Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Wu defeats Ou Zhizi’s mirror image in the trial space, relying on the Slow Time ability of his ring to counter Ou Zhizi’s overwhelming superiority in strength, speed, and physique.
• After incapacitating the mirror image, Feng Wu uses poison, fire, and various magical treasures to destroy it. The process takes two hours, emphasizing both the mirror image’s resilience and Feng Wu’s relative weakness.
• Feng Wu reunites with the real Ou Zhizi, Ye Hua, and Hua Di, who completed their own mirror-image trials quickly and with little difficulty. Ou Zhizi acknowledges that Feng Wu survived only through careful preparation and resourcefulness.
• The group encounters four identical treasure chests and each chooses one at random:
  • Ou Zhizi: A platinum key and a Tenfold Bracelet containing ten abilities, though he considers it of limited use.
  • Feng Wu: A bronze key and a small revolver with no bullets.
  • Ye Hua: A golden key and a card exchangeable for one hundred million Gold Coins.
  • Hua Di: A silver key and a Gold Coin that duplicates once per day.
• The group proceeds to a large plaza containing four cages, each holding a different creature. Their keys correspond to the cages:
  • Feng Wu faces a tiny fox-like creature.
  • Ou Zhizi faces a lion.
  • Ye Hua faces a giant dragon.
  • Hua Di faces a human prisoner or creature.
• Feng Wu volunteers to test his cage first because his creature appears the weakest. Upon opening it, he discovers that he must make the fox smile rather than fight it.
• The fox, called the Joy Fox, stores its happiness and releases it upon death, causing all living beings within a hundred li to laugh uncontrollably until they die. Its naturally joyless nature makes Feng Wu’s task extremely dangerous and difficult.

Character Development

• Feng Wu demonstrates endurance, tactical intelligence, and willingness to use every available resource. Although far weaker than Ou Zhizi, he compensates through strategy, magical equipment, poison, and persistence. His experience also deepens his awareness of the gap between himself and stronger cultivators.
• Ou Zhizi remains vastly powerful but shows concern for Feng Wu’s safety. He admits that Feng Wu’s survival was not guaranteed and advises him that recognizing an opponent’s strength early is essential.
• Ye Hua receives the most immediately valuable reward—a card worth one hundred million Gold Coins—but recognizes that wealth is meaningless if he cannot survive the trials.
• Hua Di gains an item whose value depends on time. Its slow duplication rate makes it less useful in the current situation, highlighting the mismatch between treasures and immediate needs.

Significant Themes

• Resourcefulness versus raw power: Feng Wu survives not because he matches Ou Zhizi’s strength, but because he uses timing, equipment, preparation, and ingenuity.
• The importance of recognizing one’s limitations: Ou Zhizi stresses that understanding the gap between oneself and an opponent is safer than discovering it during a real battle.
• Luck and uncertainty: The treasure-chest stage forces the characters to rely on chance, and the apparent value of each reward remains uncertain because the future trials are unknown.
• Survival over material wealth: Ye Hua’s valuable card and Hua Di’s multiplying coin are useless if their owners die before leaving the trial.
• Deceptive appearances: The weakest-looking creature, the tiny fox, possesses an exceptionally lethal ability, reinforcing that appearances cannot be trusted.
• Cruelty and extreme methods: Feng Wu’s prolonged destruction of the mirror image and the spectators’ casual discussion of corpse disposal reveal the brutal, survival-focused nature of this world.

Character Interactions

• Spectators react uneasily to Feng Wu’s brutal treatment of the mirror image, while Gu Granny openly praises his ruthlessness.
• Feng Wu respectfully acknowledges Ou Zhizi’s superiority, and Ou Zhizi responds with measured advice rather than arrogance.
• The group compares their treasures, mixing envy, skepticism, and practical judgment. Ye Hua’s enormous financial reward impresses the others, while Hua Di’s coin and Feng Wu’s empty gun appear much less useful.
• Before Feng Wu opens his cage, Ou Zhizi warns him to call for help if the creature proves hostile.
• The chapter ends with the group confronting a trial that cannot be solved through ordinary combat, forcing Feng Wu to find a way to make a creature incapable of smiling experience joy.

Chapter Summary

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Wu must make a Joy Fox laugh as part of his trial. The challenge is difficult because Joy Foxes experience happiness internally but cannot naturally express it through laughter or facial expressions.
• Ou Zhizi provides a Maniacal Laughter Potion, which forces anyone—or any animal—who touches it to laugh uncontrollably. However, the potion has no effect on the Joy Fox.
• Hua Di senses that the Joy Fox is already happy, despite being unable to show it. She realizes that the problem is not creating happiness, but giving that happiness an outward expression.
• Using lipstick borrowed from Ou Zhizi, Hua Di draws an exaggerated smile on the fox’s face. This unexpectedly fulfills the trial: the cage disappears and the Joy Fox transforms into a pillar of light.
• The group then proceeds to Ye Hua’s trial. Her four-faced monster rotates its heads, and when she calls “stop,” one head asks a question. A correct answer allows it to continue, while a wrong answer causes a thirty-minute delay.
• The monster asks an obscure question about the identity of “the most perverted peeping tom.” Feng Wu cannot answer it, prompting a debate among the characters, Li Xiao, and the livestream audience.
• Various suspects are proposed, including the owner of Myriad Live, Li Dongmo, and Bai Wuqi. Gu Granny argues that true peeping requires the ability to see rather than merely gather intelligence. She and Ou Zhizi finally name the same person, creating a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Feng Wu recognizes the limits of his own reasoning. Although he understands the Joy Fox’s problem intellectually, he cannot find a practical solution until Hua Di notices the crucial distinction between emotion and expression.
• Hua Di demonstrates her unusual ability to sense the Joy Fox’s happiness and uses a simple, creative solution to complete the trial. Her insight proves more valuable than conventional intelligence.
• Ou Zhizi is shown to possess an absurd collection of magical items, including the Maniacal Laughter Potion and lipstick. His mysterious and eccentric personality is reinforced, especially through jokes about his hidden personal belongings.
• Ye Hua remains willing to take risks. Despite Feng Wu’s concern about her dangerous trial, she chooses to proceed immediately, trusting the magic treasure Ou Zhizi lent her.
• Ou Zhizi and Gu Granny display broad knowledge and quickly participate in identifying the answer to the monster’s bizarre question.

Significant Themes

• Subjectivity of happiness: The Joy Fox demonstrates that happiness cannot always be judged by outward behavior. Different beings may experience or express joy in completely different ways.
• Emotion versus expression: The fox is genuinely happy but cannot communicate that happiness naturally. Drawing a smile externally becomes enough to satisfy the trial, suggesting that visible symbols can sometimes substitute for direct emotional expression.
• Overthinking versus simplicity: The characters initially search for complicated solutions, but the answer is remarkably simple. Ou Zhizi observes that intelligence can sometimes make people less efficient than those who approach a problem plainly.
• Knowledge and uncertainty: Ye Hua’s trial highlights the danger of questions based on specialized or unfamiliar knowledge. Even intelligent characters may be helpless when faced with information outside their experience.
• Gossip and surveillance: The second trial introduces the theme of voyeurism and information-gathering, blurring the line between harmless curiosity, intelligence work, and invasive observation.

Character Interactions

• Feng Wu consults Ou Zhizi about the Joy Fox, while Hua Di challenges the group’s assumptions about how happiness must be expressed.
• Hua Di and Ye Hua interact over lipstick, with Ye Hua initially confused about why Ou Zhizi possesses it.
• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi debate whether the creator of Myriad Live could be the answer to the “peeping tom” question. Feng Wu argues that the creator would not insult himself through the game’s answer.
• The livestream audience joins the discussion, proposing different suspects and turning the trial into a source of entertainment and gossip.
• Gu Granny corrects the audience’s understanding of “peeping,” and she and Ou Zhizi simultaneously identify the same mysterious individual, ending the chapter on suspense.

Chapter Summary:

Lu Shan

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group identifies the monster’s previous answer as Mr. Eye, a mysterious intelligence broker who demands one of the client’s eyes in exchange for information. His ability allows him to perceive whatever the donated eye sees.
• Ye Hua answers “Mr. Eye” correctly, causing the monster’s heads to spin and confirming the solution.
• The next riddle asks for “an undying Hanged Ghost.”
• Ou Zhizi explains the tragic history of Lu Shan, an ordinary man with an Undying Body and perfect memory:
  • He cannot cultivate or grow stronger.
  • His immortality made him the subject of experiments and imprisonment.
  • He outlived his family, friends, and several wives.
  • After being taken to Central Court and repeatedly studied, he became exhausted with life and began seeking a way to die.
• Believing Lu Shan to be the answer, Ye Hua responds with his name. The answer is declared incorrect, and the monster enters a thirty-minute Stasis period.
• Feng Wu realizes they overlooked the unnamed extraordinary person who granted Lu Shan his Undying Body. However, nobody knows that person’s identity.
• Since Ye Hua’s trial is temporarily stalled, the group turns to Hua Di’s challenge. She must defeat a powerful, fast land-turtle ghost beast by herself.
• Hua Di’s magical arrows cannot penetrate the beast’s defense, though she refuses assistance.
• Ou Zhizi then begins his own trial: he must create a magical treasure that a stone-headed monster cannot bite through.
• Confident in his artifact-refining skill, he crafts a heavily reinforced shield. The monster instantly bites through and destroys it, shocking him and suggesting that the trial is far more difficult than it first appeared.

Character Developments

• Ye Hua becomes increasingly pressured by the time limit and tries to answer quickly, but her confidence leads to the incorrect guess about Lu Shan.
• Feng Wu demonstrates sharp deduction by recognizing both Mr. Eye and the overlooked person behind Lu Shan’s immortality. He also understands that the group’s trials are primarily tests of intelligence rather than simple combat.
• Ou Zhizi provides crucial knowledge about Mr. Eye and Lu Shan. His account reveals empathy and insight into the psychological suffering caused by endless life. His confidence as an artifact refiner is shaken when his supposedly powerful shield is destroyed immediately.
• Hua Di shows independence and determination by insisting on fighting the turtle beast alone, despite the difficulty of the battle.
• Lu Shan is portrayed as a tragic figure: physically immortal but mentally and emotionally unable to endure the endless accumulation of memories, losses, and suffering.

Significant Themes

• Immortality as a curse: Lu Shan’s endless life brings isolation, grief, and psychological exhaustion rather than happiness.
• The limits of knowledge: Even experts who know Lu Shan’s story lack the crucial information needed to identify the true answer.
• Intelligence versus strength: The trials test deduction, insight, and creativity as much as—or more than—combat ability.
• The danger of overconfidence: Ye Hua’s plausible answer is still wrong, while Ou Zhizi’s confidence in his craftsmanship is undermined by the monster’s unexpected power.
• Time pressure and consequences: Incorrect answers create delays, making future decisions increasingly dangerous.

Character Interactions

• Ou Zhizi and Gu Granny jointly identify Mr. Eye, while Feng Wu, Ye Hua, and the others discuss and confirm the answer.
• Ou Zhizi explains Lu Shan’s history to Feng Wu and Hua Di, prompting discussion about whether immortality is truly desirable.
• Ye Hua relies on the group’s reasoning but ultimately gives the wrong answer, causing frustration and surprise among everyone.
• Feng Wu corrects the group’s misunderstanding by pointing out the unnamed individual who granted Lu Shan his immortality.
• Hua Di refuses Ye Hua’s offer of help during her battle, emphasizing her need to complete the challenge independently.
• Ou Zhizi’s failed artifact trial becomes a warning to the group that the seemingly simple tests may conceal extraordinary difficulty.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Feng Wu suggests that Ou Zhizi refine a liquid magical treasure, since the monster can apparently bite through solid objects. Ou Zhizi refuses the shortcut, choosing instead to understand what it means for an artifact to be truly “broken.”
• To help Hua Di defeat the turtle-like monster, Ou Zhizi lends Feng Wu the Myriad-Star Attracting Spear, a weapon capable of piercing even worlds.
• Because Ye Hua warns that Hua Di must complete her trial alone, Feng Wu pretends to trip and abandons the spear near Hua Di. Hua Di cleverly picks it up and uses it as an arrow, shooting it through the turtle beast’s open mouth and out its tail, killing it.
• Afterward, the group returns to Ye Hua’s cage and faces a new riddle:

“Without birth or death, without entry or exit, indestructible as diamond, thus I am at ease. Guess a race.”

• Unable to determine the answer, the group considers asking Ou Zhizi. He arrives after successfully solving his artifact-refining challenge.
• Ou Zhizi explains that several races might fit the riddle, including the Buddha Kin, Solid-Life Clan, Blackstone Clan, Elemental Elf King Clan, Marget Race, and Fosai Crow Race. The chapter ends while he is explaining the mysterious Blackstone Clan.

Character developments

• Feng Wu shows resourcefulness and compassion by helping Hua Di without directly violating the trial’s rules. His theatrical fake injury also reveals a playful, deceptive side beneath his usual calmness.
• Hua Di demonstrates strong combat instincts and creativity, immediately recognizing that the spear could be fired from her bow rather than used conventionally.
• Ye Hua remains cautious and responsible, insisting that Hua Di complete the trial independently while still cooperating with the group to solve the riddle.
• Ou Zhizi proves both highly knowledgeable and deeply dedicated to artifact refinement. He refuses an easy solution and successfully resolves the monster’s rule by reconsidering the concept of “breaking.”
• The group increasingly relies on Ou Zhizi’s extensive knowledge of the Myriad Realms, though even he cannot confidently identify the riddle’s answer.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity over brute force: Hua Di defeats the turtle beast by finding an unexpected use for the spear.
• Respect for trials and personal growth: Feng Wu assists indirectly rather than taking away Hua Di’s achievement.
• The value of understanding rules: Ou Zhizi succeeds by questioning what “broken” actually means instead of merely trying to create something unbreakable.
• The vastness and strangeness of existence: The discussion of the Pure Land world and unusual races emphasizes that the Myriad Realms contain beings and laws far beyond ordinary human understanding.
• Ambiguity of life and death: The riddle introduces races that do not fit conventional definitions of living, dead, physical, or spiritual beings.

Character interactions

• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi discuss artifact-refining methods, with Ou Zhizi encouraging intellectual challenge rather than shortcuts.
• Feng Wu secretly assists Hua Di, while Ye Hua initially objects to interference; Feng Wu’s trick allows Hua Di to succeed on her own.
• Hua Di and Ye Hua consult Feng Wu about the riddle, then decide that Ou Zhizi is their best source of information.
• Ou Zhizi explains the Buddha Kin’s connection to the Pure Land world, prompting the others to compare it to an underworld.
• The group debates whether the Buddha Kin or Solid-Life Clan best fits the riddle, before turning their attention to the even stranger Blackstone Clan.

Feng Wu and the others struggled to answer the monster’s race-related questions, eventually learning about two universally recognized World-Ending races. The monster asked them to name one, and Ye Hua chose the Lion-Ant-Bees despite their uncertainty.

• Ou Zhizi explained the Blackstone Clan and Elemental Elf King Clan, while Feng Wu and Ye Hua debated which race best fit the clue “Thus I am free.”
• Viewers disputed the possible answer, and Baisen Cult's Zhang Dawei claimed the Blackstone Clan had come into existence after the Forest Lord declared it existed.
• Feng Wu and the others chose the Solid-Life Clan as their answer to the first question, but the monster closed its eyes again, showing they had failed.
• After half an hour of reading, the monster asked for the name of a World-Ending race, and Ou Zhizi described the Lion-Ant-Bee Clan and the Meteorite People Clan.
• Ye Hua chose the Lion-Ant-Bees, reasoning that they destroyed worlds more thoroughly, though Feng Wu warned that both proposed answers could be wrong.

Ye Hua and the others struggled to answer the monster’s questions, learning about Unifiers and Perfect Ones before Ye Hua unexpectedly answered that Buddha was the most beautiful creature. The next question asked for the name of the longest-lived dog, leaving the group baffled again.

• The monster revealed that Meteorian was the correct answer, and Ye Hua realized she had wrongly guessed Lion-Ant-Bee.
• Feng Wu urged Ye Hua to study before answering again, and the group discussed Unifiers, Perfect Ones, and Buddha’s many names.
• Ye Hua answered “Buddha” to the question about the world’s most beautiful creature and was surprised when the monster accepted it.
• Grandpa Xiao joked in the livestream chat that he was the longest-lived dog after the monster asked for that dog’s name.

Chapter Summary: “The Price of a Foul Mouth”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The trial continues with a series of bizarre questions posed by a monster. The livestream audience learns that Grandpa Xiao is a dog spirit—or, as he insists, the powerful “Hound God.”
• Grandpa Xiao angrily curses viewers who mock him, adding humor and energy to the livestream.
• Feng Wu, Hua Di, Ye Hua, and Ou Zhizi struggle with the question of the world’s longest-lived dog. They guess “white clouds and pale dogs,” but the answer is rejected.
• After another half-hour, the monster asks for the hardest metal in existence. Hua Di suggests Solid-State Life Metal, and the group uses that answer successfully.
• Only one question remains in Ye Hua’s trial: “Who is the most handsome man?” Feng Wu suggests the answer might be the Forest Lord, based on the connection between the names “Myriad Live” and “Forest Lord.”
• Ye Hua gives the answer while mockingly calling the Forest Lord shameless. The monster rejects it, apparently because of Ye Hua’s insulting wording rather than Feng Wu’s underlying guess.
• Ou Zhizi warns Ye Hua that her sharp tongue will eventually get her into serious trouble. She becomes embarrassed and remorseful.
• The next question asks who created the Arboreal Universe. Unable to answer, Ye Hua angrily insults the monster again, causing another failure.
• The monster reveals that the Arboreal Universe was created by Wang Ling, shocking the livestream audience and providing important information about the structure of their reality.
• The next question asks for the universe closest to the Arboreal Universe. Ye Hua loses her temper and prepares to attack, but Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi restrain her.

Character Developments

• Ye Hua is shown to be intelligent and capable but impulsively foul-mouthed. Her tendency to make sarcastic or insulting remarks causes the group to lose opportunities, especially when she accidentally insults the examiner.
• Ou Zhizi remains the group’s main source of knowledge and reason. He admits when he lacks an answer, correctly recognizes Solid-State Life Metal, and repeatedly prevents Ye Hua from making reckless decisions.
• Feng Wu acts as a calm strategist and mediator. He proposes plausible answers, warns against attacking the monster, and restrains Ye Hua when her anger threatens the trial.
• Hua Di unexpectedly guesses the Solid-State Life Metal answer correctly, though Ye Hua believes it was a lucky coincidence rather than a repeatable skill.
• Grandpa Xiao embraces his identity as a dog spirit and boasts that he is the Hound God. His angry exchanges with viewers add comic relief.
• Li Xiao mainly observes the trial and the livestream discussion, serving as a perspective for the audience’s growing surprise.

Significant Themes

• The danger of uncontrolled speech: Ye Hua’s insults have real consequences, turning potentially easy questions into failures and possibly threatening the entire trial.
• Knowledge versus uncertainty: Even Ou Zhizi’s vast knowledge cannot answer every question, emphasizing the incomprehensible scale of the universe.
• The risks of gambling: The group refuses to attack the monster because failure could permanently cost them access to the treasure.
• Cosmic mystery and revelation: The trial reveals that the characters’ entire reality belongs to the Arboreal Universe, which was created by someone named Wang Ling.
• Humor amid danger: Grandpa Xiao’s arguments, Ye Hua’s sarcasm, and the absurd questions lighten an otherwise tense and potentially deadly trial.
• The limits of assumptions: The characters repeatedly discover that seemingly obvious answers may be wrong, and even the livestream viewers make premature judgments about Wang Ling based only on his name.

Character Interactions

• Grandpa Xiao curses viewers who call him a dog spirit, while the audience mocks his ambitions to become the Hound God.
• Feng Wu, Hua Di, Ye Hua, and Ou Zhizi debate possible answers and share responsibility for solving the trial.
• Ye Hua depends on Feng Wu’s reasoning but undermines his correct or plausible suggestions through careless wording.
• Ou Zhizi repeatedly advises caution, particularly when Ye Hua considers attacking the monster or insults the examiner.
• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi physically restrain Ye Hua when she attempts to attack after being asked another seemingly impossible question.
• The livestream audience reacts to each revelation, debating the nature of the Arboreal Universe and its creator while providing commentary on the group’s predicament.

Chapter Summary: “Black Dog, White Dog”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group—Ye Hua, Feng Wu, Hua Di, and Ou Zhizi—continues facing the monster’s question-based trial.
• The monster asks increasingly obscure questions about the Arboreal Universe, the Eternal Kingdom, and finally the identity of the world’s most beautiful woman.
• When the group cannot answer, they prepare to attack the monster, but Ou Zhizi recalls that the answer to the final question is Star-Weaver. Ye Hua gives the answer, causing the monster to dissolve.
• A light bridge leads them to another treasure platform, where each person selects a chest:
  • Feng Wu obtains an ability card that can seal one of an enemy’s abilities and transfer it to him.
  • Hua Di receives a chest full of Gold Coins.
  • Ye Hua obtains a True Flame Orb capable of sealing and granting control over a type of True Fire.
  • Ou Zhizi keeps his reward secret.
• The group then enters a plaza and encounters a special trial involving a dog that changes between black and white.
• Marks above the characters’ heads determine whether attacking the current dog will damage it or strengthen it. The rules reverse depending on the dog’s color.
• Ou Zhizi takes command, using Mind Transmission to coordinate the group.
• The first white dog is accidentally strengthened when Feng Wu blocks its charge with a shield. Once the marks shift favorably, Feng Wu knocks it into the air, allowing Hua Di to strike it with arrows and kill it.
• The trial immediately produces a black dog and a white dog, revealing that the encounter consists of multiple rounds.
• Because both dogs are extremely fast and continually change colors, the group must attack only at the correct moment. Feng Wu narrowly avoids striking the wrong target when its color changes and later lands a powerful attack on the white dog after Ou Zhizi identifies the proper target.

Character Developments

• Ou Zhizi demonstrates his extensive knowledge by answering the question about Star-Weaver and proves himself the group’s most reliable strategist and combat leader.
• Ye Hua remains impulsive and aggressive, repeatedly wanting to attack the monster, but she successfully delivers the correct final answer.
• Feng Wu gains a powerful and potentially transformative ability card. In battle, he shows improved strength, timing, and restraint, especially when he stops himself from attacking the wrong dog.
• Hua Di continues to receive Gold Coins, prompting Ye Hua’s sarcastic complaint. Her archery remains valuable once Feng Wu creates openings.
• The group becomes increasingly dependent on coordination, communication, and careful observation rather than brute force.

Significant Themes

• Knowledge versus force: The group must first solve the monster’s questions rather than simply overpower it.
• Caution and adaptability: The dog trial punishes impulsive attacks and rewards patience, timing, and constant reassessment.
• Leadership and trust: Ou Zhizi’s experience and Mind Transmission allow the others to coordinate effectively under pressure.
• Uncertainty and hidden danger: Rewards may be exceptionally powerful, while apparently simple challenges contain additional rounds and unexpected rules.
• Balance and reversal: The black-and-white mechanics emphasize how the same action can either harm or empower an enemy depending on changing circumstances.

Character Interactions

• Ye Hua repeatedly urges the group to attack, while Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi restrain her.
• Ou Zhizi’s claim that he knows the answer to the beauty question surprises Hua Di and causes Ye Hua to question him humorously.
• The group briefly discusses Star-Weaver, though Ou Zhizi warns them not to dwell on such a mysterious and ancient figure.
• During the dog trial, Ou Zhizi assumes command and asks everyone to follow his signals.
• Feng Wu serves as the group’s defender and primary close-range attacker, while Hua Di provides ranged support and Ye Hua helps evade and maneuver.
• Their survival depends on following Ou Zhizi’s instantaneous instructions and coordinating attacks according to the dogs’ changing colors.

Ou Zhizi and the others cleared the Minotaur trial, found a key, and entered a timed search for life-saving medicine and treasure. As they split up across the island, Feng Wu heard a false voice transmission and then Hua Di calling for help, leaving him unsure what was real.

• The black dog grew stronger after the white dog died, but Hua Di and Ye Hua killed it with Ou Zhizi’s help.
• Ou Zhizi directed Feng Wu, Hua Di, and Ye Hua through the color-based Minotaur fight, then killed the monster with a single sword strike.
• Ou Zhizi opened the chest, found a key, and led the group through the spatial passage to the next stage.
• The four discovered clocks on their hands and learned they had to find their own life-saving medicine and treasure before time ran out, so they split up.
• Feng Wu heard a warning in Ou Zhizi’s voice, but Ou Zhizi denied sending it; then Feng Wu heard Hua Di call for help.

Chapter Summary: “Everything Was an Illusion”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The group—Feng Wu, Hua Di, Ye Hua, and Ou Zhizi—enters a dense forest that interferes with their consciousness.
• The forest causes hallucinations in stages: auditory hallucinations first, followed by visual hallucinations, and eventually a complete inability to distinguish reality from illusion.
• Feng Wu hears voices of people from his past but resists responding. He soon begins seeing illusory animals, including a red snake that his attacks pass through.
• The group searches for the life-saving medicine and the treasure. False images of medicine appear, forcing them to verify objects physically.
• Ye Hua and Ou Zhizi each find genuine life-saving medicine—Ye Hua discovers it beneath a pool, while Ou Zhizi finds it inside a tree trunk.
• Feng Wu searches a sandy plain and destroys parts of the terrain, believing the medicine may be hidden beneath it, but he finds nothing.
• As the hallucinations intensify, Feng Wu encounters illusions of his former roommate and girlfriend, whom he ignores.
• Hua Di claims to have found both the treasure and the life-saving medicine. The others believe she has cleared the trial and urge her to drink the medicine before it disappears.
• The chapter’s final revelation shows that all four participants had actually fallen into an illusion almost immediately. The medicine and treasure were sitting on a platform directly in front of them, but none could perceive it.
• Hua Di had not cleared the trial; she was actually the most deeply trapped in the hallucinations. The entire apparent search and communication had been illusory.

Character Developments

• Feng Wu: Remains cautious and determined, resisting emotional hallucinations and testing suspicious creatures. However, his mounting fear and confusion reveal that the forest is gradually breaking down his judgment.
• Hua Di: Initially appears to be the least affected because she does not experience auditory or visual hallucinations. Her apparent success is later exposed as another illusion, showing that her lack of obvious symptoms actually concealed a more dangerous mental collapse.
• Ye Hua: Acts as an active participant in the search and appears to find real medicine. His confidence contributes to the group’s false belief that progress is being made.
• Ou Zhizi: Provides warnings and theories about the forest’s effects. Although experienced and cautious, he too is deceived and believes he has found genuine medicine.
• Li Xiao and the spectators: Observe the participants from outside, aware of the truth while the group remains trapped in the illusion.

Significant Themes

• Reality versus illusion: The chapter centers on the danger of trusting perception. Even physical evidence, communication, and apparent progress may be fabricated.
• False confidence: The characters believe they are adapting to the forest, but their certainty only deepens the deception.
• Psychological vulnerability: The hallucinations exploit memories, relationships, fear, and competition, making each character’s mind part of the trial.
• Isolation and mistrust: Although the group communicates, none can verify whether the others’ experiences are real.
• The limits of caution and logic: Careful reasoning and physical testing fail because the entire environment—including the apparent results of those tests—may be illusory.

Character Interactions

• Ou Zhizi warns everyone about the hallucination progression and urges them to find the medicine quickly.
• Ye Hua and Feng Wu exchange information about their discoveries and symptoms.
• Feng Wu questions why he alone has not found the medicine, increasing his anxiety.
• The group discusses Hua Di’s supposed discovery and encourages her to drink the medicine so at least one person can escape.
• Hua Di wishes the others luck before supposedly clearing the trial, though this interaction is later revealed to have occurred within the shared illusion.

Chapter Summary: “Flaw”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Li Xiao realizes that Feng Wu, Ye Hua, Hua Di, and Ou Zhizi are trapped in a powerful illusion. Their apparent conversations through their rings, their discoveries of treasure and medicine, and even their movements are all fabricated by the illusion.
• In reality, their bodies remain motionless, while their brains and souls receive false sensory information. The illusion functions like a “Brain in a Vat,” replacing genuine bodily feedback with artificial information.
• The forest’s illusion is so powerful that even Ou Zhizi has been deceived. Li Xiao concludes that ordinary methods cannot break it; only overwhelming strength or exceptionally powerful soul energy might work.
• The trial imposes a fifteen-minute time limit. Failure to escape the illusion will result in death.
• Feng Wu struggles through increasingly realistic hallucinations. The illusion recreates painful and humiliating memories, weakening his mental state.
• Believing that the others have already found the medicine and treasure, Feng Wu becomes anxious and discouraged. He destroys parts of the forest in frustration, and when one hallucinated teacher appears, his attack seemingly kills the figure—proof that the illusion has become capable of responding to his actions.
• Feng Wu realizes that the voices from the rings are likely deliberate distractions and that he may be searching in the wrong direction. He decides to follow the routes associated with the others rather than continuing his own fruitless search.
• After reaching Hua Di’s area and finding no trace of him, Feng Wu follows his intuition toward Ye Hua and Ou Zhizi’s regions. He ignores the visual and auditory hallucinations, eventually closing his eyes while moving.
• By concentrating on natural sounds—his footsteps, the wind, the earth, his clothing, and his heartbeat—Feng Wu notices an inconsistency: his heartbeat does not respond properly to movement.
• He realizes that the enhanced energy within his body, gained from the potion, should surge more strongly as he moves. Instead, his heartbeat remains at an ordinary person’s rhythm, revealing a flaw in the illusion or in the false bodily feedback he is receiving.

Character Developments

• Li Xiao acts as an observer and analyst, explaining the nature and danger of the illusion. His reasoning emphasizes that the trial attacks both the body’s senses and the soul.
• Feng Wu undergoes significant psychological pressure. Usually confident, intelligent, and relied upon by others, he is shaken by being the only apparent participant who has not succeeded.
• His frustration initially causes him to act destructively, but he gradually regains control through rational analysis and intuition.
• Feng Wu demonstrates growing awareness of his own body and newly acquired power. Although he has possessed his enhanced strength for less than twelve hours, he begins learning how it should naturally feel and function.
• His ability to question the apparent evidence around him marks a shift from reacting to the illusion to actively investigating its inconsistencies.

Significant Themes

• Perception versus reality: The chapter emphasizes that sensory information can be completely fabricated, making apparent reality unreliable.
• The limitations of human senses: Humans perceive the world only through information supplied to the brain, leaving them vulnerable to manipulation.
• Mental resilience: The trial tests not only physical strength but also emotional stability, self-awareness, and the ability to resist despair.
• Isolation and comparison: Feng Wu’s belief that everyone else has succeeded intensifies his anxiety, showing how comparison can undermine judgment.
• Self-knowledge as a means of survival: Feng Wu begins to escape the illusion by noticing subtle discrepancies in his own body rather than trusting external evidence.
• Absolute power versus cleverness: Li Xiao suggests that overwhelming strength may be the only direct way to break the illusion, while Feng Wu’s progress shows that careful observation may uncover a weakness.

Character Interactions

• Li Xiao discusses the illusion’s nature with the spectators, explaining how it manipulates the participants’ bodies, brains, and souls.
• Feng Wu receives false communications from Ye Hua and the others through the rings. These apparent conversations increase his sense of isolation and urgency.
• A hallucinated former teacher condemns Feng Wu for destroying the forest, and Feng Wu attacks and kills the figure, demonstrating how deeply the illusion has begun to imitate reality.
• Feng Wu does not directly encounter Hua Di, Ye Hua, or Ou Zhizi, but their supposed successes strongly influence his decisions and emotional state.
• The chapter ends with Feng Wu turning inward, using his own physical sensations to challenge the false world around him.

Feng Wu escaped a hyperreal illusion by stabbing himself and claimed the Evolution Feather, then used it to redesign his genes so he could draw on the powers of the Ten Dragons and Ten Tigers. He left Hua Di and Ye Hua trapped in their illusions and began evolving himself in hopes of reaching Ou Zhizi through the soul-related genes of the Corrosive Dragon.

• Feng Wu tested the apparent world, concluded he might be trapped in an illusion, and stabbed himself with a magical dagger to escape it.
• Feng Wu awoke in the woods, drank the lifesaving medicine, and claimed the Evolution Feather from the treasure chest.
• Feng Wu found Hua Di, Ye Hua, and Ou Zhizi trapped in illusions, but he could not approach them without being affected himself.
• Feng Wu decided that evolving his genes might let him reach Ou Zhizi through the soul and used the Evolution Feather.
• Feng Wu reshaped his genes using those of the dragons and tigers, giving himself special glass bones and a body partly based on the Hidden Dragon.

Chapter Summary: “Awakening”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Wu completes a major evolution by incorporating the superior traits of the Hidden Dragon, Corrosive Dragon, and Ten Tigers into his recessive genes. His skeleton can now enter a glass-like state, activating numerous abilities without removing or damaging the original dragon and tiger genes.
• His new powers include:
  • Mimicking various creatures’ abilities.
  • Converting excess energy into corrosive soul power.
  • Temporarily separating his soul from his body.
  • Enhanced claws, teeth, eyesight, smell, and energy storage through a “Demon Core.”
  • The ability to assume a powerful tiger form.
• His evolution greatly accelerates his thinking, allowing him to complete the complex genetic process almost instantly.
• Realizing that his allies might betray one another if the final rewards become valuable enough, Feng Wu decides to awaken Hua Di, Ye Hua, and Ou Zhizi from an illusion.
• Feng Wu’s soul enters the illusion and attempts to contact Hua Di, but her happiness over receiving large quantities of Overlord Flower Dew prevents her from believing him.
• Within the illusion, Ye Hua is deceived into believing that Feng Wu, Hua Di, and Ou Zhizi have betrayed and attacked her. Feng Wu secretly tries to tell her that everything is an illusion and that suicide is the only way to escape.
• When Ye Hua initially refuses to believe him, Feng Wu deliberately behaves cruelly and suggests that she kill herself. His abnormal response makes her realize that the betrayal may be fabricated.
• Ye Hua kills herself inside the illusion by destroying her heart meridians. She awakens immediately afterward, confirming that the scene was unreal.
• Feng Wu instructs Ye Hua to awaken Hua Di while he attempts to rescue Ou Zhizi. Before leaving, Ye Hua retrieves her life-saving medicine and treasure chest.
• The chest contains the Second Chance Gun, which can alter a person’s memories and thereby change events in the real world, offering six opportunities to undo past mistakes.

Character Developments

• Feng Wu: Becomes significantly more powerful and versatile after his evolution. His accelerated cognition demonstrates his growing intelligence and control over his abilities. He also shows caution and realism by recognizing that alliances may collapse when sufficient rewards are at stake.
• Ye Hua: Experiences intense emotional devastation after believing her companions betrayed her. Her willingness to commit suicide, followed by her realization that Feng Wu’s behavior was unnatural, demonstrates both her trust and her growing ability to analyze the illusion. After awakening, she quickly regains her composure and becomes eager to help.
• Hua Di: Is shown to be deeply influenced by the illusion’s emotional rewards. Her joy over her mother’s gift and her belief that the Overlord Flower Dew proves maternal love make her resistant to Feng Wu’s warning.
• Ou Zhizi: Remains trapped in the illusion and is portrayed as part of the apparent betrayal against Ye Hua.
• Feng Wu’s allies: The chapter emphasizes that their alliance is conditional rather than based on absolute trust.

Significant Themes

• Power and transformation: Feng Wu’s evolution represents the accumulation and integration of diverse abilities while preserving his original identity.
• Trust and betrayal: The illusion exploits Ye Hua’s genuine trust in her companions, making the possibility of betrayal emotionally devastating.
• Reality versus illusion: Characters must distinguish genuine events from psychologically convincing fabrications. Ye Hua escapes by recognizing inconsistencies rather than relying solely on emotion.
• Regret and second chances: The Second Chance Gun introduces the possibility of rewriting memories and changing the future, but its limited ammunition emphasizes that such opportunities are rare and valuable.
• Conditional alliances: Feng Wu recognizes that cooperation may last only while the benefits outweigh the incentives to betray one another.

Character Interactions

• Feng Wu attempts to awaken Hua Di through soul contact, but she dismisses his warning as another hallucination.
• In Ye Hua’s illusion, Feng Wu, Hua Di, and Ou Zhizi collectively pressure her to surrender her treasures, presenting themselves as traitors.
• Feng Wu secretly communicates with Ye Hua while outwardly tormenting her, using deliberately cruel behavior to help her identify the illusion.
• After Ye Hua awakens, Feng Wu explains the situation and assigns her to rescue Hua Di while he goes after Ou Zhizi.
• Ye Hua and Feng Wu briefly clash physically when she first wakes, but their conflict quickly gives way to cooperation.

Chapter Summary: “Soul Injury”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Wu attempts to awaken Ou Zhizi by sending his soul into Ou Zhizi’s body, but Ou Zhizi’s protective ring counterattacks. Feng Wu’s soul is severely injured, though Corrosive Dragon’s ability reduces the damage enough to save his life.
• Neither Feng Wu nor Ye Hua can directly free Ou Zhizi or Hua Di from the illusion. Feng Wu cannot interfere with Ou Zhizi because of his soul-defense equipment, while Ye Hua lacks mental or hypnotic abilities.
• With the countdown nearly finished, Feng Wu tries to help Hua Di but is too weakened to send his soul out again.
• At the last moment, Ou Zhizi awakens, drinks the life-saving medicine, and uses Lion’s Roar Technique to break Hua Di’s illusion. Hua Di drinks her medicine with only two seconds remaining.
• The roar knocks Feng Wu unconscious because his soul is already badly wounded. Ou Zhizi treats him with Soul-Nourishing Pills, Spirit-Warding Radiance Pills, and soul-nourishing equipment, apologizing for failing to warn him.
• Ou Zhizi reveals that he recognized the illusion long ago. His special ring constantly alerted him to abnormalities, and he had deliberately remained inside the illusion to conduct experiments. His apparent helplessness was merely a misunderstanding.
• Feng Wu insists that the group continue despite his injury, arguing that delaying in the trials could be even more dangerous. Ou Zhizi promises to handle future dangers, though Feng Wu does not fully accept his protection.
• After completing the trial, the forest opens a path to a gigantic mountain. A stone stele reveals the final trial: contestants must climb the mountain, with faster climbers receiving better rewards, then summon and defeat “Shadows of the Past” at the summit.
• Ou Zhizi predicts that flight will be forbidden and warns that the sheer, seemingly endless mountain will test stamina. He distributes climbing equipment and food to the group.

Character Developments

• Feng Wu demonstrates loyalty and self-sacrifice by repeatedly trying to save his teammates, especially Hua Di. His injuries show the risks of acting without complete information, but he remains calm and determined afterward.
• Ou Zhizi is revealed to be far more capable and informed than the others realized. His apparent struggle was an intentional experiment, not genuine helplessness. He also shows responsibility and guilt when his technique worsens Feng Wu’s injury.
• Hua Di survives the illusion by trusting Ou Zhizi’s warning. Her concern for Feng Wu shows her attachment to the team, though her innocent questions about whether he might become an idiot add humor.
• Ye Hua remains practical and supportive, helping Feng Wu physically and explaining her inability to deal with mental illusions.
• Li Xiao and the viewers provide outside commentary, initially fearing Ou Zhizi’s failure before being surprised by his last-second success.

Significant Themes

• The danger of incomplete knowledge: Feng Wu mistakes Ou Zhizi’s deliberate inaction for helplessness and suffers because he does not know the truth.
• Self-sacrifice and loyalty: Feng Wu risks permanent soul damage to save his teammates.
• Preparation versus raw strength: Ou Zhizi survives through specialized equipment, insight, and careful planning rather than direct force.
• Trust and responsibility: Ou Zhizi accepts blame for Feng Wu’s injury and promises to take responsibility in later trials.
• Escalating trials: The chapter shifts from a psychological illusion to a physically demanding mountain challenge, emphasizing that each stage tests a different kind of strength.

Character Interactions

• Feng Wu and Ye Hua discuss their inability to break the illusions and support each other during the crisis.
• Ye Hua helps Feng Wu stay upright after his soul injury.
• Ou Zhizi awakens too late to prevent Feng Wu’s collapse, then treats him and apologizes.
• Hua Di worries about Feng Wu and asks Ou Zhizi whether he will recover.
• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi briefly clash over whether Feng Wu should continue, with Ou Zhizi urging rest and Feng Wu insisting on moving forward.
• The group cooperates by examining the mountain trial and dividing climbing supplies before beginning the next challenge.

Chapter Summary: “Climbing”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ou Zhizi warns Feng Wu, Ye Hua, and Hua Di not to force themselves during the mountain-climbing trial. If they cannot reach the summit, they should wait while he lowers ropes from above.
• After crossing the stone stele, the group discovers that flight, magical treasures, and mana are sealed. The trial must be completed through physical strength alone, while Feng Wu notices that his dependence on his soul is weakened and his mental faculties are enhanced.
• Each participant adopts a different climbing method:
  • Feng Wu transforms his hands into claws and climbs directly up the rock.
  • Ye Hua and Hua Di use grappling claws and bladed iron boots.
  • Ou Zhizi uses the mountain’s small footholds with extraordinary qinggong-like movement.
• After four hours, Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu are far ahead, while Ye Hua and Hua Di become exhausted. Hua Di stops to rest, and Ye Hua continues more cautiously.
• Near the cloud layer, powerful winds nearly blow Ou Zhizi off the mountain. He saves himself with a hook rope, warning the others that the upper section is dangerous.
• Inside the clouds, the terrain becomes wet, slippery, and unstable. Strong winds, loose soil, lightning, thinning air, and falling temperatures make the climb increasingly difficult.
• Feng Wu repeatedly adapts his body, developing sharper claws, purple scales, and a special respiratory organ to cope with the environment. His rapid bodily transformation functions as both an offensive ability and an advanced form of healing.
• After climbing more than ten thousand meters and spending eight hours in the trial, the summit remains invisible. Ou Zhizi becomes suspicious that the mountain may be growing or that their method of climbing is fundamentally wrong.
• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi decide to continue for now, but plan to seek another solution if they cannot escape the unusually thick cloud layer.

Character Developments

• Feng Wu: Demonstrates adaptability, intelligence, and impressive physical control. He uses his earlier gains to transform his body for climbing and environmental survival. He also begins questioning the true nature of the trial rather than treating it as a simple physical challenge.
• Ou Zhizi: Shows himself to be the most physically capable climber, but becomes increasingly cautious and distrustful of the trial’s apparent simplicity. His near-fall emphasizes both his vulnerability and his experience.
• Ye Hua: Remains practical and disciplined, continuing to climb despite exhaustion and urging Hua Di not to waste time.
• Hua Di: Provides comic relief through her complaints and surprise at Feng Wu’s abilities, but her exhaustion reveals the limits of relying on equipment and ordinary stamina.

Significant Themes

• Adaptation and survival: Success depends on changing one’s body and strategy to meet increasingly hostile conditions.
• Individual strength versus cooperation: The rules forbid cooperation, forcing each person to rely on personal abilities, though the group still considers possible loopholes involving ropes and equipment.
• Deception and uncertainty: As in earlier trials, the apparent objective may conceal a deeper mechanism or misleading premise.
• Human arrogance and perspective: Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi question whether the arena’s creator was human, recognizing that assuming human origins may reflect a narrow, self-centered worldview.
• Perseverance versus strategy: Physical endurance alone may not be enough; the group must determine whether continuing to climb is actually the correct solution.

Character Interactions

• Ou Zhizi repeatedly advises Feng Wu and the others to prioritize safety.
• Feng Wu explains that his climbing method cannot easily be shared, reinforcing the trial’s isolation.
• Ye Hua and Hua Di discuss Feng Wu’s speed and their own disadvantage while resting on the mountain.
• Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu exchange warnings and theories about the mountain, the arena’s creator, and the possibility that the challenge is a misdirection.
• Although cooperation is officially prohibited, they identify a possible loophole: leaving ropes at the summit that the slower climbers might use independently.

Chapter Summary: “If the Mountain Won’t Come to Me”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Wu becomes suspicious that the enormous mountain and its cloud layer may be part of a trial trap. The climbers have spent far too long ascending, and the mountain’s summit remains invisible.
• Ou Zhizi climbs rapidly using iron-chain grappling hooks and consumes pills to enhance his physical abilities, eventually leaving Feng Wu behind.
• Feng Wu struggles with the climb because of his newly realized fear of heights. He compensates by lengthening his fingers, adding adhesion, and using barbs to anchor himself securely to the mountain.
• Ou Zhizi eventually emerges from the clouds, only to discover that the mountain continues endlessly upward. He waits for Feng Wu so they can determine how to proceed.
• The two conclude that they cannot reach the summit within the seven-day limit. The mountain is simply too tall, and they have mistakenly assumed that the only solution is to climb upward.
• Feng Wu realizes that the rules only require them to reach the mountain’s “summit,” without specifying how high that summit must be. He proposes cutting down the mountain to create an artificial summit.
• Ou Zhizi agrees. They descend rapidly to a lower point where Ye Hua and Hua Di can also reach them, since the two women are still climbing below the clouds.
• During the descent, Ou Zhizi plunges downward like a cannonball, using an iron rod and grappling hook to control his fall. Feng Wu follows, relying on his enhanced strength but still visibly affected by his acrophobia.
• Ye Hua and Hua Di hear the approaching disturbance. Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu crash and slide down the mountainside, startling the women.
• Feng Wu explains their plan: because the mountain cannot realistically be climbed, they will cut it down and create a new “summit.”

Character Developments

• Feng Wu: Demonstrates growing strategic intelligence and adaptability. Rather than blindly following the apparent objective, he questions the trial’s assumptions and finds a creative loophole. His fear of heights also reveals that, despite his supernatural abilities, he retains ordinary human instincts and vulnerabilities.
• Ou Zhizi: Shows tremendous physical strength, speed, and determination. His initial urgency gives way to cooperation when he recognizes the mountain’s impossible scale. He readily accepts Feng Wu’s unconventional solution.
• Ye Hua: Remains physically exhausted and uncomfortable from the wet, endless climb. She continues to resist Hua Di’s teasing description of her as “poor,” but remains dependent on Hua Di for companionship and support.
• Hua Di: Appears more attuned to the environment, particularly because the moisture benefits her plant-like nature. She notices Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu’s descent before Ye Hua does, showing heightened sensitivity and awareness.
• Group dynamic: Feng Wu emerges as the main problem-solver, while Ou Zhizi provides the strength and execution needed to carry out the plan. Ye Hua and Hua Di function as the exhausted members of the team who must be brought into the new strategy.

Significant Themes

• Questioning assumptions: The chapter emphasizes that apparent rules and conventional methods should not be accepted without examination.
• Adaptability and ingenuity: Success depends not on climbing harder, but on redefining the problem and finding a solution suited to the contestants’ abilities.
• Literal interpretation of rules: The team exploits the wording of the challenge: reaching the “summit” does not necessarily mean reaching the mountain’s original highest point.
• Human limitations amid superhuman power: Feng Wu’s fear of heights highlights the persistence of instinct and psychology even after gaining extraordinary physical abilities.
• Cooperation: Although Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi initially climb separately, they ultimately combine their strengths and reasoning to overcome the obstacle.

Character Interactions

• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi discuss the impossibility of reaching the summit and jointly accept the plan to cut down the mountain.
• Their partnership becomes more balanced: Feng Wu supplies the insight, while Ou Zhizi confirms and supports the practical solution.
• Ye Hua and Hua Di continue their familiar pattern of mutual support and teasing during the exhausting climb.
• The women are startled when Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu descend explosively through the clouds, after which Feng Wu brings them into the new plan.

Chapter Summary: “I Chop Down a Mountain”

Key Plot Points and Events

• Feng Wu proposes an unconventional solution to the seemingly impossible mountain-climbing challenge: instead of reaching the summit, the group will cut down the mountain.
• Ye Hua and Hua Di are stunned and initially question whether Feng Wu has lost his mind, but Ou Zhizi supports the plan, recognizing it as their most realistic path to success.
• The group descends below the clouds and stops at a strategic height, careful not to remove so much of the mountain that it no longer appears to be a mountain.
• Taking advantage of a loophole in the rules, Ye Hua and Hua Di ride on Feng Wu’s shoulders while descending, since cooperation is forbidden for climbing but not for going down.
• Ou Zhizi begins cutting through the mountain with a treasured blade. He uses iron rods as footholds and unleashes thousands of powerful slashes, gradually destabilizing the peak.
• As the mountain begins to collapse, Feng Wu protects Ye Hua and Hua Di from falling rocks, revealing more of his abilities by growing a thick tail to shield them and rapidly moving across the mountainside.
• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi coordinate to avoid the collapsing rock and prevent enormous sections of the mountain from striking the weakened mountainside.
• Ou Zhizi destroys a colossal falling mass of rock with a precisely controlled punch, while Feng Wu continues protecting the others from the resulting stone fragments.
• Anticipating an earthquake and shockwave caused by the mountain’s final collapse, the group prepares to reinforce the mountainside.
• Feng Wu, Ye Hua, and Hua Di repair cracks with adhesive fluid and coat the mountain in Energy-Absorbing Paint, while Ou Zhizi continues destroying falling rocks.
• A major section of the mountain hits the ground, triggering violent tremors. The group clings to the mountain and resumes its preparations once the first wave passes.
• Just as they are nearly finished, the clouds part and a gigantic, fifty-meter-wide earth-yellow bead descends from above. Feng Wu realizes that the supposedly collapsing mountainside has disappeared, ending the chapter on a cliffhanger.

Character Developments

• Feng Wu demonstrates strategic thinking by proposing the mountain-cutting plan and taking responsibility for protecting Ye Hua and Hua Di. He also reveals greater control over his unusual physical abilities, including his tail and potential bone armor.
• Ou Zhizi proves to be the group’s primary source of destructive strength. His skillful blade work and precise control allow him to cut through the mountain without relying on magical treasures or blade aura.
• Ye Hua shifts from disbelief and discouragement to actively participating in the group’s survival efforts. She also discovers and exploits the rules’ loophole regarding cooperation while descending.
• Hua Di similarly accepts the plan and relies on the group’s teamwork, contributing to the mountain-repair effort.
• The group becomes more cooperative and coordinated as the danger increases.

Significant Themes

• Ingenuity over brute-force expectations: When conventional climbing proves impossible, the group changes the problem itself rather than continuing an unwinnable struggle.
• Teamwork and complementary abilities: Ou Zhizi provides destructive power, Feng Wu offers mobility and protection, and Ye Hua and Hua Di help with practical preparations.
• Adaptability under pressure: The characters constantly revise their plans in response to falling rocks, earthquakes, and unexpected dangers.
• Rules and loopholes: The group carefully interprets the challenge’s restrictions, using cooperation during descent without technically violating the rules.
• Preparation and foresight: Rather than waiting passively for disaster, the group reinforces the mountain in anticipation of the earthquake and shockwave.
• Escalating uncertainty: Even after surviving the mountain’s collapse, the appearance of the enormous bead suggests that the mountain and its challenge conceal further mysteries.

Character Interactions

• Ye Hua openly questions Feng Wu’s sanity, while Ou Zhizi calmly validates his plan.
• Feng Wu carries Ye Hua and Hua Di down the mountain and repeatedly shields them from falling debris.
• Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu cooperate closely during the collapse, coordinating their movements and preventing major impacts from destroying the mountainside.
• Ou Zhizi initially volunteers to confront the largest falling boulder alone, prioritizing the others’ safety.
• The group works together to repair the mountain and apply Energy-Absorbing Paint, reflecting their growing trust and practical teamwork.
• The chapter ends with the group collectively confronted by the mysterious descending bead, leaving their next challenge unresolved.

Chapter Summary: “Origin Stone”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The four characters—Feng Wu, Ou Zhizi, Ye Hua, and Hua Di—reach the mountain’s summit after cutting through the mountain rather than climbing it traditionally.
• A yellow energy platform appears, carrying them to the summit and providing each of them with a treasure chest.
• Hua Di opens her chest and finds an Origin Stone, a treasure capable of reverting a living being toward its ancestral form and awakening powerful bloodlines inherited from its origins.
• The group debates whether the Overlord Flower Tribe had powerful ancestors. Although no one knows of any famous Overlord Flower figures, Ou Zhizi and Feng Wu suggest that the tribe may have evolved from an earlier, more powerful precursor race.
• Ou Zhizi explains the different origins of humanity, including Evolved Humans, Innate Humans, God-Created Humans, and Ancestorborn Humans.
• The discussion becomes humorous and uncomfortable when Ancestorborn Humans are revealed to have potentially originated from discarded human cells or dander. Li Xiao and the livestream viewers react with crude jokes and embarrassment.
• Hua Di ultimately decides to use the Origin Stone despite the uncertainty surrounding her ancestry.
• The stone releases a strange, cold light that enters her body, causing a dramatic transformation. Her hair becomes vine-like, snake-headed flower buds grow from it, and her body develops more plantlike and physically mature features.
• A livestream viewer identifies her transformed state as resembling the Grass Spirit Tribe, suggesting that Hua Di’s ancestral bloodline may have been far more powerful or unusual than expected.

Character Developments

• Hua Di begins disappointed that her tribe may have no renowned ancestors, but she regains hope and courageously takes the risk of using the Origin Stone.
• Feng Wu learns that his assumption about being an Evolved Human may be wrong; he realizes he could possibly be Ancestorborn or another type of human.
• Ye Hua remains skeptical and practical, warning Hua Di not to expect too much, though she ultimately encourages her to try.
• Ou Zhizi serves as the group’s knowledgeable guide, explaining the classifications of human origins and the possible evolutionary history of different races.
• Li Xiao provides comic relief through provocative speculation, while the livestream audience reacts by debating racial identity and joking about Ancestorborn Humans.
• Hua Di’s transformation appears to reveal a new ancestral identity connected to the Grass Spirit Tribe.

Significant Themes

• Ancestry and identity: The chapter questions whether a person’s nature is defined by their current race, their evolutionary history, or the power of their ancestors.
• Evolution and origins: Various forms of humanity and the possible development of the Overlord Flower Tribe demonstrate that species can have complicated and unexpected beginnings.
• Hope versus uncertainty: Hua Di must gamble on an unknown heritage, choosing to believe that her people may possess a powerful ancestral lineage.
• Knowledge and classification: Ou Zhizi’s explanations broaden the world-building by showing that “human” is not a single, uniform category.
• Humor amid discomfort: The serious discussion of bloodlines is repeatedly undercut by crude jokes and livestream commentary, creating a contrast between cosmic lore and casual modern humor.

Character Interactions

• Ye Hua and Feng Wu discuss the potential value of Hua Di’s Origin Stone and encourage her to use it despite their doubts.
• Hua Di looks to Ou Zhizi for reassurance about the Overlord Flower Tribe’s history, while Ou Zhizi offers cautious optimism.
• Ye Hua teases Hua Di and later softens her skepticism, showing concern for Hua Di’s expectations.
• Ou Zhizi educates Feng Wu and Ye Hua about human origins, prompting them to question their own identities.
• Li Xiao’s comments provoke reactions from both the viewers and the other participants, while the audience’s responses add a humorous, interactive layer to the chapter.
• The chapter ends with everyone witnessing Hua Di’s alarming transformation and beginning to identify the ancestral race emerging within her.

Chapter Summary: “Ancestral Reversion”

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter explains the origins and abilities of Grass Charm, the famous and controversial powerhouse after whom the Grass Spirit Tribe was named. Her ability allowed her to rapidly create clones from seeds fired by the flowers on her body.
• Grass Charm’s promiscuity and abduction of male cultivators eventually led to her being killed by a united group of hundreds of female cultivators.
• Hua Di’s Ancestral Reversion continues beyond her transformation into a Grass Spirit-like being. She develops:
  • A heart-tipped tail
  • Small demon wings
  • Three black, thorn-covered halos
• Spectators debate what ancestral races Hua Di may have inherited traits from, suggesting possibilities such as an ancient predecessor of the Grass Spirit Tribe or a succubus. Even Ou Zhizi cannot identify her exact racial origins.
• Ou Zhizi suggests that the Overlord Flower Tribe may have mixed bloodlines, challenging their belief in racial purity and causing an uproar among viewers.
• Hua Di completes the Ancestral Reversion and explains that the Origin Stone selects only the abilities of exceptional ancestors. As a result, she has become a composite of multiple powerful bloodlines and feels noticeably more intelligent.
• The group delays opening their treasure chests because doing so will trigger the next stage: battles against “Shadows of the Past,” potentially including past versions of living figures.
• Hua Di tests her new abilities by creating more than ten powerful clones in under two seconds. Her clones possess enhanced abilities and release spores upon death that can infect enemies and turn them into clone puppets.
• She also explains the functions of her new wings and tail:
  • The wings alter her weight, allowing her to fly.
  • The tail controls direction and balance during flight.
  • The heart-shaped tip can read and stimulate a man’s desires when pressed against his chest.
• The group eventually moves on from examining Hua Di’s transformation, and Ye Hua prepares to open her treasure chest next.

Character Developments

• Hua Di becomes far more powerful and versatile, gaining numerous ancestral abilities rather than merely copying one race. She also becomes smarter, though she is uncomfortable with the change and prefers a simpler, happier way of thinking.
• Hua Di shows increased caution after Ou Zhizi warns her not to reveal all her abilities during a livestreamed arena event.
• Ye Hua remains highly curious and physically playful, examining Hua Di’s wings and tail. However, she is also shown to be vulnerable to Hua Di’s spores because her fighting style depends heavily on controlled breathing.
• Feng Wu demonstrates strategic caution by postponing the treasure chest opening so the group can recover before the uncertain battles ahead.
• Ou Zhizi contributes knowledge about the Overlord Flower Tribe and offers practical advice, although his explanation is so suggestive that it embarrasses Feng Wu.
• Li Xiao acts as a moderating presence, calming the spectators when the discussion about the Overlord Flower Tribe becomes too heated.

Significant Themes

• Ancestry and identity: Hua Di’s transformation raises questions about whether identity is defined by race, bloodline, inherited powers, or individual choice.
• The danger of excessive intelligence and complexity: Hua Di worries that becoming smarter may make her less happy, prompting discussion about balancing wisdom with simplicity.
• Hidden potential: The chapter emphasizes that the cultivation world contains unknown and forgotten bloodlines, abilities, and powerhouses.
• Purity versus mixed heritage: The possibility that the Overlord Flower Tribe has mixed ancestry challenges its presumed racial purity.
• Preparation and restraint: The characters recognize that conserving strength and withholding information can be more valuable than acting immediately.
• Power without side effects: The treasure rewards are especially valuable because they provide extraordinary abilities without the harmful consequences often associated with similar cultivation techniques.

Important Character Interactions

• Ye Hua repeatedly questions Hua Di about her transformation, while Hua Di patiently explains her new powers.
• Ye Hua’s curiosity becomes intrusive when she grabs Hua Di’s tail, leaving Hua Di embarrassed and regretful about revealing its seductive function.
• Feng Wu and Ou Zhizi discuss how intelligence should be balanced with flexibility and occasional simplicity.
• Ou Zhizi advises Hua Di to conceal the full extent of her abilities, reinforcing the importance of strategy in the upcoming arena battles.
• Hua Di’s clones directly counter Ye Hua’s close-range martial style, creating a potential tactical disadvantage for Ye Hua in future combat.
• The group collectively studies Hua Di’s strange new form but ultimately accepts that some ancestral abilities may remain impossible to trace.

Chapter Summary: Tyrant of Absolute Darkness

Key Plot Points and Events

• Ye Hua opens the treasure chest and obtains the Letter of Mourning for the Dead.
• The letter allows its user to write a memorial elegy for a deceased person and temporarily gain that person’s full strength for three hours each day.
• Ye Hua, Feng Wu, Hua Di, and Ou Zhizi discuss which deceased powerhouse would be best to invoke.
• Ye Hua considers choosing a master of fist techniques because of her long experience with the Iron Fist Way, but admits that pure fist techniques have serious weaknesses.
• Feng Wu points out that they do not know whether the three hours can be used continuously or divided into shorter periods. Because of this uncertainty, he recommends choosing someone with powerful explosive strength and few weaknesses.
• Ou Zhizi initially rejects ordinary body cultivators because many suffer from Body Cultivator’s Disorder—an excessive confidence that causes them to ignore weaknesses and often leads to their deaths.
• He then proposes the legendary Tyrant of Absolute Darkness, a demonic powerhouse who once ruled the cultivation world for five hundred years.
• The Tyrant was considered the undisputed strongest figure of his era, yet supposedly died in an absurd manner: an unknown person kicked him once, causing his body to explode instantly.
• The chapter ends with the group speculating that the attacker may have been an existence from a higher cultivation realm—or merely a passing Transcendent One.

Character Developments

• Ye Hua becomes more aware of the limitations of her established combat style and begins considering a broader or more adaptable source of power.
• Feng Wu demonstrates practical strategic thinking. He focuses on maximizing the letter’s limited duration and evaluates potential power sources according to their versatility and reliability.
• Ou Zhizi reinforces his role as the group’s greatest source of historical and cultivation knowledge. However, his hesitation shows that he understands the danger and reputation of the Tyrant of Absolute Darkness.
• Hua Di remains curious and playful, even teasing Feng Wu with her tail. Her lighthearted behavior contrasts with the increasingly serious discussion.
• The group functions cooperatively, relying on each member’s knowledge and judgment to solve the problem.

Significant Themes

• Power and reputation: The letter depends on the deceased person’s true strength, raising questions about exaggerated legends and unreliable historical reputations.
• The limits of established techniques: Ye Hua’s doubts about fist cultivation suggest that no single combat method is completely flawless.
• Strength versus weakness: The discussion emphasizes that overwhelming power is not enough if a fighter possesses exploitable shortcomings.
• Arrogance and self-destruction: Body Cultivator’s Disorder illustrates how excessive confidence can cause even powerful individuals to underestimate enemies and die.
• Mystery beyond known limits: The Tyrant’s bizarre death suggests that the cultivation world may not represent the highest level of existence.
• Humor amid danger: The absurd image of the strongest figure being killed by a kick, along with Hua Di’s antics, provides comic relief within an otherwise tense discussion.

Character Interactions

• Hua Di asks about Ye Hua’s treasure and later questions Ou Zhizi about the Tyrant’s death.
• Feng Wu guides the discussion by asking practical questions and proposing that Ye Hua choose a balanced, explosive powerhouse.
• Feng Wu playfully reprimands Hua Di after catching her using her tail to tease him.
• Ou Zhizi explains the dangers of body cultivators, reveals the Tyrant of Absolute Darkness as a candidate, and shares the mystery surrounding his death.
• The group reacts with disbelief and shock to the revelation that the supposedly invincible Tyrant was killed by a single unexplained kick.