Chapter Summaries

Chen Shouyi returned home and tried to hide the changes in his life from his parents, while Chen Xingyue told him that Old Man Wang’s corpse had mysteriously disappeared. That night, Chen Shouyi saw Old Man Wang’s shrouded figure approaching his window.

• Chen Shouyi left the hotel and told his parents that his training had ended, reassuring them with prepared answers about his appearance and the training.
• Chen Xingyue reported that Old Man Wang had died and that his body had vanished from the vigil, later turning up at the neighborhood’s east gate.
• Chen Shouyi warned Chen Xingyue not to go out at night, then let Shell Girl out at home and gave her another glass bead.
• In the middle of the night, Chen Shouyi heard strained groans outside and saw Old Man Wang’s shrouded figure slowly approaching his window.

Chen Shouyi saw Old Man Wang’s corpse wandering through the streets, then practiced sword thrusts at Mingshan Park and broke the sound barrier. When a young man demanded that he leave the pavilion, Chen Shouyi kicked him down, and the man challenged his martial ability.

• Chen Shouyi watched Old Man Wang’s corpse walk past his window before military police fired shots at it in the street.
• Chen Shouyi found his school closed, failed to contact Zhang Xiaoyue, and read a notice ordering car owners to help clear the blocked roads.
• Chen Shouyi practiced sword thrusts beneath the ginkgo tree at Mingshan Park and discovered that his strikes had broken the sound barrier.
• A young man approached Chen Shouyi and demanded that he leave the pavilion so he and his girlfriend could be alone.
• Chen Shouyi kicked the young man in the thigh and dropped him to one knee, but the man stood up and claimed Chen was no match for a real Martial Apprentice.

Chen Shouyi restrained himself after nearly killing a Martial Apprentice, then agreed to accompany Chen Xingyue to suppress the Killing Intent surrounding Old Man Wang's body. He prepared to go out while tying up Shell Girl and hiding her under his bed.

• Chen Shouyi kicked a young Martial Apprentice and warned him to become a martial artist before making demands, then left without killing him.
• Chen Shouyi reflected on his growing bloodlust and resolved to avoid using force whenever possible.
• Chen Xingyue told Chen Shouyi that Wang Debiao had asked her to suppress the Killing Intent around Old Man Wang's body for five thousand.
• Chen Shouyi agreed to accompany Chen Xingyue after bargaining for three thousand, and he put on protective clothing.
• Chen Shouyi traded Shell Girl a tiny glass bead for a night of freedom, then tied her up, taped her mouth, and hid her under the bed.

Chen Shouyi accompanied Chen Xingyue to the Wang family home, where relatives hoped her Martial Apprentice status would help keep Old Man Wang’s corpse calm. As midnight passed, Chen Shouyi examined the bound body and noticed its black fingernails and faintly twitching fingers.

• Chen Xingyue persuaded Mother Chen to let her visit the Wang family, and Chen Shouyi went with her.
• Chen Xingyue and Chen Shouyi arrived at Old Man Wang’s home, where his relatives greeted them anxiously and hoped her presence would suppress the corpse’s Killing Intent.
• The family explained that the police had shot Old Man Wang’s body, which then lay motionless, before allowing the relatives to take it home.
• As midnight passed, Chen Shouyi went to the mourning hall and examined Old Man Wang’s bound body.
• Chen Shouyi noticed that Old Man Wang’s fingernails were black and that his fingers twitched faintly.

Chen Shouyi kept watch while Old Man Wang’s corpse struggled through the night, then returned to the other world and found that an intruder had followed his footprints through the passage. He disposed of the dead man and was left shaken by the family photograph in his wallet.

• Chen Shouyi and Chen Xingyue stayed overnight at the Wang family’s mourning hall while Old Man Wang’s corpse struggled against its bindings until dawn.
• Chen Shouyi teased Chen Xingyue about splitting their payment, then secretly intended to give her part of his earnings.
• Chen Shouyi returned to the Unfinished Building and found a second set of footprints leading into the passage.
• Chen Shouyi found the intruder dead near a pile of Gold Sand, apparently having collapsed under the other world’s gravity while trying to reach it.
• Chen Shouyi dragged the corpse to the Great Sea and threw away the family photograph he found in the man’s wallet.

Chen Shouyi decided to investigate the barbarians’ island after realizing his secrecy had contributed to a human intruder’s death. He paddled across the sea, found a barbarian canoe, and fired an arrow at its occupants as they recognized him as the demon.

• Chen Shouyi reflected on the risks of hiding the passage and decided to investigate the barbarians’ island.
• Chen Shouyi and Shell Girl took a dugout canoe out to sea, with Shell Girl guiding him toward land.
• Chen Shouyi spotted another dugout canoe and turned toward it, intending to destroy the barbarians’ means of travel.
• Chen Shouyi disguised himself with filth to look like a barbarian as the two canoes approached.
• The barbarians recognized Chen Shouyi as the demon and tried to turn away, but he raised his War Bow and released an arrow.

Chen Shouyi killed two barbarians while scouting the route to the Small Island, then learned their tribe trusted in a mysterious sacred tree and decided to postpone landing. After returning home in the blackout, he showed Mother Chen his strength, but she scolded him for frightening her.

• Chen Shouyi shot and killed one barbarian, then questioned the wounded survivor, who warned that the tribe’s sacred tree would kill him before dying.
• Chen Shouyi searched the universal dictionary for the barbarian’s words, recalled the mysterious nut from the tribe’s chief, and chose to return rather than land on the Small Island.
• Chen Shouyi towed the canoe back and, after five hours, returned through the passageway to the darkened streets of his city.
• Chen Shouyi came home late and told Mother Chen he had been away on important business.
• Chen Shouyi crushed a bowl fragment in his hand to reassure Mother Chen of his strength, but she smacked the back of his head and warned him not to do it again.

After news confirmed that the otherworldly force-field invasion had disrupted life beyond Dongning City, Chen Shouyi prepared for his next trip to the otherworld. He obtained arrows and jungle gear, then returned to his hotel to rest and released Shell Girl.

• Chen Shouyi read reports of the invasion’s widespread effects and learned that flights were suspended and wireless networks disrupted.
• A cold-weapon shop owner refused to sell Chen Shouyi arrows without a Martial Apprentice certificate, but Chen Shouyi’s display of speed and intimidation persuaded him to sell a large bundle.
• Chen Shouyi bought camouflage clothing, a helmet, goggles, and other jungle gear from a military supply store.
• Chen Shouyi returned to his hotel, checked that his package had not arrived, tidied his room, and waited for evening before his planned trip to the otherworld.
• Chen Shouyi opened his briefcase and let Shell Girl out.

Chen Shouyi returned to the Otherworld to search the Small Island for the barbarians’ dugout canoes, but Shell Girl warned him that powerful Nature Spirits inhabited it. He confirmed an eerie presence near shore and continued facing an island full of unseen dangers.

• Shell Girl secretly recovered a glass marble and hid it in her Princess Dress, while Chen Shouyi packed for his trip.
• Chen Shouyi crossed the passage at night and rowed toward the Small Island after dawn, planning to avoid its interior until he had checked for danger and to destroy the barbarians’ canoes.
• After landing, Shell Girl warned Chen Shouyi that powerful Nature Spirits were hidden throughout the island and would emerge after sunset.
• Chen Shouyi approached a rock she had indicated and felt an eerie chill, confirming that the island was dangerous.

Chen Shouyi cautiously explored the island and found a barbarian shipbuilding workshop, where he ambushed four workers before charging toward the rest. The other barbarians recognized him as the Evil One, and he advanced as their fear spread.

• Chen Shouyi reassured Shell Girl and followed the shoreline, avoiding the silent forest.
• Chen Shouyi found a warm freshwater brook and marked it as a likely route to the barbarians.
• Chen Shouyi discovered a shipbuilding workshop with sixteen barbarians hollowing out canoes and watched for an opportunity to attack.
• Chen Shouyi shot two barbarians approaching the boulder, then killed the other two with his Long Sword.
• The remaining barbarians recognized Chen Shouyi as the Evil One, and he charged at them as their morale faltered.

Chen Shouyi killed the five barbarians who stood against him, then faced the terrifying presence of the Tree God and escaped the Small Island by taking its canoes. He left the island with one more barbarian killed, while the survivors fled farther out to sea.

• Chen Shouyi shot and killed the five barbarians who had stayed to face him.
• The Tree God sent a gale and oppressive aura toward Chen Shouyi, but the effect weakened near the sea and then faded.
• The Tree God realized its powers could only frighten Chen Shouyi, while its shaman warned the tribe to stay away from the Great Sea.
• Chen Shouyi recovered his arrows, searched the island’s coast, and found two more fishing canoes.
• Chen Shouyi took the canoes out to sea and killed one person from a canoe, but the other canoe escaped farther offshore.

After returning from the barbarian island, Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms and investigated the source of the island’s overwhelming aura in the Memory Space. He found the colossal Holy Tree and plunged his consciousness into it, only to lose control of his mind.

• Chen Shouyi returned with Shell Girl and the captured dugout canoe, reflecting on the slaughter and the Mysterious Power on the island.
• Chen Shouyi practiced the Thirty-Six Body Tempering Forms in the Otherworld and sensed the abundant Mysterious Power, while his will reached 119.
• Chen Shouyi entered the Gray Mist Space and revisited the memory of the aura that had swept across the island.
• Chen Shouyi flew through the forest in the Memory Space and found a colossal tree hundreds of meters tall, which he identified as the likely Holy Tree.
• Chen Shouyi plunged his consciousness into the Holy Tree, and an explosion-like force made him lose his hold on it.

After Chen Shouyi failed to enter the mysterious giant tree’s memories, he discovered that he could control air currents and found the ability listed as Atmospheric Control (Weak). The chapter ended with Shell Girl hiding a large glass marble after Chen Shouyi rewarded her for finding a gold nugget.

• Chen Shouyi tried twice to enter the giant tree in the Gray Mist Space, but its aura flung his consciousness away and left him mentally exhausted.
• After recovering, Chen Shouyi sensed and redirected nearby air currents, then found Atmospheric Control (Weak) on his Status Panel.
• Chen Shouyi practiced controlling the air and managed to form a small, crooked vortex in his palm.
• Shell Girl called Chen Shouyi over after finding a heavy natural gold nugget, which he picked up and weighed.
• Chen Shouyi gave Shell Girl a large glass marble as a reward, and she flew away to hide it in the grass.

Chen Shouyi discovered that intense focus let his Control Atmosphere ability reduce air resistance during sword thrusts, and one strike produced a faint green cone of Qi. Back in Dongning City, he found police removing more than twenty bodies of teenage girls from a nearby office building, and heard that a cult had killed them in a ritual.

• Chen Shouyi realized that focusing his mind weakened the air resistance against his sword and made his thrusts faster.
• Chen Shouyi produced a pale green, cone-shaped Qi with an exceptionally focused strike, but the effort left him mentally exhausted.
• Chen Shouyi left the other world and returned to a power-stricken Dongning City.
• Chen Shouyi found police carrying numerous bodies from an office building near his home.
• Chen Shouyi heard that more than twenty teenage girls had been killed in a cult ritual and feared that cult activity had returned.

Chen Shouyi worried about his sister after a deadly incident and learned that Chen Xingyue had escaped a cultists’ ritual where her friends were killed. He was left consumed by rage at the cultists and the danger facing his family.

• Chen Shouyi watched the Third Investigation Department take over the scene, then hurried home worried about his sister.
• Chen Shouyi reflected on the threat posed by the Otherworld and was relieved when Mother Chen confirmed Chen Xingyue had returned safely.
• Chen Xingyue attacked Chen Shouyi with her sword, then broke down and told him Zhang Qianru and Lu Shuoyuan were dead.
• Chen Xingyue explained that cultists had lured the three friends to a ritual site, where she escaped through a window while Zhang Qianru and Lu Shuoyuan remained behind.
• Chen Shouyi realized that Martial Artists had been among the cultists and felt fierce rage as he heard how his sister had escaped.

Chen Shouyi told his family that Chen Xingyue was in danger and that they had to leave Dongning City that night. He revealed his martial-artist strength to reassure his parents, then found Shell Girl alive in his crushed briefcase as the family prepared to flee.

• Mother Chen and Chen Dawei discussed worsening business and their worry about money they had invested in private loans.
• Chen Shouyi and Chen Xingyue came downstairs armed with swords, and Chen Shouyi explained that people were watching their home after Chen Xingyue escaped a deadly incident and exposed information to the police.
• Chen Shouyi said the family had to leave Dongning City that night, and Chen Dawei confirmed the car had enough gas for the journey.
• Chen Shouyi demonstrated his swordsmanship by slicing a corner off the dining table and told his parents he was a martial artist.
• Mother Chen and Chen Dawei packed the family’s belongings, including Chen Shouyi’s bow and arrows.
• Chen Shouyi retrieved his flattened briefcase from his backpack and found Shell Girl frightened but unharmed inside.

Chen Shouyi killed the two men watching his family’s home, then reassured his family and led them out to flee. The family drove away in a crowded van, hoping to reach safety.

• Brother Xu and his companion waited to attack Chen Shouyi’s family in the name of the God of Hunting.
• Chen Shouyi appeared in the lane and killed Brother Xu and the other man with a chopstick.
• Chen Shouyi returned home and told his family that no one was watching them anymore.
• Chen Shouyi reassured Mother Chen that he had only knocked the men unconscious, while Chen Xingyue understood that he had killed them.
• Chen Dawei led the family out through the back door, and they drove away in their loaded van.

Chen Shouyi’s family was ambushed on the road to Pingqiu City, and he fought off the attackers before facing their skilled leader. He defeated the man in black, who collapsed with a fatal wound.

• Chen Shouyi urged his parents to drive faster as the family traveled toward Pingqiu City, then warned Chen Xingyue to stay alert when a car approached from behind.
• Gunmen shattered the family car’s rear window and shot at them, so Chen Shouyi ordered his family to stay down and prepared to fight.
• Chen Shouyi leapt from the car and used his War Bow to kill or wound the attackers in the pursuing vehicle.
• A muscular man in black emerged from the car and challenged Chen Shouyi to a sword fight.
• Chen Shouyi used his faster reflexes to outmaneuver the man in black and cut him open, leaving him to collapse on the road.

After Chen Shouyi killed the attackers, he and his family fled toward Pingqiu City and decided to hide near Changmen Town. They abandoned and burned their bullet-riddled car before setting off on foot with their belongings.

• Chen Shouyi finished off the wounded man in black, retrieved the arrows and weapons, and returned to the car as his family waited.
• Chen Shouyi examined the black-clad man's Long Sword and kept it after comparing it with his damaged sword.
• As they neared Pingqiu City, Chen Shouyi told Chen Dawei to avoid the city and stop near Changmen Town.
• Chen Shouyi persuaded his parents to abandon the car because its bullet holes could expose them, and he comforted Chen Xingyue when she blamed herself for the attack.
• Chen Shouyi set the car on fire with Chen Dawei's lighter, and the family left with their belongings.

After escaping the burning car, the Chen family found a cheap inn and tried to settle in for the night. Chen Shouyi reflected on his lack of status and studied the black-clad man’s fighting technique before exhaustion overcame him.

• Chen Dawei threw the car’s license plate into a river, and the family avoided suspicion when a patrol officer stopped them.
• Chen Dawei secured three rooms at an inn, where Mother Chen and Father Chen comforted Chen Xingyue.
• Chen Shouyi lamented that his lack of registration and social standing had left his family vulnerable, then wondered when Martial Apprentice exams would resume.
• Chen Shouyi checked on Shell Girl, found her unharmed and hungry, and fed her honey mixed with hot water.
• Chen Shouyi reviewed his fight with the man in black in the Memory Space and studied the man’s coordination and muscle control before falling asleep.