Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing reviews the second round of Dream Glass partnership proposals. Two projects are in megacities: Yida Company’s undersea-themed development in Deep City, worth 6.5 billion yuan, and a London space-themed sub-center proposed by VINCI Group and a local firm, worth 1.2 billion euros. He approves the London project and accepts the Deep City plan.
• Gao Jingchuan arrives with Academicians Liu Shenyuan, a nuclear physicist, and Li Zhengdong, a materials scientist. The government has approved Phantom Immortal Technology’s involvement in nuclear-physics research, provided the company does not disclose its results abroad.
• The company is also expected to supply room-temperature superconducting material and manufacture major parts for a new nuclear fusion device. The academicians explain the device’s demanding engineering and material requirements.
• Shen Bing claims his company can produce all the requested materials and says they will be ready within a week. The visitors are stunned when he reveals that some of these supposedly cutting-edge materials are already being made as construction materials for the company’s headquarters.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing confidently expands the company’s high-end commercial reach while showing even greater confidence in its scientific capabilities. He treats the government’s research restrictions as reasonable and insists that his company’s security is reliable.
• Gao Jingchuan acts as the bridge between Shen Bing and the scientists. He teases Shen about his hospitality, then voices the doubt the academicians are too polite to state outright. His past experience has taught him that Shen’s extraordinary claims may be true.
• Academicians Liu and Li arrive prepared to discuss technical requirements, but their confidence turns to disbelief when Shen accepts even their ideal specifications without hesitation.
• Yan Lexuan handles the meeting arrangements, leaving only after Shen signals that the discussion is private.

Significant themes

• Extraordinary technological capability: The company’s materials science and manufacturing appear far beyond what established experts consider feasible.
• Trust versus skepticism: Shen’s claims sound like empty boasting, but Gao’s experience suggests that conventional expectations repeatedly underestimate him.
• Commercial ambition and national responsibility: Phantom Immortal Technology is becoming a global luxury supplier while also taking on strategically sensitive research under government conditions.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing meets Gao Jingchuan and Academicians Liu and Li to discuss materials for a nuclear-fusion reactor. The materials are extraordinarily rare and valuable, prompting jokes about the waste of using them for construction.
• Shen agrees to provide the reactor materials for free. Academician Liu offers to help Shen’s planned nuclear-energy work, so long as it does not involve state secrets.
• After the visitors leave, Shen sends the technical documents to Qiuqiu to begin manufacturing the equipment. He reveals that fusion research is already underway at the underground base on Dragon Lake Ring Island, led by Philo, whose enhanced intellect makes success seem inevitable.
• Phantom Immortal Technology officially opens its Shanghai branch. City leaders attend, and the news attracts public attention. General manager Wei Changjia announces plans for a Dream Glass factory on Great Gold Island; site preparation and construction begin.
• Elsewhere, Shen and the Third Prince reach the area around the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation. Shen sees that the Monster Race gathering outside has grown to two or three times its previous size. The Third Prince talks boldly about charging in, but it becomes clear he expects Shen to provide the powerful lightning.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen is generous and confident in his company’s capabilities, but he is also pragmatic: the government’s approval for nuclear research will help explain future results, while the actual research is already progressing in secret.
• Gao Jingchuan jokes with Shen about the valuable materials and the danger of stealing from his headquarters, reflecting their easy familiarity.
• Academician Liu turns from a technical collaborator into a potential mentor, offering personal support and exchanging contact details with Shen.
• Wei Changjia carries out Shen’s plans for the Shanghai branch and factory, while the company’s public profile and perceived economic value continue to grow.
• The Third Prince’s bravado proves dependent on Shen’s power. Shen refuses to pretend he can simply eliminate the monsters, exposing the gap between the prince’s confidence and his willingness to take risks.

Significant themes

• Technological power and national interest: Phantom Immortal Technology’s materials and inventions are so advanced that they attract both government cooperation and public fascination.
• Wealth and responsibility: Shen can afford costly pollution controls and gives the reactor materials away, contrasting his resources with the environmental and financial constraints faced by others.
• Public image versus hidden reality: The Shanghai branch is highly publicized, while the company’s most consequential fusion research is already proceeding out of sight.
• Bravado versus dependence: The final exchange undercuts the Third Prince’s bold talk, showing how confidence can rely on someone else’s strength.

Key plot points and events

• The Third Prince hesitates to pay for Shen Bing’s Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, which costs a thousand Immortal Jade per bolt. With nearly a hundred Great Demons near the formation, the expense could become enormous.
• Shen Bing offers to lure the demons away so the Third Prince can pass through the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation. He pilots the Skyflying Shuttle toward them, but only some of the demons pursue him; the rest stay on guard.
• The pursuing demons coordinate to surround Shen Bing. He survives a series of dangerous maneuvers, squeezing the shuttle through a narrow gap between them and then slipping between the claws of a concealed Giant Bird.
• Shen Bing returns to the formation and tries to draw away the demons still guarding it, but they ignore his taunts. Unable to clear a path, he teleports back to the Third Prince.
• The Third Prince again recommends using the divine talisman. Shen Bing negotiates a payment: he values the Lightning Summoning cultivation method at ten thousand Immortal Jade and agrees to cover the cost of up to ten thunderbolts himself. If he must use more, the Third Prince will reimburse him for the extra bolts.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing proves quick-thinking and highly skilled under pressure, though he is frustrated when the demons outmaneuver his plan. He also shows restraint in pricing the deal, avoiding what he considers dishonest profit.
• The Third Prince recognizes that Lightning Summoning is far less powerful than Shen Bing’s divine thunder. He is polite and apologetic about the risk, but remains cost-conscious until they reach an agreement.
• Their relationship is practical but cordial: Shen Bing resents the Third Prince’s reluctance to share the expense, yet negotiates rather than letting the dispute derail their mission.

Significant themes

• Ingenuity under pressure: Shen Bing relies on precision and rapid calculation to survive overwhelming odds.
• Changing threats: The Great Demons’ immense physical strength—and their apparent loss of demon arts after the Three Realms Mutation—shapes the danger Shen Bing faces.
• Trust and fair compensation: The chapter weighs friendship and responsibility against the real cost of Shen Bing’s abilities.
• Commerce and risk: Shen Bing tries to set an honest price while considering how the arrangement might turn topped-up Immortal Jade into Immortal Realm currency.

Plot points and events

• The Third Prince worries that repeated uses of Shen Bing’s Nine Heavens Divine Thunder could become ruinously expensive. After bargaining, they agree that the Prince will cover 70% of the cost of every bolt and Shen Bing 30%, giving the Prince some hope that Shen Bing will use the weapon sparingly.
• Shen Bing counts 106 Great Demons near the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation. He decides he needs 106 talismans to defeat them all, but his current balance can buy only 21.
• Claiming he needs to meditate and recover, Shen Bing sends the Third Prince away in the Skyflying Shuttle and logs out of the Immortal Realm interface.
• He calls Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and learns that AiLi interface licenses have already generated $60 billion, with many deals still pending. Shen Bing arranges to distribute the proceeds: $45 billion to himself and $15 billion to Zuckerberg personally.
• Shen Bing expects to use his share to buy enough talismans and potentially strengthen himself with other treasures. The chapter ends as he celebrates the lucrative payout.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is shrewd and opportunistic. He uses confident talk to secure favorable cost-sharing terms, conceals his real plan from the trusting Third Prince, and quickly turns to his business network to finance it.
• The Third Prince is cautious about the potential expense but ultimately accepts Shen Bing’s terms. He trusts Shen Bing’s explanation that he needs to rest and waits at a safe distance.
• Zuckerberg flatters Shen Bing and reports the success of AiLi licensing. Their exchange shows a close, commercially advantageous partnership: Zuckerberg recognizes Shen Bing’s authority, while Shen Bing directs pricing and the distribution of profits.

Significant themes

• Bargaining and self-interest: Both Shen Bing and the Third Prince try to limit their financial exposure, though Shen Bing gets the more favorable deal.
• Trust and deception: The Prince accepts Shen Bing’s stated reason for leaving, unaware that Shen Bing is seeking funds for a much larger attack.
• Wealth as power: Shen Bing’s business profits may translate directly into talismans, combat strength, and progress in the Immortal Realm.
• Commercial opportunism: The AiLi licensing scheme turns technology access into enormous revenue, which Shen Bing treats as a resource for his broader ambitions.

Summary

• Shen Bing waits for Facebook to transfer US$45 billion, considering how to use the money. Since his growing power may prompt enemies—especially the United States—to target his family, he decides to buy Dragon-Tiger Pills to strengthen his parents. He views his actions at Facebook as the start of a longer counterattack, but knows he must stay vigilant in the meantime.
• In his courtyard, Shen Bing admires the rapidly growing Immortal Peach Tree and its developing fruit. The spiritual qi around it has also accelerated the growth and apparent intelligence of the sparrows living there: the pair now have three chicks, and the birds behave selectively around the villa’s cat, Little Doudou, and the more formidable Feifei. Shen Bing chooses to observe them rather than enhance them further, treating their development as an experiment.
• Shen Bing remains unable to detect spiritual qi with Earth’s current scientific tools. He hopes that upgrading the Gate to the Immortal Realm will eventually reveal what it is, though he wonders how such a discovery might change Earth.
• The next morning, Lu Xian reports finding a rock fragment soaked in blood at the destroyed U.S. genetic research base. The blood differs from that of known organisms, and Qiuqiu is analyzing it. Lu Xian also notes that the FBI has sealed off the area—not merely to investigate the explosion, but apparently to search for something.
• Shen Bing asks Qiuqiu for an update on the captured institute staff. She says the institute’s director had significant knowledge of the creature Shen Bing encountered. According to the director’s memories, it is not a species native to Earth. Shen Bing hopes it might be alien, reflecting humanity’s enduring curiosity about life beyond Earth, but Qiuqiu rules that out. He feels both disappointed and relieved, concluding that humanity is not yet ready to face such possibilities.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing becomes more protective of his parents as his public prominence and international conflicts increase. He balances scientific curiosity with caution, recognizing both the promise and danger of discoveries beyond humanity’s current abilities.
• Lu Xian demonstrates speed and thoroughness in investigating the research-base site, then alerts Shen Bing to the FBI’s unusual search.
• Qiuqiu supplies intelligence from the captured personnel’s memories and clarifies the creature’s origins, while continuing to analyze the mysterious blood.
• Shen Bing’s thoughts about Little Doudou, Feifei, and the sparrows show his close attention to the animals’ unusual development and the hierarchy among them.

Significant themes

• Protecting loved ones amid rising power: Shen Bing’s success increases the danger to those close to him.
• Scientific limits and the unknown: Spiritual qi and the creature’s nature exceed current human understanding.
• Curiosity tempered by caution: The possibility of alien life excites Shen Bing, but he recognizes that humanity may be unprepared.
• Powerful consequences of discovery: Even extraordinary advances may create new risks before they can be understood.

• X and the genetic research: Qiuqiu explains that the monster known as X was created by a former research director using genes from more than a dozen species. An unusual, unidentified genetic sequence enabled the genes to fuse, giving X exceptional strength, speed, durability, jumping ability, and regeneration. X became violent and ate the researchers who created him. The current director, Clarence, took over after X was already caged.
• Shen Bing considers the threat: Evidence that X’s cage was broken and the FBI was searching near the institute leads Shen Bing to suspect X may have escaped. Though he believes he could locate the creature with the Eye of Gods and Demons, he decides not to investigate yet: there have been no reports of attacks, and he has more urgent missions in the Gate to the Immortal Realm.
• The connection to Gene Warriors: Qiuqiu reveals that the American Gene Warriors also carried X’s unusual gene sequence, which made their creation possible. Its origin is unknown, and Shen Bing’s organization lacks the biotechnology expertise to reproduce it. He decides to wait for the captured researchers to be assessed and may recruit a qualified one to lead genetic research.
• Shen Bing’s windfall and purchase: Eli confirms that US$45 billion has arrived in Shen Bing’s account. Shen Bing converts it into Immortal Jade, bringing his balance to 281,201. Confident that he can now help the Third Prince confront the Great Demons, he directs Nezha toward the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation and buys 105 Nine Heavens Divine Talismans. He begins analyzing one immediately, hoping the large number of attempts will finally yield useful black technology.
  Character developments and interactions: Shen Bing moves from alarm and curiosity about X to pragmatic restraint, then shifts into bold optimism after receiving the money. Qiuqiu serves as his scientific source, explaining the genetic evidence while acknowledging the limits of their knowledge. The Third Prince remains anxious and dependent on Shen Bing, but chooses not to caution him about conserving the divine lightning, fearing it could undermine their plan.
  Themes: The chapter explores the dangers of scientific ambition and genetic manipulation, the uncertainty of a potentially escaped creation, and the power—and rapid expenditure—of wealth. It also contrasts responsibility with self-interest: Shen Bing recognizes X as a threat but postpones action because it is not yet his priority.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing repeatedly uses Forced Analysis on the Nine Heavens Divine Talismans, with dozens of failures before finally obtaining two-star Ion Cannon Manufacturing Technology.
• He transfers and examines the technology. The ion cannon is powerful and exceptionally fast, making it ideal for defending ships or land installations and intercepting missiles—but its equipment takes up roughly 70–80 cubic meters, so it cannot realistically be mounted on an aircraft.
• As the Skyflying Shuttle nears the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation, Shen Bing and Nezha spot more Great Demons than before. Shen Bing buys two additional talismans and plans to clear a path with a mass attack.
• Shen Bing launches thirty-nine Nine Heavens Divine Thunder bolts at once, instantly turning thirty-nine charging Great Demons to ash. The surviving demons freeze instead of attacking, frustrating Shen Bing’s plan to draw them away from the formation.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shifts from eager experimentation to practical excitement: the ion cannon gives him a promising defensive weapon, and he considers future miniaturization. In battle, he remains bold and extravagant, unleashing all thirty-nine talismans in one spectacular strike.
• Nezha initially approves of Shen Bing’s aggressive attitude toward the Monster Race. Watching the lightning barrage, however, he realizes how dangerous Shen Bing is and worries that he could kill even Nezha. He also winces at the likely cost, though he tries to conceal his concern about the expense.
• Shen Bing hides his excitement about the newly acquired technology when Nezha asks what he is thinking, joking instead that he looks forward to burning the demons. Nezha accepts the explanation, given his own combative nature.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: The ion cannon offers immense destructive capability but is constrained by its enormous size; technological advances still demand practical compromises.
• Spectacle versus cost: Shen Bing’s overwhelming lightning attack is effective, but its lavish use of expensive talismans leaves Nezha lamenting the bill.
• Fear and control: The surviving demons’ paralysis shows that overwhelming force can stop an enemy without a fight—and frustrates Shen Bing, who needs them to move so the plan can proceed.

Plot and key events

• Shen Bing’s Nine Heavens Divine Talismans unleash repeated barrages of divine thunder, annihilating the Great Demons who attacked him.
• After the first barrage, Shen Bing’s character appears to collapse and fall from the sky. Nezha rushes to save him, but the demons attack before he can reach him. A second thunder barrage wipes them out too.
• Shen Bing is unharmed by the fall, though he pretends to be exhausted. He tells Nezha he will activate the Zhou Tian Star-Dipper Formation but cannot accompany him through it.
• Nezha offers to pay Shen Bing’s fee in advance. Shen Bing accepts and charges him 75,600 Immortal Jade. They enter the formation, while a group of Monster Race members arrives too late to find them.
• Inside, Shen Bing suggests Nezha seek reimbursement from the Heavenly Court because the losses occurred during an official mission. He proposes having Nezha’s father or another influential god introduce a broader compensation policy. Nezha is persuaded to raise the idea with his father.
• Nezha pays Shen Bing. Shen Bing then asks about cultivation pills; Nezha recommends Lord Lao, whose pills Shen Bing hopes to obtain later. Shen Bing teleports away and finds himself somewhere unexpected.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains calculating and business-minded: he avoids openly provoking Nezha, then takes advantage of Nezha’s offer to collect payment. He also cleverly reframes Nezha’s loss as a case for systemic reform.
• Nezha shifts from panic at Shen Bing’s apparent collapse to relief when the demons are destroyed, then frustration at the cost of the thunder. He nevertheless honors his offer and begins considering Shen Bing’s reimbursement proposal.
• Their relationship stays cooperative but transactional: Nezha relies on Shen Bing for survival and passage, while Shen Bing sees him as both an ally and a source of Immortal Jade.

Significant themes

• Modern ideas versus tradition: Shen Bing introduces expense claims and institutional compensation to a Heavenly Court unfamiliar with them.
• Self-interest and obligation: Nezha regrets the cost but keeps his word; Shen Bing balances helping him with profit.
• Power and appearances: Shen Bing’s apparent collapse is misleading, and his enemies’ brief chance to attack ends in another overwhelming display of force.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing teleports to the Flood Dragon Demon King’s home, the Blackwater Swamp, and immediately sinks into the sludge. He uses his Skyflying Shuttle to pull himself free, then finds a clean pool to wash.
• When the Flood Dragon Demon King finally responds to Shen Bing’s call, he remains hidden and explains that he fled to the swamp because he fears Sun Wukong will eliminate the old demon kings now that he has attained enlightenment.
• Shen Bing argues that Sun Wukong wants to reunite the Seven Great Sages, not harm them, and says Guanyin took Red Boy to guide him rather than punish him. He claims the Bull Demon King, King Macaque, and King Yuzei have already gone to Mount Huaguo.
• The suspicious Flood Dragon Demon King demands proof. He will accept only confirmation from the Bull Demon King, whom he trusts more than the two monkey kings.
• Shen Bing cannot locate the Bull Demon King at Mount Huaguo or Accumulated Thunder Mountain. When he agrees to search for him, the quest system reveals a free teleport to Plantain Cave on Green Cloud Mountain.
• Shen Bing suspects the Bull Demon King is visiting Princess Iron Fan, then teleports to the cave. Using his Heavenly Eye, he scans the area—and ends the chapter with a surprised reaction to what he sees.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing remains resourceful and determined, but his patience wears thin as he deals with the swamp and the Flood Dragon Demon King’s distrust. He tries persuasion, gets frustrated, and ultimately agrees to fetch the Bull Demon King.
• The Flood Dragon Demon King is revealed as deeply fearful and mistrustful. He interprets Sun Wukong’s rise as a threat and refuses to show himself or believe Shen Bing without a trusted witness.
• Shen Bing and the Flood Dragon Demon King clash over the demon king’s suspicions. Shen Bing mocks his cowardice and challenges his reasoning, while the Flood Dragon Demon King insists on seeing the Bull Demon King.
• The Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan are not seen, but Shen Bing speculates that their son Red Boy may have helped bring them toward reconciliation.

Significant themes

• Fear and distrust: The Flood Dragon Demon King’s isolation is driven by his belief that others intend to betray or eliminate him.
• Reconciliation and reunion: Shen Bing’s mission is to gather the Seven Great Sages, while the possibility of Red Boy reconnecting his parents hints at renewed family ties.
• Practical frustration in a fantastical world: Shen Bing’s grand quest is repeatedly complicated by mundane discomforts, suspicious personalities, and the need to earn others’ cooperation.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing’s Heavenly Eye lets him observe the Bull Demon King and Princess Iron Fan flirting on Jade Cloud Mountain. He arrives by Skyflying Shuttle and is nearly attacked when Princess Iron Fan mistakes him for a threat.
• The Bull Demon King recognizes Shen Bing as the benefactor who helped reunite him with Red Boy, and explains his identity to his wife. Shen Bing asks the Bull Demon King to persuade the wary Flood Dragon Demon King to join the reconciliation at Mount Huaguo.
• The Bull Demon King agrees, but cannot leave because a powerful North Sea demon has harassed Princess Iron Fan and threatened to return. He is staying to protect her and Green Screen Mountain.
• Shen Bing offers to guard the mountain so the Bull Demon King can make the trip. To reassure him, Shen Bing briefly reveals the Nine Heavens Divine Talisman, demonstrating that he can defeat the intruder.
• Trusting Shen Bing’s strength and his past kindness, the Bull Demon King departs in the Skyflying Shuttle for Blackwater Swamp, where the Flood Dragon Demon King is hiding. The journey should take about three days.
• After the Bull Demon King leaves, Shen Bing is suddenly overcome by intense hunger.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains resourceful and mission-focused, weighing ways to free the Bull Demon King to complete his urgent task. He uses reassurance and an oath to earn the Bull Demon King’s trust, while privately grumbling about the complications.
• The Bull Demon King shows affection and concern for Princess Iron Fan, but also deep gratitude toward Shen Bing. His loyalty to both his family and his old allies motivates his decision to go.
• Princess Iron Fan is fiercely protective, quick to raise her Plantain Fan, and initially suspicious of Shen Bing. Once she learns who he is, she apologizes and defers to her husband.
• Shen Bing and the Bull Demon King maintain a warm, trusting relationship; the Bull Demon King’s gratitude outweighs his reluctance to leave his wife.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and reconciliation: Shen Bing works to reunite the Seven Great Sages, while old bonds and gratitude help overcome suspicion.
• Family and protection: The Bull Demon King’s duty to protect his wife and home complicates his commitment to his former companions.
• Trust and obligation: Shen Bing’s reputation, demonstrated power, and solemn oath convince the Bull Demon King to entrust Princess Iron Fan to his care.
• Urgency and cost: Shen Bing’s time-limited mission pushes him to find a practical solution, even if it means spending a valuable divine talisman.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing realizes his real body—not his in-game character—is ravenously hungry. He suspects the energy drain came either from intense brain activity or from his brain connecting with the Gate to the Immortal Realm while he piloted the Skyflying Shuttle. He eats five jin of braised beef.
• He leaves Princess Iron Fan at Plantain Cave and stands guard for her, though he regrets not asking what the demon she fears looks like.
• Back at the Underground Base, Shen Bing reviews its status with Qiuqiu. The base has 5,102 people, including 239 combat personnel and 187 support staff; the rest are researchers. Women make up only 40 percent of the population.
• Qiuqiu warns that the imbalance could undermine the long-term community’s ability to form families. Shen Bing agrees to seek more female recruits, then discovers she has been watching pornography online and bans her from such videos.
• Qiuqiu reports that several research teams are making strong progress, while others—especially neurobehavioral science—are stretched thin by personnel work.
• Shen Bing decides to strengthen the leaders of the remaining teams with Aperture-Opening Pills. He also plans to give Naga, a talented hacker, a leadership role in electronic-information research.
• Before using the pills, Shen Bing realizes he forgot to analyze earlier ones. He resolves to analyze every item three times before transferring it, then attempts to analyze five new pills. The Eye of Truth says their technology exceeds its current level; his forced analysis fails.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows concern for Princess Iron Fan by guarding her cave, and he increasingly treats the Underground Base’s residents as a community rather than merely useful researchers.
• Qiuqiu acts both as an efficient administrator and a mischievous, increasingly independent personality. Her blunt comments about marriage and reproduction surprise Shen Bing, while her internet habits exasperate him.
• Shen Bing recognizes Naga’s exceptional aptitude and moves to honor his promise to develop the young hacker’s abilities.
• Shen Bing’s oversight about the pills frustrates him, prompting a new personal rule for handling items.

Significant themes

• Human needs and responsibility: The base’s members need more than food and work; Shen Bing begins considering their social and family lives.
• Technology and its limits: The Gate enables powerful advances, but the Eye of Truth cannot fully analyze technology beyond its level.
• Energy and connection: Shen Bing’s unexplained hunger hints that using the Gate or merging with the shuttle may impose physical costs.
• Learning through mistakes: Shen Bing’s forgotten analyses lead him to establish a more systematic approach going forward.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing’s attempt to analyze five Aperture-Opening Pills fails completely, leaving him frustrated. He resists the urge to buy more, keeping his remaining Immortal Jade for emergencies and for planned Dragon-Tiger Pill purchases.
• He gives the five pills to Bunier, Naga, Clarence, Colin, and Leon. They swallow them and collapse in agony as the pills take effect. Shen Bing arranges food for when they wake and asks Qiuqiu to break down the newly acquired Ion Cannon technology into its component principles and techniques.
• With no sign of the demon at the Gate to the Immortal Realm, Shen Bing goes to visit his parents and brings them two Dragon-Tiger Pills. He describes them as an experimental body-strengthening medicine, but warns that taking them may cause them to pass out.
• His mother hesitates after hearing about the side effect, setting up the question of whether she and Shen Bing’s father will take the pills.

Character developments

• Shen Bing shows greater restraint than before by resisting a risky impulse to spend his reserve Immortal Jade on more pills.
• Clarence appears far more confident than when Shen Bing last saw him, while the five recipients willingly trust Shen Bing enough to swallow unknown pills.
• Shen Bing is affectionate toward his parents but keeps his relationship with Yun Xue private, knowing his mother would immediately become involved.

Character interactions

• Shen Bing directs Qiuqiu and delegates work to his colleagues, treating the pills and Ion Cannon technology as resources for the wider organization.
• He shares a warm, teasing exchange with his father about his busy schedule and the rare plants around the family’s villas.
• His mother again presses him to settle down, joking that she cannot choose between the two girls she likes. Shen Bing avoids confirming his relationship with Yun Xue.
• His parents trust their son’s intentions and accept the pills, though his mother’s confidence falters when she learns they may cause her to faint.

Significant themes

• Risk and self-control: Shen Bing recognizes how easily frustration can lead to reckless spending and chooses caution.
• Family trust and care: He wants his parents to benefit from the pills but also tries to protect them from their painful effects.
• Secrecy and responsibility: Shen Bing keeps both experimental technology and his personal relationship private, aware of the consequences of disclosure.
• Power and restraint: The prospect of installing Ion Cannons at his home highlights the tension between extraordinary capability and responsible limits.

Plot and events

• Shen Bing persuades his mother to take a Dragon-Tiger Pill by promising benefits such as greater strength, improved appearance, and slower aging. He is partly bluffing, but expects the pills—and soon-to-ripen Immortal Peaches—to improve his parents’ health. His parents take the pills, endure brief pain, and later recover; his mother angrily threatens him, so he slips away.
• Lu Xian returns from the United States and finishes two military-commissioned satellites. Shen Bing tells Gao Jingchuan they are ready, jokingly calling them “eggs.” Gao initially misses the meaning, then agrees to collect them that day.
• Fang Yuanming asks Shen Bing for help after receiving a threat to kidnap his daughter, who is studying in France. Rather than lend his own guards, Shen recommends a security company and secretly arranges a protection contract through Qiuqiu.
• Shen sees the request as a way to give nearly 300 combat personnel in his Underground Base legitimate identities. Eli acquires the shell company Blade, and Shen plans to build its reputation and disguise the personnel’s appearances so they can be used openly in the future.
• Shen calls Fang back to ask why his daughter was targeted. Though the threat claimed it was for money, Fang suspects another motive. The chapter ends with Shen asking for the organization’s name.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen shows concern for his parents but is willing to deceive his mother to get her to take the pill. His nervousness while they recover gives way to relief—and then a quick escape from her scolding.
• His banter with Gao Jingchuan highlights their familiar, teasing relationship.
• Fang Yuanming’s hesitation reveals his anxiety as a father. Shen initially resists involving his own people, but responds by creating a practical solution that also advances his longer-term plans.
• Qiuqiu and Eli help Shen turn the protection request into a covert operation and a route toward legitimizing his hidden personnel.

Significant themes

• Family and protection: Shen’s concern for his parents and Fang’s worry for his daughter drive key decisions.
• Deception and good intentions: Shen exaggerates the pill’s benefits, while later concealing the true purpose of the security arrangement.
• Making hidden power legitimate: Shen seeks to transform his secret combat force into a lawful, usable organization.
• Unanswered danger: Fang’s suspicion that the kidnapping threat has a deeper motive sets up a looming mystery.

Plot points and events

• Fang Yuanming tells Shen Bing that Ghst, known in Huaxia as Dark Ghost, is a ruthless international criminal group and the world’s second-largest human-trafficking organization. Shen Bing shifts from simply arranging protection for Fang’s daughter, Fang Xin, to considering how to dismantle the group.
• Shen asks Qiuqiu to investigate Ghst, but it finds no useful information about its locations or members. Shen instead orders Qiuqiu to monitor internet-connected surveillance cameras around Fang Xin’s university in Paris, while Blade Company security personnel protect her.
• Shen dispatches 200 combat personnel to Africa, asking Rosa to organize the deployment. He then turns his attention to a demon and considers saving his Immortal Jade to improve his strength.
• Meanwhile, Dragon Scale Software spreads rapidly worldwide. Its embedded apps drive major growth for Huaxia internet companies; WeChat, for example, gains 100 million overseas users in seven days. The platform promises new opportunities but threatens established software businesses.
• Some countries launch antitrust investigations into Phantom Immortal Technology. Facebook responds by promoting its own AI, AiLi, and partners with Apple, Google, Oracle, and others. Apple, wary of relying on Phantom Immortal Technology, pays Facebook $10 billion to develop an intelligent version of its operating system over three months.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing moves from protecting one family to contemplating a broader campaign against human trafficking, while still balancing his security plans and supernatural goals.
• Qiuqiu shows a mischievous, increasingly personable side when it misunderstands “Ghst” as software to install. Despite its wit, it cannot penetrate the group’s secrecy.
• Rosa remains warmly and completely obedient to Shen, though the narrative notes that this obedience results from subconscious implantation.
• Shen’s exchanges with Fang Yuanming, Qiuqiu, and Rosa show him directing allies and resources on both the criminal and technological fronts.

Significant themes

• Justice versus secrecy: Shen wants to punish a deeply hidden criminal organization, but its security makes action difficult.
• Power and responsibility: His reach allows him to protect Fang Xin, deploy armed personnel, and influence events on a global scale.
• AI-driven disruption: Dragon Scale Software transforms user habits and the internet industry, creating both opportunity and fear.
• Competition and dependence: Companies and governments react to Phantom Immortal Technology’s dominance, while Facebook’s partnership with major firms offers an alternative—and Apple’s costly deal illustrates how strategic dependence shapes the race for AI.

Plot points and events

• Apple realizes its $20 billion deal has secured an AI-enhanced operating system, but Dragon Scale Software may still pose a much greater threat.
• Shen Bing checks on Charles’s work at the Underground Base. Charles has completed an instruction set that lets the Dragon Scale System communicate with hardware. A new, compatible chip is being designed, though only an initial design and sample testing are underway.
• Shen Bing then arranges for Wang Sheng to carry out further instructions.
• The next day, Phantom Immortal Technology announces an optional update that will replace users’ existing operating systems with Dragon Scale Software, claiming it will improve performance and reduce resource use.
• Most users are wary of changing their operating systems, while some loyal fans accept the update readily.
• Streamer Six-Four Open, who has built an audience demonstrating Dragon Scale Software, triggers the update during a livestream without reading its notice. Viewers react with alarm and jokes, expecting his phone to become unusable.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing pushes Dragon Scale’s expansion from software into hardware, while recognizing the technical and patent challenges involved.
• Charles demonstrates remarkable progress in developing the system’s machine-level instruction set, but the custom chip remains a difficult work in progress.
• Six-Four Open continues capitalizing on Dragon Scale’s popularity, but his casual decision to update creates suspense for him and his viewers.
• Shen Bing works closely with Charles on technical progress and contacts Wang Sheng to coordinate the next stage of the plan. Viewers interact through a lively, skeptical livestream chat.

Significant themes

• Technological ambition and competition: Phantom Immortal Technology is moving toward control of an entire computing platform, from operating system to custom chip.
• Trust and risk: Users hesitate to replace something as fundamental as an operating system, while others accept updates without reading the terms.
• Disruption and uncertainty: The update may challenge established companies and reshape the market, but its real-world effects have yet to be revealed.

Summary

• During a livestream, tech reviewer Six-Four Open tests the Dragon Scale System on his iPhone. The phone shuts down and restarts unusually quickly, displaying his artificial-intelligence companion, Little Black, as its interface.
• Little Black jokes and teases the viewers before explaining that Phantom Immortal Technology’s custom instruction set and adaptive drivers let the system work smoothly with the phone. He credits the company’s chairman, Shen Bing, with overseeing the technology.
• The launch sparks widespread enthusiasm in Huaxia, where a domestically owned operating system is seen as a long-awaited breakthrough against dependence on Windows, Android, and iOS. Dragon Scale’s user count rises from a few hundred to more than fifty million in a single morning.
• Many phone users update after hearing the system works across brands, though cautious owners wait for proof of stability. Gamers hesitate because mobile games are not yet supported, while many PC users stay with their existing systems because Dragon Scale cannot run all their work applications.
• The mass switch alarms technology companies, especially Apple and Microsoft. Apple CEO Bedi fears that losing users to Dragon Scale will undermine the App Store ecosystem that helps make the iPhone business profitable.

Character developments and interactions

• Six-Four Open shifts from hyping the update to reacting with surprise at its speed. He tries to get Little Black to explain the technology, but is insulted when the AI calls the question—and, by implication, its master—stupid.
• Little Black comes across as playful, vain, and provocative, winning the livestream audience’s affection while demonstrating that he can also explain the system’s technical advantages.
• Bedi is introduced as deeply alarmed by the threat to Apple’s business model, not merely its phone sales.

Significant themes

• National pride and technological independence: Dragon Scale represents Huaxia’s chance to challenge foreign control of a crucial technology.
• Disruptive innovation and platform competition: The system’s AI-based approach lets Phantom Immortal enter a field traditionally dominated by established operating systems.
• Adoption versus caution: Users weigh excitement against device safety, practical software needs, and missing features.
• Ecosystems and economic power: Operating systems matter because they determine access to users and the software markets built around them.

Key plot points and events

• Dragon Scale Software successfully replaces Apple’s IS operating system on Apple phones, triggering a rapid loss of users. Apple executives are shocked, since they had assumed phone manufacturers—not software makers—controlled which operating systems ran on their devices.
• Apple’s technical leadership suspects a source-code leak, then considers suing Phantom Immortal Technology for patent infringement. But their overnight analysis cannot decipher Dragon Scale’s code: it appears to use an unfamiliar programming language, making both reverse engineering and a lawsuit difficult.
• With users leaving IS for Dragon Scale, Apple decides it cannot simply block the software and risk driving customers to Android. Its best option is to make IS intelligent before Dragon Scale builds a fuller app ecosystem, requiring help from Facebook.
• Microsoft faces a similar threat: Dragon Scale is already mature, and its limited application library is its main weakness. Facebook demands $30 billion for three years of access to its intelligent interface, but Microsoft concludes it must pay before losing more users.
• The companies do not realize that Shen Bing controls Facebook, meaning much of the money they pay will ultimately go to him.
• Meanwhile, Shen Bing relaxes at home as news reports celebrate Phantom Immortal Technology’s geothermal power-station project and Dragon Scale’s debut as a national operating system. He also watches news of SpaceX’s powerful Falcon Heavy rocket launch and confidently predicts that his own aerospace efforts will soon surpass it.

Character developments and interactions

• Bedi, Apple’s leader, moves from alarm and suspicion to a pragmatic response: he orders a patent lawsuit, then abandons that plan when the technical evidence proves indecipherable and focuses on improving IS.
• Deang, Apple’s technical director, initially believes Apple can stop Dragon Scale through patent claims. His team’s failure to understand its code forces him to recognize the technology’s unprecedented nature and the weakness of Apple’s legal position.
• Microsoft’s executives are frustrated by Facebook’s high price but accept that their dependence on users leaves them little choice.
• Shen Bing remains calm and confident. At home, he enjoys the public impact of his company’s work while privately benefiting from the crisis facing Apple and Microsoft. He also regards SpaceX’s achievement as temporary competition.
• At Shen Bing’s home, Yuan Wei prepares dinner while Yun Xue enthusiastically helps her, providing a quiet domestic contrast to the corporate turmoil.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption and user dependence: Once users become accustomed to intelligent services, companies risk losing them permanently if they cannot keep up.
• The limits of established power: Apple’s patents, hardware control, and security protections prove ineffective against technology it cannot understand.
• Control of ecosystems and users: Apple and Microsoft’s survival depends on retaining users, while Facebook can exploit their urgency for enormous fees.
• Hidden leverage and dramatic irony: Shen Bing secretly controls the company both rivals need, giving him power over their response.
• Confidence in national and technological progress: Shen Bing supports Huaxia’s military and infrastructure development and believes his company can overtake American aerospace leaders.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing sees a gigantic nine-headed monster near the Plantain Cave and realizes it is the demon harassing Princess Iron Fan.
• The monster attacks before Princess Iron Fan can use her Plantain Fan. Shen Bing stops her, wanting to handle the enemy himself.
• Shen Bing summons Nine Heavens Divine Thunder, which destroys the monster’s main body. A tiny duplicate escapes, apparently created through a self-sacrificing avatar technique.
• Shen Bing pursues the fleeing creature with another talisman. It surrenders, and the system offers Shen Bing the chance to accept it as a pet.
• Shen Bing accepts and names it Little Nine. The system identifies it as a new individual created by the Nine-Headed Worm’s Blood-Drop Avatar technique, with high growth potential and the strength-enhancing ability Diamond Battle Body.
• Shen Bing considers bringing Little Nine into the real world but decides to leave it in the Immortal Realm, where its potential may be better used and raising it would be costly.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing remains bold and opportunistic: he blocks Princess Iron Fan from attacking so he can capture the monster, then turns the enemy’s surrender into an unexpected prize. His confidence in the pet system grows, though he also weighs Little Nine’s long-term usefulness against the cost of raising it.
• Princess Iron Fan is furious at the monster’s return and prepares to defend Green Screen Mountain, but Shen Bing takes charge and prevents her from acting.
• The Nine-Headed Worm begins as an arrogant attacker, then sacrifices part of itself to escape the thunder and quickly submits when Shen Bing corners it.
• Shen Bing names the captured avatar Little Nine and compares its promise favorably with his weaker pet, Little Doudou.

Significant themes

• Power and opportunism: Shen Bing turns a dangerous attack into a valuable acquisition.
• Growth and responsibility: Little Nine’s strength has great potential, but developing it requires resources and careful planning.
• Appearances versus identity: The monster resembles a Hydra, but the system identifies it as a Nine-Headed Worm—and specifically as a newly created avatar rather than necessarily the original creature.

• Shen Bing tests whether he can analyze Little Nine with the Eye of Truth, hoping to gain knowledge about demon cultivation. The system refuses because Little Nine is alive; Shen Bing realizes that vital signs—not intelligence—are the obstacle, but rejects the idea of killing him to try again.
• Princess Iron Fan mistakes Shen Bing’s summoned Nine Heavens Divine Thunder for proof that he killed the demon. Shen Bing accepts her praise, then declines her offer of hospitality because he is in a hurry. As a thank-you, he asks to inspect her Plantain Fan. She reluctantly lends it to him, but Shen Bing discovers he cannot put a borrowed item into his inventory or analyze it. He returns it, earning her greater trust.
• Back on Illusory Void Island, Shen Bing releases Little Nine, who has been magically made his pet. Little Nine remembers his former life and understands that Shen Bing can control his fate. He reluctantly agrees to stay on the island, whose abundant spiritual energy impresses both him and Shen Bing. Shen Bing tells him about the island’s other resident, a Demon Puppet Artisan, and asks him to tend the immortal herbs.
• Shen Bing then travels to a barren mountain basin to seek the Roc Demon King, one of the two remaining demon kings he intends to deal with. His challenge gets no answer, and he wonders whether the Roc Demon King is hiding—or simply lives high on a cliff.
  Character developments and interactions: Shen Bing remains resourceful and confident, but his plans are constrained by the system’s ownership rules. Little Nine shifts from a fleeing enemy to a resentful, involuntary subordinate, while Princess Iron Fan’s faith in Shen Bing grows when he returns her treasured fan without trying to keep it.
  Themes: The chapter plays comic frustration against Shen Bing’s power and ambition: the system’s limits frustrate his attempts to analyze or collect magical objects, while magical control turns Little Nine’s desperate promise of service into binding reality. Trust, gratitude, and the difference between apparent generosity and actual freedom also shape the characters’ exchanges.

Plot points and events

• After two days of waiting for the Bull Demon King to return with news of the Flood Dragon Demon King, Shen Bing decides not to risk searching the towering cliffs for the Roc Demon King alone. He expects to resume the search with help later.
• Shen visits his Underground Base through the research villa he built as a cover for his activities. There, he checks on the Aerospace R&D Department.
• The department is designing a nuclear-powered spacecraft using high-speed ion-beam propulsion. Its goal is eventually to travel across the Solar System, potentially as far as the Kuiper Belt.
• The team is also considering an onboard artificial ecosystem to sustain long missions, but its technical challenges and development time remain uncertain.
• Concerned that SpaceX could reach the Moon before Phantom Immortal Technology, Shen asks how quickly his team could respond. Rox says a lunar mission could be prioritized if the ecosystem is postponed, provided the fusion reactor team can develop controlled nuclear fusion within six months.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shifts from waiting on his supernatural search to addressing a business and strategic threat. He is ambitious, competitive, and determined not to let SpaceX claim lunar resources first.
• Rox, the aerospace department head, demonstrates technical confidence and gives Shen a candid assessment: the main obstacle is not whether SpaceX can attempt a landing, but whether its leader chooses to risk it.
• Shen presses Rox about the spacecraft’s timeline and priorities. Rox explains the tension between building a long-range vessel with sustainable life support and accelerating a simpler craft for a Moon landing.

Significant themes

• Competition for space resources: The Moon and outer space are presented as future arenas of economic and geopolitical rivalry.
• Ambition versus preparation: Shen wants to move quickly, while the research team must balance speed against long-term sustainability.
• Technology and strategic secrecy: The advanced, hidden Underground Base contrasts with the public-facing laboratory that disguises it.
• Practical limits of exploration: Propulsion alone is not enough; food, life support, energy, and crew capacity shape what a spacecraft can accomplish.