan senses the monster roughly a kilometer away using Divine Sense and leads the group toward it.
• Xingwan equips herself with a homemade spear and a rifle taken from a police station. She explains that bullets barely harm the monster and that she has struggled to defeat it despite training to fight in her dreams.
• The city is empty and eerily realistic. Xingwan recounts how the monster killed the people who once appeared in the nightmare—including her bandmates—until no one remained.
• The group finds the towering, grotesque monster emerging from a milk-tea shop. Chen Xuan calmly summons three Qi swords, imbues them with lightning, and rapidly hacks the creature and a car it was about to throw into pieces.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Xingwan shifts from awkward gratitude to renewed resolve. Her combat clothes embody her determination, while her account of the vanished dream inhabitants hints at the emotional toll of the nightmare.
• Chen Xuan remains confident and perceptive, quickly locating the monster and preparing to confront it. His decisive attack contrasts sharply with Xingwan’s long, difficult struggle.
• Gu Zhaoning is surprised by Xingwan’s efforts and comforts her, defending her against criticism from fans who misunderstand her absences from band practice.
• Lin Qing teases Chen Xuan about his dream appearance and admires Xingwan’s outfit, helping ease the tension.

Significant themes

• Dreams as reflections of consciousness: The characters’ clothing and the changing city seem to express their inner states.
• Isolation and trauma: The city’s emptiness, dark sky, and the disappearance of its inhabitants mirror the nightmare’s worsening atmosphere and Xingwan’s distress.
• Perseverance and support: Xingwan has endured the nightmare alone for a month; her friends’ presence and encouragement help restore her determination.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan realizes the first monster they destroy is not the Shadow Demon: it has too little Spiritual Energy, and Su Xingwan’s nightmare continues.
• The group commandeers an electric car—Lin Qing hacks its systems—and searches Shencheng. Chen Xuan’s scans lead them to destroy at least four more monsters, giving Su Xingwan long-awaited relief from her fear.
• Lin Qing and Chen Xuan question whether they are truly inside an ordinary dream. The city and car seem too detailed and physically functional to be products of Su Xingwan’s mind. Chen suspects their real bodies remain in the stadium room, connected to the nightmare through the Smoke-Soul Pillar.
• Following an exceptionally strong Spiritual Energy signal east, they find the true source: a gigantic spider-like Shadow Demon sprawled across the city.
• As the group approaches, the Demon’s presence disrupts the power supply and dozens of humanoid monsters suddenly appear. Chen concludes the Shadow Demon has summoned them to obstruct the intruders. The chapter ends with the car narrowly avoiding one of these creatures, near the Asia-Pacific Nuclear Power Plant.

Character developments

• Su Xingwan moves from shock and despair toward relief and renewed hope as Chen destroys the monsters that have haunted her. She is awed by his power but is now confronted with the far greater threat behind her nightmares.
• Chen Xuan remains analytical and decisive, piecing together the dream’s unusual nature and the Shadow Demon’s strategy. The enormous Demon, however, makes him recognize the limits of his abilities.
• Lin Qing proves capable and resourceful by starting the car through technical intrusion. Her confidence in future technology falters when she sees the Demon, though she remains eager to test her weapons.
• Gu Zhaoning continues to support Su Xingwan and proudly praises Chen, while the others gently deflate her claim that he is reliable because of his medical skills.

Significant themes

• Relief from trauma: Defeating the monsters gives Su Xingwan a release from the fear and despair that have dominated her for nearly a year.
• Reality versus illusion: The dream’s extraordinary physical detail raises doubts about what kind of world the group is experiencing.
• Power and vulnerability: Chen’s impressive abilities are effective against ordinary monsters but may be inadequate against the Shadow Demon’s immense scale.
• Fear as exploitation: The Demon appears to prolong Su Xingwan’s terror to feed on her, revealing the nightmare as deliberate torment.

Character interactions

• Chen and Lin Qing work together to investigate the dream and locate the source of the Spiritual Energy; their discussion contrasts his supernatural scanning with her technological expertise.
• Lin Qing and Chen trade teasing remarks about her confidence and his supposed reliability, even as they cooperate under growing pressure.
• Gu Zhaoning encourages Su Xingwan and celebrates Chen’s victories, helping lift her friend’s spirits.
• The group’s shared confidence gives way to alarm when they confront the Shadow Demon and its sudden wave of summoned monsters.

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan realizes the Shadow Demon may be feeding on electricity: in Su Xingwan’s dream, electricity represents energy, and the creature’s summoning of monsters causes citywide voltage instability. He and Lin Qing decide to cut power at the nuclear plant to weaken it.
• Lin Qing drives through the plant’s fence while Chen Xuan fights off pursuing monsters. She enters the building alone to find the control center, leaving Chen Xuan to protect Su Xingwan and Gu Zhaoning.
• Chen Xuan asks Su Xingwan to imagine survivors inside the plant, hoping her influence over the dream can alter events. As she vividly invents a rescue squad and trapped civilians, soldiers appear and engage the monsters.
• The group retreats with the soldiers to an underground parking garage, where more than a hundred civilians and plant workers are sheltering. Su Xingwan fears she would be responsible if they die, but Chen Xuan reassures her that dream deaths are not real.
• Chen Xuan concludes that the nightmare comes from Su Xingwan’s own ability, not from the Shadow Demon, which is instead a threat within the dream.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan connects electricity to the Shadow Demon’s strength and takes charge of protecting the girls. He recognizes Su Xingwan’s ability to shape the dream and encourages her to use it.
• Lin Qing proves decisive and fearless, driving at extreme speed and volunteering to infiltrate the plant alone. She and Chen Xuan coordinate smoothly, dividing their responsibilities.
• Su Xingwan moves from confusion and fear to actively shaping the dream, imagining a detailed rescue force. Her alarm at the possibility of harming imagined survivors reveals her empathy and guilt.
• Gu Zhaoning is frightened by the violence but instinctively shields Su Xingwan when the hall lights explode. She relies on Chen Xuan’s reassurance as events grow stranger.
• Chen Xuan’s gentle encouragement helps Su Xingwan act, while his insistence that Gu Zhaoning stay calm keeps the group focused.

Significant themes

• Imagination and agency: Su Xingwan’s subconscious shapes the dream, and her focused thoughts can change its events.
• Fear and responsibility: Her instinct to prevent suffering has emptied the dream city, yet she worries that creating survivors makes her accountable for their fate.
• Cooperation under pressure: Chen Xuan and Lin Qing split tasks while the others rely on the rescue squad Su Xingwan manifests.
• Reality versus illusion: The dream’s danger feels immediate, but Chen Xuan distinguishes its apparent deaths from real-world consequences.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qing breaks into the nuclear plant’s control room. Rather than shut down the reactor safely, she decides an intentional meltdown and explosion could kill the Shadow Demon, which is feeding on the plant’s energy.
• Little Green disables the cooling and safety systems, setting off a countdown to an explosion. An on-site operator, Zheng Yuhang, confronts Lin Qing and fires at her. Her armor shrugs off the bullet; she kills him when he continues to block her.
• Lin Qing returns through monster-filled corridors and finds Chen Xuan, Gu Zhaoning, and Su Xingwan among a crowd of refugees protected by soldiers. Chen Xuan explains that they evacuated after an announcement reported the reactor was out of control.
• The reactors explode. Three immense fireballs blast the Shadow Demon, tearing open its abdomen. As the plant shuts down, the city loses power, and three blue pillars of light pierce the Demon and rise into the sky.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qing shows bold tactical thinking and ruthless resolve, choosing a catastrophic explosion over a simple shutdown. She is willing to kill Zheng Yuhang to prevent him from stopping the plan, reasoning that people do not truly die within the dream.
• Little Green efficiently overrides the plant’s safety systems and calculates the time to detonation, acting as Lin Qing’s operational partner.
• Zheng Yuhang is introduced as a determined operator who tries to protect the plant and fires when Lin Qing refuses to comply. His clash with Lin Qing ends in his death.
• Chen Xuan supports Lin Qing’s plan once she explains it. Their reunion reconnects her with the group amid the evacuation and chaos.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and moral ambiguity: Lin Qing’s plan risks mass destruction, and she kills someone who tries to stop it, treating the dream’s apparent deaths as unreal.
• Dreams and unpredictability: Little Green frames Zheng’s sudden appearance as an incomprehensible change caused by the dream’s instability.
• Destruction as salvation: The reactor’s catastrophic power, normally a threat, becomes a weapon against the Shadow Demon.
• Darkness and transition: The blackout and the mysterious blue pillars suggest the explosion may have changed the dream’s world—or opened a path beyond it.

Chapter Summary: A Legend Again

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuan and the others realize that strange snowflake-like patterns are spreading across their bodies inside Su Xingwan’s nightmare.
• The patterns suddenly cover everyone, signaling the destruction of the nightmare’s source. Chen Xuan wakes back in the suite, followed by Lin Qing, Gu Zhaoning, and finally Su Xingwan.
• Chen Xuan confirms that the Shadow Demon causing the nightmare has been eliminated, though Su Xingwan may still suffer consequences because the ability that attracted the demon remains inside her.
• Using his glasses, Chen Xuan scans Su Xingwan and discovers that her awakened ability is “Dream Master” LV1, a rare multicolored legendary ability.
• Chen Xuan realizes that the ability is transferable, unlike most legendary abilities. He offers Su Xingwan a trade: her Dream Master ability in exchange for “Can Sleep a Lot” LV1 and “Dance Prodigy” LV2.
• Su Xingwan accepts almost immediately, trusting Chen Xuan because he saved her from despair and restored her will to live.

Character Developments

• Chen Xuan demonstrates composure and compassion, reassuring the group during the nightmare and honestly explaining the benefits and risks of Su Xingwan’s ability. He also shows increasing conscientiousness as a merchant by offering two abilities in exchange for her powerful one.
• Su Xingwan awakens as a legendary ability user but remains troubled by the possibility of future nightmares. Her experience has changed her emotionally: after previously considering suicide, she now feels grateful and regains the courage to continue living. Her willingness to trade also shows her deep trust in Chen Xuan.
• Gu Zhaoning acts protectively toward Su Xingwan, immediately worrying about her condition and offering to pay for treatment. She remains unable to perceive the mental transaction interface.
• Lin Qing reacts lightly to the ordeal, calling it an unusual adventure and expressing relief that she can dream again.

Significant Themes

• Trust and gratitude: Su Xingwan accepts an unequal-looking trade because she trusts Chen Xuan and sees it as a way to repay him.
• The dual nature of power: Even a legendary ability can bring danger. Dream Master grants extraordinary control over dreams but also attracts monsters and may expose its user to recurring threats.
• Recovery and hope: Su Xingwan’s journey from suicidal despair to renewed courage is central to the chapter’s emotional arc.
• Ethics and fair dealing: Chen Xuan refuses to hide the risks of the ability or manipulate Su Xingwan completely, emphasizing informed choice despite his potential to profit greatly.
• The unknown nature of abilities: The chapter expands the world’s ability system by revealing that some legendary abilities can be traded, raising questions about their origins and rules.

Character Interactions

• Su Xingwan anxiously tries to alert Chen Xuan to the changes on their bodies, while he calms her through gestures.
• After waking, Gu Zhaoning checks on Su Xingwan and becomes concerned when she describes the lingering sensation in her head.
• Chen Xuan explains the connection between Su Xingwan’s ability and the Shadow Demon, then offers her a permanent solution through an ability exchange.
• Su Xingwan and Gu Zhaoning react differently to the transaction interface: Su Xingwan can see and use it, while Gu Zhaoning cannot.
• Su Xingwan ultimately accepts the trade as an expression of gratitude, reinforcing the bond of trust between her and Chen Xuan.

Key plot points and events

• Zheng Yuhang wakes from a vivid nightmare in which a gothic-looking girl attacks a nuclear plant and kills him. Engineer Zhang urges him to recheck his work, while Liu Hao (“Rat”) recounts a separate nightmare about a giant spider and murderous ghosts taking over the plant.
• Two days later, Gu Zhaoning and Su Xingwan say goodbye to Chen Xuan after an enjoyable stay in Yuecheng. Su thanks him for helping her recover from prolonged insomnia, and Gu teases her about wanting to invite him to Shencheng.
• Chen receives a call from Liu Shuyue: Elorie has been trapped inside the Ability Store for a day and a half after the store was closed and Chen left town. He returns through a newly opened branch store and finds Elorie shaken and angry.
• Elorie explains that she came to warn Chen that the Devil is about to attack the Secret Temple. Despite giving the Angel Alliance half a month’s warning, she says its leaders have refused to meet her and few people believe her.

Character developments

• Zheng is shaken by his dream but tries to hide its details; its striking attacker lingers in his thoughts, even to the point that he finds the nightmare strangely compelling.
• Su appears healthier and more at ease after her time with Chen, while her embarrassment at Gu’s teasing suggests growing affection or admiration for him.
• Chen is pleased that Liu Shuyue called him herself, but his neglect of the store leaves Elorie stranded. He tries to conceal that he had nearly forgotten her warning.
• Elorie is urgent and frustrated: she has tried to alert her people, but feels powerless because the Alliance dismisses her.

Character interactions

• Engineer Zhang treats Zheng’s dream as a possible reminder to be meticulous at work; Rat’s more fantastical nightmare earns a mocking response.
• Gu playfully teases Su about Chen, while Chen responds politely and assumes their invitation is casual.
• Liu Shuyue helps Elorie and contacts Chen; Elorie then confronts him over abandoning the store, before urgently raising the looming danger.

Significant themes

• Foreboding and possible foreshadowing: Two workers independently dream of disasters at the nuclear plant, while Elorie warns of an imminent attack elsewhere.
• Responsibility and neglect: Chen’s absence traps Elorie and nearly causes him to forget a serious warning; the plant workers are reminded that carelessness can have severe consequences.
• Warnings ignored: Elorie’s inability to convince the Angel Alliance highlights the danger of institutional disbelief and failed communication.
• Recovery and connection: Su’s improved health and the characters’ growing personal bonds contrast with the threats gathering beyond their everyday lives.

Key plot points and events

• Elorie explains that the Angel Alliance dismissed her warnings about an impending Devil attack, a lunar reptile, and Paris City’s future. An investigation of lunar samples found nothing, further undermining her credibility.
• Chen Xuan reflects on Elorie’s consistently bad luck and checks her with his glasses, finding no new abilities.
• Elorie does not want to defend the Angel Alliance’s Artifact vault, but she wants to protect humanity from the catastrophe she believes will follow the Devils’ success.
• She proposes raiding the vault before the Devils can, stealing its “Mother Body Lucy” to alter the future and reduce casualties. She offers her abilities or the vault’s Artifacts as payment.
• Chen Xuan accepts, interested in the Artifacts, while warning that the Alliance may brand Elorie a traitor. The plan immediately hits a major obstacle: Elorie does not know the vault’s exact location or have any security information. The Devils may attack in just two days.
• Chen decides they must investigate in Second New Paris. Lin Qing is recruited for the task because her familiarity with the city and ability to sneak around make her the best choice. The group operates from an anonymously rented apartment in the lower district.

Character developments and interactions

• Elorie shows a strong moral divide between her resentment of the Angel Alliance and her concern for ordinary people. Though angry enough to welcome the Alliance’s downfall, she is willing to risk betrayal to prevent mass casualties. Her confidence in her plan contrasts with her lack of basic intelligence and preparation.
• Chen Xuan remains practical and business-minded: he initially resists taking on a dangerous fight, then agrees when Elorie offers valuable payment. He quickly shifts toward planning and gathering information.
• Liu Shuyue takes the lead in negotiating the deal, reminding Elorie that help will not be free.
• Lin Qing is asked to assist because her skills and knowledge suit the New Paris investigation, despite Chen’s regret at disrupting her hoped-for break.

Significant themes

• Duty versus loyalty: Elorie rejects the Alliance’s authority while still acting to save the people it has failed.
• Credibility and bad luck: Elorie’s warnings are dismissed not only because she lacks status, but because events and inconclusive evidence repeatedly work against her.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Chen’s help depends on payment, while Elorie is prepared to surrender almost anything to pursue her goal.
• Urgency and uncertainty: With only two days before the predicted attack and no reliable information about the vault, the plan begins under severe pressure.

Plot and events

• Lin Qing prepares for a covert mission to retrieve the Angel Alliance vault’s coordinates from the Louvre Palace. Chen Xuan monitors her through a live feed from her equipment.
• Lin Qing infiltrates the palace at night, evading its heightened security, and connects to the Council Hall’s system. She finds the coordinates—8697, 2793—and copies information about several other secret storage sites.
• The hall suddenly lights up as General Hans arrives with Xiao Kanong, head of the Dimensional Limit Organization’s Jiangcheng Branch. Lin Qing stays invisible as the two discuss the emergency and the organization’s readiness to receive a transfer.
• Xiao says the organization has approved the transfer in principle, but also wants to investigate Artifacts and Primordial Life.

Character development and interactions

• Lin Qing is highly capable and composed during the infiltration, though Xiao’s unexpected presence briefly unsettles her. She also recognizes that she has been too quick to predict the organization’s behavior from historical records.
• Chen Xuan supports her remotely, offering reassurance and praising her success. Their teamwork remains calm and efficient.
• General Hans treats Xiao with unusual courtesy, suggesting their meeting carries significant political or strategic weight.
• Hans and Xiao exchange guarded but friendly remarks, then discuss a transfer and the organization’s research priorities.

Significant themes

• History no longer provides a reliable guide: Lin Qing and Chen Xuan entered the world before the organization, so events have already diverged from the records she knows.
• Surveillance and secrecy: Lin Qing’s advanced camouflage contrasts with the palace’s security measures and hidden data.
• Class and social control: Lin Qing criticizes the elite’s artificial nighttime scenery as an indulgence that masks inequality, recalling public protests.
• Uncertainty and shifting alliances: The meeting between Hans and Xiao hints at cooperation, but their goals—and the nature of the transfer—remain unclear.

Plot points and events

• Hans and Xiao Kanong discuss cooperation between worlds, possibly involving an emergency situation and relocation. Wang Qianduan, a Dimensional Limit Organization member, warns them that something is hidden in the Council Hall.
• Hans orders soldiers to search the hall. Lin Qing is detected despite her invisibility, but Chen Xuan recalls her to the Ability Store before the search can expose them. Chen suspects Wang’s ability lets him perceive what ordinary senses cannot.
• The group considers how the organization reached New Paris City. Liu Shuyue suggests the Erosion Point may have displaced the survivors elsewhere, allowing the organization to find other human settlements first.
• Chen and Lin Qing suspect Hans is negotiating a population-relocation deal with the organization. New Paris could offer people and technology, while the organization could provide living space—making the agreement a major boost to its power. They decide to intervene by supporting Elorie’s side and disrupting the deal.
• Chen and Lin prepare to steal key Artifacts from a secret treasury. Elorie returns and gives them her savings, including a loan secured against her house, as mission funding. Chen accepts the money and tells Lin to buy three plane tickets east. The Devil attack is only a day and a half away.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan stays composed when Lin is exposed and quickly uses the store’s recall function to rescue her. He pieces together the likely relocation plan and shifts the group’s focus toward stopping it.
• Lin Qing is troubled by the organization’s growing reach but takes hope from working with Chen. She agrees that changing the Angel Alliance’s future may be the best way to affect events.
• Liu Shuyue contributes a crucial theory about the Erosion Point’s location, helping the group understand how the organization may have found other survivors.
• Elorie demonstrates her commitment by mortgaging her home and contributing nearly all her funds, despite her limited means.
• Wang Qianduan emerges as a dangerous new threat, apparently able to detect Lin through her advanced invisibility.

Significant themes

• Power and surveillance: Even sophisticated concealment can fail against abilities beyond ordinary perception.
• Cooperation and political leverage: The organization’s possible exchange of housing for people and technology could reshape the balance of power.
• Hope through collaboration: Lin believes Chen’s involvement gives her a chance to challenge the organization’s dominance.
• Sacrifice and urgency: Elorie risks her financial security, while the approaching Devil attack forces the group to act quickly.

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan, Elorie, and Lin Qing travel from Kathmandu to Everest Base Camp, then head toward a hidden site 180 kilometers away in the Himalayas.
• Since no pilot will take them into the uncharted mountains, Chen Xuan uses borrowed Talisman Arts to fly them. Elorie’s Light Wings help carry Lin Qing.
• On the way, they discuss the Angel Alliance’s past failure to protect and properly study the Artifacts, including Mother Lucy. They know little about the Artifact’s size, storage, or defenses, and worry it may be too large to remove secretly.
• They locate a concealed site disguised as an abandoned mountaineering camp. Lin Qing spots heat signatures and finds ventilation openings high on a cliff, offering a way inside without confronting the guards.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan shows confidence in his abilities and resourcefulness, using Liu Shuyue’s borrowed flying skills to bypass the journey’s obstacles. He also favors stealth over a direct fight.
• Lin Qing takes charge of the infiltration plan, using her technical awareness to identify the site’s likely underground layout and ventilation ducts. She briefly worries aloud that she is heavy; Elorie reassures her, while Chen Xuan privately notes her body feels human.
• Elorie helps carry Lin Qing and remains focused on securing the Artifact before the Devils can claim it.
• The trio work cooperatively, combining their abilities and expertise to travel and investigate.

Significant themes

• Knowledge versus secrecy: The Angel Alliance’s secretive approach to Artifacts left it ignorant of their true nature and consequences.
• Preparation and adaptability: The group’s varied abilities let them overcome an otherwise impassable landscape.
• Stealth over force: They aim to enter unnoticed and avoid fighting the guards.
• Uncertainty and risk: The hidden facility and Mother Lucy’s unknown nature make the mission dangerous, despite the team’s careful planning.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan, Lin Qing, and Elorie infiltrate the Angel Alliance’s Temple Treasury through a ventilation duct. Lin Qing disables the cameras, removes the fans, and later chooses a route based on the airflow.
• Elorie explains that Devils vary in their abilities but share a hunger for souls. She also reveals that she had warned other Angels about the future fall of the Temple Treasury, but they dismissed her. Her belief that the treasury was supposedly protected by powerful Artifacts was only a rumor.
• Lin Qing scouts a hall, then disables its security cameras and sonic alarms while preserving the appearance of normal footage. She also cracks the network, giving Chen Xuan access to satellite connectivity and the ability to change powers.
• The hall resembles a museum, with glass cases displaying unusual Artifacts. Chen Xuan and Lin Qing inspect several items, including a crown and a circuit board whose significance is unclear.
• Lin Qing cuts open the circuit board’s case to examine it. Just as she is about to remove the object, an unseen speaker warns her not to.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qing demonstrates her expertise and confidence, handling the infiltration, surveillance systems, and physical obstacles with ease. She takes the lead and tends to dismiss the facility’s security as inadequate.
• Chen Xuan stays cautious and relies on his recall ability as an emergency escape option, but he is also curious about the Artifacts. He lightly teases Lin Qing internally and keeps up chatter in the duct to distract himself.
• Elorie is anxious but relieved to have hired capable allies. Her account of being mocked for warning the Angels reveals her frustration and reinforces her conviction that she was right about the treasury’s vulnerability.
• The trio work closely together: Lin Qing leads and scouts, Chen Xuan assesses the surroundings and prepares for danger, and Elorie shares what she knows about the Alliance.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and ignored warnings: The Angels’ confidence in the treasury’s defenses contrasts with its successful infiltration—and with Elorie’s earlier, disregarded warning.
• Appearances versus reality: The treasury looks like a lavish museum, while its ordinary-looking exhibits may conceal extraordinary qualities.
• Expertise and improvisation: Lin Qing’s technical skill and Chen Xuan’s escape option show how preparation and adaptability can overcome security systems.
• Uncertainty and foreshadowing: The Artifacts’ purpose remains unclear, and the sudden warning suggests the intruders have been noticed or that the exhibits are protected in ways they do not yet understand.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan, Lin Qing, and Elorie are confronted inside the Temple Treasury by a mysterious woman sitting atop a glass pillar. She calls herself the keeper, but her unusual outfit and inability to register on Chen Xuan’s Heavenly Cloud Skill make her seem unlike an ordinary guard.
• The woman, Liu Li, sets a peculiar rule: the intruders may look around, but if they pick up any treasure, she will kill them. Since the group has not touched anything, she allows them to continue.
• Chen Xuan suspects Liu Li is the powerful Artifact rumored to protect the treasury, rather than a living person. He sends Lin Qing and Elorie to search for Lucy and the Mother Flesh while he stays to investigate Liu Li.
• In conversation, Liu Li reveals that she is not paid by the Angel Alliance and has been confined to the treasury for over eighty years. Her assignment will last another three hundred years.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan remains cautious and perceptive, recognizing that Liu Li’s behavior suggests both unusual power and deep loneliness. He approaches her to learn more rather than provoking a fight.
• Lin Qing challenges Liu Li directly and calmly withdraws her hand when the keeper clarifies her rules. She and Elorie accept Chen Xuan’s plan and leave to search for their objectives.
• Elorie is ready to fight, but Chen Xuan persuades her to hold back. She remains uneasy about leaving him alone with Liu Li.
• Liu Li initially presents herself as a threatening guardian, yet her playful manner and eagerness to talk reveal how isolated she is. She admits that she has had little chance to speak with anyone.

Significant themes

• Loneliness and confinement: Liu Li’s long, solitary vigil has left her hungry for conversation, suggesting that even a powerful guardian can have ordinary emotional needs.
• Appearance and identity: Liu Li looks human but may be an Artifact; her name, role, and nature remain uncertain.
• Power and restraint: The group avoids conflict by following Liu Li’s rules, while Chen Xuan tries to understand her before deciding how to proceed.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan questions Liu Li, the treasury’s guardian, and learns she has killed past intruders who ignored her warnings. She admits she hoped Chen Xuan’s group would provoke a fight—not only to break her boredom, but because she believes a weapon must fulfill its purpose through combat.
• Liu Li is unmoved by threats or offers. Chen Xuan realizes he must eventually take Mother Body Lucy, but is uncertain he can defeat her with his available abilities.
• Lin Qing discovers a heavily reinforced door marked Vault Nine. Its displayed stability rating is only 9, far below that of the other Artifacts, suggesting the contents are unusually dangerous. The map also indicates that the vault lies in a cave-like, naturally formed section.
• The group confirms that Lucy is inside. Liu Li says she will not stop them from damaging the facility, but warns that entering the vault means certain death: Lucy is the source of humanity, making humans subject to its will.
• Elorie rejects this claim, insisting humanity came from the stars. Her declaration leaves Chen Xuan and Lin Qing stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan recognizes Liu Li as an unusually formidable opponent and privately weighs his options, while keeping up a friendly front. He remains skeptical of her warning about Lucy.
• Liu Li reveals a strict, death-accepting code: those who attack may be killed in return, and she will not resent anyone who defeats her. She is willing to let the group choose between fighting her for the treasures and facing the greater danger in Vault Nine.
• Lin Qing investigates the vault and prepares to cut through its door, but Liu Li’s warning briefly unsettles her.
• Elorie confidently asserts a cosmic origin for humanity, clashing with Liu Li’s claim that Lucy is humanity’s source.

Significant themes

• Duty and identity: Liu Li sees combat as inseparable from being a weapon.
• Fearlessness and resolve: Her willingness to die makes ordinary bargaining and intimidation useless.
• Human origins and fate: The chapter introduces a conflict between Lucy as humanity’s source and Elorie’s belief in a stellar origin.
• Escalating danger: The low stability rating and Liu Li’s warning suggest that the contents of Vault Nine pose a far greater threat than the displayed Artifacts.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan challenges Liu Li’s account of Mother Body Lucy, pointing out that flesh from Lucy has somehow spread beyond the place where it is kept.
• Liu Li explains that Lucy’s Stability Level is restored by feeding it living people. Because it has not been fed for fifteen years, raising its stability above 80 would now require more than a hundred people.
• Elorie realizes that the Angel Alliance may sacrifice people to Lucy and is horrified by the possibility that her own organization is responsible.
• Chen Xuan insists that the group continue opening Vault Nine, doubting that Lucy is as powerful or important as Liu Li suggests.
• Before Liu Li can stop them, explosions shake the treasury. Armed helicopters and masked soldiers attack the complex, overwhelming its guards.
• Chen Xuan senses that some of the attackers have Demon-like spiritual signatures and identifies them as Devils. Liu Li refuses to intervene: her duty is limited to protecting the treasures, and she says she cannot leave the area.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan remains focused and calculating. He considers whether his collection of Forbidden abilities—especially Affinity Blood—might make him more closely connected to Lucy than an Angel is. He also looks for ways to use the invasion to his advantage.
• Elorie shifts from skepticism about Liu Li’s claims to shock and disbelief when she understands that “feeding” Lucy means sacrificing living people.
• Lin Qing presses for practical answers, recognizes what Lucy’s feeding entails, and later spots the attack through the treasury’s cameras.
• Liu Li reveals more about Lucy and the Angel Alliance but remains bound to her post. Though disappointed by the group’s actions, she does not rush to defend the guards under attack.

Significant themes

• Institutional corruption and moral compromise: The Angel Alliance’s revered origins may be tied to human sacrifice.
• Power and dependence: Lucy’s influence appears to come at a horrifying cost, while its true nature and limits remain uncertain.
• Duty versus compassion: Liu Li prioritizes her narrow responsibility to the treasures over the lives of the guards.
• Pragmatism and survival: Chen Xuan responds to revelations and danger by weighing how each might serve his objectives.

Character interactions

• Chen Xuan challenges Liu Li’s explanation, while she counters with details about Lucy’s stability and hunger.
• Elorie questions Liu Li’s claims about Angels, then reacts with horror when their implications become clear.
• Lin Qing seeks guidance from Chen Xuan as the group debates whether to proceed.
• Chen Xuan tries to draw Liu Li into confronting the attackers, but she refuses, leaving the group to face the consequences of the invasion while still pursuing Vault Nine.

Plot points and events

• Elorie senses Devils approaching the Temple Treasury earlier than history predicted. Chen Xuan suspects the timeline has shifted, but decides they can still defend the vault and rescue Mother Body Lucy.
• Professor Yulun and an injured guard arrive, fleeing armed attackers. Elorie poses as an Angel sent by the Angel Alliance and sends them to a hidden shelter. She learns that Vault Ten can only be opened by a few Angels from High Heaven.
• The professor and guard escape through a concealed staircase. Liu Li explains that N21 is her designation; Chen Xuan decides to keep calling her Liu Li.
• Masked mercenaries enter and raise their guns. Chen Xuan distracts them by hurling an Artifact and accusing them of trying to steal it.
• Liu Li draws her sword and unleashes a devastating attack that slices the first wave of intruders into pieces before they can fire.
• Chen Xuan senses that the true enemies—the Devils—were waiting outside and are now entering. Wanting to fight them himself and strengthen his Flesh Seed, he equips three Flesh items and uses Fission and Fusion.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan remains decisive under pressure and is eager to use the Devils as an opportunity to improve his power. He and Liu Li cooperate, though he also wants to keep pace with her impressive combat ability.
• Elorie quickly improvises a convincing cover story to protect the researchers and guard, while trying to obtain information about Vault Ten.
• Liu Li demonstrates extraordinary swordsmanship and reveals that N21 is her official designation. Her exchange with Chen Xuan highlights his willingness to use the name she prefers.
• Professor Yulun and the guard are frightened but follow Elorie’s directions and escape through the hidden shelter route.

Significant themes

• History and changing timelines: The Devils’ early arrival suggests events have begun to diverge from recorded history.
• Deception and quick thinking: Elorie’s cover story and Chen Xuan’s false accusation create openings amid danger.
• Power and rivalry: Liu Li’s effortless slaughter raises the stakes, while Chen Xuan seeks a chance to prove himself and grow stronger.
• Hidden defenses and secrets: The treasury contains concealed escape routes and a vault accessible only to select Angels.

Key plot points and events

• A Devil charges Chen Xuan and is grotesquely destroyed from within. Chen finishes him with a Thousand Thoughts Sword, confirming that killing Devils yields far more Flesh Seed than fusing with them.
• Liu Li and Elorie join Chen against a second wave of attackers. They quickly destroy more than ten drones, but the drones spill enchanted coins across the floor. The coins dim the hall and begin controlling the group like puppets, with threads leading to a giant hand in the darkness.
• Recognizing the effect as Forbidden power, Chen uses Fission and Fusion to absorb every coin into himself. The process causes intense pain, but his Heavenly Cloud Skill protects his consciousness. Once the coins are consumed, the hall’s light returns and his companions are freed.
• Chen has Liu Li cut openings through the walls, exposing Devils concealed behind them. He and Elorie then clear the corridors, using Chen’s detection and invisibility abilities to locate and ambush enemies while Elorie fights at close range.
• After thirty minutes, the Temple Treasury is secure. Elorie is shaken by the carnage but steadies herself. The group realizes the vault has survived an attack that was supposed to destroy it, meaning history may have changed.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan demonstrates tactical initiative and willingness to absorb danger himself rather than let his companions be caught by an unknown power. He also takes command of the counterattack.
• Liu Li remains cooperative and effective, using her Dimensional Slash to destroy drones and precisely cut through walls.
• Elorie proves herself a capable fighter, protecting the group and engaging armed mercenaries, but is visibly distressed by the aftermath. She accepts Chen’s reassurance and regains her composure.
• The Devils are revealed to use varied tactics, including concealed positions, drones, and mind-controlling Forbidden abilities.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and trust: Chen coordinates the others’ strengths, and Liu Li and Elorie follow his plans.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: Chen takes the risk of absorbing the coins to protect his companions.
• Adaptability against overwhelming power: Chen counters a mysterious, rule-bound ability by destroying its means of activation.
• Changing fate: The survival of the Temple Treasury suggests the group has altered history.

Character interactions

Chen reassures Liu Li and Elorie during the attack, directs Liu Li to breach the walls, and coordinates Elorie’s assault through the corridors. After the battle, he offers Elorie a tissue and comfort, explaining that the mercenaries may have been manipulated and urging her not to blame herself. Her question about whether history has truly changed closes the chapter on their shared realization.