Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Death God Puppet”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold and Bemona enter another room in the castle while searching for Obsidian badges required for the God Hunter Examination.
• The room seals itself, and five Mid-God guards ambush them with arrows. Arnold’s Gravity Space Profound Truth causes the arrows to fall before reaching them.
• Bemona immobilizes the guards with Wind Space Profound Truth, allowing Arnold to kill all five with a Power Pulsation Slash.
• Arnold retrieves five Obsidian badges from the guards’ interspatial rings and gives four to Bemona.
• They discover a hidden section of the room containing a staircase leading to a lower floor, suggesting that other examination participants may have been ambushed as well. Rather than use the stairs, Arnold breaks through the wall and returns to the corridor.
• A fellow examination participant suddenly attacks Arnold. Arnold slows him with gravity and kills him with a sword strike.
• Three other participants, including the seemingly friendly Achill, approach and question Arnold about his badges. Arnold warns them away, implying that they are interested in stealing his spoils. After seeing their companion dead, they leave without attacking.
• Arnold and Bemona move to a higher floor, where they hear fighting. They observe three High-God God Hunters battling two golden-robed guards.
• One guard sends a powerful phantom, later revealed to be a Death God Puppet, to attack Arnold and Bemona.
• Arnold’s fused Earth-and-power attack damages the puppet but fails to stop it; its metal skull quickly regenerates using Earth Godforce.
• Realizing that the puppet is merely a weapon controlled remotely, Arnold abandons the idea of destroying it and has Bemona search for its hidden controller.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates strong preparation, tactical awareness, and confidence. His control over Gravity Space allows him to neutralize ranged attacks and overpower weaker opponents.
• He shows no hesitation in killing those who attack him, reflecting the dangers and ruthlessness of the God Hunter Examination.
• Arnold also displays strategic intelligence by recognizing that physically destroying the Death God Puppet would not harm its master and by shifting focus to finding the controller.
• Bemona proves herself an effective combat partner, using Wind Space to restrain enemies and immediately understanding Arnold’s plan against the puppet.
• Her calm attitude toward death emphasizes her acceptance of the examination’s brutal rules.
• Achill and the other participants are shown to be cautious and opportunistic. Their interest in Arnold’s badges suggests possible hostility, but Arnold’s decisive response discourages them.

Significant Themes

• Survival and distrust: Participants in the examination are not automatically allies; they may attack or exploit one another for badges and treasures.
• Teamwork and complementary abilities: Arnold’s gravity and offensive power combine effectively with Bemona’s wind-based restraint.
• Strategy over brute force: Arnold repeatedly wins by controlling the battlefield and identifying an opponent’s weaknesses rather than relying solely on strength.
• The nature of power and control: The Death God Puppet illustrates the difference between a weapon and its user. Destroying the puppet would not defeat the true enemy, so Arnold must locate its controller.
• The cost of ambition: The examination requires participants to accept constant danger, betrayal, and the possibility of death.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona cooperate closely, sharing information and coordinating their attacks.
• Arnold intimidates Achill’s group after killing their attacking companion, using his words to discourage them from trying to steal his badges.
• The golden-robed guards coordinate their defense and direct the Death God Puppet toward Arnold and Bemona.
• Arnold and Bemona silently communicate their strategy after identifying the puppet, with Bemona immediately searching for its controller while Arnold engages or assesses the construct.

Chapter Summary: “Yellow-Robed Guard”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Bemona locates and instantly kills the guard controlling the Death God Puppet that was battling Arnold. With the controller dead, the puppet stops moving, allowing Arnold to secure it.
• Arnold and Bemona leave the main hall, continuing their ascent through the castle. They search empty rooms, ambush and kill numerous guards, and eventually become targets on the God Hunters’ elimination list alongside the powerful High-Gods.
• By the twentieth floor, they encounter a formidable yellow-robed guard waiting for them. He challenges the two Mid-Gods after hearing of their slaughter of his fellow guards.
• Arnold introduces himself and switches to his Wind God Clone before engaging the guard. The yellow-robed guard reveals that he is far stronger than ordinary guards and attacks with a black heavy sword empowered by Earth High-God Divine Power.
• Arnold counters with sword strikes containing multiple Fusion Profound Mysteries. He then creates fifty Wind Law clones to overwhelm his opponent, but the guard’s Divine Domain slows them and allows him to destroy several.
• Arnold uses the clones as part of a more elaborate technique. Wind elemental energy forms nine cyan tails that bind the guard, while Arnold transforms into an enormous nine-tailed fox-like elemental creature.
• The tails condense into nine massive energy spheres, combining aspects of the Wind Element, Fast, Slow, and related profound mysteries. The spheres strike the guard simultaneously, damaging his Earth Godforce robes and shattering the floor, though he suffers only minor injuries.
• Impressed by Arnold’s strength, the guard finally gives his name: Heslov. He then launches another attack at tremendous speed, concealing his soul aura through the combination of Earth Travel and Vitality profound mysteries.
• Rather than being intimidated, Arnold recognizes the ingenious fusion between Heslov’s movement and soul-concealment abilities and begins searching for the point where those mysteries complement each other.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates increasing mastery and creativity with the Wind Law. He combines multiple profound mysteries in both combat and restraint techniques, using clones not merely as attackers but as components of a larger strategy.
• Arnold also shows strong analytical instincts. Instead of focusing only on surviving Heslov’s speed, he studies the interaction between Heslov’s Earth Travel and Vitality abilities, hoping to understand or exploit their fusion.
• Bemona continues to prove her overwhelming combat ability. Her Earth God Clone is stronger than Arnold’s, allowing her to kill the Death God Puppet’s controller effortlessly and eliminate numerous guards during their ascent.
• Heslov is established as an elite and confident guard rather than an ordinary soldier. His mastery of Earth Law, powerful Divine Domain, immense defensive strength, and concealed soul aura make him a serious threat to Arnold.

Significant Themes

• Strength hidden beneath appearances: Heslov initially appears to be merely another guard, but his High-God-level abilities make him exceptionally dangerous.
• Adaptability and tactical intelligence: Arnold succeeds not through brute force alone, but by switching clones, combining profound mysteries, and turning his clones into part of a binding attack.
• Mastery through fusion: The chapter emphasizes that true power comes from combining different profound mysteries in ways suited to specific offensive or defensive purposes.
• Confidence and recognition among warriors: Heslov’s initial arrogance shifts into respect after witnessing Arnold’s attack, while Arnold recognizes Heslov as an opponent worth studying.

Character Interactions

• Bemona and Arnold cooperate efficiently, regrouping after Bemona kills the puppet controller and continuing their assault through the castle.
• Heslov openly challenges Arnold and refuses to reveal his name until Arnold proves himself in battle.
• Arnold and Heslov engage in a closely matched exchange of swordsmanship and profound-mystery techniques. Heslov’s Divine Domain counters Arnold’s clones, while Arnold’s nine-tailed Wind technique temporarily restrains and injures Heslov.
• After surviving Arnold’s strongest attack with only minor injuries, Heslov introduces himself and resumes the fight at even greater speed. Arnold responds not with fear, but with keen interest in deciphering Heslov’s abilities.

Summary of “The Castle’s Master”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold battles Heslov, a yellow-robed castle guard who initially underestimates Arnold and Bemona because they are only Mid-Gods.
• Heslov has partially fused the Profound Truths of Earth Travel, Vitality, and Strength, giving him exceptional material-attack power. However, Arnold’s mastery of four fused profound truths allows him to fight evenly with Heslov.
• During the fight, Arnold studies Heslov’s movement and elementalization techniques. This gives Arnold new insight into combining the Profound Truths of Earth Travel and Vitality.
• Arnold breaks through his bottleneck and unleashes powerful gray divine energy, overwhelming Heslov in a single attack. Heslov’s Earth God Clone is destroyed, and Arnold takes his God Spark and interspatial ring.
• Arnold explains to Bemona that the battle helped him approach the fusion of Earth Travel and Vitality. Once completed, he may be able to begin fusing five profound truths.
• Meanwhile, the castle’s master—a black-robed old man—watches recorded battles through crystal balls. He becomes intrigued by Arnold’s gray divine power and suspects Arnold may be a rare Two-System Soul Mutant.
• After seeing that multiple God Hunters have killed his guards, the castle master decides to personally intervene.
• Arnold and Bemona continue climbing the castle, defeating numerous guards and collecting over thirty Special Obsidian Emblems. Bemona keeps the emblems, intending to sell them to other examination participants.
• Near the castle’s rooftop, they encounter a major battle: five powerful High-God God Hunters are fighting the black-robed castle master. Despite their combined strength, they cannot gain the upper hand, suggesting that the castle master is at least a powerful Six-Star God Hunter.

Character Developments

• Arnold: Demonstrates rapid growth in combat and comprehension. His fight with Heslov allows him to make a breakthrough in the fusion of Earth Travel and Vitality, bringing him closer to mastering five fused profound truths. His unusual gray divine power also attracts the attention of the castle master.
• Bemona: Continues to support Arnold and remains impressed by his cultivation speed. She also shows a mischievous, opportunistic side by confiscating the Special Obsidian Emblems to sell later.
• The black-robed castle master: Initially observes the intruders from a distance, analyzing their abilities. His curiosity about Arnold turns into active interest, and he decides to personally deal with the invading God Hunters.
• Heslov: Shifts from careless confidence to full seriousness, but even his strongest efforts cannot withstand Arnold after Arnold’s breakthrough.

Significant Themes

• Growth through combat: Arnold’s battle is not merely a contest of strength; observing his opponent’s techniques directly advances his understanding and cultivation.
• The danger of underestimation: Heslov initially dismisses Arnold because of his Mid-God status, while other High-God God Hunters similarly mock Arnold and Bemona for reaching the rooftop.
• Exceptional talent and rarity: Arnold’s gray divine power leads the castle master to suspect that he is a Soul Mutant, emphasizing how unusual and potentially valuable his abilities are.
• Strength versus teamwork: Even five elite High-God God Hunters struggle against the castle master, highlighting the enormous gap between powerful individuals.
• Pragmatism and opportunism: Bemona’s plan to sell the collected emblems adds a lighter, practical contrast to the deadly battles around them.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona discuss Arnold’s breakthrough after the battle, with Bemona expressing amazement at his potential.
• Arnold repeatedly fights alone while Bemona observes, relying on his growing combat ability and understanding of profound-truth fusion.
• The black-robed castle master studies Arnold through magical recordings and speculates about his identity and abilities.
• Several High-God God Hunters ridicule Arnold and Bemona for entering the rooftop battle area, warning that they will not protect them.
• Arnold calmly rejects their concern, asserting that he and Bemona can protect themselves, before turning their attention to the far more dangerous battle between the elite God Hunters and the castle master.

Summary of “Magic Battle Formation”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A towering brute, transformed into a ten-meter Earth Giant, and four other High-God God Hunters battle the old man in black robes, the owner of the castle.
• The old man initially focuses on defense, using his black staff to create spatial ripples that drastically weaken the group’s attacks.
• Arnold observes the old man’s techniques, recognizing the combination of the Profound Truths of Earth Pulsation, Vitality, and Earth Element, and tries to understand how they are fused so effectively.
• The old man eventually counterattacks, forcing all five opponents to struggle against him. He creates a gigantic blue rat from Earth Godforce, whose roar generates Spatial Rifts.
• One of the attackers, “Fifth Brother,” has a divine avatar destroyed while blocking the attack. This prompts the towering brute to activate their secret trump card.
• The group sacrifices several Mid-God divine avatars to distract and exhaust the old man. The old man kills these avatars, dismissing them as worthless.
• The five survivors then form a pentagram-shaped Magic Battle Formation. Their combined aura and strength increase dramatically.
• Bemona explains to Arnold that Magic Arrays can amplify offensive power, not merely create seals or barriers. She notes that such formations require exceptional talent and are extremely rare.
• Using the formation, the five fighters operate as a single entity. Their combined energy gathers around the towering brute, who unleashes a sword strike with power approaching that of a Seven-star God Hunter.
• The old man in black robes realizes the danger as the attack tears open numerous Spatial Rifts.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates growing insight and intellectual curiosity. He carefully studies the old man’s defensive techniques and becomes interested in the previously unfamiliar power of Magic Arrays.
• Bemona acts as Arnold’s knowledgeable guide, explaining the principles and limitations of Magic Battle Formations. Her own past interest in Magic Arrays is hinted at, though she hides her lack of success in mastering them.
• The towering brute proves to be the leader of the group. After one teammate loses a divine avatar, he accepts the enormous risk of using their ultimate technique, despite knowing it will consume nearly all their soul power.
• The old man in black robes is shown to be highly experienced and cautious. Though he mocks the group, he remains alert to the possibility of a desperate counterattack and quickly recognizes the threat posed by their formation.
• The five God Hunters shift from individual combatants into a coordinated unit, sacrificing weaker divine avatars to create an opportunity for their decisive attack.

Significant Themes

• Teamwork versus individual strength: The five fighters become far more powerful when united through the Magic Battle Formation, demonstrating that coordination can allow weaker individuals to challenge a superior opponent.
• The limits and cost of power: Their ultimate technique consumes ninety-nine percent of their soul power, making it an all-or-nothing gamble.
• Knowledge and mastery: Arnold’s observations emphasize the importance of understanding how different profound truths can be combined.
• Hidden abilities and strategic deception: Both sides conceal or reveal trump cards at critical moments, while the old man’s apparent confidence masks his vigilance.
• Specialized forms of cultivation: The passage contrasts the study of profound truths with the separate discipline of Magic Arrays, suggesting that power can be developed through fundamentally different paths.

Character Interactions

• The old man repeatedly taunts the five God Hunters, challenging them to commit suicide and dismissing their weaker divine avatars.
• The five coordinate closely under the towering brute’s leadership, encouraging him to use their ultimate move after Fifth Brother’s avatar is destroyed.
• Bemona and Arnold discuss the nature of Magic Arrays while observing the battle, with Bemona correcting Arnold’s assumptions and explaining the rarity of true Magic Array masters.
• The final formation transforms the five from separate fighters into a unified combat force, allowing the towering brute to deliver an attack powerful enough to alarm the old man.

Chapter Summary: “Divine Beast—Giant God Rat”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The black-robed castle owner reveals a terrifying transformation: he summons the phantom of a gigantic blue rat and merges with it, becoming a hundred-meter-tall Divine Beast.
• The five God Hunters use a Magic Battle Formation, combining their strength to reach an offensive level close to that of a Seven-star God Hunter. However, the transformed elder’s enhanced defense renders their attacks useless.
• The five hunters combine into a massive Earth Giant and launch their strongest attack. The Giant Rat counters with a single slap enhanced by Fusion Profound Mysteries and overwhelming physical strength.
• The clash tears open the Earth God Plane, and all five hunters are killed instantly, leaving only their God Sparks and Interspatial Rings.
• The Giant Rat reveals that his Innate Divine Ability, “Giant Rat,” increases both his attack power and defense tenfold while transforming his body to enormous size.
• The remaining High-God God Hunters attempt to flee in different directions. The Giant Rat kills all five effortlessly—crushing one with his tail and sweeping away the other four with his claws.
• Only the castle owner, Arnold, and Bemona remain on the castle roof. Both Arnold and Bemona prepare to fight, recognizing that the enemy is likely stronger than an ordinary Seven-star God Hunter.

Character Developments

• The black-robed elder/castle owner demonstrates that he is actually a Divine Beast and possesses an exceptionally powerful enhancement-type Innate Divine Ability. His confidence and cruelty become more evident as he openly taunts the remaining hunters and annihilates those attempting to escape.
• Arnold remains calm and observant throughout the battle. He analyzes the nature of the elder’s ability, comparing it to other unusual Innate Divine Abilities, and identifies the weakness of the Magic Battle Formation: if the combined force cannot withstand an enemy, all participants are effectively doomed together. Arnold has already prepared his Four-Element Fusion Divine Power.
• Bemona recognizes the seriousness of the situation and switches to her strongest Darkness Divine Clone. Her Wind and Earth clones remain less advanced because she has prioritized fusing more Profound Mysteries before advancing them to the High-God level.
• The five God Hunters initially appear formidable through teamwork, but their formation proves useless against an opponent with vastly superior power and defense. Their deaths establish the overwhelming gap between them and the castle owner.
• The surviving High-God God Hunters lose hope once the strongest members are killed. Their failed escape attempt emphasizes their helplessness against the Giant Rat.

Significant Themes

• Overwhelming power and the limits of teamwork: The Magic Battle Formation can multiply and combine the hunters’ abilities, but cooperation cannot compensate for an extreme difference in individual strength.
• The danger of hidden abilities: The elder’s true strength is concealed until he activates his Innate Divine Ability, instantly changing the balance of the battle.
• Adaptation and strategy: Arnold and Bemona understand that their previous tactics will not work against the elder’s immense body and enhanced defense, so they prepare to change their approach.
• Despair versus composure: The other hunters panic and flee, while Arnold and Bemona remain focused and ready to confront the threat.
• Predator imagery and intimidation: The elder’s transformation into a giant rat, his taunting of the “little rats,” and his brutal attacks reinforce his role as an overwhelming predator.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona exchange glances and silently acknowledge that the situation may become dangerous, remaining ready to intervene.
• Arnold studies the elder’s transformation and speculates about whether the ability enhances only physical strength and defense or also soul power.
• The Giant Rat mocks the remaining hunters by calling them “little rats.” One hunter sarcastically points out that the elder himself is a giant rat, prompting the elder to proudly explain his ability.
• The elder’s attacks against the five-man formation and the fleeing High-God Hunters demonstrate a one-sided confrontation rather than a true exchange.
• By the end of the chapter, Arnold and Bemona stand together as the only possible opponents capable of challenging the transformed castle owner, though they realize they must abandon their previous combat strategy.

Chapter Summary: “Breaking the Giant Form”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The castle master, a giant blue rat, assumes Arnold is a Soul Mutant and greatly underestimates the patience and strength behind Arnold’s Wind God Clone.
• Arnold transforms into a ten-meter-tall Nine-Tails elemental creature using Two-System Fused Divine Power and creates a hundred clones.
• The clones self-destruct, filling the area with wind-elemental energy while Arnold uses the fused technique Sandfall Space to immobilize the castle master.
• Although the castle master breaks free through his immense size and power, Arnold and Bemona coordinate their attacks:
  • Arnold restrains one of the rat’s claws with his nine tails.
  • Bemona transforms her whip into a black python and wraps it around the rat’s other arm.
• Arnold forms a tenth tail and unleashes Extreme Point Inch Light, striking the castle master’s elbow with overwhelming force.
• The attack severs the giant rat’s arm, causing his enlarged form to collapse and return to its smaller size.
• The castle master hurriedly reattaches his arm, but his physical body is no longer in perfect condition. As a result, he loses the enhancement of his Innate Divine Ability and can no longer maintain his giant form.
• The chapter ends with the castle master furious that Arnold discovered the weakness of his transformation so quickly.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates major growth in power. His Wind Law has advanced further, strengthening Extreme Point Inch Light beyond its previous level.
• Arnold also shows strategic intelligence by using clones, immobilization, restraint, and a precision attack rather than relying solely on brute force.
• Bemona proves herself an essential combat partner. Her whip’s flexibility allows her to restrain the castle master’s arm and prevent him from escaping.
• The castle master shifts from overwhelming confidence to panic and vulnerability. His enormous form, initially appearing nearly invincible, is revealed to depend on the perfection of his physical body.

Significant Themes

• Strength through strategy: Arnold and Bemona defeat a physically superior opponent by identifying and exploiting a weakness rather than overpowering him directly.
• The limits of overwhelming power: The castle master’s tenfold enhancement is formidable but conditional; even a powerful Innate Divine Ability has flaws.
• Cooperation and coordination: Arnold and Bemona’s synchronized attacks are crucial to restraining the giant and creating an opening.
• Growth and hidden potential: Arnold’s continued advancement while remaining at the Mid-God stage challenges the castle master’s assumptions about Soul Mutants and divine power.

Character Interactions

• The castle master mocks Arnold and Bemona for refusing to flee, but Arnold ignores the provocation and responds through action.
• Arnold and Bemona work together to restrain both of the castle master’s arms, preventing him from using his massive body effectively.
• Their shared realization that the giant form must depend on a perfect physical state allows them to deliberately target and destroy that condition.
• After his transformation fails, the castle master recognizes that Arnold has outmaneuvered him, leaving him enraged and wary of his opponent.

Chapter Summary: “Belien Dies”

Key Plot Points and Events

• With the castle owner temporarily no longer posing an immediate threat, Bemona watches as Arnold challenges him to another duel.
• The castle owner introduces himself as Belien and expresses admiration for Arnold, a Mid-God who has fused multiple profound mysteries and resisted temptation.
• Arnold and Belien fight evenly. Belien is a peak Six-Star God Hunter nearing Fourfold Profound Fusion, while Arnold uses Two-System and later Four-System Mid-God Fusion Divine Power to match him.
• Arnold analyzes Belien’s combat techniques and realizes that Belien has repeatedly fused different combinations of three profound mysteries—Earth Pulsation, Vitality, Earth Element, and Strength—in an attempt to find a path toward Fourfold Profound Fusion.
• This causes Arnold to question whether he made a mistake by skipping the overall fusion of three and four profound mysteries and attempting the fusion of five instead.
• Distracted by these thoughts, Arnold is nearly knocked away by Belien’s staff strike, but he quickly regains focus.
• Arnold creates a hundred clones to surround Belien. Belien destroys them all using a powerful staff technique, but the destroyed clones release wind elemental essence that strengthens Arnold’s Wind Space Profound Truth.
• Arnold traps Belien with a powerful Wind Space Profound Truth formed from five fused mysteries. Belien cannot break free.
• Arnold then uses his strongest material attack, Extreme Point Inch Light, to pierce Belien’s head and destroy both his divine body and the hidden divine clone within it.
• Arnold retrieves Belien’s body, God Sparks, and interspatial ring before returning to Bemona.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates that his understanding and fusion of profound mysteries have advanced enough to challenge a peak Six-Star God Hunter. He also shows tactical creativity by using his clones as fuel for Wind Space Profound Truth.
• Arnold briefly becomes distracted by doubts about his cultivation path, particularly whether bypassing earlier stages of profound fusion was wise. The incident teaches him to remain focused during battle.
• Arnold’s victory confirms the terrifying power of his five-mystery Wind Space Profound Truth and his Four-System Mid-God Fusion Divine Power.
• Belien is revealed to be a highly accomplished Earth-law expert who has experimented with multiple three-mystery fusions in hopes of discovering the key to Fourfold Profound Fusion.
• Despite his intelligence and strength, Belien becomes increasingly desperate when trapped and chooses to fight to the death rather than surrender.
• Bemona remains observant and supportive, recognizing the significance of Belien’s cultivation and regretting that he had to be killed.

Significant Themes

• Survival in a world governed by strength: Arnold acknowledges that in the Earth God Plane, one must either kill or be killed.
• The difficulty of cultivation and fusion: Belien’s struggles illustrate how complex and uncertain the path toward higher-level profound fusion can be.
• The danger of distraction: Arnold’s moment of lost concentration nearly costs him, reinforcing the importance of mental discipline in combat.
• Adaptability and strategy: Arnold wins not through overwhelming power alone, but by combining clones, elemental essence, spatial binding, and a decisive finishing attack.
• Curiosity and experimentation: Arnold intends to study Belien’s essence blood and unusual Innate Divine Ability, suggesting that even enemies can provide opportunities for greater understanding.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Belien begin with mutual recognition and respect, as both acknowledge the other’s unusual strength.
• Their battle becomes increasingly serious when Arnold is distracted and Belien grows angry at his apparent lack of attention.
• Belien warns Arnold that he will not spare him if Arnold refuses to show mercy, but Arnold’s binding technique prevents him from escaping or retaliating.
• After Belien’s death, Bemona and Arnold discuss the battle and Belien’s likely progress toward Fourfold Profound Fusion.

Chapter Summary: “White Mouse”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The castle begins shaking violently after Belien’s death. Arnold realizes Belien likely activated destructive magic arrays as a final measure.
• Arnold warns everyone in the castle that it is about to collapse. Many God Hunter Examination participants and High-God God Hunters escape through an existing hole or by breaking through the walls.
• Some participants distrust the warning and assume the shaking is part of a trap, delaying their escape.
• Instead of collapsing immediately, the castle begins shifting deeper into Devouring Stone Mountain. The mountain itself gradually starts trembling.
• Arnold, Bemona, and the other survivors fly above twenty thousand meters to avoid the possible collapse of the mountain.
• The tremors intensify, rocks begin falling, and a terrifying aura erupts from within Devouring Stone Mountain. Arnold and Bemona worry that an extremely powerful being—possibly a Seven-star God Hunter or even an Asura—may be inside.
• Devouring Stone Mountain ultimately fractures from within and collapses into countless enormous boulders, killing those who failed to escape the castle in time.
• Once the dust settles, a strange hundred-meter-tall White Mouse appears atop the mountain’s remains. Its tail ends in a golden key, suggesting that it may be connected to the castle or its secrets.
• The White Mouse hears Arnold’s remark and looks directly at him, creating an ominous and mysterious first encounter.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates leadership and concern for others by immediately warning everyone of the impending disaster. Despite his confidence, he recognizes that the aura released from the mountain may be beyond his ability to control.
• Bemona remains perceptive and practical, quickly identifying the likely activation of Belien’s destructive magic arrays. Her reaction to Arnold’s careless “another mouse” comment also highlights their familiarity and playful tension.
• Belien, though already dead, continues influencing events through the delayed activation of the castle’s destruction mechanism.
• The God Hunter Examination participants divide into cautious survivors and suspicious holdouts. Those who ignore Arnold’s warning suffer potentially fatal consequences.
• The White Mouse is introduced as an enormously powerful and enigmatic entity, apparently intelligent enough to notice and react to Arnold.

Significant Themes

• Consequences of vengeance and preparation: Belien’s final act ensures that his defeat still endangers everyone, showing the destructive reach of his hatred and foresight.
• Survival and distrust: Participants must decide whether to trust Arnold’s warning, and hesitation proves dangerous.
• Power beyond control: The collapse of Devouring Stone Mountain reveals forces far greater than the characters initially expected.
• Mystery and revelation: The White Mouse and its golden key introduce a new unknown threat or opportunity, suggesting deeper secrets beneath the castle and mountain.
• Scale of destruction: The destruction of a massive mountain emphasizes the extraordinary power of the beings involved.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona work together closely, exchanging observations and silently recognizing the growing danger.
• Arnold publicly warns everyone in the castle, influencing the actions of many survivors.
• Arnold and Bemona speculate about the source of the terrifying aura and acknowledge that the situation has surpassed their control.
• Arnold accidentally compares the White Mouse to Bemona’s species, prompting her to roll her eyes at him.
• The White Mouse responds to Arnold’s comment by raising its head and locking gazes with him, establishing a tense and potentially significant connection.

Chapter Summary: “Divine Beast—Mountain Devouring Rat”

Key Plot Points and Events

• A powerful white mouse appears after Devouring Stone Mountain suddenly breaks apart. Arnold recognizes it as likely an Asura-level expert.
• The mouse transforms into a white-robed man, who reveals that he had been sleeping inside the mountain. He claims that Belien disturbed his sleep, causing him to awaken in anger and shatter the entire mountain.
• The white-robed man identifies himself as a Mountain Devouring Rat, a powerful rat-type Divine Beast.
• He correctly deduces that Arnold killed Belien and explains that Belien had intended to use the Mountain Devouring Rat against the survivors.
• The Mountain Devouring Rat spares Arnold, Bemona, and the others, dismissing the deaths caused by the mountain’s destruction as unfortunate accidents.
• He demands Belien’s true body because of their shared rat-like Divine Beast heritage. Arnold willingly gives it to him in an Interspatial Ring.
• The other God Hunters flee under the pressure of the Mountain Devouring Rat’s aura, leaving only Arnold and Bemona behind.
• The Mountain Devouring Rat questions Arnold about how Belien was defeated. Arnold explains that he and Bemona crippled Belien by severing one of his arms, preventing him from properly using his Innate Divine Ability.
• Arnold reveals that his Wind Law has begun the overall fusion of six Profound Mysteries, making him powerful enough to qualify as an exceptionally formidable Six-Star God Hunter.
• He also explains that, in the Earth Law, he has already fused nearly ten pairs of Profound Mysteries and intends to continue cultivating at the Mid-God level rather than advancing prematurely.

Character Developments

• Arnold: Demonstrates honesty, confidence, and remarkable ambition. He calmly negotiates with an Asura-level Divine Beast and openly describes his cultivation goals. His strength and strategic intelligence earn the Mountain Devouring Rat’s admiration.
• Bemona: Her continued presence confirms her alliance with Arnold in defeating Belien. She remains cautious but composed in the presence of overwhelming power.
• Mountain Devouring Rat: Initially appears threatening and enraged, but proves rational and perceptive. He respects Arnold after learning how Belien was defeated and becomes impressed by Arnold’s unusual cultivation path.
• Belien: Though dead, his actions remain central to the chapter. His attempt to manipulate the Mountain Devouring Rat fails, and his body is claimed by an old fellow Divine Beast.

Significant Themes

• Power and hierarchy: The chapter emphasizes the vast difference between ordinary God Hunters, Six-Star experts, and Asura-level beings.
• Strategic intelligence over brute force: Arnold and Bemona defeat Belien by exploiting the weakness in his Innate Divine Ability rather than overpowering him directly.
• Ambition and perseverance: Arnold deliberately delays becoming a High-God so he can achieve deeper Profound Mystery fusion, reflecting extraordinary confidence and long-term determination.
• Respect among powerful cultivators: The Mountain Devouring Rat’s hostility changes into admiration once he recognizes Arnold’s skill and ambition.
• Kinship and loyalty: The Mountain Devouring Rat takes responsibility for Belien’s remains because they are both rat-type Divine Beasts and had an old relationship.

Character Interactions

• The Mountain Devouring Rat intimidates the gathered God Hunters, forcing them to flee.
• He confronts Arnold about Belien’s death, but Arnold responds honestly rather than defensively.
• Arnold and the Mountain Devouring Rat discuss the mechanics of Belien’s Innate Divine Ability and the tactics used to defeat him.
• The Mountain Devouring Rat evaluates Arnold’s cultivation and praises his perseverance after learning about his progress in the Wind and Earth Laws.

Chapter Summary: “Greatly Increased Strength”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After warning Arnold and Bemona that they should one day reach his level, the white-robed Asura departs. His unusual glance at Bemona leaves her confused.
• Arnold and Bemona return to the location where the Metallic Lifeform had stopped, only to find it gone. They eventually locate it and reunite with the purple-robed God Hunter Castle elder.
• Of nearly five hundred God Hunter Examination participants, only sixty or seventy survive the return journey.
• The white-robed Asura reveals that Arnold killed the God Hunter Castle master, causing the surviving participants to become wary of Arnold.
• Bemona sells twenty-five Obsidian Badges to participants who failed to obtain one, earning more than twenty million Earth Origin Stones.
• Arnold and Bemona officially become One-Star God Hunters. Since the castle master's corpse was taken away, Arnold’s achievement cannot be formally verified, but the two do not care because they only wanted the God Hunter identity for convenience and protection from bandits.
• They return to secluded cultivation. After 270 years, Arnold completely fuses all six profound mysteries of the Wind Law, raising his Wind God Clone to Six-Star God Hunter strength without relying on Fused Divine Power.
• Over the following twenty years, he completes the fusion of the Earth Law’s Strength and Vitality profound truths with the Profound Truth of Earth Travel. Only the Profound Truth of Earth Pulsation remains outside the pairwise fusion of the Earth Law’s other five profound mysteries.

Character Developments

• Arnold: Becomes significantly stronger through prolonged cultivation. His Wind God Clone reaches Six-Star God Hunter level, while his Earth Law and Clone Profound Mystery make major advances. He adopts a carefully structured training plan across his four laws, focusing on fusion rather than merely individual comprehension.
• Bemona: Demonstrates strong commercial instincts by profiting from the shortage of Obsidian Badges. She earns over twenty million Earth Origin Stones and remains fully willing to spend centuries in secluded cultivation, continuing to study the Earth, Wind, and Darkness Laws.
• White-robed Asura: Remains mysterious and overwhelmingly powerful. His departure prevents a dangerous confrontation, and his disclosure of Arnold’s achievement affects how the survivors view Arnold.
• God Hunter Castle survivors: Their fear and suspicion of Arnold increase after learning that he killed the castle master.

Significant Themes

• Strength through patient cultivation: Arnold’s power grows through centuries of disciplined study, experimentation, and gradual fusion of profound mysteries.
• The danger of the wider world: Encountering an Asura reminds Arnold and Bemona that they are still vulnerable to far stronger beings.
• Pragmatism and self-preservation: The God Hunter identity is treated as a practical shield against bandits rather than a heroic title.
• Power and reputation: Even without official proof, rumors of Arnold’s victory over the castle master make others wary of him.
• Complementary talents: Arnold contributes overwhelming combat potential and technical insight, while Bemona combines cultivation with profitable opportunism.

Character Interactions

• The white-robed man speaks briefly with Arnold and Bemona before leaving, but his glance at Bemona creates an unresolved mystery.
• Arnold and Bemona silently share relief once the Asura is gone, recognizing that they could not currently oppose him.
• The God Hunter Castle staff casually question the survivors about the mission, while the Asura’s revelation transforms Arnold into an object of fear.
• Bemona’s badge sales benefit the other survivors while also generating substantial wealth for herself.
• Arnold and Bemona continue to cultivate together in seclusion, supporting their shared goal of becoming strong enough to face future dangers.

Chapter Summary: Journey to the Hill Continent

Key Plot Points and Events

• After reaching his current level of strength, Arnold becomes confident enough to fight Asura-level opponents. He and Bemona resume taking simple protection missions through God Hunter Castle, remaining on the Simon Continent.
• Over the next fifty years, they prioritize travel and sightseeing over earning Earth Origin Stones, visiting many famous landmarks across the continent, including Yunze Bit Highlands, Mount O’Neill, and the Starry Sky Floating Ladder.
• Their extensive missions unintentionally raise their God Hunter rank to four stars.
• Having explored Muir Prefecture thoroughly, Arnold and Bemona decide to travel toward the Hill Continent, with the Black Tortoise Continent as their eventual destination. They accept an escort mission from Willard City to Milne City, near the Hill Continent’s border.
• During the journey, their Metallic Lifeform is intercepted by a large bandit group. The presence of Rod, a High-God God Hunter, immediately frightens the bandits into retreating without a fight.
• Arnold continues cultivating during the trip. He struggles to fuse five Earth Law profound mysteries—Earth Element, Earth Travel, Vitality, Gravity Space, and Strength—despite having already fused them pairwise.
• Arnold realizes that he has been approaching the problem incorrectly. Instead of trying to fuse all five mysteries equally, he decides to select one as the central foundation and use the others to support it.
• Because Gravity Space is the profound mystery he understands best, Arnold chooses it as the starting point and begins experimenting with small-scale transformations inside the Metallic Lifeform.

Character Developments

• Arnold has become considerably stronger and more confident, enough to consider fighting Asuras and undertaking higher-level challenges. However, his ambition also makes him impatient: rather than progressing gradually through three- and four-mystery fusions, he insists on attempting the much more difficult five-mystery fusion directly.
• His cultivation approach evolves when he recognizes the importance of assigning a primary role to one profound mystery. This marks a shift from brute-force experimentation toward a more structured and strategic method.
• Arnold’s progress in the Wind Law is substantial. His Clone and Wind Element profound mysteries are near complete fusion, while Wind Space is about halfway integrated. He also discovers useful compatibility between Sound Wave, Wind Element, and Dimensional.
• Bemona remains a supportive and perceptive companion. She gently criticizes Arnold’s impatience, points out that gradual fusion would likely have been easier, and quickly encourages him when he discovers a new direction.
• Their relationship appears comfortable and longstanding, shaped by decades of shared travel, cultivation, and adventure.

Significant Themes

• Exploration and companionship: Arnold and Bemona value experiencing the world together more than accumulating wealth or power, spending decades visiting scenic locations.
• The difficulty of cultivation: Mastering profound mysteries requires more than raw effort; it depends on recognizing hidden relationships, compatibility, and the correct method of fusion.
• Patience versus ambition: Arnold’s desire to achieve an advanced fusion quickly creates difficulty, while Bemona’s advice highlights the value of steady, incremental progress.
• Strength and reputation: High-God God Hunters command enough fear that even a large bandit force retreats without testing them, demonstrating how status and perceived power influence survival.
• Discovery through insight: Arnold’s breakthrough comes not from sudden power, but from changing his perspective and identifying Gravity Space as the organizing principle for the fusion.

Character Interactions

• Bazel respectfully asks Rod to deal with the approaching bandits, relying on Rod’s reputation as a High-God God Hunter.
• Rod responds calmly and leaves the Metallic Lifeform to confront them, though his mere appearance is enough to make the bandits flee.
• Arnold and Bemona observe the encounter with amusement, recognizing the intimidating reputation of High-God God Hunters.
• Bemona questions Arnold’s decision to bypass simpler fusion stages, while Arnold admits that his ambition and confidence led him to attempt the harder path.
• When Arnold suddenly realizes that one profound mystery should serve as the foundation, Bemona immediately asks whether he has gained inspiration and supports his new idea.
• The chapter ends with Arnold and his Earth God Clone working together to test Gravity Space as the core of the five-mystery fusion while the journey toward the Hill Continent continues.

Chapter Summary: “Taking Action”

Plot Points and Events

• Arnold and Bemona observe several hundred Mid-God bandits intercepting their Metallic Lifeform.
• Because the bandits could destroy the vessel, Bazel stores it away, forcing Arnold and the other passengers to confront the attackers in midair.
• The bandit leader orders six High-Gods to handle the three High-God defenders while roughly two hundred Mid-Gods attack the remaining God Hunters.
• Arnold reveals an unexpected ability by switching to his Wind God Clone and creating two hundred clones.
• When the bandits destroy the clones, the remnants transform into a powerful Wind Space that immobilizes all two hundred attackers.
• Arnold orders the God Hunters to attack, and they quickly kill nearly all of the restrained Mid-God bandits, leaving only the High-God attackers alive.
• Bazel realizes that Arnold’s strength is far beyond that of an ordinary Mid-God and asks him to restrain the remaining High-Gods.
• Arnold uses a stronger Wind Space, combining several Wind profound mysteries, to freeze the ten High-God bandits and their leader.
• The God Hunters kill all of them. Arnold claims the leader’s God Spark and Interspatial Ring as compensation, while the other hunters divide the remaining spoils.
• A married couple stays behind instead of searching the corpses, appearing especially grateful to Arnold.

Character Development

• Arnold: Publicly demonstrates overwhelming control over the battlefield and reveals that his abilities are powerful enough to restrain even High-Gods. He remains calm and practical, choosing to act early so he will not have to repeatedly rescue the group later. His demand for the bandit leader’s God Spark and Interspatial Ring shows confidence in his worth and contribution.
• Bazel: Initially treats Arnold as a normal Mid-God but quickly recognizes that he has concealed his true strength. Bazel becomes eager to rely on Arnold and offers him increased payment.
• The God Hunters: Begin the battle uncertain and outnumbered but gain confidence once Arnold immobilizes the bandits. Their cooperation allows them to destroy the trapped enemies efficiently.
• The Bandit Leader: Starts arrogant and confident because of his numerical advantage, but becomes increasingly distressed as his forces are wiped out. He dies regretting his decision to attack.

Significant Themes

• Hidden strength and deception: Arnold’s apparent status as a Mid-God conceals abilities capable of overwhelming High-Gods.
• Teamwork and tactical advantage: Arnold does not defeat the bandits solely through raw attacks; he restrains them so the entire group can attack safely and effectively.
• Confidence versus arrogance: The bandits underestimate Arnold and pay for their certainty that his clones are harmless.
• Reward and recognition: Arnold expects compensation for saving the group, while Bazel acknowledges his contribution by agreeing to increase his payment.
• Survival in a dangerous world: The chapter emphasizes the importance of acting decisively when facing overwhelming numbers.

Character Interactions

• The bandit leader taunts the defenders and orders his forces to divide the attack.
• Arnold coordinates directly with the God Hunters, urging them to attack while the bandits are immobilized.
• Bazel asks Arnold to intervene again and negotiates by promising greater compensation.
• Arnold humorously asks whether the existing High-Gods will resent him for taking over the battle, easing the tension while asserting his superiority.
• The surviving hunters accept Arnold’s claim to the bandit leader’s possessions, recognizing that his intervention made victory possible.
• The grateful married couple’s decision to remain behind hints at a personal connection or special appreciation toward Arnold.

Chapter Summary: “Traveling”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After completing a previous mission, Bazel provides Arnold’s group with a Metallic Lifeform for their journey and doubles the size of Arnold’s room because of his strength and status.
• During the thirty-year journey from Dumba Prefecture through Thorndike and Horn Prefectures toward Lowell Prefecture, numerous God Hunters visit Arnold. He politely refuses them so he can concentrate on cultivation.
• Ordinary bandit attacks are handled by the three High-God God Hunters traveling with the group. When attacks become overwhelming, Arnold intervenes, using his Wind Space Profound Truth and claiming the bandit leaders’ God Sparks and Interspatial Rings as payment.
• After thirty years, the group reaches the border of Lowell Prefecture, the final prefecture before leaving Simon Continent. The remaining trip to Xier Continent is expected to take at least ten more years.
• Arnold’s group is attacked by a thousand-man bandit force after entering Lowell Prefecture. The bandits destroy the Metallic Lifeform, forcing everyone into the open.
• Arnold protects the group with a massive Wind Godforce barrier, deflecting most of the bandits’ attacks. He then transforms the barrier into an enormous Elemental Great Hand, trapping and killing the entire bandit force with spatial rifts.
• Arnold takes the bandit leader’s God Spark and Interspatial Ring while the other God Hunters divide the remaining spoils. Bazel replaces the destroyed Metallic Lifeform.
• One month later, another bandit group destroys the replacement vessel. Arnold, now openly irritated, annihilates the attackers with the Elemental Great Hand but leaves their leader alive for questioning.

Character Development

• Arnold becomes increasingly powerful and versatile. His sixfold fusion technique, the Elemental Great Hand, demonstrates his ability to control large-scale battles and protect an entire group.
• He continues advancing in multiple Laws:
  • His Earth God Clone begins fusing four Profound Mysteries: Gravity Space, Earth Element, Vitality, and Earth Travel.
  • His main body continues searching for a fivefold fusion.
  • His Wind Law progresses as Sound Wave begins to fuse with Wind Element Technique, potentially becoming his seventh fused Profound Mystery.
  • His Fire and Water Laws also make steady progress.
• Arnold remains focused and practical, refusing social distractions and treating the bandit leaders’ loot as fair compensation for his efforts.
• Bemona shows both pride and envy toward Arnold’s rapid cultivation progress, reminding him that even a fourfold fusion is an achievement most cultivators would desperately desire.
• Bazel continues supporting the group by replacing their destroyed Metallic Lifeforms.

Significant Themes

• Cultivation and perseverance: Arnold’s decades-long journey are also a period of sustained experimentation and advancement in the fusion of Profound Mysteries.
• Power and responsibility: Arnold uses his overwhelming strength to protect weaker companions, while also demanding compensation for risking himself.
• The vast gap between realms of strength: A thousand bandits, including a leader around Five-Star God Hunter level, are effortlessly destroyed by Arnold’s sixfold fusion technique.
• Patience amid hardship: Repeated attacks and destroyed vessels delay the journey, but the group continues toward Xier Continent.
• Ambition and dissatisfaction: Arnold’s accomplishments are extraordinary, yet he remains dissatisfied because he has not found the fusion point for five Profound Mysteries.

Character Interactions

• God Hunters repeatedly visit Arnold, but he declines their invitations in favor of cultivation.
• Bemona scolds Arnold for complaining about fusing only four Profound Mysteries, highlighting the contrast between his expectations and ordinary cultivators’ achievements.
• Arnold works with the three High-God God Hunters, protecting the group when enemy numbers exceed their ability to manage.
• During the first attack in Lowell Prefecture, the God Hunters initially fear the large bandit force but regain confidence when they remember Arnold is present.
• Arnold’s increasingly forceful response to repeated attacks changes the atmosphere of the journey: the group comes to rely on him as its decisive protector, while the bandits are left completely helpless before his techniques.

Chapter Summary: “Heaven and Earth Treasure”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold releases the bandit leader after obtaining the information he wanted and taking the leader’s Interspatial Ring as payment.
• The bandit reveals that rumors are spreading about a powerful Heaven and Earth Treasure being transported from Simon Continent to Xier Continent. Because Arnold’s Metallic Lifeform appears to carry only three High-God God Hunters, many bandit groups target it.
• The rumored treasure can reportedly:
  • Increase by fifty percent the chance of finding a compatibility point between Profound Mysteries of a Law.
  • Help a cultivator break through the final bottleneck in fusing five or fewer Profound Mysteries.
• Arnold and Bemona speculate that the treasure may be the Earth Heart, a rare treasure from the Earth God Plane that greatly accelerates progress for Earth Law cultivators.
• They discuss the Earth Heart’s uncertain appearance and its three-year time limit: if not consumed soon after discovery, it disappears.
• Arnold decides they cannot abandon their current employer or wait indefinitely for the treasure, especially since they do not know where it is or what it looks like.
• Over the following years, bandits continue attacking the Metallic Lifeform. Arnold destroys poorly informed groups, while rumors spread that a mysterious, extremely powerful High-God is hiding aboard the vessel.
• As more bandits learn of Arnold’s strength and ability to conceal his aura, large-scale attacks become less frequent.
• After another ten years of travel and cultivation, the Metallic Lifeform approaches the border between Lowell Prefecture and Xier Continent.

Character Developments

• Arnold remains cautious and analytical. Although tempted by the treasure, he prioritizes his existing mission and recognizes the uncertainty and danger surrounding the rumors.
• He also establishes a fearsome reputation among the bandits by disguising himself as a Mid-God while demonstrating overwhelming power in battle.
• Bemona reveals her considerable knowledge of Heaven and Earth Treasures, gained through her connection to Beirut and her exposure to information about the higher planes.
• Bemona becomes visibly excited by the possibility of obtaining the treasure, but she also offers practical insight into its likely nature and limitations.

Significant Themes

• The allure and danger of rare treasures: The rumored item could dramatically improve cultivation, making it valuable enough to provoke widespread conflict.
• Cultivation and breakthroughs: The chapter emphasizes how difficult compatibility between Profound Mysteries is and how transformative a natural treasure could be.
• Rumor, uncertainty, and speculation: Neither Arnold nor Bemona can confirm that the treasure exists, identify its appearance, or determine whether it is truly the Earth Heart.
• Power concealed beneath appearances: Arnold’s false aura causes enemies to underestimate him, while his actions gradually create a reputation that deters future attacks.
• Duty versus personal opportunity: Arnold chooses to continue his assignment rather than pursue an uncertain treasure, demonstrating discipline and responsibility.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona discuss the bandit’s information and debate the possible identity of the treasure.
• Their conversation shows mutual trust and intellectual cooperation: Arnold contributes practical reasoning, while Bemona provides historical and theoretical knowledge.
• Bemona hints that a true Heaven and Earth Treasure can be recognized instinctively upon encountering it, but she refuses to explain further, leaving Arnold curious.
• Their shared cultivation and continued journey strengthen the sense that they are working together while remaining alert to the dangers surrounding them.

Chapter Summary: “The Hard Stone”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold is interrupted during cultivation by a married couple, Marshall and Daphne, both Mid-God God Hunters.
• They explain that Marshall is the heir of the Hozia Clan, a major clan in western Weierde Prefecture. After the Hozia Clan lost a war against the Tannison Clan, Marshall and Daphne fled across the continent.
• The Tannison Clan has continued pursuing them, defeating or exhausting the many God Hunters they previously hired as protection. The couple is now nearly out of money and needs protection for the final years of their journey to Xier Continent.
• Arnold questions why they do not hire several Six-Star God Hunters. They admit that their clan’s remaining wealth has been spent on guards and travel.
• Instead, they offer Arnold a mysterious treasure as payment: an apparently ordinary stone with extraordinary hardness.
• Arnold tests the stone with powerful Fused Divine Power and a Spatial Rift, but neither leaves even the slightest mark. Impressed, he accepts the stone and agrees to protect the couple until they reach Xier Continent.
• After they leave, Bemona examines the stone and tries various methods, including using her blood to claim it, but learns nothing about it. Arnold stores it away and returns to cultivation.
• Arnold’s Wind Law cultivation continues advancing. The Sound Wave Profound Mystery has fused with both the Wind Element Technique and Wind Space Profound Mysteries, leaving only its fusion with the Fast and Slow Profound Truths unfinished.

Character Developments

• Arnold remains cautious and confident. He initially scrutinizes the couple’s motives and financial situation, but his overwhelming strength allows him to test the stone safely and negotiate from a position of control.
• His decision to accept the mission shows that he is willing to take unusual payment when he recognizes genuine value in an object.
• Bemona continues acting as Arnold’s trusted companion and collaborator. She is curious about the treasure and actively investigates it, though she cannot uncover its secrets.
• Marshall and Daphne are portrayed as desperate but resourceful survivors. Despite their declining circumstances, they retain enough confidence in their mysterious stone to offer it as payment.

Significant Themes

• Hidden value and appearances: The stone looks completely ordinary but withstands Arnold’s strongest attacks, suggesting that true worth may not be immediately visible.
• Power and trust: Arnold’s reputation and strength inspire the couple’s confidence, while his testing of the stone reflects the need for trust to be earned.
• Decline and survival: The Hozia Clan’s defeat illustrates how quickly great powers can fall, forcing its surviving heirs to rely on strategy, wealth, and outside protection.
• Progress through persistence: Arnold’s continued cultivation demonstrates steady advancement, with only a few remaining barriers before completing the fusion of the Wind Law’s profound mysteries.

Character Interactions

• Arnold initially blocks the doorway and questions the couple’s purpose, establishing his guarded attitude.
• He reassures them that Bemona is trustworthy and powerful enough to be included in their discussion.
• Arnold and Bemona jointly challenge the couple’s explanation about lacking funds, prompting Daphne to reveal the truth.
• Marshall presents the stone, while Arnold tests it through divine power and spatial techniques.
• After accepting the stone and promising protection, Arnold and Bemona investigate it together, but its nature remains unexplained.

Chapter Summary: “The Wonderful Uses of a Stone”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold’s Fire and Water Laws make only minor progress, while his Earth Law remains the main focus.
• Rather than continuing to refine his existing four-way fusion, Arnold begins studying the remaining combinations among the six Earth Law profound mysteries.
• Because fusing all five relevant profound mysteries at once is too difficult, he adopts a gradual strategy: mastering every possible four-way combination first.
• He focuses on harmonizing the four mysteries excluding Earth Travel:
  • Profound Truth of Earth Element
  • Gravity Space
  • Vitality
  • Strength Profound Truth
• Arnold demonstrates the six pairwise combinations among these mysteries using multiple arms formed by his Earth God Clone.
• During this process, the mysterious stone in his Interspatial Ring activates on its own. It releases energy into Arnold’s various bodies, vastly increasing their sensitivity to the Earth Law.
• Bemona initially believes Arnold is under attack and seals the stone with her Darkness Divine Clone, but Arnold confirms that he is unharmed and has instead received an extraordinary boost.
• For one month, Arnold’s original body and four divine clones jointly study the Earth Law. In that time:
  • He discovers the harmonization points for every three-way combination among the four mysteries.
  • He successfully finds the point of harmony for all four mysteries.
• After the stone’s effect fades, Arnold returns his attention to the Wind Law while continuing to investigate the stone with Bemona.
• After three months, they determine how to deliberately activate it: the user must display the variations of the Earth Law before the stone, allowing it to respond and empower the user’s other bodies.
• The stone’s effectiveness varies by user. It increases Bemona’s sensitivity to the Earth Law by ten million times, while Arnold receives only a hundredfold increase because, as a Soul Mutant, his other divine clones already possess unusually strong sensitivity to other Laws.
• The stone can only be used once every hundred years and has a limited total number of uses.
• Bemona’s own use of the stone helps her discover several additional three-way harmonizations, bringing her closer to attempting a four-way fusion.

Character Developments

• Arnold: Demonstrates greater flexibility and discipline by breaking an overly ambitious five-way fusion into smaller objectives. His understanding of the Earth Law advances dramatically, and he successfully completes a four-way fusion in only one month with the stone’s aid. He also becomes more interested in understanding and preserving the stone’s mechanism.
• Bemona: Shows strong concern for Arnold when the stone seemingly attacks him. She proves her power by guarding the metallic lifeform and killing a bandit group of several hundred. Her own Earth Law comprehension also improves significantly after using the stone.
• Arnold’s divine clones: Work collectively, allowing his original body and multiple clones to study the same Law simultaneously and greatly accelerating his progress.

Significant Themes

• Methodical progress over reckless ambition: Arnold succeeds by dividing an impossible five-way fusion into manageable four-way and three-way goals.
• The value of rare treasures: The stone becomes a major cultivation resource, temporarily multiplying the effectiveness of Arnold’s and Bemona’s efforts.
• Individual differences in power: The stone’s effects depend on the user’s nature, emphasizing how Arnold’s Soul Mutant status distinguishes him from ordinary deities.
• Cooperation between divine clones: Arnold’s multiple bodies function as a coordinated system, illustrating the advantages of shared effort and specialized cultivation.
• Mystery and limited opportunity: The stone’s unknown origin, unusual activation method, cooldown period, and finite uses make it a precious but carefully managed resource.

Character Interactions

• Bemona is alarmed when the stone sends energy into Arnold and immediately protects him by sealing the stone with darkness energy.
• Arnold reassures her and explains that the event has greatly benefited him rather than harmed him.
• The two cooperate for three months to study and reproduce the stone’s activation method.
• They compare their results and theorize that the difference in the stone’s effects is caused by Arnold’s Soul Mutant constitution.
• Bemona’s protective actions and Arnold’s willingness to share the stone’s secrets reflect their growing trust and partnership.

Chapter Summary: “Tannison Clan Arrives”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold keeps the mysterious stone he obtained from Marshall and his wife after discovering that it is likely an Earth Law auxiliary wonder. Since he can no longer return it, he promises to protect the couple if the Tannison Clan attacks.
• Arnold and Bemona discuss the relative strength of fused divine power. Arnold initially underestimates Four-System Mid-God Fusion Divine Power because he compares himself to extraordinary figures such as Beirut and Bluefire.
• Bemona explains that Beirut’s terrifying power comes not only from his profound mastery of Laws but also from a body as tough as a God Spark. Arnold realizes that he has been making an unfair comparison and recognizes that his own strength is already comparable to that of a top-tier Asura.
• Arnold’s Earth God Clone continues working toward the complete fusion of four profound mysteries, while his Wind God Clone and main body study the fusion of the Sound Wave Profound Mystery with other abilities.
• After another year of travel, the group’s Metallic Lifeform is destroyed by Raichel Tannison and several hundred pursuers, including fifty High-Gods and ten elite Six-Star God Hunters.
• Raichel reveals that the Tannison Clan’s feud with Marshall and his wife’s Hozia Clan will end only when one clan is annihilated. He orders his forces to kill everyone.
• Arnold responds by combining Earth and Wind Godforce, unleashing his strongest material attack, Extreme Point Inch Light. The attack tears space apart with black Spatial Rifts and instantly kills Raichel and all his followers.
• Arnold claims Raichel’s God Spark and Interspatial Ring, collects the spoils from the High-Gods, and allows the other God Hunters to divide the remaining loot.
• Afterward, Marshall and his wife thank Arnold. Marshall admits that he no longer intends to pursue revenge, recognizing that even powerful clans can eventually be destroyed.
• Marshall explains the history of the Four Divine Beasts clan and its war with the Eight Great Clans. Arnold becomes concerned about Linley, who had intended to search for his ancestral clan and might become involved in the conflict.

Character Developments

• Arnold: Gains a clearer and more accurate understanding of his strength. He realizes that, with his fully fused Wind Law, Four-System Fusion Divine Power, and powerful physique, he is already comparable to a top-tier Asura, though still far below figures such as Beirut and Bluefire. He also demonstrates overwhelming combat ability by killing hundreds of enemies with one attack.
• Bemona: Encourages Arnold and corrects his mistaken assessment of fused divine power. Her pride in her grandfather Beirut highlights her confidence in his unparalleled strength.
• Marshall and his wife: Shift from seeking revenge against the Tannison Clan to accepting that clan conflicts and vendettas may eventually be futile. Their dependence on Arnold also shows how vulnerable they are without his protection.
• Raichel: Appears confident because of his overwhelming numerical advantage, but he badly underestimates Arnold by mistaking him for an ordinary Mid-God. His arrogance leads directly to his death.
• Arnold and Linley: Arnold’s thoughts reveal his continued concern for Linley and his connection to Linley’s search for the Four Divine Beasts clan.

Significant Themes

• Perspective and self-confidence: Arnold’s comparison with exceptional beings causes him to underestimate himself. The chapter emphasizes the danger of judging one’s abilities against nearly legendary figures.
• The importance of physical strength: Beirut’s God Spark-like body demonstrates that mastery of Laws is only one aspect of power; physical durability can dramatically elevate a deity’s combat strength.
• The destructiveness of clan hatred: The Tannison-Hozia feud illustrates how inherited hatred can persist across generations and consume entire clans.
• The impermanence of power: Marshall’s reflection that no clan lasts forever is reinforced by the destruction and persecution of even mighty organizations such as the Four Divine Beasts clan.
• Loyalty and responsibility: Because Arnold accepted Marshall’s employment, he feels obligated to defend him, even against a large and dangerous force.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona debate divine-power levels, with Bemona reassuring him and explaining Beirut’s exceptional strength.
• Raichel confronts Marshall and his wife, declaring the feud between their clans to be a fight to the death.
• Arnold silently reassures Marshall and his wife before decisively intervening on their behalf.
• After the battle, Marshall and his wife express gratitude, while Arnold questions whether they still desire revenge.
• Marshall educates Arnold about the Four Divine Beasts clan and the Eight Great Clans, prompting Arnold to worry about Linley’s fate.

Summary of “Five Hundred Years”

Key plot points and events

• After Marshall and his wife depart, Arnold and Bemona discuss Linley’s safety. Bemona reassures Arnold that her grandfather, Beirut—Prefecture Lord of Azure Planet Prefecture—will protect Linley and the Four Divine Beasts clan.
• Three months later, Arnold completes his nearly century-long escort mission, bringing Marshall and his wife to Milne City in Gladstone Prefecture on Xier Continent.
• Arnold and Bemona rest at an inn before resuming secluded cultivation. Arnold also samples and stores rare delicacies from the city’s restaurant.
• Arnold’s various divine clones cooperate in cultivating the Wind Law. Within ten years, the Sound Wave Profound Mystery becomes compatible with the Fast and Slow Profound Truths.
• After ninety years of further deduction, Arnold finds the point of compatibility needed to begin fusing all seven Wind Law profound mysteries. Their overall fusion reaches roughly thirty percent.
• When the stone’s cooldown ends, Arnold and Bemona use it again. Arnold discovers compatibility among four Earth Law profound mysteries in two combinations, gaining insight into the possible fusion of five profound mysteries. Bemona’s Earth Law also advances, allowing her to fuse four profound mysteries.
• Arnold and Bemona later undertake God Hunter missions in Gardner City. Arnold repeatedly uses attacks incorporating the Sound Wave Profound Mystery and learns that it can vibrate an enemy’s internal energy while strengthening external material attacks.
• Over the next four hundred years, Arnold continues cultivating and completing missions. He eventually rises to the rank of Seven-star God Hunter.
• Arnold’s elemental cultivation makes major progress:
  • Water Law: The Water Element profound mystery is fully mastered.
  • Fire Law: The Fire Element and Explosion Profound Truths completely fuse.
  • Earth Law: Arnold begins the overall fusion of five profound mysteries, excluding Earth Pulsation.
  • Wind Law: The Sound Wave Profound Mystery and its fusion with the other six mysteries reach their final bottlenecks.
• Arnold’s promotion to Seven-star God Hunter occurs after a mission involving two rival families, each possessing a Seven-star God Hunter. When the opposing Seven-star God Hunter kills Arnold’s employer, Arnold challenges and defeats him in front of everyone.
• Although Arnold does not use Fused Divine Power, his nearly complete fusion of seven Wind Law profound mysteries and the Wind Law’s superior material-attack potential give him a slight advantage. His victory earns him the seven-star rank and considerable wealth.
• Now wealthy enough to afford planar teleportation, Arnold plans to visit Black Tortoise Continent before deciding whether to travel to the Infernal Realm and meet Linley.

Character developments

• Arnold grows dramatically in both cultivation and status. He advances from a lower-ranked God Hunter to a Seven-star God Hunter, while making major breakthroughs in the Water, Fire, Earth, and Wind Laws.
• Arnold becomes increasingly skilled at combining the Sound Wave Profound Mystery with material attacks, turning it into a powerful and versatile combat tool.
• His strategic confidence also increases: despite lacking Fused Divine Power, he willingly challenges a stronger-ranked opponent because he recognizes his own advantage in fused profound mysteries.
• Bemona continues supporting Arnold and makes major progress in the Earth Law, joining the ranks of practitioners who have fused four profound mysteries.
• Linley remains absent from the chapter but becomes the subject of Arnold’s concern. His safety is secured indirectly through Beirut’s protection.

Significant themes

• Long-term cultivation and patience: Arnold’s progress depends on centuries of uninterrupted deduction, repeated practice, and gradual refinement rather than sudden breakthroughs.
• The power of fusion: The chapter emphasizes that the true strength of divine laws comes from finding compatibility among multiple profound mysteries.
• Preparation and restraint: Arnold carefully saves his final use of the stone for a future bottleneck, showing strategic discipline.
• Growth through combat: Missions allow Arnold to test theoretical insights in battle, especially his use of the Sound Wave Profound Mystery.
• Independence and rising power: Arnold’s growing strength and wealth allow him greater freedom of movement and bring him closer to reuniting with Linley.

Character interactions

• Bemona reassures Arnold about Linley by explaining Beirut’s authority and protective influence.
• Arnold and Bemona cultivate together, using their shared resources and the stone to advance their respective laws.
• Arnold works with his own divine clones, whose combined deductions accelerate his Wind Law progress.
• During the family conflict, Arnold fights alongside a Seven-star God Hunter, witnesses that ally’s death, and then challenges the victorious enemy directly.
• The chapter ends with Arnold considering a future journey to find Linley, linking his personal goals to the broader developments surrounding the Four Divine Beasts clan.

Chapter Summary: “Seven-star God Hunters”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Arnold and Bemona travel for twenty years across the Earth God Plane in a mouse-shaped Metallic Lifeform, finally reaching Monroe City in Bray Prefecture on the Black Tortoise Continent.
• At Black Tortoise Castle, Arnold uses his Seven-star God Hunter status to enter the restricted third floor, where high-level information and treasures are sold.
• Arnold purchases four expensive reference books containing information on famous Seven-star God Hunters and Asuras from the prefectures of the Black Tortoise and Noah Continents. The books cost 100 million Earth Origin Stones each, totaling 400 million.
• The information is outdated by up to eighty thousand years, since Black Tortoise Castle updates its records only once every hundred thousand years. Arnold accepts the risk that some listed experts may have died, retired, or moved.
• Arnold’s goal is to locate powerful Seven-star God Hunters and challenge them in battle. He hopes these fights will help him overcome the final bottleneck in completely fusing the seven profound mysteries.
• While studying the books, Arnold and Bemona discover that Black Tortoise Continent may contain nearly a thousand Seven-star God Hunter-level experts.
• They identify several notable figures, including Breiler, Gangresa, and Alvin.

Character Developments

• Arnold is shown to be wealthy, confident, and increasingly ambitious. He is unfazed by the enormous cost of the books and intends to seek out elite opponents rather than passively cultivate.
• His primary motivation is advancement through combat: he wants battles against powerful experts to complete the fusion of the seven profound mysteries.
• Arnold also displays discernment, focusing on the most famous and strongest individuals instead of treating every Seven-star God Hunter as an equal target.
• Bemona acts as Arnold’s companion and research partner. She helps interpret the information, highlights notable figures, and demonstrates familiarity with the reputations of experts across the continent.
• Arnold is particularly impressed by Breiler’s survival and success despite possessing an unusually sincere and loyal personality in a brutal world.

Significant Themes

• Strength and advancement through combat: Arnold believes that fighting powerful opponents is necessary to break through his cultivation bottleneck.
• The brutality of the Earth God Plane: The chapter emphasizes how dangerous the world is, making Breiler’s kindness and loyalty remarkable.
• Reputation versus power: Breiler is famous not solely for strength but for his willingness to sacrifice himself for friends, showing that character can shape a person’s legacy.
• The scale of the world: The sheer number of Seven-star God Hunters reveals how many powerful beings exist and places Arnold’s journey within a much larger competitive landscape.
• Uncertainty and incomplete knowledge: Because the records are decades out of date, Arnold must treat the books as useful guides rather than guaranteed facts.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona work closely together, reading the books and discussing the experts they find.
• Their conversation about Breiler contrasts Arnold’s initial assumption that his fame comes from overwhelming power with Bemona’s explanation that his sincerity and loyalty are the real reasons.
• Arnold expresses interest in sparring with Breiler but decides to begin with opponents closer to Bray Prefecture.
• The attendant at Black Tortoise Castle explains the records, their limitations, and their prices, while Arnold responds with calm confidence and immediately completes the purchase.

Chapter Summary: “Preparations Before the Challenge”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After reviewing the records of the Seven-star God Hunters, Arnold begins studying information about Asura-level experts.
• The Earth God Plane contains eighteen prefectures, each ruled by an Asura. Beyond these rulers, many other powerful and reclusive Asuras exist.
• Around seventy Asuras are described, including:
  • Colloid, known for exceptionally powerful material attacks.
  • Lopo, famous for concealment, escape, and speed, though only moderately strong overall.
  • Hemmers, an extraordinarily powerful being born from a golden mountain, possessing immense strength and nearly indestructible defenses.
• Arnold becomes interested in eventually challenging Hemmers after fully fusing eight Wind Law profound mysteries.
• For his immediate goal, Arnold decides to challenge a Seven-star God Hunter rather than an Asura.
• He chooses Kerlai, who has average Soul Attacks but formidable material attacks based on the Earth Law. Kerlai also lives relatively nearby in the southern mountains of Bray Prefecture.
• Arnold explains that he wants to use the challenge to break through the bottleneck preventing him from fully fusing seven Wind Law profound mysteries. He refuses to rely on his powerful Fused Divine Power because doing so would make the fight too easy.
• While preparing at his hotel, Arnold mentally simulates fighting Kerlai and works on creating a new Wind Law ultimate technique.
• He spends ten days practicing barehanded, attempting to incorporate the Sound Wave Profound Mystery into his existing Wind Law attack.
• Arnold eventually succeeds. His new technique binds and violently shatters space, creating a large Spatial Rift several meters long.
• He recognizes that the attack will become even stronger once all seven profound mysteries are fully fused.

Character Developments

• Arnold demonstrates growing confidence and ambition. He is no longer focused merely on survival or defeating ordinary opponents; he is deliberately seeking powerful enemies to force breakthroughs in his cultivation.
• He shows strategic judgment by avoiding Seven-star God Hunters specializing in Soul Attacks, recognizing that their abilities could still threaten him despite his confidence in material combat.
• Arnold’s understanding of his own strengths develops: he is highly proficient in material attacks and has mastered several fused techniques, particularly through the Earth and Wind Laws.
• His work on the new Wind Law technique shows patience and technical precision. He repeatedly adjusts his attacks until the Sound Wave Profound Mystery is fully integrated.
• Bemona remains skeptical and teasing, questioning Arnold’s choice of opponent, but accepts his reasoning and supports his decision.
• Hemmers is established as a future benchmark for Arnold, representing the level of power Arnold hopes eventually to reach.

Significant Themes

• Growth through adversity: Arnold deliberately seeks challenging opponents because genuine breakthroughs require pressure rather than effortless victories.
• Mastery versus raw power: Although Arnold possesses Fused Divine Power capable of easily defeating Kerlai, he chooses not to depend on it, prioritizing personal improvement.
• The hierarchy of strength: The chapter emphasizes the vast range among Seven-star God Hunters and Asuras, while showing that even the weakest Asura is a formidable opponent.
• Persistence and refinement: Arnold’s ten days of repeated practice highlight the importance of gradual adjustment and disciplined experimentation.
• Specialization and limitations: Different experts excel in different areas—material attacks, Soul Attacks, concealment, speed, strength, or defense. Arnold also acknowledges his own limitations, particularly his incomplete understanding of the Fire Law and its Soul Attack Profound Mystery.

Character Interactions

• Arnold and Bemona discuss his choice of Kerlai. Bemona points out that Arnold could defeat Kerlai easily with Fused Divine Power, while Arnold explains that the challenge is intended to stimulate a breakthrough.
• Arnold’s internal reflections on Kerlai guide his preparation, though he admits that his imagined version of Kerlai is too weak to provide a truly realistic simulation.
• Arnold’s consideration of Hemmers reflects an aspirational relationship: Hemmers has not yet met Arnold, but his reputation motivates Arnold to pursue greater mastery before eventually challenging him.