Ch. 1Across-Time Chat Group, Demon Armor, and Young Bibi Dong Joins the Group
Key plot points and events
- Li Qiu wakes from a twelve-year haze at Shrek Academy, realizing he has spent years being exploited as a weak healer and errand boy. He has not even reached Soul Power level twenty.
- A system appears, granting him an evolved First Martial Soul and a Second Martial Soul called Demon Armor, as well as a cross-time chat group. The group can currently send items across time and will unlock more features as its activity grows.
- Li Qiu treats Dai Mubai’s injury and suppresses Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire, then retreats to his dorm, exhausted. Now clearheaded, he decides to endure Shrek’s mistreatment until he becomes strong enough to retaliate.
- He invites a random person into the chat group and is connected with Bibi Dong, who identifies herself as Spirit Hall’s newly appointed Saintess.
- Li Qiu infers that she is the young Bibi Dong from more than thirty years in his past. Curious and skeptical, she asks him to prove the group’s claim by telling her about her era. He guesses that she is about fourteen.
Character developments
- Li Qiu shifts from a confused, passive victim into a lucid and resentful schemer. His new system gives him hope of gaining strength and changing his situation.
- Young Bibi Dong is introduced as curious, intelligent, and isolated by her demanding cultivation life. The chat group intrigues her, though she remains unsure whether Li Qiu is supernatural or simply using an extraordinary tool.
- Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun continue to treat Li Qiu as a subordinate, accepting his healing without much regard for him.
Character interactions
- Li Qiu respectfully heals Dai Mubai first, prompting Ma Hongjun’s irritation; he then uses his Ice-Blue Bead to calm Ma Hongjun’s Evil Fire.
- After the others leave, Li Qiu privately resolves not to remain their powerless servant forever.
- Li Qiu and Bibi Dong begin a cross-time conversation. He explains the group, while she tests his claims by asking for knowledge of her past.
Significant themes
- Power and exploitation: Li Qiu’s healing ability has made him useful to Shrek but has not earned him respect.
- Revenge and self-determination: Once mentally clear, Li Qiu plans to build strength rather than accept mistreatment indefinitely.
- Time, fate, and connection: The chat group links people separated by decades, potentially allowing them to influence one another’s lives.