Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Liu Shuyue presents her plan to resist the King of Qi’s escalating pressure: move Mala Village’s roughly 200 dragon-blood-awakened hunters to Jiufeng City, recruit a Liu-family militia to help defend it, and have Shuyue ambush enemy commanders and powerful rogue cultivators.
• She warns that casualties are likely. The hunters are strong, but inexperienced in fighting other cultivators; they will initially rely on harassment and surprise attacks.
• If the resistance succeeds in defeating local armies, the King may back down—but open rebellion could end the ancient agreement between the nations and the Lotus Cloud Sect. Shuyue accepts that risk, believing she is following her master’s teachings.
• Shuyue asks Chen Xuan to serve as a reserve against a worst-case escalation, such as the King deploying the Imperial Guard or hiring foreign rogue cultivators. Chen refuses payment for now, confident they will win.
• Chen asks Lin Qing to contact arms dealers from the Dimensional Limit Organization’s records. He proposes paying for weapons with “abilities,” using the Organization’s reputation and channels to attract suppliers.
• In a parallel scene, arms dealer Walter Weiss learns that a buyer claiming to represent the Dimensional Limit Organization wants bulk light weapons and offers abilities as payment. The unusual offer immediately captures Walter’s attention.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Shuyue reveals both her strategic ability and her willingness to risk rebellion. Though she recognizes the danger of challenging the King and possibly the Lotus Cloud Sect, her loyalty to her master’s principles is firm.
• Chen Xuan shifts from questioning the plan’s odds to expressing strong confidence. He supports Shuyue without taking her abilities as payment and seeks a practical way to offset the defenders’ numerical disadvantage.
• Lin Qing quickly turns Chen’s idea into action, using her knowledge of the Organization’s contacts and channels to send an offer to potential arms dealers.
• Walter Weiss is shown as a ruthless, experienced arms trader: his men conceal evidence of violence before he meets his son. His eldest son, Gio, is distant and unhappy in the family business, particularly since his wife’s death. The mention of the Organization and abilities sharply changes Walter’s attention.

Significant themes

• Principle versus authority: Shuyue is prepared to defy the King—and potentially the Lotus Cloud Sect—rather than abandon what she sees as her duty.
• Preparation and asymmetric warfare: A smaller force must compensate for inferior numbers through ambushes, local support, leadership targeting, and better weapons.
• The costs of resistance: Shuyue acknowledges that casualties and political consequences are unavoidable if the conflict escalates.
• Power as currency: Chen’s proposed payment of abilities links the cultivation world’s supernatural resources with the modern arms trade, setting up an unusual alliance.

Chapter Summary: “A Deal That Changed a Life”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Walter Vess, head of a struggling arms company, learns that the mysterious Dimensional Limit Organization wants to purchase 5,000 light weapons from his company.
• Recognizing the Organization’s rumored role in transforming obscure companies into industry leaders, Walter personally contacts them, hoping to establish a long-term connection and move his business into advanced, legal technology markets.
• As confirmation of their identity, Walter requests an ability that will reveal whether there is a traitor inside his company.
• The Organization grants him an unusual power through a video call: by listening to people speak, Walter can sense the emotions they generate in him, particularly warmth, peace, or malice. However, the ability cannot distinguish truth from lies.
• Walter tests the power on his butler, George, and on Danny, an employee accused of betrayal. Danny’s speech produces intense malice, convincing Walter that he is guilty.
• Walter orders Danny’s release but assigns his eldest son, Gio, to handle the matter as preparation for inheriting the company.
• When Gio enters, Walter senses an overwhelming wave of malice from him and realizes that Gio is likely involved in the company’s leaks and attacks.
• Walter forces Gio to execute Danny. Instead, Gio turns the gun on Walter and reveals that he blames his father and the family’s arms business for his wife Alissa’s death and for the suffering caused by their illicit operations.
• Gio shoots first, but Walter’s revolver is loaded while Gio’s is empty. Walter kills his son.
• Rather than retreating, Walter feels revitalized. The deal has restored his ambition, and he decides to personally manage the company and all future dealings with the Organization.

Character Developments

• Walter Vess: Changes from a cautious, aging businessman into a newly energized and ruthless leader. His ability confirms both the existence of internal betrayal and his own emotional detachment. He accepts that he is cold-blooded and recommits himself to expanding the company.
• Gio: Revealed as more than a concerned heir: he is connected to the company’s betrayal and deeply resentful of Walter. His anger stems from Alissa’s death and the destructive consequences of the family business.
• George: Remains loyal and obedient but becomes shocked by Walter’s orders and by the murder of Gio. His moral discomfort contrasts with Walter’s pragmatism.
• Danny: Serves as the first test of Walter’s ability and is exposed as a traitor, though his fate is ultimately used to provoke Gio.
• The Organization’s representative: Mysterious, direct, and technologically powerful. He grants Walter the ability without revealing his identity or explaining how it works.

Significant Themes

• Power and transformation: The supernatural ability changes Walter’s understanding of his company and renews his ambition.
• Business versus family loyalty: Walter places the survival and success of the family company above paternal affection, ultimately killing his own son.
• Moral corruption and consequences: Gio’s accusations show how the family’s weapons trafficking has caused personal tragedy, while Walter’s response demonstrates how deeply the business has hardened him.
• Trust and betrayal: The chapter centers on Walter’s suspicion of internal treachery and the difficulty of separating truth, lies, and emotional evidence.
• Opportunity through danger: The Organization’s offer represents both a chance for advancement and a force that pushes Walter toward greater ruthlessness.

Important Character Interactions

• Walter and Gio initially discuss the Organization’s offer, with Gio showing curiosity and Walter insisting on handling the deal personally.
• Walter’s phone conversation with the Organization’s representative establishes the mysterious power dynamic between them.
• Walter tests his ability on George, discovering that emotional impressions remain stable even when George lies or speaks insincerely.
• Walter tests Danny, whose sensed malice confirms his guilt.
• Walter confronts Gio indirectly by ordering him to kill Danny, exposing Gio’s hesitation and hostility.
• Gio openly condemns Walter for Alissa’s death and the family’s arms business before attempting to escape.
• Walter and Gio exchange gunfire; Walter survives and kills his son, marking his final rejection of family sentiment in favor of business and ambition.

Chapter Summary: “Surprise Attack Is Best”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuan completes a secret transaction with Walter Firearms using the Scanner Gun and a concealed phone call. By limiting the transaction to a visual connection, he prevents Ability Store from revealing unnecessary information.
• Lin Qing worries that Chen Xuan may not be able to satisfy Walter’s demands, but Chen explains that the organization’s large inventory gives him flexibility. Depending on Walter’s needs, he can provide abilities such as the Heart Calming Incantation, Can Sleep a Lot, Eight Trigrams Palm, or Alchemy.
• Chen plans to acquire Walter’s goods by establishing a Branch Store near their storage location and transporting them covertly. He also wonders whether his actions are altering history or fulfilling events that were already destined to occur.
• Outside Jiufeng City, Commander Li Tiexin’s army debates whether to attack the Liu family immediately. The military officers favor a direct assault, while rogue cultivators warn that Liu Shuyue is far more dangerous than ordinary soldiers realize.
• Celestial Master Li recounts his failed ambush of Liu Shuyue. Although four cultivators initially struck her successfully, she survived and killed three of them, leaving only him alive. He argues that ordinary troops cannot defeat her without sufficient cultivators to restrain her.
• The commanders decide to begin attacking the outskirts of Jiufeng City while avoiding the Liu family’s central stronghold. Before they can act, Liu Shuyue infiltrates the command tent.
• Liu has silently dispelled the camp’s protective Barrier and killed the guards outside. She decapitates Celestial Master Li before he can warn the others, then launches a devastating attack in the darkness.
• The camp descends into chaos. Liu kills soldiers and cultivators with precise sword strikes, while Li Tiexin crawls from the tent and discovers that the surrounding troops have already been slaughtered or overwhelmed by fire and battle.
• Fu Jiaolu, identifying himself as a hunter from Mala Village, appears and kills Li Tiexin with a woodcutter’s axe, revealing that Liu’s assault is supported by more than one attacker.

Character Developments

• Chen Xuan demonstrates increasing confidence as a merchant and strategist. He understands that his broad inventory allows him to meet almost any customer’s demands, reinforcing his belief in the power of Ability Store.
• Lin Qing remains cautious and practical, questioning the risks of the transaction and the logistics of fulfilling Walter’s request.
• Liu Shuyue is shown to be even more formidable than her reputation suggests. Although she has lost the Thousand Thoughts Sword and is still rebuilding her cultivation of the Heavenly Cloud Skill, five years of hardship have strengthened her resolve, combat instincts, and physical discipline.
• Celestial Master Li shifts from overconfidence to fear after personally experiencing Liu’s overwhelming strength. His warnings are based on hard-earned survival rather than cowardice.
• Li Tiexin is exposed as a weak commander who relies on subordinates and panics when faced with real danger.
• Fu Jiaolu is introduced as a capable and ruthless ally of Liu, using an ordinary axe with lethal effectiveness.

Significant Themes

• Surprise and strategy over brute force: The chapter emphasizes that an unexpected attack can defeat a much larger and better-equipped force.
• The limits of conventional power: Soldiers and heavy crossbows are ineffective against a highly skilled cultivator without proper preparation and supernatural support.
• Experience versus arrogance: Celestial Master Li’s earlier confidence collapses after discovering the gap between imagined ability and real combat experience.
• Secrecy and controlled information: Chen Xuan’s transaction and Liu Shuyue’s infiltration both depend on limiting what opponents can detect or understand.
• Fate versus historical causation: Chen questions whether his actions are changing history or simply causing events that were always destined to happen.
• Ordinary tools wielded by extraordinary people: Liu’s sword and Fu Jiaolu’s woodcutter’s axe become deadly through skill, discipline, and intent rather than through appearance alone.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xuan reassures Lin Qing that his inventory can satisfy Walter’s needs, highlighting his confidence and business-minded thinking.
• Military commanders argue with rogue cultivators over whether Liu Shuyue can be defeated through a conventional attack.
• Celestial Master Li challenges the army’s assumptions by recounting his failed ambush and warning that Liu cannot be contained by ordinary troops.
• Liu interrupts the military council directly, killing Celestial Master Li and attacking the entire command structure.
• Li Tiexin attempts to escape and call for reinforcements, but discovers that Liu and her allies have already isolated and destroyed the camp.
• Fu Jiaolu’s final confrontation with Li Tiexin confirms that the assault is a coordinated attack involving Mala Village rather than Liu Shuyue acting alone.

Chapter Summary: “Encirclement”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuan receives the firearms purchased from Walter Arms Company: five trucks containing 3,000 rifles and large quantities of ammunition. Walter also gives him a rundown villa beside a secluded park.
• Chen Xuan rejects offers of more luxurious property because he needs the villa as a temporary Branch Store for transporting goods, not as a residence.
• After scanning the property contract into the app, Chen activates the Branch Store. An ornate wooden elevator appears inside the Main Store, allowing him to travel between locations.
• The Branch Store contains the same basic facilities as the Main Store, but its shelves are empty and must be stocked manually. Chen confirms the firearms have arrived outside and summons twenty Mala Village villagers to move the cargo.
• The villagers transport everything into the villa while Chen supervises from the Branch Store. The goods mysteriously vanish from the physical building through the store’s dimensional system.
• Walter Weiss watches the process from a nearby hotel. Confused by the disappearance of the firearms, he sends his butler George to investigate. George finds the villa completely empty.
• Rather than becoming suspicious or hostile, Walter is impressed by the Dimensional Limit Organization’s abilities. He decides to keep the secret and considers himself part of the Organization’s circle.
• Chen Xuan and Lin Qing meet Liu Shuyue at the Liu estate. Liu is tired and injured after several days of fighting, though she minimizes the severity of her wound.
• Liu explains that she successfully ambushed enemy forces outside the city, killing many commanders and forcing the troops to retreat. However, the King of Qi has since sent reinforcements from Bai Province, Cang Province, and the Royal City.
• More than 25,000 troops now surround the area, supported by archers, heavily armored cavalry, and increasing numbers of rogue cultivators. The Hunting Squad has been driven into a defensive position inside Jiufeng City and is beginning to suffer casualties.

Character Developments

• Chen Xuan demonstrates increasing mastery of the Ability Store’s systems, successfully establishing a Branch Store and using it to conceal and transport a massive weapons shipment.
• Walter Weiss grows more impressed and intimidated by the Dimensional Limit Organization. His curiosity shifts toward admiration, and he chooses loyalty and secrecy after witnessing their supernatural logistics.
• Liu Shuyue is revealed to be an aggressive and capable military leader. Her initial ambush is highly successful, but she is now under severe pressure from a much larger and better-equipped enemy force.
• Chen Xuan becomes more aware of the strategic importance of Liu Shuyue’s conflict. He recognizes that the King of Qi is diverting enormous military resources because of the threat posed by Cultivator forces aligned with Luo Kingdom.
• George, Walter’s butler, acts as a discreet investigator and confirms the impossible disappearance of the weapons.

Significant Themes

• Mystery and supernatural logistics: The Branch Store allows Chen Xuan to move huge quantities of weapons through an apparently empty building, reinforcing the Organization’s otherworldly nature.
• Power through technology and resources: Modern firearms are being introduced into a cultivation-era conflict, potentially changing the balance of power.
• Escalating military tension: Liu Shuyue’s successful early strike gives way to encirclement as the King of Qi mobilizes a massive army.
• Secrecy and trust: Walter’s decision to conceal what he saw shows how awe and self-interest can turn outsiders into allies.
• Unequal warfare: Liu’s smaller Hunting Squad faces organized troops, specialized units, rogue cultivators, and superior numbers, emphasizing the growing difficulty of resistance.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xuan and Walter communicate through the property and weapons transaction, with Walter offering better gifts but Chen insisting on practical utility.
• Chen relies on Mala Village villagers to transfer the firearms while personally monitoring the operation from the Branch Store.
• Walter and George discuss the empty villa, with Walter interpreting the impossible event as proof of the Organization’s extraordinary capabilities.
• Chen, Lin Qing, and Liu Shuyue discuss Liu’s injury and recent battles. Chen questions her about the attack, while Liu explains the enemy’s growing strength.
• Liu’s forces are increasingly opposed by the King of Qi’s armies and rogue cultivators, turning the conflict from a successful offensive into a desperate defensive struggle.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan learns that rogue cultivators have been using unfamiliar, dangerous abilities against Liu Shuyue. After five days of fighting, she is tiring, and he realizes the King of Qi may be trying to wear her down by surrounding Jiufeng City.
• Chen Xuan gives Liu Shuyue the Strong Seize ability, which lets her take other people’s abilities. He plans for her to collect abilities from the rogue cultivators as payment, arguing that the power is a weapon whose morality depends on its user.
• To arm Mala Village, Chen Xuan opens a shipment of SR15 rifles and gathers two thousand villagers. He considers them loyal, physically enhanced, and a safer choice than city residents or the Liu family.
• The villagers doubt the rifles’ usefulness until Lin Qing shoots three deer nearly half a kilometer away in seconds. Liu Shuyue and Fu Jiaolu recognize how radically the weapons could change the battlefield.
• Chen Xuan assigns Lin Qing to train the villagers so they can surprise the King of Qi’s army.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan shifts from assessing the enemy’s varied abilities to preparing a practical counterattack. He also shows strategic caution in choosing trusted villagers to handle the guns.
• Liu Shuyue is worn down by the prolonged defense but continues protecting Jiufeng City. She trusts Chen Xuan, accepts Strong Seize despite its unsettling nature, and grasps the rifles’ military significance.
• Lin Qing demonstrates the rifles’ power and enjoys commanding the group’s attention. Her Cybernetic Body enhancements explain her exceptional speed and accuracy.
• Fu Jiaolu begins skeptical of the unfamiliar weapon but quickly becomes enthusiastic after seeing what it can do.

Significant themes

• Technology versus cultivation: Firearms challenge the battlefield dominance of traditional weapons and supernatural abilities.
• Power and responsibility: Strong Seize is portrayed as morally neutral but dangerous, making trust in its wielder essential.
• Trust and loyalty: Chen Xuan relies on Liu Shuyue and chooses Mala Village because its people are loyal to her.
• Attrition and adaptation: The enemy’s strategy depends on exhausting Liu Shuyue, while Chen Xuan counters by changing the balance of combat.

Character interactions

• Lin Qing’s tactful question about payment prompts Liu Shuyue to defend Chen Xuan’s reliability; Chen Xuan privately resents the interruption but then explains the transaction.
• Chen Xuan reassures Liu Shuyue, trusts her with Strong Seize, and explains how she can use it.
• He tests Fu Jiaolu and Liu Shuyue’s expectations against Lin Qing’s shooting demonstration, turning their skepticism into excitement.
• Lin Qing explains that Cybernetic Bodies help her operate the rifles, while Chen Xuan sets her up to train the villagers.

Plot points and events

• A Royal City Envoy delivers King Qi’s final offer: Liu Shuyue must surrender and return to the capital with the Vanguard Army, or Yun Prefecture will face bloodshed. Liu tears up the letter. The envoy announces that the allied army will attack Jiufeng City the next day.
• Unknown to the envoy, Liu has already sent two forces of six hundred qi-sensing villagers from Mala Village around the enemy camps. Led by Fu Jiaolu and Du Niu, they are to strike the Bai and Cang armies from the rear; Liu will confront the central Vanguard Army herself.
• At dawn, the Vanguard Army prepares a probing assault. Its deputy commander, Gong Lingwu, looks forward to redeeming himself after his earlier failure against Liu. His uncle, commander Gong Jiang, warns him not to mistreat Liu if she is captured: only the king may punish a sect disciple.
• Scouts report that Liu’s militia is leaving Jiufeng City to fight in the open. The allied officers mock the poorly equipped villagers and their identical “sticks,” but Gong Jiang suspects those standardized weapons may signal a serious threat.
• Rather than underestimate the force, Gong Jiang sends rogue cultivators and light cavalry to test it. He orders the Bai and Cang armies to attack the city’s flanks if Liu appears, while the Vanguard Army advances from the front to surround the opposing force.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Shuyue remains defiant, rejecting the king’s offer and committing to a direct, coordinated counterattack despite her forces’ limited training.
• Gong Lingwu is eager to gain military glory, but his ambition is tempered by Gong Jiang’s authority and warning about Liu’s protected status.
• Gong Jiang emerges as cautious and strategically perceptive. He questions where Liu’s cultivators came from and recognizes that their numbers—and capabilities—may exceed intelligence estimates.
• The allied officers shift from amusement to concern as Gong Jiang points out the uncertainty surrounding Liu’s forces.

Significant themes

• Underestimation and vigilance: The officers initially dismiss the villagers, but Gong Jiang insists that even an apparently weaker opponent demands full effort.
• Power, hierarchy, and authority: Liu defies both royal command and the tradition binding sect disciples to the state, while Gong Jiang emphasizes that only the king has the right to punish her.
• Preparation amid unequal strength: Liu’s brief training and new weapons reflect the urgency of facing an enemy whose forces continue to grow.

Plot points and events

• Mala Village divides into three groups, coordinating through communication artifacts. Liu Shuyue leads Group A and follows Lin Qing’s advice: protect the villagers with the Eight Gates of Life and Death formation while using guns at range.
• Despite Lin Qing’s recommendation to wait until the enemy is closer, Group A opens fire from more than 800 meters. The villagers’ cultivation-enhanced aim makes the guns unexpectedly effective, and Liu Shuyue lets them continue.
• When a shielded rogue Cultivator and his companions charge the formation, Liu Shuyue confronts them. She breaks their binding technique, uses her ability, Strong Seize, to shatter the leader’s barrier, and follows up with gunfire. She also blocks a rear attack with the captured shield before striking back.
• Meanwhile, Gong Lingwu’s commanders misread the battle, thinking the scattered rogue Cultivators are ineffective. They eventually realize the army has been taking heavy, largely unnoticed gunfire.
• Reports arrive that forces are attacking from behind and from the side, putting the much larger army in danger of being encircled. Gong Jiang orders a push toward Jiufeng City, hoping to crush the small force at the front and reach the city before the attackers can overwhelm them.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Shuyue shows sound judgment by delegating battlefield command to Lin Qing, then adapts quickly under fire. Her combat ability combines cultivation, newly awakened powers, and firearms.
• Lin Qing proves knowledgeable about large-scale warfare and modern weapons. She is impressed by how cultivation improves the villagers’ accuracy.
• Chen Xuan observes that guns amplify a user’s existing strength rather than becoming obsolete when enemies grow stronger.
• Gong Jiang remains composed and chooses to advance rather than risk a chaotic retreat, though his plan depends on reaching the city in time.
• Liu Shuyue’s thoughts about her master reveal that she sees her actions as part of her duty to protect the people and repay her debts.

Significant themes

• Technology and cultivation reinforce each other: firearms are powerful in ordinary hands and even more so when wielded by Cultivators.
• Preparation and coordination can overcome numerical superiority: the attackers’ communication, formations, and flanking maneuvers disrupt a far larger army.
• Misjudging unfamiliar tactics is dangerous: the commanders mistake disciplined, long-range attacks for ineffective fighting until casualties expose the truth.
• Duty and leadership: Liu Shuyue trusts capable allies, protects her people, and acts decisively when the formation is threatened.

Chapter summary: “Vengeance at Last”

Key plot points and events

• The Three-Prefecture Allied Army advances on Jiufeng City, with General Gong Jiang leading its cavalry charge. Meanwhile, Lin Qing coordinates the defenders by radio, directing Liu Shuyue’s villagers to retreat in formation while continuing to fire.
• The villagers’ speed and disciplined use of firearms let them outpace the cavalry while inflicting heavy casualties. Lin Qing’s AI-assisted battlefield analysis lets her anticipate enemy movements and coordinate the three teams.
• At Jiufeng City’s low walls, the cavalry must slow and halt, leaving its soldiers exposed to gunfire. Unable to approach the city without devastating losses, the army’s morale collapses when Gong Jiang is shot and killed. Many soldiers flee or surrender; the surviving rogue cultivators disappear.
• The villagers capture the defeated soldiers, keeping them from scattering into the countryside. Officers are held separately from the ordinary troops.
• Liu Shuyue confronts Gong Lingwu, a member of the Gong family and the son of a great general. He begs for his life and offers wealth and food, but she refuses to treat the matter as a personal dispute, telling him that he owes an apology to the refugees driven from Qingzhou.
• The refugees then exact their own brutal revenge on Gong Lingwu, accusing him of responsibility for their suffering and killing him.

Character developments

• Liu Shuyue shows greater authority and resolve. She leads the villagers in battle, orders the capture of the defeated army, and distinguishes her personal feelings from the refugees’ demand for justice.
• Lin Qing demonstrates the decisive value of her AI-enhanced command, directing the battlefield with near-predictive precision.
• Gong Jiang remains defiant to the end, refusing to surrender, but his confidence in overcoming the city’s defenses proves fatal.
• Gong Lingwu shifts from attempting to intimidate Liu Shuyue through his family connections to panicked bargaining. His appeals fail because the refugees seek accountability, not compensation or favor.
• The refugees move from victims of displacement and deprivation to a united force capable of defeating a major army—and, finally, of taking revenge themselves.

Significant themes

• The transformation of warfare: Cultivators, modern weapons, communications, and AI combine to give a small force overwhelming battlefield control.
• Power and vulnerability: The allied army’s size and cavalry prove useless against coordinated firepower and careful positioning.
• Justice versus vengeance: Liu Shuyue declines personal revenge, but the refugees impose their own punishment, leaving the chapter’s idea of justice deliberately harsh and unresolved.
• The human cost of neglect: Their anger at Gong Lingwu centers on the missing relief grain and the deaths and displacement that followed.

Character interactions

• Lin Qing issues tactical orders to Liu Shuyue and the other team leaders; Liu relays instructions to the villagers.
• Gong Jiang’s guards try to protect him and urge retreat, but he insists on pressing the attack.
• Liu Shuyue refuses Gong Lingwu’s pleas and directs his attention to the refugees he harmed.
• Fu Jiaolu and the gathered refugees confront Gong Lingwu, turning their shared grievance into collective, violent retaliation.

Chapter Summary: “New Leader”

Plot Points and Events

• Honglian arrives late at the Dimensional Limit Organization’s Jiangcheng branch and immediately notices the office is unusually quiet and orderly.
• The new branch leader, Xiao Kanong, is conducting a meeting. He has replaced the heads of the Execution Team, Logistics, and Intelligence Unit after the organization’s recent crisis.
• Former Execution Team captain Wan has not been imprisoned but has been forced into retirement, forbidden from using his ability for two years, and placed under surveillance.
• Xiao Kanong introduces two transferred personnel: Wang Qianduan, a stern middle-aged man, and Zhang Yingzi, a cheerful young woman, both assigned to the Execution Team.
• He announces a major change in policy: the organization will become publicly accessible, establish ability-testing stations and training programs, and openly educate society about ability users.
• Organization members will be promoted as public heroes and role models rather than remaining secretive agents.
• Honglian and others object, fearing that publicity will make abilities seem desirable and create an empowered social class.
• Xiao Kanong argues that the spread of abilities and rising Erosion Points cannot be hidden forever. He believes public engagement is the best way to prepare society, recruit more help, and repair the organization’s weakened systems.
• He reveals that headquarters is developing a project capable of sealing away abilities entirely, suggesting that the problem of ability-based privilege may eventually disappear.
• At the end of the meeting, Xiao Kanong reveals that Guagua, a supposedly harmless local creature, has been approved as a pet. Zhang Yingzi produces a portable box, from which a dinosaur-like creature emerges.

Character Developments

• Honglian remains outspoken and skeptical of authority. She challenges Xiao Kanong’s policies and defends the organization’s original purpose, showing her concern for victims of Erosion and the dangers of glorifying abilities.
• Xiao Kanong is established as friendly, composed, and politically strategic. Although he appears approachable—offering understanding about lateness and emphasizing overtime pay—he is also introducing sweeping institutional changes.
• Former Captain Wan is revealed to have been removed despite seemingly not being responsible for the crisis, highlighting the organization’s willingness to punish or restructure leadership after failure.
• Wang Qianduan appears distant, severe, and highly disciplined.
• Zhang Yingzi is introduced as warm, cheerful, and sociable, contrasting sharply with Wang’s cold personality.
• Xiao Jiu reacts nervously to Honglian’s challenge, suggesting fear of the new leader’s authority.
• Wang Baihu enthusiastically welcomes the possibility of becoming famous, representing the excitement some employees feel about the new public-facing strategy.

Significant Themes

• Institutional reform and accountability: Headquarters responds to recent failures by replacing multiple leaders and restructuring the branch.
• Publicity versus secrecy: The organization must decide whether to continue concealing abilities or acknowledge their growing presence in society.
• The danger of glorifying power: Honglian fears that turning ability users into celebrities will encourage people to view abilities as privileges rather than dangerous consequences of Erosion.
• Adaptation to inevitable change: Xiao Kanong argues that secrecy is becoming unsustainable as abilities spread, making proactive public engagement preferable to denial.
• Hope through technological or scientific control: The promised ability-sealing project offers a possible solution to the growing crisis, though its feasibility and implications remain uncertain.
• Leadership and ideology: Xiao Kanong’s personable style masks a fundamental shift in the organization’s mission and public identity.

Character Interactions

• Honglian directly questions Xiao Kanong about Captain Wan’s fate and whether replacing leadership can prevent future disasters.
• Xiao Kanong responds calmly and respectfully, defusing confrontation while defending headquarters’ decisions.
• Honglian and several colleagues challenge his plan to publicize abilities, warning that it could encourage social inequality and abuse.
• Xiao Kanong acknowledges their concerns but reframes the policy as a necessary response to an unstoppable social trend.
• Wang Baihu enthusiastically supports the celebrity-oriented future, while Xiao Jiu worries that public recognition will hinder field operations.
• The chapter ends with Zhang Yingzi unexpectedly introducing Guagua, creating a humorous contrast to the tense discussion about the organization’s future.

Key points

• Er Mu says the book will launch the following day, with three chapters released after 6 p.m.
• The story is not about traveling between worlds. Instead, people from different worlds are brought together through the Ability Store, and the worlds’ connections will gradually be revealed.
• The author reflects on recovering from major surgery, describing a year of gradual progress through better sleep, exercise, hospital checkups, and regular MRIs. After losing 35 jin and seeing health indicators return to nearly normal, Er Mu has resumed writing.
• The author asks readers to add the book to their library, subscribe, and vote, while promising a satisfying ending.

Character and thematic notes

• Liu Shuyue is expected to become more morally grounded through the ability “Broadly Read Through the Ages,” rather than using it to act without restraint.
• The author presents history as civilization’s record: greater knowledge encourages reflection, and civilization advances in a spiral.
• The chapter emphasizes health, perseverance, learning, and the difficulty of rebuilding readers’ confidence after the author’s previous book went on hiatus and ended abruptly.

Character interactions

• There are no dramatized character-to-character scenes. The chapter is an author’s direct address to readers, sharing personal news and inviting their support.

Key events

• Jiufeng City gradually recovers after the siege, though many frightened residents have left. Liu Shuyue tells Liu Zhiyuan not to force them to stay, and directs him to distribute grain, prepare for the autumn harvest, and recruit non-family members into the rebuilt government.
• With the city now under Liu family control, Liu Zhiyuan worries that the King of Qi will retaliate. Liu Shuyue plans to remain in Jiufeng City until she can confront him, while privately weighing what should happen to the country if he is overthrown.
• Liu Shuyue worries that taking power herself might conflict with Lotus Cloud Sect’s mission and bring the sect’s disapproval. She hopes to uncover whether an old disciple is connected to the Liu family’s rise.
• After sealing her room and concealing her departure, she travels to a remote mountain region to investigate the source of a smoke soul and the mysterious portraits sent to the Liu family.
• Divination leads her to a cave containing signs of human habitation and, deep underground, a remarkably preserved corpse seated on a lotus-shaped stone platform. She suspects it may be Liu Zhidong, the Liu family ancestor. A jade tablet beside the corpse resembles artifacts from her sect.
• As Liu Shuyue reaches for the tablet, the corpse suddenly grabs her wrist.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Shuyue remains a decisive leader but reveals uncertainty about the political consequences of her power and her obligations to Lotus Cloud Sect. She also pursues answers about her family’s past.
• Liu Zhiyuan is increasingly awed by Liu Shuyue and struggles to relate to her as his daughter. He nonetheless supports her, while privately imagining the Liu family’s rise to royalty.
• Liu Shuyue gives Liu Zhiyuan practical guidance on governance and agrees to take promising relatives with her, provided he can bear to part with them.
• The chapter ends with a sudden, physical confrontation between Liu Shuyue and the seemingly dead figure.

Significant themes

• Power and legitimacy: Liu Shuyue’s military victory raises the question of who should rule after the King of Qi.
• Duty versus ambition: She must balance stabilizing the country against the sect’s mission and approval.
• Family and political loyalty: Liu Zhiyuan’s devotion mixes paternal concern with hopes for the family’s advancement.
• The buried past: The cave, corpse, and sect-like jade tablet suggest that the Liu family’s history is intertwined with a hidden cultivation secret.

Plot points and events

• While examining a jade tablet beside a dried corpse, Liu Shuyue is separated from her body by a spell and meets the spirit of Liu Zhidong, a long-dead Lotus Cloud Sect disciple.
• Liu Zhidong recounts how he once served Great Qi as its immortal master and State Preceptor. His policies brought prosperity, and he built a happy family, but he stayed out of a royal succession dispute.
• After a ruthless fourth prince seized the throne, he purged his opponents and dismantled Liu Zhidong’s reforms. The new king later lured Liu Zhidong to the capital and tried to kill him, fearing his loyalty to the former regime.
• The attack involved rogue and evil cultivators—and another Lotus Cloud Sect disciple, the immortal master of neighboring Ning. That disciple sought to weaken Qi for his own kingdom’s survival.
• Liu Zhidong survived, rescued by an elderly palace servant, but was grievously wounded. The Ning immortal master, the usurping king, and the attackers died. Ning soon fell to Qi and Luo, while the truth was concealed from history.
• Liu Zhidong reveals that the most disturbing moment came when the fellow disciple died: his soul vanished, leaving an empty body.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Shuyue begins wary and astonished, then listens closely as Liu Zhidong proves his identity through their shared sect background and concerns. His story forces her to reconsider her own role as an immortal master.
• Liu Zhidong presents himself as an idealistic reformer whose faith in serving the people was shaken by court politics, betrayal, and the sect’s system of rival kingdom assignments. His bitterness remains strongest around the death of his fellow disciple.
• Their conversation is initially lightly teasing, but becomes grave as Liu Shuyue recognizes that disciples assigned to different kingdoms may become enemies despite their shared origins.

Significant themes

• Idealism versus political reality: Good governance can be undone by succession struggles, suspicion, and violence.
• The cost of divided loyalties: The sect’s practice of assigning disciples to rival kingdoms turns fellow disciples into strategic threats.
• Historical erasure: Those in power suppress inconvenient truths to protect their legitimacy.
• Mortality and the soul: The disappearance of the dead disciple’s soul raises a new, unsettling mystery.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Shuyue hears Liu Zhidong’s account of his unnatural aging and his suspicion that the Lotus Cloud Sect has been manipulating its disciples.
• After years of searching, Zhidong tested his theory by exchanging his Three Souls and Seven Po with a Shadow Demon. He survived using the Golden Toad Shedding Its Shell Technique, leaving his original body as the dried corpse in the cave.
• Zhidong admits he used the Liu family to lure Shuyue to him. The family’s supposed connection to her was fabricated, and babies were sent away each year to sustain the deception; their fate is unclear.
• The Shadow Demon begins taking over Shuyue’s body. Zhidong explains that five days have passed in an illusion and that he has gradually gained control.
• Shuyue tries to resist and reach someone with a Voice Transmission Talisman, but Zhidong stops her. He plans to assume her identity and continue investigating the sect.
• The scene abruptly shifts from the cave to a bright, luxurious room, where Zhidong—apparently in Shuyue’s body—faces an unfamiliar man who asks if he is all right.

Character developments

• Liu Zhidong is revealed as a desperate, calculating survivor who has abandoned his former ideals. He sees himself and other disciples as tools of the sect and now intends to live for himself, regardless of what happens to the world.
• Liu Shuyue moves from cautious skepticism to horror and anger as Zhidong’s crimes emerge. Though physically overpowered, she resists the possession and attempts to warn someone.
• The Shadow Demon is not merely a monster Zhidong used: it is central to his plan to steal Shuyue’s body and infiltrate the current generation of the sect.

Significant themes

• Identity and bodily autonomy: The exchange of souls and attempted possession raise the question of whether a person remains themselves when their body and soul can be taken.
• Institutional exploitation: Both disciples fear that the sect has treated generations of cultivators as disposable instruments.
• Idealism versus self-preservation: Zhidong’s former ambition to save the world has curdled into resentment and self-interest.
• Deception and uncertainty: The false family connection, manipulated dreams, and missing years make it difficult for Shuyue to know what is real—or whom she can trust.

Character interactions

• Shuyue challenges Zhidong’s claims and condemns his use of forbidden arts and the missing babies.
• Zhidong tries to justify his choices by arguing that the sect has already deprived them of control over their lives.
• Their struggle becomes a direct contest for Shuyue’s body and thoughts: Zhidong senses her memories, while she fights to resist him and contact someone named Chen Xuan.
• The final encounter with the unidentified man leaves the outcome of the possession—and Shuyue’s warning—unresolved.

Plot and events

• Liu Zhidong, a powerful cultivator, has taken control of Liu Shuyue’s body. Chen Xuan mistakes him for Liu Shuyue at first, but quickly notices that his behavior is wrong.
• Chen shows him a blood-test report proving Liu Shuyue is not biologically related to the Liu family. Liu Zhidong cannot understand the modern document, and neither can Liu Shuyue.
• Chen explains that he summoned Liu Shuyue back because she had been missing for five days—and immediately asks for the rent she owes him.
• To preserve his connection with Chen, Liu Zhidong imitates Liu Shuyue’s usual trade arrangement, exchanging spells for abilities. He trades several low-grade spells, then adds valuable techniques, including the Heavenly Thunder Command and Demon Extermination True Sword.
• Liu Zhidong realizes Liu Shuyue has not truly stopped resisting: her feelings for Chen have shaped his judgment, allowing the two to trick him into surrendering spells. Enraged, he summons swords to attack Chen.
• Chen activates Coin Toss, making them untouchable to Liu Zhidong’s attacks. The power reveals Liu Shuyue’s body under his control and a grotesque spider-like creature representing the possessor. The chapter ends as Chen recognizes that Liu Shuyue has likely been possessed or mind-controlled.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan demonstrates sharp observational instincts. He spots the imposture from Liu Zhidong’s unusual response, confirms his suspicions with the Scanner Gun, and uses Coin Toss to avoid a direct fight he expects to lose.
• Liu Zhidong is calculating and initially tries to maintain his disguise, but his greed for advantage and his underestimation of Liu Shuyue’s influence leave him vulnerable. When he understands the deception, he turns violent.
• Liu Shuyue remains trapped inside her own body. Though she cannot openly coordinate with Chen, her resistance and feelings help expose and frustrate Liu Zhidong.
• Chen and Liu Shuyue’s familiar pattern—summoning, trading abilities, and arguing over rent—becomes the means by which they outmaneuver Liu Zhidong. He misreads their bond as merely a financial arrangement.

Significant themes

• Identity and possession: Appearance alone cannot reveal who is in control; Chen’s ability detects the underlying consciousness.
• Trust and connection: Liu Shuyue’s attachment to Chen influences Liu Zhidong even while he occupies her body.
• Cunning over strength: Chen cannot match Liu Zhidong in a conventional fight, so he relies on deduction and a carefully chosen ability.
• Greed and miscalculation: Liu Zhidong’s attempt to exploit the trading arrangement ultimately helps Chen uncover and confront him.

Plot

• Chen Xuan forces Liu Zhidong into a supernatural coin-toss wager. A correct guess scores a point; the first to make a wrong guess dies.
• Chen Xuan uses his ability to identify and alter one special coin. The first round is a draw, then he scores, but Liu Zhidong spots his habit of watching the altered coin and uses invisible ghosts to manipulate the coins, tying the score at 1–1.
• Liu Shuyue recognizes Liu Zhidong’s ghost-control technique and tries to warn Chen Xuan, but he cannot hear her. Chen knows Liu is interfering, though he lacks the ability to see the spiritual energy behind it.
• Chen pins the coins with summoned swords and claims heads. Liu, confident he has identified Chen’s new trick coin, also calls heads. The result is a draw, ending the wager at 2–2.
• The wager’s penalty strikes both men with lightning. Chen experiences intense pain, then recovers as if the attack were an illusion. Liu suffers the full effect: he realizes Liu Shuyue gave Chen the Fate-Pattern Art, accuses her of it, and then explodes.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan stays composed under pressure, adapting after Liu exposes his first tactic. He wins not by outguessing Liu’s countermeasures, but by recognizing that a draw will end the wager.
• Liu Zhidong proves observant and experienced, uncovering Chen’s pattern and using ghosts to manipulate the game. His confidence in his deductions ultimately fails; his final anger falls on Liu Shuyue rather than Chen.
• Liu Shuyue, trapped and unable to communicate, watches helplessly. She identifies Liu’s technique and tries to alert Chen, but her warning cannot reach him.

Significant themes

• Cunning versus experience: Both contestants rely on deception and counter-deception, and each adapts to the other’s methods.
• Power and hidden abilities: The contest depends on skills that cannot always be seen or understood, leaving characters vulnerable to unseen forces.
• Chance, rules, and survival: The wager turns a simple game into a lethal test in which even a draw can determine who lives.

Chapter Summary

• The gamble’s aftermath: Chen Xuan confirms that his Golden Cicada Sheds Its Shell ability was a one-use escape and has disappeared. Though Coin Toss appears to be over, a bloodied, gigantic eye tears open and reaches for him. Chen Xuan’s Thousand Thoughts Sword cannot harm it. The hand pulls him toward the eye, and a voice in his mind says, “You owe me.” The entity then vanishes, leaving Chen Xuan exhausted and disoriented.
• Liu Zhidong’s memories: Chen Xuan collapses and experiences vivid scenes from Liu Zhidong’s life, apparently as the effect of Coin Toss. He sees Liu Zhidong crossing an immense sea, trying unsuccessfully to open a gate at a remote summit—possibly Kunlun, the Lotus Cloud Sect’s hidden sanctuary—and traveling among vast stone mountains and enormous carved swords. Liu Zhidong’s hands grow increasingly frail, suggesting he was near death. Chen Xuan senses his melancholy and frustration, and wonders whether his journeys were part of a search for an answer or a desire to leave the land.
• Recovery and reunion: Chen Xuan wakes several hours later on the shop’s sofa. Liu Shuyue has stayed beside him while he slept, and is visibly relieved to find him well. Lin Qing explains that both he and Liu Shuyue were simply exhausted. Liu Shuyue says she had been delayed in the other world for five days and feared Chen Xuan would come after her and be injured. Chen Xuan reassures her that Liu Zhidong’s problem is resolved, then asks her to explain what happened in the deep mountain forest.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Chen Xuan reflects on his gamble preparations and survival, then receives an unsettling glimpse into Liu Zhidong’s past. His concern for Liu Shuyue is evident, though he briefly jokes about drawing on her sleeping face.
• Liu Shuyue shows deep concern for Chen Xuan and stays by him until he wakes, revealing how much she fears putting him in danger.
• Lin Qing offers blunt reassurance about their exhaustion and teases Chen Xuan by admitting she took photographs of Liu Shuyue asleep.
• Liu Zhidong, through the memory visions, emerges as a tireless traveler whose journeys may have been driven by an unresolved purpose.

Significant Themes

The chapter emphasizes the cost and uncertainty of power, as Chen Xuan’s escape ability is consumed and a mysterious entity claims he owes it. It also explores memory and empathy, with Chen Xuan experiencing another person’s life and emotions, as well as loyalty and worry through Liu Shuyue’s decision to remain at his side.

Chapter Summary: “Then I’ll Leave It to You”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuan, Lin Qing, and Liu Shuyue share a meal at the Ability Store, with Lin Qing preparing an excellent roast duck using the shop’s machine.
• They discuss Liu Zhidong, the deceased Lotus Cloud Sect disciple Liu Shuyue recently encountered. Chen Xuan explains that Coin Toss allowed him to glimpse parts of Liu Zhidong’s memories, including his failed attempt to return to Lotus Cloud Sect and his travels across the world.
• Liu Shuyue rejects the idea that Lotus Cloud Sect exiled its disciples. She believes their struggles in the outside world are likely cultivation trials rather than abandonment.
• She explains the concept of Heart Demons: spiritual impurities and negative emotions produced by cultivation that can eventually become tangible entities. She believes Liu Zhidong’s rapid aging resulted from betraying his own convictions and developing a Heart Demon, not from a sect restriction.
• The group remains uncertain about why Liu Zhidong’s soul disappeared. Lin Qing warns that Lotus Cloud Sect might possess a way to forcibly affect or retrieve its disciples’ consciousness after death.
• Lin Qing proposes installing a consciousness-backup device or auxiliary thought chip in Liu Shuyue so that her memories could be restored if her consciousness were forcibly removed. However, obtaining the necessary technology would require infiltrating a dangerous futuristic world controlled by the Dimensional Limit Organization.
• Liu Shuyue protests that Chen Xuan has already helped her too much and says she should resolve her sect-related problems herself.
• Encouraged by Lin Qing, Chen Xuan offers Liu Shuyue a formal position as an employee and companion of the Ability Store. He emphasizes that the shop faces threats from the King of Qi, foreign sect disciples, and Lotus Cloud Sect, making cooperation mutually beneficial rather than one-sided.
• Liu Shuyue accepts, placing her hand in Chen Xuan’s and agreeing to entrust herself to him.

Character Developments

• Liu Shuyue: Her faith in Lotus Cloud Sect is shaken, but she still interprets its actions through the principles of cultivation. She demonstrates humility and reluctance to burden Chen Xuan, yet ultimately accepts that she needs allies. Her decision to join the Ability Store marks a major step toward independence and cooperation outside the sect.
• Chen Xuan: He becomes increasingly protective of Liu Shuyue and recognizes that their relationship has grown beyond a simple customer-shopkeeper arrangement. He formally invites her to join his organization, showing his willingness to bind their futures together.
• Lin Qing: She takes a pragmatic and suspicious view of Lotus Cloud Sect, comparing it to a monopolistic corporation. She actively manipulates the conversation to strengthen the shop’s alliance with Liu Shuyue and proposes technological solutions to the danger surrounding consciousness and death.
• Liu Zhidong: Though dead, his memories and fate provide a warning about the consequences of losing faith in one’s sect and surrendering to inner doubts.

Significant Themes

• Faith versus doubt: Liu Zhidong’s collapse illustrates how questioning one’s beliefs can become destructive when combined with isolation and despair. Liu Shuyue, in contrast, struggles with doubt but chooses cooperation rather than abandoning her principles.
• Identity and consciousness: The proposed memory-backup device raises questions about whether a person restored from stored memories is truly the same individual.
• Institutional power and loyalty: Lotus Cloud Sect is portrayed both as a source of cultivation and as a potentially controlling institution whose motives are uncertain.
• Mutual trust and alliance: Chen Xuan’s offer reframes help as a partnership, allowing Liu Shuyue to preserve her dignity while becoming part of the Ability Store’s larger effort.
• Cultivation and inner conflict: The Heart Demon represents the danger of unchecked desire, emotional weakness, and betrayal of one’s own convictions.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen Xuan questions Liu Shuyue about Liu Zhidong and challenges her interpretation of the sect’s role.
• Lin Qing openly distrusts Lotus Cloud Sect and urges Liu Shuyue to prepare for possible threats from it.
• Lin Qing and Chen Xuan debate whether technological memory restoration would preserve Liu Shuyue’s identity.
• Liu Shuyue initially tries to distance herself from Chen Xuan’s assistance, but Chen Xuan reassures her that their relationship has become one of mutual dependence.
• The chapter ends with Liu Shuyue accepting Chen Xuan’s outstretched hand and joining the Ability Store, symbolizing trust, partnership, and a new stage in their relationship.

Summary of “The King’s Commission”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After returning Liu Shuyue to the Liu family, Lin Qing proposes recruiting cultivators from Mala Village as the foundation of a professional army. She believes their physical abilities, obedience, and compatibility with basic cybernetics could make them highly effective soldiers.
• Lin Qing explains that advanced cybernetic modification can damage the mind and personality, but entry-level implants—such as artificial eyes and cognitive chips—are relatively safe. She suspects Chen Xuan’s inability to cultivate is caused by brain mutations from his modifications rather than an incomplete soul.
• Lin Qing warns that the Dimensional Limit Organization will eventually become a dominant power with enormous technological and military capabilities. Although Chen Xuan has altered the timeline, they agree that directly attacking an Organization-controlled Erosion Point would be too dangerous. Remaining hidden is currently their best strategy.
• Chen Xuan reviews the abilities acquired from Liu Shuyue through Strong Seize. Of thirty-four abilities, only eight are transferable because many duplicate or derive from low-grade Lotus Cloud Sect techniques. He gives useful combat spells, including the Spirit Sword Technique, to Mala Village’s cultivators.
• His new abilities include Law Mantra, Spiritual Energy Shield, Callousness, Frail and Sickly, Deity-Summoning Art, Bone-Corroding Heart-Burning Curse, Linguistics, and Exhalation Technique. Chen Xuan considers most of them situational, especially the harmful but slow-acting Frail and Sickly.
• From Liu Zhidong, Chen Xuan obtains several more abilities, including the powerful purple-grade Heavenly Thunder Command and the gold-grade Demon Extermination True Sword, the technique Liu Shuyue used to kill Azure Dragon Xuan.
• A new guest arrives at the shop: Joan of Arc. The surroundings transform into an ornate cathedral-like setting. Joan reveals that she has returned to battle after the English allied with Deep Sea Hell and King Charles cleared her name.
• Joan explains that she is not the person seeking Chen Xuan. She has come to summon him to meet her king, King Charles, in the cathedral’s main hall.

Character Developments

• Lin Qing becomes increasingly focused on long-term military planning. Her fear of the Dimensional Limit Organization motivates her to explore the combination of cultivation and cybernetics, while her Mind Fortress suggests she possesses unusual mental resilience.
• Chen Xuan continues expanding his inventory and support network. He remains cautious about confronting powerful enemies directly but is willing to strengthen Mala Village and experiment with new abilities.
• Liu Shuyue’s value is shown to extend beyond her combat power: she serves as proof that cultivators may be compatible with cybernetic enhancement and becomes a source of numerous transferable abilities.
• Joan of Arc has transformed from a shepherdess into a battle-hardened knight. Her survival, restoration of honor, and continued service to France distinguish this world’s history from the familiar historical record.
• King Charles is introduced as an important new potential client or ally, though his intentions remain unknown.

Significant Themes

• Technology and cultivation: The chapter explores whether cybernetic technology and spiritual cultivation can be combined to create stronger individuals or organized armies.
• The cost of enhancement: Advanced modifications may increase power but threaten sanity, identity, and humanity, emphasizing the risks of technological progress.
• Strategic caution: Chen Xuan and Lin Qing recognize that survival depends on concealment and preparation rather than reckless confrontation with the Dimensional Limit Organization.
• The usefulness and limits of power: Strong Seize provides access to extraordinary abilities, but its randomness and transaction restrictions make it unreliable. Not every stolen ability is practical.
• Alternate history and redemption: Joan’s survival and rehabilitation illustrate how events can diverge from recorded history, while also emphasizing perseverance and the restoration of honor.
• Military organization: The chapter shifts attention from individual strength toward building institutions, armies, and long-term political influence.

Character Interactions

• Lin Qing tries to persuade Chen Xuan to support the creation of a cybernetically enhanced cultivator army. Chen Xuan questions her motives, but ultimately accepts her concerns about the Dimensional Limit Organization.
• Chen Xuan supports Mala Village by transferring useful combat techniques to its cultivators, strengthening his relationship with the community.
• Chen Xuan reflects on Liu Shuyue’s abilities and the limitations of Strong Seize, particularly while evaluating the strange or negative skills he obtained from her.
• Joan of Arc greets Chen Xuan with deep reverence, addressing him as the “Divine Envoy.” Chen Xuan responds politely and welcomes her to talk, but she redirects him toward her king.
• The chapter ends with Joan inviting Chen Xuan to meet King Charles, setting up a new commission or political mission.

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan follows Joan of Arc through Versailles Cathedral, where he discovers statues honoring Joan, the witch Aidar Joy, and himself as the “Divine Envoy.”
• Worried the statue could expose his identity to the Dimensional Limit Organization, Chen Xuan asks Joan to have his face made less recognizable. Joan agrees to raise the request with the king.
• At the cathedral’s main hall, soldiers and clergy treat Chen Xuan with reverence. Joan introduces him to King Charles VII, who thanks him for helping Joan win the previous war.
• Charles asks Chen Xuan to help France again: England has returned, now aided by supernatural forces. Its nearly invulnerable ships have blockaded French ports and cut off maritime trade.
• Marlena, a member of the black-robed group, questions whether God has noticed the crisis. At Joan’s prompting, she uses magic to show Chen Xuan an attack by a supernatural force: a warship rises from beneath the sea, and merfolk, tentacled creatures, and flying monsters assault its crew.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan is unsettled by his unexpected status as a historical hero. He tries to conceal his identity while maintaining the solemn role others expect of a divine envoy, then learns that the threat facing France is genuinely supernatural.
• Joan acts as Chen Xuan’s guide and advocate. She explains his public honors, defends him when Marlena challenges God’s attention, and remains respected by those around her.
• Charles VII appears grateful and conciliatory toward Joan and Chen Xuan, acknowledging past errors and asking for help against England.
• Marlena voices doubt about divine intervention but cooperates with Joan and demonstrates the danger through magic.

Significant themes

• Public legend versus private identity: Chen Xuan’s likeness has become part of history, creating both honor and risk.
• Faith and responsibility: The characters debate whether God is watching, while Chen Xuan is expected to act as God’s representative.
• Reconciliation and changing beliefs: Joan’s forgiveness of Charles and the honoring of a witch suggest that old divisions have shifted.
• Escalating supernatural conflict: England’s alliance with hell transforms a political war into a battle against inhuman forces.

Plot points and events

• Charles VII recruits Chen Xuan to lead a French embassy to the East, hoping to gain help against England’s alliance with Demons and its growing control of the seas. France’s neighbors are unlikely to help, but the Hidden Assembly Association has joined the fight.
• Chen accepts, partly to build ties with a new group of ability users and explore future opportunities. The witches agree to provide abilities as payment, and Charles gives him a royal letter, gifts, and funds for the journey.
• Joan of Arc explains how Chen’s rescue of her at Chinon helped change her view of witches. Through her later friendship with the witch Aidar Joy, she came to see them as ordinary people rather than servants of the Devil. Joan’s advocacy drew witches to France, helped secure victory over England, and won them legal refuge and greater acceptance.
• Marlena resents that witches endured persecution without divine protection, though Joan says her anger is not personal. Chen asks Joan to invite Marlena to his shop before they depart.
• The 124-member embassy sets out amid public acclaim, with Chen at its head. After only a dozen li, he orders the party to camp, rejecting the half-year journey by road and insisting he has a faster plan.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan accepts a leadership role but remains practical and self-interested: he values the potential business and ability-user connections, and refuses to waste months traveling. He asserts his authority when Marlena challenges his decision.
• Joan of Arc emerges as the key force behind witches’ growing acceptance. She credits Chen with inspiring her change of perspective, while Chen privately recognizes her own work and sincerity.
• Marlena supports France’s struggle but remains wary of Chen and hurt by the history of witch persecution. Her status is still politically fragile despite the new freedoms.
• Charles VII is pragmatic and eager to secure allies, appointing Chen embassy leader and offering generous payment.
• The embassy party includes diplomats, four witches, and a large support staff; Baron Milton is surprised by Chen’s immediate halt, while Marlena questions it.

Significant themes

• Prejudice and reconciliation: Joan’s personal relationships challenge the belief that witches are inherently evil, leading to gradual social change.
• Faith and injustice: Marlena’s resentment reflects the conflict between religious authority and the suffering of those it failed to protect.
• Altered history and uncertain worlds: Chen recognizes that this world’s early alliance between England and Demons has made it unlike the history he knows.
• Power, diplomacy, and practical ambition: France seeks distant allies to counter England, while Chen balances public responsibility with his own commercial priorities.