Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

Plot and events

• Nearly three years after its founding, the Mortal Domain is stable and growing. Chen Fan reflects on its future, while its members take time to enjoy the relative calm.
• Big Fish has moved from the War Pavilion to the lower-pressure Hundred Grains Pavilion, where he works in the fields. He and Gongyang Yiyue share a close, teasing bond and acknowledge that Big Fish’s unusual shrinking means they cannot have an ordinary future—but find comfort in facing it together.
• Wang Kui visits the former head of the Qiuhe Wang Family, who once kept him stuck as a station master for thirteen years. The old man refuses Wang Kui’s offer of advancement, saying he is satisfied that his family has a future in the Mortal Domain. Wang Kui’s resentment finally fades, and he sets out on vacation.
• At Medicine King Valley, Wang Kui sees its thriving family-oriented theme park, a sign that life and culture are flourishing alongside the Mortal Domain’s expansion. He also learns that exotic-beast communication depends on matching magnetic fields—and that the popular Gold-Swallowing Toad mostly ignores visitors who do not bring it candy.
• With travel restrictions lifted across the West Pass Plains, trade and cultural exchange increase. Shao Qiu revisits the Slaying Immortal Holy Land to prove he can infiltrate it, succeeds in carrying off the Third Elder, and makes peace with his earlier failure.
• Chen Fan inspects the Mortal Domain’s infrastructure and sacrificial tower. He concludes the Thunderstorm Sea’s lightning torments strange entities rather than imprisoning them. A sacrifice earns him another Heavenly Dao Stone, and the tower advances from Yellow Grade to Blue Grade rewards.
• At Yellow Springs Pass, leaders discuss the coming rainy season and the bleak outlook for Defense Line Seven. News from the Eternal Night Front offers some hope: two lost fronts have been retaken, and the Strange Entity Clan may be weakened, though neither side has a clear advantage.
• At the chapter’s end, Chen Fan tries to review the warehouse ledger while Wang Kui is away. Overwhelmed by the unsorted records, he considers recalling Wang Kui but decides to let him enjoy his vacation.

Character developments and interactions

• Big Fish and Gongyang Yiyue grow more open and comfortable with each other. Their playful affection is grounded in mutual understanding of their Night Watcher lives and Big Fish’s changing body.
• Gongyang Yue remains devoted to Qi Yue, patiently building a home and maintaining their connection while he is away.
• Wang Kui resolves an old grievance against the Wang Family Head and discovers how much the broader region has changed during his years of service.
• Shao Qiu turns a past failure into a successful, humorous rematch, while the Sacred Lord treats his infiltration challenge as a friendly spectacle.
• Chen Fan remains thoughtful and attentive to the Mortal Domain’s development, but his difficulty handling routine administration highlights how dependent the organization has become on Wang Kui.

Themes

• Life amid catastrophe: The theme park, romance, and ordinary work offer rare joy in a world threatened by the strange tide.
• Change and reconciliation: The Mortal Domain’s growth reshapes relationships and regions, while Wang Kui’s encounter with the former family head releases long-held resentment.
• Cooperation and recovery: The end of regional conflicts enables travel, trade, and cultural exchange.
• Uncertainty and endurance: The coming rainy season and the stalemate between humanity and the Strange Entity Clan keep the future precarious, despite signs of hope.

Plot points and events

• As the rainy season begins in Year 381, Chen Fan reflects on the mortal domain’s preparations for the Undersea Strange Tide, expected to land the following year. He recalls choosing the Soul-Devouring Sculpture’s Heavenly Dao blessing that lets nearby defenses keep firing for three hours after their ammunition runs out.
• Wang Kui reports that the costly “Spark Starting a Prairie Fire” project—installing max-level Eerie Fire across the New Continent—is nearly complete. The domain has rebuilt its reserves, while mining there continues.
• Once the project is finished, Chen Fan travels to the New Continent to claim its reward. His arrival triggers nearly 170,000 Eerie Fires to illuminate the entire continent, drive back its supernatural darkness, and reveal the stars and moon for the first time.
• The fires erupt into a day-long golden rain that heals injuries, restores lost limbs, rejuvenates the old, revives the land, and makes its soil extraordinarily fertile. Crippled Monkey regains the use of his legs, and Weiwei sheds and regrows its scales.
• Chen Fan learns that “Heavenly Dominion” will protect the continent from Strange Entity invasions for three years, cause Eerie Ore to form naturally, and help repair the land. The reward also creates a lasting Eerie Fire barrier, eventually enveloping the continent like a golden shell.
• Chen Fan summons the mortal domain’s people and their families to share the rain’s benefits. Qi Chong confirms that the New Continent contains vast areas of natural Level-Ten farmland, and Chen Fan approves plans for a medicinal-plant garden.
• A year later, in Year 382, the Undersea Strange Tide is imminent. Chen Fan prepares the 170-kilometer Northbank Defense Line, upgrades its walls to Level Six, and strengthens its defenses. With 7.8 billion Eerie Stones in reserve, the domain is ready for battle.
• Since the New Continent’s protective barrier admits only those who received the golden rain, Chen Fan cannot bring in new workers to mine its resources. Instead, he calls on the major forces of Jiangbei and the West Pass Plains to provide logistical and post-battle support.
• The Slaying Immortal Holy Land answers enthusiastically: all 729 disciples arrive with provisions and five million Eerie Stones, eager to fight.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains cautious despite his growing power and resources, continually weighing whether preparations are sufficient. He values Heavenly Dominion not only for its resources but also as a secure rear base, and takes action to ensure his people benefit from the golden rain.
• Wang Kui continues as Chen Fan’s trusted aide, reporting on finances and defenses and carrying out orders.
• Crippled Monkey experiences a personal restoration when the golden rain heals his disability, embodying its transformative effect.
• Qi Chong shifts attention toward cultivating the New Continent, recognizing its potential as a major agricultural resource.
• Gongyang Yiyue and Big Fish share a quiet, intimate moment under the newly revealed stars. The rain does not extend their lifespans, prompting Big Fish to reflect on death and whether Yiyue will find her among the stars; he promises he will.
• Elder Seven warns Chen Fan not to assume neighboring forces will help. Chen Fan’s confidence is vindicated when reinforcements arrive, led by the Slaying Immortal Holy Land’s Sacred Lord.

Significant themes

• Preparation and sacrifice: The domain has spent immense resources on defense and continent-wide Eerie Fire, accepting short-term vulnerability to secure a greater future.
• Renewal after devastation: The golden rain heals people and restores the land, turning a war-scarred continent into fertile, protected ground.
• A brief reprieve before conflict: The three-year safety period is precious, but it also implies that greater threats remain beyond it.
• Solidarity and responsibility: Chen Fan invites the domain’s people and families to share the reward, while outside forces rally to defend Jiangbei.
• Mortality and remembrance: Big Fish’s conversation with Yiyue contrasts the rain’s gift of extended life with the certainty of death and the hope of being remembered.

Plot points and events

• The Undersea Strange Tide reaches Jiangbei, but Chen Fan’s 170-kilometer Northbank Defense Line repels it. A synchronized volley from 8,500 Godslayer Cannons obliterates the first wave; Anti-Aircraft Cannons and the wall’s full airspace barrier stop flying attackers. A few creatures reach the battlements, where Mortal Domain fighters handle them with armor and Holy Water support.
• The first night passes without a breach. Over the next fifteen days, the defenses repeatedly hold, casualties remain minimal, and the line becomes a source of confidence and hope.
• The Mortal Domain turns the defense into a functioning rear base: it collects eerie stones and salvage, uses its High-Speed Rail to transport supplies, and feeds the defenders lavish hot meals. The New Continent supplies abundant crops and livestock, while also generating resources for the Domain.
• The Eternal Night Hall learns that Jiangbei has survived and sends Tianyi and a huge, cloaked companion to investigate. Tianyi sees the Northbank Defense Line in action and meets Chen Fan.
• Tianyi asks about the Mortal Domain’s eerie-stone reserves and requests support. Chen Fan declines to disclose the Domain’s resources, but offers to help the Eternal Night Hall with food and transportation—if it can provide payment. Since the Hall lacks spare eerie stone, he suggests that its people collect it themselves at the Eternal Night Front. The chapter ends as Chen invites Tianyi inside to continue the discussion.

Character developments

• Chen Fan moves from cautious uncertainty during the first attack to confidence in the defenses and satisfaction at realizing the Mortal Domain is genuinely protecting people. He also sees contact with the Eternal Night Hall as a chance to learn about the wider war and negotiate useful cooperation.
• The Slaying Immortal Holy Land disciple is awed by the Mortal Domain’s military strength and begins to understand why his Holy Lord fears it.
• Mortal Domain defenders grow accustomed to the attacks and more hopeful, while the Domain’s food and logistics teams demonstrate that preparedness means more than weapons.
• Tianyi arrives with grave expectations, but the scale of the defenses—and especially the defenders’ meals—shocks him. He shifts from requesting general aid to considering Chen Fan’s practical proposal.

Significant themes

• Preparedness and collective protection: The defense line’s layered weapons, barriers, supplies, and personnel turn an overwhelming threat into a manageable one.
• Hope through competence: Jiangbei’s survival offers a rare sign that the Eternal Night Continent may be able to resist the Strange Tide.
• Practical cooperation and leverage: Chen Fan is willing to help, but makes clear that aid requires a workable exchange; transport and food can be as strategically important as weapons.
• The human meaning of security: The chapter contrasts the terror of the front with the warmth of shared meals, suggesting that a sanctuary must sustain people as well as defend them.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan’s calm confidence reassures the Holy Land disciple and other defenders, while the disciple’s amazement highlights the gap between outsiders’ assumptions and the Mortal Domain’s capabilities.
• Fighters support one another on the wall, with Holy Water helping a wounded member survive and a fellow defender scolding him for neglecting his armor.
• Chen and Elder Seven exchange updates about Jiangbei’s safety and the Eternal Night Hall’s attention.
• Tianyi expresses gratitude for the Mortal Domain’s protection, probes its resources, and then discusses the Hall’s desperate needs with Chen. Their meeting establishes a possible alliance grounded in food, transport, and mutual benefit.

Key plot points and events

• An Eternal Night Hall envoy explains that the continent’s defenses are a patchwork of breached and intact Formation Pattern boundaries. Western Wasteland Island is isolated because the Western Plains have fallen and the safer supply route through Autumnbright Basin is vulnerable to attack.
• Chen Fan learns that fallen regions can receive Strange Entity reinforcements through underground rivers. He also learns that level-20 Night Watchers can sacrifice themselves to clear a wide area of a breach, though activation effectively ends their lives.
• The envoy, Tianyi, and his silent Night Watcher companion visit the Mortal Domain. Chen considers how to connect Jiangbei to Eternal Night’s front lines, concluding that the coastal route through Yellow Springs and Autumnbright Basin is likely the only option.
• At a communal meal on the Northbank Defense Line, Tianyi is moved by the food and explains how poorly the front-line troops eat. He says he reported Chen’s achievements to his master, whom he believes trustworthy, and gives Chen a Parent-Child Stone for communication.
• Tianyi’s master secretly betrays Eternal Night Hall, passing along the news that Jiangbei has a strong defense line and an exceptionally capable Builder. The Strange Entity Clan decides to destroy the Mortal Domain before it can become a larger threat.
• A massive Strange Tide is smuggled across two deadly sea zones, with fewer than one in ten creatures surviving each crossing. It overwhelms the Yellow Springs Coast Defense Line and surges inland toward Yellow Springs Pass and Jiangbei.
• At Yellow Springs Pass, Tianyi recognizes that the unexpectedly powerful attack is aimed at the Mortal Domain and realizes his master leaked the intelligence. He reports the betrayal to Eternal Night Hall and warns Chen Fan.
• As the defense line is overwhelmed, Tianyi launches himself into the Strange Tide, engulfed in Crimson Flame, declaring his name and preparing to hold it back.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan gains a clearer picture of the continent’s strategic crisis and starts planning a supply route, while recognizing the value—and human cost—of the Night Watchers’ power.
• Tianyi is compassionate and deeply loyal to the front-line soldiers. His trust in his master collapses when he discovers the betrayal; he takes responsibility by warning both Eternal Night Hall and Chen Fan, then fights to protect the pass.
• The Night Watcher remains stoic about being treated as a weapon and accepts that being activated is part of his fate. His painful meal hints at the cost of his condition.
• Tianyi’s master changes from a trusted superior into a traitor, choosing to seek a personal escape from what he believes is the continent’s inevitable defeat.
• The Ghost Emperor treats the Mortal Domain as a potential “miracle” and orders a costly, indirect assault to eliminate it before it can grow.

Significant themes

• Hope versus fatalism: Some believe the continent is doomed, while Chen’s success represents a possibility the enemy considers dangerous.
• Betrayal and loyalty: Tianyi’s faith in his master is shattered, contrasting with his loyalty to the people he serves.
• The human cost of survival: Night Watchers are viewed as expendable weapons, while ordinary soldiers endure hunger, danger, and constant sacrifice.
• Logistics as warfare: Broken routes, supply shortages, and the movement of resources shape the conflict as much as direct combat.
• Ordinary comforts amid catastrophe: The shared meal underscores the humanity of exhausted soldiers and how much they have been deprived of.

Plot and key events

• At the Yellow Springs Pass Defense Line, Tianyi unleashes Corpse Liberation: Heaven-Burning, burning his blood into Crimson Flame. He destroys a vast section of the Strange Tide, kills two Wraith Kings, and incinerates the strange entity carrying the Parent-Child Stone of the fallen coast-defense commander. A Greater Wraith then knocks him behind the wall, leaving his fate uncertain.
• With the line close to collapse, Night Watcher Number 97 removes his disguise and activates himself. His Ghostly Green aura wipes out most of the attackers and badly wounds the Greater Wraiths, but the Strange Tide soon surges back.
• Chen Fan supports the defense with repeated Max-Level Sky-Piercing Pillar missile strikes while a hundred Flying Boats travel to the front. After fifty-five pillars have been used, the attack is finally stopped. Tianyi is found barely alive.
• The Medicine King Valley Master proposes an unorthodox treatment: use a Wraith Blood Flower to replace Tianyi’s destroyed blood vessels, then Human Blood Pills to restore his blood. Shao Qiu objects to the methods’ sinister origins, but the Valley Master says the pills can be made with volunteers’ blood. Chen Fan approves the plan and sends Tianyi to the Mortal Domain for treatment.
• Chen Fan learns the attack was deliberately redirected through the Yellow Springs Coast after that defense line fell. He begins reinforcing Yellow Springs Pass and asks its commander not to report the changes, fearing that more information could invite a worse attack.
• The Ghost Emperor suspects an insider withheld information about the Mortal Domain, but the informant denies it. Meanwhile, Eternal Night Hall arrests Zhang Yide, who leaked Tianyi’s intelligence to the enemy. Qiu Yisi reveals that Tianyi was his son and that Night Watchers’ identities were concealed even within the Field Operations Group.

Character developments and interactions

• Tianyi turns a lifelong burden of Crimson Flame into a final act of protection. Though presumed dead, he is discovered barely breathing; the chapter ends with hope that he may survive.
• Night Watcher No. 97 is revealed as a person trapped in a life of agonizing modifications. His brief pleasure at tasting a steamed bun underscores the humanity behind his role as a weapon.
• Chen Fan takes responsibility for protecting the defense line, spending a large share of the Mortal Domain’s missile stockpile and arranging Tianyi’s care. He is also troubled by the treatment of Night Watchers as expendable weapons.
• Qiu Yisi, the Field Operations Group leader, arrests Zhang Yide despite his grief. He mourns his only son—and the successor he had hoped would inherit his role—while concealing his pain and continuing to suppress his own Crimson Flame.
• Zhang Yide admits that he betrayed the continent to secure himself a way out, though he claims he never intended Tianyi to die. Qiu forces him to send one more misleading report before his punishment.
• Shao Qiu challenges the proposed use of demonic methods, but changes his view when he learns the pills can be made without killing anyone.

Themes

• Sacrifice and duty: Tianyi, Night Watcher No. 97, and the defenders all pay a heavy price to hold the line.
• The human cost of war: The Night Watcher system may be strategically effective, but it reduces people—and even children—to weapons.
• Betrayal and responsibility: Zhang Yide’s attempt to protect himself helps cause mass death, while Qiu insists that wartime treachery has consequences.
• Pragmatism versus morality: The chapter questions whether methods labeled “evil” can be justified when they might save a life, especially if they can be adapted to avoid harming others.
• Hope amid loss: The defense survives and Tianyi may yet be saved, but the cost is immense, and the enemy’s threat remains.

Key plot points and events

• After the battle at the Yellow Springs Pass, Chen Fan orders permanent observation posts and detailed surveys around Defense Line Seven and Yellow Springs Pass. Better information should prevent the costly, imprecise use of Sky-Piercing Pillars in future emergencies.
• Chen Fan reflects that the Strange Entity Clan is unusually cautious despite holding the advantage, treating the war as a decisive struggle.
• Tianyi, near death after exhausting his power, is treated through a risky procedure involving a Wraith Blood Flower planted in his body. He gradually recovers over five days.
• Qiu Yisi, a senior Eternal Night Hall official, visits to apologize for the information leak that endangered the Mortal Domain. He explains that traitors and infiltration have become serious problems, including the deaths of seven Celestial Architects.
• The Eternal Night Hall offers to protect Chen Fan by bringing him to its core area, but he refuses to leave Jiangbei. Instead, he agrees to join the Hall in name so it can serve as a public cover for the Mortal Domain’s growth. He also negotiates for a duplicate Blue Grade defensive blueprint and receives an Eternal Night Hall token and a secure communications stone.
• Qiu Yisi shares a meal with Chen Fan, remembering his son Tianyi through the food he once ate. He leaves without learning that Tianyi survived.
• Tianyi, ashamed of losing his special status as “Firewalker Sun,” refuses food and sees himself as useless. Qi Chong bluntly reminds him that ordinary work sustains the Mortal Domain and encourages him to find a wife and farm. Tianyi begins eating and accepts the possibility of a modest future.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan shows strategic growth, planning better intelligence and resource use. He remains devoted to Jiangbei, while pragmatically accepting a nominal alliance with the Eternal Night Hall and seeking useful support.
• Qiu Yisi is both a shrewd official and a grieving father. His visit is motivated partly by a desire to see the place his son died protecting; he quietly cherishes a sweet bun associated with Tianyi.
• Tianyi shifts from despair over losing his powers and identity toward accepting that an ordinary life and useful work still have value.
• Qi Chong uses blunt humor and practical arguments to draw Tianyi back toward life. Chen Fan respects Tianyi’s wish to remain unknown to his former colleagues and does not reveal that he survived.
• The chapter also contrasts the Medicine King Valley’s experimental care for Tianyi with Qi Chong’s everyday farming perspective, while Chen Fan observes the later exchange without interrupting it.

Significant themes

• Survival before sacrifice: Qiu Yisi warns that protecting others requires protecting oneself first.
• Ordinary life as meaningful contribution: Farming, family, and daily labor matter alongside frontline heroism.
• Grief and remembrance: Qiu Yisi’s meal and keepsake express his love for his dead son without burdening Chen Fan.
• Trust and betrayal: Infiltration makes even powerful institutions vulnerable, so alliances require both cooperation and caution.
• Preparation and stewardship: Chen Fan’s attention to intelligence, infrastructure, and scarce strategic weapons highlights the importance of planning for a long war.

Plot and key events

• The rainy season ends, and the Northbank Defense Line’s allied factions depart after a month of joint service. Their cooperation has softened old rivalries. Chen Fan reflects that the Eternal Night Front has survived another year, though he remains wary of the Strange Entity Clan’s frustration and strength.
• Wang Kui struggles to manage the Mortal Domain’s expanding finances. Others privately call him the “Deputy Domain Lord,” but he rejects the title, wary of the danger and succession problems it implies if Chen Fan were to die.
• Chen Fan begins building an aerial rail line toward the Yellow Springs Pass and Frontline One. After hearing that new treasures may include Heavenly Dao Stones, he returns to inspect the Warehouse.
• The haul includes useful materials and treasures, notably two Heavenly Dao Stones, a Yellow Grade Faction Banner treasure, and Sea Embryos for upgrading the Vehicle Workshop. Chen Fan also maxes out three newly acquired buildings: Rope, Bonfire, and Exotic Beast Breeding House. The latter attracts unaffiliated Exotic Beasts, while the other two gain practical improvements.
• As Chen Fan prepares to use a Heavenly Dao Stone on the Sky-Piercing Pillars, emerald rain suddenly falls over Jiangbei. The Heavenly Dao announces that, because the Mortal Domain defended the region, all eleven of its max-level buildings without blessings receive three possible blessing effects apiece. Chen Fan has only one hundred breaths to choose among them and is overwhelmed by the selection process.
• The emerald rain benefits contributors throughout Jiangbei, restoring vitality and increasing lifespan in proportion to their efforts. Farmers are recognized, and Tianyi receives an especially powerful blessing: the Wraith Blood Flower is expelled from his body, and he regains full control of Firewalker Sun’s power.
• Tianyi decides to remain with the Mortal Domain, believing it is a trustworthy faction where he can rely on his comrades. Attempts to reach Chen Fan are repeatedly interrupted because Chen Fan is busy choosing the blessings.
• Other groups, including the Slaying Immortal Holy Land, celebrate receiving the Heavenly Dao’s recognition. Those who stayed home to guard their territory resent missing out. Gongyang Yiyue and Big Fish note that they did not contribute, while Weiwei and others are puzzled by their own apparent share of the blessing.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains focused on practical security and growth, but the unexpected blessing forces him to make urgent strategic choices. He is irritable when repeatedly interrupted.
• Wang Kui is shown as indispensable yet cautious about power: despite being treated as Chen Fan’s second-in-command, he refuses the deputy title because it could invite dangerous succession struggles.
• Tianyi recovers his former strength without its harmful side effects and chooses the Mortal Domain over the Eternal Night Hall. His renewed excitement contrasts with his usual reserve.
• Qi Chong celebrates the farmers’ recognition and helps Tianyi contact Chen Fan, though Chen Fan’s frustrated reply cuts the attempt short.
• Weiwei, Gongyang Yiyue, and Big Fish provide quieter, humorous reactions to receiving or missing the blessing.

Significant themes

• Contribution and recognition: The Heavenly Dao rewards service to Jiangbei, including farming and battlefield support, with benefits calibrated to each person’s contribution.
• Security, leadership, and succession: Wang Kui’s discomfort with the deputy title highlights how much the Mortal Domain depends on Chen Fan—and how dangerous an unclear succession could be.
• Growth through cooperation: Former rivals work together during the rainy season, while Tianyi’s decision to stay reflects the value of trust and reliable comrades.
• Pragmatism and preparation: Chen Fan invests in infrastructure, stockpiles resources, and evaluates even ordinary buildings for their long-term usefulness.

Chapter Summary: “Mortal Domain No. 1 Missile Storage Base”

Key events and plot points

• After the rainy season, Chen Fan receives the Emerald Rainfall, Heavenly Dao’s Blessing. Every max-level building in the Mortal Domain gains a blessing, effectively granting benefits comparable to many Heavenly Dao Stones.
• Among the new effects, the Bridge can protect newlyweds and give their child a chance to become a chosen type of special Cultivator, while the Gondola can expand and withstand much heavier loads. Most importantly, the Sky-Piercing Pillar gains the ability to split into three equally powerful pillars when launched.
• Chen Fan learns from Qiu Yisi that the rainy season ended without any positions on the Eternal Night Front falling, giving the continent another year to prepare.
• Recovered warrior Tianyi asks to stay in the Mortal Domain, disillusioned with the Eternal Night Hall after his master’s betrayal. Chen Fan instead arranges for him to join the Mortal Domain’s Shadow Pavilion and eventually return to the Hall as a trusted informant, where he can investigate its traitors.
• Chen Fan tests whether Sky-Piercing Pillars can be transported by rail. Using ropes, Flying Boats, Giant Turtles, and an enlarged Gondola, the Mortal Domain successfully moves and launches one from a moving train toward the Dead Sea. The test proves that the missiles can be deployed from mobile rail platforms without building bases across the continent.
• Chen Fan establishes a missile storage complex behind Nameless Mountain. He constructs and meticulously arranges two thousand max-level Sky-Piercing Pillars, wiring and enclosing them in the Mortal Domain No. 1 Missile Storage Base.
• The next day, he builds another two thousand in a second base, bringing the new total to four thousand. Meanwhile, the Harbor’s existing missiles are designated for a temporary storage site and will be moved.
• Chen Fan shows Tianyi the bases and explains that the pillars are the same strategic weapons used at Yellow Springs Pass. Their vast number—and the new triple-splitting blessing—make the Mortal Domain’s firepower enormous, though the missiles take a year to charge and cost a great deal to produce.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Fan shifts from celebrating an unexpected blessing to thinking strategically about the Mortal Domain’s long-term defense. He is proud of its growth and increasingly confident in its ability to project force, though his delight in the bases’ perfect layout becomes a humorous obsession.
• Tianyi moves from wanting to abandon the Eternal Night Hall to accepting a more complicated role: joining the Mortal Domain while returning to the Hall as its inside source. Chen Fan trusts him because of his loyalty and straightforwardness, and explains that his reports could prevent the Mortal Domain from being blindsided by corruption.
• Qiu Yisi offers congratulations and news of the successful defense, while Chen Fan reflects with some embarrassment on having previously spoken rudely to him.
• Little Qiu earns Chen Fan’s respect by managing the Logistics Pavilion effectively and anticipating his preference for precisely marked construction sites. Zhou Mo and the War Pavilion members take on major engineering and construction work, while the Commerce Pavilion’s unusual expertise with Flying Boats is also noted.

Significant themes

• Growth through cooperation: The Mortal Domain’s accomplishments depend on coordination among its departments and members, not just Chen Fan’s individual abilities.
• Trust and betrayal: Tianyi’s experience highlights the danger of internal treachery, while Chen Fan uses trust carefully and strategically.
• Preparedness and resilience: Mobile missile deployment gives the Mortal Domain reach without requiring vulnerable bases scattered across the continent, though the chapter acknowledges that it cannot save every region if the wider defense collapses.
• Infrastructure as power: Railways, ropes, transport vehicles, logistics, and storage facilities turn the missiles into a practical strategic force.
• Personal pride and community: Chen Fan’s attachment to the orderly bases reflects both his individual quirks and the Mortal Domain’s shared pride in the achievements they have built together.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan spends two weeks overseeing improvements to the Mortal Domain, then departs for a months-long trip to build an Empty Rail linking Jiangbei to Eternal Night Western Region Black Tortoise Frontline One. Wang Kui is left in charge, with the others maintaining their assigned roles.
• The Mortal Domain continues preparing for future crises: the New Continent is being developed into a vast food-producing refuge, while Shadow Pavilion agents travel toward the frontline to gather intelligence through covert and overt operations.
• After three months of construction, Chen Fan reaches Frontline One, a 108-kilometer-long, roughly 100-meter-high Ninth-Level defense line. He meets its commander, Sister Chan, whose exaggerated, flirtatious behavior initially makes him suspect a trap.
• Chen learns that Sister Chan took command after her teacher was killed in a poison-based assassination. She was born and raised on the frontline, and the deputy commander explains both her experience and the heavy responsibilities she now bears.
• Chen offers free food aid for Frontline One’s 770,000 residents in exchange for the frontline selling duplicate Building Blueprints to the Mortal Domain. He obtains a Blue-Grade Black Tortoise Cannon blueprint and returns home exhausted.
• The Mortal Domain quickly sends grain, meat, vegetables, and livestock along the Empty Rail. The first hot meal in a long time brings great relief to the frontline’s weary people.
• Elsewhere, Qiu Yisi confirms that a traitor, Wang Fa, leaked information about a previous mission. Rather than eliminate him, Qiu plans to exploit him as a channel for feeding false information to the Strange Entity Clan. Qiu also begins preparing Tianyi to succeed him as leader of the Western Region Operations Group, revealing a secret underground repository.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shows growing strategic foresight and leadership: he builds vital infrastructure, delegates effectively, and uses the Empty Rail to turn the Mortal Domain’s agricultural capacity into frontline support. He is cautious and comically uncomfortable with Sister Chan’s advances, but remains focused on business.
• Sister Chan initially comes across as erratic and provocative, but the deputy commander’s account reveals her grief, lifelong connection to the frontline, and anxiety about protecting its people. Her reluctance to spend eerie stones reflects her sense of responsibility.
• Qiu Yisi proves calculating and pragmatic, treating the traitor as a potential asset rather than simply a threat. He is also preparing Tianyi for future leadership.
• Tianyi, having recovered and gained strength through the Heavenly Dao’s Blessing, demonstrates diligence and investigative ability by identifying the traitor.
• The frontline’s soldiers and workers are shown as exhausted and food-deprived, but their morale rises sharply when substantial aid arrives.

Significant themes

• Collective responsibility and mutual aid: The Mortal Domain shares food with the frontline in recognition of its role in defending the continent.
• Preparation and resilience: Infrastructure, food reserves, intelligence networks, and disciplined organization are all presented as essential defenses against future disasters.
• The human cost of frontline duty: Constant danger, cut supply routes, assassinations, and deprivation shape the lives of those defending the wall.
• Leadership under pressure: Chen, Sister Chan, and Qiu each face different burdens—building a functioning society, inheriting command after loss, and preparing a successor.
• Pragmatism in conflict: Qiu’s decision to preserve and manipulate a traitor highlights the morally complicated tactics required in a prolonged war.

Character interactions

• Chen entrusts Wang Kui and the other Mortal Domain members with ongoing responsibilities before departing, showing the trust and structure within the organization.
• Chen and Sister Chan’s awkward first meeting mixes humor with genuine negotiation: her flirtation unnerves him, but they ultimately establish a practical, mutually beneficial arrangement.
• The deputy commander offers Chen context about Sister Chan and expresses gratitude for the aid, helping build trust between the Mortal Domain and Frontline One.
• Qiu mentors Tianyi, turning the discovery of Wang Fa into a lesson about intelligence operations and revealing Tianyi’s future responsibilities.
• At the frontline, soldiers eagerly crowd the kitchens for their first substantial hot meal, illustrating how a logistical agreement becomes a direct source of comfort and renewed morale.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• A Primordial-era defense line resurfaces. At the start of the year, violent tremors spread along Jiangbei’s Northbank Defense Line. A buried, 170-kilometer-long wall rises from the ground, revealing translucent figures reenacting its final battle against the Strange Tide. Its commander, Old Ye, explains that he sacrificed himself to seal away the line and hide its unused resources from the Strange Entities. When the vision ends, the formation releases ancient Eerie Stones, treasures, and blueprints for Jiangbei’s future defenders.
• Chen Fan resolves to strengthen Jiangbei. Moved by Old Ye’s apology and sacrifice, Chen assures him that the Mortal Domain now guards Jiangbei and will not let it fall. The discovery also explains why Jiangbei had no Eerie Ore deposits: its people had buried their supplies before the ancient line’s fall.
• The Mortal Domain develops new vehicles and upgrades its defenses. Over the following months, the Vehicle Workshop reaches level 9, unlocking a giant construction vehicle capable of moving enormous structures and Flying Swords for travel. The Domain stockpiles Eerie Stones and Monkey-Head Fruit in preparation for the rainy season.
• The Northbank Defense Line reaches maximum level. Chen upgrades the 170-kilometer wall from level 6 to level 10, raising it to 200 meters. He selects improvements that reduce defensive-structure costs, strengthen Vein Patterns, and improve nearby defenders’ stamina. At maximum level, it gains the effect “Voice Like a Grand Vow,” allowing anyone speaking atop it to be heard across Heaven and Earth.
• Chen plans a broader defensive strategy. He intends to secure Western Wasteland Island’s openings, reinforce Yellow Springs Pass, and build a protected rear area from which the Mortal Domain can support the wider war with Soul-Devouring Sculptures and other resources.
• The rainy season begins. Allied factions arrive expecting another dangerous defense, but are stunned by the immense wall. The first Strange Tide creatures emerge and look up at the seemingly unreachable barrier. Mortal Domain defenders and their allies feel far safer than the previous year.
• Bad news arrives from the front. The acting commander of Black Tortoise Frontline One reports that the former commander, Sister Chan, was killed after answering a Greater Wraith’s taunt and being hit by a hidden archer. He thanks the Mortal Domain for supplying Soul-Devouring Sculptures, but warns that a captured traitor had already revealed information to the Strange Entity Clan, which may attempt to cross secretly onto Western Wasteland Island. Chen decides to reinforce Yellow Springs Pass.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shifts from reacting to immediate threats toward long-term strategic planning. He combines caution—keeping a low profile and anticipating an enemy incursion—with confidence as Jiangbei’s defenses grow stronger. Old Ye’s sacrifice deepens his sense of responsibility for protecting the region.
• Old Ye appears as a regretful but resolute spirit. Though haunted by the ancient defense line’s fall, he takes comfort in leaving its hidden resources to future generations.
• Wang Kui is stunned by the scale and cost of Chen’s wall upgrades, questioning whether such a massive defense is necessary for a region that rarely faces major Strange Tides.
• The Mortal Domain’s members and allied defenders become more confident as the new wall transforms the rainy season from a looming crisis into a manageable threat.
• Sister Chan’s death establishes the continuing danger at the front, despite the Mortal Domain’s growing strength and its contribution to the war.

Character interactions

• Chen responds compassionately to Old Ye’s apology, assuring him that Jiangbei will not fall again.
• Chen and Wang Kui discuss the apparent extravagance of the maximum-level wall; Chen argues that a secure rear lets the Mortal Domain act more freely elsewhere.
• Mortal Domain members and a Beggar Immortal Holy Land disciple share an unusually optimistic exchange while stationed together, reflecting their newfound confidence.
• The acting commander of Frontline One thanks Chen for the Soul-Devouring Sculptures and warns him about the leak. Chen takes the warning seriously, despite privately noting that the sculptures were inexpensive to produce and profitable to sell.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and inheritance: Old Ye’s final act preserves resources and hope for people he will never meet.
• Preparedness and security: Chen’s massive upgrades express his belief that a secure home front enables greater action on the wider battlefield.
• The persistence of history: The ancient defense line’s last battle resurfaces, connecting past failures and sacrifices to present-day choices.
• Progress amid loss: The Mortal Domain grows stronger, but Sister Chan’s death shows that technological and strategic gains cannot eliminate the human cost of war.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan completes the Mortal Domain’s new 27-kilometer Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line, rapidly upgrading it to level 10 at enormous cost. Its prefabricated construction system—using prepared pipes, equipment, and help from Mortal Domain members—makes the work far more efficient than his earlier solo projects.
• He equips the line with Godslayer and anti-aircraft cannons, then installs the Mortal Domain’s first max-level Black Tortoise Cannon, a Blue Grade structure that can only be placed on a level-10 wall. Using a Heavenly Dao Stone, he gives it the Black Tortoise Domain effect, which slows enemies with crushing gravity.
• A rainy-season meatworm wraith tide arrives, providing a test. The cannon summons an enormous, intangible Azure Black Tortoise that rampages through the tide and cannot be harmed by either enemies or friendly fire. It consumes one million Eerie Stones and lasts about as long as two incense sticks. The tide is defeated, though some wraiths still reach the wall.
• The new defense line is fully staffed and supplied, but Chen Fan needs a commander. He rejects simply appointing the existing Yellow Springs Pass commander without training, since the Mortal Domain’s commanders need to understand its systems and logistics.
• Chen asks Eternal Night Hall for several personnel, including commanders for Defense Line Seven and Yellow Springs Pass. Instead, the Hall’s strategic chief transfers both defense lines and their personnel to the Mortal Domain—apparently in exchange for the Mortal Domain’s valuable Soul-Devouring Sculptures.
• The Yellow Springs Pass commander, Zhang Qiuba, is abruptly informed he has been expelled from Eternal Night Hall and is joining the Mortal Domain. Chen assigns Zhou Mo to train him and orders the new recruits and builders organized, while the Shadow Pavilion continues restricting information about the New Continent.
• Chen uses the Mortal Domain’s final Heavenly Dao Stone on the Northbank wall, selecting Majestic and Magnificent, which enhances wall-upgrade effects and strengthens the defense lines’ Vein Patterns.
• The Mortal Domain now has two level-10 defense lines, but lacks the resources to upgrade Defense Line Seven. Chen hopes to finish fortifying Western Wasteland Island and survive the rainy season so the Mortal Domain can later join the wider war.
• Meanwhile, the Mortal Domain’s monkey population expands rapidly thanks to enchanted breeding houses. The monkeys produce Monkey-Head Fruits and work as shepherds, while the New Great World is restored into productive farmland and giant humanoid vehicles improve construction and mining.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan demonstrates growing strategic and administrative skill: he improves construction logistics, tests his new weapon, consolidates defense forces, and prioritizes protecting the Mortal Domain before assisting elsewhere. He remains ambitious but recognizes that resources and security are limiting factors.
• Zhang Qiuba, initially a cautious Eternal Night Hall commander, is absorbed into the Mortal Domain and begins a transition into its command structure.
• Old Qiu warns Chen Fan that the Strange Entity Clan has noticed him and encourages him to prepare. He supports Chen’s request for personnel, though the final transfer is authorized by the Strategic Office chief.
• Qi Chong and the other Pavilion Masters advise Chen on the command appointment and gather to discuss the new line’s leadership.
• Little Qiu reports the incoming tide and observes how much safer and more confident the Mortal Domain’s members have become.
• Weiwei oversees the monkeys, distributing food and checking their work; the chapter also shows how the Mortal Domain’s organization extends through layers of management.

Significant themes

• Preparation and self-reliance: Chen’s principle is to secure his own territory before committing resources to the broader war.
• Industrialization and organization: Prefabrication, logistics networks, specialized workers, and mechanized mining let the Mortal Domain grow beyond Chen’s individual labor.
• Security and expanding power: The level-10 walls and Black Tortoise Cannon mark a major leap in defensive capability, though their costs reveal the limits of rapid expansion.
• Institutional change and loyalty: Eternal Night Hall’s personnel and territory are absorbed into the Mortal Domain, reflecting both the Hall’s strained resources and Chen’s rising influence.
• Growth and transformation: Formerly desperate defenders now face the wraith tide with composure, while ruined land and previously idle animals are turned into productive parts of a flourishing system.

Plot points and events

• Chen Fan reinforces the Northbank Defense Line with five Black Tortoise Cannons and appoints Old Wang, recommended by Wang Kui, to command the Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line. The Mortal Domain is short on capable administrators, so Chen Fan plans to develop its own future commanders.
• Chen Fan upgrades a Brick Kiln to its maximum level. Its bricks are as strong as Level-1 City Wall sections, and its max-level effect makes buildings made from them highly resistant to wind and earthquakes. A reward for reaching twenty max-level buildings grants him a Blue Grade Resource Lucky Bag.
• The bag repeatedly produces its rarest reward: three billion eerie stones and another bag. Chen Fan opens three in succession, gaining nine billion stones, then stops when he suspects the Emerald Rain from the Heavenly Dao’s blessing has given him limited, use-based good fortune.
• The new bricks and Giant Strange Entities let the Mortal Domain build high-rises rapidly. Mortal City is transformed into a modern-looking city, with illuminated homes and private housing for its members. Chen Fan takes pride in giving his people a place to call their own.
• The rainy season remains unusually quiet on the main front lines, prompting suspicions that the Strange Entity Clan is saving its strength. In secret, the clan sends forces across the borders to attack secondary defenses and eliminate rising threats. A newly celebrated Level 10 Builder is killed, and Chen Fan is named the top target on a list of “destabilizing factors.”
• The Strange Entity Clan’s Ghost Emperor is ordered to destroy the Mortal Domain. Rather than sacrifice his army in a direct assault, he tries to lure Chen Fan to the front line with a Blue Grade blueprint. The plan fails when the frontline keeps the blueprint for its own builders to study.
• After learning Chen Fan is targeted, Old Qiu warns him. Chen Fan orders Wang Kui to gather every available Monkey-Head Fruit, hoping to finish plugging the remaining gap at Defense Line Seven. The Ghost Emperor, unable to find a way to draw Chen Fan out, concludes that a direct attack may be his only option.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains practical and security-conscious, balancing defense, infrastructure, and staff development. He recognizes the value of his unexpected good fortune but chooses not to waste it on further Lucky Bag openings. Despite becoming the enemy’s top target, he focuses on strengthening the Mortal Domain rather than taking unnecessary risks.
• Wang Kui continues to prove himself as a capable administrator. He backs Old Wang’s appointment, reports on management training, and receives Chen Fan’s urgent order to gather Monkey-Head Fruit.
• Qiu Yisi quietly assesses who can be trusted within the Eternal Night Hall. He confirms an ally’s loyalty and appoints Tianyi deputy Group Leader of the Western Region Operations Group.
• The Ghost Emperor is frustrated by pressure from his superiors and reluctant to sacrifice his troops. His schemes—the targeted assassinations and blueprint bait—show that the Strange Entity Clan sees Chen Fan’s growth as a serious threat.

Significant themes

• Building a home amid danger: The new housing and city lights give Mortal Domain members comfort and a stake in the community, making their defenses feel like protection of their own homes.
• Preparation and self-reliance: Chen Fan invests in infrastructure, trained managers, intelligence, and defensive supplies rather than relying on luck or outside protection.
• The cost of rising influence: The Mortal Domain’s achievements make it a priority target, while promising figures across the continent are systematically eliminated.
• Uncertainty behind apparent calm: The weak rainy-season attacks are not reassuring; the enemy is redirecting its strength toward a larger, coordinated strategy.

Plot points and events

• The Ghost Emperor weighs how to destroy the Mortal Domain without losing too many of his trained forces. Pressured by his superiors and facing the imminent collapse of the Habitat, he commits to a major offensive.
• Chen Fan prepares for a long war: he orders supplies stockpiled, sends resources to the Guandong Plains, and builds a ninth-level defense line there because a tenth-level one is prohibitively expensive. He names it Mortal Domain Defense Line Seven.
• Chen Fan entrusts Defense Line Seven to Elder Seven, whose knowledge of the region and reliability make him the natural commander. Two inexperienced graduates are assigned to assist him.
• The Ghost Emperor leads a huge Strange Tide north, intending to claim Western Wasteland Island for himself after destroying the Mortal Domain. He passes an abandoned, evacuated coastal defense line and continues toward the Mortal Domain’s Yellow Springs Mouth defenses.
• Chen Fan heads for the threatened front, but secretly uses the approaching attack to evaluate Old Wang, the newly appointed commander of the tenth-level Yellow Springs Mouth Defense Line.
• Old Wang lowers the defense line from 200 meters to 30, disguising it as a sixth-level fortification to lure the enemy into range. A Shadow Pavilion observer mistakes this for treachery and nearly intervenes, but Shao Qiu orders him to stand down.
• The Ghost Emperor believes the weakened-looking line will be easy to break. His ranged attacks fail, and his forces discover they cannot damage the wall. The defense line then rises to its full height, unleashing 1,350 Godslayer Cannons and a Black Tortoise formation.
• Realizing he has led his army into a tenth-level defense line, the Ghost Emperor orders a retreat. In the confined canyon, the cannons’ attacks devastate the tightly packed Strange Tide. Old Wang watches the slaughter with exhilaration.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan acts cautiously and strategically: he prepares for the possibility that the Eternal Night Continent will fall, invests in logistics, and tests Old Wang’s judgment rather than micromanaging him.
• Elder Seven moves from uncertainty about whether he still has a role to accepting command of Defense Line Seven, promising to hold it.
• Old Wang demonstrates composure, tactical insight, and organizational savvy. He understands how to report his plan, gains Chen Fan’s trust, and uses deception to turn the enemy’s strength into a trap.
• The Ghost Emperor is ambitious but increasingly reckless. He seeks personal territory rather than trusting his superiors’ promises, then panics when his supposed easy victory proves to be a trap.
• The Shadow Pavilion observer shows how duty can conflict with judgment: he breaks cover to stop what appears to be sabotage, but obeys Shao Qiu’s order once the plan is clarified.
• The chapter also shows the Mortal Domain’s collective competence: Little Qiu coordinates construction, trainees learn from experienced leaders, and rail logistics enable rapid fortification.

Significant themes

• Preparation and logistics as power: Fast transport, modular construction, and coordination let the Mortal Domain build defenses where needed.
• Trust and delegated leadership: Chen Fan gives capable subordinates authority and evaluates them by their decisions.
• Deception and misjudgment: Old Wang’s lowered wall invites an attack, while the Ghost Emperor’s assumptions about its strength lead his army into danger.
• Ambition versus survival: The Ghost Emperor’s desire to claim territory shapes his strategy, but also exposes him to a devastating defeat.
• The transformation of fear: The defenders face a formidable invading army, yet their preparation turns the expected terror into confidence—and, for Old Wang, unexpected exhilaration.

Plot and key events

• After being repelled by the newly upgraded Tenth-Level Yellow Springs Pass Defense Line, the Ghost Emperor weighs a direct assault against another deadly covert crossing. His strategist argues that the higher-ups have sent him on a near-suicidal mission because they are eliminating inconvenient Ghost Emperors while dividing future spoils.
• The strategist proposes a third option: stop fighting and settle in the already-conquered Yellow Springs Mouth Region. The Ghost Emperor realizes the higher-ups’ envoys cannot reach him there, so he can escape their control. He withdraws his army into the region, occupies a city, and begins farming.
• To maintain appearances, the Ghost Emperor tells his superiors he will keep attacking the defense line, while privately planning to stay put. He then proposes a truce to the Mortal Domain, offering the Yellow Springs Mouth Region as a boundary and promising not to disrupt their supply routes.
• Chen Fan recognizes that the Strange Tide has effectively deserted. Although the situation blocks access to the wider region, he agrees to explore peace talks and asks for a list of enemy spies as proof of sincerity. The Ghost Emperor supplies names, which Chen uses to help Mortal Domain operatives advance within the enemy’s ranks.
• Eternal Night Hall abandons efforts to retake the region, judging the Strange Tide too large to defeat. The Mortal Domain and Jiu Wu’s forces maintain an uneasy ceasefire.
• After the rainy season, Chen prepares to explore the Eternal Night Hinterlands, taking Weiwei, Qi Yue, and Shadow Pavilion personnel, along with a large supply of eerie stones and equipment to establish Signal Towers.
• Meanwhile, three Shadow Pavilion operatives—Er Dan, Zhang Fei, and Wang Xu—are recruited into Eternal Night Hall’s Western Region Operations Group to hunt spies. Their cover stories rely on supposed powers of observation or smell, raising doubts about whether they can maintain their disguises.

Character developments and interactions

• The Ghost Emperor shifts from a desperate commander to a pragmatic, self-interested ruler. Convinced he has been abandoned by his superiors, he chooses safety, land, sunlight, and farming over conquest. He presents himself as cultured and reasonable while secretly deceiving his superiors.
• The old strategist guides this change through a parable about enjoying life before reaching success. He also exposes the likely political motives behind the higher-ups’ orders and helps the Ghost Emperor recognize that the Yellow Springs Mouth Region offers independence.
• Chen Fan adapts to an unusual enemy who prefers settlement to battle. He balances caution with opportunity, using negotiations to obtain intelligence and strengthen his own infiltration network.
• Er Dan and Zhang Fei are skilled Mortal Domain infiltrators whose “deductions” are partly based on information they already possess. Their unexpected recruitment threatens to expose them.
• Wang Xu, another Shadow Pavilion operative, claims he can detect virginity by scent. His bold, implausible talent alarms the other infiltrators.
• Tianyi, now acting leader of the Operations Group, tests and recruits the three men, demonstrating a steadier, more measured leadership style.
• Chen’s officers question the wisdom of negotiating with Strange Entities, but he argues that intelligence-gathering and infiltration are not surrender.

Significant themes

• Enjoy life before success: The chapter’s central idea is that people need not postpone peace or pleasure until they achieve a grand goal.
• Self-preservation versus duty: The Ghost Emperor rejects sacrificing his army for a cause that offers him no personal future.
• Politics and betrayal: Orders from powerful leaders may conceal plans to discard subordinates and divide the spoils.
• Pragmatism and uneasy coexistence: Former enemies find a temporary arrangement when both sides see greater value in restraint than costly combat.
• Deception and intelligence: Both sides use false appearances, informants, and infiltration to gain leverage without open war.

Key plot points and events

• The rainy season ends, but the Ghost Emperor is still being pursued by the Azure Black Tortoise summoned by Chen Fan’s Black Tortoise Cannon. Each morning, it reappears and charges at him. Chen Fan suspects the cannon’s ability is an absolute lock-on that lasts until its target dies, though he orders observers to track how long it persists.
• Chen Fan travels in disguise with Qi Yue and Crippled Monkey to the Black Tortoise Plains, a relatively safe inland region. He sees strange entities imitating human farming and briefly spots the exhausted Ghost Emperor.
• Near Black Tortoise City, the group discovers the city cannot be approached without a Passage Token: the closer travelers get, the farther away it appears. Tang Yue gives Chen Fan a spare token and asks him to pose as a powerful trade-association representative so she can report a contribution toward her family’s succession contest.
• At a Tang Lineage banquet, the siblings present their achievements. Tang Zong claims to have found a possible White Tiger whisker and introduces the woman he intends to marry; the second brother made ties with a cultivation sect, while the third simply preserved his funds.
• Tang Yue’s claim that Chen Fan represents a major organization is challenged by a resentful relative using a Truth-Seeking Stone. Chen Fan first makes the stone glow by repeating Tang Yue’s inflated claim, then states truthfully that his organization has fifty million eerie stones in reserve. He thereby protects Tang Yue and astonishes the family.
• Tang Zong is named heir. After the banquet, Tang Yue reveals that she found Fat Meow and a blue-grade blueprint in a mysterious ruin years earlier. The blueprint proves to be for the White Tiger Cannon, one of the Four Divine Cannons.
• Chen Fan buys the blueprint from the Tang patriarch for twenty million eerie stones, then offers to purchase more blueprints through the family. At the inn, he unlocks the White Tiger Cannon for construction and speculates that its power may relate to slaughter.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shows curiosity and composure throughout the trip, turning an unexpected visit into a major discovery. His interest in the Four Divine Cannons deepens, and he is willing to pay heavily to secure the White Tiger Cannon rather than risk complications.
• Tang Yue is candid, sociable, and unconcerned with becoming heir. Though initially trying to improve her standing with a fabricated business achievement, she shows gratitude and trust toward Chen Fan.
• Tang Zong emerges as the most capable Tang sibling, combining a strange but potentially valuable discovery with a sincere romantic commitment; he becomes the family heir.
• The Tang patriarch is affectionate toward Tang Yue and practical about family affairs. He recognizes Chen Fan’s importance and negotiates the blueprint sale.
• Crippled Monkey remains loyal and protective, becoming angry when Tang Yue is attacked. Qi Yue is more cautious about the expense and privately regrets that the blueprint was not stolen instead.
• The Ghost Emperor appears increasingly worn down by the relentless pursuit, underscoring the cannon’s potentially terrifying endurance.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: The Black Tortoise Cannon’s immense expense may reflect the energy required to sustain an inescapable pursuit.
• Truth, deception, and trust: Tang Yue embellishes Chen Fan’s resources, but the Truth-Seeking Stone forces a distinction between her boast and Chen Fan’s actual capabilities.
• Family, duty, and succession: The Tang siblings’ different ambitions and abilities reveal a relatively peaceful contest in which the heir is chosen by contribution rather than open rivalry.
• Discovery and opportunity: Chen Fan’s journey unexpectedly yields a rare blueprint, suggesting that exploration and chance can advance his larger plans.
• Imitation and identity: Strange entities mimic human agriculture, while characters perform roles—Tang Yue invents a business partnership and Chen Fan travels under a commercial identity.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan declines to help the Ghost Emperor directly, instead instructing the Mortal Domain to monitor the Black Tortoise.
• Tang Yue and Chen Fan quickly establish a friendly arrangement: she supplies access to the city, and he supports her claim at the family gathering.
• When Tang Yue is challenged, Chen Fan calmly takes the Truth-Seeking Stone test, while Crippled Monkey intervenes angrily on her behalf.
• The Tang patriarch welcomes Chen Fan, then sells him the White Tiger Cannon blueprint after recognizing both his resources and his interest.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan concludes his trip to the Black Tortoise Plains, where he acquired two valuable Blue-Grade Building Blueprints and arranged for the Tang Lineage to work with his trade association.
• At Yellow Springs Pass, Jiu Wu learns that an enormous new strange tide—with three peak Ghost Emperors—has secretly gathered to attack the frontline. He chooses not to warn the Mortal Domain, but sends lesser tides to patrol the Yellow Springs Pass defenses to preserve the appearance that he is still attacking them.
• Back at Nameless Mountain, Chen Fan establishes the Northbank Merchant Association, assigning Wang Kui to organize its expansion into seven regions to gather intelligence and purchase rare goods and blueprints.
• Chen Fan builds and maxes out the White Tiger Cannon. Its devastating lightning beam is costly to charge but comparatively cheap to fire; he then builds one hundred across the Northbank Defense Line.
• He constructs and upgrades the Formation Hall, unlocking several formations. At Level 10, after importing soil from another continent, the Hall reveals the Teleportation Formation.
• Chen Fan recruits a mild-mannered Level 9 Formation Master from the Logistics Pavilion to activate the Hall. Discovering that teleportation can connect distant locations and support portable Formation Discs, he immediately seeks the Mortal Domain’s other Formation Masters so the system can be put into use.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan returns from a leisurely journey with a more expansive vision: the Mortal Domain should extend its reach into the Eternal Night Hinterlands. His focus shifts from acquiring individual weapons and blueprints to building trade, intelligence, defense, and transportation networks.
• Jiu Wu remains self-interested and secretive. Though he recognizes that the frontline may be in grave danger, he prioritizes avoiding blame from his own faction.
• Wang Kui presents the plan for regional expansion and takes charge of organizing the merchant association after Chen Fan names it.
• The Tang Lineage patriarch treats Chen Fan respectfully, profits from their blueprint dealings, and provides a trusted foothold for the Mortal Domain’s commercial expansion.
• Qi Yue quietly points out that Chen Fan already has powerful single-target defenses, but Chen Fan is more impressed by the White Tiger Cannon’s role and firepower.
• The newly summoned Formation Master is cooperative and unassuming. Chen Fan uses his blood to register him in the Formation Hall, unlocking detailed formation information.

Significant themes

• Expansion and opportunity: Chen Fan sees the Hinterlands as an underdeveloped field of opportunity and begins creating institutions to exploit it.
• Infrastructure as power: The merchant network, cannon batteries, and Formation Hall show that long-term strength depends not just on combat, but also on trade, logistics, intelligence, and mobility.
• Pragmatism and self-interest: Jiu Wu’s silence contrasts with Chen Fan’s outwardly ambitious, organized plans; both act strategically, but with different priorities.
• Technology and transformation: The Teleportation Formation promises to reshape how the Mortal Domain moves people, while the White Tiger Cannon greatly strengthens its defenses.

Chapter Summary: “A Change in the Strange Entity Clan”

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan establishes the Mortal Domain’s Formation Pavilion, appointing Zhang Qianqiu as acting master. Its first priorities are creating Heaven-Imprisoning Formations and building Teleportation Formations.
• Zhang’s team completes a long-distance Teleportation Formation linking the Mortal Domain harbor with the New Continent. It can transport tens of thousands of people almost instantly, though only small bundles of goods can reliably travel with them.
• Zhang also develops portable, single-use-limited Formation Discs. They can instantly send a user to a known formation, and his experiments produce random-teleportation discs and formations with restricted access. He identifies a security risk—captured members could enable enemy infiltration—and recommends placing formations outside core areas with defenses nearby.
• Over the following year, the Mortal Domain expands its infrastructure and trade network, upgrades defenses, and rebuilds substantial reserves. Chen Fan nevertheless feels uneasy about the lack of strange tides.
• At a remote island, That One is released from the grand array that had imprisoned him. A transformed member of the Strange Entity Clan explains that their home, the Primordial Continent, was conquered by a vastly stronger force called the Royal Clan. The original Strange Entity Clan has effectively ceased to exist, and the Royal Clan is launching an all-out assault on the Eternal Night Continent.
• The warning comes too late to prevent the invasion. At Eternal Night Western Region Black Tortoise Frontline One, the strange tide arrives in overwhelming numbers, led by three powerful Ghost Emperors. Their coordinated attacks breach the ninth-level defense line—the first time it has fallen.
• Chen Fan mobilizes the Mortal Domain: he orders missile support for the breached frontline, prepares a temporary defense line, begins evacuating other populations to Jiangbei, and readies the Spark Plan, a fallback to the New Continent if the continent becomes untenable. As the missile base launches, Ghost Emperor Nine Ya sees the weapons streak across the sky.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shifts from domestic planning and infrastructure development to emergency leadership. Despite the scale of the threat, he chooses to fight and protect people while keeping the New Continent ready as a last refuge.
• Zhang Qianqiu proves to be an exceptionally gifted and inventive Formation Master. His confidence grows as he independently discovers how to modify formations and create new applications.
• That One is freed after decades of imprisonment and immediately commits to defending the Eternal Night Continent, despite believing its defeat is nearly certain.
• The short red-skinned Strange Entity who held That One captive shows conflicted resignation: the Royal Clan’s victory means nothing to him, since it is not a victory achieved by his people.
• The frontline commander moves from concern about complacency to desperate action as the invasion begins.
• Big Fish and Gongyang Yiyue offer a quiet contrast to the impending catastrophe: Big Fish is nearing the end of his life, yet the two remain content with their simple routine.

Significant themes

• False calm before catastrophe: A year without attacks encourages relaxation, but the quiet conceals a far greater danger.
• Survival amid larger powers: The Strange Entity Clan’s conflict with humanity is overtaken by the Royal Clan’s arrival, leaving both sides caught in a struggle beyond their control.
• Preparation and contingency: Teleportation networks, missile bases, evacuation plans, and the Spark Plan show how sustained preparation can create options even in crisis.
• Defeat and dignity: Though That One sees little chance of victory, he chooses to fight; the chapter emphasizes commitment and resistance even when success seems impossible.
• Ordinary life under threat: Dumplings, family, farming, and domestic comfort make the sudden invasion especially stark.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan gives Zhang Qianqiu responsibility, tests his creations, praises his discoveries, and delegates further development to him. Their exchange also addresses the danger that portable formation technology could be exploited by enemies.
• That One confronts his former captor, learns why he has been released, and leaves without further discussion to warn the authorities and return to Jiangbei.
• The Strange Entity’s explanation reveals that the clan had sought a negotiated place to survive, but Eternal Night Hall refused its repeated requests; the Royal Clan’s conquest then erased the original clan’s independence.
• Chen Fan shares a warm, familiar moment with Weiwei over dumplings and observes Big Fish and Gongyang Yiyue, underscoring the peaceful community he is trying to protect.
• The frontline commander receives the warning, coordinates with his troops, and contacts the Mortal Domain as the defense collapses. Meanwhile, Nine Ya’s confusion at the Mortal Domain’s alert turns to alarm as its missiles appear overhead.

Plot points and events

• The Strange Entity Clan launches an all-out assault across the Eternal Night Continent. At Frontline One, three Ghost Emperors break through the defenses, but Mortal Domain Sky-Piercing Pillars arrive in time to destroy the breach and kill them.
• A hidden, robed Strange Entity uses a secret art to turn Wraith Kings into many weaker Ghost Emperors, then makes the tide’s creatures explode with corrosive blood. The defense line is overwhelmed until Shadow Pavilion agent Chu Xiu takes emergency command and restores the shaken commander’s resolve.
• Chen Fan mobilizes the Mortal Domain’s massive, mobile Northbank Defense Line and takes over the frontline. Its Godslayer Cannons and repairs withstand the corrosion. He deduces the hidden entity’s approximate location and orders a broad Sky-Piercing Pillar strike, killing it; the enhanced Strange Tide then collapses.
• At dawn, Old Qiu reports that most Eternal Night frontlines have fallen and the continent may be lost within two weeks. Chen Fan announces the Spark Plan: evacuate the continent’s people and resources to Western Wasteland Island, with the New Continent as a fallback. Eternal Night Hall agrees to cooperate.
• A vast evacuation begins. Teleportation Formations are built across the continent to move people west, while trains and Flying Boats transport supplies. Meanwhile, some defenders head east to hold the frontlines and buy time.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan acts decisively under pressure: he directs the defense, destroys the hidden threat, and offers the Eternal Night Continent a concrete plan and refuge. His calm confidence helps secure Ye Xun’s cooperation.
• Chu Xiu reveals his identity as a Shadow Pavilion member, takes command when the frontline chief loses composure, then returns authority to him once he is steady. He expresses deep faith in Chen Fan and the Mortal Domain.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu and his aged strategist witness the Mortal Domain’s strength. Jiu Wu abandons thoughts of attacking and reflects that he wants a peaceful future—family and home—rather than power and war.
• Old Qiu and Tianyi choose to remain at Frontline Seven, believing their sacrifice may buy civilians another night to escape. They speak wistfully about the ordinary life Tianyi hopes to return to in the Mortal Domain.

Significant themes

• Hope against apparent defeat: Chen Fan rejects the idea that the war is over and turns evacuation into a path toward survival and eventual resistance.
• Sacrifice and duty: Defenders knowingly remain behind so others can flee.
• Cooperation and trust: The Mortal Domain and Eternal Night Hall unite their resources, despite their different origins and uncertain prospects.
• Longing for peace: Jiu Wu and Tianyi both reveal that, beyond the fighting, they want a simple, safe life.

Plot points and events

• As the Strange Tide’s continent-wide assault begins, Chen Fan reinforces Black Tortoise Frontline One, then prepares Jiangbei for a flood of refugees. Black Tortoise City is evacuated, but its proud city lord refuses to leave and stays to face the city’s fall.
• When the Tide reaches the Black Tortoise Plains, the city lord’s Eerie Fires briefly keep the creatures at a distance. Once they break through, he bows before his father’s stele and activates a hidden defense that engulfs the city in flames, destroying Black Tortoise City—and himself—along with many Strange Entities.
• On Western Wasteland Island, Chen Fan and the Mortal Domain race to build additional level-ten defenses and receive people and supplies. With resources delayed, he orders workers to raise tall, weak brick walls disguised as fortifications, hoping to buy time. The evacuation sends the elderly, women, and children to the New Continent while able-bodied adults join the effort.
• In the Southern Region, the newly freed being known as “That One” has held a defense line alone for two days and a night. He draws the enemy commander close, then summons a hidden giant hammer to crush it and the surrounding Strange Entities. He continues toward the next defense line, accompanied by two bickering crocodiles.
• At Black Tortoise Frontline Seven, with ammunition nearly exhausted and dawn still hours away, Old Qiu and his former student Tianyi sacrifice themselves. They ignite their power and charge into the Tide as two blazing “suns,” covering the retreat.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains tireless and pragmatic, balancing evacuation, construction, and defense. He improvises with deceptive defenses because time and supplies are scarce.
• The Black Tortoise City lord reveals how deeply he identifies with the city he built and inherited from his father. His final act turns that attachment into a deliberate sacrifice.
• That One shows both immense power and a dry, teasing sense of humor. He rejects the idea that the New Continent is his home, saying the Eternal Night Continent is home to him now. His exchanges with the Strange Entity commander and the crocodiles reveal his familiarity and affection for his companions.
• Old Qiu reflects on his stubborn past and regrets the cost it brought to his family. His final charge gives meaning to the motto he and Tianyi created; Tianyi follows him, honoring their shared bond and accepting the same sacrifice.
• The Tang family’s departure, including Tang Yue’s conversation with her family head, underscores the painful uncertainty of whether the refugees will ever return.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and duty: The city lord, That One, Old Qiu, and Tianyi stay behind or risk themselves so others can survive.
• Home and belonging: Home is not merely a place of origin; it is where one chooses to protect others.
• Improvisation under pressure: Chen Fan’s false walls and the city lord’s last defense reflect the desperate ingenuity required by a collapsing world.
• Regret and legacy: Old Qiu’s memories, the city lord’s devotion to his father’s work, and Tianyi’s recollection of their motto show how past choices shape final acts.
• Hope amid loss: The evacuation and the frantic construction effort continue even as regions fall, sustained by the possibility of buying time.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Eternal Night’s last defense lines fall. At Western Black Tortoise Frontline Seven, the defenders find the ashes of Qiu Yisi and Tianyi, who died during the second night of the invasion. An elderly commander makes cenotaphs for them and reads Qiu’s diary, learning that Qiu had resolved to die fighting. Despite the likely loss of the frontline, the remaining defenders refuse to retreat while refugees flee north toward Western Wasteland Island.
• The enemy leadership dismisses the Thunderstorm Sea. The Strange Entity Clan’s ruler orders the invasion to continue, then uses the Heaven-Questioning Bell to investigate the storm surrounding Eternal Night Continent. The bell says passage is “one hundred percent” possible, though a Ghost Emperor sent into the storm is struck by lightning and trapped. The ruler concludes that the invasion should proceed.
• Eternal Night Continent is nearly destroyed. Five days later, Chen Fan learns that Eternal Night Hall’s twelfth hall master has died and that all twelve hall leaders have fallen. Western Wasteland Island seals itself off as the continent’s remaining defenders make their last stand. Across Eternal Night, Eerie Fires go out, leaving only the island’s defenses alight.
• Weiwei’s parents arrive mortally wounded. They bring the unconscious, gravely injured That One to the Mortal Domain’s Yellow Springs Mouth. Weiwei is overjoyed to see them, but both crocodiles die soon afterward. Chen Fan arranges for the Jiangnan He Family to try to save them and sends That One to Medicine King Valley for treatment.
• The first great Strange Tide reaches the Mortal Domain. Chen Fan prepares to defend Yellow Springs Mouth, hoping to buy time to use the resources gathered from fleeing factions. A vast army of Strange Entities advances toward his defenses.
• Jiu Wu turns on the Royal Clan. The cowardly but powerful Weird Emperor Jiu Wu and his followers kneel to the invading force. When a Royal Clan leader mocks them and casually kills Jiu Wu’s longtime adviser, Old Strange Entity, Jiu Wu finally fights in earnest. He kills the Ghost Emperor guarding the leader, then swallows the leader and calls to Chen Fan to bombard Yellow Springs City. Chen Fan’s strike destroys the city and kills the captive leader, but Jiu Wu also dies from his wounds and the bombardment. The wider Strange Tide continues toward the Mortal Domain.

Character developments

• Qiu Yisi and Tianyi are honored as fallen defenders. Their deaths embody the determination of Eternal Night’s forces to resist even when defeat seems certain.
• Chen Fan remains focused and practical under immense pressure. He organizes medical help, strengthens the defenses, and recognizes that time—not immediate victory—is his most vital resource.
• Weiwei reunites with its parents, only to lose them shortly afterward. The reunion reveals Weiwei’s deep affection and longing for them.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu undergoes the chapter’s sharpest change. Once driven by fear and self-preservation, he acts courageously after Old Strange Entity is killed. His final attack is both an act of vengeance and a self-sacrificing effort to help Chen Fan.
• Old Strange Entity is revealed as Jiu Wu’s loyal adviser and closest companion, whose concern for Jiu Wu persists even as he dies.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and courage: Defenders, refugees, and Jiu Wu all make costly choices to protect others or resist overwhelming forces.
• The devastation of war: The extinguished Eerie Fires and the Heavenly Dao’s mournful rain emphasize the scale of death across Eternal Night.
• Loyalty and grief: Weiwei’s reunion with its parents and Jiu Wu’s bond with Old Strange Entity show how personal attachments endure amid catastrophe.
• Dignity and identity: Jiu Wu rejects being dismissed as “Hey,” insisting on his name and choosing how he will be remembered.
• Hope through endurance: Chen Fan’s strategy depends on surviving long enough to build strength, even as the Mortal Domain faces its largest assault yet.

Character interactions

• The elderly commander honors Qiu Yisi and Tianyi while sharing their determination to stand their ground.
• The Strange Entity ruler consults the Heaven-Questioning Bell, whose cryptic answers leave him unable to understand the Thunderstorm Sea.
• Weiwei welcomes its parents with food and treasured objects; they respond with tenderness before succumbing to their injuries.
• Chen Fan coordinates care for Weiwei’s parents and That One with the Jiangnan He Family, Medicine King Valley, and Little Qiu.
• Jiu Wu’s followers obey the Royal Clan’s humiliating demands until Old Strange Entity’s death prompts Jiu Wu to resist. His final message to Chen Fan enables the strike that kills the Royal Clan leader—but cannot stop the advancing tide.