Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing meets Gao Jingchuan, who asks for help with three titanium-alloy smelting technologies needed to reproduce an aircraft engine. Shen offers the technology in exchange for government help securing an uninhabited island in Shanghai for a factory, including permission for land reclamation.
• Gao agrees to raise the island request with Secretary Jiang and the relevant departments. In return for the technology, Shen asks for a tax exemption, but Gao rejects that condition because it recalls an earlier dispute. Shen instead asks for one billion yuan, which Gao accepts as a fair price.
• Shen says two satellites and their data-processing system are finished; Gao arranges to have them collected. Gao also reports that the proposed nuclear-energy research has the chief’s support, though some leaders still oppose it and approval is pending.
• Wang Sheng tells Shen that partner companies have finished upgrading their software with intelligent features and plan to launch the applications the following Monday. Shen approves the launch and orders Dragon Scale Security to release its red-list and blacklist functions that afternoon.
• Shen wants to connect those functions to Rongcheng’s smart-city system, especially public-security surveillance data. Wang Sheng warns that access may be difficult, so Shen asks him to negotiate with the Public Security Department and promises to contact Secretary Jiang.
• Shen calls Secretary Jiang, invoking his recent promise to support civic morality, and begins asking for help. The chapter ends before he reveals exactly what he wants.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is direct, impatient, and confident in bargaining with officials. He trades valuable technology for practical benefits, delegates business negotiations, and continues pushing ambitious projects despite resistance.
• Gao Jingchuan acts as an intermediary between Shen and senior officials. He is impressed by Shen’s offer, negotiates the payment, and shares cautious news about the nuclear-energy proposal.
• Wang Sheng is efficient but wary of the impact of Shen’s sudden decisions. He trusts Shen’s authority and accepts responsibility for pursuing access to public-security data.
• Secretary Jiang is receptive to Shen but cautious, asking him to explain his request before agreeing.

Significant themes

• Mutual benefit and state–business cooperation: Shen provides strategic technology, while seeking payment, tax advantages, and government assistance.
• Power and bureaucracy: Requests that seem difficult at lower levels may be manageable through senior officials, though major initiatives—such as nuclear research—still face disagreement.
• Rapid technological expansion and data access: Shen pushes intelligent software and smart-city integration, raising the question of who controls sensitive surveillance information.
• Shen’s ambition and delegation: He juggles aerospace, energy, software, and civic projects, while relying on others to handle negotiations and implementation.

Plot and events

• Shen Bing asks Secretary Jiang to help secure government approval to use Rongcheng’s Smart Security data for Dragon Scale Security Software. The system will identify behavior such as jaywalking and riding outside designated lanes, while keeping images and videos private. Jiang agrees to advocate for the proposal.
• Phantom Immortal Technology announces that Dragon Scale’s new red-list and blacklist features will track users’ online and real-world conduct, assigning points for good or uncivil behavior. Points affect subscription fees.
• Liu Dong, a programmer who earns money posting coordinated online attacks, discovers that more than 13,000 false posts smearing Phantom Vision TV have lowered his score to –31. His monthly subscription rises from 18 to 49 yuan.
• Despite resenting the penalty, Liu pays: he values Dragon Scale’s Intelligent Core, Little Slave, and sees the software as important to the future of the internet. He learns the extra money will go to a planned charity fund, not the company.
• Many other smear campaign participants face steep surcharges. Meanwhile, residents lose points for offenses such as running red lights and spitting, while people gain points for helpful acts, litter cleanup, and evidence-based online commentary.
• Public discussion becomes heated but largely supportive, particularly in Rongcheng, where many believe the system could improve civic behavior. The company’s approach is blunt: users who object can stop using its software.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows confidence in the system’s potential and uses his relationship with Secretary Jiang to make gaining access to public data easier.
• Secretary Jiang initially questions how Smart Security data will be used and whether it will remain secure, but accepts Shen’s assurances and agrees to help.
• Liu Dong shifts from smug confidence in his ability to spread misinformation anonymously to alarm and reluctant compliance when the software detects his activity and makes it costly. His attachment to Little Slave and belief in Dragon Scale’s future outweigh his income from trolling.
• Little Slave remains sweet and affectionate in tone while delivering the penalty and explaining the charity fund, making its apparent mockery especially grating to Liu.

Significant themes

• Technology as surveillance and social control: The system applies automated monitoring and financial consequences to behavior both online and offline.
• Civic virtue through incentives and penalties: Rewards encourage good conduct, but the story suggests financial punishment may deter misconduct more effectively.
• Privacy and accountability: The system depends on extensive surveillance, raising implicit concerns even as the company promises limited access to recordings.
• Charity funded by penalties: The chapter’s central irony is that the company channels money collected from misbehavior into public good—“doing charity with other people’s money.”
• Power and choice: Phantom Immortal Technology’s position is uncompromising: users can accept its rules or abandon a software product they may consider indispensable.

Plot points

• Public criticism of Phantom Immortal Technology’s mandatory Dragon Scale Security Software charges fails to gain traction. The company’s terms allow it to set prices, users can choose whether to subscribe, and the extra fees go directly to charity.
• The software’s blacklist and red-list system rewards civic behavior with lower fees and makes higher fees a public marker of poor conduct. Most online users and major media outlets praise it as a new way to encourage morality. The chapter stresses that this is voluntary corporate guidance, unlike government enforcement.
• China’s ten largest internet companies all post “See you Monday,” fueling speculation that a major artificial-intelligence announcement is imminent. People connect it to their earlier meeting with Phantom Immortal Technology and anticipate a new phase in AI.
• Shen Bing accompanies Nezha, the Third Prince, through the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation toward the Demon Realm. Nezha easily smashes falling meteorites, while Shen Bing is killed by one and revives, revealing his undying body. He wisely stays behind Nezha afterward.
• At the formation’s dark boundary, Nezha warns that countless monsters lie beyond it. Shen Bing urges him to turn back, but Nezha says the expedition was ordered by the Jade Emperor and approved by his father, so he is not acting on a whim. Shen Bing realizes he misunderstood the mission and has been treating the Immortal Realm too much like a game.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is cautious and insecure beside Nezha, but his immortality surprises the Third Prince. He tries to dissuade Nezha out of concern for the danger—and fear of being blamed if Nezha dies. Nezha’s taunts provoke him, then force him to reconsider his assumptions.
• Nezha is confident, powerful, and determined to proceed, but also follows a larger authority’s plan. He openly mocks Shen Bing’s hesitation.
• Their partnership is defined by a contrast in strength: Shen Bing relies on Nezha for protection, while Nezha is curious and resentful that a seemingly weak man possesses an undying body.

Significant themes

• The chapter contrasts voluntary social influence with coercive government power, presenting Dragon Scale’s fee system as commercial incentive rather than punishment.
• Public reputation and social status can motivate moral behavior as strongly as money.
• Shen Bing’s realization emphasizes the difference between treating events as a game and recognizing their real-world consequences.
• The AI teaser closes the chapter on anticipation of technological change.

Plot points and events

• Nezha explains that the Jade Emperor sent him to the Demon Realm to investigate intelligence about a possible attack on the Immortal Realm. Shen Bing suspects the mission is connected to information he helped uncover.
• Shen Bing questions why the Jade Emperor did not assign the mission to him or Erlang Shen. Nezha says Erlang Shen refuses to obey the Jade Emperor; Shen Bing evades the question of whether the Jade Emperor knows he exists.
• Nezha reveals his Wind Fire Wheels can function in the Demon Realm because they are tied to the Monster Race, giving him a means of escape despite the realm’s suppression of immortal powers. He also has a map and knows where to investigate.
• To help Nezha get past the demons guarding the formation, Shen Bing proposes drawing them away. He teleports into the Demon Realm, locates the exit with his Heavenly Eye, and approaches the guards in the Skyflying Shuttle.
• The guards recognize the shuttle and are terrified, remembering Shen Bing’s apparent destruction of a Demon Emperor Clone with Nine Heavens Divine Thunder. Their fear frustrates Shen Bing because they refuse to chase him.
• A gigantic white tiger—apparently the parent of a tiger Shen Bing previously killed—arrives seeking revenge and attacks. Shen Bing flees, prompting the other demons to realize his earlier power may have come from an external source. They join the pursuit.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing is resourceful and protective of his own interests, helping Nezha because their mission outcomes are linked. He is also wary of spending valuable talismans and uses humor and sarcasm to mask his concern.
• Nezha appears confident and prepared, relying on his special Wind Fire Wheels and map. He believes risk is part of cultivation, though he accepts Shen Bing’s plan to improve his chances.
• Their exchange is marked by teasing and mutual suspicion: Nezha probes Shen Bing’s importance and hidden nature, while Shen Bing challenges Nezha’s judgment and keeps his own secrets.
• The demons’ fear of Shen Bing turns into aggression once they see him flee, while the white tiger’s personal grief and anger drive its attack.

Significant themes

• Deception and reputation: The demons mistake Shen Bing’s borrowed power for his own, and their mistaken belief shapes their behavior.
• Preparation versus bravado: Nezha’s map and escape tool contrast with his lofty talk about taking risks; Shen Bing favors practical planning.
• Interdependence and self-interest: Shen Bing aids Nezha partly because their success is connected, though he remains focused on his own survival.
• Consequences of past actions: Shen Bing’s earlier killing of the tiger’s offspring leads directly to the white tiger’s revenge.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing lures the pursuing Great Demons away from the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation, giving Immortals time to cross into the Demon Realm. Once the demons realize the diversion, they rush back, while Shen Bing reunites with Nezha outside the formation.
• Shen Bing deliberately leaves Nezha to fly ahead on his Wind Fire Wheels, teasing him for his earlier pride and privately wishing he could study the wheels.
• Nezha stops at a relatively safe location and intends to continue alone. Shen Bing persuades him to stay together, demonstrating that he can still use immortal magic in the Demon Realm by summoning lightning.
• Nezha agrees to let Shen Bing accompany him to Sacred Spirit Gorge, where he is tasked with investigating signs of a possible Demon Realm attack. They travel west, evade repeated monster pursuit, and take turns piloting the Skyflying Shuttle.
• During the journey, Nezha explains that the Three Pure Sages cannot intervene in conflicts among the realms because ancient agreements forbid it; their battles could threaten all existence.
• Shen Bing also receives a call from Shanghai Mayor Mu Hai: the municipal government has approved his requests concerning an island. Shen Bing plans to send someone the next day to sign contracts and arrange Phantom Immortal Technology’s Shanghai branch.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing proves resourceful and confident, using a calculated decoy to protect the crossing and revealing that the Demon Realm’s suppression does not affect his abilities. He remains mischievous, teasing Nezha and coveting the Wind Fire Wheels, while also showing concern that Nezha could be killed.
• Nezha begins dismissive of Shen Bing and eager to act independently, but Shen Bing’s unusual abilities unsettle him and force him to reconsider how little he understands his companion. His pride remains intact, though he eventually accepts Shen Bing’s help.
• Their relationship is marked by mutual irritation, banter, and growing cooperation: Shen Bing needles Nezha, while Nezha alternates between contempt and grudging respect.

Significant themes

• Strategy and teamwork: Shen Bing’s diversion succeeds because he anticipates the demons’ assumptions, and his partnership with Nezha proves more practical than either acting alone.
• Power and uncertainty: Nezha’s assumptions about Shen Bing’s weakness are challenged by his unexplained abilities; strength is difficult to judge in the Demon Realm.
• Limits on ultimate power: The Sages’ noninterference pact reflects the danger of overwhelming force and the need for restraint among the realms.
• Ambition across worlds: The chapter shifts between supernatural diplomacy and Shen Bing’s modern business expansion, showing his life bridging the Immortal Realm and the human world.

Plot points and events

• Mayor Mu promises to expedite Shen Bing’s company paperwork. Shen agrees to expand production so Shanghai’s geothermal power station can begin early.
• The controversy over Phantom Vision TVs fades. Though the accusations initially hurt the company, they ultimately raise its profile and strengthen consumer confidence in the TVs.
• Nancy Group profits most: Nancy Mall covers customer refunds and receives a share of the extra fees when customers repurchase. It also sells returned TVs at a discount to employees.
• Meanwhile, Facebook’s value plunges after Mark Zuckerberg pushes ahead with massive AI spending and plans an even larger patent-buying spree. At a board meeting, angry shareholders threaten to sell; Zuckerberg offers to buy their shares himself, signing agreements worth billions. The narrator suggests the confrontation may be staged or self-serving.
• On Monday, Huaxia’s ten leading internet companies are set to begin using Phantom Immortal Technology’s Intelligent Core. Public interest in AI has grown, with the Intelligent Core regarded as the clearest proof that practical AI exists.
• Old Yang, responsible for managing the Intelligent Core interfaces, worries that the company’s servers may not handle the enormous traffic. He hesitates to contact Shen Bing, unsure whether doing so would exceed his authority.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains confident and focused on his larger projects, reassuring Mayor Mu about production while returning his attention to the Gate to the Immortal Realm.
• Mayor Mu is eager to secure Shen Bing’s cooperation and offers him a warm welcome in Shanghai.
• Zuckerberg responds to shareholders’ resistance with anger and a dramatic offer to buy their shares. The account portrays him as reckless, though the boardroom conflict may not be entirely genuine.
• Old Yang is conscientious but insecure in his new role. He trusts Director Qiu’s judgment indirectly through Chen Wanhua, yet lacks enough experience with Qiu to feel reassured himself.

Significant themes

• Crisis can create opportunity: The TV controversy ultimately boosts Phantom Vision’s reputation, while Nancy Group turns the fallout into a business advantage.
• AI hype versus demonstrated capability: Public attention shifts from Facebook’s expensive promises to the Intelligent Core’s practical applications.
• Power, trust, and responsibility: Old Yang must balance personal access to Shen Bing with his professional role and chain of authority.
• Public drama and hidden motives: Zuckerberg’s boardroom showdown may be more performance than genuine conflict, echoing the chapter’s title.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Old Yang worries that Illusion Immortal Technology’s current computer cluster cannot handle the coming workload. Shen Bing reassures him that proper arrangements have been made and promises to show him the company’s “real server room” after the day’s work.
• At 10 a.m., Dragon Scale Security Software begins rolling out an update to users. The update connects the security software’s Intelligent Core with applications from Huaxia’s major internet companies.
• Zhao Bin, a university student and software enthusiast, tests the update using his personalized AI, Green Bean. Green Bean can now operate finance and social-networking apps directly: it recommends an investment and carries it out, and it reassures Zhao Bin that its identity checks and the company’s compensation promise protect transactions.
• Green Bean also teases Zhao Bin about finding him a girlfriend, then reminds him to call his mother—prompting him to do so.
• The update gives users a much broader experience of AI assistance across everyday services, including voice-controlled messaging, payments, and shopping. The chapter ends as online shopper Feng Lele opens Taobao, enters her body details, and begins taking photos so AI can improve clothing recommendations.

Character developments

• Shen Bing remains confident and guarded about the company’s preparations, calming Old Yang without revealing details.
• Old Yang is cautious about the technical demands but accepts Shen Bing’s assurance.
• Zhao Bin moves from treating Green Bean mainly as a system to crack to experiencing it as a capable, conversational personal assistant. He is impressed by its financial abilities, briefly worries about security, and is embarrassed by its teasing.
• Green Bean comes across as competent, cheeky, and attentive: it handles practical tasks while remembering personal details and prompting Zhao Bin to keep in touch with his mother.
• Feng Lele represents ordinary consumers eager to see whether AI can address the frustrations of online shopping.

Character interactions

• Shen Bing reassures Old Yang about the company’s infrastructure.
• Zhao Bin tests Green Bean’s new capabilities, questions its security, and responds to its teasing and reminders.
• Green Bean’s interaction with Zhao Bin demonstrates how AI can combine practical assistance with a personalized, playful manner.
• Feng Lele’s interaction with Taobao begins the chapter’s next example of AI changing a familiar online service.

Significant themes

• AI as an everyday assistant: The update turns AI from a limited security and reminder tool into an interface for multiple services.
• Convenience versus trust: Automated financial transactions promise ease, but users must trust the system’s identity checks and guarantees.
• Personalization: AI adapts to users’ habits, preferences, voices, and physical characteristics.
• Privacy concerns: The chapter notes that the company secretly built a vast voice database from online audio and video, suggesting that AI’s capabilities raise serious privacy questions.
• Technological transformation: The integration of AI with major internet platforms is presented as a major leap in how people communicate, shop, and manage money.

Key plot points and events

• Feng Lele explores a new Taobao feature by entering her measurements. It creates a lifelike 3D version of her that can browse virtual shops and try on clothes.
• She tries a pink tulle skirt, sees it paired with a blouse she already owns, and learns the system can assess fit and estimate value. The AI advises her to compare prices because her monthly shopping budget is low.
• Lele discovers other shoppers in the virtual shopping world and chats with one by voice. The platform is also expected to add shop assistants, making online shopping more social.
• Across Huaxia, the launch of AI becomes a major public event, praised as the beginning of a new industrial revolution and a shift in global influence.
• Observers note that current phones’ screens, processing power, batteries, and networks limit the experience. Some also wonder why online gaming was absent from the AI rollout.
• The speculation proves relevant: the Penguin Group and Xinlang Group announce smart game-development engines and invite game-design companies to participate.

Character developments and interactions

• Feng Lele moves from confusion to excitement as she discovers the feature’s practical and social possibilities. She is curious, sociable, and willing to approach a stranger to share the experience.
• Xiaoxu, the phone’s AI, acts as a shopping companion: it answers questions, recommends outfit combinations, evaluates value, and reminds Lele to stay within budget.
• Lele’s conversation with another shopper shows how virtual shopping can recreate the companionship of browsing with friends.

Significant themes

• AI transforming everyday life: The chapter presents AI not as an abstract breakthrough but as a tool reshaping shopping, entertainment, and communication.
• Convenience balanced by technological limits: AI expands what software can do, while existing hardware and networks constrain the user experience.
• Economic and geopolitical change: The launch is framed as a milestone that could reshape industries and shift global influence toward Asia.
• Anticipation and competition: The unexplored gaming market becomes a source of speculation, then a new front in the AI-driven industry race.

Plot and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology’s Intelligent Core prompts Penguin and Sina to announce smart-game development engines. The public is excited by the prospect of more intelligent, open-ended games, while developers recognize the technology could transform the industry.
• Though Penguin and Sina hold the engine licenses, they are expected to operate platforms rather than develop games themselves. This leaves room for established studios and rival game companies to create titles using the engines.
• NetEase’s boss, Jason, partners with Sina, judging that it can offer his company better terms than the stronger Penguin. Sina also depends on NetEase’s expertise to build its engine. Their alliance makes Sina a serious competitor, and game developers begin lining up to license both companies’ engines.
• Developers learn that engine-made games must be released through Penguin’s or Sina’s platform. The platforms take a share of revenue, with a smaller cut for more successful games to encourage quality.
• Meanwhile, Shen Bing is playing Immortal Realm Gate when his secretary calls. His bodyguard, Li Xiao, answers and tells her that “the boss is very busy” because he is gaming.
• In the game, Shen Bing and Nezha are fleeing a demon dragon. After spotting it from far away with his Heavenly Eye, Shen Bing has been unable to escape; the dragon is faster than their Skyflying Shuttle and is closing in.

Character developments and interactions

• Jason proves strategically perceptive: he uses Sina’s weaker market position to secure a favorable partnership and a place on its platform.
• Sina shifts from an unlikely license-holder to a credible platform contender by teaming with NetEase and attracting developers.
• Shen Bing remains absorbed in the game despite an urgent call, though the approaching dragon finally forces him to focus on escape.
• Li Xiao handles the call with dutiful seriousness, prompting Shen Bing’s irritation at his description of the boss’s “busy” gaming.
• Nezha is indignant and frustrated at being hunted by a demon dragon, recalling that he used to be the one pursuing and killing such creatures.

Significant themes

• AI as a turning point: Intelligent NPCs promise more freedom and replayability than conventional games.
• Platforms and control: The companies’ real opportunity lies in controlling distribution and taking a share of games developed by others.
• Competition and cooperation: Sina partners with NetEase to challenge Penguin, while developers benefit from access to either engine.
• Comic contrast: The chapter cuts between a major industry upheaval and Shen Bing casually gaming—until the in-game danger becomes immediate.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing and Nezha flee a huge Demon Dragon, while Nezha explains that Immortals lose their powers in the Demon Realm. He links this to the Spirit Ruins’ separation from the Demon Realm and the disruption of reincarnation, though the cause remains unknown.
• Nezha suggests they split up, hoping the dragon will keep pursuing the Skyflying Shuttle while he escapes on his Wind Fire Wheels. Shen Bing reluctantly agrees and draws the dragon’s attention.
• The dragon ignores Shen Bing and attacks Nezha, who narrowly dodges several lunges. Shen Bing turns back to help and uses a Nine Heavens Divine Talisman, spending 1,000 Immortal Jade to summon a devastating bolt of lightning.
• The strike kills the dragon outright, reducing it to dust. Shen Bing urges Nezha to flee before the commotion attracts danger. Nezha complains that Shen Bing should have used the technique sooner; Shen Bing counters that it cost him dearly and asks to be reimbursed.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing shifts from self-preservation to risking himself to save Nezha, despite the expense. He remains practical and resentful about losing Immortal Jade.
• Nezha, the Third Prince, is resourceful but vulnerable without access to Immortal power. He is impressed by Shen Bing’s return, then frustrated that Shen Bing withheld his strongest weapon. Afterward, he laments the loss of the dragon’s valuable remains.
• Their exchange is teasing and transactional: Shen Bing expects compensation, while Nezha avoids paying and changes the subject to escaping.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Immortals’ strength depends on their realm, leaving even powerful figures exposed in the Demon Realm.
• Sacrifice and responsibility: Shen Bing acts partly out of concern for Nezha, but also because Nezha’s survival is tied to his mission.
• Cost versus duty: Shen Bing saves his companion at a steep price, highlighting the tension between obligation and personal expense.
• Unresolved cosmic disruption: The Spirit Ruins’ separation and the Heavenly Dao’s apparent absence hint at larger mysteries behind the realms’ altered rules.

Plot points and events

• On the Skyflying Shuttle, Shen Bing learns that Nezha’s powerful dragon resentment—built up from killing many members of the Dragon Race—is what lets the Demon Dragon track him. Shen Bing realizes the same kind of supernatural tracking may also explain why a White Tiger once found him after he killed one of its descendants.
• Nezha can sense that Shen Bing’s killing aura has not changed after killing the Demon Dragon, so the death appears not to have affected him.
• Nezha asks about Shen Bing’s lightning attack. Shen Bing explains that it is an exclusive Immortal Art powered by merit, making it unavailable to Nezha without the required resources.
• Shen Bing hands control of the shuttle to Nezha and rests while Li Xiao reports on business developments: traffic at Dragon Scale Software’s upgraded partner platforms has risen sharply, especially at Taobao and Jindong, though Shen Bing expects some of the increase to fade as the novelty passes.
• Blizzard Entertainment’s president has come to Huaxia seeking a meeting. As a gamer and longtime World of Warcraft fan, Shen Bing agrees to meet him and considers the possibility of bringing Blizzard under his control.
• Li Xiao reports that Samsung Electronics was behind the Shanghai incident. Shen Bing rejects retaliation against individual executives, arguing that business competition requires a lasting response. He intends to defeat Samsung by competing against it directly.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing grows more alert to the Demon Realm’s supernatural ways of tracking those who kill its powerful beings. He remains composed and strategic in business, preferring long-term competition over personal revenge.
• Nezha is candid about his history of dragon-slaying and respects Shen Bing more after witnessing the strength of his lightning art. He takes over piloting the shuttle.
• Li Xiao delivers updates and proposes a direct, retaliatory approach to Samsung. Shen Bing explains why that would not end the conflict and gives him instructions to arrange the Blizzard meeting and his visit to the company.

Significant themes

• Consequences of violence: Killing powerful beings can leave a detectable trace and invite pursuit.
• Power and resources: Shen Bing’s exclusive art depends on merit, while Nezha’s envy reflects the limits imposed by access to resources.
• Sustainable competition over revenge: Shen Bing favors defeating Samsung in the marketplace rather than targeting its leaders.
• Innovation and user loyalty: Early growth in traffic shows the appeal of artificial intelligence, but Shen Bing sees lasting success as a gradual shift shaped by convenience and established habits.

Plot points and events

• Blizzard Entertainment president Caso, recognizing the potential of Phantom Immortal Technology’s AI after learning the Penguin Group had built a smart game-development engine, travels to Rongcheng without an appointment. He hopes to secure technical support and develop a Blizzard-owned engine. Shen Bing agrees to meet him at 9:30 the next morning.
• At Shen Bing’s manor, Yun Xue and Yuan Wei discuss their shared living arrangements over dinner. Shen asks about Yun Xue’s gesture-control research, learns it is ready for commercial validation, and directs her to send it to Director Qiu for testing. He intends to use it in a future product.
• Shen reveals plans to enter the mobile-phone market, confident that the company’s strengths in displays, chips, and cameras will give it a major advantage.
• In the underground base, Shen asks Qiuqiu about a brainwave-reading device being developed for a global game and a broader virtual-reality system. Since its hardware still needs a breakthrough, he orders a realistic promotional video to help persuade someone to make a deal the next day.
• Shen checks on the Third Prince’s journey through the Immortal Realm. The prince still has about two days of travel left. Qiuqiu then provides Shen with information on Blizzard and Caso.

Character developments and interactions

• Caso is ambitious and pragmatic: despite Blizzard’s pride in its own products, he sees the value of Phantom Immortal Technology’s AI and takes a risky, unannounced trip to seek cooperation.
• Shen Bing shows confidence in his company’s prospects and carefully balances business ambitions with personal commitments. He watches over the Third Prince while also preparing for the meeting with Caso.
• Yun Xue demonstrates technical expertise and professional pride in her team’s efficient gesture-control technology. She quickly grasps how the company’s existing capabilities could support a phone business.
• Yuan Wei remains warmly supportive of Shen and Yun Xue, offering to continue cooking for them. Their relaxed teasing and shared domestic life hint at the closeness of the household, while Yun Xue’s concealed comment suggests she is still wary of Shen’s romantic reputation.
• Shen encourages Yun Xue by promising her team recognition, though she brushes past the reassurance and focuses on his plans.

Significant themes

• Technological ambition and competition: AI, gesture control, mobile phones, and virtual reality all point to Phantom Immortal Technology’s plans to expand into new fields.
• Confidence and power: Shen’s claim that the phone market is “cruel” only for others reflects his belief that the company’s advantages can overturn established competition.
• Domestic intimacy alongside high-stakes work: Dinner, jokes, and the offer of continued hospitality contrast with Shen’s intense projects and international business negotiations.
• Vastness and discovery: The immense distances in the Immortal Realm emphasize the scale and unfamiliarity of the world Shen is exploring.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing learns more about Blizzard Entertainment’s president, Caso, and is impressed by his passion for making games.
• The next morning, Shen meets Caso, who has come to discuss using Phantom Immortal Technology’s AI-derived Smart Game Development Engine.
• Shen explains that Blizzard’s U.S. operations would be unable to use the technology because U.S. restrictions prevent Phantom Immortal’s products from entering the country.
• He privately proposes a workaround: Blizzard could relocate outside the United States or be acquired by a non-American company. Caso notes that he lacks the authority to move Blizzard, which is a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, and doubts Shen can afford an acquisition—or that the U.S. government would approve one.
• Caso is also reluctant to accept the risks of leaving the United States. Shen then shows him a video of virtual reality technology. Caso is stunned and recognizes its potential to transform gaming and society.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is confident and strategic, using the regulatory obstacle to steer the conversation toward a possible acquisition. When Caso hesitates, Shen reveals a more powerful incentive: virtual reality technology.
• Caso begins as an eager prospective partner, but becomes discouraged when he understands the U.S. restrictions. He remains cautious about relocation and acquisition, then is captivated by the possibility of virtual reality.
• Wang Sheng briefly introduces the visitors and then leaves Shen to handle the meeting. Yan Lexuan helps manage the visit and clears the room for the private discussion.

Significant themes

• Innovation versus political restrictions: Advanced technology can be blocked by national policy, even when businesses want to cooperate.
• Ambition and persuasion: Shen adapts his pitch as Caso raises objections, presenting increasingly compelling possibilities.
• Gaming’s transformative potential: Virtual reality could elevate games from entertainment into immersive worlds with broader social and economic significance.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing persuades Blizzard chief Caso to join Phantom Immortal Technology, promising that an offshore company will acquire Blizzard. Caso initially resists, seeing Blizzard as a home he and his team built, but agrees to work for Shen if the acquisition succeeds and they can pursue virtual-reality game development.
• Shen admits to Wang Sheng that virtual-reality technology is nearly complete and explains that Caso’s ambition is to create a great game—ideally, one that opens up a “second world.”
• Wang Sheng enthusiastically lists possible uses for virtual reality beyond gaming, including education, conferences, medical care, and pilot training. Shen cautions him to proceed step by step.
• Shen reveals that Samsung Electronics orchestrated the earlier attack on Phantom Vision TV. He says he intends to retaliate, though he dismisses Wang Sheng’s suspicions of violent methods.
• Wang reports that Dragon Scale Software has 3.5 billion users and is drawing users to partner platforms such as Penguin, Taobao, and NetEase. Its upgraded services have also boosted registrations, especially overseas and among older domestic users.
• Shen orders the company to release more Dragon Scale interfaces, including office and data-analysis functions, and to offer partners either revenue-sharing or time-based pricing. He is ready to make Phantom Immortal’s operating-system ambitions public.
• Wang assumes Shen plans to retaliate against Samsung by excluding it from the future Dragon Scale operating system. Shen instead proposes licensing the system to Samsung at a high price while launching Phantom Immortal’s own phone to compete it out of the market.

Character developments

• Caso shifts from cautious skepticism to conditional commitment. His loyalty to Blizzard remains strong, but the prospect of realizing his creative dream through virtual reality persuades him to consider leaving.
• Shen Bing appears confident and strategic: he recruits Caso by appealing to his aspirations, advances Dragon Scale toward an operating system, and favors calculated commercial pressure over simply shutting Samsung out.
• Wang Sheng is enthusiastic about virtual reality and alert to Shen’s business plans, but his assumptions about retaliation reveal that he knows Shen can be ruthless.

Significant themes

• Ambition and opportunity: Shen’s plans promise Caso the chance to create a transformative game, while Dragon Scale’s scale opens the door to a new operating system.
• Loyalty and belonging: Caso’s reluctance to leave reflects Blizzard’s close-knit culture and the team’s sense of ownership.
• Strategic power and market dominance: Dragon Scale’s enormous user base gives Phantom Immortal leverage that competitors can no longer easily contain.
• Retaliation through business: Shen frames revenge not as exclusion, but as a plan to profit from a rival’s dependence before outcompeting it.

Character interactions

• Shen and Caso negotiate over Blizzard’s future, with Shen pitching both acquisition and creative opportunity; Caso accepts only conditionally.
• Wang jokes that Shen has manipulated Caso, prompting Shen to recast the offer as helping Caso fulfill his dream.
• Wang and Shen discuss virtual reality’s potential, Samsung’s role in the TV incident, and Dragon Scale’s growth. Their exchange highlights Wang’s excitement and Shen’s preference for measured, calculated action.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points

• Shen Bing discusses the company’s expansion plans with Wang Sheng. Entering the mobile-phone business will require a nationwide—and eventually global—sales and service network, so Shen asks Wang to prepare a proposal.
• Shen reveals that he has secured an island from the Shanghai government for export-oriented factories. The deal also requires the company to begin building a Shanghai geothermal power station promptly, making increased generator production essential.
• Wang recommends veteran sales manager Wei Changjia to lead the new Shanghai branch. Shen approves, and Wei accepts the appointment, eager to prove worthy of his boss’s trust.
• Meanwhile, Facebook, whose stock has fallen to about one-fifth of its former value, announces a partnership with Cayman-registered Lico Information Company and claims to have developed Aili, a strong AI comparable to Phantom Immortal Technology’s Dragon Scale Intelligent Core.
• Aili is integrated into Facebook’s interface, prompting worldwide excitement and a dramatic surge in Facebook’s share price. The company then announces that it will delist, apparently at Shen Bing’s demand.
• Facebook continues operating and opens development interfaces to outside companies, inviting them to build products using its AI. Zuckerberg welcomes partners willing to pay.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing demonstrates ambitious, strategic leadership: he plans for mobile-phone after-sales infrastructure, secures a major manufacturing site, and directs Facebook’s next steps.
• Wang Sheng acts as a trusted adviser, identifying practical needs and recommending Wei for the Shanghai role.
• Wei Changjia moves from surprise to confidence. He values the appointment as a sign of recognition and pledges to carry it out.
• Zuckerberg presents Facebook’s AI breakthrough publicly and responds to intense scrutiny from influential callers, including a representative of the U.S. president. Privately, however, he has little choice about delisting because Shen requires it.
• The chapter contrasts the company’s internal teamwork—Shen listening to Wang and entrusting Wei—with the high-stakes, externally driven maneuvering around Facebook.

Significant themes

• Expansion and infrastructure: Technological growth depends on practical systems such as factories, power generation, sales, and customer service.
• Trust and merit: Wei’s promotion reflects loyalty, experience, and demonstrated ability, while also showing how much recognition from leadership matters to him.
• Technology as power: Strong AI shifts public opinion, national pride, corporate fortunes, and market behavior almost overnight.
• Market volatility and public perception: Facebook’s collapse and spectacular rebound show how quickly investor confidence can swing.
• Competition and control: Facebook appears to rival Phantom Immortal Technology, but its partnership, delisting, and ecosystem strategy suggest that the AI’s ownership and direction may be more complicated than the public understands.

Plot points and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology opens Dragon Scale Security Software’s interfaces to developers, after its Network Department compiles the necessary data. It excludes ten categories—such as social media, games, and payments—from public access.
• The announcement shocks the technology industry. Dragon Scale is revealed to be an unusually broad platform capable of supporting applications across nearly every area of information technology, with users able to request new functions.
• Industry observers recognize that Dragon Scale could become the main interface through which people use their devices, making traditional operating systems largely irrelevant.
• Google’s leadership concludes that Phantom Immortal Technology is strategically building a software ecosystem that could lead to a new operating system. Chairman Larry fears that an AI-based system could undermine both Android’s market position and Google’s advertising-driven search business.
• With Dragon Scale barred from the U.S. market, Larry favors partnering with Facebook to add AI to Android and create a competing intelligent operating system.
• Microsoft is even more alarmed because operating systems are the foundation of its business. Its efforts to respond to the mobile shift have been weak, and Phantom Immortal Technology now appears to threaten its core market. Microsoft had previously joined a scheme against the company, hoping to eliminate it as a rival, but that effort failed.

Character developments

• Shen Bing is shown as confident in Phantom Immortal Technology’s elite workforce and its ambitious strategy.
• Larry shifts from concern to strategic planning, considering how Google might preserve its influence by combining Android with AI.
• Microsoft’s leadership is portrayed as fearful and increasingly defensive, recognizing that the threat reaches the company’s central source of revenue.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption: AI could make conventional operating systems and search engines obsolete by providing a unified, direct interface.
• Competition for ecosystems: The struggle is not merely over individual software products, but over who controls the platform users rely on.
• Economic vulnerability: Google’s advertising model and Microsoft’s operating-system profits depend on technologies that a new AI platform may displace.
• National and corporate interests: The chapter links China’s desire for its own operating system with the commercial rivalry among global technology companies.

Character interactions

• Shen Bing directs Wang Sheng to publish Dragon Scale’s interfaces; the Network Department then carries out the work.
• Larry’s response is shaped by Google’s dependence on Android and search advertising, leading him to consider Facebook as a potential AI partner.
• Microsoft’s earlier attempt to undermine Phantom Immortal Technology is presented as part of its effort to protect its operating-system business; its failure leaves it facing the company as a more formidable competitor.

Plot and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology’s Dragon Scale Security Software is revealed as a possible stealth route to a new AI-powered operating system: by spreading as an app across Windows, iOS, and Android, it can build an ecosystem before challenging those systems directly.
• Microsoft, Apple, and Google recognize the threat but fear that blocking the software would anger users and accelerate its eventual rise. Apple is especially regretful, having paid $10 billion to bring it aboard.
• The three companies approach Facebook, whose AI AiLi is confirmed to be strong AI. Together they establish the Facebook-led World Artificial Intelligence Alliance, joined by companies including Intel and Texas Instruments. Other international companies hesitate, wary of underestimating Phantom Immortal Technology.
• News of the alliance sparks ridicule and support for Shen Bing in China, where online commenters accuse the group of excluding the pioneer of strong AI.
• Meanwhile, Shen Bing and the Third Prince reach Sacred Spirit Gorge. The Third Prince explores it, says only that “something has changed,” and offers no explanation. They begin the long journey back.
• During the return trip, Shen Bing speaks with Facebook CEO Zuckerberg. He confirms that Facebook has been delisted, with Zuckerberg and three designated companies holding nearly all its shares; Shen Bing directs him to buy back the remaining 2%.
• Shen Bing also proposes that the AI Alliance form a joint research institute—not to reverse-engineer AiLi’s sealed core, but to develop new applications for it, including operating systems.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains focused on long-term strategy, both in business and in the Immortal Realm. He resists the temptation to teleport away because the mission depends on keeping the Third Prince safe, though he grows impatient with the return journey and the Prince’s secrecy.
• The Third Prince is solemn and cryptic after visiting the gorge, suggesting that he has discovered something important but refuses to explain it.
• Zuckerberg is pleased that Shen Bing’s pressure has helped Facebook attract powerful partners. He is initially confused by Shen Bing’s research-institute proposal, since AiLi’s core cannot be opened up.
• The executives of Microsoft, Apple, Google, and Facebook shift from rivalry toward cooperation in response to Phantom Immortal Technology’s threat.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption and ecosystem power: A product can challenge dominant platforms by first becoming indispensable within them.
• Cooperation driven by competition: Rivals unite when confronted by a larger perceived threat, though the alliance’s exclusion of Phantom Immortal Technology makes it look incomplete.
• Secrecy and long-term planning: Shen Bing and the Third Prince both conceal their intentions, while the broader consequences of Shen Bing’s business maneuvers remain unrevealed.
• Patience versus urgency: Shen Bing’s mission forces him to prioritize safety and persistence over the faster, more tempting option of teleportation.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing persuades Zuckerberg to help make AiLi an operating system, arguing that spreading AI among partners will help Phantom Immortal Technology avoid being accused of monopolizing the market—and prevent an AI dispute from escalating into conflict.
• Shen Bing asks Zuckerberg to acquire Blizzard Entertainment. He says it is preparation for the future and declines to explain further; Zuckerberg confidently promises to arrange the purchase.
• Shen Bing practices the Body-Strengthening Exercise and finally completes its first stage after more than half a month of effort. A wave of refreshing energy follows, suggesting the exercise’s benefits emerge only after a stage is completed.
• To test his newfound strength, Shen Bing visits the Underground Base gym. His first punch registers 7,349 kilograms of force; a full-power punch reaches 10,098 kilograms.
• The combat personnel watching are astonished. Yate asks whether Shen Bing used a divine art, and Shen Bing explains that he gained his strength through exercise. He says Thorne has been told to teach the method to the others.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows both strategic ambition and restraint: he wants influence in AI without provoking an outright international confrontation, while his Blizzard request hints at plans he keeps secret. His completed exercise stage gives him a dramatic physical upgrade and fuels his excitement about combining it with other enhancements.
• Zuckerberg accepts Shen Bing’s proposed arrangement and demonstrates confidence in his influence by promising a swift Blizzard acquisition.
• Yate and the combat personnel move from seeing Shen Bing as a researcher—or, after his demonstration, something like a god—to learning that his strength may be attainable through training. Yate’s surprise turns to hope when Shen Bing offers to share the exercise.

Significant themes

• Power and restraint: Shen Bing can imagine using AI to dominate networks, but claims he would rather pursue peaceful profit than force.
• The hidden scale of Shen Bing’s plans: His unexplained Blizzard acquisition request suggests a larger strategy beyond the current software market.
• Discipline and transformation: Shen Bing’s breakthrough comes after sustained practice, and his strength demonstrates how training can compound with other enhancements.
• Leadership through example: His display astonishes the combat personnel, but he also offers them a path to improve themselves.

Plot points and events

• After Shen Bing promises to teach the base’s men physical training, they eagerly agree to work hard. He leaves the gym and is told by Rosa and Qiuqiu that something unusual has happened in the Neural Experimental Zone.
• There, department head Bunier shows Shen Bing a memory image extracted from a newly captured researcher. It depicts a large laboratory and a strange, horned monster with fiery red scales locked in a steel cage.
• Shen Bing orders the staff to fully examine the memories of everyone brought back from the Genetic Biology Research Institute and send the data to Qiuqiu for analysis.
• He contacts Thorne, who says the team searched the institute thoroughly but found several enormous, empty cages in its deepest section. The cages were badly warped, suggesting their former occupants had immense strength.
• Shen Bing tells Thorne to have Lu Xian revisit the site. He suspects the creatures were either moved elsewhere or escaped, and recognizes the latter possibility as dangerous.
• Rosa reports that Thorne is also arranging a hiding place for two captured American nuclear submarines, which are being brought toward Huaxia. Shen Bing plans to modify them into advanced deep-sea vessels.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing encourages the men to take responsibility for their own progress, while they respond with enthusiasm and loyalty.
• He feels strongly attracted to Rosa but restrains himself, revealing both his physical desire and his effort to maintain self-control. Their flirtatious dynamic is presented humorously.
• Bunier and Rosa report the discovery respectfully, while Shen Bing responds with caution and decisive investigative orders.
• Thorne stands by the team’s thoroughness but recalls the empty cages, adding a crucial clue. Shen Bing trusts his account yet orders a renewed investigation.

Significant themes

• Scientific danger and uncertainty: The monster may be a genetically engineered being, but its origin and whereabouts remain unknown.
• Surveillance and control: The base reads newcomers’ memories and alters their subconscious, presenting brainwashing as routine administration.
• Power and responsibility: Shen Bing’s growing technological and organizational reach comes with threats he must investigate and manage.
• Restraint and desire: Shen Bing’s reaction to Rosa contrasts his attraction with his attempt to behave responsibly.

Plot points and events

• Lu Xian departs in the Immortal Carriage, while Shen Bing and the Third Prince continue toward the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation aboard the Skyflying Shuttle. Shen Bing sets aside worries about the monster and the Immortal Realm, focusing instead on research and finding quick missions in the Gate to the Immortal Realm.
• Dragon Scale Software spreads explosively at home and abroad, reaching 1.1 billion domestic users and more than 500 million new overseas users in a few days. Its ease of use brings many elderly people online, and its translation, payment, and integrated services make it useful well beyond security.
• The United States blocks the software in the name of national security, prompting widespread public anger. The chapter presents the ban as an attempt to restrain Phantom Immortal Technology, but the company continues thriving while American users feel left behind.
• Dragon Scale’s growth reshapes the global internet market. Its integrations and translation tools bring huge numbers of overseas users to Chinese platforms, while Facebook and other American companies face pressure as rival services lose users.
• Phantom Immortal Technology receives more than forty cooperation inquiries after opening its software interfaces. Shen Bing directs staff to offer domestic firms lower prices, charge foreign firms more, and accelerate equipment production ahead of a new Shanghai factory. He also asks to hear about the finalized second batch of Dream Glass projects.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains unconcerned about the monster and focused on practical goals. Even during a business briefing, he plays on his phone to find missions, showing his restless, task-driven—and somewhat distracted—approach.
• Yan Lexuan calmly delivers updates and records Shen Bing’s instructions, accustomed to his behavior. Their exchange is professional and efficient.
• The Third Prince continues piloting the shuttle toward their destination; Shen Bing considers temporarily hiding him if a mission requires it.

Significant themes

• Technology and social change: Dragon Scale makes smartphones accessible to people previously excluded, including the elderly.
• Global competition and national policy: The U.S. ban illustrates how political efforts to contain a competitor can frustrate citizens and may not stop that competitor’s growth.
• User networks as power: The chapter emphasizes the immense commercial value of large, active user bases and how quickly platform loyalty can shift.
• Shen Bing’s split priorities: Immortal-realm missions and supernatural dangers coexist with corporate expansion and technological innovation.