Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuanqing and the others survived the exam room by answering questions about Spirit Realm professions, then entered the next stage of Wise Man's Amusement Park. They had to choose one of four painting trials and complete it as a team of at least six within three hours.

• Zhai Cai correctly identified witches as Mages, werewolves as Icefire Demon Wolves, and vampires as Deadly Poison Masters, earning the group ten points.
• The group correctly answered a question about profession traits and then answered three more questions, bringing their score to fifty points.
• Zhang Yuanqing identified Musicians and Scholars, as well as Water Ghosts, Scouts, Wood Demons, Earth Monsters, and Fire Masters, as professions that could coexist, earning twenty points and finishing the exam with seventy.
• The group treated their injuries after the exam and learned that Zhang Yuanqing knew about the Five Elements professions' ability to coexist.
• The classroom exit led into a room displaying four paintings, and the posted rules required the group to pick one trial and complete it within three hours.

Zhang Yuanqing’s team entered Castle Mystery to solve Ya Lance’s murder, only to find Guan Ya’s role apparently dead in the castle. They began investigating the suspicious scene, but had not yet identified the killer when Zhang Yuanqing urged them to search for more clues.

• All Under Heaven Returns to Fire recommended Castle Mystery, and Zhang Yuanqing and the others chose it to avoid the likely casualties of a combat painting.
• Zhai Cai entered the painting first, and the rest of the team followed; the painting assigned them roles and gave them three hours to solve Ya Lance’s murder.
• The team realized Guan Ya was missing, rushed into the castle, and found Ya Lance’s bloodied corpse in a second-floor room.
• Sun Miaomiao found no spirit body in the corpse, while Zhai Cai and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire concluded that the chest wound likely came after death and that the organs had been removed while Ya Lance was alive.
• The team suspected Red Chicken Bro because his role, Monroe, had Bigfoot blood, but Zhang Yuanqing warned that the evidence was insufficient and proposed searching the castle for clues.

Zhang Yuanqing and the others uncovered the Lance Family’s sealed secret beneath the castle, triggering a deadly countdown that would bring night and kill a member every half hour. They realized points could unlock restricted clues, but night fell as they opened Mage Dong’s room.

• Zhang Yuanqing found Ya Lance’s journal, which revealed that Mage Dong had been her lover and that she feared the family’s weakening magic could no longer hold back the entity beneath the castle.
• The group entered the cellar and found a sacrificed, skinned cat inside an opened stone coffin, along with a black-magic formation and a blood-written ritual spell.
• A notification warned that the entity would plunge the castle into night every half hour and randomly kill someone, while the team had three hours to identify the murderer.
• Zhang Yuanqing reasoned that the countdown had begun when they entered the instance and that points were key to the investigation, so the group searched the rooms upstairs.
• Zhang Yuanqing spent ten points to unlock Mage Dong’s restricted room, and a cat’s cry sounded as darkness rapidly swallowed the castle.

Zhang Yuanqing and the others investigated the castle master’s murder, finding evidence that implicated Mage Dong and Daniel the tutor while suggesting a Werewolf had eaten the victim’s organs. The search stalled when the group discovered that only one room could be opened per day, leaving the Werewolf’s identity and the killer unresolved.

• Night sealed everyone’s skills, and Red Chicken Bro died before the darkness lifted.
• Zhang Yuanqing searched Mage Dong’s room and found a Spirit Servant formation, a letter from Ya Lance, and one of two ice pens that could have caused one of the castle master’s wounds.
• Zhang Yuanqing and the others identified Mage Dong as a suspect, then found a cruciform greatsword and a letter in Daniel the tutor’s room that revealed he was a bounty hunter hired to hunt a Werewolf.
• Zhai Cai reasoned that Mage Dong may have stabbed the castle master before a Werewolf ate her internal organs, but the greatsword and the victim’s wounds left the sequence of events unclear.
• Zhang Yuanqing narrowed the Werewolf suspects to Zhao Chenghuang and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire, but All Under Heaven Returns to Fire’s room could not be opened because only one room door could be opened per day.

Zhang Yuanqing used spirit writing to confirm that the killer was among Mage Dong, Daniel, and David, then survived the night in which Sun Miaomiao vanished. In David’s room, the team found poison and letters about Cindy Lance, but no clear evidence against David, leaving Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai confused about what the others understood.

• Sun Miaomiao explained that the team had to wait until night to open David’s door, while Zhai Cai argued that their remaining suspects were Mage Dong, Daniel, and the Werewolf.
• Zhang Yuanqing secretly used spirit writing, which produced the letter “d” and confirmed that Mage Dong, Daniel, or David was the killer.
• Night fell, but Zhang Yuanqing survived; Sun Miaomiao disappeared, leaving only a charred human-shaped outline.
• All Under Heaven Returns to Fire opened David’s room, where Zhang Yuanqing found a jar of poisonous blood and Zhai Cai discovered Cindy Lance’s love letter to David and the history of the Lance witches.
• All Under Heaven Returns to Fire concluded that David was not the killer and suspected Zhao Chenghuang’s character, Ren, but Zhang Yuanqing insisted the killer had to be Mage Dong, Daniel, or David.
• Zhang Yuanqing hinted that he had his own way of knowing, but All Under Heaven Returns to Fire said he did not understand, leaving Zhang Yuanqing and Zhai Cai puzzled.

Zhang Yuanqing and his companions found clues in Ren's room that suggested Ya Lance had been poisoned before the Werewolf ate her, and they concluded David was the killer. Their unanimous accusation was wrong, leaving them trapped with the true culprit still unidentified.

• Zhang Yuanqing rejected Zhai Cai's suggestion to name the murderer immediately and chose to inspect Ren's room after nightfall.
• All Under Heaven Returns to Fire died during the night, and Zhang Yuanqing, Zhai Cai, and Zhao Chenghuang went to search Ren's room.
• The three found rotten flesh, wolf fur, and a blessed silver cross, confirming that Ren was the Werewolf and had eaten Ya Lance's remains.
• Zhang Yuanqing and Zhao Chenghuang reasoned that Ren had vomited because Ya Lance had been poisoned, while Zhai Cai connected the poisoning to David's love letter and motives.
• Zhang Yuanqing, Zhai Cai, and Zhao Chenghuang accused David together, but the Spirit Realm announced that their answer was incorrect.

After Zhai Cai sacrificed himself to invalidate the failed deduction, Zhang Yuanqing and Zhao Chenghuang tried to identify Ya Lance’s killer before nightfall. They ruled out several suspects and found that Ya Lance had indeed been poisoned, leaving them with a new contradiction when Zhao Chenghuang revealed that All Under Heaven Returns to Fire was a vampire.

• Zhai Cai used Judgment to invalidate the failed deduction, then died from the skill’s cost after urging Zhang Yuanqing to try again.
• Zhang Yuanqing transformed into White Face and reviewed the suspects with Zhao Chenghuang, ruling out Lenn and Daniel before focusing on Master Dong and Cindy Lance.
• Zhang Yuanqing reconstructed a possible killing by Master Dong with the ice pen, but Zhao Chenghuang questioned how that explained the Werewolf’s vomiting.
• Zhao Chenghuang sniffed Ya Lance’s corpse and the clay jar in All Under Heaven Returns to Fire’s room, then concluded Ya Lance had been poisoned to death.
• Zhao Chenghuang told Zhang Yuanqing that All Under Heaven Returns to Fire was a vampire.

Zhang Yuanqing reviewed the Castle Mystery, realized Cindy Lance had poisoned Ya Lance, and discovered Sun Miaomiao had survived her apparent death. He and Sun Miaomiao named Cindy Lance as the culprit and escaped the painting, reuniting with their companions.

• Zhang Yuanqing and Zhao Chenghuang investigated Mage Dong's room, found no trace of David's poison, and concluded Cindy Lance was the likeliest murderer.
• Zhao Chenghuang died during the night, leaving Zhang Yuanqing alone to review the investigation and notice the planchette had written “c” and “l.”
• Zhang Yuanqing realized the letters pointed to Cindy Lance and found Sun Miaomiao alive in a coffin beneath the castle.
• Zhang Yuanqing and Sun Miaomiao searched Cindy Lance's room and read David's letters, uncovering his plan to use Ya Lance as a vessel for the witch.
• Zhang Yuanqing deduced that Sun Miaomiao had faked her death and that All Under Heaven Returns to Fire had survived a night attack through a hidden ability.
• Zhang Yuanqing and Sun Miaomiao identified Cindy Lance as the culprit, received confirmation, and returned from the painting to reunite with their companions.

After surviving Castle Mystery, Zhang Yuanqing’s group entered Room 503, which turned out to be a vast manor rather than the storage room they expected. They found no immediate threats, but as Zhai Cai opened the manor’s doors, All Under Heaven Returns to Fire shouted that someone was beside him.

• Zhao Chenghuang identified Cindy Lance as the killer, and Zhang Yuanqing admitted he had misread the planchette’s clues before the group left Room 406.
• Sun Miaomiao and Zhao Chenghuang saw that Zhai Cai still faced a bloody disaster, but he entered Room 503 with the others.
• The group found a manor with Moonlit Frost Blossom; Red Chicken Bro ate some and suffered diarrhea, while Sun Miaomiao harvested flowers for the team.
• Guan Ya and Zhao Chenghuang detected no living creatures or vengeful spirits in the front yard, and Red Chicken Bro returned after dealing with his stomach.
• Zhai Cai opened the manor’s double doors, and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire shouted that someone was beside him.

Zhang Yuanqing and his companions entered Berent’s storage room, where they fought the Wood Demons and rescued Zhai Cai from their deadly poison. A talking tabby cat named JOJO then revealed that the woman in the portrait had been Huo Zhengkui’s lover, not Berent’s, and asked how the intruders knew about the Holy Disk fragments.

• Guan Ya identified the returning Red Chicken Bro and All Under Heaven Returns to Fire as fakes, and Red Chicken Bro burned the impostors to charred wood.
• Two Wood Demons attacked the group, and Zhai Cai killed them with his Knight abilities, triggering a powerful poison that left him near death.
• Zhang Yuanqing shielded the group from the Wood Demons’ roots and led everyone into the house, where the roots refused to follow.
• Guan Ya and the others stabilized Zhai Cai, and Zhang Yuanqing used the Azure Emperor Jade Belt to neutralize the poison enough to save his life.
• The group examined the portrait of a Wood Demon woman and inferred that the hall was Berent’s storage room, then a tabby cat emerged and introduced herself as Madam JOJO.
• JOJO challenged the group’s claim that they were Berent’s friends and said the woman in the portrait had been Huo Zhengkui’s lover.

Zhang Yuanqing and his team met JOJO, the cat guarding the Holy Disk fragment, and passed Huo Zhengkui's character test. JOJO allowed them to take the fragment but revealed it was sealed somewhere in the manor, leaving them to search under strict rules.

• Zhang Yuanqing learned that JOJO had guarded the Holy Disk fragment for about sixty years and that Berent had been Huo Zhengkui's student.
• Zhang Yuanqing explained their mission, and JOJO tested his class, conduct, identity, and Spirit Realm ID with a recurve bow that enforced honesty.
• Red Chicken Bro knocked Zhai Cai unconscious again when he began to wake, and the team answered JOJO's questions under the bow's witness.
• JOJO judged Zhang Yuanqing and his teammates worthy and permitted them to take the Holy Disk fragment.
• JOJO revealed that the fragment was sealed inside an item in the manor and forbade the team from damaging or removing anything else.
• Sun Miaomiao suspected the fragment was sealed inside the qipao painting, while Guan Ya checked JOJO's reaction.

Zhang Yuanqing and his teammates searched Huo Zhengkui’s manor for a Holy Disk fragment, using Lu Yueshuang’s notebook to solve the clues. They found the fragment sealed inside Madam JOJO’s miniature canopy bed, but she attacked Zhang Yuanqing after he damaged it.

• Zhang Yuanqing searched the manor with a Holy Disk fragment but found no resonance on its first three floors, so the group followed Madam JOJO to Lu Yueshuang’s notebook.
• Zhang Yuanqing read Lu Yueshuang’s account of her life with Huo Zhengkui, including a near-fatal assassination attempt she attributed to the unknown Same Boat Society.
• Guan Ya searched the manor’s porcelain, music box, badge, and jars for clues, but none contained the fragment.
• Zhang Yuanqing realized that “the Bronze Sparrow Terrace locks the Two Qiaos” referred to Madam JOJO’s cat bed rather than the Wood Demons outside.
• Zhang Yuanqing used his fragment to locate and break the seal in Madam JOJO’s attic bed, then Madam JOJO pounced on him for damaging it.

Zhang Yuanqing and his companions recovered the Holy Disk fragment and escaped Pan's Labyrinth, while Zhai Cai explained that he needed to reach level eight before opening the Holy See's treasure. The next day, Zhang Yuanqing reported back to the president, who ordered him to seduce Donna as part of a plan against the Free Covenant, and Catherine sent him Donna's dinner plans.

• Zhang Yuanqing's group found the Holy Disk fragment, revived Zhai Cai, and gave him the fragment as agreed.
• Zhai Cai explained that only a level-eight Knight could safely open the Holy See's treasure, and Ms. JOJO shared her plans and the labyrinth's safe route.
• Zhai Cai imposed a rule that disabled the plants, and the group escaped through Rooms 404, 303, 201, and 106 before leaving Flat Island by yacht.
• Zhang Yuanqing gave Zhai Cai the Disguise Ring, while Berent returned to find his servants unconscious and learned that Vinnie had helped Zhai Cai escape.
• Zhang Yuanqing reported to the president, who told him to seduce Donna and lure her to the Free Covenant's secret gathering; Catherine then messaged him that Donna would dine at TarTar Restaurant at seven.

Disguised as Ju Mang, Zhang Yuanqing arranged a chance encounter with Donna at TarTar Restaurant, while Annie encouraged Donna’s interest in him. The chapter ended with Annie telling Donna that Ju Mang was in the restaurant.

• Zhang Yuanqing arrived at TarTar Restaurant with Red Chicken Bro and took the reserved table A203.
• Donna discussed Yuanshi Tianzun and Ju Mang with Annie and her companions in a private room.
• Annie told Donna that Ju Mang seemed conservative and uninterested in her, prompting Donna to plan to invite him to the branch.
• Annie received Zhang Yuanqing’s message, spotted him in the public dining area, and returned to the private room.
• Annie told Donna that Ju Mang was at TarTar Restaurant.

Zhang Yuanqing, disguised as Ju Mang, charmed his way into a dinner with Donna and arranged to visit the Goddess of Beauty Association. He then visited Catherine, reported his progress, and questioned how Donna could be lured into attending the gathering.

• Donna invited Ju Mang to sit with her and flirted with him during dinner, while Zhang Yuanqing stayed alert to her seduction and the association’s motives.
• Zhang Yuanqing declined Donna’s offer to invite his subordinate inside, and the dinner ended with Donna asking him to visit the branch another day.
• Donna told Annie she planned to wait for Ju Mang to contact her, believing he had fallen for her charm, while Zhang Yuanqing privately dismissed her assumptions.
• Zhang Yuanqing went to Catherine’s wellness club and found her with two steaming cups in her room, suggesting someone had recently been there.
• Zhang Yuanqing told Catherine that Donna was satisfied with him, then asked how they could persuade Donna to attend the gathering without arousing her suspicion.

Zhang Yuanqing accepted the evil faction’s plan to lure Donna to a gathering, while Mr. President advised him to cultivate his sun-based abilities before the Slaughter Dungeon. After discovering an obscure organization called the Same Boat Society, Zhang Yuanqing alerted Fu Qingyang, and Mr. President went to meet the Marshal about a big deal.

• Catherine gave Zhang Yuanqing a teleportation talisman and instructed him to seduce Donna, make her lose her reason, and bring her through a portal to the evil faction’s gathering.
• Zhang Yuanqing handed the talisman to Mr. President, who suspected the Merchant Guild’s Conservative Faction was involved and advised him to master the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record before the Slaughter Dungeon.
• Zhang Yuanqing emailed Fu Qingyang about the Same Boat Society’s attempted assassination of Huo Zhengkui, and Fu Qingyang found no record of the organization in the Five Elements Alliance database.
• Mr. President appeared in Fu Qingyang’s study and asked to meet the Marshal to discuss a big deal.

Fu Qingyang learned that Mr. President wanted the Marshal’s help in an operation against New Covenant County, while Mr. President’s visit to her ended with him battered. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuanqing stole a Hunter Guild Saint’s Role Card and prepared to meet six Dominators before the operation.

• Mr. President advised Fu Qingyang to focus on combining many sword strikes into one and revealed his distrust of the older generation of demigods, raising questions about the old Marshal’s death.
• Mr. President traveled to the Marshal’s study to recruit her, but she drew her sword, and he later appeared battered at the Goddess of Beauty Association headquarters seeking its president.
• The Goddess of Beauty Association president agreed to an operation aimed at ending the New Covenant County faction war early so Yuanshi would have time to grow stronger.
• Zhang Yuanqing extracted a level-five Siren Role Card from a Hunter Guild member so he could avoid entering a dungeon before the Slaughter Dungeon.
• After Donna invited Zhang Yuanqing to tea, he told the president and Catherine, and the president arranged for him to meet six Dominators that night.

Zhang Yuanqing joined a secret meeting of six Sovereigns preparing to raid a Free Covenant gathering where the evil faction planned to corrupt Donna Caroline and New Covenant County’s orderly leaders. The team was sent to wait in isolation until Zhang Yuanqing could attend Donna’s date and open a passage to the gathering.

• Zhang Yuanqing met Little Round by video call, learned about her intelligence work and Kou Beiyue’s rise, and then went to the appointed meeting place.
• The president transported Zhang Yuanqing to a council hall, where he met the other participants, including Fu Qingyang, Stop-Killing Palace Lord, Demon Eye Heavenly King, and peak Sovereign Pansy Edison.
• The president explained that the Free Covenant planned to use a gathering to corrupt Donna Caroline and other orderly leaders, and that Zhang Yuanqing would attend Donna’s date as Ju Mang to open a passage for the raid.
• The president gave Zhang Yuanqing the Golden Crow Seal and warned the team that they might face a god’s gaze and would have only half an hour to complete the operation.
• The president exiled Zhang Yuanqing from the council hall and ordered the team to remain isolated until the operation began.

Zhang Yuanqing visited Donna at the Goddess of Beauty Association’s resort and played on her sympathy while secretly stirring her desire. After Annie left, Donna invited him to experience a mother’s tenderness, while Catherine and possibly other Free Covenant officials watched through surveillance.

• Zhang Yuanqing arrived at the island resort and showed Annie the listening device Catherine had given him, so they spoke politely in front of the monitor.
• Annie told Zhang Yuanqing that she had not found Catherine because many members of the branch were jealous of Donna and investigating them discreetly would take time.
• Zhang Yuanqing met Donna, flirted with her, and told a fabricated story about his unhappy childhood to win her sympathy.
• Zhang Yuanqing implied that Donna would have made a loving mother, and his words stirred her desire while also reaching Catherine through surveillance.
• Donna sent Annie away and invited Zhang Yuanqing to experience a mother's tenderness.

Zhang Yuanqing stalled with Donna until the Hunter Guild’s gathering began while secretly preparing to steal the tools needed to reach the Demon Seed’s secluded residence. He crushed the listening device and told the guild president that the time had come.

• Zhang Yuanqing resisted Donna’s seduction with Solar Power while pretending to kiss and caress her, and secretly summoned Little Doubi.
• Two Hunter Guild Saints monitored the bedroom from a yacht and reported that everything was normal, though static obscured the sounds.
• The invisible Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader entered the Health Preservation Club and found the bowl and bottle needed to draw the formation diagram.
• At seven in the evening, Zhang Yuanqing confirmed that the gathering had begun and that he had stalled long enough without arousing suspicion.
• Zhang Yuanqing crushed the listening device, called the guild president, and announced that the time had come.