Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Xu Yuan, Lu Feiming, and the Lord of Gui Xu share a barbecue meal. Xu Yuan explains that he is using the Crown to keep humanity cycling within a fixed ten-day period, giving people time to grow stronger while preventing enemies who have already died from returning.
• Parrot agrees to inform humanity. Xu Yuan and Lu Feiming then try to travel ten days ahead to scout the coming conflict, but discover that the future is blank: it cannot take shape while Xu Yuan is repeatedly resetting time.
• A young woman appears, claiming her group reincarnated as humans to enter this period of time. She attacks, declaring her intent to conquer the Three Realms, seize the Universe’s power, and gain the Authority of Truth.
• Her Imago, Tomb of Gaia, transforms the restaurant and city into a landscape of sand, corpses, and deadly aura. Lu Feiming identifies it as an advanced Imago: a small world made of Laws with rules that impose themselves on everything within it.
• Just as the woman prepares a decisive attack, a 30-second advertisement appears before all three combatants. Lu Feiming begins preparing to fight while the woman investigates the strange display; Xu Yuan is exempt from watching it.
• Xu Yuan exploits the interruption, attacks with Night Rain Sealed Cage, and then the advertisement’s white light strikes the woman and her Imago repeatedly, apparently killing them several times and leaving only her head hovering in the air.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan reveals the scale of his control over time and treats the ten-day loop as both protection and an opportunity for training and combat. He remains composed during the attack and uses the ad’s interruption strategically.
• Lu Feiming is curious about testing the future’s enemies and helps explain the blank timeline and the woman’s advanced Imago. He also makes light of the ad’s unfair treatment, since Xu Yuan can skip it.
• The Lord of Gui Xu is astonished by humanity’s progress and the Crown’s power. His comic inability to pay the restaurant bill briefly punctures the serious discussion; Xu Yuan returns to settle it.
• Parrot accepts Xu Yuan’s plan without surprise and takes responsibility for informing humanity.
• The young woman presents herself as a formidable, knowledgeable enemy, but her confident attack is disrupted by the advertisement and Xu Yuan’s counterattack.

Significant themes

• Control of time and the future: Xu Yuan’s repeated resets prevent the future from forming until he allows time to advance.
• Preparation versus complacency: Xu Yuan believes people need both protection and real combat experience.
• Power, ambition, and the Laws: The enemy seeks to take the Universe’s power and Authority of Truth; her Imago embodies Laws that can reshape an entire area.
• Comic disruption amid catastrophe: The mundane restaurant bill and absurd advertisement interrupt moments of cosmic danger, creating a sharp contrast between comedy and high-stakes conflict.

Plot and key events

• Jiang Xueyao and several other cultivators are sent two years into the past with a warning: the invasion by the Demonic Beasts from the Outer Heavens is imminent, and they must strengthen themselves without changing the course of events. Jiang agrees to attend high school as originally planned and sees the two years as time to master Imago.
• In the present, Xu Yuan and Lu Feiming defeat an enemy whose advanced Imago, Tomb of Gaia, lets her escape. They fear that reincarnated beings from other realms could become nearly unstoppable if they gain the Universe’s and Ancient God’s power.
• Xu Yuan learns that Xi has arranged for selected humans—including Jiang Xueyao, Yang Xiaobing, Zhang Pengcheng, and Zhao Afei—to return to the past. Niu Sheng is excluded after wasting his time writing a book about going back two years.
• Xu Yuan reveals to himself that Xi’s “promotional video” is part of a ritual that gathers combatants’ strength for the Universe, helping it awaken before the Ancient God. He studies the enemy’s Imago with Cycle Field, but cannot use its advanced form because his physical and spiritual attributes are insufficient.
• After cultivating, Xu Yuan learns that human cultivators are heading to the Mist Sea, where the merged souls of the Universe and Ancient God lie dormant. A reincarnated enemy arrives to demand that Xu Yuan and Lu Feiming disable the promotional videos, which repeatedly interrupt battles. Xu Yuan refuses, and the visitor threatens them.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiang Xueyao responds to her unexpected return with composure, quickly turning her attention to cultivation.
• Xu Yuan balances long-term strategy with a relaxed, irreverent manner: he cultivates and investigates enemies, but openly jokes about danger. His plan depends on strengthening the Universe through battles.
• Lu Feiming acts as Xu Yuan’s serious counterpart, sharing his concern about the enemy’s power and reporting developments in the Mist Sea.
• Xi serves as Xu Yuan’s discreet protector and coordinator, while enforcing the rules of the time-return arrangement.
• The reincarnated enemy openly admits his goal of conquering humanity, yet demands Xu Yuan’s help because the ads disrupt his fighting—an absurdly comic contrast to his threats.

Significant themes

• Preparation versus destiny: returning people to the past offers a chance to grow stronger, but the warning forbids changing events.
• Power has prerequisites: understanding an advanced technique is not enough; Xu Yuan lacks the strength and spiritual capacity to use it.
• Sacrifice and strategic conflict: the ad ritual turns combatants’ strength into support for the Universe’s awakening.
• Comedy amid existential danger: threats of invasion and destruction are undercut by the enemy’s complaint that promotional videos keep interrupting his battles.

Plot points and events

• A threatening cultivator, Williams, complains that thirty-second ads repeatedly interrupt fights. Xu Yuan calmly agrees the system is disrupting combat and promises to address it, while Lu Feiming and Xi are poised for violence.
• Xu Yuan explains that uninterrupted fighting will attract more participants—and therefore more energy for the Universe—than repeatedly stopping battles. Xi has grown powerful enough to make limited changes to her Energy Siphon Law.
• The group replaces disruptive ads with battle-request pop-ups, but they realize that making every fighter dismiss pop-ups could still break the flow. Xu Yuan hints at a further system that will make combat fairer and more efficient.
• At the Mist Sea Ruins, Williams discovers the new system: fighters receive queue numbers and must wait their turn to join ongoing battles. He initially accepts the change as better than having a long ad interrupt an ambush.
• Williams teams up with Levis, and their queue positions combine. They are called to fight, but a woman stops them: their number has changed, and they have been pushed back in line.
• The two discover that contributing energy to the Universe can reduce waiting time. They boost their position to second, only to find that others are contributing too and their place soon drops back to 43. Furious, Williams decides to kill a couple of people.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is pragmatic and conciliatory: instead of retaliating against Williams, he treats the complaint as useful feedback and focuses on improving the system.
• Lu Feiming is initially ready to attack Williams, but then contributes a practical idea—letting users tap to close pop-ups.
• Xi demonstrates increased strength and greater control over her law. She collaborates with Xu Yuan but also identifies flaws in his proposed fixes.
• Williams shifts from threatening the system’s creators to grudgingly accepting the queue, then becomes competitive and enraged when others overtake him.
• Levis joins Williams and helps him navigate the queue; the two cooperate, then try to game the system together.
• Xu Yuan, Lu Feiming, and Xi work as a team, while Williams and Levis form a temporary alliance. The woman at the Ruins enforces the queue and blocks Williams and Levis from entering early.

Significant themes

• Systems and unintended consequences: Each improvement solves one problem but creates another, requiring repeated adjustment.
• Efficiency versus fairness: The queue organizes participation, but competition for priority makes it difficult to secure a fair place.
• Energy as incentive: The system turns fighters’ contributions to the Universe into a way to reduce waiting time.
• Comic escalation: Williams’s grandiose threats contrast with his increasingly petty struggle to keep his place in line.

Key plot points

• Xu Yuan gives Lu Feiming the three layers of the Tomb of Gaia’s imago techniques. Lu Feiming, a newly created aspect of Truth who now believes he is human, is intrigued by the possibility of developing a Fourth Layer.
• A university-wide order sends students to the Mist Sea for field cultivation, as humanity prepares to explore its ancient ruins. Xu Yuan leaves for the campaign; Lu Feiming stays behind to study the imagos.
• Xu Yuan asks Xi to guard the Mortal Realm while he is away. In secret, he has used Fate Deception to suppress Lu Feiming’s memories of his true identity for five hours, intending to return and renew the spell.
• Williams storms into the dormitory to challenge Lu Feiming over a “queueing system” that restricts combat through mandatory advertisements. When Williams threatens to kill people at the university, Xu Yuan repeatedly interrupts him with sword attacks—first claiming he watched the ad, then returning to retrieve forgotten belongings.
• Lu Feiming relocates the confrontation to a distant snowfield, bringing Xi along. Williams assumes Lu Feiming’s need to watch ads leaves him vulnerable, but Lu Feiming easily overwhelms him, admits he lied about fighting one-handed, and throws him aside.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is protective and calculating: he hides Lu Feiming’s identity to preserve his human life and leaves Xi to safeguard the realm. His dry, absurd interruptions of Williams’s threats add comic relief.
• Lu Feiming continues exploring his identity through cultivation, choosing to remain behind rather than join the Mist Sea expedition. Though calm and thoughtful, he proves overwhelmingly powerful in battle and has little patience for Williams’s posturing.
• Xi wants to join the fighting but is ordered to stay behind. She is eager for excitement and happily watches the confrontation, even calling Lu Feiming out when he breaks his promise to handicap himself.
• Williams is furious about the combat restrictions and escalates from complaint to threats, only to be repeatedly interrupted and decisively beaten.
• Lu Feiming’s poetic remark about Xu Yuan and Xi—“Spring passed, but the flowers remained”—makes Xu Yuan uncomfortable and shows Lu Feiming borrowing the literary habits of Xu Yuan’s Notebook.

Significant themes

• Identity and memory: Xu Yuan’s spell lets Lu Feiming live as a human by concealing the truth of his origin.
• Power and restraint: The queueing system and advertisements mock attempts to regulate violence, while the characters’ vastly unequal strength complicates those rules.
• Duty versus desire: Xu Yuan and Xi accept responsibilities that keep them apart from the action, while Lu Feiming pursues his own path of cultivation.
• Comedy amid danger: Threats of mass violence are undercut by mundane errands, advertisements, and deadpan exchanges.

Key plot points and events

• Lu Feiming’s battle with Williams was carefully engineered. Xu Yuan had taught Lu the method for cultivating an Advanced Imago, weakened Williams by repeatedly interrupting the fight, and arranged for Xi to stand by in case Lu needed help. Lu’s taunts and apparent recklessness were meant to provoke Williams and draw out his power while giving Lu a chance to study his Imago.
• Williams’s devastating Punishment Demon Saint Imago nearly overwhelms Lu. As Lu endures its repeated attacks, he gradually understands how an Advanced Imago works.
• Lu awakens his own Imago, “Spring departs, yet flowers remain; people come, yet birds do not startle.” Its defining ability is that Mystic Arts cannot affect him. Lu explains that, unlike Williams’s Imago, his can define laws by altering the concepts and properties of things. With his attacks neutralized, Williams is forced to fight with a saber infused with the Cosmic Origin’s power of Truth, setting up the decisive clash.
• Elsewhere, Xu Yuan responds to a paid “emergency rescue” request in the Mist Sea. He removes the curse that killed a man by casting it beyond the timeline, then resurrects him. Xu’s new business scheme channels invaders’ energy to help the Universe awaken and defeat the dormant Ancient God.
• As Xu returns to Luofu, a multicolored spotlight appears over him, suggesting someone has activated Spotlight.

Character developments

• Lu Feiming progresses from surviving Williams’s attacks to mastering an Advanced Imago. His calm confidence reflects both his growing understanding and his ability to turn the fight to his advantage.
• Williams becomes increasingly furious at Lu’s composure, then shifts from overwhelming Mystic Arts to a direct weapon-based fight once he realizes his abilities cannot reach Lu.
• Xu Yuan shows strategic foresight in preparing Lu for the battle and continues adapting to his stalled cultivation by finding ways to strengthen the Universe.
• Xi remains ready to intervene but respects Lu’s request to stay out of the fight, then relaxes once his Imago takes effect.

Significant themes and interactions

• Preparation and teamwork: Xu Yuan and Lu Feiming’s apparent taunts and risky tactics are parts of a coordinated plan, with Xi serving as backup.
• Learning through adversity: Lu uses Williams’s attacks as a practical lesson in Advanced Imago, turning survival into mastery.
• Power through rules: The clash contrasts Williams’s forceful Imago with Lu’s ability to redefine how laws and abilities affect him.
• Pragmatism and sacrifice: Xu Yuan turns rescue into a revenue source for the Universe’s survival, while Lu accepts severe injuries to gain insight.
• Key interactions: Lu repeatedly provokes Williams while studying his techniques; Xi considers joining the battle but obeys Lu’s warning; Xu Yuan calmly negotiates with the rescuers before saving their companion.

• The Universe rewards Xu Yuan: Xu Yuan learns that the energy he has gathered for the Universe helped it briefly awaken and resist the Ancient God. In recognition, it grants him a Truth-tier Spotlight, then a second one, allowing him to greatly advance his Imago cultivation. The Universe urges him to keep gathering power until it can defeat the Ancient God.
• Xu Yuan gains a powerful new technique: He chooses the Crown Lord of the Silent End Times and fuses his sword Imago with the Crown of Fate Deception. The resulting technique, Spring Dawn, lets him strike without anyone realizing a sword attack occurred. He uses it to kill Williams in one blow while Williams is fighting Lu Feiming. The move is so costly that it nearly empties Xu Yuan of his life force, spiritual power, and physical strength.
• Allies react to Xu Yuan’s condition: Lu Feiming, frustrated that Xu Yuan has taken away his chance to test a newly learned Imago, heads for the dangerous Mist Sea to find a fight. Xu Yuan returns to Luofu with Xi, where Fu Xiuyi discovers how depleted he is and tells him to rest. Jiang Xueyao brings help: a woman from the Void of Truth uses the Nine-Cycle Rejuvenation Art to restore him, though she warns that such extreme exhaustion could cause lasting harm and that Xu Yuan needs to improve his cultivation.
• A new political opportunity emerges: Xu Yuan learns that beings claiming to be reincarnators want to discuss Yanmen with the Imperial Court, which has summoned Yanmen’s Vanguards. Realizing these outsiders may bring resources that could help awaken the Universe, he secretly travels to Yanmen’s Black Flame Bar to consult its leaders.
• Xu Yuan proposes a strategy for Yanmen: Rather than simply oppose the outsiders, he suggests profiting from their interest: reward those willing to cooperate and follow Yanmen’s rules, while eliminating those who refuse. The Ritual Executors and others agree, seeing the plan as a way to fund Yanmen’s rebuilding and divide the outsiders against one another.
  Character developments and themes: Xu Yuan gains a major leap in power and renewed certainty that his efforts matter, but discovers that his strongest technique comes at a dangerous physical cost. His thinking also shifts from combat alone toward strategic leadership and resource-gathering. The chapter emphasizes sacrifice, the struggle against extinction, the risks of power, and turning diplomacy and commerce into tools of survival.

Plot points and events

• A force of Truth-aligned attackers secretly positions itself at eight points around the Imperial Capital. Their leader uses a shard of metal and a powerful Imago to raise a seamless black barrier, trapping the city.
• Earlier, Emperor Lu Chaowu meets with Xu Yuan and the others before receiving visitors from the Outer Heavens. He explains that these visitors have used their Imagos to intimidate his subordinates and asks whether Yanmen has taught the group about Imagos.
• Xu Yuan takes the emperor and his companions into Yanmen. Through the Parrot, they learn that the Three Realms have been swallowed in the conflict between the Ancient Gods and the Universe, and hear the visitors’ aims. The Parrot gives Xu Yuan a Jade Slip containing advanced Imago cultivation methods.
• Yanmen lets one person cultivate for two years in the past each day, provided they do not alter events. The emperor takes the opportunity, returning at the peak of the Void Meditation Realm—the ninth of ten realms.
• The Parrot asks the emperor to let the Outer Heavens’ forces approach Yanmen so it can absorb their power, while denying them advanced Laws. It also urges him to fight, since battles provide energy to the Universe. The emperor agrees.
• Back at the palace, the emperor and Imperial Preceptor Fu Xiuyi meet the visitors while Xu Yuan and the others wait in a side hall. The black barrier rises, teleportation fails, and fighting erupts outside, with Imagos appearing immediately.
• A masked attacker bursts into the side hall. Xu Yuan calls for the others to strike him, but Yang Xiaobing’s ability plays a thirty-second ad that protects them. The attacker is also forced into a combat queue and, unwilling to wait, leaves to attack elsewhere.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan acts as the link between Yanmen and the Imperial Court, secures the Imago methods, and trusts the emperor to take the lead against the visitors. His exhausted, casual manner contrasts with the crisis, and his quick command during the attack shows he remains alert.
• Emperor Lu Chaowu moves from a curious, measured ruler to a formidable combatant after using two years to cultivate. He readily accepts Yanmen’s conditions and welcomes the prospect of fighting the invaders.
• The Parrot reveals the larger cosmic conflict and steers the emperor toward a strategy that benefits Yanmen and the Universe.
• Yang Xiaobing, Jiang Xueyao, and Zhang Pengcheng respond together to the sudden attack. Yang’s unexpectedly useful ad ability buys them time; Jiang stays composed and suggests taking cover, while Zhang’s initial optimism turns to alarm when he sees the city sealed.
• Fu Xiuyi already knows about the Imago method, having previously used Yanmen’s time-travel cultivation opportunity.

Significant themes

• Hidden truths and shifting scale: The characters discover that their world is part of a much larger struggle involving the Ancient Gods, the Universe, and the Void of Truth.
• Preparation before confrontation: The emperor’s two years of cultivation and the group’s new knowledge set the stage for the coming battle.
• Power with limits and conditions: Yanmen’s gifts come with rules, and its support depends on denying the invaders advanced Laws.
• Unexpected usefulness of ordinary abilities: Yang’s humorous ad and queue mechanics become life-saving defenses amid a deadly attack.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• During a formal audience at Clearheart Hall, the Human Emperor, Lu Chaowu, confronts a group of visitors who reveal they wanted to get close to him so they could destroy the Imperial Dynasty and rule humanity.
• Lu Chaowu effortlessly kills their first challenger, then faces Zhao Ling. He moves the fight to a park, where his unusual Imago immobilizes and destroys her—but she reconstructs herself, revealing that she is fighting through an Imago rather than her true self. Intrigued, Lu Chaowu continues the battle.
• Imperial Preceptor Fu Xiuyi is challenged by a burly Cultivator who insults and threatens her, then attacks with a powerful cage Imago. Fu Xiuyi counters with Grievance-Bound Soul Execution, trapping him in an apparently endless experience of every kind of pain. She warns his companions not to interfere.
• In a side hall, Xu Yuan watches while his companions anxiously await the outcome. He reflects on humanity’s resilience and the Three Realms’ strength, then activates Divinity Collapse. It lets designated people preview Fate Threads and the consequences of “Creation from Nothing.” He includes his companions, Fu Xiuyi, Lu Chaowu, several others, and remotely Lu Feiming.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Chaowu reveals how much stronger he has become after two years of intense cultivation. His confidence borders on boredom toward the invaders, but Zhao Ling’s unusual Imago finally interests him.
• Fu Xiuyi demonstrates formidable, previously underestimated power. The burly man’s crude behavior proves to be a tactic, but his attack still wounds her shoulder; she responds with overwhelming psychological force and controls the situation.
• Xu Yuan remains physically weakened yet composed. Rather than join the battle, he uses his power strategically to influence events through the people around him.
• Zhang Pengcheng, Yang Xiaobing, and Jiang Xueyao react differently to the danger: Zhang watches nervously, Yang clutches her talisman and Seeds, and Jiang positions herself protectively between them and the entrance.
• The invaders’ arrogance collapses when they confront the emperor’s strength and Fu Xiuyi’s terrifying Imago.

Significant themes

• Human resilience and adaptation: Xu Yuan sees the Three Realms’ survival through repeated catastrophes as proof that humanity continually evolves and grows stronger.
• Power revealed through conflict: Both Lu Chaowu and Fu Xiuyi show that their abilities far exceed what their challengers expected.
• Perception and deception: Zhao Ling’s apparent defeat conceals that Lu Chaowu has not found her real body, while the burly man’s insults mask a lethal attack.
• Control over fate: Xu Yuan’s activation of Divinity Collapse expands the conflict beyond the immediate battles, allowing multiple characters to examine possible futures.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Pengcheng discovers he can see fate-like lines pointing toward “Safe,” “Death,” and “Great fortune.” He follows the promise of fortune and leaves the group.
• Xu Yuan, Yang Xiaobing, and Jiang Xueyao realize they can also see the lines. Their readings direct them toward separate opportunities, but both women reconsider leaving Xu Yuan alone.
• Yang Xiaobing returns to protect Xu Yuan, giving up her apparent fortune. She recalls his old description of himself as a “Peerless Hero,” which deeply moves him.
• Jiang Xueyao also returns, wary that the promised fortune might be a trap. After teasing Xu Yuan about Xiaobing’s devotion, she leaves to fight elsewhere.
• Xu Yuan uses Void of Authority to travel several days into the past, recover his strength, and return to the same moment. He then persuades Xiaobing to investigate her fortune together.
• Following Xiaobing’s Fate Thread, they find a hidden box in the palace wall containing a fully charged Vastmoon Iceheart Jade, a rare treasure that can store up to three times its user’s Spiritual Power.
• The jade suits Xiaobing’s single Water Spiritual Root and gives her enough energy to manifest a second Imago, associated with Spirit Plants.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from passive watchfulness to decisive action after recovering his strength. He is touched by Xiaobing’s loyalty and encourages her to claim her opportunity.
• Yang Xiaobing chooses Xu Yuan’s safety over personal gain, showing affection and concern. Her ambition and cultivation also become clearer when she reveals she can manifest a powerful Spirit Plant Imago.
• Jiang Xueyao shows care for Xiaobing by returning out of suspicion that the fortune is dangerous, while concealing her own feelings about Xu Yuan.
• Zhang Pengcheng is captivated by his apparent new ability and eagerly pursues the “great fortune” it indicates.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and care versus personal advancement: Xiaobing gives up a rare opportunity rather than leave Xu Yuan vulnerable.
• Fate, choice, and uncertainty: The lines guide the characters, but their meanings are not fully understood, and the promised fortune initially seems suspicious.
• Power and hidden potential: The jade helps reveal Xiaobing’s greater cultivation and unlocks an ability she could not previously use.
• Changing the past and shaping outcomes: Xu Yuan’s time manipulation lets him recover without changing the moment he returns to, while the narrative connects fate with events gaining plausible explanations.

Summary

• Lu Feiming explores the Mist Sea ruins, a vast network of underground tunnels. He hopes to meet someone to talk to, but the first cultivator he encounters attacks him. The attacker belongs to a group of seven who believe humans should die and that the ruins’ treasures and Truth artifacts belong to them.
• Lu Feiming easily defeats the ambush. Mystic Arts cannot affect him, and his physical strength overwhelms the group—even when he tries to hold back. With glowing lines sent by Xu Yuan to guide him, he follows a route marked for a trial.
• The trial places him in a wartime city overrun by worms released from a giant floating mass of flesh. After discovering that the monster and its offspring share a dream of devouring everyone, Lu Feiming hurls a sword into the creature and destroys it. The vision vanishes, leaving him with a broken sword containing the Power of Truth.
• Lu Feiming encounters a larger group of Truth Void reincarnators. He pretends to be one of them and agrees with their plan to gather Truth Shards and use them to alter a powerful law. Their Imago absorbs the shards—including the power in Lu Feiming’s broken sword—and announces that they can change, but not destroy, the Energy Siphon Law. They proceed with the alteration.
• Lu Feiming realizes too late what he has helped them do: they are sabotaging Xu Yuan’s “equivalence” law. When the group asks for someone to test the change, Lu Feiming challenges everyone to attack him at once.
• Meanwhile, Xu Yuan receives a warning that the Energy Siphon Law has been altered by the Tide of Truth. The old World Setting has become void, and a new one is about to emerge.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Feiming remains curious, gentle in outlook, and interested in people’s dreams, even while displaying overwhelming strength. His loneliness in the ruins makes him welcome the sense of connection he feels through Xu Yuan’s guiding lines. He is also impulsive: his curiosity and mistaken assumptions lead him to help the reincarnators before understanding their goal.
• The reincarnators are initially hostile to outsiders but quickly accept Lu Feiming once he claims to be one of them and echoes their plan. Their shared ambition brings them together, though they are disappointed that they can only alter the law rather than destroy it.
• Xu Yuan is absent from the main action, but his guidance helps Lu Feiming navigate the ruins. The final warning connects Lu Feiming’s actions to the larger struggle over Xu Yuan’s laws.
• Yang Xiaobing appears briefly beside Xu Yuan in the palace, absorbed in the Vast Cold Spirit Jade.

Significant themes

• Dreams as insight: Lu Feiming judges people and monsters by the dreams they hold, treating them as a way to understand what matters to them.
• Power and unintended consequences: Lu Feiming’s strength makes the encounters easy, but his lack of understanding has serious consequences.
• Friendship and belonging: His desire for company contrasts with the hostility of the ruins, making the apparent camaraderie of the reincarnators especially tempting.
• Laws and world order: The conflict shifts from physical combat to the power to rewrite reality, ending on the uncertain prospect of a new World Setting.

Plot and key events

• In Yanmen, the Cook briefly vanishes as the third Aspect of Truth’s power spills into nearby components. The Parrot explains that this Aspect has joined the battle in the Mist Sea, causing the Ancient God and the Universe to awaken for one second and bringing all three Aspects’ power into the conflict.
• New rules emerge from the clash. The First Blood Saint must oversee the balance, and the battle between the Ancient God and the Universe will now have a victor. A new World Setting, Dark Staircase, ranks professionals by team tier and grants teams privileges and rewards for winning battles.
• Xu Yuan and Yang Xiaobing are both labeled Exiles. Xu Yuan receives an Advanced rating and authority to form a team of up to three members. Lu Feiming appears, admits he caused some trouble, and asks to join them.
• Xu Yuan forms the team Solely Revering the Skyscraping with Yang Xiaobing and Lu Feiming. They choose to support the Universe, earning the team Benediction Surge of Truth, which blocks one ordinary enemy attack.
• Lu Feiming promptly disappears and begins defeating Exiles. The team receives notice that it has won enough battles to be close to an upgrade.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan recognizes that the new rules make teamwork crucial. He takes the lead in forming a team, chooses the Universe over the Ancient God, and keeps Lu Feiming’s activities vague when explaining his sudden departure to Yang Xiaobing.
• Yang Xiaobing eagerly asks to join Xu Yuan’s team and accepts Lu Feiming after Xu Yuan introduces them. She is surprised by Lu’s abrupt arrival and his apparent contradiction: a helpful friend who is also fighting aggressively.
• Lu Feiming joins readily and quickly turns into the team’s most active combatant, apparently taking advantage of the new system to eliminate opponents.
• The Parrot shifts from confusion to alarm, realizing that the expanded conflict is beyond Yanmen’s current capacity and calls for the First Blood Saint.

Significant themes

• Truth and balance: The third Aspect’s intervention disrupts the expected two-sided conflict and forces a new mechanism intended to ensure a decisive outcome.
• Cooperation and competition: The Dark Staircase makes teams a source of protection, authority, and rewards, while pushing professionals into direct conflict.
• Moral choice and loyalty: Xu Yuan’s preference for the Universe rests on its many living beings and diverse dreams, contrasting with the Ancient God’s single-minded desire to consume it.
• Power and escalating stakes: Even a small amount of Truth’s power can alter worlds and laws, while early victories threaten to create a runaway advantage.

Key plot points and events

• In the Mist Sea ruins, Lu Feiming kills a group of enemies, sparing one smoker after an unexpectedly reflective conversation about smoking as a form of self-deception and temporary rest. He keeps the man’s cigarettes and lighter, then leaves the spoils for Xu Yuan to distribute.
• Xu Yuan sacrifices the spoils to the Universe, raising the team to Bronze rank. Its members gain Wanderer status, a five-person capacity, protection from attacks by Exiles, and a 300% power boost when attacking them.
• Zhang Pengcheng and Jiang Xueyao join the team. The Universe’s reward floods the members with insight and cultivation power, leaving Zhang and Jiang on the brink of Tribulation Transcendence.
• A Reincarnator attack throws the Imperial Palace into chaos. The team discovers that black lightning punishes enemies who attack them, while the team’s boosted attacks let them strike back. Jiang Xueyao and Yang Xiaobing kill attackers and use their enhanced abilities; Zhang joins the fight.
• In the Mortal Realm, Fu Xiuyi recruits Human Emperor Lu Chaowu, then joins forces with him to gather allies and fight. They agree that survival depends on moving quickly: defeating enemies, forming a team, and raising its rank.
• At Yanmen, Xu Yuan makes the Black Flame Bar and Divine Temple Safe Zones, preventing fighting there. He explains that attackers who try to break the protection will themselves violate the team rules and be punished.
• Xu Yuan discovers that his team can take a Dark Staircase quest but has no way to locate it. Using Divinity Collapse, he follows a Fate Thread toward the Ancient Ruins of the Mist Sea, where a quest may be activated.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Feiming shows a reflective, almost human side by sparing the smoker, but remains ruthless toward the rest. His killings help secure the team’s advancement.
• Xu Yuan takes charge of rewards, recruits teammates, and protects Yanmen. He also conceals the truth behind the team’s formation with a quick explanation to Zhang and Jiang, then uses his ability to find the next mission.
• Jiang Xueyao quickly understands the team’s advantage and acts decisively, leading the counterattack.
• Yang Xiaobing demonstrates confidence in her Talisman’s strengthened power and supports Jiang in battle.
• Zhang Pengcheng is eager to fight but initially cautious about the sudden cultivation surge; he ultimately joins the attack.
• Fu Xiuyi reveals that she delayed killing her enemies so she could later sacrifice them for team-formation rights. She and Lu Chaowu quickly align their priorities, while Father Jiang pledges his support.

Significant themes

• Survival through cooperation: Team membership offers protection and power, making alliances essential in the new conflict.
• A race to gain advantage: Teams must defeat enemies, claim rewards, and rank up before rivals do.
• Rules as both shield and weapon: The new system protects higher-ranked teams from lower-ranked attackers while empowering them to retaliate.
• Self-deception and endurance: Lu Feiming’s encounter with the smoker frames smoking as a way to convince oneself that one has rested amid relentless struggle.
• Calculated morality: Characters treat killing and sacrifice as strategic necessities in a world where rewards and safety depend on them.

Key plot points and events

• After their defeat by the Human Emperor’s allies, a group of reincarnators decide to seek fragments of Truth in the Mist Sea and offer them to the Ancient God. They hope to earn the right to form a team strong enough to defeat their rivals.
• The Imperial Court swiftly orders Cultivators across the human world to explore the Mist Sea, gather treasures, and recover ancient inheritances. Students are transported there by Flying Boat.
• During the journey, a student affected by the “Demon” is quietly sent to isolation for three days. Officials warn the others not to reveal his condition.
• News reports that the Human Emperor and the King of the Ninefold Nether Ruins have exchanged teachings on Imago and agreed to cooperate against the Old Gods. The Human Emperor will also make a method for turning Imago between illusion and reality publicly available.
• Xu Yuan discourages Zhang Pengcheng from boasting about their Bronze-level team. He warns that their status could attract powerful enemies, even though team attacks receive a major strength boost.
• An enemy launches a long-range attack on their Flying Boat, but is struck by lightning and retreats—apparently because Xu Yuan’s team is aboard.
• Lu Yiyi tells Xu Yuan she has been tasked with exploring the Mist Sea Ruins and retrieving a valuable treasure in order to obtain a Law. Xu Yuan agrees to join her group.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains cautious and protective: he prioritizes discretion over recognition, worries about Zhao Afei’s uncertain situation, and resolves to cultivate harder before entering the Mist Sea. He also recognizes that he must continue concealing his true abilities behind the “Disappearance” Law.
• Zhang Pengcheng is excited by the team’s Bronze rank and their unique Laws, but Xu Yuan’s warning convinces him that keeping a low profile is safer.
• Lu Yiyi has grown stronger through mastering the Night Rain Sword Art, resolving questions about her royal family, and receiving part of its legacy. Near the peak of Foundation Establishment, she is close to forming a Golden Core. She admits to an ominous premonition about her own future.
• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi show mutual trust: he offers to accompany her, while she agrees to include him in her group. Their exchange blends concern and teasing, with Xu Yuan confidently relying on her protection.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and power: Teams, alliances, and shared knowledge become crucial in a world where strength can be multiplied through collective action.
• Caution versus ambition: Xu Yuan favors restraint, while Zhang Pengcheng is tempted to celebrate their standing; the danger of attracting stronger enemies reinforces the value of secrecy.
• Duty amid uncertainty: The Mist Sea expedition draws students and Cultivators into a dangerous campaign, while the “Demon” threat and Lu Yiyi’s premonition foreshadow further risks.
• Trust and loyalty: Xu Yuan’s willingness to accompany Lu Yiyi reflects the support they have built through past hardships.

Key plot points and events

• While traveling through the Mist Sea, Xu Yuan adds helping Lu Yiyi complete her Bar’s Law trading mission to his existing plans to find a Jade Slip and investigate the Dark Staircase. He asks Xi to scout ahead and protect Lu Yiyi, who has not yet awakened an Imago.
• Bai Yuanze tells Xu Yuan that the Lord of Gui Xu is forming a team and invites him to join. Xu Yuan declines, partly because he already belongs to a Bronze-level team, and recommends fair representation from both the All Things Unity Society and the Ruin Gate.
• Suspecting the Society’s officers are sidelining him, Xu Yuan uses Heaven-Stealing to appear at a conference where they are disputing the team selection. He asserts his authority as Acting President and selects Bai Yuanze for the Society’s slot, leaving the other place to the Ruin Gate.
• When Wang Chengyun challenges his decision, Xu Yuan defeats him with a sword strike that manifests his Imago as a vast storm of wind and rain, revealing a power that seems to contain a hint of Law.
• Xu Yuan uses the Cycle Field to uncover the histories of several officers and kills those he identifies as deeply corrupt. He orders Bai Yuanze to investigate and publish evidence, then leaves. The shaken officers accept his decision.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows both restraint and formidable authority: he refuses a personally advantageous team invitation, but acts decisively when he believes the organization’s unity and survival are threatened. His real-world Imago demonstrates how far his cultivation has advanced.
• Bai Yuanze remains loyal and capable, but Xu Yuan thinks he is too lenient with colleagues who undermine the organization.
• The Lord of Gui Xu offers Xu Yuan a place on his team, but respects his choice to decline.
• Xi eagerly agrees to scout and fight, preferring action to simply guarding Lu Yiyi.
• The dissenting officers, especially Wang Chengyun, are forced to confront the gap between their political maneuvering and Xu Yuan’s strength and authority.

Significant themes

• Duty over personal gain: Xu Yuan gives up a team slot and prioritizes fair representation and organizational needs.
• Authority versus factional politics: The officers’ attempts to debate, vote, and maneuver clash with Xu Yuan’s view that urgent decisions require clear leadership.
• Power and accountability: Xu Yuan uses overwhelming force to impose order, while his claim that the dead were corrupt—and his promise to provide evidence—raises questions about the risks of unchecked judgment.
• The approaching crisis: Xu Yuan sees the Dark Staircase and the survival of all living beings as matters of life and death, making internal power struggles seem dangerously trivial.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan and Bai Yuanze discuss the team’s composition; Xu Yuan recommends Bai, then later formally appoints him.
• Xu Yuan refuses the Lord of Gui Xu’s invitation, explaining that he already has a team and wants the slot to go to someone else.
• Xu Yuan confronts the officers directly, challenges Wang Chengyun to prove his strength, and silences further opposition through force.
• After Xu Yuan leaves, Bai Yuanze reprimands the officers for insisting on bringing him into the dispute and directs them to account for the casualties.

Chapter summary

• Xu Yuan and the other students arrive at the island surrounding the Mist Sea Ruins. Teams are assigned to explore the island, collect and identify scattered fragments, and study its strange creatures before selected students enter the Ruins.
• Xu Yuan’s team consists of Lu Yiyi and eight Royal Guards. Using his Divinity Collapse technique, he senses four Fate Threads leading to a treasure, danger, half a jade slip, and information. He chooses the treasure route.
• Lu Yiyi says the Ruins’ overwhelming emotional energy makes her uneasy, but insists on coming. She wants to grow stronger after realizing that her royal techniques are powerless against the force of Rules.
• In a cavern, the team discovers a battlefield beyond a glowing barrier. Xu Yuan realizes that the Ruins have recreated the ancient War of the Gods and that they are participating in a competition called “Stealing the Three Realms.” He speculates that the restored battle might let him change its outcome.
• Before the team can enter, a cultivator recognizes Xu Yuan by his alias, Wu Song, and teleports everyone to an underground shelter. The cultivator recalls Xu Yuan’s earlier service in the Primordial Era and confirms that he has earned 150 merit points: 30 for defending Outpost Nine and 120 for rescuing a camp and killing nineteen Demonic Beasts.
• Lu Yiyi reveals that Yanmen gave her an instruction talisman to identify the treasure they need. When activated, it names the Multiple Rotating Gear, which costs 120 merit points—within Xu Yuan’s available balance.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains resourceful and secretive, joking with Zhang Pengcheng about his supposed chores to keep him from learning about the mission. He also uses his knowledge of the Primordial Era and his merit record to help the group navigate the revived battlefield.
• Lu Yiyi shows both apprehension and resolve: despite sensing danger, she chooses the expedition as a chance to become stronger. She is puzzled by Xu Yuan’s familiarity with the young cultivator and learns that “Wu Song” is his alias.
• Zhang Pengcheng is eager for adventure and disappointed to be assigned routine work. Xu Yuan teases him by pretending his own mission involves weeding and slaughtering pigs.
• The young cultivator recognizes Xu Yuan from his earlier military service, helps the team escape immediate danger, and provides the merit-exchange list.
• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi coordinate quietly over the treasure instructions, while Xu Yuan keeps his past connection to this era and his alias discreet.

Significant themes

• Growth through danger: Lu Yiyi’s desire for power reflects the need to confront personal limits.
• War and survival: The ancient battlefield’s collapsed society explains why powerful treasures can be bought so cheaply: few people remain to use them.
• History becoming changeable: The recreated War of the Gods may offer Xu Yuan a chance to influence a pivotal past event.
• Secrecy and identity: Xu Yuan’s alias and concealed knowledge shape how he interacts with others.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi secure authorization to retrieve a Multiple Rotating Gear from Military Supply Warehouse No. 2. Lu Yiyi admits she has not yet developed a Law Imago; Xu Yuan privately resolves to arrange more training for her.
• A group led by Qian Heming offers triple the gear’s value. Xu Yuan uses his Cycle Field to discover that they are secretly working with an Immortal Species and urgently want a different object mistakenly stored as the gear.
• Xu Yuan sends Lu Yiyi away with the warehouse authorization, then agrees to trade. After Qian Heming’s subordinate insults him, Xu Yuan cancels the deal in front of witnesses. Qian challenges him to a duel, and Xu Yuan defeats him with a lightning-fast sword strike.
• An Immortal Species attacks Xu Yuan with powerful Dimension and Gaze abilities, trapping him in a warped space and then an illusory world. Xu Yuan uses his Imago techniques to resist and escape. Xi, his Attendant God, has secretly frozen time, allowing Xu Yuan to kill the creature with a decisive sword strike.
• Xu Yuan receives a thousand military merit points for exposing and killing the infiltrator. He then asks the senior cultivators about higher-level Imago Arts and is told to submit an application.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows strategic restraint and quick thinking: he avoids an unnecessary fight at first, then uses the public setting and the subordinate’s rudeness to create a defensible reason to challenge Qian. He also demonstrates that his sword and Imago abilities can counter advanced supernatural techniques.
• Lu Yiyi trusts Xu Yuan’s judgment and leaves when he signals that he has a plan. Her lack of Imago training remains a concern for Xu Yuan.
• Qian Heming shifts from confidence in his leverage and the Immortal Species’ support to shock after Xu Yuan defeats both threats. He pays the agreed merit and leaves visibly shaken.
• Xi proves dependable by waiting unseen and using Time Stop at the critical moment.
• The senior cultivators recognize Xu Yuan’s talent, though access to advanced Imago Arts requires formal approval.

Significant themes

• Trust and cooperation: Lu Yiyi trusts Xu Yuan, while Xi’s timely intervention makes the victory possible.
• Power tempered by judgment: Xu Yuan weighs the political consequences of attacking fellow Human Race cultivators before choosing a course that preserves witnesses and legitimacy.
• Growth through effort: Xu Yuan treats status as unimportant compared with improving his abilities, and seeks further training to serve the Human Race.
• Hidden enemies and appearances: The apparent gear deal conceals a betrayal, and an ordinary-looking cultivator is actually a dangerous Immortal Species.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi exchange affectionate, teasing remarks, then coordinate smoothly when the suspicious group arrives.
• Xu Yuan’s public clash with Qian Heming escalates from a trade dispute into a duel after Qian’s subordinate insults him.
• Xu Yuan confronts the Immortal Species inside its illusion, arguing over its nature and motives before fighting it.
• After the battle, Xu Yuan explains his actions to the senior cultivators, earns their recognition, and requests access to more advanced techniques.

Key plot points

• After killing the Immortal Species, Xu Yuan sacrifices its corpse to the Universe. The reward boosts his cultivation to the Integrated Body Middle Stage and grants him a brief glimpse of the Ruins’ outer world as time and space seem to fuse.
• Xu Yuan is taken to request access to the Full-Law Imago, a higher-level Law method. A Divine Examination is supposed to judge whether he is worthy and detect traitors.
• The first Divinity who appears leaves, then the Demon-Suppressing Heavenly Venerable arrives. He recognizes Xu Yuan’s half of the Jade Slip but does not recognize Xu Yuan himself.
• Xu Yuan realizes the White Jade Capital has recreated the Primordial War of the Gods, and that his power to alter fate may let him change the outcome of this ancient conflict. He admits he comes from the future, but the Heavenly Venerable rejects the claim: the Ancient God’s seals should make such travel impossible.
• Before the Heavenly Venerable can act, the Ancient God attacks with a Crimson Spear. The Underground Shelter is destroyed, and thirty-six Black Demons surround Xu Yuan and the Heavenly Venerable.
• Xu Yuan concludes that the Ancient God’s forces are so overwhelming that the Primordial Era’s Universe cannot defeat them conventionally. He uses his two Crowns and the future Universe’s temporary intervention to invoke the Dark Staircase’s rules against the attackers.
• The Universe backs the rule, while the Ancient Gods oppose it: “Three to one.” The Law takes effect in the Primordial Era. Unable to attack Xu Yuan as Exiles, the demons are struck down by Black Lightning and killed by him.
• Xu Yuan sacrifices the demons, then uses Nibelung to jump back in time to before the Divine Trial. He declines the examination for now, claiming he needs to attend to his Dao Companion, and accepts a Command Token so he can return later.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan moves from curiosity about ancient Imagos to recognizing that he may be able to change the Primordial War itself. He demonstrates quick strategic thinking, exploiting the Dark Staircase’s rules rather than trying to match the Ancient God’s strength directly.
• The Demon-Suppressing Heavenly Venerable is startled by the Jade Slip and skeptical of Xu Yuan’s claim to be from the future. He tries to stop Xu Yuan but is quickly occupied by the demons; their reunion hints at a connection Xu Yuan understands better than he does.
• The shelter cultivator guides Xu Yuan through the application process, then later accepts his excuse to postpone the trial and gives him a Command Token.
• Xu Yuan’s interactions shift sharply from a routine request for advanced training to a deadly confrontation with the Ancient God’s forces, followed by a calculated return to an earlier moment.

Significant themes

• Fate and agency: Xu Yuan sees his power as a means to alter events that once seemed inevitable.
• Rules as power: Rather than overpowering his enemies, he changes the rules of the conflict and turns them against the demons.
• Time, causality, and paradox: Xu Yuan’s presence in the Primordial Era challenges the Ancient God’s control over time, while his return to the earlier moment preserves the timeline’s uncertainty.
• Sacrifice and cosmic struggle: The Universe’s rewards and intervention reveal a larger contest between the Universe and the Ancient Gods, with Xu Yuan acting as a pivotal agent.

Key plot points and events

• After escaping the Primordial Era, Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi return to Yanmen. The Black Flame Bar’s Safe Zone now protects it because Xu Yuan leads the first Bronze-ranked team.
• At the Bar, the Vendor serves Evil-Repelling Wine, which purges corrupting auras from Xu Yuan, Lu Yiyi, and the Royal Guards.
• Lu Yiyi gives the Vendor the Multiple Rotating Gear. He identifies it as a lost War Cannon Core for Yanmen; the Parrot absorbs it and hints that further finds could help it join the Prophet in battle.
• Lu Yiyi draws the Joker and gains the Law Card Swap. Because the Universe’s power aided her draw, she can use it in the Primordial Era to exchange for the rare Law Proclamation, once held by a Ritual Executor there.
• Exploring Yanmen, Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi discover Xu Yuan’s Divine Temple has become a shop selling powerful equipment for Gold Coins. Lu Yiyi refreshes its shelves and buys a Dharma Lord-level fan, Clear Breeze, for 300,000 Gold Coins. The purchase earns Xu Yuan 70% of the price, while the fan’s note requires a three-day wait before another purchase and payment in Spirit Stones.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains cautious about the danger of returning to the Primordial Era, but supports Lu Yiyi’s growth and helps her pursue the Proclamation Law. He also discovers the shop makes him a substantial cut of its sales.
• Lu Yiyi feels frustrated that she has been unable to contribute much, and resolves to become stronger. Winning Card Swap—and the chance to obtain Proclamation—gives her a clearer role and a new mission. Her confidence and excitement show when she recognizes the fan’s value and decides to buy it.
• The Vendor guides Lu Yiyi’s Law draw and explains how the Universe’s intervention created her opportunity. He and Xu Yuan share a quiet understanding as Xu Yuan asks him to help his friend.
• The Royal Guards accept the wine and are purified alongside the others. The Parrot celebrates the War Cannon Core and encourages Xu Yuan to find more treasures.

Significant themes

• Growth and responsibility: Lu Yiyi’s determination to stop being a burden develops into a concrete chance to serve the Three Realms.
• Power and sacrifice: The rare Law Proclamation comes with an implied greater duty from the Universe.
• Practical value and fairness: The group gathers weapons and resources for future battles, while the shop’s purchase limit suggests powerful gear should be shared rather than monopolized.
• Trust and cooperation: Xu Yuan, Lu Yiyi, and the Vendor work together, each helping the others prepare for what lies ahead.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• In the Primordial Era, Lu Feiming relaxes in a village noodle shop after rain when a hostile, unusually tall man confronts him. The stranger recognizes Lu as the leader of the team “Solely Revering the Skyscraping” and demands to know whether he supports the Ancient God or the Universe.
• Lu chooses the Universe, reasoning that its many inhabitants and dreams make it more compelling than the Ancient God’s ambition to consume it and claim the Authority of Truth.
• The stranger reveals himself as the Ancient God and prepares to attack. But the Dark Stairway Rules suppress him: Lu’s team status grants him a 300% attack boost, while the Ancient God is classified as an Exile. Lu punches through the Ancient God’s chest and sends him flying.
• Xu Yuan watches the system’s account of the fight and recognizes that the Ancient God is bound by the rules he helped establish. He is pleased that recruiting Lu has paid off.
• In the present-day setting, Xu Yuan rests at the Black Flame Bar while Lu Yiyi browses the newly arrived Shop. He checks on Zhang Pengcheng’s message about working hard, then prepares to leave with Lu Yiyi to find the Proclamation Law.
• Lu Yiyi abruptly returns Xu Yuan to the bar and hurries off, telling him to wait. Xu Yuan is distracted by the Shop’s attributes—and then realizes his Gold Coins have topped one million.
• The Shop’s arrival, together with the ancient war and the merger of Yanmen and the White Jade Capital, has dramatically stimulated the economy and sent Xu Yuan’s wealth soaring.

Character developments and interactions

• Lu Feiming takes responsibility for his earlier role in events but acts decisively when confronted. He openly backs the Universe and uses the team rules to defeat the Ancient God, then calmly returns to his noodles.
• The Ancient God is proud and dismissive, assuming Lu is no match for him. His refusal to abide by the rules leaves him vulnerable to their collective enforcement.
• Xu Yuan is shown as a pleased, opportunistic strategist: he sees Lu’s recruitment as a success and takes satisfaction in the rules working in his favor. His confident self-image contrasts with his comic shock at his rapidly growing fortune.
• Lu Yiyi is excited by the Shop and later becomes suddenly preoccupied, leading Xu Yuan back to the bar before rushing away.
• Qianqian offers Xu Yuan cigarettes and later a drink, while Xu Yuan politely declines the cigarette and accepts the drink. Zhang Pengcheng’s message shows his eagerness to prove he is working hard to Xu Yuan.

Significant themes

• Rules and power: Even an overwhelmingly powerful figure can be constrained by rules—especially when those rules were collectively agreed upon.
• Collective allegiance: The Dark Stairway’s “four to one” judgment shows how shared authority can check individual might.
• Choice and the value of life: Lu’s preference for the Universe rests on its many inhabitants and their varied dreams, rather than on domination.
• Strategy and unintended rewards: Xu Yuan’s political and organizational choices yield both military advantage and unexpected economic prosperity.
• Comic contrast: Cosmic conflict is juxtaposed with ordinary pleasures—noodles, cigarettes, drinks, shopping, and Xu Yuan’s astonishment at his bank balance.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan persuades Lu Feiming to hunt the Ancient God while it still bears the vulnerable Identity of an Exile. Lu Feiming agrees, asking Xu Yuan to buy him a meal afterward.
• Back at the Yanmen Bar, Lu Yiyi gives Xu Yuan a pink storage sachet filled with useful equipment. Its standout item is Questioning the Peak, a Greatsword that boosts an Imago’s power by 30%; another item, initially mistaken for underwear, is a mask that conceals the wearer’s Identity.
• The Ancient God broadcasts a call for servants to gather at the Mist Sea Ruins and help it kill the Demon and devour the Universe. Xu Yuan recognizes that the Dark Staircase may be reshaping the balance of power and briefly imagines surpassing the Ancient God.
• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi enter the Primordial Era to develop Lu Yiyi’s Law. When a lizard-like monster traps Lu Yiyi underground and impersonates her, Xu Yuan spots the deception and attacks. Lu Yiyi uses her Card Swap Law to reverse their situations, exposing and defeating the monster.
• A cultivator tests the pair and sends them onward with Command Tokens. Lu Yiyi’s Law impresses him, though his initial dismissal of her as “dead weight” prompts her to demonstrate her power.
• The pair arrive in a town-era environment and meet the Hermit of Yanmen, who has the Law of Proclamation. She says Lu Yiyi can obtain the higher-level Preaching Law by combining Card Swap and Proclamation with the Law of Cooking.
• Xu Yuan immediately leaves to find Yang Xiaobing, who has the Cooking Law. Left with the Hermit, Lu Yiyi is offered a bizarre Jade Slip containing a reproduction art; after initially resisting, she accepts it.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan acts strategically to put pressure on the Ancient God and increasingly entertains the possibility of surpassing it. He is also quick-thinking in the Ruins: his party-status records help him identify that the apparent Lu Yiyi is an impostor.
• Lu Yiyi shows generosity and growing confidence. She gives Xu Yuan valuable gear, demonstrates the versatility of Card Swap in a crisis, and earns recognition as a capable partner.
• Lu Feiming readily takes on the dangerous task of pursuing the Ancient God, motivated in part by the promise of a meal.
• The Hermit of Yanmen becomes Lu Yiyi’s prospective mentor and successor-maker, though her advice and gift are unconventional and intrusive.

Character interactions

• Xu Yuan and Lu Yiyi’s trust is reinforced by their joint exploration and coordinated response to the impostor. Lu Yiyi says they make a good team.
• Xu Yuan’s enthusiasm for adventure leads him to engage readily with the cultivator and then rush off to find Yang Xiaobing, leaving Lu Yiyi behind.
• The Hermit teases Lu Yiyi about her feelings for Xu Yuan and urges her toward marriage and family; Lu Yiyi insists they are only comrades, then reluctantly accepts the Jade Slip.

Significant themes

• Changing power and ambition: The Dark Staircase may be displacing the Ancient God and the Universe as the central forces of the age, prompting Xu Yuan to consider challenging the old order.
• Laws as strategic, evolving powers: The chapter highlights how unusual abilities can outwit brute force, and how Laws may combine into stronger forms.
• Trust and perception: The disguised lizard exploits the group’s assumptions, while Xu Yuan’s alertness and Lu Yiyi’s Law expose the deception.
• Partnership and succession: The characters’ cooperation advances Lu Yiyi’s growth, while the Hermit’s offer frames power as something passed on through mentorship—and, awkwardly, lineage.