Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “A Lone Yin Cannot Overcome Yang”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun recognizes the being passing above the Yin-Yang Daoist Grounds as an Outer God, whose presence violently disrupts the natural balance between Yin and Yang.
• The imbalance affects the Imperial Academy students, driving them into irrational hostility toward Shang Qingqiu. They attack her with numerous spells and divine abilities.
• Shang Qingqiu does not resist directly. Instead, she allows her distorted Taiji Diagram to absorb and neutralize the attacks.
• Inspired by the chaotic Yin-Yang energies, Shang Qingqiu reaches a dangerous realization: Yin and Yang do not necessarily need to remain balanced. She embraces the idea that “a lone Yin can overcome Yang.”
• She unleashes the Yin-Yang Grand Primordial Unity Art, expanding the Taiji Diagram across the Daoist Grounds and trapping the students inside.
• The technique creates a pink miasma and forcibly drains the students’ vital essence. The male students lose life force especially quickly, while the female students are also endangered by the technique’s extreme imbalance.
• Shang Qingqiu absorbs the essence of dozens of students, increasing her strength to nearly the Creation Stage.
• Wang Zheng escapes the formation but is left severely weakened. He warns Li Shun that the Taiji Diagram must be stopped before it spreads across the entire Academy.
• Li Shun invokes Confucian and Yang-centered principles, arguing that Yang guides and nourishes Yin, and that neither isolated Yin nor isolated Yang can sustain life.
• Shang Qingqiu rejects his argument, declaring that superiority between Yin and Yang should be decided through strength rather than words.
• She redirects the Taiji Diagram toward Li Shun and swallows him. The formation stops expanding and becomes eerily still, leaving Wang Zheng to fear the worst.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Initially paralyzed by fear of the Outer God, he gradually regains his resolve. Despite knowing he is weaker than Shang Qingqiu, he risks confronting her to protect the Academy students. His attempt to use moral and cosmological reasoning ultimately places him directly in danger.
• Wang Zheng: Demonstrates greater composure than Li Shun when the Outer God appears. After escaping Shang Qingqiu’s technique, he becomes an urgent adviser, recognizing the scale of the threat and encouraging Li Shun to intervene.
• Shang Qingqiu: Undergoes a major transformation from a powerful cultivator into an increasingly dangerous and ruthless figure. The Outer God’s disruption grants her an insight into an extreme Yin doctrine, causing her to abandon balance and drain the life essence of the students to strengthen herself.
• The Imperial Academy students: Their judgment is overwhelmed by the chaotic Yin-Yang energies. They shift from organized condemnation to uncontrolled violence, becoming victims of the very force they helped unleash.

Significant Themes

• Balance versus extremism: The chapter contrasts the traditional harmony of Yin and Yang with Shang Qingqiu’s embrace of overwhelming Yin. The distorted Taiji Diagram symbolizes the dangers of abandoning equilibrium.
• Reason versus instinct: The students lose their rationality under the Outer God’s influence, while Li Shun attempts to restore order through doctrine and reason.
• Power and corruption: Shang Qingqiu’s enlightenment is morally ambiguous: it grants her tremendous power but also leads her to exploit and endanger others.
• Ideological conflict: Li Shun and Shang Qingqiu represent opposing interpretations of Yin-Yang philosophy. Li Shun insists that Yin depends on Yang, while Shang Qingqiu challenges the hierarchy and seeks to prove her view through combat.
• Cosmic disorder: The Outer God’s presence destabilizes not only the environment but also the minds, techniques, and natural laws governing the characters.

Character Interactions

• The students collectively attack Shang Qingqiu after being influenced by the Outer God, but their assault only allows her distorted Taiji Diagram to demonstrate its defensive power.
• Shang Qingqiu turns the students’ hostility against them by trapping them within her Grand Primordial Unity Art and absorbing their vitality.
• Wang Zheng escapes and urgently coordinates with Li Shun, emphasizing that both male and female students are at risk.
• Li Shun confronts Shang Qingqiu verbally, attempting to persuade her through Confucian teachings about Yang’s guiding role.
• Shang Qingqiu rejects Li Shun’s doctrine and transforms their philosophical disagreement into a direct battle, ultimately swallowing him within the Taiji Diagram.

Chapter Summary: Great Qian’s Collapse Begins

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun survives being trapped inside Shang Qingqiu’s Unbalanced Taiji Diagram. After an hour of struggle, the Yang Qi gradually reclaims its lost ground, restoring balance between Yin and Yang.
• The Taiji Diagram dissolves, along with the pink miasma surrounding the battlefield. Li Shun emerges unharmed, while most Imperial Academy disciples are unconscious or severely weakened.
• Shang Qingqiu remains standing but is no longer crazed. She appears confused about how Li Shun overcame the imbalance.
• The Imperial Academy’s Right Deputy Director arrives, accepts that Shang Qingqiu’s actions were influenced by outside forces, and orders her to help repair the damage rather than punish her immediately.
• The Deputy Director reveals that the Yin-Yang imbalance has affected all of Great Qian, not merely the academy. Across the empire, natural phenomena and human behavior have become chaotic: day and night are distorted, storms rage, and people suddenly turn violently against loved ones or strangers.
• The crisis was triggered by the manifestation of an Outer God, but Great Qian was already vulnerable because its “Unsetting Sun” had created excessively long days and shortened nights for nearly four hundred years. This longstanding imbalance had gradually accumulated until the Outer God’s appearance ignited it.
• The Deputy Director implies that simply restoring ordinary day-and-night cycles will not be easy, hinting at deeper political or structural complications within Great Qian.
• With the Court temporarily paralyzed and the empire in disorder, Imperial Academy students are dispatched throughout the provinces. Using special talismans, they must locate Yin-Yang imbalance focal points, report on them, and assist local authorities in restoring order.
• Li Shun, Wang Zheng, and Shang Qingqiu are assigned together to Bing Province. Wang Zheng begins questioning Li Shun about how he survived and helped stabilize Shang Qingqiu’s technique.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Demonstrates remarkable resilience and comprehension of Yin-Yang principles. Rather than merely resisting the Unbalanced Taiji Diagram, he appears to have understood and helped restore its internal harmony. His calm survival strengthens his reputation and suggests deeper potential.
• Wang Zheng: His guilt over urging Li Shun to intervene gives way to relief, concern, and renewed curiosity. He remains cautious around Shang Qingqiu but continues to trust and support Li Shun.
• Shang Qingqiu: Her madness fades after the imbalance is resolved. She acknowledges her mistake, accepts responsibility, and is assigned to redeem herself through service. Her relationship with Li Shun becomes more complicated, marked by confusion and likely gratitude.
• Right Deputy Director: Acts as a pragmatic leader during the crisis. He prioritizes stabilizing Great Qian over punishment, reveals the true scale of the disaster, and mobilizes the academy’s students to aid the empire.

Significant Themes

• Balance and imbalance: The chapter links physical, spiritual, political, and emotional disorder to the disruption of Yin and Yang.
• Hidden consequences of long-term instability: Great Qian’s abnormal day-night cycle was tolerated for centuries, but its accumulated effects eventually produced a catastrophic crisis.
• Responsibility and redemption: Shang Qingqiu’s destructive actions are acknowledged, but she is given the opportunity to atone through meaningful service.
• Individual insight versus systemic disaster: Li Shun can restore balance within a powerful technique, yet the larger crisis reveals problems embedded in Great Qian’s entire social and cosmic order.
• Nature’s influence on humanity: The imbalance affects not only weather and celestial patterns but also human emotions, relationships, and violence.

Character Interactions

• Wang Zheng anxiously watches over Li Shun and later checks his condition, revealing his concern and guilt.
• Wang Zheng confronts Shang Qingqiu about her mistake, but the Right Deputy Director interrupts and assumes authority over the situation.
• The Deputy Director treats Shang Qingqiu with measured forgiveness, emphasizing the need for cooperation rather than blame.
• Li Shun and Wang Zheng react with shock to the extent of Great Qian’s collapse and question why restoring normal rhythms is not straightforward.
• Li Shun, Wang Zheng, and Shang Qingqiu are placed in the same mission group, forcing the three characters to work together despite the recent disaster.

Chapter Summary: Cold Mountain Demon Moon Appears

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun explains that Shang Qingqiu’s recovery may have resulted from the Outer God’s influence fading and the erosion of the Unbalanced Tai Chi Diagram ending. Wang Zheng remains skeptical but does not press him.
• The truth behind Li Shun’s survival is revealed: when Shang Qingqiu nearly drained all his Yang qi, the mysterious power connected to his Square Inch Dao awakened. It generated an inexhaustible supply of whatever energy or life force he lacked, preserving him from death.
• Li Shun realizes this force exists above ordinary Yin-Yang principles and is the fundamental power sustaining his Square Inch Puppet. He believes he will eventually understand and control it.
• After the Heaven Oversight Bureau sealed the remaining imprint of Taiyi Xuanpin in Bing Province, the region’s deadly cold had weakened, and its snowfields had begun transforming into grasslands. This fragile recovery is suddenly destroyed.
• The earth around former Cold Mountain County begins collapsing as though an enormous void beneath it is swallowing the land. The sun disappears, replaced by a crescent moon whose cold light draws vitality—and the life force of countless dying beings—into the sky.
• Wang Zheng recognizes that someone is exploiting the Yin-Yang disturbance to forcibly absorb Heaven and Earth’s vitality. He uses a powerful balancing technique to stabilize the collapsing region, but his golden web is quickly shattered, injuring him.
• Li Shun, Shang Qingqiu, Wang Zheng, and numerous cultivators from across Bing Province join the resistance. Despite their combined efforts, the disaster is too powerful. Cold Mountain Commandery is consumed, and the collapse threatens the more populous commanderies.
• As the crescent moon grows brighter and gradually becomes full, a mysterious figure begins taking shape at the heart of the calamity.
• Wang Zheng desperately asks why Great Qian’s Creation Realm experts have not appeared, but no one knows. Their absence leaves the lower-level cultivators unable to stop the disaster.
• Li Shun identifies the emerging presence as the legendary Cold Mountain Soul, an ancient powerful being believed to have remained dormant beneath Cold Mountain and sought rebirth through the cold moon’s radiance.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Gains a deeper understanding of the hidden power within his Square Inch Dao. His survival reveals that he possesses an extraordinary self-restorative force capable of replenishing any essential energy. He also correctly recognizes the true nature of the disaster and the Cold Mountain Soul.
• Wang Zheng: Demonstrates courage, responsibility, and a willingness to sacrifice himself to protect Bing Province. Even after suffering internal injuries, he repeatedly uses his techniques to delay the catastrophe.
• Shang Qingqiu: Her immense power is emphasized through her earlier ability to drain Li Shun nearly to death. She joins the defense against the disaster, though even her strength is insufficient.
• The cultivators of Bing Province: Display collective bravery by repeatedly confronting the disaster despite knowing their efforts may be futile. Many risk or lose their lives attempting to protect the population.

Significant Themes

• Hidden power and future awakening: Li Shun’s mysterious Square Inch Dao power hints at a greater truth that he is not yet ready to comprehend.
• Life, death, and rebirth: The calamity converts the deaths of countless beings into vitality for the Cold Mountain Soul, presenting rebirth as something fueled by mass destruction.
• The fragility of recovery: Bing Province’s return to life is quickly undone, emphasizing how unstable the balance between destruction and renewal can be.
• Sacrifice against overwhelming fate: The cultivators cannot win, but they continue resisting to delay the disaster and save as many lives as possible.
• Cosmic imbalance and exploitation: The Yin-Yang turmoil is not merely a natural disturbance; it is being deliberately exploited by a powerful entity seeking to rebuild itself.

Character Interactions

• Wang Zheng questions Li Shun’s explanation, but respects his reluctance to reveal more.
• Li Shun observes Wang Zheng’s desperate efforts and joins him in resisting the collapse.
• Shang Qingqiu and Li Shun fight alongside Wang Zheng and the other cultivators, forming a united but insufficient defense.
• Wang Zheng’s appeal for the missing Creation Realm experts exposes the isolation of the lower-level defenders and the seriousness of Great Qian’s unexplained absence.
• Li Shun’s recognition of the Cold Mountain Soul provides the first clear explanation for the source and purpose of the catastrophe.

Summary of “Remnant Soul’s Slaughter”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Earth-Sinking Calamity continues spreading, and Wang Zheng asks how it can be stopped.
• Li Shun identifies the Elder Remnant Soul—also called the Cold Mountain Soul—as the source of the disaster. He declares that because the remnant soul caused the calamity, it must be destroyed to end it.
• Li Shun traps the remnant soul inside a cage formed from countless golden characters.
• Wang Zheng attacks using a Legalist divine technique, summoning thunder infused with Heaven and Earth’s punitive power. Although the lightning severely weakens the remnant soul, it fails to destroy it.
• The moon suddenly becomes unnaturally bright, and the Cold Mountain Soul escapes the lightning. It appears behind Wang Zheng and whispers into his ear. His head is instantly severed, though no one can determine how the attack worked.
• Li Shun attacks in rage with multiple Spring-Autumn Brush techniques, but his spells pass harmlessly through the remnant soul, as though it does not truly exist in the physical world.
• Shang Qingqiu abandons the battlefield, reasoning that the remnant soul is too powerful to fight directly. The Cold Mountain Soul appears beside her and kills her in the same mysterious manner.
• The remnant soul then moves through the battlefield, appearing behind each cultivator and killing them by severing their heads. All the cultivators aiding the disaster relief die except Li Shun.
• With resistance eliminated, the Earth-Sinking Calamity accelerates. The vitality of Heaven and Earth gathers around the Cold Mountain Soul, causing its misty form to become increasingly solid.
• The moonlight narrows until it shines only on the remnant soul, plunging the surrounding world into darkness.
• The chapter ends with the increasingly manifested Cold Mountain Soul approaching Li Shun. Unlike the others, it does not whisper from behind but faces him directly, leaving its intentions uncertain.

Character Developments

• Wang Zheng: Reveals his mastery of the Legalist School’s rare Legalist Execution technique. He begins confidently, believing righteous punishment can destroy the remnant soul, but is ultimately killed instantly and mysteriously.
• Li Shun: Displays courage and loyalty by continuing to fight after Wang Zheng’s death. His anger at the remnant soul grows, but he is forced to recognize that ordinary divine abilities cannot affect it. His survival becomes suspicious and raises questions about his role in the coming confrontation.
• Shang Qingqiu: Shows a pragmatic but self-serving nature by fleeing rather than fighting. Her attempt to preserve herself fails, and she becomes another victim of the remnant soul.
• Cold Mountain Soul/Elder Remnant Soul: Emerges as an overwhelming, supernatural force. It can evade attacks, appear without warning, kill instantly, and absorb the vitality of Heaven and Earth. Its power and motives remain largely mysterious.

Significant Themes

• The limits of conventional power: Even Wang Zheng’s formidable heavenly punishment and Li Shun’s powerful techniques are ineffective against an existence that seems partly outside the physical world.
• Justice versus incomprehensible evil: Wang Zheng invokes Legalist righteousness and punishment, but moral authority alone cannot defeat the remnant soul.
• Fear, despair, and helplessness: The cultivators’ confidence collapses as their attacks fail and they are killed one by one.
• Sacrifice and cowardice: Li Shun remains to fight, while Shang Qingqiu chooses retreat, creating a contrast between loyalty and self-preservation.
• The awakening of a greater disaster: The deaths of the cultivators do not stop the calamity; instead, they provide the remnant soul with more power and allow it to manifest more fully.

Character Interactions

• Li Shun explains the remnant soul’s connection to the calamity and urges Wang Zheng to destroy it.
• Wang Zheng and Li Shun fight together against the Cold Mountain Soul, though Wang Zheng’s attack is the primary offensive effort.
• Li Shun condemns Shang Qingqiu for fleeing, while she defends her decision as the sensible response to an unbeatable enemy.
• The Cold Mountain Soul interacts with its victims through whispered words delivered directly beside their ears, though the contents and effects of those whispers are unknown.
• At the end, the remnant soul approaches Li Shun face-to-face, setting up a direct and potentially significant encounter.

Chapter Summary: “The Elder Witch Clan Appears”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun confronts Cold Mountain Soul after her emergence from the Earth-Sinking Calamity. Although she initially appears terrifying, he realizes she is calm, beautiful, and only partially materialized.
• Cold Mountain Soul takes control of Li Shun’s arm and presses his hand into the place where her heart once was. She unconsciously—or deliberately—activates his long-unused Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation Technique.
• The technique draws Li Shun’s essence, blood, and life force into Cold Mountain Soul, strengthening and partially stabilizing her physical form. Li Shun is nearly drained to death.
• The mysterious power within Li Shun’s Square Inch Space attempts to revive him, but he suppresses it so he can observe Cold Mountain Soul’s abilities and intentions.
• Once Li Shun is on the verge of death, Cold Mountain Soul replenishes him by drawing life force from Heaven and Earth and channeling moonlight into his body. This confirms that she can both absorb and manipulate natural vitality.
• Li Shun recognizes that her method resembles the Azure Wood Invocation, confirming his long-held suspicion that Cold Mountain Soul is connected to the ancient Elder Witch Clan.
• He theorizes that Cold Mountain Grass, Cold Mountain Venerable, and related plants are incarnations or extensions of Cold Mountain Soul, created to absorb cold-moon radiance and prepare for her resurrection.
• Although Li Shun possesses powerful saintly abilities—Threefold Self-Reflection and Heavenly Man’s Writing—he refrains from using them immediately. The unexplained disappearance of Great Qian’s Creation Realm experts and the absence of court and Imperial Academy leaders make him suspect a larger crisis is unfolding.
• Cold Mountain Soul carries Li Shun southwest after stabilizing him. From the sky, he sees that the Earth-Sinking Calamity has devastated nearly a quarter of Bing Province, while disorder and disasters spread throughout Great Qian.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Demonstrates caution, analytical thinking, and considerable self-control despite being helpless before Cold Mountain Soul. Rather than immediately using his strongest abilities, he chooses to gather information. He also confirms important theories about Cold Mountain Soul’s origins and realizes that his Spirit-Splitting Life-Creation Technique is essential to her survival.
• Cold Mountain Soul: Reveals herself as more than a simple remnant spirit. She can control Li Shun physically, absorb his vitality, manipulate Heaven and Earth’s life force, and use moonlight to restore him. Her incomplete rebirth and weakened condition become clear.
• The Elder Witch Clan: Their presence is strongly implied through Cold Mountain Soul’s connection to the Azure Wood Invocation and her nature as an ancient, possibly Outer God-like existence.

Significant Themes

• Life, death, and rebirth: Cold Mountain Soul’s resurrection depends on consuming Li Shun’s life force and drawing vitality from Heaven and Earth.
• Predation and symbiosis: Li Shun’s relationship with Cold Mountain Soul echoes his former cultivation of Cold Mountain Grass; what once seemed like nurturing may have established a connection that now allows her to use him.
• Hidden identities and ancient origins: Cold Mountain Soul’s true nature links her to the Elder Witch Clan and possibly to the ancient Great Shamans.
• Caution amid catastrophe: Li Shun chooses observation over immediate action because the disappearance of powerful figures suggests that the visible calamity is only part of a greater scheme.
• The balance of Heaven and Earth: The disrupted yin and yang of the world has accelerated Cold Mountain Soul’s rebirth while destabilizing Great Qian.

Character Interactions

• Cold Mountain Soul dominates Li Shun physically, leaving him unable to resist as she uses his cultivation technique.
• Li Shun silently studies her actions, allowing himself to approach death so he can understand her method.
• After nearly killing him through absorption, Cold Mountain Soul restores him with natural life force and moonlight, suggesting that she needs him alive rather than simply intending to destroy him.
• Their interaction is therefore both coercive and strangely reciprocal: Li Shun nourishes Cold Mountain Soul, while she replenishes him enough to preserve his usefulness.

Chapter Summary: The Impending Fall of Great Qian

Key Plot Points and Events

• An Outer God’s passing through the heavens disrupts the balance of Yin-Yang and the Five Elements, triggering widespread catastrophe across Great Qian.
• Natural laws collapse: the sun and moon appear together, winds become violent, dragons and serpents emerge from the earth, waters flow backward, and mountains and rivers crumble.
• The boundaries between Great Qian’s thirteen provinces and 108 prefectures begin to split apart. Li Shun realizes that the nation’s Circumcelestial Formation is destabilizing and may soon collapse entirely.
• If the formation fails, Great Qian will be exposed to the Primordial Ancient Domain, allowing Chaos to erode the realm even more severely.
• Li Shun is shocked that the Great Qian Court offers no visible response. The powerful officials of the central court—including the Three Excellencies, Nine Ministers, and leaders of the Hundred Schools—have disappeared, while Emperor Gan remains absent.
• Cold Mountain Soul carries Li Shun to Liang Province, where twisted earth veins, miasma, boiling swamps, and rampaging beasts have turned the region into a death zone. Many ordinary civilians are slaughtered by the beasts.
• Cold Mountain Soul locates its destination in the Ten Thousand Mountains: the sinister Blackwater Marsh.
• The marsh’s black water is spiritually corrosive and produces monstrous forms that attack them. Cold Mountain Soul destroys these creatures effortlessly, but Li Shun is left exposed and suffers from both their attacks and the overwhelming stench.
• At the bottom of the marsh, they discover a gigantic, ancient skeleton—apparently belonging to a colossal shaman—from which the black water originates.
• Cold Mountain Soul crushes the skeleton into white bone powder. It then transforms the powder into a long dragon and forces it into Li Shun’s mouth, ending the chapter on a threatening cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: His confidence is shaken as he witnesses the apparent fragility of Great Qian and recognizes the scale of the calamity. He becomes increasingly anxious about the collapse of the national formation and the absence of the court’s leaders. Despite his cultivation and awareness, he is helpless against Cold Mountain Soul’s decisions and is physically tormented throughout the journey.
• Cold Mountain Soul: Demonstrates overwhelming power and emotional detachment. It effortlessly crosses the collapsing provinces, kills attacking beasts and marsh creatures, locates the hidden skeleton, and destroys it with a gesture. Its motives remain mysterious, especially regarding the bone powder forced upon Li Shun.

Significant Themes

• Cosmic instability and vulnerability: Great Qian’s seemingly eternal order is revealed to be fragile, capable of collapsing from the distant influence of an Outer God.
• The failure of institutions: The central government’s disappearance during a civilization-threatening disaster highlights the weakness, corruption, or hidden agenda of Great Qian’s ruling powers.
• Chaos versus order: The disruption of Yin-Yang, the Five Elements, natural geography, and political boundaries reflects the breakdown of both cosmic and human order.
• Powerlessness before greater forces: Li Shun’s inability to protect himself contrasts sharply with Cold Mountain Soul’s effortless dominance.
• Death and transformation: The ancient shaman’s remains are reduced to powder and repurposed, suggesting that even death may serve as a source of power or danger.

Character Interactions

• Li Shun and Cold Mountain Soul: Their relationship is defined by dependence and coercion. Cold Mountain Soul transports and protects Li Shun enough to reach the marsh but does not shield him from its hazards. Li Shun remains unable to question or resist its actions.
• Cold Mountain Soul and the ancient skeleton: Cold Mountain Soul treats the enormous remains as an object to be used, awakening and then crushing them before converting their remnants into a substance for Li Shun.
• Li Shun and Great Qian: Li Shun observes the realm’s destruction with growing alarm, emotionally shifting from concern to dread as he realizes that neither the government nor Emperor Gan appears willing—or able—to intervene.

Chapter Summary: “Heaven and Earth, Time Reverses”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Cold Mountain Soul forces Li Shun to consume a large quantity of bone powder made from the remains of the Elder Witch Clan.
• The bone powder transforms Li Shun’s bones, condensing and strengthening them while generating enormous quantities of blood and qi. This effectively replaces and rebuilds his skeletal foundation.
• Cold Mountain Soul immediately exploits Li Shun’s enhanced vitality through the Spirit-Splitting Life-Forming Art, draining his blood and qi to restore its own body.
• Cold Mountain Soul transports Li Shun across Great Qian, locating two additional Witch Clan remains: one on Blazing Sun Mountain in Jing Province and another beneath Thousand-Rift Valley in Yang Province. Feeding these remains to Li Shun causes a further transformation.
• Li Shun develops a powerful Witch Body. Red patterns spread across his skin, eliminating the harmful effects of the transformation and granting him extraordinary recovery, vitality, and physical strength.
• With his strengthened body, Li Shun briefly breaks through Cold Mountain Soul’s control and regains partial command of himself. The Witch Clan markings then completely disrupt Cold Mountain Soul’s suppression.
• Cold Mountain Soul responds by unleashing overwhelming icy power and violently invading Li Shun’s mind, finally reasserting control and draining his vitality at an even greater rate.
• Li Shun realizes that Cold Mountain Soul is rushing to revive itself rather than slowly extracting his essence over time. He suspects that it has sensed an approaching or emerging threat.
• As Li Shun looks toward the heavens, he detects a familiar presence. A crowned, robed figure appears above the world and declares, “Each day, I engage in Three Reflections upon myself!”
• Immediately afterward, the flow of time in Heaven and Earth reverses, marking a major supernatural turning point.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: His body undergoes a dramatic transformation from weakened to extraordinarily powerful. Although he remains in the Profound Insight Realm, his strengthened bones, immense blood and qi, and Witch Body allow him to resist Cold Mountain Soul and challenge its control. His defiance and awareness also sharpen as he investigates Cold Mountain Soul’s motives.
• Cold Mountain Soul: It demonstrates both immense power and growing urgency. Its actions reveal a single-minded determination to restore itself quickly, even if that means repeatedly strengthening and then draining Li Shun. Its fear or awareness of an approaching event becomes increasingly evident.
• Fang Han: Though absent from the immediate events, Li Shun reflects that Fang Han would have benefited greatly from the transformed bones because of his cultivation of the Azure Wood Invocation. This highlights the difference between Li Shun’s physical enhancement and his own Confucian cultivation.
• The crowned figure: A mysterious, powerful presence emerges in the heavens, apparently connected to the “Threefold Self-Reflection.” Its declaration triggers the reversal of time and suggests the arrival of a reality-altering force.

Significant Themes

• Strength gained through suffering: Li Shun’s forced transformation gives him immense power, but it occurs through pain, exploitation, and the threat of death.
• Resistance and autonomy: The chapter emphasizes Li Shun’s refusal to submit. His newly formed Witch Body becomes a physical expression of his will to break free from Cold Mountain Soul.
• Exploitation and survival: Cold Mountain Soul “fattens” Li Shun by rebuilding his body, only to consume the resulting vitality. This creates a disturbing cycle in which Li Shun’s recovery also enables his continued imprisonment.
• Ancient powers and hidden legacies: The Elder Witch Clan’s remains continue to influence the present, granting Li Shun a powerful inheritance and revealing the lingering force of ancient beings.
• Time and cosmic change: The chapter ends with the reversal of time itself, suggesting that individual struggles are about to be overtaken by a far greater transformation involving Heaven and Earth.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Shun and Cold Mountain Soul: Their relationship remains one of captor and unwilling source of vitality. Cold Mountain Soul repeatedly controls Li Shun’s body, while Li Shun struggles to resist through physical strength and sheer determination.
• Li Shun and his Witch Body: The transformation becomes almost an ally, granting him recovery, strength, and temporary freedom from Cold Mountain Soul’s control.
• Li Shun and the emerging heavenly figure: Though they do not directly converse, Li Shun recognizes the figure’s presence and links its declaration to the sudden reversal of time, setting up the chapter’s major cliffhanger.

Chapter Summary: “A Ruthless Heart Fears Nothing”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A Confucian sage activates Threefold Self-Reflection, reversing time and restoring Great Qian to the beginning of the day after its destruction by an Outer God.
• Unlike ordinary people, Li Shun retains his memories of the previous timeline. He realizes that someone besides himself can use the sage’s time-reversal technique.
• Li Shun concludes that the user may be a hidden expert within Great Qian—possibly Emperor Gan—or someone connected to the ruined Confucian Sage. This person may have observed his previous resets without revealing themselves.
• He determines that the reset only affected Great Qian; the Outer God that caused the disaster had already left, meaning the immediate crisis will not repeat naturally.
• The people who died in the previous timeline, including Chen Mo, Shang Qingqiu, and Wang Zheng, are alive again. Cold Mountain Soul also remains dormant because the external disturbance that awakened it has been erased.
• Li Shun decides to postpone dealing with Cold Mountain Soul and instead focuses on obtaining the three Witch Clan skeletons, which could greatly strengthen Fang Han.
• Using Fang Han, Li Shun retrieves the skeletons from Blackwater Marsh, Blazing Sun Mountain, and Thousand-Rift Valley, then has Fang Han vanish without refining them immediately.
• This action risks exposing the connection between Li Shun and Fang Han, as well as Li Shun’s ability to retain memories through the time reset.
• The destruction of Great Qian deeply alarms Li Shun. He realizes that despite its powerful institutions and treasures, Great Qian is dangerously fragile before beings of Outer God-level power.
• He resolves to prepare alternate refuges, considering the Martial World as a possible “second home,” and decides that Fang Han must grow stronger.
• Li Shun adopts a more ruthless and independent mindset: if necessary, he is willing to abandon his current body and escape to another world through the Square Inch Space.

Character Developments

• Li Shun becomes more cautious, strategic, and decisive. The destruction of Great Qian destroys his previous sense of security and forces him to consider escape routes beyond his current world.
• His confidence also hardens into ruthlessness. He is no longer willing to remain passive beneath Great Qian’s protection and prepares to abandon the world if survival demands it.
• Fang Han acts as Li Shun’s agent, collecting the Witch Clan skeletons. His future refinement of them is expected to produce a major increase in strength.
• Cold Mountain Soul remains a dormant but serious threat. Li Shun intends to deal with it later, before it can awaken.
• The unknown user of Threefold Self-Reflection emerges as a mysterious potential observer and rival whose identity and motives remain unclear.

Significant Themes

• Fragility beneath apparent power: Great Qian’s vast resources and institutions prove insufficient against an Outer God, challenging Li Shun’s assumptions about safety.
• Survival and preparation: The chapter emphasizes the need for contingency plans, alternate worlds, and multiple escape routes.
• Knowledge and hidden observers: Li Shun’s retained memories give him an advantage, but the discovery that another being may also remember or observe resets makes his position less secure.
• Pragmatism over loyalty: Li Shun is willing to abandon Great Qian rather than remain loyal to a doomed realm.
• Power and responsibility: The sage’s use of time reversal saved countless lives, contrasting with Li Shun’s earlier selfish use of the same divine art.
• Ruthlessness as freedom: Once Li Shun abandons his attachment to his current body and surroundings, he feels less constrained and more willing to confront danger.

Character Interactions

• Li Shun mentally analyzes the unknown sage or hidden expert who reversed time, treating them as a possible threat while acknowledging that their intervention saved Great Qian.
• He plans around Cold Mountain Soul, choosing not to confront it immediately because of its ancient strength and the instability following the catastrophe.
• Through Fang Han, Li Shun retrieves the three Witch Clan skeletons, risking exposure of their connection for the sake of strengthening Fang Han.
• Li Shun indirectly reflects on the fate of Chen Mo, Shang Qingqiu, Wang Zheng, and others, recognizing that the reset has restored their lives.
• His relationship with Great Qian changes from dependence to guarded distrust: he still values its resources but now views it as a potentially collapsing shelter rather than a secure home.

Chapter Summary: Great Qian Dao’s Turbulent Situation

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun prioritizes his own survival above all else and decides that relying only on Great Qian and the Martial Dao is too dangerous. He plans to seek another world to develop in, taking advantage of his freedom to travel between worlds.
• As in the previous cycle, Han Qi visits Li Shun and explains the functions of the Mind-Communicating Bead. Neither man reveals that they remember the previous cycle.
• When Han Qi uses the bead to send his divine sense beyond Great Qian, he discovers that the destination has changed. Instead of the religious world from the prior cycle, he reaches an apocalyptic abyss where the Heavenly Dao is damaged and cultivation methods are incomplete.
• Han Qi quickly cultivates to that world’s highest realm, though he remains unable to surpass the limitations imposed by its damaged Heaven and Earth. He then leaves, apparently realizing that something has changed.
• Li Shun deduces that the Mind-Communicating Bead depends on Great Qian’s Heavenly Dao and was affected by the reset. Han Qi likely noticed the anomaly after discovering an unexpected incarnation in another world.
• Li Shun concludes that others in Great Qian may also retain or recognize memories of the previous cycle, meaning the reset caused by Threefold Self-Reflection may not be as secure as it appears.
• Li Shun consults the Enlightenment Seeker and Ancient Web within Square Inch about the strange disturbance that previously affected Great Qian.
• Ancient Web questions whether the disturbance truly came from a passing Outer God. The residual impact was too strong, yet Great Qian itself was not destroyed as it should have been if an Outer God had come so close.
• Several possibilities are proposed: the disturbance may have come from a being similar to an Outer God, a powerful entity may have shielded Great Qian while allowing the Yin-Yang imbalance through, or the Yin-Yang Two Paths may have been disrupted from within Great Qian Court.
• Ancient Web considers the first possibility most likely, but Li Shun realizes that his initial interpretation may have been mistaken and that the turmoil may conceal a deeper truth.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Becomes more cautious and survival-oriented. He actively plans to establish another foothold outside Great Qian and demonstrates his growing ability to analyze the reset and its consequences. He also begins doubting his original understanding of the Outer God incident.
• Han Qi: Remains highly capable, instantly reaching the highest realm of the apocalyptic world he visits. However, his unusual hesitation and hurried departure suggest that he has recognized the effects of the reset and may understand more than he reveals.
• Ancient Web: Provides a deeper analysis of the disturbance and challenges Li Shun’s assumptions. Its reluctance to fully explain its thoughts continues to frustrate Li Shun, though it ultimately offers several plausible theories.
• The Enlightenment Seeker: Acts as a calm observer who appears to have anticipated Li Shun’s decision and consultation.

Significant Themes

• Survival and preparation: Li Shun’s decision to seek additional worlds reflects the dangers of depending on a single realm or power base.
• Uncertainty and hidden forces: The nature of the disturbance beyond Great Qian remains unclear, suggesting the involvement of forces more complicated than a simple Outer God.
• Limits of perception: Li Shun’s confidence in his initial interpretation is weakened as he reexamines the evidence, emphasizing how appearances can mislead even powerful cultivators.
• Consequences of cosmic resets: The reset does not perfectly erase all changes; artifacts, incarnations, and individuals may retain traces of what occurred.
• Balance and instability: The Yin-Yang imbalance symbolizes how seemingly stable systems may contain hidden weaknesses that can be exploited by an external or internal force.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Shun and Han Qi: They repeat their earlier meeting almost exactly, both concealing their awareness of the altered cycle. Han Qi demonstrates the Mind-Communicating Bead but subtly reveals confusion when its destination changes.
• Li Shun and Ancient Web/Enlightenment Seeker: Li Shun seeks an explanation for the disturbance. He challenges Ancient Web’s cautious, indirect reasoning and becomes irritated when it withholds its conclusion.
• Li Shun’s internal reflection: After hearing the competing theories, he revisits his memories of the previous cycle and begins to suspect that the disturbance was deliberately misidentified or involved a hidden mechanism.

Chapter Summary: “Enlightenment Deceives Heaven and Earth”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The previous day’s Yin-Yang upheaval revealed that Great Qian’s centuries of unequal day and night lengths were connected to a hidden apocalyptic danger. Although the Confucian Sage restored the world, the underlying problem remained, and the court planned to alter the seasons again.
• Great Qian’s central authority appeared capable of retaining memories despite the reversal, meaning Fang Han’s secret collection of Witch Bones had probably gone unnoticed.
• Fang Han traveled to White Mountain Commandery and summoned the Enlightenment Seeker—Ancient Web—from Square Inch into the mortal world.
• Ancient Web explained that he intended to spend roughly six months cultivating and investigating the Great Qian Heavenly Dao in order to uncover the secret behind the Mind-Communicating Bead.
• Because Ancient Web was created from Fang Han’s thought rather than born in Great Qian, he feared being recognized as an Outworld Heavenly Demon and destroyed by heavenly lightning. Instead of possessing another body, he planned to use the local mountains and rivers to reshape his soul and body, imprinting them with Great Qian’s native aura.
• Ancient Web entered Mount Taibai, moving through the wilderness without disturbing or being noticed by the surrounding creatures.
• Meanwhile, Fang Han examined three ancient Witch Clan skeletons in the Martial World. He learned from Fei that the Demon Race’s homeland still contained sealed remains of powerful Great Shamans, preserved as trophies by the Demon Kings.
• Fang Han decided that he would eventually reclaim those remains when he returned to the Demon Realm.
• Unable to affect the Witch Bones with the Azure Wood Invocation or brute force, Fang Han used the Martial World’s Heavenly Dao to summon and control immense quantities of thunder.
• He precisely directed the lightning to hammer and soften the skeletons without destroying them. After repeated refinement, the bones melted into a jade-like liquid containing not only tremendous vitality but also the Witch Clan’s inheritance.
• Fang Han began absorbing this substance into his body.

Character Developments

• Fang Han demonstrates increasing mastery over the Martial World’s Heavenly Dao. His control over countless thunderbolts shows both powerful cultivation and exceptional mental precision.
• He also becomes more strategic and ambitious, planning not only to exploit the Witch Clan’s remains but eventually to reclaim the sealed Great Shaman remains in the Demon Realm.
• Ancient Web reveals that he is more than a simple puppet: he possesses independent methods, patience, and a sophisticated understanding of Great Qian’s Heavenly Dao. His plan is to transform himself into a genuine native of the world rather than rely on crude body-snatching.
• Fei appears fully submissive and eager to please Fang Han. His fear of the lightning and enthusiastic praise emphasize Fang Han’s growing authority over him.

Significant Themes

• Identity and belonging: Ancient Web’s attempt to become “native-born” raises questions about whether identity is determined by origin, body, soul, or the imprint of Heaven and Earth.
• Deception of Heaven: The chapter focuses on bypassing the judgment of the Heavenly Dao through disguise, transformation, and manipulation.
• Power through refinement: Fang Han converts ancient remains into usable strength, symbolizing the transformation of history and death into personal cultivation.
• Heavenly Dao as a tool: Rather than merely submitting to cosmic laws, Fang Han learns to command and weaponize them.
• Hidden dangers and political control: Great Qian’s altered seasons, retained memories, and secret activities suggest a world governed by concealed mechanisms and competing efforts to exploit or repair them.

Character Interactions

• Fang Han and Ancient Web discuss the dangers of entering Great Qian and the methods needed to fool its Heavenly Dao. Fang Han is skeptical but ultimately allows Ancient Web to proceed.
• Fang Han and Fei discuss the Witch Clan remains preserved in the Demon Race’s world. Fei’s knowledge inspires Fang Han’s future plans, while Fei’s flattery reinforces their unequal master-servant relationship.
• Fang Han’s interaction with the Witch Bones is largely one-sided but significant: through patience, precision, and Heavenly Dao power, he breaks down their ancient defenses and absorbs the Witch Clan’s inheritance.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fang Han absorbs the remains of an Elder Witch Clan member. Unlike Li Shun, whose mortal body nearly burned to ash from the power, Fang Han’s cultivated Witch Clan body absorbs it comfortably, experiencing the energy as soothing warmth.
• The absorption triggers visions of the ancient past:
  • A young Witch Clan warrior battles a six-winged golden lion whose wings wield different elemental abilities.
  • A middle-aged Witch Clan warrior confronts a powerful serpent-bodied god from the Elder Primordial Continent.
  • A catastrophic event destroys Heaven and Earth: stars fall, mountains collapse, magma erupts, and the world seems to enter an apocalyptic purgatory.
• Fang Han realizes the final vision depicts the legendary “Severing Heaven and Earth,” possibly involving the collapse of Mount Buzhou. The experience is so terrifying that it overwhelms him and causes him physical pain despite being only an illusion.
• After Fang Han breaks free, the same apocalyptic signs begin appearing in the Martial Dao World: darkness covers the sky, stars seem ready to fall, and the earth groans beneath immense pressure.
• Suspecting that the calamity has spread through the memory-vision, Fang Han connects to the world’s Heavenly Dao, identifies the contaminated regions, and destroys them with repeated heavenly lightning.
• The crisis is eliminated after half a day, restoring light and stability to the Martial Dao World.
• Fang Han concludes that the calamity spread so quickly because his mind was directly connected to the world’s Heavenly Dao. His consciousness had effectively allowed the world itself to come into contact with the ancient disaster.

Character Developments

• Fang Han demonstrates the strength and stability of his Witch Clan body, showing that he can withstand power that would destroy an ordinary mortal.
• He gains a frightening glimpse into the scale of the ancient “Severing Heaven and Earth” calamity and recognizes that it is far more dangerous than the destruction of Great Qian or even his first encounter with an Outer God.
• Although he appears calm and dismissive afterward, Fang Han is deeply shaken. He realizes that his own actions and mental state can potentially endanger an entire world.
• His mastery over the Martial Dao World’s Heavenly Dao is reinforced: he can detect, isolate, and purge apocalyptic abnormalities through heavenly lightning.
• Fei is overwhelmed by instinctive terror and nearly flees, but its respect and awe toward Fang Han grow after witnessing him resolve the crisis.

Significant Themes

• The immense scale of ancient calamity: The destruction witnessed in the vision surpasses ordinary wars and disasters, suggesting that entire worlds and cosmic orders can collapse.
• The connection between memory and reality: The chapter explores how an ancient event preserved in the remains of a dead being can influence the present through consciousness and illusion.
• Responsibility and control: Fang Han’s power over the Martial Dao World also makes him responsible for protecting it, especially when his own mind becomes a conduit for danger.
• The limits of apparent calm: Fang Han presents himself as composed, but internally experiences shock, fear, and exhaustion, emphasizing the difference between outward authority and inward vulnerability.
• Heavenly Dao as both power and risk: His unity with the world’s will enables him to save it, but that same connection exposes the world to threats that enter through his consciousness.

Character Interactions

• Fang Han’s earlier experience is contrasted with Li Shun’s: Li Shun required Cold Mountain Soul’s protection to survive the Witch Clan power, while Fang Han absorbs it naturally due to his stronger cultivation.
• In the visions, ancient Witch Clan warriors confront powerful nonhuman beings—the six-winged golden lion and the serpent-faced god—revealing the long-standing conflicts among witches, demons, and gods.
• Fang Han and Fei have a clear power imbalance. Fei senses the approaching disaster and is terrified, while Fang Han acts decisively to stop it. When Fei questions him afterward, Fang Han dismisses the event as a minor matter, concealing how deeply it affected him.

Chapter Summary: “Today, He Bestows Life”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun realizes that the World-Ending Calamity may spread through thoughts and memories, meaning he cannot escape it simply by traveling between the worlds within Chaos. The terrifying visions from the calamity continue resurfacing despite his efforts to suppress them.
• Seeking refuge in Square Inch, Li Shun briefly worries that the calamity may have infiltrated even this inner world. After carefully inspecting Square Inch Mountain and finding no corruption, he concludes that Square Inch’s unique nature provides strong protection—but decides he must remain vigilant.
• Because directly investigating the calamity could expose him to it again, Li Shun devises an indirect warning system. He decides to appoint a living creature with no knowledge of the calamity to monitor Square Inch for abnormalities.
• He chooses the pangolin that entered Square Inch with the remains of the Three Elders. The pangolin has grown increasingly comfortable and adventurous in the safe, expansive environment of Square Inch.
• Li Shun summons the pangolin, warns it against wasting its potential, and assigns it the responsibility of guarding the Square Inch Mountains. He enhances it with the powers to ride the wind, burrow through earth, communicate with spirits, and create duplicates.
• After empowering the pangolin, Li Shun realizes that its transformed nature is now too different from ordinary beings to enter the real world safely. This leads him to reflect on the fundamental distinction between Square Inch’s reality and the external world.
• Li Shun contemplates whether he might one day manifest Square Inch Mountain in reality, but recognizes that he must first deepen his understanding of the Square Inch Dao through patient accumulation.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Becomes more cautious and strategic in response to the World-Ending Calamity. Although frightened by its ability to pursue him through memory, he does not surrender to panic. Instead, he creates a practical defense system and gains further insight into the nature of Square Inch, illusion, manifestation, and reality.
• The pangolin: Evolves from a timid animal dependent on the Three Elders’ remains into an intelligent, partially transformed guardian. It gains abilities and a new purpose, becoming responsible for protecting Square Inch rather than merely enjoying its safety.
• Relationship between Li Shun and the pangolin: Li Shun assumes the role of a stern but benevolent master. The pangolin responds with fear, gratitude, and unquestioning loyalty, recognizing Li Shun’s authority within Square Inch.

Significant Themes

• The inescapability of trauma and memory: The calamity’s ability to follow Li Shun through his thoughts makes memory itself dangerous, emphasizing the psychological nature of the threat.
• Caution versus paranoia: Li Shun understands that excessive vigilance may strengthen the calamity, yet he also knows that complacency could allow it to infiltrate unnoticed. He seeks a balanced, indirect means of defense.
• Creation and responsibility: By granting the pangolin new life and abilities, Li Shun demonstrates the creative power he possesses within Square Inch. However, creation also entails assigning purpose and responsibility.
• Reality versus illusion: The pangolin and the mountains of Square Inch cannot simply enter the real world because their essence differs fundamentally from that of real beings. This reinforces the chapter’s exploration of the boundary between inner creation and external reality.
• Gradual cultivation and patience: Li Shun acknowledges that advancing the Square Inch Dao cannot be forced. He must continue accumulating insight steadily rather than relying on sudden breakthroughs.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Shun summons and reassures the frightened pangolin, promising not to cast it out of Square Inch.
• He then sternly reprimands it for idling and tells it that every living thing has a purpose.
• Through his creative power, Li Shun transforms and empowers the pangolin, prompting its repeated displays of gratitude and loyalty.
• Their interaction establishes the pangolin as Li Shun’s trusted, independent sentinel—one capable of detecting danger without being mentally connected to him or contaminated by knowledge of the calamity.

Chapter Summary: “World Ascension”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun reflects on the danger of the Chaos World-Ending Calamity and takes extra precautions by having the pangolin monitor Square Inch Space for even the slightest abnormalities.
• He considers whether Emperor Gan erased all records of the era before Great Qian’s founding to protect the empire from the World-Ending Calamity. Li Shun suspects Emperor Gan’s apparent neglect of worldly affairs may actually result from his struggle against hidden external threats.
• Li Shun returns his attention to Fang Han, who has absorbed three Witch Clan skeletons and made major progress in the Azure Wood Invocation.
• In the Martial Dao World, Fang Han gains near-total control over the flow of vitality. He can redistribute life force throughout the world, healing severely injured martial artists through the Life Tree.
• Fang Han realizes that his cultivation has reached minor mastery, though the world’s limited level restricts the full power he could gain from the Witch Clan inheritance.
• He considers raising Martial Dao World’s upper limit by feeding it laws from other worlds, but abandons the plan because the world belongs to the Demon Race World. Its ascension would attract the attention of the powerful Demon Race Emperor and Kings.
• Fang Han decides to strengthen himself in other worlds first and establish another base of operations. His thoughts finally turn toward the Deep Profound Gate in Square Inch Space.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Becomes increasingly cautious and suspicious of the World-Ending Calamity. He speculates that Emperor Gan may be secretly combating threats beyond the secular world and recognizes that historical erasure may have been a deliberate survival strategy.
• Fang Han: Achieves minor mastery of the Azure Wood Invocation and gains unprecedented control over vitality. However, he also becomes more pragmatic, recognizing the dangers of prematurely elevating Martial Dao World and admitting that his previous claims about challenging the Demon Race were mostly bluster.

Significant Themes

• Survival through concealment: The erasure of ancient history may protect later civilizations from attracting the attention of catastrophic forces.
• Hidden threats and deception: Public perceptions of Emperor Gan’s decline may conceal a far greater struggle occurring beyond ordinary political affairs.
• Power and limitations: Fang Han’s abilities grow dramatically, but the strength and boundaries of Martial Dao World limit his potential.
• Strategic patience: Rather than recklessly ascending Martial Dao World, Fang Han chooses to build strength elsewhere first.
• Life and resource redistribution: The Azure Wood Invocation governs existing vitality rather than creating it, emphasizing that power often involves transferring or reallocating limited resources.

Character Interactions

• Li Shun relies on the pangolin as an additional safeguard, though he recognizes that Square Inch Space is fundamentally governed by his own will.
• Fang Han’s connection to Martial Dao World is so strong that the world’s Heavenly Dao responds to his breathing and thoughts.
• The martial artists of the world experience Fang Han’s healing through the Life Tree as a divine miracle and respond by worshiping and thanking him.
• Fang Han’s indirect connection to the Demon Race shapes his decision not to raise Martial Dao World prematurely, as doing so could expose him to enemies vastly stronger than himself.

Chapter Summary: “Crossing the Primordial Domain”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Shun considers entering a mysterious gate sealed by Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Yellow Qi. Because the gate originated from a fallen Outer God, he suspects it leads to a world outside the Primordial Ancient Domain.
• He reflects on the dangers of exploring unfamiliar worlds. Unlike the fragmented worlds descended from the Elder Primordial Continent, external worlds may possess radically different civilizations, life forms, inheritances, and laws.
• The Imperial Academy evaluates worlds using a “Deviation Index,” comparing them with Great Qian. Worlds with a deviation above 50% are generally considered too difficult and unrewarding to explore.
• Li Shun recognizes the advantages of the Imperial Academy’s Mind-Communicating Bead, which allows a divine soul to enter another world and possess a suitable individual. However, its use leaves an imprint with the Great Qian Heavenly Dao, making it unsuitable for establishing an independent foothold.
• He intends to wait for the Ancient Web’s response before creating his own Mind-Communicating Bead, but decides that exploring the sealed gate with the Fang Han puppet may still be worthwhile.
• Li Shun believes his nearly three hundred strands of Mystic Yellow Qi can protect Square Inch from contamination by Outer God power and seal the gate if necessary.
• Before entering, Li Shun senses that Shentu Xin has unexpectedly arrived at the Martial Dao World.
• From within the Martial Dao World, Fang Han observes Shentu Xin approaching through the Primordial Ancient Domain in strange, intermittent spatial flashes.
• Shentu Xin reaches the world’s boundary. Fang Han asks the strange beast Fei whether his entrance will alert the Demon Race. Fei explains that only threats capable of endangering the Pasture World trigger an alarm to the Demon Race’s Main World; lesser intrusions are reported to Fei alone.
• Fang Han suppresses the Martial Dao World’s resistance and allows Shentu Xin to cross its Heaven and Earth Membrane.
• Fang Han studies the process and realizes that crossing the membrane in the flesh exposes every aspect of an intruder to the world’s will. Shentu Xin’s phantom form provokes little resistance, unlike a living cultivator with genuine cultivation.

Character Developments

• Li Shun: Demonstrates greater caution, strategic thinking, and confidence in his growing Square Inch cultivation. He becomes increasingly focused on independence from Great Qian and on creating a private means of world exploration.
• Fang Han: Shows expanded control over the Martial Dao World and its Heavenly Dao. He can suppress the world’s instinctive defenses and permit an outsider to enter, while also gaining new insight into the nature of the Heaven and Earth Membrane.
• Shentu Xin: Makes surprisingly rapid progress through the Primordial Ancient Domain and reaches the Martial Dao World, though his purpose remains unclear.
• Strange beast Fei: Continues serving Fang Han loyally while providing practical information about the Pasture World’s defensive systems and the Demon Race’s response protocols.

Significant Themes

• Exploration versus preparation: Entering unknown worlds offers opportunities but carries enormous risks, especially when the world’s nature is unfamiliar.
• Independence and control: Li Shun’s reluctance to rely on the Great Qian Heavenly Dao reflects his desire to establish an autonomous base and avoid outside surveillance.
• Worlds as fundamentally different systems: The chapter emphasizes that civilizations, life forms, inheritances, and laws may vary so greatly between worlds that conventional cultivation advantages become difficult to apply.
• Heavenly Dao and intrusion: The Heaven and Earth Membrane functions as both a boundary and an examination mechanism, instinctively identifying and resisting foreign life forms.
• Growing power: Both Li Shun and Fang Han have advanced enough to interact with worlds and spatial barriers in increasingly direct and sophisticated ways.

Character Interactions

• Li Shun internally weighs the risks of entering the Outer God gate and the limitations of the Imperial Academy’s Mind-Communicating Bead.
• Fang Han questions Fei about whether Shentu Xin’s intrusion will alert the Demon Race. Fei reassures him that the defenses distinguish between minor and major threats.
• Fang Han then deliberately suppresses the Martial Dao World’s resistance, enabling Shentu Xin to enter and using the event to study how the world’s membrane reacts to outsiders.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fang Han reflects on the mysterious Heaven and Earth Membrane, which protects worlds from external invasions but exists independently of their Great Dao. Even as the world’s Heavenly Dao ruler, he cannot understand or locate it after it disappears.
• Shentu Xin’s phantom arrives, alarming the beast Fei because Shentu Xin crossed over from beyond the Ranch World despite appearing extremely weak.
• Shentu Xin draws a complex, fragmented route in the sky. It is a map from Great Qian, through the Primordial Ancient Domain, to the Martial Dao World, which is connected to the Demon Beast World.
• The route was discovered through countless deaths using the Square Inch Puppet’s unusual state of being neither truly alive nor dead. Its marked points allow future travelers to resume their journey rather than restart from the beginning.
• Fang Han realizes that memories of crossing the Primordial Ancient Domain are rapidly erased once someone enters the Martial Dao World. Ordinary records cannot resist this force of forgetting.
• He attempts to preserve the route by engraving it into the heavens of the Martial Dao World, but the lines begin fading.
• Fei suggests using the world’s martial artists as living anchors. Fang Han then appoints one hundred and eight outstanding martial artists as the Heavenly Constellations, allowing others to challenge and replace them.
• Their identities, achievements, and martial techniques become embedded in the celestial route, stabilizing it. The appointment also creates a permanent competition among the martial artists for the prestigious positions.

Character Developments

• Fang Han demonstrates both frustration and ingenuity. Unable to overcome the Primordial Ancient Domain’s erasing force directly, he devises a creative solution by linking the route’s preservation to the ambitions and struggles of the martial artists.
• Shentu Xin is revealed as an extraordinarily persistent explorer. Despite repeatedly dying, he mapped the dangerous passage and hurried to record it before his memories vanished.
• Fei initially fears Shentu Xin but gradually proves useful and perceptive. It recognizes Fang Han’s problem and offers the key idea of using human achievement and rivalry to preserve the route.
• The one hundred and eight selected martial artists shift from elation at their elevation to unease when they realize that everyone else now views them as targets to be defeated.

Significant Themes

• The limits of knowledge: Even Fang Han, ruler of the Heavenly Dao, cannot fully comprehend the Heaven and Earth Membrane or the forces governing the Primordial Ancient Domain.
• Memory and forgetting: The chapter emphasizes how experiences can be erased by cosmic forces, making preservation of knowledge extremely difficult.
• Human ambition as power: Fang Han turns martial artists’ desire for glory into a practical mechanism for sustaining an otherwise fading record.
• Exploration and sacrifice: Shentu Xin’s route was obtained through repeated deaths, highlighting the immense cost of crossing between worlds.
• Order through competition: The Heavenly Constellation system creates structure and continuity while encouraging endless rivalry.

Character Interactions

• Fei hides behind Fang Han when confronted with Shentu Xin, revealing its fear and dependence on Fang Han; Fang Han responds by laughing and reassuring it that Shentu Xin is an old friend.
• Fang Han and Fei collaborate intellectually: Fang Han identifies the problem of the fading route, while Fei proposes using the martial artists as living anchors.
• Fang Han publicly addresses the martial artists, rewarding the strongest while deliberately motivating the rest to challenge them.
• Fei greatly admires Fang Han’s solution, praising its effectiveness and sustainability, though Fang Han remains focused on studying the preserved route and recalling Shentu Xin’s journey.

Chapter Summary: “The Void Breaks for It”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fang Han continues resisting the Primordial Ancient Domain’s erosion and its “Forgetting Waves.” The clear lines in the sky help restore his memories, allowing him to study and gradually adapt to the phenomenon.
• He questions the strange beast Fei about how the Demon Race travels beyond the world. Fei explains that Demon armies journey inside enormous demon beasts called Kunming, whose bodies are larger than entire ranch worlds.
• Fei recounts a dubious legend claiming that the Kunming became enormous because Bai Ze cursed their clan after they promoted thinness as an ideal among demon beasts. Fang Han is struck by the power implied by Bai Ze’s ability to alter an entire race’s inherited form.
• Fang Han considers whether Bai Ze was stronger than the Great Qian Saints and continues thinking about the hidden route map in the sky. He decides not to reveal it yet, since his standing in Great Qian is insufficient and the court’s attitude toward other worlds remains uncertain.
• The route map’s faint line eventually disappears beneath the stars. After completing his reconnaissance, Shentu Xin does not return to Square Inch and instead continues investigating the region outside the Martial World.
• Shentu Xin discovers that the area near the Martial World is unusually safe, having apparently been cleared by the Demon Race. By repeatedly moving through the region, he realizes that a Spatial Fault lies beyond the Martial World.
• The Spatial Fault causes travelers to pass instantly from one distant location to another, explaining how Shentu Xin reached the Martial World despite sensing that he was still far away.
• Using his phantom form and mastery of the Spatial Dao, Shentu Xin repeatedly crosses the fault and studies its structure. He determines that the surrounding space was shattered, folded, and twisted by an ancient, devastating attack.
• He is puzzled that the region survived such a force. Either the attack was deliberate and controlled, or the space itself possesses an extraordinary resilience. He is unable to discover what lies hidden beneath the fault.

Character Developments

• Fang Han demonstrates increasing awareness of the Primordial Ancient Domain’s erosion and begins developing resistance to the Forgetting Waves. His ability to recover memories strengthens his confidence and investigative ability.
• Fang Han also becomes more cautious and politically calculating. Rather than immediately reveal the route map, he chooses to preserve it as a future bargaining advantage.
• Shentu Xin displays exceptional spatial comprehension. His understanding of the Square Inch Dao allows him to recognize and repeatedly investigate the Spatial Fault.
• His phantom nature gives him unusual freedom: unlike a physical cultivator, he can risk being destroyed and repeatedly reborn, enabling him to explore an otherwise lethal phenomenon.

Significant Themes

• Memory versus oblivion: Fang Han’s memories are constantly erased and restored, portraying knowledge as something fragile that must be repeatedly reaffirmed.
• The unknown structure of reality: The Spatial Fault reveals that the void contains hidden distortions and pathways beyond ordinary perception.
• Power and transformation: Bai Ze’s alleged curse illustrates how supreme beings can reshape entire races, while the ancient spatial damage hints at forces capable of affecting worlds on a vast scale.
• Caution and hidden strength: Fang Han’s decision to conceal the route map emphasizes the importance of timing, political leverage, and not revealing one’s full capabilities.
• Survival and adaptation: Both Fang Han and Shentu Xin respond to extraordinary dangers not by confronting them directly, but by studying and adapting to them.

Character Interactions

• Fang Han interrogates the strange beast Fei about Demon Race transportation, Kunming, and Bai Ze’s history. Fei is initially hesitant but speaks after Fang Han assures him that he may answer freely.
• Their exchange establishes Fei as an imperfect but useful source of Demon Race knowledge, while Fang Han acts as a calm and discerning judge of the information.
• Fang Han’s internal reflections connect Fei’s account of Bai Ze to the greater mysteries of the Demon Race, the Martial World, and Great Qian.
• Shentu Xin has no direct interaction with Fang Han in this passage, but his independent investigation develops the chapter’s broader mystery surrounding the Martial World and the damaged space beyond it.

Chapter Summary: “When Man Changed, Heaven and Earth Changed”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After establishing the Martial 108 Stars, Fang Han observes the Inner World’s transformation. The martial artists had initially been driven by hatred and fear of the Demon Race, but those emotions had gradually weakened as time passed and the Life Tree protected them from possession.
• The creation of the Martial 108 Stars reignites their motivation. The honor of becoming one of the Stars—and the possibility of challenging and replacing the current holders—gives the martial artists a tangible goal.
• Their renewed ambition changes the atmosphere of the Inner World. Heaven and Earth shift from an atmosphere of grief, hatred, and despair to one filled with vitality, hope, and purpose.
• Fang Han realizes that because the Inner World contains tens of thousands of Grandmasters, humanity’s collective will can influence the Heavenly Dao. He concludes that powerful human civilizations could similarly reshape Heaven and Earth.
• Inspired by this transformation, Fang Han decides to investigate the Deep Profound Gate, which had long stood within Square Inch. He removes the Heaven-and-Earth Mystic Yellow Qi sealing it and enters.
• The gate disappears after Fang Han passes through, revealing itself to be a one-way passage. Li Shun realizes that the destination is unimaginably far away, likely deep within Chaos and hundreds of millions of times more distant than Great Qian.
• Fang Han eventually awakens in a mysterious, cramped space enclosed by transparent restraints. When he touches one, the restraint severs his hand without causing pain. His body immediately adapts as if it had always lacked the hand, and even his immense vitality cannot regenerate it.
• Recognizing the danger, Fang Han refrains from attacking the restraints and begins questioning whether the Deep Profound Gate was actually a trap.

Character Developments

• Fang Han: Gains a deeper understanding of how human emotions and aspirations affect Heaven and Earth. He also becomes more decisive and adventurous, choosing to enter the unknown gate rather than continue hesitating. Upon awakening in the strange world, he remains observant and cautious despite his alarming physical condition.
• Li Shun: Demonstrates his ability to sense the gate’s destination and realizes the enormous distance separating Fang Han from Great Qian. He is relieved that Fang Han has left behind a Square Inch imprint, allowing him to potentially return or descend there again even if his current body dies.
• Inner World’s martial artists: Their motivation evolves from passive hatred and fear into active ambition. The possibility of glory and advancement gives them renewed hope and transforms their collective spirit.
• Shentu Xin: Having completed his scouting mission, he remains in the spatial fault to continue pursuing enlightenment, though he does not directly participate in the chapter’s main events.

Significant Themes

• Humanity’s influence over Heaven and Earth: The chapter emphasizes that the will, emotions, and ambitions of people can reshape the Heavenly Dao and the world itself.
• Hope as a source of power: Fear and hatred eventually lose their force, but tangible hope and the desire for recognition prove capable of reigniting effort and determination.
• Change through ambition and competition: The replaceable nature of the Martial 108 Stars creates a competitive system that pushes people to surpass themselves.
• The danger of the unknown: The Deep Profound Gate represents both opportunity and peril. Its destination is beyond Fang Han’s understanding, and its apparently harmless restraints conceal terrifying power.
• The instability of identity and the body: Fang Han’s body changes so completely after losing his hand that it seems the injury has always been part of him, suggesting that the laws of the distant world can alter existence at a fundamental level.

Character Interactions

• Fang Han indirectly influences the martial artists by establishing the Martial 108 Stars and presenting them with a goal they can pursue.
• Li Shun observes Fang Han’s passage through the Deep Profound Gate and analyzes the consequences, recognizing both the danger of the one-way journey and the protection offered by Fang Han’s Square Inch imprint.
• After entering the unknown world, Fang Han hears an unidentified voice declaring that the gods have abandoned the world and that people must seek answers within themselves. This mysterious statement introduces a possible new ideology or civilization that Fang Han will need to investigate.

Chapter Summary: Other Shore Outer God Realm

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fang Han remains trapped beyond the Deep Profound Gate inside a transparent cube-like seal. Because he possesses a puppet body and can return to Square Inch, he is calm and confident that even death would not permanently trap him.
• He discovers that Square Inch has left a mark on this mysterious realm, allowing him to descend into it again if necessary.
• While probing the seal with his severed hand, Fang Han finds that its power is completely different from the energy systems of Great Qian. His arm is gradually consumed, but he cannot identify the nature of the force.
• The seal eventually opens, and a mechanical voice identifies him as “Lifeform No. 783467.” He is granted permission to be “born,” though his unstable aura causes the system to suspect that he is incomplete.
• Fang Han is transported through an unknown passage and assigned a new identity: a Level 1 Appraiser with a lifespan of nineteen years and no possessions. His supernatural abilities—including Liqi and the Witch Clan inheritance—are rendered useless, leaving only his physical strength.
• He arrives in an enormous realm filled with hundreds of millions of transparent cubes. Each cube contains a person performing appraisal work under the supervision of an impersonal system.
• Fang Han’s first assigned object is a battered stone. Upon touching it, he instinctively activates the Appraiser ability and receives visions of its history, including a reference to “Ancient Calendar, Year 57862, Congealed River City.”
• The information causes severe mental pain, nosebleeding, and unconsciousness. After recovering, Fang Han realizes that appraisal reveals an object’s historical information but carries dangerous mental side effects.
• He notices a progress bar connected to the stone and confirms that his new identity includes measurable attributes such as occupation, level, and remaining lifespan.
• Refusing to passively obey the system, Fang Han tests the boundary of his cube by deliberately allowing his hand to burn. The system interprets his behavior as mental deficiency and reduces the difficulty of his work.
• He is transferred to another section containing fewer cubes and many incomplete or childlike workers. These weakened beings continue performing the same appraisal duties, though at a much slower pace.

Character Development

• Fang Han remains observant, fearless, and highly adaptable despite losing access to nearly all of his powers. Rather than panicking, he investigates the realm systematically.
• His willingness to endure pain and sacrifice his hand demonstrates his determination to understand the rules governing this world.
• Fang Han begins adapting to his imposed identity as an Appraiser while simultaneously looking for ways to exploit or escape the system.
• His encounter with the stone reveals that the Appraiser ability is powerful but dangerous, forcing him to balance curiosity with the risk of mental collapse.

Significant Themes

• The unknown and loss of control: Fang Han enters a realm governed by unfamiliar rules, where his previous powers and identity are stripped away.
• Identity and forced roles: The system assigns him a number, occupation, lifespan, and apparent personality, raising questions about autonomy and whether identity can be imposed externally.
• Systematic oppression and dehumanization: Countless beings are confined to identical cubes and compelled to perform repetitive labor under mechanical supervision.
• Knowledge as pain: Appraisal grants access to hidden histories, but acquiring knowledge causes physical and mental suffering.
• Adaptation and resistance: Fang Han’s experiments show his refusal to accept the system’s rules passively; he searches for weaknesses through observation and deliberate defiance.
• Fragmentation and incompleteness: The realm contains beings described as incomplete, suggesting that lifeforms may be manufactured, altered, or categorized according to an external system.

Character Interactions

• Fang Han has no direct conversation with another person in this chapter. His main interaction is with the realm’s mechanical system, which assigns his identity, controls his placement, evaluates his mental condition, and changes his work difficulty.
• His contact with the battered stone functions as an interaction with the past: through appraisal, he accesses historical scenes and information embedded within the object.
• The surrounding appraisers serve as a silent collective presence. Their countless cubes reveal the scale of the system and contrast with Fang Han’s individual resistance.

Chapter Summary: The Eerie Age of Time

Key Plot Points and Events

• Fang Han is forced to appraise a second item: a tattered Damaged Combat Suit.
• The appraisal reveals that the suit originated from Starxiang City in Ancient Calendar Year 375 and can offset certain physical costs below Level 3, with a temporal range of 1–2.
• After completing the task, Fang Han receives a Level 1 temporal reward and notices that his remaining lifespan has increased slightly.
• His status changes to show the occupation Appraiser, with progress at 1/99, suggesting that completing appraisals may eventually allow him to level up.
• A mysterious shadow begins creeping toward him, though Fang Han cannot determine its meaning.
• Fang Han observes that some Appraisers continue working without resting, while others mysteriously disappear from their cubes. He suspects that escape may be possible.
• When Fang Han mentally expresses his desire to leave or rest, nothing happens. A nearby dwarf-like man explains that all such actions require spending one’s remaining lifespan.
• The dwarf teaches Fang Han how to use his lifespan as a form of currency. Fang Han successfully grasps his remaining lifespan as something tangible and attempts to negotiate with the dwarf.
• The dwarf demands three days of lifespan for his assistance. Fang Han recognizes the dwarf’s greed and cancels the transaction.

Character Developments

• Fang Han becomes more aware of the rules governing the appraisal system and begins investigating its hidden mechanics.
• He learns that his lifespan is not merely a countdown but a usable resource that can be exchanged for abilities, rest, or movement.
• Fang Han remains calm and observant despite his physical limitations and confusion. Rather than reacting emotionally to the dwarf’s insults, he seeks information and evaluates the situation rationally.
• His keen ability to read expressions allows him to recognize that the dwarf is trying to exploit him.
• The dwarf-like Appraiser is introduced as experienced, cynical, and opportunistic. He mocks Fang Han’s ignorance but also provides him with crucial knowledge, likely hoping to profit from it.

Significant Themes

• Time as currency: Lifespan functions as a resource that can be traded for abilities and conveniences, making survival dependent on careful economic choices.
• Knowledge and exploitation: Those who understand the system can take advantage of newcomers who do not. Fang Han’s ignorance makes him vulnerable, while the dwarf immediately attempts to profit from it.
• Isolation and dependence: The Appraisers are trapped in separate cubes, yet they can communicate and potentially influence one another.
• Mystery and hidden rules: The meaning of the creeping shadow, the temporal rewards, the cubes, and the possibility of escape remain unclear.
• Adaptation under pressure: Fang Han begins transforming from a confused captive into a cautious investigator who tests the system and learns its rules.

Character Interactions

• The mechanical system treats Fang Han as “Lifeform 783467” and directs his actions without explanation, reinforcing his lack of freedom.
• The system automatically guides his arm during the appraisal and later rewards him with progress and additional lifespan.
• The dwarf ridicules Fang Han’s lack of knowledge but eventually communicates instructions directly into his mind.
• Fang Han questions the dwarf repeatedly, forcing him to explain how lifespan transactions work.
• Their attempted deal ends when Fang Han refuses to pay the dwarf’s excessive price, establishing Fang Han’s caution and the dwarf’s exploitative nature.

Chapter Summary: “The Law of Temporal Retribution”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A dwarf attempts to exploit Fang Han’s ignorance by demanding an excessive amount of lifespan in exchange for helping him leave the temporal realm. The dwarf repeatedly lowers his price, eventually revealing that he initially intended to charge far more than necessary.
• Fang Han uses temporal sequence to acquire basic knowledge and learns that this world’s time units differ drastically from those of Great Qian: ten thousand seconds equal one hour, ten thousand hours equal one day, and ten thousand days equal one year.
• He realizes that his nineteen-year lifespan is relatively substantial in this world and that completing appraisal tasks earns temporal sequence, which can be spent to travel temporarily to other time nodes.
• Fang Han activates his temporal sequence and is presented with several safe destinations along an apparently endless timeline. One orange-red segment strongly attracts him, apparently because of the instincts and memories tied to the identity of Lifeform 783467.
• He travels to Ancient Calendar Year 487663 for three hours and awakens in a peaceful home with his wife, Liang Hui, and their young daughter, Xiao An. His body reacts emotionally before his conscious mind understands that these people belong to the original identity he inhabits.
• Fang Han spends the entire visit accompanying his family rather than investigating the outside world. When the three hours end, the scene freezes and shatters, returning him to the transparent cube.
• Immediately upon returning, Fang Han is required to appraise another item. Before he can begin, he experiences severe, unexplained pain in his heart.
• He purchases knowledge of retribution laws and discovers that using professions and abilities carries a delayed cost. The price is imposed at a later point in time and ultimately reduces the user’s lifespan.

Character Development

• Fang Han becomes more cautious and analytical. He recognizes the dwarf’s attempted deception, refuses to be manipulated, and independently verifies the world’s rules before making decisions.
• His journey to the selected time node awakens powerful emotional memories. Although initially detached and uncertain, he gradually adapts to the warmth of his family life and reveals a more compassionate, vulnerable side.
• Fang Han begins to understand that the identity of Lifeform 783467 is not merely a shell. Its instincts, attachments, and memories can influence his behavior and emotional responses.
• After suffering the delayed backlash from using Appraisal, Fang Han becomes aware that every ability carries hidden risks. His growing knowledge makes him more wary of temporal transactions and professional powers.
• The dwarf is characterized as opportunistic and predatory, attempting to take advantage of Fang Han’s unfamiliarity with the world’s temporal system.

Significant Themes

• The cost of power: Temporal travel and appraisal are not free; they consume lifespan either immediately or through delayed retribution.
• Exploitation through ignorance: The dwarf’s attempted extortion highlights the dangers of lacking basic knowledge in an unfamiliar world.
• Memory and identity: Fang Han’s emotional response to Liang Hui and Xiao An suggests that inherited identity can carry deep attachments beyond conscious memory.
• The fragility of happiness: Fang Han is granted only three hours with his family before the experience is forcibly ended, emphasizing how temporary and precious the peaceful scene is.
• Truth versus illusion: Although Fang Han questions whether the family scene is real, it feels more authentic than an ordinary illusion, leaving the nature of time travel unresolved.
• Temporal law and retribution: The chapter introduces a governing principle in which every ability eventually demands payment, linking supernatural power to inevitable consequences.

Character Interactions

• The dwarf repeatedly bargains with Fang Han, revealing his greed and trying to persuade him to surrender part of his lifespan.
• Fang Han largely ignores the dwarf once he recognizes the attempted deception, establishing his distrust.
• Fang Han shares a tender domestic interaction with Liang Hui, who notices his unusual behavior and asks whether something is wrong.
• His daughter Xiao An innocently asks why he is crying, prompting Fang Han to confront the emotional force of his connection to her.
• Liang Hui encourages Xiao An to be obedient because Fang Han works hard, while Xiao An affectionately promises to listen—reinforcing the family’s warmth and closeness.
• The chapter ends with Fang Han alone again, attempting to understand the painful consequences of his powers and the laws governing his new existence.