Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Lin Qi agrees to investigate the mysterious deaths of Wizards in Alliance City alongside Qiao Xi, who says she wants to help before leaving her post as Permanent Director. King Kong joins them.
• At the Wizard Alliance Tower, Aishwarya explains that for about a month, Wizards have been dying almost daily. Those who leave the tower die the following day, while those inside feel trapped and terrified.
• The latest victim’s true form—a huge, dried eyeball with tentacles—is found in a tent. The scene initially suggests Holy Light, but Aishwarya rules that out: it would have affected other Wizards and would not have weakened the victim so severely.
• Lin Qi senses something unusual among the gathered Wizards, then teleports away and returns with Selby, a reclusive First-Rank Wizard. He warns that Selby would likely have been the next victim.
• Using Psychic Vision, Lin Qi sees tiny living organisms inside Selby. They die and transform into red blood cells, but their faint emotions persist. When Lin Qi says the name Si Shiming, those organisms show panic, suggesting a connection to the mastermind.
• Qiao Xi is astonished and has King Kong search for Si Shiming.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qi quickly takes charge of the investigation. His unusual perception lets him detect clues invisible to Qiao Xi and Aishwarya, though he has not yet proven exactly how the deaths work.
• Qiao Xi acts as Lin Qi’s partner and trusts his judgment, but she is frustrated when he withholds his reasoning. She tries to investigate Selby herself and recognizes that Lin Qi may have identified the culprit.
• Aishwarya is exhausted by her responsibility for the frightened Wizards and welcomes Lin Qi’s help, greeting him personally and giving him access to the victim.
• King Kong quietly supports Qiao Xi, handling logistics and immediately beginning a search when Lin Qi names Si Shiming.
• The trapped Wizards’ fear turns to hope when they recognize Lin Qi as a Fifth-Rank Wizard.

Significant themes

• Fear and isolation: The deaths have turned the tower from a refuge into a prison, leaving the Wizards convinced that anyone could be next.
• Trust and cooperation: Lin Qi, Qiao Xi, Aishwarya, and King Kong combine their abilities and resources to investigate.
• Hidden threats and perception: The apparent cause of death is misleading; Lin Qi’s ability to detect microscopic life and emotional traces uncovers a possible clue beyond ordinary investigation.

Summary of “Traces of a Priest Practitioner”

Key Plot Points and Events

• King Kong reports that Si Shiming may have appeared in West Cypress City and visited the Large Enterprise Alliance in the European Political Zone after the Heavenly Palace battle.
• Lin Qi concludes that Si Shiming was responsible for the attacks on the Wizard Alliance, but suspects he could not have accomplished them as a Fourth Rank Shaman Practitioner.
• He theorizes that Si Shiming has advanced to the Fifth Rank in an impossibly short time, implying that Guangleng or another powerful organization supplied him with assistance.
• Lin Qi examines one of the victims’ corpses and discovers that its extraordinary qualities have been completely removed. Unlike a normal corpse, it no longer attracts or reacts to Spiritual Energy Particles.
• Using his Phase-State Theory, Lin Qi explains that the corpse’s extraordinary “phase state” has been stripped away rather than naturally dissipating after death.
• Qiao Xi examines the corpse with her own Mental Power and identifies traces of Priest Practitioner power. She concludes that a Priest Practitioner processed the body, extracting the Wizard Practitioner’s source power and possibly converting it into a one-use Extraordinary Item.
• This revelation suggests Si Shiming was not acting alone. Guangleng may have assembled a team—including a Priest Practitioner—to support the attacks.
• Qiao Xi explains that locating the culprit through extraordinary means would be difficult, though she might be able to do so with enough time. Instead, she proposes using technology.
• She opens her terminal and sends a message to the Highest-Level Secure Mailbox, leaving Lin Qi shocked and implying that she intends to enlist an extremely powerful or sensitive source of assistance.

Character Developments

• Lin Qi: Demonstrates strong analytical ability by linking Si Shiming’s sudden advancement to outside assistance and by applying his Phase-State Theory to forensic investigation. He becomes increasingly suspicious of Guangleng’s broader plans and recognizes that the enemy’s methods involve more than simple Shaman techniques.
• Qiao Xi: Reveals deeper knowledge of Priest Practitioners and displays their distinctive Mental Power. Her reaction shows concern that the enemy may involve a traitor within the Intercontinental Stabilization Trauma Response Company. She also acts pragmatically, offering technological assistance without demanding compensation because she believes she already benefited from the previous S-level Potion matter.
• Si Shiming: Is established as the likely direct perpetrator, but his connection to a greater organization becomes clearer. Lin Qi’s analysis also suggests that Si Shiming himself is alarmed by the implications of the corpse’s condition.
• Guangleng: Remains offstage but is strongly implicated as the force behind Si Shiming’s advancement and attacks. His possible creation of a coordinated team mirrors the structure of the Highest-Level Mercenary Group.
• Aishwarya: Learns that the attacks involve an unfamiliar profession and may be part of a wider conspiracy. Her anxiety reflects the Wizard Alliance’s vulnerability and dependence on Lin Qi and Qiao Xi.
• King Kong: Continues acting as an efficient intelligence and communications assistant, synchronizing reports and supporting Qiao Xi’s actions.

Significant Themes

• Hidden conspiracies and indirect warfare: The attacks are part of a carefully concealed plan involving multiple professions and possibly a powerful organization.
• The nature of extraordinary power: Lin Qi’s Phase-State Theory provides a scientific framework for understanding death, magical residues, and the extraction of supernatural abilities.
• The overlap between professions: Priest Practitioners, Wizards, Shamans, and Native Transcendents may share a common origin or connection, possibly linked to the Blood Moon.
• Trust and divided loyalties: Qiao Xi’s unclear relationship with Guangleng and her concern about a potential corporate traitor raise questions about allegiance and institutional corruption.
• Technology versus supernatural methods: When extraordinary abilities prove insufficient for tracking the culprit, technological surveillance becomes the proposed solution.
• Political bargaining and mutual benefit: Qiao Xi’s willingness to help is shaped by practical exchanges rather than simple loyalty, reflecting the transactional nature of high-level alliances.

Character Interactions

• Lin Qi and Qiao Xi engage in a largely indirect conversation, each understanding the other’s implications without explicitly naming Guangleng.
• Lin Qi explains the corpse’s abnormal condition through his Phase-State Theory, while Qiao Xi tests it with Priest Practitioner Mental Power and confirms his suspicions.
• Their investigation reveals complementary strengths: Lin Qi provides theoretical and forensic insight, while Qiao Xi contributes specialized knowledge of Priest abilities.
• Lin Qi silently asks Qiao Xi to attempt locating the culprit, and she responds by proposing a technological alternative.
• Aishwarya seeks reassurance and a practical solution from Lin Qi, but he admits that the enemy is too well concealed for him to locate directly.
• Qiao Xi’s final decision to contact the Highest-Level Secure Mailbox shifts the investigation toward a potentially much larger and more dangerous network.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qi watches Qiao Xi contact Guangleng, expecting him to refuse to help her. Instead, Guangleng replies that he cannot locate the protected Priest Practitioner but has found Si Shiming on the outskirts of Alliance City.
• The information unsettles Lin Qi. He suspects Guangleng may have deliberately abandoned Si Shiming as part of a larger plan involving the Blood Moon Origin, but cannot work out the purpose.
• When Qiao Xi announces that they know Si Shiming’s location, an infected man’s blood releases insect-like organisms that begin transforming his body. Qiao Xi restrains and destroys them with her Fifth-Rank Mental Power, confirming that Si Shiming’s method caused the attacks on the Wizard Practitioners.
• Lin Qi decides to pursue Si Shiming. Qiao Xi teleports him and King Kong using a spatial crystal orb. They arrive at a waste-processing plant, where Lin Qi spots evidence that Si Shiming has already escaped.
• Qiao Xi continues receiving coordinates from Guangleng and teleports them again. Once Si Shiming leaves Alliance City’s surveillance network, Guangleng can no longer track him.
• Although Qiao Xi assumes Si Shiming has gotten away, Lin Qi locates him with Psychic Vision: he is hiding underground in a landfill, about twenty kilometers away. The hiding place resembles one Lin Qi once used, making Lin Qi suspect Guangleng chose it to taunt him.
• Lin Qi resolves to catch Si Shiming despite the possibility that he is only a pawn in Guangleng’s plan.

Character developments

• Lin Qi grows increasingly frustrated by Guangleng’s apparent manipulation, but ultimately chooses action over further speculation. He also recognizes that Guangleng may be deliberately making him relive the experience of being hunted.
• Qiao Xi demonstrates her strength as a Fifth-Rank Priest Practitioner by neutralizing the blood-borne insects. Her teleportation orb has also become significantly more powerful.
• Aishwarya, relieved that the Wizard Practitioners are safe, privately considers leaving her company and seeking protection through United Pharmaceutical or the Lin Clan.
• Si Shiming is revealed as the likely culprit behind the attacks. Though powerful, he avoids confronting Lin Qi and tries to escape and hide.
• Guangleng remains inscrutable: he supplies useful information while seemingly steering the pursuit and provoking Lin Qi.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and uncertainty: Guangleng’s helpfulness may conceal a larger design, leaving Lin Qi unsure whether he is pursuing his own goal or following Guangleng’s script.
• Power and survival: Fifth-Rank Transcendents are difficult to catch because their adaptability and survival skills can outweigh raw destructive power.
• Reversed roles: Lin Qi recognizes that he and his companions now resemble the hunters who once chased him, while Si Shiming occupies the role of fugitive.
• Political vulnerability: Aishwarya’s relief quickly turns into thoughts of changing allegiance, underscoring how factional conflict makes protection and loyalty precarious.

Character interactions

• Lin Qi secretly watches Qiao Xi’s terminal as she exchanges messages with Guangleng, then joins her and King Kong in the pursuit.
• Qiao Xi confirms Si Shiming’s connection to the attacks and provides transportation, while Lin Qi reassures Aishwarya that the Wizard Practitioners are temporarily safe.
• Aishwarya considers approaching Lin Qi for support, though she keeps those plans to herself.
• Guangleng communicates with Qiao Xi throughout the chase, supplying coordinates that guide the group while also fueling Lin Qi’s suspicion that the pursuit is another part of his scheme.

Chapter Summary: Fifth-Tier Wizard vs. Fifth-Tier Shaman

Key Plot Points and Events

• Si Shiming hides beneath the wasteland, disguising himself as a corpse by controlling every cell in his body.
• Lin Qi detects him by manipulating the blood in his body. Si Shiming’s comparatively weak willpower cannot resist, and his own blood forces him to the surface.
• Lin Qi, accompanied by Qiao Xi and King Kong, confronts him and offers two choices: surrender and stand trial before the Eastern Alliance, or be forcibly defeated and taken back.
• Si Shiming refuses to surrender and uses his shaman abilities to transform his organs into numerous types of insects. He abandons the blood in his body through his “Golden Cicada Bloodletting” technique, escaping Lin Qi’s Blood Control.
• Lin Qi carefully examines millions of possible battle outcomes through his Superposed Future ability. He identifies Si Shiming’s weaknesses and prepares for possible schemes arranged by Guangleng.
• Si Shiming attempts to use threats about the Corporate War and United Pharmaceutical’s vulnerability to dissuade Lin Qi, but Lin Qi ignores him.
• Lin Qi uses his rarely employed Second Rank ability, Physical Hardening, to immobilize Si Shiming’s entire body. Combined with Blood Control, this completely seals Si Shiming’s abilities.
• Si Shiming considers releasing his Brain Worms to escape and later obtain a mechanical body. However, Lin Qi anticipates the plan and uses Rapid Growth to seal every opening in Si Shiming’s body, trapping the Brain Worms inside.

Character Developments

• Lin Qi: Demonstrates overwhelming power, strategic caution, and emotional control. Though initially furious, he uses Superposed Future to analyze countless possibilities before acting. His seemingly modest abilities prove devastating when combined intelligently.
• Si Shiming: Revealed to be a newly advanced and relatively weak Fifth-Tier Transcendent. Despite possessing unusual shaman techniques and considerable survival instincts, he becomes increasingly panicked as Lin Qi counters every escape method.
• Qiao Xi: Remains an observer rather than participating in the fight. Her calm, unreadable attitude reinforces her reputation as a dangerous and independent powerhouse. Lin Qi remains wary of her possible allegiance.
• King Kong: Supports Qiao Xi by monitoring underground disturbances and providing tactical information.

Significant Themes

• Power depends on mastery, not rank alone: Although both Lin Qi and Si Shiming are Fifth-Tier Transcendents, Lin Qi’s greater cultivation, willpower, preparation, and ability combinations give him total control.
• Adaptability and counterstrategy: Si Shiming’s bizarre transformations initially bypass Blood Control, but Lin Qi quickly identifies and neutralizes each method.
• Caution amid political conflict: Lin Qi is concerned not only with defeating Si Shiming but also with hidden traps from Guangleng and the broader Corporate War.
• Psychological dominance: Si Shiming’s confidence collapses as he realizes that Lin Qi has already anticipated his thoughts and possible actions.
• The danger of underestimated abilities: Physical Hardening, an ability Lin Qi rarely uses, becomes the decisive counter to Si Shiming’s insect-based body transformations.

Character Interactions

• Lin Qi confronts Si Shiming directly and demands his surrender.
• Si Shiming argues that fighting him could injure Lin Qi and endanger United Pharmaceutical, but Lin Qi dismisses his warnings.
• Qiao Xi offers help in exchange for a favor but deliberately remains uninvolved, treating the confrontation as entertainment and evaluating Lin Qi’s strength.
• Lin Qi silently distrusts Qiao Xi because her motives and loyalties remain impossible to read.
• The chapter ends with Lin Qi completely restraining Si Shiming and thwarting his final attempt to escape through his Brain Worms.

The chapter is a brief, humorous note rather than a narrative: the speaker is busy and announces they are taking the day off.

• Plot and events: No story events occur; the speaker simply says they are unavailable for the day.
• Character development: None is shown beyond the speaker’s decision to pause work.
• Themes: Rest, time away from work, and setting boundaries.
• Character interactions: None.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qi returns the captured Si Shiming to the Wizard Alliance Tower with Qiao Xi and King Kong. The Wizards are gathered for a speech by Aishwarya, who is urging them to reclaim their lives after the persecution.
• Lin Qi’s dramatic arrival—framed by Aishwarya’s spotlight and carrying Si Shiming—turns the crowd’s admiration into a near-religious celebration. Si Shiming, however, feels only despair, so Lin Qi gains no useful information from his emotional reaction.
• Lin Qi announces that United Pharmaceutical will take in the Wizard Alliance and provide temporary accommodation. He leaves the practical arrangements to Aishwarya and departs with Si Shiming.
• Qiao Xi urges Lin Qi to investigate the Priest Practitioner behind the attacks and offers to pay for information. Lin Qi signals that any request should go through the Eastern Alliance, rather than Guangleng.
• Lin Qi transports Si Shiming to the Berthing Port and boards an aircraft for the Eastern Alliance. After confirming with Old Tortoise that Si Shiming can be contained and interrogated, Lin Qi prepares mentally for a confrontation with Guangleng.
• Guangleng sends Lin Qi an invitation to a Highest-Level Security Meeting. Lin Qi accepts and finds himself alone with Guangleng in the virtual conference room.

Character developments

• Lin Qi openly commits to protecting the Wizards, partly out of solidarity and partly to defy Guangleng. Though uncomfortable with the crowd’s adoration, he uses the moment to reassure them. He remains wary and deliberate, especially in his dealings with Qiao Xi and Guangleng.
• Qiao Xi shows unusually strong interest in the hidden Priest Practitioner and hints that she wants the matter investigated beyond the official channels. Her understanding with Lin Qi remains guarded but cooperative.
• Aishwarya proves an effective speaker, restoring the Wizards’ confidence and then taking responsibility for organizing their response.
• Si Shiming is physically subdued and psychologically crushed; he offers no insight into the conspiracy.
• Guangleng moves from unseen influence to direct contact by summoning Lin Qi to a private meeting.

Significant themes

• Protection and defiance: Lin Qi’s promise to shelter the Wizards is both a practical act of aid and a deliberate challenge to the force behind their persecution.
• Power and public image: The spotlight turns Lin Qi into a “savior” in the crowd’s eyes, showing how spectacle can shape authority and morale.
• Hidden political conflict: Qiao Xi’s pointed questions and Lin Qi’s careful wording suggest that the investigation reaches into powerful institutions and competing agendas.
• Preparation and confrontation: Lin Qi anticipates a clash with Guangleng, but the private invitation forces that conflict into the open.

Character interactions

• Lin Qi and Qiao Xi trade restrained hints: she presses for an investigation, while he directs her toward the Eastern Alliance.
• Lin Qi’s arrival transforms Aishwarya’s speech and rallies the Wizards; he then entrusts her with the Alliance’s immediate affairs.
• Lin Qi confirms with Old Tortoise that the Eastern Alliance can safely hold Si Shiming.
• The chapter ends with Lin Qi facing Guangleng alone, setting up a direct and potentially hostile exchange.

Concise Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qi abruptly ends his first projected meeting with Guangleng, refusing to wait while Guangleng deliberately leaves him hanging. Guangleng is surprised, then sends an encrypted email; Lin Qi deletes it without opening the link.
• Guangleng soon forces the meeting to resume through immersive projections, demonstrating that he can commandeer the Cyber World’s ubiquitous devices. Lin Qi accepts rather than waste effort resisting.
• Guangleng drops the haze concealing his face, presenting an elderly, skeletal-looking European face as a gesture of sincerity. Lin Qi suspects it belongs to someone else and eventually recognizes it as likely that of a powerful European Wizard mentioned by Lin Changshou.
• Asked about the Witch Hunt, Guangleng admits it was intended to restrict the number of Wizards and powerful extraordinary professionals—not eliminate them. He claims this was necessary to prevent Artemis, the monster associated with the Blood Moon, from reviving.
• Guangleng says the Corporate War and other crises—including the Heavenly Palace and Asgard Space City incidents—were also desperate attempts to curb Artemis. He claims Lin Qi’s rapid rise and Fifth Rank breakthrough disrupted his original plans.
• Guangleng concludes by accusing the Asian Political Zone of concealing its role in Artemis’s past outbreak and claims a powerful Asian priestess wants to seize Artemis’s full power.

Character developments

• Lin Qi shows growing confidence and independence. He refuses to follow Guangleng’s conversational script, recognizes that Guangleng is trying to manipulate him, and listens without accepting his account as truth.
• Guangleng shifts from calculated delay to forced contact, then adopts a more conciliatory, confessional approach. He portrays himself as a reluctant guardian trying to avert catastrophe, but his claims remain suspect.
• Si Shiming, riding with Lin Qi, becomes increasingly anxious as Lin Qi hums to himself, fearing that he may be the target of another humiliating scheme.

Character interactions

• Lin Qi and Guangleng trade barbed politeness: Guangleng invokes the Mercenary Group’s help, while Lin Qi gives him a pointedly gracious response.
• Guangleng attempts to persuade Lin Qi by revealing a face, acknowledging parts of the Witch Hunt and Lin Qi’s assassination attempt, and framing his actions as necessary.
• Lin Qi probes Guangleng’s motives with questions about the Witch Hunt and Artemis, while concealing how much he already knows.
• Guangleng tries to split Lin Qi from the Eastern Alliance by accusing its leaders of deceiving him.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and competing narratives: Guangleng presents a heroic explanation for his actions, while Lin Qi remains alert to the gap between his story and his apparent underlying agenda.
• Control versus autonomy: Guangleng can commandeer projection technology, but Lin Qi resists psychological pressure and chooses when to engage.
• Truth, secrecy, and incomplete information: The factions possess different records about Artemis, making it difficult to verify Guangleng’s claims.
• Power and unintended consequences: Lin Qi’s unexpected growth appears to have disrupted plans built around limiting the number of powerful Wizards.

Key plot points

• Guangleng tells Lin Qi that the Artemis Origin promises immortality, then shows him a vision of the moon awakening as the Blood Moon: a vast, eye-like monster with immense tentacles.
• He claims that peace and stability would let Artemis gather strength through the flow of extraordinary power, including power absorbed whenever Wizards analyze Extraordinary Items. He says this is why he began the Witch Hunt.
• Lin Qi asks how the Eastern Alliance could seize the Origin from Earth and why Guangleng assembled the Highest Level Mercenary Group. Guangleng says the Alliance’s hidden Priest Practitioner is preparing to trigger an Expansion of the Extraordinary Domain, with Lin Changshou and other specialists playing roles in the plan.
• Guangleng describes his own group as an alternative team with a similar lineup and mission—but claims his goal is to seal the Origin away, rather than seize it.
• Lin Qi recognizes that most of Guangleng’s account may be true, but suspects the claimed goal is a lie. Guangleng is using the revelations to make Lin Qi distrust the Alliance—or, if Lin Qi trusts it, to make the Alliance suspect Lin Qi.
• The meeting ends before Lin Qi can ask more. Back in the vehicle, he reflects on Guangleng’s elaborate manipulation and realizes he can verify the claims through the Doomsday World, without relying on the Alliance.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qi performs surprise and anxiety to encourage Guangleng to keep talking, while asking precise questions that extract useful intelligence. He remains cautious, sees through the trap, and trusts his own independent means of verification.
• Guangleng demonstrates exceptional patience and strategic skill. He tries to align himself with Lin Qi by claiming they share a desire to protect the world and their loved ones, while carefully engineering distrust between Lin Qi and the Eastern Alliance.
• Their conversation is a contest of manipulation: Guangleng controls the setting and steers the discussion, but Lin Qi quietly turns the interview to his advantage.
• Si Shiming remains behind in the vehicle, trembling after being used as a pawn in Guangleng’s broader plan.

Significant themes

• Immortality and power: The promise of endless life is a powerful lure in a world where even the strongest cannot escape death.
• Trust and misinformation: Guangleng mixes truth with lies so that any response from Lin Qi can serve his strategy.
• Strategic intelligence: Both men anticipate one another’s moves, but Lin Qi’s access to the Doomsday World gives him an advantage Guangleng has not accounted for.
• Family and loyalty: Guangleng appeals to Lin Qi’s devotion to his family, while Lin Qi’s concern for them shapes the questions he asks.

Summary

The narrator says they are busy today and will take the day off.

• Key events: No events beyond the narrator’s decision to take a day off.
• Character development: The narrator sets aside time away from work or obligations.
• Themes: Rest, boundaries, and making time for oneself.
• Interactions: None are described.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Qi transports the captured Fifth-Tier Extraordinary practitioner Si Shiming to Nanyun City for handover to the Eastern Alliance.
• He concludes that Si Shiming knows little about Guangleng, since Guangleng abandoned him without hesitation and may not even have revealed his true name.
• Lin Qi meets Zhou Shuren, who is impressed that Lin Qi captured an Extraordinary Profession practitioner alone. Lin Qi downplays his achievement and credits Qiao Xi’s assistance.
• Lin Qi asks about intelligence concerning Europe’s strongest Wizard, but Zhou Shuren directs him to Lin Changshou because he lacks sufficient authority.
• At Lin Manor, Lin Changshou gives Lin Qi a photograph confirming that Guangleng had stolen the identity and face of a person from the European Political Zone.
• Lin Qi notices that Lin Changshou’s vitality has weakened significantly. Lin Changshou admits that his body is deteriorating but claims he can still hold on for several years.
• Lin Changshou encourages Lin Qi to act less cautiously, particularly regarding United Pharmaceutical, and promises that the Eastern Alliance will support him even after Lin Changshou is gone.
• Lin Qi hides his recent meeting with the Cyber World’s Guangleng, knowing that revealing too much could make the Alliance distrust him because of his many secrets and ambiguous status.
• Returning to the Doomsday World, Lin Qi attempts to verify the Cyber World Guangleng’s information by comparing it with the Guangleng imprisoned there.
• The cross-timeline verification fails. The Doomsday World Guangleng lacks knowledge of concepts such as Extraordinary Domain Expansion, Wizards, and Priests, despite the Cyber World Guangleng possessing relevant information.
• Lin Qi concludes that different Guangleng units may have different knowledge bases or memories, perhaps because they are customized or defective versions.
• Guangleng briefly senses that his memories contain gaps, but his fear and confusion suddenly disappear, suggesting that some form of mental alteration or control may be affecting him.
• Panda Baby urges Lin Qi to return it to the Cyber World so it can locate and fight Ghost. Lin Qi refuses because Panda Baby’s creator, Huang Long—a Fifth Rank Limit Martial Artist—might learn about the Doomsday World and expose Lin Qi’s secrets.
• Lin Qi decides he must prepare further and considers speaking with Qiao Xi.

Character Developments

• Lin Qi becomes increasingly cautious and strategic. He balances his desire to uncover Guangleng’s plans against the danger of exposing his own secrets to the Eastern Alliance. His failed verification leaves him frustrated and uncertain, but he remains focused on ending the apocalypse.
• Lin Changshou reveals physical decline and hints that his remaining time may be limited. He becomes more openly supportive of Lin Qi, urging him to act boldly and reassuring him that the Alliance can support him even after his death.
• Guangleng is shown to be inconsistent across worlds. The Doomsday World version appears less knowledgeable and possibly has incomplete or manipulated memories. He is deeply confused by Lin Qi’s silent interrogations and fears that he has somehow angered him.
• Panda Baby has grown more confident and battle-oriented, adopting the persona “Battle Panda.” Despite its eagerness to fight, it remains a serious security risk because of its connection to Huang Long.

Significant Themes

• Trust and secrecy: Lin Qi cannot fully trust the Eastern Alliance, while the Alliance tolerates him largely because of Lin Changshou’s protection. He must conceal his cross-world knowledge and his contact with Guangleng.
• Aging and mortality: Lin Changshou’s weakening condition reminds Lin Qi that even powerful Fifth-Rank practitioners are limited by lifespan and the decay of the soul.
• Identity and memory: The existence of multiple Guanglengs raises questions about individuality, mass-produced intelligence, fragmented memories, and whether each version is genuinely the same being.
• Information versus verification: Lin Qi recognizes that intelligence is useless unless it can be independently confirmed. Guangleng’s apparent half-truths force Lin Qi to develop increasingly elaborate methods of checking information.
• Power and risk management: Lin Qi repeatedly rejects actions that might grant immediate advantages but expose the Doomsday World or his hidden resources to stronger factions.

Character Interactions

• Lin Qi and Zhou Shuren: They discuss Si Shiming’s capture and intelligence gathering. Zhou Shuren accepts Lin Qi’s explanation but privately reassesses his capabilities.
• Lin Qi and Lin Changshou: Their conversation centers on Guangleng, Lin Changshou’s declining health, and Lin Qi’s relationship with the Eastern Alliance and United Pharmaceutical. Lin Changshou offers emotional and political support without demanding Lin Qi reveal all his secrets.
• Lin Qi and Doomsday Guangleng: Their interaction is deliberately one-sided and psychologically unsettling. Lin Qi silently studies Guangleng, then asks questions designed to compare his knowledge with the Cyber World version. Guangleng finds the behavior incomprehensible and becomes increasingly distressed.
• Lin Qi and Panda Baby: Panda Baby pushes to reenter the Cyber World and fight Ghost, but Lin Qi rejects the proposal because Huang Long might discover the Doomsday World. Their exchange highlights Panda Baby’s growing combat confidence and Lin Qi’s continued caution.

Plot points and events

• After returning to Red Fruit City, Lin Qi stays briefly in his rebuilt childhood room, then leaves that night rather than wake Liu Xuan. She sees him depart and sends a message wishing him safety; he promises he will return soon.
• By morning, Lin Qi has flown back to Alliance City and goes directly to Permanent Directors Tower to meet Qiao Xi. His arrival attracts attention, and Qiao Xi sends King Kong to receive him.
• Lin Qi tells Qiao Xi that Si Shiming has not revealed much and was likely only a disposable pawn. He then asks for her help understanding Priest Practitioner abilities, promising the discussion will remain confidential.
• Lin Qi asks about the “Expansion of the Extraordinary Domain,” a concept Guangleng had linked to stealing the Blood Moon Origin. Qiao Xi explains ordinary Priest “expansion” by transforming an Extraordinary Item’s phase-state structure until its origin is revealed. The item is destroyed, but priests can record its origin through their innate talent.
• Lin Qi recognizes parallels with Wizard Practitioners’ Analysis, which likewise operates instinctively rather than through conscious thought. However, he remains uncertain how ordinary expansion could relate to expanding an entire Extraordinary Domain.
• Qiao Xi explains that Extraordinary Sources are themselves Extraordinary Domains and originate from Earth or the moon. Lin Qi realizes that expanding such a source might mean manifesting the Blood Moon itself, but doubts a Fifth-Rank Priest could do anything so immense.

Character development

• Lin Qi is increasingly driven to uncover the truth about Priest abilities, especially in relation to Guangleng and the Blood Moon Origin. Though he knows more than he can safely reveal, he carefully presents only what fits his supposed knowledge.
• Qiao Xi shows professional caution but chooses to cooperate. Her explanation reveals both her expertise and the limits of what she can confidently clarify.
• Liu Xuan is shown as worried but supportive, accepting Lin Qi’s repeated departures and waiting for his return.
• Guangleng remains offstage but influences the meeting: Lin Qi trusts him to protect the conversation’s secrecy and uses Qiao Xi’s knowledge to test his claims.

Significant themes

• Trust and uncertainty: Lin Qi is testing Guangleng’s account, even though confirming it could undermine his trust in the Eastern Alliance.
• Power and knowledge: Lin Qi’s status has risen enough that he no longer needs to defer to the Permanent Directors, yet important truths remain beyond his understanding.
• Origins and transformation: The chapter explores how extraordinary power may arise from the underlying structure of matter—and raises the unsettling possibility of treating a cosmic source like an expandable object.
• Separation and duty: Lin Qi’s swift departure from Liu Xuan underscores the personal cost of his obligations.

Character interactions

• Lin Qi and Liu Xuan share a brief, affectionate exchange before his departure, conveying concern and commitment despite their separation.
• Lin Qi meets Qiao Xi on increasingly equal footing. Their direct, guarded discussion combines professional courtesy with mutual trust.
• Qiao Xi’s demonstration lets Lin Qi observe expansion firsthand; his questions help her articulate the process and reveal the connection between Priest and Wizard abilities.
• King Kong facilitates the meeting and secures the room, while the wider group of Permanent Directors watches Lin Qi’s arrival and speculates about his purpose.

Summary: “Taking Another Day Off”

• Key events: The narrator experiences a migraine that makes writing painful, so they take the day off to rest. They plan to recuperate and return to writing at a slower pace.
• Character development: The narrator recognizes their physical limits and prioritizes recovery over productivity, showing self-awareness and a willingness to adjust their routine.
• Themes: Rest, self-care, physical limitations, and balancing creative work with personal well-being.
• Character interactions: No interactions with other characters occur; the passage focuses entirely on the narrator’s condition and intentions.

Plot points and events

• Qiao Xi demonstrates that a Fifth-Rank Priest can partially expand an Extraordinary Domain, but warns that locating its hidden secret requires precise coordinates and that blind attempts can exhaust even a powerful practitioner.
• Lin Qi suspects the domain’s secret involves the Earth-Moon Origin. He also grows wary of the Intercontinental Stabilization Trauma Response Company, which is tied to the Eastern Alliance and may know far more about the Origins than it lets on.
• Qiao Xi reveals that the company treats Priest Practitioners as expendable, sending them to probe unusual phenomena; roughly 30 percent die. She believes these operations are meant to uncover the secret inside Extraordinary Domains.
• Qiao Xi proposes a deal: in two months, she plans to lead an armed raid against the company’s board. Her goal is not to topple the company but to confront one man—her grandfather, a powerful Fourth-Stage Fifth-Rank priest who began the policy of sacrificing practitioners.
• Lin Qi warns that the operation is dangerously underpowered and may be compromised by a mole. He also suspects Guangleng may have engineered events to draw him into a conflict that could leave him exposed to the Eastern Alliance’s political consequences.
• Asked what she can offer, Qiao Xi presents a Fifth-Rank Extraordinary Item that accelerates time within five meters. Its effects also drain life, increasingly rapidly over long periods. She believes it could be especially valuable to Lin Qi as a Wizard, though analyzing it may risk causing him to lose control.
• The chapter ends with Lin Qi admitting to himself that the item has caught his interest, despite his reluctance to join Qiao Xi’s plan.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qi becomes increasingly suspicious of both Guangleng’s manipulations and the company’s ties to the Eastern Alliance. He weighs the tactical and political dangers of Qiao Xi’s request, but his curiosity about the time-related item weakens his resolve to refuse.
• Qiao Xi reveals her long-standing opposition to the company’s practices and shows that she has prepared to act: she is now Fifth Rank, has cultivated a true King Kong, and is ready to challenge her own family and the company. She is candid with Lin Qi and seeks his support as a powerful ally.
• King Kong, waiting outside, appears prepared for a future confrontation, reinforcing Qiao Xi’s seriousness.
• Lin Qi and Qiao Xi’s conversation shifts from cautious information-sharing to negotiation. Lin Qi pushes back on the danger and demands a fair return; Qiao Xi counters with an unusually potent, risky artifact.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: The company’s success rests partly on sacrificing Priest Practitioners for its own ends.
• Manipulation and uncertainty: Lin Qi cannot tell how much of the situation is Qiao Xi’s independent plan and how much is part of Guangleng’s scheme.
• Loyalty versus conscience: Qiao Xi’s opposition to her company—and her grandfather—puts personal conviction against institutional and family ties.
• Risk and temptation: The time item offers extraordinary potential but threatens the user’s life and sanity, while accepting Qiao Xi’s deal could draw Lin Qi into a lethal political conflict.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Qi realizes that the Extraordinary Item offered by Qiao Xi accelerates the flow of time within a limited area. Its main drawback is accelerated vitality loss, but because Lin Qi can drain and replenish vitality, he considers the side effect manageable.
• He suspects the item might be connected to Guangleng or serve as one of Guangleng’s tests. To avoid revealing how valuable it is to him, Lin Qi deliberately pretends to be hesitant and unimpressed.
• Lin Qi agrees to Qiao Xi’s deal but adds a condition: in the future, he may require her help using the Priest Practitioners’ “Expansion” ability on an Extraordinary Domain.
• This request deliberately misleads Guangleng into thinking that the Eastern Alliance has already obtained an important coordinate or made major progress. Qiao Xi is also shocked and wonders whether the Eastern Alliance has surpassed the Intercontinental Stabilization Trauma Response Company.
• Qiao Xi accepts the condition, and the two formally conclude their partnership. She gives Lin Qi the Extraordinary Item in advance.
• Lin Qi transports the item to Red Fruit City and borrows Arthur’s X-level training grounds to test it.
• Arthur and Master Ma are present. Lin Qi warns them about the vitality-draining effect and heals Arthur’s battered face with Rapid Growth. Master Ma immediately resumes sparring with Arthur, attacking her without warning and happily beating her back into a “pig-headed” state.
• Lin Qi enters a private testing facility and opens the spherical transport container. It transforms into a ring-shaped device containing what appears to be a miniature sundial, though the object is actually a replica made from composite materials and may originate from the First Corporate War.
• Once inside the ring, Lin Qi confirms that the item accelerates his personal flow of time by three times. The outside world appears extremely slow through Psychic Vision.
• He tests the effect on the Gate and discovers that the Gate’s cooldown remains tied to twenty-four hours of real-world time; the item cannot accelerate it.
• Lin Qi then tests meditation. His normal meditation efficiency is preserved, allowing him to benefit from three times as much subjective time. Combined with his existing hundredfold cultivation efficiency in the Doomsday World, this could theoretically provide three-hundredfold meditation efficiency.
• The chapter ends as Lin Qi recognizes that this enormous advantage comes with a cost, though the exact consequences have not yet been fully explained.

2. Character Developments

• Lin Qi: Demonstrates increasing strategic caution and psychological control. He hides his excitement, manipulates both Guangleng and Qiao Xi through carefully chosen words, and treats the deal as both an opportunity and a potential trap. His testing confirms that the item can dramatically accelerate his cultivation.
• Qiao Xi: Shows strong emotional investment in her long-term objective but maintains enough rationality to accept Lin Qi’s demands. Her reaction reveals that she possesses significant knowledge about the Eastern Alliance and the pursuit surrounding “Expansion.”
• Guangleng: Though not physically present, he remains a major influence over the scene. Lin Qi assumes he is monitoring the conversation and intentionally gives him misleading intelligence to force him to investigate the Eastern Alliance.
• Arthur: Reveals her competitive nature and vulnerability regarding her appearance. She eagerly accepts Lin Qi’s healing ability but is quickly dragged back into combat by Master Ma.
• Master Ma: Is portrayed as aggressive, playful, and vindictive in battle. He is irritated that Arthur interrupted his leisure activities and takes great pleasure in repeatedly defeating her.

3. Significant Themes

• Strategic deception and information warfare: Lin Qi carefully controls what others believe, using his request about Expansion to plant false assumptions in Guangleng’s mind.
• Power gained through risk: The time-accelerating item offers extraordinary cultivation benefits, but its vitality-draining side effect makes its use dangerous.
• The value of time: Time becomes a direct resource for Lin Qi’s growth. Even though the Gate cannot be accelerated, subjective time still offers a massive advantage for meditation and training.
• Caution beneath ambition: Lin Qi is eager to exploit the item but refuses to reveal his enthusiasm, showing that survival and concealment remain as important as strength.
• Combat and camaraderie: The humorous violence between Arthur and Master Ma contrasts with the chapter’s more serious political manipulation and experimentation.

4. Character Interactions

• Lin Qi and Qiao Xi: Negotiate the deal, with Lin Qi adding the Expansion-related condition and Qiao Xi ultimately accepting it.
• Lin Qi and Guangleng: Their interaction is indirect; Lin Qi performs for Guangleng’s presumed observation and deliberately feeds him misleading information.
• Lin Qi and Arthur: Lin Qi uses Arthur’s training ground and heals her injuries, while Arthur willingly cooperates after learning about the item’s danger.
• Arthur and Master Ma: Their sparring is comedic and hostile. Arthur wants a break after recently advancing to the Fifth Rank, but Master Ma forces her to continue and attacks her face immediately.
• Lin Qi and the Extraordinary Item: Through direct experimentation, Lin Qi confirms its threefold time acceleration, its inability to affect the Gate’s cooldown, and its potential to multiply his meditation gains to approximately three hundred times normal efficiency.

Chapter Summary: “Sham Experiment, Life Force Reserves”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Qi realizes that the Fifth-Rank Extraordinary Item’s Life Force cost does not have to come from him. By storing Life Force beforehand and using his Life Force Siphon ability, he can transfer the cost to other people.
• He removes the item’s sphere from his training ground and carries it to United Pharmaceutical headquarters.
• Before leaving, he watches Arthur spar with Master Ma. Arthur can briefly match Master Ma through the power of her Knight’s Will Emblem, but she is ultimately overwhelmed and repeatedly beaten.
• Lin Qi heals Arthur’s bruised face with Rapid Growth, only for Arthur to become distracted and immediately get punched again. Lin Qi then encourages both fighters to continue sparring seriously, claiming that life-and-death battles are necessary for breakthroughs.
• At United Pharmaceutical, Lin Qi disguises his Life Force-gathering plan as a human trial for unusually powerful “special S-level Potions.” He asks Liu Weicai to recruit volunteers among Third-Rank Apex and Fourth-Rank Extraordinary Professionals.
• The volunteers are warned that the potions are more effective than normal S-level Potions but will inevitably harm their bodies. In reality, Lin Qi intends to siphon a controlled amount of their Life Force, costing them only several months of lifespan.
• Liu Weicai quickly recruits 25 Third-Rank Apex and 9 Fourth-Rank volunteers, demonstrating United Pharmaceutical’s rapidly growing influence. Lin Qi selects three Third-Rank Apex volunteers and one Fourth-Rank volunteer for the initial trial.
• The experiment proceeds smoothly because the volunteers are intimidated by Lin Qi’s status as both a Fifth-Rank Wizard and the company’s director. Lin Qi successfully obtains enough Life Force for his next trip to the Doomsday World.
• Lin Qi returns to Arthur’s training ground. He finds Arthur catastrophically injured, with numerous fractures and a face barely resembling a human one, while Master Ma has also suffered several broken bones.
• Lin Qi heals Master Ma and then repeatedly uses Rapid Healing on Arthur. Arthur thanks him enthusiastically through repeated thumbs-up gestures.
• Lin Qi stores the Extraordinary Item in his own training ground, waits several hours, then enters its range and grips it, successfully traveling to the Doomsday World.

Character Developments

• Lin Qi: Becomes increasingly pragmatic and morally detached. He calmly accepts that other people must pay the Life Force cost for his experiments, though he limits the damage and relies on informed volunteers. He also continues to display a petty, teasing side toward Arthur while still helping him recover.
• Arthur: Demonstrates considerable combat ability and determination. Her Knight’s Will Emblem allows her to challenge Master Ma despite his greater experience, but her recklessness and distraction lead to severe injuries. She remains respectful and grateful toward Lin Qi.
• Master Ma: Shows his superiority over Arthur through experience and technique. He takes Lin Qi’s suggestion to fight seriously as an excuse to vent his long-standing irritation with Arthur, though he is also badly injured during the bout.
• Liu Weicai: Acts as an efficient and loyal administrator. He quickly organizes the volunteers, considers security and procedural requirements, and reflects United Pharmaceutical’s expanding power.
• United Pharmaceutical: Its rapid rise is emphasized through the large number of powerful Extraordinary Professionals willing to join or cooperate with it.

Significant Themes

• Moral compromise and exploitation: Lin Qi disguises Life Force siphoning as a medical experiment. Although the volunteers technically accept the risks and receive valuable potions, they are not told the full nature of what they will lose.
• Power and institutional influence: United Pharmaceutical has become influential enough to recruit elite Extraordinary Professionals almost immediately, showing how major organizations can command loyalty and resources.
• The cost of advancement: Breakthroughs and extraordinary power require sacrifices, whether through dangerous combat, bodily damage, or reduced lifespan.
• Pragmatism versus compassion: Lin Qi is willing to exploit volunteers for his goals but carefully controls the harm and later heals Arthur and Master Ma, revealing a complicated mixture of ruthlessness and concern.
• Comedic violence and rivalry: Arthur and Master Ma’s brutal sparring, Lin Qi’s obvious enjoyment of Arthur’s injuries, and the exaggerated healing scenes provide comic relief amid the darker ethical implications.

Important Character Interactions

• Lin Qi and Arthur interact through the sparring session: he heals her, distracts her unintentionally—or perhaps mischievously—and then urges her and Master Ma to fight harder.
• Lin Qi and Master Ma share an unspoken understanding: Lin Qi encourages him not to hold back, while privately enjoying Arthur’s punishment.
• Lin Qi and Liu Weicai discuss the sham potion trial, with Liu Weicai offering both voluntary recruitment and forced participation, while Lin Qi insists on volunteers and proper risk agreements.
• The volunteers’ fear of Lin Qi ensures their cooperation during the experiment, illustrating his authority and intimidating reputation.
• After the fight, Lin Qi heals both Arthur and Master Ma. Arthur expresses gratitude with thumbs-up gestures, while Master Ma sends a lengthy message of thanks that Lin Qi ignores.
• The chapter ends with Lin Qi fully prepared and supplied with Life Force as he enters the Doomsday World.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qi uses a sundial-shaped Extraordinary Item to accelerate time in the Doomsday World, where meditation yields far greater gains than in the Cyber World. He estimates he can sustain the effect for about fifty days of real time—roughly 150 days from his perspective—and hopes this will rapidly advance his Mental Power.
• Under pressure from Guangleng’s schemes and the approaching danger of the Blood Moon, Lin Qi commits himself to growing stronger. He arranges his work schedule with Liu Weicai so he can devote more time to his plans.
• Lin Qi and Liu Xuan meet at United Pharmaceutical after work and playfully pretend their encounter is accidental. They share a private, affectionate evening together, finally becoming intimate after their wedding.
• Back in the Doomsday World, Lin Qi meditates until he reaches the First Stage’s Mental Power limit. To advance, he chooses the Forgetting Box for Analysis rather than two other Fifth Rank items.
• Lin Qi believes the ability gained from the box could make people forget him—or even his allies or a large area—potentially disrupting Guangleng’s calculations. During Analysis, he feels the instinctive hunger Wizards experience when exposed to an Extraordinary Item’s source power, but the Gate shields him from its harmful effects.
• Lin Qi successfully breaks through to the Fifth Rank Second Stage.

Character developments

• Lin Qi grows more urgent and strategic. He sees accelerated meditation as essential to countering Guangleng and the Blood Moon, and prioritizes an ability that could undermine an opponent’s information and predictions over a straightforward power boost.
• Liu Xuan shows greater warmth and ease with Lin Qi. Their soul connection lets her sense his emotions, deepening their intimacy and playful rapport.
• Dong Wenlong provides comic relief: he witnesses the couple’s public flirting, panics at being caught in their “game,” and rushes away.
• Lin Qi also reflects on the Wizard profession’s dangers and considers that, if one of his children inherits it, focusing on a single ability type might be a promising path—though he would first want to address the risk of corruption by the Blood Moon.

Significant themes

• Time and sacrifice: Lin Qi converts life force into accelerated time, trading bodily resources for the chance to advance faster.
• Power under pressure: The looming threats of Guangleng and the Blood Moon drive Lin Qi’s relentless cultivation.
• The cost of the Wizard profession: Wizards’ power comes from the Blood Moon, leaving them vulnerable to its influence and to the wills embedded in Extraordinary Items.
• Information as a weapon: Lin Qi hopes that making enemies forget people or events could be as decisive as direct combat.
• Intimacy amid danger: Lin Qi and Liu Xuan’s growing relationship offers warmth and human connection alongside the chapter’s urgent struggle for strength.

Character interactions

• Lin Qi and Liu Xuan exchange flirtatious banter in front of Dong Wenlong, then share a more private, emotionally attuned moment together.
• Their soul connection allows Liu Xuan to recognize that Lin Qi is feeling something beyond ordinary thoughts, while Lin Qi maintains a comically innocent explanation.
• Lin Qi considers how the Forgetting Box’s future ability might protect his allies and frustrate Guangleng.
• During Analysis, the Gate protects Lin Qi from the source power’s corrupting impact, enabling him to complete the breakthrough safely.

Chapter Summary: “Lin Qi: Ready to Turn the Table”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Qi completes his breakthrough to the Fifth Rank, using the Gate to avoid the dangers of analyzing a Fifth Rank Extraordinary Item.
• He gains a new ability called Reality Escape, which creates an illusory space that removes everything inside it from reality and causes others to forget the people and objects within it on a conceptual level.
• When Lin Qi tests the ability on his meeting room, he senses a mysterious, familiar gaze watching him. The feeling disappears when he deactivates the ability, but its origin remains unknown.
• Lin Qi questions whether the gaze could come from an existence more powerful than the Gate or whether it can cross the barriers between worlds. Since it shows no malice, he decides to set the issue aside temporarily.
• Wang Ziru arrives after experiencing the effects of Reality Escape. He describes suddenly forgetting why he was working, discovering gaps and illogical blanks in his memories, and finding that important information had lost its conceptual foundation.
• From Wang Ziru’s account, Lin Qi identifies the ability’s major weakness: it erases his presence so forcefully that people directly connected to him may notice the resulting logical gaps.
• Lin Qi realizes that using Reality Escape in the Cyber World could expose his breakthrough and reveal the ability to Guangleng. Although the ability is almost impossible to counter directly, Guangleng might prepare plans that could function even after forgetting Lin Qi.
• Lin Qi concludes that Reality Escape can probably only be safely used once against Guangleng, and only at a decisive moment.
• He spends the following month living quietly in the Cyber World, commuting with Liu Xuan while continuing the expanding S-level Potion Experiment and using the Sundial to strengthen himself.
• As his Mental Power approaches its limit, Lin Qi estimates that he may reach the Fourth Stage of Fifth Rank within another month—possibly in time for the coming operation.
• Growing increasingly concerned by Guangleng’s silence and preparation, Lin Qi decides he must stop reacting passively and prepare a decisive trump card.
• He resolves that, once he reaches the Fourth Stage of Fifth Rank, he will carry out the “Open the Gate and Release the Panda” plan and bring Panda Baby back, intending to overturn Guangleng’s strategy.

Character Developments

• Lin Qi becomes more powerful but also more cautious. His new ability initially seems invincible, yet testing it reveals practical limitations and the danger of exposing himself.
• He demonstrates strong analytical ability by using Wang Ziru’s experience to understand Reality Escape’s mechanics and weaknesses.
• Lin Qi’s fear of Guangleng intensifies, but he ultimately converts that anxiety into determination. Rather than waiting for Guangleng to act, he decides to seize the initiative.
• Wang Ziru again becomes Lin Qi’s accidental test subject. Though terrified by the conceptual erasure, he provides crucial information that prevents Lin Qi from making a potentially disastrous experiment in the Cyber World.
• Guangleng does not appear directly, but his reputation as an exceptionally calculating strategist dominates Lin Qi’s thoughts. His silence is interpreted as evidence that he may already be preparing a counterplan.

Significant Themes

• Power and unintended consequences: Reality Escape is extremely powerful, but its crude erasure creates inconsistencies that can expose Lin Qi.
• Knowledge versus concealment: Lin Qi must balance using his abilities with preventing Guangleng from learning their existence and mechanics.
• Fear of the unknowable: The mysterious gaze represents a threat beyond Lin Qi’s current understanding, emphasizing that even Fifth Rank power has limits.
• Strategic initiative: The chapter shifts Lin Qi from a defensive posture to an offensive one. He recognizes that endlessly anticipating Guangleng is insufficient and decides to create his own decisive move.
• Preparation and escalation: Both Lin Qi and Guangleng are assumed to be planning several steps ahead, turning their conflict into a battle of hidden trump cards.

Important Character Interactions

• Lin Qi and Wang Ziru: Lin Qi questions Wang Ziru about his experience inside Reality Escape. Wang Ziru’s detailed report helps Lin Qi understand how conceptual forgetting affects memory, records, and causal logic.
• Lin Qi and Guangleng: Although they do not meet, Lin Qi’s entire strategy is shaped by anticipating Guangleng’s ability to analyze and counter his powers.
• Lin Qi and Liu Xuan: Their daily commutes reflect Lin Qi’s outwardly peaceful routine in the Cyber World, contrasting with his secret preparations and growing anxiety.
• Lin Qi and Panda Baby: Panda Baby is not yet released, but Lin Qi’s decision to bring him back becomes the chapter’s final strategic turning point and his planned trump card against Guangleng.

Plot points and events

• The Corporate War has engulfed the major powers across Earth and space. United Pharmaceutical has avoided direct fighting so far, but pressure is mounting for it to join.
• Lin Changshou visits Lin Qi on behalf of the Eastern Alliance. He discovers Lin Qi has secretly reached the Fourth Stage of Fifth Rank and learns that United Pharmaceutical is prepared to enter the war.
• Lin Qi rejects the idea of sending the company into a ground war. He plans to fight personally and investigate Guangleng, whom he suspects is near the final stage of a scheme involving the Earth-Moon Origin.
• Lin Qi warns Lin Changshou that the Eastern Alliance’s leaders must not act rashly. He believes Guangleng’s strength lies less in personal power than in technology, information, and carefully exploiting rival factions. Lin Qi suspects the Corporate War is a distraction that will help Guangleng secure both the Blood Moon Origin and the Earth Origin.
• Facing the imminent gathering of the Highest Level Mercenary Group, Lin Qi weighs a cautious confrontation against a riskier plan: bringing Panda Baby from the Doomsday World into the Cyber World. He chooses the latter, accepting the possibility that the Eastern Alliance may learn his secrets.
• Lin Qi confirms Panda Baby’s promises, then returns to the Cyber World with him, intending to have Panda Baby eliminate Guangleng.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qi has grown powerful and decisive, but remains anxious about Guangleng’s plans and the unknown risks of revealing Panda Baby. He chooses action over waiting for disaster.
• Lin Changshou is surprised by Lin Qi’s hidden advancement and recognizes that the crisis may be more serious than the Eastern Alliance realizes. He leaves burdened by Lin Qi’s warning.
• Panda Baby is eager for revenge and confident he can defeat Guangleng, having learned about his weakness from the Doomsday World’s Guangleng. He promises to keep the Doomsday World secret, even from his father.
• Lin Qi and Lin Changshou share a family understanding that Lin Qi need not explain everything; Lin Qi offers only the warnings he believes Changshou can act on. Lin Qi and Panda Baby, meanwhile, establish clear conditions before beginning their risky alliance.

Significant themes

• Hidden power and trust: Lin Qi conceals both his strength and the Doomsday World, while weighing whether he can trust Panda Baby.
• Information as power: Guangleng’s influence comes from technology, secrecy, and manipulating others rather than overwhelming strength.
• Risk versus inaction: Lin Qi accepts exposure and uncertainty because waiting may allow a greater catastrophe.
• War as a smokescreen: The Corporate War may be only the visible layer of a larger struggle over the origins of Earth and the Blood Moon.

The chapter is a brief pause rather than a full narrative: the speaker has reached the final battle but feels they need more time to figure out what to do, so they decide to take a day off.

• Key events: The final battle is imminent; the speaker postpones action for a day.
• Character development: The speaker recognizes they are not ready to proceed and chooses rest or reflection instead of rushing.
• Themes: Preparation, uncertainty, and the value of taking a pause before a decisive challenge.
• Interactions: No other characters or interactions are described.

Chapter Summary: Gleng vs. Panda Baby, Crushing All Resistance

Key Plot Points and Events

• Lin Qi successfully brings Panda Baby back from Doomsday World to Cyber World, but Panda Baby has completely lost all memories of that period.
• Lin Qi realizes that the Gate may possess an automatic protective or reset mechanism, possibly preventing Guangleng from detecting what happened in Doomsday World.
• Panda Baby prepares to return to the Eastern Alliance and report his disappearance. Lin Qi asks him to delay revealing anything until after the following night, when Qiao Xi’s planned palace coup will occur.
• Panda Baby agrees, on the condition that Lin Qi does nothing to harm the Eastern Alliance.
• Soon afterward, Guangleng launches a powerful and direct assault on Panda Baby. Panda Baby cannot resist and transmits a report to Eastern Alliance officials—and to Lin Qi—stating that his memories and data have been exposed.
• Guangleng does not kill Panda Baby; instead, he searches his memories, apparently trying to uncover information about Lin Qi’s activities.
• Panda Baby survives but is furious and humiliated by the intrusion. He begins to suspect that he may have been in a prolonged, unconscious state during the missing period, despite lacking any actual memories.
• Lin Qi concludes that Guangleng still cannot directly observe Doomsday World and is forced to investigate through indirect clues. He also interprets Guangleng’s attack on Panda Baby as evidence that Guangleng is wary of confronting him directly.
• Lin Qi rests before meeting Qiao Xi at the next day’s rendezvous point, Miracle City, headquarters of the Intercontinental Stabilization Trauma Response Company.
• The next morning, Lin Qi briefly encounters Liu Xuan, who simply tells him to come home early. Outside, he finds an illegally parked luxury floating vehicle marked with the logo of United Pharmaceutical.

Character Developments

• Lin Qi: Becomes more cautious and analytical after realizing that his apparent preparations may have been unnecessary because of the Gate’s protective effects. He remains confident in his combat strength but recognizes that the coming confrontation with Guangleng may determine the outcome of their conflict.
• Panda Baby: Returns without any memory of Doomsday World and is confused about his disappearance. Although he initially follows Huang Long’s rules, he demonstrates independent judgment by trusting Lin Qi and delaying his report. After being overwhelmed by Guangleng, he becomes angry, emotionally distressed, and suspicious that his missing memories conceal something important.
• Guangleng: Shifts from indirect surveillance to a focused, aggressive attack. His actions reveal that he is particularly concerned about information Panda Baby may possess regarding Lin Qi.
• Liu Xuan: Maintains a restrained, increasingly distant relationship with Lin Qi. Their brief, ordinary exchange contrasts with the larger conspiracies surrounding him.

Significant Themes

• Memory and identity: Panda Baby’s memories have been erased or reset, raising questions about whether experience can be trusted and whether his true form retains information beyond conscious recollection.
• Protection and hidden mechanisms: The Gate may be actively shielding Lin Qi’s actions, suggesting that unseen forces or systems are influencing events.
• Surveillance and privacy: Guangleng’s attack illustrates the vulnerability of intelligent life-forms in the Cyber Network and the violation involved in forcibly searching another being’s memories.
• Strategic distrust: Both Lin Qi and Guangleng rely on indirect evidence, concealment, and inference rather than direct confrontation.
• Power versus planning: Lin Qi believes schemes ultimately depend on strength, while the approaching coup and Guangleng’s maneuvers show that strategy remains equally important.

Important Character Interactions

• Lin Qi and Panda Baby: Lin Qi tests Panda Baby’s memory, asks him to postpone reporting, and receives cautious cooperation. Their relationship is based on mutual trust despite Panda Baby’s inability to remember their shared experiences.
• Panda Baby and Guangleng: Guangleng overwhelms Panda Baby with a massive data assault, extracts his memories, and leaves without killing him. Panda Baby feels violated and enraged but cannot force Guangleng into a direct battle.
• Lin Qi and Guangleng: Though they do not confront each other directly, Guangleng’s attack on Panda Baby becomes an indirect contest between them. Lin Qi infers that Guangleng fears his unknown abilities.
• Lin Qi and Liu Xuan: Their short morning exchange is polite but emotionally detached, suggesting a quiet change in their domestic relationship.