Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Western intelligence agencies analyze footage from the Wu Ming Ruins and confirm it was filmed on a phone, with no edits or special effects.
• Unable to accept the video’s supernatural claims—ancient cultivation, awakened puppets, and a supposedly revived figure from the Great Yuan era—they reinterpret it as evidence of a secret Central Continent program creating superhuman biological weapons.
• Experts estimate that the headless monster’s protective Dark Light could withstand bullets and explosives, while the martial artists fighting it display extraordinary speed, strength, and combat ability.
• The United States, Britain, other Western European nations, and Japan secretly plan to send agents to investigate and steal information. They also prepare to publicly accuse the Central Continent of covert human experimentation.
• Meanwhile, public enthusiasm for National Martial Arts in the Central Continent continues to grow. Gu Chen gains nearly 200,000 Origin Points in ten days and hopes to use them to bring the Martial Dao Human Immortal Pei Canghai into reality.
• Nearly ten days after the ruins opened, the foreign nations begin pressuring the Central Continent to explain its alleged biological-weapons research.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen benefits from the growing public belief in the Human Immortal Martial Dao: that faith brings him Origin Points, and he becomes eager to open more ruins and potentially realize Pei Canghai.
• Foreign intelligence directors and experts respond to the footage with a mix of amazement and uncertainty. Since they cannot explain the powers shown, officials steer the discussion toward espionage and political pressure.
• Central Continent martial artists, including Li Hansha and the other great boxers, become public models of what ordinary people might achieve through training.

Significant themes

• Truth versus interpretation: Faced with evidence that contradicts their worldview, foreign agencies recast supernatural events as secret technology.
• Fear and political suspicion: The footage sparks an international security crisis, with extraordinary abilities treated as a potential weapons program.
• Belief as power: Growing public faith in the martial arts directly increases Gu Chen’s Origin Points.
• Cultural influence: The ruins’ revelations inspire a surge of interest in traditional martial arts across the Central Continent.

Key plot points and events

• America, Britain, other Western European countries, Japan, and their allies accuse the Central Continent of secretly conducting human experiments to create superhuman weapons. They demand inspections and threaten economic sanctions.
• Central Continent officials are bewildered: none of their departments know of such experiments. At a press conference, the Foreign Affairs Office denies the allegations as slander.
• The accusers release photos and videos as evidence. Central Continent officials recognize the supposed “weapons” as martial artists: Pillaring Grandmasters Li Hansha and Wang Tianba, Transforming Strength Great Boxers Fang Hansong and Tang Ye, and a headless creature connected to the demonized remains of the Yuan-era advisor Basiba.
• Central Continent netizens ridicule the foreign governments for mistaking National Martial Arts and the Human Immortal Martial Dao for biological weapons.
• The Strategic Deception Bureau offers a diplomatic explanation: the people in the footage are National Martial Arts masters, comparable to kung fu practitioners, while the unusual “Blood-colored Wolf Smoke” is an old martial-arts phenomenon whose origins are still being investigated.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen laughs at the uproar, recognizing that the martial arts he brought into reality through Refine Falsehood Into Truth have triggered an international misunderstanding.
• Central Continent officials move from confusion and alarm to relief once they identify the footage. Their representatives respond to foreign accusations with indignation, then calm, deadpan explanations.
• Foreign officials and reporters press for answers, but become visibly unsettled when told the apparently superhuman feats are martial arts.
• Central Continent netizens turn the controversy into a source of national pride, mocking the foreign intelligence agencies and defending their ancestors’ martial traditions.

Significant themes

• Misunderstanding and culture clash: Foreign observers interpret unfamiliar martial arts as evidence of secret weapons.
• Tradition and modernity: The Central Continent frames extraordinary abilities as inherited martial knowledge rather than experimental science.
• Propaganda and international pressure: Accusations and threats escalate before the evidence is properly understood.
• National pride and satire: The public treats the incident as proof of the foreigners’ ignorance, while the chapter humorously undercuts the seriousness of the diplomatic crisis.

Key plot points and events

• Foreign readers, intrigued by reports of National Martial Arts, read Dragon Snake and became eager to learn the discipline. Their interest earns Gu Chen more Origin Points, helping him expand the supernatural systems he pursues from behind the scenes.
• After earlier threats of sanctions, America, Britain, other Western European countries, and Japan ask to jointly research the Wu Ming Ruins, claiming their discoveries belong to all humanity. The Central Province government rejects the proposal, insisting the ruins are Central Continent’s ancestral legacy.
• Central Continent’s netizens celebrate the refusal. In response, the excluded foreign powers order their intelligence agencies to steal the research findings.
• In a group chat, Fang Xiu reports that researchers have turned herbs from the ruins into Peiyuan Pills, which make better use of their medicinal properties. One trial participant reportedly reached Hidden Strength after taking them. The authorities will exchange five pills for each rare herb, with no limit.
• Several group-chat members reveal they have herbs to trade. Ye Liangchen boasts that his four herbs will make him a Hidden Strength master, prompting others to joke about muting him.
• Gu Chen is impressed by the government’s rapid research progress and wonders how much it has learned about the other supernatural discoveries.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen benefits from National Martial Arts spreading abroad and is pleased by the government’s firm stance. He recognizes the state’s research capacity but remains curious about its progress on the other discoveries.
• The Central Province government shifts from defending its findings against foreign pressure to actively researching the ruins and producing Peiyuan Pills.
• Foreign powers move from public demands for access to covert plans to steal the research.
• The group-chat members eagerly discuss the pill exchange. Ye Liangchen’s grandiose confidence contrasts with the others’ playful irritation.

Significant themes

• National pride and ownership: The government and public view the ruins as an inheritance belonging to Central Continent.
• Power and international rivalry: Foreign governments’ attitudes change when Central Continent gains a valuable advantage, while their envy leads to espionage.
• Knowledge, belief, and influence: As more people believe in National Martial Arts, Gu Chen gains Origin Points and greater ability to pursue supernatural power.
• Scientific progress: The authorities quickly turn discoveries into practical benefits, showing the potential of coordinated research.

Plot points and events

• Gu Chen learns through a private group chat that authorities are combining the Human Immortal Martial Dao Five Organs Chapter with modern science. A laboratory in Coastal City is using a supercomputer to develop an easier version of the cultivation method.
• Intrigued by the research—and realizing he lives in the same city—Gu Chen privately gets the laboratory’s location from Liu Qing’er.
• Unsure whether his current strength is enough to protect him, he spends 100,000 Origin Points to master the Five Organs Chapter.
• His new Qi and Blood Power can extend beyond his body and strike objects with great force. He tests it by punching a hole through a wall, then heads to the lab disguised in black clothing and a mask.
• Gu Chen evades the building’s security and reaches the central computer. He confirms that the laboratory’s simplified method is easier to cultivate, though it has lower requirements than the system’s perfected version.
• A suspicious man in military-green clothing confronts him over his lack of an access badge, suggesting his infiltration has been discovered.

Character developments

• Gu Chen moves from passive observer to active investigator. His curiosity about scientific cultivation leads him to strengthen himself, infiltrate the laboratory, and assess its work firsthand.
• Liu Qing’er proves a useful source of inside information, sharing her uncle’s connection to the research and ultimately giving Gu Chen the lab’s location.
• Wang Xiaoai introduces a cautionary view: shortcuts may make cultivation easier but could leave practitioners weaker in actual combat.
• The unnamed man in military-green appears alert and suspicious, emerging as an immediate obstacle to Gu Chen.

Significant themes

• Science and martial arts: The chapter explores whether advanced technology can simplify traditional cultivation and accelerate progress.
• Shortcuts versus true strength: Easier cultivation may broaden access, but it may not produce strength equal to one’s apparent level.
• Curiosity and risk: Gu Chen’s desire to verify the research pushes him into a dangerous, heavily guarded facility.
• Modern secrecy: Official research, security systems, and private connections show how martial-arts knowledge is becoming intertwined with state institutions.

Character interactions

• Group-chat members exchange sensitive information about government experiments and debate the value of scientific shortcuts.
• Gu Chen privately questions Liu Qing’er, who supplies the laboratory’s location.
• At the laboratory, Gu Chen studies the research until the military-green-clad man challenges him about his missing badge.

Plot and events

• Gu Chen is confronted at a research facility by Wang Hong, leader of the Divine Blade Special Forces, who assumes he is a spy stealing state secrets and orders him to surrender.
• Gu Chen recognizes Wang Hong as a Hidden Strength fighter enhanced through government research, but refuses to submit, confident in his own superior martial skill.
• Wang Hong attacks with a military grappling technique. His Hidden Strength has no effect on Gu Chen, who effortlessly jolts him backward and explains that Wang’s strength lacks the foundation of someone trained through traditional practice.
• When security guards threaten Gu Chen with weapons, he moves too quickly for them to react and knocks all six unconscious.
• Wang realizes Gu Chen must be a Pillaring Grandmaster. During the confrontation, a researcher seizes the opportunity to steal the data storage device and flee, revealing that the real spy was inside the facility.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen remains calm and self-assured. He demonstrates that his martial ability far exceeds the government-enhanced fighters, while explaining that he values freedom and only came to inspect the research.
• Wang Hong begins confident in his elite training but becomes shocked and wary after Gu Chen withstands his attack and defeats the guards.
• The researchers and guards initially treat Gu Chen as the sole threat; their attention and confusion allow the true thief to escape with the data.

Themes

• Natural mastery versus engineered strength: Gu Chen’s traditionally developed abilities outclass the force produced by modern enhancement.
• Appearances and misdirection: The apparent intruder is not the one who steals the research data; the actual spy exploits everyone’s focus on Gu Chen.
• Freedom versus institutional control: Gu Chen rejects joining the authorities because he dislikes being controlled, even while showing interest in their work.

• Key events: A disguised spy steals a storage device containing the laboratory’s martial-arts research and escapes amid smoke and confusion. Gu Chen pursues him, tracking him even after he changes his face and clothes in a restroom. When the spy offers to share the data—and then bribes Gu Chen with ten million dollars—Gu Chen knocks him down and denounces him as a spy. Gu Chen then disappears before Wang Hong can question him.
• Character developments: Gu Chen reveals extraordinary speed and tracking ability, along with a fiercely stated—but comically questionable—patriotism. Wang Hong is humiliated by the security breach and increasingly confused by Gu Chen’s actions. The spy proves resourceful with disguises and escape tactics, but is ultimately overpowered.
• Character interactions: Gu Chen pursues and confronts the spy, rejecting both his offer of cooperation and his bribe. Wang Hong arrives in time to witness the capture but cannot reconcile Gu Chen’s patriotic claims with his own unauthorized break-in.
• Themes and tone: The chapter contrasts patriotic duty with self-interest and exposes the absurdity of judging motives by appearances. Its humor comes from the gap between Gu Chen’s grand declarations and his suspicious behavior, while the stolen research and security breach provide the stakes.

Key plot points and events

• Security forces secure the Coastal City research institute after a spy is caught trying to steal research on the Wu Ming Ruins. Wang Hong gives the recovered data to the researchers and reports the incident.
• Surveillance fails to identify the masked intruder: Gu Chen had avoided cameras, changed clothes, and returned home unnoticed.
• News of the apparent Pillaring Grandmaster at the institute spreads. Liu Qing’er connects the event to Gu Chen’s recent questions about the institute and privately shares her suspicions with Fang Xiu.
• The attack prompts official research institutes across Central Province to tighten security. Their investigations uncover several other spies before they can act, frustrating foreign governments.
• Research into materials from the first Wu Ming Ruins improves Peiyuan Pill production. Members of the group chat—including Liu Qing’er, Fang Xiu, Li Xingming, Wang Xiaoai, and Ye Zhen—use the pills to reach Hidden Strength.
• As public excitement and his Origin Point gains fade, Gu Chen spends 5,000 Origin Points to activate another ruin. The earth shakes, and blood-colored wolf smoke marks the appearance of Central Province’s second Wu Ming Ruins.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen remains unidentified after the institute incident, but his secrecy is increasingly at risk: Liu Qing’er’s intuition leads her to suspect him.
• Liu Qing’er shifts from casual curiosity to active suspicion, seeking Fang Xiu’s opinion. Fang Xiu agrees that the timing is striking, though neither has proof.
• Wang Hong handles the aftermath by securing the stolen data and submitting a report, helping trigger a broader security response.
• The group-chat members’ martial progress reflects how Peiyuan Pills are spreading strength beyond official circles.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and suspicion: Gu Chen evades official surveillance, yet personal intuition threatens to expose him.
• The consequences of one incident: The institute breach sparks security crackdowns that disrupt espionage networks across Central Province.
• The spread of power: Ruin-derived medicines and materials help ordinary people become Hidden Strength fighters.
• Escalating discovery: Gu Chen’s decision to create another ruin launches a new phase of events.

Plot and key events

• A second set of Wu Ming Ruins appears outside Jiangdu, marked by a rising stone gate and a towering blood-colored pillar of smoke. Videos spread online, drawing eager explorers.
• The crowd is larger and stronger than during the first opening: many returning explorers seek rare medicinal plants and Human Immortal Martial Dao techniques, while newcomers hope to improve their cultivation.
• The Central Continent authorities respond quickly, deploying elite Special Operations Forces by helicopter and establishing a heavily armed perimeter with ground troops, vehicles, and powerful weapons. They are particularly wary of the remains of Imperial Advisor Basiba, whose demonized form proved dangerous before.
• Civilian explorers worry that the military may keep them out, and gather together for reassurance. Streamers arrive to broadcast the event, while Western spies disguise themselves among the civilians to seek information and valuables.
• Gu Chen joins the civilian crowd and studies the military presence, curious to see how modern weapons will fare against supernatural power.
• After the smoke pillar contracts, the Special Operations Forces enter first, followed closely by the civilians as the next exploration begins.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen remains calm and observant. The scale of the official response surprises him, but it also fuels his interest in the coming confrontation between technology and supernatural forces.
• The authorities act more decisively than before, aiming to control access and prepare for Basiba’s potential return.
• Civilian explorers are enthusiastic but uneasy about the military’s strength. Their shared concern brings them together, despite their competing hopes of claiming treasures.
• Western spies and streamers add further tension and spectacle: one group seeks covert gains, while the other seeks an audience.

Significant themes

• Technology versus supernatural power: The chapter sets up a possible test of modern firepower against the forces within the ruins.
• Competition over opportunity: Government forces, civilians, and foreign agents all seek access to the ruins and their resources.
• Escalating stakes: The second opening draws more people, better-prepared explorers, and a much stronger official response than the first.

Key plot points

• Fang Hansong disperses the Stone Gate’s Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke, allowing the official expedition to enter first. Civilian explorers follow, hoping to find valuable medicinal plants, but the larger expedition quickly strips the ruins of them.
• Gu Chen avoids the crowded search and sends his duplicate, Li Hansha, into the ruins. The Pillaring Grandmaster’s speed and power astonish both explorers and the military.
• Gu Chen opens a passage to the ruins’ depths. Explorers discover Pei Canghai’s stele and photograph the Human Immortal Martial Dao Marrow Cleansing Chapter carved upon it.
• Li Hansha reaches the stele and, on Gu Chen’s signal, stirs the demonized remains of Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba. After a brief clash, Li Hansha escapes; Basiba breaks free and uses a Legionary Commander-level body to become whole.
• The military prepares its heavy weapons around the Stone Gate. When Basiba emerges, the Colonel orders the troops to fire, beginning a confrontation between modern weaponry and supernatural power.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen acts strategically from the crowd, using Li Hansha and controlling when Basiba is awakened. He appears eager to see how the military’s weapons fare.
• Li Hansha demonstrates the extraordinary physical power of a Pillaring Grandmaster, then serves as bait to draw Basiba out before withdrawing.
• Fang Hansong uses his shared understanding of Qi and Blood Power to open the gate.
• The explorers shift from competing for treasure to recording the discovery and avoiding Basiba. Some experienced explorers sensibly leave the danger to Li Hansha and the armed forces.
• The Colonel and his troops respond to the threat with coordinated heavy firepower, while the gathered crowd watches and films.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts supernatural martial power with modern military technology, setting up a direct test of their strengths.
• It also shows how valuable discoveries become commodities and spectacles: explorers pursue medicinal plants for profit, while others livestream or photograph events.
• Gu Chen’s calculated manipulation highlights the danger of treating a sealed supernatural force as a way to test human capabilities.

Plot points and events

• Six armored vehicles open fire on Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba’s Demonized Remains, which rides the Dark Light at extraordinary speed and dodges the machine-gun barrage.
• The commanding Colonel orders rocket launchers and other explosive weapons used to slow Basiba and drive it toward a minefield.
• The bombardment engulfs the remains in explosions, smoke, and dust. Onlookers assume the attack may have destroyed it.
• Instead, Basiba bursts from beneath the government forces’ firing position and knocks several rocket-launcher soldiers aside.
• The Colonel orders the Special Operations Forces to spread out, while soldiers skilled in Hidden Strength move in to confront Basiba.

Character developments

• Basiba’s Demonized Remains proves exceptionally fast, instinctive, and durable, surviving a concentrated modern-weapons assault.
• The Colonel responds decisively, shifting tactics when machine guns fail and reorganizing his troops after Basiba’s surprise attack.
• Gu Chen remains confident in Basiba’s resilience, knowing the remains were designed to withstand more than the bombardment.
• The onlookers and explorers move from excitement and speculation to alarm as the supernatural threat demonstrates its strength.

Significant themes

• The clash contrasts modern military firepower with ancient supernatural power.
• The episode questions whether advanced weapons can overcome an enemy with extraordinary speed and resilience.
• Appearances can mislead: the smoke conceals Basiba’s survival, and the remains attack from below rather than where the troops expect.

Character interactions

• The Colonel directs soldiers to combine explosive weapons with machine-gun fire, attempting to control Basiba’s movement.
• Onlookers debate the weapons’ likely effects and compare Basiba’s power with that of legendary figures, including the Human Immortal Martial Dao Ancestor Pei Canghai.
• After Basiba’s counterattack, the Colonel orders a coordinated response, and soldiers rally one another to protect their comrades and stop the remains.

Key plot points and events

• Basiba’s Demonized Remains, reinforced by a Legionary Commander-level Blood Qi Puppet, charge through the Official forces, shrugging off most attacks.
• A sniper finally penetrates the Dark Light barrier with an anti-materiel rifle. The snipers, rockets, and other weapons then tear apart the puppet’s upper body and bring the remains down.
• The Official secures the ruins and takes the remains for study, denying civilian explorers and foreign spies access to them. The second Wu Ming Ruins expedition ends.
• Footage of the battle spreads online, prompting public debate about supernatural power versus modern weapons.
• Gu Chen gains nearly 350,000 Origin Points from the event, bringing his total to 550,000. He decides he can now use Refine Falsehood Into Truth to bring Martial Dao Human Immortal Pei Canghai into existence.

Character developments and interactions

• The Official commander adapts quickly once the Dark Light is breached, ordering concentrated fire and then an orderly lockdown.
• Snipers and other military units coordinate their attacks, turning the tide through sustained, combined firepower.
• Civilian explorers and foreign spies are left frustrated: the Official acts too swiftly for them to obtain relics or samples.
• Gu Chen observes the battle as a practical test of martial cultivation against technology. He concludes that reaching the pinnacle of Human Immortal Martial Dao may be necessary to confront modern weapons directly.

Significant themes

• Supernatural power versus technology: Individual cultivation is difficult but self-contained; modern force depends on external tools and training, yet can be devastating when coordinated.
• Control of knowledge and resources: The Official’s rapid response leaves explorers and spies unable to claim the remains.
• Power built through attention: Public interest in the ruins and battle generates Origin Points for Gu Chen, turning a widely witnessed event into an opportunity to advance his plans.

Key plot points and events

• After witnessing modern weapons destroy Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba’s reanimated remains, Gu Chen leaves the ruins, satisfied with what he came to learn.
• Ye Zhen arrives too late, boasting that he will fight the ruins’ Blood Qi Puppets. The group tells him the site has already been cleared, Basiba’s remains defeated, and the area placed under military restriction. Embarrassed, Ye Zhen confirms the news online and gives up.
• Videos of the ruins spark online speculation that a third Wu Ming Ruins may exist, since Basiba’s severed head remains missing. Commenters also discuss the authorities’ growing control of the discoveries and research into making Human Immortal Martial Dao easier to learn.
• Gu Chen finishes designing the backstory for Pei Canghai and spends 500,000 Origin Points to make him real. The system creates a hidden cave on Purple Paulownia Mountain, where Pei Canghai awakens from thousand-year-old Frigid Ice.
• Pei Canghai’s immense Qi and Blood erupts into a dragon-shaped Wolf Smoke reaching the sky, melting the ice and silencing the surrounding area.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen remains practical and focused: he leaves the ruins, warns Ye Zhen to turn back, then commits a huge amount of Origin Points to bringing Pei Canghai into existence.
• Ye Zhen is still boastful after reaching Hidden Strength, but his confidence collapses when he discovers he missed the action and the military has closed the site.
• The Group Chat members collectively mock Ye Zhen’s self-praise, then bluntly explain the situation and urge him to return.
• Pei Canghai makes his first appearance as a seemingly young, powerful figure whose awakening immediately signals extraordinary strength.

Significant themes

• Modern power versus ancient supernatural forces: The military’s weapons prove capable of defeating Basiba’s remains.
• The growing reach of institutions: Authorities secure the ruins, while public discussion suggests they are also advancing martial-arts research.
• Ambition, timing, and embarrassment: Ye Zhen’s plans come too late, contrasting with Gu Chen’s deliberate progress.
• Creation and consequence: Gu Chen’s costly use of the system brings a legendary Martial Dao Human Immortal into the world, whose power is immediately apparent.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chen laments spending 500,000 Origin Points to create Pei Canghai, leaving him with only 50,000. The cost reflects the strength of the being created: Pei is a Martial Dao Human Immortal, a major leap beyond Gu Chen’s earlier Pillaring Grandmaster avatar, Li Hansha.
• Gu Chen projects his mind into Pei, who has been sleeping in ancient ice inside a cliff on Purple Paulownia Mountain. Pei’s body has refined 1.08 million acupoints, giving him immense Qi and Blood Power.
• To keep the Central Province Official from noticing him too soon, Gu Chen follows a planned sequence: Pei wakes, descends the mountain, and tries to blend into modern society before being drawn into the Wu Ming Ruins.
• Pei enters Jinling and attracts attention with his imposing appearance and old-fashioned black robe. A lively young woman in a qipao approaches him and assumes he is cosplaying.
• She introduces herself as Qin Miaowei and takes him to a milk tea shop to question him. Gu Chen, acting through Pei, pretends to be a man from centuries past who knows nothing of modern life, while claiming that a martial artist can cover dozens of kilometers in minutes.

Character developments

• Gu Chen is both calculating and playful: he carefully manages Pei’s public debut but enjoys maintaining the act when challenged.
• Pei Canghai is established as extraordinarily powerful, with strength far beyond ordinary martial artists, yet he must now navigate a world he supposedly does not understand.
• Qin Miaowei is curious, bold, and teasing. She quickly moves from admiring Pei’s appearance to questioning him and treating him like an intriguing stranger.

Significant themes

• Power and cost: Creating a more powerful being requires a steep expenditure of Origin Points.
• Control and identity: Pei has an independent-seeming personality and memories, but Gu Chen can take control of him remotely.
• The old meeting the new: Pei’s ancient martial worldview clashes with modern technology and assumptions.
• Performance and deception: Gu Chen deliberately acts the part of an awakened historical martial artist to conceal Pei’s true nature and guide events.

Character interactions

• Qin Miaowei flirts with Pei and jokes about his “philosophical” manner and costume; Pei responds with stiff, formal propriety.
• She dismisses his claims about his age and speed as boastful cosplay, while he calmly insists that martial artists can use Qi and Blood Power to travel extraordinary distances.
• Their conversation at the milk tea shop sets up a playful contrast between her modern skepticism and his carefully performed ancient ignorance.

Plot points and events

• Gu Chen, inhabiting Pei Canghai’s body, tells Qin Miaowei that he is extraordinarily powerful. She assumes his amnesia has made him clueless and dismisses his claims as bragging.
• When she asks whether he has money, he produces a large gold ingot. Qin takes it as rent and meal money and offers to let him stay with her while she looks into his memory loss.
• On their walk home, a group of drunken, martial-arts-trained men accosts them. Qin tries to protect Gu Chen, but he secretly channels Qi and Blood Power through her hands, causing her slaps to knock the men unconscious.
• Astonished, Qin thinks she defeated them herself. She takes Gu Chen to her modest home and gives him her bedroom.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Chen/Pei Canghai: Remains confident in his immense abilities, but finds himself in the amusing position of being disbelieved—and then protected by Qin. He quietly helps her without revealing what he did.
• Qin Miaowei: Cheerful, teasing, and practical, she believes Gu Chen is an amnesiac braggart but shows genuine kindness by taking him in. Despite being frightened by the thugs, she bravely steps in front of him.
• Their dynamic mixes Qin’s protective generosity with Gu Chen’s bemused, understated amusement.

Significant themes

• Truth mistaken for boasting: Gu Chen’s extraordinary claims sound unbelievable to ordinary people.
• Hidden power and misunderstanding: His strength remains concealed, even when it determines the outcome of the confrontation.
• Unexpected kindness and role reversal: Qin protects someone far stronger than herself, while Gu Chen quietly protects her in return.

Key plot points and events

• Gu Chen continues observing Pei Canghai in Jinling, where Qin Miaowei sells a gold ingot and gives the supposedly amnesiac stranger a makeover. Pei rejects her fashionable choices in favor of plain, old-fashioned robes.
• Qin takes Pei to a psychologist rather than a hospital. The psychologist diagnoses him with “Severe Delusional Disorder and Cognitive Disorder,” prompting Gu Chen’s exasperation. Qin invents a melodramatic romance-novel backstory for him, unaware of the truth.
• Nearly a month after the previous Wu Ming Ruins appeared, Gu Chen activates the final ruin beneath the Ming Emperor Mausoleum. Unlike the earlier ruins, this one contains unexpected dangers.
• In a hidden chamber, Basiba emerges from a golden coffin wearing the Wu Ming Emperor’s imperial robes. He reveals that he has fully taken over the emperor’s body and absorbed its Dragon Qi, strengthening his demonic power.
• The ruin’s Qi and Blood Wolf Smoke attempts to seal Basiba, but his new power holds it off until it withdraws.
• Pei senses the demonic presence mixed with Dragon Qi from nearly fifty kilometers away and realizes something is wrong. Qin dismisses his warning as another delusion.

Character developments

• Gu Chen remains an observer and strategist, deliberately triggering the final ruin and anticipating its unusual threat.
• Pei Canghai is increasingly alert to the supernatural danger around him, though his true identity and abilities remain unrecognized by Qin.
• Qin Miaowei grows more familiar and playful with Pei, but interprets his genuine supernatural claims through the lens of her invented backstory and the psychologist’s diagnosis.
• Basiba has become a far more formidable antagonist by possessing the Wu Ming Emperor’s body and combining Dragon Qi with his demonic aura.

Significant themes

• Truth mistaken for madness: Pei’s accurate perceptions are treated as symptoms of delusion.
• Appearance versus reality: Pei’s makeover disguises his immense power, while Basiba’s imperial appearance conceals a demonic threat.
• Escalating danger and unexpected power: The final ruin overturns expectations, as Basiba resists the seal that once contained him.

Character interactions

• Qin tries to manage Pei’s appearance and “amnesia,” while Pei resists her makeover and avoids medical examination.
• Qin and her psychologist friend label Pei’s claims as delusions; Qin later teases him and suggests another appointment when he senses Basiba.
• Pei ignores Qin’s skepticism and focuses on the danger he has detected.

Key plot points and events

• Sinister Blood Qi Puppets abduct two security guards from the Ming Emperor Mausoleum overnight. The next day, several tourists also disappear without appearing on exit-camera footage.
• Surveillance reveals a strange dark claw knocking visitors unconscious and dragging them away. Rumors of a monster—and possibly a tomb guardian—spread through Jinling and online.
• The captives are taken to a hidden chamber beneath the mausoleum, where they witness an eerie figure in a dragon robe rise from a Golden Silk Nanmu Coffin.
• The figure is Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba, reborn in a body fused with that of a Ming emperor. Demonic Aura has mingled with the body’s Dragon Qi, weakening the mausoleum’s protective suppression.
• Basiba learns about the modern world from the guards’ phones and is astonished by technology and its destructive potential.
• Two martial-arts-trained tourists try to attack him; he effortlessly repels them with a claw of Demonic Aura and orders more captives brought in.
• Basiba questions a couple about how to undo the sealing tablet at the Wu Ming Ruins. They recognize him from the nearby stele, which says his head was sealed there by Pei Canghai, and realize he is alive in a dragon-robed body.

Character developments and interactions

• Basiba is revealed as powerful, calculating, and curious about the modern age. He treats his captives as sources of information, showing little concern for their lives.
• The guards are terrified and quickly cooperate, explaining the outside world and teaching Basiba to use a phone.
• The two martial-arts tourists respond with bravado but are swiftly overpowered, exposing the vast gap between their abilities and Basiba’s.
• The couple begin frightened and confused, then recognize Basiba and grasp the shocking implication of the stele and his apparent possession of a Ming emperor’s body.
• The Sinister Blood Qi Puppets act as Basiba’s silent, obedient agents, abducting people at his command.

Significant themes

• The collision of past and present: Basiba confronts a world transformed by technology and rapidly changing history.
• Power and helplessness: Ordinary people, even trained fighters, are powerless against Basiba and his supernatural servants.
• Secrecy and revelation: The public sees only a “monster” mystery, while the captives uncover the deeper secret beneath the mausoleum.
• History’s uncertain boundaries: Basiba’s survival and fusion with a Ming emperor’s body challenge what the stele—and conventional history—seem to establish.

Plot points and events

• Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba learns that breaking the Sealing Stone Tablet requires an outsider who practices Human Immortal Martial Dao. He decides to lure such a person to the mausoleum.
• Using Sinister Blood Qi Puppets to threaten captured tourists, Basiba makes them spread online rumors that the Wu Ming Ruins lie beneath the Ming Emperor Mausoleum and that Blood Qi Puppets are inside.
• The rumors go viral, drawing martial artists and members of the Group Chat—including Liu Qing’er and her companions—to Jinling.
• Gu Chen watches events unfold from behind the scenes. He plans to stage a confrontation between Basiba and Martial Dao Human Immortal Pei Canghai, revealing the Human Immortal realm to the world and gaining Origin Points.
• The crowd overwhelms the authorities’ attempts to keep people away from the mausoleum. Pei Canghai senses a sinister presence there and predicts it will erupt within five breaths.
• A column of Blood-colored Wolf Smoke rises from the mausoleum almost immediately, confirming his warning and shocking Qin Miaowei.

Character developments

• Basiba proves calculating and ruthless: he turns frightened tourists into tools for attracting the martial artist he needs.
• Gu Chen emerges as a deliberate orchestrator, treating the coming crisis as a way to reveal a new power system and advance his own goals.
• Pei Canghai shows keen supernatural perception and recalls his ancient history: he once defeated Basiba, sealed away his remains, and later awakened in the present after centuries of seclusion.
• Qin Miaowei begins skeptical of Pei’s claims, but the sudden eruption forces her to reconsider his abilities.
• The Group Chat members and other martial artists are drawn by the possibility of a rare opportunity, despite uncertainty about the rumors.

Significant themes

• Rumor as a weapon: Basiba manipulates online information to move crowds and lure an enemy.
• Fear and self-preservation: The tourists comply under threat, prioritizing survival over the consequences for others.
• Public belief and spectacle: A mass of people gathers because the rumors seem plausible—and official denials only deepen their suspicion.
• The supernatural entering modern life: Ancient demons, martial arts, and a sealed ruin collide with internet culture and modern authorities.

Character interactions

• Basiba intimidates the tourists, promises to spare them, and directs them to spread the rumors.
• Group Chat members debate whether the reports are real, then decide to investigate.
• Authorities try to disperse the crowd, but the crowd interprets their restrictions as suspicious.
• Qin Miaowei teases Pei Canghai for his warnings; the eruption moments later turns their exchange into stunned disbelief.

Key plot points and events

• The Blood-colored Wolf Smoke rising from the Ming Emperor Mausoleum confirms that the third Wu Ming Ruins lies beneath it. The official who had denied the ruins’ existence is publicly jeered at.
• The government mobilizes elite Special Operations Forces, snipers, and instructor Fang Hansong. Because the mausoleum is a historical site, they avoid wide-area explosives but prepare to contain Basiba’s supposedly less dangerous, severed head.
• Fang Xiu, Liu Qing’er, Ye Zhen, Wang Xiaoai, and Li Xingming arrive with their masters, who are allowed to join the first wave of entrants.
• Once the Wolf Smoke disappears, explorers rush inside, hoping to claim the rare plants and resources found in earlier ruins. Instead, they find neither Blood Qi Puppets nor Rare Medicine and Precious Grass. Many explorers give up and leave.
• The government forces and the more determined explorers continue to the deepest chamber, where they find a stone tablet bearing the Human Immortal Martial Dao’s Blood Changing Chapter and an inscription saying it seals Basiba’s head.
• At the government’s request, Fang Hansong uses his Qi and Blood Power to break the seal. The tablet crumbles—and the nearby coffin opens, revealing a pale hand and a sinister presence.

Character developments and interactions

• The government official in charge loses credibility after the ruins appear exactly where he had insisted they were not.
• Fang Hansong is treated as a respected elder by the military and is asked to remove the seal. He complies, setting the final events in motion.
• The Special Operations Forces leader approaches Fang Hansong deferentially and explains that the military intends to capture Basiba’s head for research.
• The military and civilian explorers share the same urgency to enter first, but differ in their reasons: officials prepare for containment, while explorers hope to secure valuable resources.
• Liu Qing’er and the other Group Chat members follow their masters into the ruins, remaining among the determined group that presses onward despite the lack of expected rewards.

Significant themes

• Overconfidence and misjudgment: The government assumes a severed head will be harmless and plans accordingly, but the coffin’s ominous opening suggests that assumption may be dangerously wrong.
• Competition for scarce rewards: Explorers rush in because earlier ruins taught them that those who arrive first claim the best resources.
• The unknown beneath appearances: The ruin initially seems unusually empty, yet its deepest chamber holds a sealed threat far more unsettling than the absent plants and puppets.
• Human ambition versus caution: The military hopes to capture Basiba for research, while the act of breaking the seal risks unleashing something beyond its control.

Plot points and events

• A pale hand emerges from the Golden Silk Nanmu Coffin, revealing a strange figure in a bright yellow dragon robe: Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba, who says the body he inhabits belonged to Ming Emperor Mingwu Sect.
• Basiba explains that Mingwu Sect sought his help to gain power and reform the Ming court. In exchange, the emperor offered his Dragon-Qi-bearing body. Basiba took it over, but the Sealing Stone Tablet kept him trapped beneath the tomb.
• The explorers realize Basiba had deliberately arranged the tomb to draw them in and help him escape. The absence of the threats and treasures they expected was part of his trap.
• Wang Tianba attacks, but Basiba effortlessly repels him and sends him crashing into a wall. Fang Hansong, Tang Ye, and other martial artists attack together, yet Basiba overwhelms and injures them as well.
• The weaker explorers flee to warn the authorities. The stronger fighters also retreat, recognizing they cannot defeat Basiba and that only a Martial Dao Human Immortal—or a powerful missile—might stop him.
• Several foreign spies remain behind and try to establish friendly relations with Basiba, hoping to gain access to his power and secrets.

Character developments and interactions

• Basiba is revealed as a patient, cunning schemer as well as an overwhelmingly powerful fighter. He treats the fleeing combatants with contempt and shows interest in the foreign envoys who approach him.
• Mingwu Sect emerges as a tragic, ambitious figure: he sought Basiba’s aid to overcome political constraints, but his bargain ended with Basiba inhabiting his body.
• Wang Tianba begins boldly, but his defeat exposes the gulf between his strength and Basiba’s. The other martial artists likewise abandon the fight once they grasp the danger.
• The foreign spies choose diplomacy over flight, attempting to turn Basiba’s escape into an opportunity for their countries—and themselves.

Significant themes

• Ambition and betrayal: Mingwu Sect’s attempt to gain power becomes the means of his downfall.
• Manipulation and hidden history: The explorers discover that their journey was engineered by Basiba.
• Power and vulnerability: Courage and teamwork are ineffective against an opponent far above their level.
• Pragmatism and opportunism: The fighters retreat to seek help, while the foreign spies try to make an alliance with the newly freed threat.

• Key events: Great Yuan Imperial Advisor Basiba emerges from the Ming Emperor Mausoleum after using the explorers and fighters to help him escape. Having taken Ming Emperor Wu Mingzong’s body and fused with its Dragon Qi and Demonic Aura, he repels gunfire and defeats the Human Immortal martial artists and elite troops with ease. Several kilometers away, Gu Chen watches and decides the moment is right for Pei Canghai to confront him. He takes control of Pei Canghai and sends him walking toward the mausoleum—against the fleeing crowd.
• Character developments: Basiba is established as an overwhelming threat, seemingly beyond conventional weapons and martial fighters. Gu Chen shifts from observing events to directly acting through Pei Canghai. Pei, under Gu Chen’s control, appears fearless and determined, though the people around him interpret his behavior as recklessness.
• Character interactions: Qin Miaowei tries to persuade Pei Canghai to flee, but he first boasts that he can defeat Basiba. When she attempts to lead him away, Gu Chen’s control makes him break free and head toward the danger. Qin follows, pleading with him to stop.
• Themes: The chapter contrasts ordinary authority and weaponry with supernatural power, presenting Basiba as apparently invincible. It also emphasizes courage—or apparent madness—in the face of overwhelming danger, while framing the confrontation as a deliberately timed turning point in Gu Chen’s plan.