Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan considers three new dark technologies, each costing his last source point: Sky-Piercing Pillar Range Boost (extends its range to a Signal Tower’s coverage), Dark Abyss Generation (a chance to create a low-level Black Abyss), and Public Safety (reduces natural disasters when society is stable).
• He rejects Public Safety for now because the Heavenly Lion already provides some overlapping protection. Though the economic option seems more practical, curiosity about a military technology’s “mushroom cloud” icon leads him to spend the point on the range boost.
• The newly revealed Mushroom Cloud technology would let a Sky-Piercing Pillar store half the damage of a full-power defensive-structure strike and release it when fired. Combined with the range boost, this could turn the Pillar into an extremely long-range, reusable missile platform. Chen Fan is excited—but frustrated that he lacks the source point needed to activate Mushroom Cloud. He resolves to acquire more points and prioritize economic technologies afterward.
• Separately, the Dark Eerie Continent agrees to seek out and sell more of the valuable silver orbs to the Mortal Domain, since its people cannot use or appraise them.
• Chen Fan inspects the Mortal Domain’s enormous Black Tortoise Sky Pillar, which doubles as a public landmark and an experiment in reaching extreme altitudes. Built largely from Copper Pipes that are made permanent with Phantom Copper, it already reaches 14,000 kilometers.
• At 10,000 kilometers, Chen installs a level-20 Signal Tower. The expedition reveals that Signal Tower communication range is limited by altitude as well as horizontal distance: above 10,000 kilometers, another tower is needed to maintain contact.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan shows both strategic ambition and impulsiveness. He understands that economic development may be more practical, yet the appeal of the “mushroom cloud” wins him over. He also continues to think ahead about concealing and deploying powerful weapons.
• Chen Fan and his subjects: From the observation platform, he watches a grandfather and child turned away from the tower during his inspection. The orderly, considerate response—and the citizens’ contentment—reassures him that he is governing well.
• The grandfather and child share a warm, affectionate moment: after the boy is disappointed that the tower is closed, his grandfather cheers him up by promising candied hawthorn.
• The Dark Eerie elder calmly accepts the Mortal Domain’s request for more silver orbs and plans to find other continents that may have them.
• The Black Tortoise City lord respectfully accompanies Chen Fan on the ascent, while Crippled Monkey and War Pavilion members join the inspection.

Significant themes

• Technology and military escalation: Dark technology transforms existing infrastructure into weapons with extraordinary range and efficiency.
• Scarcity and prioritization: With only one source point, Chen Fan must choose among military, economic, and public-welfare advances.
• Infrastructure and exploration: The Sky Pillar represents the Mortal Domain’s capacity to push beyond ordinary limits through engineering and organization.
• Governance and social stability: Chen Fan judges his leadership partly by the everyday well-being and civility of his citizens.
• Hidden rules of the world: The Signal Tower’s altitude limitation illustrates how exploration can uncover constraints that most civilizations would never encounter.

Plot and key events

• Chen Fan inspects the Eternal Night Continent’s development and visits the Black Tortoise Sky Pillar, which is rising toward a height of 20,000 kilometers.
• When the pillar reaches that height, every attempt to extend it farther fails: ordinary and Phantom Copper Pipes turn to ash, and a Signal Tower is partly erased. Chen Fan concludes that the world imposes a hard 20,000-kilometer limit.
• A Level-20 Heavenly Dao Cannon strike reveals a faint, heptagonal golden barrier above the platform. The attack makes it ripple but does not break it. The Lord Panel identifies the barrier as the Fallen Firmament and awards Chen Fan a dark technology source point for being the first Player to make contact with it.
• Believing the barrier may be damaged by enough concentrated fire, Chen Fan considers using many cannons to breach it. He then asks the Heaven-Questioning Bell about the Fallen Firmament and learns that it was the sky of the shattered Primordial Continent. Breaking through could let primordial spiritual energy pour onto the continent and create Black Abysses.
• Chen Fan unlocks Mushroom Cloud, his fifth military dark technology, but resolves to direct future source points toward economic technologies, despite being tempted by a powerful anti-aircraft upgrade.
• The chapter ends as he tests the new technology: a nearby Level-20 cannon fires at a Level-1 Sky-Piercing Pillar, and Chen Fan waits to see whether it can withstand the attack.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Fan remains curious and methodical, testing the sky barrier himself after ordinary construction fails. He quickly shifts from surprise to considering how it might be breached.
• He shows strategic restraint over dark technology: though the military upgrade is extremely appealing, he prioritizes long-term economic development.
• The Black Tortoise City Lord and Crippled Monkey are stunned by the revelation that Heaven and Earth limit exploration. Mr. Na admits he knows nothing of the restriction and doubts their weapons can overcome it.
• Chen Fan’s exchanges with Mr. Na clarify the discovery; his use of the Heaven-Questioning Bell supplies crucial information, though at a cost of one million eerie stones.

Significant themes

• Limits of exploration: Human ambition encounters a boundary imposed by the world itself.
• Curiosity and discovery: Careful experiments and unexpected clues reveal a hidden cosmic history.
• Power versus patience: Military technologies promise immediate protection, while economic development requires foresight.
• A fallen world’s legacy: The barrier may be the remnant of the Primordial Continent, and breaking it could bring both new resources and a major transformation to the continent.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan completes two Level-20 Sky-Piercing Pillars, each loaded with a Heavenly Dao Cannon shot, intending to test their power and range.
• When Feng Qiya agents whip and return two Mortal Domain spies, Chen demands an explanation within one incense stick’s time. If none comes, the Mortal Domain will “give them an explanation” at each passing interval.
• Feng Qiya’s ruler interprets Chen’s formal, restrained letter as a sign of weakness. His ministers reveal that Feng Qiya plans to attack the Mortal Domain’s New Continent to seize its Continent Core and advance to a third-level continent.
• At the Mortal Domain outpost, the injured spies admit they deliberately allowed themselves to be caught, hoping their suffering would provoke a war. Their group leader reprimands them for disobeying orders and explains the costs of conflict.
• When the deadline expires without a reply, a blazing Sky-Piercing Pillar races toward Feng Qiya. The outpost leader realizes this is Chen’s promised “explanation” and rallies the troops.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan appears outwardly diplomatic but remains decisive and aggressive; he uses Feng Qiya’s provocation as an opportunity to test his new weapons.
• Feng Qiya’s ruler and ministers grow confident after mistaking restraint for fear, and prepare for an attack they believe will be easy.
• Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba reveal reckless, self-sacrificing loyalty: they hoped their capture would create a pretext for war. Their leader rebukes them for acting beyond their orders, while acknowledging that the Mortal Domain’s priorities have changed.
• The Shadow Pavilion leader balances discipline with loyalty, urging his subordinates to recognize that the domain must now prioritize development over impulsive conflict. The approaching weapon rekindles his enthusiasm for battle and advancement.

Significant themes

• Misreading restraint: Feng Qiya mistakes a measured warning for weakness, while the Mortal Domain’s response proves that diplomacy does not mean hesitation.
• Development versus war: The Shadow Pavilion leader emphasizes the human and material costs of conflict as the Mortal Domain grows into a larger power.
• Duty versus personal ambition: The spies’ desire for glory and promotion conflicts with their responsibility to follow orders.
• Power as deterrence: The Sky-Piercing Pillar turns Chen’s carefully worded threat into a devastatingly literal answer.

Key plot points

• The Mortal Domain fires a Level-1 Sky-Piercing Pillar across the sea, destroying two secret Vehicle Workshops on the Feng Qiya Continent. The attack kills tens of thousands, wipes out newly built Flying Boats, and devastates the surrounding area.
• The Feng Qiya ruler recognizes the strike as a warning from the Mortal Domain but cannot identify how it was delivered or how the workshops were discovered. He orders communications tightened and seeks peace, while preparing to fight if necessary.
• Chen Fan learns that Feng Qiya is offering reparations, but postpones a reply to test a Level-20 Sky-Piercing Pillar. He sends it on a higher-altitude trajectory and adds a warning that another strike is imminent.
• The second attack destroys Feng Qiya’s Western Granary, along with food and seeds that could have sustained the continent for ten years. Feng Qiya again pleads for peace and orders its people not to provoke the Mortal Domain.
• Chen Fan concludes that the Level-20 Pillar’s max-level effects work: compressing a Heavenly Dao Cannon’s power into a concentrated strike increases its destructive force, though it greatly reduces the area affected. He notes that the weapon is costly and war is economically wasteful unless it forces victory or reparations.
• Meanwhile, Weiwei is high above the world with his crocodile parents. His father urges him to use his innate Formation Break talent to break the mysterious Fallen Firmament before the Mortal Domain spends resources attacking it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan is confident and experimentally minded, treating Feng Qiya’s secret facilities as targets for testing his new weapon. He has no immediate intention of starting a full war, preferring to let the Mortal Domain develop further.
• The Feng Qiya ruler shifts from shock and anger to cautious appeasement. Though he publicly maintains a firm posture, privately he fears the unknown weapon and doubts his continent’s chances in a war.
• Weiwei’s father pushes him to prove himself and earn recognition as Beast Pavilion Master, contrasting a major achievement with his routine work tending animals. Weiwei remains bewildered and uncertain.
• The Mortal Domain’s presence by the eerie stones is too small to fight openly, but its soldiers expect to act if their superiors authorize retaliation.

Significant themes

• Deterrence and uncertainty: The attacks demonstrate power while leaving Feng Qiya unsure how the Mortal Domain found its targets or how to defend against its weapons.
• War’s cost: Even effective strikes consume vast resources, making victory or reparations essential to justify continued conflict.
• Power and responsibility: Weiwei is pressured to use his rare talent for the Mortal Domain’s benefit—and for his family’s standing.

Plot and key events

• Weiwei, the Mortal Domain’s crocodile Beast Pavilion Lord, tries to break the Fallen Firmament barrier at the Black Tortoise Sky Pillar. His powerful strike only makes it tremble, so his parents encourage him to keep trying. Chen Fan lets the experiment continue, using Weiwei’s attacks to learn whether the barrier absorbs a fixed total amount of damage or rapidly repairs itself.
• Chen Fan instructs Wang Kui to make the first Mortal Domain Spring Examination a major, fair route into public service. It will have nine subjects and nine top rankers, who are to receive senior posts; other high-performing candidates should also be offered good positions.
• A popular folk Storybook, Golden Plum, tells of a poor examination candidate who is helped by strangers, becomes Top Ranker, and later rewards his benefactors. Chen Fan recognizes its broad appeal and its cultural significance. Its popularity unexpectedly completes the hidden Heavenly Dao blessing “Cultural Birth,” granting him a dark technology source point and five billion eerie stones.
• Mr. Na explains the five hidden blessings for a second-level continent: cultural birth, a continent-wide Imperial Examination, major trade ties, discovering a rare Island or Special Terrain, and surviving the three-year protection period. Completing them, along with gathering the required soil and using a Continent Core, could let the Mortal Domain advance to a third-level continent.
• As the examination approaches, candidates and spectators gather in Mortal City. Zhang Qianqiu, head of the Formation Pavilion, brings his son to compete rather than simply appointing him to the Pavilion. The son worries that winning might look like favoritism, but Zhang insists that merit earned through the examination will be legitimate.
• People speculate about which subjects will lead to the best careers, especially Arithmetic, management, agriculture, and commerce. Chen Fan and Crippled Monkey observe the crowd in disguise.

Character developments and interactions

• Weiwei shows both immense strength and childlike discouragement; his crocodile parents motivate him to persist.
• Chen Fan remains relaxed and strategic, turning Weiwei’s failed attempt into useful research. He also values the examination as a way to build capable middle-ranking officials and broaden public opportunity.
• Zhang Qianqiu demonstrates a commitment to impartiality despite his influence: he wants his son to qualify through the same process as everyone else. His son moves from anxiety about appearances to admiration and renewed determination.
• Mr. Na acts as Chen Fan’s guide to the Heavenly Dao’s hidden objectives, clarifying how recent cultural developments and exploration plans can aid the Mortal Domain’s growth.
• The crowd’s lively debate reflects growing public investment in the examination and its promise of social advancement.

Significant themes

• Merit and fair advancement: The examination is designed to select officials by achievement, while Zhang’s decision to make his son compete publicly addresses the danger of nepotism.
• Cultural growth: A popular story becomes more than entertainment: it marks the emergence of a shared literary culture and earns a Heavenly Dao reward.
• Pragmatic leadership and experimentation: Chen Fan treats setbacks as opportunities to gather information and thinks ahead about the Mortal Domain’s development.
• Opportunity, loyalty, and reciprocity: Golden Plum celebrates kindness repaid, echoing the examination’s promise that talent and good deeds can change people’s fortunes.
• Ambition and social mobility: Candidates and citizens see the examination as a path to status, meaningful work, and a better future.

Key plot points and events

• As the Mortal Domain prepares for its first Spring Examination, its other departments continue their work. A Commerce Pavilion crew exploring uncharted seas becomes trapped in an invisible “Void Marsh”: their Flying Boat slows almost to a halt, and communications with the Mortal Domain are cut off.
• The boat captain stays calm, following his training to avoid rash action. When a small, unknown island appears, he marks its location on the map and leads three companions ashore while a fourth remains with the boat.
• The island’s barren forest is unnaturally silent. After the crew hears a faint noise and fires their Pocket Cannons, one member discovers that their Level-3 Eerie Fire has been stolen. Another panics and runs off alone.
• The captain deduces that a Strange Entity is manipulating their sense of time and using distractions to steal the fire. He suspects it may be dangerous but vulnerable to attack, and that its interest in tormenting them could give them an opening.
• When Eternal Night falls, the captain and two remaining men stand back-to-back without Eerie Fire. A hidden entity slashes the captain repeatedly, apparently trying to provoke a reaction. He endures the attacks, then grabs it when it finally makes physical contact and fires his cannon at close range, killing it.
• The captain survives long enough to treat his wounds with Altar Water. He warns his companions that other entities may still be nearby.

Character developments

• The boat captain proves resourceful and disciplined under extreme pressure. Though he admits he is not naturally clever, he reasons through the entity’s tactics and uses his composure to bait it into reach.
• The young crew members are frightened by the unknown danger. One loses control and flees; the two who remain follow the captain’s lead despite their fear.
• Chen Fan and Crippled Monkey appear briefly at the start, discussing the Spring Examination and talent recruitment, setting up the wider Mortal Domain context.

Significant themes

• Composure in crisis: Training and self-control can preserve the chance to survive when panic would be disastrous.
• Observation and adaptation: The captain builds a theory from the entity’s actions, then turns its apparent game of torment into an opportunity.
• The limits of preparation: Even a well-equipped, trained exploration crew is vulnerable in territory no one has mapped or studied.
• Fear and isolation: The silent island, severed communications, and sudden Eternal Night intensify the crew’s sense of helplessness.
• Predator and prey: The entity treats the explorers as playthings, but the captain refuses to behave as expected and reverses the encounter.

Character interactions

• Crippled Monkey reports the public’s enthusiasm for the examination to Chen Fan, who acknowledges the need to recruit talent.
• The captain reassures the anxious young crewman and gives the team clear instructions as they explore.
• After one member runs, the captain does not chase him; instead, he focuses on protecting those who remain and interpreting the threat.
• The entity singles out the captain, whose stillness frustrates it. He exploits its eventual close approach, kills it, and then reassures his companions while keeping them alert.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Taiping’s exploration team survives a night on Rugged Island, defeats its octopus-like Strange Entity, and claims the Mortal Domain’s first Rare Island. A green rain restores the island’s vegetation, while a Stone Stele announces the occupation and names Zhang as its captain.
• The island’s special effect is a small chance of resurrecting people buried there, provided at least 30% of the body remains. Chen Fan welcomes it as a potential source of hope for those who die serving the Mortal Domain.
• The discovery completes a World Exploration blessing, earning Chen Fan a Heavenly Dao Stone, a Dark Technology Source Point, and five billion Eerie Stones. Zhang’s achievement also makes him famous and inspires young people to consider joining the Commerce Pavilion.
• A rumor spreads that Chen Fan murdered his parents. He suspects an insider is behind it and orders the Shadow Pavilion to investigate.
• The Eternal Night Continent’s protection ends early when the Thunderstorm Sea collapses. Strange Tides surround the continent, though Chen Fan remains confident the Mortal Domain’s weapons can deal with them.
• Seeing the crisis as an opportunity, the Lord of Feng Qiya launches a secret invasion of the New Continent with 3,000 Flying Boats, hoping to seize it and advance his continent. Meanwhile, Zhang’s returning boat approaches the fleet—and dozens of enemy vessels turn toward him.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan balances celebration of the Mortal Domain’s expansion with new political and military threats. He values Rugged Island’s resurrection potential, stays composed about the Strange Tide, and treats the accusations against him as a coordinated plot rather than reacting impulsively.
• Zhang Taiping becomes a celebrated pioneer, but remains modest with his crew and cautions them not to become boastful. His cheerful return journey ends in sudden danger.
• Mr. Na warns Chen Fan that the Mortal Domain’s rapid growth will bring conflict and urges him to be ready.
• The Lord of Feng Qiya is driven by fear of the Mortal Domain and desperation to preserve his continent, gambling nearly all its military reserves on a surprise attack.
• Crippled Monkey voices concern about the Strange Tide; Chen Fan answers that the Mortal Domain is willing to fight, though not eager for war.

Significant themes

• Exploration and ambition: A single discovery brings fame, resources, and a new foothold in the wider world.
• Hope amid death: Rugged Island’s rare chance of resurrection offers comfort to those who die in service.
• Growth brings danger: The Mortal Domain’s expanding power draws attention, rivalry, and eventual conflict.
• Fear and desperation: Feng Qiya’s invasion shows how a weaker neighbor may take extreme risks when it sees no safe future.
• Progress and confidence: Chen Fan trusts technology and preparation over costly hand-to-hand combat, while the populace’s confidence reflects the Mortal Domain’s recent successes.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Taiping’s exploration team discovers a hostile fleet of thousands of Flying Boats heading toward the New Continent. A pursuing group blocks their communications, leaving the team unable to warn the Mortal Domain.
• To give the others a chance to escape and get a message through, Zhang Taiping cuts off his own legs and has his subordinates throw him into the sea. Once the signal-blocking range ends, he sends the warning—but a gigantic sea creature swallows him moments later.
• His Life Tablet shatters, alerting the Mortal Domain. Chen Fan learns that the New Continent faces a dawn raid and immediately mobilizes the Domain for war, ordering evacuation, supplies, weapons, and missile preparations.
• Mr. Na urges caution, warning that an attack on Feng Qiya Continent could create a second enemy and undermine the Mortal Domain’s survival. Chen Fan refuses to back down, arguing that decisive war is preferable to endless provocation.
• Chen Fan prepares a fleet armed with Level-20 Heavenly Dao Cannons, disguises it as Dark Eerie Continent merchant vessels, and plans to strike the enemy fleet at sea while coordinating a surprise missile attack on Feng Qiya’s key sites.
• Dark Eerie Continent detects the invasion through concealed tracking devices in its speed-enhancing discs but refuses to warn the Mortal Domain, citing neutrality and the risk of exposing its surveillance.
• At dawn, the disguised Mortal Domain fleet meets the invading force. The enemy realizes the deception too late; the Mortal Domain’s cannons fire first and unleash a devastating barrage.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Taiping chooses to protect his subordinates rather than preserve his own life or return to his wife and daughter. His sacrifice reflects the leadership lesson he learned from Wang Mazi: a leader must put the people under his care first. He dies after successfully delivering the warning, though he worries that the possibility of resurrection might leave his family waiting for him.
• His three subordinates grieve but obey his plan, escaping to carry on the mission.
• Chen Fan shifts from patient development to uncompromising retaliation. He rejects Mr. Na’s strategic caution and takes command of a full wartime mobilization.
• Mr. Na challenges Chen Fan but ultimately shares confidential information: Zhang Taiping could be resurrected if enough of his remains are recovered and buried on Rugged Island with the rare treasure Heavenly Fortune.
• Wang Mazi channels the Domain’s anger into a rallying speech for the boat captains, invoking Zhang Taiping’s sacrifice and the need to defend the Mortal Domain.
• Dark Eerie Continent’s ruler refuses his subordinate’s plea to help, prioritizing neutrality and protecting the secret behind the tracking devices.

Significant themes

• Leadership and sacrifice: Zhang Taiping embodies responsibility by giving up his chance to survive so his team can escape and warn the Domain.
• Loyalty and shared purpose: The crew’s devotion to one another, and the broader Mortal Domain’s rapid mobilization, show how personal bonds strengthen collective resolve.
• Retaliation versus restraint: Chen Fan sees decisive force as a way to end repeated aggression; Mr. Na sees war as a threat to long-term survival.
• Neutrality and self-interest: Dark Eerie Continent’s refusal to intervene illustrates the political cost of prioritizing secrecy and self-preservation over potential alliance.
• The price of hope: The possibility of Zhang Taiping’s resurrection offers hope, but he fears it may prolong his family’s grief.

Concise Chapter Summary

Plot and major events

• The Feng Qiya Continent sends over 3,000 Flying Boats to attack the New Continent, intending to destroy much of it and then seize control. A dozen disguised boats intercept them and fire Level-20 Heavenly Dao Cannons, wiping out the entire fleet in one strike. The attack costs the Mortal Domain roughly six billion Eerie Stones.
• Chen Fan orders a counteroffensive: fourteen Sky-Piercing Pillars carrying nuclear warheads are launched at strategic targets inside Feng Qiya, while more than a thousand Flying Boats head toward the continent with troops, supplies, and weapons. The proposed plan is to bombard the northern coast, land there, build a 700-kilometer wall armed with thirty-five Heavenly Dao Cannons, and annihilate Feng Qiya.
• Shadow Pavilion agents trapped on Feng Qiya refuse to be taken alive as bargaining chips. Their leader, Xiao Qi, Xiao Ba, and the others kill themselves rather than risk compromising or humiliating the Mortal Domain. Chen Fan receives the news but remains composed and orders the operation to continue.
• Feng Qiya offers thirty billion Eerie Stones in reparations and asks for peace. Chen Fan rejects the offer, deciding that the continent must pay with lives rather than money.
• The Rat Kingdom, a trading nation of Giant Black Rats on the Dark Eerie Continent, recognizes the Mortal Domain’s strength and heads toward Feng Qiya to observe the coming conflict. Other nearby continents are also converging, turning the impending battle into a gathering point for regional powers.
• As Chen Fan’s fleet travels to the front, he orders the Spring Examination’s Military Strategy question changed to ask whether the Mortal Domain should retaliate and, if so, how to plan the campaign.
• Back in Mortal City, the First Spring Examination begins. Candidates in the Formations exam are tasked with studying and reproducing an Acceleration Formation Disc purchased from the Dark Eerie Continent. Zhang Qianqiu, the Formation Pavilion Master, watches his son’s group—and notices one candidate begin building a disc unusually early.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan shifts from measured leadership to a controlled, uncompromising resolve. Though furious over the attack and the deaths of the Shadow Pavilion agents, he deliberately suppresses his emotions to avoid weakening his judgment. His rejection of reparations signals that this retaliation is about deterrence and preserving the Mortal Domain’s standing, not financial recovery.
• The Shadow Pavilion leader, Xiao Qi, and Xiao Ba demonstrate loyalty and pride by choosing death over capture. The leader regrets having previously pleaded for Xiao Qi and Xiao Ba to avoid punishment, but they insist they are glad they came, and that their pride matters more than survival.
• Zhang Qianqiu balances his duty as examiner with his role as a father. He refuses to give his son any advantage and watches without intervening, while also worrying that a group member’s premature attempt could waste their materials.
• The Rat Kingdom King remains committed to neutrality and learning from others, but the destruction of Feng Qiya’s fleet forces him to reassess the Mortal Domain’s power and the intelligence networks of neighboring continents.
• Wang Kui carries out Chen Fan’s orders and reports on the campaign, including the unanswered peace requests.

Significant themes

• Deterrence and retaliation: Chen Fan believes repeated restraint invites further attacks; a forceful response is necessary to protect the Mortal Domain’s future.
• The cost and cruelty of war: The campaign consumes vast resources, while the Shadow Pavilion agents pay with their lives. Victory is portrayed as costly even before the invasion begins.
• Loyalty, pride, and sacrifice: The agents choose death rather than becoming leverage against their homeland.
• Self-reliance and security: The Mortal Domain wants to reproduce the foreign Formation Disc rather than depend on a supplier, especially after discovering it contains a hidden locator pattern.
• Fairness and merit: Zhang Qianqiu’s refusal to help his son reflects the examination’s emphasis on earned ability and impartiality.
• Regional power and intelligence: The Rat Kingdom’s observations reveal that multiple continents have their own information networks and are watching the Mortal Domain’s response.

Key plot points and events

• During the Mortal Domain’s First Spring Examination, seventeen-year-old candidate Eight Hundred explains how to reproduce the Acceleration Formation Disc. He identifies the disc’s layered patterns and argues that a smaller set of 76 patterns actually generates its speed.
• Pavilion Master Zhang Qianqiu confirms Eight Hundred’s insight, then discovers the disc’s many apparent “ineffective” patterns distribute pressure across the entire disc. This allows ordinary materials to withstand its power and keeps production costs down.
• Zhang gives Eight Hundred and Zhang’s son extra time to reproduce the disc. They succeed, and Zhang reports that mass production could begin within ten days.
• Chen Fan learns the news while leading a fleet toward the Feng Qiya Continent. The new disc will further increase the Mortal Domain’s flying-boat speed, strengthening its military reach and exploration capacity.
• Crippled Monkey brings Chen Fan an examination paper by Long Live, an elderly former strategist. The paper recommends an immediate, all-in invasion of Feng Qiya, using deception, a rapid landing on its narrow northern coast, and swift deployment of Heavenly Dao Cannons.
• Chen Fan summons Long Live. The two agree on much of the strategy, but Long Live rejects Chen Fan’s idea of publicly warning civilians to evacuate. He argues that such a warning would reveal the plan, invite the enemy to use civilians as shields, and endanger the Mortal Domain’s people in future conflicts.

Character developments

• Eight Hundred emerges as a remarkable young talent: self-taught, observant, and unusually perceptive about formations. He is also humble enough to admit what he cannot explain, and credits Zhang’s son with strong practical inscription skills. His family history—parents lost during the great retreat and a missing younger sister—reveals the personal cost of the war and his hope of being found through future success.
• Zhang Qianqiu shifts from evaluating the candidate skeptically to recognizing both his insight and the larger breakthrough. His own expertise helps complete the explanation of the disc’s design.
• Chen Fan celebrates the discovery as a major contribution, while also reflecting on past strategic hesitation and the moral weight of the coming war.
• Long Live proves to be a bold, clear-eyed strategist who is willing to challenge Chen Fan directly. He sees strategy as including not only tactical advice but also helping a ruler bear the moral burden of difficult choices.
• Crippled Monkey remains loyal and supportive, though he does not understand the deeper burden Chen Fan has been carrying.

Significant themes

• Talent and education: The private-school system and examinations uncover ability hidden among ordinary people; Eight Hundred’s discovery shows how such talent can benefit the whole domain.
• Innovation and collective progress: A technical breakthrough has consequences far beyond the exam hall, improving military mobility, exploration, and the Mortal Domain’s strategic position.
• The cost of war: The characters’ plans are shaped by memories of deaths and sacrifice, while military choices threaten further losses.
• Pragmatism versus morality: Chen Fan’s concern for civilians and reputation clashes with Long Live’s insistence that protecting one’s own people must take priority over appearing virtuous.
• Leadership and moral burden: Long Live argues that a ruler’s duty is to act wisely for his own people, even when doing so brings condemnation; he also implicitly helps Chen Fan accept responsibility for that choice.

Character interactions

• Eight Hundred confidently challenges Zhang Qianqiu’s initial reading of the formation disc, while Zhang tests his claims and supplies the missing insight about pressure distribution. Eight Hundred then warmly praises Zhang’s son’s practical skill.
• Chen Fan reacts to the formation discovery with elation and shares its significance with Crippled Monkey, who affirms his commitment to the domain’s development.
• Long Live’s blunt counsel challenges Chen Fan’s proposed civilian warning and forces the discussion from battlefield logistics to the ethics and political consequences of war. Chen Fan listens, recognizes Long Live’s candor, and allows him to voice a burden he had been carrying.

Plot points and events

• Chen Fan orders the elderly man returned, while the Mortal Domain’s fleet prepares to confront the Feng Qiya Continent over its attack on the New Continent.
• Five days after the attack, nearly a thousand Mortal Domain Flying Boats surround Feng Qiya’s coasts. Chen Fan demands the Feng Qiya Continent Lord appear within two hours to discuss reparations, or face all-out war.
• Continent Lords from nearby territories arrive to observe and mediate. Chen Fan’s fleet appears formidable, but one spectator assumes the Mortal Domain cannot afford to fire its many powerful cannons.
• Feng Qiya’s Lord denies responsibility, claiming its boats were only on an exploration mission and that Mortal Domain forces attacked first. Chen Fan rejects the excuse and orders a bombardment, demonstrating that he is willing to fight.
• Feng Qiya offers 30 billion Eerie Stones and a marriage alliance; Chen Fan demands 200 billion and a Rare Island. When the Good Cat Continent’s Lord interferes and threatens to join the war, Chen Fan challenges him too, fires three Blazing Pillars toward his territory, and demands 10 billion in reparations.
• The Good Cat Lord retreats, warning that he will wait until the Mortal Domain’s protection period ends. Feng Qiya’s Lord says his continent can pay only 50 billion. Mediation briefly lowers Chen Fan’s demand to 130 billion, but negotiations are a diversion.
• While Chen Fan keeps the other leaders occupied, Mortal Domain forces secretly land on Feng Qiya’s northern coast. Logistics teams rapidly install teleportation formations, pipes, sculptures, fires, and other preparations along a 700-kilometer stretch.
• Once the preparations are ready, Chen Fan teleports to the coast and begins building city walls to support 35 Level-20 Heavenly Dao Cannons. His real aim is not reparations but to bring the war directly to Feng Qiya.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan is calm and strategic, using outrage and negotiation as cover for a planned assault. He is also fiercely protective of his people, treating Zhang Taiping’s death as grounds for decisive retaliation. He refuses to back down when challenged, even by a second continent.
• Crippled Monkey acts as Chen Fan’s trusted aide, carrying out orders and quietly confirming when the covert preparations are complete.
• Feng Qiya’s Lord tries to shift blame, minimize reparations, and enlist outside support. His composure falters as Chen Fan proves willing to escalate.
• The Good Cat Lord begins as a smug mediator, then threatens intervention when Chen Fan rejects his advice. Chen Fan’s counterthreat and bombardment force him to withdraw, though he vows to wait out the protection period.
• The Rat Kingdom King attempts to calm the confrontation but, once Chen Fan fires again, accepts that war may be unavoidable and offers to sell supplies to all sides.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu predicts that Chen Fan will choose war, believing Chen Fan will not let the death of one of his people go unanswered. His military companion doubts this on strategic grounds.
• Other Continent Lords shift from spectators to uneasy observers as Chen Fan’s actions show the threat is real.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and retaliation: Chen Fan values his people’s lives above diplomatic convenience.
• Deterrence and reputation: He uses overwhelming force to discourage future provocation, even at enormous cost.
• Deception and strategic planning: The public negotiations conceal a carefully coordinated military operation.
• Power and protection: The Mortal Domain’s temporary protection period becomes an offensive advantage, unsettling leaders who normally expect new continents to focus on development.
• Diplomacy versus force: Mediation and bargaining repeatedly fail when one side believes that only strength will secure its interests.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• After Chen Fan’s excessive reparations demand fails, he abandons negotiations and formally declares war on the Feng Qiya Continent. He cites the murder of Commerce Pavilion captain Zhang Taiping and the deaths of Shadow Pavilion members as the reasons he will no longer tolerate its provocations.
• Chen Fan orders the continent’s eradication. Thirty-five Level-20 Heavenly Dao Cannons fire three volleys, erasing the Feng Qiya Continent’s terrain, cities, defenses, and inhabitants in only a few dozen breaths. Chen renames it the Provocateur Continent and claims it for the Mortal Domain.
• The Feng Qiya Continent’s lord breaks down and loses his sanity; his granddaughter is also left traumatized. Their subordinates attack Chen, but Godslayer Cannons destroy their Flying Boat.
• The other continent lords, shaken by the display, retreat or seek friendly relations. The Sahara Lord offers diplomatic exchanges and reveals his continent’s location. The Rat Kingdom King quietly gives Chen a Dark Technology Source Point after Chen confronts him about deceptive merchandise.
• Chen orders the new territory turned into the Mortal Domain’s third continent and a nearby missile base. He also arranges for the recovered Shadow Pavilion members to be buried on Rugged Island with Zhang Taiping.
• Wang Kui reports that the campaign cost nearly 70 billion Eerie Stones, leaving the Mortal Domain with only 29.7 billion in reserve. Chen recognizes that future wars and looming threats make replenishing resources urgent.
• Although the cannons left many Eerie Stones behind, Pick-Up Sculptures cannot collect them. Weiwei offers a solution: Gold-Swallowing Toads can swallow and deposit the stones. He summons a growing group of them, enabling large-scale collection.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shifts from pursuing peace and compensation to decisive retaliation, presenting the attack as a preventive strike. His confidence remains, but the financial cost makes clear that even a total victory carries serious consequences.
• The Feng Qiya Continent Lord goes from defiant confidence to despair and madness after witnessing his territory’s destruction.
• Weiwei demonstrates leadership and resourcefulness, revealing that he has built up a population of Gold-Swallowing Toads through the Exotic Beast Breeding House. Chen praises his management.
• Wang Kui reinforces his role as a meticulous steward by clearly accounting for the operation’s costs and the Mortal Domain’s financial risks.
• The other continent lords become markedly more cautious, especially the Sahara Lord, who quickly pivots from observing the conflict to cultivating ties with Chen.

Significant themes

• Peace backed by strength: Chen argues that peaceful intentions mean little without the power to deter or defeat attackers.
• Retribution and protection: Chen’s decision is driven by the deaths of his people and his responsibility to those who follow him.
• The cost of power: The Mortal Domain wins overwhelmingly, but the enormous expense exposes its vulnerability to a prolonged conflict.
• Fear as diplomacy: The destruction of the Feng Qiya Continent instantly reshapes neighboring leaders’ behavior and alliances.
• Practical ingenuity: Weiwei’s beasts provide an unexpected answer to the logistical challenge of recovering resources.

Character interactions

• Chen confronts the Feng Qiya lord during negotiations, rejects his offer, and publicly declares war.
• He speaks candidly to the assembled lords about Zhang Taiping and the Shadow Pavilion members, framing the attack as justice rather than conquest.
• After the destruction, Chen offers the former territory to the other lords, while the Sahara Lord responds with an offer of friendship and mutual visits.
• Chen challenges the Rat Kingdom King over dishonest trade; the king responds by surrendering a Dark Technology Source Point.
• Chen listens to Wang Kui’s financial report and discusses ways to replenish reserves.
• Weiwei proposes using the Beast Pavilion to collect the leftover Eerie Stones, then brings in the Gold-Swallowing Toads. Chen recognizes and rewards his initiative.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan returns from the campaign against Feng Qiya Continent, exhausted but victorious. The Mortal Domain has only 29.7 billion eerie stones readily available after spending heavily, while its 700-billion-stone Strategic Reserve remains untouched as an emergency stockpile.
• The Good Cat Continent’s lord learns that Feng Qiya was destroyed in a matter of breaths. Alarmed by the Mortal Domain’s speed and ruthlessness, he decides to send 20 billion eerie stones in reparations, publicly apologize, and share the requirements for advancing to a third-level continent. His reasoning: helping the Mortal Domain grow quickly may persuade it to leave their region sooner.
• With the first Spring Examination ending, Chen Fan prepares to announce its results and disclose the war’s outcome. His advancement plan is taking shape: the Eternal Night Continent has completed most requirements for becoming a third-level continent, with the remaining “Three-Year Pact” set to be fulfilled when its protection period ends.
• In Mortal City, Chen Fan explains that the war was retaliation for the death of Zhang Taiping, whose warning about Feng Qiya’s planned attack saved the Mortal Domain. He announces that Feng Qiya has been annihilated and vows to pursue the costly, uncertain possibility of resurrecting Zhang.
• The examination’s top candidates receive influential posts and rewards:
  • Long Live, Military Strategy champion, becomes the first Strategist Pavilion Master and receives the Blue Grade Fame Gu.
  • Eight Hundred, a seventeen-year-old Formation prodigy who replicated a tampered Acceleration Formation Disc, becomes deputy head of the Formation Pavilion and receives the Blue Grade Myriad-Mile Landscape Scroll.
  • Tian Ce becomes Finance Pavilion Master; Skyward Chili becomes deputy head of the Logistics Pavilion. Other top-ranked candidates also receive appointments.
• Eight Hundred uses his moment on the city wall to call out to his younger sister, from whom he was separated during the Great Retreat: “I’m Eight Hundred. I’ll be waiting for you in Mortal City!” Chen Fan resolves to establish a way for separated families to register and reconnect.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan shifts from exhausted wartime commander to public leader and institution-builder. He honors Zhang Taiping, recognizes exceptional talent, and uses the examination to staff the growing Mortal Domain. He also identifies family reunification as a practical responsibility.
• The Good Cat Continent’s lord moves from resentment and pride to cautious pragmatism. Although his aide argues that the Mortal Domain may not have enough cannons to conquer them, the lord prioritizes settling the feud and shaping the region’s future.
• Long Live is publicly elevated from an unknown candidate to a powerful official, though he feels uneasy because Chen Fan actually devised the winning battle plan.
• Eight Hundred grows from a nervous prodigy into a public figure. His appeal to his sister turns a formal awards ceremony into a personal plea, while Chen Fan responds with empathy and action.
• Wang Kui and his deputy discuss the limits of using strategic reserves, underscoring that the stockpile is meant for existential emergencies, not ordinary spending.
• Zhou Mo remains loyal and content despite the War Pavilion’s reduced role, though he regrets that he and Chen Fan have had little time to speak.

Significant themes

• Power and deterrence: Feng Qiya’s rapid destruction sends a warning across the region, prompting other continents to prepare gifts and reconsider confrontation.
• Pragmatism over pride: The Good Cat lord chooses reconciliation and cooperation over a costly, uncertain conflict.
• Merit and social mobility: The Spring Examination gives talented ordinary people a path to wealth, status, and responsibility.
• Sacrifice and remembrance: Zhang Taiping’s death fuels the campaign, and Chen Fan refuses to abandon the possibility of bringing him back.
• Development and security: The Mortal Domain balances expansion, strategic reserves, military strength, and its ambition to advance to the next continental tier.
• Family and community: Eight Hundred’s plea highlights the lingering human cost of the Great Retreat and the need to reunite separated families.

Chapter Summary

• The First Spring Examination concludes, and the successful candidates formally join the Mortal Domain. While celebrating the influx of talent, Chen Fan speaks with Mr. Na, the Eternal Night Continent’s Heavenly Dao. Mr. Na worries that the Mortal Domain’s foreign wars could someday bring destruction to their own home. Chen argues that the war against Feng Qiya was a necessary preventive strike, and vows to strengthen the continent so it can endure future threats.
• The new recruits take up key posts. Wang Kui guides Tian Ce, the Arithmetic Top Ranker and new Finance Pavilion Master, through the Mortal Domain’s warehouses, accounts, payroll, and procedures. Tian realizes Wang Kui has been carrying much of this administrative work himself; Wang Kui is relieved to hand it over. Wang Kui then briefs Long Live and the new Strategist Pavilion on classified information and three strategic problems: defending against enemy Heavenly Dao Cannons, allocating dark technology points, and preventing hostile forces from landing cannons on their territory.
• Wang Kui raises a concern that the Strategist Pavilion consists entirely of candidates who supported going to war, since those who opposed fighting Feng Qiya failed the examination. Chen dismisses the danger, claiming the faction contains both hardliners and cautious advocates of war and that he himself is conservative. Mr. Na privately recognizes the irony: Chen, Wang Kui, and Crippled Monkey are all among the Mortal Domain’s most pro-war figures, leaving Mr. Na as perhaps its only genuine voice for restraint.
• Long Live takes charge of the Strategist Pavilion. Its members trust him because they believe he devised the victorious campaign against Feng Qiya, though he understands that Chen deliberately gave him credit to establish his authority.
• On Huyi Continent, Weird Emperor Jiu Wu celebrates the Mortal Domain’s victory through a specially printed giant newspaper. While overseeing underwater excavation, he captures a foreign exploration boat from Sahara Continent after it reports discovering an island occupied by a strange tide. He brings the crew to Chen, concerned that Huyi Continent could be exposed to outside threats and hoping it might be formally protected by the Mortal Domain.
• Five days after the examination, delegations from other continents arrive to congratulate Eternal Night on becoming a second-level continent; Good Cat Continent also comes to pay war reparations. Meanwhile, Chen has been using his free time to cultivate.
• Long Live presents the Strategist Pavilion’s first answer: the Eternal Night Land Deed, a treasure Chen had forgotten he possessed, can prevent unauthorized construction within territory covered by Eerie Fire. Covering the continent with it would stop enemies from placing Heavenly Dao Cannons directly on their land. Chen praises the discovery, viewing the pavilion as an “external brain” that can catch oversights.
• When Long Live proposes investing all remaining dark technology source points in military development, Chen reveals that the completed Imperial Examination has earned the Mortal Domain another point, bringing the total to four. Long Live insists that all four—and even larger future reserves—should go to the military. Chen challenges him to provide a real rationale rather than simply prioritizing war.

Character Developments and Themes

• Chen Fan presents himself as protective rather than warmongering, but his readiness to use force and his confidence in his own judgment make Mr. Na skeptical. His final challenge shows that he expects strategic proposals to be reasoned and comprehensive, not merely militaristic.
• Mr. Na remains deeply attached to the continent and fears the consequences of unchecked expansion. He is increasingly isolated as the organization’s apparent “conservatives” are revealed to be pro-war.
• Wang Kui moves from overburdened administrator to mentor and organizer, willingly training the new officials and strategists.
• Long Live gains authority and confidence as Strategist Pavilion Master, but his initial recommendation exposes a potentially dangerous bias toward military spending.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu is grateful to the Mortal Domain and eager to protect his adopted home, while his capture of the foreign boat shows how local security concerns could draw Huyi closer into the Domain’s sphere.
  The chapter balances security, expansion, and restraint: the Mortal Domain’s victory brings prestige and opportunity, but also raises questions about militarism, defensive preparedness, and whether its leaders can protect their people without making war the answer to every problem.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• The Strategist Pavilion recommends focusing on military dark technologies. Long Live presents the technology tree and argues that dark technology source points are scarce, so the Mortal Domain should deepen its military branch rather than split investment across several branches. Continuing down one path may also give the Mortal Domain uniquely powerful technologies. He explains that “staying hungry”—avoiding excessive prosperity—will preserve the will to expand and fight.
• Chen Fan accepts the logic but challenges the pavilion’s contingency plan. He approves the military-focused strategy, then asks Long Live to revise the “Eternal Night Land Deed” plan, pointing out that its assumption about Eerie Fire surviving a bombardment does not fit what happened on the Provocateur Continent. Long Live thanks Chen Fan for previously giving him credit for the campaign against Feng Qiya, which helped him gain authority in the Strategist Pavilion.
• Neighboring continent lords arrive with gifts and reparations. Eight lords each give five billion eerie stones to celebrate the Eternal Night Continent’s rise to second-level status. The Good Cat Continent, recently bombarded by the Mortal Domain, offers 20 billion in reparations, another 5.1 billion as a gift, and information on the requirements for advancing to a third-level continent.
• Chen Fan tests and warns the Good Cat lord. Suspicious of the man’s sudden humility, Chen Fan returns 15.1 billion of his 25.1 billion stones, accepting only the ten billion he had originally demanded. He apologizes for his earlier harshness, but privately warns the lord not to plot against him. Chen Fan fears a patient enemy who hides resentment and waits for an opportune moment.
• The guests learn how extensive the Mortal Domain’s reach is. Chen Fan reveals that the Sahara Continent’s missing explorers were found on Huyi Continent, another territory controlled by the Mortal Domain. The visit also exposes the guests to New Continent’s role as the domain’s agricultural, livestock, and Flying Boat logistics hub.
• The visitors secretly buy the Mortal Domain Daily Report. Although they try to act casual, their attendants eagerly purchase copies. The report describes the devastating preventive strike on Feng Qiya and identifies Long Live as its strategist. It also reveals that a seventeen-year-old Mortal Domain talent cracked the Dark Eerie Continent’s Acceleration Formation Disc. The lords leave impressed and increasingly wary of the Mortal Domain.
• The chapter closes with Chen Fan looking ahead. Back at Eternal Night Continent, he expects about two years of relative peace before the domain can advance to third-level status. He remains cautious about seemingly insignificant threats and declines to spend a million eerie stones asking the Heaven-Questioning Bell about the continent’s former name.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shows strategic flexibility: he accepts Long Live’s reasoned military-first proposal rather than treating the Strategist Pavilion as merely pro-war. At the same time, his suspicion of hidden motives and insistence on caution remain strong. He uses charm, generosity, and intimidation together to manage the Good Cat lord.
• Long Live emerges as a thoughtful strategist with growing institutional authority. His explanation of the technology tree is measured and practical, and his gratitude to Chen Fan shows that he recognizes how public credit helped establish his leadership.
• The Good Cat Continent lord shifts from confident senior to submissive negotiator. His ability to adapt makes Chen Fan distrust him, while Chen Fan’s warning leaves the lord frightened and careful.
• The other continent lords become more wary of the Mortal Domain after learning about its military success, technical talent, multiple territories, and information network.
• Crippled Monkey quietly manages the visitors’ tour and lets them encounter the Daily Report, helping the Mortal Domain’s publicity efforts without disrupting the façade of hospitality.
• Mr. Na offers reassurance, but Chen Fan’s response underscores his belief that even powerful figures can be undone by overlooked threats.

Significant themes

• Strategic focus and uniqueness: Scarce resources should be concentrated where they can give the Mortal Domain a lasting edge.
• Power, diplomacy, and intimidation: Gifts, reparations, apologies, and veiled threats all function as tools in negotiations.
• Caution toward hidden enemies: Chen Fan sees patient, inconspicuous opponents as more dangerous than openly hostile ones.
• Information as power: The Daily Report, the technology tree, and knowledge of advancement requirements shape how other continents understand and respond to the Mortal Domain.
• Expansion and prosperity: The chapter weighs economic growth against the drive to expand, while presenting new territories and logistics as foundations for future power.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan and Long Live: Long Live lays out the military-first strategy; Chen Fan considers it, approves of its logic, and gives him room to revise a flawed plan. Their exchange also reveals Long Live’s appreciation for Chen Fan’s earlier support.
• Chen Fan and the Good Cat lord: The two conduct a tense but outwardly cordial negotiation. Chen Fan questions the lord’s motives, returns most of the offered money, and delivers a private warning while maintaining a friendly public tone.
• Chen Fan and the visiting lords: He welcomes them, accepts their gifts, and reveals the Sahara explorers’ presence, making the Mortal Domain’s reach clear without openly boasting.
• Crippled Monkey and the visitors: He guides them through New Continent while the visitors’ attendants discreetly gather intelligence through the Daily Report.
• Chen Fan and Mr. Na: Their conversation contrasts Mr. Na’s confidence in the coming years with Chen Fan’s insistence that vigilance is essential.

Key plot points and events

• With the war over, Chen Fan turns to strengthening the Mortal Domain before entering the dangerous War Mire. He spends dark technology points on improved anti-aircraft cannons and a major reduction in city-wall costs, planning to build a fortified perimeter around the Eternal Night Continent during its remaining protection period.
• He learns that continent upgrades beyond the second level offer no protection period. He wants another military upgrade that would extend watchtower detection and guide missiles, but lacks the required points, so he saves his last one and considers trading for more.
• The Mortal Domain is storing gifts and resources from visiting continents. A Logistics Pavilion veteran explains to a younger subordinate that the Domain Lord lives simply and remains focused on safety.
• The young man, Zhang Tianmu, wants to transfer to the Commerce Pavilion to seek recognition and adventure. His superior warns him that exploration is deadly, but agrees to recommend him. During their patrol, their watchtower detects a suspected Heavenly Dao Strange beneath the sea, giving them a chance to earn merit.
• Chen Fan arrives at the site as a nuclear-warhead Sky-Piercing Pillar is on its way. He examines documents recovered from the ruins of the destroyed Feng Qiya Continent and discovers that its people worshipped the underwater strange as a deity, unaware—or unwilling to accept—that it was draining their continent’s fortune.
• Chen realizes Feng Qiya’s destruction may have spared the Mortal Domain: had its people attacked the strange and obtained a Continent Core, they might have defeated him. He quietly thanks Feng Qiya as the missile approaches.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan shifts from postwar recovery toward long-term military preparation. His caution and insecurity drive his plans for continent-wide walls and stronger detection, while the Feng Qiya revelation leaves him shaken by how narrowly the Mortal Domain may have survived.
• The Logistics Pavilion veteran takes pride in his department’s safety and humble history. Though he understands the young man’s ambition, he cautions him against confusing fame with success and urges him to stay alive.
• Zhang Tianmu remains determined to pursue a more dangerous, prominent career despite the warning. The discovery of the underwater strange gives him and his superior an immediate opportunity to prove the Logistics Pavilion can also earn merit.
• Wang Kui and Tian Ce discuss proper financial procedures. Wang Kui explains that all resources must first enter the Heavenly Storehouse Pavilion before the Finance Pavilion receives allocations, and describes Chen Fan as disciplined rather than indulgent.
• Chen Fan works alongside Wang Mazi and the Logistics Pavilion during the investigation, receiving the recovered documents that reveal Feng Qiya’s history.

Significant themes

• Security versus ambition: Chen Fan’s defensive planning contrasts with Zhang Tianmu’s desire for glory, while the veteran emphasizes the human cost of risky work.
• The danger of misinterpreting the unknown: Feng Qiya’s people mistook a destructive entity for a benevolent god, showing how ignorance or misplaced faith can doom a civilization.
• Survival and sacrifice: The chapter honors those who died for the Mortal Domain and underscores that fame often comes at the cost of life.
• Contingency and fragile fortune: Chen’s near-miss realization highlights how small differences in past events could have changed the Mortal Domain’s fate.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan uses a Sky-Piercing Pillar to destroy a Heavenly Dao Strange hiding 8,000 meters underwater—far deeper than the Mortal Domain’s submersibles can reach. It drops seven Heavenly Fortunes, but no Continent Core.
• The weapon contains the force of one Level-20 Heavenly Dao Cannon shot. Chen Fan reflects that, after the Eternal Night Continent advances, ninety-nine Level-20 cannons could combine into the Heaven-Deriving Orbital Cannon, a Red Grade weapon capable of destroying weakly defended continents.
• Three days later, the Mortal Domain gathers on Rugged Island to bury Zhang Taiping and several Shadow Pavilion members who died in service. Chen Fan urges the organization to keep exploring and building a future free of strange entities.
• Chen tries to use a Heavenly Fortune to resurrect Zhang Taiping, but the Heaven-Questioning Bell clarifies that Heavenly Fortune affects only the living. Mr. Na admits his earlier resurrection claim was speculation. Chen orders him to repay the treasure and one million Eerie Stones, and to clearly label guesses as such in future.
• Chen upgrades the survivor benefits for Zhang Taiping’s and the Shadow Pavilion members’ families to the highest tier, and commissions a policy to increase benefits for members who die with merit.
• Meanwhile, the Beast Pavilion plants Monkey-Head Fruit on the New Continent, helping address the Mortal Domain’s shortage. Weiwei’s parents ask to return to the Mortal Domain for the birth of another offspring, prompting Weiwei to worry about the cost of feeding his growing family.
• A Commerce Pavilion expedition discovers a First-Level Continent 1,829 kilometers south of the Eternal Night Continent. It has a long coastal wall and active human settlements.
• Mr. Na explains that strange-entity clans advance by occupying continents; a Level-Three Species must occupy three. Since the Mortal Domain has exposed two lightly defended continents—the New Continent and Provocateur Continent—they may become targets, particularly for clans already controlling two.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains dissatisfied with the Mortal Domain’s strength despite its formidable weapons. The funeral reveals his emotional investment in fallen members and his sense of responsibility for those who follow him. He turns grief into practical action by improving benefits for their families.
• Mr. Na shows respect for Chen’s burden and recognizes the loyalty Chen has inspired, but his unreliable speculation damages Chen’s trust. Their exchange establishes a firm expectation that he distinguish facts from guesses.
• Eight Hundred, attending his first funeral in the Mortal Domain, begins to understand its shared purpose: people may die, but survivors must continue toward the common goal.
• Long Live is thrilled by the weapon’s power, then deflated by Chen’s insistence that it is still inadequate.
• Weiwei takes pride in the Beast Pavilion’s important new work, but his growing family—and their appetite—makes him consider asking Chen for a raise.
• Crippled Monkey responds solemnly to Chen’s orders and handles the revised survivor-benefit arrangements.

Significant themes

• Strength and preparedness: Even powerful weapons do not make Chen feel secure; he plans to use every resource available before entering the War Mire.
• Sacrifice and shared purpose: The funeral frames the dead as people who gave their lives for a collective future, while Eight Hundred comes to see that meaningful sacrifice is less frightening than dying without knowing why.
• Leadership and responsibility: Chen’s grief reinforces his sense that his decisions affect countless lives. His care for fallen members’ families demonstrates that leadership involves concrete obligations, not just ideals.
• Building a future amid danger: Agricultural development, exploration, and organizational continuity proceed alongside mourning and military preparation.
• Information and trust: Mr. Na’s correction highlights the importance of separating verified knowledge from speculation as the Mortal Domain confronts increasingly complex threats.

Key plot points

• Chen Fan orders intelligence gathering on nearby Strange Entity Clans, including their locations and the conditions on a first-level continent. He wants to eliminate the nearby second-level clans within two years, but insists on learning more before taking action.
• At Behind Nameless Mountain, he admires the orderly warehouses and plans to add 300 billion eerie stones to the Mortal Domain’s emergency reserves, bringing the total to a more satisfying one trillion.
• Chen Fan hosts a hot-pot gathering for his longtime companions and subordinates. The reunion recalls their struggles during the Jiangbei rainy season and how far the Mortal Domain has come.
• The group discusses their present lives: Zhou Mo oversees public safety and has reached level twenty; Qi Chong and A Le now supply food for vast populations; Wang Mazi has traveled widely; and Little Qiu manages the demanding Logistics Pavilion.
• Big Fish reveals that, though his Night Watcher condition has made him look increasingly young, he has found meaning in helping bereaved families. He believes mortality gives choices—and life itself—weight. The group learns that Gongyang Yiyue, also a Night Watcher, deliberately reduced his age to match Big Fish’s, and the two now work together comforting families.
• Zhou Mo brings out the old wooden tally board from their rainy-season days. He admits he feels overlooked as the War Pavilion becomes less central. Chen Fan reassures him that his work matters and that he remembers Zhou Mo’s sacrifices.
• Weiwei arrives with his little sister, whom Chen Fan names Keke. The gathering ends in lively drinking and laughter, with Weiwei and Keke joining in.

Character developments

• Chen Fan shows renewed concern for both future security and the people who helped build the Mortal Domain. A funeral has made him more conscious of cherishing companions while they are alive.
• Big Fish has made peace with his limited lifespan and turned his experience of loss into service to others. His relationship with Gongyang Yiyue is presented as devoted and self-sacrificing.
• Zhou Mo admits to feeling unneeded and undervalued, but Chen Fan’s reassurance restores his confidence and loyalty.
• The old subordinates reveal how their former hopes have grown into meaningful roles in a prosperous society, though many still carry memories of hardship and loss.
• Weiwei joins the group as a trusted member of the Mortal Domain, while Keke is introduced as an enthusiastic, playful newcomer.

Significant themes

• Mortality gives life meaning: Big Fish argues that limited time makes decisions consequential; Chen Fan reflects that death gives relationships and choices their weight.
• Remembering and honoring the past: The gathering and the tally board reconnect the group to their desperate beginnings and recognize the sacrifices that led to their success.
• Belonging and mutual care: Chen Fan’s attention to his subordinates—and their concern for one another—shows that the Mortal Domain is more than an organization; it is a family.
• Purpose in service: The characters find fulfillment by protecting others, providing for the population, and supporting families affected by war.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan encourages everyone to set aside formal titles and speak as old friends, prompting candid stories and affectionate teasing.
• Crippled Monkey jokes with Zhou Mo, but later helps lighten the mood when Zhou becomes emotional.
• Chen Fan validates Zhou Mo’s contribution and offers to find him another role, reassuring him that no veteran will be abandoned.
• The group reacts with tenderness and respect to Big Fish’s outlook and his partnership with Gongyang Yiyue.
• Weiwei’s arrival brings playful chaos: Keke eagerly accepts her name and food, while the others laugh at her resemblance to Weiwei when he first joined them.

Chapter Summary: “Eliminating Hidden Threats”

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan’s group enjoys a rare celebration after a long stretch of work. Weiwei, Crippled Monkey, and Keke drink and eat until they collapse; Chen Fan reflects on how difficult it has become to gather everyone as the Mortal Domain grows.
• The Mortal Domain expands its trade and exploration efforts. Its faster Flying Boats reach the Despair Continent, where Deputy Commerce Pavilion Master Zhang Damao meets the Heaven-Seeking Tower’s leader, Wen Tian. Zhang offers products such as ammunition-saving sculptures, automatic repair and collection devices, faster transport, teleportation formations, and emergency fire support. He proposes fair trade—including credit—to help the first-level continent strengthen and advance.
• Long Live briefs Chen Fan on the Mortal Domain’s broader strategy: help discovered first-level continents grow quickly while eliminating three Strange Entity Clans nearing advancement to Third-Level Races—the Heaven-Slaying, Dark Star, and One-Eyed Clans.
• Chen rejects a costly direct invasion and proposes infiltration instead: Weird Emperor Jiu Wu would stage a surrender, secure coastal territory, and help the Mortal Domain secretly deploy defenses and Heavenly Dao Cannons for a rapid strike.
• Chen travels to Huyi Continent by high-speed rail through the undersea tunnel. The increasingly sophisticated infrastructure makes him recognize how much the Mortal Domain has changed—and leaves him uneasy about the personal cost of its growth.
• Chen asks Jiu Wu to lead the false-surrender operation. Jiu Wu initially resists, longing for peaceful retirement and fearing his followers cannot be revived if they die. Chen promises Mortal Domain support and access to the Black Abyss for resurrection. Jiu Wu agrees, reassured by Chen’s guarantee that the Mortal Domain will protect his Retirement Clan if it survives.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan balances nostalgia and unease over the Mortal Domain’s growth with decisive leadership. He insists that the Strategist Pavilion’s sole responsibility is victory, reprimanding Long Live for worrying about the Domain’s reputation rather than completing the mission.
• Long Live is chastened when he questions the reputational cost of deception. Chen reminds him that strategy must prioritize victory and that other departments handle resources, staffing, and public relations.
• Zhang Damao takes pride in his promotion and handles diplomacy with confidence and respect. His generous trade proposal reflects the Mortal Domain’s plan to build allies and strengthen vulnerable continents.
• Wen Tian moves from suspicion to cautious hope as he learns what the Mortal Domain can offer. He sees the proposed partnership as a possible way for the Despair Continent to survive.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu reveals his strong attachment to peaceful retirement and his reluctance to risk his followers. He ultimately agrees out of gratitude to Chen and concern that the Mortal Domain’s defeat would threaten their safety. The mention of his expected child underscores his new family life.

Significant themes

• Security through growth and cooperation: Trade can strengthen vulnerable continents while also benefiting the Mortal Domain.
• Preemptive action against emerging threats: Chen considers potential enemies dangerous before they become powerful enough to strike.
• Pragmatism in war: Chen favors deception and swift, limited operations over costly, prolonged invasions, and places victory above reputation.
• Peace and the cost of defending it: Jiu Wu’s retirement is fragile; lasting peace may require renewed conflict.
• Change and leadership: The Mortal Domain’s professional growth brings power and efficiency, but Chen feels that something familiar is being lost.

Key plot points and events

• After the Mortal Domain’s swift conquest of the Feng Qiya Continent, news of the attack reaches the One-Eyed Wraith King. He recognizes that the Mortal Domain’s strategy—peace talks, a flanking feint, and secretly deployed Heavenly Dao Cannons—was unusually effective, and realizes the region’s long-standing balance may be ending.
• The One-Eyed Clan needs one more conquest to become a third-level race. The Wraith King considers attacking the weakened Feng Qiya Continent, but fears other powerful clans—especially the enigmatic Heaven-Slaying Clan—might interfere.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu arrives with a large but weak, newly formed Strange Tide and asks to join the One-Eyed Clan. He claims his group fled after a Sahara Continent scouting ship attacked them. The Wraith King sees potential military value in Jiu Wu but suspects a hidden motive.
• Jiu Wu asks for territory in the One-Eyed Continent’s core, supposedly to avoid being used as cannon fodder. The Wraith King, who had feared Jiu Wu wanted a coastline suitable for cannon deployment, relaxes and offers him land in the west instead. Jiu Wu accepts, following Chen Fan’s instructions.
• Meanwhile, Chen Fan rushes the Mortal Domain’s preparations for another campaign. He orders nuclear warheads readied and confirms the Logistics Pavilion can deploy cannons and defensive walls along a 600-kilometer coast within the time an incense stick burns. He argues that speed is essential before the One-Eyed Clan learns enough about the Feng Qiya operation to defend itself.
• The chapter also reveals the alliance between the Sahara Continent Lord and Hao Mao of the Good Cat Continent. Hao Mao explains that he gave the Mortal Domain accurate information about advancement because the sea will eventually produce either a third-level continent or a third-level race. He believes a third-level continent under the Mortal Domain is preferable to a powerful Strange Entity race.
• Using his Gold-Seeking Compass, Hao Mao discovered that the Mortal Domain has already been in close contact with a Continent Core. He concludes that, once its protection period ends, the Eternal Night Continent may advance directly to third-level status. He predicts the Mortal Domain will stay quiet for two years, then transform the region’s balance of power.

Character developments

• Chen Fan remains calm and strategic, prioritizing speed, secrecy, logistics, and contingency plans over finishing the previous campaign’s resource collection.
• Weird Emperor Jiu Wu plays the role of a frightened, submissive refugee while carefully carrying out Chen Fan’s plan. His instinctive unease—previously what kept him from attacking the Mortal Domain—returns, but he follows through.
• The One-Eyed Wraith King is ambitious and cautious. He briefly suspects Jiu Wu is angling for a vulnerable coastline, then accepts his explanation and treats him warmly as a recruit.
• Hao Mao is revealed as a deeply scarred but disciplined leader. His childhood enslavement and later revenge shaped his resolve to remember humiliation and develop his continent; he is willing to cooperate with the Mortal Domain despite fearing its future dominance.
• The Sahara Continent Lord shifts from uncertainty to recognizing the scale of the Mortal Domain’s likely future power.

Significant themes

• Strategy and deception: Jiu Wu’s apparent defection masks a larger operation, while Chen Fan’s plans depend on exploiting the enemy’s assumptions.
• The balance of power: The threat of a third-level race or continent is driving alliances, caution, and conflict across the region.
• Long-term patience versus immediate action: Chen Fan acts quickly to exploit a brief opportunity, while the Mortal Domain’s larger advantage depends on waiting out its protection period.
• Trauma, memory, and ambition: Hao Mao’s past humiliation remains central to his identity and leadership.
• The limits of rivalry: The Sahara and Good Cat leaders conclude that the Mortal Domain’s potential rise is so immense that ordinary envy and competition give way to distant awe.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan coordinates closely with Jiu Wu, Little Qiu, and the Logistics Pavilion, directing both the deception and the military preparations.
• Jiu Wu negotiates with the Wraith King, presenting himself as a weak refugee and securing a place within the One-Eyed Clan without revealing his true purpose.
• Hao Mao and the Sahara Lord discuss the Mortal Domain’s prospects and the strategic consequences of helping it. Their candid conversation reveals mutual trust and a shared willingness to accept a future in which the Mortal Domain may become overwhelmingly powerful.