Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Xueli leads Vast Sea Academy’s disciples out of Mingzhu City, explaining that Chen Juntaing’s mother, A Wan, was meant to become the saintess of Holy Ancestor Village. Juntaing’s bloodline could attract terrifying beings, which Xueli has spent years preventing by concealing her aura.
• Xueli suspects the Zhu Family abducted Juntaing to use her against Mingzhu City’s true ruler. He believes she is unlikely to be killed, but fears her bloodline could bring disaster to the city. A disciple who had informed her family decides not to report what she has learned and instead leave with the academy.
• In a safe house, Zhang Ping shares this information with Liu Sishan. They doubt the Zhu Family could successfully use Juntaing’s blood against the Cleanup Team, whose members avoid unknown food and drink. Sishan alerts Lu Han to investigate the city’s water sources and reports the situation to Situ Shibai.
• Situ orders Sishan to protect Zhang Ping and Liu Tiefeng, retreating to Safe House No. 5 if necessary. They will decide what to do next at daybreak.
• A large wolf pack approaches Mingzhu City from Salt Mountain Valley. Zhang Ping senses it through the ground and uses the Wraith Lantern to hide the safe house from outside detection. Sishan contacts Situ again.
• Worried that Qiu Qiang may head to Iron Soul and be endangered by his connection to Zhang Ping, Zhang Ping discovers he can divide and control his blood. He sends a small mass of blood toward the wolves, hoping one will carry it back so he can find a way to warn Qiu Qiang. The blood reaches the pack, but an adult wolf buries and tramples it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Xueli reveals his protective history with Juntaing and prioritizes getting his disciples away from danger. His knowing glance at them suggests he may be watching for disloyalty.
• Liu Sishan takes charge of communications and security, while showing growing warmth toward Zhang Ping. She also suspects his abilities may reflect his thoughts and motives, though he remains unconvinced.
• Zhang Ping acts protectively toward Liu Tiefeng and Qiu Qiang. Under pressure, he experiments with his blood-based abilities and develops a risky method of sending part of himself away.
• The academy disciple who betrayed Juntaing’s location chooses self-preservation over further cooperation with her family.

Significant themes

• Protection and sacrifice: Xueli has spent years containing Juntaing’s aura, while Zhang Ping risks himself to protect Qiu Qiang.
• Inherited virtue versus present wrongdoing: The Zhu Family’s heroic history cannot excuse its current actions.
• Uncertainty and unintended consequences: Juntaing’s bloodline, the wolves’ sudden arrival, and Zhang Ping’s poorly understood powers all threaten to trigger events the characters cannot control.
• Loyalty and self-interest: Characters respond differently to danger—some protect others, while the informant chooses escape and silence.

Chapter Summary: “An Unusual Night”

Key Plot Points and Events

• After being trampled by wolves, Zhang Ping’s Blood Serpent survives and emerges from the soil.
• While Zhang Ping is recovering in the safe house, the Blood Serpent encounters a massive herd of Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbits fleeing from an unknown danger.
• Zhang Ping merges the Blood Serpent with one rabbit, allowing him to perceive its senses, hear surrounding sounds, and vaguely understand the rabbits’ emotional messages.
• He discovers that he can influence the rabbit’s behavior by transmitting thoughts, especially by intensifying its instinct to run.
• The rabbit herd reaches Mingzhu City, where adventurers are defending the walls from the wolf pack. The city’s Patrol Team remains suspiciously absent, causing many adventurers to distrust the City Lord’s Manor.
• An adventurer attempts to shoot Zhang Ping’s rabbit, but Zhang Ping warns it in time. The rabbit instinctively uses its corrosive water to destroy the arrow.
• Zhang Ping later guides the rabbit toward the east, but it is struck by an ice attack. He uses the Blood Serpent to stop the bleeding and rapidly heal its wound.
• Exhausted from the night’s earlier battles and activities, Zhang Ping continues controlling the rabbit because he is concerned about Qiu Qiang’s safety.
• A nearby Fireball blast severs Zhang Ping’s connection to the Blood Serpent, leaving him dizzy and mentally drained.
• At the safe house, Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan discover a horde of eerie Living Corpses—composed of both humans and animals—moving toward Mingzhu City.
• Zhang Ping reignites the Wraith Lantern with Nether Mist, allowing him and Liu Sishan to observe the approaching undead without being detected.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Demonstrates increasingly sophisticated control over the Blood Serpent. He learns that he can sense another creature’s perceptions, interpret its emotions, influence its instincts, and heal its injuries. Despite severe exhaustion, he remains determined to protect others, particularly Qiu Qiang.
• Liu Sishan: Continues acting as Zhang Ping’s support and protector, catching him when he becomes dizzy and helping him remain silent while the corpses pass nearby.
• Prince Yue: Becomes increasingly uneasy about the situation and begins questioning the Heavenly Fox invasion of the human world. Its guilt regarding Chen Juntaing deepens, even affecting its appetite and attitude toward humans.
• The adventurers: Their growing distrust of the City Lord’s Manor and the inactive Patrol Team leads them to take responsibility for defending Mingzhu City themselves.

Significant Themes

• Connection and influence: Zhang Ping’s link with the rabbit shows how his abilities allow him to share senses, emotions, and intentions across species, though his control remains limited.
• Perseverance and sacrifice: Zhang Ping continues using his mental strength despite overwhelming fatigue because he values Qiu Qiang’s safety more than his own comfort.
• Distrust of authority: The Patrol Team’s unexplained absence causes ordinary adventurers to protect the city independently and suspect that its leaders are hiding something.
• Blurred boundaries between human and beast: Zhang Ping’s communication with the rabbit and the Heavenly Foxes’ infiltration suggest that intelligence, emotion, and morality are not exclusive to humans.
• Escalating supernatural danger: The wolves, fleeing rabbits, and Living Corpses reveal that increasingly strange forces are converging around Mingzhu City.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping mentally guides and reassures the parasitized rabbit, helping it evade danger, survive an attack, and heal from a serious wound.
• The adventurers defend the city against wolves while casually hunting the rabbits, creating a conflict between their ordinary survival instincts and Zhang Ping’s attempt to save one of them.
• Prince Yue and the Heavenly Foxes discuss whether to attack the humans, with Prince Yue choosing to observe instead.
• Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan quietly investigate the approaching Living Corpses, sharing their alarm while attempting to remain hidden.

Chapter Summary:

Feng Laixian

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Sishan makes a third attempt to contact Situ Shibai, but he remains unwilling to act before dawn, preferring to observe the situation.
• Zhang Ping, worried about Qiu Qiang, reconnects with the injured Corrosive Water Bullet Rabbit. He heals it and uses it to infiltrate Mingzhu City through a canal by corroding the iron grille blocking the passage.
• The rabbit finds Qiu Qiang near the ruins of Iron Soul. Zhang Ping communicates through bloody writing on the rabbit’s fur, assuring Qiu Qiang that he and Liu Tiefeng are safe while warning that Mingzhu City is in extreme danger.
• Zhang Ping reveals that over fifty thousand Living Corpses are approaching the city. These corpses may retain the abilities they possessed in life and can spread Corpse Poison through scratches.
• Qiu Qiang reaches the southern wall and warns the adventurers. Although they initially joke about his message, Zhang Ping’s written confirmation convinces them of the threat.
• Realizing that the city’s existing defenders are insufficient, the adventurers begin recruiting Awakened from across Mingzhu City, including martial artists, professionals, and beast tamers.
• Mutated Beasts sent outside the city confirm that the approaching horde may number seventy or eighty thousand—or more.
• The Living Corpses are revealed to be attacking from multiple directions. A flock of decayed, black-energy-infused crows approaches from the east, and these are also identified as Living Corpses.
• Feng Laixian, master of Beast King Fist Hall, takes responsibility for defending the southern wall and calls for five thousand volunteers. Ao Donghai, master of Dragon-Slaying Saber Hall, claims the eastern wall, while the leaders of two other martial arts halls take responsibility for the remaining sides.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates increasing courage, resourcefulness, and leadership. Despite exhaustion, he continues investigating the threat, heals the rabbit, infiltrates the city indirectly, and coordinates the city’s defenses while protecting the identities of himself and Liu Tiefeng.
• Qiu Qiang shifts from personal worry over Iron Soul and his companions to decisive public leadership. He trusts Zhang Ping’s warning, delivers it to the adventurers, and helps organize a citywide defense.
• The adventurers move from casual confidence—eating rabbit meat and making jokes—to alarm and collective responsibility once the scale of the Living Corpse horde becomes clear.
• Feng Laixian emerges as a bold and authoritative leader. His willingness to personally accept responsibility for the southern wall inspires confidence and gives the panicked defenders structure.
• Ao Donghai likewise displays courage and leadership by taking charge of the eastern defenses.
• Situ Shibai remains mysterious and cautious, suggesting he may understand more about the situation but is waiting for the proper moment to act.

Significant Themes

• Leadership in crisis: The threat forces individuals to step forward, with Qiu Qiang, Feng Laixian, and Ao Donghai transforming fear into organized resistance.
• Trust and communication: Zhang Ping’s unusual method of communicating through the rabbit becomes essential to warning the city. Qiu Qiang must decide whether to trust information from an apparently ordinary animal.
• Hidden conspiracies: The sudden appearance of enormous numbers of Living Corpses, the Patrol Team’s inactivity, and the City Lord’s Manor’s suspicious behavior suggest that the attack may be directed or connected to a larger conspiracy.
• Unity and collective defense: The city’s survival depends not only on adventurers but also on martial arts masters, professional Awakened, beast tamers, and ordinary defenders working together.
• The danger of corruption and infection: Living Corpses are not merely mindless enemies; their retained abilities and Corpse Poison make them a threat capable of multiplying and turning the city’s defenders against one another.

Important Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping communicates with Qiu Qiang through bloody words written on the rabbit’s fur, carefully withholding sensitive information to avoid being discovered by Prince Yue.
• Qiu Qiang and Zhang Ping cooperate indirectly: Zhang Ping gathers intelligence while Qiu Qiang carries the warning to the city wall and rallies its defenders.
• The adventurers initially tease Qiu Qiang, but their attitude changes immediately when Zhang Ping confirms the Living Corpse threat.
• Feng Laixian and Ao Donghai openly challenge the crisis by claiming responsibility for separate city walls, encouraging the other martial arts leaders to do the same.
• The discussion among the Awakened raises the possibility that the Living Corpses are being deliberately controlled, turning the attack from a natural disaster into a suspected organized assault.

Chapter Summary: “Ominous Signs”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping, exhausted after resolving the previous crisis, returns to his main body and falls asleep.
• The defense of Mingzhu City begins. Under Feng Laixian’s command, Awakened fighters are organized into teams and assigned to vulnerable sections of the city wall, while healers and logistics workers support them.
• The Living Corpses advance toward the city in enormous numbers—roughly seventy to eighty thousand. Feng orders the defenders to begin attacking when they reach 250 meters from the wall.
• The initial attacks destroy many Living Corpses, but the creatures suddenly become more agile and aggressively assault the wall.
• Several powerful Living Corpses are used as weapons, including a giant ape that throws corpses toward the defenders. Qiu Qiang helps repel the attackers.
• Feng Laixian demonstrates the ultimate technique of the Beast King Fist Hall, Chaos Breath, combining pure airflow with his heat-based ability. The attack completely destroys the giant ape and melts the ground beneath it.
• The battle intensifies as Living Corpses continue piling up and damaging the wall. A green lightning attack kills three Awakened instantly, marking the first major casualties.
• Qiu Qiang entrusts his rabbit to a logistics worker so it can relay information from scouts outside the city, then returns to the front line.
• The siege is occurring on all four sides of the city, leaving ordinary residents helplessly waiting for the outcome.
• At the City Lord’s Manor, Zhu Zeming attempts to move Chen Juntaing, intending to use her to control Situ Shibai and advance his family’s plan to seize Mingzhu City.
• Zhu instead encounters Prince Yue holding Chen Juntaing. He notices something disturbing moving beneath Prince Yue’s back and senses that the situation is becoming even more dangerous.

Character Developments

• Feng Laixian proves himself to be a highly capable commander, coordinating the city’s defenses while remaining alert to the possibility that the siege is part of a larger conspiracy.
• Qiu Qiang displays loyalty and courage. Despite fearing death, he continues fighting and remains concerned about Zhang Ping and Liu Tiefeng’s safety.
• Bai De serves as Feng’s reliable second-in-command and promotes the reputation of the Beast King Fist Hall by explaining Feng’s abilities to the other Awakened.
• Zhu Zeming becomes increasingly anxious as events move beyond his control. His attempt to manipulate Chen Juntaing is interrupted by Prince Yue.
• Prince Yue appears increasingly mysterious and ominous, with an unnatural presence hinted at by the movement beneath his back.
• Chen Juntaing remains politically important because controlling her would help Zhu Zeming’s family deal with Situ Shibai and take over the city.

Significant Themes

• Duty and defending one’s home: The local Awakened fight because Mingzhu City is their home, even though survival is uncertain.
• Leadership and cooperation: Feng’s organization of fighters, healers, and logistics personnel demonstrates the importance of coordinated defense.
• Commercial interests amid crisis: The martial arts halls use the battle as a chance to advertise their strength, showing how business motives coexist with genuine civic duty.
• Hidden conspiracies: The Living Corpse attack appears too organized and extensive to be random, while the disappearance of Lin Kedi and absence of the city lord deepen the mystery.
• Power and political control: Zhu Zeming’s plan to use Chen Juntaing reflects the struggle for control of Mingzhu City.
• Ominous escalation: The defenders are only fighting apparent “cannon fodder,” suggesting that a far more dangerous enemy has yet to reveal itself.

Character Interactions

• Feng Laixian and Bai De work closely to direct the city’s defenses.
• Qiu Qiang and Bai De cooperate on the wall, with Bai De stopping Qiu from recklessly engaging the giant ape in close combat.
• Qiu Qiang entrusts his rabbit—and its communication role—to a female logistics worker before returning to battle.
• Bai De’s explanation of Feng’s Chaos Breath impresses the Awakened and increases interest in the Beast King Fist Hall.
• Zhu Zeming’s attempted approach to Chen Juntaing is blocked by Prince Yue, whose eerie appearance leaves Zhu frightened and suspicious.

Chapter Summary: “Lin Benshi”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The southern wall faces an overwhelming assault by 80,000 Living Corpses against only 5,000 Awakened. In thirty minutes, nearly 10,000 corpses are destroyed, but over 100 Awakened are killed or wounded.
• The Living Corpses repeatedly scale the city wall, threatening to disrupt the defenders’ formation. Bai De and other powerful Awakened prevent a catastrophe.
• Feng Laixian suddenly recognizes one of the corpses as Lin Benshi, his former senior brother and the father of Lin Kedi.
• Lin Benshi disappeared thirty years earlier while investigating the disappearances of Awakened. He had been presumed missing, but is now revealed to have become a Living Corpse.
• Enraged by the people responsible for Lin Benshi’s transformation, Feng vows to uncover them and leaps outside the wall to fight his former senior brother.
• Feng uses his roar to destroy surrounding Living Corpses, then battles Lin Benshi in a prolonged contest of Beast King Fist techniques.
• Lin Benshi retains some combat instincts and uses the Phoenix Claw Form, while Feng uses the Giant Crocodile Form. Despite Lin Benshi’s mutated body and refined instincts, Feng gradually suppresses him through superior strength and decades of additional training.
• Feng deliberately fights without using his full abilities, choosing to give Lin Benshi a proper farewell through their shared martial art rather than simply annihilating him.
• Their duel distracts many Living Corpses from the city wall, reducing pressure on the defenders and allowing casualties and exhaustion among the Awakened to decrease.
• Bai De watches the fight closely and gains new insights into the Beast King Fist.

Character Developments

• Feng Laixian: His usual focus on defending the city becomes personal when he recognizes Lin Benshi. His grief and fury drive him to confront the force responsible. He also shows respect and affection for his former senior brother by fighting him honorably with Beast King Fist instead of immediately using overwhelming power.
• Lin Benshi: Revealed to have been transformed into a Living Corpse after disappearing three decades earlier. Although his humanity appears gone, his body retains combat instincts, martial techniques, and some of the abilities he possessed as an Awakened.
• Bai De: Demonstrates trust in Feng’s judgment and strength. By observing the battle, he gains valuable martial insights and recognizes the duel’s tactical benefit to the city’s defense.
• Lin Kedi: Though absent from the battle, his connection to Lin Benshi adds emotional weight, as the Living Corpse is revealed to be the father of the Patrol Team captain.

Significant Themes

• Tragedy and lost humanity: Lin Benshi’s transformation turns a respected senior brother and father into a monstrous enemy.
• Honor and farewell: Feng’s decision to fight using their shared martial art reflects respect for Lin Benshi’s former identity and offers him a final, dignified send-off.
• Memory versus instinct: Lin Benshi no longer appears mentally human, but fragments of his former combat ability remain in his body.
• Sacrifice and duty: The Awakened continue fighting despite severe casualties, while Feng risks himself to protect the city and relieve pressure on the wall.
• Corruption and revenge: The unknown perpetrators behind the Living Corpses become a greater threat, provoking Feng’s determination to find them.

Character Interactions

• Feng and Bai De identify Lin Benshi together, sharing shock and grief over his fate.
• Feng addresses Lin Benshi as “senior brother” and fights him with solemn respect, repeatedly encouraging him to continue.
• Lin Benshi responds through instinctive martial exchanges rather than speech, mirroring Feng’s techniques and exploiting his mutations.
• Bai De reassures other Awakened that Feng is deliberately conserving his strength and understands the risks of the battle.
• Feng’s duel indirectly supports the entire defensive force by drawing Living Corpses away from the wall and giving the exhausted Awakened and medical staff time to recover.

Chapter Summary: “Warmth”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping awakens from a nightmare in which Qiu Qiang is torn apart by Living Corpses while urging Zhang to protect Uncle Liu. Relieved to see Qiu alive, Zhang realizes he has slept for sixty-seven minutes.
• After waking, Zhang transfers his consciousness through the blood snake into a rabbit being held by a female Awakened at the supply area. From her position, he gains a much broader view of Mingzhu City.
• Zhang observes that the city is overwhelmed by fear, represented by a thick purple mist, though the defenders are still holding the Living Corpses back.
• He notices that his Mental Strength recovers more efficiently while inhabiting a woman’s body. Testing this with Liu Sishan, he enters her body in Pure-Blood Form.
• Zhang’s blood heals Liu Sishan’s chronic lower-back pain and restores both her physical stamina and Mental Strength. At the same time, he also replenishes his own energy, discovering a mutually beneficial, “dual cultivation”-like effect.
• Their rest is interrupted when Zhang detects a massive Living Corpse force approaching with a gigantic stone palace pulled by corpse bulls and chained Living Corpses.
• Zhang and Liu Sishan suspect the palace contains the Awakened mastermind behind the attack. Zhang considers investigating or Appraising whoever is inside, but Liu refuses because Qiu Qiang ordered them to observe rather than act.
• Liu Sishan recalls that the palace resembles something from a case file, suggesting the assault may be connected to a known past incident.

2. Character Developments

• Zhang Ping shows deep concern for his allies, especially Qiu Qiang and Liu Tiefeng. His nightmare reveals his fear of losing them, while his hesitation about investigating the palace shows that he weighs personal loyalty against the safety of Mingzhu City.
• He continues to behave humbly despite being recognized as the person who warned Mingzhu City about the Living Corpses. He credits the city’s defenders rather than accepting the title of “hero.”
• Zhang discovers an important new use of his blood ability: entering a woman’s body greatly accelerates his recovery and can also heal and restore the host.
• Liu Sishan becomes more physically and mentally refreshed through Zhang’s ability. She remains calm and disciplined, prioritizing Qiu Qiang’s strategic orders over Zhang’s impulse to gather information.
• Qiu Qiang, though mostly absent from the immediate scene, remains an important source of authority and emotional concern. His earlier command to observe reflects his cautious leadership.

3. Significant Themes

• Warmth and mutual support: Zhang’s ability creates a literal and emotional sense of warmth, healing both himself and Liu Sishan while strengthening their bond.
• Fear versus courage: The city is filled with anxiety, yet the Awakened continue defending it. Zhang’s nightmare reflects the emotional cost of the battle.
• Humility and true heroism: Zhang rejects praise and emphasizes the sacrifices of those fighting on the walls.
• Duty versus personal attachment: Zhang wants to risk himself to uncover the enemy’s identity but hesitates because doing so could endanger Liu Tiefeng and violate Qiu Qiang’s orders.
• Hidden enemies and escalating danger: The arrival of the palace reveals that the Living Corpse assault is organized and likely controlled by a powerful Awakened presence.

4. Character Interactions

• Zhang and the female Awakened cooperate as he uses her position to observe the city; she recognizes his contribution and trusts him to report important information.
• Zhang and Liu Sishan develop a more intimate, mutually beneficial connection through his inhabiting her body. Their exchange contains mild awkward humor when Zhang describes the experience as warm and comfortable.
• Liu Sishan acts as Zhang’s restraint and tactical counterbalance, stopping him from investigating the palace prematurely and reminding him to trust Qiu Qiang’s plan.
• The chapter ends with Liu preparing to connect the palace to an older case, setting up a possible explanation for the Living Corpse invasion.

Chapter Summary: “Lost Ones”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Liu Sishan tells Zhang Ping about a bizarre unsolved case from thirty years earlier in which corpses repeatedly disappeared from families’ homes before cremation. The Patrol Team found no clues, and the Cleanup Team eventually took over, but the culprit escaped.
• Situ Shibai later identified the culprit as a Lost One, an Awakened person whose ability had overwhelmed their mind and driven them to act according to its nature.
• Liu explains that if a Lost One deteriorates further, the ability may develop its own consciousness and transform the person into a monstrous Fallen One, capable of altering its body to become stronger.
• Zhang realizes that his own abilities have already begun influencing his behavior: he compulsively trains, prefers heat because of Fire Eater, sleeps less because of Nightwalker, constantly appraises things, and feels drawn to remaining inside Liu Sishan’s body because of Pure Blood Body.
• Worried that he might eventually become a Lost One, Zhang asks Liu for guidance. She explains that powerful Awakened must maintain firm moral boundaries and control their abilities rather than allow their abilities to control them.
• Zhang confesses that he killed Zeng Xiaofan out of anger and admits that this was vigilante justice. Liu agrees that it was wrong, though she notes that Zeng was actually a notorious criminal with a high bounty. She refuses to claim the reward for Zhang, treating the incident as a final warning.
• Zhang distinguishes this killing from an earlier act of self-defense, recognizing that Zeng was already helpless and posed no immediate danger.
• The chapter ends with Liu reassuring him that he can simply command himself not to become Lost or Fallen. Zhang is left speechless by the simplicity—and perhaps unsettling certainty—of her answer.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping becomes more self-aware and morally reflective. He recognizes that his abilities are subtly changing his habits and desires, and he confronts the possibility that power could eventually control him.
• His confession about Zeng Xiaofan shows growing honesty and responsibility. He no longer judges his actions solely by whether the victim was evil; he considers his own motives and whether he respected legal and moral boundaries.
• Liu Sishan acts as a mentor and moral guide. She explains the dangers of supernatural power while comforting Zhang and encouraging him to preserve his principles.
• Situ Shibai is presented as an example of disciplined restraint, particularly through his rule that he will never copy another person’s ability without permission.
• Zeng Xiaofan, though dead, functions as a moral contrast: his crimes made his death understandable, but Zhang’s anger and disregard for due process still made the act wrong.

Significant Themes

• Power versus self-control: The central warning is that abilities can gradually reshape their users until the user becomes subordinate to them.
• Moral boundaries and responsibility: Strength and the absence of immediate punishment do not erase laws or ethics. Maintaining personal limits is essential to avoiding corruption.
• The gradual nature of corruption: Becoming a Lost One is not necessarily sudden; behavioral changes may occur so subtly that the person fails to notice them.
• Justice versus vengeance: Zhang’s killing of Zeng may have removed a dangerous criminal, but his motive was anger rather than lawful justice. The chapter emphasizes the difference between self-defense, justice, and revenge.
• Fear of losing one’s identity: The possibility that abilities can gain independent consciousness introduces anxiety about whether an Awakened person remains truly in control of their own body and mind.

Character Interactions

• Liu and Zhang’s conversation is both instructional and intimate. Liu explains frightening supernatural dangers while using humor and physical reassurance—such as patting his head—to ease his anxiety.
• Zhang trusts Liu enough to confess his wrongdoing, and she responds with understanding rather than immediate condemnation.
• Their exchange reveals Liu’s role as a stabilizing influence on Zhang, while Zhang’s questions show his increasing dependence on her guidance.
• Liu’s final suggestion—to simply command himself not to become Lost—both reassures and silences Zhang, ending the chapter on a lightly comic but ominous note.

Key plot points and events

• Feng Laixian continues fighting Lin Benshi’s living corpse. Lin’s bones are close to collapsing, but a huge boulder interrupts the fight before Feng can finish it.
• A palace advances with the corpse horde. Its sinister, skeletal master emerges and taunts Feng, promising to keep him as an attendant.
• The old man sends two living corpses against Feng: the heavily armored Cheng Dujiao and an unfamiliar, clawed corpse. Feng’s fiery power destroys the second corpse’s upper body and badly damages Cheng.
• Cheng attacks with a horn infected by deadly Corpse Poison. Feng blocks him, then smashes him into the ground with a powerful throw, shattering his body.
• Feng charges the old man, but a supernatural shield redirects his punch into a nearby corpse. The master explains that his remaining corpses can absorb attacks for him.
• Surrounded by armed corpses, Feng is pierced through both sides. His Red Emperor Undying Body heals the wounds almost instantly.
• The old man reveals that Feng has nevertheless been infected with Corpse Poison. Feng tears away poisoned flesh, but green, root-like threads continue spreading through his body.

Character developments

• Feng Laixian remains formidable and fearless, openly challenging the palace master. His regenerative ability lets him shrug off severe wounds, but the poison exposes a vulnerability that may overcome even his powerful body.
• The palace master is introduced as a cruel, mocking enemy who protects himself through the corpse horde and appears to wield a poison capable of turning victims into living corpses.
• Lin Benshi is nearly destroyed after the prolonged battle, though the interruption leaves his immediate fate unresolved.
• Bai De watches Feng’s transformation into combat mode and recognizes the danger of his unleashed power.

Significant themes

• The limits of strength: Feng can overpower individual enemies and recover from grievous injuries, but poison and the enemy’s defensive tactics threaten to bypass brute force.
• Death and bodily corruption: Living corpses retain abilities and continue fighting despite shattered bodies, while Corpse Poison threatens to erase the boundary between the living and the dead.
• Cunning versus direct force: The palace master uses expendable corpses as shields, turning Feng’s strength against him.

Character interactions

• Feng addresses the palace master mockingly, while the old man alternates flattery and threats.
• Feng’s battle with Cheng shifts from defense against the poisoned horn to a decisive, bone-shattering counterattack.
• The palace master exploits the surrounding corpses to block Feng’s strike and set up a coordinated assault, leaving Feng infected despite his rapid healing.

Chapter Summary: “Resonance”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Laixian confronts the mysterious old man controlling an army of Living Corpses, later identified as Zuo Xiangming.
• Zuo uses multiple Living Corpses to trap Feng in a powerful Psychokinetic Force field while infecting him with rapidly spreading Corpse Poison.
• Feng attempts to save himself by tearing the poisoned flesh from his body, but the poison continues advancing toward his brain. If it reaches him, he will become Zuo’s puppet.
• The Awakened on the city wall debate whether to intervene, but they are too far away and fear being infected and turned into Living Corpses themselves.
• Zhang Ping transfers his consciousness into the female Awakened near the South Wall to assess the crisis. He realizes Feng is intentionally injuring himself so that his Red Emperor Undying Body can trigger a near-death recovery.
• Zhang reveals that Feng has a trump card and only needs to survive until dawn, when his solar-based ability will become overwhelmingly powerful.
• Using Appraisal, Zhang identifies the old man as Zuo Xiangming, a Level 39 Top-Tier Awakened Living Corpse whose abilities allow him to create and control powerful undead puppets.
• Zhang also reveals Feng’s abilities to the female Awakened, convincing her that they must buy him time rather than attempt to rescue him directly.
• The woman introduces herself as Chen Weihua and decides to target the Living Corpses capable of using Psychokinetic Force.
• She leaves the wall with two sturdy Awakened and goes to a warehouse, where Zhang discovers a large supply of mysterious sea-urchin-shaped fruits, presumably intended for their counterattack.

Character Developments

• Feng Laixian demonstrates immense endurance and tactical awareness. Rather than simply trying to remove the poison, he deliberately accumulates injuries to activate his ultimate healing ability.
• Zhang Ping acts as an observer and strategist. He uses consciousness transfer and Appraisal to understand both sides’ abilities, reassures the defenders, and helps them form a practical plan.
• Chen Weihua develops from a worried onlooker into an active leader. Once she learns Feng can survive until dawn, she takes initiative and seeks a way to neutralize the Psychokinetic Force users.
• Zuo Xiangming is revealed as a major threat: a Lost State Living Corpse who commands an interconnected army of powerful puppets.

Significant Themes

• Strategy over brute force: Even Feng’s overwhelming physical strength is insufficient without a plan against Zuo’s poison and psychic restraints.
• Sacrifice and endurance: Feng mutilates himself and withstands extreme suffering to reach a condition where his recovery ability can activate.
• Trust and cooperation: The defenders cannot win individually, so Zhang’s information and Chen’s initiative become essential to supporting Feng.
• The danger of corruption and loss of identity: Corpse Poison turns powerful Awakened into extensions of Zuo’s will, making every failed rescue attempt potentially strengthen the enemy.
• Time as a tactical resource: Surviving until dawn is crucial because Feng’s connection to the sun will dramatically amplify his abilities.

Character Interactions

• Zhang communicates with Chen through the female Awakened whose body he is inhabiting, creating an unusual partnership between them.
• Chen initially doubts Feng’s chances but becomes hopeful after Zhang explains his hidden abilities.
• Zhang and Chen cooperate by combining his appraisal and tactical knowledge with her willingness to act.
• The Awakened on the wall remain divided and fearful, highlighting the contrast between passive observation and Chen’s decisive response.
• Feng and Zuo do not directly converse, but their battle represents a clash between Feng’s self-healing endurance and Zuo’s control over psychically empowered Living Corpses.

Chapter Summary: “Resonance Substance”

Key Plot Points and Events

• While meditating in the safehouse, Liu Sishan unexpectedly sees translucent status panels revealing Zuo Xiangming’s and Feng Laixian’s attributes. She realizes Zhang Ping must have used his Appraisal Technique while his consciousness remained in Mingzhu City, and she reports the new intelligence to Situ Shibai.
• In Mingzhu City, Chen Weihua brings crates of unusual, spiked fruit to the city wall. Under her orders, Awakened soldiers throw the fruit at the Living Corpses attacking the city.
• The fruits explode on impact, firing poisonous spikes in every direction. The spikes injure Feng Laixian, but their Fire Poison reacts with the corpse poison inside him, temporarily easing his suffering and accelerating his recovery.
• Feng Laixian orders the Awakened to continue attacking him with the fruit after realizing that the Fire Poison may help him release his powerful Scarlet Emperor Blaze.
• Chen Weihua identifies the fruit as Thousand-Needle Fruit and explains its effects. Zuo Xiangming recognizes that the fruit is benefiting Feng Laixian and tries to block the attacks with Living Corpses, but he cannot stop all the spikes.
• After repeated attacks, numerous spikes lodge in Feng Laixian’s back. His intense heat melts them into black liquid, while poisonous pustules form around the wounds.

Character Developments

• Liu Sishan demonstrates sharper awareness and tactical judgment by analyzing the status panels and quickly communicating the information to Situ Shibai.
• Zhang Ping gains a deeper understanding of how abilities function. He connects Feng Laixian’s reaction to the broader concept of Resonance Substances and recalls that his own Wind Whisperer ability may have been triggered by the Wind Gem.
• Chen Weihua reveals her practical knowledge and confidence by introducing the Thousand-Needle Fruits as a weapon. Her teasing behavior toward Zhang Ping also shows a playful, familiar relationship.
• Feng Laixian shows determination and willingness to endure extreme pain. Rather than resisting the poisonous fruit, he deliberately uses its effects to counteract the corpse poison and strengthen his own ability.
• Zuo Xiangming proves observant and strategically capable, immediately recognizing the threat posed by the fruits and attempting to protect Feng Laixian from them.

Significant Themes

• Abilities and adaptation: Awakened abilities are compared to applications that gradually evolve according to how their users employ them. This suggests that habit and experience can reshape a power over time.
• The danger of dependence: Resonance Substances can greatly enhance abilities but may cause users to become dependent on external materials, weakening their natural potential or changing how their abilities develop.
• Desperation and sacrifice: Feng Laixian accepts severe physical pain and injury because the fruit’s poison may give him a chance to overcome his otherwise life-threatening condition.
• Scientific understanding of supernatural powers: The chapter treats meditation, toxins, abilities, and Resonance Substances in an analytical, almost scientific manner rather than as purely mystical phenomena.
• Tactical innovation: The city’s defenders use an unfamiliar biological weapon to exploit the interaction between two poisons and alter the course of battle.

Character Interactions

• Liu Sishan attempts to contact Zhang Ping through his body before realizing his consciousness is elsewhere, then reports the intelligence to Situ Shibai.
• Chen Weihua deliberately keeps Zhang Ping guessing about the fruit’s purpose, creating a lighthearted exchange amid the larger battle.
• Zhang Ping observes Chen Weihua’s plan and connects it to his previous discussions with Liu Sishan about hidden ability mechanisms.
• Feng Laixian’s command overrides the defenders’ hesitation, convincing them to continue using the dangerous fruit against him.
• Zuo Xiangming counters the defenders by ordering Living Corpses to intercept the fruit, creating a direct tactical struggle between his control and the city’s improvised strategy.

Chapter Summary: “Silent Killer”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Laixian survives Zuo Xiangming’s attempt to immobilize him with Living Corpses and Psychokinetic Force.
• The black liquid and Corpse Poison covering Feng ignite, revealing that his flames can burn away the poison.
• Using Beast King Fist: Tao Tie’s Unyielding Body, Feng breaks free of the restraints and unleashes a powerful Chaos Breath combined with flames.
• His fiery attack destroys or incinerates several Living Corpses, forcing Zuo Xiangming into a more serious and cautious stance. The battle remains unresolved.
• On the city wall, the Awakened are relieved to see Feng escape. Chen Weihua explains that she identified Feng’s Resonance Substance, the Thousand-Needle Fruit, by analyzing his known abilities.
• Zhang Ping uses Appraisal on Chen Weihua and discovers her impressive attributes, including the talent Encyclopedic Memory and skills that allow her to perfectly remember every sound and sight.
• Chen Weihua recognizes that Zhang Ping possesses extraordinarily powerful attributes, but tactfully pretends not to notice, increasing her favorable impression of him.
• Zhang returns his consciousness to the safe house and reports the battle to Liu Sishan.
• Liu reveals that she also saw the Appraisal results because Zhang’s true body is inside her. She warns him that Chen Weihua is known as the “Silent Killer” and may be connected to three unsolved murders.

Character Developments

• Feng Laixian: Demonstrates tremendous resilience and combat power. His ability to burn away Corpse Poison and break through Psychokinetic restraints establishes him as a formidable opponent who can withstand Zuo Xiangming’s coordinated attacks.
• Zuo Xiangming: Loses his composure and becomes visibly grim after Feng escapes. His strategy of trapping Feng fails because Feng reacts too quickly.
• Zhang Ping: Continues learning how dangerous and complex the people around him may be. His initial admiration for Chen Weihua changes sharply after hearing the accusations against her.
• Chen Weihua: Reveals exceptional memory and analytical abilities, explaining her usefulness in logistics and coordination. She also shows social intelligence by concealing her reaction to Zhang’s powerful attributes.
• Liu Sishan: Provides crucial background information about Chen Weihua and urges Zhang to remain cautious.

Significant Themes

• Hidden identities and concealed danger: Chen Weihua appears friendly and harmless, yet her reputation suggests she may be a highly calculating killer.
• Knowledge as power: Chen’s ability demonstrates how memory, information, and analysis can be as dangerous as direct combat strength.
• Trust and suspicion: Zhang’s opinion of Chen shifts from warm approval to distrust once he learns about the unsolved cases surrounding her.
• Combat adaptability and resilience: Feng’s victory over the restraints shows the importance of speed, explosive power, and specialized techniques in battle.
• The uncertainty of appearances: Both Chen and Zuo’s situations emphasize that outward behavior does not necessarily reveal a character’s true motives or capabilities.

Character Interactions

• Feng directly clashes with Zuo Xiangming, overcoming his Living Corpses and forcing him to reassess the fight.
• Zhang and Chen converse casually about Resonance Substances and Appraisal. Chen is impressed by Zhang’s potential, while Zhang learns about her unusual abilities.
• Zhang and Liu discuss the battlefield and Chen’s identity. Liu’s warning undermines Zhang’s positive impression of Chen and introduces a new layer of suspicion surrounding her.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Ping questions why the Cleanup Team has not punished Chen Weihua for killing people. Liu Sishan explains that the investigation found her victims were violent exploiters and criminals. In Mingzhu City, where the law has little power over the strong, shared moral standards—and, sometimes, people willing to act on them—help maintain order.
• Situ Shibai suddenly orders Liu Sishan’s team to ambush two targets at Pearl-Watching Peak. His call comes as an enormous sphere of light turns night into day over Mingzhu City, revealing what he meant by waiting for “daylight.”
• Liu Sishan asks what to do with Zhang Ping. Situ tells her to bring him along and promises to send protection for Liu Tiefeng. Zhang chooses to go, wanting to understand what is happening.
• On the way to the peak, Zhang tests which abilities he can use while inside Liu Sishan. He can use Contract Gem, Wind Whisperer, Appraisal Technique, and—unexpectedly—Nethermist Body. He and Liu discuss using the mist to surprise their targets.
• Liu avoids the city, which is under siege by Living Corpses, and travels through the mountains. Members of her Combat Group join her along the way: Lu Han, a masked young woman with extraordinary speed and endurance, and an unusual young man riding a bicycle over rough terrain. Zhang uses Appraisal Technique on the last arrival.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang’s view of Chen Weihua shifts: after learning whom she killed and why, he returns to calling her “Weihua” rather than using her full name.
• Liu teases Zhang about changing how he addresses people based on his judgment of them. Their familiarity and trust are clear when he insists on joining her mission.
• Zhang shows both concern for Liu Tiefeng and a desire to learn the truth. Liu accepts his decision and includes him in the team’s plans.
• Liu and Zhang work together tactically, making use of Zhang’s unusual position inside her body and his ability to release Nether Mist externally.

Significant themes

• Justice beyond formal law: The chapter presents a city where official systems cannot reliably punish powerful wrongdoers, leaving moral norms and private action to fill the gap.
• Power and responsibility: Strength governs much of Mingzhu City, but the Cleanup Team distinguishes between threats to the city and people who target the guilty.
• Trust and cooperation: Zhang’s willingness to accompany Liu, and their practical planning together, underscore their growing partnership.
• Uncertainty and concealed capabilities: The sudden artificial daylight, the unknown ambush targets, and Zhang’s surprising ability to use Nether Mist all point toward an unfolding threat.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping appraises Zhang Shouzhong and discovers that his talent, Fat Technology, allows him to convert his body fat into any technological product he understands. These creations can later revert to energy and return to his body as fat.
• Zhang Ping recognizes the immense potential of the ability, imagining applications such as drones, firearms, grenades, and other advanced weapons. However, the ability is limited by Zhang Shouzhong’s knowledge: he cannot create technology he does not understand.
• Liu Sishan explains that this limitation prevents Zhang Shouzhong from reaching Infinite Tier potential. Zhang Ping reflects on the mysterious origins of Awakened abilities, noting that neither genetics nor supposed atmospheric energy has explained them.
• Near Pearl-Watching Peak, the Cleanup Team prepares to ambush two approaching enemies. Zhang Ping uses his enhanced hearing to detect them and realizes they are likely relatives of Chen Juntaing, apparently intending to take her away.
• Liu Sishan changes the team’s plans, choosing to intercept and potentially restrain the targets rather than immediately kill them. The team establishes a concealed ambush using storage equipment and a barrier.
• Meanwhile, in Monument Square, Situ Shibai confronts Li Aoxue, a white-haired woman with crimson eyes. Their argument reveals a deeper ideological conflict: Li believes humanity must be unified under a king, while Situ fears that her attempt to force such unity may destroy Mingzhu City’s freedom and future.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping shows strategic insight and curiosity. He immediately recognizes how Zhang Shouzhong’s talent could revolutionize warfare, while also continuing to question the true nature of Awakened abilities.
• Zhang Shouzhong is presented as powerful but knowledge-dependent. His effectiveness is tied directly to his ability to understand technology and expand his intelligence.
• Liu Sishan demonstrates leadership and flexibility. She quickly adapts the ambush plan after learning that the enemies are approaching from a different direction and appears concerned with resolving the situation without unnecessary deaths.
• Situ Shibai is portrayed as troubled and compassionate. He views Li Aoxue as dangerously obsessed but still hopes to reason with her.
• Li Aoxue is revealed as a determined ideological antagonist. She believes absolutely in her own theory that humanity requires a king and sees herself as a possible candidate.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge as power: Zhang Shouzhong’s ability emphasizes that power depends on understanding. Talent alone is insufficient without learning and technical knowledge.
• The mystery of supernatural power: Zhang Ping’s reflections reinforce the unresolved origins of Awakened abilities and suggest that even humanity’s earliest history may hold the answer.
• Order versus freedom: Li Aoxue believes centralized rule is necessary for humanity’s survival, while Situ Shibai fears that imposed unity will suppress Mingzhu City’s independence.
• The need for leadership: The long absence of a human king is presented as a major weakness. The chapter questions whether humanity can remain divided or must eventually unite under a single ruler.
• Restraint and moral ambiguity: The Cleanup Team’s uncertainty over whether to kill Chen Juntaing’s relatives highlights the difference between following orders and making ethical choices in the field.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan discuss Zhang Shouzhong’s ability, with Liu explaining its limitations.
• Zhang Ping uses his hearing to inform Liu’s team about the approaching relatives, prompting her to abandon the original scouting arrangement and organize an ambush.
• The Cleanup Team members cooperate to create a hidden defensive position, combining storage and barrier abilities.
• Situ Shibai and Li Aoxue engage in a tense confrontation at the heroes’ monument. Their exchange exposes their opposing philosophies: Situ argues for caution and freedom, while Li insists that humanity needs a king and refuses to believe her theory could be wrong.

Key events

• Li Aoxue confronts Situ Shibai over the Sun-Moon Pearl. She dismisses the idea that she needs the Zhu Family’s help and evades Situ’s attack by fading away.
• Zhang Ping overhears the exchange while he and Liu Sishan lie in ambush. When he asks about Li Aoxue, Liu explains that she is Mingzhu City’s former second city lord and a fugitive wanted by the Cleanup Team.
• Liu reveals that Li murdered her master more than a century ago, cruelly forcing them into a choice in which only one could survive. Liu escaped with her master’s body and later joined the Cleanup Team, determined to become strong enough to take revenge.
• Before they can continue discussing the past, a swarm of white snakes attacks. Liu and the Cleanup Team fight back, but Cheng Xuejie is bitten by a snake whose venom rapidly numbs and whitens her leg. An antidote does not work.
• With Liu’s consent, Zhang Ping sends some of his blood into Cheng. He travels through her bloodstream and uses his ability to repair the damage while the others protect her.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Sishan is normally controlled, but Li Aoxue’s name brings back her grief and fury. She remains practical, recognizing that she is not yet strong enough to confront Li, and accepts Zhang Ping’s help.
• Zhang Ping responds to Liu’s painful history by promising to help her seek justice. He also shows growing confidence and usefulness by taking the risk of treating Cheng.
• Cheng Xuejie endures the bite and urges the team to escape rather than worry about her. She quietly accepts the unexplained aid, trusting Liu’s explanation that it comes from a teammate.
• Zhang Shouzhong panics at the snakes but fights defensively, while Lu Han calmly directs him and uses a flying sword to kill the attackers.
• The passage contrasts Liu and Zhang’s trust with Li Aoxue’s cruelty and betrayal. Liu’s revenge is a major unresolved conflict, while Zhang’s unusual ability begins to make him a vital, if hidden, member of the team.

Significant themes

• Revenge and trauma: Liu’s ambition and discipline grew out of her master’s murder, but the encounter also shows that vengeance must wait until she has the strength to pursue it.
• Trust and solidarity: The team protects Cheng, and Liu allows Zhang to help despite the secrecy and uncertainty surrounding his power.
• Hidden identities and danger: Li Aoxue’s past and Zhang’s concealed presence suggest that important forces—and allies—may be operating beneath the surface.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Ping enters Cheng Xuejie’s body and uses his controlled, pure blood to break down the white snake venom and drive it out through her bite wound. Her sensation returns, and she quickly recovers. He asks her to keep his existence secret, then returns to Liu Sishan’s body.
• The attackers, brothers from Holy Ancestor Village, prepare to escalate the ambush. Zhang Ping appraises the younger brother, Zhao Yanhu, and learns that his “Saint’s blood” attracts nearby creatures and lets him command animals through blood. His stronger ability can also enslave them by demanding increasingly costly repayment.
• A tremor signals an approaching Mutated Beast. Liu Sishan attacks Zhao Yanhu, but his older brother, Zhao Yanlong, blocks her Ice Blade. Zhang Ping appraises him and discovers that his blood enhances his strength and produces poisonous mist.
• The group recognizes that Zhao Yanhu’s creature-attracting power and Zhao Yanlong’s defensive strength work together. Liu Sishan creates a spinning, blade-lined water barrier to protect the group and cut down the white snakes. Lu Han engages Zhao Yanlong with his flying sword, while Zhang Shouzhong shoots at Zhao Yanhu; Zhao Yanhu catches the bolt unharmed.
• Zhao Yanhu rejects Lu Han’s attempt to negotiate and reveals that the brothers have orders to kill anyone in their way. A giant tiger approaches, drawn by Zhao Yanhu’s scent, and he cuts his palm to offer it blood.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates precise control of his blood and gains a new understanding of how widely abilities can differ, even when they share the same name.
• Cheng Xuejie recovers from her injury and returns to the fight, while learning that Zhang Ping is secretly present within Liu Sishan.
• Liu Sishan responds decisively to the danger, protecting the group with a large, bladed water barrier.
• Zhao Yanhu proves more capable than his casual manner suggests: he can defend himself and is willing to use his blood to turn beasts against his enemies.
• Zhao Yanlong acts as his brother’s shield and shows formidable strength and potentially dangerous poison-based abilities.

Significant themes

• The varied potential of abilities: Shared ability names do not mean shared effects; personal habits and choices can shape powers in radically different directions.
• Blood as both power and price: Zhang Ping uses blood to heal, while Zhao Yanhu uses it to attract and control creatures—and may place them under coercive debt.
• Secrecy and trust: Zhang Ping conceals his presence, even as his intervention proves crucial to the group’s survival.
• Cooperation under pressure: The defenders combine protection and offense to counter the brothers’ complementary abilities.

Character interactions

• Zhang Ping secretly heals Cheng Xuejie, then asks her not to reveal him.
• Liu Sishan and Cheng Xuejie coordinate against the snakes before shifting their attention to the brothers.
• Lu Han tries to negotiate with Zhao Yanhu, who answers with a threat rather than a compromise.
• Lu Han and Zhang Shouzhong coordinate attacks, while Liu Sishan protects the group; Zhao Yanlong’s defense and Zhao Yanhu’s control of animals make the brothers a dangerous team.

Chapter Summary: “Happy Birthday!”

1. Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhao Yanhu temporarily controls a giant tiger by allowing it to lick his bloodied palm. Believing he and his brother have defeated Liu Sishan’s group, he prepares to have the tiger kill them.
• Zhang Ping realizes that a surprise attack is no longer possible and asks Liu Sishan whether she can defeat the Zhao brothers quickly if freed from defensive duties.
• Liu Sishan agrees, and Zhang Ping uses his Nether Mist to propel her forward while she employs her strongest water technique, the Super-Compressed Water Flow Ring.
• Liu Sishan rapidly kills both Zhao Yanhu and Zhao Yanlong by cutting open their chests. Zhang Ping then finishes the giant tiger with a Nethermist Flying Knife.
• Zhang Shouzhong is stunned by how quickly their group wins, though a white snake unexpectedly crawls onto him and frightens him.
• Outside Mingzhu City, Li Aoxue begins her planned invasion. Yu Chenghai leads a large army of humans wearing scale armor out of the Changsha River toward the city.
• Li Aoxue explains that the city’s King-level mutated fox is awake and waiting for “Failure”—Situ Shibai—but the Zhao brothers’ actions have weakened or removed Situ Shibai’s major advantages. She believes this is the perfect opportunity to conquer Mingzhu City and eventually unify humanity.
• Li Aoxue also reveals that she promised Zuo Xiangming the corpse of Situ Shibai as a reward. She intends to use Zuo Xiangming to conquer territory, then kill him before he completely loses his humanity.
• Meanwhile, Situ Shibai senses that death is approaching but cannot identify the source of the danger. He remains in Mingzhu City because of his promise to protect it after the death of his beloved, Zhuang Jinchi.
• While reflecting on Zhuang Jinchi, the chapter reveals Situ Shibai’s former name, Huang Failure, explaining why Li Aoxue mockingly calls him “Failure.”

2. Character Developments

• Liu Sishan demonstrates major growth in combat ability and control over water. Her specialized training technique becomes a deadly weapon when combined with Zhang Ping’s Nether Mist.
• Zhang Ping acts decisively as a battlefield commander, accurately recognizing that Liu Sishan must launch a rapid offensive.
• Zhao Yanhu and Zhao Yanlong are shown to be overconfident. Their belief that controlling the tiger guarantees victory collapses almost instantly.
• Li Aoxue emerges as a calculating and ambitious strategist. She manipulates multiple forces, exploits the Zhao brothers’ actions, and plans to use Zuo Xiangming while intending to eliminate him later.
• Situ Shibai is portrayed as devoted, weary, and self-sacrificing. Although he foresees possible death, he refuses to abandon the city because of his promise to Zhuang Jinchi.
• Zhuang Jinchi, though deceased, receives important characterization as a former victim of oppression who escaped the Zhu Family and became a revolutionary leader.
• Zuo Xiangming is characterized as someone who has nearly lost his humanity, though Li Aoxue still views him as useful while he retains some connection to his former self.

3. Significant Themes

• Overconfidence versus decisive action: The Zhao brothers assume their numerical and beast advantage guarantees victory, while Liu Sishan and Zhang Ping succeed through timing, coordination, and surprise.
• Manipulation and political ambition: Li Aoxue treats the battle as a carefully engineered opportunity to expand her power and unite humanity under her rule.
• Loyalty and duty: Situ Shibai remains in Mingzhu City despite sensing death because he honors his promise to protect it.
• Memory and grief: Situ Shibai preserves his connection to Zhuang Jinchi through vivid memories, which give him the strength to continue living.
• Humanity and corruption: Li Aoxue’s plan to use and eventually kill Zuo Xiangming highlights the tension between political usefulness and the loss of one’s humanity.
• Names and identity: The histories of Zhuang Jinchi and Situ Shibai show how oppressive societies impose humiliating identities, while awakening and rebellion allow characters to reclaim themselves.

4. Character Interactions

• Zhao Yanhu mocks Liu Sishan’s group and threatens them through the controlled tiger.
• Zhang Ping coordinates directly with Liu Sishan, combining his Nether Mist with her water manipulation.
• Liu Sishan kills both Zhao brothers, while Zhang Ping eliminates the tiger.
• Li Aoxue commands Yu Chenghai and her aquatic army, while a bird messenger questions her strategy and receives an explanation of the invasion plan.
• Li Aoxue discusses her arrangement with Zuo Xiangming and her intention to provide him with Situ Shibai’s corpse.
• Situ Shibai’s thoughts remain focused on Zhuang Jinchi, whose memory shapes his decision to defend Mingzhu City despite the threat of death.

Key plot points and events

• On Pearl-Watching Peak, the Zhao brothers survive their near-fatal injuries and are restrained with poison-filled collars. Liu Sishan decides to interrogate them rather than kill them.
• Zhao Yanhu demands to know how Liu Sishan has two abilities, but refuses to answer her questions. Lu Han takes over the interrogation.
• Zhang Ping emerges from Liu Sishan’s body after she calls him. Their unusual symbiosis lets him remain inside her with little cost, though his Appraisal Technique can reveal information to anyone sharing his blood.
• Liu Sishan asks Zhang Ping to drink Zhao Yanlong’s poisonous blood. He collects it in a bowl and swallows it despite its revolting taste, since his poison-neutralizing forms would prevent him from absorbing anything.
• Zhang Ping gains a seventh star of potential and a new talent, Old King’s Blood, which makes suffering strengthen him. Liu Sishan tests the talent by striking him with a Water Whip; he feels his blood surge and senses a slight physical improvement.

Character developments

• Liu Sishan shows practical restraint by keeping the Zhao brothers alive for information, and curiosity by testing Zhang Ping’s new talent.
• Zhang Ping demonstrates trust and cooperation by consuming the blood, despite the discomfort. His symbiotic connection with Liu Sishan and others is clarified, as are its information-leaking risks.
• Lu Han steps into the role of experienced interrogator.
• Cheng Xuejie remains curious and teasing, though she also recognizes the danger of Zhao Yanlong’s blood.
• Zhao Yanhu remains defiant and protective of his brother, despite his injuries and captivity.

Significant themes

• Power through suffering: Zhang Ping’s new talent converts pain into strength, raising the question of whether hardship is worth its gains.
• Trust and vulnerability: Zhang Ping’s blood-based connections provide companionship and communication but can expose private information.
• Survival and experimentation: The characters treat dangerous injuries and poison as opportunities to investigate abilities and limits.
• Humor amid danger: Teasing, awkward misunderstandings, and Zhang Ping’s complaints about the blood’s taste lighten the scene.

Character interactions

• Liu Sishan questions Zhao Yanhu, then yields the interrogation to Lu Han.
• Cheng Xuejie jokes with Liu Sishan about Zhang Ping being “inside” her and asks about his identity; Liu rebukes her teasing.
• Liu Sishan asks Zhang Ping to test Zhao Yanlong’s blood, while Cheng Xuejie warns of its danger.
• Zhao Yanhu protests when Zhang Ping draws his brother’s blood; Lu Han silences him.
• After discovering the talent, Zhang Ping jokingly begs Liu Sishan not to make him stronger, but accepts her whip strike to test its effects.

Key plot points and events

• Ao Donghai and Wu Ruoyu unexpectedly signal their support for the Oceanfolk by raising a “number one” gesture. The Living Corpses stop attacking those who make the sign and turn on those who do not.
• Both leaders use the confusion to eliminate Awakened who question or resist them, then order Mingzhu City’s gates opened. Yu Chenghai leads the Oceanfolk army inside, and the east and west sides of the city fall.
• At the southern wall, Feng Laixian learns of the betrayals while facing Zuo Xiangming. Realizing he must return to the city, he abandons his plan to delay until dawn.
• Feng tricks Zuo into expecting another Chaos Breath attack, then unleashes a surprise Super Lion’s Roar Form, combining his Lion’s Roar with Chaos Breath. The fiery blast destroys countless Living Corpses.
• Zuo survives but recognizes the danger of losing his real body and retreats. His palace warps and disappears, ending the immediate confrontation.

Character developments

• Ao Donghai and Wu Ruoyu reveal themselves as collaborators, justifying their betrayal as necessary for humanity’s future and Mingzhu City’s rebirth.
• Feng Laixian shifts from cautious stalling to urgent, decisive action when the city’s defenses collapse. He risks severe physical strain to stop Zuo.
• Zuo Xiangming underestimates Feng’s intentions and is forced to retreat, though he leaves with a taunting promise of a future encounter.

Significant themes

• Betrayal in the name of survival: The traitors frame surrendering to the Oceanfolk as a path to humanity’s unity and future.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: Feng accepts the physical cost of his strongest technique to protect his city.
• Deception and changing fortunes: Feng’s feint reverses the battle’s momentum, while the “number one” gesture turns the Living Corpses into instruments of the betrayal.

Character interactions

• Ao and Wu coordinate with the Oceanfolk, signaling their allegiance and opening the city to Yu Chenghai’s forces.
• Their supporters follow their lead, while dissenters are attacked or killed by former allies.
• Feng and Zuo engage in a battle of tactics: Zuo blocks Feng’s view with an earthen wall, but Feng uses it to conceal his surprise attack.
• Zuo retreats after the blast, taunting Feng as he escapes.

Chapter Summary: The Great Tide of Human Hearts

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zuo Xiangming’s departure signals the beginning of an internal coup in Mingzhu City. The western gate is opened, allowing a combined force of Living Corpses and Awakened into the city. Several residential districts are surrounded.
• Wu Ruoyu leads a rebellious group of Awakened toward the southern wall, where they confront Feng Laixian and his defenders. The two groups pause for a final exchange before fighting.
• Wu Ruoyu explains that he supports the Human King Supremacy Theory because humanity is vulnerable and divided. He believes mankind must unite under a powerful ruler rather than continue defending a small, fragile refuge like Mingzhu City.
• Feng Laixian rejects this ideology, accusing Wu and his followers of risking the destruction of the entire city. Their disagreement leads to a fierce duel between the two martial hall masters.
• At Monument Square, Situ Shibai realizes that the rebellion is much broader than the martial halls. Farmers have also aided the invading Oceanfolk by supplying them with water, showing that widespread resentment and desperation have turned public opinion against the city’s existing order.
• Li Aoxue confronts Situ Shibai and declares that he has already lost. She defends her ruthless actions—including cooperation with Zuo Xiangming and attacks on civilians—as necessary sacrifices on the path to kingship.
• Mingzhu City’s lord appears among Li Aoxue’s forces and reveals that the Heavenly Fox’s invasion has changed his beliefs. He now agrees that humanity needs a single ruler, even if Li Aoxue may not be the ideal one.
• Situ Shibai accepts that the conflict must be decided through battle. As the enormous sphere of light in the sky radiates intensely, the decisive confrontation begins.
• Meanwhile, at the City Lord’s Manor, Prince Yue is revealed to be holding Chen Juntaing while she sleeps. She awakens to an indescribable entity that communicates with her.
• The entity explains that its former master has died and asks to follow Chen Juntaing. She accepts it, taking it into her hand, and then senses the unfolding battle at Monument Square.

Character Developments

• Feng Laixian demonstrates his loyalty to Mingzhu City and his willingness to fight for its people, firmly rejecting the Human King ideology.
• Wu Ruoyu is revealed as a committed believer in human unification under a supreme ruler. His idealism is mixed with a willingness to use violence and sacrifice.
• Situ Shibai recognizes that the rebellion cannot be stopped merely by defeating individual enemies; it represents a widespread transformation in human attitudes. Though saddened by the betrayal, he remains committed to protecting humanity.
• Li Aoxue becomes increasingly confident and ruthless, believing that victory legitimizes any means. Her ambition and willingness to sacrifice innocents place her in direct opposition to Situ Shibai’s principles.
• The city lord shifts from loyalty to Mingzhu City’s old system toward support for centralized rule, largely because of the fear and pressure created by the Heavenly Fox’s invasion.
• Chen Juntaing remains innocent, compassionate, and open-minded. Despite the creature’s frightening appearance, she treats it with sympathy and readily accepts it as a companion.
• The unnamed entity gains a new purpose after its master’s death by choosing Chen Juntaing as its new partner.

Significant Themes

• The “tide” of human hearts: The rebellion is driven not only by force but by widespread dissatisfaction, fear, and the belief that the old order has failed.
• Unity versus freedom: Characters debate whether humanity should remain divided but independent or submit to a powerful ruler for the sake of survival.
• The cost of ambition: Li Aoxue argues that bloodshed is unavoidable in the creation of a kingdom, while Situ Shibai warns that such ruthless ambition could doom humanity.
• Ideals versus consequences: Wu Ruoyu and Li Aoxue claim to act for humanity’s future, but their methods threaten innocent lives and the city they supposedly seek to save.
• Betrayal and shifting loyalties: Martial artists, farmers, and even the city lord abandon Situ Shibai’s side, showing how crisis can overturn established loyalties.
• Innocence amid catastrophe: Chen Juntaing’s gentle acceptance of the strange entity contrasts sharply with the violence and political conflict surrounding her.

Important Character Interactions

• Feng Laixian and Wu Ruoyu: Former ideological opponents confront one another physically after debating the Human King Supremacy Theory.
• Situ Shibai and Li Aoxue: Their confrontation centers on whether ruthless conquest can ever be justified as a path to saving humanity.
• Situ Shibai and the city lord: The city lord’s betrayal deeply pains Situ Shibai, but both acknowledge that their disagreement can only be settled through battle.
• Chen Juntaing and the indescribable entity: Their interaction establishes a new bond. Chen’s compassion allows the abandoned being to find a new home and purpose.

Chapter Summary: “Both Sides Badly Wounded”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Situ Shibai unleashes overwhelming power against the Awakened at Monument Square. His radiant attack instantly destroys the Living Corpses and incapacitates many Awakened, though he deliberately avoids killing most of them.
• Li Aoxue, Yu Chenghai, and the other main fighters struggle against him. Realizing the battle has become unfavorable, Li Aoxue orders Yu Chenghai to withdraw with their forces.
• Li Aoxue notices Chen Juntaing watching the battle from a rooftop. Chen’s unexpected presence alarms her because Chen should have already entered the Transformation Stage after obtaining Saint Mother’s Blood. Her absence from that process suggests that the Zhao brothers’ mission failed.
• Situ Shibai appraises Chen Juntaing and discovers that she has inexplicably advanced to the High-Level Awakened realm. Her attributes identify her as both human and Fallen One, with an unknown inheritance connected to Shadow Daoist Luo Hai. Her unusual abilities, including Saint Mother’s Blood, Saint Mother’s Halo, and Pure White Heart, make her extremely dangerous and mysterious.
• Li Aoxue distracts Situ Shibai with a polite conversation, then uses the opportunity to retreat. Situ Shibai does not pursue her because Chen Juntaing is an important target wanted by the Zhu Family.
• Situ Shibai tries to escort Chen home, but Chen refuses and disappears with “Little Black.” His tracking abilities fail to locate her.
• The Moon King ambushes Situ Shibai. It pierces his abdomen, decapitates him, and repeatedly destroys his body, only to discover that he can regenerate completely each time. The Moon King concludes that Situ Shibai’s resilience is terrifying and reflects on humanity’s extraordinary potential.
• Elsewhere in the city, Patrol Team members surround the Awakened forces. The apparent Lin Kedi is actually a Heavenly Fox disguised in human skin.
• Wu Ruoyu attempts to attack Lin Kedi but is instantly killed. The false Lin Kedi orders everyone to surrender, and the Awakened reluctantly put down their weapons while the disguised Heavenly Foxes reveal their predatory nature.

Character Developments

• Li Aoxue: Demonstrates strategic awareness and composure under pressure. She quickly recognizes Chen Juntaing’s importance, realizes the operation has gone wrong, and prioritizes withdrawing her forces rather than continuing a losing battle.
• Situ Shibai: His immense combat strength is established, as is his frightening regenerative ability. However, his inability to understand or track Chen Juntaing reveals that even he is vulnerable to forces beyond his knowledge.
• Chen Juntaing: Has undergone a dramatic and unexplained transformation. She is now far stronger than expected, possesses both human and Fallen One characteristics, and behaves playfully despite carrying immense danger. Her mysterious inheritance makes her a central threat and objective.
• The Moon King: Shows caution and intelligence by waiting until Chen Juntaing leaves before attacking Situ Shibai. It is also shocked by Situ’s regeneration and begins reconsidering the potential of the human race.
• Wu Ruoyu: Dies while attempting to resist the false Lin Kedi, emphasizing the danger of the Heavenly Fox infiltration.
• The Heavenly Foxes: Their infiltration has advanced significantly; they are capable of impersonating Patrol Team members and manipulating the city’s forces from within.

Significant Themes

• Human potential and monstrosity: Situ Shibai’s regeneration causes the Moon King to question whether humans may possess greater potential than Mutated Beasts, despite the beasts’ attempts to gain strength by consuming humans.
• Hidden identities and deception: Chen Juntaing’s human/Fallen One nature and the Heavenly Foxes’ disguises blur the boundaries between human and monster.
• Power beyond understanding: Both Chen’s unexplained abilities and Situ Shibai’s regeneration demonstrate that the strongest figures possess powers even their enemies cannot fully comprehend.
• Strategic retreat and shifting alliances: The battle is not decided solely by strength. Li Aoxue withdraws to preserve her forces, while the Heavenly Foxes exploit confusion and betrayal to seize control.
• Vulnerability beneath overwhelming power: Although Situ Shibai dominates the battlefield, he can still be ambushed, and the Awakened forces are easily undermined by infiltration.

Important Character Interactions

• Li Aoxue and Situ Shibai: They maintain a superficially polite exchange while clearly treating each other as enemies. Li uses the conversation to conceal her retreat.
• Li Aoxue and Chen Juntaing: Li recognizes Chen as a major danger and tries to manage the situation indirectly rather than confront her.
• Situ Shibai and Chen Juntaing: Situ attempts to take Chen away under the pretense of helping her return home, but she playfully rejects him and escapes.
• Situ Shibai and the Moon King: Their encounter becomes a brutal test of endurance. The Moon King repeatedly kills Situ, but his regeneration prevents a decisive victory.
• Lin Kedi’s disguise and the Awakened: The false Lin Kedi manipulates the Awakened into surrendering, exposing how deeply the Heavenly Foxes have infiltrated Mingzhu City.