Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Qin Ziwang defeats Gleiter after summoning a powerful being from Outer Heaven, but is left badly weakened. He refuses to kill Gleiter after Lu Jiuxuan warns that the Ascension Trial could make him a new Heavenly Monarch.
• Lu Jiuxuan and Gleiter leave after Lu settles his debt to Gleiter. Chen Lin declines to go with them, choosing instead to honor his arrangement with Qin Ziwang and remain wary of the pair.
• Qin retrieves the unconscious Feng Sanniang and takes Chen Lin, Tutu, and Yuan Zhimeng out of the city by carriage. He warns Chen that he never knelt to Bai Yujing and will not tolerate Chen associating with the men who killed his waiter.
• The Black Eagle Guard blocks their route, apparently seeking Tutu. Qin invokes his authority and threatens the Black Eagle Emperor; an officer dressed in gold allows the carriage to pass. Chen notices that Qin is less composed than he seems and is likely seriously weakened.
• In Xuelian City, Qin declares their transaction complete and parts ways with the group. Chen decides to stay and regroup rather than risk leaving while the Black Eagle Guard may still be watching.
• Tutu leads Chen and Yuan to a Yue Country contact point, the Silver Needle Tailor Shop. The shop is thriving rather than the small, discreet outpost he expected.
• Chen recognizes a cloud pattern on a receptionist’s clothing but cannot place it. She mistakes his stare for lechery and attacks; he dodges and apologizes.
• Tutu presents his identity token to the shop. The proprietress comes downstairs but seems to recognize Chen instead, insisting they have met before, though Chen denies knowing her.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and independent: he refuses Gleiter’s offer, keeps his agreement with Qin, and chooses to regroup in Xuelian City. His unexplained familiarity with the shop’s cloud patterns—and the proprietress’s recognition of him—introduces a new mystery.
• Qin Ziwang shows both formidable authority and vulnerability. Though he intimidates the Black Eagle Guard and protects the group’s passage, his strain after the fight reveals that his power has limits.
• Lu Jiuxuan and Gleiter depart together after a tense standoff with Qin; their insistence that Chen join them makes him more suspicious rather than reassured.
• Tutu is anxious about being captured but takes the initiative in seeking Yue Country’s contact. His status as a fallen prince may limit how much help he can obtain.
• Yuan Zhimeng remains calm during the Black Eagle Guard confrontation, reflecting her long experience and strength.
• The tailor-shop receptionists and proprietress create the chapter’s final tension: Chen’s attention causes a brief misunderstanding, while the proprietress’s certainty that she knows him suggests a hidden connection.

Significant themes

• Trust and self-preservation: Chen avoids relying on people whose motives he cannot verify.
• Power and its limits: Qin’s threats command respect, but his exhaustion reveals the cost of combat and the constraints of the Abandoned Land.
• Identity and hidden connections: Tutu’s token, the transformed contact point, the recurring cloud pattern, and the proprietress’s recognition all hint at concealed histories.

Key plot points and events

• Prince Fu Tu, Chen Lin, and Yuan Zhimeng visit Liu Xu, hoping to enlist her help for Yue Country. Liu Xu refuses: her agreement with Fu Qingyun has expired, and she no longer owes Yue Country anything.
• Yuan Zhimeng identifies Liu Xu as the Exquisite Princess Consort, whose inheritance supposedly lets her exist as three independent identities. Liu Xu denies being a clone, though the cloud patterns on her clothes and her sense of familiarity hint at a connection.
• Fu Tu reveals that Liu Xu’s original payment was only half of a cultivation technique; he has the missing half on a jade pendant. Enraged at Fu Qingyun’s deception, Liu Xu orders her receptionists to detain the visitors.
• Chen Lin refuses to protect Fu Tu, arguing that he has already fulfilled his agreement by bringing him there. Fu Tu tries to secure Chen Lin’s help by promising the technique and claiming it may aid escape from the Abandoned Land.
• Commander Jin arrives and attacks Liu Xu. She forms a seven-colored Blood Sword from blood shed at her brow, which effortlessly destroys his broadsword. Fu Tu then uses a small sword to absorb the Blood Sword, revealing that he has formidable, possibly transcendent abilities.
• Recognizing that the swords and technique may connect to the Seven Major Laws—and that the matter now concerns him—Chen Lin proposes negotiation. Liu Xu agrees to provide him with a copy of the technique, and a maid retrieves the booklet.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains wary of being manipulated and initially wants no part in Fu Tu’s struggle. Once he sees the Blood Sword and Fu Tu’s unusual sword, however, he becomes personally interested in the technique and takes charge as mediator.
• Fu Tu appears vulnerable but proves calculating, having concealed both the jade pendant and his own power. He pressures Chen Lin with promises and threats, then intervenes at a critical moment.
• Liu Xu is independent and distrustful of Yue Country after Fu Qingyun withheld part of her promised payment. Her reaction suggests a possible forgotten identity, but she firmly rejects Yuan Zhimeng’s claim that she is a clone.
• Yuan Zhimeng contributes knowledge about the Exquisite Princess Consort and notices the significance of Liu Xu’s clothing.
• Commander Jin displays fierce loyalty to Fu Tu and attacks without hesitation, but his weapon is overwhelmed by Liu Xu’s Blood Sword.

Significant themes

• Inheritance and identity: Liu Xu’s possible connection to the Exquisite Princess Consort raises questions about memory, clones, and hidden identities.
• Trust and manipulation: Fu Tu, Liu Xu, and Chen Lin each conceal motives or leverage; past betrayal shapes Liu Xu’s refusal to help.
• Power hidden beneath appearances: Fu Tu’s apparent weakness and Liu Xu’s modest shop conceal extraordinary abilities.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Characters shift between conflict and negotiation according to what they stand to gain, while Chen Lin seeks a deal that protects his interests.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin trades for Yue Country’s secret seven-in-one cultivation technique. He agrees to escort Prince Tutu to the Fifth Path, provided he receives a hundred purple crystals later and is not expected to risk his life against overwhelming enemies. Liu Xu agrees to serve Yue Country as an intelligence agent for no more than five years.
• Liu Xu reveals a black rhombic crystal identical to Chen Lin’s, linking her to the Exquisite Princess Consort. Her earlier memories are largely gone, and she hopes learning about the outside world might help recover them.
• Liu Xu guides Chen Lin in studying the technique. He discovers it is connected to the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens and the Open Heavens Dharmic Formula—apparently lower-grade versions of the same system, left by the Shadow Scholar as a means of breaking through the Heavenly Dao’s restrictions and reaching Outer Heaven.
• Over three months, Chen Lin makes progress understanding how to fuse seven kinds of inner energy, though he cannot yet perform the fusion because he has not cultivated all seven.
• On a night of unusually bright moonlight, the jade pendant projects the technique’s missing text. Chen Lin memorizes it, while Liu Xu copies it down and recognizes it as a general outline for completing and advancing the cultivation method.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains pragmatic: he negotiates firmly, refuses to promise a suicidal defense, and uses Liu Xu’s expertise to advance his cultivation. He also grows more convinced that the technique, the broken saber, and related methods are parts of the Shadow Scholar’s larger plan.
• Liu Xu asserts her independence from Yue Country while acknowledging that her mysterious origins may connect her to the outside world. She and Chen Lin agree to exchange guidance for stories of his past, though his accounts do not restore her memories.
• Tutu secures Chen Lin’s escort and Liu Xu’s continued intelligence work, accepting their conditions.
• Commander Jin objects to Chen Lin’s refusal to risk his life, but Tutu restrains him.
• Yuan Zhimeng identifies the crystal as an unusual exquisite crystal and witnesses the moonlight revelation.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism and negotiated loyalty: The characters cooperate through clear limits and mutual benefit rather than unquestioning duty.
• Identity and memory: Liu Xu’s connection to the Exquisite Princess Consort raises questions about who she is and what her lost memories might reveal.
• Breaking limits: The cultivation system and the Shadow Scholar’s preparations point toward overcoming the constraints of the plane and reaching Outer Heaven.
• Inheritance and unintended possession: Chen Lin sees himself as having inherited tools and plans that were not meant for him, yet resolves to make use of them.

• Chen Lin delays departure to train. Acting on Liu Xu’s advice, he spends another month studying the Open Heavens Dharmic Formula’s general outline. Yuan Zhimeng trains alongside him and advances from external to internal refinement. Chen Lin, who has received the inheritance through divine empowerment, progresses faster despite having no true qi.
• He discovers a new use for his saber art. While practicing the Seven Slashes of Opening Heavens, Chen Lin fuses all seven stages into one strike. It cuts a small rift in space, but the chaotic force from beyond wounds him badly. The result confirms his suspicion that the Open Heavens method can break the Abandoned Land’s boundary—and that the resurrected Shadow Scholar may become a formidable enemy.
• Chen Lin and Yuan Zhimeng agree to leave. With the first trial nearing its end, Yuan decides she would rather risk the journey than remain trapped. She depends on Chen to get her out, while he promises to honor their existing agreement, though he warns that success is uncertain. Their banter reveals contrasting outlooks: Yuan prizes self-determination and calls him timid; Chen argues that the bold tend to die.
• Tutu gives Chen a rainbow fruit. As the party sets out from Xuelian City with Commander Jin, Tutu offers a rare royal treasure that helps practitioners of the Seven Absolutes Technique. Chen initially refuses to avoid incurring another debt, but accepts when Tutu argues the boost could protect everyone from the Black Eagle Guard. The fruit purges impurities and rapidly gives Chen all seven types of inner energy, reaching internal refinement. Tutu explains that each person benefits only once; his gifted seventh sister once advanced from ordinary status straight to grandmaster.
• The party is ambushed. After three days of travel, they near the Fifth Path, en route to Chen’s planned route toward Wujing City. More than two hundred Black Eagle Country soldiers surround them and unleash a volley of arrows. Chen’s prepared iron-mesh umbrella protects the group, impressing Tutu. Chen assigns Yuan to guard Tutu while he and Commander Jin face the attack. Jin charges eagerly into the fight, and Chen enters the Spirit Infusion Realm, cutting through weapons and killing enemies with each strike of his saber.
  Character developments and themes: Chen grows more capable through cultivation and preparation, while the space-cutting strike hints at a way to escape the Abandoned Land. He remains cautious about favors and danger, but acts decisively when protecting the group. Yuan’s reliance on him sits alongside her fierce independence; Tutu shows generosity and practical loyalty; Jin expresses steadfast patriotism. The chapter emphasizes the value of preparation, the unequal effects of talent and opportunity, and the tension between personal agency and fate.

Plot and key events

• Chen Lin breaks through the Black Eagle Guards’ formation and kills their commander with a devastating seven-slash technique. The surviving guards flee. Chen Lin is badly drained and wounded, while Commander Jin is even more seriously injured; Tutu remains unharmed thanks to their protection and Yuan Zhimeng’s close defense.
• The group reaches the Fifth Path, a warm, lush bamboo region that contrasts sharply with the snowy terrain behind them. Tutu explains that its local powers oppose Black Eagle Country, making it a safer place to recover.
• Chen Lin and Yuan Zhimeng consider visiting the Pagoda, a seven-story Miraculous Object. Yuan believes Chen Lin might be able to claim it if he first masters all seven types of inner energy and combines them into “rainbow” true qi.
• Tutu rewards Chen Lin with a valuable red crystal, an imperial edict granting him Qingyuan Commandery, and a rare healing medicine. Chen declines Tutu’s offer to help restore Yue Country, saying political power is not what he seeks.
• Chen Lin and Yuan Zhimeng travel through the Fifth Path for half a month before reaching the Pagoda. There, Chen Lin answers the mysterious plea for help and meets a frail old man—the only survivor, who says everyone else who could have called for help is dead.
• The old man dismisses most “Outer Heaven” treasures as useless in the Abandoned Land and offers Chen Lin a choice from a pile of discarded objects. He says even the Pagoda’s supernatural power is fading. Chen questions this worldview, citing Bai Yujing, an Outer Heaven figure said to have escaped.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin demonstrates both overwhelming power and its limits: he can defeat a formidable force, but the effort leaves him nearly incapacitated. He remains focused on practical goals—survival, exploration, and finding a way out—rather than political rule.
• Tutu shows gratitude and respect for Chen Lin, offering substantial rewards and another chance to join his restoration effort. He parts ways with Chen on good terms.
• Commander Jin has abandoned his earlier arrogance and now admires Chen deeply, having seen him risk himself to protect Tutu.
• Yuan Zhimeng continues to assess threats and opportunities. She wonders whether Tutu has a way to resist the Abandoned Land’s lifespan erosion and even admits she searched him, but Chen warns that his survival may depend on an innate talent and that coercing him would be unwise.
• The old man is physically frail and forgetful, but speaks with weary skepticism. His exchange with Chen raises questions about the nature of power, the fate of Outer Heaven objects, and whether escape is truly possible.

Significant themes

• Power has limits: Chen’s victory depends on a costly burst of strength, leaving him vulnerable afterward.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Tutu’s followers’ sacrifices and his generous reward reflect their commitment to him, while Chen’s protection earns their lasting respect.
• Ambition versus purpose: Tutu seeks to restore his country; Chen rejects political authority in favor of his own goals.
• The impermanence of power and treasure: The old man argues that even extraordinary objects and mighty beings can be diminished by the Abandoned Land.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: The rumored exit, Bai Yujing, and the Pagoda’s fading power leave open questions about the world’s hierarchy and the possibility of escape.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin learns that Bai Yujing escaped the Abandoned Land using the Rivers and Mountains Sword, a supreme treasure. Before the old man can explain further, the Pagoda’s Round Bead emits a powerful aura that triggers hallucinations and overwhelms people’s senses.
• Chen Lin resists the aura by entering his spirit-infusion state and using the Open Heavens Secret Art. Yuan Zhimeng briefly succumbs to the influence, but Chen Lin breaks its hold and gets them both away from the Pagoda.
• The old man also struggles against the Pagoda’s pull, nearly reaching its entrance before throwing himself clear. Delighted that Chen Lin remained unaffected, he offers him information about the exit and other treasures in exchange for a promise to help him escape.
• As proof of his sincerity, the old man gives Chen Lin a formula for claiming the Pagoda. He says it could protect Chen Lin from the Abandoned Land’s suppression and help him access powerful resources. Yuan Zhimeng identifies it as a risky blood-guiding method, with a death chance of at least fifty percent. Chen Lin refuses to attempt it.
• The old man explains that the Pagoda is dangerous: it devours those who enter, and no one has returned. Chen Lin decides to leave, but the old man does not force him to stay.
• Yuan Zhimeng suggests waiting until night, when the Pagoda’s aura may strengthen. At dusk, a strange fragrance spreads from the nearby plants. Unlike the daytime effect, it seems mild and may even stir Yuan Zhimeng’s dormant transcendent power.
• Eager to test it, Yuan Zhimeng approaches the Pagoda and climbs to its peak, placing her hand on the Round Bead.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and skeptical, refusing a dangerous opportunity despite its possible advantages. He takes only a few portable treasures from the old man’s collection and listens to Yuan Zhimeng’s knowledge of treasure-refining methods.
• Yuan Zhimeng shows greater interest in taking risks for a chance at power. She explains the dangers of the old man’s formula, shares a different method of her own, and ultimately tests the Pagoda’s bead.
• The old man shifts from desperation and manipulation to resignation. His offer to help Chen Lin is driven by his hope of escaping, while his bitter remarks reveal how far he has fallen from his former authority.
• Chen Lin and Yuan Zhimeng work together but differ in temperament: he prioritizes survival, while she is more willing to pursue uncertain opportunities.

Significant themes

• Risk versus reward: The Pagoda may offer extraordinary power and protection, but its methods could be fatal.
• Caution and ambition: Chen Lin’s restraint contrasts with Yuan Zhimeng’s eagerness to test the unknown.
• The cost of survival and longevity: The old man’s prolonged life has left him trapped, weakened, and isolated.
• Power and vulnerability: Even ancient treasures and once-mighty cultivators are subject to forces they cannot control.

Plot points and events

• Yuan Zhimeng’s Treasure-Refining Formula has no effect on the Pagoda, but Chen Lin successfully uses his soul-powered Unnamed Treasure-Refining Formula. The Pagoda and its sphere merge into a Little Tower within his soul, consuming the treasures he had previously refined.
• The fusion briefly restores Chen Lin’s control over supernatural power. He uses that opening to reach into his Gourd Grotto-Heaven, but retrieves only two items before the energy runs out. He can still sense the Little Tower, though he cannot yet activate it.
• With the Pagoda gone, the area’s supernatural properties—and the old man’s means of extending his lifespan—will disappear. The old man urges everyone to leave. Chen Lin agrees to take him along after accepting a Secret Order in the form of a pocket watch.
• Chen Lin discovers that the two items retrieved from the grotto-heaven are a fighter jet and a heavy machine gun, constructed from designs left by Zhou Jing. He and Yuan Zhimeng board the jet with the old man.
• The group encounters a flock of giant birds, but Chen Lin uses the jet’s weapons to destroy them. Since conventional cultivation treasures have become useless in the Abandoned Land, the modern weapons give them a major advantage.
• Flying over Qingyuan Commandery, Chen Lin attacks Yue Country’s forces, frees captives from a city building, and claims the territory under Futu’s Imperial Edict. He renames it Kaiyuan Country and declares himself its founding emperor.
• Chen Lin appoints Sima Yun as empress, assigns other survivors government and military roles, and leaves Yuan Zhimeng and the old man in the city to maintain control. He then flies toward Black Eagle Country.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin gains a mysterious new power through the Little Tower, but its abilities remain unclear. He is pragmatic and opportunistic: he secures the Secret Order, uses the fighter jet to survive, and establishes a nominal government as a possible foothold for the future.
• Yuan Zhimeng fails to refine the Pagoda but remains Chen Lin’s ally, joining him in the jet and later staying behind to help defend Kaiyuan.
• The old man shifts from celebrating Chen Lin’s success to fearing the loss of the Pagoda’s protection. He negotiates for a place on the jet by offering his Secret Order and resources.
• Sima Yun hesitates when Chen Lin offers her the role of empress, then accepts. Chen Lin gives her broad authority, including the order to eliminate resistance.
• Chen Lin’s discovery of the fighter jet and gun brings up unresolved questions about Zhou Jing and Zhenyangzi’s possible plans for Chen Lin’s descendants.

Significant themes

• Power and adaptation: In a place where conventional magic and treasures fail, Chen Lin’s modern technology becomes decisive.
• Uncertainty and fate: The Little Tower’s true nature and Zhenyangzi’s plans remain unexplained, while Chen Lin and his companions believe misfortune may follow them.
• Pragmatism and control: Chen Lin treats the newly freed territory as a strategic foothold, appointing rulers and officials quickly despite having little time or certainty.
• The cost of survival: The Pagoda’s removal may endanger the old man and everyone who relied on the area’s supernatural protection.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin’s fighter jet has devastated Black Eagle Country, leaving it fragmented. Meanwhile, Tutu rebuilds Yue Country and allies it with Kaiyuan Country, and Chen Lin’s own regime stabilizes under Sima Yun’s political maneuvering.
• After three months of delays, Chen Lin travels toward the valley believed to contain an exit from the Abandoned Land. Wang Laoliu, an unusually long-lived and mysterious elder, warns him that outsiders’ lifespans drain quickly after entering and leaving the Mysterious District.
• Wang Laoliu suspects Chen Lin received the Shadow Scholar’s inheritance. He says the Shadow Scholar’s gifts may be tied to the Ascension Trial and cautions that accepting the inheritance could carry unpredictable consequences. He gives Chen Lin a Great Strength Pill that can temporarily boost his power.
• At the sealed valley, Chen Lin meets Gleiter, Lu Jiuxuan, Ling Baichi, Gu Damao, and Mo Yi. None knows how to escape, but Chen Lin offers to try breaking the barrier in exchange for their Secret Orders or equivalent compensation.
• Chen Lin obtains a bottle of spirit liquid from Gleiter, a protective talisman from Ling Baichi, three artifact-refining services from Gu Damao, and a Secret Order from Mo Yi. Lu Jiuxuan owes Chen a favor instead.
• Chen Lin asks the group to guard him while he spends a month cultivating in the fighter jet. He successfully condenses true qi and reaches the Grandmaster Realm. Just as he celebrates, the Ascension Trial announces a new task.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains pragmatic and ambitious: he negotiates firmly for valuable resources, but makes exceptions for Lu Jiuxuan because of his connection to Chen’s friend Lu Ming, and for Gu Damao because he is Yue Yingxian’s uncle. He grows stronger by reaching the Grandmaster Realm.
• Wang Laoliu continues to conceal his past, but shows both knowledge of the Shadow Scholar and a strong personal stake in escaping. He trades Chen a precious pill in return for being taken along.
• Sima Yun consolidates her influence in Chen Lin’s regime, balancing the power of Luo Zhengshu and others.
• The newcomers reveal their priorities through negotiation: Gleiter trades useful spirit liquid, Ling Baichi offers a powerful defensive talisman, Gu Damao offers his craft, and Mo Yi contributes a one-use device that produces a Secret Order. Lu Jiuxuan relies on his personal connection with Chen.

Significant themes

• Power and political upheaval: A single advanced weapon radically reshapes a martial world, while competing factions struggle to rebuild and divide territory.
• Inheritance and hidden consequences: The Shadow Scholar’s legacy may be connected to the Ascension Trial, suggesting that power can come with obligations and risks.
• Trust, bargaining, and reciprocity: The group’s cooperation is built through negotiated exchanges, favors, and personal ties rather than certainty or altruism.
• Preparation under pressure: Chen Lin strengthens himself and gathers resources before attempting the dangerous barrier, while the looming trial and draining lifespan make delay costly.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin receives a second, mysterious set of tasks from what he suspects is the Abandoned Land’s own Heavenly Dao. The tasks include finding a star-marked treasure chest and a Rubik’s Cube, killing Punishment Monarchs, beating the Ascension Drum, and claiming one of nine Heavenly Monarch Seats. Because Chen Lin himself is a Punishment Monarch, he fears the task-giver may eventually turn against him.
• After confirming that his true qi can support his Open Heavens Secret Art, Chen Lin uses it to break through the valley’s spatial barrier. Beyond it, he discovers a canyon and a smooth cliff that appears to be an exit.
• Two guards arrive with news that the Empress is pregnant. Chen Lin privately recognizes the pregnancy as evidence that his broadened Ten Attempts One Hit ability can affect conception. He sends the guards home with the fighter jet’s key and a booklet on technology, urging the Empress to develop the country through people and knowledge.
• Chen Lin discovers that saying “Open Sesame” three times opens the cliff. Gleiter rushes in first but is violently rejected, badly weakened, and left unable to pass. Chen Lin tells the others the password and enters the exit himself.
• The original trial system confirms that Chen Lin completed three tasks, awards him an Excellent rating, and grants rewards including a resurrection ring, energy stones, a transmission horn, a pill, a companion-selection privilege, and the ability to summon the Flower Goddess three times.
• The second trial is a ten-year team competition. Teams begin with ten members, everyone’s cultivation is reset to Law Origin Early-Stage, and advancement depends mainly on battle performance and surviving members. Chen Lin chooses Xiao He as his companion; she accepts. He is given a year and a half to cultivate before the trial begins.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains wary of the competing Heavenly Dao’s intentions, but chooses pragmatically to enter the next trial rather than pursue tasks he considers impossible.
• His ambition sharpens: he sees claiming a Heavenly Monarch Seat as a possible way to escape the Heavenly Dao’s control and perhaps save his family and friends.
• His relationship with the Empress is revealed through her pregnancy. Though others joke about it, Chen Lin treats the news as confirmation of his ability’s expanded effect and sends her practical resources for strengthening Kaiyuan Country.
• Gleiter’s excitement at finding the exit turns to pain and humiliation when the cliff rejects him. Ling Baichi asks Chen Lin what happened, but Chen Lin can only offer a theory about the exit’s restrictions.
• Chen Lin selects Xiao He over his other companions because of their agreement and her connection to the Shadow Scholar, while acknowledging that he cannot choose everyone.

Significant themes

• Competing powers and uncertainty: Chen Lin is caught between two apparent Heavenly Daos, neither of whose motives he fully understands.
• Human agency under cosmic control: The trials reduce even powerful cultivators to pieces in a larger system, prompting Chen Lin to seek a way to challenge that control.
• Pragmatism and sacrifice: Chen Lin accepts an imperfect rating and makes difficult choices about whom to take into the next trial.
• Knowledge as a legacy: By giving the Empress technology notes and the fighter jet, he tries to leave useful tools behind rather than rely on force alone.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin examines his Second Trial rewards: a Resurrection Ring, energy stones, a Minor Realm Pill, a Sound Transmission Horn, and a flower-shaped phantom used to summon the Flower Goddess. He sets aside the items he may need later and reminds himself that reviving Fairy Yaochi and the other six women remains a priority.
• He tests his abilities in the Trial Space. His cultivation techniques and spiritual abilities still work, but at roughly Law Origin Early-Stage strength; technological weapons are disabled by the trial’s rules. His expanded Ten Attempts One Hit talent remains intact, giving him an important advantage.
• When the Second Trial begins, Chen Lin finds himself on a boat with nine other cultivators, including Xiao He. The group debates leadership. Chen Lin proposes an anonymous vote, and Xiao He wins with three votes despite offering little self-promotion.
• Xiao He detects an approaching enemy boat. Its representative, Xiao Wuwang, proposes an alliance, but Xiao He refuses and attacks immediately, destroying the opposing boat’s defenses and killing its strongest fighter. Chen Lin and the others finish off the survivors.
• Afterward, Xiao He lets Moxi distribute the spoils according to military merit and appoints him vice-captain, strengthening his loyalty. Chen Lin then privately contacts Xiao He and learns that the teams may have different tasks; her perfect First Trial evaluation earned her extra information.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin is cautious and strategic. He recognizes the danger posed by powerful competitors, prevents the Purgatory Monarch from taking uncontested command, and observes how Xiao He consolidates authority. His private exchange with her preserves their connection without revealing it to the team.
• Xiao He emerges as a decisive, capable leader. She wins the vote, demonstrates extraordinary perception and overwhelming combat power, and secures Moxi’s support through the vice-captain appointment.
• Moxi shifts from skeptical participant to enthusiastic supporter after witnessing Xiao He’s strength.
• The Purgatory Monarch, initially confident that his experience and early cultivation give him the best claim to lead, is outmaneuvered politically and impressed by Xiao He’s perception and attack.
• The other team members—Huo Chengping, Long Zequan, Madam Red, Bai Xixi, Abu, and Lingling—are introduced, but their loyalties and capabilities remain mostly unclear.

Significant themes

• Survival under imposed rules: The Heavenly Dao’s trial forces strangers into lethal competition and prevents them from choosing peaceful alternatives.
• Leadership and trust: Authority is contested through reputation, voting, battlefield performance, and the ability to reward allies.
• Adaptation and hidden advantages: Chen Lin’s retained talent and Xiao He’s extra information show how past performance can shape prospects in the new trial.
• Powerlessness and moral strain: Chen Lin reflects on how the trial turns unrelated people into mortal enemies at the system’s command.

Plot and events

• Xiao He tells Chen Lin that becoming captain earns an evaluation bonus. Chen realizes the Heavenly Dao withheld that information from him, reinforcing his belief that it is targeting him.
• Xiao He suspects someone on the team has a special mission and asks Chen to help identify threats. She also warns him that Lingling may realize Xiao He used a beguilement ability to secure her vote, and orders him to eliminate Lingling if she acts suspiciously.
• Xiao He withdraws to cultivate, leaving Moxi in charge of the watch. The Purgatory Lord objects when Moxi does not take a watch shift himself, but Chen Lin breaks the dispute by volunteering to pair with Abu.
• Chen confronts Abu, who admits he has a side quest but is not a “Destroyer.” Destroyers are assigned to ruin their own teams; after becoming the sole survivor, they can be sent to another team to continue. Abu reveals that the Purgatory Lord controlled him, explaining his earlier vote.
• Abu is a fifteen-year-old former mortal who has somehow reached the Law Origin stage. He agrees to follow Chen Lin so he can survive. Chen gives him cultivation techniques and abilities through Divine Empowerment.
• While keeping watch, Chen Lin discovers red fish in the water. He kills and cooks one, finding that his cooking skill and “Ten Attempts One Hit” talent still work in the trial. Abu enjoys the food, and Chen later sells his cooking to the other hungry team members.
• Chen spends more than three years fishing with the Fishing Rod from Gambling Fortune Lake, hoping to catch a Star-Marked Exquisite Treasure Chest for a task from the Second Heavenly Dao. During that period, the team defeats three other teams without difficulty; Xiao He and Chen Lin largely avoid fighting.
• On his tenth attempt, Chen catches a mermaid named Mingyue instead of the chest. She claims Chen is her slave and gives him the name “Dazhuang.” His attacks do not harm her; she breaks free and returns to the water. The Heavenly Dao then assigns Chen a side quest to obtain as many rainbow-colored Mermaid Tears as possible, with failure carrying punishment.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains wary and pragmatic, withholding his suspicions about the Heavenly Dao from the group. He uses intimidation to question Abu, then recruits and equips him, while continuing to prioritize preparation and survival.
• Xiao He proves controlling and distrustful, directing Chen to watch for threats while she focuses on cultivation. She warns him not to underestimate Abu, but lets him manage the situation.
• Abu is revealed to be a vulnerable but clear-eyed survivor: he acknowledges his fear of Chen, yet chooses to follow him because he believes Chen offers his best chance of living. His blunt comments also expose Chen’s contradiction between claiming not to force people and having threatened him.
• The Purgatory Lord challenges Moxi’s authority over the watch rotation and appears to have controlled Abu. His decision to pair with Lingling raises Chen’s suspicions about his motives.
• Mingyue enters as a powerful, irreverent new presence, reversing Chen’s fishing expectations and apparently remaining unharmed by his attacks.

Significant themes

• Mistrust and hidden agendas: Special missions, beguilement, control, and the Destroyer role make cooperation precarious.
• Survival through strength and adaptability: Chen seeks allies and resources while recognizing that power ultimately determines who survives.
• The Heavenly Dao’s capriciousness: Its selective notifications and sudden, potentially dangerous quests deepen Chen’s sense that he is being singled out.
• Unexpected advantages: Even under trial restrictions, Chen’s cooking and fishing abilities create useful resources—and the fish he catches leads to a new complication.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin’s attempt to fish up an Exquisite Treasure Chest instead catches a mermaid, who escapes and triggers a side quest. He suspects his destiny power may have caused the encounter.
• The Purgatory Monarch mocks Chen for letting her go. Chen responds with a saber strike, forcing the Monarch to reveal a hidden demonic Inner Core equipped with mechanical tentacles. Chen defeats him but spares him when he yields.
• Chen discusses the incident with Captain Xiao He. She suggests his talent may have been restricted by the Heavenly Dao, turning a direct result into a clue—possibly pointing toward the Star Mark Treasure Chest through the mermaid. Chen remains cautious, since anyone on the team, including Xiao He, could be the Destroyer.
• After months without finding the mermaid or a chest, Chen activates Mo Yi’s Frog Toy Secret Order. The frog guides him beneath the sea to a hidden passage, then disintegrates after opening it.
• Chen enters a golden hall packed with treasures. Suspecting he may be allowed to take only one item, he chooses a chest hidden beneath a giant tripod rather than collecting the whole hoard.
• As the mermaid returns, Chen grabs the chest and is instantly teleported back to his boat. The mermaid recognizes his scent, claims he is her “slave,” and angrily discovers that one treasure is missing.
• Chen confirms the chest bears a Star Mark and opens it away from the boat. Instead of vanishing normally, it consumes his Soul Power before slowly opening.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains calculating and self-reliant. He avoids killing the Purgatory Monarch, but makes clear that insults have consequences; later, he carefully weighs the risks of the treasure chamber and its contents.
• The Purgatory Monarch reveals powerful hidden abilities but backs down when outmatched, then takes his humiliation out on Moxi.
• Moxi recognizes that the Monarch is dangerous and keeps his criticism to himself.
• Xiao He offers a plausible explanation for Chen’s mermaid encounter and urges him to maintain the team until she completes her breakthrough. Chen accepts her advice but still distrusts everyone aboard.
• The mermaid is revealed as the apparent owner of the secret hall. Her eccentric belief that Chen is destined to serve her contrasts with her fury over the stolen chest.

Significant themes

• Caution and self-reliance: Chen trusts his judgment over assurances, especially in a trial where allies may conceal hostile roles.
• Power and restraint: He demonstrates overwhelming strength but chooses not to kill a teammate without cause.
• Fate, quests, and manipulation: Chen and Xiao He debate whether his destiny talent caused a backlash or produced a clue under Heavenly Dao restrictions.
• Greed versus prudence: Though surrounded by riches, Chen limits himself to one carefully chosen prize, suspecting the trial imposes strict rules.
• Comic reversal: The mermaid’s grandiose “master and slave” fantasy turns Chen’s escape and theft into an amusing misunderstanding.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin opens the reward chest from the Second Heavenly Dao’s task and finds an admission ticket to Dandian Paradise. He has no idea where it is or what it offers, and Xiao He has never heard of it either.
• A mermaid attacks the ship, using a powerful scale to immobilize its occupants. Xiao He counters her with a lotus ability, freeing the crew to fight back. Chen Lin joins the attack, and the mermaid retreats.
• Chen Lin pretends to profess love for the mermaid, apparently trying to make her cry so he can obtain a seven-colored Mermaid’s Tear for a side quest. She angrily rejects him and flees.
• Xiao He reveals that she has broken through to the Law Origin Later Stage. She orders the crew to stop resting in shifts and sail at full speed.
• Three months later, the crew finds an island crowded with ships—but everyone there has been massacred. Chen Lin and Xiao He conclude that a powerful Law Origin expert was responsible. Xiao He urges the crew to act decisively and earn points before opportunities dwindle.
• A black spiral suddenly possesses the Purgatory Monarch, who attacks the crew. In the chaos, Bai Xixi is killed. Xiao He destroys the possessed Purgatory Monarch with her lotus ability.
• The spiral then targets Chen Lin. He recognizes it as the Soul-Pulling Guide, seals it with his soul power, and traps it in a cage. A mysterious, seductive voice then calls out to him, and a figure appears.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and pragmatic: he studies the chest reward, watches the mermaid fight before intervening, and later recognizes and contains the Soul-Pulling Guide. His ostentatious love declaration is a deliberate attempt to complete a risky side quest, not genuine romance.
• Xiao He emerges as the crew’s unquestioned leader and a formidable combatant. Her breakthrough greatly increases her strength; she defeats the possessed Purgatory Monarch with little effort and pushes the crew toward more aggressive action.
• Moxi continues to serve as Xiao He’s forceful second-in-command, mocking Long Zequan’s suggestion to retreat and organizing the crew to propel the ship.
• Long Zequan shows strategic caution and ambition, challenging Moxi’s confidence, but Xiao He’s decision to advance overrides him.
• The mermaid is enraged both by the crew’s attack and by Chen Lin’s deliberately absurd romantic plea.
• The Purgatory Monarch is possessed and turns on his companions, indirectly saving Madam Red while killing Bai Xixi before Xiao He can stop him.

Significant themes

• Power and survival: The trial rewards aggressive action, while the island massacre and surprise possession show how quickly danger can overwhelm even organized groups.
• Hidden abilities and constrained power: Xiao He’s lotus technique and Chen Lin’s soul abilities remain potent despite the Trial Space’s limitations.
• Risk and uncertainty: The admission ticket’s unexplained purpose and the Soul-Pulling Guide’s return introduce unresolved threats and possibilities.
• Leadership and conflict: Xiao He’s decisive command contrasts with Long Zequan’s caution and Moxi’s bravado.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin confronts a woman who looks like Madam White Bone, but whose identity is uncertain. She claims to be Shen Lingyu, says she has been reborn through the Ascension Trial, and proposes an alliance while flirting with him.
• After she uses the Soul-Pulling Guide to kill the Purgatory Lord and Bai Xixi, Chen Lin attacks. She evades his Soul-Destroying Finger and disappears, while Xiao He warns that more enemies are present.
• The dead bodies reanimate and attack the survivors. Chen Lin destroys them with his Runic Puppets, impressing the team and triggering the side quest “Renowned Across the Nine Provinces,” which rewards spreading his fame.
• Xiao He traps the fleeing Madam White Bone in a domain, allowing Chen Lin’s puppets to strike her down. Her remains turn into crab shells. A mermaid then appears and escapes into the sea after Chen Lin and Xiao He fail to catch her. Chen Lin suspects she can copy people from her target’s memories and use their abilities.
• The survivors lose confidence in Xiao He after realizing she deliberately let two teammates die. They look to Chen Lin, who accepts the captaincy. He and Xiao He divide the group, appoint deputies, and sail in separate directions to cover more ground and improve their trial ranking.
• Xiao He gives Chen Lin a Conscription Order that can recruit thirty-six loyal subordinates, asking him in return to search for the Shadow Scholar. Chen Lin gives her a Sound Transmission Horn so they can stay in contact.
• After the teams depart, Long Zequan turns over a Minor Realm Pill found among the spoils. Chen Lin keeps it for later, unsure how its “minor realm” benefit applies to his cultivation.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin shows decisive combat ability and tactical judgment, earns the survivors’ trust, and steps into leadership. He also thinks carefully about team roles, keeping Long Zequan as an adviser and taking Lingling with him because he fears Xiao He may suspect her of being a Destroyer.
• Xiao He remains cold and pragmatic, having withheld help when two team members died. Though the survivors reject her authority, she accepts the split and cooperates with Chen Lin, exchanging resources and information.
• Long Zequan demonstrates loyalty and sound judgment by surrendering the valuable pill rather than claiming it. Chen Lin rewards his reliability with a deputy-captain role.
• Madam White Bone / the mermaid remains an enigmatic threat. She taunts Chen Lin, attacks through copied abilities, and escapes after being exposed.
• The surviving team members’ admiration shifts from Xiao He to Chen Lin after his rescue of them and Xiao He’s inaction.

Significant themes

• Leadership and trust: Strength alone does not secure loyalty; Xiao He’s willingness to sacrifice teammates undermines her authority, while Chen Lin’s actions earn the group’s confidence.
• Survival through strategy and cooperation: The team splits to pursue its goals more efficiently, while communication tools and recruitment help preserve alliances.
• Identity and deception: The enemy’s ability to imitate figures from memory blurs the line between a person’s appearance, identity, and powers.
• Reputation as power: Chen Lin’s new quest makes public admiration and fame an explicit path to rewards.
• Pragmatism and loyalty: The characters weigh personal survival against the group’s interests, most clearly in Long Zequan’s decision to hand over the pill.

Key plot points and events

• After a year of secluded cultivation, Chen Lin advances to Law Origin Mid-Stage without attracting a heavenly tribulation. He then uses both Minor Realm Pills, reaching Great Perfection of the Law Origin Realm—a major boost, though not enough to cross into Semi-Void.
• The mermaid attacks again, now stronger and nearing Semi-Void. Chen Lin counters her with his saber and Sea-Suppressing Sword Formula, then deliberately taunts her with another mock confession. She retreats, threatening to kill him next time.
• Chen Lin refuses to leave the sea: he needs three more encounters to complete his talent ability, and abandoning the side quest could invite punishment. He gives Long Zequan and the other two cultivation treasures and tells them to focus on getting stronger.
• A huge dragon-headed ship, belonging to the Divine Dragon Gang, stops their boat and demands that everyone submit to inspection. Chen Lin openly identifies himself, mocks the gang’s rank, and challenges its members.
• Chen Lin defeats more than thirty Law Origin Mid-Stage attackers with one saber strike, then attacks the ship. Its leader, an Early Semi-Void expert, joins the fight with his Golden Dragon Guard.
• Chen Lin activates the weakened God-Slaying Seal, killing several guards. The leader retreats and transforms the ship into a giant golden dragon, but the seal immobilizes it. The dragon then curses and flees.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin grows markedly stronger and more confident, but remains strategic: he conceals the Flower Goddess as a trump card and uses the God-Slaying Seal when facing a stronger group. His need to complete the quest and test his talent also makes him stubbornly willing to risk continued danger.
• Long Zequan and his companions admire Chen Lin’s strength but worry about the mermaid and regret being tied to his risky course. Chen Lin reassures them and supports their cultivation; they accept that they must grow stronger to survive.
• The mermaid and Chen Lin maintain a hostile, increasingly personal pattern: she attacks repeatedly, while he provokes her with deliberately flirtatious declarations.
• The Divine Dragon Gang treats Chen Lin as an insignificant recruit and threatens him; he answers with contempt. Their clash ends in the gang’s retreat after Chen Lin reveals the Seal’s power.

Significant themes

• Strength and self-reliance: Chen Lin’s cultivation, allies’ training, and willingness to use powerful treasures shape their chances of survival.
• Caution beneath confidence: Though provocative, Chen Lin keeps his strongest assets in reserve and chooses his weapons according to the threat.
• Ambition versus risk: He pursues his side quest and talent ability despite danger, while recognizing the importance of preparing for even stronger rivals.
• Power and status: The gang’s reputation and rank prove less important than Chen Lin’s actual capabilities.

Key plot points and events

• The Golden Dragon flees rather than fight Chen Lin. The remaining attackers panic and scatter; Chen Lin kills the middle-aged man who led them but lets the others escape because the God-Slaying Seal has badly weakened him.
• Chen Lin’s group takes over the Dragon Ship, a high-grade mission vessel. At Abu’s warning, they dismantle it to search for a dangerous, unusual presence hidden in its center.
• Lingling spots a tiny patch of paler metal. Chen Lin carefully cuts it out, revealing a multicolored cube-like fragment that Abu confirms is the source of his strange sensation. Chen Lin recognizes it as part of a mission-related Rubik’s Cube and orders the group to keep it secret and watch for more pieces.
• Chen Lin warns his companions that a Destroyer may be among them, but says he wants them to cooperate unless someone tries to prevent him from passing the trial. They rebuild the ship, and Chen Lin emblazons it with the Kaiyuan Sect’s name to spread his reputation.
• Over the following months, Chen Lin sails around the continent, hunting trial takers and waiting for Mermaid. She appears twice, and he drives her off, accumulating more stacks of his talent ability.
• On her next appearance, Mermaid launches a devastating Dao-level sword strike that overwhelms the ship’s defenses. Just as Chen Lin prepares to summon the Flower Goddess, he uses his courtship talent. Mermaid accepts his proposal, and the attack vanishes.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin demonstrates caution and resourcefulness: he avoids pursuing fleeing enemies, investigates Abu’s warning, and sees the cube fragment as valuable despite uncertainty about its purpose. He also balances distrust of possible Destroyers with a desire to reach the trial’s end alongside his companions.
• Abu proves valuable both as a sensor and as an early warning system; his sensitivity appears to improve after encountering the cube fragment.
• Lingling contributes through close observation, finding the fragment others missed, and remains useful through her diligence.
• Long Zequan shows his practical value as a strategist and skilled crafter, leading the ship’s dismantling and reconstruction.
• The three companions trust Chen Lin but are confused by his repeated courtship of Mermaid. Their uncertainty grows as she becomes more powerful and he continues to spare her.

Significant themes

• Trust and suspicion: Chen Lin relies on his companions while remaining alert to the possibility of betrayal.
• Hidden opportunity and danger: The cube fragment may connect to two missions, yet Abu senses both immense promise and terror in it.
• Reputation and survival: Chen Lin uses the conspicuous ship and its banner to spread his fame, while avoiding risks that could leave him vulnerable.
• Power and unconventional strategy: Even when facing an attack beyond ordinary defenses, Chen Lin’s unusual talent—not force—changes the outcome.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin’s “Ten Attempts One Hit” ability makes the Mermaid Yilan fall in love with him, though her affection fluctuates and she is not yet willing to practice dual cultivation. Chen Lin keeps her close both for her strength and for what she may know.
• After reaching land, Chen Lin’s group encounters Yin-Yang Sect disciples. Their interrogation reveals that Chen Siyang and Wen Siyue are wanted for disobeying orders, while Yuan Nianzhen was gravely wounded by Elder Yu.
• Chen Lin learns through Soul Search that the Heavenly Dao has issued quests to kill him. He suspects the Star Mark Treasure Chest triggered its hostility, since the assassination quests appeared after he obtained one. He resolves to grow strong enough to survive while pursuing quests from the Second Heavenly Dao.
• Yilan identifies Chen Lin’s Rubik’s Cube Fragment as part of the Endless Rubik’s Cube, which originated in Dandian Paradise and may be connected to the mysterious Shadow Scholar.
• Yilan reveals that the Shadow Scholar once gave her an inheritance and entrusted her with ten Cube fragments, asking her to collect more and wait for his return. She now has sixteen fragments in total.
• The Shadow Scholar also taught Yilan the Soul-Pulling Guide, possibly as a hidden safeguard to ensure she fulfills her promise. Chen Lin wonders whether the Shadow Scholar and the Soulless Patriarch are connected, then asks whether removing the ability would prove that he is the Shadow Scholar reincarnated.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains calculating: he treats Yilan’s sudden devotion cautiously, but recognizes her as a valuable ally and source of information. The news of the Heavenly Dao’s hostility makes him more urgent and strategic.
• Yilan shows genuine affection for Chen Lin, while also maintaining boundaries: she refuses dual cultivation for now and remains bound by her promise to the Shadow Scholar. Despite this, she willingly shares what she knows and gives Chen Lin the pouch of fragments to examine.
• Long Zequan and the others are baffled by Yilan’s attachment to Chen Lin, but keep their distance once they see the situation is stable.
• Chen Lin’s interactions with the Yin-Yang Sect members shift from questioning to capture and Soul Search when they reveal a threat. He also discusses cultivation and possible dual cultivation with Yilan, then probes her memories about the Shadow Scholar and her obligation.

Significant themes

• Power, survival, and manipulation: Chen Lin uses abilities and alliances pragmatically as danger escalates.
• Fate and competing cosmic forces: The conflict between the two Heavenly Daos places Chen Lin in a precarious position, suggesting even divine authority has limits and rules.
• Promises and obligation: Yilan’s loyalty to the Shadow Scholar persists despite her relationship with Chen Lin, and breaking her word may bring supernatural punishment.
• Identity and hidden connections: The fragments, the Soul-Pulling Guide, and the possible link between the Shadow Scholar and the Soulless Patriarch deepen the mystery surrounding Chen Lin’s world.

Key events

• Chen Lin attempts to remove Yilan’s Soul-Pulling Guide with the Soul-Destroying Finger. Its resistance suggests the Shadow Scholar left a will imprint, so Chen Lin uses the Soul Fusion Method to work on it from the soul’s origin.
• After nearly three days of cleansing, a faint trace still seems to remain. Chen Lin and Yilan then combine their energies through a special dual-cultivation art, forming and circulating a powerful yin-yang cycle. A final use of the Soul-Destroying Finger removes the lingering influence.
• Their energy fusion leaves Chen Lin’s soul seed and other energy sources glowing in seven colors and linked together. He realizes they have begun to form a unified system, though it is not yet a seamless fusion.
• Yilan confirms the strange fluctuation is gone and gives Chen Lin the items he sought. She has also become immune to his talent ability, though the fusion gives her insight into his powers. She and Chen Lin part on ostensibly friendly terms.
• Chen Lin resumes his journey with Long Zequan and the others. While cultivating aboard the ship, he links his energy sources and uses the Seven Absolutes Technique to circulate their new power. This easily breaks his bottleneck, advancing him to the Semi-Void Realm. The dormant Small Pagoda responds to the new energy.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin takes a major step toward understanding and combining his different sources of power. He remains focused on his goals—finding the remaining Rubik’s Cube Fragments and completing his fame-building mission—and keeps the strange sense of separation from the world under consideration.
• Yilan is freed from the Soul-Pulling Guide and gains immunity to Chen Lin’s talent ability. Though their partnership ends, she appears neither resentful nor attached; she leaves after exchanging teasing remarks with him.
• Their relationship is marked by wary cooperation, mutual benefit, and playful sparring. Chen Lin acknowledges that he had used his ability on Yilan, while she accuses him of manipulation but accepts that the encounter benefited them both.
• Long Zequan and the other companions notice the journey is unusually quiet, but Chen Lin orders them to continue. They respect his wish not to discuss what happened.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and transformation: Chen Lin and Yilan must combine their energies to overcome an obstacle neither could resolve alone.
• Power through integration: The newly linked energy sources suggest that Chen Lin’s next advances will come from unifying his abilities rather than relying on them separately.
• Trust, consent, and mutual advantage: The soul-fusion process depends on Yilan’s cooperation, while both characters acknowledge the self-serving elements in their relationship.
• Uncertainty and ambition: Chen Lin’s sense of being increasingly incompatible with the world, alongside the Small Pagoda’s reaction, hints at further changes beyond his immediate breakthrough.

Chapter Summary: “Tower Might”

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin is intercepted by three flying boats led by Yu Jiufeng, a powerful elder of the Yin-Yang Sect. Yu admits he ordered Chen Lin’s children, Chen Siyang and Wen Siyue, on a likely suicidal mission and insists their fate is an internal sect matter.
• When Yu threatens him, Chen Lin uses his newly refined Devouring Heaven Pagoda. It instantly draws everyone from all three boats—including Yu, a Semi-Void expert—inside.
• Chen investigates the pagoda’s capabilities. It has seven floors, traps beings according to their true strength, and consumes their life essence to replenish its energy. It can store power for later attacks, but its use has restrictions: Chen must supply some energy himself, and its stored energy must be sufficient. Refining captives for personal cultivation yields relatively little, so he decides to use the pagoda primarily as a weapon.
• Chen postpones refining Yu and the other Yin-Yang Sect members because their memories may help him locate his children. Instead, he replenishes the pagoda using beings already imprisoned within it.
• After traveling across Qingwu Province, Chen learns that his children fled south by sea, likely toward Lanzhu Province. He also learns the trial space has nine provinces whose colors correspond to the colors of his Nine-Aperture Exquisite Heart, deepening the mystery around his unusual fate.
• Chen travels by sea to Lanzhu, hoping both to build his reputation and find family and allies. He arrives without finding Chen Ling’er, Grass, or the others. He directs his team to spread his name while he searches alone for Rubik’s Cube Fragments and information.
• Chen approaches a settlement that seems unusual in a trial where enemies are widespread. His soul perception cannot penetrate its walls, leaving him wary and curious.

Character developments

• Chen Lin gains a major combat asset in the Devouring Heaven Pagoda, but discovers it is not an effortless weapon: it has energy and activation limits. He remains pragmatic, carefully testing its mechanics before relying on it.
• Chen’s concern for Chen Siyang and Wen Siyue shapes his decision not to refine Yu immediately; he wants their captor’s memories to learn what happened to them.
• Though others might see him as a chosen figure, Chen remains convinced that his many extraordinary opportunities resulted from coincidence and conflicts among powerful beings. He is determined to survive long enough to see those beings discover the truth.
• Long Zequan, Long Zeming, and the other followers are awed and frightened by Chen’s effortless defeat of the Yin-Yang Sect team. Chen reassures them and later delegates the work of spreading his reputation.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: The pagoda is extraordinarily strong, yet requires stored and personal energy, underscoring that power always has costs and constraints.
• Family loyalty and responsibility: Chen’s search for his children takes priority over exploiting his new captives.
• Fate versus coincidence: The apparent links between the trial’s provinces and Chen’s heart suggest destiny, but Chen interprets his rise as accidental, shaped by others’ struggles.
• Reputation and survival: Chen deliberately builds a fearsome public image, seeing fame as part of succeeding in the trial.

Character interactions

• Chen confronts Yu over the danger imposed on his children; Yu dismisses Chen’s authority and underestimates him, only to be captured along with his entire force.
• Chen comforts his shaken followers, promising safety to those who remain loyal, then assigns them to spread his name.
• Chen’s practical concern for his children continues to influence how he treats Yu and the other prisoners, even while he recognizes the pagoda’s potential as a weapon.

Summary

• Chen Lin enters a strange city whose gate disappears behind him. The lively market seems ordinary, but its inhabitants’ friendliness makes him forget why he came. He recognizes the effect, secretly restores his clarity with his Dharmic Formula, and concludes that a powerful entity is manipulating people’s minds.
• He investigates the market and its currency. Ordinary treasures are rejected, but bizarre coins are accepted. This leads him to suspect the city is a Bizarre Scenario, possibly created by a High-tier Dominator or a powerful artifact. He also discovers that the local currency, dream silver, has an unfamiliar energy reminiscent of the Dream Pearl.
• His attempt to earn money fails. Chen Lin sets up a stall selling Mother Steamed Bun’s buns, but customers call them merely average. He reasons that the city’s mind-clouding effect is too strong for the buns to overcome, then exchanges bizarre coins for dream silver instead.
• The Immortal Spirit Tavern draws him back. The familiar setting and the reappearance of Qiu Mufan and her talking bird remind him of his past in the Lower Realm. Qiu Mufan behaves as before and follows the tavern’s old rules, though Chen Lin suspects she remembers him but is unable to acknowledge it openly.
• Chen Lin learns that the tavern’s Blind Auction offers a possible way to make a request. One of three wine pots grants a request to its winner if it reveals spiritual light; seven-color light permits any request. For now, he buys a pot of Mutual Affection, the same wine Qiu Mufan served him on his earlier visit.
• The wine affects him with visions of the women he loves—Luo Qinglan, Xiaocao, and Fairy Yaochi. He allows the feeling to pass without resisting, and Qiu Mufan asks whether he has found the one he loves.

Character developments and interactions

Chen Lin remains cautious and resourceful: he resists the market’s mental influence, probes its rules through conversation and barter, and avoids confronting its power prematurely. His memories of Qiu Mufan and the tavern surface, while his reaction to the wine reveals his emotional attachment to the women in his life.
Qiu Mufan acts flirtatiously and warmly toward Chen Lin, but her adherence to familiar rules suggests she may be constrained by the scenario. The talking bird repeats its old teasing behavior and may recognize Chen Lin. A burly patron challenges Qiu Mufan’s special attention to him, prompting her to rebuff the man sharply before returning to Chen Lin.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: An inviting market conceals a force that alters consciousness.
• Memory and identity: Familiar people and customs connect Chen Lin’s present predicament to his distant past.
• Rules as both constraint and opportunity: Understanding the scenario’s rules may be safer and more effective than using force.
• Love amid cultivation and danger: The wine’s visions briefly place Chen Lin’s affection and relationships at the center of an otherwise threatening mystery.