Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Zhang Ping realizes that the dead Mourning Crone Bird was male. Its short feathers differ from the longer feather he previously found, suggesting a female may have carried the missing villagers away to feed her chicks.
• The team decides to pursue the possibility that the captives are still alive. Zhang Ping, Liu Sishan, Zhao Yanhu, and Zhao Yanlong set out on Giant Serpent A-Da, guided by Zhao Yanhu’s snake companion Big One. The others remain in the village to protect the injured.
• Zhang Ping plans to scout ahead, confident that his resistance protects him from the birds’ mental attacks. The group retraces their earlier route and spots a strange bird-person atop a red tree.
• Zhang’s appraisal identifies her as a powerful, level-35 female Mourning Crone Bird. In addition to the known Bewitching Song and Shrill Wail, she can create an aggressive nest from her blood—and, after a male’s death, sing a Decaying Dirge that rapidly ages listeners to death. The chapter ends as she opens her mouth to sing.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping connects the feather evidence, the male bird’s body, and animal behavior to form a plausible rescue theory, then takes charge of the urgent mission.
• Liu Sishan supports the rescue, motivated by the team’s earlier discovery of the victims’ horrific deaths.
• Zhao Yanhu uses his blood to persuade Big One to guide them, despite the serpent’s fear of Cuiyi.
• Zhang Ping reassures Zhao Yanlong and explains the limits of his protection: ordinary mental attacks cannot harm him, but the female may have other dangerous abilities.

Significant themes

• Compassion and responsibility: The team chooses to help despite the village falling outside its formal duty.
• Reasoning under pressure: Small clues—sex differences, feathers, and animal behavior—lead to a possible route to saving the missing people.
• The cost of danger: The rescue party leaves injured companions behind, while the newly revealed abilities raise the stakes considerably.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Ping kills the female Mourning Crone Bird with a surprise blast from the Floating Cannon Gem. Liu Sishan and the Zhao brothers realize none of them could have dodged the attack.
• He approaches the strange red tree, which attacks with spear-like branches. Zhang Ping blocks them with the Petal Shield Gem, cuts them down with the Fear War Scythe, and discovers a hollow passage inside the trunk.
• Leaving Liu Sishan and the Zhao brothers outside, he descends alone. He finds seven Mourning Crone Bird chicks and kills them, reasoning that they would eventually threaten the villagers.
• Farther underground, he finds Zhuyuan Village’s missing villagers unconscious and severely weakened, but confirms that they are still alive.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping’s growing power is clear: his attack is nearly impossible for his companions to evade, and he handles the tree’s assault with confidence. He also considers adapting his equipment for future challenges.
• His decision to kill the chicks shows the tension between compassion and protecting people: he hesitates, but prioritizes the villagers’ safety.
• Liu Sishan feels conflicted as Zhang’s strength outpaces her own. She trusts him and follows his instruction to wait.
• Zhao Yanhu awkwardly probes Liu Sishan about her relationship with Zhang Ping, hinting that he was about to suggest finding Zhang a partner. Zhao Yanlong stops him; Liu says she and Zhang are comrades who shared an orphanage but spent a long period apart.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Zhang’s new abilities put him far beyond his companions’ reach.
• Protection and moral responsibility: He must choose between sparing the chicks and preventing future harm to humans.
• Trust and teamwork: Liu and the Zhao brothers remain outside because Zhang tells them to, while their bound loyalty makes cooperation possible.

Plot points and events

• After killing the Mourning Crone Bird, Zhang Ping and Liu Sishan spend hours freeing the villagers it had imprisoned in a tree hollow. The group stays overnight while the villagers remain unconscious, then leaves after they wake.
• The team returns to the mission boundary and presents the bird’s corpse, completing the Rainforest mission and receiving the Rainforest’s mark. They are told to proceed to the Venomous Marsh.
• Before leaving, Zhang Ping tests whether Zhao Yanhu can use his blood-based control ability to make Big One swallow Zhang Ping’s Contract Gem. After repeated commands and another dose of blood, Big One obeys.
• Zhang Ping confirms through appraisal that Big One is now his summoned beast, with four formidable talents and absolute obedience. He stores Big One after giving him extensive orders.
• Zhao Yanhu suggests recruiting more Mutated Beasts, but explains that his blood attracts different creatures with varying effectiveness and cannot reliably draw another beast as powerful as Big One. Zhang Ping accepts the limitation and heals him.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping shows concern for the villagers beyond what the mission requires, but is wary of Big One and ready to kill him if he cannot be trusted. He gains a powerful first summoned beast and remains selective about spending scarce Contract Gems.
• Zhao Yanhu demonstrates the strength—and limits—of his blood-based ability. He is excited by the prospect of building a force of summoned beasts.
• Zhang Shouzhong is relieved to learn that candidates only investigate the Mourning Crone Bird; they are not expected to fight one.
• Big One shifts from being Zhao Yanhu’s controlled beast to Zhang Ping’s summon. Though outwardly docile, he is portrayed as cold and dangerous, obeying through ability rather than affection.

Significant themes

• Compassion beyond obligation: The group rescues the villagers even though killing the bird already fulfilled the mission.
• Power and its limits: A strong beast can be rendered obedient by a countering ability, while Zhao Yanhu’s attraction power works unevenly across species.
• Trust and control: Zhang Ping does not mistake obedience for loyalty and takes precautions before accepting Big One as a summon.
• Scarcity and judgment: Contract Gems are valuable, so Zhang Ping intends to recruit only suitably powerful beasts.

Character interactions

• Liu Sishan explains that the mission’s setbacks came from their lack of information, while Situ Shibai clarifies what candidates are required to do.
• Zhang Ping tests Big One through Zhao Yanhu’s commands, then verifies the result himself with Appraisal.
• Zhao Yanhu urges Zhang Ping to recruit more beasts; Zhang Ping weighs the idea against the limits of Zhao’s ability and the cost of Contract Gems.

Plot points and events

• The group enters the Venomous Marsh and immediately falls into deep water filled with leeches. Big One carries them through the reeds, while Zhang Ping treats their wounds.
• Situ Shibai reveals that the marsh’s trial is to find its hidden exit; their way back has disappeared. Lu Han cannot fly yet because he is still recovering from the Mourning Crone Bird’s injuries.
• At Zhang Ping’s request, Zhao Yanhu uses his blood to attract local creatures, hoping to find a useful Mutated Beast to control. The summoned animals are ordinary, so the group prepares to move on.
• A colossal Mutated Beast emerges: a turtle with an enormous snake for a tail, resembling the legendary Black Tortoise. The snake responds to Zhao Yanhu’s blood and licks it, while the group watches in awe and apprehension.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping remains practical and protective, using Big One for transport and his King-Blood Form to heal the group and Zhao Yanhu.
• Zhao Yanhu shows greater confidence in using his blood as bait, even cutting his wrists to attract stronger creatures. His gamble appears to have drawn an extraordinary beast.
• Lu Han’s continuing injuries limit the group’s options, despite his usual ability to fly.
• Zhang Shouzhong’s fear of snakes is highlighted as he reluctantly endures the creatures gathered around them.

Themes

• Survival and adaptation: The group must respond to unfamiliar hazards, from leeches to a maze-like marsh.
• Risk and resourcefulness: Zhao Yanhu turns his blood into a tool, but the strategy may attract dangerous creatures as well as potential allies.
• The unknown: The hidden exit and the appearance of a legendary-looking beast deepen the marsh’s mystery.

Character interactions

• Liu Sishan rescues Cheng Xuejie from drowning, and the group works together to remove leeches.
• Zhang Ping relies on Situ Shibai to explain the trial and asks Zhao Yanhu to search for controllable beasts.
• The group reacts collectively to the giant creature; Zhao Yanlong urges Zhao Yanhu to offer blood, and Zhao Yanhu follows through as the snake approaches.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Ping and Zhao Yanhu successfully tame the enormous two-headed beast by feeding it Zhao’s blood and then Zhang Ping’s Contract Gem.
• Appraisal identifies it as the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise, a level-25 high-tier mutated beast with immense potential and a million-year lifespan. Its talents include a growing, strengthening body; moonlight-powered defense and counterattacks; and the ability to manipulate space through trigrams.
• Zhang Ping tests its spatial powers by entering its body through Liu Sishan and transferring his consciousness into it. He removes parasites, heals hidden injuries, and commands it to demonstrate its abilities.
• The tortoise’s trigrams let it move vast distances and manipulate spatial boundaries. It kills a giant crocodile by rotating a trigram around it.
• Zhang Ping learns the eight trigram abilities: Shrinking Earth to Inches, Drawing a Prison on the Ground, Spatial Distortion, Spatial Solidification, Spatial Rotation, Spatial Folding, Spatial Shockwave, and Spatial Extension. Their strength is balanced by heavy moonlight-energy costs.
• He decides the tortoise should conserve its energy and use the spatial abilities only as a trump card.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping moves from anxious anticipation to excitement and confidence as he gains control of the beast. His curiosity drives him to investigate its abilities, and he quickly adopts a strategic plan for using them.
• Zhao Yanhu contributes his blood and Contract Gem to the taming effort, then eagerly asks whether it worked.
• Liu Sishan calmly agrees to let Zhang Ping enter her body as a conduit for transferring his consciousness.
• Cheng Xuejie and Feng Laixian react with astonishment at the tortoise’s power. Feng recognizes that he would likely be vulnerable to its spatial attacks, tempering his confidence.
• Once tamed, the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise responds obediently to Zhang’s commands and appears pleased when he heals it.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: The tortoise’s extraordinary spatial abilities are constrained by the energy they consume.
• Strategic restraint: Zhang chooses conservation over constant displays of strength, reserving the beast’s greatest powers for decisive moments.
• Trust and control: Taming, obedience, and Zhang’s care for the creature combine practical control with a hint of mutual understanding.
• Discovery through experimentation: Zhang learns the tortoise’s capabilities by testing them directly, turning uncertainty into tactical knowledge.

Key plot points and events

• Three days into their search for the Venomous Marsh’s exit, the group has nearly given up. Zhang Ping asks Situ Shibai how the Investigation Team managed the marsh without a ride like Big One, but Situ has no clear answer.
• The group is suddenly attacked by archers concealed among the reeds. Zhang Shouzhong is struck in the chest and throat, but the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise blocks further arrows with Spatial Solidification.
• Zhang Ping treats Zhang Shouzhong with his King-Blood ability, pulling out the arrows and healing his wounds. Zhang Shouzhong recovers and prepares to fight.
• The attackers are led by Zhou Qingbai, captain of the Investigation Team’s Ugly Team. Having taken bribes from Ma Bin and committed serious misconduct, Zhou fled into the marsh when he feared his actions would be exposed.
• Zhou initially mistakes the group for people sent to arrest him. After realizing they may be new Investigation Team recruits, he orders them killed anyway, fearing they could reveal his hiding place.
• The attackers continue firing and use abilities to freeze the swamp. Feng Laixian wants to retaliate, while Situ Shibai recognizes Zhou and identifies the attackers as likely members of the Ugly Team.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping stays focused under pressure, prioritizing Zhang Shouzhong’s survival before joining the fight.
• Zhang Shouzhong narrowly escapes death and responds with gratitude, then anger and determination to fight.
• Zhou Qingbai is revealed as a corrupt former official who has fully committed to protecting himself through violence.
• Feng Laixian shows caution beneath his aggression, holding back until he understands the hidden enemies’ numbers and abilities.
• Situ Shibai offers a theory about how time works in the Training Grounds: entrants act as anchors that determine when others emerge.

Significant themes

• Moral decline: The title’s idea is embodied by Zhou, whose small compromises and acceptance of favors lead to deeper corruption.
• Survival and trust: A mistaken assumption triggers a lethal attack, while the group must quickly decide how to respond.
• Institutional corruption: Zhou’s betrayal further damages the group’s already poor impression of the Investigation Team.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: The group’s search and Situ’s time-anchor theory highlight how little they understand about the marsh and its rules.

Character interactions

• Zhang Ping asks Situ about the Investigation Team’s earlier passage through the marsh, but gets no useful explanation.
• Zhang Ping saves Zhang Shouzhong, who thanks him; Zhang then urges him to prepare for the fight.
• Feng Laixian and Liu Sishan challenge the attackers, but Zhou refuses to explain himself and orders an attack.
• Situ’s identification of Zhou shifts the group’s understanding: they are not facing ordinary marsh inhabitants, but a corrupt Investigation Team unit.

Plot points and events

• The group realizes they are facing an Investigation Team squad vastly larger than normal. Situ Shibai explains that most of the thousands of green-clad figures are summons created by Zhou Qingbai’s ability, Forest Outlaws.
• Feng Laixian attacks first, using overwhelming strength and heat to destroy the summons and set the reeds ablaze.
• Zhang Shouzhong tries to join the fight but discovers that the water and marshy terrain make combat difficult. Zhang Ping pulls him back and decides the group should remain on the tortoise’s shell, since Cheng Xuejie cannot swim and Lu Han is still injured.
• Zhang Ping releases the two seniors stored in his Storage Contract. Ye Changchun attacks openly with devastating force, while Su Qingbo controls the water and kills enemies unseen beneath its surface.
• Zhou Qingbai’s forces are steadily overwhelmed. He orders a retreat with Long Fubo, but Su Qingbo traps them underwater and eventually drags both, unconscious, onto the tortoise’s shell.

Character developments

• Feng Laixian shows his confidence and contempt for most Investigation Team members, charging directly into the enemy once he knows who they are.
• Zhang Ping takes practical command, adapting the plan to the terrain and protecting teammates who cannot fight effectively there.
• Zhang Shouzhong learns that his armor and the water make him ineffective in this setting, and resolves to learn to swim.
• Lu Han feels ashamed that his lingering mental injury prevents him from contributing, though the group’s immediate danger leaves little time to reassure him.
• Ye Changchun and Su Qingbo reveal formidable abilities suited to the battlefield: Ye uses brute force and water attacks, while Su becomes a nearly invisible underwater threat.

Character interactions

• Feng Laixian dismisses the summoned fighters as weak and leads the initial assault.
• Zhang Ping pulls Zhang Shouzhong from the water and directs the team to stay on the tortoise, asking Ye Changchun and Su Qingbo to help.
• Cheng Xuejie and Bai De react with awe to the seniors’ destructive power.
• Zhou Qingbai misidentifies Ye as the main threat and orders his archers to attack him, while Su continues striking from underwater. He later tries to escape with Long Fubo, but Su captures them both.

Significant themes

• Power and overconfidence: Zhou Qingbai’s large force cannot compensate for the overwhelming strength of his opponents.
• Adaptability and teamwork: Zhang Ping succeeds by recognizing the team’s limitations and choosing a strategy suited to the terrain.
• Unequal responsibility and vulnerability: Lu Han’s shame highlights the strain of being unable to fulfill one’s expected role, while Zhang Shouzhong’s failed attempt shows how environment can undermine strength.

Plot points and events

• Su Qingbo returns to the Storage Contract after the battle, where meditation gives him an unusually profound sense of clarity. He believes remaining inside may help him reach King-level.
• Zhang Ping’s group restrains Zhou Qingbai and Long Fubo, using King Blood and Pure Water to prevent them from waking and fighting back. Feng Laixian has already killed the other surviving members of the Ugly Team.
• During interrogation, Long Fubo reveals that Zhou accepted bribes from Ma Bin—another identity associated with Zhu Yanbing—and helped smuggle Heart-Eating Illusion Foxes and Peril-Bearing Foxes into Mingzhu City.
• The group suspects the Zhu Family may have used the beasts’ unusual abilities in connection with the appearance of the Heavenly Fox. Bringing dangerous Mutated Beasts into the city is a grave crime, especially given a past incident that killed thousands.
• Zhang Shouzhong argues that Zhou and Long should be executed immediately, and several others agree. Long then offers to reveal where Zhou hid his bribes.
• Zhang Ping offers Long a way to live: swallowing a Contract Gem that would bind him to Zhang’s loyalty. Long initially fails to digest it, so Zhang retrieves it from his stomach. Long insists on trying again and swallows it a second time.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Qingbo discovers that the Storage Contract’s meditative effects may be a path to a major breakthrough.
• Zhang Ping favors turning captured enemies into useful assets rather than killing them, while remaining controlled and calculating.
• Zhang Shouzhong, nearly killed by Zhou’s team, is consumed by anger and demands their deaths. His desire for vengeance clashes with Zhang Ping’s pragmatic approach.
• Feng Laixian is openly ruthless toward the captives and personally enforces the interrogation.
• Long Fubo proves more pragmatic than Zhou: he cooperates, exposes Zhou’s crimes, and desperately accepts Zhang Ping’s offer to avoid execution.
• Zhou Qingbai remains defiant and believes his connections might protect him, but Long’s testimony undermines that confidence.
• The group’s conversation with Situ Shibai helps connect the smuggled beasts’ abilities to the wider mystery surrounding the Heavenly Fox.

Significant themes

• Justice versus vengeance: The characters debate whether the criminals deserve execution or can be put to use under strict control.
• Power and coercion: Zhang Ping’s Contract Gem offers survival, but only by surrendering one’s freedom and loyalty.
• Corruption and accountability: Zhou’s position in the Investigation Team did not prevent him from abusing his authority and endangering the city.
• Loyalty under pressure: Long’s choices show how quickly self-preservation can outweigh allegiance when the consequences become immediate.

Chapter Summary: “Double Act”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping appraises Long Fubo and discovers that, despite being human, he has become a summoned beast with four-star potential. His Tangible Replication ability—especially its advanced forms—allows him to duplicate objects and was responsible for creating the massive number of Forest Outlaws previously seen.
• Realizing Long Fubo can replicate King’s Gems, Zhang Ping decides to spare him and exploit his ability as a potentially endless source of the valuable gems.
• Zhou Qingbai is sentenced to execution for his crimes, but, seeing Long Fubo spared, he begs for the chance to consume a Contract Gem and become Zhang Ping’s servant.
• Zhang Shouzhong pretends to attack Zhou Qingbai in anger, while Lu Han blocks him. Feng Laixian and Bai De restrain Zhang Shouzhong, maintaining the illusion that Zhou Qingbai may actually be killed.
• Zhou Qingbai consumes the Contract Gem and is successfully transformed into Zhang Ping’s summoned beast. His appraisal reveals five-star potential and powerful abilities that can summon thousands of organized Forest Outlaws, including military leaders and enhanced forces.
• Zhang Ping and Zhang Shouzhong reveal that the apparent confrontation was staged to pressure Zhou Qingbai into surrendering. Both Zhou Qingbai and Long Fubo realize they were manipulated.
• Zhang Ping imposes commands suppressing their independent thought, emotions, and desires, effectively turning them into obedient puppets. He stores them in the Storage Contract for future use.
• The group accepts Zhang Ping’s decision, reasoning that the two men were originally meant to be executed and can now serve as useful assets during the upcoming trials. They also consider using the same method on members of the Zhu Family to obtain intelligence.
• Once the discussion ends, the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise resumes its journey. Zhang Ping begins organizing and reviewing the many abilities he has recently acquired.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping: Demonstrates increasing pragmatism and ruthlessness. Rather than killing dangerous enemies, he converts them into tools, prioritizing their usefulness over justice or mercy. His decision to erase their autonomy reveals how far he is willing to go to secure control.
• Long Fubo: His forced digestion of the Contract Gem is validated as a remarkable achievement, proving his extraordinary potential. However, despite being spared, he loses his independence and becomes completely controlled by Zhang Ping.
• Zhou Qingbai: Changes from a defiant condemned enemy into a desperate survivor willing to accept enslavement to avoid death. His five-star potential makes him an even more valuable asset than Long Fubo.
• Zhang Shouzhong: Helps Zhang Ping manipulate Zhou Qingbai through convincing acting. He remains vengeful toward Zhou Qingbai but is also willing to use deception for the group’s benefit.
• Lu Han, Feng Laixian, Bai De, Liu Sishan, and Cheng Xuejie: Generally support Zhang Ping’s decision, emphasizing practicality, punishment, and the need for additional strength and intelligence.

Significant Themes

• Human potential under extreme pressure: Both Long Fubo and Zhou Qingbai demonstrate that humans can surpass their normal limits when faced with death or desperate circumstances.
• Survival versus dignity: Zhou Qingbai chooses continued existence over freedom, accepting total obedience and the loss of his identity.
• Pragmatism and moral compromise: The group treats former enemies as resources, debating whether controlled survival is preferable to execution.
• Control and dehumanization: Zhang Ping’s commands erase the captives’ thoughts and emotions, making them functionally equivalent to beasts or corpses.
• Deception and manipulation: Zhang Ping and Zhang Shouzhong orchestrate a convincing performance to force Zhou Qingbai into submission.
• Power as utility: The chapter emphasizes that abilities and potential determine a person’s value within the group, even when their morality is unacceptable.

Character Interactions

• Zhang Ping and Zhang Shouzhong work together closely, using a staged conflict to pressure Zhou Qingbai; they celebrate once the deception succeeds.
• Zhou Qingbai and Long Fubo recognize that Zhang Ping never truly intended to treat them as free people, reacting with shock and anger.
• Zhang Ping’s allies debate the morality of his actions but ultimately support the decision because the two former enemies can provide strength and intelligence.
• The group begins considering whether the same Contract Gem strategy could be used against the Zhu Family, shifting from punishment toward long-term exploitation of enemy resources.

Summary

Zhang Ping reflects on the origins, functions, and growth potential of his twelve innate abilities, focusing on the first six.

Key abilities and developments

Contract Gem

The Contract Gem remains Zhang Ping’s most important foundational ability. After reaching the Intermediate Awakened level, he gained precise control over the gems’ size and shape, though larger gems require more stamina. He realizes that stamina creates the physical gem, while Mental Strength establishes and modifies the contract inside it. His improved ability to alter contract terms comes not from better control over his Mental Strength, which has always been complete, but from the greater quantity and quality of Mental Strength gained through advancement.
Contract Gems can treat people suffering from the Lost State, control condemned prisoners, and even be shaped into weapons. Zhang Ping feels grateful for how this once-dismissed ability has transformed his life.

Appraisal Technique

This ability arose from Zhang Ping’s thirst for knowledge, but more deeply from his fear and unease about the unknown world. Its frequent updates reflect his continued insecurity. It did not evolve during his time at Iron Soul, when he felt most secure, suggesting that abilities develop according to their user’s emotional needs and expectations. Zhang believes the Appraisal Technique will continue changing until he finds a true place to belong.

Nightwalker

Nightwalker originated from Zhang Ping’s fear after sensing the Heavenly Fox and witnessing what happened to Su Jingyao. Although his anger drove him toward revenge, fear made him want to hide and escape. The ability initially represented his wish to remain unnoticed and survive. Ironically, surviving through Nightwalker gave him hope that he would eventually grow strong enough to take revenge, thereby helping him overcome that fear.

Flame Eater

Originally called Fire Eater, this ability developed from Zhang Ping’s efforts to master the Dough-Kneading Forging Technique while working near extremely hot furnaces. After evolving, it could absorb heat, restore his stamina, and convert excess heat into stored Flame Element energy. The energy has a limited capacity, and the ability absorbs heat too slowly to be highly effective in battle.
Nevertheless, Zhang sees enormous potential in it: theoretically, unlimited energy storage could allow him to remove all heat from the world. For now, its most practical use is roasting meat for Little Sairon. Zhang secretly practices with it, and his heat absorption explains why nearby people sometimes feel a chill around him.

Wind Whisperer

Born from the Wind Gem, Wind Whisperer passively improves Zhang Ping’s hearing and provides information carried according to the wind’s direction. Most of what he hears is trivial gossip, but the ability contains unexplained mechanics. Although the information corresponds to the direction of the wind, Zhang does not believe it literally depends on wind and jokingly attributes the phenomenon to quantum entanglement.

Other-Eater

Other-Eater is one of Zhang Ping’s core abilities and is nearly as valuable as the Contract Gem. It allows him to consume special substances and gain powerful improvements based on their value. Consuming Zhao Yanlong’s and Zhao Yanhu’s blood significantly enhanced both his abilities and his potential. However, the ability has another mysterious aspect that previously made Zhang suspicious and caused him to question the nature of the world around him; this issue is not explained before the passage ends.

Character development

Zhang Ping demonstrates a growing understanding of how his abilities reflect his emotions, fears, desires, and personal development. He recognizes that abilities are not merely fixed powers but can evolve in response to psychological needs. His reflections also reveal lingering insecurity, particularly about his lack of belonging, while his fear has gradually been transformed into hope, ambition, and determination.

Major themes

• Abilities as reflections of emotion: Fear, unease, curiosity, ambition, and perseverance directly shape Zhang Ping’s powers.
• Growth through advancement: Becoming an Intermediate Awakened changes the quality and potential of his abilities, not merely their strength.
• The relationship between survival and revenge: Nightwalker begins as an escape mechanism but ultimately gives Zhang the hope of surviving long enough to seek justice or revenge.
• Belonging and identity: The Appraisal Technique’s continued evolution reflects Zhang’s unsettled position in the world.
• Hidden potential: Even abilities that seem weak or impractical may possess extraordinary long-term possibilities.
• Humor amid danger: Zhang’s joking reference to quantum mechanics and Flame Eater’s use for cooking contrast with the darker threats surrounding him.

Character interactions

The chapter contains limited direct interaction. Zhang recalls Su Jingyao’s suffering and the Heavenly Fox, which shaped Nightwalker; he mentions Luo Shiyu’s temperature-control ability as a comparison to Flame Eater; Zhao Yanlong and Zhao Yanhu’s blood serve as important sources of Other-Eater’s growth; and Little Sairon benefits from Flame Eater’s practical use in roasting meat.

Key events and ability discoveries

• Zhang Ping worries that the Appraisal note calling him a child who “eats absolutely anything” hints at a mysterious force behind his transmigration. Situ Shibai explains that Appraisal combines the user’s understanding with information about its target; the note is effectively Zhang Ping’s own instinctive reaction to having eaten something dangerous. Abilities can also contain hidden traits that may develop into stronger skills.
• Zhang Ping tests his Nethermist Body, shaping Nether Mist into a small tornado. It passes through reeds but kills a snake by snapping its neck, demonstrating how the mist can bypass ordinary defenses. The technique is slow and not powerful enough against top-tier foes, though Zhang expects it could become more effective as his control improves.
• He compares his Pure Water Body with his King-Blood Body. Pure water is lighter, faster, and more flexible, making it his preferred form for dodging. King Blood is tougher and more durable, and is better suited to healing and replenishing blood through sunlight.
• Zhang confirms that Flame Eater cannot be used in either pure-water or King-Blood form unless he retains some flesh-and-blood body.
• He clarifies the limits of True King’s Blood: it grows stronger in response to physical pain and bodily strain, not mental suffering. Physical exhaustion activates it, while exhausting his Mental Strength does not.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang becomes more analytical about his abilities, testing their practical uses and limitations rather than relying on their descriptions.
• Situ Shibai’s explanation reassures Zhang about the unsettling Appraisal note and gives him a framework for understanding how abilities reveal information.
• Zhang continues to regard Feng Laixian as a benchmark for a stronger opponent, recognizing that Feng’s speed, recovery, and daytime combat form currently make him difficult to challenge.

Significant themes

• Self-knowledge through testing: Zhang learns what his abilities actually do by experimenting with them.
• Power has limits and trade-offs: Each body form offers advantages but also restrictions.
• Abilities develop with understanding and effort: Hidden traits may emerge over time, while discipline—not a supernatural gift—accounts for Zhang’s mental resilience.

Chapter summary

• Zhang Ping reviews the abilities he has recently gained from the King’s Gem and Purifying Realm Gem, while considering how far he still has to go to match the strongest fighters.
• The King’s Gem produces random golden gems. Zhang Ping has created thirteen varieties, including gems for food, scouting, defense, movement, communication, and combat. The Seed Gem grows a tree bearing ten nourishing golden apples, while the Scout Eye Gem can be controlled within five kilometers for up to twelve hours. The Substitute Gem absorbs damage meant for its user, though Zhang Ping has not yet tested its limits.
• The Purifying Realm Gem lets spirits reside in the Sanctified World. It also allows Zhang Ping to perceive spirits, draws their mental fluctuations back to him and steadily increases his mental strength, and lets him project a ten-meter zone that expels dirt and bacteria. He previously used the projection to clean the Dark Tortoise’s shell.
• Despite his versatile abilities and support from his allies, Zhang Ping recognizes that he remains vulnerable to overwhelming physical power. Feng Laixian’s sun-fire punch could kill him if he were caught unprepared, and Feng himself is still weaker than Prince Yue. Zhang Ping judges that his summoned beasts could overwhelm ordinary opponents, but would fare poorly against elite combatants.
• To improve his options, Zhang Ping summons Long Fubo and gives him several King’s Gems to copy. He then asks Zhou Qingbai to summon Forest Outlaws and orders them to remove their face coverings so he can inspect them.

Character development, themes, and interactions

Zhang Ping is increasingly knowledgeable and resourceful, but he remains clear-eyed about the limits of his strength and begins preparing more deliberately for stronger enemies. The chapter emphasizes that versatility and numbers cannot always overcome a vast gap in raw power. It also develops the supportive, practical side of his abilities: the gems can provide food and protection, while spirits contribute to his growth without being harmed. Zhang Ping directs Long Fubo and Zhou Qingbai efficiently, and both comply; the chapter ends as the Forest Outlaws reveal their faces.

Key events

• Zhang Ping realizes Zhou Qingbai’s Forest Outlaws are modeled on people he has seen, raising the possibility of using them as enemy look-alikes or spies.
• After summoning about fifty Outlaws, Zhang Ping finds one modeled on himself and decides to test whether it can serve as a decoy.
• He has Zhou Qingbai make the Outlaws obey him, then uses king blood to take control of the Zhang Ping look-alike. The blood can enter the creature’s body and settle in its brain.
• Zhang Ping leaves his real body with Liu Sishan and transfers his consciousness into the double. Though the creature looks convincing at first glance, its lifeless expression and eyes, flat voice, and small physical differences make it imperfect.
• Zhang Ping goes to ask Zhang Shouzhong for his opinion; the chapter ends as Shouzhong begins noticing the double’s unnatural appearance.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping shows resourcefulness, exploring how summoned creatures and king blood might provide him with a “second life.” He is also playful and self-assured, though his attempt to pass as himself meets practical limits.
• Liu Sishan willingly safeguards Zhang Ping’s real body and helps assess the disguise, teasing him about its flaws. She reveals she has moved beyond making revenge her sole purpose, though she still intends to avenge her master. She agrees to let Zhang Ping heal her scars after he saves Mingzhu City.
• Zhou Qingbai explains the memory-based templates behind his summons and follows Zhang Ping’s orders to prepare them for the test.
• Zhang Shouzhong is roused from sleep to evaluate the double, but his assessment is left unfinished.

Significant themes

• Identity and imitation: A near-perfect likeness cannot fully reproduce a person’s expressions, voice, and distinctive features.
• Power used creatively: Zhang Ping experiments with combining his king blood and Zhou Qingbai’s summoning ability.
• Healing and moving forward: Liu Sishan’s changing relationship with revenge suggests she is beginning to live for more than grief and hatred.

Chapter Summary: “Gun”

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Ping reveals a new ability resembling a substitute technique: his original body is hidden inside Sister Sisi’s body, while the current body acts independently.
• Zhang Shouzhong notices that Zhang Ping’s appearance, weight, and physical proportions have changed, though Zhang Ping still looks handsome—albeit unnervingly inhuman.
• Zhang Ping introduces Shouzhong to the concept of firearms and sketches designs based on his limited understanding.
• Using his Fat Technology, Zhang Shouzhong manufactures a functioning repeating gun and ammunition. After correcting Zhang Ping’s design, he successfully test-fires it.
• Shouzhong enlarges the weapon and demonstrates its rapid-fire power, even killing a water bird. His ability allows him to create effectively unlimited ammunition as long as his Mental Strength lasts, though the bullets have a range limit of roughly one hundred meters.
• The group discusses the weapon’s potential. Bai De points out that mass production is unrealistic because Mingzhu City lacks sufficient iron, and ordinary people are too slow to use firearms effectively against Mutated Beasts.
• Feng Laixian volunteers to test the gun’s power. Although Shouzhong is reluctant, Zhang Ping assures him that Feng is strong enough to endure it.
• The gun riddles Feng with bullets, but he rapidly heals and expels them from his body. He even blocks bullets aimed at his eyes, demonstrating his extraordinary speed and resilience.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping displays increased confidence and creativity, applying modern-world knowledge to improve his companions’ combat abilities. His strange substitute-like transformation also emphasizes that his powers are becoming increasingly unconventional.
• Zhang Shouzhong demonstrates the versatility of Fat Technology. He quickly understands, corrects, and improves Zhang Ping’s firearm designs, revealing strong technical adaptability and enthusiasm for experimentation.
• Feng Laixian reinforces his role as the team’s powerful trump card. His confidence, regeneration, and reflexes show that conventional weapons pose little threat to him.
• Bai De provides a practical assessment, recognizing the gun’s usefulness while stressing the limitations imposed by resources and human combat ability.

Significant themes

• Innovation and adaptation: Modern technological ideas can greatly expand the effectiveness of supernatural abilities.
• Limits of technology: Even a powerful invention is constrained by materials, manufacturing capacity, range, and the abilities of its users.
• Power disparity: The gun is devastating against ordinary targets but nearly ineffective against an elite fighter like Feng Laixian.
• Comradeship and trust: Shouzhong is willing to test a dangerous weapon on Feng only after Zhang Ping and Feng reassure him that the test is safe.

Character interactions

• Zhang Shouzhong examines Zhang Ping’s altered body and jokes about his frightening appearance.
• Zhang Ping explains his new ability and encourages Shouzhong to develop firearms.
• Shouzhong and Zhang Ping collaborate closely on the gun’s design, with Shouzhong correcting technical flaws.
• The wider group gathers to observe the weapon, while Bai De comments on its strategic practicality.
• Feng Laixian challenges Shouzhong to fire at him, turning the demonstration into a display of his own overwhelming durability and reflexes.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Shouzhong tests his ability to turn his body fat into weapons, first making a firearm and then a much larger cannon. Zhang Ping helps improve the designs, including a more powerful shell and a grenade.
• When the group wonders how to build a working grenade, Bai De suggests using Firebird Feather Powder as its explosive trigger and Frost Serpent skin for its casing. Zhang Shouzhong initially believes he cannot create special materials.
• Zhang Ping questions the limits Zhang Shouzhong has placed on his ability. Zhang Shouzhong attempts the grenade anyway, successfully makes it with the special materials, and detonates it.
• Zhang Ping argues that “understanding” a product may mean knowing how to use it rather than understanding its underlying science. Zhang Shouzhong realizes that his first failed attempt to copy special equipment—made before he knew how to use it—may have shaped his belief that he could never create such items.
• The chapter ends with the group considering that expectations can influence an ability: Zhang Shouzhong’s belief in his own limitation may have reinforced it over time.

Character developments

• Zhang Ping demonstrates ingenuity and analytical thinking, using his knowledge and appraisal of Zhang Shouzhong’s ability to identify a possible self-imposed restriction.
• Zhang Shouzhong moves from excitement about weapon-making to confusion and doubt, then begins to recognize that his assumptions may have constrained his power.
• The group becomes more invested in developing Zhang Shouzhong’s abilities, since producing weapons for everyone could strengthen the team.

Significant themes

• Belief and expectations shape ability: A person’s assumptions may influence what their power can do, for better or worse.
• Understanding versus practical use: The chapter questions what it means to “understand” technology and how much knowledge is truly required to reproduce it.
• Experimentation and growth: Testing a new approach can challenge long-standing limits and reveal untapped potential.

Character interactions

• Zhang Ping guides Zhang Shouzhong through weapon designs and presses him to reconsider his assumptions.
• Bai De and Cheng Xuejie contribute ideas and questions, while Liu Sishan articulates that Zhang Shouzhong may have imposed the restriction on himself.
• Zhang Shouzhong explains the original failure that formed his belief, allowing the group to connect his expectations with the limits of his ability.

Key events

• The group clarifies the limits of Zhang Shouzhong’s Fat Technology. He cannot create natural objects or things produced purely by superpowers, but he can make technological equipment that uses special materials or powers as part of its manufacturing process.
• They devise a gradual rehabilitation plan: first get him used to adding familiar special materials and effects to ordinary equipment, then work toward crafting more complex special gear.
• Cheng Xuejie asks Zhang Ping to examine her ability. His appraisal shows that her passive Superhuman Physique steadily improves her strength, speed, endurance, and defense, with additional skills that boost leg strength and endurance.
• Zhang Ping says her ability has not gone astray, but suggests that focused training might guide it toward a qualitative change. The group is surprised, since changing an ability is difficult and depends on genuine personal affinity as well as the ability’s inherent limits.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Shouzhong’s problem is reframed as a matter of training and gradual adaptation, not an ability that can be fixed instantly.
• Cheng Xuejie’s request comes from envy: she worries Zhang Shouzhong’s rehabilitation could let him surpass her. Bai De teases her, arguing that physical-enhancement users mainly need to train.
• Zhang Ping responds sympathetically to Cheng Xuejie’s disappointment and offers a possible path forward, though his advice is more ambitious than the group expects.
• The group reflects that they may not fully understand their own abilities and that even sincere effort cannot overcome every innate boundary.

Significant themes

• Abilities have boundaries: Powers cannot produce effects wholly outside their nature, and innate superpower creations differ from technological products.
• Growth requires effort and understanding: Improvement—whether through rehabilitation or physical training—is gradual, not instantaneous.
• Personal affinity matters: An ability may develop in a direction that reflects a user’s genuine inclination, but simply wishing for a stronger or different power is not enough.
• Potential limits ambition: Even powerful Awakened cannot necessarily achieve anything they desire; ability, rank, and personal potential all constrain them.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Shouzhong warns Zhang Ping that bad ability-training advice could injure Cheng Xuejie. He recalls an Appraisal Technique user who was killed after making false promises about improving others’ abilities.
• Zhang Ping defends his advice, explaining that his Appraisal Technique gives him information he can interpret. He puts Cheng through strenuous exercises to test the limits of her “Superhuman Physique,” hoping she might develop a Bioforce Field.
• The group spends two weeks wandering the vast Venomous Marsh. Its exit shifts location, making the marsh a wilderness-survival trial; the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise protects them from most poisonous creatures.
• Several companions privately ask Zhang Ping for guidance on their abilities. He offers what he can, though he sees little scope to change Feng Laixian’s or Bai De’s established abilities.
• Zhang Shouzhong shows off equipment he has made from special materials, including a lightning sword. Zhang Ping doubts the sword is useful, noting that lightning cat fur may soften metal.
• A spirit briefly emerges from Zhang Ping’s Sanctified World, looking for the injured Little Sairon. Zhang sends it back.
• A giant Mutated Frigatebird approaches. The group recognizes that it is hunting the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise, not them.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping grows more confident in advising the others, while acknowledging—at least implicitly—that his guidance is based on his own understanding of Appraisal results.
• Cheng Xuejie begins an ambitious training regimen designed to test her physical limits.
• Zhang Shouzhong is the group’s most industrious ability developer, but his excitement about flashy gear is tempered by Zhang Ping’s practical criticism. His Fat Energy’s 100-meter range remains his main limitation.
• The group increasingly treats Zhang Ping as a source of ability advice, even approaching him in private.
• Zhang Ping’s connection to the spirits remains active despite inhabiting Zhou Qingbai’s summoned Forest Outlaw body; the spirits can still emerge around him.

Significant themes

• Responsibility and uncertainty: Ability advice can have lasting consequences, so confidence must be balanced with caution.
• Potential versus practical limits: Training may reveal new capabilities, but experimentation is uncertain, and impressive-looking equipment is not necessarily effective.
• Survival and dependence: The marsh tests endurance and navigation, while the tortoise offers the group crucial protection.
• Growing trust: The companions’ private requests show their increasing reliance on Zhang Ping’s judgment.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Ping appraises an approaching Mutated Frigatebird, identifying it as the level-39 Deepfrost Warship Bird, a Top-Tier Mutated Beast with powerful ice-based attacks.
• He shares the appraisal through the King Blood he has given his companions, which lets them communicate over long distances and view his appraisals.
• Feng Laixian suspects the bird is the swamp’s overlord—the strongest beast in its territory—and warns that fighting it could cost lives. The group agrees to retreat.
• The Moonchasing Dark Tortoise uses its spatial ability, Shrinking Earth to Inches, to escape. The bird pursues, apparently sensing the tortoise as a threat to its dominance.
• The bird repeatedly catches up and attacks, freezing the water and firing cutting winds. The tortoise escapes each time, including by passing through an eight-trigram diagram, but the danger remains.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping prioritizes his companions’ safety over a needless fight, promptly ordering a retreat.
• His companions’ acceptance of his King Blood reflects their trust in his character, despite concerns about the risks of a parasitic ability.
• Feng Laixian acts as the group’s experienced guide, explaining what an overlord is and assessing the danger.
• Bai De jokes about why the bird might be pursuing the tortoise, while Zhang Shouzhong boasts that he will attack it; Liu Sishan counters with a sober warning about its freezing range.
• The group works together under pressure, with Zhang Ping issuing orders and the tortoise’s spatial escapes protecting everyone.

Significant themes

• Survival over pride: The group chooses retreat rather than risk lives for an unnecessary battle.
• Trust and shared power: Zhang Ping’s blood-based communication and appraisal network strengthens the team, but depends on their faith in him.
• The scale of nature’s hierarchy: An overlord’s strength comes from dominating a vast territory and surviving countless fights.
• Teamwork and specialization: The group’s varied abilities matter, but even experienced fighters recognize that some threats are best avoided.

Plot points and events

• The Deepfrost Warship Bird keeps pursuing the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise. The group considers splitting up if forced to fight, but Zhang Ping chooses to keep fleeing for now.
• When the bird catches up, Zhang Ping fires three Light Cannons from Floating Cannon Gems. Two hit and wound it, but its tough feathers withstand most of the blast.
• The bird retaliates with an expanding Extreme Cold Hurricane. Zhang Ping escapes with the Dark Tortoise’s Shrinking Earth to Inches ability.
• From the damage he spotted, Zhang Ping realizes the bird can be hurt. He proposes using a portal gem to place it directly within the Dark Tortoise’s much shorter-range spatial attack, so the tortoise can kill it before it can strike.
• Feng Laixian agrees to shield the Dark Tortoise from the hurricane. Zhang Ping also has ten more Floating Cannon Gems ready as backup.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ping takes charge, assessing the bird’s defenses and adapting his strategy after the first attack. He asks Feng Laixian to take the main risk, and Feng agrees after judging the odds.
• Zhang Shouzhong and Lu Han volunteer to stay and fight if necessary, showing greater confidence and loyalty; Zhang Ping postpones that decision.
• Zhao Yanhu suggests hiding the Dark Tortoise in the Storage Contract, but recognizes the danger when Feng points out that the bird might still pursue them.
• Bai De evaluates Zhang Ping’s plan and supports it, while Liu Sishan confirms the bird is catching up faster.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and ingenuity: The group turns a failed attempt to overpower the bird into a tactical plan based on its behavior and their abilities.
• Power and vulnerability: The bird is formidable but not invulnerable; careful observation reveals a way to exploit its limits.
• Risk and trust: The plan depends on Feng protecting the tortoise while the others coordinate the portal ambush.

Chapter Summary: Transcender

Key Plot Points and Events

• Zhang Ping and Feng Laixian prepare to confront the Deepfrost Warship Bird, whose living-metal feathers are highly resistant to temperature and become sharper when heated.
• Zhang sends Liu Sishan and the others ahead on Big One, leaving himself and Feng Laixian on the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise.
• Before transforming, Feng Laixian discusses the paths to higher power. He reveals that becoming a King-Level is not achieved simply by ruling humanity. According to incomplete ancient records, someone without the “bearing” of a King-Level may instead become a Transcender by breaking the shackles of their consciousness after reaching the Top-Tier Awakened level.
• Feng admits that he does not know the exact requirements for either path and believes the Human King’s route is incorrect, though he has not entirely abandoned the possibility of becoming King-Level.
• The Deepfrost Warship Bird arrives and dives toward the tortoise, freezing the surrounding air and clouds.
• Zhang uses a spatial door to redirect the bird’s attack. Feng counters its freezing wind with Chaos Breath infused with Great Sun True Fire.
• The tortoise twists the bird’s head and body using Spatial Distortion, while Zhang’s light cannons pin it down and prevent escape.
• Despite severe injuries and blood loss, the bird continues resisting. Zhang and Feng combine further cannon fire and concentrated fire attacks, burning its eyes and worsening its condition.
• Feng finally leaps onto the bird’s head to deliver the finishing blow. By this point, the bird’s bones are twisted, its vision destroyed, its powers weakened, and its death is imminent even without further intervention.

Character Developments

• Zhang Ping remains calm and strategic, treating the encounter as a controlled operation because he is using a substitute body. He demonstrates effective coordination of spatial abilities, light cannons, and the Moonchasing Dark Tortoise’s powers.
• Feng Laixian shows himself to be more than a powerful fighter. He possesses rare knowledge about ancient advancement paths and privately shares information he has never even told Bai De. His willingness to explain the concepts of King-Level and Transcender reveals growing trust in Zhang.
• Feng also displays tactical flexibility, combining Great Sun True Fire with the tortoise’s spatial abilities rather than relying only on physical combat.
• The Deepfrost Warship Bird, despite being the ruler of the Venomous Marsh and possessing extraordinary vitality, is portrayed as capable of fear. Once trapped and unable to resist, it instinctively attempts to flee.

Significant Themes

• Different paths to transcendence: The chapter questions conventional ideas of advancement and suggests that King-Level power may depend on innate spiritual or psychological qualities rather than authority or simple breakthroughs.
• Consciousness and self-limits: Becoming a Transcender requires breaking the restrictions of one’s own consciousness, emphasizing inner transformation over external power.
• Uncertainty surrounding power systems: Even powerful figures such as Feng lack complete knowledge, leaving the distinction between King-Level and Transcender unresolved.
• Cooperation over individual strength: The battle succeeds through the coordinated use of Zhang’s abilities, Feng’s fire, and the tortoise’s spatial powers.
• Instinct and survival: The bird’s desperate attempt to flee highlights that even dominant creatures fear death when confronted with overwhelming force.

Character Interactions

• Feng teases Zhang about being nervous, while Zhang confidently dismisses the danger because he is using a substitute.
• Zhang questions Feng about Great Sun Red Emperor Form and the nature of King-Level advancement, prompting Feng to reveal his secret knowledge about Transcenders.
• During the battle, Feng directs Zhang to intensify the attack, while Zhang provides the spatial control and cannon fire needed to keep the bird trapped.
• Their cooperation culminates with Feng personally moving in to finish the severely weakened Deepfrost Warship Bird.