Chapter Summaries

Chapter Summary: “Sanctuary”

Key plot points and events

• Joaquin reports on Xu Yuan’s performance to the Returners Alliance Committee. He says Xu used teleportation creatively, kept the team unharmed, and defeated a Black-Robed Mage by redirecting its own Mystic Art. Joaquin argues that Xu deserves an S-rank rating despite being new.
• Joaquin accuses Sage Harper of giving false information about the Black Coffin. Harper admits he concealed some danger to prevent returners from rushing into the site: the Black Coffin lies on the route into the ice wall, and even an all-S-rank team might not survive it. Passing through quietly—or avoiding it—is safer.
• The committee unanimously orders Joaquin and his teammates into underground sanctuary chambers for twenty-four hours, ostensibly for their protection.
• An alarm interrupts the meeting: the enormous shadow monster has escaped through an ice fissure. The strongest returners prepare to confront it while Joaquin’s team is taken underground.
• Alone in his sealed chamber, Xu Yuan checks his Merit and discovers he has enough to activate his White Jade Capital ability, Incense. His attempt to descend into the Three Realms fails, but reveals that he needs at least three sticks of Incense to pierce the Crystal Wall.
• Xu realizes that killing monsters earns Merit and decides to pursue the escaped shadow himself. Using the Old World Creation Art, he gives life and Heaven-Stealing power to the chamber’s table, instructing it to bring him back if anyone comes.
• Xu teleports high above the snowy plain and observes the shadow advancing toward the Returners Alliance. The returners’ attacks seem unable to hurt it, and Xu recognizes that its power is unfamiliar.

Character developments and interactions

• Joaquin firmly endorses Xu’s abilities and demonstrates loyalty to his team, while confronting Harper over the misleading intelligence. He accepts the committee’s decision to shelter the team.
• Sage Harper admits to deliberately withholding information, framing the deception as a way to protect returners from a near-suicidal mission. He remains calm and authoritative during the emergency.
• Xu Yuan is resourceful and determined. Even after his attempt to reach the Three Realms fails, he treats the result as useful information and quickly devises a way to leave the sanctuary and return safely.
• The living table eagerly accepts Xu’s command, providing him with an unusual safeguard and highlighting the playful side of his power.
• The committee collectively supports the sanctuary plan, while its members’ calm response to Joaquin’s accusation suggests they accept Harper’s reasoning.

Significant themes

• Truth versus protection: Harper’s deception raises the question of whether withholding dangerous information is justified when it may save lives.
• Hidden power and earned status: Joaquin argues that Xu’s actions—not his newcomer status—should determine his rank.
• Trial and discovery: Xu’s failed descent is still a meaningful success because it reveals the conditions needed to cross the Crystal Wall.
• Risk and initiative: While the alliance prepares to contain the threat, Xu chooses to confront it himself in pursuit of the Merit he needs.

Key plot points and events

• On the Icefield, drones, tanks, weapons, and Returners’ magic fail to stop the Black Shadow. A transformed Giant’s axe cannot harm it, and the creature knocks him unconscious.
• A holy attack briefly staggers the Shadow, but it grows larger and prepares to assault the wall. Xu Yuan, watching from the shelter, secretly kills it with an invisible, Gold- and Dark-infused Spirit Light Thread, then sacrifices its remains to the Universe.
• The defenders celebrate, but no one knows who truly defeated the monster. Invisible Sword Quinn falsely claims the credit, and the council members leave.
• Xu Yuan receives 0.9 Merit and plans to revisit the “Black Coffin” Alternate Universe to earn enough Merit to return to the Three Realms.
• A masked man confronts Xu Yuan, warns him to stay out of Black Coffin, and threatens him. Xu Yuan responds by teleporting him deep into the Ice Lake, where the giant serpent covered in human faces finds and apparently kills him.
• When Joaquin arrives, he reports that Quinn supposedly killed the Shadow. Xu Yuan pretends to be relieved and lets the false story stand.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains cautious about revealing his abilities to unfamiliar Returners, but acts decisively when the Shadow threatens the wall. He is also quick to punish the masked man’s arrogant threats, while concealing both his involvement and the danger beneath the Ice Wall.
• Quinn takes public credit for Xu Yuan’s victory, apparently to bolster his reputation.
• The masked man approaches as though offering advice, then reveals his condescension and menace. Xu Yuan turns the encounter against him.
• Joaquin brings Xu Yuan the official account of the battle, unaware that it is false.
• The defenders’ collective confidence rises when holy power appears to work, then gives way to relief when the Shadow vanishes.

Significant themes

• Hidden power and misattributed credit: Xu Yuan saves the defenders without being recognized, while Quinn claims the feat.
• Caution and distrust: Xu Yuan sees unknown people and abilities as potential dangers and avoids exposing his hand.
• Arrogance and consequences: The masked man’s threat prompts Xu Yuan to put him directly in the path of a far greater danger.
• The Ice Wall’s deeper menace: The serpent and its human-face markings suggest that the lake conceals horrors beyond the visible monster.

Plot points and events

• Joaquin gives Xu Yuan a tour of the shelter’s facilities, including cafeterias, restaurants, a weapons room, a bar, and the mission hall. He explains that ordinary goods can be bought with money, while high-level items require Merit Points or trades.
• Joaquin takes Xu Yuan, Sara, and Marcelo to dinner at Sea Tide Restaurant to celebrate their successful mission and safe return. The team’s recovered items earn 18 Merit Points, divided as four each for Joaquin, Sara, and Marcelo, and six for Xu Yuan because of his greater contribution. Xu Yuan receives his points by phone.
• Marcelo advises Xu Yuan to save Merit Points whenever money can cover a purchase, since Merit Points are scarce and valuable.
• Elinda arrives with several Returners, accusing Xu Yuan of killing Henry, who disappeared after going to find him. Xu Yuan denies knowing Henry. The white-robed woman who witnessed Xu Yuan earlier confirms that he is telling the truth, and Joaquin explains that the shelter was locked down while Xu Yuan was there.
• Elinda nevertheless threatens Xu Yuan. He demonstrates his ability, Heaven-Stealing, by teleporting a bullet into her arm and relocating her attackers to the corridor, where their arms are pinned in the wall.
• Xu Yuan refuses to release the group, telling Elinda that she has no right to interrupt his meal and then demand his help. He warns her not to bother him again.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan begins settling into the shelter, accepts his share of the mission reward, and learns how highly Merit Points are valued. When threatened, he stays composed but makes clear he will defend himself and won’t tolerate interference.
• Joaquin acts as Xu Yuan’s guide and ally, welcoming him with a meal, fairly distributing the reward, and publicly defending him against Elinda’s accusation.
• Sara and Marcelo accept the reward split without objection. Marcelo’s joking, carefree manner contrasts with his practical advice about Merit Points.
• Elinda is consumed by worry over Henry’s disappearance and lets suspicion override the lack of evidence. After Xu Yuan’s display, she recognizes his power and asks him to free her team.
• The white-robed woman confirms Xu Yuan’s innocence and leaves after saying she has repaid her debt to Elinda. She regards Elinda’s provocation of an S-rank being as reckless.

Significant themes

• Power and deterrence: Xu Yuan’s small pistol is not dangerous because of its firepower, but because his ability can place its bullet directly where he chooses.
• Trust, evidence, and accusation: Elinda’s grief leads her to accuse Xu Yuan despite having no proof; witnesses and the shelter’s lockdown contradict her story.
• Merit and contribution: The team’s reward reflects both shared success and Xu Yuan’s greater role in the mission.
• Boundaries and consequences: Xu Yuan’s response establishes that threats and insults will not be met with automatic cooperation or restraint.

Plot points and events

• After Xu Yuan’s confrontation with Henry, the Returners’ Alliance committee debates whether to punish him. Arthur explains that Henry crossed the Alliance’s protective barriers to threaten Xu Yuan, while Xu had been a rule-abiding newcomer. He warns the committee that its response will show whether it supports newcomers or powerful bullies.
• Maria, a committee member and Henry and Elinda’s former patron, argues that Xu Yuan should not be bullied. She says Henry and Elinda have abused her name and failed to do useful work. The committee ultimately decides not to punish Xu or make a public statement, effectively letting the matter drop.
• Joaquin tells Xu that the Alliance has no evidence against him and will leave the incident alone. After Joaquin departs, Xu resumes cultivating in his small room.
• Maria appears there without warning. Xu’s deep unease about the Alliance intensifies, and he realizes his instincts about a hidden danger were right. She seals the room with living flesh and bones, then reveals overwhelming power.
• Maria explains that she gained the power and identity of an Ancient God after finding its dissolving corpse in an Alternate Universe. The power is nearly invincible, but she will eventually die and dissolve in the corpse’s place. She needs to preserve the body to survive.
• Maria says she has chosen Xu as a partner and offers to help fulfill his wishes. Xu describes his goal of entering an Alternate Universe, defeating its monsters, and bringing back civilization’s creations to help Earth. Maria presses him to consider what he personally wants—a question that leaves him unable to answer—and asks him to work with her.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan remains composed and focused on cultivation, but his heightened perception confirms that something is wrong within the Alliance. Maria’s question exposes how thoroughly he has subordinated his own desires to the duty of sustaining the Three Realms.
• Maria emerges as formidable, playful, and strategic. Although she presents herself as Xu’s ally and criticizes her former subordinates, she is also recruiting him to help with her own desperate struggle for survival.
• Arthur acts as a cautious advocate for Xu, urging the committee to consider fairness and the Alliance’s reputation.
• Harper and the committee avoid taking sides openly, choosing inaction rather than risking a conflict with Maria or publicly defending Xu.
• Joaquin supports Xu by checking the Alliance’s response and reassuring him that he is safe for now.

Significant themes

• Power and institutional injustice: The committee recognizes Henry and Elinda’s bullying but avoids confronting it directly.
• Duty versus personal desire: Xu’s selfless mission has left him unable to say what he wants for himself.
• Power and its cost: Maria’s near-limitless strength comes with the certainty that she may die in the Ancient God’s place.
• Trust and manipulation: Maria’s candid confession creates intimacy, but her offer to grant Xu’s wishes is also a calculated attempt to enlist him.

Character interactions

• Arthur challenges Harper and the committee to consider how their decision will appear to newcomers.
• Maria publicly defends Xu while rejecting responsibility for Henry and Elinda’s misconduct.
• Joaquin reassures Xu that the Alliance will take no action against him.
• In private, Maria tests Xu’s awareness, reveals her identity and predicament, then probes his deepest motivations and proposes an alliance.

Summary

Maria, an Ancient God, offers to work with Xu Yuan to help defeat a Monster so he can earn Merit. Though Xu Yuan wants to accept, he hesitates in the unsettling room paved with flesh and blood. He tells Maria he would welcome her help, but she must first explain the arrangement to Joaquin and obtain his permission. Maria laughs at his response; the excerpt ends before she replies.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan is tempted by the practical benefits of Maria’s offer, but insists that Joaquin be consulted before they proceed.
• Maria initiates the partnership and reacts with amusement to Xu Yuan’s condition.
• Joaquin, though absent, is presented as someone whose permission matters to Xu Yuan.

Significant themes

• Power and cooperation: Help from a powerful being may be valuable, but accepting it involves trust and consent.
• Responsibility and loyalty: Xu Yuan does not make the decision alone, instead recognizing his obligation to involve Joaquin.
• Unease amid temptation: The prospect of earning Merit is appealing, while the flesh-and-blood setting gives the offer a disturbing atmosphere.

Plot points and events

• Elinda begs Lady Maria to avenge Henry, convinced Xu Yuan killed him. She offers Maria her soul in exchange. Maria promises to act the next morning, but privately plans to use the situation to strengthen morale and judge Xu Yuan’s usefulness.
• Maria realizes she can no longer sense Xu Yuan and assumes he has entered the Alternate Universe through her ocular technique to retrieve a hidden treasure.
• Xu Yuan avoids the dangerous castle and begins investigating a nearby village. Using Spring Dawn, he silently kills its Dark Knight and retainers, then sacrifices them to the Three Realms Universe, earning 0.9 Merit.
• A bonfire appears, announcing that Xu Yuan has captured Shorttooth Village. It offers the village’s spoils and the chance to summon one companion from another universe, up to Nascent Soul Realm. His attempt to summon Yang Xiaobing fails because the Three Realms’ Crystal Wall blocks the call and his identity is unverified. He is told to capture another position to prove his allegiance.
• Xu Yuan travels to another village, but senses danger. He creates a chair-like scout with Eldritch Creation and Dark Spiritual Power; the village’s earth swallows and destroys it.
• Looking down from above, Xu Yuan sees that the village’s buildings, roads, and trees form the face of a Severed Head—a monster he had not recognized from ground level.
• As he prepares to attack the village’s Dark Knight and retainers, strange, jumbled Chinese verse appears above him. The bonfire then confirms that he has grasped Earth’s Imago, unlocked the Elder Multiple Sealing Cipher, and released the White Jade Capital. It declares his identity trustworthy and says the Black Coffin Universe is awakening and will soon fight alongside him.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan acts more cautiously after sensing the castle’s danger, choosing to build strength and uncover the universe’s rules step by step. His successful village capture raises his hopes of returning to the Three Realms, while the failed summoning frustrates him.
• His abilities continue to develop: he can use Spring Dawn without resting, deepen his concealment, and create a scout imbued with Dark Spiritual Power. His connection to Earth’s Imago becomes significant enough to establish his trustworthiness to the Black Coffin Universe.
• Maria remains calculating and indifferent to Elinda’s grief, treating her promise as a chance to exploit both Elinda and Xu Yuan.
• Elinda is overwhelmed by grief and hatred, making a desperate offer without understanding its consequences.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: Maria treats loyalty, grief, and even souls as resources to be used.
• Caution and survival: Xu Yuan avoids a direct assault on the castle and investigates threats before committing to battle.
• Identity and allegiance: The Black Coffin Universe tests Xu Yuan’s loyalty before allowing him to summon allies.
• Hidden realities: The village’s true monstrous shape is visible only from above, while Xu Yuan’s unusual Imago and cipher reveal a deeper connection to the world.

Character interactions

• Elinda pleads with Maria for revenge; Maria comforts her outwardly while privately plotting to use her.
• Xu Yuan interacts with the captured village’s bonfire, which rewards him, denies his summoning request, and demands proof of allegiance.
• Xu Yuan’s created scout serves him briefly before being destroyed by the Severed Head.
• The chapter ends with the Black Coffin Universe recognizing Xu Yuan and promising to fight beside him.

Plot points and events

• In a W City antiques shop, Arthur warns the long-haired proprietor that the seal is trembling and Maria is watching Xu Yuan. Xu Yuan is currently inside the Black Coffin Alternate Universe, where Maria cannot enter personally.
• The proprietor gives Arthur a four-character original on a slip of paper. It cannot defeat Maria, but it may force her to choose between leaving Earth permanently after killing one of their allies or behaving herself.
• In the Black Coffin, Xu Yuan’s mysterious verses flash and then disappear as the village begins to quake. He realizes the “village” is a living, severed head that works with the Dark Knight to trap and devour its prey.
• The Black Coffin Alternate Universe awakens: the ground splits, magma floods the village, and Xu Yuan discovers a pitch-black greatsword inside a cracking stone.
• The sword, Song of Boiling Blood, greatly enhances Imagos against Ancient Gods and their mutants. Xu Yuan senses the universe’s hostility toward the Ancient Gods and decides to fight rather than escape.
• He uses the sword to unleash a powerful wind-and-rain attack with lightning, cutting down the Dark Knight, his horse, and their retinue in one strike. The blow also cleaves through the ground’s underlying Creation. Xu Yuan gains Merit and lands among numerous nests, hinting at the Black Coffin’s Dogmen civilization.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from cautious planning to an eager, aggressive stance after receiving the sword. He interprets the Black Coffin’s intervention as aid and embraces a more direct, second-stage Imago fighting style.
• Arthur is anxious about Maria’s interest in Xu Yuan and questions whether the proprietor’s original can truly help.
• The proprietor appears relaxed but is deeply concerned about Maria’s threat; his paper is meant as a deterrent, not a weapon.
• Xu Yuan and the Black Coffin Universe form a temporary alignment: the universe appears to share his opposition to the Ancient Gods and provides a weapon tailored to Imagos.

Significant themes

• Cosmic resistance and alliance: The Black Coffin itself seems to awaken against the Ancient Gods, making the universe an active force rather than a mere setting.
• Power and wrath: The sword turns hostility toward the Ancient Gods into immense destructive strength.
• Caution versus action: Xu Yuan abandons his efficient, low-risk plan when circumstances—and the sword—invite a direct confrontation.
• Hidden truths and delayed preparation: Arthur and the proprietor regret that Xu Yuan was kept from learning the full truth earlier, suggesting past secrecy may leave him vulnerable now.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan discovers a vast underground Dogmen city, now silent and inhabited by dormant monsters resembling those from the Tide of Truth. Arthur explains that the universe’s failed Ascension and the Ancient God’s attack destroyed the civilization. The Ancient God then created monsters to wipe out surface life, gather strength, and resurrect itself, but it died alongside them.
• Arthur warns Xu Yuan to be cautious around Maria and the Returners’ Alliance, and gives him a genuine work titled “Severing Heaven and Earth” to use if Maria tries to kill him. He hints that Earth’s affairs are even more complicated than the Alliance’s.
• Xu Yuan earns enough Merit by killing monsters and uses Incense to summon White Jade Capital, successfully activating its power for ten minutes.
• In the Primordial Battlefield, the Ancient God and Lu Feiming’s Mission agree to cooperate: the Ancient God will destroy everything, and the Mission will return it to nothingness. Their plans are interrupted by reports of a previously unknown region filled with armed Human Cultivators.
• The two discover flourishing Human cities in the Northern Wasteland. Though the Ancient God wants to attack, the Mission advises conserving their strength for the coming fight with Lu Feiming. They decide to send their armies instead.
• At the Human command headquarters, Jiang Xueyao reports that Xu Yuan is alive and sends his message: the Ten Days’ rules have been established. The first, “Nibelung,” resets events to the first day and resurrects those who died; the second, “Fate Deception,” makes monsters forget the cycle while humans retain their memories.
• Xu Yuan’s message also describes a tax on every battle and gain, meant to sustain the Ninefold Nether and Mortal World and create “expansion packs.” Jiang reveals a book available only to humanity: The Guide, announcing that the Ten Days War expansion pack is about to launch.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan gains insight into the catastrophe’s origins, receives Arthur’s protection, and succeeds in summoning White Jade Capital. His message becomes strategically important to the Human Race.
• Arthur reveals more about the Ancient God’s past and shows continued support for Xu Yuan, emphasizing their shared Earth origins.
• The Ancient God and Lu Feiming’s Mission form a temporary alliance, but the Mission restrains the Ancient God from risking its weakened power before the final confrontation.
• Lu Chaowu refuses to leave the battlefield despite a severe chest wound, believing the outcome is already grim.
• Fu Xiuyi continues directing the war and privately hopes Xu Yuan is safe. She listens as Jiang delivers his information.
• Jiang Xueyao puts aside her personal concern about Xu Yuan to deliver vital intelligence to the command.

Significant themes

• Failed Ascension and destruction: civilizations and worlds can be undone by forces unable to overcome their own nature.
• Cycles, memory, and fate: the Ten Days reset death and events, while selective memory gives humanity an advantage.
• Uneasy alliances and hidden power: the Ancient God and Mission cooperate out of mutual interest, while Arthur warns that Earth’s deeper political currents are dangerous.
• War as a system: the “tax,” expansion packs, and The Guide give the conflict an unexpectedly game-like, evolving structure.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan tells Lu Feiming about the Crystal Wall, which may connect their world to Earth. Lu Feiming agrees to search for it.
• Lu Feiming removes and eats the lingering consciousness in Xu Yuan’s recovered eyeball, confirming that it contains genuine Origin of Truth. Liang Kun restores the eye—but secretly adds an Immortal Species “Gaze” ability that Xu Yuan can awaken at will.
• Liang Kun explains that the Immortal Species seem unique to their universe. Upset that an outsider had beaten Xu Yuan with an eye technique, he gave Xu Yuan the ability to defend their species’ reputation.
• Liang Kun urges Xu Yuan to develop the fourth stage of his “Whisper” power and spread the Immortal Species’ influence. When he starts imagining conquest, Lu Feiming’s presence checks him; Liang Kun instead claims they should open a pet-shop branch on Earth.
• Xu Yuan departs when his allotted time runs out, saying he has already awakened the Gaze ability and tested it on Liang Kun.
• Lu Feiming leaves to seek the Crystal Wall. Later, Xu Yuan’s Gaze traps Liang Kun in his own room, then continues tormenting him with apparitions of Xu Yuan—including one emerging from Liang Kun’s phone. Liang Kun realizes the ability has not yet worn off and accidentally smashes his phone.

Character development and interactions

• Xu Yuan accepts Liang Kun’s gift but reveals he can already use it, demonstrating his growing control and a mischievous streak by testing it on Liang Kun.
• Liang Kun acts out of species pride and a wish to contribute, though his ambition briefly turns toward domination. His confidence gives way to comic frustration when Xu Yuan’s ability immobilizes and tricks him.
• Lu Feiming remains protective and suspicious of Liang Kun’s tampering, but ultimately accepts his explanation. He is also intrigued by the possibility of other universes and the Crystal Wall.
• The exchange among the three mixes trust, rivalry, and humor: Lu Feiming threatens Liang Kun over the altered eye, while Xu Yuan defuses the tension and lightly teases him.

Significant themes

• Power and unintended consequences: Liang Kun’s well-meant enhancement becomes a source of trouble when Xu Yuan uses it against him.
• Identity and collective pride: Liang Kun’s gift reflects his desire to defend the Immortal Species’ standing.
• Ambition tempered by authority: Lu Feiming’s presence pulls Liang Kun back from fantasies of conquest.
• Exploration and connection: The Crystal Wall and Earth represent the promise of discovering and reaching other universes.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan’s newly created Ghost-Eye Shadow can paralyze a target by making its deepest fear appear as a false form. A rare “Chance Burst” can make that form real.
• Ready to hunt more Monsters, Xu Yuan is surrounded by black-robed figures. The Monsters multiply and begin merging into an enormous threat, but the Black Coffin abruptly ejects him from its Alternate Universe.
• The Coffin explains that his slaughter has provoked the earth’s wrath and awakened Fiendish Monsters formed from an Ancient God’s body. They are mutating and hunting him, so the Universe has forced him out until the danger passes.
• Outside, Xu Yuan meets Maria near the Ice Wall. He repeatedly tries to use Heaven-Stealing and to move, but remains trapped in place, unable to act.
• A vast being inside the Ice Wall peers through a gap at Xu Yuan and Maria. The Paper Strip unfolds and produces a protective glow, shielding them from its view.
• A ritual begins, demanding an offering and threatening to kill everyone if none is made. Xu Yuan realizes the entity inside the wall—not Maria—is responsible for the danger.
• When the entity’s tongue reaches for them, Xu Yuan puts the Paper Strip in his mouth, concentrating its protective light on himself. Maria is left outside the protection and seized by the tongue, while Xu Yuan regains his ability to move and escapes with Heaven-Stealing.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from confidence about his new ability and hunting plans to alarm when confronted with forces far beyond his strength. Under pressure, he makes a ruthless, rapid choice to save himself, sacrificing Maria’s protection to escape.
• Maria remains outwardly calm and helpful, arranging for people to escort Xu Yuan home. Her normal behavior initially makes Xu Yuan suspect her, but the chapter reveals that the greater threat is the being within the Ice Wall.
• The Black Coffin acts protectively by ejecting Xu Yuan rather than letting him face the Ancient God’s awakened Monsters.
• The Paper Strip, previously said to protect Xu Yuan, proves capable of shielding him from the Ice Wall entity’s gaze—but only within the area its light covers.

Significant themes

• Power has limits: Xu Yuan’s strength and new skill are insufficient against the awakened Ancient God’s forces.
• Appearance and uncertainty: Maria seems suspicious, yet the true danger is an unseen, incomprehensible presence.
• Survival and sacrifice: The ritual forces an immediate choice, and Xu Yuan prioritizes his own survival over protecting Maria.
• Protection comes at a cost: The Paper Strip’s shield can save Xu Yuan, but narrowing it leaves others exposed.

Plot points and events

• After escaping the Monster, Xu Yuan waits in his cramped room, alert for danger. Marcelo invites him to a late-night party; Xu Yuan declines, claiming an Alliance assignment, but agrees to attend a smaller gathering at two.
• Alone, Xu Yuan reviews the chain of events and realizes the crisis began when four lines of poetry appeared. Using Cycle Field, he replays the moment and discovers that his four-tiered Dark Crown was involved in forming what the Alliance had called Earth’s Imago.
• Xu Yuan manifests the Crown again. The poem reappears, its characters shift and merge, and the resulting black umbrella reveals itself as the Primordial Chaos Umbrella, an Imago True Treasure.
• The umbrella’s instructions say it was granted by opening the first Divine Gate of Earth’s Divine Realm. To do so, Xu Yuan needs both a complete credential from an Alternate Universe and an Imago formed from Earth’s poetry. Its power can take a designated object from a target three times in succession while Xu Yuan uses his Imago, but it must be emptied before the ability can be used again.
• The umbrella indicates that Xu Yuan’s Dark Crown and Song of Boiling Blood, a token from the Black Coffin Alternate Universe, can serve as credentials—though both require further development.
• The umbrella suddenly opens and fills the room with rain. Maria appears, bloodied and irritated, then recognizes it and exclaims that its existence is impossible.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shifts from reacting to the crisis to investigating its rules. He remains cautious about endangering others, but gains a major new weapon and a clearer sense of the immense effort required to unlock Earth’s Divine Realm.
• Marcelo comes across as sociable and straightforward. He accepts Xu Yuan’s excuse for refusing the party and offers him another chance to meet his friends.
• Maria reappears after confronting the Monster. Her bloodied state suggests she has been in a serious fight; her shock at the umbrella signals that she knows something Xu Yuan does not.

Significant themes

• Power has conditions and costs: the new treasure is powerful, but its use is limited, and unlocking more power demands substantial progress and effort.
• Worlds and identities are intertwined: the Crown, the Black Coffin sword, Earth’s poetry, and the Divine Realm connect Xu Yuan’s abilities to multiple universes.
• Knowledge through investigation: Xu Yuan uses careful reflection and his Cycle Field to uncover the hidden mechanics behind events he initially could not explain.

Key plot points and events

• Maria becomes fascinated by Xu Yuan’s Primordial Chaos Umbrella and tries to persuade it to join her. The umbrella rejects her, revealing its bond with Xu Yuan and hints of its greater powers.
• Maria asks Xu Yuan to retrieve an item from the Black Coffin Alternate Universe once its turmoil ends. A supernatural contract forces him to accept, though he privately considers keeping the chaos going to delay the task.
• Maria attacks Xu Yuan in an attempt to take the umbrella. He uses it to collect her body, her imprisoned soul, and the Ancient God possessing her. The umbrella earns him merit for sealing the dangerous being.
• Xu Yuan releases the real Maria, who explains that the Ancient God had taken control of her body and forced her to witness its actions. She confirms that the alternate universe she fought in was destroyed.
• Arthur arrives, and Xu Yuan conceals the umbrella’s role by claiming he teleported the Ancient God away. Arthur warns that other Ancient Gods may target Xu Yuan and directs him to hide with the antique-shop owner who previously helped him.
• Xu Yuan visits the shopkeeper. They share food, rice wine, and smoke while dark figures gather outside. The shopkeeper writes a powerful divine talisman and tells Xu Yuan to attach it to the umbrella. The Ancient God disappears, and the figures outside are driven away.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan grows more wary and strategic. He recognizes the umbrella’s extraordinary power, hides it within his Divine Soul, and keeps its true role from Arthur. Though bound by Maria’s contract, he looks for ways to protect himself from its demands.
• The Primordial Chaos Umbrella demonstrates loyalty, independent judgment, and immense abilities. Its affinity with Xu Yuan appears grounded in their shared habit of taking things from enemies.
• Maria is revealed to be the real human whose body and soul were separated and controlled by the Ancient God. Freed at last, she thanks Xu Yuan and promises to keep the umbrella secret.
• Arthur helps arrange Maria’s recovery and warns Xu Yuan that the missing Ancient God could provoke retaliation.
• The antique-shop owner shows casual confidence in the face of supernatural danger and reveals his power by creating a divine talisman with a few words.

Significant themes

• Power and trust: The umbrella chooses its own partner, while Xu Yuan’s deception and secrecy reflect the danger of revealing power.
• Agency and captivity: Maria’s account emphasizes the horror of losing control of one’s body while remaining conscious.
• Cunning and survival: Xu Yuan counters stronger adversaries through preparation, misdirection, and exploitation of the contract’s wording.
• Hidden strength: The shopkeeper’s unassuming manner contrasts with his ability to repel supernatural forces effortlessly.

• Plot: The morning after drinking together, Xu Yuan wakes on the antique shop’s guest sofa with a blanket over him. The shop is still closed, and the long-haired man remains asleep in a recliner, snoring. Xu Yuan has a splitting headache and can barely remember the previous night, recalling only that the man asked whether he was drunk.
• Character developments: Xu Yuan appears to have drunk more than he intended and is now dealing with the consequences. The long-haired man seems to have stayed overnight as well, though the reason is not yet clear.
• Interactions: The men shared drinks the night before; their last remembered exchange was the long-haired man checking whether Xu Yuan was drunk.
• Themes: The fragment suggests growing companionship and shared routines, while using Xu Yuan’s hangover and hazy memories to create humor and curiosity about what happened the night before.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan and Li Bai use Meng Po Soup and a “Tell the truth” token to try to question the three-headed Ancient God. The dose of Spirit-Bone Powder is so excessive that the token has no effect, so Li Bai instead sentences the creature to reincarnation.
• Xu Yuan throws it into the Wangchuan River. Through the Bagua Mirror, they watch its first life as a giant python. It grows strong, but destroys a mountain and kills countless creatures while trying to become a Flood Dragon. Heaven’s laws deny it that chance, and the creature is reborn again.
• In its second life, the Ancient God becomes a soldier who kills indiscriminately. As it dies in battle, Li Bai sentences it to a third reincarnation, while Xu Yuan throws it into the river before it can recover its power.
• Both men exhaust their Spiritual Power. The Ancient God boasts that it can now escape, but the river strips away more of its strength and sends it to be reborn in the present era. Li Bai and Xu Yuan return to the Yang Realm.
• Back at the antique shop, Li Bai says they may do better once Xu Yuan advances his cultivation. Xu Yuan refuses to wait and uses Heaven-Stealing, spending his remaining Life Force to disappear.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan shows quick thinking and persistence, but his reckless interpretation of the soup instructions causes an early setback. He repeatedly spends his power to keep the plan going, and ultimately chooses a desperate, unexplained course of action rather than accept defeat.
• Li Bai acts as judge and strategist, using the courtroom’s tokens and the Bagua Mirror to sentence and track the Ancient God. Despite his authority, his power is limited, and he must rely on Xu Yuan’s restraint, teleportation, and resourcefulness.
• The two work closely together, with playful banter giving way to urgency as their Spiritual Power runs low. Li Bai’s confidence contrasts with Xu Yuan’s improvisation.

Significant themes

• Moral consequence: Reincarnation offers the Ancient God a chance to change, but its repeated cruelty brings punishment.
• Power and limits: Even formidable divine authority depends on finite Spiritual Power and careful timing.
• Choice and redemption: The python might have earned a longer life through compassion, but chose self-interest and caused mass death.
• Uncertainty and sacrifice: The Ancient God’s ultimate fate remains unresolved, as does the cost and purpose of Xu Yuan’s final use of Heaven-Stealing.

Key events

• On the first day after a ten-day reset, Liang Kun reflects on his uncertain freedom. The dead humans have returned with their memories, while monsters have forgotten the previous cycle; humans also have a guide recording the monsters’ abilities and strengths.
• Back at the pet shop, Liang finds Lu Feiming and Xu Yuan facing a teddy poodle that is actually a weakened Ancient God, reborn in an animal form.
• Xu Yuan explains that he used Incense to bring the newly reborn god into the shop. Liang seals the building inside a gray, separate space called the Subspace Abyss.
• Lu Feiming offers the Teddy God a choice: work for him or be killed for its power. When the god refuses, Lu Feiming beats it and begins treating the confrontation like dog training, repeatedly ordering it to stand, sit, run, and stop.

Character developments and interactions

• Liang Kun remains torn between escaping Lu Feiming and staying somewhere safe. He recognizes that his habits are becoming like Xu Yuan’s and Lu Feiming’s, and he quickly shifts from alarm to confidence once he learns the Ancient God is weakened.
• Xu Yuan shows boldness in capturing the god through Incense, but becomes absorbed in watching Lu Feiming train it. He considers warning Lu Feiming, then decides the boss likely has a purpose.
• Lu Feiming is calm and commanding, using force and humiliation to break the Teddy God’s resistance rather than treating it with awe.
• The Teddy God is proud and contemptuous, insisting its animal form does not define it. Its defiance repeatedly earns it another beating.
• Liang and Xu Yuan quietly watch and discuss whether to intervene, but neither dares interrupt Lu Feiming.

Significant themes

• Freedom versus security: Liang wants independence but fears what awaits him beyond Lu Feiming’s protection.
• Power and survival: The weakened Ancient God faces a world where powerful beings are competing to grow stronger through sacrifice.
• Reversal and adaptation: Humans retain knowledge from the reset and may now be better prepared against monsters.
• Pride versus control: The Teddy God’s ancient dignity clashes with Lu Feiming’s blunt effort to make it obedient.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan, Lu Feiming, Liang Kun, and the captured Ancient God—now called Teddy—agree to cooperate temporarily. Teddy remains defiant, but Lu Feiming repeatedly knocks him away whenever he provokes him. The group’s restraint is partly strategic: a powerful counterpart to Teddy exists in their universe, and exposing him could get him devoured.
• After Xu Yuan’s ten-minute visit ends, he returns to Earth and meets Li Bai. Li Bai confirms that Teddy is unlikely to cause destruction soon.
• Li Bai awards Xu Yuan a written record of merit for helping exterminate monsters and demons and restore peace. The merit awakens a second Divine Might in Xu Yuan’s Primordial Chaos Umbrella: its thunder can drain 50–90% of a trapped being’s power, up to three times per day.
• Li Bai explains that he must own nothing to preserve his ability to serve in divine roles. The antique shop is not his, so he and Xu Yuan flee when its owner arrives, taking shelter in a vacant shop belonging to a tomb-raiding family.
• Joaquin visits and invites Xu Yuan on an Alliance mission. Though tired, Xu Yuan accepts after Li Bai urges him to observe how the Ancient Gods respond to him. Joaquin and Xu Yuan teleport to Antarctica, then set out with a team from the Fortress.
• Several figures watch their departure and discuss killing Xu Yuan. They decide instead to have teams shadow him, learn how he defeated Maria, and attack later.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan gains significant new power through his merit, but remains focused on the Ice Wall, earning further merit, and investigating the alternate universe. He relies on Li Bai’s advice while continuing to work with Joaquin and the Alliance.
• Teddy accepts cooperation only as a temporary necessity, recognizing that another powerful Ancient God could kill him. His pride and defiance persist, though Lu Feiming’s physical dominance keeps him in line.
• Lu Feiming is blunt and intimidating, using force rather than argument to enforce the group’s arrangement.
• Li Bai appears more recovered after his divine work, but his unusual “own nothing” requirement forces him to live opportunistically. He encourages Xu Yuan to take the mission.
• Joaquin offers Xu Yuan a choice about joining the mission and treats him as a new recruit who may need rest.
• Liang Kun tries to ease tensions with Teddy, but his offer of dog food only provokes another outburst.

Significant themes

• Pragmatic alliances: Cooperation is driven by shared danger, not trust or affection.
• Power and restraint: The characters avoid immediate conflict when greater threats make caution more valuable than pride.
• Merit and consequences: Xu Yuan’s service earns tangible spiritual advancement.
• Sacrifice and divine duty: Li Bai’s obligation to remain unattached shapes even his everyday life.
• Growing political danger: The Ancient Gods are studying Xu Yuan and quietly preparing a possible attack.

Summary

Xu Yuan apologizes to Marcelo for missing a promised gathering, explaining that something unexpected came up. Marcelo complains that he had invited some of the alliance’s prettiest girls, praised Xu Yuan, and prepared good wine, only for Xu not to show up. Xu acknowledges that Marcelo went to considerable trouble and repeats his apology sincerely.

Character developments

• Xu Yuan shows remorse and recognizes that he let Marcelo down.
• Marcelo comes across as annoyed but also as someone who had enthusiastically arranged the gathering for Xu.

Themes and interactions

The exchange centers on keeping promises and making amends. Marcelo reproaches Xu for his absence; Xu responds with a direct, sincere apology.

Key plot points and events

• A rival team watches Xu Yuan’s battle and identifies him as their assassination target. They conclude his S-rank Teleportation makes ordinary attacks useless, so they ask Master Lu Chengdao to intervene.
• At the supermarket, Xu Yuan and his teammates hold off a vast swarm of monsters. Xu Yuan teleports an enormous monster away, while the others defend the position.
• Xu Yuan notices a rapidly evolving corpse monster in the city’s sewers, but before he can act, Master Lu’s blood-red Holy Demon Dui Life-Exchange Technique engulfs him.
• Xu Yuan survives unharmed because the technique trades lifespan—and his Immortal Species nature gives him an effectively endless supply. At the other end, Master Lu and nearly all the people who contributed their lifespans die.
• The rival team’s captain is the sole survivor. Seeing Xu Yuan alive on the screen, he warns others that Xu Yuan is “not human” but a monster. Meanwhile, Xu Yuan casually eats chocolate and returns to the fight.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan remains calm and unbothered by both the monster assault and the assassination technique. He misunderstands how dangerous the attack was until his teammates explain it, then dismisses the threat once he realizes his lifespan makes him immune.
• Joaquin, Marcelo, and Sara fight together to protect the position. They are horrified when Xu Yuan is targeted and stunned when he survives; afterward, they explain how Lu’s technique works, then refocus on the approaching monsters.
• Master Lu begins arrogant and reluctant to help, but a large bounty persuades him to act. When his technique fails despite consuming his allies’ lifespans, his confidence collapses into panic before he is killed by the rival captain.
• The curly-haired captain recruits the team into Lu’s life-draining contract, then survives by killing Lu. His final message reveals both the cost of the failed attack and his fear of Xu Yuan.

Significant themes

• Power and miscalculation: The enemy assumes an S-rank ability can be overcome through an overwhelming sacrifice, but misunderstands the nature of Xu Yuan’s immortality.
• The cost of ambition: The bounty drives the team to surrender their lives for a target they cannot kill.
• Dark comedy amid danger: Xu Yuan’s casual reaction—and his dubious chocolate health advice—contrasts with the deaths and terror surrounding him.
• Perception versus reality: Xu Yuan’s enemies see him as an impossible monster, while he treats the supposedly lethal attack as barely worth noticing.

Key plot points and events

• Xu Yuan uses the Cycle Field to search the Crab team’s memories. He learns that its captain, Wang Cong, and seven other teams were sent to the Iron Gate to kill him—or, more importantly, to test his abilities. The mission was arranged by a concealed agent serving the Ancient Gods, who are secretly directing events on Earth.
• Xu Yuan concludes that the Ancient Gods are weakened and threatened by humanity, and that their repeated interference in other universes may point to a deeper flaw in the Origin of Truth. The revelations fuel his anger.
• Meanwhile, the team’s supermarket position is nearly overrun. Xu Yuan uses the Shop to obtain disposable thermobaric rocket launchers, and he and Marcelo burn away huge numbers of Monsters.
• The city’s powerful ruler emerges. Joaquin and Sara attack it, but it reveals a dangerous ability to fire spines from its swelling body. Xu Yuan rescues them with Heaven-Stealing, then teleports grenades into the Monster’s belly and destroys it.
• With the city’s strongest Monster dead, the remaining Monsters withdraw. Xu Yuan earns Merit, and the Iron Gate changes the mission: the team must rescue scientists trapped in the supermarket within one hour.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan proves both perceptive and resourceful: he uncovers the conspiracy, uses his powers carefully to avoid revealing their full scope, and adapts quickly in combat. His anger at the Ancient Gods deepens, as does his suspicion that the problem may lie with the cosmic order itself.
• Joaquin remains a steady frontline fighter, using his hammer and strength to protect the team and bring down the city Monster.
• Sara fights bravely at close range, using black mist to empower her blades, but Xu Yuan pulls her out of danger before the Monster’s spines erupt.
• Marcelo is enthusiastic about Xu Yuan’s powerful weapons and openly credits him with making victory possible.
• The team cooperates effectively: Joaquin and Sara engage the ruler while Xu Yuan provides timely support and the decisive attack.

Significant themes

• Manipulation and surveillance: The Ancient Gods use hired teams to probe Xu Yuan’s abilities, treating people and missions as tools.
• Power and restraint: Xu Yuan wins through clever use of his powers, while consciously concealing what he can do.
• Cosmic responsibility: Xu Yuan questions whether repeated failures across universes are evidence of a defect in the Origin of Truth, rather than isolated accidents.
• Crisis and adaptation: The team’s apparent victory immediately gives way to a new, urgent rescue mission.

Key plot points

• Xu Yuan, Joaquin, Sara, and Marcelo enter the supermarket to find a missing scientist. Xu Yuan discovers with Cycle Field that the supermarket contains an infinite, unstable space called the Cube, corrupted by the dead Ancient God’s lingering mind. The “Iron Gate” Universe’s consciousness rarely enters and cannot reliably help them.
• Sara finds a strange, elevated doorway. Beyond it, the team encounters portraits showing grisly possible fates: Joaquin and Sara bloodied, Marcelo decapitated, and Xu Yuan covered in tentacles. Marcelo recognizes a powerful curse on them and destroys the portraits, breaking its hold. Xu Yuan uses Heaven-Stealing to move the team onward.
• The next space is a vast, bottomless pool resembling the Ice Lake beneath the Ice Wall. As the group crosses by speedboat, a huge stone head appears and speaks. Xu Yuan destroys it with a rocket launcher, but an enormous snake—one he recognizes from the Ice Lake—swims below.
• Rather than fight, Xu Yuan repeatedly uses Heaven-Stealing to carry the team and boat through the shifting rooms. They eventually find the scientist, a man in a wheelchair working among technological equipment, and bring him back to the surface.
• Rival teams ambush them, hoping to claim credit for the rescue. Xu Yuan transports the ambushers and their gear into the Cube, leaving them trapped inside. He frames this as a challenge to the Ancient Gods behind them.

Character developments and interactions

• Xu Yuan stays cautious about revealing his full strength, but repeatedly takes charge when danger escalates. He identifies the Cube’s connection to the Ice Wall, avoids a direct fight with the snake, and ultimately turns the ambush against the rival teams.
• Joaquin leads the mission and presses the team onward despite their one-hour deadline. He provides an inflatable speedboat suited to the pool and trusts Xu Yuan’s judgment.
• Sara demonstrates keen sensitivity to spatial anomalies, locating the only passage and recognizing the doorway’s similarity to the Ice Wall. She also quickly retrieves the scientist.
• Marcelo provides comic relief through his casual online flirtation with a soldier—even amid the crisis—but becomes serious and insightful when he identifies the portrait curse.
• The team works with growing trust: Sara scouts, Marcelo warns them, Joaquin leads, and Xu Yuan supplies the means to bypass the Cube’s dangers.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and hostile spaces: The Cube shifts unpredictably, blending rooms and realities while offering little reliable outside support.
• Fate versus agency: The portraits impose ominous destinies, but destroying them frees the group from their apparent influence.
• Power used strategically: Xu Yuan’s greatest advantage is not simply strength but the ability to reposition the team, evade threats, and control where others end up.
• Escalation and challenge: By trapping the rival teams inside the Cube, Xu Yuan turns the rescue into a deliberate provocation aimed at the Ancient Gods behind them.