Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin asks City Lord Yue Hengshan about the Truth-Restoring Brush. Yue confirms it is in the Holy Temple, but says only the Elder Council can authorize its transfer. Chen Lin may earn it by helping repel the approaching strange beasts and receiving unanimous approval.
• Yue argues that cooperation is unavoidable: the beasts may attack soon, and if he dies, Chen Lin is unlikely to survive either. Chen Lin agrees to help, while remaining wary of Yue’s promises.
• Chen Lin asks whether the Shadow Scholar left an Endless Rubik’s Cube Fragment behind. Yue says he does not know, so Chen Lin plans to keep seeking clues through High Person Yunhai.
• Chen Lin’s question about what counts as a “miracle” reveals that he may have entered the casino’s extremely difficult Miracle Gambling Match. Yue says completing it could require making the sun appear at night; Chen Lin realizes the challenge may be far beyond what he expected.
• Buxi explains that Wanderers are currency in Dandian Paradise, though she knows little more. Chen Lin wonders what this means for his prospects of returning to the casino.
• Chen Lin and his companions formally join Yue’s defense effort. Gu Youlan emerges from hiding and asks Yue to empower her to learn the Liu Household’s Grand Yin-Yang Rotation Art. She declares she will practice it with Chen Lin.
• At the City Lord Manor, Chen Lin finds the Soulless Patriarch and Han Yu among a larger group of recruited gamblers and local experts. Their plan to ambush Yue is abandoned. High Person Yunhai is still missing, and Chen Lin suspects a Guard Unit Captain he encountered may have been Yunhai in disguise.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin shifts from considering Yue an enemy to cooperating with him, driven by the need to survive the invasion and pursue the Truth-Restoring Brush. He stays cautious, weighs the danger of the Miracle Gambling Match, and recognizes the value of the Rubik’s Cube fragments.
• Yue Hengshan is forceful but presents himself as honorable, offering to petition for Chen Lin’s merit. He also recruits Gu Youlan, though he is visibly uncomfortable when Chen Lin promises others that Yue can satisfy their requests.
• Gu Youlan shows concern for Chen Lin by secretly following him, then confidently seeks the chance to learn the Liu family art. Her choice of Chen Lin as her practice partner surprises him and amuses the others.
• Buxi warns Chen Lin about the Miracle Gambling Match and shares what she knows about Wanderers.
• The Soulless Patriarch and Han Yu have also been recruited, ending their planned attack on Yue and placing them on the same side as Chen Lin—for now.

Significant themes

• Shifting alliances: Chen Lin’s intended enemy becomes his ally almost immediately, showing how survival can overturn plans and loyalties.
• Deals and trust: Yue’s offer provides a path forward, but Chen Lin knows it may be opportunistic and intends to judge him by his actions.
• Fate, risk, and survival: The Rubik’s Cube fragments seem to affect Chen Lin’s chances of surviving the wager, while the Miracle Gambling Match raises the stakes further.
• The reach of Dandian Paradise: Its influence appears to extend into cultivation, gambling, and even the economy, suggesting a vast system behind the world’s events.

Key plot points and events

• Han Yu offers Chen Lin support for his Additional Gambling Match in exchange for any tangible reward Chen receives. They settle on Han Yu providing three heaven crystals, a defense talisman that can withstand a Beast King’s fatal attack, a powerful healing pill, and a secret inheritance. Han Yu will receive one tangible reward; Chen Lin insists on keeping any additional rewards.
• Yue Hengshan helps Chen Lin and Gu Youlan acquire a divine ability by drawing on Liu the Cook’s talent origin. The process takes two hours. With the battle approaching, Yue leaves to command the defense, while Chen Lin and Gu Youlan begin studying their new inheritance.
• A vast force of strange beasts surrounds Heavenly Tranquility City. Among them are powerful Beast Kings, including the Red Jade Dragon and Xiong Ao the black bear. They reveal that the mysterious Night King is expected to descend and threaten the human race.
• The Soulless Patriarch explains that the Night King is rumored to be connected to the world’s Nighttime Mutation and is an enemy of the Shadow Scholar. The Patriarch welcomes the prospect of the Night King’s involvement because it may help defeat the Shadow Scholar; Chen Lin, however, remains focused on his own goals.
• Yue Hengshan rejects the beasts’ demand for surrender and rallies the defenders. As the assault begins, he attacks the circling great bird; Han Yu takes on the Red Jade Dragon, and the Soulless Patriarch engages Xiong Ao. Other allies and the city’s soldiers join the battle.
• Chen Lin uses Rainbow Slash to annihilate hundreds of lesser beasts and confronts the White-Haired Monster. When it tries to turn him into a yin soldier through a supernatural attack on his body and soul, Chen Lin counters with Rainbow Slash and Soul-Destroying Finger. The monster’s defenses collapse, and it falls wounded into the battlefield.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin is practical and guarded in negotiating with Han Yu, making the terms explicit despite his own doubts about surviving. In battle, he displays confidence and control, countering the White-Haired Monster’s attack before it can take hold.
• Han Yu backs his offer with substantial resources but remains skeptical of Chen Lin’s chances. He personally enters the fight against the Red Jade Dragon.
• Yue Hengshan acts as both mentor and commander: he helps Chen Lin and Gu Youlan gain a new ability, then leads the city’s defense despite the danger.
• The Soulless Patriarch reveals his self-interested priorities: the Night King’s arrival pleases him because of the threat it poses to the Shadow Scholar, not because of the city’s fate.
• Gu Youlan trains alongside Chen Lin, while Liu the Cook cooperates under Yue Hengshan’s authority and is promised release after his talent is used.

Significant themes

• Personal gain versus collective survival: Chen Lin’s and the Patriarch’s aims differ sharply from the city’s struggle for survival.
• Trust and bargaining: Chen Lin and Han Yu negotiate carefully, showing that cooperation can be useful without being unconditional.
• Defiance in the face of overwhelming danger: Yue and the defenders choose resistance even as powerful enemies surround the city.
• Strength earned through preparation: Training, inherited abilities, and strategic resources become crucial as the battle begins.

Plot points

• Chen Lin kills a White-Haired Beast King with one blow from the Soul-Destroying Finger, astonishing both sides. He collects the corpse for its value and as proof of military merit.
• Two unfamiliar Beast Kings, Qing Sandian and Dian Sanqing, confront him. Their gong-and-drum-like ability traps him in an invisible mental assault, making him experience overwhelming pressure and severe bodily and spiritual damage.
• Chen Lin resists through his indomitable will and transgressor origin essence, then uses the Heaven-Slaying Saber to disrupt their technique. Though nearly destroyed, he regenerates.
• He unveils a Rainbow Slash containing seven interconnected rules and kills a mantis-shaped Beast King outright. The display frightens the other Beast Kings, who retreat rather than challenge him.
• Qing Sandian and Dian Sanqing then use their strange ability to escape through the Void and withdraw the enemy’s stronger forces. The remaining beasts lose their protective light, mutate in the darkness, and attack indiscriminately.
• Yue Hengshan’s Holy Light suppresses the mutated beasts, and the human forces eliminate them. The battle ends in a decisive victory for Heavenly Tranquility City.
• Chen Lin urges the group to leave for the Holy Temple and gather strength against the Night King. He wants to secure recognition for his military merits—and fears High Person Yunhai may claim the Truth-Restoring Brush first.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin proves capable of extraordinary power but pays a steep price: the two Beast Kings’ attack nearly shatters his body and soul, and his later bravado conceals how depleted he is. He stays focused on the wider danger and the urgent need to act.
• Gu Youlan worries about Chen Lin and offers to help him recover through the Grand Yin-Yang Rotation Technique. Her concern is met with his awkward cough.
• Yue Hengshan shifts from desperation to confidence after Chen Lin’s intervention. Grateful for the victory, he promises rewards and pledges to seek formal recognition for the group.
• Buxi, the Soulless Patriarch, and others rally around Chen Lin after he is injured. Their own condition is poor, and Red Ribbon has lost an arm.
• Han Yu continues fighting the Red Dragon and gains the upper hand, until Dian Sanqing’s drumming freezes him and leaves him vulnerable to the dragon.
• Qing Sandian and Dian Sanqing act as a coordinated, eccentric pair, echoing each other’s words. Their ability to manipulate the Void suggests they are tied to the Night King and operate beyond the world’s normal rules.

Significant themes

• Resilience and willpower: Chen Lin’s determination allows him to resist an attack that overwhelms his body and awareness.
• Power and its cost: His spectacular victories come at the expense of severe injury and near-total exhaustion.
• Uncertainty and hidden threats: The strange Beast Kings’ unusual abilities reveal that the Night King’s influence may be more formidable than previously understood.
• Victory as a temporary reprieve: The battle is won, but the enemy leaders escape, leaving the larger conflict unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “Insect Lock”

Key plot points and events

• After Heavenly Tranquility City repels a major beast attack, Chen Lin tells City Lord Yue Hengshan that he intends to go to Holy Temple Mountain. He needs the Truth-Restoring Brush and believes he must travel farther to make his deeds widely known and qualify for the Miracle Gambling Match.
• Yue Hengshan warns that the route is dangerous and argues that killing the Night King could satisfy the match’s requirements. Chen Lin doubts he can defeat such a powerful opponent, but recognizes he may have few alternatives.
• Han Yu privately tells Chen Lin about the Holy Temple’s Insect Lock, which uses Spacetime Insects to create an effect similar to the casino’s Spacetime Cultivation Chamber. He suggests that a secret technique Chen Lin received from him could help Chen Lin create a miracle.
• Yue contacts the Holy Lord, who agrees to send the Insect Lock, containing three insects and therefore allowing three uses. The Truth-Restoring Brush remains sealed; the Holy Lord promises an answer from the Elder Council in three days.
• Chen Lin takes the Insect Lock to the City Lord’s Cultivation Chamber. He studies Han Yu’s inheritance, the Art of Facing Death, a lethal technique that sacrifices everything to empower an ability: success lets the user absorb the target’s energy and return from death, while failure means permanent death.
• Suspecting the technique was tailored to him for reasons he does not understand, Chen Lin asks Gu Youlan to activate the Insect Lock and keep others away. He links himself to its light and vanishes.
• Chen Lin reappears in ruins roughly a hundred li from the city, catastrophically injured. He heals himself with a medicinal pill, escapes animate buildings and other dangers, and travels relentlessly. Two days later, he spots a distant, majestic city.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains determined to pursue the gambling match and the resources he needs, despite the risks. His suspicion of Han Yu grows when the seemingly perfect fit between the Art of Facing Death and his abilities makes him wonder whether someone is manipulating events.
• Yue Hengshan shows his attachment to the city and its people, but ultimately supports Chen Lin by contacting the Holy Lord and securing the Insect Lock.
• Han Yu demonstrates unusually detailed knowledge of the realm and supplies Chen Lin with both the Insect Lock’s secret and a highly relevant inheritance. His motives remain unclear.
• Gu Youlan trusts Chen Lin without pressing him for explanations, follows his instructions, and urges him to value survival.
• The Holy Lord recognizes Chen Lin’s military merit and provides the Insect Lock, while delaying the Truth-Restoring Brush because of its importance to the ongoing gambling match.
• The Soulless Patriarch and others observe Chen Lin’s departure with apparent hidden intentions, suggesting that several players may be maneuvering behind the scenes.

Significant themes

• Risk and survival: Chen Lin repeatedly accepts extreme danger, while the Art of Facing Death makes the cost of failure absolute.
• Trust and manipulation: Han Yu’s assistance is useful but suspicious, and the observers’ concealed motives deepen the atmosphere of uncertainty.
• Duty versus personal goals: Yue Hengshan’s concern for his city contrasts with Chen Lin’s urgent pursuit of the gambling match and its rewards.
• Power gained at a price: The new technique and Insect Lock offer a chance to grow stronger, but neither is without danger or cost.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin reaches Heavenly Sage City, now surrounded by a huge beast army, and meets Jin Wanshan, who escaped after being conscripted into the vanguard. Jin reports that the city is close to collapse: three Sages have died, the Holy Lord is its last major defender, and the feared Night King has not yet appeared.
• Jin identifies the powerful city deacon Yan Wuya as the man Chen Lin knows as High Person Yunhai. Chen suspects Yan Wuya is the Shadow Scholar’s reincarnation and carries the Rubik’s Cube Fragment he needs to improve his odds of surviving the gambling match.
• Rather than wait for a battle to enter the city, Chen decides to break through immediately. He brings Jin along inside the Devouring Heaven Pagoda.
• Chen charges the beast army, kills a Beast King’s guard, and tricks three Beast Kings by claiming to be the Night King. He uses the distraction to reach the gates, where he releases Jin to seek entry while the Pagoda absorbs thousands of beasts.
• A red gorilla-like Beast King unleashes a vast barrage of dominator-tier spells. Chen is badly injured, but his Rainbow Slash cracks the creature’s fan. As several Beast Kings prepare to finish him, the Holy Lord and other defenders intervene, allowing Chen and Jin to enter before the gates close.
• Chen tells the Holy Lord he came seeking the Truth-Restoring Brush and asks whether it can be earned as a merit reward. The Holy Lord says it may be possible if Chen helps repel the Night King, but must consult the elders first. Chen is sent for treatment.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains determined and resourceful, choosing a dangerous direct approach because delay could cost him the chance to obtain what he needs. He also shows confidence in his value as a defender, relying on the city’s desperation to secure entry.
• Jin Wanshan is frightened and demoralized after losing much of his gambling stake, but chooses to trust Chen and follow him into danger. Chen tells him to obey orders rather than promise a reward.
• The Holy Lord is pragmatic: he saves Chen because his strength could help the city, then makes the Truth-Restoring Brush conditional on Chen’s contribution.
• Chen’s encounter with the Beast Kings reveals both his formidable power and its limits: his attack can damage a powerful opponent’s weapon, but the Beast King’s overwhelming spell barrage leaves him severely wounded.

Significant themes

• Survival over ambition: Both men set aside gambling concerns as the city’s crisis deepens.
• Risk, trust, and calculated courage: Chen takes extreme risks, while Jin must decide whether to hide alone or rely on him.
• Power and desperation: The city’s defenders are depleted, making even an injured outsider valuable.
• Competing goals amid catastrophe: Chen’s personal quest for the cube and brush intersects with the city’s urgent need to resist the beasts and the still-unseen Night King.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin, still recovering in the Cultivation Chamber, sends Jin Wanshan to investigate Yan Wuya’s home and daily routes so he can seize the Rubik’s Cube Fragment in a single, carefully planned strike.
• Chen asks about several people from his past. Jin reports that Feng Liuxian died during the beast tide, Hua Wuyue is absent, Ma Niu survived, and Ye Daier is in the city and has gained considerable military merit.
• Before Chen can continue planning, Yan Wuya—known as High Person Yunhai—arrives and secretly controls Jin Wanshan to keep their meeting private.
• Yan reveals that he and Chen are not necessarily Shadow Scholar’s reincarnations. They may be independent candidates among the people who once possessed the Wordless Celestial Book; Shadow Scholar’s true essence has not yet chosen a vessel. Other candidates may ultimately be absorbed as nourishment.
• Yan says he escaped Shadow Scholar’s influence through a soul-dissolution method taught by the Old Dean of the Soul Interrogation Academy, though it cost him his body and badly damaged his soul. He wants to work with Chen to prevent Shadow Scholar’s main consciousness from awakening.
• Yan suspects that consciousness is contained in the Truth-Restoring Brush. He urges Chen not to claim the brush, but to change his military-merit reward to reinforcing its seal. They should also help defend the city until the twenty-four-night gambling match ends.
• Chen is skeptical: he had risked much to obtain the brush and believes he still needs a Rubik’s Cube Fragment to complete his own additional match. Yan admits he has no fragment, though he knows several places where Shadow Scholar may have hidden one.
• The discussion also establishes the danger of Shadow Scholar’s return: Yan says Shadow Scholar could erase Chen’s identity and memories from everyone who knows him. Chen learns that failure in his gambling match may make him a “Wanderer,” reportedly a form of currency in Dandian Paradise.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and pragmatic. He questions Yan’s identity, motives, and claims, refuses to accept his proposal without verification, and asks directly about the Night King, the Rubik’s Cube, and the gambling match.
• Yan Wuya / High Person Yunhai shifts from apparent target to possible ally. He presents himself as another potential escapee from Shadow Scholar’s influence, but withholds part of his plan and cannot yet prove that he—or Chen—has truly escaped.
• Jin Wanshan serves as Chen’s informant, then is placed under Yan’s control and sent outside, heightening Chen’s distrust.
• Chen’s past connections are revisited: Feng Liuxian’s death underscores the dangers of the setting, while Ma Niu and Hua Wuyue remain potential threats. Chen also seeks contact with Ye Daier.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and shifting loyalties: Chen’s former understanding of who opposes Shadow Scholar is overturned, and both Yan and Chen may be deceived or manipulated.
• Identity and erasure: Shadow Scholar’s plan threatens not just Chen’s life but his existence in the memories of others.
• Conflicting survival priorities: Chen’s need to complete the gambling match clashes with Yan’s plan to seal the brush and prevent Shadow Scholar’s return.
• Power and limits: Even a fighter capable of killing a Beast King may be helpless against Shadow Scholar or the city’s strongest defenders, making strategy and trust essential.

Key plot points and events

• High Person Yunhai identifies four possible places where a fragment of the Endless Rubik’s Cube may be hidden: the Holy Temple’s Treasure Vault, Wuzhen Tower, Liu Family Village (now Zhao Village), and the Night King, who may have taken Shadow Scholar’s treasure after defeating him.
• Chen Lin doubts the fragment will be easy to find, since Shadow Scholar may have concealed it in a building as an undetectable object. He also learns that Shadow Scholar was linked to Wuzhen Tower through a romance with a courtesan named Alan.
• Yunhai confirms that the statue in the Liu Family Old Residence was his, not Shadow Scholar’s. Shadow Scholar’s appearance was always obscured, though Alan may have known what he looked like. Yunhai stresses that sealing the Truth-Restoring Brush is essential to both their survival.
• Jin Wanshan admits that Yunhai took control of his soul before he could resist. Chen Lin comforts him and proposes scouting the city so they can plan an escape if it falls.
• Chen Lin chooses to investigate Wuzhen Tower. He learns that its renowned courtesans have been drafted into the war: two of the Four Golden Beauties and six of the Eight Beauties have died, while the survivors are wounded. This reveals the severity of the city’s predicament.
• The tower’s “One Immortal,” Mo Wenxian, is a Sage and an Elder Council member; the “Two Mortals,” Aqing and Azi, entertain only under special conditions. Chen Lin visits the tower to search for a possible fragment, but his Rubik’s Cube Core senses nothing. After rejecting ordinary courtesans and finding the top ones unavailable, he leaves and heads for the Holy Temple.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains practical and alert, balancing investigation with preparations for escape. His apparent interest in the tower’s courtesans masks his search for the fragment; he also recognizes their wartime losses as evidence of impending disaster.
• Jin Wanshan is shaken by his defeat but accepts Chen Lin’s reassurance and survival-first outlook. He accompanies Chen Lin and helps prevent the brothel madam from stopping him.
• High Person Yunhai shares what he knows about Shadow Scholar and urges Chen Lin to take the Truth-Restoring Brush seriously, then departs.
• Chen Lin’s exchanges with the tower staff reveal its unusual status and strict rules, while his interactions with the madam and courtesans show his blunt, forceful approach to pursuing his investigation.

Significant themes

• Survival amid looming catastrophe: Chen Lin prioritizes escape plans as the city’s defenders suffer heavy losses.
• Hidden histories and uncertain legacies: The fragment’s whereabouts, Shadow Scholar’s identity, and the connections between different Wuzhen Towers remain unresolved.
• War reaching every corner of society: Even the brothel’s celebrated courtesans have been conscripted and killed.
• Pragmatism over pride: Jin Wanshan is encouraged to move past his defeat and focus on staying alive.

Plot and key events

• Unable to find the Rubik’s Cube Fragment in Wuzhen Tower, Chen Lin heads for the Holy Temple, one of his last promising search sites before the Twenty-Four Nights end.
• Ye Daier asks Chen Lin to remove her from the suicide squad. Still recovering from an earlier battle, she faces another dangerous assignment and an additional secret gambling match.
• In exchange for Chen Lin’s help, Ye reveals her race’s rare talent: its origin can strengthen cultivation, abilities, artifacts, and more. She gives him a sample, which greatly invigorates the seven-color thread in his soul seed. She then condenses an azure origin crystal at considerable cost to her health.
• Chen Lin agrees to help and tells the city’s authorities that Ye is his partner. The Holy Lord’s staff exempts both Ye and Jin Wanshan from combat assignments; Chen offers to kill Ye’s quota of strange beasts himself.
• Ye leaves to complete her secret gambling match, warning Chen that the Holy Temple feels dangerous and that Ma Niu may harbor ill intentions toward him.
• Chen explores the Holy Temple’s accessible areas for four hours, but the Rubik’s Cube Core gives no sign of the fragment. The third level of the Treasure Vault is restricted and requires the Holy Spirit’s approval.
• The Holy Lord arrives and reveals that only three treasures remain on that level: the Inheritance Stele, the Truth-Restoring Brush, and the Tai’e Ring. He asks whether Chen is certain he wants to enter.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains focused on finding the fragment, but recognizes that the Holy Lord’s favors carry an implied obligation: he is expected to serve as a key fighter against the Night King. He also sees Ye’s talent as valuable and acts to keep her alive, while maintaining a practical, guarded attitude.
• Ye Daier shows both vulnerability and resolve. Despite her injuries and danger, she offers a rare resource to secure her survival. Her relationship with Chen warms from formal address to “Brother Chen,” though she keeps her gambling match secret.
• Jin Wanshan chooses to stay close to Chen, seeing him as his best chance of surviving and recovering his fortunes.
• The Holy Lord’s administration treats Chen as a valuable ally, readily granting his companions protection and facilitating his Temple search. The Holy Lord’s arrival signals that Chen’s request to enter the restricted vault may be considered.

Significant themes

• Survival through bargains and alliances: Characters trade favors, protection, and rare resources in a perilous world.
• Power has a cost: Ye’s talent is extraordinarily useful, but producing its origin crystals drains her and could endanger her cultivation.
• Trust and secrecy: Ye shares her race’s secret with Chen but conceals her gambling match; Chen accepts her offer while remaining alert to danger.
• Obligation behind privilege: Chen’s growing access and influence come with the expectation that he will help defend the city.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin is pressured by the Holy Lord to enter the Treasure Vault, where the final Rubik’s Cube Fragment may be. Entry requires a holy-light baptism that could bind him to the Holy Temple’s cause, potentially forcing him to fight the Night King.
• Using the Origin Crystal Ye Daier gave him, Chen Lin revives and strengthens his divination ability. It shows that both entering and refusing to enter the vault lead to the deaths of everyone connected to him. He suspects the Truth-Restoring Brush could let the Shadow Scholar possess him, but cannot explain why every path ends in annihilation.
• Chen Lin pushes his ability further, trying to find and correct a break in destiny. The effort destroys his soul seed, seven-color thread, soul body, and Lake of Destiny, leaving him drifting toward death as memories replay.
• Outside the Holy Temple, strange beasts gather around a creature wielding a Triangular Fork that releases “life-origin runes.” A light appears in the sky, and the Night King begins to descend. The Holy Lord and the city’s sages realize the Night King is near his full strength; retreating into the holy land would reveal its location, so they prepare to fight.
• As Chen Lin’s memories rewind past his transmigration into Old Cultivator Chen Lin’s body, he witnesses the old cultivator’s past. During a flight from a monster, a Rubik’s Cube Fragment emerges from a space rift and disappears into the old cultivator.
• Chen Lin concludes the fragment may have fused with his body, though he cannot explain why the Rubik’s Cube Core never detected it or why repeated bodily destruction and reconstruction did not reveal it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains wary of everyone’s motives and wants only to survive, not become a savior. When divination offers no way out, he risks destroying himself in a desperate attempt to alter fate. His recovered memories then provide a crucial clue about the missing fragment.
• The Holy Lord presses Chen Lin to choose, growing impatient, but abandons the vault discussion when the Night King’s arrival becomes imminent. He leads the city’s defenders and rejects hiding, believing it would expose the holy land.
• The sages and city experts respond to the Night King’s arrival with fear and uncertainty, but prepare to defend the city.
• The Beast Kings and the Triangular-Hat creature gather in anticipation and dread, while the creature’s ritual with the fork appears to summon or facilitate the Night King’s descent.
• Old Cultivator Chen Lin appears in the memory sequence as an unsuspecting survivor; he never realizes the fragment has entered his body.

Significant themes

• Fate and agency: Chen Lin’s divinations show death on every route, challenging whether choice or effort can change an apparently fixed destiny.
• Identity and memory: The replay of Chen Lin’s life crosses the boundary between his own past and the previous owner of his body, raising questions about whose history—and body—he inhabits.
• Survival amid manipulation: Chen Lin distrusts allies and powerful figures alike, while hidden forces such as the Shadow Scholar may be shaping events.
• Sacrifice and resistance: The city chooses to fight an overwhelmingly powerful enemy rather than surrender its refuge, while Chen Lin’s attempt to alter destiny comes at the cost of his own existence.

Plot and events

• Chen Lin awakens after Ye Daier’s talent-origin power restores his consciousness. The Holy Lord has postponed activating the Holy Spirit and summons him to the city gate: the Night King is forcing his way through a space-time barrier.
• Chen Lin sends Jin Wanshan to find Ye Daier and ask whether she can make another crystal, promising to ensure her survival if she can. He then heads to the battle, hoping that confronting the Night King may let him achieve the “miracle” needed to win his gambling match.
• During the flight, Chen Lin searches for the missing Rubik’s Cube Fragment and revisits a memory of a pale finger flicking it out of a Space Rift. He recognizes a maple-leaf-shaped mole on the finger, matching one he saw on the Beauty Finger Flower. He suspects the same mysterious person was involved in both encounters—and that his transmigration may have disrupted their plan.
• At the city wall, the Holy Lord explains that the Night King’s descent is still in its early stages. The Holy Light Grand Array may be able to disrupt the space-time opening and delay, redirect, or exile the Night King, but first the forces of strange beasts must be dealt with.
• Chen Lin agrees to help. He hopes the array can weaken the Night King enough for him to injure the being and thereby achieve his gambling-match “miracle.”
• The Holy Lord offers treasures from the Temple’s vault, including two powerful pills, an indestructible shell, and a soul-affecting rag. Chen Lin doubts they can help against an enemy of the Night King’s scale; only the heaven crystals seem immediately useful.
• Mo Wenxian arrives and, after hearing Chen Lin’s concerns, offers him another box. He opens it—and is stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains determined despite recognizing how hopeless a direct fight would be. His private goal—to survive the gambling match—makes him willing to risk helping confront the Night King. He also deepens his investigation into the fragment and its possible connection to his transmigration.
• Jin Wanshan obeys Chen Lin’s request and stays away from the battlefield, seeking Ye Daier instead.
• The Holy Lord reveals that using the Truth-Restoring Brush could resurrect the Shadow Scholar, whose return might be as dangerous as the Night King. His offer of vault treasures also tests Chen Lin’s judgment; Chen Lin declines to retrieve the suppressed artifacts.
• Mo Wenxian steps in when Chen Lin doubts the offered items can help, presenting an additional, unexplained object that ends the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Significant themes

• Impossible choices and survival: Chen Lin must balance the dangers of the Night King’s arrival against the consequences of failing his gambling match.
• Power and uncertainty: Conventional treasures and healing methods may be meaningless against beings who can erase their victims completely.
• Hidden plans and fate: The recurring maple-leaf mole suggests Chen Lin’s past, transmigration, and the Rubik’s Cube Fragment may be connected to a larger scheme.
• Competing disasters: Resisting the Night King could require risking the Shadow Scholar’s resurrection, forcing the characters to choose between threats.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Wenxian reveals the final Rubik’s Cube Fragment, found embedded in Wuzhen Tower’s roof beam. Chen Lin recognizes it as identical to the fragment he remembers merging into his body, and suspects one may be false—or that the original was removed.
• Pressured by the Holy Lord and the Saint Clan to use the Endless Rubik’s Cube against the Night King, Chen Lin hands over the Core and all the fragments, denying that he is the Shadow Scholar’s reincarnation.
• The Holy Lord assembles the Cube and channels holy light into it. Its power destabilizes the space-time void and disrupts the Night King’s descent, but the Cube then breaks apart. The Night King is badly weakened, while the Holy Lord collapses and must be revived by the Holy Spirit.
• The Holy Lord concludes that he is not the Cube’s “destined” user. Mo Wenxian, Chen Lin, the Sages, and several gamblers each try to activate it, but none succeed.
• As others test the fragments, Chen Lin reasons that the hidden fragment was likely bait in the Shadow Scholar’s plan to possess his body. By avoiding the Treasure Vault’s third level—and the Truth-Restoring Brush—he may have disrupted that plan, though the Night King and the gambling match still threaten him.
• Chen Lin contacts Jin Wanshan to ask about Ye Daier. Jin reports that she has vanished from the city, prompting Chen Lin to suspect her remarkable talent origin was central to his escape from the Shadow Scholar’s scheme.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and pragmatic. Though he regrets losing the chance to test the Cube first, he does not regret yielding it under pressure. He recognizes that his survival may depend on solving the crisis without the Shadow Scholar’s help.
• Mo Wenxian explains how she found the fragment, then volunteers to test the Cube before Chen Lin. Her failure leaves the question of who can activate it unresolved.
• The Holy Lord initially urges Chen Lin to use the Cube and swears the Saint Clan’s loyalty in return. After his failed attempt and recovery, he acknowledges that none of them may be the destined user.
• The gamblers eagerly take turns testing the Cube, treating it as a possible source of advantage.
• Ye Daier does not appear, but her unexplained disappearance becomes a new concern for Chen Lin.

Significant themes

• Caution and survival: Chen Lin’s instinct to distrust apparent opportunities may have saved him from a carefully constructed possession scheme.
• Destiny versus agency: The Cube’s power seems tied to a destined user, yet Chen Lin’s choices—not prophecy—have altered the Shadow Scholar’s intended sequence of events.
• Hidden plans and unintended consequences: The Shadow Scholar’s scheme may have been undone by a chain of unforeseen events, though its full reach remains uncertain.
• Unresolved danger: The Night King’s descent has been disrupted but not stopped, and Chen Lin remains vulnerable to both the Shadow Scholar and the gambling match.

Key plot points and events

• A fragment left by the Shadow Scholar cannot be activated. The Holy Lord tells Chen Lin to keep studying it, but warns that he may forcibly use the Truth-Restoring Brush and Tai’e Ring if they cannot stop the Night King.
• The Holy Lord demands that the gamblers fight alongside the Saint Clan, arguing that the Night King’s forces will spare no one. Chen Lin chooses to act independently rather than trust the other gamblers.
• Jin Wanshan brings Chen Lin a Star Mark Treasure Chest. Inside is Ye Daier’s Origin Crystal. Chen Lin suspects Ye Daier sent it, though her purpose is unclear, and stores it for possible use.
• The Night King’s influence prevents sunrise and weakens the city’s defenses. The Holy Lord concludes that the Night King’s return is imminent and leads the Saint Clan into battle.
• The Saint Clan fights the strange beasts outside Heavenly Sage City. The Holy Lord engages their leader, He Jiuyu, while Chen Lin targets a powerful Night King subordinate wearing a triangular hat, hoping to test his Soul-Destroying Finger against him.
• The triangular-hatted monster effortlessly breaks Chen Lin’s saber attack and strikes his body, soul, and bloodline with overwhelming rule-based power. Chen Lin survives through his unusual defenses and restores himself with energy from heaven crystals and Ye Daier’s Origin Crystal. The monster is also left badly weakened, so Chen Lin launches a second Soul-Destroying Finger.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains cautious and self-reliant, but steels himself to fight despite the worsening odds. He uses Ye Daier’s Origin Crystal as a reserve and sees the battle as a chance to test a possible weapon against the Night King.
• Jin Wanshan supports Chen Lin by delivering the chest and shares his growing fear that they may not survive.
• The Holy Lord shifts from warning the gamblers to commanding the defense, showing urgency as the Night King’s influence intensifies.
• The Saint Clan and the gamblers unite against the immediate threat, though Chen Lin remains wary of his fellow gamblers and avoids trusting them.
• He Jiuyu refuses the Holy Lord’s attempt to turn the strange beasts against the Night King’s forces, expressing deep hostility toward the Saint Clan even at the cost of his own people’s survival.
• Chen Lin’s clash with the triangular-hatted monster reveals that both combatants possess powerful but imperfect defenses: Chen Lin survives attacks on his body, soul, and bloodline, while his counterattack visibly drains the monster.

Significant themes

• Collective survival versus old rivalries: The Holy Lord urges cooperation, but the Saint Clan–beast conflict proves too entrenched to overcome.
• Uncertainty and fragile hope: The Night King’s return, the missing sunrise, and the unclear deadline of the gambling match leave the characters unsure how much time remains.
• Self-reliance and resolve: Chen Lin refuses to rely on potentially hostile gamblers and pushes forward despite severe danger.
• Hidden connections and unexplained aid: Ye Daier’s crystal arrives through a mysterious Star Mark Treasure Chest, suggesting unseen allies or larger forces at work.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin’s Soul-Destroying Finger, empowered by Ye Daier’s origin essence, badly wounds the Triangular-Hatted Monster and briefly weakens the Night King’s ritual. The enemy responds by assigning Beast Kings to guard the envoy and attack Chen Lin.
• Mo Wenxian divides herself into multiple forms to relieve the pressure on Chen Lin, demonstrating formidable strength. The Triangular-Hatted Monster then summons a Night King phantom, plunging the battlefield into darkness and transforming nearby soldiers, beasts, plants, and rubble into attackers.
• The Holy Lord uses the Saint Sword and holy-light origin essence to dispel the transformation. The defenders retreat into Heavenly Sage City, having suffered heavy losses and spent vital power needed to resist the Night King.
• Chen Lin treats Jin Wanshan’s possession-like affliction and gives him a Noncombat Token in exchange for searching for Ye Daier, High Person Yunhai, and other gamblers. He orders Jin to watch the Holy Temple and stop anyone suspicious from reaching it.
• Chen Lin suspects the phantom atop the envoy’s hat resembles Ye Daier, but her earlier help to him conflicts with the idea that she serves the Night King. He delays committing to an attack until he can learn more.
• The Holy Lord asks Chen Lin to help kill the envoy. Chen Lin admits he might attempt it but will not promise to sacrifice himself; he says he will act only if defeat becomes unavoidable.
• The Saint Clan’s situation worsens: other cities have fallen, and the space-time gates at both Wuzhen Tower and the Holy Temple have failed. With the clan’s survival plan in jeopardy, the Holy Lord orders preparations to open the Holy Land, despite the risks.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin proves the value of his finger technique but remains pragmatic, balancing possible aid to the Saint Clan against his own survival. His suspicion about Ye Daier complicates his willingness to attack the envoy.
• Mo Wenxian shows both exceptional combat ability and a forceful willingness to challenge cautious plans, advocating action to save the clan.
• The Holy Lord shifts from trying to secure Chen Lin’s help through promises and resources to preparing desperate measures for the clan’s survival.
• Jin Wanshan is grateful to Chen Lin and eagerly accepts the search assignment, hoping the Noncombat Token will keep him out of the fighting.
• The grey-robed elder and Mo Wenxian clash over whether to reveal a powerful, unnamed object: he argues it is their last hope, while she prioritizes stopping the immediate catastrophe.

Significant themes

• Survival versus sacrifice: Chen Lin refuses to promise a life-ending gamble, while the Saint Clan must weigh desperate action against preserving its future.
• Trust and uncertainty: Ye Daier’s apparent connection to the Night King conflicts with her past assistance to Chen Lin.
• Escalating catastrophe: The failed gates, fallen cities, and weakened defenses suggest the Night King’s invasion is part of a coordinated plan to destroy the Saint Clan.
• The cost of power: The defenders’ strongest measures save them temporarily but consume precious resources, leaving them more vulnerable.

Key plot points and events

• With the Night King’s arrival nearly inevitable, the Saint Clan urges Chen Lin to act against the Space-Time Void. Chen Lin refuses to risk his life without compensation and stalls while waiting for Yan Wuya and Ye Daier, whom he claims can help.
• The Holy Lord searches the city but finds neither outsider. Chen Lin then reveals he overheard the clan’s secret discussion of a treasure sought by the Night King and Shadow Scholar. He demands it as payment for using his life-burning ability to destroy the Void. The Holy Lord agrees.
• Chen Lin’s real plan remains private: he intends to wait until the gambling match is almost over, then complete his miracle mission and use the resulting reward to escape. He distrusts the clan’s assurances and suspects it has other ways to survive.
• Under pressure from Mo Wenxian, Chen Lin agrees to act. The Holy Lord gives him a Resurrection Pill and vows the Saint Clan will honor his sacrifice. Chen Lin instructs the clan to launch a full assault, distracting the Night King’s envoy while he uses his one-shot ability.
• Mo Wenxian forces the reluctant gamblers to join the battle. Ma Niu negotiates to avoid fighting in exchange for secret information about Dandian Paradise. Chen Lin accepts the information and allows Ma Niu to remain on the ground, where his survival is uncertain.
• After restoring the Endless Rubik’s Cube, Chen Lin swallows Ye Daier’s crystal and the Resurrection Pill. He waits, then begins to disintegrate as he prepares to act.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin remains calculating and guarded, using delay and negotiation to protect his own interests. He refuses to be treated as the Saint Clan’s expendable pawn, but ultimately prepares to risk himself—while keeping his true escape plan concealed.
• The Holy Lord shifts from pressing Chen Lin to bargaining with him, offering the Resurrection Pill and apologizing for the clan’s earlier hostility. He presents himself as honorable and desperate to save his people.
• Mo Wenxian is skeptical and forceful, imposing a deadline and compelling the gamblers to fight. She and Chen Lin trade provocative, flirtatious remarks that mask their mutual distrust.
• Ma Niu tries to bargain his way out of combat. His past conspiracy against Chen Lin is known to Chen Lin, but Ma Niu’s information about Dandian Paradise proves valuable enough to earn him limited leniency.
• The other gamblers, previously unwilling to aid Chen Lin, plead for protection; he refuses to intervene, and they resentfully join the battle.

Significant themes

• Self-preservation versus collective duty: Chen Lin and the Saint Clan each weigh personal survival against the fate of the group.
• Trust, leverage, and transactional alliances: Cooperation emerges through bargaining, not confidence; promises and rewards are tools in a crisis.
• Hidden plans and uncertainty: Chen Lin conceals his real objective, while the outcome of his final gambit depends on deductions that may be wrong.
• Power and coercion: The clan’s desperation leads it to pressure outsiders, while Mo Wenxian uses force to send the gamblers into battle.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin sacrifices himself to restore the Endless Rubik’s Cube, believing its mysterious energy may let him avoid being fused with the Shadow Scholar and thwart the Night King’s arrival.
• The Cube’s irritable spirit makes him draw a reward. Though he may choose only from the third-prize options, Chen Lin selects Liu Laosi’s Will, the only reward he believes can strengthen his Rainbow Slash.
• Using the Will, Chen Lin unleashes the enhanced strike just as the Cube disappears. The Saint Clan and Beast Kings initially mistake it for a flashy but weak attack.
• The Rainbow Slash severely disrupts the space-time void. The Night King’s apparition appears, panics at the attack, and retreats, but the strike follows him through the void. A thunderous blast destroys the passage, and the Night King’s fate is left uncertain.
• The Rainbow Slash’s lingering light drives away the darkness and renews the land. The Saint Clan rallies, and the Holy Lord declares Chen Lin a revered clan totem before turning to defeat the remaining beasts.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin acts with resolve despite the risk of death. He carefully chooses a reward for its practical value, and his final attack succeeds beyond even his own expectations.
• The Cube’s spirit is sarcastic, impatient, and evasive, but carries out the draw fairly. Its teasing reference to the Shadow Scholar hints at the Cube’s history.
• The Holy Lord shifts from doubt about Chen Lin’s attack to recognizing its hidden power. He honors Chen Lin publicly and takes command against the remaining enemy forces.
• The Triangular-Hat Envoy mocks Chen Lin and orders an assault, but is stunned when the Night King flees; his faith in the king collapses.
• The Night King, presented as a supreme threat, is revealed to be terrified of the Rainbow Slash and retreats in panic.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and resolve: Chen Lin risks everything on a final chance to protect the city.
• Luck and choice: The Cube’s random rewards make Chen Lin’s judgment crucial; he chooses the option best suited to the crisis.
• Appearances versus reality: The strike looks weak to observers, but its true power is beyond their perception.
• Hope and renewal: The Rainbow Slash both blocks the invasion and brings life back to a world overwhelmed by darkness.
• Legacy: Chen Lin’s deed transforms him into a lasting symbol for the Saint Clan.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lin wakes after winning his custom Twenty-Four Nights match and the additional Miracle match. His wager required seven survivors—three men, three women, and one special life-form—and he receives an Insect Lock, an unknown item, achievement points, and other winnings.
• Returning to the casino, Chen finds six other survivors: Gu Youlan, Buxi, Red Ribbon, Jin Wanshan, Ma Niu, and Ye Daier. The rest—including the formidable Han Yu—are presumed dead.
• Buxi explains that she, Gu Youlan, and Red Ribbon escaped Heavenly Tranquility City through a hidden passage. Their survival depended on earned resurrection rewards, Gu Youlan’s Resurrection Pill, and Yue Hengshan allowing them to flee.
• Jin Wanshan recounts that Chen’s Rainbow Slash apparently terrified the Night King into retreating. Chen doubts the story but learns he helped create the legendary rainbow that saved the Saint Realm.
• In private, Ye Daier reveals that she can imitate the Night King’s aura and that she helped Chen partly to obtain the unknown item. Chen gives it to her. She says the Shadow Scholar has been cut off from his shadows and weakened, while using her origin essence has greatly advanced Chen’s life level.
• Chen inspects his remaining rewards. The Insect Lock requires a Spacetime Insect, the Dawnstar Lantern has limited use, and his most important gain is retaining part of Liu Laosi’s will, which has elevated his abilities to the Primordial Realm. He then prepares to return to the Ascension Trial space.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin is recognized as the Savior of the Saint Realm and grows substantially stronger. He remains cautious and pragmatic, willingly giving Ye Daier the treasure in return for her help and to avoid provoking her.
• Ye Daier reveals a mysterious connection to the Night King but denies being the Night King herself. Her cooperation with Chen was partly self-interested, though she acknowledges their partnership worked well.
• Buxi, Gu Youlan, and Red Ribbon reaffirm their bond with Chen through gratitude and exchanged communication devices. Buxi declines a share of his winnings and intends to leave the casino.
• Ma Niu apologizes for past offenses and departs respectfully. Jin Wanshan becomes an enthusiastic admirer and offers to follow Chen.
• The survivors’ reunion is shadowed by the deaths of most contestants, underscoring the casino’s brutality.

Significant themes

• Survival and sacrifice: Chen’s victory comes at the cost of nearly every other participant’s life.
• Power and its price: Chen’s advancement depends on dangerous gambles, another’s will, and Ye Daier’s origin essence; rare rewards may also attract lethal attention.
• Trust and self-interest: Alliances can be genuine and useful while still serving each party’s own goals.
• Legend and uncertainty: Chen’s deeds reshape history, yet even he does not know exactly what happened during his decisive battle with the Night King.

Key plot points and events

• After the Wealth and Honor Casino ordeal, Chen Lin offers Jin Wanshan a loan to clear his gambling debt and urges him to leave before he loses more.
• Chen Lin dissolves Mo Ziyan’s contract. She and Gu Youlan both choose to travel with him. Gu explains that the Ascension Trial’s first two stages are region-specific, but the third will unite cultivators from every boundary realm and pit them against the Heavenly Monarch whose seat is being challenged.
• Chen Lin waits three months for casino owner Li Fugui, but receives his offer through Dice Elder: in exchange for a future basket of steamed buns, Li will provide the White Cloud Token. Chen Lin agrees and receives it, along with Dice Elder’s cryptic advice to choose a shorter horse if the opportunity arises.
• Chen Lin uses the token to return to Floating Life City, bringing Gu Youlan and Mo Ziyan inside the Heaven-Connecting Pagoda. He confirms that the token fulfills his forbidden task and tells the Mission Hall administrator about the casino in return for protection for people under his care.
• Chen Lin reunites with Leng Yue and the others. He advises True Lord Wanmeng, Lu Xiaoyi, and Qiu Mufan to remain in Floating Life City for safety, while Leng Yue accompanies him. He promises to look for Nan Mochu if he can.
• Shopkeeper Wei Xinan seeks to buy Chen Lin’s Profound Mystery Fruits, hoping to use them as protection before entering the casino himself. Chen Lin warns him of the danger but agrees to discuss a trade, requiring treasures of the Primordial Tier.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin returns far stronger, with greatly improved energy, origin essence, and combat ability. He remains cautious about the casino’s power and prioritizes protecting his companions.
• Gu Youlan and Mo Ziyan commit to following Chen Lin, seeing both the danger of the coming trials and the advantages of joining him.
• Jin Wanshan accepts Chen Lin’s help but recognizes that gambling has brought him trouble.
• Leng Yue follows Chen Lin with loyalty; Lu Xiaoyi and Qiu Mufan accept his advice to stay behind. Qiu asks him to help Nan Mochu.
• Wei Xinan reveals his ambition to enter the casino despite its risks, while Chen Lin acts as a wary adviser and potential supplier.

Significant themes

• Risk and ambition: The casino and Ascension Trial promise extraordinary gains but carry lethal consequences.
• Loyalty and responsibility: Chen Lin makes difficult choices about who should travel with him and who is safer staying behind.
• Power and hidden rules: Chen Lin’s growing ability lets him suppress the casino’s rules and bring its fruit out, yet he remains aware that the casino’s owner may be beyond his strength.
• Trust and uncertain bargains: The White Cloud Token comes at the strange price of a future basket of buns, leaving Li Fugui’s motives unclear.

Plot and key events

• Chen Lin trades five Advanced Profound Mystery Fruits and ten ordinary ones to Wei Xinan for a strange, translucent female index finger bone. Its shape and serrated edge resemble a smaller Soul-Unlocking Key, but Chen Lin cannot determine whether it is genuine.
• Chen Lin completes the White Cloud Token quest at the Floating Life Stele. His reward is a choice of mount and three drops of White Cloud Spirit Dew, which can strengthen a mount and help it travel through the void.
• In a pasture of extraordinary Dream Horses, Chen Lin spots a mottled gray donkey. He recalls Dice Elder’s advice to choose a shorter mount and recognizes the donkey as possibly identical to one once ridden by a mysterious “counterfeit Chen Lin.” The old cultivator’s cryptic remarks about fate, Heaven’s decree, and karma return to his mind.
• Chen Lin tries to communicate with the donkey and uses his Enlightenment power, but gets no clear response. After divining, he chooses it anyway. The selection forms a mental connection between them.
• The donkey immediately demands spirit dew and refuses to travel, claiming it lacks energy. Chen Lin punishes it with a seven-colored whip, prompting it to plead and drop its haughty “Lord Donkey” persona.
• When Chen Lin opens a spatial rift and leaves without it, the donkey rushes after him and carries him safely back to the place where he entered Floating Life City.
• The donkey boasts that it can reach mysterious places if fed, even claiming it might reach Dandian Paradise. Chen Lin makes it admit that this is difficult and warns it not to lie. The chapter ends with the donkey weak from its journey and asking for food; Chen Lin refuses to spend his precious White Cloud Spirit Dew.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Lin is cautious but curious: he bargains hard for the finger-bone artifact, reflects seriously on the donkey’s possible connection to his past, and chooses it only after divination. Once the donkey proves manipulative, he is stern and pragmatic, ready to abandon it rather than tolerate disobedience. He nevertheless recognizes its potential usefulness as a way to enter Floating Life City without expending his own strength.
• The Gray Donkey shifts rapidly from feigned affection to arrogance, then to fear and flattery under Chen Lin’s threat. Despite its bluster and deception, it demonstrates genuine extraordinary mobility by carrying Chen Lin through the void.
• Wei Xinan negotiates with Chen Lin over the unusual finger bone, initially asking a high price but accepting Chen Lin’s final offer readily.
• Chen Lin’s remembered advice from Dice Elder and the encounter with the mysterious old cultivator shape his decision, though the donkey’s identity remains uncertain.

Significant themes

• Fate, destiny, and karma: The donkey revives the old cultivator’s warnings about Heaven’s decree and the cost attached to every gift, leaving their meaning unresolved.
• Power and perspective: Chen Lin reflects that things once thought unreachable can seem commonplace from a higher vantage point.
• Trust and hidden motives: The donkey’s apparent affection proves unreliable, and Chen Lin tests its boasts rather than accepting them.
• Usefulness versus obedience: Chen Lin is willing to keep the donkey for its abilities, but not at the cost of surrendering control or valuable resources.

Plot points and events

• After Gray Donkey reluctantly eats star crystals, Chen Lin investigates the deserted settlement where he previously entered Floating Life City. Suspecting his arrival was deliberately arranged—possibly by Shadow Scholar or the Heavenly Dao—he threatens the sky with the Heaven-Slaying Saber.
• The Heavenly Dao abruptly grants Chen Lin major rewards: protection for up to one hundred people, a Resurrection Token, three treasure selections, and one question. It also ends the second trial early and moves Chen Lin and his team to a protected space.
• Chen Lin reunites with more than a hundred teammates, including Yilan, Xiao He, and Long Zequan. He tells them to prepare for the third trial and warns them not to provoke Gray Donkey.
• Chen Lin releases Gu Youlan and Mo Ziyan and discusses Floating Life City, the Wealth and Honor Casino, and the Saint Realm with Xiao He. She says Shadow Scholar linked those places to Dandian Paradise’s origins. Chen Lin confirms that an important item was found but lies about not knowing more.
• Chen Lin tells Xiao He what he knows about Shadow Scholar. Delighted that Shadow Scholar may never regain his former power, she offers Chen Lin a lotus petal. Gray Donkey tries to claim it, but Chen Lin stores it away.
• Gray Donkey accuses Chen Lin of being an old companion who once promised to treat him as a brother. Chen Lin denies being that person and orders him to behave or leave. The donkey storms off, then returns almost immediately, apologizing and pledging obedience.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Lin demonstrates the power to intimidate the Heavenly Dao, but remains cautious and selective about what he reveals. Gray Donkey’s claims unsettle him and deepen his doubts about the identity and past of the original Chen Lin.
• Gray Donkey is powerful enough to resist Chen Lin’s storage items and escape through the boundary wall, yet behaves comically: greedy for food, rude, and easily cowed when threatened. His assertion that Chen Lin is an old friend hints at a mysterious shared past.
• Yilan greets Chen Lin warmly and reports that she kept the team alive while he was gone. She treats Gray Donkey kindly, earning his immediate flattery.
• Xiao He reveals that Shadow Scholar knew of a secret tied to Dandian Paradise’s origins. Her laughter and gift show gratitude to Chen Lin for what he has done against Shadow Scholar, though she presses him for information.
• The team is confused by the sudden end to its battles, but follows Chen Lin’s lead and begins preparing for the next trial.

Significant themes

• Power and leverage: Chen Lin’s threat appears to make the Heavenly Dao yield, suggesting the system is not as untouchable as it seems.
• Trust and secrecy: Chen Lin shares some intelligence with Xiao He but withholds details, reflecting the team’s limited closeness and the risks of revealing too much.
• Uncertain identity and buried history: Gray Donkey’s recognition raises questions about Chen Lin’s connection to the original Chen Lin and the unexplained history he inherited.
• Comic contrast: Gray Donkey’s irreverence and appetite lighten the tension of the trials and the chapter’s mysteries.

Chen Lin used the Heavenly Dao’s rewards to protect his loved ones and resurrect several companions, including Qin Lingyu, while his attempt to resurrect Sword Woman failed. After years of cultivation, he questioned Chen Qingying about Gray Donkey, and she revealed that something strange had happened when Chen Lin’s former body was born.

• Chen Lin wrote the names of his family and friends on the Protection Scroll, then used the Resurrection Token to bring back Qin Lingyu, Fairy Yaochi, six other women, and Chen Qingying.
• Chen Lin failed to resurrect Sword Woman, exhausting the Resurrection Token’s final chance, then spent more than three months helping the resurrected women settle in.
• Chen Lin cultivated with Gu Youlan for ten years inside the Insect Lock before returning to reality, while keeping his unused question reward in reserve.
• Chen Lin asked Chen Qingying about Gray Donkey, gave her cultivation supplies, and explained that Gray Donkey might have been her second grandfather’s mount.
• Chen Qingying recalled that her father had told her something strange happened when Chen Lin’s former body was born.