Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• The Metal Puppet finds a treasure map pointing to an icefield tomb containing a damaged Ink Sect Ancestor Puppet. Unable to dig through the hundred meters of near-impenetrable ice, it sacrifices its body in a powerful self-detonation.
• The blast reaches only partway down, but damage left by Senior White’s earlier bombardment makes the deeper ice collapse, exposing the tomb.
• Merit Snake Beauty repeatedly survives apparent deaths by reattaching her head or simply playing dead. When another puppet opens the coffin and attacks her, she eventually fights back with the Blood Bone and Face-Slapping Slipper, beating it severely before being recalled by Song Shuhang.
• The puppet nevertheless finds the coffin. Song Shuhang and Ye Si examine the recovered, badly damaged Ancestor Puppet in the Core World.
• Song Shuhang appraises it, learning that it is a Half-Spider Puppet King once capable of Peak Eighth-Grade strength. Though 89% damaged and beyond repair, its intact core—the “False Eternal Furnace”—can be removed and used separately. The puppet’s creator was an Ink Sect Longevity Immortal, whose identity remains concealed.

Character developments

• Merit Snake Beauty demonstrates that her merit-light body can endure serious damage and that her knack for playing dead has become exceptionally convincing. She shifts from feigning helplessness to delivering a decisive counterattack.
• The Metal Puppet proves willing to destroy a valuable body to reach its goal, but its effort succeeds only because of the glacier’s existing damage.
• Song Shuhang shows greater control over his Appraisal Secret Method, limiting the harm it causes while extracting useful information. Ye Si supports him by healing his arm during the appraisal.

Character interactions

• The Metal Puppet mistakes Merit Snake Beauty’s performances for death, while she uses its confidence to survive and later strike back.
• The second puppet attacks Snake Beauty after finding her in the coffin, but she retaliates before being recalled to Song Shuhang.
• Song Shuhang and Ye Si investigate the Ancestor Puppet together: Ye Si senses its active energy core, and her healing helps Song Shuhang complete the appraisal.

Significant themes

• Deception and misjudgment: Snake Beauty’s repeated “deaths” exploit her enemies’ assumptions.
• Sacrifice and persistence: The Metal Puppet destroys itself to pursue its objective, while the successful excavation depends on earlier damage caused by Senior White.
• Hidden value and mystery: A seemingly ruined puppet still contains a powerful, usable core, and its creator’s identity remains protected from appraisal.

Chapter 961 Summary: “I Feel Like I’m Going to Lose Money Today!”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang discovers that the damaged spider puppet’s core is still intact. The core is identified as a dangerous Pseudo-Eternal Furnace, but he cannot determine how to remove it safely.
• Fearing that dismantling the puppet might trigger a catastrophic explosion, Song Shuhang and Ye Si decide to leave the Core World and seek advice from the Nine Provinces No. 1 Group.
• Outside, Song Shuhang encounters the surviving non-metal, non-wood puppet. The puppet attacks by transforming its body into a rapidly spinning mass of blades.
• Before Song Shuhang can counterattack, the Merit snake-woman intervenes and overwhelms the puppet with the Slap-in-the-Face Slippers, repeatedly striking it and preventing it from standing.
• The puppet activates its self-destruct mechanism. Ye Si warns Song Shuhang, who immediately retreats into the Core World. The resulting explosion devastates the glacier, creating a massive pit roughly 500 meters wide and 100 meters deep.
• The collapse exposes numerous coffins arranged in a large circular formation. These appear to be the graves of powerful enemies defeated by the master of the Winter Palace.
• The burial formation activates, emitting eerie green light. Song Shuhang and Ye Si attempt to retreat, but a valuable Bamboo Shoot Leaf flies out of Song Shuhang’s pouch and is drawn into the formation.
• Ye Si and the Merit snake-woman both try to retrieve it, but an invisible barrier blocks them. The leaf eventually embeds itself in the center of the formation.
• The surrounding glacier melts into water as the formation fully activates, leaving Song Shuhang convinced that he is about to suffer a major financial loss.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang remains cautious and resource-conscious, especially because he is already heavily in debt. His fear of losing the Bamboo Shoot Leaf reflects how much he values its ability to save him from a death tribulation.
• Ye Si demonstrates practical judgment and strong intuition. She recognizes the danger of the puppet’s self-destruction and senses that the grave formation may be unsafe.
• The Merit snake-woman becomes increasingly proactive in protecting Song Shuhang. She independently launches a powerful attack and proves more effective than a conventional defensive shield.
• The puppet becomes desperate and increasingly suspicious of Song Shuhang’s spatial abilities. It speculates that Song Shuhang may possess the Ancestor Puppet or be aided by Bai.

Significant Themes

• Danger hidden within valuable treasures: The Pseudo-Eternal Furnace and Bamboo Shoot Leaf are both extremely valuable but also connected to enormous danger.
• Loss and financial anxiety: Song Shuhang’s repeated concern about losing money adds humor while emphasizing his precarious circumstances and attachment to his limited resources.
• Buried power and resurrection-like mystery: The coffins and their formation suggest that the Winter Palace’s master had a larger purpose in preserving or using the remains of powerful enemies.
• Unintended consequences: The puppet’s explosion, intended as an attack, instead reveals the hidden formation and triggers an even more mysterious threat.
• Protective bonds: Ye Si and the Merit snake-woman both act to protect Song Shuhang, highlighting the growing support surrounding him.

Character Interactions

• Song Shuhang and Ye Si discuss how to dismantle the spider puppet and how to survive the glacier’s extreme cold.
• The puppet confronts Song Shuhang directly, expressing hatred and suspicion.
• The Merit snake-woman protects Song Shuhang by attacking the puppet without waiting for explicit instructions.
• Ye Si repeatedly warns Song Shuhang and attempts to recover the Bamboo Shoot Leaf, but both she and the Merit snake-woman are blocked by the formation.
• The chapter ends with Song Shuhang helplessly watching his treasured leaf become part of the fully activated grave formation.

Key plot points and events

• Song Shuhang and Ye Si watch a formation activate after it absorbs one of Song’s bamboo-shoot leaves. Ye Si suspects it is a resurrection formation prepared by Winter Hall’s master.
• The formation drains its energy into a central stone. A jade-colored sea turtle emerges, but it insists the formation is not its own resurrection—it was meant to revive its master, whom the turtle believes is still alive.
• The turtle identifies its master as the Northern Emperor, one of the Ancient Heavenly Court’s five most powerful beings. A silver-haired man then materializes from the formation and confirms that he died as part of a larger plan, though his unusual death prevented the turtle from sensing it.
• The man recognizes Shuhang as “Song Blockhead,” but Shuhang clarifies that he is someone else. The man thanks him for bringing the bamboo-shoot leaf and promises to repay him.
• Shuhang asks whether the Northern Emperor can help treat Li Yinzhu’s mysterious cold ailment, and begins explaining her condition.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains cautious, linking himself to the Core World as a precaution, but chooses honesty rather than impersonating Song Blockhead. He turns the Northern Emperor’s offer of repayment toward helping Li Yinzhu.
• Ye Si identifies the formation’s likely purpose and translates the Ancient Language for Shuhang through their shared thoughts.
• The jade sea turtle is distressed that its master’s resurrection contingency was triggered without its knowledge, then astonished to see the Northern Emperor alive.
• The Northern Emperor is calm and playful, teasing the turtle and addressing Shuhang with unexpected familiarity—though he has mistaken Shuhang for someone else.

Significant themes

• Death, resurrection, and sacrifice: The formation restores the Northern Emperor, whose death was deliberate and concealed as part of a plan.
• Chance and unintended consequences: Shuhang’s leaf activates the resurrection mechanism, apparently wasting the turtle’s carefully prepared contingency.
• Identity and mistaken recognition: Several Ancient Heavenly Court figures confuse Shuhang with the mysterious “Song Blockhead,” raising questions about that person’s history and connections.
• Gratitude and obligation: The Northern Emperor considers the rescue a debt and offers repayment, which Shuhang hopes to use for Li Yinzhu’s treatment.

Plot points and events

• Song Shuhang asks the Northern Great Emperor to help cure Li Yinzhu’s cold ailment. The Emperor says the best treatment is an Ice Soul Pill to change her constitution, followed by a supplementary cultivation technique. He agrees to save her, though he must first check whether he still has the pill ingredients.
• The Emperor tries to locate his Winter Hall, only to learn that its longtime guardian, Frostcold Child, died of old age and that the Hall’s later history is unclear. He then senses the Hall—and discovers Song Shuhang has moved it into his Core World. The Hall contains little of value, so the necessary pill ingredients may still have to be found.
• When the Emperor realizes Shuhang can control the Hall, he mistakes him for Cheng Lin disguised as “Song Blockhead.” Shuhang denies it, but the Emperor also recognizes the aura of Cheng Lin and the Merit Snake Beauty attached to him.
• Shuhang explains that the beauty is a Merit Golden Light manifestation and introduces Ye Si, who carries Cheng Lin’s aura. He says Ye Si can be considered Cheng Lin’s daughter. The Emperor takes this literally and eagerly wonders who Ye Si’s father was, fixating on her surname, Ye.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang’s concern for Yinzhu is clear: he considers her life more important than the precious bamboo shoot leaf he traded. The Emperor’s promise gives him hope, though the cure is not immediate.
• The Emperor shifts from solemnly mourning his long-dead guardian to being startled and comically overconfident in his ability to identify Cheng Lin. His warm reaction to the Merit Snake Beauty suggests a close, friendly history with her predecessor.
• The jade-colored sea turtle serves as an imperfect source of historical information and adds to the awkward, humorous exchanges.
• Ye Si is quiet but present in the encounter; the Emperor reassures her and addresses her as Cheng Lin’s child.

Significant themes

• Mortality and the passage of time: Even powerful cultivators and loyal guardians can die, and centuries have erased the Winter Hall’s history.
• Loyalty and compassion: The Emperor treats saving Yinzhu as repayment for Shuhang’s help in reviving him.
• Misunderstanding and comic irony: Shuhang’s past connections to the Winter Hall, Cheng Lin, and the Merit Snake Beauty lead the Emperor to increasingly mistaken conclusions—especially his belief that Ye Si must be Cheng Lin’s biological daughter.

Plot points and events

• Song Shuhang asks about Ye Si’s parents. Remembering her long-dead father—and the damage to her memories after her “death” and rebirth—makes Ye Si melancholy. Her Heaven’s Weeping Canon triggers, and she bursts into uncontrollable tears before retreating into Song Shuhang.
• Ye Si returns the Northern Great Emperor’s Winter Hall. Seeing her still crying, the Emperor is uncomfortable; the Jade Sea Turtle accuses him of bullying her, so he throws the turtle into an iceberg.
• The Emperor offers Song Shuhang the Winter Hall, warning that accepting it means inheriting part of its entanglement with the destroyed Ancient Heavenly Court—and could attract enemies targeting its survivors. Song Shuhang accepts, reasoning that he is already deeply connected to the Court through his cultivation technique, Ye Si, the Jade Lake Celestial Realm, and other ties. The Emperor erases his own marks and entrusts the Hall to him.
• The Emperor explains that he is severing his connection to the Ancient Heavenly Court because it belonged to the Heavenly Emperor’s failed Dao. He keeps further details secret.
• They agree to gather ingredients for an Ice Soul Pill to treat an old friend’s daughter’s cold ailment, aiming to begin refining it within ten days. The Emperor gives Song Shuhang a supplementary cultivation technique for her to practice meanwhile.
• The Emperor asks Song Shuhang’s Daoist title and learns that he cultivates the Beast God Division’s Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique. He then sends Song Shuhang out of the Forbidden Land.
• As Song Shuhang regains his bearings outside, an extremely sharp sword strike suddenly attacks him from underground.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Si shows lingering grief over her forgotten family and remains emotionally vulnerable because of her unusual cultivation technique. Her tears confuse the Northern Great Emperor, who cannot understand what he did to upset her.
• Song Shuhang accepts the Winter Hall despite its dangers, showing confidence—or recklessness—about his already extensive ties to the Ancient Heavenly Court. He also continues acting as an intermediary in the effort to save his friend’s daughter.
• The Northern Great Emperor formally relinquishes his former identity and possessions tied to the Ancient Heavenly Court, while remaining willing to help with the Ice Soul Pill. His teasing description of Song Shuhang as “easy to fool” adds humor to their exchange.
• The Jade Sea Turtle tries to defend Ye Si, but the Emperor dismisses it by hurling it into an iceberg. Its reaction to Song Shuhang’s cultivation technique reveals that the technique is associated with the Ancient Heavenly Court’s Beast God Division.

Significant themes

• Inherited consequences: Taking the Winter Hall means inheriting not only an artifact but also its history, dangers, and Cause and Effect.
• The past and separation: Ye Si’s grief reflects the lasting cost of lost memories, while the Emperor’s decision to sever ties reflects his rejection of the Heavenly Emperor’s failed Dao.
• Humor amid danger: The Emperor’s awkwardness around Ye Si, the turtle’s scolding, and Song Shuhang’s dry reactions offset the serious revelations.
• Unresolved threat: The sudden underground sword attack ends the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Key plot points and events

• Immediately after the Northern Great Emperor teleports Song Shuhang out of the Forbidden Land, an earth-escaping assassin puppet attacks his most vulnerable spot. The Merit Snake Beauty protects him, shatters the puppet’s sword, and knocks the attacker underground.
• The puppet escapes, but the Merit Snake Beauty spots a second one nearby and exposes it with the face-slapping slipper. Ye Si attacks it with sword qi from her golden book. Though injured, the puppet flees again, and Ye Si tracks its aura as Song Shuhang gives chase.
• Ye Si and Song Shuhang suspect the puppet is drawing them into an ambush. Song Shuhang tries to send the Merit Snake Beauty ahead disguised as him, but she cannot follow the instruction; her earlier transformation had been spontaneous.
• The chase leads to the region guarded by invisible sword gu. The puppet tunnels through, but Song Shuhang cannot safely cross without Senior White, so he waits outside and prepares to seek help from Senior White Two if necessary.
• While resting with Ye Si and Little Cai, Song Shuhang receives calls from True Lord Eternal Fire, who wants to transfer him access to eleven immortal caves, and Manor Lord Seven Lives Talisman, who offers to give him an item related to the bamboo-shoot leaf he passed on. A third call, from Venerable White, arrives at the chapter’s end.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang reacts quickly to danger but remains cautious, choosing not to pursue the puppet into a hazardous area without a safe way through. He also learns that he cannot yet direct the Merit Snake Beauty reliably.
• The Merit Snake Beauty demonstrates powerful autonomous protection, striking twice to defend Song Shuhang and uncover the hidden puppet. Her abilities are formidable, but her actions are not fully under his control.
• Ye Si assists with combat, tracks the fleeing puppet, and warns Song Shuhang about a possible ambush. Their trust and familiarity with one another are evident.
• The assassin puppet is skilled at stealth and earth escape, and appears to share its pain with its master—supporting the suspicion that it belongs to the purple-robed cultivator.
• The phone calls show Song Shuhang’s growing connections with prominent seniors and introduce upcoming meetings and rewards.

Significant themes

• Protection and trust: Song Shuhang survives because of the Merit Snake Beauty’s independent defense, while still needing to build a stronger bond with her.
• Caution versus pursuit: The temptation to chase an enemy is balanced against the risk of being lured into an ambush.
• Growing influence: Even amid immediate danger, Song Shuhang’s relationships and responsibilities continue to expand through the immortal-cave arrangement and Seven Lives Talisman’s offer.

Plot points

• Song Shuhang answers Venerable White’s call and realizes the Senior White who helped him in the forbidden area was probably White’s Netherworld counterpart—or a spell-created version of him.
• Trapped near the forbidden area by Invisible Sword Gus, Shuhang shares his location. Venerable White promises to come rescue him with a friend.
• Outside the area, the purple-robed cultivator’s independent-minded puppets discuss their ambush. They have buried bombs to exploit the limits of Shuhang’s spatial escape, but he has not emerged as expected. They plan to lure him out and insist that recovering the Ancestor Puppet remains their priority.
• High above the entrance, Venerable White arrives with Fellow Daoist Blazing Fire. The two agree to test their restraint techniques in a dangerous falling contest: each places one hundred restraints on the other, then they must undo them before reaching the ground.
• They leap into the contest using Disposable Flying Swords, which launch and explode. As they plunge downward, acceleration effects in their restraints make them fall at extraordinary speed.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang remains resourceful and dependent on trusted allies when trapped; he is relieved that Venerable White will fetch him.
• Venerable White is curious about his Netherworld counterpart and eagerly accepts a perilous challenge.
• Fellow Daoist Blazing Fire proves to be White’s equal in restraint techniques and shares his appetite for danger and novelty. The two admire each other’s skill even as they compete.
• The puppet group shows strategic patience and coordination, but frustration grows as its carefully prepared trap fails to draw Shuhang out.

Significant themes

• Risk as entertainment: The Venerables deliberately turn a potentially fatal fall into a game, finding danger exhilarating.
• Ingenuity and limits: Shuhang’s spatial escape is powerful but constrained, while the puppets try to turn those limitations into an advantage.
• Rivalry mixed with respect: White and Blazing Fire compete fiercely while sincerely appreciating one another’s techniques.
• Multiple selves and uncertainty: The appearance of another Senior White raises questions about the Netherworld counterpart’s presence and abilities.

Key plot points and events

• Venerable White and the old scholar, Blazing Fire, fall toward the ground while bound by a hundred interlinked techniques. Both struggle to undo them, trading claims that they have discovered a faster method—though at first each is bluffing to unsettle the other.
• Their acceleration and gravity runes grow more powerful as they absorb spiritual energy, turning the fall into a high-speed contest. They hit the ground before either can remove every binding: White has six left, while Blazing Fire has seven.
• Elsewhere, Song Shuhang tries to refine Saber-Intent Penetrating Mystique Grass without swallowing it. A sudden impact startles him, so he swallows it raw and suffers intense throat pain before activating his Lotus-Blossom Tongue.
• His ability produces four lotuses that merge into an oversized Saber-Intent Penetrating Mystique Lotus Seed. He tells his sparrow disciple, Xiao Cai, she may have a share when she is ready to cultivate saber intent, and promises to teach her his techniques.
• The impact from White and Blazing Fire causes the ground near the forbidden land to collapse. The Invisible Sword Gu flee, and Shuhang realizes he is in their path. He chooses to run rather than attempt a doomed heroic stand.
• The two Venerables’ landing has destroyed the purple-robed cultivator’s ambush: the explosive field and nearly all the waiting puppets are wiped out. Only a damaged reconnaissance puppet survives, and the cultivator is left in despair.

Character developments and interactions

• Venerable White and Blazing Fire remain competitive but good-natured, using playful bravado during their dangerous contest. They accept the draw and agree to compete again.
• Song Shuhang continues seeking ways to strengthen himself before his next cultivation tribulation, but his experiment ends in accidental pain. He shows a mentor’s concern for Xiao Cai by encouraging her future saber training.
• Xiao Cai is diligent in reviewing her soul-delivery method, though she doubts how a small, untransformed sparrow could wield a saber.
• Ye Si quietly comforts Shuhang by soothing his throat after he swallows the herb.
• The purple-robed cultivator suffers a major setback when the Venerables accidentally demolish his carefully prepared trap.

Significant themes

• Competition and camaraderie: White and Blazing Fire try to outdo one another, yet their rivalry remains friendly.
• Unintended consequences: The Venerables’ contest and landing disrupt events elsewhere, destroying the ambush by sheer accident.
• Preparation and growth: Shuhang seeks stronger abilities, while Xiao Cai is encouraged to develop skills for the future.
• Practical self-preservation: When danger arrives, Shuhang rejects the grand idea of heroism and runs to survive.

Summary

• The purple-robed cultivator loses his last puppet. After his battle puppets are destroyed, he tries to escape the Forbidden Land inside a spherical puppet. Venerable White nearly falls, catches himself with an acrobatic recovery, then accidentally crushes the puppet. Finding its construction fascinating, White takes the remains for study—unknowingly ending the cultivator’s escape and leaving him with nothing.
• Song Shuhang is trapped by the Invisible Sword Gu. He reaches the Forbidden Land’s Golden Disk, only to find it closed, while the pursuing Gu draw near. Just as he considers retreating into the Core World, an elderly scholar arrives. The Gu do not attack the scholar, and he stops them entirely, giving Song Shuhang a chance to breathe.
• The scholar collects the Gu and explains his purpose. He regards the mature Invisible Sword Gu as valuable breeding stock and gathers some in a cloth bag. He tells Song Shuhang that Venerable White is nearby, distracted by runes containing a profound fist technique.
• A comic misunderstanding leads to a proposal. The scholar recognizes Song Shuhang from White’s description but repeatedly mispronounces his title, calling him “Tyrant” instead of “Overlord Blade.” He has come to borrow Shuhang’s Compendium of Hundred-Beast Taming to improve a magical artifact: the Divine Beast Training System 1.5 Version, a pair of glasses designed to guide aspiring spirit-beast tamers through training and missions.

Character developments and interactions

• Venerable White remains cheerfully curious and accident-prone, though he is consciously trying to prevent his infamous falls from causing destruction. His interest in unusual objects—first the puppet, then the runes—drives events around him.
• Song Shuhang stays cautious under pressure but responds quickly to the scholar’s arrival. He corrects the man’s mistaken title and becomes curious about the proposed artifact.
• The elderly scholar is genial, knowledgeable, and eccentric. He combines practical expertise in spirit-beast taming with a whimsical enthusiasm for webnovel “systems,” hoping to make the profession accessible to others.
• The purple-robed cultivator ends the scene frustrated and powerless after losing his final puppet.

Significant themes

The chapter mixes comedy with cultivation adventure, especially through White’s mishaps, the scholar’s mispronunciations, and his webnovel-inspired invention. It also emphasizes knowledge-sharing and practical innovation: the scholar wants to use ancient beast-taming methods to create a system that can teach future practitioners step by step.

Key plot points and events

• Venerable Blazing Fire explains that his Divine Beast Training System, currently version 1.5, is the foundation of his cultivation path and may one day help him reach the Longevity Realm.
• He asks to study Song Shuhang’s Compendium of Hundred-Beast Taming so he can expand the system’s database. Song worries that this would make the book’s knowledge available to every system user, despite his not owning the book.
• Song proposes that Blazing Fire first seek permission from the book’s author’s inheritor, likely connected to the Thirty-Three Beast God Sect. Blazing Fire agrees to keep the information sealed until permission is granted.
• They exchange the book for the system’s glasses. Blazing Fire reads only the preface, which reveals that the book was a collaborative work and a keepsake between its author and Elder Bamboo Pipe.
• Song tries the glasses. The system asks to bind to his mental energy and register a Daoist title. He chooses “Overlord Blade Song One,” but the system records it as “Overlord Song One,” prompting his alarm.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang shows responsibility and respect for the book’s rightful owners, even though he is willing in principle to share its teachings. He also eagerly explores the new system.
• Venerable Blazing Fire proves both ambitious and considerate: he is pursuing his dream of completing the system, but accepts Song’s condition and postpones unlocking the book’s knowledge.
• The two negotiate the exchange cordially. Blazing Fire praises Song’s unexpected care, while Song jokes about how difficult his Daoist title is to explain.
• Ye Si and Xiao Cai gather to watch Song test the glasses.

Significant themes

• Ambition and dreams: Blazing Fire’s long-term goal gives direction to his cultivation and research.
• Ethics and consent: Song distinguishes between possessing the book and having the right to distribute its contents.
• Technology and cultivation: The glasses combine a “system” interface with mental-energy control and internet-based updates.
• Legacy and friendship: The preface frames the Compendium as the product of shared work and a personal bond.

Key events

• Song Shuhang activates Venerable Blazing Fire’s Divine Beast Training System, which labels him “Tyrant Song One.” The system is a structured training program, not an all-powerful cheat: its beginner quest asks him to hatch a spirit beast egg, initially rewarding First-Grade care instructions.
• Shuhang points out that the quest could give him an egg too advanced for the system’s First-Grade guidance. Blazing Fire agrees and patches it so the system will also provide instructions appropriate to the grade of the first egg hatched.
• Shuhang produces ten Invisible Sword Gu eggs. Blazing Fire trades him a Spirit Beast Mark, an artifact associated with the Thirty-Three Beast God Sect, for the eggs.
• Blazing Fire leaves abruptly, taking Shuhang’s original Compendium of Hundred-Beast Taming with him. His evasive answers about the sect and the artifact make Shuhang suspect that the visit had a hidden purpose.
• Venerable White arrives, learns about the glasses, and tries them on. The system rejects him because it is bound to Shuhang’s mental power.
• White then knocks Shuhang unconscious with a headbutt. When Shuhang wakes, White is enthusiastically experimenting with an idea of his own: building a system for them to play with.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang proves practical and observant, improving the system by identifying a flaw in its beginner quest. He is also wary of Blazing Fire’s motives, though he loses track of the borrowed book until it is too late.
• Venerable Blazing Fire treats Shuhang as a beta tester, welcomes his suggestions, and trades for the Sword Gu eggs. His hurried departure and denial of any knowledge of the Thirty-Three Beast God Sect deepen the mystery around him.
• Venerable White is curious about the artifact and, as usual, turns an ordinary discovery into an impulsive experiment. His headbutt leaves Shuhang unconscious, but the two are soon united by White’s playful proposal.
• The exchange between Shuhang and Blazing Fire is friendly but layered with suspicion; Shuhang’s dealings with White are affectionate and comedic, despite White’s alarming methods.

Significant themes

• Learning versus easy power: The Divine Beast Training System emphasizes gradual instruction and practical knowledge rather than instant rewards.
• Curiosity and experimentation: Both Shuhang and White engage with new tools by testing and modifying them.
• Hidden motives and mysteries: Blazing Fire’s connection to the Spirit Beast Mark, the Thirty-Three Beast God Sect, and the missing book remains unresolved.
• Comedy through contrast: The grand idea of a cultivation system is undercut by game-like interface details, the “Tyrant” nickname, and White’s literal-minded solution to the binding restriction.

Plot and key events

• Venerable White proposes making a Racing Technique Training System that would let users rapidly improve their driving skills. Song Shuhang is about to respond when Gao Moumou calls with news of a catastrophic driving-school accident.
• A beautiful student demolished the school’s practice area, the neighboring excavator grounds, and a parking lot, causing several hundred million in damage. No one was seriously hurt, though her driving instructor was traumatized.
• Shuhang recognizes the driver as Fairy Eastern Six, infamous as the “Road God of Death.” He reassures Gao Moumou that he is safe; Gao and Tubo had worried he might have been at the scene after Shi Luoli saw the news.
• Shuhang persuades Venerable White to abandon the racing-system idea, pointing out that racing is illegal. White agrees that such a system could make dangerous drivers even more of a menace.
• In the group chat, Eastern Six reports that her license was revoked and that she owes enormous compensation. She plans to erase the instructor’s traumatic memories, while True Lord Yellow Mountain reluctantly takes charge of the cleanup. Eastern Six considers taking more lessons, convinced her driving has improved because no one was seriously injured.
• She asks Snow Wolf Cave Master to help her get another license. He worries that refusing her might cause her to flatten his home.
• White returns to the question of what system to build for ordinary people. Shuhang suggests a “Top Student System” that lets students learn while lying still—and still outperform their classmates on exams.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang tries to steer White away from a potentially dangerous idea and offers a student-oriented alternative. He also reassures his friends and checks on Eastern Six.
• Venerable White shows rare caution, accepting that a racing system could magnify the danger posed by reckless drivers. He decides to begin with a system for ordinary people.
• Fairy Eastern Six treats the disaster as evidence of progress: her driving may have improved, since nobody was seriously injured. Her continued determination to drive—and her request for another license—keeps others on edge.
• True Lord Yellow Mountain is weary and burdened by repeatedly cleaning up the group’s messes, while Snow Wolf Cave Master is caught between public safety and fear of Eastern Six’s reaction.
• Gao Moumou and Tubo’s concern, along with Shi Luoli’s suspicion that Shuhang might be at the accident, highlights Shuhang’s ties to his ordinary friends.

Significant themes

• Comic contrast between the supernatural and everyday life: a spectacular, disaster-scale accident is treated as another routine problem for cultivators to manage.
• Responsibility and consequences: Eastern Six faces financial, legal, and emotional fallout, while Yellow Mountain shoulders the cleanup.
• Learning and improvement: the chapter pivots from reckless driving training to Shuhang’s wish for effortless academic learning.
• Good intentions with dangerous results: White’s enthusiasm for systems and Eastern Six’s belief that she is improving both carry risks when applied without enough caution.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang and Venerable White discuss designing systems that could benefit ordinary people.
• Song suggests a Top Student System that would improve learning through memory enhancement, concentration spells, and eventually permanent mental improvements. Venerable White considers it simple to create, assigning it a difficulty of only one star.
• Song then proposes a Treasure Bowl System to help people earn money. Venerable White initially misunderstands ordinary people’s financial struggles, believing money and valuable treasures can easily be found outdoors, but Song explains that Venerable White’s extraordinary luck is not normal.
• They decide that the Treasure Bowl System should reward users for learning useful skills, such as treasure appraisal, invention, farming, animal breeding, and other profitable abilities. It could either follow or merge with the Top Student System.
• Song imagines how such a combined system would resemble the cheat-like systems common in slice-of-life stories, giving users instant mastery of practical skills and enabling them to become wealthy.
• Song then remembers his nominal disciple, Joseph, who dreams of mastering Chinese-style martial arts. Because Joseph lacks a cultivation foundation and started too late, Song doubts he can make meaningful progress through ordinary cultivation methods.
• Song proposes a Martial Master Training System that would not grant immortality but would strengthen ordinary people physically, allowing them to perform wuxia-style feats such as scaling walls, leaping across rooftops, and fighting multiple opponents.
• Venerable White finds this idea more challenging and interesting, estimating its difficulty at three stars. He suggests removing cultivation-related functions and focusing on rapid physical enhancement.
• Just as Venerable White prepares to choose which system to create, he reveals that his spirit beast has hatched. He had used Song’s existing Divine Beast Training System to register a secondary account, complete its beginner quests, and hatch an old spirit beast egg.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang shows increasing creativity and practicality. He thinks about systems that would genuinely help ordinary people with education, money, and physical ability rather than merely granting supernatural power.
• He also demonstrates responsibility toward Joseph, his nominal disciple, and considers ways to help not only Joseph but potentially his own parents.
• Venerable White remains highly inventive but profoundly disconnected from ordinary people’s experiences, especially regarding money and luck. He treats system creation as an exciting engineering challenge and is most interested in ideas with greater difficulty and novelty.
• Venerable White’s ability to quickly evaluate and design complex systems is emphasized, as is his playful tendency to pursue side projects—in this case, hatching a spirit beast while discussing major inventions.
• Joseph’s circumstances clarify Song’s role as a reluctant but concerned teacher. Although Song cannot provide Joseph with conventional cultivation, he wants to fulfill Joseph’s dream in a more attainable form.

Significant Themes

• Effort versus effortless rewards: Song argues that a system should require users to complete tasks before receiving rewards, since achievements gained through effort are more meaningful than gifts of wealth or power.
• The gap between ordinary people and cultivators: Venerable White’s casual attitude toward finding money highlights how alien the cultivation world is to normal society.
• Practical alternatives to cultivation: The Martial Master Training System represents a compromise for people who cannot pursue immortality but still want improved strength and ability.
• Systems as tools for self-improvement: The proposed systems are not merely cheats; they are intended to encourage learning, skill development, work, and personal growth.
• Fantasy and modern life: The chapter humorously blends cultivation concepts with familiar modern desires—passing exams, making money, living in the countryside, and learning marketable skills.
• The appeal of wish fulfillment: Song’s enthusiasm shows how tempting it is to imagine a system that grants mastery, wealth, and an ideal lifestyle.

Character Interactions

• Song and Venerable White collaborate enthusiastically, with Song providing ideas grounded in ordinary society and Venerable White translating them into supernatural system mechanics.
• Their conversation repeatedly exposes their different worldviews: Song understands financial hardship and realistic limitations, while Venerable White assumes luck and cultivation can solve nearly anything.
• Song corrects Venerable White’s misunderstanding of money-making and insists that rewards should be earned.
• Song explains Joseph’s background and motivations, prompting Venerable White to take the Martial Master System seriously.
• The chapter ends humorously when Venerable White abruptly shifts attention from their discussion to announcing that his spirit beast has hatched, leaving the proposed system undecided.

Plot points and events

• Venerable White opens a long-forgotten Spirit Beast egg, which appears as a furry ball. Song Shuhang advises letting it hatch naturally rather than breaking the shell.
• White discovers his Divine Beast Training System sub-account cannot appraise Spirit Beasts until Song Shuhang’s main account unlocks that function.
• Song Shuhang’s system unexpectedly marks its Beginner’s Quest—finding and hatching an egg—as completed, apparently because White’s hatching counts. It unlocks appraisal and awards a recipe for First-Grade Universal Beast Food, plus bonus appraisal and cultivation-plan uses.
• The egg hatches into a kangaroo-like, horned Spirit Beast with bony plates along its back. The system identifies it as a grade-less, artificially cultivated “Combat Beast,” notable for close-combat ability, intelligence, and potential to develop along different paths depending on its cultivation techniques.
• The newborn mistakes Song Shuhang for one of its masters, likely because White’s mental energy was synchronized with his during the hatching. It eagerly shows affection by repeatedly striking Song’s knees with its tail, then kicking his calves.

Character developments and interactions

• White is delighted by the mysterious egg and patiently watches it hatch, though he initially considers helping it out of its shell. He accepts Song’s advice to let nature take its course.
• Song acts as the practical guide, explaining the hatching process and interpreting the system’s appraisal. His curiosity turns to comic alarm when the Combat Beast’s affectionate behavior proves painful.
• White’s mental link with Song unintentionally makes the newborn bond with him as well. The Beast enthusiastically treats Song as a master, while Song silently protests its unusually forceful displays of affection.

Significant themes

• Unexpected consequences: White’s forgotten egg completes Song’s quest, and their shared mental energy creates an unintended bond.
• Care and patience: Song argues that the creature should hatch under its own strength rather than be assisted.
• Humor in cultivation life: A cute, affectionate newborn’s idea of intimacy is a series of powerful blows.
• Potential and cultivation: The Combat Beast’s abilities and future development depend on the techniques used to raise it.

Key plot points

• Senior White’s infant Fighting Beast Kangaroo expresses affection by repeatedly hitting Song Shuhang with its tail and powerful kicks. It is gentle with Senior White, and later with Merit Snake Beauty, leaving Shuhang convinced it is judging people by their faces.
• The Divine Beast Training System recommends First-Grade Universal Beast Food. Neither Shuhang nor Senior White has any, so Senior White considers asking Medicine Master, then decides to search his own vast treasury for the ingredients listed in the food formula.
• While Senior White searches, Shuhang uses the system’s Basic Egg-Hatching Technique on his Invisible Sword Gu egg. It hatches quickly, and the system reveals that the creature has mutated into an Invisible Saber Gu—a shapeshifting, exceptionally sharp Gu whose development depends on how it is raised.
• The system advises feeding it beast food, Saber Qi, and Saber Intent. Its cultivation plan also instructs Shuhang to strike it with the Spirit Beast Mark while circulating the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique, promising an “unexpected surprise.”

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang remains baffled and sore from the kangaroo’s rough affection, contrasting its tender behavior toward Senior White and Merit Snake Beauty with its treatment of him.
• Senior White is affectionate toward the kangaroo and casually takes charge of finding food ingredients. His comment about preparing Medicine Master a large red envelope next year hints at a private thought, but he does not explain it.
• The kangaroo bonds readily with those it favors, especially Senior White and Merit Snake Beauty, while continuing to pummel Shuhang.
• Shuhang’s use of the system’s hatching and appraisal tools advances his work with spirit beasts and introduces the unexpected Saber Gu mutation.

Significant themes

• Affection versus aggression: The kangaroo’s “acting spoiled” looks like an attack to Shuhang, underscoring how different beings express attachment.
• Appearance and favoritism: Its contrasting behavior toward Shuhang and the others fuels his comic suspicion that it judges people by their faces.
• Unpredictable cultivation: The Invisible Sword Gu’s mutation and the system’s unusual training instructions show that a creature’s eventual form and abilities depend on how it is raised.

Plot points and events

• Song Shuhang activates a new Spirit Beast Mark using the Thirty-Three Beasts Innate Unity Qi Technique. The mark recognizes him as its master and lets him capture and brand a strand of the newly hatched Invisible Saber Gu’s soul, forming a mental connection between them.
• The Saber Gu enjoys being struck with the mark. Each blow makes sparks fly, delays its fading from sight, and helps it grow larger and tougher. Shuhang keeps hitting it, first switching between hands and then using the full power of his four Third-Grade meridians.
• After reaching a thousand strikes, Shuhang discovers the Saber Gu still wants more and continues, hoping that the repeated “hammering” will improve its future development.
• Ye Si observes that the exchange benefits both of them: the blows strengthen the Saber Gu, while its response helps refine Shuhang’s true qi and gradually reinforce his physique.

Character developments and interactions

• Song Shuhang successfully tames the Saber Gu, but its unusual enthusiasm for being beaten leaves him exhausted and bewildered. He pushes through the pain in his arms out of concern for the creature’s growth.
• The Invisible Saber Gu is revealed to be playful and seemingly masochistic. It communicates pleasure through cries and their new mental link, eagerly asking Shuhang to continue.
• Ye Si watches and explains the mutual cultivation taking place, comparing the Gu’s contribution to the benefits of a Spirit Ghost.
• Shuhang briefly compares the Saber Gu’s odd affection to the Fighting Beast kangaroo’s rough treatment of its master.

Significant themes

• Mutual cultivation: The bond between a cultivator and spirit beast can strengthen both parties, not merely give the master control over the beast.
• Persistence and sacrifice: Shuhang endures hundreds of exhausting strikes because he believes they may help the Saber Gu develop.
• The Thirty-Three Beast God Sect’s hidden methods: The sect’s technique lets disciples channel excess true qi into spirit beasts. The beasts grow and return smaller amounts of purer qi, while also helping improve their masters’ physiques.

Key plot points and events

• After delivering 1,111 slaps, Song Shuhang finishes refining the Invisible Saber Gu. It develops intricate saber patterns, becomes invisible, and forms a strong bond with him.
• Song tests the Gu as a weapon. It fits his hand, produces its own saber qi, and gives him a sense of Blade-Human Unity. Unlike his current Overlord Shatter Saber, it can continue growing with him.
• Song jokes about becoming a saber wielder and discusses whether the Gu can carry him through the air. With Ye Si watching, he rides it for a short flight.
• Remembering the Invisible Sword Gu that had chased him earlier, Song asks his Saber Gu to locate them. It senses many nearby, so Song turns back rather than risk provoking them.
• Unseen by Song, several hundred Sword Gu gather and surround him and his Saber Gu. They regard the mutated Saber Gu as a traitor and nourishing prey—and choose to devour it.

Character developments

• Song Shuhang grows closer to the Invisible Saber Gu through the refining process and discovers its combat potential. He also accepts, with some comic reluctance, that saber techniques suit him better than swordsmanship.
• Ye Si remains an amused, supportive companion, applauding Song’s boasting and agreeing to watch over him during his first flight.
• The Invisible Saber Gu becomes a loyal, capable mount and weapon, while its mutation puts it in danger from its former kin.

Significant themes

• Transformation and belonging: The Saber Gu’s evolution makes it powerful but separates it from its original group.
• Acceptance of one’s abilities: Song lets go of his idealized swordsmanship and embraces what works for him.
• Growth and potential: The Gu is a weapon that can develop alongside its master.
• Unseen danger: Song’s new flight seems carefree, but the Sword Gu are already closing in.

Character interactions

• Song and Ye Si share playful banter about his weapon choice and the image of flying on a sword.
• Song communicates with the Invisible Saber Gu through their growing bond, testing its abilities and then ordering it to return.
• The Sword Gu’s hostile collective attitude toward the Saber Gu turns its mutation into a threat of betrayal and attack.

Plot points and events

• Hundreds of invisible sword gu close in on Song Shuhang. His newly born invisible blade gu can see them and warns him, but cannot answer complicated questions about their number or movements.
• Shuhang and Ye Si regroup on her flying golden book. Ye Si gathers the merit snake beauty and fighting kangaroo beast into her life-bound book, then prepares a small defensive area and plans for Shuhang to test the attackers with Flame Blade. If the gu are too numerous, they will flee.
• Shuhang is low on energy after earlier exertion. Rather than retrieve his phone himself, he learns Onion Lady has already used his account to ask the Nine Provinces Number One Group for help.
• The group offers ideas. Mad Saber Three Waves proposes making the invisible gu visible by coating them with dye or powder. True Lord Northern River endorses the idea, adding that the gu are protected by sword qi, which must first be breached. Onion Lady relays the suggestion to Shuhang.
• The group also realizes that Venerable White is absent: he went to his treasure vault to retrieve materials for universal beast food and has not returned. The chapter ends before Shuhang can try the proposed tactic or the confrontation is resolved.

Character developments and interactions

• Shuhang remains anxious but responds practically, coordinating with Ye Si and seeking advice rather than facing the threat alone.
• Ye Si reacts immediately through her telepathic bond with Shuhang, organizes their allies, and takes charge of defense and escape planning.
• Onion Lady proves resourceful and increasingly helpful, using Shuhang’s account to consult the group. Her casual familiarity with his phone—and her plans to shop using his account—adds comic mischief.
• Three Waves surprises the group with a clever, practical suggestion. The others initially suspect someone is impersonating him, reflecting his reputation for reckless antics; Soft Feather and Northern River confirm he is genuine.
• Northern River takes the threat seriously, searches his records, and adds an important caution about the gu’s protective sword qi.
• The group’s teasing, confusion over Three Waves, and concern for Shuhang contrast with the immediate danger.

Significant themes

• Cooperation under pressure: Shuhang, Ye Si, Onion Lady, and the group contribute different kinds of help.
• Creativity against the unknown: The proposed dye-or-powder tactic shows how ordinary materials might counter supernatural concealment.
• Comedy amid danger: The group’s banter and Onion Lady’s account antics soften an otherwise threatening situation.
• Limits of knowledge and preparation: The invisible gu’s speed, Shuhang’s exhaustion, and White’s absence leave the characters uncertain about whether they can hold their ground.

Summary

• Song Shuhang’s predicament: With Venerable White temporarily absent, Song Shuhang and Ye Si remain surrounded by Invisible Sword Gu. The group chat jokes and frets over his situation while Song One provides updates. Song Shuhang has no dye or powder to reveal the invisible creatures, so he and Ye Si consider fighting their way out and retreating to the Core World.
• The group chat and Venerable Spirit Butterfly’s scheme: Soft Feather praises the Invisible Sword Gu and says she likes Senior Creation’s song, “Seven Kills Song.” Her father, Venerable Spirit Butterfly, quietly shares a valuable guide to surviving the Third-to-Fourth Advancement Heavenly Tribulation. The guide includes a theory that Creation’s singing can help against heart demons—and a recording of Soft Feather’s tribulation set to the song. He has softened the recording’s effects, but it still sounds terrible, setting up an unwitting ordeal for the group’s members.
• Onion Lady’s reaction: Onion Lady downloads the guide to prepare for her own future tribulation. Watching Soft Feather face the Heavenly Tribulation inspires her to imagine becoming strong enough to defeat Song Shuhang. Her fantasy of swapping places with him quickly unravels when she realizes she would end up risking her life to support his comfortable life in the Inch-Shrinking Bag. Her Heaven’s Weeping Canon makes the thought bring her close to tears.
• The fight escalates: Ye Si’s layered defenses have kept the Invisible Sword Gu at bay while they attack cautiously. When Song Shuhang grips the Invisible Saber Gu, however, the swords detect its attack signal and charge in a swarm. They destroy Ye Si’s first defensive layer in three breaths. With hundreds attacking, Song Shuhang decides retreat is preferable—but at that moment, a deep male voice and a faint scream emerge from his Inch-Shrinking Bag.

Character developments and relationships

• Song Shuhang and Ye Si work together calmly, weighing the risks and preparing to test the enemies before retreating.
• Soft Feather remains enthusiastic and admires both the Invisible Sword Gu and Creation’s singing, even though her fellow group members dread the song.
• Venerable Spirit Butterfly shows affection for Soft Feather through small gestures, while also using his tribulation guide to foist the song on the group.
• Onion Lady continues to cultivate and prepare for the future, but her envy of Soft Feather’s strength exposes her resentment of the unequal burden she imagines carrying for Song Shuhang.
• The group’s members mix genuine concern for Song Shuhang with teasing and running jokes, especially around Guo Da’s “Doghead Tower” stickers and Creation’s music.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts dangerous adventure with comic everyday group-chat banter, while exploring preparation and survival through Spirit Butterfly’s guide. It also uses humor to highlight unequal responsibility and dependence, particularly in Onion Lady’s fantasy, and builds suspense around the dangers Song Shuhang faces as the Invisible Sword Gu suddenly attack in force.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Song Shuhang discovers that Onion Lady is listening to Dharma King Creation’s Seven Kills Song inside the Inch-Shrinking Bag. The song’s weakened demonic musical power still causes dizziness, nausea, weakness, and mental distraction.
• When the song’s effects stop the attacking Invisible Sword Gu, Shuhang realizes Dharma King Creation’s music can be used as a weapon.
• He calls Dharma King Creation and flatteringly asks him to sing. Dharma King happily performs a new song, specially dedicated to Shuhang.
• Shuhang secretly records the performance and broadcasts it through his phone at maximum volume.
• The new song produces devastating, defense-ignoring area damage. The Invisible Sword Gu are knocked unconscious, collapse from the sky, and become unable to attack or escape.
• The sound also affects Shuhang’s own allies, including the Invisible Saber Gu and the Combat Beast Kangaroo. Even deaf members of Dharma King Creation’s concert staff are incapacitated because the music affects the soul rather than merely the ears.
• After the performance, Shuhang praises the song and promises to listen to it regularly. He and Ye Si escape using the Golden Book while the Sword Gu remain defeated.
• Ye Si heals the Invisible Saber Gu, but the Sword Gu soon begin recovering. Their eyes turn crimson, and they appear to enter a strange, fanatical state.

Character Developments

• Song Shuhang demonstrates quick thinking and opportunism. He turns Dharma King Creation’s dangerous singing into an improvised mass-control weapon, though his plan also harms his own companions.
• Ye Si acts pragmatically and protectively, sealing her hearing, creating soundproof barriers, helping Shuhang escape, and healing the Saber Gu.
• Dharma King Creation is delighted that Shuhang requests a private performance. Believing Shuhang genuinely appreciates his music, he performs with extraordinary enthusiasm and attempts to win him over as a devoted fan.
• Onion Lady is revealed to be recklessly exposing herself to Dharma King’s music, prompting Shuhang’s concern and confusion.
• The Invisible Sword Gu shift from aggressive attackers to helpless victims, then appear to become fanatical after recovering, suggesting the song may have effects beyond simple physical incapacitation.
• The Invisible Saber Gu and Combat Beast Kangaroo suffer collateral damage because Shuhang forgets to protect them from the broadcast.

Significant Themes

• Music as supernatural power: Dharma King Creation’s singing functions like a spiritual attack, bypassing physical defenses and affecting both hearing and the soul.
• Humor through unintended consequences: Shuhang’s clever plan succeeds, but it also knocks out his own allies and even deaf listeners.
• Fanaticism and fandom: Dharma King’s followers willingly endure his harmful concerts, while the recovering Sword Gu seem to develop a similar obsessive response.
• Improvisation and survival: Shuhang adapts quickly to unexpected circumstances, using whatever resources are available to escape danger.
• Power beyond conventional defenses: Hearing protection and Sword Qi cannot fully block the song, emphasizing its unusual and overwhelming nature.

Character Interactions

• Shuhang and Ye Si coordinate closely to resist the song and exploit its effect on the Sword Gu.
• Shuhang manipulates Dharma King Creation through exaggerated praise, successfully convincing him to perform the new song.
• Dharma King treats Shuhang as an appreciative fan and enthusiastically dedicates the song to him.
• Shuhang checks on the Invisible Saber Gu after the attack, only to realize he accidentally subjected it to the same devastating music.
• Ye Si’s healing and assistance reinforce her role as Shuhang’s reliable partner during the crisis.