Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Dean Song He sends nineteen exchange students from Imperial Capital Academy and Pearl Academy on an expedition to Jinlin City, withholding the destination and mission until departure.
• Jinlin was evacuated fifteen years earlier after a Demon Beast calamity. The beasts took over the abandoned city, and those who failed to escape were lost.
• The students must survey the ruins and record Servant- and Warrior-Level Demon Beasts. Their findings will support a joint paper on whether Jinlin should be rebuilt.
• The mission is perilous: Jinlin lies near the dangerous Dongting Lake ecosystem, and Commander-Level beasts may remain. The students are warned that meeting one could be fatal.
• Before the team leaves, Song He privately asks Mo Xie to protect the others, judging him the strongest and possibly already Advanced Level. Mo Xie agrees, but says he will prioritize his own safety if the danger exceeds what he can handle.

Character developments and interactions

• Song He reveals that he was the mage who first spotted the calamity and helped prompt Jinlin’s evacuation, though he avoids discussing the tragedy at length. Despite his calm briefing, he is anxious for the students’ safety.
• Mo Xie recognizes that the survey’s scale and the surrounding Demon Beast population make it far more dangerous than it first sounds. He accepts responsibility for the group while setting a practical limit.
• Jingjing questions the unfamiliar city; Song Xia asks about the mission; Shen Mingxiao initially sees data collection as simple; and Luo Song’s question about counting Commander-Level beasts draws a grim warning from Song He.
• Qiu Yuhua privately asks Song He whether the students will be safe. He assures her they will be.

Significant themes

• Growth through danger: Field expeditions are presented as necessary training for mages.
• Risk and responsibility: The students must cooperate in a potentially lethal environment, while Mo Xie is asked to protect them.
• Memory and rebuilding: The survey will determine whether a city erased by disaster can—and should—be reclaimed.
• Uncertainty: The students must make decisions without advance preparation, and survival may depend partly on luck.

Key plot points and events

• Nineteen students from Pearl Academy and Imperial Capital Academy travel on foot from Kangning City toward Jinlin Ruined City, moving beyond the Safe Zone.
• Jingjing explains how Demon Beast groups are classified: a nest contains at least fifty adults, a tribe has more than fifty nests, and a horde comprises more than ten tribes. She warns that Jinlin City’s earlier evacuation likely prevented a catastrophe even worse than Bo City.
• Liao Mingxuan cuts short the discussion, urging the group to focus on the dangers ahead. Song Xia identifies an abandoned railway as a direct route to the ruined city.
• Lu Zhenghe declares that he should command the joint team. Pearl Academy rejects him and backs Mo Fan, while Mu Ningxue also recommends Mo Fan as leader. Mo Fan accepts responsibility, and the group continues along the railway.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Fan is recognized by both academies as capable and experienced, and accepts the leadership role seriously.
• Mu Ningxue firmly rebukes Lu Zhenghe for acting overly familiar, then openly supports Mo Fan.
• Lu Zhenghe is humiliated by the team’s rejection and grows increasingly jealous and resentful of Mo Fan, especially because Mu Ningxue favors him.
• Pearl Academy’s students, including Zhao Manyan and even Mo Fan’s usual rivals, unite behind Mo Fan, prioritizing survival over past disagreements. The Imperial Capital students accept the choice without resistance.
• Jingjing shares detailed knowledge of Demon Beast threats, while Liao Mingxuan challenges the conversation as unhelpful in the dangerous setting.

Significant themes

• Leadership and trust: Command is earned through competence and confidence, not simply claimed.
• Unity under danger: Rivalries fade when the group faces a shared threat.
• Jealousy and resentment: Lu Zhenghe’s wounded pride turns into personal hostility.
• The scale of danger: The explanation of nests, tribes, and hordes emphasizes how vulnerable human settlements are to organized Demon Beasts.

Key plot points and events

• A student expedition reaches a long-abandoned railway tunnel, where Demon Beasts may be hiding. The group debates climbing over the mountain or taking the tunnel.
• Mo Xie, the expedition’s leader, chooses the tunnel, judging that climbing would exhaust them and expose them to aerial threats.
• Zheng Bingxiao summons his Rock Demon to clear the overgrown tracks and shield the group. Mo Xie assigns Wind mages to scout ahead, Earth mages to guard the rear, and Light mages to illuminate the way.
• The scouts report scattered White Fragments, which Lu Zhenghe dismisses as construction debris. The group continues through the stale, dark tunnel.
• Along the way, Mu Nujiao asks about Mo Xie’s past with Mu Ningxue. He says they were childhood friends. Mu Nujiao offers comfort and holds his hand.
• Bai Tingting then clings to Mo Xie, asking him to protect her; he reassures the group but discreetly frees his arm. Song Xia offers to cast light beside him.
• About a third of the way in, Mo Xie suddenly orders everyone to stop and stay alert, signaling possible danger ahead.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie demonstrates authority and practical judgment, organizing the group’s defenses. His reaction to Mu Ningxue’s name hints at unresolved feelings or painful history.
• Zheng Bingxiao contributes a useful defensive and clearing resource with his Rock Demon; Lu Zhenghe is outspoken but offers tactical suggestions.
• Mu Nujiao shows growing affection for Mo Xie and tries to comfort him without demanding details about his past.
• Bai Tingting seeks Mo Xie’s protection through conspicuously physical closeness, while Song Xia responds more quietly by offering practical help.
• The group’s roles are clearly divided, emphasizing its reliance on coordination as danger increases.

Significant themes

• Leadership and risk: Mo Xie balances competing opinions and chooses the route he considers safest overall.
• Cooperation and preparedness: The group’s formation assigns each mage a role suited to their abilities.
• Personal bonds amid danger: Romantic tension and concern for Mo Xie’s past emerge even as the expedition moves through a hazardous environment.
• Suspense and foreshadowing: The unexplained White Fragments and Mo Xie’s abrupt warning suggest that the tunnel holds more than routine obstacles.

Key plot points and events

• In a railway tunnel, Mo Xie senses danger despite the others seeing no Demon Beasts. At his direction, Zhao Manyan casts Light Shine, revealing Cave Demon Slaves hiding behind black vines that conceal openings in the walls.
• One creature lunges at Bai Tingting. Mo Xie pushes her out of danger, dodges its bone club, pins it down, and kills it with a spinning kick. He then kills the other three using only his fists and feet, astonishing the group.
• Mo Xie orders the Fire Element mages to burn away the vines and the Light Element mages to illuminate the wall openings. A Cave Demon Slave shrieks, apparently alerting the nest.
• The group discovers that concealed lairs line both sides of the tunnel. Cave Demon Slaves gather in great numbers ahead and behind, trapping the mages. Mo Xie orders everyone to regroup and prepare for battle.

Character developments

• Mo Xie proves highly perceptive, decisive, and physically formidable. He protects Bai Tingting and takes command as the danger escalates.
• Bai Tingting freezes when attacked, showing how abruptly the threat overwhelms her, but Mo Xie’s intervention saves her.
• Zhao Manyan responds immediately to Mo Xie’s instructions, while Jingjing identifies the creatures as Cave Demon Slaves.
• Lu Zhenghe and Liao Mingxuan dismiss Mo Xie’s warning before the danger is revealed, contrasting their skepticism with his vigilance.

Character interactions

• Mo Xie’s warning is challenged by Lu Zhenghe and Liao Mingxuan, who mock his caution.
• He gives Zhao Manyan precise instructions to reveal the hidden creatures.
• Mo Xie shields Bai Tingting; Song Xia catches her after she is pushed aside.
• Once the nest is exposed, Mo Xie directs the group’s elemental mages and urges everyone to stay together.

Significant themes

• Vigilance and judgment: Mo Xie’s warning proves valuable even when others see no obvious threat.
• Leadership under pressure: He quickly shifts from detecting danger to coordinating the group’s response.
• Appearance versus reality: The ordinary-looking tunnel conceals a vast nest, while Mo Xie’s unarmed fighting defies expectations about human vulnerability to Demon Beasts.
• Cooperation and survival: The group must combine light, fire, and disciplined formation to face the swarm.

Key events

• The team is ambushed by Cave Demon Slaves emerging from concealed side openings, turning the tunnel into a dangerous close-quarters fight.
• Mo Xie saves Xiao Feng from two attackers, kills them, and takes command. He orders Ice mages to seal the side passages and Earth mages to block the rear.
• Mu Ningxue seals both openings with powerful Ice magic, while Xu Dalong and Xiao Feng raise a stone barrier behind the group. Zheng Bingxiao recalls his badly damaged Rock Demon.
• Song Xia’s Intermediate Fire magic clears the path ahead, but the Cave Demon Slaves keep advancing.
• Mo Xie directs Zhao Manyan to flood the tunnel with water, then electrifies the waves with Thunder magic. The combined attack devastates the pursuing horde and opens a route forward.
• The team charges for the exit under Mo Xie’s leadership, using movement magic and Summoned Beasts. He and Mo Fan help fight off attackers along the way.
• Near the exit, Mu Nujiao and Jingjing use Kun’s Forest to obstruct the creatures. The team escapes, confirms everyone is present, and rests at dusk.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie emerges as the team’s decisive leader: he rescues Xiao Feng, coordinates the mages, protects the formation, and personally leads the escape. His composure earns the group’s trust.
• Xiao Feng expresses gratitude after Mo Xie saves him, then helps Xu Dalong reinforce the rear barrier.
• Mu Ningxue’s exceptional control of Ice magic impresses the team, especially Luo Song, whose own Ice spell is far less effective.
• Zhao Manyan, Song Xia, Xu Dalong, Mu Nujiao, and Jingjing each contribute key spells, showing how coordinated teamwork makes escape possible.
• Mo Fan supports the retreat by attacking flank threats and urging the others to keep moving.

Significant themes

• Leadership under pressure: Mo Xie turns a panicked, vulnerable group into an organized team.
• Cooperation and trust: The mages’ different abilities combine to contain the ambush and clear a path.
• The danger of close combat: Even powerful mages are vulnerable when Demon Beasts reach them at close range.
• Composure and earned respect: Mo Xie’s calm effectiveness changes how the others see him, making him the person they rely on.

Key plot points and events

• As darkness falls, Mo Fan chooses a grove for the group to camp rather than risk traveling at night, when Demon Beasts might attack. A clean pool nearby offers the women a chance to bathe.
• The men stay by the campfire, awkwardly imagining the women bathing and lamenting that their team lacks a Shadow Element Mage who could help them sneak a look.
• Mo Fan returns from patrol and learns the women have gone to the pool. He realizes he forgot to warn them that his brother is still bathing there. He decides that warning them now would only get his brother in trouble, so he keeps quiet and avoids getting involved.
• At the pool, Song Xia uses Fire Element Magic to warm the water. The women relax and joke with one another; Mu Ningxue bathes apart from them. The scene ends by hinting that someone may be watching.

Character developments

• Mo Fan is startled by the news about the bath, then privately weighs whether to warn the women about his brother. His guilty amusement wins out, and he chooses not to intervene.
• Zhao Manyan tries to break the men’s silence and teases Mo Fan, assuming his shock is lecherous excitement.
• Song Xia is helpful and playful, warming the water and joining the others’ teasing.
• Bai Tingting and Nu Jiao are comfortable enough with one another to joke openly and affectionately.
• Mu Ningxue remains reserved, bathing separately because of the chill that radiates from her body.

Significant themes

• Comic awkwardness and voyeurism: The men’s embarrassed anticipation contrasts with the women’s relaxed, private camaraderie.
• Privacy and temptation: The possibility that someone is watching creates an undercurrent of mischief and suspense.
• Group bonds: Shared camp routines and teasing reveal familiarity among the women, while the men’s jokes show their own camaraderie.

Character interactions

• The men exchange awkward comments around the campfire, with Zhao Manyan steering the conversation and later teasing Mo Fan.
• Mo Fan keeps his brother’s presence at the pool secret rather than warning the women.
• Song Xia warms the water; Bai Tingting invites her in, and the women tease and compliment one another.
• Zhao Mingyue and Jingjing compare themselves unfavorably with the more curvaceous women, while Mu Ningxue stays apart from the group.

Key plot points and events

• The team settles into a warm pond after a day of travel. Bai Tingting leaves the group briefly, then tries to find her way back through the heavy mist by following the pond’s edge.
• Earlier, Mo Xie had gone to the pond to bathe, assuming Mo Fan would tell the others. Mo Fan never passed on the message: instead, he went on patrol and later returned to his tent.
• When Mo Xie realizes the women from the team are bathing nearby, he tries to escape unnoticed. A Light Shine spell prevents him from using Shadow Escape, forcing him to hide in the water and move around a large rock.
• Bai Tingting steps on him by accident. Mo Xie cries out in pain, startling her; when she is about to scream, he covers her mouth and urgently asks her to stay quiet.

Character developments

• Mo Xie is caught in an increasingly awkward situation through a series of misunderstandings. His attempts to stay hidden make him seem suspicious, though he is primarily desperate to avoid embarrassment.
• Bai Tingting is initially calm and self-reliant, but the unexpected man’s voice frightens her. Her confidence in navigating the mist leads her directly into Mo Xie.
• Mo Fan is shown as reluctant to do extra work and careless about relaying Mo Xie’s message, setting the mishap in motion.

Character interactions

• Bai Tingting checks in with Song Xia before leaving; Song Xia offers to accompany her, but Tingting declines.
• Mo Xie asks Mo Fan to notify the others and patrol the forest. Mo Fan complains, then fails to deliver the warning.
• Mo Xie and Bai Tingting meet by accident at the rock. He restrains her to prevent her from shouting, creating a tense and potentially compromising encounter.

Significant themes

• Miscommunication and unintended consequences: Mo Fan’s failure to pass on a simple message leads to the central predicament.
• Irony and comic embarrassment: Mo Xie tries to avoid being discovered, but his hiding only makes the encounter more dramatic.
• Vulnerability and trust: In the mist and confusion, both characters are exposed to danger and must quickly judge one another’s intentions.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Xie is bathing in a secluded pool when Bai Tingting arrives unexpectedly. He quickly pulls her close and covers her mouth so she won’t call out.
• After she recognizes him, Mo Xie explains that he had asked Mo Fan to warn everyone he was using the pool—but Mo Fan apparently never passed on the message.
• Bai Tingting realizes her accidental kick may have badly hurt Mo Xie. Though he insists he can recover alone, she insists on treating him with her Healing Element magic.
• She approaches and uses Healing Light. The treatment appears to soothe Mo Xie, but their closeness makes the encounter increasingly intimate, and Bai Tingting begins leaning toward him.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie is embarrassed by the misunderstanding and frustrated with Mo Fan for failing to deliver his warning. He tries to maintain distance from Bai Tingting, despite his attraction and their awkwardly close situation.
• Bai Tingting shifts from startled and shy to guilty and concerned. Her determination to help Mo Xie overcomes her embarrassment, while her attraction to him becomes more evident.
• Their interaction moves from accidental intimacy and explanation to a deliberate healing encounter that blurs the distance Mo Xie wants to preserve.
• Mo Fan, though absent, causes the misunderstanding by failing to warn the others.

Significant themes

• Miscommunication and comic embarrassment: Mo Fan’s failure to pass along a simple message creates an awkward encounter.
• Attraction versus restraint: Both characters feel the tension of their closeness, but Mo Xie tries to uphold boundaries while Bai Tingting’s concern and feelings draw her nearer.
• Care and vulnerability: Bai Tingting’s healing is prompted by guilt and genuine concern, bringing the two characters into a more intimate interaction.

Key plot points and events

• Song Xia waits for Bai Tingting, who has been gone nearly twenty minutes. Tingting claims she had a severe stomachache, but her unusual voice, delayed return, and hurried explanations make Song Xia uneasy.
• Song Xia approaches the rock where Tingting is hiding. After a startled cry, Tingting steps in front of her, flushed and breathing quickly, and says she twisted her ankle but is fine.
• Tingting quickly goes to wash herself. Song Xia notices red marks on her chest and wonders why they have not faded, but puts the concern aside when Tingting calls her back.
• Mo Xie has already returned to camp. He claims he was patrolling for danger, and the others—who had been distracted watching the pool—believe him and admire his diligence.
• Mo Xie learns that Mo Fan has gone to rest, then heads to his own tent. Reflecting on what happened with Tingting, he regrets giving in to temptation, though they stopped before the final step.

Character developments and interactions

• Bai Tingting tries to conceal her encounter with Mo Xie from Song Xia. Though she is embarrassed and mildly annoyed with him, she also wonders happily whether their intimacy means they are now a couple.
• Song Xia shows genuine concern for Tingting, but her suspicions are briefly stirred by Tingting’s strange behavior and the marks she sees.
• Mo Xie hides his actions from the group with a convincing patrol story. Once alone, he feels remorse and recognizes that the encounter has left him with another romantic complication.
• The group misreads Mo Xie’s absence as an act of responsibility, strengthening their respect for him.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and misunderstanding: Tingting and Mo Xie conceal what happened, while the group interprets Mo Xie’s absence innocently.
• Attraction and regret: Tingting views their closeness with hopeful excitement, whereas Mo Xie responds afterward with guilt and concern about the consequences.
• Appearance versus reality: Tingting’s explanations and Mo Xie’s patrol story mask the events of the night.

Key events

• Unable to sleep, Mu Nujiao sits alone by the campfire, troubled by her family’s expectations and the possibility of being forced into a marriage.
• Mo Xie joins her, covers her with a blanket, and checks whether she is all right. Their conversation turns playful as Mu Nujiao teases him about being her “personal maid” and he awkwardly plays along.
• Mo Xie encourages her to rest and promises to help if she runs into trouble. Comforted, Mu Nujiao rests her head on his shoulder before teasingly calling him “Master” and returning to her tent.
• Mo Xie realizes her family is likely behind her distress and resolves to support her as a friend. Unknown to them, someone watches their exchange through a partly opened tent zipper.

Character developments and interactions

• Mu Nujiao reveals her fear of losing control over her future. She wants to become strong enough to choose her own partner and life. Mo Xie’s kindness eases her anxiety, and she responds with growing affection and playful flirtation.
• Mo Xie notices her sadness, offers practical care and reassurance, and recognizes the pressure she faces as a member of a prominent family. Though flustered by her advances, he does not pull away and intends to help her.
• Their bond becomes more intimate, blending sincere concern with teasing. Mu Nujiao sees Mo Xie as a source of comfort, while he regards her as a friend he should protect.

Significant themes

• Personal freedom versus family duty: Mu Nujiao’s family treats marriage and resources as tools of influence, motivating her to seek independence through strength.
• Care and emotional refuge: Mo Xie’s simple gestures help Mu Nujiao feel less alone.
• Growing romantic tension: Their affectionate closeness and teasing suggest feelings neither openly addresses.
• Privacy and observation: The unseen watcher introduces uncertainty about how their private moment may affect the group.

Key plot points and events

• At night, Lu Zhenghe secretly buries a glowing signal pen along the training route. He is following instructions from his elder brother, Lu Nian, who has promised to meet him during a supposedly classified military mission involving Mo Fan.
• Lu Zhenghe’s resentment toward Mo Fan over their sparring match fuels his hope that Lu Nian will secretly punish him.
• Mo Xie catches Lu Zhenghe returning from the tree, though Lu Zhenghe claims he went out to relieve himself. After Lu Zhenghe goes back to his tent, Mo Xie uses his silver-eyed power to retrieve the buried signal pen. He has found several others during training and decides to keep this one for a plan of his own.
• At Imperial Capital Academy, Zu Xingyi visits Dean Song He. Their conversation turns serious when Xingyi reports that several of Lu Nian’s subordinates have resigned and Lu Nian himself seems ready to leave the military.
• They realize the resignations may be a way for Lu Nian’s group to commit a serious crime without implicating the Military Department. Since Lu Nian knows Mo Xie and the others are training in Jinlin City, Song He and Xingyi rush to stop him.
• Shao Hongying arrives and insists on going to Jinlin Ruined City as well, determined to protect Mo Xie.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Zhenghe remains bitter and vindictive toward Mo Fan, and his secret cooperation with Lu Nian reveals how readily his resentment can draw him into a dangerous scheme.
• Mo Xie shows vigilance and restraint: he does not confront Lu Zhenghe directly, but quietly collects the signal pen, suggesting he is anticipating trouble.
• Lu Nian emerges as a potentially ruthless threat. His unexplained military maneuvering alarms even those familiar with his conduct.
• Zu Xingyi and Shao Hongying show concern for Mo Xie. Xingyi acts urgently once he recognizes the danger; Hongying’s anger and resolve reveal how strongly she cares for Mo Xie.
• Song He shifts from dismissing the news to recognizing its implications, underscoring the seriousness of Lu Nian’s apparent plan.

Significant themes

• Resentment and manipulation: Lu Zhenghe’s grudge makes him vulnerable to Lu Nian’s influence.
• Conspiracy and accountability: The officers’ resignations suggest an attempt to evade institutional responsibility for a planned crime.
• Loyalty and protection: Xingyi, Song He, and especially Hongying move to protect Mo Xie and the others.
• Suspense and hidden intentions: The buried signal pens, Mo Xie’s quiet surveillance, and Lu Nian’s secretive movements foreshadow imminent danger.

Key plot points and events

• After nearly ten days of travel, the nineteen-person team reaches the ruined Jinlin City, abandoned to Demon Beasts and overgrown by vegetation.
• They begin surveying the Outer Region to assess whether the area might eventually be rebuilt. The surrounding forest proves relatively clear, with only a few scattered Demon Beasts.
• With many survey points still to check, Mo Xie volunteers to investigate several distant locations east of the city alone. The others warn him that traveling solo is dangerous, but he insists it will be faster and refuses offers from Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan to accompany him.
• Mo Xie appoints Song Xia and Lu Zhenghe to lead the team while he is away, then sets off with a Crystal Guard Bead from Mu Nujiao for protection.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie shows confidence and independence, accepting the risk of going alone because of his wilderness experience and concern for the team’s efficiency. He remains firm despite his friends’ objections.
• Song Xia takes on leadership responsibility, promising that the team will wait for Mo Xie’s safe return.
• Mu Nujiao, who loves Mo Xie, is openly worried. She gives him her protective bead and asks him to bring it back intact.
• Mu Ningxue and Bai Tingting also want to accompany or speak to him, but hold back—Mu Ningxue out of restraint, and Bai Tingting because the team needs its only healer.
• Mo Fan and Zhao Manyan offer to go with Mo Xie, but he tells them to stay so the remaining team will be strong enough to handle danger.

Significant themes

• Risk and responsibility: Mo Xie chooses a dangerous solo mission, while the others weigh personal concern against their duty to the group.
• Trust and affection: The team’s protests and Mu Nujiao’s gift reveal their attachment to Mo Xie and their faith in his abilities.
• Humanity’s struggle against nature: Jinlin City’s ruined streets and buildings, reclaimed by plants and Demon Beasts, show how completely civilization can be overwhelmed.

Key events

• Mo Xie and Little White encounter a Three-Eyed Demon Wolf in the ruins. Little White freezes its legs, wounds it, then kills it with a bite to the neck.
• Mo Xie continues his private effort to frustrate Lu Zhenghe’s plans by burying another Signal Pen. He also plants a Surveying Device, whose sound waves attract nearby Demon Beasts.
• More than a hundred demon wolves converge on the device. Mo Xie calmly sends Little White and Xiao Qing to fight, and allows Little Thunder to join after feeding him Lightning Element Spirit Seed Fragments.
• The three Summoned Beasts charge into the pack. As several wolves turn toward Mo Xie on the roof, he prepares to respond using a mysterious silver light in his eyes.

Character developments and interactions

• Little White demonstrates how far he has advanced, defeating a Warrior-Level wolf with ease and showing tactical use of ice.
• Little Thunder eagerly asks to fight; Mo Xie encourages him, treating battle as essential to growth. The three beasts are excited to fight together.
• Mo Xie remains confident and playful despite deliberately drawing a large enemy pack. His quiet rivalry with Lu Zhenghe continues through the Signal Pens.

Significant themes

• Growth through combat: Mo Xie believes both mages and beasts must fight to become stronger.
• Trust and teamwork: Mo Xie relies on his beasts’ abilities and lets each take part according to its readiness.
• Preparation and mischief: The buried Signal Pens and baiting device show Mo Xie using indirect tactics to disrupt plans and control the situation.

Plot and events

• A Demon Wolf pack attacks Mo Xie and his companions among the ruins. Mo Xie calmly uses his newly strengthened Space Element: Space Rhythm Lag slows the One-Eyed Demon Wolves, and Space Rhythm crushes more than a dozen of them. A second use pierces the surviving Three-Eyed wolves.
• Mo Xie reflects that his Space Element has reached the third level of Rift and can now control, defend, and attack.
• Below, Little White battles in an icy field while Xiao Qing distracts the wolves from the air and Little Thunder attacks with lightning, retreating into the Contract Space when threatened. Little White suffers minor wounds amid the crowded fight, especially with Warrior Level wolves nearby.
• Mo Xie sends out a Healing Sprite, which rapidly closes Little White’s wounds, though its own glow fades as it expends its power. Restored, Little White charges back into battle.
• Mo Xie then tests his Psychic Element. Using Order, he lifts several One-Eyed wolves into the air; with Order Shift, he redirects Little Thunder’s lightning bolt into them, killing them while their bodies remain suspended.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie shows growing confidence and composure, contrasting his current strength with the fear he once would have felt. His new Space and Healing abilities reinforce his potential to fight alone.
• Little White is a powerful frontline fighter but can still be endangered by stronger wolves and overwhelming numbers. Mo Xie’s healing lets him return to the fight quickly.
• Xiao Qing supports the group by drawing enemy attention, while Little Thunder’s attack is unexpectedly redirected by Mo Xie’s control. The companions’ different roles complement Mo Xie’s abilities.

Significant themes

• Strength as security: Mo Xie sees power as the means to face a dangerous world without fear.
• Versatility and self-reliance: His many magic elements, especially Healing and Psychic, make him capable of surviving without a team.
• Teamwork and protection: Even a formidable fighter like Little White needs support, and Mo Xie uses healing and battlefield control to keep his companions fighting.

Plot and key events

• Mo Xie tests his newly awakened Chaos Element Magic against a pack of One-Eyed and Three-Eyed Demon Wolves. His Sound String: Kill ruptures the Servant-level wolves’ ears and leaves the stronger wolves dazed.
• Little White, Xiao Qing, and Little Thunder exploit the opening to attack.
• When a wolf sneaks up behind him, Mo Xie kills it with Ice Vine: Ice Bullet.
• He uses Mind Ripple: Rage to make the remaining wolves focus their fury on him, then traps them inside a cage of ice formed from his Soul Grade Ice Seed.
• Mo Xie unleashes Fierce Fist: Nine Palaces, channeling the Red Lotus Demon Fire into nine enormous pillars. They incinerate the pack and nearby corpses, while the ice cage mostly withstands the flames.
• Clusters of light from the slain demons fly into the Qilin Pendant. Mo Xie then dismisses the flames and lowers the ice walls with effortless control.

Character developments

• Mo Xie’s confidence and mastery are on display: he combines Sound, Ice, Psychic, Fire, and Space Magic to control the fight.
• His Fifth-Realm Mental Strength makes even Beginner Sound Magic unusually potent. He notes, however, that he has not yet cultivated Sound Magic to the Intermediate Level.
• He shows both tactical restraint and overwhelming force, choosing Intermediate Magic rather than risking Advanced Magic in an unfamiliar ruined city.

Character interactions

• Mo Xie uses himself as bait, manipulating the wolves’ emotions to draw them into a trap.
• Little White, Xiao Qing, and Little Thunder support him by attacking the enemies when his sound attack leaves them vulnerable.
• His exchanges with the wolves are entirely one-sided: he taunts them, controls their movements, and destroys the pack.

Significant themes

• Power through versatility: Mo Xie’s strength comes from combining different magical elements strategically.
• Control and deception: He turns the wolves’ aggression against them before trapping them.
• Restraint amid overwhelming power: Despite his destructive ability, Mo Xie avoids using stronger magic that could attract danger.

Plot points and events

• After completing the nearby survey points, Mo Xie spots a Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon, a powerful Commander-level Demon Beast with dragon blood. He hides until it flies away, then realizes it is heading toward the city center—where Mo Fan’s group is likely going—and rushes after them.
• The remaining eighteen students enter Jinlin City, finding abandoned cars, cracked roads, overgrown buildings, animal bones, and signs that Demon Beasts once occupied the district.
• The group decides they need a defensible, elevated base and chooses the intact Jinlin City Hall, which is also a survey site.
• Jingjing notices that thick, dark vines grow unnaturally inward, filling the municipal hall. The group enters to investigate. Mo Fan and Bai Tingting remain outside, while Lu Zhenghe and Song Xia lead the others in.
• Unseen by the group, the vines shift around white bones, suggesting a hidden danger.

Character developments and interactions

• Mo Xie responds sensibly to the pseudo-dragon: he recognizes he cannot fight it, hides, and then hurries to warn or rejoin the others.
• Lu Zhenghe takes a practical leadership role, emphasizing the need for a secure, defensible base.
• Mo Fan volunteers to stay outside, while Bai Tingting joins him, citing her role as a healer.
• Jingjing is alert to the vines’ unnatural growth; Mu Nujiao examines them from her knowledge of the Plant Element.
• The group cooperates in choosing City Hall and dividing who investigates it.

Significant themes

• Nature reclaiming civilization: Vegetation has split roads, swallowed buildings, and transformed the city into a forest.
• Survival through caution and planning: The students prioritize a secure base, while Mo Xie avoids a fight he cannot win.
• Unease and hidden danger: The deserted city’s remains—and the subtly moving vines—suggest that its apparent emptiness is deceptive.

Plot and key events

• Lu Zhenghe leads the group through the vine-choked municipal hall, searching for a stairwell. In an elevator shaft, Liao Mingxuan pulls a human scalp and face from the vines. The group discovers more human remains and abandoned belongings, suggesting a recent hunting team was killed.
• Mu Nujiao and Jingjing suspect the plants are dangerous. Xu Dalong then notices that the vines have silently sealed off the route behind them. Mu Nujiao realizes the plants can move, and the group flees.
• The vines attack, thrusting spear-like tendrils at the mages and closing in from both ends of the corridor. Lu Zhenghe recalls his struggling Summoned Beast, while Zhao Mingyue tries to use Fire Magic to clear a path. Zhao Manyan saves her from a sudden strike with Water Domain and urges everyone to focus on defense.
• As the group is trapped, Zhao Manyan notices purple-black electricity beyond the vines. A powerful lightning blast incinerates the barrier, and a suspended vine is cut apart just before it can pierce Song Xia. Mo Xie catches her and asks, “I’m not too late, am I?”

Character developments and interactions

• Mu Nujiao proves observant and decisive: she notices the suspicious remains, connects the danger to the plants, and warns the group.
• Liao Mingxuan, trying to impress Mu Nujiao, volunteers to investigate the vines but instead exposes the grisly human remains.
• Lu Zhenghe takes charge during the escape and attack, though he recalls his Summoned Beast when the corridor becomes too cramped.
• Zhao Manyan acts quickly to protect Zhao Mingyue and shifts the group’s priority from attacking to survival.
• Song Xia faces imminent death and remembers someone who once rescued her during the Main Campus assessment. Mo Xie arrives just in time and saves her, creating an intimate, emotionally charged reunion.
• The group’s fear and confusion intensify as they discover that the building’s plants are not passive growth but active predators.

Significant themes

• Hidden danger: The group overlooks the vines because they expect threats to move or reveal a Demon Beast’s presence; the plants’ silent movement makes them especially terrifying.
• Survival through cooperation: Warnings, defensive spells, and quick interventions keep the group alive as the threat closes in.
• Rescue and remembered courage: Song Xia’s memory of a previous rescue foreshadows Mo Xie’s return at the critical moment.

Key plot points and events

• Mo Xie arrives just in time to rescue Song Xia from the Demon Vines, then clears a path and urges the group to flee the Second Municipal Tower.
• Mu Ningxue protects the escaping mages with newly formed ice armor and uses her Ice Locks to fend off vine attacks.
• The tower begins to shake and crack as a Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon’s arrival signals that the Pseudo-Dread Demon is near death and the structure may collapse.
• A vine grabs Xu Dalong and pierces his abdomen. While some argue they must abandon him, Mu Ningxue pulls him free and freezes the wound to slow the bleeding.
• Mo Xie carries the gravely injured Xu Dalong and secretly uses healing magic as the group escapes. The tower collapses moments later, smashing into nearby buildings.

Character developments

• Mo Xie acts decisively under pressure, rescuing Song Xia, leading the escape, and risking the group’s pace to carry Xu Dalong.
• Mu Ningxue shows alertness and strong defensive skill, then demonstrates compassion and resolve by saving Xu Dalong despite the danger.
• Song Xia is relieved and emotionally drawn to Mo Xie, though his attention quickly shifts to protecting the group.
• Xu Dalong is left barely alive after the attack, while the crisis exposes how fragile the group’s chances of survival are.

Character interactions

• Song Xia seeks closeness with Mo Xie, but he lets go and focuses on the threat.
• Mo Xie directs the group’s escape and later takes responsibility for Xu Dalong.
• Mu Ningxue’s ice magic shields the fleeing mages and saves Xu Dalong.
• Luo Song urges everyone to run, while Lu Zhenghe argues that Xu Dalong is beyond saving; Mu Ningxue rejects that fatalism through action.

Significant themes

• Survival and urgency: The group must keep moving as monsters attack and the tower collapses.
• Compassion versus self-preservation: Mu Ningxue and Mo Xie risk delay to help Xu Dalong, while others see rescue as futile.
• Human vulnerability: The destruction of the tower underscores how powerless people are beside enormous supernatural forces.

Plot points and events

• The group escapes the collapsing city hall, protected by defensive magic. Outside, Bai Tingting treats Xu Dalong, whose severe abdominal wound and blood loss leave him near death. Mu Ningxue had frozen the wound earlier to slow the bleeding.
• Bai Tingting explains that a Giant Lizard Pseudo-Dragon killed the Pseudo-Horror Demon in a single attack, inadvertently allowing the group to survive. The building’s collapse makes clear how close they came to dying.
• Liao Mingxuan wants to abandon the mission. Zhao Manyan argues that the Hunter Alliance’s reports may have seemed reassuring because the mages who met the most dangerous beasts never survived to report what they encountered.
• Mo Xie asks the team whether they intend to quit. Mu Ningxue and Mu Nujiao firmly choose to continue, viewing the dangerous mission as a vital test of their strength. The group stays to rest and plan.
• Mo Fan privately tells Mo Xie that Bai Tingting learned he has four Elements after he used Shadow magic to save her. He also asks to leave the team and explore independently, partly because his Little Fire Dragon is restless in its Contract Space. Mo Xie agrees, arranging for Zhao Manyan to accompany him while he remains with the main group.

Character developments and interactions

• Mu Ningxue and Mu Nujiao show resolve and courage, refusing to retreat despite the danger.
• Mo Xie takes responsibility for keeping the team together, though privately he is prepared to protect only a few people if things go wrong. He reassures Mo Fan about Bai Tingting and accommodates his request to split off.
• Mo Fan trusts his brother with both his secret and his desire for independence. Mo Xie’s teasing, unspoken confidence about Bai Tingting suggests a personal connection between them.
• Zhao Manyan offers a more sober interpretation of the mission’s danger, while Bai Tingting focuses on saving Xu Dalong.
• Liao Mingxuan’s fear and frustration contrast with the resolve of those who choose to stay.

Significant themes

• Survival and the cost of incomplete information: The team realizes that reports can underestimate danger because the witnesses who encounter it may die.
• Courage through hardship: Mu Ningxue and Mu Nujiao see real combat and risk as essential to growth.
• Leadership and responsibility: Mo Xie tries to steady the team while weighing how much he can realistically protect.
• Trust and personal bonds: Mo Fan relies on Mo Xie with sensitive information, while the team’s members support one another in crisis.

Plot points

• Ming Cong abandons his daydreaming and focuses on getting Bai Tingting alone. While returning to the church, he uses a tiny water-spider-like creature to provoke Xiao Jinhe’s desire and tries to persuade him that Bai is more desirable than Mu Ningxue.
• Xiao Jinhe briefly feels tempted but insists he still wants to pursue Mu Ningxue. When Ming Cong asks him to leave him alone with Bai, Xiao hesitates because he has been tasked with protecting Bai and Xu Dalong. Ming Cong tells him to stay out of the way.
• Back at the church, Bai uses the water Ming Cong brought to clean Xu Dalong’s poisoned wounds. As she works in the hot, stuffy room, her damp clothes and exposed shoulder attract Ming Cong’s attention.
• Bai catches Ming Cong staring and warns him to behave. He ignores her, becoming increasingly fixated on her. The chapter ends as his restraint appears to break and someone’s clothing is torn.

Character developments and interactions

• Ming Cong shifts from crude flirtation to threatening obsession, rationalizing his desires as release from ordinary morality. His attempt to enlist Xiao Jinhe shows he is willing to maneuver others to get access to Bai.
• Xiao Jinhe is conflicted: his attraction is stirred, but his loyalty to Mu Ningxue and his duty to protect Bai and Xu Dalong make him uneasy. Ming Cong pressures him, and Xiao does not clearly agree to help.
• Bai Tingting remains focused on treating Xu Dalong, then firmly confronts Ming Cong’s intrusive gaze. Her composure contrasts with the danger developing around her.
• Xu Dalong remains injured and dependent on Bai’s care; the lingering poison means his wounds need careful cleaning as well as healing.

Significant themes

• Desire versus self-control: Ming Cong treats lust as an excuse to abandon restraint, while Xiao Jinhe struggles to resist temptation.
• Vulnerability and danger: Bai is occupied caring for an injured person in an isolated, oppressive setting, leaving her exposed to Ming Cong’s escalating behavior.
• Duty and complicity: Xiao Jinhe’s hesitation raises the question of whether he will uphold his protective responsibility or stand aside.