Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Righteous Qi Prefecture Without Hope”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Yu discovers dozens of impoverished retired Grand Confucians sleeping outside the publishing house because they cannot afford hotel rooms.
• He learns about Righteous Qi Prefecture’s absurdly bureaucratic laws, including fines for dying outside designated locations and deductions from family members’ Moral Scores.
• The Grand Confucians explain the prefecture’s corrupt publishing culture: minor authors must bribe or entertain everyone involved, including people who cannot help them but can obstruct their work.
• Chen Yu takes responsibility for neglecting their accommodations and brings them to breakfast at a mutton soup shop.
• He drags Wang Shanzhang away from browsing erotic artwork to help deal with the situation.
• Over breakfast, Chen Yu and Wang hear about the Grand Confucians’ miserable retirement conditions. Despite having once been seventh-rank officials, they receive only 300 yuan per month, taxed at eleven percent.
• The Grand Confucians reveal that they remained honest rather than exploiting their positions to secure comfortable retirements. As a result, they are now poorer than corrupt officials and must sometimes financially support their own children.
• Wang asks how the prefecture became so corrupt and wonders whether killing corrupt officials would solve the problem. The shopkeeper argues that replacing individuals would not change anything because the same corruption would reappear.
• The shopkeeper concludes that the deeper problem is the absence of hope.

Character Developments

• Chen Yu shows compassion and responsibility by arranging food and lodging for the elderly scholars. His disgust toward the prefecture’s corruption deepens as he sees how honest people are punished.
• Wang Shanzhang shifts from frivolous behavior to serious reflection. Hearing the Grand Confucians’ suffering leaves him ashamed and disillusioned, prompting him to question the entire system.
• The Grand Confucians are portrayed as principled but abandoned men. Their honesty, once a source of pride, has left them impoverished and disregarded by society.
• The shopkeeper emerges as a perceptive ordinary citizen. He recognizes that systemic corruption cannot be solved merely by eliminating corrupt individuals.

Significant Themes

• Systemic corruption: Corruption is embedded in Righteous Qi Prefecture’s institutions and customs rather than limited to a few bad officials.
• The punishment of integrity: Honest officials who refuse to exploit their positions are left destitute, while corrupt people prosper.
• Loss of hope: The chapter suggests that social decay persists when people no longer believe honest behavior can improve their lives.
• Absurd bureaucracy and social injustice: Fines, Moral Scores, exploitative publishing customs, and inadequate pensions expose a society more concerned with rules and appearances than human welfare.
• Generational decline: The Grand Confucians tried to set moral examples, but their children and society regard their principles as foolish or outdated.

Character Interactions

• Chen Yu gently but firmly takes charge of the Grand Confucians, correcting their assumption that they must pay for breakfast and defending their dignity.
• The Grand Confucians speak respectfully to Chen Yu while openly describing the humiliating conditions imposed on minor authors and retirees.
• Chen Yu repeatedly restrains Wang Shanzhang, whose shocked questions force the scholars to explain the prefecture’s corruption.
• Wang’s conversation with the shopkeeper moves from proposing violent reform to recognizing that the problem is structural.
• The shopkeeper’s final observation—that the real issue is the lack of hope—provides the chapter’s central conclusion.

Chapter Summary: “When Hope Arrives”

Key Plot Points and Events

• In a lamb noodle shop, the owner explains that Longevity Prefecture is declining because young people no longer see any hope of succeeding. Established businesses survive through connections, while newcomers work hard yet lose money, causing them to give up.
• Wang Shanzhang reflects on the weight of “hope,” writing the word on the table and worrying that it is extremely difficult to inspire young people.
• Chen Yu and Wang discuss their plans for improving the Dreamscape. Chen suggests practical steps: repair the Dreamscape, reduce pollution, improve the environment, and proceed gradually rather than relying on an elaborate master plan.
• Their joking argument about Chen creating a “Hope Star Lord” is interrupted when Mohist enters the shop.
• Wang realizes that Mohist is not an ordinary student but a Golden Core-level existence connected to the Heavenly Dao. He traps Chen, Mohist, and himself inside a Pocket World and demands that Mohist reveal his true identity.
• Mohist transforms a tiny seed through countless forms, revealing himself as an Outer God who fled from the Unfathomable World Beyond Heaven. He has been studying the world in hopes of integrating into it and becoming a Star Lord.
• Chen accepts Mohist’s revelation because Mohist has never harmed him, even casually suggesting that Mohist apply for an Outer God subsidy.
• Mohist then reveals that he is an Outer God governing hope—exactly the being Wang had just wished existed. Wang’s reaction implies that discovering and dealing with the Hope Outer God may push him toward emotional or mental exhaustion.

Character Developments

• Wang Shanzhang: Becomes increasingly preoccupied with the social and spiritual importance of hope. His desire for a grand solution leads him to hope for a Hope Star Lord, and he is stunned when one appears unexpectedly in front of him.
• Chen Yu: Shows a practical, grounded attitude. He rejects the idea of inventing an easy or dramatic solution and favors gradual improvements. He also responds calmly and pragmatically to Mohist’s revelation.
• Mohist: Reveals his true nature and motives. Despite being an Outer God, he has peacefully integrated into human society, taken the identity of a student, and developed a genuine interest in Chen Yu and this world. His domain is hope, making him potentially crucial to Longevity Prefecture’s future.
• Lamb noodle shop owner: Provides the chapter’s central insight: economies and communities survive when people believe there is still a chance for success.

Significant Themes

• Hope as a social force: Hope is portrayed not merely as an emotion but as the foundation of economic activity, ambition, youth, and a society’s future.
• Practical action versus grand plans: Chen emphasizes repairing what can be repaired and taking things one step at a time instead of waiting for a perfect solution.
• Hidden identities and unexpected salvation: The seemingly ordinary Mohist turns out to be precisely the Hope Outer God everyone needs, suggesting that solutions may already exist unnoticed within everyday life.
• Integration and belonging: Mohist’s attempt to understand the world and become a Star Lord reflects the broader question of whether an outsider can peacefully become part of a new society.

Character Interactions

• The shop owner’s explanation deeply affects Wang and prompts his discussion with Chen about restoring hope.
• Chen and Wang exchange sarcastic jokes, with Chen mocking Wang for overthinking and Wang demanding that Chen take responsibility for his irreverence.
• Mohist’s arrival shifts the conversation from economic decline to hidden divine identities.
• Wang treats Mohist as a potential threat, while Chen trusts him based on his past behavior.
• Mohist’s revelation that he governs hope creates an ironic reversal: Wang had just lamented the absence of a Hope Star Lord, only to discover that Chen’s own classmate and colleague may be exactly what they need.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Chen Yu tries to deny responsibility for the strange transformations caused by the mutton soup, but Wang Shanzhang enthusiastically invents an explanation: Chen Yu must be a Tribulation Immortal, a rare cultivator who can resolve other people’s tribulations.
• Wang and the Mohist speculate that Chen Yu’s extraordinary cultivation, business success, and recent misfortunes support this theory.
• The conversation shifts to the Heavenly Demon and the Heavenly Demon Sect. Chen Yu learns that the True Martial Great Emperor and most Star Lords harbor deep hatred toward the Heavenly Demon because it once devastated their sects and altered the balance of power in the cultivation world.
• The Heavenly Demon Sect is secretly tolerated as bait to expose possible Heavenly Demon Inheritors. Chen is relieved that his hostility toward the sect makes him appear unlikely to be one, though he privately knows he must conceal his Heavenly Demon Constitution.
• Wang and the Mohist explain that Tribulation Immortals can absorb or resolve others’ calamities, gaining cultivation and fortune in return. They are highly valued because they can prevent disasters without creating additional karma.
• Chen begins reconsidering the possibility that he really is a Tribulation Immortal. His repeated experiences of helping others while suffering terrible bad luck afterward may indicate that he has been taking on their tribulations.
• However, neither Wang nor the Mohist knows how to detect a Tribulation Immortal, since the necessary methods have been lost. Chen is therefore left uncertain and uneasy.
• Wang and the Mohist promise not to reveal Chen’s supposed identity, warning that he could otherwise be imprisoned and forced to endure other people’s tribulations.
• The chapter ends with Chen reflecting that one bowl of mutton soup has caused an absurd chain of events: his companion became an Outer God, he may be a Tribulation Immortal, Wang became a “little fairy,” and everyone’s future suddenly looks unusually promising.

Character Developments

• Chen Yu becomes increasingly anxious about the consequences of the mutton soup and the theories surrounding his abilities. He also recognizes that his past misfortunes may be connected to helping others, suggesting he may unknowingly possess a powerful and dangerous constitution.
• Wang Shanzhang remains excitable, imaginative, and highly prone to jumping to dramatic conclusions. He enthusiastically labels Chen a Tribulation Immortal and reveals sensitive information about the Heavenly Demon while trying to reassure him.
• The Mohist acts as a more analytical partner to Wang, supporting the Tribulation Immortal theory and explaining its principles, though he too admits that the identity cannot be confirmed.
• The True Martial Great Emperor is characterized indirectly as a powerful figure driven by a deep, personal hatred of the Heavenly Demon.
• The Star Lords are shown to be shaped by the Heavenly Demon’s historical devastation, with many owing their positions to the destruction of earlier powers.

Significant Themes

• Misunderstanding and accidental power: Chen’s situation illustrates how extraordinary events can be interpreted through speculation rather than evidence.
• The price of greatness: Powerful abilities may require suffering, sacrifice, or the transfer of calamity onto the user.
• Fate, karma, and fortune: The chapter explores whether disasters can be redirected, reduced, or transformed into benefits through special individuals.
• Secrecy and persecution: Chen must conceal his possible connection to the Heavenly Demon because powerful factions would respond violently to any suspected inheritance.
• Absurdity amid danger: Serious cultivation-world revelations are presented through comedic misunderstandings, making Chen’s predicament both threatening and ridiculous.

Important Character Interactions

• Chen repeatedly tries—and fails—to correct Wang’s increasingly elaborate assumptions about him.
• Wang and the Mohist jointly explain the nature and value of Tribulation Immortals, treating Chen as though he may already be one.
• Chen questions them about the Heavenly Demon and discovers the dangerous political background behind the Heavenly Demon Sect.
• Wang and the Mohist solemnly promise to protect Chen’s secret, while also warning him that revealing it could result in exploitation.
• Chen ends the chapter isolated in his uncertainty, surrounded by people who believe he possesses a mysterious, potentially priceless ability.

Chen Yu recruited the Mohist to use a ritual in My Dream, then planned to build seven Dreamscape Servers by hiring outsourced workers in Righteous Qi Prefecture. He and Wang Shanzhang decided to seek help from Deng Zixing, though Wang worried their recruitment scheme was training deathsworn.

• Chen Yu introduced the Mohist to Wang Shanzhang, who hoped he would become the Hope Star Lord.
• The Mohist explained that he could use a ritual to soothe people with hope, and Chen Yu offered My Dream as the ritual while promising to cover the costs.
• The Mohist requested seven large Dreamscape Servers, and Chen Yu decided to hire resentful outsourced workers instead of fighting their way across the prefecture.
• Chen Yu proposed recruiting local workers to guard sites, install Servers, and promote dreamscapes, starting by winning over the Inspectorate through Deng Zixing.
• Chen Yu set the pay at five thousand, and Wang Shanzhang objected that they were training deathsworn.

Chen Yu had Mohist add a hope-infusing ritual to the Dreamscape Game and hired him as its architect. After testing the game with Grand Confucians, Chen Yu confirmed that the ritual had activated without them noticing, leaving its effects to be measured by their performance.

• Chen Yu agreed to pay for death-sworn retainers and brought Mohist out of the bamboo sword with Wang Shanzhang.
• Mohist explored Chen Yu's Dreamscape Game and planted a ritual that made players feel their hopes would come true, though it could not directly alter reality.
• Chen Yu hired Mohist as a Dreamscape architect after confirming the ritual fit seamlessly into the game.
• Chen Yu used the Loan Star Lord to cover the ritual's magic power costs and installed the enhanced game on the Grand Confucians' phones.
• The Grand Confucians played through the Dreamscape but noticed no changes, while Chen Yu confirmed the ritual had activated and awaited evidence of its effects.

Plot points and events

• The Grand Confucians arrive at Heaven Origin Press to submit thirty manuscripts. Editor Fu apologizes for failing to arrange their lodging and meals, but they reassure her—and jokingly suggest a modest monthly allowance.
• After reading the submissions, Editor Fu rejects them as too predictable and dull, despite their sound strategy and polished structure. Rather than taking offense, the Confucians recognize the problem and decide to study younger writers, especially After the National College Entrance Examination.
• Wang Chuyun comes to observe, hoping to improve her writing, but flees when she sees the Confucians analyzing her novel—including its portrayal of her private feelings for Chen Yu. She resolves to keep her identity as “Mr. Yun” secret.
• Two days later, the Confucians submit much livelier work. Editor Fu acknowledges their rapid progress but refuses to accept it yet: the press’s first issue must meet a high standard. She promises expenses and writing allowances while they continue revising.
• At the docks, Chen Yu, Wang Chuyun, and Ma Daqiang prepare to meet local officials at night. Chen wonders why the meeting must happen after dark; Deng Zixing explains that the other side fears Chen’s group might attack first.

Character developments and interactions

• The Grand Confucians shift from cautious, conventional writers to eager learners, taking criticism seriously and competing humorously over who has mastered youthful writing.
• Editor Fu shows conscientiousness and high editorial standards: she apologizes for her oversight, gives honest criticism, and supports the writers while insisting on quality.
• Wang Chuyun is embarrassed when her work is discussed as an example, especially its romantic subtext, and protects her pen name from discovery. Chen notices she feels unwell and lends her his coat.
• Chen Yu remains practical and teasing, looking after Wang and joking about the “Bratty Old Girl.” His group’s reputation is intimidating enough that the officials fear they may make a move.
• Ma Daqiang complains of being cold, and Chen tells him to strengthen his body through more training. Deng Zixing acts as the intermediary explaining the officials’ fears.

Significant themes

• Growth through criticism: The Confucians treat rejection as a chance to learn rather than a personal insult.
• Balancing skill with appeal: Technical competence is not enough; writing must also engage its intended audience.
• Standards and patience: The press prioritizes a strong inaugural issue over quick acceptance.
• Humor and secrecy: Wang’s embarrassment and the officials’ fear add comedy while highlighting the characters’ relationships and reputations.

Chen Yu learned that cultivators feared him because they associated him with Wang Jingting’s killing, then traveled under the Secret Star Lord’s protection to meet the Confucian Grove Union Chairperson. He discovered that the wounded, uncanny woman looked exactly like Bu Tianque, who revealed that she was him.

• Chen Yu argued with Deng Zixing about being seen as a killer, and Shao Lingyun explained that people considered him and Teacher Zhao natural disasters because of his association with Wang Jingting.
• Chen Yu checked his constitution interface and found that the rumors about him had not generated many negative emotions.
• The Confucian Grove Chief Inspector arrived by shadow boat and gave Chen Yu a printed scrap bearing the word "prohibit" for protection.
• The Chief Inspector explained that the Union Chairperson was being hunted by the Outsourcing Company, and Chen Yu learned that the Inspector himself had been placed in the role without a raise.
• Chen Yu met the pale, one-armed Union Chairperson and noticed that she looked exactly like Bu Tianque.
• Bu Tianque told Chen Yu that the woman was him.

Key plot points and events

• Bu Tianque identifies the uncanny book hidden inside the Labor Union chairwoman as her Corpse Remnant—the body she shed during an incomplete godhood ritual. She had tried to replace a Star Lord; the ritual succeeded imperfectly, turning her into an Evil God, and the remnant became a safeguard programmed to destroy everyone in Righteous Qi Prefecture if necessary.
• Bu Tianque warns Chen Yu that learning the Star Lord’s identity could awaken it, so she refuses to reveal the name.
• Chen Yu and Wang Chuyun can see the book and hear its pages turn, while everyone else sees only the beautiful chairwoman. The book makes the chairwoman function like an NPC, supplying her dialogue and apparently recording or shaping her responses.
• Chen Yu proposes giving subsidies to outsourced workers so he can hire them to build and maintain servers and promote his project. Bu Tianque edits the book, and the chairwoman approves: “Chen Yu is a fine comrade. Thank you for your support.”
• The chief inspector, who hoped the chairwoman would reject Chen Yu’s offer, is left disappointed.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yu struggles to stay composed around the chairwoman’s grotesque secret and urgently asks Bu Tianque to intervene. Despite his unease, he makes his proposal and secures approval.
• Bu Tianque reveals more of her past and demonstrates control over her Corpse Remnant. She briefly enjoys Chen Yu’s distress, then steps in to guide the book toward a favorable outcome.
• Wang Chuyun shares Chen Yu’s disturbing perception and is visibly frightened.
• The chief inspector privately resents Chen Yu, fearing the offer will disrupt his hope of getting a permanent job.
• Chen Yu and Bu Tianque’s teasing, uneasy exchange contrasts with the tense negotiation.

Significant themes

• Knowledge as danger: Some truths are so corrupting that merely knowing them may provoke a powerful entity.
• Inhumanity beneath appearances: The chairwoman’s beauty conceals a corpse-book that controls her speech and behavior.
• Power and manipulation: Bu Tianque can edit the remnant’s “script,” influencing the negotiation.
• Bureaucracy and self-interest: A practical labor arrangement becomes entangled with the inspector’s personal hopes and fear of Chen Yu’s reputation.

Chen Yu negotiated with the Chief Inspector to hire outsourced workers in Righteous Qi Prefecture to guard his planned Dreamscape Server. The Chief Inspector heard Chen Yu’s generous wages and benefits and wondered how such an offer could possibly be real.

• The Chief Inspector accepted the Union Chairperson’s decision to cooperate with Chen Yu and gave him the chairperson’s black business card.
• Chen Yu said he planned to hire outsourced workers long-term to guard the Dreamscape Server, and the Chief Inspector asked about their pay.
• Chen Yu offered a base salary of five thousand per month, making the Chief Inspector suspect a scam because it far exceeded his own wages.
• Chen Yu explained that outsourced workers could apply for one of ten permanent positions and described generous leave, holiday, and overtime benefits.
• Chen Yu argued that hiring more workers would improve employment and spending, while the Chief Inspector listened in disbelief.

Plot points

• Chen Yu recruits the Chief Inspector to hire 300 workers, giving him three months’ wages—4.5 million yuan—up front and putting him in charge of payroll.
• Learning that the Inspector is burdened by a loan, Chen Yu transfers it to Heaven Origin Bank at zero interest, repayable over ten years. The gesture transforms the Inspector’s discouragement into fervent loyalty.
• Chen Yu asks Deng Zixing and Shao Lingyun to support the Inspector’s team, while cautioning Deng not to overreach.
• Dream Zero-One warns Chen Yu that Righteous Qi Prefecture is contaminated and notorious for bureaucratic delays. Chen nevertheless orders 21 Servers and plans to use Bandage Man’s connections to get them in. He donates the discount to the Dreamscape Star Lord.
• Back at the publishing house, Editor Fu shows Chen articles written by Grand Confucians imitating Mr. Yun’s style. Chen judges them good enough for the magazine’s first issue and approves publication and payment.

Character developments and interactions

• The Chief Inspector shifts from skepticism to overwhelming enthusiasm after receiving the advance and learning his loan is interest-free. He vows to devote himself to Chen, whose attempts to temper his zeal are largely unsuccessful.
• Chen Yu shows his characteristic generosity and pragmatic business sense, mobilizing people and resources while remaining wary of excessive zeal—especially Deng Zixing’s determined nature.
• Dream Zero-One initially objects to the Server project but agrees to proceed, balancing her concerns with the benefits to her sales figures.
• Editor Fu and the Grand Confucians help move the magazine forward: Fu brings the manuscripts, and the Confucians demonstrate their skill by producing convincing imitations of Mr. Yun’s writing.

Significant themes

• Generosity as motivation: Chen’s financial help inspires intense loyalty and commitment.
• Ambition versus caution: Chen pushes ahead despite warnings and logistical obstacles, while staying alert to the risks posed by overzealous allies.
• Bureaucracy and workarounds: Righteous Qi Prefecture’s delays make informal connections and flexible planning essential.
• Collaboration and creative production: A team effort—from Server procurement to the Grand Confucians’ writing—turns Chen’s projects into reality.

Key plot points and events

• Heaven Origin Press pays royalties generously, winning the gratitude and admiration of the Grand Confucians. The techniques they once dismissed begin to influence their writing, and Chen Yu sees a chance for their renewal.
• The press launches Heaven Origin Miscellany, a lavishly printed magazine priced cheaply at five yuan. Its first issue features articles about Classics Auto Chess and other Dreamscape Games, plus a disc with a game update and demos.
• Editor-in-Chief Lei arranges distribution across Righteous Qi Prefecture, including remote districts. Though the magazine lacks a publication permit and the low price cannot cover costs, Chen Yu insists that access and readers’ enjoyment matter more than profit.
• A bookseller agrees to carry it, partly to support a rare new venture. During the trip, his employee Xiao Zhang—who struggles with reading—picks up a copy. An accessible, conversational article draws him in, and he discovers that reading can be enjoyable.

Character developments

• The Grand Confucians begin adapting to new techniques, suggesting a revival of their creative work.
• Editor-in-Chief Lei is devoted to Chen Yu and repeatedly defends his vision, though he admits he does not fully understand it.
• The bookseller is skeptical of the project’s economics and Chen Yu’s grand aims, but ultimately supports the magazine.
• Xiao Zhang shifts from indifference and difficulty with text to genuine absorption in reading. For him, the magazine makes words feel approachable and compelling.

Significant themes

• Reading as pleasure and access: Clear, informal writing opens literature to someone who has long found books intimidating.
• Art over profit: Chen Yu prioritizes enjoyment and broad distribution over cost or commercial return.
• Renewal through change: The Grand Confucians’ willingness to learn new methods mirrors the possibility of reviving old traditions.
• Scarcity and care: The bookseller’s careful handling of supplies highlights the material hardships of life in the prefecture.

Character interactions

• Lei conveys Chen Yu’s priorities to the bookseller, whose skepticism gives way to practical support.
• The bookseller treats Xiao Zhang generously, allowing him to read a copy reserved for him rather than for sale.
• Xiao Zhang’s encounter with the magazine provides the chapter’s quiet payoff: a reader who expected little finds himself wanting to continue.

A bookseller discovered Xiao Zhang studying Heaven Origin Miscellany and decided to send him to school so he could become an educated aide at Heaven Origin Press. Xiao Zhang began fourth grade and found that Little Red’s hulking appearance would keep his own from standing out.

• The bookseller found his employees playing Classics Auto Chess while Xiao Zhang quietly studied Heaven Origin Miscellany with a dictionary.
• The bookseller spoke with Xiao Zhang and learned about his spiritual root, his escape after killing an elder who threatened his family, and his efforts to help his parents and siblings.
• After hearing that Xiao Zhang enjoyed reading, the bookseller decided to send him to school and have him return as his right-hand man.
• The bookseller enrolled Xiao Zhang in fourth grade and told him to claim he was ten years old.
• Xiao Zhang saw the hulking Little Red in his classroom and decided he would not stand out.

Key plot points and events

• Xiao Zhang struggles through an advanced calculus lesson, surprised that fourth graders are studying limits.
• During the break, class study representative Little Chubby offers to help him catch up, judging him to be at a second-grade level. Xiao Zhang meets several other eccentric classmates, including Little Red and What’s-his-name.
• Little Chubby proposes a study group with Xiao Zhang and Little Red, but first brings out a supposedly new Heaven Origin Press magazine. Xiao Zhang identifies it as a bootleg and shows the class a genuine copy of Heaven Origin Miscellany.
• The students are amazed by the rare magazine and its included games. Xiao Zhang offers to obtain another copy, and Little Chubby lends him his math notes in return.
• After class begins again, Xiao Zhang receives a message from Xiaowen. Using his cipher, he interprets the casual question “How have you been lately?” as: “Are you ready to save Coal Safety Elementary School?”

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Zhang begins as an overwhelmed, self-conscious transfer student, but his knowledge of the genuine magazine earns him the class’s admiration and gives him an easy way to connect with his classmates.
• Little Chubby is earnest and helpful, offering Xiao Zhang free tutoring and then lending him notes. His excitement over the magazine reveals how much he admires its games and publications.
• Little Red is quiet and imposing, but agrees to join the proposed study group.
• The classmates shift from ignoring their lesson to crowding around Xiao Zhang once they see the rare magazine.
• Xiao Zhang’s excitement at hearing from Xiaowen, whom he regards as a cult leader, contrasts with the message’s outwardly ordinary wording.

Significant themes

• Absurdity and comedy: Elementary school combines calculus, hot pot, card games, and supernatural conventions.
• Belonging through shared interests: Xiao Zhang’s magazine turns an awkward first day into a chance to make friends.
• Hidden meanings and secrecy: People use nicknames to avoid curses, while Xiao Zhang decodes Xiaowen’s innocent-looking message as a call to action.
• A looming mystery: The chapter ends by suggesting that Coal Safety Elementary School is in danger and Xiao Zhang may be expected to help save it.

Key events

• Xiao Zhang receives a message from Xiaowen, leader of the Future Gospel Sect. Xiaowen says Coal Safety Elementary School is becoming increasingly dangerous and that the future shows Xiao Zhang as the person who can save it—and perhaps all of Coal City. Help is on the way.
• Inspired by the mission, Xiao Zhang’s frustration at being forced back into elementary school turns into pride and enthusiasm. He sees his studies as preparation for saving the city.
• After class, Little Chubby invites him to “have fun.” Little Red declines because she has to work, leaving the two boys to go together.
• Little Chubby takes Xiao Zhang to the hospital for a thorough physical. A doctor finds contamination, unusually advanced bone age, and a weakened Spiritual Root, though Xiao Zhang does not have Qi Sickness. Little Chubby agrees to cover the costly treatment.
• Xiao Zhang is put on an elaborate IV regimen. Though startled by the procedure and Little Chubby’s bizarre idea of recreation, he begins to enjoy studying while receiving treatment—and feels his old injuries and Spiritual Root improving.
• Elsewhere, ten printing presses arrive at Heaven Origin Press. Chen Yu watches the expense drain his savings and is delighted, eager to spend even more.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Zhang shifts from feeling trapped at school to believing he has a meaningful purpose. His gratitude and trust in the Future Gospel Sect make him eager to live up to Xiaowen’s faith in him.
• Xiaowen shows concern for Xiao Zhang while quietly directing him toward the danger at Coal Safety Elementary School, promising a trusted helper.
• Little Chubby acts as an exuberant, generous classmate: he treats a medical examination and IV treatment as entertainment, pays for Xiao Zhang’s care, and encourages him to study.
• Little Red keeps her distance from the outing because of work.
• Chen Yu displays an almost comic enthusiasm for spending money, treating the purchase as a welcome step toward going broke.

Significant themes

• Purpose transforms hardship: Xiao Zhang’s schoolwork feels worthwhile once he believes it serves a larger mission.
• Care and trust: The sect’s past kindness and Xiaowen’s confidence in Xiao Zhang motivate his loyalty; Little Chubby’s support also shows friendship through practical help.
• Comic contrasts: Serious danger and medical concerns sit alongside absurd humor, from Little Chubby’s unusual hobbies to Chen Yu’s delight in losing money.
• Modern treatment and cultivation: The hospital’s costly interventions appear capable of repairing damage to Xiao Zhang’s body and Spiritual Root.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yu reviews the debut issue of Heaven Origin Miscellany. It sold out in a day, earned a record-high approval rating, and reached an average of twenty-three readers per copy. Its attractive cover, substantial writing, and Dreamscape Game supplement drove its success.
• Pleased with the results, Chen plans to publish twice a month and add thirty pages for reader submissions. He refuses to raise the price, insisting that the publishing house has no need to make money.
• As Chen prepares to return to developing Classics Auto Chess, a young stranger arrives claiming to be Wang Shanzhang’s associate. He demands favors in exchange for arranging Chen’s pending temperature-control array: a job for his cousin, dinner, and a referral fee. Chen challenges his audacity, while Wang leaves the response to him. The chapter ends as Chen flicks a finger toward the visitor.

Character developments

• Chen Yu is delighted by the magazine’s success and eager to expand it, while remaining cheerfully committed to spending money on games and events rather than profiting.
• Wang Shanzhang stays loyal to Chen but avoids involving himself in the confrontation, signaling that Chen can deal with the stranger as he sees fit.
• The young visitor presents himself as influential and shamelessly tries to exploit Chen’s needs for personal gain.

Significant themes

• Creative work and public response: A carefully made, content-rich magazine succeeds through quality and word of mouth.
• Idealism versus profit: Chen prioritizes publishing and entertainment over financial gain, even as others eye opportunities for personal benefit.
• Corruption and entitlement: The visitor treats access to public services and employment as favors he can trade for bribes.

Character interactions

• Chen and Wang joke about the magazine’s expansion and its refusal to raise prices; Editor Fu contributes practical advice about staffing and submissions.
• Ye Wuxia introduces the stranger as Wang’s associate, but both Chen and Wang are surprised by the claim.
• The visitor pressures Chen by invoking Wang’s name. Chen questions him directly, and Wang silently makes clear he will not shield the impostor.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Yu slaps a young street hustler who tries to extort money by invoking Wang Shanzhang’s name. Editor-in-Chief Lei explains that the boy’s neck bears lasting contamination damage and that he lost his parents to the Unknown Sect.
• The boy threatens to report Wang through the “Shanzhang Hotline,” but Wang discovers that someone has turned his free complaint service into a paid scheme, charging people to complain.
• Wang realizes that corruption and contamination have infiltrated Righteous Qi Prefecture so thoroughly that even his own channels of information have failed.
• After Chen gives the boy ten bucks, Wang secretly follows him. The boy uses the money to buy noodles for his dead parents, whose remains have been transformed by contamination into piles of written characters.
• Chen offers the boy a job delivering magazines for five thousand a month. Wang explains the offer as repayment of a debt.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Shanzhang shifts from bewilderment and despair at the scale of corruption toward a small, practical act of help. He also shows compassion by following the boy and recognizing his family’s tragic condition.
• Chen Yu is blunt and forceful, but his offer gives the boy a genuine opportunity rather than simply handing him charity.
• The young hustler initially acts threatening and dishonest, yet his care for his parents reveals his vulnerability and loyalty. He accepts the job eagerly, though he remains wary of kindness.
• Editor-in-Chief Lei provides context for the boy’s hardship while acknowledging his flaws.

Significant themes

• Systemic corruption and isolation: Wang’s authority has been undermined by a contaminated bureaucracy that hides its failures from him.
• Contamination and suffering: The damage is both physical and psychological, distorting victims’ bodies, perception, and even identity.
• Compassion and dignity: The boy’s circumstances are dire, but the chapter offers help through paid work rather than pity alone.
• Debt and responsibility: Wang’s closing remark suggests that helping the boy is tied to an obligation, though its full meaning is left unexplained.

• Chen Yu organizes a new delivery team. Back at the office, he announces plans to hire outsourced workers to deliver Heaven Origin Miscellany and collect feedback. Editor-in-Chief Lei explains that local newsstands have been pressured into refusing to stock the publication. Since the authorities can no longer openly attack the group, they are using bureaucratic obstruction to try to make it fail.
• The team looks for workers. Chen Yu decides to recruit vulnerable workers, and Lei points him toward a welfare home where children are supposedly hidden behind “adoption” and support arrangements. Lei warns Chen Yu to stay calm, though Chen doesn’t understand why. Chen, Wang Shanzhang, and the flashy young man—called “Little Lunatic” by an acquaintance—set off to find the place.
• They discover the welfare home’s grim reality. Little Lunatic leads them through a sewer to a filthy site beside a massive sewage outlet. Children wash clothes in contaminated water and play near discarded syringes. A whip-wielding manager approaches, recognizes Little Lunatic, and reminds him of his past there. The man explains that child labor has been repackaged as adoption because laws now restrict renting out minors; children remain cheap, and some customers even want to watch them work.
• Chen Yu and Wang Shanzhang respond differently. The manager threatens Little Lunatic and boasts about exploiting children. Chen steps between them, identifies the trio as prospective employers, and keeps probing the man’s depravity. Wang Shanzhang repeatedly tries to draw his sword, but Chen restrains him, wanting to judge how bad the man is before deciding what to do.
  Character developments and interactions: Chen Yu shows compassion toward Little Lunatic and the children, but also a darkly comic, deliberate patience as he assesses the abusive manager. Wang Shanzhang is protective and quick to anger. Little Lunatic’s fear and reluctance reveal that he suffered under the manager before finding his current employer. The manager’s casual threats and euphemisms expose the cruelty beneath the supposed “adoption” system.
  Themes: The chapter satirizes bureaucratic retaliation and institutional corruption, while highlighting the exploitation of children and the way legal language can disguise abuse. It contrasts the characters’ attempts to help with a system that treats vulnerable people as disposable.

Plot and events

• Chen Yu and Wang Shanzhang visit Happy Baby Welfare Home, where its manager explains that children are effectively being sold as monthly “adoptions.” He skims most of their food money, and casually admits that children who object are beaten or killed.
• Chen Yu and Wang Shanzhang attack the manager, severing both his arms and torturing him until he passes out. Rather than kill him, Chen Yu leaves him alive, expecting his powerful backers to come after him.
• The children mistake Chen Yu and Wang Shanzhang for prospective owners. Chen Yu tells them he intends to adopt them all, and leads them out through a sewer.
• Wang Shanzhang despairs over the corruption of Righteous Qi Prefecture. Chen Yu argues that even a deeply rotten place can serve as a fallback for people fleeing somewhere worse; its inefficiency at least limits the damage it can do.
• Back at Heaven Origin Press, Editor-in-Chief Lei welcomes the group with supplies, and Wang Chuyun greets Chen Yu. The children are bathed and given a hearty meal.
• The children then learn they are to be paid generous wages for their work. Having grown accustomed to exploitation, they suspect Chen Yu plans to steal their spiritual roots and sell them, and beg to go home.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yu is enraged by the manager’s cruelty and acts decisively, but also sees the children as future workers—while believing their labor can serve a meaningful purpose. He remains confident that the manager’s backers will give him a reason to fight again.
• Wang Shanzhang joins Chen Yu in punishing the manager, showing a sadistic inventiveness of his own. Yet the children’s condition deepens his frustration and hopelessness about reforming his prefecture.
• The children are desperate to escape the welfare home, but their abuse has made even sincere generosity seem like another trap. Their mistrust turns the offer of good wages into a new source of fear.
• Chen Yu and Wang Shanzhang discuss the limits of reform, while Chen Yu later silently blames Wang Shanzhang’s past leadership for the children’s inability to trust kindness.

Significant themes

• Systemic exploitation: The welfare home treats children as commodities, and its manager’s casual brutality reflects how thoroughly abuse has become normalized.
• Trauma and mistrust: The children’s terror at receiving fair pay shows how exploitation can make kindness feel dangerous.
• Corruption and imperfect refuge: Chen Yu argues that even a dysfunctional society may offer shelter from worse places, though this offers little comfort to Wang Shanzhang.
• Protection entangled with exploitation: Chen Yu rescues the children but also intends to employ them, leaving the chapter’s promise of safety mixed with comic unease.

Key plot points and events

• After calming a group of children, Chen Yu finds that Little Lunatic has arranged for four boys to serve him with food, dressing, and other personal care. Chen Yu firmly rejects the treatment and tells Little Lunatic not to arrange it again.
• Little Lunatic explains that he encouraged the children by framing their jobs as an act of benevolence, but they fear losing their well-paid positions unless they provide extra services. Chen Yu’s refusal leaves them worried about proving their worth.
• Little Lunatic tries to redirect their efforts toward Editor-in-Chief Lei. Lei also rejects special treatment, arguing that employees should not receive better perks than their boss.
• Lei gives the group a practical task instead: sell Heaven Origin Miscellany directly to readers near newsstands that have stopped stocking it because of the ban.
• As the staff return to work, Lei plans the magazine’s next stage. The generous pay and bonuses have motivated him and others to work hard and strengthen Heaven Origin Press.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Yu shows his discomfort with hierarchy and excessive deference. He insists on being treated normally and makes clear that benevolence does not mean indulging unwanted service.
• Little Lunatic is earnest but misguided: he tries to help the children justify their wages, first through over-the-top service and then by finding them useful work. Chen Yu’s rebuke corrects his approach.
• Editor-in-Chief Lei combines humor and practical leadership. He refuses preferential treatment but gives the children a constructive way to contribute.
• The children and staff are anxious to earn their unusually generous salaries. Their worry turns into motivation once Lei offers them a concrete job.

Significant themes

• Work, pay, and responsibility: Generous compensation raises the staff’s sense of obligation and inspires them to produce results.
• Benevolence versus paternalism: Chen Yu supports helping others but rejects service that strips people of dignity or ignores his own wishes.
• Humor in workplace culture: The chapter uses exaggerated flattery and workplace banter to contrast with the staff’s sincere loyalty.
• Collective purpose: Though Lei does not know Chen Yu’s larger ambitions, he and the staff commit to building a strong foundation for the press.

Little Lunatic and his friends set out to sell Heaven Origin Miscellany, but he recruited more than a hundred struggling workers and spent nearly five hundred thousand in wages instead. Realizing they still had to sell the magazines, he decided to set up a stall at the Port and prove themselves to Young Master Chen.

• Little Lunatic found Little Bean running a newsstand, fed him, and recruited him to work for Heaven Origin Press with four thousand upfront.
• Little Lunatic hired Reed and other acquaintances, and the original group of thirty-three grew to more than a hundred people with full bellies and bulging pockets.
• Little Lunatic realized they had not sold any magazines and worried that the press would need to sell a hundred thousand copies to cover their costs.
• A girl who managed the Port said her lazy boss rarely checked on her, so Little Lunatic decided the group would secretly sell magazines there.