Recaps

Chen Shouyi bought arrows in Ningzhou, then tried to get his aunt and Chen Yuwei out of the city after the war with the God of Hunting began. After three nuclear explosions, he fled with them by tricycle but saw the God of Hunting still alive in the sky.

• Chen Shouyi bought arrows and witnessed special police arresting members of a cult in Ningzhou.
• Chen Shouyi heard artillery before dawn, decided to leave Ningzhou, and bought a tricycle to carry his aunt and Chen Yuwei.
• Three nuclear bombs exploded in the distance, and Chen Shouyi hurried his family out of the city.
• Chen Shouyi spotted the God of Hunting hovering in the sky and realized the nuclear attack had failed.

After escaping Ningzhou, Chen Shouyi brought Chen Yuwei and Qin Shufen to his family in Hedong’s safe zone, where they settled in amid grief over Qin Shufen’s lost husband. A week later, he was still seeking news about Ningzhou and training his toughness, and he urged Chen Xingyue to test him with thrusts instead of blows.

• Chen Shouyi pedaled his tricycle out of Ningzhou with Chen Yuwei and Qin Shufen as the city’s last resistance collapsed behind them.
• In Hedong’s safe zone, Chen Shouyi brought the two women to his family, and they mourned Qin Shufen’s husband together.
• Qin Shufen bought a house on the outskirts of the safe zone and moved out while Chen Yuwei resumed classes.
• Chen Shouyi borrowed martial arts books through Guan Miao and asked Xiao Changming for news about Ningzhou, but learned that information had been sealed off.
• Chen Xingyue struck Chen Shouyi with an iron rod to test his toughness, and he offered to pay her three hundred an hour to continue.
• Chen Shouyi told Chen Xingyue to thrust the iron rod at him, but she protested that it was too dangerous.

Chen Shouyi absorbed the Tree God's divinity through the World Tree and became a Divine Creature, gaining greater control over the wind and sensing the world around him. After learning that a Barbarian might worship him as the God of Calamity, he considered pursuing godhood through followers but decided to rely on the Book of Knowledge and his own strength instead.

• Chen Shouyi entered the World of Wind and absorbed its insights until the space collapsed and the World Tree transformed.
• Chen Shouyi discovered that his Status Panel listed him as a Divine Creature, with improved Constitution and Intelligence and intermediate Control Atmosphere.
• Chen Shouyi tested his new wind control on Shell Girl, lifting her in a small tornado and earning her praise.
• Chen Shouyi dreamed that a Barbarian prayed to him as the God of Calamity and suspected the follower came from the tribe he had scattered on the Barbarian Small Island.
• Chen Shouyi considered gaining followers in the other world but rejected the slow path to godhood, choosing to grow stronger through the Book of Knowledge instead.

After becoming a Divine Creature, Chen Shouyi discovered new physical changes and rapid growth in his abilities as tensions rose over Ningzhou’s fall. Bai Xiaoling assigned him to protect a mission transporting recovered nuclear bombs to Hedong.

• Chen Shouyi noticed that he became full after eating less than usual and that an invisible force field kept dust away from his body.
• Over the next few days, Chen Shouyi absorbed more mysterious energy during training, and his strength and agility increased.
• Chen Shouyi saw military trucks carrying weapons toward the Ningzhou crisis and worried that the Barbarian God could threaten Hedong.
• Bai Xiaoling told Chen Shouyi that Dongning had fallen and explained that two crashed strategic airships carried unlaunched nuclear warheads, including two ten-megaton hydrogen bombs.
• Bai Xiaoling ordered Chen Shouyi to join Colonel Xiao and Minister Lei in protecting the team transporting the nuclear bombs to Hedong.

Chen Shouyi prepared to return to Ningzhou for a dangerous mission involving a nuclear weapon and struggled to decide who would look after Shell Girl. When she broke down at the thought of being left with his sister, he promised to bring her along.

• Bai Xiaoling told Chen Shouyi that they would leave for Ningzhou at nine the next morning.
• A group of soldiers and ability users arrived at Hedong Railway Station, led by a blue-haired lightning ability user.
• Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Forms of Hardening, noted how much his defenses had improved, and packed for the trip.
• Chen Shouyi told Shell Girl he planned to leave her with his younger sister, and she cried and begged him not to hand her over.
• Chen Shouyi comforted Shell Girl, promised to take her with him, and confirmed that she could keep her gems and clothes.

Chen Shouyi joined a convoy carrying a team of capital Martial Masters and Strategic Forces soldiers on a mission to recover nuclear bombs from the barbarians. The convoy reached evacuated Luohu City, where they learned the bombs remained guarded at the airship crash site and that the barbarians had taken civilians to study the nuclear airships.

• Chen Shouyi left home and met Xiao Changming, Lei Ruiyang, and five Martial Masters from the capital at the city government square.
• Ye Zong introduced Lu Shouhu, Luo Jingwen, Zhang Wenlong, and Sun Mengyuan, then the group set out with soldiers and supplies in a convoy.
• Lu Shouhu and the others discussed the Martial Masters in the capital and revealed that Ye Zong had killed a demigod.
• The convoy arrived in evacuated Luohu City, where the Strategic Forces received an intelligence report about the nuclear bombs.
• A captain reported that roughly five hundred barbarians and many Warbirds guarded the crash site, and that the barbarians had captured civilians to research the nuclear airships.

Chen Shouyi learned that the Buddha Form supposedly marked a martial master, concluded that he qualified despite his low strength, and sharpened his combat skills in Memory Space. He then set out with the convoy on the mission to retrieve the nuclear warhead, with the outcome still uncertain.

• Ye Zong explained that barbarian gods risk losing divine power and possibly their godheads by staying on Earth, easing Chen Shouyi's concern that one might appear.
• Sun Mengyuan dismissed Chen Shouyi as an unqualified martial master, but he realized that his unusual teeth matched her description of the Buddha Form and concluded that he was a true martial master.
• Chen Shouyi let Shell Girl hide from Sun Mengyuan, then practiced a past fight in Memory Space until he defeated the two barbarians and lost his anxiety.
• Chen Shouyi awoke at twelve thirty, reassured Shell Girl, and joined the convoy as it began moving toward the nuclear-warhead mission.

Chen Shouyi and the convoy crossed a desolate battlefield, where he and Ye Zong fought off a surprise attack by barbarians. After the fight, a large enemy force approached, and the alerted guard forces signaled the threat with a red flare.

• Lu Shouhu shot down crows near the convoy, while Zhang Wenlong and the capital's martial masters picked off attacking Warbirds.
• Chen Shouyi sensed several barbarians approaching on foot, leaped onto the vehicle roof, and killed multiple attackers with rapid arrows.
• Ye Zong joined Chen Shouyi on the roof and killed the remaining barbarians with three powerful shots.
• Ye Zong told Chen Shouyi that consuming divine blood had changed his bloodline, granted him electromagnetic abilities, and turned his hair blue.
• Ye Zong spotted a large force approaching, and a red firework signaled that the nearby guard forces had been alerted.

Chen Shouyi’s convoy fought off barbarian attacks while advancing toward the crashed Nuclear Strategic Airships, and Shell Girl was accidentally exposed to the others. As the convoy reached the wreckage, a colossal giant named Gipps appeared and blocked their way.

• Ye Zong used electrically charged arrows to kill the charging barbarians, and the convoy’s soldiers and martial masters finished off the rest.
• Chen Shouyi was ordered down from the truck roof because his bow lacked sufficient power, while the convoy continued toward the airship wreckage.
• Barbarians rained short spears down from the sky, and Chen Shouyi dodged one that pierced the truck bed and knocked Shell Girl out of his clothes.
• Chen Shouyi introduced Shell Girl to the others as his daughter and tucked her away after Ye Zong tried to coax her over.
• The convoy reached the crashed Nuclear Strategic Airships and found enormous footprints on the road.
• Gipps rose behind an airship, ordered the convoy to turn back, and hurled a tree several kilometers toward them when they continued forward.

Chen Shouyi and the convoy recovered fifteen nuclear warheads from an airship after Ye Zong killed the giant attacking them. The mission ended with Major Qi reporting that one nuclear warhead was missing.

• The giant attacked the convoy, and Ye Zong, Luo Jingwen, and Zhang Wenlong drew it away while Chen Shouyi hid Shell Girl in the truck.
• Ye Zong killed the giant with an electromagnetic cannon arrow, and he and the others entered the village as the savages’ resistance collapsed.
• The convoy reached the airship and recovered fifteen nuclear warheads before moving on to another airship.
• Ye Zong identified the rescued researchers and said he had killed some who had become cultists; the soldiers screened the rest and executed five who refused to renounce their faith.
• Major Qi reported that one nuclear warhead was missing.

Chen Shouyi and the convoy returned safely to Hedong after recovering twenty-four nuclear bombs, though one small bomb remained missing. Back home, he rewarded Shell Girl and entered the Memory Space to assess his combat ability by revisiting his clash with Sun Mengyuan.

• Major Qi reported that a one-kiloton nuclear bomb was missing, then ordered the convoy to leave with the twenty-four recovered bombs.
• Ye Zong and the researchers returned to Luohu City, where soldiers welcomed the convoy and anti-aircraft guns drove off the pursuing Warbirds.
• Chen Shouyi left the convoy at Hedong with Xiao Changming and Lei Ruiyang, then returned home and gave Shell Girl a Crystal Ball.
• Chen Shouyi concluded that his agility exceeded Martial Artist level while his strength remained at Great Martial Artist level, and entered the Memory Space to review his fight with Sun Mengyuan.

Chen Shouyi fought Sun Mengyuan in the Memory Space, then realized she had likely come there to relieve herself and left in embarrassment. He assessed his martial-master strength afterward and worried about the God of Hunting's threat to Hedong City.

• Chen Shouyi challenged Sun Mengyuan in the Memory Space and provoked her into fighting seriously.
• Sun Mengyuan's explosive power and rapid attacks pressured Chen Shouyi, but he landed a heavy blow that broke her ribs.
• Chen Shouyi noticed Sun Mengyuan's torn clothes and realized she might have hurried over to relieve herself, so he left the Memory Space.
• Chen Shouyi concluded that he was at least an ordinary martial master and that Sun Mengyuan was likely stronger than Xiao Changming.
• Chen Shouyi checked his Status Panel, resolved to save energy for optimization, and answered Chen Xingyue's call to dinner.

Chen Shouyi received his new provincial Martial Master benefits and continued studying ways to improve himself. He completed viscera refinement and discovered he could stop his heart for several minutes before growing dangerously weak.

• A deputy director of the provincial general office brought Chen Shouyi his new benefits contract, and Chen Shouyi signed it.
• Chen Xingyue tried to read the contract, but Chen Shouyi refused and destroyed it after she left.
• Chen Shouyi studied qigong and watched Shell Girl arrange her Crystal Balls.
• Chen Shouyi completed viscera refinement and felt his body become more integrated.
• Chen Shouyi stopped his heart and found that he could endure without a heartbeat for about ten minutes before becoming weak.

Chen Shouyi tested how much his body had hardened and encountered a dangerous Otherworld Creature near the woods. After killing it, he ran into Lin Yawen in Hedong and told her his name.

• Chen Shouyi found that his skin could withstand his sword unless he used considerable force, and checked his rising strength, agility, and energy.
• Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Forms of Hardening while Shell Girl played nearby.
• Shell Girl warned Chen Shouyi that a creature was approaching, and a six-legged Otherworld Creature lunged at him and bit his arm.
• Chen Shouyi crushed the creature's neck and stomped it dead, then searched the woods and found no others.
• Lin Yawen recognized Chen Shouyi in the safe zone and asked whether he was a martial artist.
• Chen Shouyi confirmed that he was, then left after telling Lin Yawen his name.

Chen Shouyi’s parents considered opening another restaurant, while he reached 900 energy points and optimized his hardening technique for the third time. After practicing the dramatically altered forms, he was overwhelmed by painful physical sensations and had to stop after the seventh form.

• Mother Chen proposed opening another restaurant, but Chen Dawei worried about repeating their earlier losses, and Chen Shouyi urged them not to work so hard.
• Shell Girl asked Chen Shouyi to visit her home in the other world, and he promised to check whether the Space Channel in Hedong City was still open.
• Chen Shouyi’s energy points reached 900, and he spent nine points to optimize Thirty-Six Forms of Hardening for the third time.
• Chen Shouyi studied the new technique and discovered it could gather Primal Force into a blue vortex that remained after training.
• Shell Girl tried to cover Chen Shouyi with a quilt while he slept on the floor, then told him not to do it again.
• Chen Shouyi practiced the third optimized forms, but after completing the seventh, his muscles convulsed and he stopped amid pain, itching, and cold sweat.

Chen Shouyi mastered the Thirty-Six Forms and began combining them with the hardening exercises, drawing in Primal Force as his body strengthened. Meanwhile, refugees arrived at Hedong Railway Station, where Deng Shiming pressured Xu Dahu to serve the church and threatened his family.

• Chen Shouyi focused on practicing the Thirty-Six Forms and gradually pushed through more of the sequence despite exhaustion.
• After four days of intense training, Chen Shouyi completed all thirty-six forms and felt Primal Force surge through his body.
• Chen Shouyi repeated the forms until they became familiar, then began practicing the complete Thirty-Six Forms of Hardening and absorbed Primal Force into a vortex in his dantian.
• Refugees from occupied regions arrived at Hedong Railway Station as part of a campaign to reclaim parts of Ningzhou, and soldiers directed them onto Steam Trucks.
• Deng Shiming warned Xu Dahu that the church held his family and threatened to expose him if he betrayed them, while another man urged Xu Dahu to cooperate to stay alive.

Chen Shouyi saw three fighter jets flying over Hedong, renewing his hope that humanity could oppose the Barbarian God. He then returned books to Guan Miao, who angrily told him not to visit her again, leaving him confused.

• Chen Shouyi noticed his Strength and Will had improved after practicing the third optimized cultivation method.
• Chen Shouyi frightened some children who were splashing passersby, and they decided to go dig for cicada nymphs in the park.
• Chen Shouyi and the pedestrians watched three fighter jets fly over Hedong, and he believed their return offered hope against the Barbarian God.
• Chen Shouyi gave Guan Miao her books and asked about the bruise on her face.
• Guan Miao claimed she had bumped into a door, told Chen Shouyi not to visit again, and walked away while he wondered what he had done wrong.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter introduces the concept of "Shell Girls," human-like robots designed for companionship, and the annual "Shell Girl Election" where people vote for their favorite models.
• The protagonist, Kaito, discovers a mysterious, damaged Shell Girl named "Coco" in his backyard.
• Kaito decides to repair Coco and enter her in the election to win the grand prize, which could help him pay for his ailing mother's medical expenses.

Character Developments

• Kaito: Initially apathetic and struggling with his mother's illness, Kaito becomes driven and caring as he takes responsibility for Coco.
• Coco: Initially unresponsive and damaged, Coco gradually exhibits signs of self-awareness and emotion as Kaito repairs her.

Significant Themes

• Humanity and identity: The chapter explores what it means to be human through Coco's development and the reactions of those around her.
• Responsibility and care: Kaito's decision to take care of Coco shows his growth in responsibility and empathy.
• The consequences of technology: The Shell Girls raise questions about the ethical implications of advanced AI and the potential for exploitation.

Character Interactions

• Kaito and Coco: Their relationship develops from Kaito's initial curiosity and obligation to a genuine bond as Coco becomes more sentient.
• Kaito and his mother: Their relationship is strained due to her illness, but Kaito's actions with Coco show his desire to care for her.
• Kaito and his friends: They initially laugh at Kaito's decision to enter Coco in the election but later show support as they see Coco's growth.

Chen Shouyi trained his growing durability and learned that cultists were being hunted across the safe zone. As soldiers tightened their search, the fugitive cultists Deng Shiming and Xu Dahu killed a couple and attacked soldiers while escaping into a crowded street.

• Chen Shouyi repeatedly hurled himself into a boulder to toughen his skin and internal organs, eventually shattering it.
• Chen Shouyi checked that the energy vortex in his dantian remained and considered cultivating in the other world.
• A soldier inspecting Chen Shouyi recognized his master-level Martial Artist Certificate and explained that soldiers were hunting cultists across the district.
• Deng Shiming and Xu Dahu discussed their failed recruitment efforts and decided to hide rather than flee through the guarded streets.
• When soldiers began checking rooms, Deng Shiming ordered Xu Dahu to kill the couple they had tied up, and the two concealed the bodies.
• Deng Shiming and Xu Dahu jumped from a balcony, killed two soldiers who confronted them, and fled into the crowded streets.

Chen Shouyi stopped Deng Shiming and Xu Dahu from killing people in the street, then set off on a short trip after telling Chen Xingyue to inform their parents. The chapter left him riding toward the city center with a backpack and quiver.

• Deng Shiming and Xu Dahu attacked people in the street, killing a soldier and sending the crowd into panic.
• Chen Shouyi intercepted Deng Shiming, shattered his arm with a single strike, and knocked him unconscious.
• Xu Dahu surrendered to Chen Shouyi and was taken into custody by soldiers, including Wang Yue.
• Chen Shouyi left the scene and reflected on his honorary government post and the freedom he had as a private-sector Martial Master.
• The next morning, Chen Shouyi told Chen Xingyue he was going away for a few days and gave her money to pass the news to their parents.
• Chen Shouyi bought a bicycle and rode toward the city center.

Chen Shouyi returned to the Space Channel and used his Martial Master Certificate to enter the Otherworld before dawn. There, he discovered that becoming a divine creature let him perceive souls, repel weak Nature Spirits, and summon powerful winds.

• Chen Shouyi rode through the expanding industrial district, passed his deserted old home, and reached the guarded Space Channel.
• The second lieutenant initially refused to let Chen Shouyi enter before dawn, but relented after seeing his Martial Master Certificate and consulting battalion commander Yue Long.
• Chen Shouyi entered the Otherworld, where his divine presence frightened the soldiers accompanying him.
• Chen Shouyi saw countless Nature Spirits and watched a weak one flee and vanish near him.
• Chen Shouyi summoned a whirlwind over ten meters high, then leapt from the steps and used a gust of wind to slow his fall before landing unharmed.

Chen Shouyi entered the Otherworld with Shell Girl, killed a giant wolf, and settled into the Fluorite Cave to cultivate. The chapter ended when he received a vision of a Barbarian tribe sacrificing to him as the God of Calamity.

• Chen Shouyi crossed the dark forest, where his aura dispelled weak Nature Spirits, while Shell Girl nervously urged him to return.
• A giant wolf ambushed Chen Shouyi, but he killed it with his Long Sword and carried its body to the Fluorite Cave.
• Chen Shouyi made the cave his shelter, while Shell Girl gathered nectar in the morning and he cooked the wolf's meat.
• After a night of cultivation, Chen Shouyi found that his Agility and Constitution had each increased by one point.
• Chen Shouyi saw a vision of several hundred people praying to the God of Calamity, and recognized them as the Barbarian tribe from the Dongning Space Channel.

Chen Shouyi discovered that his Book of Knowledge had changed as the barbarians’ faith in him spread across the tribe. The tribe abandoned the powerless Tree God and turned to the God of Calamity, leaving its survival under a new faith as winter approached.

• Chen Shouyi blocked the cave entrance, entered the Book of Knowledge, and saw that its space had expanded beneath a newly starry sky.
• Chen Shouyi recognized a bright star as a praying barbarian and suspected the stars represented his believers.
• More than two hundred barbarians prayed to a crude statue of the God of Calamity as the young shaman completed a blood sacrifice, expanding the Faith Domain and driving away the Nature Spirits.
• The Tree God lost its divine power, and the tribe faced dwindling food supplies, a harsh winter, and the deaths of elders attacked by Nature Spirits.
• The new chieftain led the tribe to abandon the Tree God and adopt Chen Shouyi as their god.

Chen Shouyi spent nearly ten days cultivating in the Otherworld, rapidly improving his attributes before deciding to return home. Before leaving, he crushed a crystal Shell Girl had found and suspected it had been a valuable diamond.

• Chen Shouyi found that the ritual’s starlight had faded and left the Book of Knowledge’s space without gaining strength or abilities from the believers.
• Chen Shouyi stomped down several holes to kill the Giant Beasts Shell Girl had spotted near the cave.
• After six days and nights of cultivation, Chen Shouyi raised his strength to 15.6 and agility to 15.4, bringing him close to the martial artist examination’s strength standard.
• Shell Girl showed Chen Shouyi a clear octahedral crystal, and he dismissed it as worthless before secretly picking it up.
• Chen Shouyi accidentally crushed the crystal and cut his fingers on its powder, making him suspect it was a diamond.
• Chen Shouyi told Shell Girl they were going home and set off through the Otherworld.

After returning from ten days in the wilderness, Chen Shouyi reunited with his family and accompanied Chen Xingyue to register at Jiangnan Martial Arts Academy. He arranged for her to avoid the dangerous Martial Artist assessment, then headed home with her.

• Chen Shouyi left the otherworld, ate breakfast, and unexpectedly met his former teacher Wang Ruyue.
• Chen Shouyi returned home, where his parents scolded him for disappearing for ten days and told him to accompany Chen Xingyue to register at the nearby academy.
• Chen Shouyi and Chen Xingyue rode to Jiangnan Martial Arts Academy and found crowds of applicants waiting to register.
• A Martial Arts Teacher recognized Chen Shouyi as Chief Chen and offered to arrange Chen Xingyue's registration.
• Chen Shouyi asked the teacher to keep Chen Xingyue out of the risky Martial Artist assessment, and the teacher suggested she could pursue a safer educational position.
• Chen Shouyi called Chen Xingyue away from the queue, and she teased him for claiming he knew no one at the academy.