Chapter Summaries

Plot and events

• On the morning after a violent storm, Chen Shu and Ning Qing wake together on the island. Their teasing, awkward closeness contrasts with the damage and debris left by the storm.
• Chen Shu searches the beach and discovers the storm has washed ashore an Otherworldly Beast corpse. He and Ning Qing infer that more may have come from the island’s mysterious southeastern region; she insists on accompanying him.
• Chen Shu’s journal records the following weeks: he finds additional beast corpses, wonders whether the mist-covered region hides land or a battle, and considers it a possible route off the island. On New Year’s Eve, he postpones investigating to celebrate with Ning Qing, cooking a festive meal and setting off fireworks.
• As time passes, the uncertainty of leaving weighs on Chen Shu. He decides to build a boat so he can investigate the southeast, while acknowledging the risks and the difficulty of designing suitable propulsion and stabilizing Runes.
• By January 19, he has built a long wooden boat and is testing its propulsion array. A figure suddenly speeds through the sea toward him: a “wild Zhang Suannai.” Chen Shu is stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Ning Qing remains composed and reserved, but her choice to join Chen Shu—and her private thought that he would be bored without her—reveals her care and attachment. She participates in his investigation and shares the New Year celebration.
• Chen Shu is affectionate and playful with Ning Qing, but also observant and methodical. His journal shows his curiosity about the southeast, concern for people back home, and growing determination to find a way off the island.
• Their relationship is shown through small exchanges: Chen Shu’s shameless attempts to linger in bed, Ning Qing’s practical insistence that they get up, and their easy companionship on the beach.

Significant themes

• Prediction versus choice: The World Prediction Line is a revisable forecast, not fixed fate. Ning Qing’s decision to come changes what the World Will expected.
• Companionship amid isolation: Their shared routines and New Year celebration make life on the island feel less bleak.
• Curiosity and risk: Chen Shu’s desire to understand the southeastern mystery eventually leads him to prepare for a potentially dangerous journey.
• Hope and uncertainty: The boat represents a possible escape, but the destination and its dangers remain unknown.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Suannai sets off from Duqin intending to reach her roommate Qingqing on a nearby island, then return to Great Yi for her master’s three-hundredth birthday. She also hopes to bring Qingqing and Chen Shu back for a friend’s birthday feast.
• A violent storm destroys her passenger ship. Zhang survives by improvising with a plank, her Divine Sword, and a rope, but drifts for days in the wrong direction and reaches a remote island.
• Imagining herself in a destined survival-adventure, she swims ashore—only to find Chen Shu there. He explains that he was aboard an Escort Ship sunk by the Dream Moon Cult and has been stranded for over three months. The island has no satellite signal or working compasses, and he has built a small boat while trying to find a way off it.
• Zhang insists on staying on the opposite side of the island from Chen Shu to avoid giving Qingqing cause for jealousy. Chen Shu agrees, revealing that Qingqing is already on the island. When Zhang learns Qingqing came looking for him because she missed him, she is stunned.

Character developments

• Zhang Suannai is resourceful and buoyant in danger, quickly turning a shipwreck into what she imagines is a heroic adventure. Her excitement gives way to caution when Chen Shu’s connection to Qingqing becomes relevant; despite wanting his help and cooking, she prioritizes her friend’s feelings.
• Chen Shu is practical and settled into island life, having spent months investigating the island and preparing a boat. He is straightforward with Zhang and understands her concern about boundaries.

Significant themes

• Comic contrast between fantasy and reality: Zhang casts her predicament as a grand, heaven-appointed adventure, but her hoped-for solo destiny immediately collides with the familiar presence of Chen Shu—and then Qingqing.
• Improvisation and resilience: Both characters adapt to being stranded, while Chen Shu’s ongoing efforts to leave suggest the limits of simply treating hardship as an adventure.
• Loyalty and emotional boundaries: Zhang’s choice to keep her distance reflects her care for Qingqing and her desire not to complicate Qingqing and Chen Shu’s relationship.

Character interactions

• Zhang and Chen reunite in disbelief, trading teasing, blunt questions, and explanations about how each ended up stranded.
• Chen offers to bring Zhang to his shelter, but she refuses out of respect for Qingqing. Their conversation turns on Zhang’s assumption that Qingqing is elsewhere, until Chen reveals she is on the island too and came specifically to find him.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Shu brings Zhang Suannai to his and Ning Qing’s well-built courtyard, complete with earthen houses, a protective embankment, a pavilion, and blooming roses. Zhang is stunned that Chen built it himself.
• Zhang reunites enthusiastically with her roommate Ning Qing. She admits she deliberately left early to look for Qingqing after receiving no messages, but a storm wrecked her boat and left her adrift for several days.
• Ning Qing realizes Zhang’s arrival is a consequence of her presence on the island, rather than something that happened in the original World Prediction Line. She worries that this change could disrupt events further.
• Zhang discovers that Chen and Qingqing have comfortable cooking equipment and abundant preserved food. A lavish meal of chicken soup, seafood, and cured meat leaves her delighted after months of hardship in Duqin.
• Chen explains that he plans to scout the surrounding area once his boat design is complete, hoping to find a way off the island. Zhang, however, wants to explore it herself, convinced there may be a hidden opportunity waiting for her.
• After dinner, Zhang declares that she will camp nearby and catch, trap, and cook her own food to experience “real” desert-island survival—even though Qingqing warns that rain is coming. Chen lets her do as she likes.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Suannai is energetic, affectionate, and determined to turn her misfortune into an adventure. Her wilderness-survival confidence clashes amusingly with the island’s unexpectedly comfortable life. She is eager to reconnect with Qingqing, though Qingqing keeps her at arm’s length physically and remains reserved.
• Ning Qing shows understated concern for Zhang by asking whether she has eaten and how long she was adrift. At the same time, she is alert to how Zhang’s unexpected arrival may alter the predicted course of events.
• Chen Shu is matter-of-fact and hospitable: he welcomes Zhang, shares food, explains his plans to leave, and accepts her decision to camp separately.
• The contrast between Zhang’s exuberant reunion and Qingqing’s cool composure, as well as Chen and Qingqing’s easy companionship, highlights the different dynamics among the three.

Significant themes

• Fate and altered outcomes: Zhang’s arrival appears to be an unintended consequence of Qingqing’s presence, raising concerns about changes to the predicted timeline.
• Expectations versus reality: Zhang expects primitive hardship but finds a well-equipped home and excellent food; she then deliberately seeks the hardship she imagined.
• Independence and adventure: Zhang insists on testing her skills rather than relying on Chen and Qingqing, even when a safer, more comfortable option is available.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Suannai builds a raised shelter in the forest, but rain leaks through overnight and leaves her soaked. The next morning, she accepts hot water and joins her roommate, Ning Qing (“Goddess Qingqing”), and Chen Shu for breakfast.
• Determined to fend for herself, Zhang tries roasting a fish. After one bite, she abandons it and happily accepts the seafood porridge the others had made.
• While Chen Shu works on the wooden boat’s rune arrays, Zhang explores the island but finds little. By the twenty-ninth day of the First Month, Chen has finished designing and testing the boat: it can reach about 40 km/h and handle small waves.
• The three spot a glowing, bioluminescent sea during an evening walk. Zhang and Chen toss stones into the water, enjoying the patterns of light.
• The next day, they take the boat southeast toward the immense “Thunderstorm Cloud.” As they approach, they slow down. Chen senses a vast, powerful presence within the mist, which evokes the feeling of confronting a Deity.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang is resourceful and proud of her independence, but her attempt at wilderness cooking quickly gives way to comfort and companionship. She remains energetic and curious, exploring the island and volunteering to investigate the cloud.
• Chen is methodical and capable, completing the boat’s rune systems and assessing its safety. He worries about Zhang going alone, and the two trade teasing remarks before agreeing to travel together.
• Qingqing is calm and observant. She offers companionship on the expedition and draws the others’ attention to the luminous sea.
• The trio’s teasing, shared meals, and wonder at the glowing water reveal their growing ease and closeness.

Significant themes

• Self-reliance versus comfort: Zhang’s survival ambitions meet the practical appeal of shared food and hot water.
• Exploration and preparation: Chen’s careful engineering enables the group to approach the unknown, while Zhang’s curiosity drives the expedition.
• Awe before nature and the supernatural: The bioluminescent sea offers beauty and wonder; the Thunderstorm Cloud presents a far more intimidating, almost divine power.

Key plot points

• Chen Shu uses his newly acquired Spirit Eye Art to examine a vast, Spirit-Power-filled mist. It appears black through the technique, and the surrounding sea is crowded with unusually many Otherworldly Beasts.
• Zhang Suannai tests the mist with Sword Qi; it passes through unhindered. Ning Qing senses that the mist is about two kilometers thick and contains land and many more beasts than the outer sea.
• Chen Shu scouts through a seabird’s eyes and glimpses an enormous continent divided by a straight Spiritual Power Barrier: a lush region on one side and a barren, heavily damaged landscape on the other.
• The three enter the mist and reach the continent. Beasts gather around them, while Zhang spots a person hiding in a crater on the barren side.
• Zhang approaches and discovers five human cultivators from the Southern Continent. They speak an old form of Yi Nation’s language and claim their people have lived there since the Great Xia era.
• According to their account, Otherworldly Beasts came from the stars and periodically become savage. The Sacred Ancestor of Great Xia supposedly punished them after their leader killed his family, compelling their descendants to guard the beasts and fight those that turn feral. The cultivators offer to take the visitors to their capital and arrange a return home.
• Chen Shu doubts parts of the story and decides to investigate the strangers himself while Zhang stays behind, ready to intervene.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu is fascinated by the continent’s historical mystery, but balances his curiosity with caution. He questions the visitors’ account, especially their outdated cultivation methods and apparent isolation.
• Zhang Suannai is bold and eager to explore, volunteering to scout ahead. Despite her impulsiveness, she takes precautions, reports what she learns, and accepts Chen Shu’s decision not to approach the strangers as a group.
• Ning Qing remains calm and reserved, contributing her ability to sense the mist and what lies within it.
• The trio relies on one another: Zhang scouts, Ning assesses the environment, and Chen Shu evaluates the evidence. Meanwhile, the surrounding beasts watch them, heightening the danger.

Significant themes

• The pull of history and the unknown: Chen Shu sees the continent as a lost chapter of the past.
• Caution amid uncertainty: The mist allows passage, but the beasts, strange barrier, and questionable story make the newcomers wary.
• Isolation and inherited duty: The Southern Continent’s people allegedly bear a burden imposed on their ancestors.
• The ambiguity of appearances and explanations: The beasts may be gentle only because their ferocity was suppressed, while the visitors’ account raises as many questions as it answers.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu investigates a devastated battlefield and recognizes crystals and lingering energy from Yi Nation’s Blazing Sun World-Destroying Divine Art, suggesting a powerful weapon was used there.
• He finds five people hiding in a crater. They claim the land is the Southern Continent, isolated for millennia after Great Xia exiled its people there to fight frenzied Otherworldly Beasts. They tell a tragic tale involving the Sacred Ancestor and his murdered family, and urge Chen Shu to bring his companions to safety.
• When enormous birds attack the crater, Chen Shu remains untouched while the fighters retreat underground. He returns to the boat and reveals that nearly everything the group told him was fabricated.
• Chen Shu and Qingqing infer that the strangers have met outsiders before and used those encounters to make their story convincing. Qingqing also detects a mysterious force in the region that is slowly affecting them.
• A talking black-and-white bird lands and repeatedly tells them to follow it home. Before they can decide what to do, the Dragon Shark carries their boat toward the forest.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu acts sympathetic and gullible to draw out the crater group’s story, but his historical and scholarly knowledge lets him spot contradictions. He is curious about why the people are isolated and targeted, though he still lacks answers.
• Qingqing remains composed, recognizes the deception, and detects the hidden force threatening the group.
• Zhang Suannai is rattled by the bird attacks and asks Chen Shu what he learned; she trusts his and Qingqing’s assessment.
• The crater group presents itself as a band of heroic, abandoned defenders, but its elaborate deception and retreat leave its true motives unclear.
• The talking bird offers help, but its repeated, limited message—and the Dragon Shark’s sudden movement—leave the encounter uncertain.

Significant themes

• Truth and deception: A persuasive story can still be false, and Chen Shu’s knowledge and Qingqing’s abilities help expose it.
• Abandonment and mistrust: The strangers claim generations of neglect, while the evidence raises questions about why they are isolated and why outsiders attack them.
• Hidden danger: The battlefield, predatory beasts, and unexplained force suggest that the region threatens both its inhabitants and newcomers.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu, Qingqing, and Zhang Suannai arrive on the Southern Continent by boat with the help of a giant sea creature. A strange, talkative bird tells them to wait on shore, then leaves to find someone.
• The group senses an unseen presence watching them. Later, the bird returns with Lord Huang, a powerful giant dog.
• Lord Huang explains that a deity from another world once brought corruption to the continent. The conflict between the two worlds lasted thousands of years; the other world has since been destroyed, but its deity’s lingering power still corrupts humans. Their own deities remain away as a precaution.
• Lord Huang says the Otherworldly Beasts were created to help humanity resist this threat, at the request of the human deity called the Sacred Ancestor. The beasts’ power came from a civilization on another planet.
• The trio are taken to the Ancestral Court, an ancient human temple carved into a red-sandstone mountain. Lord Huang says they can cultivate there, seek food, and attempt to contact the outside world while the beasts prepare a final sweep of the region.

Character developments

• Chen Shu remains observant and inquisitive, connecting Lord Huang’s account to clues he heard from a monk and trying to understand the temple’s history and unusual spiritual energy.
• Zhang Suannai is cheerful and sociable, especially with the strange bird. She imagines the beasts’ welcome is special treatment earned by her importance, then readily agrees to visit the temple and cultivate.
• Qingqing stays calm and withdrawn, sensing no hostility and continuing to meditate.
• Lord Huang presents himself as a composed, reliable guide, while the bird is impatient, repetitive, and comically awkward.

Significant themes

• Cosmic conflict and lingering consequences: The war is over, but the dead deity’s corruption still shapes life on the continent.
• Cooperation across worlds and species: The Otherworldly Beasts exist to help humanity resist a threat humans could not face alone.
• History and memory: The ruined temple and eroded statue testify to a once-great civilization, though its gods and past are now difficult to identify.
• Uncertainty and discovery: The travelers uncover answers about missing deities and the continent, while the temple’s power and history remain mysterious.

Character interactions

• Zhang Suannai eagerly tries to converse with the bird, which repeatedly misunderstands or repeats itself; Chen Shu is more restrained.
• Chen Shu and Zhang Suannai question Lord Huang about the continent, the corruption, the gods, and the beasts’ origins.
• Lord Huang treats the travelers hospitably, directing them to the Ancestral Court and allowing them freedom there.
• At the temple, Zhang Suannai urges the group to focus on cultivation, while Chen Shu studies the ancient structure and its weathered statue.

Chapter Summary — “Finally Over”

Key plot points and events

• Chen Shu and Ning Qing learn that the Southern Continent is another plane, once caught in a war that lasted thousands of years. The conflict ended centuries ago, but divine power left behind still makes the region dangerous for human cultivators. Otherworldly Beasts now guard the area and oppose the surviving forces there.
• The pair explore the ancient temples, once likely built by the vanished deities and now used by the Beasts as a home base. Chen Shu also sees an Imperial Beast whose changing form suggests a connection between the Imperial Sect and this distant plane.
• Chen Shu contacts the Spirit Sect, which confirms that the group is safe and advises them to trust the Beasts. The sect later promises to send a ship to bring them home.
• Back in the Jade Capital, Chen Shu’s young sister-in-law receives his brief message. She is more focused on the hospital’s new recommendation that she open her Spirit Sea—a long-awaited step she sees as a chance to surpass her sister.
• Chen Shu’s diary entries follow the group’s months on the Southern Continent. He and Ning Qing live in drafty temples, explore ruins with Lord Huang, and cultivate in the unusually potent divine energy. They celebrate both their twenty-second birthdays, encounter sea lions instead of mermaids, and hear of the continuing battle against powerful human survivors in the south.
• By June, the purge is nearly complete and the Spirit Sect’s ship is close. Chen Shu is eager to return home after months away.

Character developments

• Chen Shu gains a clearer understanding of the plane war and grows stronger, reaching the peak of the Fifth Tier. His diary reveals his humor, impatience with Zhang Suannai, and growing homesickness.
• Ning Qing shares Chen Shu’s discovery about the region’s history and continues cultivating alongside him. The two celebrate their birthdays together and remain close, though their living arrangements offer little privacy.
• Zhang Suannai remains a noisy but capable companion. Her Spirit Sea Lock weakens substantially, bringing her close to advancement without an Auxiliary Potion.
• The little girl receives approval to open her Spirit Sea after months of rejected recommendations. Her ambition to defeat her sister remains strong, while Chen Shu’s message confirms he is safe.
• Lord Huang acts as a source of food-related trouble, information, and access to nearby ruins.

Significant themes

• Hidden history and forgotten sacrifice: The ancient temples suggest that the deities may have died defending the world, yet their civilization has largely disappeared from memory.
• Power’s lasting consequences: Divine remnants both make cultivation easier and leave the continent dangerous and contested.
• Distance and longing: Chen Shu and the little girl each miss family and familiar life, even as they cope with separation in different ways.
• Growth through hardship: The stay improves Chen Shu’s and Zhang Suannai’s cultivation, while the little girl’s long-awaited Spirit Sea approval marks a personal breakthrough.
• Humor amid danger: Chen Shu’s irreverent diary entries contrast the serious history and ongoing conflict with mundane complaints and comic mishaps.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu and Ning Qing exchange an unspoken understanding when they realize the truth about the plane, then explore the temples together.
• Chen Shu and Zhang Suannai share cramped accommodations; he privately complains about her noise, though they continue cultivating and traveling together.
• Lord Huang repeatedly visits Chen Shu for meals and in return shares information and guides the group to ruins.
• Chen Shu sends reassurance to the little girl through the Spirit Sect, while she manages his social-media replies and eagerly awaits his return.
• The Spirit Sect stays in contact with Chen Shu, advising caution and arranging the group’s eventual rescue.

• Leaving the Southern Continent: On the night of June 15, Chen Shu, Ning Qing, and Zhang Suannai prepare to depart. Lord Huang bids them farewell and gives each a rare Seventh-Tier Otherworldly Beast Core, capable of helping a human advance to the Sixth Tier. The gift is tied to Chen Shu’s connection with Great Xia’s Sacred Ancestor; Lord Huang asks them to keep it secret. Zhang Suannai is privately mortified to realize the beasts’ special treatment may not have been because of her.
• Journey home: The trio travels by an unmanned, Spirit-operated cruise ship. Once they regain satellite service, Chen Shu discovers that messages and social-media posts have continued in his name during his absence. Ning Qing quietly reviews her own posts, while Zhang Suannai hides her phone. After several days at sea, they reach Cangzhou and fly to Bai City.
• Secrets and gains: Zhang Suannai reflects that their half-year of cultivation was unusually productive and that learning the truth about the Deities is an extraordinary privilege. She feels newly important—though her self-satisfaction is undercut by the thought that everyone else was already foolish.
• Homecoming: Chen Shu invites Zhang Suannai to stay in Bai City before returning to the Sword Sect; Ning Qing agrees. Chen Shu also tells her that Chen Banxia has been worried about them. To reassure Banxia, Xiaoxiao had falsely claimed Zhang was imprisoned for a year, though Zhang does not understand why that comforted her.
• Reunion and cliffhanger: Chen Banxia greets Chen Shu with affection disguised as irritation, punching him for being gone so long. Xiaoxiao honestly says she missed him, then asks whether she has grown taller. Chen Shu dodges the question by joking that their delay was caused by Zhang being arrested and needing help to get out. Banxia is disarmed, while Zhang and Xiaoxiao are left bewildered.
  Character developments and relationships: Chen Shu returns home warmly attached to his companions and uses humor to deflect Banxia’s scolding. Ning Qing remains composed and quietly attentive. Zhang’s confidence and pride fluctuate between feeling special and realizing she may have misread the beasts’ regard; her closeness with Chen Banxia is also evident. Xiaoxiao’s earnest affection—and her concern about growing taller—comes through in her reunion with Chen Shu.
  Themes: Farewell and homecoming; the value of friendship and shared journeys; hidden history and privileged knowledge; and comic misunderstandings, especially the gap between what characters believe and what others actually think.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Shu, Ning Qing, Chen Banxia, Zhang Suannai, and a young girl return home safely. Chen Shu tells Lawyer Wei a heavily embellished story in which Banxia is responsible for their troubles abroad; Wei’s pitying looks shift to Zhang Suannai.
• Zhang Suannai meets Professor Chen and is awed by his scholarly reputation, though she notices Chen Shu behaves with complete informality in his parents’ home.
• Chen Shu reconnects with his sect contacts and the Ancient Cultivator group chat. Zhang Suannai announces that she has returned after surviving a shipwreck and living on an uninhabited island; Chen Shu later reveals that he is back too.
• News clips remind Chen Shu of the conflict and dangers in Duqin, including a war, spirit-toxin research, a mysterious powerhouse, and a cruise-ship disaster.
• On the walk home, the young girl proudly reveals she has reached the peak of First Tier cultivation and wants to train at her mother’s martial arts school. Her sister teases her about being short, prompting her to demonstrate a spell—only for its Spirit Power to have no effect on Ning Qing.

Character developments

• Chen Shu settles comfortably back into family life, jokes his way through questions, and resumes contact with friends and sect acquaintances. He remains casual and mischievous, including when embarrassed by his video-app recommendations.
• Zhang Suannai adapts to returning home and reconnects with her group, presenting her survival story with her usual swagger. Around Professor Chen, however, she becomes unusually respectful and self-conscious.
• The young girl is eager to prove she is growing up: she boasts of her cultivation progress and new spell, and begins pushing back against her sister’s teasing.
• Ning Qing remains composed and quietly sharp, teasing her younger sister without losing her calm.

Significant themes

• Homecoming and reconnection: The characters return to familiar surroundings and renew ties with family, friends, and the cultivation community.
• Humor and storytelling: Chen Shu reshapes events for comic effect, while the group chat turns Zhang Suannai’s ordeal into a boastful adventure.
• Growing up and insecurity: The young girl’s fixation on her height contrasts with her genuine progress as a cultivator.
• Power and perspective: Her new abilities matter greatly to her, but are barely noticeable to her exceptionally capable sister.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu’s comic account of the trip leaves Lawyer Wei feeling sympathy for Zhang Suannai, while Professor Chen offers a calm, philosophical view of the experience.
• Zhang Suannai’s awe of Professor Chen contrasts with her casual, boisterous behavior among friends.
• Chen Shu and Ning Qing share a quiet, slightly awkward moment when his feed displays suggestive videos; he blames the algorithm, and she says nothing.
• The young girl repeatedly seeks Chen Shu’s attention and encouragement, while Ning Qing needles her about her height. The girl’s attempted spell ends with Ning Qing unfazed and faintly amused.

Plot and events

• Ning Qing scolds Chen Shu after he objects to her hitting Xiaoxiao in public. Xiaoxiao calmly reassures him, then jokingly claims she has inflicted a fatal “internal injury” on Ning Qing. Zhang Suannai watches, confused by how little Xiaoxiao seems to fit her supposed image as a Celestial Bloodline.
• Back home, Chen Shu savors the comforts of his room and catches up with friends online. In the ancient cultivators’ chat, he learns Zhang Suannai had complained that everyone welcomed Chen Shu more warmly than they welcomed her. He then resumes cultivation, though progress is slow without advancement potions. Lingering divine power from the Otherworldly Beast Ancestral Court has nevertheless improved his Spirit Power and potential.
• The next morning, Chen Shu shares breakfast with his sister, Chen Banxia. They tease and bicker while discussing her job, her teacher-exam plans, and their upcoming return to the Jade Capital. She asks him to cook the dishes she has missed; he agrees on the condition that she help wash up.
• Chen Shu and Chen Banxia visit Ning Qing’s home. The courtyard has been paved over, leaving it tidier but lifeless beside the remaining roses. Chen Shu recalls an old, tender memory there. Ning Qing says she and Xiaoxiao will return to the Jade Capital after he leaves for the Spirit Sect. Xiaoxiao proudly mentions the automatic watering system she made; Ning Qing doubts it will work, predicting the plants will drown.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu is relieved to be home and appreciates ordinary comforts, while remaining focused on cultivation and his eventual visit to the Spirit Sect. His teasing, affectionate relationship with Banxia is evident in their meal and household arguments.
• Chen Banxia is content with her well-paying research job and is preparing for a schoolteacher exam. Her playful dependence on Chen Shu’s cooking comes through in their sibling banter.
• Ning Qing remains blunt and skeptical, scolding Xiaoxiao and dismissing the watering system. Her departure plans reflect her attachment to caring for her flowers.
• Xiaoxiao is cheerful, stubborn, and mischievous: she accepts Ning Qing’s beating without complaint, jokes about revenge, and insists her watering system is excellent.
• Zhang Suannai is bewildered by Xiaoxiao’s behavior and by the contrast between her supposed divine nature and her ordinary, clingy demeanor.

Significant themes

• Home and comfort: Chen Shu’s joy in his room and familiar food highlights the emotional value of returning to everyday life.
• Family affection expressed through teasing: Chen Shu and Banxia’s insults and squabbles mask closeness and care.
• Cultivation and patience: Chen Shu’s advancement is stalled, but small gains and improved Spirit Power still matter.
• Change and memory: The paved courtyard feels orderly yet lifeless, contrasting with Chen Shu’s warm recollection of its past.
• Appearances versus reality: Xiaoxiao’s playful, human behavior challenges Zhang Suannai’s expectations of a Celestial Bloodline.

Key plot points and events

• At Panda Arena’s gaming district, Zhang Suannai enthusiastically claims five gaming pods for the group. They choose a monster-themed version of Cat-and-Mouse.
• The game turns Chen Banxia into the winged monster and the others into kittens. Zhang Suannai is found first, while Ning Xiao hides in a tree hollow and Chen Shu conceals himself in a dark patch of forest.
• Chen Banxia nearly finds Chen Shu, but Ning Xiao’s meow distracts her. While the monster searches elsewhere, Chen Shu sneaks back to the base and wins the round. Chen Banxia is baffled by how he managed it.
• The group spends the entire day playing several other games. When Zhang Suannai asks to return the next day, Chen Shu says they should play only occasionally so they do not tire of it.
• Their playful mood shifts when Chen Shu reveals he began cultivating later than Zhang Suannai but has already caught up in ability. She insists she can advance quickly once she takes cultivation seriously.
• Chen Shu catches up with Qingqing and Chen Banxia, puts an arm around each, and steps through the air. Zhang watches them go, envious.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Suannai reveals a competitive but playful side, throwing herself into the games and laughing even after being caught. Her confidence falters briefly when she realizes Chen Shu has made up ground despite starting cultivation later.
• Chen Shu is experienced at gaming and uses patience and observation to win the first round. He teases Zhang about cultivation, while remaining affectionate with Qingqing and Chen Banxia.
• Chen Banxia enjoys playing the monster and searches carefully, but is surprised when Chen Shu escapes her.
• Ning Xiao is calm and unhurried, hiding in a tree hollow; her well-timed meow inadvertently helps Chen Shu.
• The group’s teasing, teamwork, and shared laughter turn a casual outing into a full day of friendly competition.

Significant themes

• Play and companionship: Games bring the group together and reveal their lighter, more childlike sides.
• Competition and pride: The playful contests echo the characters’ rivalry beyond the game, especially in Zhang’s determination to surpass Chen Shu.
• Skill, patience, and perception: Chen Shu wins through careful hiding and timing rather than strength, while the game’s rules limit even a powerful monster’s advantages.

Key plot points and events

• In early July, Zhang Suannai enjoys her extended stay in Bai City but grows anxious about returning to the Sword Sect after secretly posing as her master and taking more than a million from her senior disciples.
• She asks Ning Qing for a foolproof escape plan, framing the request around Ning Qing being an Esoteric Sect cultivator. Ning Qing cuts through her rambling and advises her to use what she knows about her sectmates against them—accuse them first, since each has plenty of embarrassing or blameworthy history of their own.
• Zhang takes this practical advice as proof of Esoteric Sect wisdom, though Ning Qing says she learned it from Chen Shu.
• The Sword Sect group chat confirms Zhang is expected back. Her senior disciples joke about her having been imprisoned, while Third Senior Sister scolds them and warmly asks when she will return. Zhang plans to fly back the next morning, but is unnerved when Third Senior Sister says she will prepare her room and charge her wheelchair.
• At dawn, Chen Shu, Chen Banxia, and the others prepare to leave for Jade Capital. Lawyer Wei urges Chen Shu to be patient with Ning Qing, apparently reacting to Xiaoxiao’s online posts. She tells Banxia to study and work hard, and to look after Chen Shu, Ning Qing, and Xiaoxiao. Banxia teases Chen Shu about being placed in her care.

Character developments

• Zhang Suannai is playful and easily distracted by Ning Qing’s beauty, but her confidence falters as she faces the consequences of her long-running fraud. She still trusts her seniors little enough to suspect their concern is a trick.
• Ning Qing remains quiet, practical, and absorbed in tending her plants. She sees through Zhang’s story immediately and offers blunt advice without indulging the Esoteric Sect fantasy.
• Third Senior Sister emerges as the most openly caring member of Zhang’s sect, defending her and arranging for her return, even as the others tease her.
• Chen Banxia is pleased by Lawyer Wei’s unusual instructions and quickly turns them into an excuse to tease her brother.
• Lawyer Wei shows concern for Chen Shu’s relationship and for the younger people’s welfare, though she expresses it in her usual brusque manner.

Significant themes

• Found family and messy affection: The Sword Sect’s members bicker and mock one another, but their concern for Zhang is genuine.
• Consequences and clever evasion: Zhang must face her deceit, yet Ning Qing suggests that familiarity with her sectmates may help her defend herself.
• Intimacy through ordinary gestures: Gardening, teasing, and practical help—such as preparing a room or charging a wheelchair—reveal closeness more than formal declarations do.
• Misread signals and comic self-importance: Zhang interprets Ning Qing’s casual familiarity as evidence of rising status, while also taking ordinary advice as esoteric wisdom.

Key plot points

• Back at Jade Summit Mountain after nine months away, Chen Shu visits the Vice Sect Master, who has long supported him.
• Chen reports reaching the peak of the Fifth Tier and offers the sect rare materials—enough for roughly a dozen Sixth Tier advancement potions. He asks that any extinct, research-worthy ingredients be passed to the state. The Vice Sect Master agrees to arrange collection and prepare two potions for Chen’s advancement.
• Chen recounts his travels and asks about Reed God, whose Plane Origin shattered in the distant conflict with the Otherworld. The Vice Sect Master confirms that Reed God was regarded as the cultivator closest to godhood, though the details of the battle are unknown.
• Their discussion clarifies that a Plane Origin—and the deities bound to it—cannot normally leave its world. The Otherworld deity who reached the Southern Continent was an extraordinary exception, enabled by that world’s imminent destruction and a sacrifice involving the other deities.
• Seeking more information, Chen searches old Duqin cultivation histories. He finds scattered accounts of a nameless, peerless cultivator who protected local people and was honored with a temple, but learns nothing conclusive about Reed God’s identity or fate.
• Rather than return to cultivating, Chen studies two flying spells: Cloud-Sky Art and Rising with the Wind. The former is highly efficient and stable; the latter is faster and more agile but consumes much more Spirit Power.

Character development and interactions

• Chen is practical and generous: he donates valuable materials to the sect and plans his advancement carefully, requesting only two potions.
• His conversations with the Vice Sect Master show trust and mutual respect. The older cultivator offers candid explanations, listens to Chen’s account, and recommends spells suited to Chen’s current strength.
• Chen’s research-minded nature is evident in how he compares historical sources and closely analyzes spell structures. He remains curious about Reed God and reflective about the sacrifices made in the ancient war.
• Chen also shows reluctance to return to cultivation, humorously justifying more study as a reason to stay at the Phoenix Tower.

Significant themes

• The burden of power and sacrifice: The Otherworld deities fought knowing victory might not let them escape their doomed world; great strength can bring its own cost.
• Legacy and incomplete history: Reed God’s extraordinary life survives only in fragmentary, easily dismissed records.
• Practicality versus peak performance: A spell’s value depends not only on speed or power but also on efficiency, stability, and intended use.
• Knowledge and research: Chen’s careful reading and technical curiosity help him make sense of both history and cultivation.

Key plot points and events

• Back at the Sword Sect, Zhang Suannai is warmly welcomed by her master, the Old Sword Master, but the next morning he has her and four senior disciples locked in a specially built cell.
• Outside, Zhang’s sixth senior sister is fighting their seventh junior brother after discovering he was behind decades of underwear thefts—and had repeatedly pretended to help her catch the culprit. Their fourth senior brother has fled the sect.
• The imprisoned disciples confront Zhang over her past deceptions and money-taking, threatening to break her legs. Their quarrel turns into a squabble over who will eventually become Sword Master and what powers they would claim.
• The Old Sword Master arrives, silencing them. The four senior disciples receive additional offenses, while Zhang is released. She leaves with the meal’s pickled radish, graciously leaving the braised chicken and rice behind.
• At the Spirit Sect, Chen Shu donates crates of priceless Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures. The painstaking inventory and paperwork keep him there until evening.
• Chen resumes his quiet routine: studying the Cloud-Sky Art, eating around the sect or in town, relaxing, and video-calling Qingqing.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Suannai remains sly and opportunistic, but is quick-witted under pressure. She uses sect rules and her master’s authority to protect herself, while privately imagining how she would rule the sect—and replace its ubiquitous braised chicken and rice with Chicken with Taro.
• The senior disciples reveal longstanding resentment toward Zhang, but their threats give way to rivalry over succession. Their bickering shows how each imagines wielding authority, while their fifth junior brother tries unsuccessfully to keep the peace.
• The Old Sword Master remains the unquestioned authority: his arrival ends the confrontation, and his eccentric devotion to braised chicken and rice shapes the sect’s routine.
• Chen Shu shows generosity and detachment by giving away treasures far more valuable than the sect’s past help, trusting they will serve the sect and the nation better in others’ hands.

Significant themes

• Authority and succession: The disciples’ rivalry highlights the power and freedom attached to becoming Sword Master.
• Mischief, consequences, and loyalty: Zhang’s past schemes catch up with her, yet family-like ties and her master’s authority keep the conflict comic rather than severe.
• Generosity without bookkeeping: Chen gives freely, believing that excessive accounting diminishes goodwill and that useful gifts matter more than personal possession.
• Everyday comedy amid extraordinary wealth and power: Prison feuds, staple meals, and mundane routines contrast with priceless treasures and sect-level authority.

Plot and events

• On the Ghost Festival, Chen Shu collects a custom Sixth Tier advancement potion and heads to the Spirit Sect’s Breaking-Through Tower.
• Vice Sect Master Du Heng supervises him, curious about the power of Chen Shu’s Otherworldly Beast Core. Chen Shu combines the core with the potion, enduring extreme pain as the core’s immense power strains and remakes his body.
• After a prolonged struggle, Chen Shu’s Spirit Sea breaks through the Fifth Tier’s limit, shatters its “ancient shackles,” and reforms at the Sixth Tier. He takes an unusually powerful Essence-Returning Pill and wakes the following evening fully recovered.
• Chen Shu finds that his Spirit Sea’s growth is normal for a Sixth Tier cultivator, but his physical strength has risen to roughly that of a Sixth Tier martial practitioner—an apparent additional effect of the Beast Core.
• In the cultivators’ group chat, Zhang Suannai announces that she has reached the Sixth Tier and boasts about doing it on her first try. Chen Shu realizes she advanced one day before him and starts a playful counter-brag, claiming he actually advanced the day before she did.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu proves able to endure a brutal, high-risk advancement, relying on sheer willpower and absurd thoughts about Qingqing to stay conscious. He emerges stronger physically as well as spiritually, but his competitive streak quickly takes over when Zhang Suannai boasts.
• Du Heng takes a personal interest in Chen Shu’s unusual advancement method, supervises the attempt, and leaves an Essence-Returning Pill for him.
• Zhang Suannai reaches the Sixth Tier and revels in her achievement, challenging Righteous Vital Energy to a duel. The group responds with congratulations and teasing, while Chen Shu later tries to steal back the bragging rights.
• The medical worker cares for Chen Shu after his advancement and reports that he talked in his sleep, repeatedly saying “kiss, kiss.” Chen Shu is relieved that there were no more embarrassing aftereffects.

Themes

• Advancement through risk and endurance: Extraordinary power comes at a severe physical and spiritual cost.
• The consequences of unconventional power: The Beast Core not only enables Chen Shu’s breakthrough but appears to strengthen his body beyond ordinary Spiritual Cultivation.
• Pride, rivalry, and humor: The group’s congratulations turn into playful boasting and mock challenges, with Chen Shu’s understated self-image giving way to competitive one-upmanship.

Key plot points and events

• After defeating Zhang Suannai in the group chat, Chen Shu leaves the Breaking-Through Tower and celebrates reaching the Sixth Tier by testing his flight.
• He enjoys the freedom of flying over the rain-washed Jade Summit Mountains, then measures his abilities: his range is far beyond that of most new Sixth Tier cultivators, though his speed and endurance remain limited. He still needs concentration to maintain the spell.
• Chen Shu messages Qingqing to share his advancement. She plans to attempt her own breakthrough the next day, and he insists on coming to support her, despite her confidence that she will be safe.
• He spends the night studying the high-speed flight spell Rising with the Wind. After falling asleep in the Phoenix Tower, he experiences a strange, dreamlike vision and hears a question about whether he will still embrace the world, knowing it contains both kindness and suffering.
• On waking, Chen Shu discovers a new, painless white mark on his waist. It contains energy purer than Spirit Power and resembles the marks worn by other members of his online group.
• The Vice Sect Master tells him the mark is the Spirit Sage’s favor: Chen Shu has been named the Spirit Sect’s Saint Son and is expected to succeed the Spirit Sage to Godhood.

Character developments

• Chen Shu’s Sixth Tier breakthrough gives him greater freedom and confidence, though he remains mindful of his limits and the work needed to master flight.
• His playful, teasing manner continues, but his insistence on helping Qingqing reflects genuine gratitude and care.
• His mysterious dream and new mark place him on an unexpected path toward divine succession, leaving him surprised and uncertain.

Significant themes

• Freedom and growth: Flying becomes a vivid symbol of Chen Shu’s newly expanded possibilities.
• Good and evil in the world: The dream challenges him to accept the world despite its suffering as well as its beauty.
• Duty and destiny: The Saint Son designation suggests a future shaped by spiritual responsibility, though its meaning and costs remain unclear.

Character interactions

• Chen Shu jokes with Zhang Suannai and the group after the tower’s verdict, then shares his achievement with Qingqing.
• Qingqing lightly reproaches him for enjoying his flight before contacting her; their teasing exchange also reveals Chen Shu’s wish to repay her past support.
• The Vice Sect Master offers Chen Shu books and gentle advice about balancing study with enjoyment, then explains the significance of his new mark.

Plot points and events

• Chen Shu learns that the mark on this generation’s Holy Sons and Holy Daughters is new. The Vice Sect Master believes it may be a fragment of a Deity’s essence—the source of divine power—but suspects it will not awaken until its bearer reaches the High Tier.
• Chen Shu connects the marks to the unusually large number of young people with extraordinary talent. He wonders whether the Deities are preparing successors or have some other plan, but cannot settle on a convincing explanation.
• He puts the mystery aside, returns to his courtyard, and prepares to leave.
• On July 18, Chen Shu returns to Jade Capital and visits Ning Qing, who is tending to her flower garden after months away. She has been repairing damage caused by poor watering and neglect, and is pruning unhealthy or unproductive growth.
• Chen Shu asks whether Ning Qing has advanced. She says she has not. He describes the painful experience of advancing with an Otherworldly Beast Core, joking that he refused to block out the pain because he wanted to remain conscious with her.

Character developments

• Chen Shu is curious and alert to clues, but his reasoning spirals into elaborate theories about the Deities. He ultimately chooses not to worry without evidence. With Ning Qing, he is openly affectionate, teasing, and concerned about her progress.
• Ning Qing remains reserved and dryly humorous. She is methodical and patient in caring for her flowers, even cutting back vigorous growth now so the plants will flourish later. She avoids discussing her lack of advancement and responds to Chen Shu’s teasing with eye-rolls and thrown shoots.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty and hidden motives: The Deities’ intervention raises questions about why the current generation is marked and what they intend.
• Talent, power, and succession: The sudden concentration of exceptional young cultivators may signal a deliberate effort to shape future generations.
• Patience and growth: Ning Qing’s pruning reflects the idea that temporary restraint can lead to healthier, stronger development.
• Trust and companionship: Chen Shu decides to trust the Deities for now, while his visit to Ning Qing shows the comfort and playful closeness between them.

Character interactions

• The Vice Sect Master confirms Chen Shu’s deduction but cannot explain the Deities’ purpose, leaving Chen Shu to speculate.
• Chen Shu and Ning Qing trade affectionate, teasing remarks. He presses her about advancement; she refuses at first, then answers plainly, while their banter reveals familiarity and care.
• Ning Qing explains why she cuts back the rose’s new growth: holding it back now will let it bloom better later.

Plot and key events

• On a hot day, Chen Shu finds Xiaoxiao doing college homework in the living room, with the cat Peach supervising. He teases her about her sister Ning Qing and reveals that Ning Qing is about to attempt advancement to the Sixth Tier. Xiaoxiao is stunned, and Chen Shu leaves her and Peach in charge of the homework.
• Ning Qing returns from gardening and prepares to advance using an Advancement Potion and an Otherworldly Beast Core. Chen Shu stays with her while she endures the painful process, keeping watch and occasionally helping her avoid slumping against the wall. He studies the flight spell Rising with the Wind while he waits.
• Xiaoxiao brings Chen Shu dinner but leaves it outside the bedroom so as not to disturb Ning Qing. Peach joins the vigil, and Chen Shu entertains himself by feeding her squid and joking about the glow surrounding Ning Qing.
• Ning Qing successfully reaches the Sixth Tier. Chen Shu gives her an Essence-Returning Pill, which helps stabilize her new Spirit Sea and repair and strengthen her body and soul.
• After her recovery, Chen Shu carries Ning Qing to bed, sends Peach out, and climbs in beside Ning Qing, embracing and kissing her before turning off the light.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Shu is affectionate, playful, and patient as he supports Ning Qing’s breakthrough. He also keeps studying during the wait, showing his continued interest in improving his skills. His teasing and physical closeness convey his comfort and intimacy with Ning Qing.
• Ning Qing remains composed and stoic through an intense advancement, showing her discipline and resilience. Her successful breakthrough marks a major increase in power.
• Xiaoxiao is diligent despite her resentment about being told to do homework. She shows consideration by bringing Chen Shu dinner quietly rather than interrupting the advancement.
• Peach acts as Xiaoxiao’s homework supervisor and later keeps watch over Ning Qing, remaining devoted even when Chen Shu tries to distract her.

Significant themes

• Care expressed through everyday actions: Chen Shu’s quiet assistance, Xiaoxiao’s dinner delivery, and Peach’s watchfulness all show concern without interrupting Ning Qing’s effort.
• Discipline and perseverance: Ning Qing endures the breakthrough without complaint, while Xiaoxiao continues working despite wanting to relax.
• Domestic intimacy and humor: Teasing, pet-related jokes, and Chen Shu’s affectionate behavior balance the high-stakes spiritual advancement with the characters’ relaxed home life.

Plot and key events

• Ning Qing wakes after being unconscious, feeling unusually well. In the bathroom mirror, she discovers Chen Shu has written a different teasing message on each closed eyelid. Amused despite herself, she washes them off.
• Chen Shu eagerly asks how she feels and admits that their intimate encounter exceeded his expectations. Ning Qing turns his enthusiasm into a playful interrogation, and he flees before she can act on her implied threat.
• He prepares her leftovers, including toothpick meat, and gives her the newer 2019 edition of the Sky-Riding Art, hoping they can learn to fly together. Ning Qing agrees to study it and ask for his help.
• That evening, Chen Shu returns to Yujing University after ten months away. He reunites with roommates Meng Chunqiu and Jiang Lai, jokes with them, gives them souvenirs, and settles back into his unchanged dorm room.
• Later, Chen Shu examines the mysterious mark on his waist. Though he can choose where it appears, he leaves it in place. He asks a group chat what the mark is ultimately for, but no one has useful answers; he then chats with Ning Qing and resumes his daily cultivation.

Character development

• Ning Qing is comfortable and playful after waking, meeting Chen Shu’s teasing with dry humor and quiet confidence. She accepts his offer to help her learn a flight spell.
• Chen Shu remains affectionate, excitable, and mischievous. His curiosity about the mark shows he is still concerned about its purpose, though he is reassured that it is unlikely to harm him.
• Jiang Lai has worked hard and advanced to Fifth-Stage Martial Artist.
• Meng Chunqiu continues to pursue his poetic ambitions and retains his elegant, theatrical manner.

Themes

• Romance through teasing: Ning Qing and Chen Shu’s intimacy is expressed through jokes, flirtation, and playful embarrassment.
• Returning to ordinary life: Chen Shu’s return to campus contrasts his recent travels and reconnects the story with friendship and student life.
• Uncertainty about the supernatural: The mark and the ancient war remain unresolved mysteries, and even knowledgeable cultivators lack reliable information.
• Growth and shared pursuits: Jiang Lai’s advancement and Ning Qing’s new flight training highlight the characters’ ongoing development.

Character interactions

• Ning Qing and Chen Shu trade teasing questions, share a meal, and discuss her learning the Sky-Riding Art; his romantic plans are met with her calm, amused restraint.
• Chen Shu reunites warmly with Meng Chunqiu and Jiang Lai, jokes about Jiang’s muscles and Meng’s romantic prospects, and shares souvenirs.
• Chen Shu consults his fellow cultivators about the mark, receives little help, and ends the night chatting with Ning Qing before returning to cultivation.