Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chuqi, once a frail modern woman, became a formidable sword cultivator on Lush Mountain after years of punishing training. Just as she reached Foundation Establishment, she was caught in a battle with Demonic Cultivators during her first Secret Realm expedition.
• She fell into a damaged formation, which tore through space and transported her to a barren, unfamiliar world with strange creatures and a power system unlike the one she knew.
• Injured and cut off from spiritual energy, her Portable Space, and most of her supplies, Chuqi spent over a month hiding in a cave and slowly recovering.
• A tremendous battle nearby drew her out. She found a grisly battlefield and the corpse of an enormous, dragon-like beast whose lingering pressure still affected her.
• In the pit beneath the beast, Chuqi discovered a severely wounded man. She used a precious pill to save him, reasoning that she could negotiate repayment once he recovered.

Character development

• Chuqi’s past transformation—from an unathletic homebody into a resilient cultivator—shows her persistence and physical strength. In this new world, she is still curious and resourceful despite her injuries and lack of supplies.
• Her practical nature is mixed with compassion: she risks helping the stranger, though she also intends to make sure he compensates her for the valuable medicine.

Character interactions

• Chuqi has not yet met the injured man properly; she has rescued him and is watching over him while he lies unconscious.
• Her immediate relationship with him is framed as both an act of mercy and a potential bargain: she saved his life and expects to discuss the cost.

Significant themes

• Repeated displacement and adaptation: Chuqi is unexpectedly transported to another world and must learn to survive in unfamiliar conditions.
• Resilience and resourcefulness: She relies on hard-won discipline and careful judgment when her usual powers and supplies are of little use.
• Compassion balanced with practicality: She helps a stranger but remains mindful of the steep price of her scarce resources.
• A tragic aftermath: The ruined battlefield and dead giant beast establish the dangerous, violent nature of the new world.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chuqi treats the badly injured, poisoned man, though she decides against making an antidote from the giant snake’s gallbladder: his body is too weak to withstand the power it might release.
• She stores useful parts of the dead snake and puts its crystal core into her depleted Portable Space, hoping its energy will restore the space and awaken its spirit.
• The man stirs and secretly pretends to remain unconscious. Ye Chuqi notices but leaves him alone, setting out to explore while he adjusts.
• Once she is gone, the man—Red Beard—sits up and checks his injuries. His broken bones and internal damage have largely healed, thanks to her medicine.
• When Ye Chuqi returns, she finds him sitting upright beside the empty medicine bowl.

Character developments

• Ye Chuqi shows both compassion and caution. She has saved the stranger, but past experience has taught her not to trust someone simply because she helped them. She is also concerned about the silence of her Portable Space’s spirit.
• Red Beard is alert and guarded despite his injuries. He reflects on the ambush that left him near death, recognizes the quality of Ye Chuqi’s care, and begins to understand that she is capable and powerful.

Character interactions

• Ye Chuqi and Red Beard quietly assess one another without speaking: he hides that he is awake, while she pretends not to notice.
• She gives him medicine and grants him privacy rather than confronting him. He accepts it and later inspects his recovery.

Significant themes

• Caution and trust: Helping someone does not require abandoning one’s defenses.
• Survival and resilience: Red Beard has endured an ambush, a deadly beast, and severe injuries.
• Hidden power and uncertainty: Ye Chuqi’s unusual healing methods and Portable Space, along with the snake’s energy-rich core, suggest forces neither character fully understands.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points

• Ye Chuqi realizes she has landed in another world after a damaged formation and spatial rift swept her away. She survived only because the Heart of the Space Spirit, San San, used the Portable Space’s remaining energy to protect her.
• Though she and the injured man she rescued, Red Beard, are both human, she cannot understand his language. She stays silent, partly to avoid revealing that she is an outsider.
• With little food or water nearby, Ye Chuqi knows they must leave the cave soon, especially since Red Beard is still weak.
• San San wakes and explains that Red Beard is asking her to travel to an oasis and rescue his missing companion, which may not be human. San San then gives Ye Chuqi a limited ability that displays a real-time translation of Red Beard’s speech.
• Ye Chuqi agrees to help with a quiet “Mm,” and Red Beard thanks her.

Character developments

• Ye Chuqi is disoriented and wary in the unfamiliar world, but stays practical and adapts quickly. She also shows deep affection for San San, admitting she missed its constant presence.
• San San has exhausted itself protecting Ye Chuqi and remains weak, but wakes sooner than expected because Ye Chuqi supplied it with energy. It uses some of its remaining strength to help her understand Red Beard.
• Red Beard wakes hungry and injured but remains hopeful and talkative. He asks Ye Chuqi to find his companion.

Character interactions

• Red Beard speaks at length to Ye Chuqi, unaware she cannot understand him; she initially responds with silence and a polite smile.
• Ye Chuqi and San San reconnect through their familiar, affectionate banter. San San translates Red Beard’s request and gives Ye Chuqi a way to understand him.
• Once Ye Chuqi can follow Red Beard’s words, she agrees to help, giving him renewed hope.

Significant themes

• Displacement and adaptation: Ye Chuqi must adjust to a new world, unfamiliar surroundings, and a language barrier.
• Loyalty and care: San San’s sacrifice to save Ye Chuqi, and Ye Chuqi’s concern for San San, underscore their close bond.
• Hope and cooperation: Red Beard’s request and Ye Chuqi’s agreement create the possibility of mutual aid amid a harsh landscape.

• Key plot points: Ye Chuqi leaves the injured Red Beard with a broken sword and heads east toward the Little Oasis, hoping to help his companion and learn more about the wasteland. As the enormous beast’s lingering aura fades, other creatures begin emerging from the territory it once controlled. Passing the pit where the beast’s remains lay, Ye Chuqi notices movement and discovers a tiny survivor: a strange, ash-covered creature with a lion’s front half and an eagle’s hindquarters.
• Character development: Ye Chuqi remains pragmatic, using Red Beard as a potential source of information, but she is also compassionate and increasingly curious about the world around her. Her delight in the creature’s small, helpless appearance reveals a playful, affectionate side. Red Beard, meanwhile, accepts her help despite recognizing how much he is asking of her.
• Character interactions: Ye Chuqi silently leaves Red Beard the sword, and he understands the gesture and reassures her that he will manage. She also considers his request to find his companion, though she is unsure how trustworthy or sensible the situation is. When the creature wakes in her hand and swats her with soot-covered paws, Ye Chuqi responds with amusement and fondness.
• Significant themes: Survival in a dangerous, shifting environment; trust and mutual obligation; curiosity as a reason to take risks; and the contrast between the wasteland’s brutality and the tenderness sparked by a vulnerable new creature.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chuqi finds the badly injured Xiao Nuo, who attacks her in a panic before collapsing. A cluster of tiny red berries falls from beneath its wing; Ye retrieves them and returns them, earning the creature’s trust.
• She shows Xiao Nuo Red Beard’s badge and takes it to him. The reunion is joyful, though Red Beard is distressed by Xiao Nuo’s injuries.
• Xiao Nuo tries to feed Red Beard the berries. Ye discovers she can understand the creature’s speech through the bubble above its head: it admits to eating one berry, which appears to have helped its wounds heal.
• Concluding that the berries are valuable and may grow at the Little Oasis, Ye decides to go there in search of them and other resources. Before leaving, she gives Red Beard a piece of dried meat.

Character developments

• Ye Chuqi shows compassion by returning Xiao Nuo’s berries and helping reunite it with Red Beard. She also realizes her ability to understand Spirit Beasts could be useful, and quickly turns her curiosity about the berries into a plan.
• Xiao Nuo shifts from frightened and defensive to trusting Ye, then displays strong affection and concern for Red Beard.
• Red Beard is relieved to have Xiao Nuo back, but his joy is tempered by worry over its condition. He accepts Ye’s food and help.

Significant themes

• Trust and kindness: Ye’s gentle treatment wins Xiao Nuo’s confidence despite their being strangers.
• Loyalty and care: Xiao Nuo’s frantic search for Red Beard and attempt to feed him reveal their deep bond.
• Survival and opportunity: The healing berries represent a valuable resource in the harsh, barren landscape—and a possible new goal for Ye.

Character interactions

• Ye handles Xiao Nuo carefully, returns its precious berries, and reassures it with Red Beard’s badge.
• Xiao Nuo reunites exuberantly with Red Beard, who checks its injuries and comforts it.
• Ye observes their exchange, uses Xiao Nuo’s words to infer the berries’ value, then leaves Red Beard with dried meat before setting out for the Little Oasis.

Key plot points and events

• Red Beard realizes the dried meat Ye Chuqi gave him was meant for Xiao Nuo. The hungry creature eagerly accepts it, and Red Beard concludes that Ye Chuqi is a girl whose presence and scent of plants appeal to Xiao Nuo.
• Ye Chuqi continues exploring the scorched wasteland. She reflects on how hard she trained on Lush Mountain and how unsettling it is to be without spiritual power, though her physical skills still help her travel.
• She finds Little Oasis, a secluded green patch whose oppressive aura and resistance to her divine sense suggest it was the giant snake’s lair. At its center are a pool and a cluster of bright red fruit.
• The pool’s apparent clarity is an illusion. A massive black fish erupts from it and attacks. Its slime-covered body deflects physical blows, its head is harder than stone, and its teeth pose a lethal threat.
• Injured and out of spiritual power, Ye Chuqi decides she cannot defeat it. She snatches the red fruit while escaping—but the fish can fly, and it pursues her across the wasteland.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi remains cautious and resourceful, relying on speed and sword techniques rather than spiritual power. Despite recognizing the danger, she risks a quick grab for the fruit before fleeing.
• Red Beard shows growing interest in Ye Chuqi, inferring her identity from Xiao Nuo’s unusual willingness to accept food from her.
• Xiao Nuo is revealed to be hungry and highly selective about whom it approaches; Ye Chuqi’s presence seems to have won its trust.
• Ye Chuqi’s encounter with the black fish turns her exploration into a desperate chase, while her interaction with it is entirely adversarial.

Significant themes

• Adaptation under adversity: Ye Chuqi must depend on training and physical skill after losing access to spiritual power.
• Risk and reward: The mysterious oasis and its fruit tempt her to take a calculated risk, even while injured.
• Deceptive appearances: The pool looks clear but conceals both its depths and a dangerous predator; the seemingly small fish proves unexpectedly powerful and mobile.

Chapter 7 Summary

Key events

The Big Black Fish pursues Ye Chuqi to reclaim the red fruit, but the chase exhausts him in the scorching wasteland. When he tries to attack, Ye Chuqi knocks him down. Though she is also suffering from severe pain in her meridians, she hides her weakness and realizes the fish will die without water. After warning him that she can save him if he stops attacking, she places him in her Portable Space, where a small pool of Spirit Spring water revives him. The red fruit is safely planted in the space’s Spirit Soil.

Character developments

Ye Chuqi shows resourcefulness and composure, concealing her pain while assessing her opponent’s weakness. Despite her initial amusement and irritation, she chooses to save the fish. The Big Black Fish’s stubborn pursuit gives way to helplessness once he is exhausted; he accepts her offer and is astonished by the healing water.

Character interactions

Ye Chuqi and the fish cannot communicate through ordinary speech, but she believes her unusual ability to connect with Spirit Beasts may help. Their encounter shifts from pursuit and attack to a wary bargain: she offers rescue in exchange for an end to the fighting.

Significant themes

The chapter explores survival, pride, and the cost of acting without foresight. It also highlights compassion amid conflict, Ye Chuqi’s growing connection to Spirit Beasts, and the lingering consequences of her damaged, only partly restored Portable Space.

Plot points

• Ye Chuqi explores Little Oasis and discovers that charred stones block her Divine Sense. She takes some stones and Big Black Fish into her storage space but rejects the strange-colored water and finds nothing else to eat.
• Back at the cave, Red Beard asks whether she knows him or the Red Wind Mercenary Group. Ye Chuqi recognizes him from his badge and beard, though she has never heard of either.
• Red Beard identifies the small creature as Xiao Nuo, a purebred Lion Owl cub. Ye Chuqi gives Xiao Nuo another strip of dried meat; he eagerly accepts it and tumbles around in her hand.
• Red Beard realizes Ye Chuqi can understand him but does not know how to speak the local language. She confirms this with brief sounds, and he notices she can imitate a word after hearing it once.

Character developments

• Ye Chuqi remains practical and observant, carefully collecting unfamiliar resources while withholding the unusable water. Though she is a skilled cultivator, her inability to communicate leaves her frustrated and vulnerable.
• Red Beard shows curiosity and growing amusement toward Ye Chuqi. He begins to understand her situation and recognizes that her pronunciation is imitation rather than ordinary speech.
• Xiao Nuo is revealed as a gentle, affectionate cub with little ability to defend himself—and an obvious fondness for Ye Chuqi’s dried meat.

Significant themes

• Displacement and communication: Ye Chuqi understands the people around her but cannot yet speak their language.
• Trust and vulnerability: Xiao Nuo is sweet but easily lured, while Ye Chuqi and Red Beard are still learning about one another.
• Adaptation and resourcefulness: Ye Chuqi responds to an unfamiliar world by observing, testing, and storing what might prove useful.

Character interactions

• Red Beard questions Ye Chuqi about his identity and the mercenary group, then notices her difficulty speaking.
• Ye Chuqi silently identifies Red Beard through his appearance and badge, and bonds with Xiao Nuo by feeding and holding him.
• Red Beard laughs at Ye Chuqi’s expressive sounds but treats her language difficulty with curiosity rather than hostility.
  The excerpt ends as Red Beard reflects on Ye Chuqi’s ability to imitate speech.

Key plot points

• While recovering, Red Beard teaches Ye Chuqi basic speech and explains the Ashen Wasteland’s plants, stones, wildlife, and food sources. She learns that Red Sun Fruits heal remarkably well, black ghost stone blocks perception, and wasteland grass burns hot and long.
• Ye Chuqi gathers the abundant wasteland grass and learns that the dead Horned Python was venomous and among the wasteland’s strongest creatures.
• Asked her name, she gives Red Beard a leaf and says “Ye,” leading him to call her “Yezi.” She recognizes that she needs a proper place to study the wider world, since Red Beard’s lessons are only a start.
• Red Beard explains that the region’s crystalline root growths and ground rats are edible. Ye Chuqi dislikes rat meat, but Xiao Nuo eagerly eats it—and likes Ye Chuqi for rescuing it and making good food.
• Though mostly recovered after Ye Chuqi’s treatment and Xiao Nuo’s Red Sun Fruits, Red Beard grows anxious because his mercenary companions have not come for him. Ye Chuqi suspects she has concealed their location well, and that the searchers may first look in the wrong direction.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi is curious, practical, and eager to learn, but her lack of basic knowledge becomes clear. She gradually learns enough to converse with Red Beard, though haltingly.
• Red Beard is patient and perceptive: he teaches Ye Chuqi while noticing how much she does not know. His growing worry about his absent companions contrasts with his usual good humor.
• Xiao Nuo remains affectionate toward Ye Chuqi and enthusiastically eats the food she prepares. Red Beard gently teases or nudges Xiao Nuo while sharing his concerns with Ye Chuqi.

Significant themes

• Learning and adaptation: Ye Chuqi builds knowledge and communication skills to navigate an unfamiliar world.
• Survival and resourcefulness: She makes use of local plants and food sources, even when some are unappealing.
• Trust and companionship: Patient teaching, care during recovery, and shared meals gradually strengthen the group’s bonds.
• Uncertainty: Red Beard’s missing companions and Ye Chuqi’s hidden tracks leave their rescue uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chuqi agrees to search for Red Beard’s companions and takes his Red Wind Mercenary Group badge as proof of identity.
• She follows tracks near the enormous pit toward Little Oasis and discovers a group of about a dozen people resting.
• While watching them, she is surprised by Ed, the group’s stealth expert, who attacks from behind. Ye Chuqi evades him repeatedly.
• The others surround her and drop a high-grade silver trapping net. Ye Chuqi cuts through it with a powerful sword strike, though the effort exhausts her spiritual power and shatters her broken sword.
• When Ye Chuqi identifies the group as Red Wind, Ed accidentally confirms it by exposing his badge. Jun Ruofeng points out that the badge—not his disguise—gave him away.

Character developments

• Ye Chuqi shows impressive reflexes and sword skill despite her young appearance and still-recovering injuries. Her formidable technique surprises the mercenaries, but using it leaves her physically depleted.
• Ed is confident in his abilities as Red Wind’s stealth specialist, but Ye Chuqi’s evasions unsettle him. His impulsive comment also reveals the group’s identity.
• Jun Ruofeng remains composed and unmistakably elegant, maintaining his refined habits even in the wasteland.

Character interactions

• Red Beard readily entrusts Ye Chuqi with finding his companions, while she privately worries about the risk of approaching them.
• Ye Chuqi and Ed engage in a tense struggle, each surprised by the other’s skill.
• The mercenaries move to capture Ye Chuqi, but her sword strike leaves them stunned.
• Ed’s accusation that Jun Ruofeng’s refined tastes make him easy to recognize prompts Jun to correct him: Ed’s visible badge was the actual giveaway.

Significant themes

• Appearances can mislead: Ye Chuqi looks young but proves exceptionally capable; Ed’s confidence does not prevent him from being outmaneuvered.
• Skill has a cost: Ye Chuqi’s impressive attack consumes the spiritual power she needs for healing and destroys her sword.
• Carelessness undermines secrecy: The group’s disguises are undone by Ed’s failure to fully conceal his badge.

Key plot points

• Jun Ruofeng correctly realizes that Ye Chuqi has seen Red Beard, though the badge Ed showed earlier only confirmed her prior suspicions.
• Jun introduces himself and questions Ye about the missing man, showing her a portrait. She confirms she has seen him and offers to lead the mercenaries to him.
• The Red Wind Mercenary Group displays its distinctive badges. Jun sends Ed and several others ahead, noting that Ed is likely the only one able to keep up with Ye.
• Ye’s injuries suddenly worsen. She refuses to continue, gives Ed directions to the cave a hundred kilometers west, and rests instead.
• Jun has Xiya stay with Ye to check on her. Xiya discovers Ye is far more seriously injured than her outwardly lively behavior suggests: her body is near collapse.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi remains bold and unimpressed by Jun’s intimidating presence or handsome appearance. Her humor and stubbornness mask severe pain and exhaustion; she is willing to help, but not at the cost of pushing herself further.
• Jun Ruofeng is cold and commanding, yet attentive enough to notice Ye’s condition and arrange for Xiya to care for her. Ye’s familiarity and steady gaze unsettle him, though he cannot explain why.
• Ed is eager and impatient to move ahead, but obeys Jun’s direction. His companions tease him for showing off his badge.
• Xiya follows Jun’s order without protest and approaches Ye with genuine concern.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: Ye looks composed despite catastrophic injuries, while Jun’s beautiful smile is mistaken by Ye for an attempt at seduction.
• Pride and reputation: The mercenaries present their badges with ceremony, but Ye’s ignorance of their fame leaves her unimpressed.
• Strength and vulnerability: Ye’s courage and self-control coexist with physical exhaustion, which she can no longer conceal.

Key events

• Xiya gives Ye Chuqi a red Healing Potion to ease her pain and prepares a stronger blue potion for her injuries. Though Jun Ruofeng finds it suspicious that Ye Chuqi drinks an unfamiliar potion so readily, she trusts Xiya by instinct.
• Ye Chuqi wants to leave and help Red Beard, despite her serious injuries. After taking the blue potion half an hour later, she immediately falls unconscious; the potion is designed to heal the body during sleep.
• Three days later, Ye Chuqi wakes in a cave. Her injuries have improved slightly, but her meridians remain shattered and her Spiritual Power is still extremely weak. Outside, the others—including Red Beard—are gathered around a campfire.
• San San has also recovered, helped by the Beast Core Ye Chuqi gave it. It apologizes for leaving her alone, and Ye Chuqi reassures it that it had been protecting her.
• San San explains what it learned while awake: Magic Beast cores contain valuable energy, and the Ninth-Rank Horned Python’s core is especially prized. The others suspect Ye Chuqi took it, but Red Beard says he does not mind because she saved his life.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi remains trusting, instinctive, and more concerned about helping others than resting. She recognizes Xiya’s skill and shows affection and reassurance toward San San.
• Xiya is gentle and capable, treating Ye Chuqi and carefully catching her when the potion makes her collapse.
• Jun Ruofeng is wary of Ye Chuqi’s willingness to trust Xiya, and Xiya’s reaction makes him realize Ye Chuqi’s injuries are worse than he understood.
• San San returns with renewed energy and a protective, affectionate bond with Ye Chuqi. It has also learned the local language and begins helping her understand the people and customs around them.
• Red Beard expresses gratitude rather than resentment over the suspected Beast Core, acknowledging Ye Chuqi’s rescue.

Significant themes

• Trust and instinct: Ye Chuqi judges Xiya by character rather than appearances or caution.
• Care and reciprocity: Xiya treats Ye Chuqi, while Ye Chuqi comforts San San and reminds it of its own sacrifice.
• Healing and vulnerability: Ye Chuqi’s pain can be eased, but her deeper injuries remain severe.
• Loyalty and gratitude: Red Beard prioritizes Ye Chuqi’s life-saving help over the valuable core she may have taken.

Plot points and events

• San San reveals that it can absorb the dangerous “Berserk Energy” inside Beast Cores, purifying them in the process. Ye Chuqi could gather cheap Low-Rank Beast Cores, which San San would purify, and then sell them at a profit.
• Ed hears Ye Chuqi laughing and is caught off guard by her appearance, though he masks his reaction with a joke about leaving the cave.
• Red Beard and the group prepare to travel using Starhorn Horses summoned from small containers. Red Beard plans to ride carefully so he does not worsen his injured leg.
• Red Beard offers Ye Chuqi a gentle Starhorn Horse. The group treats her warmly because she saved their leader, and Xiao Nuo eagerly joins her on the ride.
• As they set out across the Ashen Wasteland, Ye Chuqi asks San San to hide Xiao Nuo’s distracting dialogue bubbles while preserving anything important.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi shows resourcefulness and care for others, having helped save Red Beard despite her own serious injuries. She remains puzzled by the group’s acceptance of her and by her unusual situation: she understands their speech but cannot yet speak their language.
• San San demonstrates initiative by proposing a practical way to make money from its ability to purify Beast Cores, and agrees to help Ye Chuqi manage Xiao Nuo’s messages.
• Red Beard is grateful to Ye Chuqi, acknowledging that she saved his eyesight as well as his life. Though still blind and recovering, he insists on traveling cautiously and makes sure she is provided with a mount.
• Ed reacts unexpectedly strongly to Ye Chuqi’s appearance, suggesting a new attraction or emotional interest, but covers it with teasing.
• Xiya has treated Red Beard and Ye Chuqi, and remains shaken by how close Red Beard came to losing his sight.
• Xiao Nuo is affectionate and excited to ride with Ye Chuqi; its exuberance contrasts with Ye Chuqi’s difficulty understanding its garbled messages.
• The rest of Red Beard’s crew show respect and kindness toward Ye Chuqi, while Jun Ruofeng watches the group’s interactions with a cold, thoughtful expression.

Significant themes

• Resourcefulness and survival: Ye Chuqi and San San turn a difficult, potentially dangerous resource into a possible source of income.
• Gratitude and loyalty: The crew’s care for Ye Chuqi reflects their recognition of what she did for Red Beard.
• Hidden strength and vulnerability: Ye Chuqi appears recovered but is still badly injured, while her extraordinary strength and healing abilities remain a mystery to those around her.
• Belonging and uncertainty: Ye Chuqi is welcomed into the group despite her inexplicable presence and lack of language skills, leaving her unsure how to explain herself.

Plot points and events

• Red Beard respects Ye Chuqi’s silence and arranges for Xiya to teach her to read and speak, explaining that Xiya already teaches children in the mercenary group.
• At camp, Ye Chuqi discovers the group’s costly magical equipment: spacious Magic Tents, supplied with water by magic arrays, and cages that let magical beasts be stored in Spatial Equipment.
• Xiya offers Ye Chuqi a bath and helps her choose clothes. After washing, Ye Chuqi’s roots reveal that her hair is naturally silver beneath its black dye.
• Alarmed, Xiya calls Red Beard into her tent and seals it with a magic array. Ye Chuqi clarifies that her hair is silver, not white, and explains that her Eldest Senior Brother arranged for it—and her unusual eyes—to be dyed black after someone mocked her appearance.

Character developments

• Ye Chuqi begins to adjust to the group’s care, accepting help with language, clothing, and bathing, though she remains wary of drawing attention.
• Xiya’s practical kindness becomes clear, but her strong reaction to Ye Chuqi’s hair suggests the silver color may have serious significance.
• Red Beard is considerate and reassuring, treating Ye Chuqi gently even when Xiya’s concern makes the situation seem urgent.
• Ye Chuqi reveals more of her past: she grew up accepted by her companions, but was mocked after leaving home, prompting her senior brother to disguise her appearance.

Character interactions

• Red Beard gives Xiya responsibility for helping Ye Chuqi learn, while keeping others from pressing her with questions.
• Xiya encourages Ye Chuqi to use the tent’s stored water and assists with her clothes, showing warmth and attentiveness.
• When Xiya discovers the silver roots, she and Red Beard react privately and anxiously; Ye Chuqi’s calm correction contrasts with their alarm.
• Red Beard comforts Ye Chuqi by patting her head, while Xiya remains convinced the discovery is serious.

Significant themes

• Care and trust: The group’s support helps Ye Chuqi settle in, even as she remains guarded.
• Identity and concealment: Her dyed hair and eyes reflect a past effort to hide traits that attracted prejudice.
• Magic and scarcity: The group’s advanced equipment and stored water reveal both the sophistication of this world and the unusual wealth of the Red Wind Mercenary Group.

Plot points and events

• Ye Chuqi asks whether Xiya can make hair dye. Red Beard explains that silver-white hair is associated with the Kabu Continent’s royal family, a dangerous resemblance given the hostility between Kabu and Raila and Ye Chuqi’s lack of identity papers.
• Black eyes are likewise rare in Raila, belonging to the Jun and Bai families. Red Beard hints that Jun Ruofeng’s eyes are not truly black, suggesting his family bloodline is not pure.
• Jun Ruofeng enters and catches the tail end of their conversation. The others conceal that they are discussing Ye Chuqi’s hair, fearing the connection between the Jun family and Kabu’s royal family could provoke him.
• Xiya brings the dye and smoothly redirects the conversation by saying Ye Chuqi examined Red Beard’s eyes and recommended removing his bandages. Red Beard’s eye poison has already been cured; Xiya had continued treating him to observe his recovery.
• Ye Chuqi drinks the sweet, fruity dye. Xiya removes Red Beard’s bandages, and he sees Ye Chuqi for the first time. She peeks out from her blanket just as the dye takes effect and meets his striking ice-blue gaze.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi is still learning the world’s customs and dangers. She listens carefully, recognizes the Jun family reference, and is captivated by Red Beard’s eyes.
• Red Beard explains the political significance of Ye Chuqi’s hair and quietly helps keep that information from Jun Ruofeng. He remains composed despite Jun’s suspicion.
• Jun Ruofeng reacts sharply to Red Beard’s insinuation about his lineage, entering with a chilling smile. He suspects the group is hiding something but holds back as Xiya tends to Red Beard.
• Xiya protects Ye Chuqi’s secret by preparing the dye and redirecting Jun’s attention. She also removes Red Beard’s bandages in the dim light to protect his recovering eyes.
• The scene establishes a contrast between Jun Ruofeng’s tense, icy presence and Red Beard’s newly revealed, ocean-blue eyes.

Significant themes

• Identity and suspicion: Physical traits can mark someone as belonging to a politically dangerous family or nation.
• Secrecy and trust: Xiya and Red Beard conceal information to protect Ye Chuqi, while Jun Ruofeng senses their evasions.
• Appearance and lineage: Hair and eye color carry social and political meaning, and Jun’s eye color raises questions about his heritage.

Key plot points

• Ye Chuqi’s wound is healing. Xiya reassures Red Beard that a potion will prevent a facial scar; he says he does not mind it. Jun Ruofeng’s cold laugh prompts Red Beard to tease him about his childhood sickness.
• Ye Chuqi asks for less light, and Red Beard understands and promises to stay out of it.
• The next day, Ye Chuqi appears disguised in short chestnut hair, pale-gray eyes, and gender-neutral clothes. Even Ed briefly fails to recognize her.
• As the group travels out of the Ashen Wasteland, signs of other travelers increase. Red Beard covers his eyes, while Ed scouts invisibly.
• Xiya explains that the wasteland was scarred by a Forbidden Spell and now attracts Fire Mages and their mercenary escorts, though its resources remain scarce.
• Ye Chuqi reads travelogues rapidly with San San’s help, despite the others assuming she cannot read and suggesting picture books.
• The chapter also outlines the Red Wind Mercenary Group’s structure: Red Beard leads and shelters children, while Jun Ruofeng’s businesses support members, their families, and injured or homeless people. After the recent attack and mission losses, however, Red Beard has been saddled with heavy debts to Jun.
• As travelers become more common, Ye Chuqi notices them looking strangely at her group.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi is recovering, experimenting with a new appearance, and learning quickly; her literacy and awareness remain hidden from the group.
• Red Beard shows consideration for her needs and good humor in his banter with Jun Ruofeng.
• Xiya acts as Ye Chuqi’s guide, explaining the region and helping her settle in.
• Jun Ruofeng is revealed as both the group’s powerful financial backer and an intimidating, shrewd businessman; Red Beard’s choices have left him deeply indebted.
• Ed’s role as the group’s scout is established.

Significant themes

• Recovery and adaptation: Ye Chuqi adjusts to her injuries, surroundings, and new disguise.
• Hidden ability and mistaken assumptions: Others underestimate her reading skills and fail to recognize her altered appearance.
• Care and community: The mercenary group takes responsibility for children, families, and members unable to fight.
• The cost of leadership: Red Beard’s mission decision has brought losses and personal debt, while Jun’s financial support carries real leverage.
• War’s lasting impact: The ancient Forbidden Spell still shapes the landscape and draws people seeking to study its lingering magic.

Plot points and events

• San San reports that it can now run Ye Chuqi’s space largely on its own and detect activity within a hundred li. It is tending the damaged spirit plants, propagating Red Sun Fruit, and gathering resources. It has also collected two drops of Spiritual Liquid, but advises Ye Chuqi to regain her strength before using them.
• San San says Big Black Fish is hungry. Ye Chuqi asks about feeding it and whether deadwood can be grown in the space; San San suggests keeping some deadwood as a precaution, though ordinary food is preferable.
• Xiya asks Ye Chuqi, who is about fifteen, whether she would like to join the Red Wind Mercenary Group as a reserve member. Xiya explains the training benefits and work obligations. Red Beard emphasizes that Ye Chuqi should not feel pressured, and she says she will consider it.
• Near the Adventurers’ Camp, the group puts away their starhorn horses before entering. Red Beard explains that camps prohibit demon beasts, including riding beasts, to prevent overcrowding and disorder.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi shows growing trust in San San and a cheerful, resourceful nature, while still weighing where she belongs. She responds warmly to Xiya’s offer without committing.
• San San acts as Ye Chuqi’s capable, proud caretaker, maintaining the space and prioritizing Ye Chuqi’s recovery.
• Xiya wants to protect and support Ye Chuqi, but realizes her offer may have sounded patronizing. Ye Chuqi reassures her with affection.
• Red Beard treats Ye Chuqi as an equal and makes clear that joining the group is her choice. He also explains the camp’s customs.

Significant themes

• Choice and belonging: Ye Chuqi is offered a secure place in the mercenary group but must decide her own path.
• Care and independence: San San and Xiya look after Ye Chuqi, while Red Beard’s approach respects her autonomy.
• Practical cooperation and resourcefulness: San San’s careful management of the space contrasts with Ye Chuqi’s more spontaneous collecting.
• Community rules: The Adventurers’ Camp’s beast ban reflects how shared spaces rely on customs to prevent conflict.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chuqi enters the Adventurers’ Camp with Red Beard and is captivated by the stalls, especially the many Low-Rank Beast Cores and unfamiliar herbs.
• San San urges her to buy everything, explaining that Beast Core energy can be purified by the Spirit Spring and absorbed safely over time.
• Ye Chuqi has no local money, but she avoids selling valuable possessions that might attract unwanted attention.
• Red Beard asks Jun Ruofeng for an advance. Jun gives the money directly to Ye Chuqi, joking that he will calculate Red Beard’s worth against his growing debt.
• Jun assigns Coke, the group’s experienced quartermaster, to help Ye Chuqi shop after dismissing Red Beard’s unreliable bargaining skills.
• Ye Chuqi buys more than a hundred Low-Rank Beast Cores and two withered herbs for one Gold Coin. The stall owner accepts eagerly and even gives her the hide they were displayed on.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi is resourceful and excited by materials others consider useless, recognizing their potential for her own purposes. She acts decisively, buying the stall’s entire stock before Coke can negotiate.
• San San remains enthusiastic and impatient, pushing Ye Chuqi to gather resources while explaining how they can be used.
• Red Beard continues his shameless borrowing, but is friendly and offers to help Ye Chuqi shop.
• Jun Ruofeng is generous toward Ye Chuqi but teasingly holds Red Beard accountable for his debts. He also shows practical judgment by sending Coke instead.
• Coke volunteers to protect Ye Chuqi from bad deals and explains the market value of the goods.
• The stall owner recognizes the mercenary badge and sells quickly, apparently eager to secure the transaction.

Significant themes

• Value depends on perspective: The Beast Cores are nearly worthless to adventurers but valuable to Ye Chuqi and San San.
• Resourcefulness and adaptation: Ye Chuqi navigates an unfamiliar market despite lacking money and local knowledge.
• Practical knowledge and trust: Jun’s choice of Coke over Red Beard highlights the value of experience, while the group’s teasing exchanges show their familiar, informal bonds.

Chapter 9 summary

• Shopping at the Adventurers’ Camp: Ye Chuqi examines the local stalls with Red Beard and the Red Wind Mercenary Group. She buys low-rank Beast Cores, but Xiao Nuo rejects them as food. Coke carries the bundle for her. The group has ample supplies and is mainly waiting to reunite with its members and report that Red Beard is safe.
• Spatial equipment and the attack: Coke explains that Spatial Rings are expensive and difficult to secure; destroying one can send its contents into spatial turbulence. This is how Red Beard’s attackers deprived him of his resources and escape options.
• Ye Chuqi receives a dagger: After Ye Chuqi considers a crude stall dagger, Red Beard arranges for Ed to give her a finely made black dagger. Ye Chuqi quickly adjusts to it, impressing Coke and especially Ed with her skill. She casually wears it at her belt, which worries the others—but the belt is actually a defensive High-Tier Spiritual Artifact.
• The group prepares to travel: The Red Wind Mercenaries gather and camp outside the town for the night. They plan to continue toward the Imperial Capital to deliver the Red Sun Fruit, while still worrying about Red Beard’s health and waiting for missing members. Ye Chuqi listens to their discussions so she can learn about this world; San San monitors for anything important she might miss.
• Kru Town is introduced: The chapter explains that Kru Town grew from an adventurers’ camp into the largest supply center on the route between the Ashen Wasteland and the Lost Forest. It is controlled by the Adventurers’ Guild and has a Mage Guild teleportation array.

Character developments and interactions

Ye Chuqi’s impressive weapon skills become more apparent: Ed recognizes that she handles a new dagger unusually well, while Red Beard shows care for her by securing a better weapon. The mercenaries’ respect for her grows, though her relaxed confidence—especially around the dagger—continues to surprise them. Xiao Nuo’s fussy reaction adds a lighthearted contrast.

Significant themes

The chapter highlights the dangers and value of resources in a perilous world, the importance of trust and mutual care within a group, and the gap between Ye Chuqi’s modest appearance and her hidden abilities. It also emphasizes her gradual adaptation to unfamiliar customs and places.

Key events

• After obtaining the Red Sun Fruit, Red Beard’s group sets out from the Adventurers’ Camp for Kru Town, planning to turn in their current job and take a new one escorting the fruit to the Imperial Capital.
• San San tells Ye Chuqi that the Red Wind Mercenary Group ranks second among the continent’s mercenary corps, thanks to strong performance and abundant resources.
• Ye Chuqi keeps the Low-Rank Beast Cores hidden in her space while they are being purified, intending to deal with them later.
• On the road, they encounter many Imperial Academy students heading to the Ashen Wasteland for field training. Coke explains that rumors of an Ore Vein have drawn crowds to the region.
• The possibility of an Ore Vein excites San San, which hopes it might help develop Ye Chuqi’s space. Ye Chuqi promises they can investigate later, though San San suspects she is putting it off.
• Looking back at the Wasteland, Ye Chuqi senses that the rumor and the recent disturbance may make the area dangerous. She learns that the Horned Python had kept the deep-dwelling Demon Beasts in check, and its death may leave them free to emerge.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chuqi remains cautious and pragmatic: she delays investigating the Ore Vein and avoids revealing her hidden resources in front of the mercenaries.
• San San is eager for an Ore Vein, hoping it will improve the space, but grows resentful when Ye Chuqi postpones the search. Its older wish for a Spirit Vein—and Ye Chuqi’s promise to help it obtain a body—remains unresolved.
• Ye Chuqi and San San’s exchange highlights their familiar, teasing relationship, alongside San San’s genuine dependence on her promises.
• Red Beard provides context about the mercenary group and Imperial Academy students, while Coke supplies the news that prompted the influx of visitors.

Significant themes

• Caution amid opportunity: The Ore Vein rumor promises wealth and growth, but Ye Chuqi recognizes the danger behind the sudden rush into the Wasteland.
• Power and resources: The Red Wind Mercenary Group’s rise shows how equipment, wealth, and successful work can rival long-established reputations.
• Consequences of disturbing a balance: With the Horned Python dead, the Demon Beasts it restrained may threaten the region, foreshadowing further danger.