Chapter Summaries

Key events

• Zheng Ru warns Wu Yu that the Resistance Army has grown powerful since the Tower arrived and now can challenge the corporations. She takes away a Resistance Army propaganda bulletin, prompting Wu Yu to wonder whether she has some connection to the group, though he chooses not to question her.
• Wu Yu returns home and learns about an upcoming company dinner featuring food from other worlds. He gives his mother spirit-beast meat to store and cook.
• That night, Wu Yu enters the Training Room with the Twilight Witch, who has recovered after three days of replenishing her blood.
• Wu Yu uses the red-quality technique Five-Element Heavenly Thunder. Its transmission feels like a hundred years of study with five divine beasts, though he soon loses the specific memories and retains only the technique’s essence.
• The spell forms a new psionic model in Wu Yu’s Innate Qi Sea. It requires his Five-Element Escape talent and Sky-Soaring Five Pillars divine ability, and is exceptionally well suited to him. Its five-element lightning can serve offensive, defensive, healing, and support roles.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains curious about Zheng Ru and the Resistance Army but respects her privacy. He is buoyed by confidence in his future strength, generous toward his family, and thrilled by his new technique.
• Zheng Ru appears protective of Wu Yu, cautioning him to avoid political entanglements. Her interest in the propaganda bulletin leaves her possible ties to the Resistance Army ambiguous.
• Wu Yu’s mother shares news of the neighborhood dinner and lightly teases him about spending time with the Twilight Witch.
• The Twilight Witch is shown recovered and quietly present during Wu Yu’s training.

Significant themes

• The Tower is reshaping the balance of power, strengthening the Resistance Army and complicating political loyalties.
• Extraordinary power comes through both modern cultivation and mysterious Tower-given techniques.
• Wu Yu’s progress reflects the value of specialization: Five-Element Heavenly Thunder is powerful because it fits his existing abilities.
• Family care and everyday domestic life continue alongside the growing political and supernatural stakes.

Key plot points and events

• After learning Five-Element Heavenly Thunder, Wu Yu tests it and discovers that his Five-Element talents reduce its energy cost. Its spectacular, multicolored lightning makes him look like a glowing “light bulb,” however, defeating his efforts to stay inconspicuous. He learns that divine abilities naturally produce visible manifestations that aura concealment cannot hide.
• Wu Yu then uses a card to learn Mountain-Moving Force. Instead of entering a conventional sect, he is plunged into a harsh training world where bearers chip away at a Demon Mountain and carry its stones. An overseer’s God-Striking Whip keeps him conscious through pain, forcing him to continue.
• As the stones grow heavier, Wu Yu gradually learns the technique’s extraordinary force. In the real world, the prolonged ordeal leaves him severely depleted. The Twilight Witch follows his instructions to restore him with injections, spirit stones, and a pill.
• When Wu Yu wakes, the cultivation memories fade, but the technique remains. Accustomed to mountain-moving strength, he accidentally caves in the Training Room’s superalloy floor. Activating the force drains his blood qi and divine strength at an alarming rate, so he suppresses it.
• Despite its extreme cost, Wu Yu recognizes the technique’s immense potential and imagines one day using his body to cross the universe and reach among the stars.

Character developments

• Wu Yu gains two powerful arts but learns that their dramatic effects and costs can be difficult to control. His confidence is tempered by embarrassment, pain, exhaustion, and the need to manage his strength carefully. He remains ambitious, viewing even the dangerous Mountain-Moving Force as a step toward transcendent martial power.
• The Twilight Witch acts as both his admiring audience and practical caretaker. She praises his aptitude, worries over his condition, and quickly follows his recovery instructions. His accidental destruction of the floor briefly frightens her, though he reassures her that he has no intention of hitting her.

Significant themes

• Power comes with consequences: Wu Yu’s abilities bring conspicuous effects, physical suffering, and severe energy consumption.
• Cultivation through hardship: Mountain-Moving Force is learned through relentless labor and pain rather than formal instruction.
• Control and adaptation: Wu Yu must learn to restrain and manage strength that can overwhelm both his resources and surroundings.
• Ambition and possibility: The chapter contrasts the Immortal Dao’s pursuit of eternal life with martial cultivation’s dream of physically traversing the stars.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu and the Twilight Witch tease each other over his flashy appearance, with her candid “light bulb” comparison puncturing his pride.
• During his ordeal, Wu Yu is disciplined by the overseers and works alongside the cheering mountain-moving bearers.
• Afterward, the Twilight Witch nurses him through his depletion and worries when he damages the Training Room; Wu Yu reassures her while trying to control his newly acquired force.

Plot points

• Wu Yu has learned the basics of two techniques and plans to practise them, while using pills to support his cultivation.
• On his way to River City Advanced Academy, he witnesses a distant, devastating explosion. Mo True Person rushes from the Higher Academy to respond. Wu Yu suspects the attack was concealed from ordinary perception, but his heightened senses let him detect it.
• Wu Yu attends a Spirit Cultivation Association lecture on transcendent cultivation. He notices that President An Jiaye’s blood qi seems eerily lifeless.
• Chen Feng arrives with Li Qingqing, then tells Wu Yu they have reconciled. He plans to indulge her until she falls in love with him, then abandon her to make her regret it.
• Wu Yu recognizes that Chen Feng’s rapid increase in strength may come from a sinister method that exploits emotions and desire. He warns Chen Feng to protect his foundation, but does not press him.
• Mo True Person arrives to lecture on the Lesser Spatial-Shift Technique. Wu Yu realizes Mo is the same person who responded to the explosion—and that his transcendent influence is affecting the students’ reactions.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu is more perceptive and powerful than before, but remains cautious and tactful. He greets An Jiaye politely, trades barbs and concerns with Chen Feng, and pretends to join the students’ praise of Mo so as not to draw attention.
• Chen Feng has become considerably stronger and appears to be using an emotion-based cultivation path. His plan involving Li Qingqing seems calculated, though he keeps its purpose to himself.
• An Jiaye remains enigmatic; Wu Yu’s perception suggests something unnatural about his vitality.
• Mo True Person presents himself as gentle and courteous, while quietly exerting a powerful influence over those around him.

Significant themes

• Power and perception: Wu Yu’s advanced senses reveal events and qualities hidden from ordinary people.
• The cost of quick strength: Chen Feng’s method may accelerate his growth while undermining his long-term foundation.
• Influence and concealment: The explosion, An Jiaye’s strange nature, and Mo’s ability to sway a crowd all point to dangers that operate beneath appearances.

Key plot points

• Mo True Person opens with a warning that modern spirit-energy technology has made many ancient techniques obsolete, and cultivators must adapt to the changing age.
• He criticizes students for relying on magical artifacts, talismans, pills, and lower-grade methods while neglecting psionic prosthetics.
• When a student challenges the value of prosthetics, Mo explains that cultivation methods shape the qi sea and spirit veins—the modern era’s psionic organs—and therefore determine a cultivator’s dao foundation. Higher-grade methods temper these organs more thoroughly and produce a much stronger foundation.
• He argues that psionic prosthetics can improve the forging of that foundation by increasing efficiency, strengthening spirit energy, and potentially causing further changes. Since the students are well-connected or talented, he considers lack of access an inadequate excuse.
• Mo then teaches Rainbow Transformation, an upper-grade modern spatial-shift technique that lets the user travel on a streak of rainbow light.
• Wu Yu attends mainly to learn the technique. His enhanced Five-Element Escape talent lets him rapidly grasp Mo’s explanations. While listening, he builds a psionic model in his innate qi sea; his Five-Element Divine Light responds, forming rainbow light that sparks further insight. Within hours, he has made substantial progress.
• Mo ends class and sends the students six electronic books containing the technique’s detailed cultivation method and prerequisite knowledge.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo True Person comes across as authoritative, blunt, and impatient with shallow understanding. Though he admonishes the students, he clarifies that he is not banning traditional tools or ancient methods; his concern is their failure to understand modern cultivation and make informed choices.
• Wu Yu shifts from expecting an ordinary lecture to listening seriously. He remains curious about the hierarchy of techniques—especially top-grade methods and how his unique One Qi Becomes Three Pure Ones might fit—but sets the question aside to focus on Rainbow Transformation.
• The students initially question Mo’s criticism, particularly because prosthetics can be expensive and poor value. His explanation unsettles them, but his refusal to elaborate further leaves them frustrated.

Significant themes

• Adapting to technological change: Techniques and practices must evolve as civilization and technology advance.
• Foundations determine potential: A cultivator’s dao foundation, built through the qi sea and spirit veins, shapes their future strength.
• Knowledge over assumptions: Students know the labels for method grades but have not grasped their deeper consequences.
• Talent and opportunity: Wu Yu’s unusual ability to comprehend and develop the technique quickly contrasts with the students’ uncertainty and limited understanding.

Chapter summary

• After Mo True Person’s lesson on Spirit Energy, Wu Yu realizes he has nearly completed the Psionic Model for the Rainbow Transformation Technique. While classmates discuss their progress, Chen Feng complains about the technique’s difficulty and mentions that a Tower Climber—a Foundation Establishment True Person—recently suffered cultivation deviation.
• Wu Yu cautions Chen Feng against getting involved with Foundation Establishment matters. Chen Feng brushes off the warning and hurries off to see An Jiaye, apparently absorbed in his own unconventional cultivation.
• At home, Wu Yu tests Rainbow Transformation, using Rainbow Light to lift himself and fly. He discovers it resonates with several of his existing abilities, allowing him to treat them as a connected system. He reviews the technique’s stages, from basic flight to eventually becoming Rainbow Light itself, and expects his other powers and the Training Room to help him advance quickly.
• Over the next twelve days, Wu Yu devotes himself to cultivation, with only occasional visits to school and work. The Twilight Witch worries about his intense routine but does not interrupt him.
• A message from the company summons Wu Yu. Lu Yiguan explains that events surrounding the True Person’s cultivation deviation have grown more violent: the Transcendent world is in turmoil, and the Star River Group has suffered one death and six injuries. The immediate crisis is that a True Person from Spirit Mountain Technology, who practiced the Flesh Bodhisattva secret art, has died in the Sewer. The cause is unknown, and the Rat Swarm has carried off the Flesh Bodhisattva. Spirit Mountain Technology has sent armed troops into the Sewer, and Wu Yu may be assigned a mission.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu shows growing confidence and enthusiasm as he masters Rainbow Transformation, while remaining cautious about the danger surrounding Foundation Establishment experts. His disciplined cultivation continues even as the wider crisis approaches.
• Chen Feng reveals both admiration for powerful cultivators and a tendency toward risky, unorthodox pursuits. Wu Yu’s warning highlights their concern for one another, though Chen Feng does not take it seriously.
• The Twilight Witch quietly supports Wu Yu, balancing concern for his well-being with respect for his choices.
• Lu Yiguan delivers the company’s grave update; Lu Yixia is also present, though she has no speaking role in this excerpt.

Significant themes

• Progress through talent and disciplined practice: Wu Yu’s abilities and resources make advanced cultivation unusually natural for him, but he still commits himself to sustained study.
• The danger of power and ambition: Chen Feng’s fascination with unusual cultivation paths echoes the risks facing the True Person whose deviation has destabilized the Transcendent world.
• A widening divide between worlds: Ordinary life remains prosperous, while Transcendents face escalating violence and loss.
  The excerpt ends as the company’s crisis is being explained; Wu Yu’s mission and the fate of the Flesh Bodhisattva remain unresolved.

Plot points and events

• Wu Yu learns that [Spirit Mountain Technology]’s [Flesh Bodhisattva] cultivators—created through childhood spirit-energy-virus injections and Buddhist training—advance rapidly, but those who reach foundation establishment mysteriously disappear.
• A resurgent rat swarm is spreading through the sewer districts. Company investigators suspect the Resistance Army is involved. After the swarm carried off a [Flesh Bodhisattva], [Star River Group] was drawn into the conflict and assigned employees to investigate.
• Wu Yu receives a noncombat assignment to investigate several small towns and minor factions. One target unexpectedly catches his attention, though he keeps his reaction to himself.
• Lu Yiguan tells Wu Yu he has found a lead on the [Skull of Immortality] through a True Person in [Mount Lao City]. Wu Yu offers to cover any costs.
• At [Star River Group], Lin Shouyuan discusses confirmed intelligence with a Green-Robed Cultivator. He refuses to send a warning, believing intervention would backfire, and observes that the Spirit-Energy Train has stirred ambition among the city’s marginalized.
• Later, Wu Yu meets Liu Yu, who speaks passionately about leaving River City for [Deep Space City]. He insists he will reach it, even if doing so costs him everything.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains composed and curious, accepts his assignment without complaint, and continues pursuing the [Skull of Immortality]. His response to one investigation target hints at a personal interest or opportunity.
• Lu Yiguan acts as a helpful colleague, sharing company intelligence and continuing to investigate Wu Yu’s lead.
• Lu Yixia explains the disturbing process and fate of [Flesh Bodhisattva] cultivators.
• Lin Shouyuan shows caution and restraint, choosing not to interfere in a situation he believes could worsen.
• Liu Yu reveals a powerful longing to escape River City and pursue a new life in Deep Space City. Wu Yu’s casual suggestion that he simply buy a ticket highlights how little he understands Liu Yu’s obstacles.

Significant themes

• Corporate exploitation and secrecy: [Spirit Mountain Technology]’s cultivation method appears to treat people as experimental subjects.
• Fragile order and competing interests: Companies, the Resistance Army, and citizens have conflicting motives, while the rat swarm threatens to pull them into open conflict.
• Ambition and escape: The Spirit-Energy Train symbolizes connection to the wider world and the hope—or danger—of leaving River City.
• Isolation after catastrophe: Spatial instability has fractured communication and travel, leaving cities dependent on rare train routes and distant places shrouded in uncertainty.

Key plot points

• A Spirit-Energy Train passes over River City, prompting Liu Yu to describe his longing for Deep Space City, where he hopes to see wonders absent from his hometown. He reveals that someone Wu Yu knows asked him to bring Wu Yu to meet them.
• Liu Yu takes Wu Yu to a peaceful Commoner District neighborhood, which he credits to the Resistance Army’s efforts against corporate exploitation and gang oppression.
• Wu Yu finds Bai Xiaotian and Chen Lingling waiting. Chen reveals that she is the daughter of the Resistance Army’s supreme leader and has wanted to recruit Wu Yu since they met in the Tower.
• Wu Yu declines to join. Chen explains that the Resistance Army has no hostility toward the Star River Group and instead targets three major corporations and the abuses associated with them.
• Chen says recruitment was only one reason for the meeting. She then provides Wu Yu with a Knowledge Chip containing the Resistance Army’s intelligence on the Secret Sea World—information she claims surpasses the Inspection Bureau’s.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Yu shows intense yearning for the wider world and its extraordinary sights, then reveals his connection to the Resistance Army by guiding Wu Yu to its members.
• Wu Yu stays composed and skeptical, joking about Chen’s status and refusing recruitment without hostility. He remains curious about the Resistance Army’s information.
• Chen Lingling shifts from teasing Wu Yu about their childhood meeting to speaking earnestly about her cause. She presents herself as both a committed leader-in-training and a pragmatic ally.
• Bai Xiaotian welcomes Wu Yu and openly supports Chen’s ideals, while Liu Yu stays quiet once the group begins discussing politics.

Significant themes

• Resistance and social justice: The Resistance Army aims to challenge corporate monopolies, exploitation, and gang oppression.
• Small-city limits and ambition: Liu Yu’s fascination with Deep Space City reflects the desire to escape a sheltered, restricted life.
• Pragmatism amid political divisions: Chen distinguishes the Resistance Army’s targets from Wu Yu’s employer, suggesting cooperation may be possible without full allegiance.
• Trust and information as leverage: Rather than securing Wu Yu’s commitment, Chen offers valuable intelligence that may build goodwill between them.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Lingling hints that the Resistance Army has an informant inside the [Inspection Bureau], but refuses to reveal their identity. Wu Yu suspects Yu Tiezhu, though she says he is wrong.
• After meeting Chen Lingling, Wu Yu is escorted around the complex. His guide claims the Resistance Army has made its residents prosperous and happy. Wu Yu agrees cautiously, noting that city work pays more but living costs and gang protection fees leave ordinary people with little security.
• The Twilight Witch reports that Chen Lingling’s powerful escort has stopped watching Wu Yu. She detects no thoughts from Chen Lingling and suggests Chen may possess unusual abilities. Wu Yu accepts that Chen’s slight disdain for him is unsurprising.
• Suspecting the complex’s apparent prosperity is staged, Wu Yu uses his [Profound Spirit Heavenly Eye] to uncover the truth: poor residents, beggars, and exhausted or undernourished workers have been confined in basements so the streets appear peaceful and happy.
• Chen Lingling’s aide admits she arranged the deception to impress Wu Yu. Chen recognizes that the trick was unlikely to fool him and warns her not to try to outwit him.
• Wu Yu remains wary of the Resistance Army’s motives, questioning why they want to recruit him and whether they seek to exploit his connection to the [Star River Group]. He sends a Knowledge Chip Chen Lingling gave him for a drone scan; the scan begins reporting no viruses or manual alterations.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu shows sharp observation, skepticism, and caution. He sees through the staged display, avoids condemning the residents’ situation too simplistically, and takes precautions before trusting the Chip.
• Chen Lingling remains guarded and difficult to read. Her influence and concealed abilities impress Wu Yu, while her aide’s plan reflects her effort to make a favorable impression.
• The Twilight Witch supports Wu Yu by monitoring others and easing his tension with playful banter. She cannot read Chen Lingling and worries that she is failing, but Wu Yu reassures her.
• Chen Lingling’s aide tries to flatter Wu Yu and create a convincing image of the complex, but her scheme fails to deceive him.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The complex’s visible calm and prosperity conceal poverty and suffering.
• Power and political persuasion: The Resistance Army’s resources may let it challenge the [Inspection Bureau], but its methods and motives remain uncertain.
• Trust and vigilance: Wu Yu treats even friendly allies as potential opponents when interests conflict.
• Material hardship: Higher wages do not guarantee security when living costs, fees, illness, and major life expenses can erase savings.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu verifies that the Knowledge Chip has not been tampered with, then inserts it into his Life Circlet and activates the recording while keeping his Divine Sense ready in case of danger.
• The chip contains a forbidden, fully immersive Spirit Realm film recorded by Li Yun, a Resistance Army member. The film documents his team’s eight-day expedition into the Secret Sea World.
• Li Yun’s entry curse, Hyper-Perception, magnifies his senses a hundredfold and his Divine Sense tenfold. This lets him perceive terrifying, previously unknown entities—including a vast shadow beneath the sea, a spider-like creature in the sky, and a coral-covered humanoid. The sight nearly kills him.
• To stop seeing the entities, Li Yun injects himself with several cyber viruses. This saves his life but leaves him unable to fight and permanently damages his Divine Sense. He later records the expedition to help his team through intelligence-gathering.
• The film shows the team facing pirates, ship-boring fishmen, illusion-inducing mermaids, a ghost ship, and finally the Blood Sea, a forbidden zone. The nine-person team escapes, but three members die.
• After finishing the film, Wu Yu recognizes the danger of heightened perception in the Secret Sea World. He considers obtaining dangerous substances to counteract a possible sensory curse, since he lacks the viruses Li Yun used.
• The Twilight Witch asks what Wu Yu was doing; he tells her he was watching a rare immersive film, astonishing her.

Character developments

• Wu Yu shifts from curiosity and excitement to serious caution. He realizes that his abilities could make him especially vulnerable to perception-based dangers and begins planning for this specific threat.
• Li Yun is revealed as resourceful and self-sacrificing: he cripples himself to survive, then turns his remaining abilities toward gathering useful information for his team.
• The Twilight Witch shows curiosity about Wu Yu’s unfamiliar activity and is surprised by the idea of experiencing a film firsthand.

Significant themes

• Knowledge can be dangerous: Certain truths and entities are hazardous to perceive or even discuss.
• Survival through sacrifice: Li Yun gives up much of his combat power and Divine Sense to live and protect others.
• The risks of technology and immersion: Fully immersive Spirit Realm films offer firsthand experience but can expose viewers to disturbing, dangerous sensations.
• Preparation and restraint: Wu Yu understands that curiosity and strength alone are not enough; surviving the Secret Sea World may require careful precautions.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu watches Li Yun’s recorded experience and indirectly learns from his sacrifice and the Resistance team’s losses.
• Li Yun cooperates with his teammates after his injuries, accepting a support role while seeking another way to contribute.
• The Twilight Witch questions Wu Yu about his activity, and his explanation introduces her to immersive Spirit Realm films.

Plot points and events

• The Twilight Witch misinterprets Wu Yu’s Spirit Realm film as an invitation to role-play. He corrects her: it is an immersive record of his adventures in Secret Sea World and other strange events.
• The next morning, Wu Yu contacts Chen Feng about materials that could help him explore the [Withering Sigil] and his upgraded [Bi Fang Sigil].
• He also asks his uncle Wu Yang about obtaining a Transcendent poison. Wu Yang cannot provide one but connects him with a Black Crow merchant, warning that the merchant may be interested in Wu Yu’s Cards and Great Ruins Source Points.
• Wu Yu meets the merchant, a tall woman with a youthful-looking face, at the [Fire Crow Grand Hotel]. She describes several kinds of contraband Transcendent drugs and poisons available through the Black Market.
• When Wu Yu asks about [Star River Group], she explains that it sells defective Spirit-Energy Chips there. Research failures and discontinued projects, she says, supply the Black Market with such products.

Character developments

• Wu Yu is increasingly resourceful in pursuing unusual items, turning to personal contacts and the Black Market when legitimate channels cannot help.
• Wu Yang shows concern for his nephew, offering practical warnings despite their limited connection to the Black Crow merchant.
• The merchant presents herself as well-connected and knowledgeable about the hidden trade in corporate contraband.
• The Twilight Witch remains playful and affectionate, while Wu Yu responds with familiar exasperation and fondness.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu and the Witch share a teasing misunderstanding over the film before shifting back into their close, familiar dynamic.
• Wu Yu exchanges messages with Chen Feng, who readily agrees to gather materials, and with Wu Yang, who provides a risky but useful lead.
• During the meeting, Wu Yu questions the merchant directly about her inventory and [Star River Group], prompting her to reveal how corporate research failures reach the Black Market.

Significant themes

• Official systems versus underground networks: Legal restrictions push Wu Yu toward informal contacts and dangerous Black Market channels.
• Corporate secrecy and waste: Even a major company’s failed experiments can become valuable contraband.
• Trust and risk: Wu Yu must rely on uncertain intermediaries, while his uncle’s warnings highlight the dangers of doing so.

Key plot points and events

• The Trench-Coat Woman presents Wu Yu with several kinds of transcendent poison, including failed products from pill-making, Spirit-Energy Chip research, and the Great Ruins.
• Wu Yu chooses a defective version of [Ageless No. 11]. Though intended as an anti-aging injection, it instead consumes mental power, sharply weakening Divine Sense and impairing perception and probing abilities.
• The woman offers to trade it for flesh and souls from Great Ruins natives. One option would require Wu Yu to slaughter thousands of mortals or hundreds of transcendent beings; the other costs his collected Cards plus 120,000 Great Ruins Source Points.
• Wu Yu rejects killing natives and pays the Source Points. Later, a masked courier arrives with the black, bubbling injection.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu shows careful, practical judgment: he selects poison specifically to compromise mental perception, but refuses to obtain materials through mass slaughter. He suspects the woman’s buyer may be connected to demonic cultivation.
• The Trench-Coat Woman proves to be a well-informed, commercially minded broker. She presses for the flesh-and-souls trade but does not reveal why she wants them.
• Their negotiation is cordial but tense: she assumes Wu Yu wants to kill someone, while he keeps his actual purpose private.
• A masked man delivers the chosen poison, confirming the deal’s completion.

Significant themes

• Ethics amid commerce: Wu Yu’s refusal to slaughter innocent natives contrasts with the market’s willingness to price their bodies and souls.
• Modernized demonic cultivation: The chapter suggests that old blood-sacrifice methods have evolved alongside technology, raising suspicions about who is seeking the materials.
• Power and vulnerability: Divine Sense is formidable, but a failed commercial product can still undermine it, making perception a strategic weakness.

Key events

• Wu Yu buys a bottle of Ageless No. 11, a shelved Ascension Technologies product that rejuvenates skin by draining mental power. The Black Crow Merchant Guild sellers describe its dangerous side effects and suggest how it might be used as poison.
• Suspicious because the guild previously hid a tracker in something he bought, Wu Yu verifies the sellers with Wu Yang and has a Star River medical drone test the potion. It is genuine and unaltered.
• After half a month of disciplined cultivation, Wu Yu advances his Nine-Infant Profound Light Sword technique. He has also kept up with his other training and work duties.
• With his schedule clear, Wu Yu decides to investigate Apocalypse Town and wonders how his uncle’s family is doing.
• On his way out, he stops a speeding girl, Zhao Huling, with a blood-colored shield. She apologizes for losing control while practicing a spell and introduces herself. Her wristwatch summons her away before they can talk further.
• Wu Yu suspects Zhao Huling has a Psionic Prosthetic, since she is not a transcendent but has abundant spirit energy and poor control. He then boards a paid Heavenly Marshal Flyer to travel to Apocalypse Town.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains cautious but practical: he checks the potion’s authenticity, then moves on once it proves safe. His steady routine is paying off in his swordsmanship.
• The Black Crow sellers are confident merchants who present the potion’s risks as part of its appeal; Wu Yu keeps his intended use private.
• Zhao Huling is energetic and powerful but inexperienced. Her sincere apology makes a positive impression on Wu Yu, who recognizes her from his mother’s mention of the neighbors.
• The Twilight Witch supports Wu Yu’s schedule and suggests informing his parents about the trip, but he clarifies that this is a work assignment, not a family outing.

Significant themes

• Progress through discipline and resources: Wu Yu’s consistent practice leads to measurable improvement.
• Technology’s risks and benefits: The potion and Zhao’s likely prosthetic both show how advanced products can produce powerful effects alongside serious drawbacks.
• Caution and trust: Wu Yu verifies the merchant’s product rather than taking their assurances at face value.
• Work alongside personal ties: His journey is an investigation, yet the mention of his uncle’s family gives it a personal dimension.

Key plot points and events

• News reports show the Tower’s arrival reshaping the City of Ten Thousand Rivers: Tower Climbers are forming factions, violence is increasing, and established criminal gangs such as the Jackal Gang may soon be displaced.
• Wu Yu travels toward Apocalypse Town in his Heavenly Marshal Flyer, monitoring news and observing the city’s changing situation.
• The flyer stops after twisted creatures appear on the highway and the Inspection Bureau engages them. Wu Yu sends the Witch to scout and observes the battle through her Eye of True Seeing.
• The monsters prove unusually powerful. One’s strange cry disables the Armed Guards, while another’s attacks devastate the helicopters. The squad suffers heavy losses, including a guard with a severe soul injury, and awaits reinforcements.
• Wu Yu intervenes. He destroys the giant toad-like creature with crimson lightning, beheads the tentacled humanoid with the Blackfeather Flying Sword, and burns the animal-like amalgamation with a Bi Fang Talisman.

Character developments

• Wu Yu appears cautious and observant, keeping informed about the changing world, but acts decisively when the Inspection Bureau’s team is in danger.
• The squad captain remains composed under pressure, directing the retreat and requesting support, though he privately regrets underestimating the monsters.
• The Witch obediently scouts for Wu Yu and provides him with a view of the battle.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu gives the Witch a scouting command, thanks her, and uses the viewpoint she establishes to assess the fight.
• The Inspection Bureau captain coordinates his team and tries to reassure them as the battle worsens.
• After defeating the monsters, Wu Yu appears before the stunned Inspectors, who have yet to learn who he is or why he has intervened.

Significant themes

• A changing social order: The Tower empowers new factions and intensifies conflict, threatening the old balance among corporations, ordinary people, and criminal groups.
• Uncertainty and escalating danger: Twisted creatures can be far more dangerous than expected, making established assumptions unreliable.
• Power and responsibility: Wu Yu uses his strength to intervene when the official team is overwhelmed.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu and the Twilight Witch confirm that the defeated twisted creatures pose no risk of spreading contamination or curses. Patrol officers arrive, and their injured companion, A-Qing, is rushed for emergency treatment.
• The patrol captain explains that the creatures were newly born from a twisted nest. Young specimens are weak, but as they evolve, they can warp reality in unpredictable ways—powers so formidable that people call them godspawn. Humanity once had no defense against them, but later developed supernatural and psionic technology.
• Wu Yu declines the captain’s invitation and leaves by sinking into the ground. The captain orders the incident reported and calls for a supernatural squad to locate and destroy the nest.
• Wu Yu returns to Apocalypse Town, shares candy with children who recognize him, and visits his aunt and uncle’s home. His parents are absent; his aunt says his cousin Yu Zhu has been acting secretive.
• Wu Yu has been investigating the Commoner District and suspects the Flesh Bodhisattva may cause a major disaster. He intends to enlist his relatives’ help.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu’s experience challenges what he learned at the Academy: twisted creatures are not necessarily powerful at birth, though their potential to distort reality makes them dangerous.
• The patrol captain treats Wu Yu with respect and gratitude, in contrast to the inspectors’ arrogance that Wu Yu remembers from his youth. Wu Yu, in turn, asks practical questions and listens closely to the captain’s firsthand knowledge.
• Wu Yu’s warm reunion with local children and his aunt shows his attachment to his old neighborhood. Though he presents the visit as family time, he has a serious investigative purpose.
• Yu Zhu’s unusual secrecy becomes a new source of concern.

Significant themes

• Knowledge versus experience: The captain’s field knowledge corrects the outdated lessons Wu Yu received at the Academy.
• Power and unpredictability: Twisted creatures’ threat lies less in their initial strength than in their ability to alter reality as they evolve.
• Community and responsibility: Wu Yu helps strangers, reconnects with neighbors, and investigates a danger that could threaten the town.

Key plot points

• Wu Yu visits his aunt and uncle and learns that Li Yuzhu has recently been unusually secretive and often away from home.
• He explains that he is investigating Apocalypse Town’s rat infestation and a missing, statue-like person. His uncle reports that giant rats have caused illness, prompting a town cleanup and inspections of factory sewage pipes.
• Wu Yu describes the missing figure as sexless, jade-white, and statue-like—the suspected Flesh Bodhisattva. His uncle then recalls hearing that someone found a similar “living statue” in the Sludge Zone at the Wastewater Treatment Plant.
• After hearing the location and details, Wu Yu decides to investigate immediately and asks his uncle to accompany him.
• Meanwhile, Li Yuzhu rushes home to retrieve her piggy bank, then leaves again. At dusk, she is seen in an abandoned factory, visiting an unconscious man called Xiao Ming and taking something from her case.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains focused and composed, gathering information without pressuring his relatives. He is pleased by his uncle’s useful lead but cautions himself that the report may be mistaken.
• His uncle is welcoming and eager to help, though he initially feels ashamed that he cannot identify the missing figure. His knowledge of local gossip ultimately provides the crucial lead.
• Wu Yu’s aunt worries about Yuzhu’s secretive behavior and scolds her over spending her savings, while her uncle defends their daughter and praises her intelligence.
• Yuzhu is shown as hurried and purposeful, with a gentler, more innocent appearance than before. Her secret visit to the unconscious Xiao Ming introduces a second mystery.

Significant themes

• Family and support: Wu Yu’s relatives offer practical help and affection, while their everyday disagreements reveal familiar family dynamics.
• Clues hidden in ordinary life: Local rumors and a coworker’s frightening encounter lead Wu Yu closer to his target after a prolonged search.
• Contrasting mysteries: Wu Yu’s investigation into the rats and Flesh Bodhisattva unfolds alongside Yuzhu’s unexplained actions and her connection to Xiao Ming.

Plot points and events

• Zhao Xiaoming thanks Li Yuzhu for staying with him and using money to buy medicine after he was injured. Though Li insists on remaining, Zhao warns that help is coming and urges her to leave.
• A huge swarm of human-sized rats erupts from the ground around them, plunging the abandoned factory complex into darkness.
• Wu Yu arrives at the Apocalypse Sewage Treatment Plant with his uncle-in-law and Xu Mu, a fearful coworker who previously saw a strange statue there.
• The guards let Wu Yu enter despite questioning his authority, too intimidated by his Star River Group affiliation to object.
• Guided to the sludge zone, Wu Yu uses the Twilight Witch’s Eye of True Seeing to locate a white figure buried in the contaminated muck. He confirms it is a Flesh Bodhisattva, then clears the sludge with Tiger Roar and Dragon Cry and retrieves its corpse.
• Wu Yu recognizes the Bodhisattva as a rare, valuable medicinal treasure—apparently ready for harvest—but senses something is wrong. He draws his Blackfeather Flying Sword.

Character developments and interactions

• Li Yuzhu shows loyalty and compassion, refusing to abandon the injured Zhao Xiaoming despite the danger.
• Zhao Xiaoming remains composed and warns Li that his helpers are approaching, though he appears to accept her choice to stay.
• Wu Yu acts cautiously, taking the Witch’s advice not to use Earth Escape in the hazardous sludge. He is also aware of his intimidating reputation.
• The Twilight Witch guides him with supernatural perception and teases him about seeming like an archdevil.
• Xu Mu is deeply afraid of Wu Yu, believing his past violence makes him dangerous; Wu Yu’s uncle-in-law tries to reassure him.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and gratitude: Li repays Zhao’s protection by helping him when he is vulnerable.
• Fear and power: Wu Yu’s company status and reputation command compliance, even when his actual authority is unclear.
• Caution amid danger: The contaminated sludge and the final sense that something is wrong show that valuable discoveries carry hidden risks.
• Value and exploitation: The Flesh Bodhisattva’s extraordinary medicinal properties suggest why Spirit Mountain Technology might seek to cultivate and control it.

Plot points

• Wu Yu investigates the Flesh Bodhisattva and cuts into it with his flying sword. Beneath its lifelike skin, it is completely hollow; the cut quickly heals.
• He sends evidence to Lu Yiguan, who warns that the artifact belongs to Spirit Mountain Technology and is dangerous to handle. Someone who tries to refine it may suffer cyberpsychosis, and even powerful practitioners are at risk.
• Wu Yu leaves the matter to his company. Star River Group retrieves the Bodhisattva, and Wu Yu receives a substantial job bonus.
• Back home, his cousin Li Yuzhu asks for a top-quality healing injection. Wu Yu provides a Blood-Coagulating Injection, and she pays him before hurrying out.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu stays composed as the investigation turns dangerous. He relies on Lu Yiguan’s expertise, pays Xu Mu generously for helping, and gives Li Yuzhu medicine while concealing his suspicion about why she needs it.
• Lu Yiguan is alarmed by the discovery and urges Wu Yu to treat the Bodhisattva—and whoever tried to refine it—as a serious threat.
• Xu Mu and Wu Yu’s uncle-in-law help with the job and are impressed by Wu Yu’s abilities and the imposing arrival of Star River Group’s shuttle.
• Li Yuzhu appears anxious about the shuttle but claims it frightened her simply because she had never seen one in person. The Twilight Witch detects that she is lying. Her urgent request for medicine suggests she may be hiding a problem.

Significant themes

• Dangerous technology and hidden consequences: The Bodhisattva’s unnatural, hollow body points to the risks of tampering with Spirit Mountain Technology’s creations.
• Power and inequality: Wu Yu’s extraordinary stamina, resources, and access to medicine contrast with the ordinary people around him.
• Trust and concealment: Lu Yiguan’s warning, the Bodhisattva’s mystery, and Li Yuzhu’s lie all emphasize that appearances—and explanations—may hide deeper truths.

Key plot points and events

• After Wu Yu leaves, Zhao Xiaoming continues a dangerous ritual in an abandoned factory, using giant rats to fuel the [Flesh Bodhisattva]. He gains some power, but the process fails because he lacks [Spirit Mountain Technology]’s key; forcing it could cause severe harm.
• Li Yuzhu brings Zhao a costly Blood-Coagulating Injection she obtained through her brother’s company, the [Star River Group]. She also tells him that the company’s shuttle has left town.
• Zhao realizes Li Yuzhu’s brother is Wu Yu. Wu, who had secretly followed her, confronts him and asks about the [Flesh Bodhisattva]. Zhao admits he killed a [Spirit Mountain Technology] employee and fled to [Apocalypse Town], but refuses to reveal who refined the Bodhisattva.
• Before they can continue, Wu senses danger and disappears. An attack helicopter crashes through the factory and unleashes missiles, machine-gun fire, and a charging spirit-energy laser on Zhao.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Xiaoming is increasingly desperate and willing to sacrifice others for power, but remains wary and guarded when questioned. He recognizes Wu and seems relieved that Wu is not there to arrest him.
• Li Yuzhu shows loyalty and gratitude toward Zhao, helping him with medicine and information without realizing the full danger surrounding him.
• Wu Yu reveals a protective concern for his cousin and a practical curiosity about Zhao’s activities. He approaches rather than immediately arresting Zhao, but reacts quickly when he detects an incoming threat.
• Zhao and Wu share a complicated history: they recognize each other from their former neighborhood, and their reunion is marked by mutual caution and unanswered questions.

Significant themes

• Power and sacrifice: Zhao accepts enormous costs in pursuit of strength, even as the ritual threatens to destroy him.
• Secrecy and trust: Zhao withholds crucial information, while Li Yuzhu helps him in good faith and Wu tries to uncover the truth.
• Corporate influence and hidden dangers: The company’s exclusive medicine, shuttle, and involvement with the Bodhisattva suggest that powerful organizations control vital resources—and may be tied to the conflict.
• Coincidence and convergence: Wu’s connection to Li Yuzhu unexpectedly brings him face-to-face with Zhao just as danger closes in.

Plot points and events

• Master Lin, a burly monk working with Spirit Mountain Technology, leads an attack on Zhao Xiaoming at an abandoned factory. The company’s optical camouflage helps the helicopters approach unseen, and the attackers bombard the factory with guns, missiles, and Psionic Cannons.
• Zhao survives by covering himself in a protective armor made from giant black rats. He withstands the fire and attacks the helicopters, but one explodes after its pilot triggers Psionic Bombs inside it.
• Wu Yu arrives and turns the battle around. His sword, Destruction Divine Thunder, and a Fire Crow Arrow destroy the remaining helicopters and kill their pilots. Master Lin escapes by using a talisman, revealing that he is a cultivator.
• After the battle, Zhao explains that Spirit Mountain Technology has recently been active in Small Town and that he has taken Flesh Bodhisattvas from its senior monks.
• Zhao reveals that the company’s Holy Maiden operation includes rare, high-grade beings called Female Bodhisattvas. They are cultivated as powerful medicinal treasures, though they cannot fight, and the Joyful Buddha Secret Art can consume their benefits to produce a major enhancement.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Xiaoming proves resilient and formidable, surviving a coordinated assault and fighting back despite being outgunned. He trusts Wu Yu and openly admires how much stronger Wu has become.
• Wu Yu shows no hesitation in killing enemies with whom he has prior history. His arrival protects Zhao and ends the helicopter attack. He becomes intrigued—and disturbed—by the Female Bodhisattva scheme.
• Master Lin begins the assault confidently, trusting modern weapons, but his confidence collapses when Wu Yu’s attacks destroy the helicopters. He flees using a talisman.
• Zhao and Wu discuss the attackers, Spirit Mountain Technology’s recent activities, and the significance of the Flesh Bodhisattvas, deepening their understanding of the company’s motives.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Zhao’s rat armor lets him endure overwhelming firepower, while Female Bodhisattvas possess immense value but no ability to defend themselves.
• Technology versus cultivation: The attackers rely on advanced weapons and camouflage, but Wu Yu’s spiritual techniques prove decisive.
• Exploitation disguised as advancement: Spirit Mountain Technology’s “Holy Maiden” program turns women into commodities and medicinal resources, exposing the cruelty beneath its cultivation business.
• Escalating danger: The Tower’s arrival has changed the balance of power, prompting the company to expand its operations into places it previously ignored.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu captures Zhao Xiaoming, a rat-swarm user connected to the Black Rat Gang, and takes him away in his Portable Cabin. Zhao reveals that Spirit Mountain Technology has already sent transcendent fighters after him and suspects the company’s people are plotting against Apocalypse Town, possibly by spreading a plague with Ascension Technologies.
• Wu Yu admits he had let a monk escape in hopes of tracing him to the people behind the scheme. Zhao recognizes the strategy and agrees to explain what happened since their last meeting.
• Meanwhile, the fleeing monk reaches a guarded courtyard where Spirit Mountain’s transcendent squad is stationed. He claims he found the person suspected of stealing the Flesh Bodhisattva, but says that man’s powerful accomplice destroyed his team.
• The squad distrusts the monk and berates him for failing his assignment. A braided woman attacks him; a bespectacled man stops her, then orders the squad to raise the courtyard’s Psionic Field shield.
• Wu Yu realizes the enemy is too cautious to be lured out as planned, so he changes tactics and launches an attack. The braided woman detects danger and dodges his Blackfeather Flying Sword, but heavenly lightning strikes her. The sword then chops her apart.
• The squad locates Wu Yu’s invisible Portable Cabin and fires the courtyard’s concealed Psionic Cannons at it.

Character developments

• Wu Yu remains calculating and adaptable: when his attempt to draw out the enemy fails, he swiftly switches to direct attack.
• Zhao Xiaoming shows himself to be perceptive, recognizing Wu Yu’s trap and candidly disclosing his suspicions, though he is cornered and dependent on Wu.
• The monk is revealed as a frightened, self-serving human trafficker who prioritizes survival over loyalty to the company. He lies and pleads for his life when challenged.
• The braided woman is aggressive and confident, but her quick reaction is not enough to save her from Wu Yu’s lethal combination of sword and lightning.
• The bespectacled squad member is more pragmatic, intervening to avoid trouble for the company and directing the squad’s defenses.

Significant themes

• Survival over loyalty: The monk openly rejects sacrificing himself for the company and acts only to stay alive.
• Cunning and counter-cunning: Wu Yu’s plans meet an alert, disciplined enemy, forcing him to adapt.
• Power and vulnerability: Even a formidable transcendent fighter can be killed by a stronger, well-coordinated attack.
• Corruption and deception: The squad’s contempt for the monk exposes his criminal role and the morally compromised world surrounding the company.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu and Zhao exchange suspicions and demonstrate mutual respect for each other’s intelligence; Wu takes Zhao into the cabin to hear his story.
• The monk tries to persuade Spirit Mountain’s squad that he acted to protect their investigation, but the braided woman accuses him of cowardice and incompetence.
• The bespectacled man restrains the woman to protect the company’s interests, then coordinates the squad’s response.
• Wu Yu’s attack turns the squad’s confrontation with the monk into an immediate battle, ending with the squad firing on Wu’s cabin.