Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Reporter Ross challenges the safety of Phantom Immortal Technology’s new headquarters. Designer Fischer angrily defends it, citing earthquake protection, stocked safe rooms, and resistance to fire.
• Ross’s colleague points out that the building’s claims are backed by regulatory approvals and independent test reports. Ross is embarrassed but photographs the documents to check them later.
• Other reporters gather around Fischer, who describes further unusual features: a looped elevator system and four geothermal power stations that meet the building’s energy needs.
• Shen Bing visits his office on the 98th floor and speaks with his new secretary, Yan Lexuan. He hints that the tower’s modular sections can eventually be separated.
• The relocation ceremony begins before a large audience, including provincial and city officials. Their speeches praise the company, but Secretary Jiang’s strong endorsement of an upcoming achievement convinces reporters that Phantom Immortal Technology is about to unveil something extraordinary.

Character developments and interactions

• Fischer is proud and increasingly confident in the building, enthusiastically answering reporters’ questions despite knowing little about its confidential features.
• Ross remains skeptical even after seeing official evidence, though he is forced to confront how mistaken his accusations may be.
• Shen Bing presents a calm, playful manner with Yan Lexuan while teasing the tower’s still-unrevealed capabilities.
• Yan Lexuan is excited about her new workplace and speaks respectfully with Shen Bing.
• Secretary Jiang lends the company’s coming announcement considerable credibility through his public praise.

Significant themes

• Innovation and disbelief: The building’s extraordinary design is initially met with ridicule and skepticism.
• Safety and responsibility: Fischer argues that the structure’s advanced protections make it safer, not more dangerous.
• Public recognition and anticipation: The ceremony and official endorsement build suspense around the company’s next major achievement.

Plot points and events

• At the relocation ceremony, Shen Bing gives an impromptu speech reviewing Phantom Immortal Technology’s rapid growth. He thanks the government and employees, then announces four wholly owned subsidiaries: Materials, Energy, Optoelectronics, and Logistics.
• In the press questions, he says the Phantom Immortal Tower cost about 10 billion yuan to build, though using market-priced materials would make its cost effectively incalculable. He also rules out taking the company public, saying it has no need for outside funding.
• Reports about the tower spread online. Experts are astonished by the advanced materials used in it, while Huaxia sees the company’s breakthroughs as a chance to overcome longstanding technological constraints. Companies begin preparing to seek cooperation.
• At the afternoon event, Shen Bing introduces grim global cancer statistics and announces that Phantom Immortal Technology has achieved results that can remove cancer from the list of incurable diseases. The audience reacts with disbelief and commotion.

Character developments

• Shen Bing appears confident and strategic: he speaks smoothly, controls the ceremony’s schedule, declines to answer questions about the afternoon announcement in advance, and emphasizes the company’s independence and financial strength.
• The reporters shift from amused skepticism about Shen Bing’s polished speech to intense curiosity about the restructuring and the company’s products. His cancer claim leaves them startled and doubtful.
• Experts and the public respond differently to the tower’s technology: ordinary people marvel at its features, while researchers worry that Phantom Immortal Technology has outpaced their work and diminished its future value.

Significant themes

• Technological disruption: Phantom Immortal Technology’s materials appear to leap beyond what other researchers have achieved, with implications for science, industry, and national development.
• Power and independence: The company’s wealth and wholly owned subsidiaries let Shen Bing resist public-market pressure and operate on his own terms.
• Public benefit versus skepticism: Shen Bing presents the cancer announcement as a humanitarian breakthrough, but the scale of the claim makes the audience question whether it can be true.
• National competition: The materials advances are portrayed as potentially freeing Huaxia from dependence on foreign technology.

Character interactions

• Shen Bing thanks government officials and employees, though his repeated mention of the company’s tax exemption makes the officials privately uncomfortable.
• Reporters probe the tower’s cost, the restructuring, future products, and a possible IPO; Shen Bing answers selectively and ends the morning session before revealing the afternoon news.
• At the afternoon presentation, Shen Bing speaks directly to the assembled press about cancer, while the reporters’ professional restraint breaks under the extraordinary claim.

Key plot points and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology chairman Shen Bing presents footage from Xiaxi Hospital showing six terminal cancer patients receiving the company’s new drug, Cancer Cure No. 1.
• Over several doses, the patients improve dramatically. Medical tests show that cancer cells disappear—even in patients whose cancer had spread throughout their bodies. The audience is stunned and breaks into applause.
• Shen announces that the drug has passed clinical testing and received approval for sale. In two hours, the company will open an online portal for medical-record submissions, prioritizing the most seriously ill. The program will initially serve Huaxia, with other countries to follow within a month.
• Each bottle costs about 5,000 yuan to produce and will sell for 10,000 yuan. Since most patients need no more than ten bottles, Shen argues that the treatment is far cheaper than conventional cancer care. Huaxia citizens will receive a 90% discount.
• Asked whether other countries can get discounts, Shen says they may—except South Korea, because the company does not want its savings used to fund the country’s Anti-Missile System.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen begins by anticipating the audience’s skepticism and supports his claims with hospital footage and medical records. He presents himself as confident, pragmatic, and committed to helping patients, while also using national loyalty to explain the company’s priorities and pricing.
• Reporters move from disbelief to excitement and trust. Some praise Shen and the company, though the narration notes that their faith in the company’s past achievements is largely blind enthusiasm.
• Foreign reporters press Shen about international access and discounts. His answer reassures them that treatment will expand abroad, but his pointed rejection of Korean preferential pricing ends the event on a politically charged note.

Significant themes

• Medical breakthroughs and hope: The drug’s apparent ability to cure advanced cancer suggests a transformation in medicine.
• Trust and proof: Shen addresses skepticism by presenting records and test results, though some audience members remain uncertain about the footage’s authenticity.
• Access, cost, and fairness: The drug is expensive by ordinary standards but comparatively affordable against existing cancer treatment; the steep domestic discount prioritizes Huaxia patients.
• National loyalty and politics: Shen’s promise to treat domestic patients first—and exclude South Korea from discounts—shows how medical aid is entangled with patriotism and international tensions.

Plot and key events

• Shen Bing explains that Cancer Cure No. 1 will be distributed internationally in stages because production is limited to treating about 10,000 people per day. Countries with closer ties to Huaxia may receive preferential treatment.
• Asked whether the United States will be among the first recipients, Shen Bing reiterates that American customers are excluded while U.S. tariffs on Phantom Immortal Technology’s products remain in place. The announcement makes clear that the company’s earlier sales ban could now have serious consequences for ordinary Americans.
• A Japanese reporter accuses Shen Bing of using a cure for cancer to impose his will. Shen challenges the reporter’s claim to speak for patients, then has security escort him out. The other attendees distance themselves from the reporter’s argument.
• Shen says the company intends to expand into pharmaceuticals and tackle other diseases. He jokes that childbirth is something he cannot do, prompting laughter.
• News of the launch spreads rapidly. Initial headlines announce that Phantom Immortal Technology has conquered cancer, though many people remain unsure whether the medicine works for every cancer or only one type. The chapter ends with reports emphasizing that the United States will be excluded from exports.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing presents himself as confident and unapologetically willing to use the company’s products as leverage in international disputes. He controls the press conference firmly, rebuking the Japanese reporter while keeping the event on his terms.
• The American reporter, Klaus, asks whether the United States will receive early access; Shen’s response exposes the consequences of the existing trade dispute.
• The Japanese reporter attempts to frame the medicine as a shared human resource, but retreats when Shen questions whom he represents.
• The audience shifts from surprise to caution. Huaxia attendees take pride in the company’s confrontation with the United States, while foreign reporters recognize the risks of antagonizing it. Several attendees publicly support Shen after the Japanese reporter is removed.

Significant themes

• Medicine as geopolitical leverage: The cure’s limited availability gives a private company substantial influence over governments and citizens.
• Access versus ownership: The Japanese reporter argues that medical advances should belong to all humanity; Shen and the audience counter that research requires incentives and that no one has authorized the reporter to speak for patients.
• Innovation and public hope: Cancer Cure No. 1 sparks worldwide excitement, even amid skepticism about the company’s biomedical experience.
• Power and reputation: Phantom Immortal Technology’s earlier decisions, once dismissed as childish, now appear consequential because its new product could affect life-and-death outcomes.

Summary

• After Phantom Immortal Technology announced that American citizens would be barred from using Cancer Cure No. 1, reactions split. Some praised Shen Bing, while others—especially Huaxia-born people who had become U.S. citizens—accused him of cruelty. Many regretted giving up Huaxia citizenship, since Huaxia does not permit dual nationality and they could no longer receive its preferential treatment.
• Reporters verified Shen Bing’s claims at Xiaxi Hospital. At least sixty patients with different cancers had been treated, and all were cured quickly with no detectable aftereffects. The news transformed skepticism into worldwide excitement: media celebrated the breakthrough, and citizens and governments urged their leaders to secure access to the medicine.
• The announcement caused a crisis in Washington. The President, who had recently imposed tariffs on Huaxia goods, had not expected Phantom Immortal Technology’s sales ban to matter much. Cancer Cure No. 1 changed that calculation, leaving him with little leverage and fearing the political consequences.
• Secretary of State Morey advised the President to reconcile with the company before public pressure forced the issue. He argued that the cure represented not merely a product but a chance at life, making it difficult for Congress—or the public—to resist. The President worried that reversing the tariffs so soon would damage his credibility, while Morey privately blamed him for provoking the conflict.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing uses the cancer cure—and the citizenship restriction—as a decisive pressure point, drawing both admiration and condemnation.
• The President shifts from dismissing the company’s ban to recognizing its immense political force, but remains reluctant to back down.
• Morey acts as the pragmatic voice of caution, urging reconciliation and privately criticizing the President’s impulsive confrontation.
• Former Huaxia citizens now holding U.S. citizenship become a particularly vocal group, resentful that their changed nationality excludes them from access to the cure.

Significant themes

• Medicine as power: A life-saving treatment gives a private company extraordinary influence over governments.
• Nationality and belonging: Citizenship has tangible consequences, affecting both social benefits and access to healthcare.
• Political pride versus practical necessity: The President’s concern for credibility clashes with the urgent pressure to obtain the cure.
• Public proof and accountability: Independent verification turns a spectacular claim into accepted fact, intensifying demands for access.

Key plot points and events

• The U.S. President agrees to consider lifting the extra tariffs so the United States can obtain Cancer Cure No. 1, while insisting that American experts try to reverse-engineer the drug. His advisers doubt this will work, given Phantom Immortal Technology’s history of producing inventions no one else can reproduce.
• After the product launch, Shen Bing meets with the company’s executives. They praise his public response to the Americans and tease him for keeping the good news secret.
• Wang Sheng raises the risk of medicine being smuggled abroad. Shen explains that the company will establish tightly supervised treatment centers, screen patients, monitor treatment, and stop future supplies if any medicine is diverted. A full course would be impossible to obtain through unofficial channels.
• Shen says that even if the United States lifts its tariffs, Phantom Immortal Technology will judge whether its approach is genuinely sincere before deciding how to respond.
• The Chinese leader calls Shen after speaking with the American President. He confirms that Washington has approached China, but says the government will leave the decision to Shen’s company. Shen claims production is limited and domestic demand must come first.
• Shen assigns the Sales Department to organize treatment centers and distribute the medicine, while ordering the company to begin establishing a Biopharmaceutical Division.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shows confidence and strategic foresight, balancing a firm stance toward the United States with practical plans for controlling the drug’s distribution. He also recognizes Wang Sheng’s business-minded concern and keeps his company informed only as much as he can.
• Wang Sheng demonstrates caution by anticipating smuggling and asking how the company should respond if tariffs are lifted. He supports the proposed safeguards and suggests forming a separate subsidiary for biopharmaceuticals.
• Chen Wanhua openly enjoys Shen’s retaliation against the Americans and jokingly asks to join future negotiations, reflecting his resentment over the U.S. ban on the Dragon Scale System.
• The executives share in the launch’s success, and their joking, praise, and trust in Shen strengthen the company’s team spirit.
• The Chinese leader backs Shen’s commercial independence, while the American President’s sudden politeness signals the pressure the cure has put on U.S. policy.

Significant themes

• Leverage through innovation: The cure gives Phantom Immortal Technology—and Shen—considerable bargaining power.
• National interests and commercial independence: The Chinese government declines to dictate the company’s response, leaving negotiations to Shen.
• Control and responsibility: Strict distribution rules are meant to ensure the medicine reaches patients while preventing diversion.
• Teamwork and leadership: The meeting highlights both the executives’ growing unity and Shen’s ability to value differing perspectives.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing names a planned subsidiary Phantom Immortal Biotechnology Company and invites current managers to apply for its leadership.
• He instructs sales manager Zhao Zijun to arrange free cancer treatments for selected patients, with company staff personally delivering the medicine.
• Shen Bing visits the secret server floors beneath headquarters. Their advanced, company-built hardware gives AI Qiuqiu immense computing power.
• He and Li Xiao travel to the Dragon Lake Ring Island Underground Base via a high-speed magnetic-levitation passage. Shen Bing explains that, despite its speed, the costly system is not suitable for nationwide transport.
• Li Xiao reports that evidence supplied by Thorne has helped expose Japanese officials and TEPCO executives. TEPCO faces investigation, public outrage, and orders to shut down its nuclear plants, creating an opportunity for Shen Bing’s geothermal projects.
• Shen Bing tells Thorne to recruit TEPCO’s nuclear experts—but insists they should be persuaded to join, rather than abducted.

Character development and interactions

• Shen Bing combines ambition and strategic planning with an insistence—at least in principle—on recruiting people voluntarily. His concern about whether forced recruits would count as his team helps explain his sudden emphasis on persuasion.
• Li Xiao is impressed by the maglev system and initially assumes Shen Bing wants the experts seized. Shen Bing corrects him sharply, though his final permission to be “flexible” leaves the meaning of voluntary recruitment somewhat ambiguous.
• Zhao Zijun responds professionally to Shen Bing’s unusual instruction about personally delivering medicine.
• The managers’ silence about applying to lead the new subsidiary reflects the seriousness of the decision.

Significant themes

• Virtue versus coercion: The chapter’s central joke is Shen Bing’s declaration that they must “win people over with virtue,” even as he leaves room for pressure.
• Technology and power: The secret data center and maglev passage showcase Phantom Immortal Technology’s overwhelming capabilities, while Shen Bing recognizes practical limits to deploying them widely.
• Corporate opportunity amid public crisis: TEPCO’s scandal and Japan’s nuclear shutdown create both a public-safety issue and a strategic opening for Shen Bing’s geothermal expansion.

Key plot points and events

• Eight mercenaries hiding in Syria possess a rare “Mysterious Insect,” which they stole during an operation involving American intelligence. U.S. forces have tightened border security, making escape difficult.
• The mercenaries debate whether to meet their buyer in Syria or risk crossing the border. Their leader suspects the buyer and worries someone may try to take the insect by force.
• Four heavily armored figures surround them. Their armor withstands anti-materiel fire, and the figures charge through the mercenaries’ gunfire unharmed.
• The leader threatens to shoot the insect, but No. 1 claims the group was hired by an Egyptian businessman to punish the mercenaries for damaging pyramids and mummies—and says they have no interest in the insect.
• While talking, the armored figures quietly incapacitate the mercenaries with an electrical shock. No. 1 and No. 4 take the captives and insect away by a helicopter that turns invisible; No. 2 and No. 3 leave misleading tracks.
• A pursuing force arrives and is tricked into following the false trail toward the Mediterranean.
• Back on Dragon Lake Ring Island, Shen Bing receives word from the Blade Mercenary Corps that the targets and insect have been secured. Pleased, he turns to an item in his inventory: a mysterious black dog bone.

Character developments and interactions

• The mercenary leader is greedy but pragmatic: he weighs the value of the insect against the danger of escape, then uses it as leverage when surrounded.
• The other mercenaries share his anxiety and initially trust that the insect gives them bargaining power. Their confidence collapses when their weapons prove useless.
• No. 1 acts playful and taunting, letting the mercenaries believe they can negotiate while his team prepares to capture them. The four operatives show discipline and coordination, dividing tasks after the capture.
• Shen Bing appears pleased by the successful operation and hints at a larger scheme, though the significance of the President and the dog bone remains unclear.

Significant themes

• Technology and power: Advanced armor, electrical weapons, and an invisible helicopter make conventional firearms ineffective.
• Deception and misdirection: The operatives use conversation, a fabricated explanation, and false tracks to control both the mercenaries and their pursuers.
• Greed and survival: The mercenaries’ desire for a fortune conflicts with their growing fear and limited options.
• Unanswered mysteries: The insect, the buyer’s true motives, the President reference, and Shen Bing’s black bone all point toward a broader plot.

Key plot points

• Shen Bing retrieves a Most Sacred Spirit Bone, similar to one he previously found, and transfers it into the real-world system. Its updated properties show it can store up to one million units of wish power.
• To fill it, he plans to use his company’s new cancer treatment: patients can submit reports expressing their need for a cure, and the company can fulfill those wishes by treating them. He considers offering some treatments for free in case the system does not count paid medical care.
• The bone unexpectedly gains nine units of wish power. Shen realizes that ordinary interactions—such as answering reporters’ questions—may generate wish power. He decides he should spend more time in public.
• Wang Sheng reports that a high-level U.S. delegation, led by the Secretary of Commerce, will arrive to negotiate tariffs and market access. Shen declines to attend, prioritizing production of Cancer Cure No. 1.
• Qiuqiu reveals that the United States has also announced a major Western Pacific exercise involving two carrier fleets. Shen interprets this as a show of force aimed at both his company and Huaxia, while recognizing that he cannot attack merely because the exercise threatens his interests.
• Frustrated, Shen recalls that two U.S. nuclear submarines are already stranded in the Pacific. Gao Jingchuan then calls to say Huaxia’s military is planning its own exercise to test long-range firepower.

Character developments

• Shen Bing shifts his attention from secluded research toward public engagement, seeing everyday contact as a way to gather wish power. He remains confident in his ability to counter military threats but is constrained by the system’s rules.
• Wang Sheng is enthusiastic about the U.S. delegation and recommends handling it through normal company protocol.
• Qiuqiu takes a teasing, informative role, explaining the military exercise and prompting Shen to see the political context.
• Gao Jingchuan appears amused by Shen’s irritability and hints that Huaxia is preparing a response.

Significant themes

• Wish, service, and exchange: Shen tests whether fulfilling people’s needs—especially curing cancer—can produce wish power, and whether payment affects that process.
• Public engagement: Even routine exchanges may have supernatural consequences, making visibility and interaction valuable.
• Power and coercion: The U.S. pairs commercial negotiations with a naval show of force, illustrating how economic diplomacy and military pressure can work together.
• Rules and restraint: Shen believes he can defeat the threat, but the system prevents him from striking first without a direct target.

Character interactions

• Shen discusses wish-power strategy with himself through observation and experimentation, then shares business decisions with Wang Sheng.
• Qiuqiu alerts Shen to the U.S. military announcement, helping him infer its intended message.
• Shen’s tense exchange with Gao Jingchuan ends on a hint that Huaxia may answer the American show of force with its own military exercise.

Plot points and events

• Shen Bing discusses a planned military exercise and upcoming U.S. negotiations with Gao Jingchuan. Gao warns him not to underestimate the Americans and confirms that Shen has authority to handle international matters so long as national interests are protected.
• Shen leaves the negotiations to his general manager, Wang Sheng, and returns to searching the Sea of Rebirth. He quickly finds another Most Sacred Spirit Bone, bringing him close to completing Bodhisattva Guanyin’s mission.
• He gives the bone to Guanyin in exchange for a cultivation method. The method converts the wish power associated with Most Sacred Spirit Bones into cultivation energy. It costs twenty bones, and Shen agrees immediately, confident he can collect them from the Sea of Rebirth.
• The next morning, Wang Sheng welcomes U.S. Secretary of Commerce Isaac at the airport. The sparse official reception draws attention, and news of the U.S. delegation’s arrival spreads rapidly. Many online observers interpret the negotiations as a sign that the United States is backing down.

Character developments

• Shen shows confidence in both his supernatural pursuits and his company’s international dealings. He is also pragmatic: he delegates the negotiations to Wang Sheng and recognizes that the spirit bones are easy for him to obtain.
• Guanyin treats the bone as valuable but negotiates for a substantial number of them in exchange for the cultivation method. She is surprised by Shen’s instant acceptance, yet considers the arrangement worthwhile given how difficult it is for others to obtain the bones.
• Wang Sheng’s role as the company’s public-facing executive is emphasized: he handles the high-profile reception while Shen stays out of the negotiations.

Character interactions

• Gao Jingchuan offers Shen strategic advice and reassurance about his authority to manage foreign affairs; Shen responds that he knows where to draw the line.
• Shen and Guanyin exchange the spirit bone for the promise of a cultivation manual, with Shen’s eagerness contrasting with her measured bargaining.
• Wang Sheng greets Secretary Isaac on behalf of the company, setting off public speculation about the purpose and significance of the visit.

Significant themes

• Personal power and national influence: Shen’s company has become important enough to negotiate directly with the United States, while military strength shapes the broader context.
• Bargaining across unequal perspectives: What others regard as a precious, scarce resource is readily obtainable for Shen, making the exchange exceptionally favorable to him.
• Public interpretation of power: The modest reception and rapid spread of the news fuel the impression that the United States has come to negotiate from a weakened position.

Key plot points and events

• U.S. Commerce Secretary Isaac visits Phantom Immortal Technology’s industrial park. The company makes a conspicuous airport welcome, partly to publicize that American officials have come to negotiate.
• During the drive, Isaac praises Huaxia’s infrastructure but emphasizes its dependence on U.S. chips. Wang Sheng acknowledges the gap while confidently predicting that Phantom Immortal Technology can overcome it.
• Security staff detect covert recording equipment in Isaac’s delegation but, following the chairman’s orders, let them proceed.
• Wang Sheng shows the visitors the company’s striking headquarters, intelligent elevator, and costly display screens. Isaac is impressed despite his attempts to question the building’s security and technology.
• In the conference room, Isaac says the U.S. wants to discuss alleged dumping and explore cooperation. Wang Sheng bluntly concedes that the company’s products had dominated their market segments and says Phantom Immortal withdrew from the U.S. to avoid accusations of dumping.
• Wang insists that the United States must revoke its additional tariffs before genuine negotiations can begin. Otherwise, he is willing to keep the meeting to polite conversation.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Sheng remains courteous in public but uses the visit to project confidence and subtly unsettle Isaac. He refuses to accept the U.S. framing of the dispute and makes tariff removal a precondition for talks.
• Isaac tries to assert American technological superiority and raise concerns about Phantom Immortal’s capabilities. The company’s facilities impress him, while Wang’s candor frustrates him; he also privately covets its expensive displays.
• Wang Dong and the security staff discover the delegation’s recording devices. Wang Dong follows the chairman’s instructions, revealing the staff’s confidence in the company’s security.
• The central interaction is a contest over leverage: Isaac seeks concessions and cooperation, while Wang uses the company’s achievements and the U.S. visit itself to challenge America’s negotiating position.

Significant themes

• National and corporate pride: Wang openly believes Phantom Immortal can catch up with or surpass U.S. technology.
• Negotiation and leverage: The company treats tariff removal—not vague goodwill—as the necessary starting point.
• Public image and spectacle: The airport reception and headquarters tour are deliberate displays meant to shape perceptions.
• Technological confidence versus skepticism: Isaac questions the company’s security and chip capabilities, but its achievements repeatedly undermine his assumptions.

Plot points and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology manager Wang Sheng rejects an American delegation’s attempt to persuade the company to return to the U.S. market. He insists the United States must first rescind its additional tariffs.
• Commerce official Josie offers to lift the tariffs and open the U.S. internet market to the company’s Dragon Scale System. Wang says the offer is unnecessary: the system is already highly competitive, and the company’s production capacity is too limited to serve everyone.
• The real purpose of the visit emerges: the Americans want access to Cancer Cure No. 1, newly launched the previous day. Wang points out that the U.S. has not treated the company fairly, so it cannot demand equal treatment in return. Isaac changes tack and asks for a tour of the production facilities; Wang agrees.
• Meanwhile, a U.S. Seventh Fleet carrier group begins a military exercise intended as a show of force. A Huaxia bomber suddenly appears on radar only thirty kilometers away, far inside the fleet’s expected detection range.
• The bomber identifies itself as being on a routine patrol, but as it approaches the carrier, it repeatedly disappears from and reappears on radar—including directly above the carrier. The fleet is left unable to respond or understand how it is operating.

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Sheng remains composed and firm, following company founder Shen Bing’s instructions. He refuses to be swayed by diplomatic language or incentives and emphasizes Phantom Immortal Technology’s strong market position and limited capacity.
• Isaac begins with a conciliatory appeal for compromise, but grows frustrated at Wang’s refusal to yield. He eventually reveals the delegation’s true priority: access to the cancer treatment.
• Josie presents what she considers a generous offer, but Wang dismisses it as having little value to the company.
• Fleet Commander Blach moves quickly from disbelief to alarm. Faced with the bomber’s unexplained radar behavior, he concludes that Huaxia has developed controllable stealth technology.

Significant themes

• Power and leverage: The company refuses to negotiate from weakness, while the U.S. Navy’s presumed military superiority is challenged by unfamiliar technology.
• Fairness and reciprocity: Wang argues that equal treatment cannot be demanded by a party that has imposed unequal treatment first.
• Technological uncertainty and fear: The bomber’s apparent ability to vanish from radar unsettles the fleet and makes its officers question their assumptions about security and dominance.

Plot points

• Commander Blach concludes Huaxia’s bomber deliberately demonstrated controllable stealth technology. Reports that it briefly appeared as a tiny speck—and then vanished—make him fear it may be invisible even to the naked eye. He abandons the idea that the military exercise can meaningfully intimidate Huaxia and alerts the U.S. government.
• At the White House, advisers initially argue for rallying other countries to contain Huaxia’s stealth development. Secretary of State Morey warns that Huaxia’s show of force was a response to the exercise, which was intended to pressure Phantom Immortal Technology over its allocation of Cancer Cure No. 1.
• Morey points out that confronting Huaxia could prompt the company to retaliate using the cancer treatment’s influence, while military intimidation is no longer credible. With no better option, the president orders the exercise temporarily canceled, the extra tariffs on Huaxia removed, and good-faith negotiations with Phantom Immortal Technology begun.
• Meanwhile, Shen Bing finds two more Most Sacred Spirit Bones in the Sea of Rebirth. He receives a call from Zhang Zi’an, who reports that the Japanese energy deal and grid-connection agreement are signed, with further geothermal projects under discussion. Shen asks him to return after arranging the next steps; Zhang begins to mention something unusual.

Character developments and interactions

• Blach shifts from trying to conduct the exercise to alarmed recognition that Huaxia’s technology has transformed the balance of power. He contacts the secretary of defense rather than waking the president directly.
• The president is frustrated by having to yield, but accepts Morey’s recommendation when no viable alternative emerges.
• Morey demonstrates strategic caution: he connects the military incident to the pressure campaign against Phantom Immortal Technology and stresses the political and economic risks of escalation. He persuades the room to negotiate instead.
• Conyers advocates containment, but his proposal loses force when the group confronts its hypocrisy and the danger of provoking Huaxia.
• Shen Bing and Zhang Zi’an maintain a practical, trusting working relationship. Zhang reports successful negotiations and is ready to return, though his final remark signals a new concern.

Significant themes

• Power and deterrence: A technological advantage can make conventional military pressure ineffective.
• Hypocrisy and shifting standards: The U.S. condemns Huaxia for destabilizing the balance of power after having faced similar criticism for its own policies.
• Interdependence: Military confrontation risks economic and medical consequences because Phantom Immortal Technology controls access to a highly influential cancer treatment.
• Pragmatism versus pride: The U.S. chooses negotiation despite the humiliation of appearing to capitulate.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing explains that Japan may accept foreign-operated geothermal power stations because, since they are on Japanese soil, the government could seize them in an emergency.
• To protect Phantom Immortal Technology’s leverage, Shen orders Zhang Zi’an to negotiate a deal supplying at least half of Japan’s electricity. Shen has secretly made the generators remotely controllable, so a seizure could still leave Japan facing a major power shortage.
• Cancer Cure No. 1 is announced nationwide. The Dragon Scale System gains an application portal that verifies patients’ medical records through hospital databases and AI analysis.
• Phantom Immortal Technology rapidly establishes treatment rooms in major cities, supplies secure medicine safes, and assigns trained staff to dispense the drug. Its security and transport subsidiaries coordinate delivery.
• Zhong Xin, a scholarship-winning university student who has left school to care for his dying, comatose father, applies for treatment through the system. He books the earliest appointment—9 a.m. the next day—and applies for free care because money is tight. Less than ten minutes later, he receives a phone call.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shifts from joking to revealing a calculated strategy: apparent managerial control is partly a decoy, while remote control of the generators gives him real leverage. He also rejects a total blackout, preferring a limited demonstration that leaves others able to see what they lack.
• Zhang Zi’an recognizes the risk of Japan taking the power stations, then infers Shen’s hidden safeguard and commits to negotiating the larger electricity deal.
• Zhong Xin moves from skepticism about the cancer cure to urgent hope after seeing Phantom Immortal Technology’s involvement. His concern for his father drives him to act immediately, while his financial hardship leads him to seek free treatment.
• Shen and Zhang’s exchange shows their trust and strategic coordination; Zhong Xin’s story contrasts corporate-scale efficiency with one family’s desperate need.

Significant themes

• Power and leverage: Infrastructure ownership matters less than control over whether it functions.
• Deception and strategy: Shen uses outward appearances to mislead opponents about where real control lies.
• Technology and coordination: AI verification, rapid logistics, and cooperation between companies and hospitals enable a nationwide medical rollout.
• Hope amid vulnerability: The new cure offers Zhong Xin a chance to save his father, though time and money remain pressing concerns.
• Monopoly and restraint: Shen jokes that a complete cutoff would be counterproductive; scarcity is more persuasive when others can still witness its benefits.

• Zhong Xin’s father receives treatment: Zhong Xin is astonished when he secures both an appointment and approval for free cancer treatment for his father, Zhong Yueshan. He calls an ambulance, waits anxiously through the night, and brings his father to the treatment room the next morning. A doctor tells him Yueshan is the first patient to be treated and credits Shen Bing’s Cancer Cure No. 1 for bringing hope to oncology.
• Cancer treatment transforms public mood: Patients across China receive the drug, and hospitals’ oncology wards shift from despair to celebration. Cancer Cure No. 1 is sold at a fraction of its original price, making treatment affordable even for patients who do not receive free slots. News coverage from Chinese and foreign media confirms the drug’s effectiveness and proclaims that cancer has been conquered in Huaxia.
• Shen Bing weighs free treatment: Relaxing at home, Shen Bing learns that patients’ families also generate wish power. He considers making treatment free nationwide but decides against it: limited free slots inspire stronger gratitude, while universal free access might be taken for granted. He plans instead to ensure that free treatment reaches those most in need, with Qiuqiu helping allocate it.
• International pressure grows: Foreign governments and media demand access to the drug. Shen Bing has said it will not be available overseas for at least a month, and future access will depend on countries’ friendliness toward his company and Huaxia. The resulting urgency gives Huaxia’s leaders new diplomatic leverage, prompting a rush of foreign official visits.
• Other projects and negotiations: Japan’s geothermal power-station project quietly moves forward, with Zhang Zi’an arranging for Golden Pangolin Devices to be shipped there. Meanwhile, U.S. Commerce Minister Isaac tours Phantom Immortal Technology’s facilities, hoping to gather useful intelligence. Wang Sheng accommodates the tour, but the secretly recorded material is ultimately worthless.
• Isaac’s reversal: Isaac learns that the U.S. Navy’s promised support has fallen through. His superiors now instruct him to cancel additional tariffs and secure an early U.S. allocation of Cancer Cure No. 1. Frustrated, he realizes his earlier hardline negotiating stance has left him in a weak position.
  Character developments and interactions: Zhong Xin moves from surprise to deep gratitude as his father receives a chance at treatment; the doctor reinforces that hope while directing his thanks toward Shen Bing. Shen Bing remains pragmatic, balancing generosity with his interest in wish power. Wang Sheng quietly outmaneuvers Isaac, whose confidence gives way to anger and anxiety.
  Themes: The chapter highlights medical innovation as a source of hope and social change; the tension between generosity, gratitude, and entitlement; and the way control of a transformative technology can reshape diplomacy and political power.

Zhong Yueshan received the first Cancer Cure No. 1 treatment after his son Zhong Xin secured a free quota, while the medicine’s success transformed public opinion and pressured foreign governments to seek access. As Japan’s geothermal project began, U.S. Minister Isaac learned that his government had lost its leverage and ordered him to secure treatment access and cancel additional tariffs.

• Zhong Xin booked treatment and a free quota for his father, Zhong Yueshan, then took him to Xiaxi Hospital to await treatment.
• Doctors began treating patients with Cancer Cure No. 1, and reports of successful recoveries spread across Huaxia and foreign media.
• Shen Bing considered making cancer treatment entirely free but kept the limited free-quota system because stronger demand generated more wish power.
• Foreign leaders sought access to Cancer Cure No. 1, while Zhang Zi'an arranged for Golden Pangolin Devices to be shipped to Japan for its geothermal power station project.
• Wang Sheng let U.S. Minister Isaac tour Phantom Immortal Technology’s factories, but Isaac later learned his backup support had failed and his government demanded that he cancel additional tariffs and secure U.S. treatment quotas.

Plot points

• U.S. Commerce Secretary Isaac returns to negotiations with Phantom Immortal Technology after receiving authorization to cancel tariffs. He explains that an investigation found the company’s products were not being dumped.
• Wang Sheng responds coolly: Phantom Immortal Technology has limited production capacity and is already considering opportunities in Russia, Germany, and other countries. He says the company’s boss may prioritize new products over expanding existing production.
• Isaac realizes Wang is brushing him off and concludes that the U.S. is unlikely to obtain Cancer Cure No. 1 without making concessions.
• Meanwhile, Shen Bing finishes collecting twenty “Dog Bones”—properly called Most Sacred Spirit Bones—and travels to the Purple Bamboo Grove to deliver them to the Bodhisattva.
• The Bodhisattva accepts the bones and begins fulfilling her promise by producing a secret manual.

Character developments and interactions

• Isaac swallows his pride and tries to repair relations, but his usual authority proves ineffective. His frustration grows as he recognizes that Phantom Immortal Technology can dictate the terms.
• Wang Sheng remains polite but deliberately noncommittal. He emphasizes the company’s unusual, boss-driven priorities and its many international suitors, leaving Isaac unsure how much is explanation and how much is negotiation tactics.
• Shen Bing is excited by the prospect of receiving a genuine cultivation manual. He contrasts it with his current dependence on costly pills or awkwardly eating at wealthy households.
• The Bodhisattva is found casually feeding the dangerous carp in her pond. She accepts Shen Bing’s offering and prepares his reward.

Significant themes

• Leverage and negotiation: A large market and political authority do not guarantee influence when a company has other customers and limited interest in expansion.
• Unpredictable ambition: Phantom Immortal Technology’s boss pursues new ventures rather than following conventional business logic.
• Status versus practical need: Shen Bing wants to improve himself but is dissatisfied with the costly or embarrassing ways he has managed so far.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing trades twenty Most Sacred Spirit Bones to Bodhisattva Guanyin, completing a quest and receiving the Great Vow Compassion Mantra, a mid-grade second-rank immortal art.
• Analyzing the mantra with the Eye of Truth yields Mental Tempering Technology (first tier), a two-star technology that uses electromagnetic stimulation to improve brain response and mental control. Shen Bing imagines it as groundwork for future consciousness-controlled spacecraft and mecha, though he recognizes this is far-off speculation.
• He abandons those thoughts and continues his arduous search through the Land of Primordial Chaos for a Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul, repeatedly teleporting, dying, and reviving.
• Meanwhile, Phantom Immortal Technology’s cancer treatment helps at least 100,000 terminally ill patients in Huaxia over five days, making the company more popular than ever. Shen Bing, however, has made no progress in his search and has neglected the company.
• After Little Doudou pesters him for food and Immortal Peaches, Shen Bing finally detects a target with the Heaven-Seeker’s needle. He finds a brilliant humanoid golden figure and attempts to capture it with a replica Demon-Refining Pot.
• As the pot draws the figure in, a flash of golden light reveals that Shen Bing has been killed by an Outworld Demon. He revives safely and discovers through a Teleportation Talisman that the enormous demon has taken the Demon-Refining Pot.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing is resourceful and ambitious, quickly recognizing the potential of the new mental-control technology. His impatience and fixation on the remnant soul also lead him to neglect his company and even Little Doudou.
• Little Doudou is affectionate but opportunistic: it uses cuddles and talk of growing to wheedle an Immortal Peach from Shen Bing, then bargains to share it with Feifei.
• Guanyin remains generous and welcoming, but clarifies that future Spirit Bones will be accepted only as trades, not quests.
• Shen Bing’s confidence in his borrowed treasure collapses when the unexpected demon kills him and takes the pot. His focus shifts from capturing the remnant soul to recovering the artifact.

Significant themes

• Progress and preparation: The mental-tempering technology hints at the skills needed for future interstellar warfare, while Shen Bing realizes such capabilities would require long-term training.
• Ambition versus distraction: Shen Bing’s pursuit of a major breakthrough consumes his attention, even as his company achieves an enormous real-world success.
• Uncertainty and danger: Powerful tools and careful plans cannot guarantee safety in the Land of Primordial Chaos; a seemingly successful capture turns into a disastrous encounter.
• Comic contrast: The chapter pairs grand ideas about space warfare and cosmic monsters with Shen Bing’s everyday frustrations, Little Doudou’s begging, and his anxious concern over losing the Demon-Refining Pot.

Key plot points and events

• Shen Bing returns to the Land of Primordial Chaos and uses the Nine Heavens Divine Talisman to strike the giant Outworld Demon with Violet Sky Divine Thunder. The demon is reduced to dust, though it briefly flees after losing its head.
• Shen Bing fears the lightning also destroyed his Demon-Refining Pot, but finds it intact. He uses Heaven-Seeker to track the fleeing Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul and captures it with the pot just before it can escape or dissipate.
• Rather than risk dying in the primordial chaos, Shen Bing teleports to Craftsman God Island to find Lu Ban (Ban Shu). Lu Ban is absorbed in work and initially unavailable, but rushes out when Shen Bing announces he has found a Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul.
• Lu Ban confirms the discovery and agrees to make Shen Bing a Divine Puppet Artisan. The associated quest completes immediately, but the artisan will take at least a month to build—far longer than Shen Bing hoped.
• Meanwhile, Isaac’s seven days of negotiations with Phantom Immortal Technology end without an agreement. Wang Sheng refuses to yield on Cancer Cure No. 1, and Isaac returns home empty-handed.
• Media speculation links the failed negotiations to Huaxia’s recently announced successful test of a new weapon in the Western Pacific. The announcement and Isaac’s departure discourage Japan, Korea, and other countries from pursuing similar demands.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing acts decisively against the Outworld Demon, then shows anxiety over the Demon-Refining Pot and urgency in securing the remnant soul. His confidence returns after the capture, though his impatience resurfaces when Lu Ban quotes the month-long production time.
• Lu Ban is so absorbed in solving technical problems that he initially refuses visitors, but the promise of a Great Luo Golden Immortal Remnant Soul immediately draws him out. He honors his commitment to make the Divine Puppet Artisan.
• Isaac shifts from attempting to secure favorable terms—and considering political pressure—to negotiating cautiously after his backers lose leverage. He leaves without achieving his goals.
• Wang Sheng remains firm in negotiations, while public commentators and online audiences interpret the diplomatic outcome through rumors about Huaxia’s new weapon.

Significant themes

• Power and deterrence: Huaxia’s weapon test and the United States’ failed negotiations suggest that military strength can reshape diplomatic relationships.
• Risk, timing, and resourcefulness: Shen Bing survives a dangerous encounter and secures the remnant soul through quick action and strategic use of his artifacts.
• Ambition versus delay: Shen Bing’s plans for improving production depend on the Divine Puppet Artisan, but Lu Ban’s long lead time forces him to wait.
• Public perception and speculation: With little confirmed information, media and online observers construct dramatic explanations for the negotiations and military developments.

Key plot points and events

• Phantom Immortal Technology uses Cancer Cure No. 1 to advance Shen Bing’s global geothermal-power strategy. Because the drug can save lives, governments are more willing to negotiate with the company and accept its demand to retain control of the power stations.
• Anticipation builds for the company’s July 3 phone launch. Its reputation for “black technology,” Shen Bing’s unusual advance promotion, and public goodwill after the cancer drug’s release give it an advantage over Apple’s upcoming Apple 10.
• Apple chairman Bedi feels the competition has become unfair: Phantom Immortal Technology’s life-saving drug has created goodwill that a phone maker cannot match. He remains determined to compete, but reduces Apple’s stock preparations and sales projections.
• Shen Bing misses his university graduation ceremony because Feifei suddenly falls unconscious. Little Doudou brings her to him, but Shen finds no physical cause, and she does not wake.

Character developments and interactions

• Shen Bing shifts geothermal stations from a primarily personal-safety measure toward a central part of his energy strategy. He also responds urgently when Little Doudou brings him Feifei.
• Bedi feels deeply disadvantaged by Phantom Immortal Technology’s influence, yet retains enough confidence to keep competing while adjusting Apple’s expectations.
• Little Doudou trusts Shen Bing to solve even a crisis and seeks his help immediately.
• Feifei’s unexplained collapse creates the chapter’s unresolved mystery.

Significant themes

• Technology as leverage: A life-saving breakthrough can shape governments’ energy decisions as well as public opinion.
• Unequal competition: Goodwill from Cancer Cure No. 1 gives Phantom Immortal Technology an advantage beyond the phone’s technical merits.
• Public trust and corporate purpose: Many consumers say they support the company because it priced cancer treatment accessibly and appears to prioritize research over profit.
• Uncertainty: Despite advanced tools and careful examination, Shen Bing cannot explain Feifei’s condition.