Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary

Plot points and events

• After the Overseer leaves, Xu Yuan receives a new selection task: reach Foundation Establishment Late Stage within one month. Success earns him a Blank Historical Branch; failure means elimination.
• Using the Paper Strip, Xu Yuan writes a side quest in which a powerful Pill accidentally comes into his possession. It arrives dramatically—through his window—and he swallows it. After enduring an intense surge of Spiritual Power and guiding it through his meridians, he reaches Foundation Establishment Late Stage and receives a new Paper Strip.
• Xu Yuan realizes his rapid advancement would attract attention, so he uses his Dimension powers to conceal his strength, making it appear that he is only at Foundation Establishment Early Stage.
• Bai Yuanze appears, saying he has lost a Pill. He pointedly urges Xu Yuan to cultivate faster, then challenges him to a car race. Xu Yuan accepts and boasts that Bai Yuanze will only see his taillights.
• On a mountain expressway, Xu Yuan uses patience and a well-timed acceleration out of a bend to pass Bai Yuanze. Bai Yuanze cheats by teleporting ahead with a Formation Disc, but Xu Yuan catches up and wins after deliberately clipping Bai Yuanze’s car, sending it spinning toward a barrier.
• Afterward, the two exchange indirect warnings about the dangers each might face. Bai Yuanze then offers practical advice for Xu Yuan’s upcoming Ninefold Nether Advanced Training, warning him about a desolate entry route and predatory establishments disguised as places of rest.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan quickly gains power but remains careful about hiding it. His confidence and competitive streak show in his banter and driving, while his tactical patience proves as important as his boldness. He also recognizes Bai Yuanze’s use of a Formation Disc and turns the conversation toward the risks of being conspicuous.
• Bai Yuanze reveals his enthusiasm for cars and his pride in racing. Though he challenges Xu Yuan to test his claims, he resorts to teleportation when he falls behind. After losing, he drops the rivalry enough to warn Xu Yuan about the dangers ahead.
• Their relationship is marked by teasing, one-upmanship, and mutual suspicion, but also by an underlying willingness to share advice. Each warns the other—indirectly—about becoming a target.

Significant themes

• Power and concealment: Xu Yuan’s rapid cultivation is an advantage, but he hides it to avoid attracting unwanted attention.
• Resourcefulness and risk: The Paper Strip offers a shortcut to power, while Xu Yuan’s race tactics and Bai Yuanze’s teleportation show how both men exploit their abilities—and how such choices can be dangerous.
• Rivalry and respect: Their race begins as a test of pride, but it also reveals genuine skill and mutual awareness.
• Survival through caution: Bai Yuanze’s warnings about the Ninefold Nether emphasize that appearances can be deceptive and that knowing where not to go may be as important as strength.

Plot points and events

• Bai Yuanze warns Xu Yuan not to disturb Yalita, a Blood Saint sealed deep beneath the Second Layer. The warning surprises Xu Yuan, who remembers Yalita as far less formidable ten years earlier and wonders what has changed.
• Bai gives Xu a sports car in recognition of his performance during the Mount Luofu assassination incident. Xu notes that, unlike the organization’s promised rewards, Bai has personally delivered what he offered.
• Bai explains that the All Things Unity Society values Bloodline powers above cultivation rank. Xu’s rare Netherworld Passage Bloodline could make him highly sought after in the Ninefold Nether, though Bai advises him to gain influence by marrying into a powerful Lineage.
• Xu declines and suggests Bai would make a better President. Hidden nearby, Qi Canghai overhears. After Bai leaves, Qi kicks the damaged car off a cliff, muttering scornfully about the idea of Bai becoming Vice President.
• Xu sells both cars through Duck Bro. Later, he receives brief calls from Jiang Xueyao and his Master, Fu Xiuyi.
• Fu asks about Xu’s cultivation and the demanding swordsmanship she assigned him. Xu pretends he is making progress, though he has not even examined the technique yet.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains outwardly agreeable but is increasingly skeptical of the organization and its leadership. He probes Bai about his motives, rejects the marriage strategy, and uses his awareness of Qi’s presence to provoke him indirectly.
• Bai Yuanze shows a more relaxed, humorous side after racing Xu. He rewards Xu from his own resources and claims to act for the organization rather than personal power, though his generosity leaves his motives open to interpretation.
• Qi Canghai remains hostile and possessive of power; his secret response to Xu’s suggestion reveals his contempt for Bai’s potential advancement.
• Fu Xiuyi is supportive and attentive, arranging a private residence while encouraging Xu to socialize with his peers. She believes he is progressing rapidly, creating pressure for Xu to live up to her expectations.
• Xu’s conversations with Bai shift from cautious discussion to banter and political probing; his call with Fu contrasts her sincere encouragement with his guilty deception.

Significant themes

• Bloodline, status, and power: The society’s hierarchy depends heavily on inherited abilities and Lineage connections, not simply cultivation strength.
• Loyalty and patronage: Bai’s personal generosity contrasts with the organization’s failure to fulfill its promises, raising questions about whether he is selfless or cultivating loyalty.
• Political ambition and factional rivalry: Xu’s suggestion that Bai become President exposes tensions with Qi and hints at instability within the organization.
• Secrecy and changed history: Yalita’s altered status makes Xu suspect that events in the past have changed.
• Comic overconfidence and mounting pressure: Xu acts assured in political and personal matters, but his unpreparedness for Fu’s swordsmanship assignment undercuts that confidence.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan remembers he is meant to join Lu Yiyi in investigating Border City’s secrets, but before he can study advanced sword techniques, she calls to pick him up.
• To cover his forgotten commitment—and avoid revealing that his home may still be damaged—Xu Yuan invites Lu Yiyi to the artist dorm for a late-night meal. With almost no food available, he uses his supernatural abilities to gather groceries from a supermarket and rapidly prepares noodles.
• Lu Yiyi arrives with Lu Qingxuan, who brings Zhao Afei and Zhang Pengcheng. The group settles in while Xu Yuan cooks and Lu Yiyi orders barbecue.
• Jiang Xueyao brings Yang Xiaobing to the dorm after Xiaobing is excluded by her roommates. Xu Yuan initially dismisses the problem as minor, then becomes fiercely protective when he learns what happened.
• Lu Yiyi offers Xiaobing a private cultivation residence. Xiaobing recognizes her as the “Little Boy” she protected during the monthly exam, and the two reconnect—though Xiaobing’s innocent remark about how much Lu Yiyi has grown briefly embarrasses her.
• As the women chat, Xu Yuan’s growing sense of danger prompts him to seize a chance to escape, claiming he needs to buy forgotten oyster sauce. Lu Qingxuan, meanwhile, becomes curious about Jiang Xueyao’s relationship with Xu Yuan and tries to approach her, but she avoids him and goes back to the women.
• In the kitchen, Zhao Afei casually reveals that Lu Qingxuan—whom he calls “Haonan”—and another person, Shanji, are part of the same crew as Xu Yuan.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is resourceful and fast-thinking, but his many obligations compete with his desire to train. He is considerate enough to cook for everyone and protective of Xiaobing, yet comically panics at the tense social gathering and escapes.
• Lu Yiyi shows gratitude and affection toward Xiaobing, offering practical help in the form of a private cultivation abode. Her reunion with Xiaobing suggests a warm history beneath their awkward exchange.
• Yang Xiaobing is hurt by her roommates’ exclusion but minimizes it. She accepts Lu Yiyi’s offer and recognizes their shared past, reaffirming their bond.
• Jiang Xueyao supports Xiaobing and carefully manages the potentially tense meeting. She is wary of Lu Qingxuan’s presence and avoids his attempt to speak with her.
• Lu Qingxuan is intrigued by Jiang Xueyao’s connection to Xu Yuan and tries to investigate, but his efforts are repeatedly thwarted.
• Zhao Afei has rapidly improved to Qi Refining Third Layer and remains cheerful and oblivious to the tension others sense. Zhang Pengcheng and Lu Qingxuan, by contrast, quietly recognize the social danger and retreat to the balcony.

Significant themes

• Comedy amid cultivation life: Supernatural abilities make grocery shopping and cooking effortless, while ordinary social awkwardness proves harder to manage.
• Friendship and gratitude: Lu Yiyi’s offer to Xiaobing repays the care Xiaobing showed her in the past.
• Protectiveness and belonging: Xu Yuan reacts strongly to Xiaobing’s mistreatment, while the chapter also highlights the unease of being excluded.
• Conflicting priorities: Xu Yuan’s neglected sword training and forgotten investigation underscore how his expanding responsibilities leave him little time for everything he wants to do.

Key plot points

• Xu Yuan senses danger near the Heavenly Palace Tower and encounters the Overseer, who slows time around the tower and conceals Xu Yuan’s aura so he can attend an urgent All Things Unity Society meeting without disturbing the people inside.
• At the meeting, Xu Yuan takes his place on a finger representing the Netherworld Passage Bloodline, which is identified as rank 1. Bai Yuanze advises him to earn merit and use Blood Devour Emblems to raise its rank.
• The gathering turns to Xu Yuan’s father, Xu Chengan. Explorers have discovered that he is no longer in the Northern Sea Ruins, and Qi Canghai says Xu Chengan attacked the organization that night.
• Xu Yuan claims not to know where his father is. He reasons privately that Xu Chengan escaped the seal long ago, but the organization likely assumed he remained trapped or was dead.
• Pressed to judge his father, Xu Yuan distinguishes between personal and organizational standards. He admits Xu Chengan was a poor father but praises his achievements as a servant of the Old Gods. He says he could kill him if ordered, while arguing that the Old Gods should not discard such a capable servant.
• Qi Canghai invokes the Old God’s will to judge Xu Yuan. The god agrees with Xu Yuan: Xu Chengan’s achievements merit favor, and the dispute over his family conduct belongs to mortals. The supernatural threat over Xu Yuan lifts, leaving the meeting in tense silence as Qi Canghai faces his next decision.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains composed under scrutiny, carefully adapting his judgments to the perspective of the All Things Unity Society and the Old Gods. His separation of loyalty from personal feeling helps him pass the trial, though his inner thoughts reveal that he does not regard Xu Chengan as his true father.
• The Overseer shows unexpected consideration by protecting the tower and arranging for Xu Yuan’s absence to go unnoticed. Xu Yuan realizes the Overseer has shielded him from a dangerous encounter involving the Crown Prince and Commandery Princess.
• Qi Canghai and Bai Yuanze test Xu Yuan’s knowledge and loyalties. Qi Canghai’s attempt to involve the Old God does not produce the condemnation he may have expected.
• The Old God’s judgment validates Xu Yuan’s argument and unsettles the gathered members, while emphasizing Xu Chengan’s unusual standing within the organization.

Significant themes

• Fairness depends on perspective: A person may be judged differently as a parent, a political actor, or a servant of a higher power.
• Personal bonds versus institutional loyalty: Xu Yuan can condemn Xu Chengan as a father while praising him as an operative.
• Power and favor: The Old God values achievement and service, even when the servant has attacked the organization.
• Uncertainty and concealed motives: Xu Chengan’s escape, the Overseer’s intervention, and Qi Canghai’s test leave the organization facing unresolved questions and shifting loyalties.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan immediately donates the treasures taken from First Prince Lu Chenzhou to the All Things Unity Society, presenting himself as a loyal member.
• President Qi Canghai then demands that Xu Yuan surrender Zuo Lingjing, his maid, for study because she allegedly has two Bloodline powers. Xu Yuan refuses, insisting she is her own person—not property he can hand over.
• Xu Yuan distinguishes personal loyalty from organizational duty: he says he will continue serving the Old Gods and the realm, but will kill anyone who harms someone close to him. Qi rejects compromise and orders him seized.
• Xu Chengan, Xu Yuan’s father, suddenly returns after ten years. He protects his son, teleports him away, and confronts Qi over the Society’s hypocrisy. When Qi interrupts his attempt to call upon the Old Gods, Xu Chengan uses the incident to challenge Qi’s authority.
• Now alone, Xu Yuan weighs whether to flee or retaliate, then fires a powerful Signal Arrow. Its activation summons the Imperial Family and its allies, effectively declaring Xu Yuan’s break with the Society and allegiance to the throne.
• Xu Yuan telephones Bai Yuanze to explain that he cannot accept the Society taking the woman he shares his bed with. The Imperial forces assemble for battle, forcing Qi and Xu Chengan to retreat.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan demonstrates generosity toward the Society but draws a firm boundary around the people he cares about. Rather than attack the organization directly, he frames the dispute as personal—until Qi’s coercion leaves him no choice but to defect.
• Xu Chengan returns as a formidable and provocative defender of his son. He praises Xu Yuan’s growth, rescues him, and turns Qi’s own reasoning against him by pointing out that Qi would not sacrifice his family to the Old Gods.
• Qi Canghai shifts from demanding compliance to using force. His treatment of Xu Yuan alienates the other commanders and weakens his authority, though he tries to portray Xu Yuan’s departure as proof of disloyalty.
• Bai Yuanze initially tries to mediate, but Qi silences him. He later laments that Qi’s actions drove Xu Yuan toward the Imperial Family.

Significant themes

• Personal autonomy and loyalty: Xu Yuan refuses to treat Zuo Lingjing as an asset, insisting that loyalty to an organization does not erase an individual’s right to choose.
• Power and hypocrisy: Qi demands a sacrifice from Xu Yuan that he would not accept for his own family, exposing the gap between the Society’s ideals and its leadership.
• The cost of coercion: Qi’s attempt to force compliance turns an internal dispute into a political crisis and risks open conflict with the Imperial Family.
• Family and chosen bonds: Xu Yuan and Xu Chengan protect one another, while Xu Yuan’s commitment to Zuo Lingjing becomes the decisive test of his loyalties.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan and Qi clash over whether Zuo Lingjing can be taken for experimentation; their confrontation escalates from negotiation to threats and an arrest order.
• Xu Yuan and Bai Yuanze share a brief alignment: Bai attempts to defend Xu Yuan, and Xu Yuan later tells him directly why he is leaving.
• Xu Chengan reunites with Xu Yuan, praises his character, and removes him from danger; he then challenges Qi in front of the commanders.
• Qi’s attack on Bai and refusal to compromise leave the other commanders wary and silent, while the arrival of Imperial forces makes the consequences of his decision impossible to ignore.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan fires a signal arrow, prompting the All Things Unity Society’s commanders to teleport away rather than fight the Mortal Realm’s cultivators directly.
• In a remote valley, Qi Canghai confronts Xu Chengan, who opens a passage to a desolate Fragment World in the Ninefold Nether so they can fight without drawing attention.
• The two discuss the Society’s future. Xu Chengan proposes using the passage to bring the wills of the nine Old Gods into the Mortal Realm, where they could devour humanity and perhaps awaken fully. He agrees to spare Xu Yuan until the passage is opened, though Qi insists Xu Yuan must eventually die.
• Qi realizes Xu Chengan is utterly committed to the Society’s mission—and more loyal to it than he is. But when Qi asks whether the Old Gods might eventually consume the Ninefold Nether too, Xu Chengan accepts humanity’s destruction as the natural end of civilization.
• Xu Chengan reveals that he sacrificed his body in a ritual to win the Old Gods’ favor. They preserved his head and granted him a new Imago, allowing his Imago to become a real being.
• When Xu Chengan asks after Xu Jingchen, Qi decides he cannot let the plan proceed. He attacks, invoking his Imago, God-Slaying Mad Demon. Their fight carries them into the Ninefold Nether and breaks the passage between the worlds.
• The Human Emperor, Lu Chaowu, arrives too late to find either combatant.

Character developments and interactions

• Qi Canghai shifts from cautious negotiation to open resistance. Though he admires Xu Chengan’s absolute devotion, he ultimately chooses humanity’s survival over the Society’s cause.
• Xu Chengan is revealed as a fanatical believer who willingly destroyed his own body to serve the Old Gods. He regards humanity’s extinction as inevitable and shows little concern for his own life.
• Their exchange is both a negotiation and a test of conviction: Qi probes Xu Chengan’s motives and willingness to sacrifice, while Xu Chengan tries to recruit him as a partner.
• Lu Chaowu arrives after the battle has begun and the passage has closed, leaving him frustrated and unable to intervene.

Significant themes

• Faith versus humanity: The chapter contrasts Xu Chengan’s unquestioning devotion to the Old Gods with Qi’s decision to protect human life.
• Sacrifice and fanaticism: Xu Chengan’s self-consumption demonstrates how far he will go for his beliefs.
• Loyalty and doubt: Qi recognizes that his own commitment is weaker than Xu Chengan’s, yet moral judgment—not greater fanaticism—guides his choice.
• Civilization and extinction: Xu Chengan treats humanity’s destruction as part of a natural cycle; Qi refuses to accept that as destiny.

Key plot points and events

• At Heavenly Palace Tower, the women learn that Zhao Afei is unaware of Xu Yuan’s true identity. Zhang Pengcheng, caught livestreaming from the balcony, explains his recent odd behavior—and admits he is called “Shanji” because he looks like a pheasant.
• Xu Yuan returns to the city and encounters the Overseer. The surrounding streets have been concealed, and the Overseer reveals that the All Things Unity Society is carrying out a major attack: it plans to summon a Nether Spirit Demon to kill Xu Yuan.
• Xu Yuan realizes that the Society’s leader, Qi Canghai, had intended to eliminate him regardless of their earlier dealings. He connects this threat to the struggle between the All Things Unity Society and the Ruin Gate, rival factions formed after the ancient kingdom of Ninefold Nether fractured.
• Seeing a rare opening, Xu Yuan proposes that the Ruin Gate overthrow the Society. When the Overseer explains that the Society is protected by nine sleeping Immortal Species and that a direct war would be disastrous, Xu Yuan offers a subtler plan: use his existing positions in the Nine Nether Prefecture and the Society to rise through its ranks and take control from within.
• The Overseer agrees to let Xu Yuan try, but gives him no support in Ninefold Nether. It will, however, have the Ruin Gate intervene in the Mortal Realm to stop the immediate attack and buy him time.
• Xu Yuan’s proposal unlocks the ultra-high-level Competition “Dark Crown,” which is about to begin.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shifts from reacting to an assassination attempt to pursuing an ambitious political strategy. He shows quick insight into the power structure, confidence in his ability to rise within the Society, and willingness to take the risk alone.
• The Overseer shows an unusual reaction to Xu Yuan’s proposal and appears to have been waiting for him to make a meaningful choice. Though cautious about triggering a catastrophic war, it ultimately grants him the opportunity.
• Zhang Pengcheng is embarrassed by his improvised explanation for “Shanji,” while the women’s reaction suggests the nickname is not entirely inaccurate.

Significant themes

• Seizing opportunity: Xu Yuan recognizes that the danger and political upheaval create a rare chance to change the balance of power.
• Strategy over force: Rather than challenge the Society militarily, he aims to capture its institutions and leadership from within.
• Choice and agency: The Competition’s next stage depends on Xu Yuan choosing to act; the Overseer likewise must decide whether to trust his plan.
• Power and political succession: The chapter links the coming change in the Human Dynasty to the question of who will rule Ninefold Nether.

Character interactions

• The women question Zhang Pengcheng about Zhao Afei and his alias, exposing his awkwardness and the group’s familiarity with one another.
• Xu Yuan and the Overseer negotiate over whether the Ruin Gate should challenge the All Things Unity Society. Xu Yuan argues for an insider takeover; the Overseer warns him of the danger, offers no direct aid, and finally agrees to let him proceed.

Plot

• While Xu Yuan is away, the All Things Unity Society begins using a powerful Long-Distance Spirit-Summoning Array to bring an Old God’s Spell Spirit into the Mortal Realm, apparently to kill him.
• Commander Bai Yuanze tries to stop the ritual. He realizes President Qi Canghai has long opposed anyone with the Netherworld Passage Bloodline, likely to prevent a challenge to the Old Gods’ divine order.
• Defying the Society’s leadership, Bai awakens the Demon Sword and prepares to attack the ritual. A Ruin Gate force then intervenes, forcing the Society to halt the summoning and turn its power toward defending itself. Bai clashes with a masked Ruin Gate swordsman, and the battle begins.
• Back at the dorm, Xu Yuan joins his companions for dinner. Their teasing reveals that Yang Xiaobing has shared embarrassing childhood stories about him. Lu Yiyi explains that Yang has been moved into a dorm with Jiang Xueyao, while Haonan leaves and Zhao Afei and Zhang Pengcheng remain with the group to explore Border City.
• Xu Yuan reassures Afei that the coming activity can help him grow through real combat. When the Dimension returns to normal, the others receive encrypted reports about the unfolding conflict and a hunt for Society members. Xu Yuan downplays his own involvement while making dinner; the group senses that the night will be eventful.

Character developments and interactions

• Bai Yuanze shifts from reluctant enforcer to open opponent of the Society’s leadership, acting on his growing understanding of its betrayal.
• Xu Yuan remains outwardly calm and caring, supporting Afei and helping with dinner while concealing the seriousness of the danger.
• Lu Yiyi takes charge of the group’s living arrangements and plans, while Afei accepts the chance to improve through combat.
• Lu Qingxuan, Lu Yiyi, and Jiang Xueyao quietly follow the battle reports, keeping the others from worrying; their questions hint that they know Xu Yuan’s errand was more consequential than he admits.
• The group’s teasing and shared meal contrast with the imminent violence elsewhere.

Themes

• Betrayal and power: the Society’s leaders are willing to sacrifice their own members for their goals.
• Defying unjust authority: Bai chooses conscience over obedience.
• Duty and solidarity: the friends support one another while preparing for danger.
• Uneasy calm: ordinary domestic warmth continues alongside a conflict that threatens to erupt.

Chapter Summary: “End Times!”

Key plot points and events

• Lu Qingxuan takes Xu Yuan to the Imperial Palace, claiming they need to discuss his acting career and an urgent film role. Lu Yiyi stays behind and takes over cooking for Xu Yuan’s friends.
• The emperor reprimands Xu Yuan for firing a Signal Arrow and then escaping before imperial forces could reach the enemy. Xu Yuan explains that the All Things Unity Society is divided by internal conflict and that his Tong Lineage faction was being purged.
• Xu Yuan reports the Society’s most dangerous secrets: the Old Gods beneath the Ninefold Nether, their powers of Gaze, Whisper, and Dimension, the Society’s nine Bloodlines, and Qi Canghai’s role as an Anchor Point that could allow the Ninefold Nether to overlap with the human world. He also describes the ancient technique of making an Imago real.
• The emperor becomes fascinated by the Imago technique and resolves to study it, while ordering Xu Yuan to remain undercover and locate Qi Canghai. He gives Xu Yuan a Hidden Talisman that can reveal his position and protect him briefly if he encounters Qi.
• The emperor leaves to study the Dao, leaving Crown Prince Lu Qingxuan and Imperial Preceptor Sun Changfei to handle affairs. Xu Yuan learns that Sun is his senior brother and is reminded that their master will eventually test his swordsmanship—a test he is unprepared for.
• While resting in a side hall, Xu Yuan is suddenly confronted by a supernatural prompt offering entry into a new, highest-level competition: Dark Crown — End Times. The warning says he would die immediately if he entered. He refuses, but the terrifying vision leaves him shaken and determined to learn more.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows increasing responsibility by sharing the full extent of the threat with the emperor, though he carefully withholds Xu Chengan’s exact identity. He is shaken by the End Times competition but resolves to find a way forward.
• The emperor shifts from irritation to grave concern about the Old Gods, then becomes intensely interested in the Imago technique and eager to confront Qi Canghai himself.
• Lu Qingxuan supports Xu Yuan’s intelligence briefing and resumes his duties as Crown Prince, despite the overwhelming workload.
• Sun Changfei is introduced as Xu Yuan’s senior brother and the overworked Imperial Preceptor, juggling state affairs while reminding Xu Yuan that he must practice his inherited swordsmanship.
• Jiang Xueyao quietly observes Yang Xiaobing helping in the kitchen and thinks Yang is oblivious to how domestic and close to Xu Yuan she seems.
• Yang Xiaobing remains absorbed in gaming, unaware of Jiang Xueyao’s romantic interpretation of her behavior.

Significant themes

• Escalating existential danger: The revelation of the Old Gods and the End Times competition raises the threat beyond ordinary political or military conflict.
• Knowledge and preparation: Xu Yuan’s intelligence could help protect the human realm, but survival also depends on understanding powers that ordinary cultivation cannot counter.
• Duty versus personal life: Even late-night leisure is interrupted by work, while rulers and officials remain burdened by constant responsibilities.
• Ambition and risk: The emperor sees the Imago technique as a path to power, while Xu Yuan recognizes that confronting the new challenge unprepared would mean certain death.

Character interactions

• Lu Qingxuan and Lu Yiyi coordinate Xu Yuan’s departure, while Lu Yiyi cheerfully keeps his friends fed.
• The emperor questions Xu Yuan, listens to his intelligence, and equips him for a future encounter with Qi Canghai.
• Xu Yuan and Lu Qingxuan discuss the Imago technique, with Lu Qingxuan connecting it to ancient Daoist texts.
• Sun Changfei and Xu Yuan exchange a brief, familiar greeting; Sun’s warning about the swordsmanship test prompts Xu Yuan to change the subject.
• Jiang Xueyao silently contrasts Yang Xiaobing’s gaming with Lu Yiyi’s helpfulness, revealing her judgment—and concern—about Yang’s relationship with Xu Yuan.

Key plot points and events

• While officials flood Clearheart Hall with wartime business, Xu Yuan broods over how to prepare for the coming apocalypse-level Dark Crown Competition. He recalls that Madam Xu once hinted she knew the Dark Crown’s origins, but his usual route back through the Selection Tournament is no longer available.
• Lu Yiyi returns with food she has cooked for him. Meanwhile, she secretly directs the exploration teams to wait until Xu Yuan has eaten and rested.
• Xu Yuan and the assembled teams head into Border City. Different groups take on combat training, investigating Ghost Entities and the All Things Unity Society, and recovering records from the ruined city.
• In the Hall of Supreme Harmony, Lu Yiyi uses her Night Rain Swordsmanship to summon a recorded image of her father, the Former Crown Prince Lu Chaoxian. The image explains that Night Rain is incomplete and linked to a prehistoric secret. It also reveals a hidden royal cultivation method and Dharma Form, accessible only after Lu Yiyi can wield forty Spirit Light Threads and pass a bloodline test.
• Lu Yiyi has reached thirty threads. She wants Xu Yuan beside her when she returns, and he agrees. He considers teaching her Star Surge, a sword technique he has yet to master himself.
• When Lu Yiyi asks him for help with Night Rain, Xu Yuan realizes that his notebook’s idle-mode investigation has stalled because the Old Gods detected the Overseer and activated the Dimension’s defenses. Rather than end the session, he can switch to entering the Competition in person—potentially sending him back ten years to investigate the Dark Crown directly.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from panic and frustration to renewed hope when he discovers a possible way to travel back in time. He remains burdened by competing priorities: the Dark Crown, several sword techniques, and helping Lu Yiyi.
• Lu Yiyi is caring and resourceful, looking after Xu Yuan and coordinating the expedition. Her longing for her father surfaces as she listens to his recorded message; she also grows more openly affectionate toward Xu Yuan.
• Lu Chaoxian appears as a recording, not a living presence. His message reveals his insight into Night Rain and entrusts Lu Yiyi with the next stage of her family’s inheritance.
• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi share practical trust and growing intimacy: he agrees to accompany her, while she seeks his guidance. Their emotional closeness contrasts with Xu Yuan’s oblivious focus on the notebook.

Significant themes

• Hope and ingenuity under pressure: Xu Yuan’s best lead emerges from carefully reconsidering old clues and an apparent failure.
• Inheritance and unfinished knowledge: Lu Yiyi’s royal legacy and Night Rain’s missing levels connect personal history to ancient mysteries.
• Duty versus personal bonds: Wartime responsibilities and the looming Competition compete with Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi’s promises to one another.
• Uneven understanding in romance: Lu Yiyi reads Xu Yuan’s warmth as affection, while he is absorbed in the breakthrough she inadvertently helped him discover.

Key plot points and events

• In Border City, Zhao Afei and Zhang Pengcheng patrol together while Xu Yuan follows a separate mission. Zhang claims to be protecting Afei, but also uses the patrol to demonstrate his own combat technique.
• Zhang introduces Earth-Shaking Slash, a Spiritual Power technique that destroys nearby windows and cuts invisible Ghost Entities. He urges Afei to develop a technique that uses his own Spiritual Power attribute.
• Afei eagerly fights a group of Zombies. His confidence and brutality grow as the battle continues, impressing Zhang, who recognizes that Afei’s fearlessness is an unusual talent. Zhang eventually joins the fighting himself.
• Elsewhere, Xu Yuan finishes sword practice with Lu Yiyi. Their accidental kiss has left a faint lipstick mark on his face. He worries that being seen together could invite suspicion, so he decides to investigate the Human Skin mystery later rather than rushing into it.
• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi visit Clearheart Hall. Crown Prince Lu Qingxuan dismisses the officials and secretly uses a Cleansing Spell on them, removing the telltale traces of their closeness and protecting Lu Yiyi’s privacy and the Imperial Family’s reputation.
• Lu Qingxuan reports a major battle at an abandoned air-raid shelter in Jiangbei City. Xu Yuan understands that it is connected to the Overseer’s efforts to fend off an attack by the All Things Unity Society.
• Lu Qingxuan gives Xu Yuan a jade pendant so Imperial forces will recognize him during a discreet battlefield investigation. Though warned that the situation is dangerous, Xu Yuan chooses to remain undercover because he believes the Society is concealing something important.
• Xu Yuan departs for Jiangbei City. Afterward, Lu Qingxuan gives Lu Yiyi a Jade Slip of concealing and cleansing techniques, then privately reflects that Xu Yuan’s success might eventually make a marriage between him and Lu Yiyi politically possible.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhao Afei proves himself increasingly capable and fearless in combat. Zhang’s instruction and praise help him find his fighting rhythm, while Zhang begins to see him as a promising potential partner.
• Zhang Pengcheng acts like a casual mentor, teaching through demonstration while pretending his presence is merely to watch over Afei. His admiration for Afei’s talent grows.
• Xu Yuan remains committed to undercover work despite escalating danger. He is cautious about appearing suspicious, though he misses the social implications of the lipstick mark and fragrance.
• Lu Yiyi is embarrassed by her closeness with Xu Yuan but remains drawn to him and supports his decision to continue investigating.
• Lu Qingxuan balances concern for Xu Yuan’s safety with his family’s reputation. He discreetly covers for Xu and Yiyi, then takes on a protective, older-brother role by teaching Yiyi how to conceal traces of private incidents.

Significant themes

• Growth through combat and mentorship: Afei develops through direct experience, while Zhang’s example encourages him to cultivate his own abilities.
• Courage and talent: Afei’s unusual lack of fear becomes a strength that others recognize.
• Secrecy and appearances: Xu Yuan’s undercover work, the hidden purpose of the battlefield mission, and the cleansing spell all show how appearances must be managed in a world of political intrigue.
• Duty versus safety: Xu Yuan knowingly accepts danger because he believes the investigation could uncover a larger threat.
• Affection and family protection: Lu Yiyi’s feelings for Xu Yuan are paired with Lu Qingxuan’s efforts to protect her, even as he considers their possible future together.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• At Mount Luofu, Jiang Xueyao arrives at the women’s dormitory and makes clear that Yang Xiaobing is her best friend. When three roommates offer to have Xiaobing removed, Xueyao reveals that Xiaobing is moving into her room—with the Commandery Princess’s approval and help from four Imperial Maids. The roommates are left disgraced, and the other students decide to avoid them.
• In Jiangbei City, Xu Yuan arrives at the cultivators’ gathering near an abandoned air-raid shelter. Mistaken for the Crown Prince’s envoy because of his jade pendant, he encounters injured members of the Ruin Gate, including a dying officer who asks him to retrieve their belongings and deliver a final message.
• Xu Yuan uses their Formation Disc to teleport the Ruin Gate members to safety, despite the danger of attracting powerful cultivators. The local Great Cultivators recognize his credentials and, under orders to let him act as he sees fit, allow the rescue to proceed. They then activate a Space-Sealing Grand Array, preventing anyone else from teleporting in or out.
• Learning that Bai Yuanze may still be trapped, Xu Yuan uses Bai’s beloved Supercar to draw his attention. Bai contacts him and reveals that he is hiding in a sewer beneath a repair shop beside a steel factory.
• Xu Yuan reaches Bai and several other members of the All Things Unity Society. Their escape route has been sealed and their Formation Disc destroyed, but Xu Yuan prepares to use the Netherworld Passage Art to get them out.

Character developments

• Jiang Xueyao openly stands by Xiaobing, using her influence to protect her and firmly warn the former roommates away.
• Xu Yuan shifts from casually pretending to search for cultivators to taking real risks to rescue people he cares about. He remains composed and resourceful, relying on his authority, a healing pill, and his Netherworld Passage Art.
• Bai Yuanze, despite his injuries and past doubts about Xu Yuan, expresses confidence that Xu Yuan was wronged by the organization.
• The Ruin Gate officer and his companions show loyalty and resolve, choosing to prioritize the organization’s survival even as they face death.

Character interactions

• Xueyao’s confrontation with the roommates turns their attempted alliance with her into a public rebuke; her friendship with Xiaobing brings the Commandery Princess’s and the Jiang Clan’s influence to bear.
• Xu Yuan reassures the wounded Ruin Gate officer, saves the group, and urges them to live for the organization.
• Xu Yuan and the Great Cultivators navigate a tense, indirect exchange: they recognize his political backing and choose not to challenge him.
• Xu Yuan reunites with Bai Yuanze, who teases him about being a commander without soldiers before acknowledging Xu’s integrity. The other society members silently accept Bai’s judgment.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and protection: Xueyao and Xu Yuan both use their position and resources to defend friends and allies.
• Reputation and social power: The roommates’ treatment of Xiaobing is reversed once her connections become clear, while Xu Yuan’s jade pendant changes how cultivators respond to him.
• Trust and vindication: Bai’s final declaration affirms that Xu Yuan was wronged, reinforcing the chapter’s conflict between personal conscience and institutional betrayal.
• Resolve under pressure: The wounded allies continue to act for their respective groups even when escape seems impossible.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan opens the Netherworld Passage, allowing his companions to retreat from the Mortal Realm into the Ninefold Nether. As they enter, strange changes and blood Runes reveal that the nine commanders’ Bloodlines have awakened, summoning them to take part in a contest for the Society’s presidency.
• Bai Yuanze explains that Xu Chengan is challenging President Qi Canghai. The summoned commanders must choose a side, but Xu Yuan refuses to fight for either man: he will not help his father, Xu Chengan, or Qi, who wants him dead.
• Xu Chengan’s distorted voice urges everyone to support Qi and promises the power of the Old Gods. Masks marked “Netherworld Passage” and “Demon Sword” appear, granting access to ancient power. Xu Yuan and Bai Yuanze both reject the summons.
• Xu Yuan ends the passage. When Imperial cultivators arrive, Bai Yuanze attacks them, then identifies himself as a commander of the All Things Unity Society. He is captured and taken away. At his request, Xu Yuan does not intervene.
• Xu Yuan warns Crown Prince Lu Qingxuan not to approach Bai Yuanze, believing him dangerous. Lu Qingxuan nevertheless heads to the prison, but Lu Yiyi stops him and insists on waiting for the Human Emperor to confirm it is safe. Lu Qingxuan accepts her reasoning, and Lu Chaowu appears, praising her caution.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan rejects the political struggle and both available sides, prioritizing his own judgment. Despite appearing to cooperate with the Imperial cultivators by allowing Bai Yuanze’s capture, he tries to protect Lu Qingxuan from a potential danger.
• Bai Yuanze declines the summons because he is injured and weary of further infighting. He deliberately attacks the arriving cultivators, seemingly choosing capture, and asks Xu Yuan not to rescue him.
• Lu Yiyi shows increased confidence and responsibility, standing against Lu Qingxuan to protect the Imperial Family. She explains that recent deaths and disappearances make further risks unacceptable.
• Lu Qingxuan initially dismisses Xu Yuan’s warning, but Lu Yiyi’s reminder of the Imperial Family’s losses changes his mind.
• Xu Chengan appears increasingly unstable or altered: his voice is uncanny, and he claims to command the Old Gods’ power. His challenge forces the commanders to choose sides, though Xu Yuan refuses to participate.

Significant themes

• Choice and refusal: The title is reflected in Xu Yuan and Bai Yuanze’s decisions not to join the presidency conflict, even when supernatural power and political pressure beckon.
• Trust and caution: Xu Yuan’s warning and Lu Yiyi’s intervention show the importance of heeding trusted allies, particularly after repeated losses.
• Power and corruption: The Old Gods’ influence, blood Runes, and masks suggest that political ambition is entangled with ancient, unsettling forces.
• Duty amid personal conflict: Lu Yiyi reframes caution as a responsibility to the Imperial Family and the people, while Xu Yuan remains unwilling to serve leaders he distrusts.

Key plot points and events

• The emperor returns after Lu Yiyi summons him and, eager to test Xu Yuan’s captive, disguises himself as Crown Prince Lu Qingxuan. He enters Bai Yuanze’s interrogation room while the real Qingxuan, Yiyi, and other cultivators watch.
• Bai Yuanze claims he will cooperate if the “Crown Prince” kills Xu Yuan, whom he says betrayed him. The disguised emperor agrees, planning to learn more, and asks for intelligence as proof.
• Bai Yuanze reveals that people beneath the Ninefold Nether can awaken Bloodlines. He then uses his Taowu Bloodline to disrupt the prison’s restraints and arrays, transforms into a powerful monster, and attacks.
• The emperor enthusiastically meets the challenge, demonstrating extraordinary skill with Mystic Arts and overwhelming Taowu’s fiery attack with a single punch.
• Taowu invokes an Old God’s power and tries to draw the emperor into the Ninefold Nether. The emperor is tempted by the prospect of a dangerous fight, but Lu Yiyi warns him that her father died in just such a way. He stops himself, citing his responsibility as Crown Prince.
• Before Taowu can drag him away, Xu Yuan activates “Heaven-Stealing” from Jiangbei City. The power cancels the supernatural phenomena and transports Bai Yuanze to the snowy ruins of Border City. Exhausted and enraged, Bai Yuanze collapses unconscious.

Character developments

• The emperor: His disguise lets him indulge his love of combat and curiosity about Bloodlines. He nearly chooses a reckless battle, but Yiyi’s warning reminds him that his duty to the realm must come first.
• Bai Yuanze: His hatred of Xu Yuan drives him to test whether the Crown Prince will honor his demand. When the emperor agrees, Bai Yuanze attacks instead of trusting him, revealing both his desperation and his continued loyalty to the organization’s cause.
• Lu Yiyi: She intervenes decisively, using the story of her father’s death to restrain the emperor.
• Xu Yuan: Though absent from the interrogation, he demonstrates a mysterious power capable of interrupting Taowu’s ritual and teleporting him away.

Significant themes

• Duty versus personal desire: The emperor’s excitement at finding a worthy opponent conflicts with his obligations as ruler and protector.
• Betrayal and trust: Bai Yuanze’s fixation on Xu Yuan shapes his choices, while the emperor’s apparent agreement is itself a calculated deception.
• Hidden powers and expanding mysteries: Bloodlines, Old Gods, the Ninefold Nether, and Xu Yuan’s “Heaven-Stealing” reveal forces beyond ordinary cultivation.
• The cost of recklessness: Yiyi’s warning recalls the fatal consequences of pursuing combat without regard for responsibility.

Character interactions

• The emperor and Bai Yuanze engage in a tense negotiation, each trying to read and manipulate the other.
• Their exchange turns into a spectacular battle once Bai Yuanze unleashes his Taowu transformation.
• Lu Yiyi breaks into the confrontation with an urgent warning, changing the emperor’s decision.
• Xu Yuan intervenes from afar, ending the fight and removing Bai Yuanze from the scene.

• Bai Yuanze survives the failed assassination. Badly injured and stranded in the snow, he assumes the Imperial Family defeated him with a hidden power. His subordinates arrive after Elder Qiu sends word, heal him, and prepare to teleport him away. They discard his Dharma Lord-level Handcuffs, believing they might be tracked—but the Handcuffs are alive and escape on their own. Bai Yuanze leaves determined to discover the All Things Unity Society’s new leader.
• Xu Yuan’s deception succeeds. Back in his dorm, he learns that the Handcuffs’ ability, Heaven-Stealing, came from his Old World Creation Art, which gave the object life and an Immortal Species ability of Xu Yuan’s own invention. He also reviews the battle prompts showing that his earlier actions—among them having skeletons steal Elder Qiu’s phone—triggered new powers.
• The Imperial Family responds to the crisis. Lu Qingxuan tells Xu Yuan that the Emperor personally interrogated Bai Yuanze and learned much about the enemy’s cultivation system, but Bai Yuanze escaped. Xu Yuan pretends surprise. Since his cover may now be exposed, the Emperor ends his undercover assignment and advises him to stay in Luofu or the Imperial Palace, protected by Lu Qingxuan’s jade pendant. Lu Yiyi, shaken by the danger, decides to retrieve her father’s powerful cultivation methods and Dharma forms from Clearheart Hall so she can grow strong enough to protect Xu Yuan.
• Xu Yuan chooses preparation over rest. Though exhausted, he feels an urgent need to act. He weighs the threat posed by the struggle for leadership of the All Things Unity Society: Qi Canghai would likely kill him if victorious, while Xu Chengan’s victory could doom the human world. With the immediate danger temporarily elsewhere, Xu Yuan takes pills, restores himself, and resumes investigating the Dark Crown through the black notebook.
• A new competition begins in the past. Xu Yuan selects an option that turns a stalled idle session into a real-body historical competition titled “Path of the Blood Saint,” set in Yalita’s past at Extinction difficulty. Its first objective is to protect his home; failing means losing his Identity and becoming vulnerable to others. The notebook warns that his actions will rewrite the past while reconnecting it to the future, and may affect how the Dark Crown competition begins. Xu Yuan vanishes as the competition starts.
  Character developments and interactions: Xu Yuan remains a calculating but increasingly anxious strategist, concealing his knowledge from Lu Qingxuan while accepting the Imperial Family’s protection. Lu Yiyi shifts from fear to determination and vows to become his protector. Bai Yuanze, rescued by loyal subordinates, regains hope and resolves to continue his search, unaware that the discarded Handcuffs were Xu Yuan’s ally.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes survival, preparedness, and the cost of power; loyalty and protective relationships; deception and mistaken assumptions; and the way choices in the past may reshape the future.

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan awakens in the body of seven-year-old Yaseline, in the Fourth Layer of Nine Nether Prefecture. He retains his combat experience and the power of his immortal species, though his body is young and weak.
• He finds his sister, Yalita, badly injured after refusing the family’s plan for her to marry the clan leader’s son. Their father has left her behind with an armored skeleton servant.
• When the skeleton tells Yaseline to abandon Yalita, Xu Yuan tricks it and cuts off its head. He gains one experience point, which he spends on a preliminary reading of the difficult Heaven’s First Sword technique.
• The sisters are among fifteen children selected after the Spiritual Root test. The elders explain that merit points protect families from a ground-wide Magic Array that consumes families whose balance reaches zero.
• The children are sent to a sacrificial cave, where each quarter-hour supposedly earns a merit point. Xu Yuan senses danger and flees with Yalita; several others follow. The entrance closes on the children left inside, who are eaten as an offering to the Slumbering Demon Scorpion.
• The elders celebrate the sacrifice and explain that the survivors earn merit points, while families unable to pay the test fee may have their children enslaved. They reveal that killing is the basic way to earn merit points and encourage the children to do so. A rumble from underground interrupts them, suggesting the Scorpion may still be hungry.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan/Yaseline is protective, quick-thinking, and willing to act decisively: he defies his father’s servant, kills it, protects Yalita from a bullying child, and trusts his danger sense enough to flee the cave.
• Yalita is hurt and shaken but relies on Yaseline, expressing gratitude and following her advice to recover. Her fear after the killing also contrasts with Yaseline’s calmness.
• The elders present the clan’s brutal customs as ordinary policy, valuing children who survive the trap while treating the others as expendable.
• The children compete for access to the cave, unaware that the “test” is a sacrifice; their brief celebration turns to horror for those left inside.

Significant themes

• Survival in a predatory society: Merit, status, and safety depend on violence and sacrifice.
• Family loyalty and protection: Yaseline rejects the order to abandon Yalita and risks losing the chance to earn merit in order to save her.
• The gap between appearances and reality: The Fourth Layer initially seems livable, but its rules reveal another horrifying system.
• Power and moral corruption: The clan’s leaders normalize killing, slavery, and the use of children as offerings.

Chapter Summary: “First Arrival”

Key plot points and events

• During a clan test, a venomous stinger from the underground Demon Scorpion attacks the remaining children. When it targets Xu Yuan and Yalita, Yalita asks it not to hurt them. The creature’s hostility vanishes, and it marks itself as full before withdrawing. Xu Yuan realizes his sister can communicate with monsters.
• Their father greets them coldly at home, insisting that survival matters more than family. Xu Yuan, however, resolves to keep their three-person family intact.
• Their father reveals that the sisters have official standing and will soon study Mystic Arts, but warns that Merit is essential: when it reaches zero, a person becomes property of Ninefold Nether.
• Xu Yuan overhears that their father intends to give Elder Wang his remaining Merit in exchange for tampering with the girls’ test results. Xu Yuan intervenes, claiming that he and Yalita were already Top Grade. Since exposing the sisters’ results could also expose Elder Wang’s own fraud, their father withdraws from the deal.
• The sisters’ Waist Tokens announce enrollment at a school within three days. Xu Yuan learns that those graded B or lower cannot enroll, and that failing to enroll—or running out of Merit—means losing one’s independence.
• Xu Yuan notices Elder Wang watching their father with obvious malice. He also recalls visions in which Yalita lived alone and their father was absent, suggesting that Xu Yuan’s intervention has already changed history.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan moves from cautious observer to active protector. He uses quick reasoning and a bold lie to prevent his father from sacrificing his Merit, making the family’s survival his immediate mission.
• Yalita reveals a remarkable ability to communicate with monsters, which appears to have been part of her nature since childhood. She remains vulnerable after the test but is closely protected by Xu Yuan.
• Their father initially seems harsh and self-interested, yet his attempt to secure his daughters’ safety suggests some concern for them. He is persuaded to abandon the risky bargain once Xu Yuan exposes its logic.
• Elder Wang is revealed as a corrupt official who has manipulated test results. His final stare at the father hints that he may retaliate.

Significant themes

• Family and protection: Xu Yuan’s central goal is to keep the family together, in contrast with his father’s belief that survival is primarily an individual responsibility.
• Power, exploitation, and Merit: Merit determines a person’s freedom and social standing; losing it means becoming property of Ninefold Nether.
• Corruption and resistance: Xu Yuan turns Elder Wang’s own misconduct against him, showing how the system’s corruption can also create leverage.
• Changing history: Xu Yuan’s actions disrupt the future he remembers, making the consequences of intervention uncertain.

Character interactions

• Yalita’s plea to the Demon Scorpion appears to calm it, while Xu Yuan watches closely and recognizes her unusual gift.
• Xu Yuan challenges his father’s cold attitude toward Yalita, then later persuades him to reject Elder Wang’s proposed trade.
• Elder Wang threatens the sisters when Xu Yuan claims they were already Top Grade, but backs away when the possibility of a clan investigation puts his own fraud at risk.
• Xu Yuan and his father discuss school admission and the consequences for children who cannot enroll, while Elder Wang silently watches the father with hostile intent.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan’s father explains that he bribed Elder Liu to alter the aptitude test so both children would receive Top Grade results. He also tells Xu Yuan about valuable materials hidden beneath his meditation cushion, worth eight merit points, then leaves.
• Yalita wakes, upset that their father seemed to ignore her. Xu Yuan comforts her and shares the dinner their father made.
• While eating, Xu Yuan questions Yalita about the Dark Crown and Bloodlines. He learns that the Dark Crown is a gathering for Blood Saints, and that Netherworld Passage can cross between life and death, wear different “skins,” reattach souls or raise the dead, and—at its third advancement—“reach the heavens.”
• Yalita explains that Bloodline awakening is partly luck; advancing from zero to first rank requires a Permit Object and killing someone with an awakened Bloodline. The next advancement requires a deadly confrontation with a target their Bloodlines identify.
• A mission appears: Xu Yuan must keep the house’s damage below 40%, ensure both children survive, and avoid fighting where others can see. He senses hostile people waiting outside.
• A notice says the lineage has lost one member: their father is dead. With no adult left, the children and their home are vulnerable.
• Xu Yuan discovers that a scale from the Sleeping Scorpion Demon has lodged in his shoe. Yalita says it is valuable and a sign of the demon’s approval. Xu Yuan takes it outside and throws it over the courtyard wall.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan acts protectively toward Yalita, reassuring her that their father cares and making sure she eats. He also begins treating her as an important source of knowledge about the world he does not understand.
• Yalita is initially hurt and self-deprecating, but brightens when Xu Yuan explains that their father’s choices—sending her to school and keeping Xu Yuan home to cultivate—were not signs of favoritism or lack of love. She eagerly shares what she has learned.
• Xu Yuan shifts from gathering information to confronting an immediate crisis: with their father gone and enemies outside, he must protect both Yalita and the house while obeying the mission’s restrictions.

Significant themes

• Family care and sacrifice: Their father’s apparent distance masks efforts to secure the children’s futures, while Xu Yuan helps Yalita recognize that care.
• Knowledge as survival: Xu Yuan asks questions to fill gaps in his understanding, and Yalita’s schooling gives her crucial information.
• Power and danger: Netherworld Passage offers extraordinary abilities, but advancing it may require lethal combat.
• Vulnerability and responsibility: The father’s death leaves the children exposed, making protection of both family and home an urgent burden.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan has Yaseline throw the Sleeping Scorpion Demon’s valuable scale outside, reasoning that keeping it would make the sisters targets. He expects the treasure to provoke the Cultivators lurking beyond their courtyard.
• When the onlookers hesitate, Xu Yuan insults them to trigger his “Open Theft” ability, which steals treasures from several Cultivators. He secretly plants a powerful Soul-Summoning Bell beside the scale, prompting a scramble over the apparent prizes.
• Xu Yuan repeatedly uses “Heaven-Stealing” from inside the house to provoke the crowd into fighting. Once the battle dies down, he asks Yalita to invite the Scorpion Demon to feed. It initially hesitates because it cannot eat people without a proper reason, but Yalita explains that they may have stolen its scale. The demon then attacks the Cultivators and leaves the scale behind.
• The demon tells Yalita it will soon stop guarding the area. Before the sisters can react, the clan leader and elders arrive. Xu Yuan claims the demon merely dropped the scale and left, and agrees to contribute it to the clan.
• The clan leader awards the sisters a protective formation and adds 500 merit points to Xu Yuan’s token. The surviving evidence and the Cultivators’ belongings are left for the clan to collect; an isolation array shields the sisters from the aftermath.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan/Yaseline is shown to be calculating, patient, and adept at manipulating both people and events while maintaining the appearance of an innocent seven-year-old. He stays out of direct combat and lets the demon do the killing, then handles the clan leader with tact.
• Yalita trusts and follows Xu Yuan’s plans. She communicates with the demon, helps persuade it to act, and convincingly plays the role of a child who knows little about what happened. She is also relieved and excited by their reward.
• The Scorpion Demon is dangerous but bound by rules about when it may eat people. It rewards Yalita with the scale after its meal and warns her that it will soon leave.
• The clan leader favors Yaseline, partly because her apparent connection to the demon and her marriage agreement reflect well on him. The elders accept Xu Yuan’s account and help secure the sisters’ position.

Significant themes

• Survival through cunning: Xu Yuan avoids open confrontation by turning greed and suspicion against the Cultivators.
• Appearances and performance: He carefully presents himself as a harmless child while secretly orchestrating events.
• Power, privilege, and self-interest: The clan’s generosity is linked to its own benefit, while the clan leader’s status shapes how the sisters are treated.
• Uncertain safety: The demon’s impending departure foreshadows that the sisters may soon lose their protection, and the chapter ends with Xu Yuan suspecting their father may not return.

Key plot points and events

• Unable to learn how his father died or what the Lifespan-Burning Pill had to do with it, Xu Yuan searches the city overnight but finds no useful clues.
• At Primary School, Elder Wang teaches the sisters the Qi Refining spell Pillfire: Furnace Incineration. Xu Yuan deliberately uses little Spiritual Power, yet his flame blasts through the roof, exposing his extraordinary talent.
• The display earns Xu Yuan an Excellent Grade Spotlight. He uses its reward to upgrade his sword art, gaining the ability to recite it and later a memory of three years spent figuring out how to begin practicing it.
• Yalita also demonstrates remarkable talent, successfully casting Pillfire and remembering three sword moves after one demonstration. Xu Yuan, by contrast, reproduces the entire sword sequence.
• Elder Wang gives Xu Yuan an Elder’s Scepter, symbolizing the Clan’s protection of his household. A mission notification confirms that Xu Yuan has secured his family’s safety.
• Xu Yuan asks about the Netherworld Passage Art. Elder Wang explains that it can open a passage through spacetime and reveals that the villain Xu Chengan can summon the Lord of Gui Xu from the past. Xu Yuan recognizes the danger: in the future, this power could decide Xu Chengan’s battle against Qi Canghai.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains focused on protecting his family and investigating his father’s death. He carefully performs as a frightened, unintentional prodigy while privately exploiting his Spotlights and reflecting on the future threat posed by Xu Chengan.
• Yalita proves she is also a Top Grade talent, reinforcing the sisters’ shared promise.
• Elder Wang shifts from testing and doubting Xu Yuan to admiring both sisters and believing they could help restore the Clan’s fortunes. He offers Xu Yuan Clan protection and a teacher for his neglected schooling.
• The clan chief’s earlier protective Formation Disc and his hopes that the sisters will marry and produce talented heirs reveal that their safety and aptitude are already matters of Clan interest. Xu Yuan finds the chief’s expectations unwelcome.

Significant themes

• Family protection and responsibility: Xu Yuan’s choices center on securing his sister and household.
• Talent, recognition, and power: The sisters’ extraordinary abilities win admiration and formal protection.
• Hidden effort beneath apparent genius: Xu Yuan’s easy performance contrasts with the sword art’s genuine difficulty, revealed through his upgrade memories.
• Foreknowledge and looming danger: Xu Yuan’s knowledge of a future conflict makes Elder Wang’s disclosure of Xu Chengan’s power especially alarming.