Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan learns that Northern Heaven Institute is screening doctors to find a treatment for the Gu family’s young lady. Each group gets thirty minutes with her, and the institute’s disciples oversee different approaches: Yue Beifeng handles modern medicine, while You Chi evaluates traditional Chinese medicine.
• Despite extensive tests and expert consultations, no one has identified the cause of the illness or treated it successfully. Many doctors have come partly to build connections and improve their chances of receiving Blood Orange supplies.
• After the first group leaves without progress, Chen Xuan decides not to wait for the usual group consultation. He asks to see the patient alone, saying he needs only two minutes.
• Deputy chief physician Wang Haitao volunteers to accompany him and surrender his own consultation time. You Chi accepts, and the two are escorted to the patient’s private ward, where Chen Xuan may review her records and consult the medical staff.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan remains calm and unconventional. He admits he lacks expertise in either modern medicine or medicinal herbs and plans simply to examine the patient for symptoms that might match an Immortal Pill he knows. He is willing to leave immediately if he cannot help.
• Wang Haitao is talkative and pragmatic, explaining the selection process and the social motives behind some doctors’ attendance. His decision to give Chen Xuan his time shows unexpected generosity and support.
• Xu Wangxian is anxious about Chen Xuan’s approach and tries to caution him, but ultimately accompanies him to the institute and watches as he proceeds.
• You Chi and Yue Beifeng enforce the institute’s rules. You Chi handles the registration and allows the shortened visit; Yue Beifeng is more skeptical of Chen Xuan’s request but explains the consultation procedure.

Significant themes

• Expertise versus belief: The chapter contrasts professional medical assessment with faith in prophetic or unconventional methods.
• Networking and self-interest: Some participants seek connections and future benefits as much as they seek to cure the patient.
• Pragmatism and initiative: Chen Xuan rejects a drawn-out process in favor of a brief, focused examination, while Wang Haitao makes that possible through a personal sacrifice.
• Collective knowledge: Doctors share unsuccessful approaches after each visit, treating the case as a collaborative investigation.

Chapter Summary: “The Most Professional Treatment”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuan secretly scans the patient, Gu Zhaoning, using the Divine Eye Method and Scanner Gun while pretending to review her medical records.
• The scan reveals that Gu Zhaoning’s condition is not a conventional illness. All four of her ability slots are occupied, including:

Weakness and Fatigue

Respiratory Weakness

Deficiency of Qi and Blood

Curse: Plagued by Misfortune

• Chen Xuan realizes that her symptoms—constant exhaustion, weak breathing, low-grade fevers, and recurring sickness—are the physical consequences of a curse that has gradually produced multiple negative traits.
• He asks to speak with Gu Zhaoning directly and claims that he can cure her within the remaining six minutes.
• At her bedside, he explains that harmful things have attached themselves to her and asks whether she is willing to give them to him. She agrees.
• Chen Xuan sends her a One-Way Demand transaction, taking away all of her negative abilities, including the curse.
• He then falsely explains the treatment as using “Healing Qi” to correct her abnormal flow of fortune.
• The doctors and disciples suspect that Chen Xuan is another fraud, while Yue Beifeng becomes openly hostile and confronts him.
• Just as the confrontation is about to escalate, a nurse announces that Gu Zhaoning’s condition has visibly improved.

Character Development

• Chen Xuan demonstrates his resourcefulness, confidence, and ability to exploit the hidden system behind the patient’s condition. He quickly distinguishes a supernatural curse from an ordinary medical disease.
• He remains calm under suspicion and intimidation, showing that he is no longer easily threatened by powerful or imposing opponents.
• Chen Xuan also reveals a pragmatic and somewhat irreverent personality, especially in his anger at the absurd description of the “Plagued by Misfortune” ability.
• Gu Zhaoning is shown as physically exhausted and emotionally desperate after repeated failed treatments. Her immediate willingness to trust Chen Xuan reflects how severe and hopeless her condition has become.
• Yue Beifeng grows increasingly suspicious and confrontational toward Chen Xuan, interpreting his vague explanation as evidence of fraud.
• You Chi remains focused on understanding the cause of the illness and acts as the main medical intermediary.
• Huang Haitao watches Chen Xuan with curiosity, sensing that there is more to his actions than ordinary medical treatment.

Significant Themes

• Hidden causes beneath apparent illness: Gu Zhaoning’s symptoms resemble a serious medical disorder, but their true source is a supernatural curse and a collection of negative abilities.
• Conflict between modern medicine and supernatural methods: The doctors rely on examinations and established diagnoses, while Chen Xuan identifies and removes the underlying curse almost instantly.
• Trust and consent: Although Chen Xuan knows he can cure Gu Zhaoning, he still asks for her permission before taking away the harmful abilities.
• Appearance versus reality: Chen Xuan appears to be casually browsing records and later gives a misleading explanation involving qi and fortune, concealing the true mechanics of his treatment.
• Professional skepticism: The medical staff’s doubts highlight how extraordinary and unverifiable Chen Xuan’s methods seem, even when they produce results.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xuan’s discreet actions attract Huang Haitao’s attention, while You Chi warns him not to photograph the medical records.
• Chen Xuan tells You Chi he understands the illness and can cure it, surprising the doctors and the Northern Heaven Institute disciples.
• At Gu Zhaoning’s bedside, he speaks gently and reassures her that she can still be saved, gaining her consent to remove the curse.
• After treatment, Yue Beifeng challenges Chen Xuan’s explanation and nearly confronts him physically.
• Before the conflict can turn violent, the nurse interrupts with proof that Chen Xuan’s treatment has worked: Gu Zhaoning’s condition has begun to improve.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Zhaoning abruptly improves after Chen Xuan treats her without medicine. She wakes, eats porridge after a week without food, and regains color. The doctors and Northern Heaven Institute disciples are astonished.
• Yue Beifeng apologizes for accusing Chen Xuan and offers compensation for the Institute’s earlier disrespect. Chen points out that the person Yue beat for supposedly being a fraud deserves fair treatment too. Yue agrees to investigate the matter more carefully.
• Chen questions Gu about her illness. She recalls becoming unwell about a month and a half earlier during a family trip to Jiangcheng, but offers no clear clue. To reassure her, Chen invents an elaborate medical name for what he privately jokes is “a cold.”
• The Northern Heaven Institute invites Chen to meet its head. Chen accepts, curious about the influence of the centuries-old organization, while his introducer, Xu, is entertained separately.
• Chen meets Sun Suigong, the Institute’s 150th head, and senses that Sun is a genuine cultivator whose Spiritual Energy is nearly as strong as his own. Sun warmly welcomes him, mentions Chen’s connection to the Blood Orange sold through Hundred Herbs Hall, and asks how he cured Gu.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan remains composed after proving his ability. He accepts the disciples’ apology but challenges their hasty judgment, showing concern for fairness as well as results. He conceals what he knows about Gu’s illness and invents an explanation to calm her.
• Yue Beifeng and You Chi move from suspicion to respect, apologizing and recognizing Chen as an honored guest.
• Gu Zhaoning is frightened that her illness might return, but grateful for Chen’s help. Her recollection of falling ill in Jiangcheng gives Chen a possible lead.
• Sun Suigong is unexpectedly friendly and enthusiastic, rather than distant and aloof. His cultivation marks him as a formidable local figure, and his direct question signals serious interest in Chen’s method.

Significant themes

• Evidence over assumption: Chen’s success forces the Institute to reconsider its accusations, and he urges Yue to investigate before condemning someone.
• Healing, mystery, and concealed knowledge: Gu’s sudden recovery remains unexplained to the observers, while Chen withholds the deeper truth.
• Humility and reputation: Chen shows little interest in fame or profit, preferring that Blood Orange continue to be sold through Hundred Herbs Hall.
• Power and recognition: The Institute’s invitation introduces Chen to a major local organization and hints at the wider cultivation world behind the medical case.

Chapter Summary: “What a Coincidence, Me Too”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Xuan explains that Gu Zhaoning’s illness can be treated with Healing Qi, which clears blocked qi and addresses the root of the problem.
• Dean Sun Suigong tests Chen’s claim by releasing Spiritual Energy. Chen correctly recognizes it as qi gathering before a technique, proving that he can sense Spiritual Energy.
• Sun reveals that Gu Zhaoning’s condition is part of a much larger outbreak:
  • 823 known patients have similar symptoms.
  • About 80% are in Jiangcheng.
  • All identified patients visited Jiangcheng International Airport within the previous two months.
  • 109 people have died, often because the illness initially resembles an ordinary cold and is not taken seriously.
• Medical testing has found no pathogen or clear cause, making it impossible to classify or control the disease as a conventional infectious illness.
• The Northern Heaven Institute suspects the illness is connected to an ability-user crime, especially after Chen suggests that exorcism might be relevant and asks whether Gu had experienced anything unusual.
• Sun explains that the institute invited unconventional practitioners and ability users to treat Gu because normal medicine had failed. Chen’s success strengthens their belief that the outbreak was deliberately caused.
• Chen questions why the institute has not worked with the Dimensional Limit Organization. Sun says he distrusts the organization because it is international, independent of any nation, and may have its own agenda.
• Sun asks Chen to help eliminate the illness throughout Jiangcheng. Chen agrees, seeing the institute as a potential force resisting the Dimensional Limit Organization’s future dominance.

Character Developments

• Chen Xuan demonstrates confidence in Healing Qi and his ability to sense Spiritual Energy. He remains cautious about revealing his Scanner Gun and keeps his true capabilities hidden.
• Chen becomes more politically aware, recognizing that the early exposure of ability users has altered history and may create opportunities to resist the Dimensional Limit Organization.
• Dean Sun Suigong is shown to be perceptive, strategic, and politically wary. He tests Chen, observes his actions closely, and attempts to recruit him without pressing for his secrets.
• Yue Beifeng and You Chi are revealed to possess medical expertise but lack the talent to sense qi. Their initial surprise and disappointment toward Chen soften after Sun explains that qi-sensing is rare.
• You Chi is subtly established as observant and discreet, likely the disciple who reported Chen’s suspicious question to Sun.

Significant Themes

• Traditional medicine versus conventional science: Healing Qi succeeds where hospitals and testing have failed, suggesting that the illness requires knowledge beyond ordinary medicine.
• Hidden powers and public consequences: The existence of ability users is changing society, institutions, and political strategy.
• Trust and secrecy: Chen and Sun both recognize that powerful organizations and individuals possess hidden motives. Neither demands full disclosure from the other.
• Resistance to control: The Northern Heaven Institute’s distrust of the Dimensional Limit Organization establishes a growing conflict between independent forces and an organization seeking worldwide influence.
• Responsibility and intervention: Chen chooses to help not merely for personal gain but because his abilities may prevent a mass-casualty crisis.

Character Interactions

• Sun initially challenges Chen’s claims but quickly acknowledges his abilities after Chen identifies the Spiritual Energy technique.
• Chen questions why the institute does not teach qi-related abilities, prompting Sun and the disciples to clarify that qi-sensing depends on innate talent.
• Sun carefully analyzes Chen’s previous statements and actions, recognizing that Chen has already detected signs of deliberate wrongdoing.
• Chen and Sun discover that they share distrust of the Dimensional Limit Organization, creating a basis for cooperation.
• The chapter ends with Sun formally asking for Chen’s assistance and Chen accepting, committing himself to solving the mysterious outbreak.

• Mass treatment: Chen Xuan gathers the patients at Jiangcheng Stadium and secretly removes their curses with his Scanner Gun. Over 90% have the identical Plagued by Misfortune curse, which disappears when transferred to his inventory; other negative conditions can accumulate there. The patients believe they received infrared magnetic therapy and leave feeling dramatically better, unaware of what actually happened.
• What the treatment reveals: Watching from the stands, Yue Beifeng marvels at Chen’s apparent healing ability. Sun Suigong explains that Chen is likely not curing ordinary illnesses: he can counter certain negative conditions that Northern Heaven Institute’s usual methods cannot affect. He also suspects Chen misled Yue by calling his power healing Spiritual Energy. Sun urges the Institute to adapt to the rise of ability users, while stressing that they must still find the source of the cases.
• Search at the airport: You Chi directs over a hundred loyal, medically skilled outer disciples in a carefully organized search of the airport. They rotate through different areas in small groups, then rest and monitor themselves in coaches. By tracking where disciples become unwell, the Institute hopes to identify the culprit’s location. The plan depends on Chen being able to safely remove the effects, and You Chi expects the investigation may take days or even months.
• Breakthrough: On the third day, fifteen cases appear at once. Their movements overlap at the lower entrance of Building A2’s domestic arrivals hall, narrowing the likely source to that floor.
  Character developments and interactions: Chen’s unusual ability becomes clearer, and his efficient, discreet work earns the patients’ gratitude. Yue moves from admiration to frustration at the possibility that his medical skills may be outmatched, but Sun counsels him not to undervalue himself. Sun also positions Chen as a valuable ally in the Institute’s response to changing times. You Chi applies disciplined, methodical leadership to the investigation, guided by Sun and Chen’s shared belief that the cases are deliberate.
  Themes: Hidden supernatural forces concealed behind ordinary explanations; the difference between illness and curse-like conditions; institutional adaptation to new abilities; and the value of careful evidence-gathering over assumption.

Plot points and events

• You Chi organizes the outer sect disciples to search the airport for the source of a mysterious illness. By tracking where affected people had walked, they narrow the likely area to several corridors.
• A disciple spots a masked man in sunglasses making unusual gestures at passersby in Corridor C. You Chi identifies him as the likely culprit but waits for police and disease-control personnel rather than risking an unauthorized arrest.
• As the suspect heads toward the underground parking garage, police move in. He proves superhumanly strong, throws off the officers, shrugs off a taser, and breaks through the disciples’ attempts to stop him.
• The suspect escapes in an SUV. You Chi predicts he will avoid the city and head toward the ring road, but before he can report this, Chen Xuan appears at the garage exit.
• The driver charges at Chen Xuan. Using the Divine Eye Method and Thousand Thoughts Sword, Chen Xuan disables the SUV’s wheels and sends it crashing into a wall.

Character developments and interactions

• You Chi shows caution and responsibility: he coordinates the search, consults the dean, and insists on police involvement. Under pressure, he authorizes the disciples to help when the suspect escapes. He also places strong trust in Chen Xuan’s judgment and abilities.
• Chen Xuan arrives at the crucial moment and demonstrates extraordinary perception and control, stopping a speeding vehicle without being struck.
• The suspect shifts from suspicious bystander to an exceptionally dangerous fugitive, revealing abnormal strength and apparent resistance to electricity.
• You Chi and the police cooperate, though the failed arrest forces You Chi to rely on his disciples as backup. You Chi’s thoughts about his senior brother Yue Beifeng provide a comparison that underscores the suspect’s unnatural strength.

Significant themes

• Caution versus urgency: You Chi tries to follow proper procedure, but the danger of the suspect escaping eventually demands quick action.
• Appearance and hidden power: The suspect looks like an ordinary passerby but possesses seemingly inhuman abilities; Chen Xuan’s concealed powers likewise exceed what the situation appears to require.
• Trust and decisive intervention: You Chi’s faith in Chen Xuan is rewarded when Chen Xuan arrives just as the police and disciples lose control of the situation.

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan stops a speeding SUV in the airport garage. It flips and skids to a halt without him appearing to move, leaving You Chi stunned by the unexplained force behind the crash.
• Chen Xuan identifies the injured driver as the source of the curse. A scan reveals his ability, Misfortune Curse LV1, which he has used to cause more than a hundred deaths.
• While restraining the driver, Chen Xuan takes his phone and finds frequent calls with Lu Lixin, a name he recognizes.
• Police take custody of the suspect, while Northern Heaven Institute secures the scene. The airport operation succeeds with little disruption to ordinary travelers.
• Chen Xuan learns that Sun Suigong arranged a helicopter to get him to the airport quickly. He had used Northern Heaven Institute’s radio communications to track the suspect and reach the garage exit in time.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan remains composed during the crash and arrest, showing both his unusual abilities and his willingness to treat the suspect harshly despite his injuries. He is also curious enough to inspect the man’s phone.
• You Chi is impressed by Chen Xuan’s power and timing, and acknowledges how much the operation depended on Chen Xuan’s ability to identify the affected disciples.
• The suspect appears helpless and ordinary, but is revealed as a deadly curse user. His panic over losing his phone suggests it may contain important information.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The suspect’s pitiful condition conceals his responsibility for mass deaths.
• Power and accountability: Chen Xuan’s forceful intervention prevents further harm, while the curse user’s unexplained violence raises questions about the nature and purpose of his ability.
• Institutional coordination: Northern Heaven Institute’s planning, communications, and cooperation with the police make the successful arrest possible.
• Curses and ability origins: Chen Xuan’s thoughts about the naming and structure of Misfortune Curse lead him to consider whether his own Flesh Hunger curse has a related source or multiple instances.

Character interactions

• Chen Xuan mocks the suspect for wanting his phone back, then unlocks it using the man’s face and discovers the call history with Lu Lixin.
• You Chi praises Chen Xuan’s contribution and admits he had feared the SUV would hit him.
• Chen Xuan credits Northern Heaven Institute’s efficiency but questions whether police custody is safe; You Chi reassures him that the Institute can manage the information before the organization learns of the arrest.

Key plot points and events

• The “Cause-Free Illness” incident winds down. Chen Xuan continues treating patients, whose final number reaches 2,306; he suspects the curse-caster’s ability has grown stronger through repeated use.
• Chen asks Lin Qing whether ability users have caused major disasters. She recounts a future catastrophe: an ability user infiltrates a military submarine and launches nuclear missiles at England, killing more than six million people.
• Chen praises Lin Qing’s work at the shop, only to learn that she has delegated most tasks to an AI controlling her cybernetic body while she relaxes.
• Gu Zhaoning messages Chen to say she has arrived home. Chen explains that he treated her without seeking payment, and that she had sincerely thanked him and invited him to visit Shencheng.
• Lin warns that Gu’s family company will eventually support the Dimensional Limit Organization, making the Gu family Chen’s future enemy. Chen says he had not considered pursuing a relationship with Gu.
• The chapter closes with Chen looking at his computer inventory, which is now filled with gray negative abilities—hinting at further gains from his cooperation with Northern Heaven Institute.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan shows growing concern about how dangerous abilities can become, but remains practical and uninterested in exploiting his work for money. He is surprised by Lin’s revelations and amused by her hidden reliance on AI.
• Lin Qing proves to be an exceptionally capable clerk, though much of her efficiency comes from cybernetic automation. She is perceptive about Chen’s personal life and candidly warns him about Gu Zhaoning’s family.
• Gu Zhaoning appears grateful and thoughtful, maintaining contact after her recovery. Her friendly gesture contrasts with Lin’s warning about her family’s future allegiance.

Significant themes

• Power and unintended consequences: Abilities may grow with use and could eventually enable disasters on a massive scale.
• Foreknowledge and moral responsibility: Lin’s knowledge of the future gives Chen troubling information about threats that have not yet happened.
• Technology and labor: Lin’s AI-controlled body blurs the line between human skill and automation.
• Personal ties versus political conflict: Gu Zhaoning’s kindness may clash with her family’s future role in a hostile organization.

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan combines three negative traits—“Frail and Sickly,” “Respiratory Weakness,” and “Deficiency of Qi and Blood”—into a new ability, Living Dead. After equipping it himself for several days, he finds it is surprisingly beneficial.
• Living Dead greatly reduces his need to breathe and lowers his body temperature without making him feel ill. It also appears to blunt the effects of disease. Its drawback is that he needs about ten hours of sleep each day.
• Most importantly, Living Dead strengthens the body’s capacity to withstand Spiritual Energy. This lets the Heavenly Cloud Skill absorb and refine Spiritual Energy more efficiently, potentially helping people with limited cultivation potential—especially the Qi-Sensers of Mala Village. Chen Xuan plans to offer the ability broadly at the next adjustment meeting and intends to notify Liu Shuyue first.
• Chen Xuan receives the long-awaited approval of his shopkeeper rating: he is now Level Five. His ability and trade limits rise to five, he gains two freely changeable ability slots, may operate two branch stores, and unlocks a built-in shop.
• The built-in shop reveals a balance of 14,500 yuan and a catalog of mostly store skins. Chen Xuan considers a fruit-store skin but decides it would confuse his regular customers; a gun-store skin is far too conspicuous and expensive.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan has become increasingly confident in experimenting with abilities, testing Living Dead on himself before considering how to use it for others.
• His focus shifts from personal gains to improving the cultivation prospects of Mala Village residents.
• Reaching Level Five gives him greater flexibility in combat and cultivation, as well as more ways to organize his stores. He is also learning how the shop’s internal economy works.

Character interactions

• Chen Xuan recalls Liu Shuyue’s explanation of how Mind Methods refine Spiritual Energy into the body, using her insight to understand Living Dead’s effects. He plans to discuss the ability with her before distributing it.
• The residents of Mala Village are not directly present, but Chen Xuan’s plans center on helping them overcome their limited cultivation potential.
• Chen Xuan also considers how sudden changes to his store might affect Tianlu Residential Area’s customers and reputation.

Significant themes

• Turning weakness into strength: Negative traits combine into an ability that both protects the body and improves its capacity for cultivation.
• The costs and limits of power: Spiritual Energy can overwhelm the body and will, while Living Dead expands the body’s ability to bear it—but at the cost of unusual bodily traits and extra sleep.
• Power used for collective benefit: Chen Xuan sees the ability’s greatest value in helping an entire community, while also recognizing that equipping everyone avoids making one person a disease reservoir.
• Commerce and hidden incentives: The shop’s rewards, wallet, and paid skins reveal a business system that mixes genuine utility with familiar monetization tricks.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan browses the store’s new items and finds a cybernetic-surgery shop skin that would be ideal for Lin Qing, but its 2.7-million-yuan price can only be paid from his wallet. Since the wallet cannot accept deposits and his salary is fixed, the skin is out of reach.
• He buys a pair of ordinary-looking facial-scanning glasses for 500 yuan, hoping they will replace the awkward and conspicuous Scanner Gun. The glasses must be mailed to him rather than appearing immediately.
• Chen checks the requirements for Store Manager Level 6: 5,000 performance points and saving a world on the brink of destruction. He doubts one person could change the many accumulated causes of a world’s collapse and decides to focus on the present.
• At the Jiangcheng Branch of the Dimensional Limit Organization, Elori attends an interview with Captain Xiao Kanong and team leader Honglian. The captain asks about her reasons for staying in Jiangcheng, her family and personal attachments, and her abilities.
• Elori conceals her real reason for staying: she intends to hunt a demon in the city, but does not yet trust the organization enough to reveal her mission.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan is resourceful but constrained by the store’s unusual financial rules. His response to the impossible Level 6 task shows a practical willingness to concentrate on what he can affect.
• Elori is guarded and lonely, giving vague or evasive answers about her future, family, and relationships. Despite her reserve, she wants to join the Jiangcheng execution team for reasons she keeps secret.
• Honglian demonstrates openness by explaining her ability and warmly welcomes Elori’s attack-oriented power, though a private thought about Elori’s intended target briefly unsettles her.
• Xiao Kanong remains friendly and smiling, but his probing questions and the pressure Elori senses beneath his demeanor make him difficult to read.

Significant themes

• Power and limits: Chen cannot afford the store item he wants, and the prospect of saving an entire world seems beyond individual ability.
• Trust and secrecy: Elori must cooperate with a new organization while hiding her true mission and carefully protecting her ability.
• Belonging and displacement: Elori claims to enjoy Jiangcheng, yet admits it remains unfamiliar and may not be home.
• Masks and appearances: Xiao’s pleasant expression contrasts with the pressure he conveys; Elori’s interview answers likewise conceal her real intentions.

Character interactions

• Chen hides his frustration about the expensive skin from Lin Qing, claiming he was only reading forum posts.
• Xiao advocates keeping Elori in Jiangcheng based on what he assumes she wants, and she reluctantly confirms it. Honglian challenges the unusual nature of his interview questions.
• Honglian offers Elori a concrete display of trust: she explains her position-swapping ability and demonstrates it by exchanging a teacup for a lollipop. Elori responds by describing her own destructive ability, earning Honglian’s approval.

Plot points and events

• Chief Captain Xiao Kanong interviews Elorie about her combat ability, whether she would sacrifice teammates for a mission, and whether she would commit an unjust act for a just cause. Elorie says she would not want to sacrifice anyone, but might accept unjust actions if circumstances demanded it.
• After Elorie and Honglian leave, Wang Qianduan relays the thoughts he read during the interview. The questions were designed to uncover Elorie’s motives, her origins, and the demon she is hunting.
• Elorie’s memories suggest she came from a version of France close to the present day—far closer than the 126-year interval expected between known Erosion Points. Xiao considers the possibility of another version of himself existing across the divide, while Wang warns that contact could cause a dangerous paradox. Xiao decides the Organization’s theory may be wrong and delays reporting the discovery.
• Xiao makes Elorie’s hunt for the demon the execution team’s first mission. Her thoughts describe the target as a tall, thin, bald French man over thirty who wears glasses and was seen in Jiangcheng’s High-Tech Zone.
• The intelligence team searches records of gravitational fluctuations and Sky Eye surveillance. It finds photos of a man matching the description, but no Jiangcheng entry record for him. Xiao treats the missing record as grounds to act and orders the team to capture him before confirming his identity.

Character developments and interactions

• Elorie comes across as idealistic but pragmatic: she values her teammates, yet is willing to compromise her principles for what she believes is just. Her fixation on the demon reveals that he has strongly shaped her recent thoughts.
• Xiao Kanong is curious, optimistic, and willing to take risks. He questions established theories and favors swift action, even when the evidence is incomplete.
• Wang Qianduan serves as a cautious counterweight. He reads and transmits thoughts, explains the uncertainty surrounding Elorie’s memories, and repeatedly warns Xiao against jumping to conclusions.
• Honglian challenges the interview, objecting to questions she considers inappropriate and questioning why she was never asked them.
• The exchange between Xiao and Wang shows their differing instincts: Xiao pushes ahead, while Wang emphasizes uncertainty and potential danger.

Significant themes

• Idealism versus necessity: Elorie’s answers explore whether protecting people and pursuing justice can justify morally questionable choices.
• Limits of institutional knowledge: Elorie’s apparent origin conflicts with the Organization’s accepted theory, suggesting its understanding of Erosion Points may be incomplete.
• Risk and uncertainty: Xiao’s decision to act on circumstantial evidence contrasts with Wang’s caution, raising the danger of mistaken assumptions.
• Surveillance and control: The Organization’s use of fluctuation records, cameras, and police cooperation shows how technology enables—and limits—its pursuit of potential threats.

Chapter Summary: “Execution Team, Move Out!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Kanong summons the Honglian Team and announces that their training will be interrupted for their first official mission.
• Intelligence has identified a suspected Wanderer—a person capable of traveling between worlds—in Jiangcheng’s High-Tech Zone.
• Despite concerns that the rookies are inexperienced and the mission may be dangerous, Xiao insists that real combat is the best form of training.
• The team learns that the suspect may be a criminal, since Wanderers often exploit their ability to cross worlds for smuggling, hiding, or committing crimes.
• Honglian questions how the organization identified the target as a Wanderer without triggering the usual machine alarms or an Erosion event. Xiao admits the information comes from his own intelligence network but emphasizes that the suspect’s identity remains unconfirmed.
• Xiao explains that the operation is also a large-scale test for several newly formed teams and departments. Experienced fighters Zhang Yingzi and Wang Qianduan will serve as backup.
• Elorie recognizes the suspect as the demon she has been hunting, though she does not reveal this to the others. Xiao notices her reaction and becomes curious about her background and possible connection to another world.
• Two hours later, the Honglian Team and their backup arrive at Five-Ring Machinery Park, one of the locations where the suspect has been seen. Other Execution Teams establish an encirclement to prevent escape.

2. Character Developments

• Xiao Kanong appears unusually enthusiastic about sending the team into combat, but also demonstrates strategic caution by arranging experienced backup and support from multiple departments.
• Honglian shows strong leadership and analytical ability. She immediately notices inconsistencies in Xiao’s explanation and presses him about the source of the Wanderer identification. Although wary, she accepts the mission once she learns it is a coordinated operation.
• Jiang Siqi is frightened by the sudden transition from training to real combat. Her idealized image of heroism clashes with the painful and dangerous reality of fieldwork, though she still wants to become a hero.
• Han Yuhao is eager and overconfident, believing his abilities make him exceptionally prepared for the mission.
• Li Xing worries about salary, sick leave, and injury compensation, revealing a practical, workplace-oriented attitude rather than a heroic one.
• Elorie reacts with shock when she sees the target’s identity, implying a deep personal connection. Her silence suggests she is concealing important information.
• Wang Baihu and Xiao Jiu are concerned about the danger of sending inexperienced recruits against a Wanderer.
• Lin Jia, another recruit, is absent from the mission, apparently because of school obligations or avoidance, though the organization can arrange a replacement diploma for him.

3. Significant Themes

• Training versus real experience: The chapter argues that actual combat provides lessons that formal instruction cannot, while also highlighting the risks of throwing unprepared recruits into the field.
• Heroism versus reality: Jiang Siqi’s fear and Li Xing’s concern about injury compensation contrast with the glamorous image of heroic battles. The chapter presents heroism as physically painful and professionally dangerous.
• Institutional absurdity and bureaucracy: The organization treats extraordinary matters—such as world-hopping criminals and replacement diplomas—with an oddly casual, workplace-like attitude.
• Trust and hidden information: Honglian doubts Xiao’s explanation, and Elorie conceals her personal connection to the suspect. The mission is shaped by incomplete information and unspoken motives.
• Power and criminality: Xiao suggests that the ability to travel between worlds often encourages exploitation, raising questions about how power changes moral behavior.
• Large-scale coordination: The unusually well-staffed operation reflects the organization’s expanding resources and its attempt to test new recruits and departments simultaneously.

4. Character Interactions

• Xiao’s confident briefing clashes with Wang Baihu and Xiao Jiu’s concern for the rookies’ safety.
• Han Yuhao’s boastful enthusiasm irritates Jiang Siqi, who privately views him as reckless.
• Li Xing’s salary-related questions further bewilder Jiang Siqi, emphasizing their differing attitudes toward the mission.
• Honglian directly challenges Xiao’s account of the suspect, demonstrating that she is willing to question her superior rather than blindly follow orders.
• Xiao reassures Honglian by explaining the backup plan, easing some of her concerns.
• Elorie’s startled reaction to the target attracts Xiao’s attention, creating an important mystery around her past and the identity of the suspected Wanderer.
• The chapter ends with the entire team mobilizing for a heavily supported operation, setting up the imminent confrontation.

Plot points and events

• Honglian briefs the agents on their covert search for a suspected Wanderer: they must report any sighting and wait for her approval before acting. The team splits up to search around Five-Ring Machinery Park.
• During the southeast patrol, Jiang Siqi asks to use her phone, then chats with Elorie about Christmas and suggests a group dinner. The suggestion meets an awkward silence.
• Honglian realizes Elorie knows the suspect and asks what she had wanted to tell Captain Xiao. Elorie refuses to reveal his origins but warns that he can use demonic power to escape between worlds. She urges the team to incapacitate or kill him immediately if they move against him.
• The team finds no sign of the suspect outside the park and considers entering the factory grounds under the guise of customers. Elorie says she can detect demons within two hundred meters.
• Jiang Siqi suddenly recognizes a woman among the people at the machinery park: her idol, an internet celebrity famous for a video of her jumping from Sha River Bridge. Honglian identifies her as potentially dangerous and stops Jiang from approaching, preparing to call reinforcements.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Siqi remains outwardly composed despite growing alarm at the team’s willingness to use lethal force and disregard legal boundaries. Her enthusiasm for her idol briefly overtakes her mission focus.
• Honglian shows concern for her agents’ safety and probes Elorie’s connection to the suspect. She takes Elorie’s warning seriously and reacts swiftly to the possible new threat.
• Elorie reveals that she has important knowledge of the suspect and can track demons by scent, while keeping his origins secret.
• Team dynamic: Jiang’s casual friendliness clashes with the tense, secretive mission. Elorie and Honglian’s serious discussion leaves Jiang confused, and Honglian ultimately restrains her when she tries to approach the celebrity.

Significant themes

• The tension between covert authority and ordinary legal norms is highlighted by the Organization’s willingness to infiltrate the factory and consider lethal action.
• Secrecy and trust shape the team’s relationships: Elorie shares dangerous information but withholds the suspect’s origins.
• Jiang’s ordinary interests—socializing, Christmas, and fandom—contrast with the extraordinary danger of her new role.

Plot and key events

• The Dimensional Limit Organization assigns newcomer Jiang Siqi and her team to investigate a suspected dangerous ability user. Team leader Honglian worries the target may be the White-Clad Immortal, whose public demonstrations have appeared harmless.
• Honglian connects several recent incidents—the Sha River battle, the Masked Woman’s declaration, and the Botanical Garden Erosion—to the possible presence of multiple Wanderers. Fearing they may be secretly allied, she calls Chief Captain Xiao Kanong for help.
• Earlier, Liu Shuyue tells Chen Xuan that villagers have found more than ten strange Spiritual Energy devices in Building No. 99, but cannot activate them. She hopes the Immortal Alliance can offer insight.
• Seeing how exhausted Liu Shuyue is, Chen gives her a break and takes her to a machinery factory to look at excavators. She is especially taken with the largest model, so he agrees to buy five for the village.
• Lin Qing calls to report that the organization is tracking a Wanderer, apparently as a newcomer combat assignment rather than an Erosion-related incident. She will continue monitoring Jiang Siqi while Chen stays with Liu.

Character developments and interactions

• Honglian shifts from uncertainty to alarm, interpreting recent events as evidence that Wanderers may be cooperating. Jiang Siqi, by contrast, trusts the White-Clad Immortal and admires her restraint and apparent heroism.
• Chen Xuan looks after Liu Shuyue by insisting she rest, reassuring her about money, and supporting her practical goal of buying machinery.
• Liu Shuyue shows how worn down she has become, but her enthusiasm returns when she sees the excavator. She calmly accepts the salesperson’s mistaken assumption that she is Chen’s girlfriend.
• Lin Qing remains in the shop to work and monitor the organization’s movements, keeping Chen informed without interrupting his outing.

Significant themes

• Fear versus evidence: Honglian’s suspicion grows from circumstantial links, while Jiang Siqi’s admiration makes her resist labeling the White-Clad Immortal dangerous.
• Public upheaval and uncertainty: The sudden emergence of ability users and possible Wanderer alliances threatens established organizations and public understanding.
• Care and ordinary life amid larger dangers: Even as potential conspiracies develop, Chen’s outing focuses on rest, friendship, and a village’s practical needs.

Chapter Summary: “Poker Game”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Shuyue tours Five Rings Heavy Industry’s construction machinery while Chen Xuan is taken to the general manager’s office as a VIP customer interested in purchasing five machines.
• Chen Xuan receives an urgent warning from Lin Qing: Jiang Siqi and several Organization agents have arrived at the industrial park, apparently searching for the Wanderer.
• Concerned that Liu Shuyue may be noticed, Chen Xuan attempts to leave the office and find her. However, General Manager Wu strangely urges him to stay.
• Chen Xuan uses his Scanner Gun on Manager Wu and discovers that he possesses the abilities “Soul-Stealing Puppet” and “Business.” This reveals that Wu is likely being controlled by the Wanderer.
• Before Chen Xuan can leave, an unseen person touches his shoulder, transporting him into a lavish European-style palace.
• There he meets a bald foreign man who calls himself Sir Gustav and identifies himself as a “demon.” Gustav is implied to be the Wanderer sought by the Organization.
• Gustav explains that he noticed Chen Xuan immediately and has brought him into a special domain where neither of them can harm the other.
• Chen Xuan attacks with the Thousand Thoughts Sword, but the strike passes through Gustav harmlessly. His Heavenly Cloud Skill and Scanner Gun also fail to detect or affect Gustav.
• Gustav announces that they will play a game. A deck of cards appears above the table, confirming that his ability is a rule-based, game-centered power similar to the Coin Toss ability.
• Rather than panic, Chen Xuan quickly recognizes the nature of the ability and sits down, demanding that the game begin.
• Gustav becomes irritated when Chen Xuan treats the game casually, boasting that many powerful people have lost their fates and possessions at his table. Chen Xuan responds with mocking curiosity about Gustav’s command of idiomatic Chinese.

Character Developments

• Chen Xuan: Demonstrates caution, quick thinking, and strong composure under supernatural threat. He immediately investigates Manager Wu, identifies the puppet ability, recognizes Gustav’s game-based power, and refuses to be intimidated. His sarcasm and confidence also provoke Gustav.
• Sir Gustav/Wanderer: Revealed as a powerful, arrogant, and theatrical figure who hides behind a cultivated persona as a “demon.” He enjoys controlling others through games and is accustomed to terrifying or defeating formidable opponents. Chen Xuan’s lack of fear unsettles and annoys him.
• Manager Wu: Shown to be a controlled puppet rather than an independent antagonist, suggesting that Gustav has infiltrated or taken over parts of the industrial park.
• Liu Shuyue: Remains unaware of the danger while touring the machinery, but her presence motivates Chen Xuan’s concern and his attempt to leave the office.
• Lin Qing: Acts as Chen Xuan’s informant, warning him about the Organization’s arrival and the risk of exposure.

Significant Themes

• Games as instruments of power: Gustav’s card game represents a supernatural mechanism for determining fate, turning competition into a life-changing or potentially deadly ordeal.
• Composure versus intimidation: Gustav expects fear, but Chen Xuan’s calm and irreverence undermine his psychological dominance.
• Hidden control and deception: Manager Wu’s puppet status reveals that danger is concealed beneath ordinary appearances, while Gustav’s palace-like domain hides the true nature of the confrontation.
• Rules and helplessness: Chen Xuan’s physical abilities are ineffective because Gustav’s power operates according to special rules. The conflict must therefore be approached through understanding and strategy rather than force.
• Collision between ordinary life and supernatural conflict: A routine outing and business purchase suddenly become the setting for a confrontation involving the Organization and a powerful extradimensional being.

Character Interactions

• Chen Xuan and Lin Qing: Lin Qing warns Chen Xuan about Jiang Siqi and the Organization, prompting him to worry about Liu Shuyue and avoid exposure.
• Chen Xuan and Manager Wu: Their polite business discussion turns suspicious when Wu tries to prevent Chen Xuan from leaving. Chen Xuan discovers that Wu is a puppet.
• Chen Xuan and Gustav: Their meeting quickly becomes a battle of wills. Gustav attempts to frighten and control Chen Xuan through his supernatural domain, while Chen Xuan challenges him directly, attacks him, and mocks his dramatic presentation.
• Gustav and his unseen victims: Gustav claims that numerous powerful individuals have lost everything through his games, establishing his history of domination and the deadly importance of the coming card game.

Plot points and events

• On his twenty-second day in the new world, demon Gustav reflects on how he has built influence by making people into puppets and harvesting their souls. He has targeted ability users for especially valuable souls and stays hidden to avoid the Dimensional Limit Organization.
• Gustav lures Chen Xuan, whose soul he considers unusually rich, into a card game designed to provoke fear and despair. The game uses J, Q, K, and A cards, with players declaring their cards; deception and psychological reads are central.
• Gustav tricks Chen Xuan into playing his ace of spades by pretending to have a king but actually playing a jack. He then uses his ability to secretly inspect Chen Xuan’s next face-down card and believes he has confirmed Chen’s defeat.
• Chen Xuan reveals that he never intended to play fairly: the game is a trap, and the real contest is over who controls the situation. Just before the cards are revealed, he uses his ability, Fission and Fusion, on Gustav’s blue hands.

Character developments and interactions

• Gustav is confident, predatory, and accustomed to making opponents suffer before taking their souls. He relies on deception and a special ability that lets him see one face-down card, but his confidence blinds him to Chen Xuan’s real plan.
• Chen Xuan appears calm and taunts Gustav, using bluffing to make him doubt what happened. Rather than trying to win the card game by its rules, he recognizes the larger trap and prepares to overturn it.
• Their exchange is a psychological duel: Gustav tries to manipulate Chen through fear and false certainty, while Chen uses composure and misdirection to keep Gustav focused on the cards.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: Gustav treats contracts and games as tools for harvesting souls.
• Deception and control: The card game’s rules reward bluffing, but Chen sees that the decisive advantage lies in controlling the encounter itself.
• Overconfidence: Gustav’s belief that he has already won leaves him vulnerable to Chen’s counterattack.

Plot points and events

• Chen Xuan uses Fission and Fusion with Flesh Seed to interfere with Gustav’s card game. The move breaks the supernatural game—and apparently destroys Gustav’s ability as well, though Flesh Seed drops to Level 1.
• Chen Xuan attacks, but Gustav escapes as smoke. Chen Xuan heads for the elevator, intending to find Liu Shuyue and leave before the Dimensional Limit Organization’s agents notice anything unusual.
• The elevator opens onto two employees transformed into sickle-armed monsters. More mutated workers emerge from the offices, while Gustav appears in a larger, scaled, vampire-like form. He has turned the machinery park’s staff into puppets.
• Meanwhile, Honglian and Wang Qianduan approach the White-Clad Immortal, following a cautious plan to assess her threat before acting. Their approach is interrupted when a mutated salesperson attacks them.
• Honglian’s tranquilizer has little effect. Reports then come in that other teams are under attack, and mutated employees are appearing throughout the park. The Organization’s controlled operation collapses into chaos.

Character developments

• Chen Xuan shows he can adapt his abilities to disrupt an opponent’s rules, and he prioritizes escape and finding Liu Shuyue over fighting Gustav directly.
• Gustav shifts from a gambler relying on a forced game to a monstrous creature commanding a workforce of mutated puppets.
• Honglian proves alert and capable under pressure, but is caught off guard by the scale and speed of the outbreak.
• Wang Qianduan remains composed and protects Honglian by pushing her clear of the salesperson’s attack. His role in the mission is based on judgment and experience, though he does not explain his ability.
• The Organization’s teams go from a coordinated containment plan to a desperate response as the danger spreads.

Significant themes

• Abilities and rules can be exploited: Chen Xuan turns the game’s own mechanics against Gustav.
• Deception and concealed danger: The machinery park seems ordinary, but Gustav has secretly transformed it into a trap.
• Control versus chaos: The Organization’s careful planning proves inadequate once the mutations begin.
• The human cost of conflict: Ordinary customers and employees are caught in the outbreak, making the threat more than a fight between powerful individuals.

Character interactions

• Chen Xuan and Gustav confront one another through the card game and then a brief physical attack, but Chen Xuan chooses to flee rather than prolong the fight.
• Honglian questions Wang Qianduan about why he was chosen to assess the White-Clad Immortal; he answers tersely, emphasizing experience rather than revealing his ability.
• Wang Qianduan saves Honglian from the charging salesperson, giving her the opening to fire, though the tranquilizer fails.
• The Organization’s teams communicate through Honglian’s earpiece as they try to respond to attacks across the park.

Chapter Summary: “A Sudden Turn for the Worse”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jiang Siqi and her Dimensional Limit Organization team are waiting at a new-product exhibition complex when employees suddenly mutate and begin attacking civilians.
• Team leader Wang Baihu orders the group to rescue civilians and confront the attackers.
• Han Yuhao recklessly draws several mutated employees toward himself. Li Xing uses his ability to turn the marble floor into a slippery surface, causing the enemies to fall.
• Li Xing instructs Jiang Siqi to use her fire ability on the ground. Her flames ignite the slick surface, creating a powerful explosion that apparently kills or incapacitates the attackers and shatters the building’s windows.
• Jiang Siqi is praised for her quick reaction, but she privately panics, believing she has killed seven or eight people and may face execution.
• Wang Baihu and Elorie rescue civilians from other attackers. When Wang receives no response from Honglian, he leaves to search for her, ordering the others to guard the hall and help survivors.
• Han Yuhao questions the constantly changing mission: the team was initially assigned to capture the Wanderer, then investigate the White-Clad Immortal, and now deal with “zombies.”
• Li Xing examines the bodies and concludes that the attackers are not infected by a virus; their bodies have undergone abnormal physical changes.
• Elorie reveals internally that the attackers are Soul-Lost Puppets, humans whose souls have been taken and whose bodies have been transformed into servants by a powerful demon.
• She realizes the demon has created an unusually large number of puppets in a short time, indicating considerable strength. The demon likely awakened the puppets to reclaim their souls and increase its own power after detecting the Organization’s presence.
• Elorie struggles over whether to prioritize the mission or protect her teammates. She decides to reveal the truth but first wants everyone to withdraw from the building.
• Before she can explain, two stronger-looking puppets appear. Han Yuhao attempts to use the same strategy as before, but Elorie warns him too late.
• The puppets attack with incredible speed, striking Han Yuhao and sending him spinning while blood pours from his body, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Jiang Siqi: Initially terrified by the massacre, she overcomes her fear enough to use her fire ability effectively. Although she appears calm externally, she is overwhelmed by guilt and fears she has become a murderer.
• Han Yuhao: Remains arrogant, impulsive, and eager to prove himself. His reckless provocation helps draw enemies away from civilians, but he underestimates the stronger puppets and is severely injured.
• Li Xing: Demonstrates intelligence, composure, and effective tactical thinking. His slippery-floor ability and analysis of the bodies are crucial to the team’s survival.
• Wang Baihu: Acts as a responsible leader by prioritizing civilian safety. His concern for Honglian leads him to leave the group and search for her.
• Elorie: Her knowledge of demons makes her the only person who fully understands the threat. She becomes increasingly torn between completing the mission and protecting her companions.
• The demon: Though unseen, it is established as highly powerful and strategically aware, capable of controlling many Soul-Lost Puppets and strengthening itself by reclaiming their souls.

Significant Themes

• Fear versus duty: Jiang Siqi’s terror contrasts with her willingness to act, while the team continues fighting despite confusion and danger.
• Teamwork and trust: Li Xing and Jiang Siqi combine their abilities successfully, showing the value of cooperation despite Han Yuhao’s recklessness.
• The moral cost of violence: Jiang Siqi’s guilt highlights the emotional consequences of killing, even in self-defense.
• Mission objectives versus human lives: Elorie’s memories of Xiao Kanong’s question emphasize the conflict between achieving a goal and protecting teammates.
• Hidden supernatural danger: What first appears to be a zombie outbreak is revealed to be a demonic soul-stealing attack, suggesting a much greater threat than the characters initially understood.

Character Interactions

• Wang Baihu directs the team and civilians during the initial attack.
• Han Yuhao provokes the mutants, while Li Xing criticizes his recklessness but saves him with his ability.
• Li Xing coaches Jiang Siqi on how to use her flames more effectively, leading to their successful combined attack.
• Han Yuhao grudgingly praises Jiang Siqi and mocks Li Xing’s practical suggestions.
• Wang Baihu coordinates with Elorie to protect civilians before leaving to find Honglian.
• Elorie attempts to warn the team about the demon and the puppets, but the stronger enemies attack before she can finish explaining.

Plot and key events

• Jiang Siqi watches Elorie struggle against two exceptionally fast, sickle-armed mutants. Li Xing’s traps are ineffective, and the team appears badly outmatched.
• Though Elorie signals for Jiang to run, Jiang decides she cannot turn away if she wants to be a hero. At that moment, one mutant abruptly freezes and screams, creating an opening for Elorie to kill it.
• The other mutant attacks Jiang, but the seemingly near-dead Han Yuhao throws himself in front of her and takes two more slashes. His intervention stops the attack long enough for Jiang to immobilize the mutant with her curse and burn it with a fireball.
• The team regroups and starts to leave the hall, but hundreds of mutated employees rush toward the sales building, threatening to overwhelm them.
• In a parallel scene from earlier, Chen Xuan escapes a corridor crowded with sickle monsters by breaking through a window and reaching the rooftop with a Wind Riding Talisman. Gustav pursues him as a swarm of insects and claims control over the entire complex.
• Chen Xuan could escape using his Scanner Gun, but chooses to stay and defeat Gustav to prevent the puppets from spreading beyond the complex. He notices Gustav’s power has changed and grown markedly stronger.

Character developments

• Jiang Siqi moves from fear and hesitation to choosing to act despite the danger. Her apparent ability to disrupt an enemy’s movement emerges at a decisive moment.
• Han Yuhao proves extraordinarily resilient, sacrificing himself to protect Jiang and displaying the recklessness that makes him a willing vanguard.
• Elorie reveals luminous wings and an invisible weapon, but her effort against the mutants quickly drains her energy.
• Chen Xuan shifts from escape to responsibility, deciding to confront Gustav for the sake of others.
• Gustav appears more powerful than before and reveals that he commands the mutated employees.

Themes and interactions

• Heroism and courage: Jiang’s choice to step forward defines heroism as acting when everyone else has reason to flee.
• Sacrifice and teamwork: Han Yuhao protects Jiang, while Elorie’s distraction and Jiang’s attack combine to bring down the mutants.
• Responsibility over self-preservation: Chen Xuan gives up the easiest route to safety to prevent a wider disaster.
• The chapter highlights the team’s mutual reliance: Elorie creates an opening, Jiang exploits it, and Han Yuhao saves Jiang when she is in immediate danger. It ends on two escalating threats—the approaching horde and Chen Xuan’s confrontation with a newly empowered Gustav.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xuan tests his Fission and Fusion ability on Gustav, discovering that disabling the Devil’s power is unusually costly—though Gustav is still exceptionally strong.
• Gustav taunts Chen Xuan and boasts that ordinary weapons cannot hurt him. Chen Xuan attacks with a lightning-charged Thousand Thoughts Sword, forcing Gustav to turn into insects to evade it.
• The exchange is a feint: Liu Shuyue arrives, catches the redirected sword, and strikes Gustav while his attention is fixed on Chen Xuan. Her blow nearly cuts him in half.
• Gustav opens a black-mist rift to escape. Chen Xuan suspects it is a portal, and he and Liu Shuyue attack together with ten swords charged with the Heavenly Thunder Command. The blades tear Gustav apart, but the rift remains open and begins to destabilize.
• Across the building, the Soul-Lost Puppets suddenly collapse, ending the fighting. Survivors realize their master may have been killed, and Elorie senses that the Devil’s aura has disappeared.
• Elorie flies toward the rooftop to verify Gustav’s death, but a swelling mass of black light erupts above it and engulfs her.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xuan displays confidence, tactical ingenuity, and increasing command of his abilities. He uses Gustav’s focus on him to create an opening for Liu Shuyue rather than relying on a direct attack.
• Liu Shuyue proves to be an extraordinarily powerful and decisive fighter. Her ability to sense Demons lets her recognize the threat and reach the rooftop without needing to be summoned.
• Gustav is shaken by the pair’s strength. Once his disguise is discarded, his aura resembles that of a Demon; cornered and badly wounded, he attempts to escape through the rift.
• Chen Xuan and Liu Shuyue coordinate through a shared connection of consciousness, then combine their attacks to overwhelm Gustav.
• The defenders downstairs—including Jiang Siqi, Han Yuhao, and Li Xing—are stunned when the puppets collapse. Jiang is exhausted after killing many attackers; Li confirms they are dead, while Elorie remains wary and goes to investigate alone.

Significant themes

• Deception and misdirection: Chen Xuan’s apparent attack serves as a setup for Liu Shuyue’s strike.
• Cooperation and trust: Their coordinated combat turns individual strengths into a decisive advantage.
• Power and vulnerability: Gustav seems nearly invulnerable, but his confidence and attention make him susceptible to a well-timed attack.
• Uncertainty after victory: The puppets’ collapse suggests the Devil has been defeated, yet the unstable rift and black-light explosion leave the outcome unresolved.