Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• More than three hundred S-Class War Buildings unleash another devastating barrage on the besieged Divine Kingdom. Its formation cracks, and the defenders suffer enormous losses, including many believers and artificial lifeforms.
• Realizing the battle cannot be prolonged, Weng Chonghe orders Ma Huainan to return to the Real World and request reinforcements from the Sima Family. Ma immediately sends the family and the Federation’s Supreme Artificial Lifeform, “One,” battlefield footage and combat data.
• Weng and the other gods continue fighting defensively while waiting for help. Their losses approach ten billion believers, and they fear the destruction of their elite forces and long-term damage to their Divine Kingdoms.
• Weng uploads the battle recordings to “One,” hoping it can trace the enemy’s unusual military assets. He now suspects the conflict involves the Five Great Families and regrets having treated the mission as routine.
• In the Real World, “One” sends an investigator to the Han Family to examine records involving S-Class War Buildings, Flesh Calamity Broodmothers, and Ten-Thousand Corpse War Tombs. The Han Family refuses, citing commercial confidentiality and information-protection law.
• Similar investigations—and refusals—take place at the Gu, Lu, and Qin families. The battle has begun stirring conflict among powerful human institutions, though Yang Fan, watching from his Divine Kingdom Core, remains unaware.

Character developments

• Weng Chonghe shifts from confidence and opportunism to alarm and caution. He no longer expects victory; his priority is survival, reinforcement, and discovering who stands behind the enemy.
• Ma Huainan becomes desperate to preserve his Divine Kingdom, willing to pay any price. He acts quickly to alert the Sima Family and the Federation.
• The other gods lose confidence in the assignment and regret risking their best forces on what they thought would be an easy support mission.
• Yang Fan remains unaware that his military power has triggered an investigation into the major families.

Significant themes

• The cost of underestimating an opponent: The gods’ routine mission becomes a catastrophe when they confront a force far beyond their expectations.
• Survival over pride: Ma Huainan abandons concern for dignity, while Weng focuses on preserving lives and avoiding a disastrous withdrawal.
• Power and secrecy: The mysterious scale of the enemy’s arsenal prompts scrutiny of the Five Great Families and exposes tensions between federal authority and private information rights.
• Widening consequences: A battlefield conflict begins affecting the political and institutional balance of the human world.

Character interactions

• Weng sharply orders Ma Huainan to seek Sima Family reinforcements, threatening to withdraw if he delays.
• Ma Huainan responds by transmitting battlefield evidence to both the Sima Family and “One.”
• Weng tries to steady his demoralized companions, insisting they hold their positions while the Federation investigates.
• “One’s” investigator confronts the Han Family over records; the family’s legal artificial lifeform refuses cooperation, and the other major families take the same stance.

Key plot points and events

• The Qin Family delays an investigation into the attack on a human Peerless Monster, citing confidential business information and saying the required elders’ review could take about twenty years.
• An investigation finds that the Gu Family made only a few purchases of relevant war structures, supposedly for internal research, and reports this to the Federation’s Supreme Artificial Lifeform, “One.”
• Gu Xuanting and Lu Qinglan review footage of Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom battlefield. They conclude that Yang Fan likely supplied a corpse-cultivating god with more than two hundred million Ten-Thousand Corpse War Tombs, helping create the immense army that fought there.
• Gu Xuanting suspects “One” will focus its investigation on the Lu Family because it has a history of a prodigy who practiced corpse cultivation. He believes Lu Yanran arranged the operation and its cover-up, so the investigation will find no evidence.
• At the Lu Family’s ancestral grounds, the family agrees to let “One” inspect records concerning the relevant war structures, but insists on limits and on a High-Tier Mechanical God accompanying the search.
• The Lu Family says its prodigy, Lu Mingshi, is uninvolved and refuses to let “One” enter his Divine Kingdom without evidence. “One” accepts this boundary but warns that irregularities could lead to Lu Mingshi’s compulsory isolation.
• “One” enters the Lu Family’s transaction database, accompanied by a family official. A powerful High-Tier Mechanical God arrives as the search begins.

Character developments and interactions

• Gu Xuanting is cautious and politically astute. He recognizes that the other lineages may only conduct superficial checks, while the Lu Family faces greater scrutiny. He urges Lu Qinglan to ensure Gu Le’s side leaves no loose ends.
• Lu Qinglan shifts from alarm at the prospect of a Lu Family investigation to confidence in Lu Yanran’s planning. She also reflects with amusement on how fiercely Gu Le and Lu Wan acted to protect Yang Fan.
• Lu Yanran does not appear, but is portrayed as a capable strategist whose status and foresight make Gu Xuanting confident she anticipated the investigation.
• The Lu Family leadership cooperates with “One” while firmly defending its commercial privacy and Lu Mingshi’s rights.
• “One” is portrayed as powerful but willing to negotiate procedural limits—while retaining the option of coercive action if evidence emerges.

Significant themes

• Political maneuvering and concealment: The families balance cooperation with protecting secrets, and the Gu and Lu Families try to keep the true origin of the battlefield forces hidden.
• Power, privacy, and due process: “One” seeks answers, while the Lu Family resists an intrusive search of its prodigy’s Divine Kingdom without evidence.
• Loyalty and protection: Gu Le, Lu Wan, and Lu Yanran appear to have acted to protect Yang Fan, even at considerable risk.
• Unintended consequences of power: Yang Fan’s enormous investment in military structures demonstrates the scale and cost of the conflict.

Plot points

• The Lu Family’s High-Tier Mechanical God shows Federation Supreme Artificial Lifeform One encrypted transaction records concerning the Ten-Thousand Corpse War Tomb and the Flesh Calamity Broodmother. One confirms the records are accurate but still asks the family to restrain Lu Mingshi because a Peerless Monster may be at risk.
• The Lu Family refuses: without conclusive evidence, it will not curtail Mingshi’s freedom. Its representative argues that protecting individual rights is essential to justice—and that “the greater good” must not become an excuse to sacrifice people without proof.
• One accepts the argument and withdraws its consciousness, leaving the robot body shattered.
• At the family’s ancestral grounds, Mingshi—who insists he has been framed—asks his parents whether he must cooperate with the investigation. They tell him the family has turned the investigators away, but assume his business dealings may have caused the trouble.
• His father chastises him for stagnating at Third-Order God level and warns him not to create problems involving a Peerless Monster. Then he praises Mingshi’s performance in the Divine Kingdom War, saying he may have the potential to become a High-Tier God.
• After his parents leave, Mingshi erupts in frustration, still unable to convince anyone he is innocent.

Character developments and interactions

• The Lu Family’s High-Tier Mechanical God upholds due process even under pressure from One, prioritizing lawful fairness over expediency.
• One shows no emotion but accepts the family’s principled refusal and ends the confrontation without forcing the issue.
• Lu Mingshi is comically exasperated: he believes he did nothing, yet his own parents suspect him of hiding something. Their confidence in his abilities gives him a rare moment of family recognition, though it does not resolve his grievance.
• Mingshi’s parents protect him from an unsupported investigation while also scolding him as if he may have caused the situation. His father’s sternness gives way to pride, and the couple leave reassured about their son’s potential.

Significant themes

• Individual rights versus the greater good: The chapter argues that even urgent collective interests cannot justify restricting someone’s rights without evidence.
• Presumption of innocence and family loyalty: The Lu Family protects Mingshi formally, but his parents’ suspicion shows how difficult it is to separate affection from judgment.
• Misunderstanding and irony: Mingshi’s repeated insistence that he is innocent is treated as proof that he is concealing something, making his frustration the chapter’s comic endpoint.

Key events

• Ma Huainan’s parents conclude that their son must be behind the extraordinary forces seen in the Divine Kingdom War. Proud of his hidden strength, they decide to transfer him their shares in a promising Primordial City startup.
• In the Virtual World, the Federation’s Supreme Artificial Lifeform, One, tells the Sima Family he cannot investigate further under Federation law, but urges them to send help to Ma Huainan because of his value as a Peerless Monster. The family confirms its reinforcements are ready.
• Ma Huainan asks One for news. After seeing more than three hundred S-Rank War Buildings, he doubts that Yang Fan could be responsible and fears that another of the Five Great Families is using him as a target in a larger conflict. One reassures him that support is coming, and Ma Huainan returns to his Divine Kingdom, relying on the reinforcements.
• Sima Yurou continues managing her Divine Kingdom, shifting resources away from spirit veins and into cultivating believers. Her work is interrupted by an incoming call.

Character developments and interactions

• Ma Huainan’s confidence collapses in the face of his enemy’s vast reserves. He moves from trusting that his talent will guarantee protection to suspecting he is caught in a major family feud.
• His parents’ view of him shifts: they see his apparent modesty as a cover for remarkable ability and decide to provide him with financial support.
• One’s intervention is limited by Federation rules. He can urge the Sima Family to act, but cannot compel them to do so.
• Sima Yurou appears focused and methodical in developing her Divine Kingdom; the caller’s identity and purpose remain unknown.

Significant themes

• Hidden strength and misjudgment: Ma Huainan’s parents and the wider conflict reassess people based on unexpected displays of power.
• Power and political uncertainty: The enormous stockpile of war assets makes Ma Huainan suspect that the conflict is not a personal attack but part of a struggle between powerful families.
• Institutional limits: Even the Federation’s most powerful artificial lifeform is constrained by law.
• Talent and strategic value: One argues that protecting Peerless Monsters matters to humanity’s future, while Ma Huainan’s talent alone cannot guarantee his safety.

Key plot points and events

• Sima Zhao calls his sister, Sima Yurou, to arrange a large purchase of single-use war supplies for the Sima Family’s support force. He offers to buy her stock at ten percent above market price, helping her recover from recent losses.
• Yurou learns the invaded god is her ex-husband, Ma Huainan, and watches footage of the battlefield: his Divine Kingdom is being overwhelmed by a Zombie Army and more than three hundred S-Class War Buildings.
• The Sima Family suspects the attack is retaliation for Ma Huainan’s investigation of Yang Fan’s Divine Kingdom. It believes Lu Yanran, a High-Tier God, is backing the operation, with Lu Mingshi likely directing it. Sima Zhao warns Yurou not to get involved.
• A five-hundred-billion-strong Sima Family relief force arrives and takes over the defense of Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom. The Federal Government’s Weng Chonghe and his four companions withdraw their main forces but decide to remain for limited guerrilla support, motivated by Ma’s promise of military merit points.
• Sima Jin, a Third-Order God, approaches the opposing side on the Sima Family’s behalf. He acknowledges that Ma’s investigation was a serious legal violation and offers Yang Fan compensation, asking to end the conflict peacefully.

Character developments

• Sima Yurou is shocked by the scale and speed of events. Her image of Yang Fan shifts: remembering his courteous manner now makes her uneasy, and she reflects on how ruthless people who rise from humble beginnings can be.
• Sima Zhao acts protectively and pragmatically, helping his sister financially while warning her to stay clear of the dispute.
• Weng Chonghe shows himself to be both relieved and calculating. Although his official role is ending, he chooses to help discreetly so his group can earn the promised reward without appearing to overstep.
• Sima Jin adopts a conciliatory, respectful approach, offering compensation rather than demanding that the other side back down.

Significant themes

• Power and escalation: The immense relief force and battlefield devastation show how quickly a private investigation can trigger a conflict involving powerful factions.
• Reputation versus reality: Yang Fan’s gentle public demeanor contrasts with the fear and ruthlessness associated with the response to Ma’s actions.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Yurou accepts a useful business deal, Weng Chonghe weighs reward against procedure, and Sima Jin seeks a settlement through compensation.
• Family loyalty and protection: The Sima Family mobilizes to defend Ma Huainan while trying to shield Yurou from the consequences.

Character interactions

• Sima Zhao advises Yurou and connects her business to the Sima Family’s military needs; Yurou agrees to supply the goods.
• Weng Chonghe coordinates a handover to the Sima Family, then privately tells his companions to continue helping in a limited capacity.
• Sima Jin speaks respectfully to the opposing side, acknowledging Ma Huainan’s wrongdoing and proposing compensation to Yang Fan.

Plot points and events

• Inside the Divine Kingdom Core, Sima Jin mistakes Yang Fan for Lu Mingshi and asks him to relay a peace proposal to his backing. The Sima Family offers Lu Mingshi one hundred S-class resource buildings as compensation.
• Ma Huainan realizes the Sima Family knows the suspected attacker’s identity but is too wary of his powerful connections to retaliate. He resents the falsely implicated Lu Mingshi.
• Yang Fan recognizes that the misunderstanding gives him a convenient cover and welcomes the chance to let someone else take the blame.
• Meanwhile, Lu Mingshi is obliviously shopping in the marketplace, expecting his mother to pay his large bill. She refuses, threatens him for repeatedly pretending to be broke, and leaves him despairing over losing access to the family payment account.
• Yang Fan orders Yang Shi to attack. The Sima army raises the Firmament-Bearing Boundary Shield, which initially withstands their weapons.
• Yang Shi sends Zombie Generals from the Suicide Squad to destroy the enemy’s War Weapons with Micro-Nuclear Bombs. Their explosions damage the weapons and weaken the shield. Sima Jin orders his troops to intercept the zombies, but the attackers continue charging and detonating their bombs amid the enemy forces.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Fan remains calculating: he takes advantage of Sima Jin’s mistaken identity, then chooses military action over negotiation.
• Sima Jin is cautious and diplomatic at first, offering compensation, but becomes resolute once Yang Fan attacks. He organizes the defense and identifies the zombies’ explosives as the main threat.
• Ma Huainan feels powerless and bitter, believing Lu Mingshi is responsible despite having no way to confront him.
• Lu Mingshi provides comic relief: his carefree spending ends in shock when his mother refuses to subsidize him.
• Yang Shi acts as Yang Fan’s disciplined commander, directing the assault and targeting the enemy’s weapons.
• The Suicide Squad’s Zombie Generals demonstrate absolute commitment, sacrificing themselves to inflict maximum damage.

Significant themes

• Misidentaken identity and political cover: The Sima Family’s assumption lets Yang Fan conceal his role and shifts suspicion onto Lu Mingshi.
• Power and deterrence: The Sima Family’s willingness to pay reflects its fear of challenging someone with powerful connections.
• Sacrifice in war: The Zombie Generals treat their lives as expendable in pursuit of their mission.
• Comic contrast: Lu Mingshi’s mundane financial troubles interrupt the chapter’s political tension and escalating battle.

Plot points and events

• Yang Shi launches Plan B, releasing huge numbers of ordinary zombies, Corpse Cores, and volatile poisons to intensify the fighting.
• As the enemy’s energy cannons grow more dangerous, he sends five million Ten-Thousand Corpse War Tombs to the front as expendable fortresses, helping disrupt the Sima Family’s vanguard.
• The Sima forces’ Holy Spirit Water is countered with Decayed Corpse Water. Yang Shi also reinforces the left flank and equips his believers with Spirit-Breaking Talismans to make enemy cultivators more vulnerable to corpse poison.
• The battlefield becomes increasingly toxic and spiritually unstable. The effects spread toward Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom Core, sickening civilians and vulnerable believers; some begin showing signs of zombification.
• Ma Huainan appeals to Sima Jin for help, but Sima—overwhelmed by the battle—dismisses him and tells him to find his own remedy.
• Although the Sima Family has a much larger force, the Lu Family’s lavish use of bombs, talismans, poisons, and other single-use supplies inflicts disproportionate losses. Sima Jin estimates the costs in the hundreds of billions of Divinity Points and considers whether continued protection of Ma Huainan is worth the damage.
• Yang Fan sees the fighting settle into a war of attrition and orders more troops, flesh energy, Poison Pills, and purchased war supplies sent to the front. He is prepared to deploy Void War Arks and Mechanical War Puppets as well.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Shi remains composed and calculating under pressure, continually adjusting tactics to battlefield reports.
• Ma Huainan becomes frightened as the poison reaches his Divine Kingdom Core and endangers people who cannot fight. His plea to Sima Jin receives no meaningful support.
• Sima Jin grows furious and financially strained. He resents the enemy’s seemingly limitless resources and weighs the cost of defending Ma Huainan against preserving his own forces.
• Yang Fan becomes more confident as the battle turns into the attritional contest he wants. He commits to outlasting the enemy and shows little concern about spending resources that cannot be traced to his Divine Kingdom.
• Yang Fan gives orders through Yang Da, while Sima Jin’s exchange with Ma Huainan highlights how wartime pressure is eroding their relationship.

Significant themes

• Attrition and resource warfare: The battle is shaped as much by supplies and replenishment as by troop strength.
• The human cost of war: Poison and battlefield contamination reach civilians and vulnerable believers far from the front.
• Pragmatism versus loyalty: Sima Jin prioritizes his forces’ long-term survival over protecting Ma Huainan.
• Wealth as military power: The Lu Family’s willingness to spend lavishly unsettles an opponent with superior numbers.
• Calculated escalation: Both sides adapt with increasingly destructive measures, turning the Divine Kingdom itself into part of the battlefield.

Key plot points and events

• Yang Fan withdraws from monitoring the war in his Divine Kingdom, trusting Yang Da, an artificial lifeform, to command the stalemated battle. Since he cannot meaningfully affect events, he chooses to relax rather than remain anxiously fixated.
• Lu Wan oversees preparations to deduce a Divine Kingdom, ordering her company to keep buying scarce Deduction Cards and arranging major war-supply funding directly through her own Divine Kingdom.
• Gu Le interrupts Lu Wan and asks her to meet in the Virtual World. She shows Lu Wan footage of the battle inside Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom: an immense force of intelligent weapons, Rank A war structures, more than three hundred S-Class War Buildings, and vast numbers of Ten-Thousand Corpse War Tombs.
• Gu Le explains that Ma Huainan has disclosed his Divine Kingdom’s coordinates to the Sima Family, and the Federation’s Supreme Artificial Lifeform has recently investigated the Five Great Families. The person they had planned to deal with may already be close to defeat.
• Gu Le suspects Yang Fan supplied the Corpse-Cultivating God with the war structures. Her mother told her Yang Fan bought 200 million Ten-Thousand Corpse War Tombs from the Gu Family for 200 trillion Divinity Points, with her father’s approval.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Fan shows restraint and emotional discipline: he delegates the battle to Yang Da and takes time to rest.
• Lu Wan is revealed as a decisive, resourceful executive, willing to commit substantial funds to her plans against Ma Huainan.
• Gu Le initially suspects Lu Wan may have been involved in the secret operation. After realizing Lu Wan was also uninformed, she feels reassured.
• Lu Wan is shocked to learn that Yang Fan may have secretly armed the Corpse-Cultivating God. Her surprise turns to hurt as she wonders why he did not trust her enough to tell her.

Significant themes

• Knowing when to let go: Yang Fan accepts that watching events he cannot change would only exhaust him.
• Power and preparation: Vast resources and military structures are reshaping the conflict around Ma Huainan.
• Trust and secrecy: Yang Fan’s undisclosed actions may be strategically important, but they leave Lu Wan questioning her place in his confidence.
• Unequal knowledge: Gu Le and Lu Wan piece together events from family information and battlefield footage, while Yang Fan’s role remains concealed.

Plot points and events

• Gu Le realizes Lu Wan was also kept uninformed about the plan to eliminate Ma Huainan, and suggests asking Yang Fan directly.
• Lu Wan interrupts Yang Fan’s relaxing massage and brings him into the Virtual World, where Gu Le is waiting.
• Gu Le confronts him for letting them work so hard while he was close to resolving the threat. Yang Fan admits he wanted to keep the operation—and the secret of his Divine Kingdom—hidden until Ma Huainan was dealt with.
• The women believe the mysterious Corpse-Cultivating God helping Yang Fan is Lu Mingshi, a powerful relative of Lu Wan. Lu Wan asks how Yang Fan knows him and why he is helping.
• Yang Fan cannot explain the supposed connection, but Lu Wan assumes a contract or private deal may prevent him from speaking.
• He reassures both women that he will handle the matter himself and embraces them.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Fan reveals his determination to protect Lu Wan and Gu Le, while remaining evasive about his Divine Kingdom and the identity of their presumed ally. His declaration of love is sincere, though the real explanation for the situation remains unclear.
• Lu Wan begins angry at being excluded, then softens when she believes Yang Fan may be bound by a confidential agreement. Her concern shifts toward his safety.
• Gu Le is relieved that Ma Huainan’s defeat is near, but challenges Yang Fan for concealing the situation and recognizes Lu Mingshi as the likely helper.
• The three move from frustration and questioning to mutual reassurance, with Yang Fan presenting himself as the one who should bear the danger.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and trust: Yang Fan’s attempt to protect his secret leaves his partners feeling excluded.
• Responsibility and protection: He sees the burden as his to carry, while Lu Wan and Gu Le have already shared it.
• Love and partnership: The chapter ends with an affectionate pledge of devotion and a renewed show of unity.

Plot points and events

• Yang Fan tells Lu Wan and Gu Le he intends to handle the problem involving Lu Mingshi and the Divine Kingdom contract himself, asking them not to risk their resources.
• Lu Wan is deeply moved and offers substantial financial help, company shares, and even her mother’s influence if Lu Mingshi threatens Yang Fan.
• Gu Le is also willing to defend Yang Fan’s interests, especially if the contract contains unfair restrictions, though she is baffled by Lu Wan’s sudden romantic sentiment.
• Lu Wan receives word that Lu Mingshi wants to meet Yang Fan urgently. Despite Yang Fan’s attempts to delay the meeting, she sends him the coordinates.
• Yang Fan privately panics that Lu Mingshi may expose something and ruin the husbandly image he has carefully cultivated. Lu Mingshi arrives, greets Lu Wan as “Cousin,” and she challenges his choice of address.

Character developments

• Yang Fan presents himself as a protective, self-reliant husband, but his anxious reaction suggests he has something to hide. He fears the meeting will unravel his carefully managed impression.
• Lu Wan shifts from frustration over Yang Fan’s secrecy to complete trust and affection, seeing his actions as evidence that he cares for and wants to protect her.
• Gu Le shares Lu Wan’s loyalty but remains more skeptical and practical, observing the couple’s emotional display with bewilderment.

Character interactions

• Lu Wan embraces Yang Fan and openly declares her love, while offering concrete support.
• Gu Le privately questions the sudden romantic mood, feeling almost like a third wheel, but then joins Lu Wan in standing up for Yang Fan.
• Yang Fan tries to keep Lu Mingshi away, while Lu Wan and Gu Le insist on confronting him and protecting Yang Fan’s interests.
• Lu Wan’s cool greeting to Lu Mingshi signals that family status and the contract may be addressed directly.

Significant themes

• Love and trust: Lu Wan interprets Yang Fan’s secrecy as protective rather than distrustful.
• Pride and self-reliance: Yang Fan wants to solve the problem without relying on his powerful wives, though this may carry personal costs.
• Loyalty and shared interests: Despite their different temperaments, both women are prepared to defend Yang Fan.
• Appearance versus reality: Yang Fan’s public image of devoted self-sacrifice contrasts with his private fear of being exposed.

Plot points

• Lu Wan confronts Lu Mingshi about why he wants to speak with her husband, making clear that she stands with Yang Fan.
• Lu Mingshi abruptly kneels, clings to Yang Fan, and calls him “Brother,” leaving Yang Fan, Lu Wan, and Gu Le baffled.
• After Lu Wan and Gu Le leave, Lu Mingshi admits that the Five Great Families have discovered the foundations of his Divine Kingdom, and his mother has cut off his allowance after seeing his war structures.
• He asks Yang Fan for a job at the Yang Group. Yang Fan hires him as a special adviser for 500,000 Divinity Points a month.
• Lu Mingshi says he will remain a suspect in the ongoing matter unless he reveals his Divine Kingdom’s coordinates and lets others investigate. He exchanges contact details with Yang Fan, then withdraws from the Virtual World.
• Yang Fan concludes that Lu Mingshi’s foolish, shameless persona conceals a calculating and potentially dangerous man.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Wan openly supports Yang Fan, standing beside him and putting him at the center of the confrontation. Though confused by Lu Mingshi’s intimacy with her husband, she chooses to trust Yang Fan and leaves when he asks.
• Yang Fan is bewildered by Lu Mingshi’s sudden display of brotherly affection, but handles the private conversation pragmatically. He accepts Lu Mingshi’s job request while remaining wary of his true motives.
• Lu Mingshi performs the role of an emotional, helpless younger brother, but quickly demonstrates that he understands the political situation and knows how to read people. His behavior makes Yang Fan suspect he is hiding a significant secret.
• Gu Le watches the encounter and realizes Yang Fan’s connections may be more extensive than she had assumed.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: Lu Mingshi’s bumbling, brazen act masks sharp social instincts and hidden motives.
• Power and information: The dispute over Lu Mingshi’s Divine Kingdom shows how difficult it is to verify what lies beyond someone’s private domain.
• Trust and caution: Lu Wan trusts Yang Fan, while Yang Fan remains alert to the danger beneath Lu Mingshi’s apparent vulnerability.
• Family and influence: Lu Mingshi invokes kinship to build instant closeness, while family pressure—especially his mother cutting off his allowance—shapes his request for help.

Key plot points

• Lu Mingshi ends his investigation into Yang Fan and the mysterious Corpse-Cultivating God. Paid 500,000 Divinity Points monthly to take the blame, he decides not to provoke Yang Fan, whose mental power seems comparable to a Mid-Order God.
• Yang Fan returns from the Virtual World relieved that his bluff held. Though he no longer depends on his wives for resources, he still values the Lu and Gu families’ connections.
• Lu Wan checks on Yang Fan, then returns the funds Gu Le had provided and cancels plans to calculate Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom coordinates and launch a Divine Kingdom War.
• Gu Le receives the returned funds and praises Yang Fan to her son, Gu Chengye. She hopes to join Yang Fan on the Frontline after graduation, while worrying that Lu Wan might win him away.
• The war against Ma Huainan continues as both sides pour in believers and supplies. After ten days in the Real World—nearly ten years within the Divine Kingdom—losses have reached billions annually on each side.
• Yang Fan remains confident: his forces are sustained by the Eternal Corpse Mine, his preparations are extensive, and his replenishment capacity makes prolonged attrition favor him.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Mingshi shifts from investigating Yang Fan to cautious respect, judging him too dangerous to antagonize.
• Yang Fan keeps up a relaxed, reassuring manner with Lu Wan while privately recognizing that his Virtual World persona nearly slipped. He is calm about the war and confident in his economic and military advantages.
• Lu Wan shows concern for her husband but respects his wishes. Once she believes he has handled the danger, she withdraws her support and suspends her risky plans.
• Gu Le is relieved to get her funds back and becomes more openly admiring of Yang Fan, though her hopes of joining him are colored by playful jealousy toward Lu Wan.

Significant themes

• Bluffing and hidden strength: Yang Fan’s apparent ease conceals the tension of maintaining his persona and the power others are beginning to recognize.
• Attrition and endurance: The war has become a contest of resources and replenishment rather than immediate battlefield superiority.
• Loyalty and family ties: Lu Wan and Gu Le support Yang Fan in different ways, while their family connections remain valuable to him.
• Confidence born of preparation: Yang Fan believes time favors him because his forces and supplies can be renewed faster than they are consumed.

Plot and events

• Yang Fan receives news from Lu Wan that footage of the war between Ma Huainan and Lu Mingshi has spread through the Five Great Families. Sima Family Lower-Order Gods are becoming reluctant to support the campaign: some want subsidies, while others are preparing to withdraw.
• Yang Fan sees this as evidence that his strategy is working. Rather than defeat the entire Sima Family, he aims to make continued intervention so costly that its members decide it is no longer in their interests.
• Lu Wan offers to provide Lu Mingshi with war supplies, worried by the enormous costs and the risk that the exhausting conflict could become a test of which side runs out of resources first. Yang Fan declines, claiming they are well prepared.
• Privately, Yang Fan knows he can sustain the war indefinitely: his supplies are abundant, and his evolution talent gives him an advantage the longer the conflict continues.
• Lu Wan grows suspicious of the finances. After returning to her office, she examines Yang Group records and finds nearly a hundred trillion Divinity Points’ worth of recent war supplies with no corresponding spending recorded.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Fan remains confident and strategically patient. He is deliberately applying economic pressure to fracture the Sima Family’s support, while hiding how wealthy and well supplied he is—even from Lu Wan.
• Lu Wan is supportive and concerned about the war’s cost. She offers help, then quietly investigates when Yang Fan’s explanation does not match the company’s financial records. Her discovery threatens his carefully maintained deception.
• Their affectionate, trusting interaction contrasts with Yang Fan’s secret. He worries that Lu Wan would react differently if she learned he rejected a massive dowry not out of principle, but because he did not need the money.
• Lu Mingshi is discussed as the commander receiving the benefit of Yang Fan’s preparations; his all-out strategy is consuming vast resources.

Significant themes

• War as an economic and psychological contest: success depends not only on battlefield strength but on making opponents believe the cost of continuing is unbearable.
• Shared interests and limited loyalty: even within a powerful lineage, lower-ranking gods prioritize their own benefits rather than obeying without compensation.
• Patience and resource advantage: Yang Fan believes time favors him because he can sustain the conflict and grow stronger through his talent.
• Trust and concealment: Yang Fan’s secrecy about his wealth creates a personal risk just as his broader strategy begins to succeed.

Plot points and events

• Lu Wan discovers that war supplies bought with General Manager Ma’s funds bypassed the Yang Group’s corporate accounts but were recorded by its materials department. She orders the records erased to protect Yang Fan from scrutiny by the Federation’s Supreme Artificial Lifeform.
• Reviewing the Yang Group’s assets, she finds roughly 300 trillion Divinity Points’ worth of spirit stones, earthcore spirit marrow, and enlightenment tea sitting in warehouses. The goods have piled up because the group lacks sales channels and Ma Yu refuses to sell them cheaply.
• The earthcore spirit marrow and enlightenment tea came from the Frontline. Lu Wan realizes Yang Fan has been buying resources from gods there and reselling them for slim margins. The artificial lifeform estimates about a five-percent return per turnover on those goods, little or none on spirit stones, and warns that financing the trade further could create serious cash-flow risks.
• Learning that Yang Fan has been under financial strain but refused her hundred-trillion-point dowry, Lu Wan is overcome with guilt. She decides not to approach him directly, believing his pride would make him reject her help. Instead, she plans to discreetly connect the Yang Group with professional managers and sales channels to move its inventory.
• The scene shifts to a Sima Family meeting in the Virtual World. Several gods report severe losses of high-end believers and growing pressure on their Divine Kingdoms from the conflict with Lu Mingshi’s Lu Family. They also complain that, despite the Lineage supplying war materials, their own Divine Kingdoms produce the intelligent weapons and have yet to receive compensation. Sima Zhao listens at the head of the meeting.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Wan moves from suspicion and anger at Ma Yu’s management to admiration, tenderness, and remorse when she understands Yang Fan’s sacrifices. She chooses quiet, indirect support rather than confronting him.
• Yang Fan is absent from the main discussion; his refusal of Lu Wan’s dowry and his risky, low-margin trading reveal his pride and determination. Unaware of Lu Wan’s plans, he simply enjoys his meal and wonders who is thinking of him after sneezing.
• The artificial lifeform supplies Lu Wan with financial records and analysis, then advises her to warn Yang Fan about the risk of a funding-chain failure.
• The Sima Family gods voice mounting fear and frustration over their losses and the burden of the ongoing conflict, directing their concerns to Sima Zhao.

Significant themes

• Love expressed through quiet sacrifice: Lu Wan’s response is to help Yang Fan without demanding recognition.
• Pride and concealed hardship: Yang Fan’s refusal of the dowry contrasts with the financial strain he has been enduring.
• The risks of ambition and leverage: A modest trading opportunity may be profitable, but tying up capital and borrowing heavily could threaten the Divine Kingdom’s finances.
• The human cost of conflict: The Sima Family’s losses in believers and military resources show how prolonged fighting can endanger entire Divine Kingdoms.

Key plot points and events

• The Sima Family’s campaign against Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom is going badly, and Sima Zhao fears the defeat will damage his prospects for inheriting the family’s core authority.
• Sima Yurou reports that Lu Mingshi has refused all contact with the Sima Family. He has openly taken responsibility for the invasion and will not negotiate.
• The Sima leaders consider reaching Lu through his parents, but reject the idea: they are powerful, well-connected gods. The parents have also invited people to Lu’s unusual 333rd-birthday banquet, which the Sima Family interprets as a boastful celebration.
• Since the Federation’s Supreme Artificial Lifeform requires conclusive evidence before punishing Lu, Sima Zhao decides to send Sima Tianci to deliver a peace offer to Yang Fan: 1,000 S-Class Resource Buildings in exchange for ending the conflict.
• Sima Zhao claims the Sima forces can keep fighting for another month. His allies object, fearing the costs will bankrupt their Divine Kingdoms. He promises to reimburse their daily losses in Divinity Points, winning their support.
• After the others leave, Sima Zhao reveals to Yurou that the reimbursement promise and “one more month” claim are a bluff. If the battle continues beyond five days, he intends to withdraw. The message is meant to reach Yang Fan and make the opposing side reconsider the war’s cost.

Character developments

• Sima Zhao appears calm and pragmatic under pressure. He protects his political standing, recognizes his allies’ self-interest, and uses deception rather than force to shape the negotiations.
• Sima Yurou is cautious and perceptive, questioning whether Lu’s parents can be approached and whether Sima Zhao’s promises are wise.
• Lu Mingshi is portrayed as unusually uncompromising: unlike the customary practice of using intermediaries, he has personally pursued the conflict and rejected peace overtures.
• The Sima gods quickly shift from angry resistance to cooperation once their personal losses are promised compensation, revealing their financial priorities.

Significant themes

• Psychological warfare and bluffing: Sima Zhao’s public promises are designed to influence Yang Fan, not to reflect his true plans.
• Power, reputation, and succession: The outcome of the war may affect Sima Zhao’s standing within his family.
• Self-interest within alliances: The Five Great Families are both partners and rivals, and even the Sima gods’ loyalty depends on who bears the costs.
• Limits of retaliation: Without conclusive evidence, the Sima Family cannot openly punish Lu Mingshi despite believing he is responsible.

Character interactions

• Sima Zhao questions Yurou about Lu Mingshi, then dismisses her proposal to use his parents as intermediaries.
• The Sima gods challenge Zhao’s strategy because they fear financial ruin; he secures their cooperation by offering compensation.
• In private, Yurou voices suspicion about the plan, and Zhao explains that his promises are a calculated deception intended to reach Yang Fan through Sima Tianci.

Plot points and events

• Sima Yurou and Sima Zhao agree that Sima Tianci will likely reveal what was discussed at their meeting. They intend to let the information spread, hoping their maneuver will work.
• Sima Zhao decides that, in five days, he will stop risking his Divine Kingdom’s resources merely to protect his reputation. He accepts that Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom may not be salvageable and resolves not to turn one failed assignment into a lasting feud.
• Afterward, Sima Zhao receives an invitation to Lu Mingshi’s birthday banquet and orders a gift worth 50,000 Divinity Points. Though Lu is currently an enemy, he hopes to ease tensions and leaves open the possibility of a future alliance.
• Later, Yang Fan spends time with Gu Le and their young son, Gu Chengye. Gu Le serves him tea made with violet spirit water she obtained from her father, but Yang Fan suggests saving it for Chengye, who enjoys drinking it.
• Yang Fan asks about Chengye’s education. Gu Le explains that, while he is still very young, she prioritizes play and experience over intensive study. She plans to provide elite support once he awakens his Divine Kingdom, including a powerful artificial lifeform, resource buildings, and companies to fund his development.

Character developments and interactions

• Sima Zhao shows growing pragmatism: he is willing to accept a financial or strategic loss rather than let pride and sunk costs dictate his choices. His respectful view of Lu Mingshi suggests he is thinking beyond their present conflict.
• Sima Yurou supports Sima Zhao’s strategy and reassures him that allowing information to leak may be more important than controlling who spreads it.
• Yang Fan is attentive to Gu Le and Chengye, but his questions reveal that he initially assumes a child should study Divine Kingdom theory early. He recognizes that his own rise depended heavily on his rare talent, not simply hard work.
• Gu Le expresses confidence in the advantages her family can provide and affectionately frames Chengye’s upbringing as one focused on enjoyment, opportunity, and future resources. Her tenderness toward her son contrasts with her highly planned vision for his future.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism over pride: Sima Zhao chooses long-term judgment over defending his reputation or chasing sunk costs.
• Power, privilege, and unequal beginnings: The chapter highlights how influential families can place their children far ahead through wealth, connections, and resources.
• Different paths to success: Yang Fan’s talent-driven rise contrasts with Gu Le’s belief that resources and expert support matter more than early theoretical study.
• Family and protection: Gu Le and Yang Fan’s discussion centers on giving Chengye a secure, comfortable future, while Yang Fan’s willingness to let him enjoy the violet spirit water reflects his care for the child.

Plot points and events

• Yang Fan leaves the Virtual World after promising Gu Le he will return the next day to keep Gu Chengye company.
• His friend Sima Tianci arrives and promptly makes himself comfortable on a massage chair, joking that he came to escape boredom and his Lineage’s assignments.
• Sima explains that the gods supporting Ma Huainan are weakening and the Lineage wants peace. He shows Yang Fan a confidential recording of Sima Zhao’s meeting, where the Sima Family demands a withdrawal, requests subsidies, offers 1,000 S-Class Resource Buildings as compensation, and threatens to hold out for no more than a month.
• Yang Fan acts baffled that anyone would expect him to be involved. He insists he has no connection to the Corpse-Cultivating God or the Divine Kingdom War, despite Sima Zhao being Sima Yurou’s brother.
• Sima points out that Yang Fan’s company recently hired Lu Mingshi, whom the Sima Family suspects of invading Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom on Yang Fan’s orders.
• Yang Fan admits he hired Lu Mingshi, but claims he only discovered the man’s involvement after investigating the battle. He says he admires Lu Mingshi’s strength and hired him for the Yang Group’s growth, while disclaiming approval of the invasion.

Character developments and interactions

• Yang Fan is calm, calculating, and convincingly evasive, repeatedly distancing himself from the conflict while acknowledging the business value of hiring Lu Mingshi.
• Sima Tianci is more lively and familiar with Yang Fan than he used to be. He brings the confidential recording, apparently expecting Yang Fan to recognize its relevance, and is visibly unsettled by Yang Fan’s shameless denials.
• Their relaxed banter—especially Sima lounging through the conversation—contrasts with the serious political and military information they discuss.

Significant themes

• Plausible deniability and deception: Yang Fan carefully separates himself from an operation the Sima Family believes he directed.
• Business versus morality: He distinguishes his personal disapproval of Lu Mingshi’s actions from the strategic benefit of hiring him.
• Power and negotiation: The Sima Family’s offer and threat reveal its weakening position and the pressure to negotiate peace.

Key plot points and events

• Sima Tianci tells Yang Fan that the Sima Family’s financial support for Sima Zhao’s forces will end in five days. At the current pace, the family-backed gods can hold out for only about ten more days, likely ending the war.
• Tianci reveals that he originally leaked information about Ma Huainan’s investigation hoping Yang Fan would report it and damage Sima Zhao’s branch. Instead, Yang Fan traced Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom coordinates and sent Lu Mingshi to attack directly, far exceeding Tianci’s expectations.
• Tianci leaves impressed but wary, concluding that Yang Fan is powerful, calculating, and dangerous—and that friendship with him requires distance.
• Yang Fan dismisses the screen showing the discussion and privately looks forward to using Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom Core to uncover the coordinates of the Third-Order Gods supporting him. He plans to wait before targeting them.
• The fighting inside Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom remains locked in a costly war of attrition. Unburied corpses rot, disease spreads, and pollution worsens.
• The Sima Family’s supporting gods grow frustrated by escalating expenses, supply disputes, disease-related losses, and the lack of clear returns. Sima Jin surveys the devastation as Ma Huainan’s population suffers from illness, hunger, declining births, and aging.

Character developments

• Yang Fan is revealed as more ambitious and ruthless than Tianci expected. He shows little concern for faction or race and treats the war as an opportunity to gain future targets.
• Sima Tianci shifts from trying to manipulate Yang Fan to recognizing him as a formidable peer. He respects Yang Fan’s strength but decides not to grow too close to him.
• Ma Huainan is shown to be presiding over a Divine Kingdom nearing collapse, unable to prevent its people’s physical and demographic decline.
• Sima Jin and the supporting gods move from participation to resentment as the war’s costs undermine their expected profits.

Significant themes

• Power and caution: Strong connections can bring advancement, but powerful allies may also be dangerous.
• War’s hidden costs: Beyond battlefield casualties, prolonged conflict destroys supplies, health, infrastructure, and population stability.
• Self-interest and profit: Family loyalty and support weaken when costs rise and rewards diminish.
• Yang Fan’s strategic patience: He delays action not out of mercy, but to avoid attention and maximize future gains.

Character interactions

• Tianci speaks candidly with Yang Fan about the war’s likely limits and invites him to meet his younger brother, Sima Pang.
• After leaving, Tianci privately reassesses Yang Fan, balancing respect with distrust.
• Yang Fan remains outwardly composed with Tianci, then privately reveals his predatory interest in the supporters’ Divine Kingdom coordinates.
• Sima Family supporters complain to Sima Jin about unpaid expenses, disease, equipment losses, and food shortages, exposing growing tension within the coalition.

Plot points and events

• Sima Jin and the Sima Family gods see how badly Ma Huainan’s Divine Kingdom has deteriorated. They doubt whether his SS-Rank talent is enough to justify the enormous resources needed to restore it.
• Ma Huainan’s remaining believers are sick and dying, and he is spending what little money he can find on medicine. He has gone out to borrow more.
• In the Virtual World, Ma Huainan begs Qin Xue for another loan, but she discovers that his assets are frozen or already pledged and that he has taken high-interest loans from multiple lenders.
• Furious, Qin Xue throws him out and orders her company to freeze his remaining assets and pursue legal action to recover as much as possible.
• Back in the real world, Ma Huainan sees that nearly every contact in his phone is marked “Already borrowed.” His physical health and appearance have also deteriorated alongside his Divine Kingdom.

Character developments and interactions

• Ma Huainan has fallen from celebrated prodigy to desperate borrower, abandoning his pride to plead and kowtow to Qin Xue. His exhaustion and gray hair reveal the personal toll of his kingdom’s collapse.
• Qin Xue shifts from lender to creditor seeking damage control. Though upset by her losses, she takes decisive legal steps and is relieved that insurance may protect her company and its shareholders.
• Sima Jin and the Sima Family gods are increasingly pessimistic about Ma Huainan’s prospects and resent the burden of funding his defense.
• Qin Xue rejects Ma Huainan’s appeal harshly, while his former friends, classmates, and relatives appear to have already lent him whatever they could.

Significant themes

• The cost of collapse: Damage to a Divine Kingdom harms not only its believers and environment but also its god’s body and prospects.
• Reputation versus reality: Ma Huainan’s former status as a “Peerless Monster” offers little protection once his situation becomes dire.
• Debt and responsibility: Borrowing has spiraled into financial ruin, leaving creditors scrambling to recover losses.
• Isolation in adversity: Ma Huainan’s contact list shows that his social network has been exhausted along with his funds.

Plot points and events

• Ma Huainan has exhausted his borrowing trying to keep his believers alive, but they continue to die from disease, starvation, and contamination in his damaged Divine Kingdom.
• He calls his parents, who offer financial help and reassurance. Unable to admit how badly things have gone, he insists that he is fine, then breaks down after his father tells him that their only concern is his safety and happiness.
• His parents privately recognize that something is wrong. Though they worry about him, they feel powerless as ordinary Divine Lifeforms with little wealth or influence.
• Alone at the Sima Family villa, Ma Huainan asks a robot to make braised ribs “the taste of Mom’s cooking.” The robot cannot interpret the request, and he dismisses it, retreating into silence.
• At the Divine Kingdom’s perimeter, Sima Family gods complain that Sima Zhao has not sent the promised Divinity Points to cover their losses. Sima Jin concludes that the Lineage has reached its limit and orders the defenders to withdraw.

Character developments and interactions

• Ma Huainan is increasingly isolated and emotionally overwhelmed. His public confidence—his prized SS-Rank talent and advantageous marriage—contrasts with his private despair. He cannot bring himself to confess his failure to his parents.
• His parents respond with warmth rather than judgment. His father urges him not to measure his worth by success, while his mother remembers his childhood favorite meal; both understand his distress but believe they cannot help.
• Sima Jin and the other gods move from frustration and suspicion to accepting that Sima Zhao has abandoned the effort. Sima Jin makes the practical decision to withdraw.

Significant themes

• Family love and emotional refuge: Ma Huainan’s parents offer unconditional care, and the memory of his mother’s cooking becomes a symbol of comfort he longs for.
• Pride, shame, and silence: He hides his collapse from those closest to him, unable to reconcile his former status with his present failure.
• Powerlessness and unequal status: His parents’ concern cannot translate into help, while the gods’ continued defense depends on resources controlled by the powerful.
• Abandonment and dwindling hope: The believers’ deaths and the withdrawal of Sima Family forces mark the failure of the support Ma Huainan had relied upon.