Chapter Summaries

Chen Shouyi returned to the barbarians’ island and ventured into its primeval forest to find a divine tree, bringing Shell Girl with him. He reached a clearing where the enormous tree stood amid violent winds and hundreds of praying barbarians.

• Shell Girl made Chen Shouyi retrieve her buried glass marbles before they left the island.
• Chen Shouyi landed on the barbarians’ island and found its shore and canoe workshop deserted.
• Chen Shouyi entered the forest, suspecting that the divine tree might let him absorb its power.
• A supernatural gale battered Chen Shouyi and frightened Shell Girl as they advanced through the forest.
• Chen Shouyi reached a clearing and saw a giant tree surrounded by hundreds of prostrate, praying barbarians.

Chen Shouyi faced hundreds of barbarians on the island and fought his way through their attempts to surround him with Shell Girl’s help. After more than an hour of fighting, he returned to the clearing beneath the divine tree, where the fleeing barbarians had left one figure behind.

• Chen Shouyi spotted hundreds of barbarians near the divine tree, judged that many were not fighters, and waited for the wind to weaken.
• Shell Girl warned Chen Shouyi that barbarians were closing in from multiple directions, so he fled toward the only open route.
• Shell Girl alerted Chen Shouyi to hidden attackers, and he killed several barbarians with his bow and sword as he escaped the encirclement.
• Chen Shouyi advanced through the woods, using Shell Girl’s sharp senses to locate barbarians and shoot or cut them down until they began to flee.
• Chen Shouyi returned to the clearing beneath the divine tree after the barbarians scattered, and he noticed one figure still remained.

Chen Shouyi killed the last praying Barbarian, waited for the giant tree’s power to weaken, then touched its root and absorbed its energy. He gained a modest increase to his attributes and advanced Control Atmosphere to beginner.

• Chen Shouyi shot and killed the last Barbarian, and a strange glow rose from the roots as the man’s spirit vanished.
• Chen Shouyi retreated to eat and waited three hours for more Barbarians, then left Shell Girl in hiding and approached the giant tree with his Long Sword.
• Chen Shouyi pressed his hand to a raised root, endured a brief mental shock, and absorbed a surge of heat from the tree.
• Chen Shouyi checked his Status Panel, saw small attribute gains, and found that Control Atmosphere had advanced from weak to beginner.

After draining the great tree, Chen Shouyi discovered that the World Tree had absorbed its Faith Power and divinity. The World Tree produced a golden fruit that showed him a world of wind, which he suspected contained the divine tree’s understanding of wind.

• Chen Shouyi realized the great tree had lost its extraordinary power, while his own strength and agility had risen dramatically.
• Chen Shouyi entered the Gray Mist Space and saw the great tree’s Faith Power and a tiny point of divinity caught among the World Tree’s branches.
• Chen Shouyi tried repeatedly to seize the divinity but was thrown back each time, unable to withstand its power.
• The World Tree absorbed the remaining Faith Power and divinity, grew taller, and restored Chen Shouyi’s spiritual energy with a mysterious song.
• Chen Shouyi inspected a golden fruit on the World Tree and briefly entered a world of wind, where a flood of information suggested the fruit held the divine tree’s understanding of wind.

Chen Shouyi tested his new Wind Control Ability and found it useful for overcoming air resistance, then discovered that his improved physique had made his skin much tougher. On the Otherworld island, he developed a powerful ranged wind attack that he could unleash with a Forward Lunge Stab.

• Chen Shouyi rowed across the sea while testing his Wind Control Ability and judged that it was more useful for support than direct combat.
• Chen Shouyi returned to Earth, washed up, and found that his skin could withstand a light stroke from his sharp sword with barely a scratch.
• Chen Shouyi spent several days training on the Otherworld island and repeatedly thrust at a tree with his Long Sword.
• Chen Shouyi realized that his fastest Forward Lunge Stab could send a concentrated stream of blue wind several meters, powerful enough to pierce an ordinary barbarian.
• Chen Shouyi found that his other sword techniques produced only weaker gusts that could cut skin but could not kill a barbarian.

Chen Shouyi trained with his sword on the Small Island, then asked Shell Girl to find the place where she had been born. He dug up a mysterious, exceptionally hard crystal and traded it to Shell Girl for an enormous gemstone.

• Chen Shouyi practiced sword forms for two hours until exhaustion, while Shell Girl reported that she had collected golden sand.
• Chen Shouyi asked Shell Girl where the Yata Flower had grown, and she remembered a crater-like pit on the island where she had been born.
• Chen Shouyi dug through the pit and found a smooth, column-shaped crystal embedded in the rock.
• Chen Shouyi tested the crystal and found that it made no sound and showed no damage even after he smashed rock with it.
• Chen Shouyi offered Shell Girl an enormous gemstone for the crystal, and she accepted the trade.

Chen Shouyi submitted an exploration report marking a rich gold deposit on the Small Island, while thirty-five barbarians emerged near Oxhead Mountain to serve the God of Hunting. The God of Hunting intended to use the newly accessible Space Channel to sacrifice humans and strengthen His power.

• Chen Shouyi finished a topographical map and exploration report, noting the gold deposit on the Small Island and uploading both documents to Explorer Net for review.
• Thirty-five barbarians emerged from a cave on Oxhead Mountain and prayed to the God of Hunting, pledging blood sacrifices in the human world.
• The God of Hunting and other gods prepared for a coming upheaval after their power began reaching Earth in limited amounts.
• The God of Hunting planned to exploit a safe Space Channel for human sacrifices after His earlier attempt to establish a human following had been crushed.

Chen Shouyi learned that barbarians had attacked near Dongning and headed toward the sealed-off area, where he witnessed the military kill a powerful fleeing barbarian. He turned away from the restricted zone but saw the danger firsthand.

• Chen Shouyi checked out of his hotel and set off for the high-speed rail station, noticing troops and armored vehicles moving through Dongning.
• A soldier told Chen Shouyi that barbarians had slaughtered several villages near Mulou Town and that the area was sealed off.
• Chen Shouyi found the station closed and walked toward Mulou Town, then stopped when soldiers ordered him away from the barricaded highway.
• Chen Shouyi saw a blood-covered barbarian outrun machine-gun fire as it tried to escape toward the woods.
• An armed helicopter fired rockets that killed the barbarian, leaving its body scattered across the ground.

After returning to Hedong from the crisis in Dongning, Chen Shouyi reunited with his family and considered how vulnerable Earth was to the other world's threats. Examining the strange crystal he had brought back, he realized it resembled a giant's fingertip bone and wondered if it was a god's remains.

• Chen Shouyi returned to Hedong after the military lockdown kept him in Dongning for two extra days.
• Chen Xingyue introduced Chen Shouyi to their cousin Chen Yuwei, who was astonished that he had become a martial artist.
• Chen Shouyi urged Chen Yuwei to persuade her family to leave Dongning because the high-risk passageway made the city unsafe.
• Chen Shouyi reflected on his slow progress and the growing danger from supernatural forces threatening Earth.
• Chen Shouyi compared his crystal with images of finger bones and concluded it resembled a ten-centimeter fingertip bone from a being over ten meters tall, possibly a god.

Chen Shouyi had to leave his usual sword-practice site and trained in his residential complex, where onlookers admired his skill. Later, Bai Xiaoling warned him that the Myriad Gods Society was suspected of abducting martial artists in Hedong City.

• Chen Shouyi found workers renovating the haunted house and moved his sword practice to the lakeside park in his residential complex.
• Two young women watched Chen Shouyi practice, and the girl in pink was impressed by his movements and his forceful breath.
• Chen Shouyi met Bai Xiaoling at a café and asked about the important information she had mentioned.
• Bai Xiaoling told Chen Shouyi that five martial artists, including a Great Martial Artist, had gone missing in Hedong City over the past week.
• Bai Xiaoling explained that police suspected the Myriad Gods Society, an international organization pursuing godhood through human experiments and cooperation with Otherworld deities.

Chen Shouyi learned that the missing Great Martial Artist was Fang Shengjie and arranged for his family to leave Hedong City while he stayed behind. He met his new neighbor Song Tingting and settled into a quiet routine of sword practice as he waited for trouble.

• Bai Xiaoling told Chen Shouyi that Fang Shengjie was among the missing martial artists and urged him to leave Hedong City.
• Chen Shouyi warned his parents about the danger and sent them and Chen Xingyue out of town by train.
• Chen Shouyi refused to flee, confident in his strength and eager to test it against the underground organization.
• Chen Shouyi met Song Tingting in the elevator and discovered that she lived next door and had seen him during morning exercises.
• Chen Shouyi checked his approved exploration mission and gold mine payment, then began practicing his sword at an abandoned factory.

A group tied to the Myriad Gods Society discussed a mission to abduct young female Martial Artists and its plan to restore a deity’s faith in the Otherworld. Meanwhile, Chen Shouyi met his new neighbor Song Tingting, who visited him with grapes and asked him for martial arts advice.

• Director Cao complained that Fang Shengjie's death had drawn attention, while Corite and Bald Man explained that the killing had been ordered and promised him three vials of Primal Divine Blood.
• Bald Man said the Myriad Gods Society had reestablished faith in a deity, and the group discussed the danger of bringing an Old God back to life.
• The men said they needed two more young female Martial Artists to complete their mission, and the handsome foreigner claimed they could operate freely in Hedong City.
• Chen Shouyi heard a knock, cautiously opened the door, and welcomed Song Tingting, who offered him grapes and asked to learn martial arts from him.
• Song Tingting returned home, where her mother scolded her for eating the grapes and her father offered to buy more.

Chen Shouyi followed Lu Weifeng’s plea for help into a trap set by the Myriad Gods Society, but killed the driver and badly wounded Eric before escaping. He discovered that Fang Shengjie had singled him out, while the remaining attackers vowed to kill him.

• Lu Weifeng called Chen Shouyi from Shouming Street and begged him to come without contacting the police.
• The taxi driver diverted Chen Shouyi to a construction site, where Chen recognized the setup, killed the driver, and refused to enter the site.
• A young man named Eric approached Chen Shouyi, but Chen struck him with his sword and walked away.
• The bald man and the Southeast Asian man found Eric dying, and the bald man ended his suffering after Eric asked for a quick death.
• Chen Shouyi watched from a dark corner and realized Fang Shengjie had been involved in targeting him.

Chen Shouyi escaped a trap set by members of the Myriad Gods Society, including the powerful Lu Weifeng, and returned home after destroying evidence of his presence. He decided not to report Lu Weifeng without proof, collected Shell Girl, and left for a hotel to avoid being tracked.

• Chen Shouyi watched the Myriad Gods Society members remove a corpse and flee, then burned the unlicensed taxi and changed into stolen clothes while leaving compensation.
• Chen Shouyi returned home in the morning, greeted Song Tingting, and found Shell Girl watching cartoons through the night.
• Chen Shouyi fed Shell Girl honey and put her to sleep, then called Bai Xiaoling to say he was going out and she did not need to follow him.
• Chen Shouyi decided against reporting Lu Weifeng because he had no evidence and feared alerting him, then packed his belongings.
• Chen Shouyi left the residential complex by winding through alleys and rooftops and checked into a hotel.

Lu Weifeng’s work for the Myriad Gods Society was exposed, and he went to the Third Affairs Investigation Bureau seeking help from Cao Zhenhua. Chen Shouyi killed Lu Weifeng and Cao Zhenhua, then escaped the bureau in disguise and headed back to his hotel.

• Lu Weifeng recalled joining the Myriad Gods Society and being forced to lure a martial artist to a private gathering.
• Cao Zhenhua warned Lu Weifeng that he had been exposed and urged him to flee.
• Chen Shouyi ambushed Lu Weifeng in his car and killed him.
• Chen Shouyi confronted Cao Zhenhua in the parking lot and killed him in a sword fight.
• Chen Shouyi removed his disguise in an alley and headed toward the hotel.

After killing Lu Weifeng and Cao Zhenhua, Chen Shouyi watched the investigation unfold and discovered that the Book of Knowledge was accumulating energy faster after absorbing divinity. The next morning, he spotted a suspicious young man outside the Third Bureau of Investigation.

• Chen Shouyi watched officers remove Lu Weifeng and Cao Zhenhua’s bodies, then reflected that two enemies were dead.
• Song Tingting brought grapes to Chen Shouyi’s apartment but found no answer at his door.
• Chen Shouyi noticed that the Book of Knowledge’s Energy Accumulation had risen to 2.12, apparently increasing faster since it absorbed divinity.
• Bald Man and a Southeast Asian man waited for Cao Zhenhua and discussed their mission and plans to avenge Eric.
• Chen Shouyi watched the Third Bureau of Investigation the next morning and spotted a dark-skinned young man loitering by its gate.

After learning that Cao Zhenhua had been murdered, Corite fled to a villa, where Chen Shouyi ambushed him and killed him. Chen then fought the Bald Man and defeated him with a feint using blood and mud.

• Corite learned from a security guard that Cao Zhenhua had been murdered and decided to leave Hedong City.
• Corite drove to a hillside villa, where Chen Shouyi emerged from the back seat and attacked him.
• Chen Shouyi killed Corite, then faced the Bald Man as he rushed out of the villa.
• The Bald Man's strength and Sword Qi put Chen Shouyi under pressure, but Chen kept dodging and counterattacking.
• Chen Shouyi kicked up blood and mud to distract the Bald Man, then drove his Long Sword through the man's forehead.

After killing the Bald Man, Chen Shouyi escaped the villa and learned that police had found evidence of a kidnapping and murder operation there, easing his fears of being pursued. His chest wound healed rapidly, and he began teaching his eager neighbor Song Tingting the basics of swordsmanship.

• Chen Shouyi decapitated the Bald Man, treated his wound, changed clothes at the villa, and escaped before police arrived.
• Chen Shouyi disguised himself in a taxi, removed his disguise and discarded his sword and suitcase in an alley, then returned to his hotel.
• Chen Shouyi read that police had found kidnapped victims and bodies at the villa, and he concluded that the missing martial artists and Cao Zhenhua might be exposed.
• Chen Shouyi discovered that his chest wound had nearly healed within seven or eight hours, then let Song Tingting practice with a Wooden Sword.
• Chen Shouyi saw that Song Tingting could barely lift the Wooden Sword and told her to begin with footwork.

Chen Shouyi taught Song Tingting martial arts and later weighed whether to buy a powerful War Bow. Concerned that rapid progress would draw scrutiny, he decided against the purchase and bought another bottle of Divine Marrow instead.

• Chen Shouyi ended Song Tingting’s training session, and she returned home without arousing her mother’s suspicion.
• Chen Shouyi found that his chest wound had healed completely by the next morning.
• Chen Shouyi compared War Bows on the internal martial artist trading website and considered buying a nanocarbon-fiber composite bow.
• Chen Shouyi worried that buying a Great Martial Artist-level bow would attract attention to his rapid advancement, so he abandoned the purchase.
• Chen Shouyi bought another bottle of Divine Marrow, put the sleeping Shell Girl in his briefcase, and left with a Wooden Sword.

Chen Shouyi learned that the Myriad Gods Society had been exposed in Hedong City and received an invitation to a government mixer, then saw his gains from Divine Marrow diminish. At home, he disciplined Shell Girl for threatening to smash her notebook, and she began admitting what she had done wrong.

• Bai Xiaoling told Chen Shouyi that the Myriad Gods Society plot had been dealt with, the captured martial artists had been rescued, and Director Fang had died.
• Bai Xiaoling gave Chen Shouyi an invitation to a mixer for unmarried martial artists, and he questioned whether he was too young to attend.
• Chen Shouyi drank diluted Divine Marrow and found that it had raised his Intelligence by only 0.1, while his Strength, Agility, and Perception had also increased slightly.
• Shell Girl drank the remaining Divine Marrow, struggled to open her notebook, and threatened to smash it so she could look at Beiqi.
• Chen Shouyi stopped Shell Girl from leaving by threatening to take away her gems, then made her explain what she had done wrong.