Chapter Summaries

Key Plot Points & Events

• The Divine Realm announces a server-merger mission, the first of its kind, with high rewards but also high risks.
• Players from different servers will unite to defend A-9 City in an Abyssal Beast Grotto.
• Luo Kai, imprisoned, learns of the mission and decides to participate, hoping to encounter Yang Ling.
• The Myriad Affairs Bureau's players discuss and decide to join the mission, aware of its dangers but drawn by the potential rewards.
• Yang Ling learns of the mission and plans to use it to catch Luo Kai and deal with Cultists from the Immortal Gods Sect and other regions.

Character Developments

• Luo Kai shows determination to face Yang Ling again.
• Players from the Myriad Affairs Bureau consider the risks and benefits of the mission, revealing their ambition and caution.
• Yang Ling shows strategic thinking and a desire for revenge against Luo Kai.

Significant Themes

• Ambition vs. Caution: Players weigh the risks and rewards of the mission, revealing their ambition and willingness to take risks for potential gains.
• Revenge: Yang Ling's desire for revenge against Luo Kai drives his plans for the mission.
• Unity vs. Division: The server-merger mission brings together players from different servers, but also raises concerns about Cultists from different regions working together.

Character Interactions

• Luo Kai and the Immortal Gods Sect member in prison, showing the Sect's control and Luo Kai's determination.
• Players from the Myriad Affairs Bureau discuss and decide on the mission, revealing their dynamics and unity.
• Yang Ling and Zhu Xiu, showing Yang Ling's strategic thinking and Zhu Xiu's concern for the players.

Plot points and events

• Chen Jiu announces that the Red Flame Emperor is once again attacking A-9 City. Three Earthly Immortals from the Great Dream Dynasty rush to confront him, explaining how the city has survived his previous nine campaigns.
• Martial artists are ordered to defend assigned posts. Yang Ling expects an easy assignment and volunteers through his Attribute Panel.
• Eunuch Chen assigns him to Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine, where two Fifth-Grade fighters are already stationed. The White Bone God Lord privately tells Yang Ling to keep a low profile and report any useful information.
• Yang Ling discovers that players from other regions have already arrived at the mine, apparently drawn into the same merged-server mission. He tells Lin Caiyi and Qin Mo to scout the area, identify Immortal Gods Sect cultists, and avoid confronting them.
• Qin Mo reports that their group is already surrounded by the cultists. Yang Ling urgently asks for a map so he can reach them ahead of his assigned group.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling’s confidence in his strength leads him to assume the defense will be manageable, but the sudden report from Qin Mo forces him to act quickly and cautiously.
• Zhu Xiu explains the threat posed by the Red Flame Emperor and the Great Dream Dynasty’s intervention; Yang Ling reflects on how dramatically strength can vary within a martial grade.
• Eunuch Chen assigns Yang Ling’s post, while the White Bone God Lord gives him discreet instructions. Yang Ling then coordinates with Lin Caiyi and Qin Mo through private messages.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: Earthly Immortals and even fighters of the same grade can differ greatly in strength.
• Duty and coercion: Martial artists must obey the dynasty’s assignments under the authority of its strongest forces.
• Caution amid uncertainty: Yang Ling warns his allies not to provoke the cultists, especially given the possibility of explosives.
• Unexpected danger: What seems like a routine defensive mission becomes urgent when the cultists surround Yang Ling’s group.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Thousands of players from various regions gather at the Red Copper Mine in the Abyssal Beast Grotto, Eagle Valley.
• A confrontation occurs between players from the Zhao Kingdom's Iron Garments Sect and the Immortal Gods Sect from the Great Dream Dynasty.
• The Immortal Gods Sect members, led by Zhai Zhen, threaten to use explosives and express their belief in the Immortal Gods Sect's teachings.
• You Sijin, the top-ranked player from the Great Dream Dynasty, arrives and introduces himself, revealing that the Intermediate Divine Guard Bureau Dungeon is in his region.

Character Developments

• Qin Mo and the others from the Iron Garments Sect show defiance and readiness to fight against the Immortal Gods Sect.
• Chen Guoqing, a police officer in real life, tries to reason with Zhai Zhen, appealing to their shared reality.
• You Sijin's appearance indicates his immense strength and potential threat to the Iron Garments Sect players.

Significant Themes

• The conflict between the Iron Garments Sect and the Immortal Gods Sect, reflecting their differing beliefs and methods.
• The influence of real-life professions and values on players' actions within the game (e.g., Chen Guoqing's role as a police officer).
• The potential danger and consequences of extremist beliefs within the Divine Realm.

Character Interactions

• Qin Mo and the others from the Iron Garments Sect exchange hostile words with Zhai Zhen and the Immortal Gods Sect members.
• Chen Guoqing attempts to reason with Zhai Zhen, appealing to their shared humanity and the laws of reality.
• You Sijin's arrival introduces a new power dynamic, as he is acknowledged as a formidable opponent by both sides.

Key plot points and events

• Players from multiple districts gather at the Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine, where Great Dream Dynasty’s top-ranked player, You Sijin, makes an imposing entrance. Nether Kingdom players cannot inspect his Attribute Panel, confirming he is exceptionally strong.
• You Sijin assesses the Zhao Kingdom’s leading players and insults their cultivation, calling them weak. Other districts react with a mix of envy, relief, and curiosity—especially about Yang Ling, whose achievements suggest he may be a major threat.
• Qin Mo warns that Yang Ling is at the mine and could attack the Immortal Gods Sect. You Sijin counters that the mine is a no-fighting zone guarded by two Fifth Grade experts, so even Yang Ling must obey its rules.
• You Sijin clarifies that he is not a member of the Immortal Gods Sect, but supports its leader, Zhai Zhen, as his brother. He proposes settling the dispute with the Zhao players so everyone can focus on the high-reward mission to defend A-9 City.
• When Qin Mo challenges You Sijin’s dismissal of the sect’s killings, You Sijin minimizes the harm and claims the sect was provoked. The Zhao players are furious, while observers grow wary.
• A powerful figure suddenly arrives at the mine, stopping so abruptly that the force of his arrival creates a gust. Liu Yu recognizes him, though the chapter ends before identifying him aloud.

Character developments and interactions

• You Sijin is confident, condescending, and politically ambitious: he uses his strength to belittle the Zhao players and appears to claim leadership of the mission, while presenting his intervention as a way to restore cooperation.
• Qin Mo openly defends the Zhao players and confronts You Sijin over both his insults and his defense of the Immortal Gods Sect.
• Lin Caiyi and the other Zhao leaders endure public disparagement but remain united in their anger and suspicion.
• Zhai Zhen relies on You Sijin’s support and presses him to deal with Yang Ling’s absence.
• Liu Yu recognizes the newcomer, hinting that the arrival may change the balance of power.

Significant themes

• Power and status: Rankings and cultivation shape how districts judge one another, but Yang Ling’s reputation complicates You Sijin’s claims of superiority.
• Factional conflict and accountability: You Sijin calls for reconciliation while minimizing the Immortal Gods Sect’s violence, exposing the tension between unity and justice.
• Leadership and cooperation: The mission offers major rewards, but cooperation is difficult when trust is undermined by rivalry and past harm.
• Reputation versus reality: Outsiders speculate about Yang Ling’s strength, while You Sijin’s confidence is based on incomplete knowledge of what others have experienced.

Plot points and events

• Yang Ling arrives at Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine at astonishing speed, having pushed his movement art, Near at Hand, Far as the Horizon, to its limit. He recognizes that the technique could let him outrun even powerful Grandmasters, though using it costs enormous vital blood.
• He examines the people at the mine and studies You Sijin’s attributes. You is a Lower Fifth-Grade officer of the Divine Guard Bureau, equipped with several rare, highly advanced martial arts. Yang Ling wonders how the bureau provides such exceptional opportunities.
• You Sijin is briefly overwhelmed by Yang Ling’s presence and unusually high mental power, then introduces himself as a reinforcement for the mine.
• Players mistake Yang Ling for an NPC until Liu Yu recognizes him. Yang Ling remembers Liu Yu and greets him warmly, revealing to the crowd that they know each other.
• Two local Fifth-Grade experts arrive and ask who has come to help defend the mine. Yang Ling identifies himself as head of the Myriad Affairs Bureau’s Eighth Office and presents his credentials. He explains that he outran the other reinforcements, including officials from the Cicada-Holding Directorate.
• After the local experts depart, Yang Ling notices Zhai Zhen hiding behind You Sijin. He angrily calls out Zhai and the Immortal Gods Sect, ending with a threat to drive them out of the game.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling demonstrates his formidable speed and confidence, while also showing curiosity about the Divine Guard Bureau’s training advantages. His friendly greeting to Liu Yu contrasts sharply with his hostility toward Zhai Zhen.
• You Sijin is impressed and unsettled by Yang Ling, especially his speed and mental power. Though he takes comfort in believing Yang Ling’s internal arts may be weaker than his own, he remains wary.
• Liu Yu is delighted that Yang Ling remembers him, and confirms Yang Ling’s identity to the other players.
• Liu Dali silently recognizes Yang Ling, but the two pretend not to know each other.
• The players shift from treating Yang Ling as a possible quest-giving NPC to recognizing him as a famous, exceptionally powerful player.
• Zhai Zhen keeps his distance, hiding behind You Sijin as Yang Ling confronts him.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: Yang Ling’s extraordinary arrival immediately changes how everyone regards him.
• Unequal access to advancement: His thoughts about You Sijin’s rare skills raise questions about how institutions provide opportunities unavailable to ordinary cultivators.
• Identity and perception: Players initially mistake Yang Ling for an NPC, showing how closely elite players can resemble the world’s powerful native figures.
• Rivalry and accountability: The chapter’s final confrontation signals that Yang Ling intends to deal with the Immortal Gods Sect.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Ling, Zhao Kingdom's top-ranked player, appears and confronts the Immortal Gods Sect members.
• You Sijin, Great Dream Dynasty's top-ranked player and Yang Ling's acquaintance, tries to mediate but fails.
• Yang Ling executes the Immortal Gods Sect members, demonstrating his overwhelming power.
• Yang Ling announces a screening for Immortal Gods Sect members and orders a search of Eagle Valley's Red Copper Mine.

Character Developments

• Yang Ling proves himself to be a formidable force, showing no mercy to his enemies.
• You Sijin is overwhelmed by grief and fury after witnessing his childhood friend's death.
• Qin Mo shows loyalty and initiative by volunteering to lead the search.

Significant Themes

• Power dynamics and the consequences of defying authority (Yang Ling's actions).
• The importance of loyalty and friendship (You Sijin's reaction to Zhai Zhen's death).
• The ruthlessness required to maintain order (Yang Ling's execution of the Immortal Gods Sect members).

Character Interactions

• Yang Ling and You Sijin's interaction highlights the power imbalance between them.
• Yang Ling and Qin Mo's interaction shows trust and understanding between them.
• The players from different regions react with fear, awe, and shock to Yang Ling's actions.

Plot and events

• The Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine is jointly operated by a second-tier sect and the Great Dream Dynasty. Its guardians, Wang Duo and Ding Xing, worry that unrest could threaten the mine, a major source of their sect’s income.
• Yang Ling assembles nearly five thousand players assigned to defend the mine. He reflects that only a small fraction of Divine Realm’s vast player population has reached the level needed to join the campaign, and expects the quest to leave a tougher, more experienced survivor group.
• Qin Mo reports that players belonging to the Immortal Gods Sect have been captured. They claim they joined only to change classes, since ordinary routes were closed to them.
• Yang Ling exposes Qiu Donghang’s murders: he killed three players to steal their supplies. Another cultist attacks him after learning the truth, but You Sijin kills Qiu with a throwing knife.
• Yang Ling questions the captured cultists. By the end of the interrogation, every Immortal Gods Sect member from the Zhao Kingdom and Rong Tribe has quit the game. The sect leader, Li Fengxian, remains unaccounted for.
• Yang Ling tells the group to prioritize the dungeon’s main quest and postpones pursuing cultists at other positions. He then calls for regional representatives to meet.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling acts as investigator and authority, using access to players’ records to distinguish excuses from genuine crimes. He keeps the defense mission his priority while promising to pursue the wider cult.
• Chen Guoqing, who had seemed gentle and upright, reveals a ruthless side by personally executing at least ten cult members. He warns players across regions that those who abandon their moral limits will be treated as enemies.
• Qin Mo supports Yang Ling by reporting the captured cultists and the limits of their intelligence. The Iron Garments’ respect for Chen grows after witnessing his actions.
• Wang Duo and Ding Xing discuss the risk to their sect’s livelihood, but expect the mine to hold.
• You Sijin’s unexplained precision with a throwing knife raises suspicion, though no one connects it to his hidden technique.

Significant themes

• Morality under pressure: The characters question whether Divine Realm brings out people’s worst instincts and insist that survival does not excuse cruelty.
• Accountability and justice: The cultists’ claims of necessity are weighed against the harm they caused; the chapter distinguishes disadvantage from deliberate murder.
• Collective responsibility and unity: Players from different regions are urged to see one another as fellow countrymen facing an uncertain fate.
• Survival and sacrifice: The campaign is expected to eliminate many players, while leaving survivors stronger and more capable.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Ling gathers top players from multiple Divine Realm districts at the Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine, ostensibly to discuss the mission.
• He reveals the broader threat: the Immortal Gods Sect is spreading in the real world. Its members include both true believers and people exploiting the sect’s name, so he urges players across districts to help suppress its growth.
• You Sijin challenges Yang Ling’s authority and questions why other districts should cooperate. Yang Ling warns that he will pursue anyone who allies with the sect.
• Yang Ling reveals he is Top Upper Fifth Grade and expects to reach Fourth Grade soon. Liu Yu confirms that he saw Yang Ling kill a Fifth-Grade Lesser Grandmaster, shocking the assembled players.
• Yang Ling proposes the Grandmaster Plan: a cross-district network for cooperation, trade, and sharing valuable information, with each piece of information assigned a price. Qin Mo immediately begins recording who is willing to join.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling shifts from welcoming host to forceful leader. He uses both threats and practical incentives to persuade the other districts to cooperate.
• You Sijin starts openly defiant, but Yang Ling’s strength and Liu Dali’s appeal make him back down and listen. He remains resentful and unconvinced.
• Liu Dali acts as a mediator, urging You Sijin to hear Yang Ling out.
• Liu Yu lends credibility to Yang Ling’s claims by sharing what he witnessed firsthand.
• The other representatives move from confusion and reluctance to alarm and interest as they learn Yang Ling’s true rank and hear his proposal.

Significant themes

• Cooperation over rivalry: Cross-district missions may become more frequent and dangerous, making mutual support a matter of survival.
• Power and leadership: Yang Ling’s influence rests not only on his rank but on his willingness to enforce cooperation.
• Trust and its price: The plan offers shared information and trade, but participation is being monitored, and valuable knowledge is not necessarily free.

• The Grandmaster Plan takes shape: Qin Mo reports that players from several regions have joined. Yang Ling rewards the new members with a valuable tip: copies of the same Internal Art or Martial Technique can grant substantial experience or proficiency. The players recognize the information’s value and agree to help watch for the Immortal Gods Sect, which is most active in Zhao Kingdom and Rong Tribe territory.
• You Sijin is pushed out: You Sijin refuses to commit, saying he will decide after returning. Yang Ling removes him from the plan and appoints Liu Dali to represent the Great Dream Dynasty instead. Though Liu Dali fears You Sijin’s influence back home, Yang Ling privately assures him that You Sijin will not return. Liu Dali then openly supports the plan, provoking You Sijin, who leaves in anger. Yang Ling privately shares an accusation that You Sijin once murdered and mutilated a player who rejected him.
• Liu Dali and Yang Ling confer: After the other players leave, Liu Dali greets Yang Ling as his director and asks about the previous dungeon. Yang Ling says he survived by stalling until it ended, but claims he could kill the Fourth-Grade Grandmasters if he entered again. He also asks how Zhang Daochu and You Sijin learned multiple First-Rate Internal Skills. Liu Dali suggests the Divine Guard Bureau’s male director may have coerced them. Yang Ling grasps the implication, and the conversation ends awkwardly. He tells Liu Dali that You Sijin will not be going back and advises him to consolidate his strength after the dungeon.
• The danger spreads beyond the mine: At Eagle Valley’s Red Copper Mine, players continue mining, a relatively safe way to gain experience. Elsewhere, beast tides force players to fight alongside local defenders, causing heavy casualties, though some players level rapidly. Yang Ling, meanwhile, reaches Perfect Mastery in the Grand Flying Sword Technique, consumes a rare lingzhi, and advances it to Advanced Mastery, extending its range to twenty li.
• A new threat approaches: Beacon smoke rises from a nearby sentry post. Wang Duo, Ding Xing, and Eunuch Chen mobilize Eagle Valley’s fighters to face the first beast tide of the Red Flame Emperor’s campaign.
  Character developments and themes: Yang Ling strengthens his authority by rewarding cooperation and decisively excluding dissenters, while Liu Dali risks a political conflict with You Sijin to secure his place as Yang Ling’s representative. The chapter contrasts the benefits of coordinated action and valuable information with the growing cost of survival in the dungeons. It also closes on the escalating threat of war and the players’ increasingly dangerous entanglement with local conflicts.

Key Plot Points and Events

• A massive beast tide approaches Eagle Valley, consisting of over a hundred Iron-Armored Rhinos and tens of thousands of other exotic beasts.
• Wang Duo, Ding Xing, Yang Ling, and You Sijin lead the charge against the Iron-Armored Rhinos, with Yang Ling and You Sijin using their Throwing Knife Technique to cover their advance.
• The beast tide is eventually repelled, but an ambush by Abyssal Martial Artists results in significant casualties among the natives and players.

Character Developments

• Yang Ling demonstrates his powerful Throwing Knife Technique, earning respect from Wang Duo and Ding Xing.
• You Sijin, initially reluctant to reveal his abilities, joins the fight to improve his evaluation and earn rewards.
• Wang Duo and Ding Xing show courage and leadership in facing the beast tide.

Significant Themes

• The disparity in strength and courage between the Divine Realm natives and the players is highlighted.
• The importance of evaluation and rewards in the Divine Realm is emphasized through You Sijin's actions.

Character Interactions

• Wang Duo and Ding Xing work together to lead the charge against the Iron-Armored Rhinos.
• Yang Ling and You Sijin initially have a tense interaction but eventually fight side by side.
• Eunuch Chen, though initially reluctant to fight, joins the battle when the Abyssal Martial Artists ambush them.

Key plot points

• After the beast tide ends, an unseen attacker kills Wang Duo with a single silent arrow. A second arrow kills another martial artist who tries to flee, making clear that the danger is not over.
• Yang Ling senses seven enemies on a distant cliff. Eunuch Chen identifies them as the Mingwang Group, an elite team of Abyssal Martial Artists who have betrayed the Great Dream Dynasty and allied themselves with the beasts.
• The group’s leader, Shi Tianhu, was once the top-ranked Upper Fifth-Grade martial artist and has since become a Lower Fourth-Grade Grandmaster. His six companions are Upper Fifth Grade, including two Reserve Grandmasters.
• One of Shi Tianhu’s men easily defeats Ding Xing, deepening the defenders’ fear that the mine may be doomed.
• Shi Tianhu offers the gathered martial artists a chance to join the Abyssal Beast Grotto and help attack A-9 City, promising them a share of the spoils. A quest prompt presents the option to defect and become an Abyssal Martial Artist.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling assesses the attackers’ strength and recognizes Shi Tianhu’s formidable skills. He also suspects Shi Tianhu may be related to Shi Tianlong. Eunuch Chen’s reaction leads Yang Ling to wonder whether the Chen Jianghai Shi Tianhu mentions was Eunuch Chen’s father.
• Eunuch Chen reveals a deep, personal hatred of Shi Tianhu, accusing him of betraying the dynasty and murdering Chen Jianghai twenty years earlier. Shi Tianhu confirms that Eunuch Chen is Chen Jianghai’s son and taunts him about his choice to become a eunuch.
• Ding Xing mourns Wang Duo, then challenges Shi Tianhu but is quickly overpowered by one of the leader’s subordinates.
• The players are shaken by seeing ordinary players die. Zhang Shendao and Li Shou try to comfort themselves—and others—with the possibility that the dead might respawn elsewhere.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and divided loyalties: The Abyssal Martial Artists were once defenders of the same realm they now serve against the dynasty.
• Death and uncertainty: The players’ assumptions about death and respawning are unsettled by the apparent permanence of the deaths before them.
• Temptation and allegiance: Shi Tianhu’s offer turns the crisis into a choice between survival, reward, and loyalty.
• Personal vengeance: Eunuch Chen’s confrontation with Shi Tianhu makes the larger conflict intensely personal.

Plot points and events

• The Abyssal Beast Grotto offers the captured martial artists a chance to defect, revealing that the Five-Poison Emperor is joining the campaign against A-9 City. Shi Tianhu claims dissatisfied Earthly Immortals may be enabling the rebellion, raising the possibility that the Great Dream Dynasty has been betrayed from within.
• Given fifteen minutes to choose, Yang Ling declares that he will stand with A-9 City. His decision reassures Eunuch Chen and influences some players, but most—including You Sijin and many Great Dream Dynasty players—join the enemy, judging the powerful Shi Tianhu and the mission’s apparent odds more important than loyalty.
• Liu Yu also chooses A-9 City, though he cannot explain Yang Ling’s calmness. Most Nether Kingdom players defect. Local martial artists follow, driven by fear of dying, leaving the two sides nearly evenly matched.
• After the deadline, Shi Tianhu refuses further defections and kills a late-arriving martial artist with a seemingly invisible arrow. Yang Ling realizes the arrow is made from condensed Vital Blood and assesses Shi Tianhu as a formidable Lower Fourth-Grade fighter. He decides to use him to test his own strength.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling remains composed and commits to A-9 City. Rather than condemning the defectors, he recognizes that players may feel little loyalty to the dynasty; his attention turns to measuring Shi Tianhu’s ability.
• Eunuch Chen is visibly relieved by Yang Ling’s support and warns defectors that they will become enemies of the Great Dream Dynasty.
• You Sijin openly mocks Yang Ling’s choice, defects, and helps encourage other players to follow.
• Liu Yu is troubled by Yang Ling’s confidence, but ultimately chooses A-9 City while allowing others to decide for themselves.
• Ding Xing reacts with anger and alarm as both players and locals abandon his side.
• Shi Tianhu uses the offer of recruitment to divide the defenders, then demonstrates his lethal skill by killing someone who tries to defect after the deadline.

Significant themes

• Loyalty versus self-preservation: Most players and local fighters choose the side they think offers the best chance of survival.
• Uncertainty and betrayal: The possible involvement of dissatisfied Earthly Immortals suggests the conflict may reach beyond the battlefield.
• Leadership and influence: Yang Ling’s decision affects others despite the majority defecting.
• Power and resolve: Shi Tianhu’s deadly strength contrasts with Yang Ling’s willingness to face him and test his limits.

Plot points and events

• Shi Tianhu rejects the mine’s martial artists who hesitated to join the Abyssal Martial Artists, then gives You Sijin a chance to choose an opponent: Yang Ling or Ding Xing. You Sijin chooses Ding Xing.
• When Shi Tianhu fires a Bone-Corroding Arrow at Zhang Wei to provoke the crowd, Yang Ling catches it and redirects it into a Mingwang Group member, killing him instantly.
• The display shifts the mood at Eagle Valley: the mine’s defenders regain hope, while those who have switched sides try to convince themselves Yang Ling’s feat was only possible because he used Shi Tianhu’s arrow.
• Shi Tianhu reveals the Mingwang Group came specifically because of Yang Ling, whose past achievements—including killing Mou Sen—are known to them. He invites Yang Ling to join the group, suggesting the Great Dream Dynasty may already want him dead.
• Yang Ling refuses, declaring his loyalty to the dynasty. Shi Tianhu then fires a much stronger arrow. Yang Ling catches and redirects it into another Mingwang Group member, who survives for the moment by using his Martial Dao Fire Seed and Flesh Derivation to resist the poison.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling demonstrates formidable skill and composure, confirming the rumors about his strength. Despite Shi Tianhu’s recruitment offer, he remains steadfastly loyal to the Great Dream Dynasty.
• Shi Tianhu shifts from testing and taunting the defenders to directly challenging Yang Ling. His escalating attacks reveal that he recognizes Yang Ling as the true threat.
• You Sijin sees Yang Ling’s power firsthand. His confidence gives way to fear, though he also speculates that Yang Ling may have advanced through a path similar to his own.
• Ding Xing and Eunuch Chen are initially relieved by Yang Ling’s intervention and later worry that Shi Tianhu’s offer might tempt him. Yang Ling’s refusal reassures them.
• The mine’s defenders regain hope, while the newly converted Abyssal Martial Artists are uneasy about having chosen the winning side too soon.

Significant themes

• Loyalty under pressure: Yang Ling rejects a tempting offer even when he has reason to distrust the dynasty.
• Choices and consequences: Shi Tianhu frames allegiance as a chance that can be missed, while the recent defectors discover their decision may not guarantee safety.
• Power and perception: Yang Ling’s actions overturn the crowd’s assumptions about his rank and ability.
• Betrayal and mistrust: Shi Tianhu’s knowledge of Yang Ling’s presence suggests a traitor in A-9 City, leaving the defenders unsure whom to trust.

Key plot points and events

• A Mingwang Group member nearly dies from Yang Ling’s Bone-Corroding Arrow, but leader Shi Tianhu absorbs the arrow’s black mist and saves him. The man’s rapid regeneration demonstrates the power of a Fifth-Grade Lesser Grandmaster.
• Shi Tianhu attacks Yang Ling, who counters with his armor, giant form, Ice Blade, and powerful skills. Yang’s attack pierces Shi Tianhu and spreads frost through his body; a second strike beheads him.
• Yang reveals only a fraction of his strength, noting that he still has several powerful forms and weapons unused. He teleports to the remaining Mingwang Group members and kills five of them.
• Though apparently defeated, Shi Tianhu’s severed head remains alive. He kills You Sijin with a cloud of black mist and asks Yang to take his head and body back to the Great Dream Dynasty for the bounty.

Character developments

• Yang Ling confirms that he can defeat a Grandmaster with ease and gains a clearer understanding of his own strength. His calm confidence contrasts with the astonishment of those watching.
• Shi Tianhu is revealed to be both immensely resilient and dangerous even after decapitation; his apparent defeat does not end the threat he poses.
• The players shift from fear of powerful native warriors to excitement and hope, realizing that a player has reached Grandmaster-level strength.
• You Sijin tries to claim he had secretly opposed Shi Tianhu, but his boast is cut short when Shi kills him.

Significant themes

• The changing balance of power: Yang’s victory marks a major turning point for players, who no longer see themselves as helpless before the native warriors.
• Power and its limits: Even extraordinary regeneration cannot protect Shi Tianhu from Yang’s overwhelming abilities, while Shi’s survival beyond death shows that some dangers remain unpredictable.
• Hope and collective morale: Yang’s achievement gives the players renewed confidence in the Grandmaster Plan and their future.

Character interactions

• Shi Tianhu rescues a fellow Mingwang member, who thanks him, before confronting Yang himself.
• Yang’s display of strength leaves allies and enemies alike stunned; players and native warriors react with awe, while Liu Yu and Zhang Shendao celebrate the meaning of Yang’s achievement.
• You Sijin insults the defeated Shi Tianhu and claims loyalty to the Great Dream Dynasty, prompting Shi’s fatal response.
• Shi Tianhu addresses Yang even from his severed head, turning the victory into an eerie cliffhanger.

Key plot points and events

• The players witness Shi Tianhu still speaking after being reduced to a headless body, confirming how far Divine Realm’s martial arts can surpass ordinary human limits. The spectacle makes them wonder whether they, too, could reach such power.
• Yang Ling learns that Shi Tianhu’s head carries a substantial bounty from the Great Nether Temple: a Three-Thousand-Year Ebony Snake-Gall Fruit. The fruit would advance Yang Ling’s Martial Dao Fire Seed progress.
• Under questioning, Shi Tianhu reveals that at least three thousand Abyssal Martial Artists are involved in the campaign, including fighters of the highest grades, though he does not know who specifically ordered the attempt on Yang Ling’s life.
• Yang Ling kills Shi Tianhu with a rapid series of palm strikes. He reflects that combat yields little experience, concluding that mining is a better way to progress.
• Eunuch Chen thanks Yang Ling for avenging his father, Chen Jianghai. Yang Ling plans to claim the bounty for Shi Tianhu’s head and asks the Cicada-Holding Directorate to pay You Sijin’s death benefit, explaining that You had only pretended to defect under his orders.
• Yang Ling similarly claims that the players who defected were undercover on his orders. The players return to the Great Dream Dynasty, but discover their quest remains active and may now be impossible to complete.
• Ding Xing denies ordering the local martial artists to defect. At Eunuch Chen’s prompting, he leads the loyalists against the traitors, beginning another massacre. Many players are sickened by the bloodshed.

Character developments

• Yang Ling remains pragmatic and confident: he kills Shi Tianhu without hesitation, pursues the bounty and death benefit, and uses his official standing to reassure others that the Great Nether Temple will pay.
• Eunuch Chen moves from grief and disbelief to gratitude and deference toward Yang Ling, while taking a hard line against the defectors.
• Ding Xing is shaken by the scale of the Abyssal force and disowns the traitors, then acts against them.
• The players shift from disbelief at the supernatural to fascination with the possibility of achieving similar power, but their excitement turns to dismay when their quest remains unresolved and to nausea at the slaughter.

Significant themes

• Divine Realm’s extreme supernatural abilities overturn the players’ assumptions about what is possible.
• Advancement is tied not only to combat but also to resources and systems: Yang Ling’s mining remark contrasts with the meager rewards from killing.
• Loyalty, betrayal, and the manipulation of official authority shape the conflict.
• The players’ game-like perspective clashes with the physical horror of real violence.

Character interactions

• Yang Ling interrogates Shi Tianhu while Eunuch Chen and Ding Xing watch; Eunuch Chen confirms the bounty, and Shi Tianhu reveals the size and strength of the Abyssal force.
• Eunuch Chen kneels in gratitude after Yang Ling kills Shi Tianhu, but Yang Ling treats the death as both revenge and an opportunity to claim the bounty.
• Yang Ling negotiates with Eunuch Chen over You Sijin’s death benefit and presents the defecting players as undercover agents.
• Eunuch Chen challenges Ding Xing over the local traitors; Ding Xing leads the loyal martial artists against them as the players recoil from the violence.

Key events and plot points

• A day after the beast tide destroyed the Mingwang Group, the Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine is busy again, though many workers are gone. Players who joined the Abyssal Beast Grotto faction are now stuck mining and leveling, watched closely by local overseers. They blame Divine Realm for luring them into the faction, and fear they would have been killed without Yang Ling’s influence.
• Players speculate that martial arts may drive human evolution after recalling Yang Ling’s dramatic transformation and reports that advancement to Fifth Grade can trigger genetic mutation.
• Yang Ling assesses his combat strength. With his attributes, Internal Arts, and Martial Techniques combined, he can exceed 2,000 strength and agility, with 1,460 Mental Power. He believes he can defeat newly advanced Middle Fourth-Grade Grandmasters, but remains wary of more powerful opponents. His next goals are to forge a Transcendent Grade Martial Dao Furnace and undergo a Great Genetic Mutation.
• Yang Ling decides to sell Shi Tianhu’s severed head in the Abyssal Beast Grotto rather than risk carrying it to Kyoto or claiming the Great Nether Temple bounty. He hopes to trade it for an Ebony Snake-Gall Fruit or other valuable medicines, but worries a powerful buyer might simply take it.
• Eunuch Chen pays Yang Ling a ten-thousand-note death benefit for You Sijin, funding the payout from his own resources while awaiting reimbursement. Yang Ling asks where to sell Shi Tianhu’s head; Chen recommends the Precious Medicine Gang, whose leader is based at Golden Lion Ridge, the gang’s major herb-growing estate.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling grows more confident after measuring himself against Fourth-Grade Grandmasters, while remaining strategic about the dangers ahead. He favors gaining rare medicines now over pursuing a distant bounty.
• Eunuch Chen shows loyalty and respect by personally advancing You Sijin’s death benefit. He also advises Yang Ling on potential buyers and warns that the Precious Medicine Gang’s young leader lacks the means to make the deal.
• The players are resentful and fearful, but Yang Ling’s power has also made them wonder whether martial cultivation offers a path to evolution.

Significant themes

• Power and evolution: Martial advancement may transform the body as well as increase combat ability.
• Risk and pragmatism: Yang Ling weighs immediate resources against uncertain future rewards and carefully considers whom to trust.
• Loyalty amid conflict: Eunuch Chen’s willingness to pay a colleague’s benefit from his own pocket contrasts with the players’ distrust of the forces that manipulated them.
• Survival under suspicion: The players’ faction choice has left them isolated, monitored, and far from the battle they expected to join.

Key Plot Points and Events

• Yang Ling and Eunuch Chen arrive at Golden Lion Ridge, a prosperous city within the Abyssal Beast Grotto.
• Yang Ling learns about the colonial-style control of the Abyssal Beast Grotto by the Great Dream Dynasty.
• Players from various regions are present, with some considering joining the Immortal Gods Sect for benefits and safety.
• Yang Ling encounters Dong Jing, an Immortal Gods Sect member, promoting the sect's benefits and criticizing Yang Ling's actions.

Character Developments

• Yang Ling: Realizes the colonial nature of the Great Dream Dynasty's control over the Abyssal Beast Grotto. Shows curiosity and understanding of the natives' situation.
• Eunuch Chen: Provides historical context and details about the Abyssal Beast Grotto and its inhabitants, demonstrating his knowledge and loyalty to the dynasty.
• Dong Jing: Actively recruits players for the Immortal Gods Sect, showing fervent passion and persuasive skills. Reveals some benefits of joining the sect.

Significant Themes

• Colonialism: The Great Dream Dynasty's control over the Abyssal Beast Grotto is revealed to be colonial in nature, with natives (Abyssfolk) living under specific rules and restrictions.
• Power Dynamics: The relationship between the Great Dream Dynasty, the natives, and the players is explored, highlighting the power dynamics at play.
• Loyalty and Belief: Eunuch Chen's loyalty to the dynasty and Dong Jing's belief in the Immortal Gods Sect and its cult leader are emphasized.

Character Interactions

• Yang Ling and Eunuch Chen: They have a mentor-mentee dynamic, with Eunuch Chen providing information and guidance to Yang Ling.
• Yang Ling and Dong Jing: They engage in a conversation that reveals Dong Jing's recruitment tactics and Yang Ling's mental prowess.
• Players and Immortal Gods Sect Members: There's a tense dynamic between players considering joining the sect and those who are wary of its influence, as well as those who are already members.

Plot and key events

• Yang Ling poses as Zhang Wei to infiltrate Dong Jing’s group. Dong believes him, welcomes him as an ally, and invites him to a meeting. Yang Ling later privately confirms the deception with the real Zhang Wei, who is monitoring the Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine.
• Yang Ling and Eunuch Chen travel to the Cicada-Holding Directorate at Golden Lion Ridge to register the heads Yang Ling collected and claim official merit.
• Eunuch Chen explains that the Directorate has formidable reserves—stronger, he suggests, than the Myriad Affairs Bureau—and that Golden Lion Ridge is strategically important.
• At the Directorate, Eunuch Xu tries to take the heads without letting Yang Ling witness their registration. Yang Ling refuses, insisting they are valuable: they include Shi Tianhu, leader of the Mingwang Group, and five others.
• Xu doubts the identification, but an official inside invites them to present the heads before Shi Tianhu’s master, who is attending a meeting with other officials.
• In the crowded hall, Yang Ling checks the attendees’ status panels and notices that no one present is Third Grade. He pointedly asks where his chair is, and Xu Lantern-Bearer promptly has one brought.
• Shi Tianhu’s head is revealed. His Middle Fourth-Grade master recognizes him and challenges Yang Ling, noting that Shi Tianhu should have survived for a time after decapitation. The room’s mood turns tense.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling shows confidence and tactical caution: he maintains his false identity, insists on proper procedure, and uses his apparent strength and status to command respect.
• Eunuch Chen acts as Yang Ling’s guide and advocate, warning him about Directorate politics and backing him against Xu’s attempt to take the heads.
• Eunuch Xu is dismissive and obstructive at first, but becomes accommodating when the matter is brought before senior officials.
• Shi Tianhu’s master shifts the encounter from routine registration to a direct confrontation by questioning how his disciple died.
• Yang Ling and Zhang Wei coordinate covertly through private messages; Yang Ling and Eunuch Chen cooperate openly throughout the visit.

Significant themes

• Deception and trust: Yang Ling’s cover identity succeeds, but he remains careful to verify that his actions are not exposed.
• Bureaucracy and power: Official merit depends on following procedures, while petty officials can obstruct valuable claims.
• Status and authority: Yang Ling’s demand for a chair asserts his standing in a room full of officials.
• Uneasy escalation: What begins as a routine registration becomes dangerous once Shi Tianhu’s powerful master recognizes the head.

Plot points and events

• Yang Ling presents Shi Tianhu’s severed head at the front line, confirming that he killed the Lower Fourth-Grade Grandmaster and destroyed the Mingwang Group.
• Shi Haixuan, a commander of the Abyssal Army and Shi Tianhu’s former master, questions how Yang Ling managed the kill and asks about the missing body.
• Yang Ling challenges Shi Haixuan’s authority to interrogate a Myriad Affairs Bureau official. He says he plans to sell the head at Golden Lion Ridge rather than wait for the Great Nether Temple’s reward.
• When Shi Haixuan demands Shi Tianhu’s body, Yang Ling claims he fed it to dogs. In reality, he intends to use the corpse to try to extract Shi Tianhu’s martial arts through Xiao Bai’s Bone-Burning Inheritance.
• Shi Haixuan threatens Yang Ling over the body and the Great Nether Temple’s martial arts. Yang Ling withstands the pressure, accuses the temple of disloyalty and of secretly sheltering Mou Sen, and tells Shi Haixuan to take the matter up with the Myriad Affairs Bureau.
• The Cicada-Holding Directorate records Yang Ling’s achievement. A Precious Medicine Gang representative offers to bring him to its leader, but Xian Donglai of the Divine Guard Bureau steps in, offering one Three-Thousand-Year Ebony Snake-Gall Fruit for all six heads. The chapter ends with the Precious Medicine Gang disputing who gets the first chance to buy them.

Character developments

• Yang Ling displays confidence, political savvy, and restraint under pressure. He protects his interests while using Shi Haixuan’s threats to suggest the Great Nether Temple is acting against the dynasty.
• Shi Haixuan begins with pointed questions, then escalates to intimidation when he learns the body is unavailable. He ultimately backs down rather than risk an open confrontation.
• Xian Donglai emerges as a serious buyer, offering the promised reward immediately.
• The Precious Medicine Gang representative is courteous but unwilling to yield its claimed place in the negotiations.

Themes

• Authority and procedure: Yang Ling insists that a military commander cannot casually interrogate a bureau official and directs the dispute through proper channels.
• Loyalty and betrayal: Shi Tianhu’s defection makes his former master’s interest in him politically suspicious.
• Power and leverage: Yang Ling’s composure and institutional backing help counter Shi Haixuan’s physical intimidation.
• Pragmatism and value: The head and corpse carry both monetary and martial value, drawing competing factions into negotiation.

Character interactions

• Yang Ling and Shi Haixuan clash over Shi Tianhu’s death, the corpse, and who has the right to question whom.
• Yang Ling uses the two Cicada-Holding Directorate lantern keepers as witnesses and officials responsible for recording the kill.
• The Precious Medicine Gang and Divine Guard Bureau compete to purchase the six heads, turning Yang Ling’s victory into a high-stakes transaction.

Plot points and events

• Xian Donglai offers Yang Ling a supposedly three-thousand-year-old Ebony Snake-Gall Fruit in exchange for Shi Tianhu’s head, matching the reward already offered by the Great Nether Temple.
• Yang Ling recognizes the plant as a Three-Thousand-Year Illusion-Transformation Fruit, a poisonous lookalike that could kill even a Fourth-Grade Grandmaster.
• Instead of accepting the trade, Yang Ling challenges Xian to eat it. Xian refuses, then angrily denies any wrongdoing.
• Yang Ling connects the fruit to an earlier ambush by the Mingwang Group at the Eagle Valley Red Copper Mine. He suspects a traitor in A-9 City is working with the Abyssal Beast Grotto.
• Yang Ling also points to the suspicious wider pattern surrounding cases involving Ji Tianming and He Busu, suggesting powerful factions are secretly maneuvering.
• Shi Haixuan backs Yang Ling’s challenge: Xian can disprove the accusation simply by eating the fruit.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Ling proves perceptive and confrontational. He uses his knowledge of the fruit to turn a seemingly generous bargain into a public test of Xian’s honesty.
• Xian Donglai presents himself as a straightforward negotiator, but his composure falters when Yang Ling identifies the fruit. He responds with anger and ridicule rather than accepting the challenge.
• Shi Haixuan shifts from resentment toward Yang Ling to suspicion of Xian, pressing him to prove the fruit is genuine.
• The Precious Medicine Gang elder confirms the fruit is unusually old but admits he cannot identify its true nature, underscoring how convincingly Xian disguised it. Other witnesses grow wary as the confrontation escalates.

Significant themes

• Deception and hidden identities: The fruit’s disguise reflects the suspected betrayal and concealed alliances behind the political conflicts.
• Power and accountability: Xian’s high office does not shield him from scrutiny once Yang Ling raises a credible accusation.
• Suspicion and factional intrigue: The chapter links local violence to wider schemes involving powerful martial factions.
• Public proof versus denial: Yang Ling forces the dispute into the open, where Xian’s refusal to eat the fruit becomes an implicit challenge to his credibility.