Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Chen Mu studies the Blood Corpse Ancestor’s Blood-Burning Method and discovers it has a primary technique for the Ancestor and a secondary one for the rest of the Blood Corpse Devil Race. The primary technique lets him forcibly drain the others’ blood energy, effectively making them cultivate for his benefit.
• Chen Mu finds and instantly masters the Supreme Blood-Burning Cultivation Technique, which can extract blood energy from anyone who cultivates a Blood-Burning technique. He intends to use it to turn the Ancestor’s own system against him.
• Meanwhile, the Blood Corpse Ancestor attacks Chen Tianlin with a blood giant. Chen Tianlin calmly destroys its limbs, withstands its hammer strikes with one finger, then uses a powerful spear thrust to pierce and tear apart the giant while draining away its surrounding blood energy.
• The Ancestor refuses to concede and opens the Blood Gate again, prepared to sacrifice the Blood Corpse Devil Race to kill Chen Tianlin.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu shows quick strategic thinking, recognizing the Blood-Burning Method’s exploitative structure and acquiring a technique that could make him its new master.
• Chen Tianlin remains composed and overwhelmingly confident, repeatedly humiliating the Ancestor’s attacks and proving his strength exceeds the Ancestor’s expectations.
• The Blood Corpse Ancestor shifts from boastful confidence to surprise and frustration as his blood giant fails. He responds by escalating the conflict, even at the cost of his own people.
• The spectators are rendered completely silent by Chen Mu’s Silencing Curse, which blocks both speech and telepathic communication so Chen Mu will not be disturbed.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: The Blood-Burning Method binds weaker cultivators to the stronger master, turning their cultivation into a resource to be harvested.
• Reversal of oppression: Chen Mu’s new technique could let him impose the same system on the Ancestor and his followers.
• Overconfidence versus composure: The Ancestor’s taunts and assumptions contrast with Chen Tianlin’s calm control.
• Escalation and sacrifice: Unable to defeat Chen Tianlin directly, the Ancestor is willing to endanger his entire race to secure victory.

Key plot points and events

• Blood Corpse cultivators discover that the Blood-Burning Method is a curse: their ancestor, Xiao Heng, is draining their blood energy and life force. Chen Mu uses the Heaven-Peering Mirror to reveal both their suffering and Xiao Heng’s contempt for them.
• When Xiao Heng demands that Chen Mu surrender his technique, Chen Mu ignores him and mocks him with Chen Juexin. Xiao Heng attacks with blood souls, but Chen Mu absorbs them and grows stronger.
• Xiao Heng tries to draw on a Blood Gate, only for Chen Mu to close it effortlessly. Chen Mu explains that his own technique surpasses Xiao Heng’s: Xiao Heng’s method is merely the “son” of his, while Chen Mu’s is the “father.”
• Xiao Heng attempts to drain Chen Mu, but Chen Mu reverses the process, stripping away Xiao Heng’s cultivation. He stops only to ask whether Xiao Heng submits; Xiao Heng is left powerless and despairing.
• Chen Juexin declares that her brother can create any cultivation technique and that even the Heavenly Dao must bow to him. Her provocation draws thunderclouds overhead, threatening heavenly punishment.

Character developments

• Chen Mu demonstrates overwhelming control of blood-energy techniques, turning Xiao Heng’s attacks against him and revealing the gap between their abilities. He remains calm and confident throughout.
• Xiao Heng shifts from arrogant ruler to helpless victim. His belief that his power and status make others disposable collapses when Chen Mu strips away his cultivation.
• Chen Juexin openly celebrates her brother’s strength and shows absolute faith in his invincibility, even mocking the Heavenly Dao.
• The Blood Corpse cultivators are exposed to the truth about their exploitation and begin to see their revered ancestor as an enemy rather than a savior.

Significant themes

• Exploitation and betrayal: Xiao Heng treats his own followers as expendable resources.
• Power and reversal: The technique used to control others becomes the means of Xiao Heng’s defeat.
• Filial imagery and mastery: Chen Mu’s “father and son” comparison underscores that his art is the original, superior technique.
• Confidence versus recklessness: Chen Juexin’s faith in Chen Mu is absolute, but her contempt for the Heavenly Dao may bring danger.

Character interactions

• Chen Mu publicly exposes Xiao Heng’s cruelty to the Blood Corpse cultivators, framing himself as their potential savior.
• Xiao Heng repeatedly tries to intimidate, recruit, and attack Chen Mu, but is ignored, mocked, and ultimately drained by him.
• Chen Juexin backs Chen Mu throughout, joining his mockery and proudly boasting of his abilities.
• Qin Xuanji and Chen Tianlin instinctively move to protect Chen Mu when Xiao Heng attacks, though Chen Mu handles the threat himself.

Plot points and events

• Chen Mu explains that Heavenly Tribulations avoid him because, in the Lower Realm, he has drained them for power. At Tianyuan Holy Land, this has become a mysterious phenomenon; elsewhere, tribulations still strike normally—and seem even harsher.
• When a tribulation gathers around Chen Juexin, Qin Xuanji steps in to protect Chen Mu. He tells her the thunder strengthens his Thunder Spiritual Root and is valuable to him.
• Chen Mu uses Palm Black Hole to redirect and absorb each attack. The Heavenly Dao escalates from one massive bolt to three combined bolts, then a five-bolt thunder dragon, but Chen Mu refines every strike without injury.
• Xiao Heng repeatedly expects Chen Mu to die and grows increasingly distraught as the attacks fail. Chen Juexin reveals that Chen Mu has an undying and imperishable body, which he also gave to her and their father.
• The clouds shift to World-Destroying Purple Thunder, described as the strongest Heavenly Thunder. Xiao Heng takes this escalation as proof that Chen Mu is finally doomed and laughs triumphantly.

Character developments

• Chen Mu remains calm and confident, treating the increasingly powerful tribulation as a free resource. His Thunder Spiritual Root improves as he absorbs the attacks.
• Qin Xuanji initially reacts protectively, but learns that Chen Mu can benefit from the thunder and that he possesses an extraordinary body.
• Chen Juexin shows complete confidence in her brother’s survival and casually reveals the extent of his powers.
• Xiao Heng swings between hope and despair as his imagined revenge repeatedly fails. Though stripped of cultivation, he clings to the prospect of witnessing Chen Mu’s death.

Significant themes

• Power turned into opportunity: Chen Mu transforms a deadly trial into cultivation material.
• Hubris and misjudgment: Xiao Heng’s certainty that Chen Mu will die is repeatedly contradicted.
• Family protection and trust: Qin Xuanji acts to shield Chen Mu, while Chen Juexin trusts his abilities without hesitation.
• Escalation and suspense: The Heavenly Dao intensifies its attacks, setting up the unresolved threat of the purple thunder.

Character interactions

• Qin Xuanji offers to face the tribulation for Chen Mu; he reassures her that it benefits him.
• Chen Mu’s display of Palm Black Hole pushes the onlookers back and convinces some that he may truly absorb the thunder.
• Chen Juexin tells Xiao Heng that Chen Mu is undying and imperishable, then reveals he gave that same body to her and their father. Xiao Heng refuses to believe her.
• Xiao Heng’s taunts and laughter contrast with Chen Mu’s composure as each new strike fails to harm him.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Mu faces a colossal “world-destroying” purple lightning dragon, which threatens the Divine Court and terrifies everyone watching.
• Xiao Heng mocks Chen Mu and expects the calamity to kill him and destroy the Divine Court. Chen Juexin silences him by blasting him into rubble.
• Chen Mu’s system reveals that absorbing the tribulation can raise his heaven-rank supreme thunder spirit root to saint rank. He flies up to confront the lightning directly.
• The lightning dragon swallows Chen Mu, but he begins refining it with his Palm Black Hole. When the Heavenly Dao tries to withdraw the lightning, Chen Mu enlarges the black hole and forces it to keep supplying power.
• Chen Mu successfully breaks through to a saint-rank thunder spirit root. Rather than stop, he decides to keep absorbing the lightning and pursue an even stronger saint-rank supreme spirit root.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu remains confident and turns a seemingly fatal attack into an opportunity for advancement. He sees the Heavenly Dao’s hostility as inevitable and treats its tribulation as a source of power.
• Qin Xuanji is deeply worried but accepts Chen Tianlin’s reassurance. Once Chen Mu reverses the situation, she laughs at the Heavenly Dao’s rare setback.
• Chen Tianlin trusts his son’s extraordinary abilities and prevents Qin Xuanji from intervening.
• Chen Juexin shows little patience for Xiao Heng’s taunts and knocks him away.
• Xiao Heng begins convinced that Chen Mu and the Divine Court will die. His smugness turns to shock when Chen Mu absorbs the lightning instead.

Significant themes

• Defying fate and authority: Chen Mu refuses to submit to the Heavenly Dao’s attempt to erase him.
• Turning danger into opportunity: The deadly tribulation becomes a path to a major breakthrough.
• Family trust: Chen Tianlin’s confidence and Qin Xuanji’s eventual faith reflect their belief in Chen Mu.
• Reversal of power: The supposed executioner—the Heavenly Dao—ends up being forced to fuel Chen Mu’s growth.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Mu challenges the Heavenly Dao Order by opening a growing black hole, forcing it into a dangerous struggle that threatens to devastate the Divine Court.
• To end the confrontation, the Heavenly Dao offers twenty-four supreme Heavenly Dao Emperor Weapons. Chen Mu accepts, closes the black hole, and the thunderclouds retreat.
• Xiao Heng, who had hoped to exploit the conflict, dies after spitting blood. Chen Mu then asks his mother, Qin Xuanji, for permission to deal with the Blood Corpse Devil Race; she agrees, and he departs through a Teleportation Gate.
• Chen Mu lifts the Silencing Curse he had placed on the gathered people. The Divine Court’s officials praise Qin Xuanji and recognize that Chen Mu makes the realm effectively secure.
• At the Qin ancestral home, Chen Tianlin apologizes to Qin Shan and Xiao Tianjun for leaving the Upper Realm years ago and asks to return to the Qin Lineage. Qin Shan forgives him, and the family welcomes him back.
• In the family courtyard, Chen Tianlin awkwardly asks whether Qin Xuanji still resents him. When he admits that Chen Mu lent him cultivation power for his fight with Xiao Heng, Qin Xuanji turns icy and asks whether he also took a concubine while away.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu confirms his overwhelming power by forcing the Heavenly Dao to negotiate. Despite the feat, he remains casual and even jokes that the Dao’s “stock” of power was disappointing. A system reward grants him large quantities of top-grade spiritual roots.
• Qin Xuanji trusts Chen Mu completely, gives him authority over the Blood Corpse Devil Race, and realizes her fears for the Divine Court’s future were unnecessary.
• Chen Tianlin is welcomed back into the Qin family, but he chooses to confess that his victory over Xiao Heng relied on Chen Mu’s borrowed power. His honesty immediately leads to an unexpected suspicion from Qin Xuanji.
• Chen Juexin is astonished by Chen Mu’s demonstration and enjoys watching her parents’ playful, tense exchange.
• Xiao Heng dies after his plan to let the Heavenly Dao conflict work to his advantage fails.

Significant themes

• Power and authority: Chen Mu overturns the assumption that the Heavenly Dao is untouchable, reshaping how others view the balance of power.
• Family reconciliation and belonging: Chen Tianlin’s return to the Qin Lineage repairs an old separation, while his relationship with Qin Xuanji remains complicated.
• Honesty and trust: Chen Tianlin confesses his reliance on Chen Mu rather than risking a later revelation, but Qin Xuanji’s response hints at deeper anxieties.
• Humor amid grand conflict: Chen Mu’s understated jokes and the parents’ teasing domestic exchange contrast with the chapter’s world-threatening stakes.

Plot points and events

• Qin Xuanji mistakes Chen Tianlin’s serious confession for news that he has taken a concubine. Her anger and killing intent terrify both him and Chen Juexin.
• Chen Tianlin reassures her that she is the only woman he will ever love, then admits that his apparent strength was lent to him by their son, Chen Mu. Qin Xuanji accepts this without blame and learns that Mu raised his cultivation by fifty layers. The family shares tea in a rare, peaceful moment.
• Elsewhere, Chen Mu sits in the Blood Corpse Devil Master’s seat while the court awaits his decision. Civil officials declare their support for him as the new Devil Master, followed by most of the military.
• Xiao Pojun, head of the military, refuses to submit. Chen Mu kills him with a single finger to demonstrate his power, then immediately resurrects him as an undead. Xiao Pojun promptly pledges allegiance.
• Chen Mu says he has no interest in becoming Devil Master and brings back the supposedly dead Xiao Qingkuang. The court is stunned, and Xiao Qingkuang kneels before Chen Mu, calling him his master.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Xuanji reveals how strongly she cares for Chen Tianlin; her jealousy gives way to calm acceptance when he explains the truth.
• Chen Tianlin shows devotion to Qin Xuanji and honesty about the source of his borrowed cultivation.
• Chen Juexin quietly observes her parents’ affection and enjoys their brief family gathering.
• Chen Mu demonstrates overwhelming power and a pragmatic, ruthless approach to securing loyalty. He is willing to kill opponents, but can also restore them as obedient undead.
• The Blood Corpse court quickly shifts from uncertainty to submission, driven by fear and awe. Xiao Qingkuang’s return further unsettles them.

Significant themes

• Family trust and affection: Chen Xuanji accepts Chen Tianlin’s dependence on their son rather than treating it as shameful.
• Power as political authority: Chen Mu secures obedience through an unmistakable display of force.
• Death and control: Resurrection removes the usual consequences of death while turning former opponents into servants.
• Fear and misinterpretation: The officials’ anxious speculation and exaggerated suspicions highlight how little they understand Chen Mu’s plans.

Key plot points and events

• Xiao Qingkuang publicly addresses Chen Mu as “Master,” confirming his submission and strengthening the Blood Corpse Devil Race’s loyalty to Chen.
• An unexpected tremor reveals a hidden Nine-Star Destruction Formation beneath the race’s territory. It is linked to Xiao Heng’s Soul Lamp and designed to destroy the entire Blood Corpse Devil Race after his death.
• Chen Mu identifies the formation and directs three formation experts to investigate. They discover the danger but cannot break the ancient, complex formation, leaving the clan in panic.
• Chen Mu summons Xiao Heng’s undead spirit through a Spatial Teleportation Gate. Xiao Heng kneels and acknowledges Chen as his master.
• Xiao Heng says he can deactivate the formation. Chen sends him to the stone chamber, where he appears before the startled formation experts.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu consolidates his authority: the Blood Corpse Devil Masters’ loyalty rises, and the clan increasingly views him as its unquestioned ruler. He remains calm and delegates the crisis rather than acting himself.
• The Blood Corpse Devil Race turns against Xiao Heng after learning he planned to take them all down with him. Members who once revered him now see his death as a blessing.
• Xiao Heng’s return as a controlled wraith demonstrates Chen’s growing power over the undead. Xiao Heng is obedient and willing to resolve the danger he created—or inherited from the formation he obtained.
• The formation experts move from confident investigation to despair when they realize they cannot stop the countdown; Chen’s intervention restores hope.

Significant themes

• Power and loyalty: Chen’s authority is reinforced both by visible acts of control and by the system’s loyalty mechanics.
• Delegation and efficiency: Chen prefers to conserve his own effort by assigning Xiao Heng the task he can handle.
• The danger of the past: Xiao Heng’s hidden safeguard threatens the clan even after his death, showing how old rulers’ decisions can endanger those they once commanded.
• Undead power: Chen reflects that his summoned army makes him a “one-man army,” turning a once-fictional fantasy into a real source of overwhelming strength.

Key plot points and events

• Xiao Heng returns from the dead and shuts down the Blood Corpse Devil Race’s Destruction Formation at Chen Mu’s command.
• Chen Mu restores the race’s former leadership: Xiao Qingkuang remains Devil Master and Xiao Heng resumes his role as Blood Corpse Ancestor. The terrified leaders accept Chen Mu’s authority and know they cannot rebel.
• Back at the Qin Ancestral Land, Chen Mu reports the matter to Chen Juexin, Chen Tianlin, and Qin Xuanji. Qin Xuanji offers him the Divine Court’s Imperial Throne, but he declines, preferring to avoid administrative burdens.
• Chen Juexin takes Chen Mu out, deliberately leaving Chen Tianlin and Qin Xuanji alone. The parents seize the chance for private time, joking that Juexin has always wanted a little sister.
• Juexin tells Chen Mu she hopes for a younger sibling and asks when he and Qingcheng will have a child. Pressed to choose, he says he wants a little sister.

Character developments and interactions

• Xiao Heng obeys Chen Mu without hesitation, while the Blood Corpse Devil Race’s leaders are reduced to fearful, compliant subjects.
• Chen Mu demonstrates decisive authority but again refuses a powerful official position, consistent with his dislike of burdensome responsibilities.
• Chen Juexin shows affection for Chen Mu while teasing him about the prospect of a niece or nephew; she is eager for a younger sibling herself.
• Chen Tianlin and Qin Xuanji share a playful, affectionate moment after Juexin gives them privacy. Qin Xuanji’s concerns about the Blood Corpse Devil Race are eased by Chen Mu’s success.

Significant themes

• Power and submission: Chen Mu’s overwhelming strength makes resistance futile, securing the Devil Race’s obedience.
• Duty versus personal preference: Though Chen Mu avoids formal rule, he still acts when the Divine Court needs him.
• Family affection and continuity: The chapter shifts from political resolution to intimate family teasing, centering on parents, siblings, and hopes for another child.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Juexin embraces Chen Mu and asks whether he can make a pill to help their parents have a daughter. Chen Mu starts to say no, but his system immediately rewards him with 10,000 Daughter-Bearing Essence Pills.
• Juexin proposes that their parents have boy-girl twins. The system promptly supplies 10,000 Dragon-Phoenix Pills, leaving Chen Mu to agree that he will try.
• The siblings leave the city to explore. A commander offers to escort them with a large force, but Juexin refuses: the guards would spoil their outing and could not protect them from anyone capable of threatening the siblings. The commander accepts her reasoning and returns to the palace.
• As they browse a street stall, Juexin considers buying gemstone hairpins for their mother. Chen Mu says they are too flashy, and the system identifies them as valuable treasures. Juexin buys them, intending to keep one and give the other to Ye Qingcheng.
• Chen Mu spots a plain black stone that the system identifies as valuable Heavenly Iron containing a divine stone and an inheritance. Juexin picks it up first, however, and an unfamiliar young man asks to take it if she does not want it.

Character development and interactions

• Chen Mu remains easygoing and indifferent to questions of inheritance, even imagining that a hardworking younger brother might take family responsibilities off his hands. He is also resigned to the system repeatedly contradicting him with perfectly timed rewards.
• Juexin is affectionate, decisive, and practical. She wants a younger sister, but also considers the risks of letting ordinary people gain power too quickly.
• Their sibling bond is warm and teasing: they walk hand in hand, discuss their parents, and shop together. Chen Mu trusts Juexin’s judgment, while she confidently takes the lead.
• The commander respects the siblings’ strength and chooses not to burden them with an escort.

Significant themes

• Comic fate and contradiction: The system repeatedly rewards Chen Mu with exactly what he has just claimed he cannot provide.
• Power and responsibility: Juexin recognizes that rapid cultivation could make people arrogant and create new problems.
• Appearance versus hidden value: The stall’s ordinary-looking goods conceal genuine treasures, while the plain black stone is especially valuable.
• Family and affection: The siblings’ plans and purchases reflect their care for their parents and relatives.

Key plot points and events

• At a market stall, Chen Juexin discovers through her divine ability that an ordinary-looking piece of heavenly iron contains a legacy from the Divine Ruins. She buys it before Ye Chen can claim it.
• Chen Mu recognizes Ye Chen as a Child of Fortune and realizes the stone is a crucial early opportunity for him. He also learns that Ye Chen’s hidden Ring Elder—a remnant soul—spotted the treasure first.
• Ye Chen repeatedly raises his offer, eventually offering ten supreme spirit stones, but Chen Juexin refuses. She gives the stone to Chen Mu, and the pair walk away.
• Ye Chen follows them. Chen Mu uses his villain system to buy and apply a Fortune Nullification Card, a Fortune-Reversal Misfortune Card, and a Betrayal Card to Ye Chen.
• Ye Chen feels an inexplicable chill, then encounters two imposing black-and-white figures who block his way. When he reaches toward one, his hand passes through it.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Juexin acts decisively once she recognizes the stone’s value. She gives it to Chen Mu and responds sharply to Ye Chen’s implausible claim that the stone is worthless even as he tries to buy it.
• Chen Mu shows his familiarity with “Child of Fortune” conventions and treats Ye Chen as a future threat. He protects the opportunity and secretly uses his villain powers against him.
• Ye Chen is eager to seize the treasure but undermines himself by openly drawing attention to it and making increasingly desperate offers. Afterward, he decides to act like a villain and pursues Chen Mu and Chen Juexin.
• The Ring Elder recognizes Ye Chen’s blunder, berates him for it, and distances himself from Ye Chen’s plan to play the villain.
• Chen Juexin links arms with Chen Mu affectionately, while he tells her to ignore Ye Chen—or kill him if he attacks.

Significant themes

• Fortune and fate: The chapter plays with the familiar “hidden treasure and destined hero” plot, then disrupts it when someone else claims the opportunity.
• Knowledge as power: Chen Juexin’s ability to perceive the stone’s secret—and Chen Mu’s understanding of Ye Chen’s situation—lets them outmaneuver him.
• Reversal of expectations: Ye Chen’s fortune and his Ring Elder’s guidance fail to prevent a simple social mistake, while Chen Mu turns the supposed hero’s advantage against him.
• Comedy and irony: The Ring Elder’s exasperation, Ye Chen’s awkward bargaining, and the contrast between his grand villain talk and amateurish tailing provide much of the humor.

Key plot points

• Ye Chen discovers that two invisible-to-others figures are Underworld Reapers. The Ring Elder explains they have come to claim his soul, not Ye Chen’s.
• Ye Chen tries to flee, but the reapers block him. Their chain passes through Ye Chen and his sword, then pulls the Ring Elder out of Ye Chen’s Spatial Ring.
• The Ring Elder warns Ye Chen to stop resisting and tells him he must now rely on himself. The reapers take him through the Gate of Hell and disappear.
• Bereft of his master, Ye Chen worries about his future and the deadly duel with his senior brother in three months. He decides he must obtain a divine ability hidden in a piece of heavenly iron and pursues Chen Mu and Chen Juexin.
• Chen Mu observes Ye Chen’s misfortune and knows he has already stripped away Ye Chen’s status as a Child of Fortune. Ye Chen is now only an ordinary cultivator with some talent.
• Ye Chen tracks the pair to an auction house, but a guard bars him from the VIP floor. When the guard reveals a cultivation level two major realms higher than Ye Chen’s, Ye Chen backs down.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chen loses his confident reliance on the Ring Elder and is left anxious and vulnerable. Still, he quickly resolves to pursue the stone as his best chance of surviving the duel.
• The Ring Elder is frightened by the reapers but accepts that resistance is futile. His parting words mark the end of his guidance to Ye Chen.
• Chen Mu watches Ye Chen’s downfall from a position of control, aware of the change in Ye Chen’s fortune.
• Chen Juexin accompanies Chen Mu to the auction house, interested in its treasures and content to spend time with him.
• Ye Chen’s attempt to reach Chen Mu and Chen Juexin is stopped by the VIP guard, whose overwhelming strength exposes how precarious Ye Chen’s position has become.

Significant themes

• Mortality and fate: Even Ye Chen’s powerful master cannot escape the Underworld’s claim.
• Loss of protection and self-reliance: Ye Chen must confront the consequences of losing the mentor he depended on.
• Fortune and vulnerability: Once deprived of his special fortune, Ye Chen is no longer shielded from the dangers his choices invite.
• Power and status: Ye Chen’s disciple title proves useless when faced with someone vastly stronger.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chen, now without his master’s protection, recognizes that he is far outmatched by the powerful guard who took his master. He backs down and sits in the auction hall, determined to watch Chen Mu and Chen Juexin and obtain the heavenly iron.
• When another young man demands his seat, Ye Chen threatens him—only to be knocked aside by the young man’s Peak Human Immortal Realm attendant. Humiliated again, Ye Chen retreats and blames Chen Mu and Chen Juexin for his misfortunes.
• Ye Chen’s resentment turns murderous and possessive: he considers killing the pair, taking their treasure, and keeping Chen Juexin as his maid. Chen Mu, having witnessed Ye Chen’s defeat, decides that Ye Chen’s persistence makes him a target.
• The auction begins. Chen Juexin bids thirty million supreme spirit stones for a Black Armor Shield, intending it as a gift and a useful artifact-refining reference for Chen Mu. He thanks her, while privately judging the shield ordinary.
• Chen Mu’s system rewards him with 10,000 Nine-Dragon Divine Shields, prompting him to suspect the system is jealous. It claims he deserves better.
• The Ghost King Saber is offered next. Chen Juexin appears interested, and bidding rises sharply. As the competition slows, Ye Qingcheng enters with a composed bid of fifty million supreme spirit stones.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Chen is increasingly isolated and embittered. Repeatedly forced to back down, he redirects his humiliation into hatred and fantasies of revenge.
• Chen Mu remains confident and indulgent toward Chen Juexin, allowing her to spend freely and quietly deciding that Ye Chen’s behavior warrants retaliation.
• Chen Juexin shows affection through generous gifts, choosing items she thinks will benefit Chen Mu. Her enthusiasm contrasts with his vast resources and understated reaction.
• Ye Qingcheng makes a striking impression with her calm, high bid, demonstrating that she too can command the auction through wealth.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Ye Chen’s confidence collapses without his master, while the strength of others dictates when he can act.
• Wealth as power: The auction turns money into status and influence; Chen Mu and his circle can outspend others with ease.
• Resentment and self-deception: Ye Chen blames others for his defeats and treats his fantasies of revenge as justified.
• Affection expressed through generosity: Chen Juexin’s purchases are motivated less by need than by her desire to provide for Chen Mu.

Plot points and events

• Chen Juexin wins the Ghost King Saber for 50 million Supreme Spirit Stones and gives it to Chen Mu. Chen Mu’s rebate system rewards him with 500 billion top-grade universal currency.
• The system explains that, because Chen Juexin is Chen Mu’s blood relative and their relationship has reached “perfect,” her purchases can trigger rebates for him. As she buys more auction lots—including a Saint Dragon Scale Battle Robe—Chen Mu receives the items and enormous amounts of universal currency.
• Chen Juexin dominates the auction, ultimately spending more than 10 billion Supreme Spirit Stones and leaving the other wealthy bidders with no chance to compete.
• Ye Chen initially suspects Chen Juexin was brought in to obstruct him and fantasizes about enslaving and then killing her. But her immense wealth convinces him that attacking her would be suicidal, so he abandons his plan and flees the Auction City.
• Chen Mu recognizes Ye Chen’s retreat and reflects that he will not restore Ye Chen’s former status as a Child of Fortune.
• Worried her mother will think she has been wasteful, Chen Juexin confides her concern to Chen Mu. A god-rank choice prompt appears, offering Chen Mu ownership of the Auction City or 13.2 billion Supreme Spirit Stones.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu benefits hugely from Chen Juexin’s spending, gains an understanding of universal currency, and takes quiet satisfaction in Ye Chen’s retreat. He considers how to reassure his sister.
• Chen Juexin shows confidence and generosity by buying the auction’s prizes and giving them to Chen Mu, but afterward reveals anxiety about how her spending will be judged.
• Ye Chen shifts from malicious ambition to fear-driven caution. His fantasies of controlling Chen Juexin give way to a decision to flee rather than risk confronting her.
• The siblings’ close bond is central: Chen Juexin’s purchases directly help Chen Mu, while Chen Mu’s response to her worry is about to be shaped by the choice feature.

Significant themes

• Wealth and power: Chen Juexin’s spending overwhelms the auction and changes Ye Chen’s calculations.
• Family and shared fortune: Their strong relationship lets Chen Juexin’s purchases trigger rewards for Chen Mu.
• Ambition checked by fear: Ye Chen’s plans collapse when he recognizes the danger of challenging someone far beyond his means.
• System-driven opportunity: Chen Mu’s gains and the final dilemma underscore how supernatural mechanics turn ordinary events into strategic rewards.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Mu chooses the System’s first reward and acquires Heavenly Star Auction City, a prestigious and enormously valuable auction house.
• The city’s officials deliver its deeds, accounts, and administrator’s token directly to Chen Mu, surprising Chen Juexin. He jokes that her extravagant spending now stays within their own property.
• Meanwhile, Ye Chen escapes the earlier confrontation and abandons his plans to claim the stone’s hidden divine ability.
• Seeking another stroke of luck, he decides to search Green Vine Academy’s Library Pavilion for more fragments of the Nine Heavens Black Tortoise Art—the discovery that once restored his damaged meridians.
• Before he can return to the Academy, masked attackers surround him. Despite invoking his status as an inner disciple, he is brutally wounded and left near death.
• The assassins suddenly flee, and Ye Chen later awakens bandaged in a place where Su Lingyue is tending to him. He assumes she saved him and sees his survival as renewed good fortune.
• Ye Chen hopes to use the crisis as a chance to confess his feelings and perhaps resolve his pact with Zhang Zhicong. Instead, Lingyue tells him she has come to say goodbye.

Character developments

• Chen Mu demonstrates his extraordinary power and wealth by quietly taking ownership of an entire top-tier auction city.
• Chen Juexin is surprised but accepts the purchase without probing into how it happened, showing her trust in Chen Mu and enjoyment of his thoughtfulness.
• Ye Chen shifts from confidence in his luck to despair after repeated setbacks and a near-fatal attack. Even so, he quickly regains hope when he wakes in Lingyue’s care.

Significant themes

• Fortune and misfortune: Ye Chen’s faith that luck will protect him collapses as his recent disasters accumulate.
• Power and vulnerability: His Academy status and fighting spirit cannot save him from attackers who greatly outclass him.
• Unexpected reversals: Chen Mu’s acquisition of the city contrasts sharply with Ye Chen’s sudden fall, while Ye Chen’s apparent rescue is followed by Lingyue’s farewell.
• Trust and attachment: Chen Juexin’s unquestioning confidence in Chen Mu contrasts with Ye Chen’s unfulfilled hopes for a deeper relationship with Lingyue.

Character interactions

• Chen Mu reassures Chen Juexin through teasing, and she responds with affectionate acceptance.
• Ye Chen attempts to deter the attackers by invoking Green Vine Academy, but they ignore him and attack.
• After waking, Ye Chen treats Lingyue’s presence as proof she saved him and hopes to turn the moment into a romantic confession; her announcement that she is leaving abruptly overturns that expectation.

Key plot points and events

• Su Lingyue tells Ye Chen she has volunteered to enter the Imperial Palace as a palace maid, hoping to win the Crown Prince’s favor and secure a future for the Su Family, which faces destruction by the Xiao Family.
• Ye Chen urges her to leave the capital with him, then condemns her choice as degrading. Lingyue asks whether he can protect her family; unable to promise that, he falls silent.
• Hurt by his accusations, Lingyue declares that they are strangers from now on and leaves for the palace selection.
• Her father, Su Nantian, confronts Ye Chen, strikes him, and ends the Su Family’s ties to him. He warns Ye Chen not to damage Lingyue’s reputation, though he orders that Ye Chen be cared for until he recovers.
• Afterward, Ye Chen realizes he misjudged Lingyue and bitterly regrets failing to support her. Chen Mu, watching through Ye Chen’s right eye, laughs at the protagonist’s humiliation.

Character developments and interactions

• Su Lingyue shows resolve and a willingness to sacrifice her own prospects for her family. Though she once admired Ye Chen, his insult ends their relationship.
• Ye Chen reacts from jealousy and wounded pride, mistaking Lingyue’s pragmatic choice for selfishness. His helplessness and guilt deepen when he recognizes he could not protect her or her family.
• Su Nantian fiercely defends his daughter, reprimands Ye Chen, and formally severs their connection while still ensuring Ye Chen receives medical care.
• Chen Mu enjoys watching Ye Chen’s downfall, finding villainy more entertaining than being a protagonist.

Significant themes

• Misjudgment and trust: Ye Chen’s assumptions destroy a relationship that might have endured if he had listened.
• Sacrifice and family duty: Lingyue chooses a risky path to help protect her family.
• Powerlessness and regret: Ye Chen’s physical weakness leaves him unable to act, and his remorse comes only after the damage is done.
• Shifting perspectives: Chen Mu’s satisfaction underscores the chapter’s contrast between the protagonist’s suffering and the villain’s amusement.

• Chen Mu watches Ye Chen’s downfall: While dining peacefully with his older sister, Chen Juexin, Chen Mu observes Ye Chen through the system’s panels. He regards Ye Chen as an amusing “electronic pet” and believes he will not survive until the next day. Juexin notices Chen Mu’s good mood and teases him as they share a warm, affectionate meal.
• Ye Chen’s misfortunes deepen: After receiving powerful treatment, Ye Chen quickly recovers, though his severed arm cannot be restored. He blames Chen Mu and Su Nantian and vows to take revenge once he becomes powerful. Chen Mu can see Ye Chen’s thoughts and dismisses the threat.
• A disastrous visit to the brothel: A woman named Xiaocui lures Ye Chen inside with a fabricated tale of hardship. Ye Chen convinces himself that he is saving her, though he has visited brothels before to relieve his frustration over Su Lingyue, whom he admires but cannot have. Chen Mu’s panel reveals Xiaocui has a venereal disease—unknown even to her. Ye Chen is unable to perform, pays her anyway to avoid public humiliation, and contracts the disease through kissing. Chen Mu identifies this as the Misfortune Reversal Card taking effect.
• Ye Chen is lured into a trap: On his way out, Ye Chen is approached by a recruiter for the newly formed Heavenly Fortune Alliance, who promises that its leader is a powerful human immortal nearing the quasi-emperor realm. Tempted by the prospect of protection and a powerful patron, Ye Chen agrees to join. The recruiter leads him into an increasingly isolated area, where an accomplice drugs him from behind.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu remains detached and amused by Ye Chen’s suffering, while sharing an easy, affectionate rapport with Juexin.
• Ye Chen shifts between resentment, humiliation, and desperate hope for a powerful ally; his misfortunes undermine his confidence and physical pride.
• Xiaocui uses a false sob story to attract Ye Chen, then angrily demands payment when the encounter fails.
• The recruiter exploits Ye Chen’s ambition and vulnerability to draw him into an apparent ambush.
• Su Lingyue remains an important but distant figure in Ye Chen’s life: his unreturned desire for her helps explain his brothel visits.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes how fortune can reverse into cascading misfortune, the contrast between Ye Chen’s grand ambitions and his increasingly humiliating reality, and the ease with which pride, desire, and the need for protection make him vulnerable to manipulation.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Chen is drugged by members of the Heavenly Fortune Alliance and delivered to the basement of an operation dealing in stolen spiritual roots.
• Chen Mu watches from afar with Chen Juexin, suspecting a sinister scheme. He recognizes the chamber’s red talismans as devices for gathering spiritual qi.
• Elder Yan Wei examines Ye Chen and discovers his earth-rank, low-grade fire spiritual root. He pays the men who captured Ye Chen, then prepares to remove it.
• Ye Chen wakes during the procedure, but Yan Wei has sealed his qi sea and bound him with oil-soaked ropes. Yan Wei explains that so-called artificial spiritual roots are actually taken from living cultivators.
• Ye Chen pleads for his life and claims to be a Green Vine Academy disciple. Yan Wei dismisses the threat, saying the academy connection could make Ye Chen’s root more valuable.
• Yan Wei cuts open Ye Chen’s abdomen and tears out the spiritual root. Despite the agony, Ye Chen remains alive—and spiritual qi still flows through him, astonishing Yan Wei.

Character developments

• Ye Chen shifts from helplessly unconscious to terrified and desperate, trying to bargain and invoke the academy for protection. His survival after the extraction suggests an unexpected resilience or abnormality.
• Yan Wei is revealed as a confident, practiced trafficker in spiritual roots who takes pleasure in his victims’ despair. Ye Chen’s continued life after the operation surprises and excites him.
• Chen Mu remains detached and observant, speculating about the scheme rather than intervening. His earlier belief that Ye Chen can no longer rely on protagonist-like good fortune shapes how he interprets the danger.
• Chen Juexin is present with Chen Mu, though the chapter gives little detail about her role or reactions.

Significant themes

• Exploitation and commodification: Cultivators are treated as merchandise, and their spiritual roots are harvested and sold.
• Powerlessness and cruelty: Ye Chen’s status, pleas, and threats cannot protect him from those with control over his body.
• Uncertain fortune and survival: Chen Mu doubts Ye Chen’s luck, yet Ye Chen survives an ordeal that should likely have killed him.
• Corruption behind respectable institutions: Yan Wei suggests that even a connection to a prestigious academy can become a selling point rather than a shield.

Character interactions

• The Alliance men deliver Ye Chen to Yan Wei and receive spirit stones in payment.
• Yan Wei taunts Ye Chen, dismisses his appeals to Green Vine Academy, and proceeds with the extraction while Ye Chen pleads and curses him.
• Chen Mu and Chen Juexin observe the events from a distance, with Chen Mu trying to understand the motive behind the capture.

Key plot points and events

• Yan Wei discovers Ye Chen’s secret dual spiritual roots and forcibly extracts the Earth Rank Thunder Spiritual Root without anesthesia. The repeated torture kills Ye Chen.
• Chen Mu feels no sympathy: Ye Chen had provoked him and Chen Juexin, and Chen Mu sees his death as the consequence of his own choices.
• Back on the boat, Chen Mu drinks with Chen Juexin rather than visiting Ye Qingcheng’s family, whom he has observed enjoying a reunion. He believes his sudden appearance could put pressure on them.
• Chen Mu shares exceptionally potent Immortal Peach Blossom Brew, supplied in abundance by his system. Chen Juexin enjoys it and notices that it may help her cultivation break through.
• Some wine spills through the boat into the river, attracting fish and other creatures. A huge spirit fish devours the smaller creatures that drank the wine and rapidly grows even larger.

Character developments

• Chen Mu remains pragmatic and detached toward enemies, but shows consideration for Ye Qingcheng’s family by giving them space. He also uses his abundant system rewards generously with Chen Juexin.
• Chen Juexin grows more comfortable sharing an affectionate, relaxed moment with Chen Mu. Her excitement over the wine reveals both her enthusiasm and her sensitivity to its spiritual effects.
• Ye Chen dies after his spiritual roots are forcibly taken, ending his threat to Chen Mu.
• Yan Wei is revealed as opportunistic and cruel, delighted by Ye Chen’s rare spiritual root and indifferent to his suffering.

Significant themes

• Predation and survival: The chapter’s title is reflected in the river’s food chain: smaller creatures consume the wine, only to be eaten by a stronger fish.
• Power and exploitation: Ye Chen’s spiritual roots are treated as loot, while the river creatures’ brief gains are seized by the giant fish.
• Consequences of provocation: Chen Mu sees Ye Chen’s fate as the result of choosing to make enemies.
• Restraint and consideration: Chen Mu avoids intruding on Ye Qingcheng’s family reunion despite his connection to her.

Character interactions

• Yan Wei tortures Ye Chen while extracting his spiritual root; Ye Chen begs for mercy, but Yan Wei ignores him.
• Chen Mu and Chen Juexin share wine, joke warmly, and toast together. Chen Mu explains its ingredients and offers her more.
• The old boatman notices the enormous fish beneath the boat and worries it may overturn them. Chen Mu uses his Divine Eye to inspect the river and recognizes the creature’s sudden growth.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Mu inspects an enormous fish’s attribute panel and discovers it is Lin Qian, a reincarnated human who became a fish with the ability to grow by devouring living creatures and spiritual treasures.
• In his previous life, Lin Qian was betrayed and poisoned by his sworn brother and fiancée. He now seeks revenge and believes becoming powerful matters more than whether he is human or fish.
• Drawn by the spiritual energy in Chen Mu’s wine, Lin Qian decides to swallow Chen Mu, his sister Chen Juexin, the boat, the wine, and the boatman.
• Chen Mu uses a Fortune Nullification Card, stripping Lin Qian of the luck and supernatural protections that have supported his rise.
• Lin Qian attacks, but Chen Mu kills him with a casual flick of his finger. The boatman escapes into the water, and Chen Mu later sends a puppet to take over the rowing so the outing can continue.

Character developments

• Lin Qian is revealed as a revenge-driven reincarnator whose ambition has hardened into ruthless pragmatism. His confidence in his ability to grow blinds him to the danger he faces.
• Chen Mu shows both his overwhelming strength and his readiness to eliminate a threat once it targets him and his sister. He treats the encounter as an unwelcome interruption rather than a serious fight.
• Chen Juexin remains composed during the attack and casually leaves the decision to Chen Mu, then admires his power.
• The boatman reacts with understandable fear and flees when Lin Qian attacks.

Significant themes

• Fortune and fate: Lin Qian’s special protections vanish when Chen Mu removes his fortune, turning a potentially powerful future into instant defeat.
• Ambition and recklessness: Lin Qian’s desire for rapid growth pushes him to attack opponents he cannot properly assess.
• Power and perspective: What Lin Qian sees as a decisive attack is effortless for Chen Mu, underscoring the vast gap between them.
• Moral perspective: Lin Qian justifies eating humans by reasoning that humans also regard fish as food.

Character interactions

• Chen Mu and Chen Juexin share a relaxed, teasing rapport: she asks whether he or she should deal with Lin Qian, and he tells her to keep enjoying her wine.
• Lin Qian regards the people on the boat as prey, while Chen Mu sees him as a threat that must be dealt with quickly.
• After the fight, Chen Mu jokes that he would never turn his power against Chen Juexin; she responds by praising his strength.

Key plot points and events

• Chen Juexin realizes that Peach Blossom Brew lets her increase her cultivation simply by drinking. After more than a dozen jars, she falls asleep. Chen Mu takes her to her bed in the Imperial Palace and leaves a Great Emperor Shadow Puppet to guard her.
• Chen Mu returns to the Ye Family estate, where Ye Qingcheng welcomes him, relieved he has not abandoned her. He explains he stayed away to give her parents time with her.
• Ye Qingcheng introduces Chen Mu to her parents, Ye Chengtian and Lin Yuehan. They initially kneel to honor him as the Crown Prince, but he asks them to treat him as their son-in-law instead.
• Chen Mu recognizes Lin Yuehan’s hidden cold ailment and gives Ye Chengtian a Ninth-Rank Blazing Fire Pill. It cures her, easing Ye Chengtian’s fear of losing his wife.
• Chen Mu takes Ye Qingcheng away for a while so her parents can be alone and adjust to his presence. He also tells the Ye Family elders that Ye Chengtian should lead the family. The elders promptly ask him to take over, and he accepts.
• Chen Mu and Ye Qingcheng leave the estate together on a Flying Sword.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Mu shows care through practical gestures: protecting his sister, reassuring Ye Qingcheng, curing Lin Yuehan, and arranging for Ye Chengtian to lead the Ye Family. He downplays his rank to build a warmer relationship with his in-laws.
• Chen Juexin embraces the pleasure of the wine so completely that she seals her spiritual qi to enjoy it as an ordinary person.
• Ye Qingcheng reveals her insecurity about being abandoned, then relaxes when Chen Mu reassures her. She is eager to explore her birthplace with him.
• Ye Chengtian is initially overwhelmed by his son-in-law’s status and hesitant to accept another favor, but accepts the cure for his wife and later takes responsibility for the family.
• Lin Yuehan is cautious around Chen Mu at first, then is cured of her long-standing illness and reunites affectionately with her husband.

Significant themes

• Family care and reassurance: Chen Mu’s actions affirm his commitment to both his sister and Ye Qingcheng’s family.
• Status versus intimacy: Though Chen Mu is the Crown Prince, he asks his in-laws to see him as family rather than as a ruler.
• Generosity and obligation: Ye Chengtian worries about accumulating a debt to Chen Mu, while Chen Mu frames the cure as something they all want for the family’s sake.
• Renewal and responsibility: Lin Yuehan’s recovery and Ye Chengtian’s appointment offer the family a chance to heal and rise again.