Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Mu's Evil Corpse can now comprehend illusions more efficiently.
• After a month, the Little Demons reach the top of the cliff, facing Imps and Beak Demons.
• Seventy percent of Little Demons, including the Evil Corpse, reach the Demon Plains, the Abyss's first layer.
• The Evil Corpse starts cultivating, boosted by the Abyssal aura and light from Purple Moons.
• The Demon Plains has harsh seasons: Blazing Fire, Rainy, and Cold Ice.

Character Developments

• The Evil Corpse's cultivation speed increases significantly due to the Abyssal environment.
• Other Little Demons face challenges and losses while reaching the Demon Plains.

Significant Themes

• The harsh and unforgiving environment of the Abyss.
• The struggle for survival among demons.
• The impact of the Abyssal aura and Purple Moons on demon cultivation.

Character Interactions

• Imps and Beak Demons attack and prey on Little Demons.
• Little Demons help each other to reach the Demon Plains, but many are lost along the way.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The story takes place in the Abyss, during the Blazing Fire Season, just before the Rainy Season.
• Evil Corpse, a Demon, arrives in the Abyss and decides to explore the Demon Plains.
• He encounters a summoning magic circle and enters it, finding himself in a Descent Channel where he inspects a contract.
• The contract is poorly written, leading Evil Corpse to refuse the summoning and provide feedback to the summoner, a young Mage Apprentice.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse: He shows intelligence, experience, and a willingness to guide the young Mage Apprentice despite his initial frustration with the poorly written contract.
• The Mage Apprentice (Xiao Die): She is shown to be talented but lacks experience, as evidenced by her poorly written contract. She is also emotionally sensitive, bursting into tears after receiving Evil Corpse's feedback.

Significant Themes

• The harsh living conditions in the Abyss, where Demons treat each other as food and survival is a constant struggle.
• The power dynamics between Demons and other intelligent species, with Demons being more powerful and knowledgeable but also more dangerous.
• The importance of proper contract writing and understanding in the world of magic.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse interacts with the Mage Apprentice indirectly through the contract, providing guidance and criticism.
• The Mage Apprentice interacts with her mentor, who provides comfort and encouragement after she receives Evil Corpse's feedback.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Mu, an Apprentice Mage at the Second-Order stage, encounters a strange, twisted plant bearing edible fruits.
• He attacks and destroys the plant, which defends itself with roots and branches. He takes a fruit and consumes it.
• Three Little Demons appear, observing Yang Mu. He attacks and kills two, capturing their souls and corpses.
• Yang Mu follows the fleeing Little Demon to find its controller, an Early First Order Spider Demon, guarding a Demon Iron Ore vein.
• Yang Mu uses a bone token to summon a Fire Dragon to attack the Spider Demon.

Character Developments

• Yang Mu demonstrates his strength and cunning, defeating the plant and the Little Demons with ease.
• He shows strategic thinking by pursuing the fleeing Little Demon to find its controller, indicating his growing intelligence and planning skills.

Significant Themes

• Survival of the fittest: Yang Mu's actions reflect the harsh, competitive environment of the Demon World.
• Adaptation and growth: Yang Mu's use of the bone token to summon a Fire Dragon shows his ability to adapt and use resources effectively.

Character Interactions

• Yang Mu vs. the plant: Yang Mu shows his strength and determination in destroying the plant to obtain its fruit.
• Yang Mu vs. the Little Demons: Yang Mu demonstrates his combat skills and cunning in defeating and capturing the Little Demons.
• Yang Mu vs. the Spider Demon: Yang Mu's pursuit of the fleeing Little Demon and his use of the bone token to summon a Fire Dragon indicate his strategic thinking and growing power.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse (EC) battles a Spider Demon and its Little Demons.
• EC uses a series of powerful spells, including the Fire Dragon Technique and the Giant Sword Technique, to defeat the Spider Demon.
• After the battle, EC forges a weapon using the Spider Demon's corpse and Demon Iron Ore, naming it Demon Pearl.

Character Developments

• EC demonstrates his powerful combat skills and strategic thinking, defeating a First Order creature with relative ease.
• EC shows resourcefulness and adaptability by using the Spider Demon's corpse and Demon Iron Ore to create a new weapon.

Significant Themes

• The power of mana and its importance in battle and artifact creation.
• The cycle of life and death in the Demon World, with Demons being killed and their remains used for forging.

Character Interactions

• EC interacts with the Spider Demon and its Little Demons, showcasing his combat prowess and tactical skills.
• EC interacts with the newly forged Demon Pearl, naming it and expressing satisfaction with its quality.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse, a mage-turned-demon, evolves into a Blade Demon after his egg is submerged in water.
• He emerges from the water, killing demonic fish and asserting his dominance.
• The Demon Plains undergo changes due to heavy rainfall, forming lakes and weakening demonic power.
• Evil Corpse struggles to adapt to the new environment but decides to live on higher ground.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse evolves into a Blade Demon, choosing this form for its human-like body and suitability to his fighting style.
• He demonstrates his understanding of demons and their evolution, rejecting natural selection in favor of his own will.

Significant Themes

• Adaptation and survival in harsh environments.
• The will and choice in one's evolution and growth.
• The constant struggle for power and resources among demons.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse interacts with demonic fish, demonstrating his dominance and strength.
• He observes other demons on higher ground, showing awareness of their territorial struggles.

Chapter Summary: "The Price of a Mage Fighting Hand-to-Hand"

Key Plot Points

• The chapter explains that Abyss animals and plants are formed from shattered soul fragments too small to become Demon eggs; they must devour others and evolve into Demons during the rainy season or die in the next Cold Ice Season.
• The Evil Corpse challenges an Imp (juvenile Flame Demon) that has claimed a stretch of high ground alone.
• The Imp is revealed to be unusually skilled, wearing refined arm guards and small weapons fixed across his body—suggesting he retained memories from a past life or was a deliberately split soul fragment from a powerful otherworldly being. He is a close-combat master.
• The two engage in brutal hand-to-hand combat. The Imp uses knee-mounted battering rams, blade-tipped shoes, and a fireball breath attack, gaining the upper hand throughout the fight.
• The Evil Corpse is blasted away by the Imp's fireball, suffering burns (his flesh oddly smells of metal), but heals himself using spirit liquid from his Bone Gourd.
• He adapts by cutting down a Demon plant and infusing it with a green star of energy, transforming it into a ten-meter-long Western-style Wood Dragon (noting he is more familiar with Western dragon anatomy than Eastern dragons, allowing him to replicate it effectively).

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse: Demonstrates self-awareness by acknowledging he "can't play hand-to-hand with close-combat masters." Shows adaptability and strategic thinking—rather than continuing a losing melee, he shifts to summoning/transformation magic, displaying his true mage nature.
• The Imp: Portrayed as a highly capable, specialized fighter whose equipment and techniques (blood grooves, weapon-integrated attacks) indicate combat intelligence and experience, not raw power alone.

Significant Themes

• The Abyss's brutal fairness: Every creature gets the same chance to grow by consuming others, but only first place matters—being second means death. Balance is a weakness, not a strength.
• Survival through evolution: The rainy season forces creatures to evolve completely or perish, driving aggression.
• Knowing one's role: The title's "price" reflects the protagonist's mistake in fighting a close-combat specialist on their terms—a mage's lesson in recognizing the value of fighting within one's own strengths.
• Adaptation vs. brute force: The Evil Corpse wins by changing tactics, not by overpowering the foe.

Character Interactions

• The Evil Corpse versus the Imp: A one-on-one duel where the protagonist is clearly outmatched in melee, beaten, and forced to retreat mid-fight to regroup and change approaches. The interaction highlights a clash of specialties—physical combat mastery versus magical versatility.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Wood Dragon, controlled by the Imp, attacks the Evil Corpse but is swiftly defeated.
• The Imp is then attacked by the Evil Corpse and a Fire Dragon, suffering severe injuries.
• The Imp surrenders and hands over its true name to the Evil Corpse, who then explains the workings of the Abyss's Nether River and the retention of memories by some souls.
• Yang Mu, the main character, worries about his kindness and the possibility of creating a Good Corpse.

Character Developments

• The Imp shows desperation and rationality, willing to surrender to learn about its situation.
• The Evil Corpse demonstrates a level of kindness, keeping his promise to explain things to the Imp after obtaining its true name.
• Yang Mu, the main character, exhibits self-reflection and concern about his kindness, considering doing good deeds or reporting the Evil Corpse.

Significant Themes

• The retention of memories by some souls in the Abyss.
• The nature of kindness and evil in the characters.
• The consequences of obtaining a true name in the Demon world.

Character Interactions

• The Imp and the Evil Corpse interact, with the Imp surrendering and the Evil Corpse explaining the situation.
• Yang Mu and Tomb Realm interact, with Tomb Realm mocking Yang Mu's self-deception and Yang Mu glaring at Tomb Realm for speaking the truth.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Evil Corpse, a demonic entity, decides to build a demon army and takes in a little brother, Aojue, to help establish it.
• They build a residence using demon bones and demonic plants, and later, the Evil Corpse begins refining zombies using the Corpse Refinement Method.
• The Evil Corpse and Aojue clear the surrounding area of demons, but they struggle to find demons with intact memories to serve as the backbone of their future army.
• They find a corpse-nurturing ground to refine zombies but encounter a giant octopus and have to set up an array to secure the area.

Character Developments

• The Evil Corpse: He shows ambition in building his own demon army and demonstrates strategic thinking by taking in Aojue. He also exhibits patience and determination in refining zombies.
• Aojue: Aojue's strength improves significantly under the Evil Corpse's guidance, and he becomes more active in hunting demons.

Significant Themes

• Ambition and Power: The Evil Corpse's desire to build a demon army and his determination to refine zombies highlight his ambition and thirst for power.
• Patience and Persistence: The Evil Corpse's willingness to invest time in finding the right demons and refining zombies showcases his patience and persistence.
• Chaos and Order: The contrast between the Evil Corpse's ordered approach to building an army and the chaotic nature of demons is a prominent theme.

Character Interactions

• The Evil Corpse and Aojue work together to build their residence, clear the surrounding area of demons, and refine zombies. Their relationship is one of mutual benefit, with Aojue gaining strength and the Evil Corpse gaining a helper in his endeavors.
• The Evil Corpse interacts with various demons, either refining them into Spirit Liquid or killing them for their souls. These interactions highlight his dominance and the fear he instills in other demons.

Chapter Summary: “Pitfalls Within the Summoning Array”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse studies Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi, a technique created by a powerful figure in the Tian Jue World. The technique condenses deathly aura, Killing Intent, and souls into Sword Qi, becoming stronger and higher-grade as it kills more powerful beings.
• The technique’s creator was eventually killed by his own disciples after repeatedly plotting against and experimenting on them, suffering backlash from his actions.
• Evil Corpse cannot use the technique in its original form because it consumes souls—resources that Demons desperately need for nourishment and growth. He intends to modify it so that his future Demon army can cultivate it without sacrificing their food supply.
• To gather souls and offerings more quickly than by hunting in the Abyss, Evil Corpse has been entering Demon Summoning Arrays and traveling to other worlds.
• The chapter explains how flawed summoning contracts can benefit Demons. If a summoner makes a vague wish without time limits or clear conditions, a Demon may incapacitate or hide the summoner, technically continue fulfilling the contract, and remain freely active in the world while slaughtering creatures and harvesting souls.
• Summoning Arrays are judged by two visual indicators:
  • Purple coloration signifies loose contract conditions and greater freedom for the summoned Demon.
  • A red halo reflects the richness of the offering.
    Arrays with both generous offerings and lax conditions are highly coveted and frequently contested by Demons.
• Evil Corpse avoids the most tempting, seemingly advantageous arrays because they are often traps designed to lure Demons into another world as disposable weapons or cannon fodder.
• He also avoids contracts with excessively harsh conditions, which may force the summoned Demon to serve another party directly.
• Instead, he searches for contracts balanced between the two extremes—difficult enough to be less obvious bait, but loose enough to contain exploitable loopholes.
• His goal is to use one successful summoning to gather enough resources to reach the peak of the Lower Demon rank, return to the Abyss, become a Middle Demon, build a Demon army, and launch a planar invasion.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse is shown as highly experienced, calculating, and willing to take enormous risks for rapid advancement. His understanding of contract studies allows him to identify dangerous summoning arrays, though he cannot alter contracts written by others.
• He has become more cautious than he was early in his career. Having once pursued attractive “purple” contracts, he now recognizes that they are commonly bait and refuses to enter them blindly.
• His ambitions have expanded beyond personal cultivation. He is preparing to create a Demon army and begin large-scale conquest.
• The unnamed creator of Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi serves as a cautionary example: excessive manipulation and experimentation can provoke betrayal and backlash, even from one’s own disciples.

Significant Themes

• Risk versus reward: Traveling through summoning arrays offers faster advancement and greater rewards than Abyssal hunting, but the chance of death is dramatically higher.
• Exploitation and loopholes: Demons survive by interpreting contracts literally and exploiting gaps in the summoner’s wording.
• The danger of greed: The most attractive contracts are often traps, while apparently unfavorable contracts may be safer and more exploitable.
• Power through sacrifice: Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi depends on death and souls, creating tension between cultivating the technique and preserving the resources Demons need to survive.
• Betrayal and backlash: The fate of the technique’s creator illustrates how schemes against others can ultimately destroy the schemer.
• Strategic patience: Evil Corpse’s success depends less on brute force than on judging contracts, calculating probabilities, and waiting for the right opportunity.

Character Interactions

• The central interaction is between Demons and summoners. Summoners often misunderstand or incompletely understand contracts, allowing Demons to manipulate the terms in their favor.
• Demons compete violently for the best summoning passages, especially those with valuable offerings and flexible conditions.
• Evil Corpse’s perspective also reflects his relationship with the main body, whose earlier methods of “fishing” for Demons involved using summoning contracts as bait. Evil Corpse has learned from those experiences and now applies the same caution to his own summoning attempts.
• The creator of Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi had a destructive relationship with his disciples, treating them as tools and test subjects until they turned against him.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse and Aojue remain in the Abyss, with Demons avoiding them due to their power.
• Aojue's strength increases with equipment from Evil Corpse, making him one of the strongest on the Demon Plains.
• They encounter no powerful Demons like the Time-Stop Demon, despite Evil Corpse's desire to obtain its true name.
• As they move, they create a vacuum zone, forcing Demons to flee or face them, leading to a steady supply of souls and Spirit Liquid.
• Evil Corpse condenses a strand of Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi, but the process is slow due to the removal of souls from the cultivation method.
• After a month, Evil Corpse finds a satisfactory summoning contract that requires the sacrifice of 20,000 people and the killing of a world ruler.

Character Developments

• Aojue's power grows significantly with Evil Corpse's equipment, making him a formidable force.
• Evil Corpse progresses in his cultivation of Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi, despite the slowed process.
• Evil Corpse demonstrates strategic thinking in his approach to obtaining more power and resources.

Significant Themes

• Power and its acquisition: Both characters seek to increase their strength, with Evil Corpse focusing on cultivating his sword qi, and Aojue benefiting from Evil Corpse's equipment.
• The consequences of power: The vacuum zone created by their presence forces Demons to flee or face them, highlighting the impact of their growing strength on the environment.
• The cost of power: Evil Corpse's cultivation method requires a vast number of souls, illustrating the high cost of his pursuit of power.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse and Aojue work together, with Evil Corpse supporting Aojue's growth and Aojue providing protection and assistance in combat.
• The interaction between the two characters is implicit, as they are not depicted engaging in conversation or direct cooperation, but their actions show a symbiotic relationship.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse, a demon, finds a summoning contract that reminds him of a world similar to the one Martial Ancestor civilized.
• The contract requires killing an emperor within five years, with no specified quantity, indicating a low-level world with weak martial strength.
• Evil Corpse decides to accept the contract, bringing Aojue with him.
• Upon arrival, they meet a human Aojue, who is a young man from the Heavenly Blade Sect.
• Evil Corpse suggests a fight between human Aojue and demon Aojue.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse: Shows strategic thinking, adaptability, and interest in the unique situation of two Aojues.
• Aojue (Human): Demonstrates confidence, fearlessness, and eagerness to fight.
• Aojue (Demon): Reveals a strong sense of failure and a desire for revenge, mirroring human Aojue's emotions.

Significant Themes

• Revenge: Both Aojues are driven by a desire for revenge, reflecting their shared past and emotions.
• Duality: The mirroring of human and demon Aojue explores the theme of duality and the existence of one's darker self.
• Power and Weakness: The contrast between the powerful Evil Corpse and the relatively weak human Aojue highlights the theme of power dynamics.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse and Aojue (Human): Evil Corpse shows interest and amusement in the human Aojue, treating him with respect and curiosity.
• Aojue (Human) and Aojue (Demon): Their mirror-like fight reveals their deep connection and shared past, with demon Aojue holding back to match human Aojue's strength.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Aojue and the Demon fight, ending in a stalemate until human Aojue weakens.
• Human Aojue recounts his experiences with the target, revealing the target's five Grandmaster-level guards.
• Evil Corpse proposes a brutal revenge plan, and human Aojue agrees.
• Evil Corpse and demon Aojue shrink and transform into ornate, demonic armor.
• Evil Corpse begins preparing a Demon Potion to create an army.

Character Developments

• Human Aojue: Becomes more vengeful and ruthless, agreeing to Evil Corpse's brutal plan.
• Demon Aojue: Remains silent and follows human Aojue's lead.
• Evil Corpse: Demonstrates knowledge of building armies and creates a Demon Potion to produce soldiers.

Significant Themes

• Revenge and its consequences.
• The power of allies and the importance of an army.
• The corrupting influence of evil and the price of vengeance.

Character Interactions

• Human Aojue and Demon Aojue: They share identical pasts, fostering a bond and understanding between them.
• Human Aojue and Evil Corpse: They form a partnership, with Evil Corpse providing strategic and magical support for human Aojue's revenge plot.
• Evil Corpse and the Demon Potion: Evil Corpse creates an army using his magical knowledge, demonstrating his power and utility to human Aojue.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Evil Corpse brews a mysterious potion in a large vat.
• Aojue's subordinates refuse to drink it due to its suspicious appearance.
• A burly man, Wang Lei, volunteers to drink it first.
• After drinking, Wang Lei experiences intense pain but eventually recovers.
• He demonstrates his new strength by shattering a stone tablet with a single punch, indicating he's now a First-rate martial artist (previously Second-rate).

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse: Shows impatience and a desire for efficiency, but also demonstrates knowledge of potion-making and martial arts realms.
• Wang Lei: Proves his bravery by volunteering first and gains a significant power boost after drinking the potion.

Significant Themes

• Trust and Fear: Aojue and his subordinates fear the unknown potion and the Evil Corpse, highlighting the theme of trust and its importance in their actions.
• Power and Ambition: The desire for power and advancement is evident in the characters' reactions to Wang Lei's transformation.

Character Interactions

• Aojue and his Subordinates: They show loyalty to Aojue but hesitate to trust the Evil Corpse and its potion.
• Evil Corpse and Wang Lei: The Evil Corpse shows no concern for Wang Lei's well-being, only interested in his transformation for demonstration purposes.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Evil Corpse provides the Heavenly Blade Sect members with a potion to remove their abnormalities, then presents two powerful martial arts: the Eight Extremes Demon Technique and the Sunflower Sword Canon, demanding they reach Grandmaster level within a month.
• The Evil Corpse and Aojue leave to harvest souls, starting with Tianshan, home to the Thirty-Six Monsters of Heaven Mountain and the Seventy-Two Bandits.

Character Developments

• The Heavenly Blade Sect members display desperation and determination to cultivate the given martial arts despite their severe consequences.
• Aojue decides not to cultivate the Sunflower Sword Canon, seeing it as a means to an end rather than a personal path.
• The Evil Corpse, as Yang Mu's manifestation, shares the belief that only benefits already obtained are real.

Significant Themes

• Sacrifice vs. Gain: Characters weigh the costs of cultivating powerful martial arts against the benefits they offer.
• Desperation and Determination: The Heavenly Blade Sect members show resolve to improve their skills at any cost.
• Harvesting Souls: The Evil Corpse's primary goal in this world, reflecting the theme of power and acquisition.

Character Interactions

• The Evil Corpse interacts with the Heavenly Blade Sect members, providing them with martial arts and setting a challenging deadline.
• Aojue and the Evil Corpse work together, with Aojue following the Evil Corpse's lead in harvesting souls.
• The Heavenly Blade Sect members interact among themselves, discussing and debating the merits and costs of the new martial arts.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse and Aojue, in their demon forms, leave Heavenly Blade Sect to massacre the Thirty-Six Monsters of Heaven Mountain and the Seventy-Two Bandits in Tianshan.
• They kill nearly a thousand people in the first stronghold, with Evil Corpse's Life-Extinguishing Sword Qi absorbing deathly and resentful qi.
• Over the course of half a day, they slaughter all of Tianshan, obtaining more than fifty thousand souls.
• The Yellow-Robed Old Monster, the last of the Thirty-Six Monsters, is killed, and his soul is consumed by Aojue.
• Evil Corpse and Aojue depart Tianshan, heading towards Shaolin Temple in Great Qian territory.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse and Aojue exhibit their formidable martial arts and demonic abilities, demonstrating their ruthlessness and insatiable hunger for souls.
• The Yellow-Robed Old Monster, the last of the Thirty-Six Monsters, shows prowess in martial arts but is ultimately no match for the demons.

Significant Themes

• The corrupting influence of power and the lawlessness of those who wield it, exemplified by the Thirty-Six Monsters and Seventy-Two Bandits.
• The insatiable greed and madness that can arise from unchecked hunger, as seen in Evil Corpse and Aojue's consumption of souls.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse and Aojue work together to slaughter the inhabitants of Tianshan, their bond strengthened by their shared demonic nature and hunger for souls.
• The Yellow-Robed Old Monster interacts briefly with Evil Corpse before his death, showing his martial prowess but ultimately succumbing to the demons' power.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Northern Shaolin Temple is attacked by Evil Corpse and Aojue, who seek to capture the temple's souls.
• The temple's monks, despite being formidable (Peak First Order), are no match for the invaders.
• The battle lasts over two minutes, with the monks using various techniques, but they are ultimately defeated.
• Evil Corpse and Aojue demonstrate their strength, using long blades and other abilities to overcome the monks.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse and Aojue show their prowess and teamwork in battle.
• The Northern Shaolin monks display their skills and resilience but ultimately fall to the invaders.

Significant Themes

• The power of faith and its representation through the souls of the monks.
• The disparity in strength between the monks and the invaders, highlighting the theme of power dynamics.
• The theme of teamwork and strategy, as seen in Evil Corpse and Aojue's coordinated attacks.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse and Aojue work together seamlessly, with Aojue focusing on close combat and Evil Corpse using long blades and spells.
• The monks fight valiantly but are ultimately overwhelmed by the invaders' power and tactics.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Evil Corpse and Aojue, two demons, encounter and kill five old monks from Northern Shaolin, whose souls are of high quality.
• They devour these souls, experiencing significant physical and spiritual growth.
• News of Northern Shaolin's destruction spreads, shocking the martial world. They suspect a Hidden Sect is responsible.

Character Developments

• Evil Corpse & Aojue: They demonstrate their formidable combat skills and gain substantial strength from consuming the high-quality souls, advancing to Peak First Order.
• Yang Mu (Narrator): He feels the allure of the high-quality souls from a demon's perspective, understanding their rarity and value.

Significant Themes

• Temptation: High-quality souls are a temptation for demons, driving them to take risks and make sacrifices to obtain them.
• Rarity and Value: High-quality souls are scarce and possess immense value, even to powerful demons.
• Cultivation Realms: The chapter hints at higher cultivation realms beyond Grandmaster, such as the Heavenly Human Realm and Martial Emperor Realm.

Character Interactions

• Evil Corpse & Aojue: They work together, sharing their experiences and understanding of the souls' allure.
• Yang Mu & Demons: Yang Mu, though not present, feels the demons' sensations and understands their perspective on high-quality souls.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Evil Corpse and Aojue encounter Bai Suzhen, a Second-Order Life, challenging their initial understanding of the world's lifeforms.
• Bai Suzhen reveals that the world's rank needs reconsideration if Second-Order Lives can appear.
• The Evil Corpse and Bai Suzhen engage in a conversation, with the Evil Corpse trying to gather information about the world's secrets.

Character Developments

• The Evil Corpse shows adaptability and curiosity, attempting to learn more about the world and its inhabitants.
• Bai Suzhen demonstrates her knowledge of the world's hidden secrets and her longevity, having lived over three hundred years.

Significant Themes

• The existence of other worlds and lifeforms beyond the current understanding.
• The limitations and possibilities of martial arts and their impact on lifespan and power.
• The potential for the world to have once been a higher rank and suffered a calamity.

Character Interactions

• The Evil Corpse and Bai Suzhen engage in a polite, yet guarded, conversation, with the Evil Corpse trying to extract information and Bai Suzhen being curious about the duo's origins and nature.
• Aojue assists the Evil Corpse in preparing tea and boiling water, showing deference to his companion's lead in the interaction.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Suzhen learns about the existence of other mythical creatures like Phoenixes and Divine Dragons.
• The Evil Corpse reveals a cultivation technique that can reach the Martial Emperor Realm, convincing Bai Suzhen of his knowledge about the Myriad Heavens.
• The Evil Corpse asks Bai Suzhen to stay neutral during an upcoming rebellion and to kill and collect the souls of other sects' experts.

Character Developments

• Bai Suzhen shows curiosity and yearning for the unknown, hinting at her desire for higher realms and mysteries.
• The Evil Corpse demonstrates his cunning and manipulative nature, using the cultivation technique to gain Bai Suzhen's trust and cooperation.

Significant Themes

• The pursuit of higher realms and the unknown, which drives experts to explore the Void and other worlds.
• The concept of equality and the impossibility of achieving it in any world, as discussed by the Evil Corpse.

Character Interactions

• Bai Suzhen and the Evil Corpse engage in a conversation where he reveals his knowledge and she expresses her doubts, eventually leading to a deal between them.
• The Evil Corpse understands and manipulates Bai Suzhen's ideals and pursuits, using them to secure her cooperation.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bai Suzhen agrees to explore political systems in exchange for the final part of a technique from the Evil Corpse.
• They sign a contract enforced by the Heavenly Dao, with penalties for violation including death and soul possession.
• The contract's hidden clauses reveal that the Evil Corpse will gain souls of those who die due to Shi Guanyin's exploration and a Heartless Soul upon her death.
• Bai Suzhen leaves before dawn to digest her gains, while the Evil Corpse and Aojue continue their journey, avoiding large-scale slaughter to prevent attracting powerful life forms.

Character Developments

• Bai Suzhen demonstrates ambition and determination by agreeing to explore political systems despite potential risks.
• The Evil Corpse shows cunning and long-term planning, manipulating Bai Suzhen to obtain souls and Heartless Souls for future use.

Significant Themes

• Manipulation and Deception: The Evil Corpse manipulates Bai Suzhen for his own gain, highlighting the theme of deception and exploitation.
• Consequences of Actions: The contract's penalties and the potential outcomes of Bai Suzhen's exploration emphasize the consequences of one's actions.

Character Interactions

• Bai Suzhen and the Evil Corpse: Their interaction shows a power dynamic, with the Evil Corpse manipulating and exploiting Bai Suzhen for his benefit.
• The Evil Corpse and Aojue: They continue their journey together, with the Evil Corpse leading them to their destination while avoiding unnecessary risks.