Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran awakens after successfully transplanting and modifying magical organs, discovering that his body now generates enormous amounts of Lightning magic power.
• At first, he cannot control the power properly. Electricity leaks from his body, and lightning constantly surges through his veins and pores.
• Using the Archmage’s inherited memories and Sandrew’s guidance, Li Ziran reconstructs the Archmage-level spell formation Thunder Prison.
• When he activates the spell, the magic produces a catastrophic storm rather than ordinary lightning. Thunderclouds tear through space, and successive lightning strikes destroy the basement, punching through all three underground levels and reaching the bedrock.
• Realizing the destruction could spread into Hippo Ancient City and damage his twenty-story building, Li Ziran quickly cancels the spell.
• He concludes that the extraordinary power comes from his complete set of Magic Organs, which is far superior to the organs once possessed by the Archmage whose memories he inherited.
• Li Ziran tests simpler spells, discovering that he can cast lightning magic almost instantly despite lacking traditional magical training. He also confirms that his other organs allow him to use Purification Flame, along with powers related to purification, blessing, and resurrection.
• Over the next two months, he gradually gains control over the Elemental Gland, though occasional electrical discharges still escape.
• Meanwhile, the Demon Embryo trade collapses after the market becomes saturated with cheap, defective embryos. Only high-quality embryos remain valuable.
• With the market now mature and competitors struggling, Li Ziran prepares to act on his trade-route plan. Anfuni returns from North Sea Port to discuss launching the operation.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran advances directly to Archmage-level power through the transplanted Magic Organs, bypassing the conventional stages of magical cultivation.
• He gains confidence after witnessing the overwhelming strength of Thunder Prison, recognizing that he now possesses power comparable to divine or natural forces.
• Despite his immense strength, he remains inexperienced and must learn to control his body and magical organs. His inability to fully suppress the Elemental Gland prevents him from safely appearing in public.
• Li Ziran also discovers that his magical abilities are versatile: he can use destructive lightning, Purification Flame, blessings, and resurrection-related powers.
• Anfuni continues functioning as Li Ziran’s business partner and representative, returning from North Sea Port to coordinate their next commercial move. She regards Li Ziran cautiously because of his dangerous, unstable power.

Significant Themes

• Power versus control: Possessing Archmage-level strength does not automatically grant mastery. Li Ziran’s greatest challenge is controlling the power surging through his modified body.
• Humanity approaching divinity: The destructive scale of Thunder Prison makes Li Ziran feel less like a human and more like a god wielding heavenly punishment.
• Innovation and advantage: Li Ziran’s complete Magic Organs give him abilities far beyond those of the original Archmage, demonstrating the advantages of combining magical knowledge with experimental transformation.
• Market saturation and quality: The Demon Embryo trade shows how rapidly profit disappears when supply overwhelms demand. Only specialized, high-quality products can survive.
• Preparation before action: Both Li Ziran’s magical development and his commercial plans emphasize patience, experimentation, and waiting for the right moment to exploit an opportunity.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran relies on the Archmage’s inherited memories to understand spell formation and on Sandrew’s prior instruction to trace Thunder Prison correctly.
• His interaction with his own transplanted organs is central to the chapter: his brain commands them, while the Elemental Gland and other magical organs operate as separate but coordinated systems.
• Anfuni returns and approaches Li Ziran about the trade route, signaling the transition from magical experimentation back to business expansion.
• Although Anfuni does not openly challenge Li Ziran, her observation that he resembles a dangerous powder keg reflects the growing tension between his outwardly calm appearance and his immense, unstable power.

Chapter Summary: “Renting a Shop on Sulfur Island”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After six months, the embryo market has stabilized. The Shadow Society remains the dominant supplier because of its superior reputation, large-scale production, and ability to fulfill bulk orders, while slave owners and independent workshops compete unsuccessfully.
• Li Ziran travels alone to Sulfur Island in the North Sea to release embryos, investigate the market, and secure future orders. He has arranged a partnership with Anfuni and the Elves: Li Ziran will handle production and negotiations, while they provide transportation and protection.
• Using Pangke’s memories, Li Ziran learns that Sulfur Island was once a military base but has become a prosperous free-trade center under the hidden control of the Bauhinia Flower Duke, who profits from smuggling and unrestricted commerce.
• After a dangerous-feeling voyage through the Endless Sea, Li Ziran reaches the island, pays the expensive one-gold-coin entry fee, and heads to the newly established embryo-trading district.
• The district is crowded with embryo-related businesses and aggressive advertising. Li Ziran encounters an octopus shopkeeper named Xiao Ba, accidentally shocks him with uncontrolled Thunder Element power, and watches him regenerate his severed, burned tentacles.
• Xiao Ba initially assumes Li Ziran is a buyer, but Li Ziran reveals that he intends to sell Demon embryos, particularly valuable Demon Overlord embryos. When Li Ziran shows no interest in Xiao Ba’s low-level Soul Plasma, he instead asks about renting space.
• Li Ziran rents a small storefront section and its basement for one month, paying one bottle of level-5 Soul Plasma. He immediately displays three pregnant rabbitfolk women and posts a sign clarifying that only their embryos are for sale, with ordinary embryos starting at five-level Soul Plasma.
• Xiao Ba laughs at the apparently ordinary rabbitfolk, but his reaction freezes when he sees Li Ziran’s pricing and realizes the potential value of the goods.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran shows increasing confidence as a merchant and strategist. He carefully avoids relying on the Seventh Legion, studies the local market, and chooses Sulfur Island because of its traffic and commercial freedom.
• He is cautious about danger, practicing his aquatic transformation and swimming skills in case he needs to escape, but he is also willing to act decisively and invest heavily when a business opportunity appears.
• His control over the Thunder Element remains imperfect, as shown when he accidentally burns Xiao Ba’s tentacles. However, his strength is enough to deter casual harassment.
• Li Ziran’s indifference to Xiao Ba’s level-15 Soul Plasma demonstrates that his resources and ambitions have advanced beyond small-scale trading.
• Xiao Ba is introduced as an opportunistic but adaptable octopus merchant. He is friendly and persuasive, quickly shifting from trying to sell Li Ziran embryos to offering him rental space. His rapid regeneration reveals the unusual magical properties of the island’s inhabitants and establishes him as more resilient than he first appears.

Significant Themes

• Market competition and commercial strategy: The Shadow Society’s early entry and reputation give it a major advantage, while Li Ziran seeks to exploit a newly developing market before it becomes fully saturated.
• Opportunity within chaos: Li Ziran deliberately values a fragmented market with many competing suppliers, believing disorder creates room for expansion.
• Freedom and exploitation in trade: Sulfur Island’s lack of restrictions attracts smugglers and merchants, but its embryo market also exposes the cruel commodification of bodies and reproduction.
• Appearance versus value: The rabbitfolk appear ordinary compared with the exotic products advertised around them, yet Li Ziran’s pricing suggests their embryos possess hidden or superior worth.
• Risk and adaptation: Li Ziran must navigate unfamiliar waters, powerful factions, aggressive merchants, and his own unstable abilities while establishing a new commercial base.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran’s cooperation with Anfuni establishes a practical alliance between his production network and Elven transportation and protection.
• His relationship with Pangke is indirect but important: Pangke’s memories provide the knowledge Li Ziran needs to navigate North Sea politics and business.
• His first encounter with Xiao Ba begins antagonistically when Li Ziran shocks him, but quickly becomes a business negotiation.
• Xiao Ba underestimates Li Ziran as a potential supplier, while Li Ziran in turn dismisses Xiao Ba as a minor merchant. Their relationship may change once Xiao Ba recognizes the value of Li Ziran’s embryos.
• The final exchange reverses Xiao Ba’s assumptions: what looks like an ordinary shipment may become a lucrative and disruptive presence in Sulfur Island’s embryo market.

Chapter Summary: “A Deal Closed”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Octopus merchant Xiao Ba dismisses Li Ziran’s embryos as overpriced, believing they are ordinary products that could only sell for low-tier Soul Plasma.
• While Xiao Ba conducts numerous successful low-value transactions, Li Ziran spends the morning in the basement establishing a temporary teleportation array between Hippo Ancient City and Sulfur Island.
• Li Ziran’s embryos are revealed to be carefully designed products. Their mothers retain intact Magic Organs, volunteer for gestation, and come from diverse races, allowing the embryos to develop distinctive elemental traits.
• Three bunny girls displayed in the shop carry sample embryos linked to earth, water, and wind elements, all meeting the standard of Elder Demon Overlords.
• Several customers reject Li Ziran’s high prices and go to cheaper shops. Xiao Ba repeatedly advises him to lower his rates, but Li Ziran refuses.
• After studying the local market, Li Ziran makes his first sale: a powerful fire-element embryo to a black-scaled Fishman for fifth-tier Soul Plasma.
• For five days afterward, he sells nothing. Xiao Ba becomes convinced that Li Ziran will soon go bankrupt and considers acquiring the Clam Maiden carrying his most expensive embryo.
• The chapter ends when news spreads that a new type of embryo—born with elemental abilities and highly compatible with Ancient Overlord bloodlines—has appeared. Demon Lords above the tenth tier begin competing for them, implying that Li Ziran’s products have suddenly become highly valuable.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran is shown to be patient, strategic, and confident in the value of his products. Rather than competing in the low-end market, he deliberately targets powerful Demon customers seeking rare, high-quality embryos.
• His reconstruction of the teleportation array demonstrates his growing resources and commitment to making Hippo Ancient City his main base of operations.
• Li Ziran’s business is presented as ethical compared with the Shadow Society’s methods: his mothers volunteer, retain their organs, and can safely undergo future gestations.
• Xiao Ba appears experienced and commercially successful, but limited by conventional market assumptions. Though he is skeptical of Li Ziran, he is also friendly, offers advice, shares information, and treats him to lunch.
• Xiao Ba’s confidence gradually turns into confusion and disbelief as Li Ziran refuses to lower his prices. He continues to underestimate Li Ziran’s goods until the market recognizes their true worth.
• The various Demon customers reveal that higher-ranking Demons can detect the unusual quality of Li Ziran’s embryos through their superior spiritual perception.

Significant Themes

• True value versus apparent value: Li Ziran’s products seem absurdly expensive because ordinary merchants judge embryos mainly by bloodline and maternal quality. Their unique elemental abilities make them far more valuable than standard embryos.
• Patience and strategic positioning: Li Ziran refuses to chase immediate sales, choosing instead to wait for customers who understand and can afford his premium products.
• Innovation versus established practice: His specialized elemental embryos challenge the existing embryo market and create a new category of merchandise.
• Ethics and exploitation: The chapter contrasts Li Ziran’s voluntary, relatively safe gestation system with the Shadow Society’s harsher practices, in which mothers are often forcibly used and physically damaged.
• Business relationships and perception: Xiao Ba’s friendship shows that commercial connections matter, even when the two merchants do not share the same understanding of the market.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Ba repeatedly warns Li Ziran that his prices are unrealistic, while Li Ziran politely avoids revealing the true nature of his goods.
• Li Ziran allows Xiao Ba to believe that his first sale may have been luck, preserving the secrecy surrounding his production methods.
• Li Ziran and Xiao Ba build a tentative friendship through casual conversations about their respective regions and cultures, despite their differing business philosophies.
• Customers initially reject Li Ziran’s prices, but one black-scaled Fishman recognizes enough value in the fire-element embryo to purchase it.
• The final rumor confirms that Li Ziran’s strategy was correct: once the elemental embryos’ abilities become known, powerful Demon Lords begin actively seeking them.

Summary: “Elemental Embryos Enter the Market”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Ba investigates rumors about a new type of demon embryo in hopes of gaining a foothold in the profitable embryo market. Emerging embryos are highly valuable because unusual varieties attract powerful demons, who pay in rare, high-tier Soul Plasma.
• The established Shadow Society dominates the embryo trade, but rival suppliers have previously gained success by introducing novel embryos. Xiao Ba learns that the new embryos possess elemental talents and can combine souls with elements to create stronger Demonic Arcana.
• The embryos are believed to be exceptionally powerful, potentially capable of developing into demon commanders. Their appearance has attracted Crimson Flame Demons and Frost Demons from the twenty-fifth layer of the Abyss, confirming their extraordinary value.
• Xiao Ba searches Sulfur Island for information but discovers that many other Sea Folk are investigating the embryos as well. The Octopus Alliance urges its members to uncover the source, since high-tier Soul Plasma is especially scarce among the Sea Folk.
• At Li Ziran’s shop, Xiao Ba encounters two suspicious red shrimp—one fire-aligned and one ice-aligned—who are secretly negotiating with Li Ziran. Their behavior makes Xiao Ba realize that something unusual is happening.
• The red shrimp demand a large, reliable supply of fire-elemental embryos, offering Soul Plasma from the twenty-second layer of the Abyss. Li Ziran refuses to produce more than thirty embryos for the month because his Corpse Witches have limited production capacity.
• Li Ziran deliberately rejects the offer despite its value. He expects to obtain much higher-tier Soul Plasma, potentially from the thirtieth or even thirty-sixth layer, through his connection with Duke Rhine.
• After the negotiation, Li Ziran secretly has the Corpse Witches produce the already-matured embryos and stores them. He chooses to continue observing the market rather than begin mass production.
• When Xiao Ba leaves the shop with Li Ziran, he discovers that the shop across the street has been demolished and rapidly rebuilt. Its new sign reads “Elemental Embryo Reception Point,” revealing that the new embryo trade is expanding quickly.

Character Developments

• Xiao Ba becomes increasingly ambitious and alert. His desire to profit from the embryo market drives him to investigate, but his observations also make him suspicious of Li Ziran and the mysterious red shrimp.
• Li Ziran demonstrates patience, secrecy, and strong commercial judgment. Rather than accept an immediately profitable deal, he protects his monopoly, limits production, and waits for buyers from deeper levels of the Abyss who can offer far better Soul Plasma.
• The red shrimp buyers are revealed as powerful, intimidating demons with fire and ice characteristics. They are aggressive negotiators and use soul control to pressure others, but they cannot force Li Ziran to compromise.
• The Corpse Witches remain essential to Li Ziran’s operation, producing the embryos while also allowing him to keep the manufacturing process secret.

Significant Themes

• Monopoly and strategic patience: Li Ziran understands that scarcity increases value and refuses to flood the market prematurely.
• Economic competition: The embryo trade is driven by innovation, secrecy, information networks, and access to wealthy high-ranking demons.
• Power and hierarchy: The deeper a demon’s position in the Abyss, the more valuable its Soul Plasma and the greater its influence over the market.
• Secrecy and trust: Li Ziran relies on dead beings to protect his secret, believing living collaborators might eventually reveal his methods.
• Rising opportunity and danger: The elemental embryos promise enormous profits but also attract powerful demons and competing merchants.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Ba questions his colleague about the elemental embryos and learns of their exceptional quality and the arrival of high-ranking demons.
• At Li Ziran’s shop, Xiao Ba casually questions the red shrimp about a previous transaction, inadvertently making them suspicious of him.
• Xiao Ba waits outside while the red shrimp argue with Li Ziran over price and supply. He misinterprets the negotiation as an ordinary dispute over embryo quality and assumes Li Ziran is simply haggling poorly.
• The red shrimp threaten and pressure Li Ziran, but he remains firm and refuses their demand for three hundred embryos.
• Xiao Ba encourages Li Ziran to relax and drink after the apparent failed deal, unaware that Li Ziran has just secured a much more valuable opportunity through his secret production network.

Chapter Summary: “Xiao Ba’s Unbearable Hunger”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Ba is awakened and taken to an Elemental Embryo reception point, where he sees one of the mysterious embryos for the first time.
• The red embryo possesses an instinctive Elemental Barrier and can gather solidified Elemental Bugs despite having no training, proving that it has extraordinary talent.
• Xiao Ba learns that the Crimson Flame Demons have acquired thirty different embryos and secretly shipped them to the Abyss for evaluation. The embryos are considered vastly superior to those previously supplied by the Shadow Society.
• Three black-robed figures raid the reception point, seize the demons and three embryos, and escape. News soon spreads that the attackers are connected to the ancient Demonic Arcana known as the Soulfire Calamity, which destroyed a Dwarven city.
• The Octopus Alliance discovers that the attackers were Screaming Demons, enemies of the Crimson Flame Demons, who are trying to obtain the embryos—especially because they possess around thirty unusual elemental abilities, including the coveted Thunderquake Element.
• Attempts to uncover the embryos’ origins fail. When their souls are touched, the embryos self-destruct, leaving their source, manufacturing process, and full abilities unknown. The Octopus Alliance orders its members to seize control of the supply chain.
• Over the following days, Sulfur Island becomes crowded with newly built embryo reception points, despite most having no visible business. Xiao Ba views the shops skeptically, while his own ordinary business improves.
• Half a month later, an Elven ship arrives carrying slaves and, secretly, crates of Elemental Embryos. The various reception-point owners rush to the harbor to claim their assigned goods.
• The old Elf distributes embryos according to a list, including twelve “Crimson Flame Lords.” Xiao Ba is not called, leaving him frustrated and desperate to understand how the embryo trade operates.

Character Developments

• Xiao Ba: His curiosity develops into intense envy and frustration. Initially impressed by the embryos’ talent, he becomes increasingly obsessed with obtaining and studying one. His feelings of exclusion deepen as he watches others profit from a trade taking place just beyond his reach.
• The Octopus Alliance: It shifts from passive observation to active concern, recognizing that the embryos could transform the market and ordering members to control their supply.
• The demons: Their interest escalates from commercial evaluation to violent competition. The Crimson Flame Demons and Screaming Demons treat the embryos as strategically valuable weapons and resources.
• The old Elf: He appears frail but commands unquestioned authority, suggesting immense elemental knowledge and power. His controlled distribution of the embryos demonstrates his role in the secret trade.
• Li Ziran: Though only briefly present, he is shown to be occupied with a growing group of customers, emphasizing his access to the market that Xiao Ba cannot enter.

Significant Themes

• Extraordinary talent and hidden potential: The embryo’s natural ability to use elemental powers suggests that it may surpass trained Sea Folk and become an elite weapon or being.
• Secrecy and information control: No one knows the embryos’ parentage, origin, or production method. Their self-destruction when examined ensures that knowledge remains tightly protected.
• Commercial rivalry and power struggles: The embryos quickly become the focus of demons, the Octopus Alliance, merchants, and entire factions, showing how economic opportunities can trigger military conflict.
• Exclusion and helplessness: Xiao Ba witnesses the trade firsthand but is unable to participate, creating a strong sense of hunger—both literal in the title’s metaphorical sense and emotional.
• Appearance versus reality: The newly built reception points appear to be businesses but are really fronts or waiting stations for a secret supply chain. The harmless-looking embryos also conceal immense destructive potential.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Ba’s kin introduce him to the embryo and explain its abilities, the Crimson Flame Demons’ involvement, and the trade’s rapid expansion.
• The black-robed Screaming Demons violently seize the reception point and interrogate its occupants, demonstrating the brutal competition surrounding the embryos.
• Xiao Ba observes Li Ziran serving demon customers but cannot interrupt him, reinforcing his isolation from the profitable trade.
• At the harbor, merchants and demon buyers compete eagerly for their assigned shipments, charging into the vessel to retrieve the crates.
• The old Elf acts as the gatekeeper of the transaction, calling names and distributing specific embryo varieties while Xiao Ba waits in vain for his own opportunity.

Chapter Summary:

The Mad Elemental Embryo

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Ba, troubled by the appearance and growing value of the Elemental Embryos, visits the Octopus Alliance to seek information about their trade channels.
• He learns that Old Elf’s fleet was attacked by thirteen powerful figures, including several Magisters, but Old Elf and at least three Archmages survived and repelled the assault.
• The Embryos are confirmed to have originated from the Elves and have become highly coveted throughout the Abyss. Demonic factions are treating them as elite candidates for cultivation and are pressuring the Crimson Flame Demon for access.
• Thirty-eight Embryos were exchanged for enormous quantities of Soul Plasma. Their value has since multiplied, with especially powerful Embryos trading for extremely high prices, including one exchanged for 36th-Layer Soul Plasma.
• The Octopus Alliance has no reliable means of contacting the secretive intermediaries handling the Embryo trade, leaving Xiao Ba disappointed.
• Back at his shop, Xiao Ba is surprised when Li Ziran gives him a bottle of fifth-layer Soul Plasma as rent and invites him to dinner.
• Li Ziran takes Xiao Ba to the luxurious Golden Palace, an establishment so expensive that even ordinary dishes cost several bottles of lower-layer Soul Plasma.
• At the Golden Palace, Li Ziran presents a note from a Demon lord of the 37th layer of the Abyss. The invitation is revealed to be connected to a private business deal involving a custom Elemental Embryo.
• The palace subjects Xiao Ba and Li Ziran to an elaborate entrance ceremony before teleporting them into a golden ocean that becomes a powerful mental and elemental attack.
• Xiao Ba tries to defend himself, but Li Ziran effortlessly counters the attack with immense Thunder Element power, revealing himself to be a Thunder Archmage.
• Their host, a powerful male Mermaid, ends the trial and welcomes Li Ziran. He apologizes for the attack by presenting two bottles of 37th-Layer Soul Plasma.

Character Developments

• Xiao Ba becomes increasingly anxious and frustrated over his inability to access the Elemental Embryo trade. His concern shows that he recognizes both the Embryos’ immense commercial value and their potential to alter the balance of power.
• Xiao Ba’s opinion of Li Ziran changes dramatically. He initially sees Li as a stubborn but successful neighboring merchant, yet discovers that Li is secretly a powerful Thunder Archmage involved in deals with Upper Demons.
• Li Ziran is revealed to be far wealthier, more influential, and more powerful than he appears. His thriving business allows him to casually give away Soul Plasma, and he personally handles high-level custom Embryo transactions.
• Li also demonstrates consideration toward Xiao Ba by bringing him along to the Golden Palace and treating him as a friend, even though Xiao Ba is not directly involved in the business deal.
• The Mermaid host is established as a powerful and cautious figure who tests Li Ziran’s strength before conducting business, while still treating him with extraordinary respect.

Significant Themes

• Power and secrecy: The true identities and abilities of major players are concealed. Li Ziran’s casual merchant persona hides the strength of an Archmage, while the Embryo trade is controlled through secret intermediaries.
• Rapidly escalating value: The Embryos create a speculative market whose prices rise at astonishing speed, illustrating how rare power-enhancing resources can reshape economies and provoke competition among powerful factions.
• Commercial ambition and influence: Trade is shown to be inseparable from political and military power. The ability to acquire or produce Embryos attracts the attention of Upper Demons and powerful organizations.
• Appearances versus reality: Xiao Ba assumes Li Ziran is merely an eccentric businessman, only to witness him wield overwhelming elemental power. Similarly, the Golden Palace’s extravagant hospitality conceals an intimidating test.
• Trust and friendship: Although Li Ziran is pursuing a dangerous high-level deal, he includes Xiao Ba because of their growing friendship and repays Xiao Ba’s earlier hospitality.

Character Interactions

• Xiao Ba consults the Octopus Alliance but finds its members unable to help him locate the Embryo trade channel.
• Xiao Ba and Li Ziran exchange rent, hospitality, and friendly teasing, reflecting their developing relationship as neighboring merchants.
• At the Golden Palace, Li Ziran takes charge while Xiao Ba remains overwhelmed by the wealth, ceremony, and danger surrounding them.
• During the elemental assault, Xiao Ba instinctively attempts to protect Li Ziran, while Li Ziran proves capable of protecting himself and effortlessly dominates the attack.
• The Mermaid host engages Li Ziran as an equal, testing his abilities before apologizing and offering two bottles of 37th-Layer Soul Plasma, emphasizing the extraordinary level of the negotiations.

Chapter Summary: “Congratulations, Prince Li Ziran”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Xiao Ba accompanies Li Ziran to the Golden Palace, expecting a business negotiation involving the Golden Mermaid. Instead, Li Ziran appears to spend the entire visit tasting expensive seafood and wine.
• Xiao Ba is stunned by the value of the Soul Plasma Li Ziran casually carries, especially the two bottles of 37th-layer Soul Plasma. He realizes that Li Ziran is involved in dealings far beyond his own level.
• The apparent meal is actually a cover for a spiritual negotiation between Li Ziran and the Golden Mermaid. Through soul-based communication, they discuss Elemental Embryos, customization, future cooperation, and prices.
• Li Ziran successfully secures a major contract: he will supply 300 Golden Fishman Embryos within one year, receiving one bottle of 37th-layer Soul Plasma for each.
• After the meal, Li Ziran says goodbye to Xiao Ba. He appreciates Xiao Ba’s straightforward nature and kindness but understands that the Embryo trade is too important and dangerous for the small merchant to become involved in.
• Li Ziran uses the Teleportation Stone to return to his Embryo Factory beneath Hippo Ancient City. The factory has expanded into a massive underground operation, supported by the North Sea Port’s Seventh Legion, the Elven Transport Corps, and the Demon market.
• He receives a message from Anfuni asking him to come quickly. At the factory’s upper levels, he meets Anfuni and three powerful Forest Elf elders, including the Titled Archmage Anthony.
• The Elves thank Li Ziran for helping them obtain Soul Plasma through his trade network. At the Elven Queen’s request, Anthony grants him the title of Elven Prince, making him the first foreign prince recognized by the current queen.
• The title manifests as a small tree growing inside Li Ziran’s Spirit World. Its leaves contain powerful life energy, and Li Ziran discovers that he can use one through Grass Sacrifice to produce a healing force comparable to Life Healing.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increasing business skill, strategic thinking, and ambition. He is no longer merely establishing a small trade but is building an international supply chain for high-end Embryos.
• He also shows emotional restraint. Although he likes Xiao Ba and enjoys the simplicity of their relationship, he deliberately keeps him away from the dangerous and valuable Embryo business.
• Li Ziran’s reputation and influence continue to grow. He now has connections with Abyssal Demons, the Shadow Society, the Elves, and major military and commercial organizations.
• Xiao Ba realizes that Li Ziran is far more capable and mysterious than he had believed. His confusion about the Golden Palace visit gradually turns into admiration and concern.
• The Golden Mermaid is revealed to be a serious, pragmatic negotiator who thoroughly investigates Li Ziran and evaluates his Elemental Embryos before agreeing to cooperate.
• Anfuni appears eager and personally involved in Li Ziran’s success, quickly bringing him before the Elven elders.
• Anthony and the other Archmages are portrayed as immensely powerful but humble and practical. They value Li Ziran’s contribution because it benefits the broader Elven magical community.

Significant Themes

• Appearances versus reality: The Golden Palace meal seems like casual dining, but it conceals a complex spiritual negotiation.
• Business as diplomacy: Li Ziran’s Embryo trade creates alliances between races and organizations, allowing commerce to reshape political and magical relationships.
• Ambition and expansion: The chapter marks Li Ziran’s transition from a small-scale operator to the architect of a continent-spanning trade network.
• Power and recognition: The title of Elven Prince symbolizes Li Ziran’s growing status and the acknowledgment of his value by a powerful race.
• Emotional restraint: Li Ziran values Xiao Ba’s friendship but chooses distance to protect both himself and the merchant from the consequences of his increasingly dangerous business.
• Uncontrolled power: Li Ziran’s Spirit World is becoming crowded with mysterious forces and artifacts—the Shadow Crescent Moon, Judgment Day, the Memory Eye, and the Elven sapling—yet he still does not fully understand or control them.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran treats Xiao Ba generously throughout the Golden Palace meal, giving him the food and wine despite Xiao Ba’s confusion and anxiety.
• Xiao Ba worries about Li Ziran after noticing his exhaustion, but Li Ziran avoids explaining the true nature of the negotiation.
• Li Ziran hugs Xiao Ba farewell, treating the gesture as both repayment for Xiao Ba’s hospitality and a final acknowledgment of their limited friendship.
• Anfuni introduces Li Ziran to the Elven elders and emphasizes the importance of their meeting.
• Anthony respectfully thanks Li Ziran on behalf of the Elves, then bestows the Elven Prince title upon him.
• Li Ziran reacts with surprise and uncertainty, especially regarding the mysterious purpose of the title and the new power embedded in his Spirit World.

Chapter Summary: “A Title Magister’s Jaw Dropped”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran learns that the Elves have granted him the title of Elven Prince, a rank traditionally signifying the spouse and lifelong companion of the Elven Queen.
• Anfuni explains that Elven Princes are honored contributors who gain access to the Elves’ highest secret: Life Force. Li is uncomfortable with the romantic and political implications, especially after learning that past queens had dozens—or even hundreds—of princes. However, since the current queen has only recently come of age, Li is her first prince.
• Anfuni gives Li his agreed share of the Soul Plasma from their trade: fifteen bottles ranging from the tenth to the twenty-second layer.
• Noticing that the three Elven Archmages want the Soul Plasma for themselves, Li strategically gives Anthony a bottle of 37th-Layer Soul Plasma. Anthony and the other Elves are stunned by its value.
• Li reveals that he has signed a contract with the Golden Palace to trade 300 Elemental Embryos, receiving one bottle of 37th-Layer Soul Plasma per Embryo as an initial deposit. The Elves realize that Li’s business is far more profitable and important than they had assumed.
• Impressed, Anthony confirms that the Elves will strengthen their protection of Li and personally oversee the trade route. He also gives Li a mysterious branch that enters Li’s Spirit World and merges with his inner sapling, serving as a life-saving protective item.
• Anthony declares that the Elven Queen must meet Li and that his title as prince should become more than a formality before teleporting away.
• Anfuni explains that the prince title grants Li a spiritual connection with the queen. He has already gained some Life Force, improved compatibility with Elven spells, and experienced a stronger Healing Spell.
• Li and Anfuni discuss the future of their cooperation. Li recognizes that the Embryo trade will soon attract competitors, slave traders, Demons, and possibly powerful Title Magisters.
• To strengthen his resources and maintain control over the business, Li decides to exchange the more powerful Soul Plasma for lower-grade plasma he can actually use. He gives the valuable bottles to Anfuni to trade, partly to benefit Anthony and partly because only lower levels are useful for his current cultivation.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran remains pragmatic and emotionally detached. He dislikes the Elven Prince title because of its implied marital obligations, but accepts its practical benefits and uses the Elves’ political support to protect his business.
• Li demonstrates sharp business sense by recognizing the Archmages’ desire for his Soul Plasma and offering Anthony a valuable bottle as a diplomatic gesture. He also shows generosity when he gives away Soul Plasma that exceeds his current needs.
• His ambitions remain focused on developing his own elemental power rather than mastering Elven spells, though he acknowledges the benefits of Life Force and improved healing.
• Anfuni continues to act as Li’s intermediary and advocate within the Elven Race. Her previous praise of Li before the queen appears to have helped secure his elevated status.
• Anthony, initially a cautious and proud Elven Title Magister, becomes highly impressed by Li after seeing the 37th-Layer Soul Plasma. His attitude shifts from evaluating Li to actively protecting and supporting him.
• The other Elven Archmages also reassess Li, recognizing that he possesses extraordinary commercial opportunities despite his relatively weak personal cultivation.

Significant Themes

• Power versus value: Li’s wealth and trade connections make him important despite his limited strength. The Elves recognize that his resources can rival or exceed what powerful cultivators possess.
• Political titles and practical benefits: The Elven Prince title carries romantic and ceremonial meaning for the Elves, but Li mainly values whatever protection, abilities, or influence it provides.
• Risk accompanying opportunity: The lucrative Embryo trade will inevitably attract competitors and dangerous enemies. Success increases Li’s need for strength, secrecy, and alliances.
• Generosity as strategy: Li’s gifts are not purely charitable; they help secure the Elves’ goodwill, protection, and continued cooperation.
• Different cultural values: Li struggles to understand the Elves’ concept of royal houses and multiple princes, revealing a clash between human expectations and Elven customs.
• External wealth versus personal strength: Li believes resources are temporary unless converted into personal power, which motivates him to exchange high-level Soul Plasma for materials he can use directly.

Important Character Interactions

• Li and Anfuni: Anfuni explains the meaning of the prince title and its spiritual consequences. Their relationship remains cooperative, with Anfuni serving as Li’s guide to Elven customs and business partner.
• Li and Anthony: Li surprises Anthony with 37th-Layer Soul Plasma, transforming Anthony’s skepticism into admiration. Anthony responds by promising Elven protection and implanting the mysterious branch in Li’s Spirit World.
• Li and the Elven Archmages: The Archmages initially covet Li’s share of the Soul Plasma but are disarmed by his calculated gift. Their view of him changes after learning about his Golden Palace contract.
• Li and the Elven Queen: Though they have not yet met, the prince title creates a spiritual connection between them and implies a future political and personal relationship. Anthony insists that the queen should meet Li soon.
• Li and the Golden Palace: Li’s contract establishes a highly profitable new trade arrangement involving 300 Elemental Embryos and exceptionally valuable Soul Plasma, greatly raising his importance and the dangers surrounding him.

Chapter Summary: “The Second Shattering and Reassembly of the Spirit”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Anfuni provides Li Ziran with 126 bottles of twelfth-layer Soul Plasma, impressed that he willingly exchanged more valuable high-grade plasma for the lower-grade version he specifically needed.
• Li Ziran begins consuming the Soul Plasma. Each bottle causes intense physical and mental pain—numbness, unconsciousness, and the sensation of ants devouring his nerves—but ultimately produces a massive increase in mental power.
• The Soul Plasma feeds three major components of his Spirit World:
  • The Elven Sapling, which grows significantly.
  • The Shadow Crescent Moon, which becomes purer and stronger.
  • Li Ziran’s Spirit Crystals, whose volume rapidly doubles.
• The Sapling and Crescent Moon compete for the incoming mental power. Their opposing forces develop into two mental whirlwinds that begin grinding down Li Ziran’s Spirit Crystals.
• After exhausting his initial supply and obtaining more Soul Plasma through embryo production and Abyss-related orders, Li Ziran continues the process with thirteenth-layer Soul Plasma.
• The two whirlwinds merge into a gray-green storm, shattering the Spirit Crystals completely and reducing Li Ziran’s Spirit World to primordial mental mist.
• He then consumes more Soul Plasma to trigger the reassembly of his Spirit World. The mental mist condenses into gray and green droplets, which gradually form two new Spirit Crystals.
• The reassembled crystals possess far greater strength and toughness than before. Li Ziran discovers that he can cast Corpse Witch Formations with almost no mental exhaustion.
• He creates an army of more than 500 Corpse Witches, using them to raise corpses and expand his ability to produce Elemental Embryos.
• The chapter ends with Li Ziran planning to exchange future earnings for fourteenth-layer Soul Plasma, aiming to undergo repeated Spirit Recompositions and eventually reach the level of a Super Witch Doctor.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes increasingly ambitious and confident. What begins as a painful experiment turns into an addictive and efficient cultivation method.
• His understanding of Soul Plasma changes: he no longer views it merely as a rare resource, but as the foundation of a self-sustaining power system.
• He gains a much stronger Spirit World and greatly improved mental power, especially in terms of durability, control, and efficiency.
• Li Ziran also becomes more strategically minded. He recognizes that Corpse Witches can produce embryos, which generate more Soul Plasma, creating a cycle of growth and profit.
• Anfuni gains greater confidence in her decision to support Li Ziran and bring him into the Elven Race. His generosity and potential lead her to suspect that he may eventually rival the greatest princes in Elven history.
• The Elven Sapling and Shadow Crescent Moon develop seemingly independent or instinctive behavior, actively competing for mental power and unintentionally assisting Li Ziran’s Spirit Recomposition.

Significant Themes

• Pain as the price of power: Li Ziran must endure extreme suffering before receiving the benefits of Soul Plasma.
• Transformation and rebirth: The destruction and reconstruction of the Spirit World represent a major stage in Li Ziran’s evolution.
• Resource conversion and economic power: Soul Plasma, embryos, and Corpse Witches form a closed system in which wealth directly produces greater strength.
• Hidden potential: Objects Li Ziran previously considered useless—the Sapling and Crescent Moon—prove essential to his advancement.
• Ambition and escalation: Each breakthrough immediately creates a desire for the next one, as Li Ziran begins envisioning repeated recompositions and limitless growth.
• Control versus dependence: Although Li Ziran benefits from the Sapling and Crescent Moon, their hunger for mental power suggests that his strength is partly dependent on forces he does not fully understand.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Anfuni: Their relationship is based on mutual trust and practical cooperation. Anfuni supplies the Soul Plasma, while Li Ziran provides embryos and fulfills orders. Her admiration for his character deepens as he prioritizes her needs and proves his value.
• Li Ziran and the Elven Sapling/Shadow Crescent Moon: These entities do not communicate directly, but their struggle over his mental power shapes the entire breakthrough. Their rivalry becomes the mechanism that destroys and later helps rebuild his Spirit World.
• Li Ziran and the Corpse Witches: Once created, the Corpse Witches become extensions of his will. He implants memories into them and intends to use them as workers in embryo production.
• Li Ziran and the Soul Plasma: Soul Plasma functions almost like both a tormentor and a partner: it inflicts unbearable pain but supplies the energy necessary for his transformation and growing empire.

Chapter Summary: The Shadow Elder’s Second Recruitment

Key Plot Points and Events

• The rise of Elemental Embryos radically transforms the market, causing Sulfur Island’s prices to double and increasing the production of high-quality Soul Plasma.
• Li Ziran uses the abundant Soul Plasma to accelerate his cultivation. His Spirit World is nearing its third complete shattering, bringing him close to the spiritual level of Archmages such as Sandrew.
• His breakthrough is interrupted by a mandatory assembly of the Shadow Society, summoned by the Shadow Elder.
• The Shadow Elder reveals that a buyer has ordered three Devouring Demon Embryos in exchange for three bottles of Tier-42 Soul Plasma, far surpassing the Shadow Society’s usual Tier-36 maximum.
• The superior products are identified as Elemental Embryos, which possess Elemental Organs from birth and use powerful Demon Overlord bloodlines.
• Sandrew suggests that Rhine Duke’s factory may be responsible. Rhine attempts to shift blame onto Li Ziran, claiming Li oversees the technology.
• Li Ziran refutes him, exposing Rhine’s private hiring of a Staff Witch Doctor and arguing that Rhine’s factories no longer use Li’s technology beyond the basic mother body and seed.
• The Ogre confirms Li’s account, admitting that Rhine had hired outside help to seize control of the Embryo technology.
• The Shadow Elder uses a mind-affecting form of Puppet Art to interrogate Rhine. Rhine confesses that he was greedy and wanted control of the technology, but insists he knows nothing about the Elemental Embryos.
• As punishment, the Shadow Elder partially transforms Rhine’s legs and lower body into wood. Rhine is given three days to discover the source of the Elemental Organs and obtain their formula, or he will be turned completely into a wooden puppet.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates major growth in spiritual power, nearing the level of the Shadow Society’s strongest members. He also shows greater confidence and political awareness by defending himself publicly without fear.
• Rhine Duke is revealed as ambitious, manipulative, and shamelessly opportunistic. He tries to blame Li for the market disruption but is exposed as someone who secretly sought control of the technology.
• The Shadow Elder reasserts his absolute authority. His ability to inspect minds, manipulate members through Puppet Art, and impose terrifying punishments emphasizes his power and control.
• Sandrew acts as the Shadow Society’s investigator and trade expert, reporting the emergence of Elemental Embryos while avoiding direct responsibility.
• The Ogre chooses the Society’s interests over his private friendship with Rhine, confirming Rhine’s misconduct.
• Anfuni remains calm and detached despite the revelation, suggesting she understands more about the transaction or the new Embryo supply than she reveals.

Significant Themes

• Power through resources: Soul Plasma has become the foundation of rapid spiritual advancement, allowing Li Ziran and his organization to expand dramatically.
• Technological and commercial competition: The superior Elemental Embryos threaten the Shadow Society’s dominance of the market and create a struggle over production methods and formulas.
• Betrayal and political survival: Rhine’s attempt to sacrifice Li shows how members protect themselves when faced with the Shadow Elder’s scrutiny.
• Authority and punishment: The Shadow Elder maintains order through fear, using Puppet Art to expose lies and physically punish disobedience.
• Transformation: Both Li’s spiritual reconstruction and Rhine’s forced Woodification represent transformation—one achieved through cultivation and opportunity, the other imposed as punishment.

Character Interactions

• The Shadow Elder questions Sandrew about the market threat and then turns suspicion toward Rhine.
• Rhine directly accuses Li, but Li counters by exposing Rhine’s secret recruitment of a Staff Witch Doctor.
• Li draws the Ogre into the dispute, forcing him to confirm the truth despite his friendship with Rhine.
• The Shadow Elder interrogates Rhine through Puppet Art, prompting his public confession.
• The chapter ends with the Shadow Elder giving Rhine an ultimatum: uncover the source of the Elemental Embryos and acquire their formula within three days or become a permanent wooden puppet.

Chapter Summary: “Rhine Duke’s Swift Action”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Rhine Duke offers 1,000 Shadow Points to recruit help investigating the source of the Elemental Embryos. Shadow Elder approves and allows him to choose anyone.
• Rhine selects Li Ziran, whose expertise in embryology makes him indispensable. Although Li initially wants to refuse because he is secretly the true source of the embryos, Shadow Elder’s warning forces him to cooperate.
• Li negotiates aggressively, raising the payment to 2,000 Shadow Points and demanding Rhine’s Staff Witch Doctor, Raccoon, as part of the compensation. Rhine accepts, offering 1,827 Shadow Points plus Raccoon.
• Sandrew warns Li not to overreach. Li stops bargaining, preserving his position within the Shadow Society.
• Rhine teleports Li through several locations, eventually showing him a secret chamber where women are being used in the production of embryos. Rhine incapacitates Raccoon and hands him over to Li, who transforms him into a frog and binds him to his waist.
• Rhine then orders five subordinate “Wolves” to arrest embryo suppliers. Within an hour, eleven suppliers are captured, including Danforth, a slave trader connected to the embryo market and a recipient of Li’s formulas.
• Rhine demands the suppliers’ embryo-control formulas. When they refuse, a woman from the Bauhinia Lineage uses a brutal, imperfect form of Memory Theft to extract information from one supplier. Horrified, Danforth and the others surrender their formulas.
• Li recognizes most of the formulas as his own work, including an original draft, but pretends they contain no useful clues.
• Rhine recruits the Bauhinia Lineage woman to investigate the transportation route at North Sea Port and locate the ship carrying the Elemental Elves. He wants her to recover the memories of those involved and uncover the factory behind the embryos.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates sharp opportunism by doubling his fee and securing Raccoon, while carefully concealing his true identity as the source of the embryos. He remains wary of Shadow Elder and Rhine but is confident enough to resist intimidation. His interest in the woman’s Memory Theft also reveals his growing awareness of related mental abilities.
• Rhine Duke: Changes from submissive and fearful before Shadow Elder to commanding and ruthless once the mission begins. He efficiently mobilizes his organization, captures suppliers, and uses coercion and political bargaining to advance his investigation.
• Shadow Elder: Establishes his authority by forcing Li to accept the assignment. He rewards initiative but expects members to cooperate fully.
• Sandrew: Acts as a political mediator, warning Li to stop extorting Rhine before his behavior creates resentment or displeases Shadow Elder.
• Raccoon: Once a valuable Staff Witch Doctor and key part of Rhine’s operation, he is abruptly defeated and handed over to Li.
• Danforth and the other suppliers: Initially resist surrendering their formulas, but the brutal Memory Theft performed on one of them frightens them into cooperation.
• Bauhinia Lineage woman: Is revealed as a memory manipulator with access to a crude version of Memory Theft. Though cautious about confronting Title-Class Elves, she agrees to assist Rhine in exchange for control of Qatar City.

Significant Themes

• Power and coercion: Shadow Society members operate under hierarchy and implied threats. Rhine’s mission is technically voluntary, but Shadow Elder’s authority makes refusal impossible.
• Manipulation and bargaining: Li exploits Rhine’s desperation for personal gain, while Rhine uses political promises and intimidation to recruit others.
• Hidden identities and deception: Li must investigate a factory that does not exist, since he himself secretly produces the embryos. His false cooperation conceals the truth from Rhine and the Shadow Society.
• Cruelty and exploitation: The secret chamber reveals the horrifying human cost behind embryo production. The suppliers’ formulas, the exploited women, and the violent Memory Theft all portray knowledge and bodies as commodities.
• Knowledge as power: Embryological formulas, memory extraction, and specialized expertise determine who holds leverage. Li’s knowledge makes him valuable, while the suppliers’ formulas become targets of coercion.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Shadow Elder: Shadow Elder silently pressures Li into accepting the mission, establishing their unequal relationship.
• Li Ziran and Rhine Duke: Their interaction is defined by mutual necessity and distrust. Li extorts Rhine for payment, while Rhine depends on Li’s expertise and attempts to maintain authority.
• Li Ziran and Sandrew: Sandrew reins Li in, and Li understands the warning well enough to cooperate.
• Rhine Duke and Raccoon: Rhine treats Raccoon as expendable, strangling and capturing him without hesitation.
• Rhine Duke and the Wolves: Rhine commands the Wolves as subordinates, using them to rapidly round up embryo suppliers.
• Rhine Duke and the Bauhinia woman: Rhine bargains with her by offering Qatar City. He asks her to track the Elemental Elf shipment and extract memories about the embryo factory, while she voices concern over the powerful elves guarding it.

Chapter Summary: “Bell, the Dwarf, and the Snow Woman”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran learns that Rhine Duke intends to intercept an Ebony transport ship carrying Elemental Embryos. Capturing its personnel could reveal the location of the factory producing the Embryos.
• Bauhinia Flower Woman warns Rhine Duke that the ship is protected by the Elves, including a Title-Class Magister, making the plan extremely dangerous. Rhine Duke nevertheless proceeds because his legs are rapidly becoming woodified, leaving him little time.
• Using a hummingbird-like messenger insect and memory-reading magic, Bauhinia Flower Woman discovers that the ship has departed and will likely pass near Black Mountain Reef.
• Rather than use Bauhinia Flower’s Teleportation Array, Rhine Duke activates his own hidden teleportation network. He recruits several powerful figures:
  • Ice Plains Bell, a massive Beast Race warrior.
  • An unnamed Dwarf, who trains inside a volcanic crater by absorbing intense Fire and Earth elemental energy.
  • The Snow Woman Queen, who appears to rule a tribe controlled or subordinated by Rhine Duke.
  • A Spatial Mantis, who opens a temporary passage through space to Black Mountain Reef.
• The group travels through Rhine Duke’s concealed teleportation hub and reaches the tiny reef ahead of the transport ship.
• The chapter ends as the black Ebony ship appears on the horizon, confirming that Rhine Duke’s intelligence is accurate and setting up the ambush.

2. Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes increasingly aware of Rhine Duke’s resources, influence, and hidden preparations. He is impressed by the Duke’s teleportation network and intrigued by the specialized abilities of the Spatial Mantis, while remaining cautious about the danger of confronting the Elves.
• Rhine Duke is revealed to be desperate but highly organized. His worsening condition motivates him to take an enormous risk, and his commanding treatment of the recruited leaders suggests that he controls or has leverage over them.
• Bauhinia Flower Woman demonstrates her political cunning and practical usefulness. She assists Rhine Duke but also attempts to profit from the arrangement, showing that her cooperation is transactional.
• Ice Plains Bell is established as a formidable warrior whose imposing presence immediately impresses Li Ziran.
• The Dwarf represents the extreme physical training of top-tier warriors, tempering his body through dangerous elemental environments.
• The Snow Woman Queen appears powerful and independent, yet ultimately obeys Rhine Duke, implying his authority over her tribe.
• The Spatial Mantis displays extraordinary mastery of spatial magic, opening a passage directly to a remote reef and revealing the source of Rhine Duke’s extensive transportation capabilities.

3. Significant Themes

• Power and control: Rhine Duke’s ability to command warriors, tribal rulers, and specialized races suggests that power is maintained through influence, dependence, and hidden networks rather than strength alone.
• Risk versus desperation: Although the Elves and their Title Magister make the mission highly dangerous, Rhine Duke’s deteriorating body leaves him unwilling to pursue safer alternatives.
• Specialized strength: The chapter contrasts different forms of power—Title-Class magic, warrior body-tempering, memory reading, spatial manipulation, and political authority.
• Infrastructure and strategy: Transportation routes and teleportation networks are shown to be as important as military force. Whoever controls movement and information can dominate the larger trade operation.
• Curiosity and discovery: Li Ziran observes and analyzes unfamiliar abilities, especially the Spatial Mantis’s manipulation of space, reflecting his ongoing interest in expanding his own magical knowledge and resources.

4. Character Interactions

• Rhine Duke and Bauhinia Flower Woman cooperate uneasily: she warns him of the danger and seeks payment, while he treats her assistance as something she is obligated to provide.
• Rhine Duke commands Bell, the Dwarf, and the Snow Woman Queen with little ceremony, suggesting longstanding relationships in which he holds the dominant position.
• Li Ziran observes these interactions and notices that Rhine Duke’s companions behave more like subordinated assets than friends.
• The Spatial Mantis responds to Rhine Duke with visible deference, carefully following his instructions and opening the route to Black Mountain Reef.
• The chapter closes with the assembled group waiting together on the reef, united by Rhine Duke’s plan to attack the Elven-protected transport ship.

Chapter Summary: “Ambush on the Elven Transport Ship”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran and his allies— the Ice Plains Bear, the Dwarf, and the Snow Woman—prepare an ambush for an Elven transport ship, the Ebony Ship.
• The Snow Woman casts a powerful ice spell resembling a Forbidden Spell, causing natural-looking snowfall that secretly lowers the ship’s temperature and weakens the Elves’ defenses.
• The ambush is nearly compromised when Li Ziran senses a mental probe, which the Bauhinia Flower Woman destroys with lightning. The Elves become wary and raise a defensive barrier, causing the attackers to miss their ideal opportunity.
• Sea Folk then launch seemingly separate attacks: a giant whale charges the ship, followed by an enormous octopus. The Elves repel both attacks, but Li Ziran realizes these assaults are deliberate distractions designed to draw the two Titled Archmages away from the transport ship.
• As the Ebony Ship descends, the Ice Plains Bear—now revealed to be an enormous legendary-sized Giant Bear—attacks from beneath the sea and nearly overturns the vessel.
• Titled Archmage Anthony stabilizes the ship with giant trees and engages the Giant Bear. He restrains the Bear with flexible vines, demonstrating exceptional control over his plant magic.
• The Dwarf joins the fight, burning through Anthony’s vines and launching a lightning-fast assault. Although Anthony initially appears vulnerable, the Dwarf’s weakened speed is revealed to be a feint.
• With the Giant Bear’s help, the Dwarf successfully strikes Anthony. The Snow Woman’s ice sheets briefly immobilize the Archmage, allowing the Dwarf to kick him in the chest and severely injure him.
• Anthony retaliates in a horrifying fashion: branches and roots erupt from the Dwarf’s body, draining him until he shrivels into a skeleton and becomes fertilizer for Anthony’s tree magic.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes more cautious and strategically aware. He recognizes that raw strength alone cannot determine a battle and begins considering domains, timing, luck, and cooperation. He also becomes increasingly suspicious of Shadow Elder’s influence over the Rhine Duke.
• The Snow Woman demonstrates extraordinary control over ice and snow. Her elemental organ appears highly unusual, and her subtle spellwork proves crucial in creating an opening against Anthony.
• The Ice Plains Bear is revealed to possess a terrifyingly massive true form, growing from a bear-like creature into a gigantic being larger than the transport ship.
• The Dwarf shows great speed, agility, and combat cunning, using fire to counter Anthony’s vines and pretending to slow down in order to lure him into complacency. However, his confidence turns to caution when Anthony survives and counters decisively.
• Anthony, initially pressured and even badly wounded, proves to be far more dangerous than expected. His plant magic is versatile, defensive, and lethal, allowing him to recover from a devastating attack and kill the Dwarf almost instantly.
• The Elves are shown to be disciplined and well-trained. They respond quickly to threats, coordinate their defenses, and initially maintain confidence despite the ambush.

Significant Themes

• Strategy over brute force: The attack succeeds only through layered deception, cooperation, and diversion rather than direct confrontation.
• The danger of underestimating an opponent: Anthony appears to be losing when the Dwarf lands a powerful blow, but his hidden counterattack reveals that apparent weakness can conceal overwhelming power.
• Teamwork and sacrifice: The Rhine Duke’s alliance with the Sea Folk, Snow Woman, Dwarf, and Giant Bear reflects a carefully planned effort in which every participant has a specific role.
• The limits of strength: Li Ziran reflects that even immense power cannot guarantee victory; timing, environment, tactics, and abilities matter equally.
• Hidden power and transformation: The Snow Woman’s abnormal elemental organ, the Bear’s gigantic form, and Anthony’s deadly tree-based regeneration all suggest that appearances conceal deeper abilities.
• Nature as both protection and destruction: Anthony’s trees stabilize the ship and restrain the Giant Bear, but they also pierce, drain, and consume the Dwarf.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran observes and evaluates the abilities of his allies, especially the Snow Woman and Giant Bear, while remaining ready to intervene.
• The Snow Woman supports the Giant Bear and Dwarf by freezing Anthony at the critical moment.
• The Giant Bear and Dwarf coordinate their attack, with the Bear creating an opening for the Dwarf’s decisive kick.
• The Sea Folk work with the Rhine Duke’s faction by staging attacks that lure the Elven Archmages away from the ship.
• Anthony battles both the Giant Bear and Dwarf, first restraining them with vines and then killing the Dwarf through a brutal internal growth of roots.
• The conflict leaves Li Ziran impressed by Anthony’s strength and increasingly aware that the ambush is a high-stakes confrontation involving carefully concealed abilities.

Chapter Summary: “The True Protagonist”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The battle over the Elves and Elemental Embryos intensifies amid violent waves, snow, and spatial distortions.
• Anthony quickly outmaneuvers and defeats the Dwarf, using his intelligence rather than brute force. The Dwarf’s body withers into a tree, removing the group’s strongest support.
• Anthony then severely injures Giant Bear with rapidly growing, whip-like branches.
• Rhine Duke intervenes in the form of a powerful golden Ancient Soul Lion. He attacks Anthony at extraordinary speed, forcing Anthony to defend himself with vine armor.
• Anthony and Rhine Duke clash repeatedly. Although Rhine Duke’s awakened Ancient Soul is formidable, Anthony’s special elemental power and Title-Magister-level strength prove superior.
• Rhine Duke, Giant Bear, and Snow Woman launch a coordinated assault. Anthony counters with three emerald whips:
  • Giant Bear loses half his body.
  • Snow Woman is killed by a single whip wound.
  • Rhine Duke’s soul power is exhausted, forcing him back into his physical body.
• Despite their apparent defeat, Rhine Duke successfully orders the Spatial Mantis to steal the Elves and Elemental Embryos during the chaos created by the collapsing space.
• Rhine Duke escapes with Li Ziran and Bauhinia Flower Woman through teleportation, narrowly avoiding Anthony’s pursuit.
• In a safe stone house, the stolen Embryos and Elves appear. Rhine Duke reveals that the battle was primarily a distraction for the Spatial Mantis’s infiltration.
• Rhine Duke orders Li Ziran to decipher the Embryo formula and Bauhinia Flower Woman to extract the Elves’ memories concerning the Embryo Workshop.
• Li Ziran secretly realizes that he already knows multiple formulas, while memory extraction proves more difficult.
• Bauhinia Flower Woman eventually discovers the name Daniel in an Elf’s memories, shocking Li Ziran because Wolverine Daniel was connected to the Embryo formula and the underground trade.

Character Developments

• Anthony: Revealed to be highly intelligent and tactically flexible, not merely a powerful brute. His mastery of special plant-based elemental energy places him far above the ambushing group.
• Rhine Duke: Demonstrates exceptional strategic ability. Although unable to defeat Anthony directly, he understands his limitations and designs the entire battle to create an opening for the Spatial Mantis. His determination becomes nearly obsessive once the Embryos are secured.
• Li Ziran: Gains a deeper understanding of high-level elemental powers, particularly Anthony’s unique element and Rhine Duke’s Ancient Soul. He continues concealing his knowledge of the Embryo formulas while investigating the connection to Daniel.
• Bauhinia Flower Woman: Acts as a memory reader and information gatherer. Her methods are crude and lethal, but she efficiently extracts valuable information.
• Spatial Mantis: Emerges as the real key player. Its ability to move through spatial turbulence allows it to infiltrate Anthony’s operation unnoticed and steal the prisoners and Embryos.
• Dwarf, Giant Bear, Snow Woman, and Rhine Duke: Their supposed group assault collapses quickly against Anthony. The Dwarf and Snow Woman fall, Giant Bear is mutilated, and Rhine Duke barely survives.

Significant Themes

• Strategy over brute force: Anthony defeats opponents through superior power and tactics, while Rhine Duke succeeds by recognizing that direct combat is impossible and using deception.
• The apparent loser may control the battle: Though Rhine Duke’s forces suffer devastating casualties, their real objective is achieved.
• Hidden identities and concealed motives: The battle is a distraction, Li Ziran hides his knowledge, and the discovery of Daniel suggests a larger connection between the Elves, the Embryo Workshop, and the underground project.
• The nature of power: The chapter introduces distinct forms of power, including Title-Magister strength, special elemental forces, Ancient Souls, and spatial abilities.
• Information as power: Once the Embryos are captured, the focus shifts from combat to formulas, memories, and uncovering the organization behind the project.

Important Character Interactions

• Anthony’s clever trap defeats the Dwarf and later overwhelms the combined attack of Rhine Duke, Giant Bear, and Snow Woman.
• Rhine Duke coordinates the other attackers while secretly relying on the Spatial Mantis to complete the true objective.
• Rhine Duke recruits Li Ziran and Bauhinia Flower Woman after the escape, assigning them roles in analyzing the Embryos and extracting memories.
• Li Ziran and Bauhinia Flower Woman work side by side, though their methods differ sharply: Li Ziran performs controlled research, while Bauhinia’s memory extraction kills the Elves.
• Bauhinia’s discovery of Daniel’s name creates a major mystery and links the stolen Embryos to Li Ziran’s previous investigations.

Chapter Summary: “This Woman Must Die”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Bauhinia Flower Woman examines the Elemental Embryos’ memories and discovers repeated references to Daniel, a Wolverine who had visited the Rhine Duke’s underground factory.
• Li Ziran realizes that Daniel may know about the basement, the Corpse Witches, and potentially the Red Fan District. If Daniel reveals what he knows, the Rhine Duke could capture Iron Hammer, Emily, Ivy, and the other residents.
• Determining that the woman’s memory-reading ability is the greatest immediate threat, Li Ziran secretly attacks her with a Transformation Spell. However, an alchemical stone embedded in her body protects her from the spell.
• The woman becomes suspicious and begins searching the memories of the remaining Elves to identify the attacker. Li Ziran attempts to disguise his involvement, while the Spatial Mantis also denies responsibility.
• The Bauhinia Flower Woman suddenly attacks. Poisoned throwing knives paralyze the Spatial Mantis, allowing her to seize him and forcibly search his memories.
• After discovering that the Spatial Mantis was not the attacker, she correctly identifies Li Ziran as the culprit. Their confrontation escalates as Li Ziran uses lightning attacks and attempts to destroy the room’s teleportation rune, preventing escape or outside interference.
• The woman relies on several powerful alchemical items, including a barrier and an elemental-immune green arrow. She ultimately attacks Li Ziran’s mind directly through Soul Search.
• Instead of finding an ordinary Spirit World, she enters a spiritual array protected by Li Ziran’s Snake Transformation and Devouring Curse. Her spiritual power is transformed into serpentine forms and consumed, leaving her mentally blank and defeating her.
• Li Ziran removes the sapphire-blue alchemical pearl embedded in her navel, weakening or disabling one of her major defensive artifacts.
• Just as he appears to have secured victory, the Rhine Duke suddenly returns carrying Daniel. Daniel recognizes Li Ziran and desperately calls for his help.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates strong tactical awareness, quickly recognizing that the Bauhinia Flower Woman must be eliminated before Daniel can expose his secrets. He remains deceptive and controlled under pressure, using misdirection, lightning, and his specialized spiritual defenses to overcome a stronger-looking opponent.
• Bauhinia Flower Woman: Revealed to possess formidable memory-reading abilities and numerous alchemical protections, but her actual spiritual strength is comparatively weak. Her confidence turns to panic when Li Ziran’s spiritual trap neutralizes her Soul Search.
• Spatial Mantis: Becomes an unwilling victim of the woman’s investigation. Though initially confused by the conflict, he is poisoned, immobilized, and stripped of his memories.
• Rhine Duke: Becomes increasingly excited by the possibility that Daniel can reveal Li Ziran’s hidden connections. His sudden return with Daniel restores the immediate threat just as Li Ziran defeats the woman.
• Daniel: Functions as the chapter’s unresolved danger. His knowledge of the underground factory and possible links to Li Ziran’s operations threaten to expose the Red Fan District and everyone connected to it.

Significant Themes

• Secrets and exposure: Li Ziran’s survival depends on concealing his identity and protecting the people and places connected to him. Daniel’s memories represent the danger of hidden truths becoming public.
• Mind control and memory: The chapter repeatedly centers on the power to read, erase, alter, or consume memories. Memory is treated both as a weapon and as a vulnerability.
• Cunning versus raw power: Although the Bauhinia Flower Woman possesses superior equipment and dangerous abilities, Li Ziran defeats her through deception, preparation, and specialized spiritual techniques.
• Alchemical dependence: The woman’s strength comes largely from implanted magical artifacts, suggesting both the sophistication and the limitations of relying on external tools.
• Unresolved danger: Li Ziran’s victory is temporary. The arrival of the Rhine Duke with Daniel creates a new crisis and prevents the chapter from ending with his escape.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and the Bauhinia Flower Woman engage in a battle of suspicion, deception, and psychological pressure.
• The woman interrogates and searches the memories of the Elves and the Spatial Mantis while Li Ziran attempts to redirect suspicion.
• Li Ziran and the Spatial Mantis cooperate only indirectly, with both denying involvement in the initial attack.
• The Rhine Duke’s absence gives Li Ziran an opportunity to act, but his return with Daniel immediately reverses Li Ziran’s advantage.
• Daniel’s plea—“Li, save me!”—reveals an unexpected connection between him and Li Ziran and ends the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Chapter Summary: “Spitting Blood in Rage”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Rhine Duke captures and tortures Daniel, the Grand Witch Doctor of the Wolverine clan, forcing him to reveal his connection to Li Ziran’s Beauty Salon and the Elemental Embryo trade.
• Li Ziran realizes that the stone house is both a teleportation hub and a time-manipulation chamber. The slowed time inside allowed the Rhine Duke to interrogate Daniel before Li Ziran could respond.
• Although Li Ziran fears that Shadow Elder may learn he is the hidden supplier of Elemental Embryos, he confirms through the Shadow Crescent Moon that Shadow Elder has not yet received the information.
• The Rhine Duke confronts Li Ziran, accusing him of creating the Elemental Embryo formulas and undermining the Shadow Society’s business. Li Ziran openly admits the truth.
• The Rhine Duke offers not to report Li Ziran if he hands over the formula. Li Ziran dismisses the promise as unreliable but continues negotiating while secretly preparing an attack.
• Li Ziran reveals that the Rhine Duke had already possessed the formula: it was hidden in a previous document filled with lists of organs and cultivation systems. The Duke had dismissed it without recognizing its value.
• Li Ziran explains that the Rhine Duke’s mass production of inferior Embryos unintentionally damaged the market and made Li Ziran’s superior products far more valuable. The Duke realizes that his own actions helped create Li Ziran’s success.
• Overcome by rage, humiliation, and regret, the Rhine Duke coughs up blood. Before he can retaliate, he notices green, oily particles surrounding him and penetrating his skin—evidence that Li Ziran’s Frog Transformation trap has begun activating.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increased confidence and strategic maturity. Rather than panicking after being exposed, he calmly assesses the situation, confirms Shadow Elder’s ignorance, and manipulates the Rhine Duke through conversation.
• He also reveals his willingness to fight a powerful opponent despite being at a disadvantage. His use of Frog Sweat and a Transformation Spell shows his preference for preparation, deception, and clever magic over direct confrontation.
• Daniel is shown to be weak-willed under torture. Li Ziran is disappointed but does not condemn him, recognizing that Daniel had no personal reason to die protecting Li Ziran’s secrets.
• The Rhine Duke undergoes a sharp emotional collapse. His confidence turns to shock and fury when he learns that he rejected the Elemental Embryo formula and that his own business strategy helped Li Ziran dominate the market. His pride is wounded by realizing he was manipulated by someone he considered inferior.

Significant Themes

• Strength versus intelligence: Li Ziran cannot defeat the Rhine Duke through raw power, so he relies on timing, misdirection, and specialized magic.
• Pride and humiliation: The Rhine Duke’s rage comes less from the loss of his factory than from discovering that his supposed superiority allowed him to be outmaneuvered by Li Ziran.
• The consequences of short-sightedness: The Duke rejected the formula because he failed to recognize its importance, and his own inferior products ultimately strengthened Li Ziran’s position.
• Trust and self-interest: Li Ziran understands that promises from powerful figures cannot be trusted, while Daniel’s betrayal reflects the limits of loyalty under torture.
• Hidden preparation: The chapter emphasizes that apparent weakness can conceal careful planning. Li Ziran’s calm conversation masks the construction of a magical trap.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Daniel: Their relationship is distant but not hostile. Li Ziran is disappointed by Daniel’s confession yet accepts it pragmatically.
• Li Ziran and the Rhine Duke: Their confrontation shifts from accusation and bargaining to psychological warfare. Li Ziran’s confidence unsettles the Duke, while his revelation about the discarded formula and the failed Embryo market drives the Duke into furious despair.
• The Rhine Duke and Shadow Elder: Although Shadow Elder does not appear directly, the threat of his judgment shapes the confrontation. The Duke considers withholding information so he can control the Embryo trade himself.
• Li Ziran and the Bauhinia Lineage: The earlier conflict with the Bauhinia woman becomes irrelevant once Li Ziran realizes the Rhine Duke used time manipulation to interrogate Daniel so quickly.

Summary of “Destroying Rhine Duke”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran transforms Rhine Duke into a frog and uses lightning to exploit the frog’s instinctive jumping movements. Each time Rhine Duke leaps to avoid the lightning, he is struck again.
• Rhine Duke changes into a golden lion, recovering his speed and combat confidence. He wounds Li Ziran with a swift attack.
• Li Ziran activates Thunder Prison, filling the room with lightning and thunderballs. The spell destroys Rhine Duke’s physical body and begins eroding his soul.
• Rhine Duke’s soul condenses into a tiny, lightning-resistant form and enters Li Ziran’s Spirit World, intending to destroy it from within.
• Inside the Spirit World, Rhine Duke encounters two powerful vortices created by Li Ziran’s unusual spiritual structure. Their gravitational forces trap and erode his soul.
• Li Ziran adds further attacks: the Devouring Curse, the Judgment Spell, and the power of the Evil Eye through Memory Theft.
• The Judgment Spell extracts impurities and spiritual power from Rhine Duke, while Li Ziran realizes that the appearance of a third vortex may help shatter and reconstitute his Spirit Crystals.
• Rhine Duke becomes desperate and repeatedly begs to negotiate, abandoning his original goal of taking the Elemental Embryo.
• Before Li Ziran can completely destroy him, Rhine Duke uses a Shadow Society technique to form a crescent-shaped escape mark. Although most of his soul is annihilated, the crescent fragment escapes Li Ziran’s Spirit World.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increasing ruthlessness and tactical flexibility. Though he dislikes brute-force killing, he recognizes that eliminating Rhine Duke is the safest way to protect his secrets.
• Li Ziran’s Spirit World proves extraordinarily abnormal and powerful. Its chaotic structure, multiple vortices, Shadow Crescent Moon, Judgment Scripture, and Evil Eye create a lethal environment even for an Ancient Soul.
• Li Ziran also gains an important insight into the possible relationship between multiple spiritual vortices and the repeated shattering of Spirit Crystals.
• Rhine Duke initially appears confident in his Battle Master-level abilities and Ancient Soul, believing he can overpower Li Ziran from within.
• His confidence collapses as his Ancient Soul is gradually eroded. He shifts from threats, to negotiation, to desperate attempts to transmit information to the Shadow Society.
• Rhine Duke’s survival depends entirely on his unusual Ancient Soul and the Shadow Society’s escape technique, but he loses most of his soul and memories in the process.

Significant Themes

• Adaptation and tactical exploitation: Li Ziran turns Rhine Duke’s frog transformation and movement limitations against him.
• The danger of underestimating an opponent: Rhine Duke assumes Li Ziran is weak, but discovers that his unconventional Spirit World is more dangerous than conventional magical theory would suggest.
• Order versus chaos: Rhine Duke expects a Spirit World to contain stable, compatible spiritual powers. Li Ziran’s chaotic Spirit World should theoretically be unstable, yet its disorder becomes a weapon.
• Knowledge versus survival: Li Ziran prioritizes killing Rhine Duke to prevent his secrets from being exposed, while Rhine Duke tries to preserve enough of himself to inform the Shadow Society.
• Power through abnormality: Li Ziran’s seemingly flawed or dangerous spiritual structure provides him with unique destructive capabilities and may enable further breakthroughs.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Rhine Duke engage in a battle of transformations, with Li Ziran using Frog Transformation and lightning to control Rhine Duke’s movement.
• After Rhine Duke becomes a lion, he briefly gains the upper hand and wounds Li Ziran, but Li Ziran responds with Thunder Prison.
• Rhine Duke invades Li Ziran’s Spirit World and attempts to destroy it, only to become trapped by its vortices.
• Rhine Duke repeatedly pleads for peace and negotiation, but Li Ziran ignores him and continues extracting and destroying his soul.
• Li Ziran uses Memory Theft to probe Rhine Duke’s mind, prompting Rhine Duke to attempt to send his remaining knowledge to the Shadow Society.
• Rhine Duke ultimately escapes only as a tiny crescent-shaped fragment, leaving Li Ziran victorious but alert to the possibility that some information survived.

Chapter Summary: The Shadow Society’s Third Summons

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Rhine Duke’s escape and apparent death, Li Ziran realizes that the person who helped him was Shadow Crescent Moon, a powerful member of the Shadow Society. He also understands that Shadow Elder now knows about his control of the Elemental Embryo.
• Shadow Elder forcibly summons Li Ziran to the Shadow Society’s assembly using the Shadow Crescent Moon within his Spirit World. Li considers sacrificing his spiritual power and abandoning the crescent moon to escape, but refuses because it is crucial to the continued shattering and transformation of his Spirit World.
• Before being teleported away, Li transforms nearby corpses—including Elves, Elemental Embryos, Spatial Mantises, and the Bauhinia Flower Woman—into frogs and carries them with him.
• At the assembly, Li notices that Sandrew and Rhine Duke are absent. Shadow Elder accuses them of betraying the Shadow Society and demands to know how they escaped his control.
• Shadow Elder interrogates and kills a Dark Elf, whose body undergoes Woodification and is absorbed into a special Derivative Space controlled by Shadow Elder. Li recognizes that another captured member, the Vampire, has suffered the same fate.
• Shadow Elder then targets Polo Bart, accusing him of being close to Sandrew and demanding information about Sandrew, Rhine Duke, and the missing Elemental Embryo.
• Polo Bart uses Yin-Exhausting Grass, a poison that neutralizes Shadowfolk, dispelling the shadows throughout the hall and exposing Shadow Elder’s ancient, corroded stone-like form.
• Polo Bart claims ignorance and offers to leave the Red Soil Continent in exchange for having the Shadow Crescent Moon removed from his Spirit World. Shadow Elder seemingly accepts no explanation, however, and instantly strips Polo Bart’s flesh with a mysterious corrosive substance, leaving only a woodenized skeleton to be absorbed into the Shadow Space.
• Li realizes that Sandrew likely used the Abyss Wraith to consume his own spiritual power and Rhine Duke’s remaining soul, allowing both to escape Shadow Elder’s control. Just as Li believes the crisis may not directly concern him, Shadow Elder’s attention shifts toward Anfuni.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Becomes more determined to preserve the Shadow Crescent Moon despite the danger it brings. He recognizes that it is essential to his Spirit World’s evolution and accepts that he must eventually confront Shadow Elder rather than flee. His ability to analyze the situation improves as he identifies the likely role of the Abyss Wraith.
• Shadow Elder: Is revealed as ruthless, suspicious, and terrifyingly powerful. He controls a Derivative Space filled with transformed puppets and can instantly manipulate or destroy members of the Shadow Society. His exposed, decayed form suggests that his power may come at the cost of severe corruption or deterioration.
• Sandrew: Although absent, he emerges as a decisive and resourceful figure. His apparent use of the Abyss Wraith allowed him and Rhine Duke to escape Shadow Elder’s control.
• Rhine Duke: His remaining soul and connection to the Shadow Crescent Moon appear to have been removed or consumed, enabling his escape.
• Polo Bart: Shows courage and preparation by using Yin-Exhausting Grass against Shadow Elder. Despite his attempt to negotiate, he is overwhelmed and transformed into another puppet.
• Anfuni: Displays unusual fear of Shadow Elder and moves closer to Li for protection, but becomes Shadow Elder’s next apparent target.

Significant Themes

• Freedom versus control: Sandrew and Rhine Duke’s escape challenges Shadow Elder’s absolute authority, while the transformed puppets demonstrate the fate of those who remain under his control.
• Power and sacrifice: Li must choose between abandoning the Shadow Crescent Moon to save himself or retaining it to advance his spiritual transformation.
• Paranoia and betrayal: Shadow Elder’s suspicion turns the gathering into an interrogation and execution, where membership in the Society offers no protection.
• Transformation and loss of identity: Woodification repeatedly converts living beings into lifeless puppets, symbolizing the destruction of individuality under Shadow Elder’s power.
• Hidden alliances and uncertain motives: Sandrew’s actions, the Abyss Wraith, and Rhine Duke’s escape reveal that major events are occurring beyond Li’s knowledge.

Character Interactions

• Li internally debates whether to sacrifice his spiritual power and the Shadow Crescent Moon, ultimately choosing to preserve it.
• Anfuni seeks safety by moving closer to Li, while Li observes both her fear and Shadow Elder’s interest in her.
• Shadow Elder interrogates and destroys the Dark Elf, Polo Bart, and other controlled members to uncover Sandrew and Rhine Duke’s whereabouts.
• Polo Bart confronts Shadow Elder with Yin-Exhausting Grass and attempts to negotiate, but Shadow Elder responds by transforming him into a puppet.
• The chapter ends with Shadow Elder’s attention fixed on Anfuni, setting up an immediate confrontation and placing Li in a potentially dangerous position.

Battle Against Shadow Elder — Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Shadow Elder interrogates Anfuni about the source of the Elemental Embryos, suspecting that she and the Elves secretly control their production.
• Anfuni evasively claims that Rhine Duke is merely one participant in a trade agreement between the Beast and Elven Races.
• The Ogre attempts to save himself by accusing Rhine Duke and Sandrew of secretly researching and trading Elemental Embryos. Shadow Elder turns the accusation against him, and the Ogre is transformed into a wooden puppet.
• Li Ziran realizes Shadow Elder has become completely distrustful and may intend to turn every member of the Shadow Society into a puppet. He concludes that he must act before Puppet Art is used on him.
• Gegwu pretends to welcome being turned into a puppet, using the distraction to launch a sudden attack. Her bone claws severely injure what appears to be Shadow Elder, tearing open his cheek and throat.
• The “Shadow Elder” she kills is revealed to be a wooden puppet. A Vampire puppet then attacks Gegwu, but she cuts through its claws with extraordinary ease.
• Anfuni and her Eternal Giant Frog, Jon, intervene. Jon devours the Vampire puppet and uses Eternal Light to attack Shadow Elder’s hidden form.
• Shadow Elder escapes as black liquid flowing through the shadows. Gegwu wounds him with Thunder Element, and she destroys numerous shadow fragments while trying to trap him.
• Shadow Elder ultimately merges with the Gray Shadow Space and takes control of Polo Bart’s shell, revealing himself in a far more dangerous form.
• He mocks Anfuni, claiming that neither she nor Jon can kill him. He then threatens all the supposed traitors and demands information about the Elemental Embryos.

2. Character Developments

• Shadow Elder: His anger over Sandrew and Rhine Duke’s unexplained escape drives him into paranoia and sadistic behavior. He treats interrogations as games and begins eliminating or puppeteering members of his own society. Despite appearing weakened, he demonstrates deceptive survival abilities and can merge with the Gray Shadow Space.
• Anfuni: She remains composed and cautious under interrogation, protecting the Elves’ secrets through carefully worded deception. Her willingness to confront Shadow Elder, supported by Jon, establishes her as a major force.
• Li Ziran: He becomes increasingly alert to Shadow Elder’s instability and recognizes the need to act before being controlled. His observations also reveal his uncertainty about Shadow Elder’s true nature and full power.
• The Ogre: His cowardly attempt to shift blame fails. His inability to maintain a convincing denial results in his immediate transformation into a puppet.
• Gegwu: Initially appearing timid and resigned, she reveals herself to be highly capable and willing to strike decisively. Her bone claws and Thunder Element make her one of the strongest immediate threats to Shadow Elder.
• Anfuni’s Eternal Giant Frog, Jon: Jon proves capable of overpowering and devouring a powerful Vampire puppet, though even his Eternal Light cannot finish Shadow Elder.

3. Significant Themes

• Paranoia and betrayal: Shadow Elder’s inability to understand how Sandrew and Rhine Duke escaped causes him to suspect everyone around him.
• Power and control: Puppet transformation symbolizes the complete destruction of free will, while Shadow Elder’s actions show how authority becomes tyranny when sustained by fear.
• Deception and hidden strength: Characters conceal their real abilities and intentions, including Anfuni’s evasions, Gegwu’s false submission, and Shadow Elder’s use of puppets and false bodies.
• Survival versus loyalty: The Shadow Society members immediately betray one another to survive, revealing the organization’s corruption and lack of genuine unity.
• Uncertainty of identity: The repeated use of puppets, shadows, and borrowed bodies makes Shadow Elder’s true body and nature difficult to identify.

4. Character Interactions

• Shadow Elder and Anfuni clash verbally over the Elemental Embryo trade, with Anfuni attempting to protect the Elves’ involvement.
• The Ogre tries to gain Shadow Elder’s favor by accusing Rhine Duke and Sandrew, but Shadow Elder instead punishes him.
• Gegwu stages apparent surrender before attacking Shadow Elder, exposing her hidden hostility and combat ability.
• Anfuni and Jon cooperate to destroy the Vampire puppet and pressure Shadow Elder, while Gegwu supports them with Thunder Element.
• Li Ziran observes the shifting alliances and threats, remaining cautious rather than committing himself openly.
• The chapter ends with Shadow Elder reasserting control from within Polo Bart’s shell and threatening Anfuni and the other “traitors,” leaving the conflict unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “Life-Saving Stone Hook”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Shadow Elder retreats after mistakenly believing Anfuni controls the Elemental Embryo. Li Ziran realizes that the Shadow Crescent Moon is neither omniscient nor omnipotent, especially as his reconstructed spiritual power weakens its control over him.
• A catastrophic hazard emerges when milky-white Stone Milk begins leaking from the ceiling of the Assembly Hall. The liquid corrodes flesh, wood, and magical constructs, having already destroyed Polo Bart and the Vampire puppet.
• The Stone Milk rapidly floods the sealed chamber, cutting off the Shadow Crescent Moon and all teleportation routes. The surviving characters are forced onto stone benches, the only surfaces unaffected by the corrosive liquid.
• The Spatial Mantis loses his footing and narrowly escapes by enduring Li Ziran’s lightning and landing on Li’s bench. Gegwu attempts to break through the wall, but her attack triggers a violent surge that floods the room faster.
• Gegwu’s feet and lower legs are badly corroded as she struggles to stay above the rising Stone Milk. Li Ziran uses Frogs transformed into Corpse Witches as temporary platforms, but realizes this cannot save him indefinitely.
• Li notices a curved stalactite hanging from the ceiling and identifies it as their only possible refuge. Transforming into a Wasteland Dry Frog, he uses a Corpse Witch as a springboard and lands precisely on the stalactite’s inverted hook.
• The Spatial Mantis follows him, while Gegwu abandons her body and transfers her soul into a tiny Bone Grasshopper, allowing her to leap onto the hook.
• Anfuni and Jon the Eternal Giant Frog remain stranded. Li Ziran transforms Anfuni into a Frog, enabling her to carry Jon upward. Li then uses his tongue to place them on the hook as well.
• The group survives temporarily on the tiny stalactite hook, but the Stone Milk continues rising, making their refuge only a short-term solution.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increasing independence from the Shadow Crescent Moon’s control and remains observant and resourceful under pressure. His knowledge of Frogs and his ability to improvise allow him to discover the group’s temporary escape route.
• Shadow Elder appears dangerous but limited. His retreat and mistaken assumptions reveal that he lacks complete awareness and control, though Li suspects he possesses other hidden methods.
• Gegwu shows determination and desperation, attempting to break through the wall and later sacrificing her body by transferring her soul into a Bone Grasshopper.
• The Spatial Mantis reveals a strong survival instinct, immediately seeking refuge with Li Ziran despite their lack of space and Li’s hostility toward him.
• Anfuni is placed in a helpless position because of her size, but Li Ziran’s transformation spell gives her a chance to survive. Her dependence on Li’s assistance subtly changes their dynamic.
• Jon the Eternal Giant Frog remains physically powerful but is unable to protect Anfuni from the corrosive Stone Milk.
• The powerful members of the Shadow Society are reduced to desperate survivors relying on a single fragile stone hook.

Significant Themes

• Survival through adaptability: Physical strength and status become meaningless; those who improvise and exploit the environment have the best chance of living.
• Limits of control and knowledge: Shadow Elder and the Shadow Crescent Moon are shown to have significant weaknesses, challenging the assumption that they control everything.
• Humility and reversal of status: Formerly imposing figures are forced into miniature forms and must cling to a stalactite to survive.
• Temporary salvation: The stone hook symbolizes hope, but also emphasizes that escape is incomplete and danger remains imminent.
• Cooperation amid distrust: Although the characters do not fully trust one another, survival forces them to accept Li Ziran’s assistance and share the same precarious refuge.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran rejects the Spatial Mantis’s attempt to land beside him but ultimately allows him to remain because forcing him away would not improve either character’s chances.
• Gegwu’s failed escape attempt worsens the crisis, indirectly endangering everyone and leaving her severely injured.
• Li Ziran rescues Anfuni by transforming her into a Frog and using his tongue to place her and Jon on the stalactite.
• The group’s shared refuge creates an ironic moment: former enemies and powerful Shadow Society members are crowded together in diminished forms, dependent on Li Ziran’s ingenuity while the Stone Milk continues to rise.