Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “The Girl Woke Up”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Winnie awakens in the fog of Thorn Prison and discovers that she and her best friend, Jenny, are naked and lying beside Li Ziran. Both women have signs indicating that they have lost their virginity.
• Horrified, Winnie realizes that they may have been sexually involved with Li Ziran, a prison guard, despite both being holy maidens of the Inquisition and expected to marry human nobles.
• Winnie proposes killing Li Ziran to conceal the scandal, especially because Jenny is the daughter of the Inquisition’s director and heir to the Kasha Lineage.
• Jenny initially allows Winnie to consider strangling him but stops her, insisting that they question Li Ziran first. Winnie eventually gives in and breaks down crying.
• Li Ziran has been awake and aware of everything, but pretends to have just regained consciousness. He acts confused and accuses the women of initiating the encounter.
• Winnie angrily confronts him, accusing him of deliberately manipulating them through his earlier cooperation in researching mutated creatures. Li Ziran denies the accusation and claims that he was also victimized.
• He suggests that something within Thorn Prison—possibly the mysterious Wooden Man or another entity—may have caused the incident.
• The chapter ends with Jenny asking what they should do, while Winnie worries that her father would severely punish her if he learned the truth.

Character Developments

• Winnie: Initially shocked and furious, Winnie quickly becomes vengeful and considers murder to protect their reputations. Her anger gives way to grief and helplessness, though she remains outspoken and suspicious of Li Ziran.
• Jenny: More perceptive and emotionally restrained than Winnie, Jenny recognizes that the situation may not be straightforward. She prevents Li Ziran’s murder and shows vulnerability while quietly trying to understand what happened. Her status as the director’s daughter makes the consequences especially severe.
• Li Ziran: Revealed to be calculating and deceptive. Although he feels a brief sense of guilt toward Jenny, he suppresses it and manipulates the situation by pretending to be innocent and suggesting that the prison’s supernatural forces are responsible.

Significant Themes

• Loss of innocence and social shame: The women’s identities as holy maidens conflict sharply with what they believe has happened, creating fear of disgrace and punishment.
• Power, reputation, and hierarchy: Jenny’s family position and both women’s expected marriages make the incident politically and socially dangerous.
• Manipulation and deception: Li Ziran exploits the women’s confusion and emotional vulnerability to protect himself and advance his own goals.
• Supernatural danger: Thorn Prison is portrayed as an active, sinister environment, with hints that the Wooden Man or another prison entity may have caused the strange event.
• Friendship and loyalty: Despite her own distress, Jenny protects Winnie emotionally and physically, while Winnie’s concern for Jenny’s future motivates her violent response.

Character Interactions

• Winnie and Jenny display a close but contrasting friendship: Winnie reacts impulsively and aggressively, while Jenny is gentler and more cautious.
• Jenny’s plea prevents Winnie from killing Li Ziran, showing the influence their bond has over Winnie.
• Li Ziran’s feigned confusion shifts the balance of blame and leaves both women uncertain about their own actions.
• Winnie confronts Li Ziran directly, while Jenny addresses him more softly, creating two different kinds of pressure on him.
• The three remain trapped in an unresolved confrontation, forced to determine how to explain the incident and whether Li Ziran—or the prison itself—is responsible.

Chapter Summary: “The Moral Scruples of Trash”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Li Ziran’s manipulation of Jenny and Winnie’s bodies, Jenny asks whether he will marry them. Winnie angrily condemns the idea, calling Li Ziran an irresponsible jailer who cannot offer Jenny the romantic future she once imagined.
• Jenny, recognizing that her fantasy of a “prince on a white horse” is impossible, demands a definite answer from Li Ziran and says she is prepared to accept responsibility for their situation.
• Li Ziran struggles between treating marriage as a calculated strategy and preserving the small amount of morality and humanity left in him. Although he initially avoids giving a clear answer, he eventually says that he is willing to take responsibility “if possible.”
• Jenny accepts this answer and leaves quietly with Winnie. Li Ziran then remembers that he has altered their bodies and realizes he may soon need to remove what is developing in their stomachs.
• Still determined to obtain the Inquisition director’s organs so he can break the Sealing Spell, Li Ziran seeks help from Gao Da, a slave-shop owner. Gao Da offers to arrange the director’s capture through a professional Slave-Catching Group for 30,000 gold coins.
• Li Ziran agrees to pay through a share of future Soul Plasma, deciding that money is easier to replace than the moral conscience he fears losing. He also resolves, when possible, to avoid involving unrelated women in his schemes.
• Before returning to the Inquisition, Li Ziran buys food for Viya and plans to learn more about Void Spirits. However, two black-robed men intercept him and teleport him inside the Inquisition.
• He is brought to the private office of Moon, the Inquisition’s director—and Jenny’s father. The chapter ends as Moon appears and calmly orders Li Ziran to sit, making it clear that Li Ziran must now confront the father of the woman whose innocence he has damaged.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: His calculating, survivalist nature is challenged by genuine guilt and emotional conflict. He admits that Jenny’s innocence affects him and that he does not want to harm her, even though he remains committed to using the director’s organs to undo the Sealing Spell. His decision to pay for the director’s capture rather than exploit more women shows a limited but significant return of moral restraint.
• Jenny: She abandons her romantic idealism and faces reality directly. Rather than seeking comfort or denying what happened, she asks Li Ziran for a clear commitment and accepts his imperfect promise as an answer.
• Winnie: She acts protectively toward Jenny, confronting and slapping Li Ziran for his irresponsibility. Her anger reflects both moral outrage and concern for her friend.
• Gao Da: He is revealed to be a shrewd and well-connected broker familiar with kidnapping and slave-catching operations. His greed and businesslike attitude complement Li Ziran’s pragmatic approach.
• Moon: Though he appears only at the end, his introduction as Jenny’s father and the director of the Inquisition immediately creates a serious personal and political threat.

Significant Themes

• Moral conscience versus survival: Li Ziran tries to suppress his conscience in the name of efficiency, but his emotional reaction to Jenny proves that his humanity has not disappeared.
• Responsibility and consequence: Jenny demands that Li Ziran acknowledge the results of his actions rather than treating her and Winnie as tools in a plan.
• The cost of lost innocence: Jenny’s romantic dreams collapse as she confronts an ugly reality, while Li Ziran becomes aware that his actions may permanently damage the innocence he values.
• Money as a substitute for morality: Li Ziran views wealth as a simpler problem than ethical compromise, using money to outsource violence while attempting to preserve his remaining principles.
• Transactional relationships: Marriage, organ-hunting, slave-catching, and Soul Plasma are all treated as negotiable exchanges, highlighting the brutal commercial logic of their world.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Jenny: Their exchange is emotionally central. Jenny seeks certainty and responsibility, while Li Ziran struggles to answer honestly without exploiting her. His reluctant promise gives her enough closure to leave.
• Li Ziran and Winnie: Winnie openly condemns him, slaps him, and calls him “trash,” acting as the moral voice of the scene.
• Li Ziran and Gao Da: Their negotiation shows Li Ziran returning to his comfortable role as a calculating businessman. Gao Da provides a practical route to capture Moon.
• Li Ziran and Moon: Their impending meeting creates the chapter’s final tension. Li Ziran realizes that the target he plans to capture is Jenny’s father, and Moon appears to know enough about the situation to summon him directly.

Chapter Summary: “Meeting Father-in-Law”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran meets Jenny’s father, Moon, in the Inquisition. He is immediately wary, sensing that Moon is stern, perceptive, and potentially capable of exposing his schemes.
• Moon spends nearly two hours organizing documents before questioning Li Ziran about his identity, background, occupation, abilities, and future plans.
• Li Ziran presents a fabricated backstory and explains that he currently serves as deputy warden of the Inquisition’s prison. Moon looks down on him for supposedly obtaining the position through Jenny’s influence.
• Moon emphasizes that Jenny is the heir of the Kasha Family and the Inquisition, meaning her future husband must be powerful, capable, and worthy of inheriting the organization.
• Expecting Li Ziran to resist, Moon proposes that he and Jenny break up. Li Ziran immediately agrees, hoping to avoid further complications and sever his connection to Jenny.
• Jenny emerges from hiding, upset that her father has betrayed his promise to bless their relationship. She insists that Li Ziran is exceptional, though she struggles to name any concrete qualities beyond his supposed lack of opportunity.
• When Moon presses her, Jenny grabs Li Ziran and declares that she wants to be with him. She then threatens suicide with a dagger, but Moon remains unmoved because the Inquisition possesses Resurrection Spells.
• Desperate, Jenny claims that she is pregnant. Moon verifies the claim with spiritual power and discovers that it is true.
• Enraged, Moon confronts Li Ziran but ultimately orders him to begin training under him immediately. He commands Li Ziran to master the Judgment Spell within one month, while openly threatening to kill him.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Remains cautious, calculating, and primarily concerned with protecting his own plans. He views the meeting as an obstacle and readily agrees to break up with Jenny. His blunt honesty about lacking opportunities unexpectedly confounds Moon, while his hidden abilities and knowledge of the Judgment Spell suggest he may be more capable than he appears.
• Moon: Is introduced as rigid, intimidating, highly protective of the Inquisition and its lineage, and deeply skeptical of Li Ziran. He values competence and tradition above Jenny’s emotions. Although furious upon learning of the pregnancy, he chooses to test and train Li Ziran rather than immediately punish him.
• Jenny: Displays strong feelings for Li Ziran and increasing desperation when her father rejects him. She is impulsive and emotionally driven, first defending Li Ziran, then threatening suicide, and finally revealing her pregnancy to force Moon to reconsider. Her attachment appears sincere, although she still knows little about Li Ziran.
• Moon and Jenny’s relationship: Their confrontation shows a clash between Jenny’s personal desires and Moon’s authoritarian expectations. Moon cares for her but treats her primarily as the heir of the Kasha Family and future leader of the Inquisition.

Significant Themes

• Duty versus personal desire: Jenny wants to choose her own partner, while Moon prioritizes the obligations of bloodline, inheritance, and Judgment.
• Appearances and hidden ability: Moon dismisses Li Ziran as ordinary because of his job and apparent lack of talent, while Li Ziran conceals his true capabilities and motives.
• Manipulation and unintended consequences: Li Ziran originally used his connection with Jenny for practical purposes, but Jenny’s feelings and pregnancy create a far more serious bond than he intended.
• Family legacy and succession: The Kasha Family’s ancient lineage and the future inheritance of the Inquisition dominate Moon’s judgment of Li Ziran.
• Honesty as a weapon: Li Ziran’s unusually direct admission that he lacks opportunities disrupts Moon’s assumptions and briefly leaves both Moon and Jenny speechless.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Moon: Their conversation is a tense interrogation. Moon tests Li Ziran’s background and worth, while Li Ziran carefully hides his abilities and motives. The encounter ends with Moon forcing Li Ziran into an intensive apprenticeship.
• Li Ziran and Jenny: Jenny publicly supports him and physically clings to him, but Li Ziran remains emotionally detached and uneasy about becoming responsible for her. His evasiveness contrasts sharply with her determination.
• Jenny and Moon: Their argument escalates from emotional pleading to threats of suicide and finally the revelation of pregnancy. Moon rejects emotional pressure but is forced to acknowledge the consequences of Jenny’s choices.
• Moon and the unborn child: The pregnancy changes Moon’s attitude from outright rejection to reluctant intervention. Rather than accept Li Ziran as a son-in-law, he decides to personally train and evaluate him.

Chapter Summary: “I Am His Fiancée”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran leaves the mysterious room with the ability to teleport freely and receive one lesson per day. Although he is offered valuable instruction, he is primarily worried about his soul: Bowente’s Void Spirits are consuming it, and he has only about a month before it is destroyed.
• He plans to obtain the Sealing Spell, learn how to cultivate Void Spirits from Viya, rescue her from Thorn Prison, and develop his own Void Spirit World—all within an impossibly short time.
• Jenny tries to comfort him, believing he is anxious about learning the Judgment Spell. Li Ziran privately reflects that his Judgment Spell has already evolved into the Redemption Spell, which created a Redemption Organ within him.
• Wanting to avoid a romantic relationship with Jenny, Li Ziran suggests that they are incompatible and makes an insensitive joke about repairing her appearance at a beauty salon. Jenny is hurt and begins crying. Li apologizes briefly but leaves for First Street, with Jenny following him.
• On First Street, they enter a slave shop where Li is checking on goods he previously ordered. Jenny becomes insecure while noticing the attention Li receives from the slaves and customers.
• A barbarian assumes Jenny is a slave and asks Li how much she costs. Li teasingly asks Jenny how much she thinks she is worth, amusing himself but also making clear that he has no intention of selling her.
• A Rhine Lion then attempts to seize Jenny. Her Judgment Spell is blocked, so Li protects her with powerful flames. The fire reveals that the Lion possesses a rare, partially mutated soul known as an Ancient Soul, prompting Li’s curiosity.
• Gada, the slave-shop owner, angrily expels the Lion and protects Li, revealing that Li has a significant connection to the shop.
• When Gada refuses to let Jenny enter the restricted upper floor, she impulsively declares, “I’m his fiancée.” Gada immediately becomes extremely respectful and orders lavish gifts for her, including pearl jewelry, an enchanted gemstone, bracelets, earrings, and magical red crystal glasses.
• Li recognizes that Baron is using the gifts and Jenny’s supposed status to flatter and manipulate the situation, but he tells her to accept them.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Becomes increasingly pressured by his limited lifespan and multiple responsibilities. His priorities are survival, building his soul, mastering the Sealing Spell, and rescuing Viya rather than pursuing romance. Despite his irritation, he protects Jenny instinctively and shows curiosity about unusual soul mutations.
• Jenny: Moves from trying to support Li academically to becoming emotionally vulnerable and jealous. She is embarrassed by his remarks and anxious about how others view her. Her declaration that she is his fiancée reveals both her attachment to him and her desire to assert her place beside him.
• Gada: Initially acts as a powerful and intimidating shop owner, but quickly demonstrates deep respect for Li. His attitude becomes even more deferential toward Jenny once she identifies herself as Li’s fiancée.
• The Rhine Lion: Acts aggressively toward Jenny and underestimates Li, but his unusual Ancient Soul protects him from being killed by Li’s flames.
• Baron: Though absent, he influences events through the expensive gifts sent to Jenny, suggesting he is deliberately cultivating goodwill toward Li and his supposed fiancée.
• Viya and Bowente: Their conflict remains the central pressure behind Li’s actions. Viya’s impending rescue and Bowente’s Void Spirits give Li little time for personal distractions.

Significant Themes

• Urgency versus distraction: Li’s imminent soul destruction makes romantic complications and social entanglements feel like burdens, even as he continues to be drawn into them.
• Appearance and status: Jenny’s beauty, the slave market, and the lavish gifts all emphasize how people are judged and valued according to appearance, social position, and association.
• Protection and attachment: Although Li denies or minimizes romantic feelings, his immediate defense of Jenny and her insistence that she is his fiancée reveal a growing bond.
• Power and reputation: Gada’s sudden change in attitude demonstrates how identity and connections can determine one’s treatment in the world.
• Soul cultivation and mutation: The Lion’s Ancient Soul introduces another form of soul evolution and hints that unusual soul powers may be connected to larger mysteries, possibly including the Time Ghost.

Important Character Interactions

• Li and Jenny argue over their supposed relationship, with Li attempting to distance himself and Jenny reacting emotionally.
• Jenny becomes jealous and insecure in the slave shop, especially when other men notice her and she worries about Li’s attention.
• Li defends Jenny from the Rhine Lion, demonstrating both his superior power and his willingness to protect her.
• Gada treats Li as a valued associate and, after hearing Jenny call herself Li’s fiancée, treats her with exceptional respect.
• Li and Jenny’s false or ambiguous engagement becomes publicly established, bringing Jenny status and valuable gifts while further complicating their relationship.

Chapter Summary: “Hitching a Ride”

Plot Points and Major Events

• Jenny reacts with surprise to Li Ziran’s luxurious jeweled sunglasses, recognizing them as an item far beyond what an ordinary jailer could afford. Though she begins questioning Li Ziran’s true identity, she keeps her doubts private.
• Jenny adopts a highly refined aristocratic manner, impressing everyone at the slave house. Her etiquette—especially a formal noblewoman’s half-bow to the Dwarf steward Gada—reveals that she likely comes from an extremely high-ranking Human family.
• Gada estimates Jenny’s value as a slave at around twenty thousand gold coins, possibly more if her noble bearing is further developed. He explains that aristocratic etiquette and cultivated behavior are highly prized commodities among powerful races.
• Li Ziran ignores the commercial discussion and presses Gada about the operation he arranged. Gada reveals that a Slave-Catching Group has already infiltrated the Inquisition.
• The Dark Council has learned that the Inquisition plans to target one of its councilors. It is preparing a counterattack, allowing Li Ziran to “hitch a ride” on the larger operation rather than pay the full cost of securing his target. However, Li Ziran remains uneasy about relying entirely on the Dark Council.
• Gada says the attack has already begun and may be completed within three hours, emphasizing the Dark Council’s overwhelming efficiency and intelligence network.
• Concerned for Moon’s safety—and wanting to ensure his intended target is not lost—Li Ziran returns to the Inquisition with Jenny under the pretense of learning the Judgment Spell.
• Moon is still alive and working in his office. Li Ziran behaves unusually patiently, tolerating Moon’s provocations while secretly studying the room and planning ways to incapacitate him.
• Li Ziran considers using Red-Eye Anesthetic in Moon’s coffee, tampering with his documents, or exploiting his chair and office environment. His true focus is surveillance and preparation rather than learning the spell.
• The Dark Council’s operation suddenly begins while Moon is speaking. A Mental Vibration shakes the office, and Moon leaves through the Teleportation Array, ordering Li Ziran and Jenny to remain behind. Li Ziran fears that Moon may not return alive.

Character Development

• Jenny: Her aristocratic upbringing becomes increasingly apparent through her etiquette, composure, and instinctive respect toward Gada. She is adapting to her noble identity despite her captivity and shows concern for both Li Ziran and her father.
• Li Ziran: He remains practical, calculating, and distrustful. He is uninterested in social formalities or Jenny’s market value, focusing instead on securing Moon and protecting his own interests. His willingness to act patiently and strategically around Moon shows his cautious side.
• Gada: He is revealed as a knowledgeable and opportunistic slave merchant. He recognizes Jenny’s noble qualities immediately and is eager to profit from them, while also using the Dark Council’s attack to reduce the cost of Li Ziran’s deal.
• Moon: Though still presented as a capable Inquisition leader, his organization appears compromised and vulnerable. He is focused on teaching Li Ziran and managing documents, unaware—or seemingly unaware—of how closely Li Ziran is observing him.

Significant Themes

• The value of cultivated identity: Jenny’s etiquette, bearing, and noble training are treated as valuable commodities, showing how culture and refinement can become forms of social and economic power.
• Power and exploitation: The slave market reduces beauty, education, and aristocratic upbringing to prices, exposing the brutal commercialization of people.
• Cunning versus institutional power: Li Ziran relies on small-scale manipulation and careful observation, while the Dark Council operates through superior intelligence, infiltration, and overwhelming force.
• Uncertainty and control: Li Ziran tries to control Moon’s fate, but the sudden attack reminds him that larger organizations can disrupt even his most careful plans.
• Appearance and hidden identity: Jenny’s behavior reveals a status concealed beneath her current circumstances, while Li Ziran himself is also clearly more important and capable than his official position suggests.

Character Interactions

• Jenny respectfully asks Li Ziran whether she looks beautiful, creating a moment of intimacy and causing those around them to view them as a couple.
• Jenny’s courteous exchange with Gada earns his admiration and confirms her noble background.
• Gada attempts to persuade Li Ziran of Jenny’s commercial value, but Li Ziran dismisses the discussion and redirects him toward business.
• Jenny quietly observes Li Ziran and Gada’s private negotiations, demonstrating curiosity while maintaining aristocratic restraint.
• On returning to Moon’s office, Jenny worries that Li Ziran and her father will clash. Li Ziran surprisingly remains calm and submissive, easing her fears.
• Moon attempts to instruct Li Ziran in the Judgment Spell, unaware that Li Ziran is primarily studying his office and preparing possible methods of attack.
• The chapter ends with Moon leaving to confront the crisis, leaving Li Ziran and Jenny behind and creating suspense over whether Moon will survive.

Chapter Summary: “Sweet Time with Jenny”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Dark Council launches its attack, causing repeated tremors throughout Moon’s office and threatening to destroy the area within a few hours.
• While Moon is away, Li Ziran and Jenny remain alone in the sealed office. Li secretly prepares traps using Red-Eye Anesthetic, contaminating Moon’s notebook, chair, coffee machine, and bookshelf.
• Li worries that Moon may not survive the attack, but he also prepares for his own escape, knowing he cannot confront the Dark Council directly.
• A violent tremor nearly causes Li to fall from a staircase. Jenny panics and tries to catch him, revealing how deeply she worries about him.
• Jenny tells Li that Moon has begun to acknowledge him and believes he will master the Judgment Spell soon. She also speaks excitedly about their future wedding, while Li privately plans to leave once he obtains the Sealing Spell.
• To keep Jenny away from the traps and danger, Li invites her to visit Thorn Prison. There, he shows her the mutilated Gray Dwarf she previously captured.
• Li explains that the Gray Dwarf’s organs were replaced with those of different fire-based creatures, allowing it to generate and rapidly cast fire magic. He presents this as evidence supporting Jenny’s research into mutant living beings.
• Li and Jenny spend hours discussing mutants, organ transplantation, and the dangers posed by powerful beings who might harvest organs from others.
• Jenny eventually falls asleep against Li’s chest. Li secretly removes a small object from her body, repairs the wound, and places her in the relative safety of Thorn Prison.
• He leaves her behind before returning to face the larger conflict, believing Moon’s darkness and the ongoing battle should not taint Jenny’s innocence.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Remains pragmatic and survival-focused, setting traps and planning to escape rather than becoming emotionally dependent on Moon’s household. However, his growing concern for Jenny exposes a developing attachment he repeatedly tries to suppress. He also shows compassion by protecting her, helping her research, and placing her somewhere safe.
• Jenny: Becomes increasingly open and affectionate toward Li. She is shy, innocent, and eager to imagine a future marriage with him, but she also demonstrates courage and intellectual curiosity through her research into mutants.
• Moon: Though absent, his influence dominates the chapter. His teachings and strict but caring relationship with Jenny shape her admiration for him, while his dangerous nature motivates Li to keep Jenny away from him.
• Gao Da and the Dark Council: Their conflict establishes the chapter’s urgent background threat, forcing Li to act quickly and making the office and prison dangerous locations.

Significant Themes

• Survival versus emotion: Li views affection as a weakness that could compromise his judgment, yet his actions show that he is beginning to care for Jenny.
• Innocence amid violence: Jenny’s purity and idealism contrast sharply with the war, bloodshed, organ harvesting, and political danger surrounding her.
• Trust and manipulation: Li is secretly using Jenny’s environment to prepare traps, but he also genuinely protects her, blurring the line between manipulation and sincere concern.
• Scientific discovery and moral horror: The investigation of mutant organs presents knowledge as both useful evidence and a revelation of the horrifying consequences of bodily modification.
• Protection and corruption: Li repeatedly tries to shield Jenny from Moon’s evil and the wider violence, treating her innocence as something precious that must not be destroyed.

Character Interactions

• Jenny fusses over Li during the earthquake-like tremors, while he lightly teases her and is touched by her concern.
• She enthusiastically discusses their supposed wedding plans, but Li avoids committing because he intends to leave.
• Li invites Jenny to Thorn Prison partly to protect her from his traps and partly because he does not want her harmed in the attack.
• At the prison, Li teaches Jenny about mutant anatomy, and she records his explanations with eager concentration.
• Their discussion brings them emotionally closer: Jenny rests against his chest and falls asleep, while Li privately recognizes his growing feelings before sedating and relocating her for her safety.

Chapter Summary: “A Losing Proposition”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran returns to Moon’s office after an hour and discovers a heavy smell of blood, signs that a major battle has taken place outside.
• His traps for Moon—a poisoned bookshelf, anesthetic-coated chair, and coffee machine setup—have failed. However, he finds several important files, including:
  • A dossier on Byrne, a powerful Dark Council member and major slave owner.
  • Maps and attack plans for Rose Manor and Byrne Slave Shop, confirming Moon’s plan to attack the Dark Council.
• Li Ziran discovers Moon unconscious and grotesquely injured behind the bookshelf. Moon’s chest has been blasted open, his organs are shattered, and a black, electrically charged cloud is consuming fragments of his soul.
• After briefly being shocked by the black cloud, Li Ziran removes the damaged organs and extracts the cloud, sealing it in a Thumb Bottle for later study.
• To save Moon, Li Ziran replaces his destroyed organs with his own valuable fire-element Magic Organs, sacrificing his offensive abilities in the process.
• Li Ziran searches Moon’s body for the Sealing Spell organ. Using the Redemption Spell to stimulate Moon’s dormant soul, he locates and exposes a rune-covered “Sealing Pellet” hidden near the brain and eye.
• Just as Li Ziran prepares to cut off a piece of the pellet for transplantation, an old man arrives through the Teleportation Array.
• Li Ziran avoids attack by claiming to be Jenny’s husband. The old man accepts this after sensing Judgment power on him.
• The old man reveals that the Inquisition has been destroyed by an attack, probably carried out by the Dark Council. Believing Moon—the Director—may be dead, he declares that Li Ziran must preside over an emergency meeting and effectively take control of the collapsing organization.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes more rational and composed without Jenny beside him. He remains opportunistic, using the chaos to obtain intelligence on Dark Council slave owners and Moon’s Sealing Pellet.
• Despite his self-interested motives, Li Ziran chooses to save Moon rather than let him die. He demonstrates advanced medical, magical, and anatomical skill by extracting the soul-devouring wound and transplanting replacement organs.
• Li Ziran also shows increasing adaptability and boldness. He immediately invents the identity of “Jenny’s husband” to survive the old man’s arrival.
• Moon is revealed to have been gravely wounded while apparently attempting to retrieve the Sealing Pellet. The anesthetic temporarily eased his suffering, allowing Li Ziran to operate on him.
• The old man appears panicked and unstable after the Inquisition’s defeat. His desperation leads him to place authority in Li Ziran’s hands, despite barely knowing him.
• Jenny’s influence continues indirectly: Li Ziran’s fabricated relationship with her protects him, while the old man invokes her family connection to justify making him leader.

Significant Themes

• Unexpected consequences and failed plans: Li Ziran’s carefully prepared traps fail, but leftover anesthetic accidentally incapacitates Moon. The chapter emphasizes how chance can determine outcomes more than preparation.
• Self-interest versus compassion: Li Ziran saves Moon partly to obtain the Sealing Spell, but he also risks valuable organs and effort to preserve another person’s life.
• Power amid collapse: The destruction of the Inquisition creates an immediate vacuum, allowing Li Ziran—an outsider—to be pushed toward leadership.
• Knowledge as power: The dossiers on Byrne and the Dark Council, as well as the Sealing Pellet, are more valuable to Li Ziran than Moon’s formal attack plans.
• Transformation and sacrifice: Li Ziran gives up his fire-element organs and offensive abilities to keep Moon alive, highlighting the costs of acquiring greater power.
• Identity and deception: His false claim to be Jenny’s husband demonstrates how social connections and appearances can be as useful as magical strength.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran examines Moon’s office and indirectly reconstructs Moon’s plans through the files left behind.
• Li Ziran interacts physically and magically with the unconscious Moon, removing the soul-consuming cloud, replacing his organs, and locating the Sealing Pellet.
• The old man confronts Li Ziran through the Teleportation Array and nearly attacks him, but Li Ziran’s claim of being Jenny’s husband and his Judgment aura prevent violence.
• The old man treats Li Ziran as connected to Jenny and the Kasha Family, then pressures him to assume leadership of the Inquisition during its crisis.
• The chapter ends with Li Ziran incredulous that Jenny’s name carries enough authority to place him in charge of a defeated organization.

Chapter Summary: “I’m the Director, Listen to Me”

Key Plot Points and Events

• As the Inquisition’s headquarters shakes under attack, Gantor teleports Li Ziran from Moon’s office to a hidden underground meeting room, believed to be the organization’s last safe haven.
• Seven senior black-robed officials are gathered there, but their clean appearance and reluctance to fight reveal that they are more concerned with survival than defending the Inquisition.
• Gantor introduces Li Ziran as Jenny’s fiancé and the new Director, emphasizing that he possesses the Judgment Spell. Li Ziran confirms this with a small display of spiritual power.
• Gantor proposes releasing the dangerous criminals and creatures imprisoned in Thorn Prison to fight the Dark Council. He argues that Li Ziran’s authority as Director allows them to bypass normal authorization.
• The officials reject the plan, pointing out that the imprisoned creatures would likely attack the Inquisition as viciously as they attacked the Dark Council. They also mock the idea that Li Ziran, a young man, could control them.
• Gantor and Deputy Inquisitor Soren begin accusing each other of corruption and treason. Gantor implies that Soren has profited from missing Dark Council prisoners and secretly owns a room in the Red Fan District, suggesting bribery and immoral dealings.
• As two of Soren’s allies prepare to attack Gantor, Li Ziran interrupts them and boldly confronts the entire group. He criticizes their infighting, cowardice, and failure to protect the Inquisition.
• Rather than truly leading a counterattack, Li Ziran orders everyone to evacuate. He tells them to gather at Thorn Prison, claiming he knows a secret passage left by Moon.
• Li Ziran ends the meeting and immediately leaves through a teleportation array, privately admitting that the supposed secret passage is actually one belonging to Cavis and that he must escape before the Dark Council captures him.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates increasing confidence and political cunning. Though frightened and eager to escape, he uses his position as Director to dominate the meeting and manipulate the officials into following his plan.
• He also shows strong observational skills, quickly recognizing that the senior officials are selfish, frightened, and divided rather than loyal defenders of the Inquisition.
• Gantor is shown to be loyal to the Inquisition but politically naïve. He genuinely wants to resist the Dark Council, yet his aggressive accusations and failure to notice the impending attack undermine his authority.
• Soren appears corrupt and self-serving. His defensive reactions to Gantor’s accusations suggest that he may have betrayed the Inquisition or profited from its prisoners, though his full guilt remains unconfirmed.
• The other black-robed officials are portrayed as opportunistic and cowardly. They avoid fighting, prepare to turn on one another, and hesitate to obey any plan that might endanger them.
• Moon’s influence remains important even in his absence. His legacy gives Li Ziran authority, while his relationship with Jenny and the Kasha Family allows Gantor to present Li Ziran as a legitimate leader.

Significant Themes

• Institutional corruption and decay: The Inquisition’s leaders are more focused on self-preservation, wealth, and internal rivalry than on defending their organization.
• Authority versus competence: Li Ziran possesses formal authority despite lacking experience, while the senior officials have experience but lack courage, unity, and effective leadership.
• Survival through deception: Li Ziran relies on bluffing, improvisation, and political manipulation rather than openly using force.
• Collapse from within: The Inquisition is threatened not only by the Dark Council’s assault but also by betrayal, corruption, cowardice, and infighting among its own leaders.
• Appearances and hidden motives: The officials’ respectable robes conceal their selfishness, while Li Ziran’s harsh, improvised leadership conceals his true goal of escape.

Character Interactions

• Gantor and Li Ziran: Gantor attempts to use Li Ziran as a symbolic weapon and source of authority, while Li Ziran recognizes the manipulation and eventually turns the situation to his own advantage.
• Gantor and Soren: Their exchange becomes an open confrontation over treason, missing prisoners, corruption, and Soren’s suspected dealings in the Red Fan District.
• Li Ziran and Soren: Li Ziran forces Soren to acknowledge him as Director and give the appearance of obedience, then uses Soren’s willingness to follow orders to impose an evacuation plan.
• Li Ziran and the assembled officials: He intimidates and humiliates them into silence, preventing an internal attack and compelling them to follow his instructions.
• Li Ziran and Moon’s legacy: Li Ziran invokes Moon’s authority and supposed secret passage to make his orders credible, despite privately knowing that his claim is fabricated.

Chapter Summary: “Escape from the Inquisition”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The Inquisition comes under a massive attack from the Dark Council. Explosions shake the facility, collapsing ceilings and cells as prisoners and Inquisition members panic.
• Li Ziran enters Thorn Prison to retrieve Viya and escape before the Inquisition is destroyed. He uses Corpse Witches to remove the special organ from his brow, hoping it will allow him to master the Sealing Spell.
• At first, the organ appears useless, but Li Ziran’s soul finally changes: an emerald sphere forms within his Double Helix structure, and he gains an instinctive ability to control the organ.
• Unable to activate Wood’s Sealing Cross through willpower alone, Li Ziran realizes that flesh from the organ may be needed. He cuts off a piece of it and places it on the Cross.
• The Sealing Array activates, revealing how Thorn Prison’s mist was created. As Li Ziran adds more flesh, the array expands and eventually shatters, dispersing the mist and weakening the prison’s seals.
• The Dark Council’s forces enter Thorn Prison. Black-robed mages, armored warriors, and a gigantic black-scaled python slaughter the defenders and consume imprisoned creatures.
• Li Ziran removes Wood’s body from the oil, transforms it into a nearly ruined frog, and ties it to himself. He also transforms Jenny and carries her with him.
• The giant python attacks Li Ziran. He uses the Devouring Curse to disrupt its soul, but the python is ultimately swallowed and absorbed by a powerful chameleon-like creature—a true miniature Dragon.
• The Dark Council retaliates with the destructive spell “Wrath of the Demon God,” covering Thorn Prison in a massive black-red magic array.
• Li Ziran tears off more organ tissue to release the chameleon, then races toward the Teleportation Array. He collides with Cavis and urgently orders him to activate the escape.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates extreme determination and composure under pressure, performing painful self-surgery while the prison collapses around him. He successfully awakens the Sealing Spell, though he initially does not understand how to use it. His improvisation—using the organ’s flesh to break the seal—shows his medical knowledge and adaptability.
• Jenny: Remains important to Li Ziran despite the chaos. He specifically returns for her and transforms her into a portable form so she can escape with him.
• Soren: Searches anxiously for Li Ziran and reunites with him during the invasion, showing loyalty and concern.
• Gantor: Fights against a Dark Council mage while the prison is overrun, helping resist the invasion.
• Wood: Though already dead or incapacitated, his Sealing Cross remains central to the escape. Li Ziran also preserves his transformed remains.
• The imprisoned creatures: Their reactions show that they recognize the Sealing Spell and desperately seek freedom. The chameleon/Dragon in particular becomes an unexpected force that protects Li Ziran by devouring the attacking python.

Significant Themes

• Survival through improvisation: Li Ziran repeatedly invents solutions under severe time constraints, relying on knowledge, instinct, and risk-taking.
• The cost of escape: Freedom requires physical pain and sacrifice, especially Li Ziran’s self-mutilation and the release of dangerous monsters.
• Seals and suppressed power: The destruction of the Sealing Array symbolizes the collapse of the Inquisition’s control over the imprisoned creatures.
• Trust in instinct: Li Ziran must act without fully understanding the Sealing Spell, relying on bodily and spiritual sensations rather than formal instructions.
• Chaos and shifting power: The Dark Council’s attack destroys the Inquisition’s authority, while the freed or awakened creatures introduce an even more unpredictable threat.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran works with the Corpse Witches to remove and treat the special organ.
• He responds to Soren’s frantic call while attempting to activate the Sealing Cross.
• Gantor battles a Dark Council mage as the invasion spreads through Thorn Prison.
• Li Ziran confronts the Dark Council’s black python and its rider, using the Devouring Curse against the beast.
• The chameleon-like Dragon intervenes by swallowing the python, unintentionally saving Li Ziran.
• Li Ziran carries transformed versions of Wood and Jenny and finally reaches Cavis, ordering him to begin the teleportation escape.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran escapes Thorn Prison through a Teleportation Array as the prison collapses into an apocalyptic inferno. The creatures bound to the Cross remain trapped, while the terrifying chameleon attempts to drag a Dark Council warrior back through the teleportation passage.
• Once everyone reaches a wine cellar in Hippo Ancient City, Soren tries to destroy the Teleportation Array to prevent pursuit. Gantor emerges at the last moment and completes the destruction of the array, though he is badly injured.
• With their escape secured, Li Ziran reveals that the “Director” identity he temporarily assumed was actually a transformation of Moon. Moon returns to his true form after Li uses the Frog and blood to dispel the Transformation Spell.
• Li tells the survivors that Moon is alive and that Li himself has no intention of leading the Inquisition.
• Soren argues that Li would make a better director than Moon, claiming the Inquisition needs someone decisive and adaptable to survive in Hippo Ancient City.
• Gantor accuses Soren of selfish motives and rebellion, while Soren criticizes Moon’s weakness, rigidity, and failure to confront the Dark Council effectively.
• Li ends the argument, rejects the leadership position, and offers Soren future assistance. Disappointed, Soren announces that he may leave the Inquisition and departs with two other black-robed members.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates composure, leadership, and practical judgment during the escape, but firmly refuses formal authority. His priorities remain rescuing Viya, using the Sealing Spell, and opening the Void Spirit World. He also begins to view Soren as a potentially valuable ally rather than a coward.
• Soren: Reveals himself to be perceptive, politically bold, and deeply dissatisfied with the Inquisition’s traditional leadership. His praise of Li is partly sincere and partly motivated by his belief that Li can reform the organization. He is willing to resign when Li refuses.
• Moon: Is revealed to have survived and to be physically stronger than before, though Soren still considers him intellectually inflexible and unsuitable to lead in Hippo Ancient City.
• Gantor: Escapes severely injured and remains loyal to Moon and the Inquisition’s established order. His anger exposes his inability to answer Soren’s criticisms effectively.
• The Inquisition: Is shown to be severely weakened, divided, and struggling with internal distrust after the Dark Council’s attack.

Significant Themes

• Leadership versus tradition: The conflict centers on whether the Inquisition should preserve Moon’s rigid methods or adopt Li’s decisiveness and adaptability.
• Internal corruption and institutional failure: Li observes that the Inquisition was vulnerable because of weaknesses from within, suggesting its collapse was not caused solely by external enemies.
• Recognition and responsibility: Soren recognizes Li’s potential, but Li refuses the burden of leadership, preferring personal goals and independence.
• Survival and rebuilding: The survivors have escaped, but the Inquisition faces an uncertain future and may need to fundamentally change—or disband entirely.
• Pragmatism versus ideology: Li focuses on immediate, practical objectives, while Gantor clings to rules, judgment, and established doctrine.

Character Interactions

• Li and Soren develop mutual respect: Soren openly endorses Li as a leader, while Li acknowledges Soren’s insight and offers future help.
• Soren and Gantor clash bitterly over Moon’s leadership and the Inquisition’s failures, with Soren advocating reform and Gantor defending tradition.
• Li mediates their dispute, dismissing the argument as irrelevant to his own aims and refusing to let himself be drawn into the Inquisition’s internal power struggle.
• Soren’s departure leaves the Inquisition’s future uncertain, while Gantor is left to deal with Moon and the organization’s reconstruction.

Chapter Summary: Master, You Are Free

Key Plot Points and Events

• After Soren disappears, Gantor becomes the last active member of the Inquisition. He carries the unconscious Moon and thanks Li Ziran for saving the Director by repairing his organs.
• Gantor recognizes Li Ziran as the famous Witch Doctor from Hippo Ancient City and suggests that Li Ziran would have been a better Director of the Inquisition than Moon. Li Ziran rejects this idea, encouraging Gantor to follow his own path.
• Li Ziran gives Gantor several items to help Jenny recover: the Frog, a bottle containing his blood, and Soul Plasma. He asks Gantor to reveal his identity to Jenny, believing that learning the truth may help her mature. He also returns Jenny’s drawings.
• Li Ziran and Gantor part on friendly terms. Li Ziran feels both loss and relief, accepting that he must sever his connection to Jenny and the Inquisition.
• Cavis tells Li Ziran that he will continue searching for Bowente despite the Inquisition’s collapse. He also intends to honor their agreement to acquire Light Spell organs. Li Ziran is surprised by Cavis’s persistence but allows him to leave.
• Outside, Li Ziran hears rumors that a slave shop on Tenth Street was destroyed, many people died, and members of the Dark Council were involved. Something appears to have escaped, likely the chameleon Dragon. Concerned that the Dark Council may connect the incident to him, Li Ziran avoids the ruins and leaves for the Ice Plains.
• On the Ice Plains, Li Ziran buys several animals as food and prepares them beside a river. He then uses blood to remove the Transformation Spell from the incomplete Frog, revealing Wood’s severely emaciated body.
• Li Ziran feeds Wood raw Ice Wolf tongue and water until he awakens, announcing, “Master, you are free!” Wood reacts with terror rather than gratitude, desperately asking to be returned to the wine barrel.
• Wood reveals that a mysterious woman is attached to the back of his head. She emerges as Viya, who calmly eats the food and sarcastically asks whether this is Li Ziran’s way of welcoming her freedom.
• Viya’s powers immediately become apparent: azure lights leave her eyes and summon nearby creatures. The animals tear flesh from their own bodies and offer it to her as though she were a queen, ending the chapter on a threatening and supernatural note.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates compassion toward Gantor and Jenny but remains emotionally detached, choosing survival and independence over relationships. He continues investigating magical organs and spells while carefully avoiding involvement with the Inquisition and Dark Council.
• Gantor: Shifts from a subordinate of the Inquisition toward an independent figure. His integrity and upright nature are emphasized, and he accepts responsibility for Moon and Jenny.
• Moon: Survives Li Ziran’s intervention but remains unconscious, leaving Gantor to carry him away.
• Cavis: Despite the Inquisition’s collapse, he remains loyal to his promises and determined to find Bowente and obtain Light Spell organs. His persistence suggests renewed personal purpose.
• Jenny: Though absent and unconscious, she becomes the focus of Li Ziran’s difficult emotional decision. He chooses to cut ties with her, believing the truth will force her to mature.
• Wood: His freedom reveals how deeply traumatized and controlled he has been. Instead of celebrating escape, he panics at the loss of the wine barrel and the return of Viya.
• Viya: Emerges as a powerful, unsettling presence. Her control over nearby creatures and their worshipful behavior establish her as dangerous and possibly possessing queen-like or parasitic abilities.

Significant Themes

• Freedom and its burden: Wood’s physical freedom is presented as terrifying rather than liberating, while Li Ziran experiences freedom from the Inquisition and Jenny as both painful and relieving.
• Emotional detachment and survival: Li Ziran repeatedly chooses practicality over affection, believing emotions can become dangerous burdens in a harsh world.
• Identity and revelation: Li Ziran asks Gantor to reveal his true identity to Jenny, suggesting that confronting reality is necessary for growth.
• Loyalty and personal responsibility: Gantor accepts responsibility for Moon and Jenny, while Cavis remains committed to his promises even after the organization they served collapses.
• Power and submission: Viya’s ability to command living beings, who mutilate themselves to please her, introduces a disturbing image of absolute influence and domination.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Gantor: Their conversation is respectful and reflective. Gantor admires Li Ziran’s abilities, while Li Ziran offers him encouragement and practical help.
• Li Ziran and Jenny: Although Jenny is not present, Li Ziran’s decision to leave her and reveal his identity shows his conflicted affection and deliberate emotional withdrawal.
• Li Ziran and Cavis: Their strained relationship is balanced by mutual obligations. Cavis refuses to abandon his promises, while Li Ziran recognizes him as valuable but unstable.
• Li Ziran and Wood: Li Ziran treats Wood with casual humor and practical care, but Wood reacts with fear, revealing that his relationship with freedom—and likely with Viya—is deeply traumatic.
• Li Ziran and Viya: Their reunion begins with Viya’s teasing remark but quickly becomes ominous as she demonstrates control over the animals around them.

Chapter Summary: “Finally Awakening the Void Spirit World”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Shortly after the black specks emerge, dozens of nearby beings are possessed and gather around Viya. They tear organs and sinew from their own bodies without feeling pain, behaving like ecstatic worshippers.
• Viya uses the stolen body parts to reconstruct herself. Although she appears beautiful, her hastily assembled body is visibly uneven and unnatural.
• Li Ziran realizes that the black specks are powerful Void Spirit entities capable of rapidly possessing living beings. He recognizes how disastrous Viya’s power could be in a crowded city.
• Viya agrees to teach Li Ziran how to become a Void Spirit, but instead of instructing him, she invades his Spirit World and attempts to control his soul.
• Li Ziran resists with the newly acquired Sealing Spell. The spell combines with his Redemption Spell, restraining the invading forces and purifying the fragments created during their clash.
• He also reveals that he possesses Light Spells, which Viya recognizes as especially dangerous and suppressive to Void Spirit beings.
• The two openly acknowledge that their relationship is based on mutual exploitation rather than genuine trust, though Viya still calls them “friends.”
• Viya completes the transformation process by using azure spiritual filaments to compress Li Ziran’s inner light specks into a black sphere and force it into his Abyssal Demon eyeball.
• Li Ziran endures intense agony as the eyeball mutates. The black eye fuses with a tiny blue sphere, creating a miniature Void Spirit World within it.
• Viya declares that Li Ziran has become a Time Ghost and mocks him by warning that he will eventually devour his own soul.

2. Character Developments

• Li Ziran: His understanding of Void Spirits changes from theoretical fear to firsthand knowledge. He demonstrates greater confidence and composure, successfully resisting Viya’s attempt at domination. He also discovers that his Sealing, Redemption, and Light Spells can counter Void Spirit powers. By the end, he undergoes organ mutation and awakens his own Void Spirit World, becoming a Time Ghost.
• Viya: Her terrifying nature is fully revealed. She can possess large numbers of beings, manipulate souls, and reconstruct her body from stolen organs. Despite presenting herself as gentle and elegant, she is manipulative, dishonest, and amused by Li Ziran’s suffering.
• Li Ziran and Viya: Their interaction shifts from a teacher-student arrangement to a tense alliance between two dangerous beings who intend to use one another.

3. Significant Themes

• The horror of possession and loss of identity: The possessed beings retain their physical forms but have surrendered their minds and souls, becoming extensions of Viya’s power.
• Power concealed beneath beauty and civility: Viya’s soft voice, graceful behavior, and beautiful appearance contrast sharply with her monstrous methods.
• Mutual exploitation and unstable alliances: Li Ziran and Viya do not trust one another, but both recognize the advantages of cooperation.
• Transformation through pain: Li Ziran’s agonizing mutation is not destruction but evolution, showing that terrifying suffering can produce new power.
• The conflict between light and void: Sealing, Redemption, and Light Spells prove unusually effective against Void Spirits, suggesting a deeper connection or opposition between these forces.
• The soul as both weapon and territory: The chapter emphasizes the Spirit World as a battleground where control, invasion, purification, and transformation occur.

4. Character Interactions

• Viya casually reconstructs herself while Li Ziran watches in horror, exposing the contrast between her composed demeanor and cruel abilities.
• When Viya invades his soul under the pretense of teaching him, Li Ziran confronts her directly and uses the Sealing Spell against her.
• Li Ziran attempts to establish a pragmatic “friendship” based on mutual use, even offering help with her appearance and future elemental body.
• Viya accepts the label of “friend” but warns him that entering the realm of Void Spirits may make escape impossible.
• The chapter ends with Viya observing Li Ziran’s transformation and laughing as she announces that he is now a Time Ghost.

Summary of “The Power of Void”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Viya induces Li Ziran to awaken the Void Spirit World, causing his eyeball to detach and become a blank, spherical world that can be shaped through thought.
• Creating mountains and life within this world drains Li Ziran’s physical body. His organs rapidly wither as their energy is converted into spiritual constructs.
• Li Ziran realizes that the Void Spirit World is fueled by flesh-and-blood energy, but he remains calm because the process does not consume his soul and he trusts his body can endure it.
• He populates the Void Spirit World with long-eared humanoid Void Spirits and constructs a massive futuristic city where they systematically study frogs through dissection and analysis.
• Li Ziran experiments with reproducing Bowente’s Void Spirit, discovering its centipede-like structure and its attachment to the soul.
• Using the Void Spirits’ ability to wield his spells—including the Redemption, Transformation, Devouring, Judgment, Sealing, and Resurrection Spells—he researches ways to counteract Time Ghosts.
• The Resurrection Spell proves especially dangerous to Void Spirits, destroying them upon contact.
• Li Ziran’s experiments begin compressing and extracting the Void Spirit attached to his soul. Viya is shocked when Bowente’s consciousness emerges through an ordinary Black Dwarf that had been hidden from her perception.
• Li Ziran finally confronts Bowente and realizes that the supposedly invincible Time Ghost may be vulnerable after all.

2. Character Developments

• Li Ziran becomes more confident and analytical. Rather than panicking as his body is consumed, he treats the Void Spirit World as a powerful research tool.
• He demonstrates extraordinary adaptability, turning a horrifying bodily transformation into an opportunity for experimentation and discovery.
• Li Ziran’s attitude toward Time Ghosts changes: Bowente, once an overwhelming threat, now appears understandable and potentially defeatable.
• Viya remains amused and manipulative, expecting Li Ziran to react with fear or anger. Her confidence collapses when she realizes he may have found a way to suppress Time Ghosts.
• Bowente is revealed to possess a concealed presence within the Void Spirit World, but his appearance also exposes his vulnerability to Li Ziran’s new methods.

3. Significant Themes

• Creation through sacrifice: The Void Spirit World can create entire landscapes, civilizations, and systems of knowledge, but only by consuming the creator’s physical resources.
• The body versus the void: Flesh and Void are presented as opposing forms of energy. Li Ziran’s body is depleted to sustain an otherwise immaterial world.
• Knowledge as power: The Void Spirits transform observation and research into a collective process, allowing Li Ziran to analyze living beings and supernatural entities on an unprecedented scale.
• Control through understanding: Rather than defeating Time Ghosts through brute force, Li Ziran seeks to dissect, classify, and understand their structure.
• Reversal of power: The chapter shifts Li Ziran from prey to investigator and suggests that even seemingly immortal beings can be overcome by the right knowledge and spells.
• Soul, identity, and autonomy: The Black Dwarf’s unexpected independence raises questions about possession, consciousness, and whether beings within the Void Spirit World can develop individuality.

4. Character Interactions

• Viya and Li Ziran: Viya mocks and provokes him, hoping to witness his distress, while Li Ziran largely ignores her and uses the situation to advance his research. Her teasing turns into disbelief when his experiments threaten Bowente.
• Li Ziran and the Void Spirits: The Void Spirits function as extensions of Li Ziran’s thoughts, carrying out millions of simultaneous observations and experiments within the constructed world.
• Li Ziran and Bowente: Their relationship shifts dramatically. Bowente had previously seemed untouchable, but Li Ziran discovers that his Void Spirit can be studied, compressed, and possibly destroyed.
• Viya and the Black Dwarf/Bowente: Viya initially assumes the Black Dwarf is under her control, but its hidden autonomy reveals that Bowente has surpassed her perception and influence.

Chapter Summary: “Raising a Time Ghost?”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran confronts Bowente, revealing that he is no longer intimidated by the Time Ghost. Through extensive research, Li has learned that the Sealing Spell restrains Void Spirits while the Resurrection Spell can eliminate them.
• His Void Spirit World is nearing exhaustion because his shriveled organs can no longer provide enough energy. He realizes that he needs additional or specialized organs to sustain the millions of Void Spirits within him.
• Li asks Viya to let him speak with Wood, the Organ Master who shares her body, hoping to learn about such organs. Viya refuses, fearing that Wood would regain control and prevent her from using Li’s flesh and blood.
• Viya reveals that Wood once held gatherings at Six Flavors House, giving Li a possible source of information.
• Bowente attempts to persuade Li to join the Dark Council, offering him a position as a Lower House member and Witch Doctor in charge of the Living Being Project. Li recognizes that Bowente is merely a minor functionary, not the powerful figure he once imagined.
• Li activates the Resurrection Spell and begins cleansing the Void Spirits from his soul. The spell removes both the embedded Void Spirits and Bowente himself.
• Bowente panics and offers forbidden knowledge—including the Devouring Curse and Shadow Curse—to persuade Li to stop. Li remains unmoved.
• Bowente warns that removing him may trigger the arrival of a stronger First-Generation Time Ghost through the lingering connection between his Void Spirits and Li’s soul.
• Viya confirms the danger, explaining that the Void Spirit Church replaces destroyed Time Ghosts by using residual energy as a passage for more powerful beings. Li is forced to reconsider whether eliminating Bowente is truly safe.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran has undergone a major psychological shift. The Time Ghost who once terrified him now appears weak and ordinary, and Li approaches him with calm confidence rather than fear.
• Li demonstrates increasing mastery of his spells and a more scientific understanding of Void Spirits, treating them as subjects of research rather than unknowable threats.
• His concern about sustaining the Void Spirit World shows that his ambitions and magical capabilities are expanding beyond what his current body can support.
• Bowente is exposed as a relatively insignificant and frightened servant of the Dark Council. His threats, offers, and desperate bargaining reveal his weakness.
• Viya remains distrustful and protective of her control over her shared body, but she also provides Li with useful information and warns him about the larger danger posed by the Void Spirit Church.
• Wood remains absent, but his importance grows as Li seeks his knowledge of specialized organs.

Significant Themes

• Fear replaced by understanding: Li’s research transforms a once-terrifying enemy into a manageable problem.
• Knowledge as power: Li’s discoveries about the Sealing and Resurrection Spells allow him to counter forces that previously controlled him.
• The limits of power: Although Li can defeat Bowente, his damaged organs cannot sustain his growing Void Spirit World, forcing him to seek external solutions.
• Hidden consequences: Eliminating a lesser enemy may invite a far more dangerous replacement, emphasizing that victories can create new threats.
• Hierarchy and disillusionment: Li realizes that Bowente is only a low-level agent, challenging his earlier perception of the Dark Council and revealing the vast scale of the powers above him.
• Cooperation versus conflict: Li tries to negotiate with Viya rather than fight her, recognizing that temporary alliances may be more useful than immediate confrontation.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Bowente: Li dominates the exchange psychologically and magically, while Bowente shifts from threats to offers and finally desperate pleading.
• Li Ziran and Viya: Li politely requests Wood’s assistance and attempts negotiation. Viya refuses but directs him toward Six Flavors House and later warns him about the consequences of removing Bowente.
• Li Ziran and Wood: Though Wood does not appear, his expertise in organs becomes central to Li’s next objective.
• Viya and Bowente: Viya’s warning indirectly supports Bowente’s claim that destroying him could summon a stronger Time Ghost, creating uncertainty about Li’s decision.

Ending

Li halts the cleansing process after Viya confirms Bowente’s warning. He realizes that removing this “weak” Time Ghost may open the way for a far more dangerous First-Generation Time Ghost, leaving him to decide whether keeping Bowente alive is the safer option.

Chapter Summary: “Turn into a Big Bullfrog”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Viya explains the Void Spirit Church’s system of control: each generation of Void Spirits is bound to and compelled by the generation above it, ensuring that missions continue even after an individual dies.
• Li Ziran refuses to hide from the threat posed by Bowente, believing that suppressed dangers will only grow more destructive.
• Bowente uses the Puppet Mirror to threaten Li Ziran with Emily, manipulating her appearance as a hostage.
• Li Ziran ignores the illusion and rapidly casts a Transformation Spell, turning Bowente into an enormous, sluggish bullfrog.
• The transformation severely weakens Bowente. The bullfrog’s natural Inert Elements slow his body, mind, and soul, leaving him unable to resist Li Ziran’s Sealing Spell.
• Li Ziran’s Void Spirits use the spell and flames to draw Bowente’s Void Spirits out of his body and convert them into spiritual power for Li Ziran’s Spirit World.
• Just as Bowente appears to be nearing complete destruction, his controller, Boya, emerges through the frog’s body and reveals that he has known Li Ziran before.
• Boya attempts to resist the seal and escape, but the bullfrog transformation continues to hinder him. Li Ziran successfully cuts out both of Boya’s eyes with his scalpel.
• Before Li Ziran can finish the confrontation, an enormous baby attacks and knocks him aside. Boya’s phantom escapes into the child’s body.
• The chapter ends with Li Ziran realizing that the gigantic infant may be the Frostcloud Giant’s embryo, suggesting that she has given birth.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates confidence, tactical creativity, and a rapidly expanding understanding of his abilities. His use of the Transformation Spell turns a seemingly difficult soul battle into a one-sided victory. His past experiments with frogs allow him to exploit Bowente’s transformed body in an unexpected way.
• Viya: Becomes increasingly impressed and frightened by Li Ziran’s power. She recognizes that he has developed methods unknown even fifty years earlier and begins to fear that speaking or acting against him could make her his next target.
• Bowente: Changes from an aggressive manipulator into a helpless, immobilized bullfrog. His Void Spirit World is gradually dismantled as its inhabitants are extracted and converted into Li Ziran’s power.
• Boya: Is revealed as the true controller behind Bowente and an old acquaintance of Li Ziran. Though initially confident and mocking, Boya becomes panicked when the bullfrog’s restraints affect him as well. He loses both eyes before escaping.
• Emily: Appears as a puppet controlled by Bowente, serving primarily as bait to distract or emotionally manipulate Li Ziran.
• The enormous baby: Enters suddenly as a powerful new force, rescuing Boya and creating a major mystery about the Frostcloud Giant’s reproduction.

Significant Themes

• Control and inherited missions: The Void Spirit Church’s hierarchy is built on domination, with each generation forcing the next to continue its assigned mission.
• Confronting danger rather than suppressing it: Li Ziran believes that hidden threats eventually become worse, contrasting with Viya’s preference for restraint and defensive control.
• Adaptation and unconventional power: Li Ziran wins not through overwhelming strength alone, but by exploiting the biological and elemental properties of a transformed creature.
• The changing balance of power: Viya’s shock suggests that former dominant beings such as Time Ghosts may no longer be invincible in the current era.
• Transformation and identity: Turning Bowente into a bullfrog changes not only his body but also the entire balance of the battle, making physical form a crucial source of power and weakness.
• Predation and survival: The chapter emphasizes that in the Abyss, any apparent superior can become prey when confronted with a more adaptable opponent.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Viya: Viya advises caution, while Li Ziran argues for facing threats directly. She witnesses his victory and becomes deeply wary of him.
• Li Ziran and Bowente: Bowente tries to manipulate Li Ziran through Emily and the Puppet Mirror, but Li Ziran counters by transforming and sealing him.
• Li Ziran and Boya: Their encounter reveals a shared past connected to the Oath Tablet. Boya treats Li Ziran as a familiar but troublesome figure, while Li Ziran recognizes him as the true Time Ghost behind the conflict.
• Boya and Viya: Boya addresses Viya as his senior sister and reminds her that her mission remains unfinished, terrifying her with the implications of their shared history.
• Li Ziran and the giant baby: The baby interrupts the battle, protects Boya’s escape, and introduces a new, potentially dangerous mystery.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran discovers that the chubby infant who stole his Void Spirit Ghost is connected to the Frostcloud Giant and carries Boya’s genes. He realizes that Bowente’s weakness was caused by this hidden force suppressing him.
• The infant disappears into the Void Expanse, leaving Li Ziran confused about how the Frostcloud Giant could be reborn. Li suspects the Frostcloud Giant has fallen into the hands of powerful “hypocrites.”
• Bowente’s Time Ghost form is nearly exhausted. Li Ziran uses the Memory Ghost within him to extract Bowente’s memories, sacrificing one of his own organs in the process.
• The memories reveal that Bowente was originally Aite, a Silver-wing Demon who became Boya’s disciple, opened the Void Spirit World, and transformed into a Time Ghost. His entire existence was devoted to serving Boya.
• Bowente had been stationed in Hippo Ancient City as a spy for the Demons. His duties included gathering intelligence, collecting prey, and preparing a vessel for Boya’s descent. Li Ziran was only one part of this larger operation.
• Li learns that the Abyss is preparing a sudden, full-scale assault on the North Sea, targeting North Sea Port. However, Bowente’s memories collapse before Li can learn the port’s defenses or deployment.
• Another major mission in Bowente’s memories involves collecting Primordial Spells and sending them to Black Pearl Island. These ancient spells represent the eight fundamental systems of the world: light, darkness, nature, Void, space, Dragon, time, and soul.
• Li theorizes that gathering enough spells—such as all twelve Light Spells—might restore the world’s original elements. He decides that obtaining organs capable of sustaining his Void Spirit World is more immediately important.
• Li and Viya prepare to part ways. Viya gives him a transparent chameleon cornea, explaining that she wants him to preserve it and eventually resurrect her if she abandons her existence as a Time Ghost or dies.
• Li accepts the bargain, while suspecting that Viya’s long-standing mission may be connected to the coming war at North Sea Port.
• As Li returns to Snow Woman Lake, he discovers that his Snow World is collapsing. Its contents—snow, ice bricks, operating tables, and glassware—are being expelled through cracks in the sky.
• He then finds the two remaining Snow Women waiting for him. Their silver pupils reveal that Demons have once again possessed their bodies.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Gains crucial intelligence about Bowente, Boya, the Abyssal war, and Primordial Spells. His practical priorities remain focused on strengthening the Void Spirit World and finding suitable organs. He also becomes more perceptive about Viya’s hidden motives.
• Bowente: Is revealed to have been a completely loyal servant and spy for Boya rather than an independent schemer. His original identity as Aite and his transformation into a Time Ghost clarify his weakness and purpose.
• Boya: Emerges as a powerful figure who repeatedly descended through Bowente to resolve problems and appears to be pursuing Primordial Spells for an unknown objective.
• Viya: Shows unexpected vulnerability and uncertainty about her future as a Time Ghost. Her request for possible resurrection suggests dissatisfaction with her current existence and hints at a dangerous personal mission.
• The Snow Women: Their bodies have been taken over by Demons, turning them into a new threat for Li Ziran.

Significant Themes

• Identity and possession: Bowente’s transformation from Aite into a Time Ghost, and the Demons’ repeated body seizures, emphasize the instability of identity and the use of bodies as vessels.
• Hidden wars and manipulation: The coming Abyssal invasion and Bowente’s espionage reveal that larger conflicts are developing beneath the continent’s apparent peace.
• Knowledge and sacrifice: Li Ziran obtains information by consuming Bowente’s memories at the cost of his own physical resources.
• Mortality and resurrection: Viya’s request raises questions about whether returning to life is desirable for beings whose existence has become unnatural.
• Restoration of primordial power: The search for Primordial Spells reflects an attempt to reconstruct the world’s original elemental forces and possibly reshape reality.
• Collapse and transformation: The deteriorating Snow World mirrors the broader instability of the world, where old structures, bodies, and elemental systems are breaking down.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran extracts Bowente’s memories while Bowente weakly begs for mercy, creating an interaction dominated by powerlessness and exploitation.
• Li and Viya speak candidly before separating. Their exchange shows mutual trust, though Li remains aware that Viya is concealing important information.
• Viya gives Li the chameleon cornea as payment for preserving the possibility of her resurrection. Li accepts, establishing a future obligation between them.
• Li silently considers Viya’s connection to North Sea Port but respects her refusal to explain.
• The chapter ends with Li confronting the two possessed Snow Women, setting up a new conflict immediately after his discovery of the collapsing Snow World.

Chapter Summary: “A Visitor from the Demon Military”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Two Silver-wing Demons from the Abyss’s fortieth layer secretly possess Li Ziran’s Snow Women and enter his Snow World. They claim to be visiting him, but their real purpose is to obtain Elemental Embryos.
• Li Ziran immediately activates his Sealing and Redemption Spells, forcibly removing the Demons from the Snow Women and converting their souls into mental power.
• Through the Shadow Ghost’s ability, he learns that the Demons infiltrated the Red Soil Continent after failing to obtain orders on Sulfur Island. Their memories had been deliberately erased, suggesting they were trained agents.
• Although Li Ziran defeats the Demons, the Snow Women’s souls are destroyed, leaving their bodies nearly mindless. He also obtains the Demons’ unusual eyeballs and silver wings, realizing that their organ mutations may have been deliberately stabilized and controlled.
• The destruction of the Snow World reveals that the two Demons were only minor agents and that a more important visitor is nearby.
• The master of the Golden Palace appears. Li Ziran recognizes him as a powerful Demon he previously met on Sulfur Island. The man introduces himself as Jones, a Golden Horn Demon from the Abyss’s forty-third layer.
• Jones asks Li Ziran to make a private, large-scale deal for Elemental Embryos, offering higher profits by bypassing Sulfur Island and sending the goods directly into the Abyss.
• Li Ziran refuses, insisting that Anfuni now manages the Elemental Embryo trade and that Sulfur Island provides essential stability, security, and distribution.
• Jones warns that the Demons are preparing to attack North Sea Port. He argues that, if North Sea Port falls, Li Ziran’s current business arrangements will collapse and the Elves will no longer be useful allies.
• Li Ziran remains unconvinced, believing he can retreat to the Wasteland or Elf Rainforest if necessary.
• Jones offers Li Ziran a replacement Derivative Space and claims to know who destroyed the Snow World. When Li Ziran refuses to cooperate, Jones reveals that he himself caused the destruction.
• Jones then discloses his true military identity: he is a deputy commander of the Abyssal Demon Element Legion and a special purchasing envoy for Elemental Embryos.
• He offers Li Ziran a complete Natural Element Realm as compensation and as the basis for a long-term trade agreement, leaving Li Ziran shocked.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Demonstrates greater mastery of his Sealing and Redemption Spells and becomes more confident in using them against Demon possession. He remains cautious, practical, and unwilling to sacrifice reliable business structures for short-term profit. His refusal to deal privately with Jones shows his trust in Anfuni and Sulfur Island’s established network.
• Jones: Initially presents himself as a wealthy merchant and former business acquaintance, but gradually reveals his manipulative and militaristic nature. He is willing to threaten, bargain, and destroy Li Ziran’s property to force negotiations. His position as a Demon military commander greatly raises the stakes.
• The Snow Women: Their possession results in the destruction of their souls, emphasizing the physical and spiritual cost of Demon infiltration.
• Anfuni: Though absent, she is shown to be a capable and trusted manager whose role Li Ziran respects. Her importance in maintaining the Elemental Embryo trade becomes clear.

Significant Themes

• Trust versus exploitation: Li Ziran values stable partnerships and refuses Jones’s attempt to exploit his desire for greater profit.
• The cost of Demon possession: The Snow Women’s irreversible damage demonstrates that possession harms innocent hosts even when the invading Demons are defeated.
• Business and political stability: The chapter emphasizes that reliable infrastructure and protection can be more valuable than higher immediate profits.
• Hidden identities and shifting loyalties: Jones’s transformation from merchant to military envoy reveals the danger of judging characters by their public roles.
• Approaching war: The looming Demon attack on North Sea Port signals a major political and military conflict that may disrupt Li Ziran’s trade and alliances.
• Controlled mutation and power development: Li Ziran’s discovery about the Silver-wing Demons suggests that Demon organ mutations can be engineered, potentially introducing new forms of biological or magical experimentation.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran confronts and defeats the two Silver-wing Demons after they possess the Snow Women.
• He meets Jones with initial courtesy because of their previous business relationship, but their conversation becomes increasingly tense as Jones pressures him to abandon Anfuni and Sulfur Island.
• Jones attempts persuasion through higher profits, military intelligence, threats, and compensation.
• Li Ziran consistently rejects Jones’s proposals, maintaining his independence until Jones reveals both his responsibility for the Snow World’s destruction and his position within the Demon military.

Chapter Summary: Demon Military’s Embryo Order

Key Plot Points and Events

• Jones, deputy commander of the Demon Military’s Elemental Legion, demonstrates his power by destroying Snow World, establishing the military’s authority and warning Li Ziran not to underestimate them.
• Li Ziran remains cautious but does not attack. He negotiates instead, making it clear that Snow World’s destruction must be compensated.
• After confirming that Baron escaped the destroyed world, Li Ziran focuses on business and learns that the Demon Military has already been purchasing his Elemental Embryos through intermediaries.
• Jones offers Li access to the Demon Military’s enormous procurement network, proposing a first order of 50,000 Elemental Embryos for the Abyssal Demons’ twenty-seven legions.
• The embryos are identified as strategic military materials, potentially usable as vessels for demons. Jones explains that other major factions are also researching them, but the Demon Military can provide stable, large-scale demand.
• Li agrees to the deal, provided payment is secure. Jones assures him that his Golden Palace and the military can afford the purchase and that the embryos will remain exclusive to the Demon Military.
• Jones requests Li’s highest-grade pure Elemental Embryos, based on earth, water, wind, and fire elements, with Elven-derived organs. Li explains that production quality may vary and that human Elemental Glands would increase the price.
• Jones reveals that the demons possess more than 50,000 Elemental Glands, suggesting access to vast numbers of captured or fallen mages from the ongoing front-line conflicts.
• Li realizes that cooperation with the Demon Military could provide not only a huge market but also a steady source of rare organs, corpses, wounded soldiers, and slaves for his experiments.
• Li tests Jones by mentioning an embryo capable of carrying three major Light Spell organs—Redemption, Resurrection, and Sealing—and offers it in exchange for access to demon casualties and captives.
• Jones sees through Li’s sudden sales pitch and instead asks whether Li can create an embryo carrying a Darkness Curse. He promises that such a product would make Li an honored guest of the Abyss and increase the value of all his embryos by at least ten percent.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran shifts from defensive suspicion to strategic enthusiasm. He recognizes that the Demon Military is not merely a buyer but a potential long-term business partner and supplier of rare materials.
• He becomes more confident in leveraging his unique production ability, refusing to be intimidated by Jones’s status and negotiating compensation and product specifications.
• Li also reveals his pragmatic morality: he cares less about which faction receives the embryos than about profit, resources, and expanding his capabilities.
• Jones is established as powerful, politically influential, and commercially sophisticated. He combines military authority with careful negotiation, using the promise of procurement access to win Li over.
• Jones proves perceptive and cautious when he notices Li’s attempt to use the Light Spell embryo as leverage. Rather than accepting the offer immediately, he redirects the conversation toward a more valuable military application: a Darkness Curse embryo.

Significant Themes

• Power backed by organization: The Demon Military’s strength comes not only from individual combat ability but from its vast resources, logistics, and institutional reach.
• Commerce as a form of survival: Li treats business negotiations as his primary defense. His value as a producer gives him protection even when dealing with overwhelmingly powerful factions.
• Military-industrial exploitation: The embryo trade is connected to war, battlefield casualties, captured populations, and the mass harvesting of organs.
• Innovation and strategic weapons: Elemental Embryos are more than biological products; they may become demon vessels, magical weapons, or carriers of curses and divine spells.
• Mutual opportunism: Both Li and Jones seek advantage. Li wants money, organs, and materials, while Jones wants reliable access to powerful embryos and potentially a Darkness Curse.
• Secrecy and factional rivalry: The Demon Military wants its large purchase hidden from the Elves and other powers, reflecting the growing strategic competition over embryo technology.

Character Interactions

• Li Ziran and Jones engage in a tense but increasingly cooperative negotiation. Li challenges Jones’s authority, while Jones counters with the scale of the Demon Military’s market.
• Li asks whether Jones can guarantee payment and compensation for Snow World, prompting Jones to emphasize the financial power of the military and the Golden Palace.
• Their discussion becomes mutually beneficial when Li discovers that the demons can supply Elemental Glands and possibly other rare organs.
• Li tries to barter a powerful Light Spell embryo for access to demon captives and battlefield remains, but Jones recognizes the manipulation and demands information about a Darkness Curse embryo instead.
• Their relationship evolves from wary confrontation into a potentially lucrative partnership, though both remain alert to the other’s motives.

Chapter Summary: “Finalizing the Trade”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran and Jones finalize negotiations for a major trade involving organ modification rather than another shipment of Elemental Embryos.
• Jones promises to provide wounded soldiers and corpses from the Elemental Legion, especially those carrying valuable dark attributes and Darkness Curses.
• In exchange, Li will receive independent orders from honored guests of the Golden Palace. The clients will pay for the required organs and expenses, while Li handles the modifications.
• Because North Sea Port is heavily patrolled and hostile to body-snatchers, Li refuses to operate from an island. Instead, he proposes using Crocodile’s Mouth, a lightly defended coastal village, as a secret modification site.
• Jones agrees to clear the local Crocodile Race and Piranha, construct an underwater passage, and eventually hand the location over to Li. He also offers Gold Shark Island as an additional base and a personal gesture of goodwill.
• Li accepts the arrangement but warns Jones not to reveal the Elemental Embryo deal to Anfuni or involve Li in any future military conflict caused by the embryos.
• After Jones leaves, Li reviews the risks and logistics of the agreement. He realizes he needs a factory, more capable Corpse Witches, and additional living creatures to replenish his own depleted organs.
• Before leaving, Li encounters his enormous damaged body from Snow World, now converted into a giant robot. Soren, Gaoda, and Baron show him its interior and control center.
• Li explores the robot, enduring its inconvenient three-hundred-step staircase, and reaches the elevated command room overlooking Snow Woman Lake. Baron gives him the controls to test the machine.

Character Developments

• Li Ziran demonstrates greater commercial and political ambition. He remains cautious and distrustful, but strategically secures a potential foothold in the sea through Crocodile’s Mouth and Gold Shark Island.
• He proves capable of negotiating firmly with Jones, refusing to bear financial or political risks that should belong to the Demons.
• Li’s need for better Corpse Witches and industrial infrastructure shows that his operations are expanding beyond a small-scale enterprise.
• Jones reveals himself as a shrewd and opportunistic negotiator. He seeks access to Li’s organ-modification abilities while offering military resources, valuable bodies, and possible territory in return.
• Jones also recognizes Li’s growing influence and jokingly suggests that he could become a powerful member of the Demon race.
• Baron and the others appear eager to impress Li with their giant robot, though their limited funds have left its interior underdeveloped and inconvenient.

Significant Themes

• Power and leverage: Both sides use resources, reputation, and access to territory to strengthen their bargaining positions.
• Trust and controlled cooperation: Li and Jones are willing to work together, but neither fully trusts the other. Their agreement depends on secrecy, clearly assigned costs, and mutual concessions.
• Expansion and industrialization: Li’s work is evolving from individual experimentation into a large-scale production business requiring factories, labor, materials, and specialized infrastructure.
• Freedom versus vulnerability: An island offers independence from mainland authorities but also removes outside protection, making strength essential for survival.
• Identity and reputation: Jones emphasizes Li’s enormous influence, while Li remains modest and defensive, suggesting a gap between his self-image and his actual status.
• Technological ambition amid limited resources: The giant robot represents advanced development, but its crude transportation system and unfinished facilities reveal the practical limitations of the group’s current finances.

Character Interactions

• Li and Jones engage in a tense but productive negotiation, with Jones pressing for better terms and Li countering with strict conditions.
• Li refuses Jones’s island proposal but redirects the discussion toward a controlled base at Crocodile’s Mouth.
• Jones offers Gold Shark Island as a gesture intended to establish Li’s prestige and presence at sea.
• Their conversation ends with Jones teasing Li about joining the Demons, while Li humorously imagines Jones placing the entire Demon race under his command.
• After Jones departs, Li encounters Soren, Gaoda, and Baron. Baron eagerly guides him through the robot and hands him the controls, clearly seeking Li’s approval.

Chapter Summary

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Ziran inspects Baron’s newly built giant robot, intended to serve as a mobile laboratory and future production base.
• The robot is constructed from cheap, outdated materials, with rusted plating, unstable movement, and an awkward remote control containing dozens of buttons.
• When Li tests the machine, its violent shaking nearly injures him despite Baron securing him with ropes and a helmet. Baron also tries to demonstrate its jumping ability, but Li stops him and takes the remote away.
• Li bluntly criticizes the robot’s poor construction and questions how it could be considered the Goblin Clan’s finest design. Gao Da explains that it is only a temporary version and that Baron has invested most of his resources in a proper laboratory.
• The group descends to a spiral passage containing 182 observation rooms for different types of Elemental Embryos. The rooms are functional but extremely crude.
• At the top, Li discovers a vast, highly specialized laboratory equipped with operating tables, surgical tools, medicine storage, customized Thumb Bottles, a frog-keeping pool, bookshelves, and a spatial magic array.
• The laboratory allows Li to move objects across the room and summon books directly into his hand, resembling the advanced laboratory in Sandrew’s tower.
• Li learns that Baron spent roughly 300,000 gold coins—essentially all his savings—on the laboratory. Realizing Baron’s dedication, Li apologizes and acknowledges that the laboratory is excellent.
• Li then orders Baron to discard the rest of the outdated equipment and upgrade the robot with better machinery, a spatial production room for 20,000 workers, a thought-controlled remote, and the ability to transform into a frog.
• Li reveals that they have received an enormous order for 50,000 Elemental Embryos, meaning the profits can finance these upgrades.
• Gao Da is warned that, unlike Baron, he has no claim to Li’s Soul Plasma business unless he offers something in exchange.

2. Character Developments

• Li Ziran: Initially impatient and openly critical, Li prioritizes efficiency and quality over sentiment. However, he recognizes Baron’s effort once he sees the laboratory and admits that he judged the project too quickly. He also reveals his ambitious plans for expanding production.
• Baron: Despite limited funds and inferior materials, Baron proves highly dedicated and creative. He spends his savings to build Li the laboratory and becomes visibly discouraged by Li’s criticism, but quickly regains confidence after receiving praise.
• Gao Da: Acts as a mediator between Li and Baron, defending Baron’s work and explaining the temporary nature of the robot. He is also startled by the scale of Li’s new order and becomes anxious when Li excludes him from the business arrangement.
• Li’s relationship with Baron: Their interaction develops from awkward criticism into mutual recognition. Li realizes Baron is genuinely supporting him, while Baron gains reassurance that his central achievement—the laboratory—is valued.

3. Significant Themes

• Innovation under limited resources: Baron’s crude robot contrasts with the laboratory’s sophisticated spatial technology, showing how ingenuity can overcome financial limitations.
• Value of effort versus quality of results: Li initially judges the project by its poor visible components, but later appreciates the thought and sacrifice behind the laboratory.
• Pragmatism and business expansion: Li refuses to remain constrained by poverty once a large order is secured and immediately plans to reinvest profits into large-scale production.
• Trust and recognition: Baron’s loyalty is rewarded when Li acknowledges his sacrifice, while Gao Da learns that personal connections alone do not guarantee a share in Li’s ventures.
• Preparation for industrial growth: The laboratory and planned production room signal a transition from small-scale experimentation to mass production.

4. Character Interactions

• Baron enthusiastically demonstrates the robot, while Li reacts with alarm and skepticism because of its violent movements and unsafe design.
• Li confronts Baron directly about the robot’s shortcomings, creating a brief tension between them.
• Gao Da intervenes to defend Baron and explain that the robot is only an early-stage model.
• After seeing the spatial laboratory, Li apologizes to Baron and praises his achievement, strengthening their working relationship.
• Li then resumes his commanding role by giving Baron extensive upgrade orders.
• Gao Da reacts with shock to the 50,000-embryo order and is reprimanded when he assumes he may benefit from the Soul Plasma business.