Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai defeats Nan Lingtian by combining his abilities in unexpected ways. He draws Nan back with Provocation, dodges his eye attack with Flash, and seals him with Absolute Ingredient Control. The battle teaches Lin that familiar skills can be repurposed creatively.
• Lin keeps Nan alive because he may be useful. He restores Nan’s broken limbs but continues restraining and humiliating him, shaving and washing him while asking questions.
• Lin reveals that he ascended from the lower realm, controls the Mother Body and the first Heavenly Being it produced, and intends to become the Tenth Heavenly King. Nan is astonished that Lin possesses the sacred artifact of Laws—and learns that Lin’s Law is Control.
• Under Lin’s Truth-Telling Spell, Nan explains that Ascenders are trapped in the “Ruined Land” as playthings of Heavenly Beings, and advises Lin to build strength before challenging the heavens. He also reveals that sacred artifacts can change hands when their owners fall.
• Lin receives a Villain System mission to seize one of the nine Heavenly Kings’ sacred artifacts. Nan names them, then proposes that Lin hand over his own artifact so Nan can become the Tenth Heavenly King and protect Lin’s people.
• Lin pretends to agree to cooperate but interrogates Nan about Pine-Stone City’s forces and loyalties. Nan discloses that the city has six Gold and thirty-seven Silver cultivators, including six close associates and twenty-five trusted followers.
• Lin sends the War God Body back to Pine-Stone City via the Magpie Bridge to bring two of Nan’s followers for a loyalty test. Lin plans to judge Nan’s reliability before deciding whether to work with him, and intends to retain part of the Binding Rope as insurance.

Character developments

• Lin Bai grows more inventive and confident, realizing that skill combinations—not simply collecting abilities—can determine a battle. He also shows increasing strategic caution: he treats Nan as a potential asset but refuses to trust promises or Truth-Telling alone.
• Nan Lingtian shifts from a proud, contemptuous general to a captured source of information. Though he is candid under the spell, he continues trying to steer Lin toward a partnership that would benefit him.

Significant themes

• Creativity and adaptation: Skills gain new uses through experimentation and combat.
• Power and ambition: Lin’s plans expand from survival to challenging the Heavenly Kings and claiming their artifacts.
• Trust versus control: Truthful words and grand promises are not enough; Lin prefers practical safeguards, testing loyalty and keeping leverage.
• Prejudice and hierarchy: Nan’s contempt for mortals and Ascenders shapes his assumptions, even as Lin proves capable of threatening him.

Character interactions

• Lin and Nan engage in a tense negotiation built on coercion: Lin controls Nan physically and magically, while Nan offers information and tries to bargain for freedom and the artifact.
• Lin’s blunt skepticism undercuts Nan’s lofty promises, and his questions expose the structure of Nan’s power in Pine-Stone City.
• The War God Body acts on Lin’s orders, leaving to test Nan’s claimed influence—showing Lin’s preference for controlled agents over relying on Nan’s word.

Plot points and events

• At the Reception Pool, Lin Bai’s War God Body sends Qingyun, Tuo Hai, and ten other trusted disciples through the Magpie Bridge to help fight the Heavenly Beings in Pine-Stone City. Players are kept behind because they are underpowered and Lin Bai does not want his methods exposed.
• Lin Bai keeps the captured City Lord Nan Lingtian stripped, shaved, and soaking in water. Nan Lingtian fears he is about to be cooked; Lin Bai says it is a culinary experiment tied to a mission, though he is reluctant to actually eat a human-looking being.
• Lin Bai warns the disciples that Heavenly Beings are much faster and stronger than they are. He teaches them to pair Provocation with Dazzling Bewitchment, using the Magpie Bridge to coordinate attacks and twist an enemy’s neck until its regeneration cannot save it.
• Nan Lingtian condemns Lin Bai’s plan to lure and kill his subordinates, arguing that it will bring disaster on Ascenders and that the Heavenly Beings are innocent. Lin Bai counters that Nan Lingtian and his city have long persecuted Ascenders, and that Nan Lingtian himself had tried to kill him and the War God.
• The War God Body returns with two Heavenly Beings—one Silver Realm and one Gold Realm—drawn into Lin Bai’s trap. The disciples use their Laws to overpower them. Dazzling Bewitchment proves so potent that even Lin Bai is briefly affected.
• Lin Bai captures both newcomers in golden Cards, then turns the dying Nan Lingtian into a puppet. By capturing opponents across three ranks, he advances directly into the Platinum Realm.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai moves from caution and instruction to decisive action, combining strategic planning, Law-based teamwork, and system abilities. He remains playful with Nan Lingtian, but justifies his brutality as a response to the Heavenly Beings’ past abuses.
• Nan Lingtian shifts from smug confidence to fear as he realizes Lin Bai intends to use him as bait and eventually make him a puppet. His pleas for cooperation and appeals to innocence fail to persuade Lin Bai.
• Qingyun, Tuo Hai, and the other disciples trust Lin Bai and eagerly learn his unconventional tactics. Their confidence gives way to seriousness when they understand the danger, then to excitement as they prepare to test the method.
• The War God Body serves as Lin Bai’s operative, managing the transfer of reinforcements and luring the next targets into the ambush.
• The players are disappointed at being excluded, but Lin Bai prioritizes secrecy and the disciples’ readiness over publicity.

Significant themes

• Power through cooperation: Less powerful fighters can defeat stronger enemies by coordinating their Laws and using the Magpie Bridge.
• Reversal of oppression: Lin Bai turns the Heavenly Beings’ own violence against them, framing his campaign as retaliation for generations of Ascender suffering.
• Secrecy and strategy: Lin Bai controls what his allies and players know, and carefully lures enemies into isolated fights rather than confronting a million opponents at once.
• The cost of absolute control: His tactics are effective but disturbing—especially the forced manipulation of bodies and the transformation of defeated enemies into puppets.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai’s disciples assume Heavenly Beings are easy to defeat after their earlier victory. To correct them, Lin Bai arranges another sparring match, this time relying on Nan Lingtian’s Platinum Realm strength rather than his usual head-swapping tactic.
• Tuo Hai’s Provocation skill drives Lin Bai into a rage, but Lin Bai’s newly boosted agility and Nan Lingtian’s Teleportation let him reach Tuo Hai almost instantly. He restrains Tuo Hai and his assistant, then defeats the formation. He admits that Platinum Realm fighters can attack from great distances and explains the Heavenly Kings’ mastery of laws and their Law Artifacts.
• Lin Bai reassures Qingyun, whose Puppet status has stalled her growth, and promises to seek the Wood Heavenly King’s sacred artifact for her. He also reminds the disciples that laws alone are not enough; cultivation and combat ability matter too.
• The War God Body brings more opponents from Pine-Stone City. Lin Bai’s disciples practice using their skills in combinations, capture Heavenly Beings, and acquire valuable storage treasures. Lin Bai removes their restrictions and distributes the loot.
• After weakening Pine-Stone City’s ranks, Lin Bai revives Nan Lingtian with a Spirit-Opening Pill and demonstrates his control over him. Nan Lingtian refuses to cooperate, so Lin Bai threatens to force him to massacre Heavenly Beings while spreading a fabricated story that he possesses the Tenth Heavenly King’s Way of Slaughter and its sacred artifact.
• Lin Bai demonstrates that he can move Nan Lingtian between the Immortal and Mortal Realms via the Magpie Bridge, and that Nan Lingtian regenerates when returned to a Card. He threatens to use this to make Nan Lingtian appear to be an unstoppable killer.
• To prevent that outcome, Nan Lingtian agrees to cooperate. Lin Bai’s goal is to become the Tenth Heavenly King, gain influence for people from the lower realm, and establish a place where they can live safely. The War God Body suggests it can act in Lin Bai’s stead, and Nan Lingtian accepts that it could pass unnoticed.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai shifts from testing his new strength to deliberately using intimidation and political leverage. He presents himself as peace-seeking, even while threatening mass slaughter to secure Nan Lingtian’s help.
• The disciples lose their overconfidence after Lin Bai defeats them, then grow more capable through repeated battles and creative teamwork. Their loyalty to him is emphasized.
• Qingyun feels discouraged that her Puppet condition prevents her progress. Lin Bai acknowledges her predicament and promises to help her obtain the Wood Law’s sacred artifact.
• Nan Lingtian moves from defiant enemy to frightened, reluctant collaborator after witnessing Lin Bai’s control, regeneration trick, and access to the Mortal Realm.
• The War God Body becomes a potential public representative for Lin Bai, whose mortal identity would attract hostility in the Immortal Realm.

Significant themes

• Power and preparation: Laws are formidable, but they do not replace cultivation, speed, coordination, and practical combat experience.
• Loyalty and mentorship: The disciples’ devotion is contrasted with Lin Bai’s willingness to push them through dangerous practice so they can improve.
• Control versus free will: Lin Bai can command Nan Lingtian’s body, but Nan Lingtian initially insists that his thoughts remain his own.
• Moral ambiguity and coercion: Lin Bai seeks protection for Ascenders, yet his threats rely on exploiting innocent people and manipulating public belief.
• Belonging and prejudice: Lin Bai’s plan responds to the Immortal Realm’s rejection of mortals and the vulnerability of Ascenders.

Plot and key events

• Nan Lingtian advises Lin Bai to hide his power until he reaches Star Radiance, warning that the existing Heavenly Kings will never tolerate a new rival. He also urges Lin Bai to cultivate loyal, powerful followers.
• Lin Bai explains that his Control Law grows stronger through controlling people, so passive cultivation will not work. His real ambition is to control all nine Heavenly Kings, not merely become the tenth.
• To prove the Mother Body’s new Heavenly Beings are immortal, Lin Bai shows Nan Lingtian the players, who eagerly let themselves be killed for Spirit Fruit. He argues that controlling the Law Sacred Artifacts will let him restrain them and protect the worlds.
• Under Deification’s influence, Nan Lingtian accepts Lin Bai’s proposal to work together. They plan to lure stronger fighters to Pine-Stone City so Lin Bai can gain power quickly. Nan Lingtian suggests his teacher, Long Tianxi, as a possible target.
• The plan is abruptly disrupted when the Game Company releases ten million player accounts, including some with special attributes. Players fear the influx will destabilize both the game and the Real World, undoing the peace Lin Bai helped establish.
• Players overwhelm the Basic Cities, and Xu Longyun rushes to warn Lin Bai. He responds by proposing that the Magpie Bridge send the newcomers to the Immortal Realm: its richer spiritual energy may attract ambitious players and ease the strain on the mortal world.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai reveals his confidence and expansive ambitions, presenting himself not only as a would-be conqueror but as a necessary safeguard against uncontrolled player growth. When the new crisis emerges, he quickly shifts from his Immortal Realm plans to crisis management.
• Nan Lingtian moves from skepticism and caution to reluctant cooperation after witnessing the players’ immortality and hearing Lin Bai’s case. He nevertheless identifies the danger they could pose if they grow beyond Lin Bai’s control.
• Xu Longyun brings news of the escalating emergency and urges Lin Bai to act; he steadies her and offers an immediate strategy.
• The players’ private conversations reveal widespread alarm and distrust of the Game Company, while consortium leaders abandon their earlier schemes to respond to the mass influx.

Significant themes

• Power and control: Lin Bai’s strength depends on controlling others, while the players’ immortality makes them both his greatest resource and a potential threat.
• Ambition framed as responsibility: Lin Bai presents his plan to dominate the Heavenly Kings as a way to restrain the players and protect every world.
• Uncertainty and escalation: The Game Company’s sudden release of millions of accounts shows that every carefully made plan can be overturned by a larger, unpredictable force.
• The cost of growth: The Immortal Realm offers faster cultivation but greater danger, making it a possible outlet for players whose rapid growth could destabilize the mortal world.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai tells Xu Longyun he will send the newly arrived players to cultivate in the Immortal Realm while he works to unify it. He plans to impose order once he has consolidated power.
• Still needing Wuwang and Zhou Zu’s wedding to complete his Dao comprehension, Lin Bai orders an urgent search and offers the prospect of becoming Apostles of Love to couples whose devotion is exceptional.
• The Righteous Alliance announces rules to curb player misconduct in the mortal world, while offering players powerful incentives to enter the Immortal Realm: better spiritual energy, top-level techniques, and rewards for military service. Players flock there despite recognizing that Lin Bai is steering them.
• The Consortium proposes opening additional Magpie Bridges so players can enter the Immortal Realm from several fronts, deliberately making the situation harder for Lin Bai to control. Lin Bai agrees, hoping the resulting turmoil will distract the Immortal Realm’s forces and create opportunities for him.
• In the Real World, Eastern and Western Continental officials ask Lin Bai to restrict the bridges, citing the dangers posed by players. Lin Bai agrees to close access between the Real World and the game worlds, while insisting that trade and construction continue.
• Joseph asks for a bridge from the West Continent to the Gods and Devils Continent, where players are losing a war against NPCs. Despite General Chen’s objections, Lin Bai agrees. A new mission from the Great Celestial Venerable—to explore a new world and earn a map—also encourages him to go.
• Lin Bai proposes bringing the West Continent’s players into the Immortal Realm and shifting rivalries there, where the combined forces of three worlds might help defeat it. Both officials accept the idea, chiefly because it keeps players out of the Real World.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai shows increasing willingness to use chaos strategically. He balances control with expansion, accepting plans that could advance his goals even when they complicate his workload.
• Xu Longyun raises practical concerns about player behavior but ultimately trusts Lin Bai’s ability to impose order. She also hopes to hold their wedding, but accepts that his Dao comprehension takes priority.
• General Chen is chiefly concerned with preserving governmental authority and keeping players out of the Real World. He clashes with Joseph and worries Lin Bai’s decisions may intensify instability.
• Joseph pushes for access to the Gods and Devils Continent, seeking resources and help for the West Continent’s embattled players. His rivalry with Chen surfaces openly.
• The Consortium sees Lin Bai’s weakened control as an opening to expand its influence, while Lin Bai treats its plan as a chance to turn the resulting disorder to his advantage.

Significant themes

• Power and control: Both governments and Lin Bai try to manage forces they may not be able to contain.
• Exploitation and freedom: Players are attracted by advancement and rewards even as rules and incentives direct their choices.
• Chaos as strategy: Lin Bai and the Consortium alike see disorder as a tool, though they want to use it for different ends.
• Political self-interest: Officials frame their demands as protecting peace and safety, but their concerns also involve power, resources, and keeping rivals from gaining an advantage.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai arrives in the Real World with his War God Body and allies to build Magpie Bridges linking it to the Gods and Devils Continent. He argues that the bridges should connect the worlds in every direction, while his disciples handle connections to the Immortal World.
• The West Continent has built a powerful player organization, the Expeditionary Army Trade Association, but its players are in crisis. Their mass cultivation of laws provoked the native powers, and a surge of new players tipped negotiations into war. Their businesses have been destroyed, and new arrivals are being suppressed.
• Leader John asks Lin Bai to validate law cultivation and help the players defeat the native forces. Lin Bai confirms that laws work across worlds, but the first bridge he makes for John leads only to Jenny’s Game Pod in reality—not into the game. The bridge follows true personal bonds, not the players’ in-game relationships.
• Lin Bai explains that a player who truly loves an NPC might provide another route. Since the West’s leaders are unwilling to wait for such a relationship to develop, they ask Lin Bai to possess John and enter the game through him.
• John initially refuses, fearing the loss of his independence, but agrees after speaking with senior officials. Lin Bai sends a split soul into him. John logs into the game, and Lin Bai’s possession also lets him speak the West’s language.
• Inside the game, John’s party is under attack in a cave. A priest asks whether Lin Bai will help; Lin Bai confirms and immediately creates a Magpie Bridge to Jiang Qingqin, who is waiting outside.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai remains pragmatic and confident, balancing several worlds and multiple consciousnesses. He is willing to help the West, but does not force possession on John and is prepared to delay the project if John refuses. He also uses the crisis to confirm that laws function in the Game World.
• John is an accomplished level-88 Paladin and leader of the West’s player organization. His fear of possession gives way to reluctant consent under official pressure, and he becomes the means by which Lin Bai enters the game.
• Cheng Xunyun acts as interpreter and reports on the West’s situation, while privately taking satisfaction in the turmoil caused by players’ reckless law cultivation.
• The West’s officials, including Joseph and the Speaker, prioritize securing a bridge and gaining access to another world’s resources. They pressure John to accept possession, despite his concerns.
• The East and West contingents contrast in their priorities: East has benefited from Lin Bai’s organization and established routes to the Immortal World, while the West urgently seeks assistance and a way to recover its position.

Significant themes

• Connection across worlds: Magpie Bridges depend on meaningful bonds and circumstances, not merely technical access; the story suggests further links between worlds may eventually be inevitable.
• Power and its consequences: Players’ pursuit of laws destabilizes relations with native societies and triggers violent retaliation.
• Freedom versus collective ambition: John’s resistance to possession clashes with his government’s desire for strategic advantage.
• Institutional exploitation and reform: Lin Bai contrasts the Righteous Alliance’s broad support for cultivators with the old sects’ treatment of their members as disposable subordinates.
• Contradiction and interdependence: The East’s people resent Lin Bai’s power yet have also benefited from his actions, leaving them conflicted about their dependence on him.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai and his companions cross a Magpie Bridge to the Gods and Devils Continent. A system mission rewards him with maps of the worlds, most of which remain unexplored, and a new mission offers a “Divine Oracle” ability: projecting his consciousness into anyone he has marked.
• Lin Bai surveys the continent’s player forces. About 20,000 players are holding Red Wolf Valley against Freedom City’s guards and the Holy Light Order’s Third Knight Legion. Though the players have immortality and improvised gunpowder weapons, they are struggling against better-trained enemies, with an angel-led reinforcement force approaching.
• Lin Bai opens more Magpie Bridges, linking the new territory to the Mortal World and Immortal Realm. The bridges excite the players and alarm the opposing forces. Western officials ask for a permanent route to the Real World and propose supplying modern weapons, but Cheng Xunyun objects to the prospect of escalating the conflict and endangering civilians.
• Lin Bai approaches the enemy commanders, identifies himself as the King of Laws and leader of the Righteous Alliance, and demands talks with the continent’s decision-makers. He warns that any challenger has only one chance to defeat him.
• To demonstrate his power without killing anyone, Lin Bai uses Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix, compelling the enemy knights to abandon battle and perform courtship antics for the priests. The players cheer, and Lin Bai’s arrival transforms their morale.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai is increasingly focused on exploring and claiming territory, and sees his new maps as both useful and an unfinished task. Despite his ambition to rule the three realms, he refuses to indulge calls for mass violence or bully weaker opponents unnecessarily.
• Cheng Xunyun shifts from serving as Lin Bai’s interpreter to building ties with the Righteous Alliance’s local allies. He also challenges the Western officials’ aggressive, colonial approach.
• John enters the game through Lin Bai’s control of his Paladin body and reunites with his lover, Jenny. John flirts, while Jenny is more interested in whether Lin Bai will continue sharing his body.
• Garnett, a Red-Robed Mage, remains formally courteous toward Lin Bai even as he is intimidated by him. Lin Bai tells him to report his abilities to the Holy Light Order’s leaders.
• The players quickly embrace Lin Bai as their savior and as one of their own, while the opposing army is left bewildered by his power.

Significant themes

• Power tempered by restraint: Lin Bai can dominate the battlefield but chooses a nonlethal display and refuses to pursue indiscriminate destruction.
• Colonization and the cost of escalation: The proposal to bring modern weapons raises the danger of a war that could devastate both players and civilians.
• Public image and belonging: Lin Bai’s dramatic entrance, charisma, and familiar language make him a hero to the beleaguered players.
• Expansion and control: The mapping and territorial-conquest missions frame exploration as an ongoing project of claiming and managing new worlds.

Key events

• Lin Bai arrives on the Gods and Devils Continent battlefield and uses Phoenix Seeks the Phoenix, forcing knights, mages, and leaders to sing and dance before the Holy Light Order’s priestesses. The spell makes them immune to harm and blessing magic, so the Order mistakes Lin Bai for an evil god.
• The knights beg the priestesses to kill them rather than endure the humiliation. One priestess, Lilith, kills herself, freeing the knights in front of her—but the remaining priestesses begin preparing to follow her example.
• Lin Bai uses Provocation to stop their suicides, then repeatedly redirects their attention and keeps them alive while the controlled men continue performing. He insists he is acting out of mercy, though his methods horrify both the battlefield’s witnesses and the players watching.
• Cardinal Garnett eventually asks Lin Bai to stop. Lin Bai explains that the spell can be ended if each priestess chooses a partner among the performers. The priestesses do so, ending the spectacle, though their faith and confidence are shaken.
• Lin Bai says Lilith could be reborn if someone truly loved her and gave his life for her. Knight commander Carl volunteers, kisses her, and is killed by John. The pair transform into butterflies, which Lin Bai promises to restore to human bodies in the Immortal World.
• Lin Bai asks Garnett to send representatives with John to Freedom City to negotiate peace, offering to show them the truth of their world.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai is presented as both terrifyingly inventive and genuinely unwilling to let the priestesses die. He frames coercive, humiliating tactics as lessons about the value of life, leaving others unsure whether to see him as savior or tormentor.
• Garnett shifts from despair and resistance to pragmatic negotiation, recognizing that his Order cannot defeat Lin Bai and that it must prepare for a broader change in its relationship with him.
• The priestesses begin as resolute believers willing to die for their cause. Their repeated thwarted suicides, the revelation of the spell’s simple solution, and Lilith’s transformation unsettle their beliefs.
• Carl’s self-sacrifice turns the encounter from humiliation into an apparent act of love and redemption. His interaction with Lilith creates a miraculous outcome that makes Lin Bai appear almost divine to the witnesses.
• The players and Righteous Alliance observers react with a mixture of excitement, dread, and dark humor. They recognize that Lin Bai’s power lies not only in strength but in unpredictable laws and psychological pressure.

Significant themes

• Life, death, and faith: The chapter questions whether devotion justifies self-destruction and emphasizes that life should not be surrendered lightly.
• Love as both law and liberation: The curse’s solution is choosing a partner, while Carl’s sacrifice for Lilith gives the idea of love a profound, literal consequence.
• Power and moral ambiguity: Lin Bai claims to act mercifully, yet his methods are coercive and cruel. The contrast complicates the line between saving people and tormenting them.
• Shaken belief and changing authority: The Holy Light Order’s faith falters as its assumptions are overturned, while Lin Bai’s overwhelming influence pushes its leaders toward peace negotiations.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai takes Bishop Garnett across the Real World, Immortal World, and Immortal Realm, showing him player Game Pods, modern construction, powerful tribulations, and the Immortal Realm’s spiritual abundance. Garnett is stunned by how much he misunderstood about the worlds.
• Lin Bai insists he is trying to save every world, but Garnett suspects his motives and argues that Lin Bai’s coercive methods resemble the Game Company’s. Lin Bai’s Truth-Telling Spell forces Garnett to voice his real thoughts, including insults.
• Garnett explains that his world had ways to weaken and contain players, but Lin Bai warns that the Game Company is sending unusually powerful “lucky account” players. He makes clear that he wants Garnett’s world to cooperate—and threatens to let it be destroyed if Garnett refuses.
• Garnett doubts he can persuade the continent’s many factions or its gods. Lin Bai learns that the gods usually sleep, but the pope can awaken them and they can enter the mortal world. A system mission then offers Lin Bai the powerful “Heaven and Earth” ability for conquering the continent’s gods.
• Lin Bai tells Garnett to prepare information about the gods, saying he hopes to ally with them against the Game Company. He returns Garnett to a player-filled Freedom City, where natives fear and resent the players.
• Lin Bai reunites with his group via a Magpie Bridge and attends a tentative meeting between the United States’ Speaker of Parliament and Count Sandeli. The parties discuss trade and cooperation, but neither side fully trusts the other.
• Lin Bai declines to negotiate with Sandeli, who lacks authority over the continent, and tells the Speaker he will open more Magpie Bridges. He leaves Lin Liubai behind to assist, while privately encouraging the Speaker to demonstrate power and gather intelligence.

Character developments

• Lin Bai presents himself as a world-saver, but his willingness to threaten destruction and impose his plans reveals an increasingly ruthless, strategic side. He also begins considering how to use rival powers—such as the continent’s gods and the Immortal Realm’s Heavenly Kings—against one another.
• Garnett moves from shock and resistance to reluctant submission. Though he openly challenges Lin Bai’s methods, the tour and Lin Bai’s demonstrated power undermine his confidence.
• Jiang Qingqin remains close to Lin Bai but is unsettled by Freedom City’s filth and poor conditions.
• The Speaker hopes to use Lin Bai’s help to develop the United States and is anxious when Lin Bai prepares to leave. Cheng Xunyun recognizes that Lin Bai intends to use the West Continent to create leverage and turmoil.

Significant themes

• Perspective and ignorance: Seeing other worlds overturns Garnett’s assumptions, reinforcing the idea that arrogance often comes from knowing too little.
• Power versus liberation: Lin Bai claims to save worlds, yet uses coercion and threats, raising doubts about whether his methods differ from the Game Company’s.
• Worlds have different rules: The Gods and Devils Continent’s free-roaming gods differ from the Immortal Realm’s more constrained heavenly powers, making Lin Bai’s plans uncertain.
• Unstable alliances: Cooperation across worlds is complicated by distrust, competing interests, and the absence of a single authority capable of speaking for an entire world.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai and Garnett clash over whether Lin Bai is a savior or another would-be ruler; the Truth-Telling Spell makes their confrontation unusually blunt.
• Lin Bai uses Garnett as a potential intermediary with the continent’s powers, while Garnett warns that he has little influence.
• Jiang Qingqin shares her discomfort with Lin Bai, who promises that the players can improve the city.
• At the diplomatic meeting, Lin Bai keeps the parties at arm’s length, while the Speaker seeks his support and Lin Bai directs him to gather information and act independently.

Key plot points and events

• The West Continent launches an invasion of the Gods and Devils Continent through Lin Bai’s Magpie Bridges. Backed by modern weapons and millions of immortal players, its leaders intend to conquer territory themselves rather than depend on Lin Bai. Lin Bai lets the conflict unfold, hoping it will draw out the continent’s gods so he can assess and recruit them.
• Players from both the Real World and Immortal World begin moving between regions, while natives and players clash across the Gods and Devils Continent. Lin Bai uses his control of the main transport routes to monitor events and contain trouble if needed.
• Lin Bai returns to the Immortal World and learns that the Righteous Alliance’s tribulation-transcendence efforts are progressing. Ten candidates are undergoing solo tribulations, though several Consortium players previously attempted it prematurely and died. The discovery of multiple Reception Pools offers the possibility of establishing additional bases and linking them with Magpie Bridges.
• The Alliance still lacks reliable information about Pine-Stone City and the disappearance of Nan Lingtian and others. Lin Bai urges players to infiltrate the Immortal World by any means, provided they share what they learn.
• Xu Longyun presents a roster of “lucky accounts” whose special abilities become stronger as they level. Their powers include extreme archery, defense, and healing boosts, enhanced combat perception, skill copying, and team-wide morale effects. Their abilities could become overwhelming when combined.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai deliberately allows conflict to spread, treating disorder as a source of intelligence and leverage. Yet the lucky accounts’ powers unsettle him, making him question whether the hidden force behind his own system can truly stand against the Game Company.
• Xu Longyun continues to manage the Alliance efficiently and raises serious concerns about the lucky players and the lack of information. She has taken over the fan club from Jiang Qingqin and remains the group’s practical administrator.
• Jiang Qingqin jokes about preferring to travel with Lin Bai rather than manage the fan club, while Little White Fox jealously insists she wants to accompany him. Lin Bai calms the fox and redirects the conversation to Alliance business.
• John, whose Paladin body was possessed by Lin Bai, abandons that body and starts training again with his real one, believing that abilities cultivated personally cannot be taken from him.
• Far-Sighted Eagle and other Consortium leaders admit they let players attempt tribulation early out of curiosity. Lin Bai warns them not to repeat it, then encourages their broader efforts to explore and gather information.

Significant themes

• Power and self-reliance: The West Continent values conquest through its own military strength, while others cultivate as a safeguard against an uncertain future.
• Chaos as opportunity: Lin Bai sees conflict not merely as danger but as a way to gather intelligence, expose powerful opponents, and expand his influence.
• Information and control: His command of transportation gives him strategic leverage, but gaps in knowledge—especially about Pine-Stone City—remain a vulnerability.
• Unfair power and uncertainty: The lucky accounts’ extraordinary, scalable abilities raise the threat of players outgrowing the world’s established powers and leave Lin Bai questioning the balance of forces behind the game.

Chapter summary

Lin Bai welcomes the Game Company’s newly recruited “lucky-account” players into the Righteous Alliance, despite their low loyalty ratings and obvious hostility. Rather than make enemies he cannot easily defeat, he hopes to slow their development, win them over with resources and the promise of Law Power, and use them in the coming conflict with the Heavenly Beings.
The players’ private conversations reveal that many see Lin Bai as a temporary tool, not a leader. They believe their privileged status depends on the Game Company, plan to grow stronger within the Alliance, and discuss eventually overthrowing Lin Bai. They also suspect he intends to fight the Game Company—a position Lin Bai says he has never publicly announced. He concludes that the Game Company has deliberately selected and influenced these players, making them unlikely recruits.
With his immediate plans elsewhere on hold, Lin Bai realizes he has neglected the Game Pods—the Game Company’s apparent foundation. He returns to the Real World to investigate them with Cheng Xunyun and the scientists. The pods are made of unknown, self-repairing material, cannot be relocated or meaningfully damaged, and even defeat Lin Bai’s Flaw-Seeking Eye. His Blacksmith’s Hammer can leave temporary marks, but they quickly vanish.
Lin Bai then tests whether his abilities can affect a player inside a pod. Rope Binding cannot penetrate the pod itself, but it can manipulate the player’s belt from outside. Provocation works too: the player becomes enraged, exits the pod, and can be questioned. The player explains that when the pod warned him his body was being harmed, he chose to log out—suggesting players may be able to remain inside even while their real bodies are under threat.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai remains pragmatic: he welcomes potential enemies rather than provoke them, but privately recognizes their disloyalty. His tests of the Game Pod show both his ingenuity and growing concern about the Game Company’s technology.
• Xu Longyun is reassured by Lin Bai’s quiet promise that he will handle the danger; her trust in him is rooted in their past crises.
• The lucky-account players reveal themselves as self-interested and politically ambitious. They value their player privileges above loyalty to Lin Bai and contemplate using his power before turning against him.
• Cheng Xunyun and the scientists provide research findings and watch Lin Bai’s experiments. The scientists are fascinated by his hammer, while Cheng is startled by the force of his attacks and the unexpected success of his abilities.
• The player in the pod shifts from an unwitting test subject to an angry participant, then explains how the pod’s logout warning works.

Significant themes

• Trust, loyalty, and self-interest: Lin Bai tries to build cooperation, while the players treat alliances as temporary opportunities.
• Power and control: The Game Company appears to shape player attitudes and may hold the decisive advantage through its technology.
• Adaptation and strategy: Rather than fight every enemy directly, Lin Bai seeks leverage—first by recruiting the players, then by investigating the pods.
• Uncertainty about freedom: The player’s ability to ignore warnings raises questions about how much control users have over their game identities and real bodies.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai’s team successfully removes a player from a Game Pod without damaging it. He orders further testing, aiming to develop a way to deter the Real World’s leaders from turning against him if their interests change.
• A second experiment tests the player’s Moon Chase ability. The player is forced against the pod’s lid and nearly crushed; Lin Bai rescues him, confirming the ability can create dangerous physical consequences in reality.
• In the Immortal World, the mother body suddenly produces tens of millions of new, immortal Heavenly Beings, throwing the Mortal World into chaos. Lin Bai begins dealing with the crisis.
• Lin Bai’s War God Body tells Nan Lingtian that they are both puppets and proposes secretly building power and acquiring Law Sacred Artifacts to escape Lin Bai’s control.
• The two supposedly plot to recruit Nan Lingtian’s teacher and exploit a coming confrontation over the Tenth Heavenly King’s artifact. Their plan is to let Lin Bai and the teacher weaken each other, then seize the artifact themselves.
• In reality, Lin Bai has engineered the apparent betrayal. He knows Nan Lingtian’s resentment and ambition make him easier to manipulate, and has arranged for the War God Body to play on those feelings while keeping Nan Lingtian committed to the original plan.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai is cautious and strategic. He treats the Game Pod experiments as preparation for possible future conflict with the Real World’s powerful leaders, while also manipulating his puppets to keep his larger plans on track.
• Cheng Xunyun is excited by the successful extraction and recognizes the strategic advantage it gives the Real World, but also envies Lin Bai’s overwhelming, higher-dimensional power.
• Nan Lingtian shifts from suspicion and resentment to apparent enthusiasm for rebellion. He sees the War God Body as a fellow victim and accepts the proposed alliance, despite repeatedly worrying that the plan could backfire.
• The War God Body, calling himself Xingtian, convincingly presents himself as Lin Bai’s resentful enemy. He appeals to Nan Lingtian’s pride, gives their alliance a shared identity, and pushes him past his doubts.
• Lin Bai and the War God Body demonstrate how effectively Lin Bai can use controlled puppets to stage deception; the apparent conspiracy is part of Lin Bai’s own strategy.

Significant themes

• Preparation and deterrence: Lin Bai prefers to test threats in advance and build countermeasures before a crisis.
• Power and shifting loyalties: Cooperation depends on changing interests; those benefiting from Lin Bai’s protection might oppose him if circumstances change.
• Manipulation and agency: Characters believe they are acting independently, but Lin Bai shapes their choices by exploiting their grievances and ambitions.
• Betrayal and trust: Nan Lingtian’s growing bond with Xingtian is built on a manufactured sense of shared victimhood, making the apparent alliance especially ironic.

Plot points and events

• Nan Lingtian, urged by War God Xingtian, goes to Ten-Thousand Peaks City to recruit his teacher, Professor Long Tianxi, before Lin Bai has time to prepare. Xingtian stays behind because his lack of a Nameplate would attract attention.
• While waiting, Lin Bai realizes most of his system quests are stalled. He identifies the Media System’s Star Reporter quest as a possible route to Disguise Glasses, which might solve Xingtian’s Nameplate problem.
• Nan Lingtian returns with Long Tianxi, who uses a persuasive, mind-influencing ability to make people trust him. Lin Bai recognizes the effect and has Xingtian demonstrate the Way of Control.
• Lin Bai uses Wrath of Gods and Men to inflame both men’s anger, causing them to attack each other briefly. He discovers the skill does more than provoke anger: it also clouds judgment and turns people against one another.
• Long Tianxi, intrigued, asks Xingtian to demonstrate further and confidently displays his protective Dragon-Phoenix Twin Rings. Lin Bai pretends his control abilities are weak, then touches Long Tianxi and activates Absolute Suppression. The Blacksmith’s Six-Piece Set shatters the rings, and Long Tianxi is rendered powerless.
• Lin Bai also immobilizes Nan Lingtian, revealing that the supposed alliance was a setup. Lin Bai and Qingyun arrive as Long Tianxi is subdued, while Nan Lingtian realizes he has been manipulated.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai stays resourceful under pressure, turning Long Tianxi’s curiosity and confidence against him. He also uncovers the hidden potency of Wrath of Gods and Men.
• Nan Lingtian remains gullible and wholly dependent on Xingtian’s influence. He believes he is helping secure an alliance, only to be captured alongside his teacher.
• Long Tianxi initially appears warm, trustworthy, and prudent, but his confidence in his defenses makes him vulnerable. His own persuasive power helps explain how easily Nan Lingtian confessed.
• Xingtian, controlled by Lin Bai, serves as bait and a convincing demonstration of the Way of Control. Lin Bai’s deception makes Nan Lingtian think they are working together.
• The brief clash between Long Tianxi and Nan Lingtian shows how Lin Bai’s emotional control can turn allies against each other; afterward, both return to normal, and Nan Lingtian is bewildered by his actions.

Significant themes

• Deception and misplaced trust: Long Tianxi trusts Xingtian’s apparent cooperation, while Nan Lingtian mistakes manipulation for loyalty.
• Confidence as a weakness: Long Tianxi’s belief that his rings make him safe leads him to invite the very touch that disables him.
• Power through ingenuity: Lin Bai prevails not through a direct contest of strength, but by combining systems, misdirection, and timing.
• Unintended potential: A skill Lin Bai had dismissed proves unexpectedly useful, underscoring that overlooked abilities can change the outcome.

Plot points and events

• Lin Bai completes the God of Cooking System’s final challenge by having his War God Body dismember Long Tianxi and turn his flesh into an elaborate sashimi dish. Once the dish is finished, the system declares Lin Bai a true God of Cooking, grants him a powerful cooking-related defense skill, and disappears. Its previously awarded abilities remain with him.
• Long Tianxi is sealed in a Card and restored unharmed, but the ordeal leaves him terrified of Lin Bai. When Lin Bai asks for his help, Long Tianxi readily agrees to serve him.
• The dish’s supernatural glow and aroma draw Heavenly Beings from Pine-Stone City. Lin Bai publicly announces that he is the Tenth Heavenly King and demands their allegiance.
• When the crowd mocks him, Nan Lingtian confirms that he has submitted to Lin Bai. Long Tianxi backs him up, demonstrating his Star Diamond strength by striking down dissenters with lightning. Confronted by two Star Diamond experts, the Heavenly Beings reluctantly submit.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai overcomes his reluctance to use cooking against an enemy and gains confidence in his new abilities. He commits to openly pursuing his plan to send millions of new Heavenly Beings into the Immortal Realm, rather than hiding his intentions.
• Long Tianxi shifts from threatening Lin Bai with the Academy’s authority to becoming a deeply intimidated ally. His memories of being dismembered remain after his restoration, making resistance psychologically impossible. He uses his power to enforce Lin Bai’s authority.
• Nan Lingtian watches Long Tianxi’s ordeal and becomes even more convinced that resisting Lin Bai is hopeless. Though frustrated to see his teacher submit, he publicly supports Lin Bai and helps establish his rule.
• Qingyun remains unsympathetic toward the Heavenly Beings, viewing them as opponents in the coming conflict.
• Lin Bai’s allies and the Heavenly Beings react not only to the display of power but also to the unnervingly appetizing dish, whose aroma makes even those who know what it is want to taste it.

Significant themes

• Power through fear and spectacle: Lin Bai secures obedience by combining overwhelming abilities with the psychological impact of Long Tianxi’s ordeal.
• Humiliation and survival: The Heavenly Beings resent a mortal claiming authority over them, but choose submission because survival matters more than pride.
• Growth through trials: Completing the cooking challenge marks Lin Bai’s personal breakthrough, while the system’s departure raises questions about whether such systems are genuinely meant to help him grow.
• Uncertain future conflict: The Heavenly Beings submit for now, but privately expect Lin Bai’s rise to end as earlier mortal ascenders’ ambitions did.

Plot points and events

• Lin Bai seizes control of Pine-Stone City’s teleportation formation, while Long Tianxi and Nan Lingtian seal the city. They kill Heavenly Beings who try to flee and display their bodies at the gate, keeping the city’s inhabitants in line.
• Players and Lin Bai’s disciples arrive from the Reception Pool. The Heavenly Beings, accustomed to mortals being powerless and valuable, begin abducting players to sell them. Players cannot resist or respawn because their captors prevent them from killing themselves.
• Lin Bai’s disciples fare somewhat better, but remain intimidated by the strength of the Immortal Realm. The newly freed Ascenders are similarly fearful and urge Lin Bai to abandon the city and hide.
• Lin Bai rejects retreat: hiding is no longer safe, and the Mortal World’s situation demands a rapid campaign. He reveals his Star Diamond-level power, restoring the Ascenders’ confidence, and has them become his disciples so he can grant them laws and strengthen them.
• When the players report the abductions, they argue that Lin Bai must make a decisive example of the Heavenly Beings. Lin Bai instead rebukes them for relying on him and proposes using technology to compensate for their weakness, hinting at modern weapons and “nuclear peace.”

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai shifts from securing the city to confronting the practical limits of his plan. He recruits stronger disciples, prioritizes overall power over traditional loyalty, and expects the players to take initiative rather than wait for him to solve everything.
• Nan Lingtian demonstrates that his earlier betrayal has changed him: he kills a City Guard officer who proposes seeking outside help, rather than risk betraying Lin Bai again.
• The Ascenders begin the chapter frightened and distrustful, shaped by decades of captivity. Lin Bai’s display of power convinces them to accept him as master, though they remain unsettled by how much the Mortal World has changed.
• The players discover that their supposed freedom and ability to respawn offer little protection against the Immortal Realm’s power. Their pleas for Lin Bai to intervene expose their dependence on him, which he challenges.
• Lin Bai’s existing disciples reassure the Ascenders and explain the new world to them; the Ascenders’ fear and the disciples’ anger highlight the gulf between their experiences.

Significant themes

• Power imbalance and exploitation: Heavenly Beings view mortals and players as commodities, and the players’ game-like resilience is not enough to protect them.
• Adaptation and urgency: Lin Bai believes that hiding or slowly building strength will fail; survival requires rapid change and unconventional methods.
• Leadership versus dependence: Lin Bai provides direction and power but insists his followers contribute rather than rely on him.
• Changing loyalties and old assumptions: Nan Lingtian’s conduct shows a changed allegiance, while the Ascenders’ outdated expectations clash with the transformed Mortal World.
• Technology as an equalizer: The closing proposal suggests that modern technology may help overcome a supernatural gap in strength.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai concludes that Heavenly Beings cannot be infiltrated or challenged cheaply. To win Ascenders rights, he must force a conflict that breaks the existing hierarchy—though he frames it as a struggle for justice and equality.
• Players debate whether Lin Bai’s call for “nuclear peace” is a genuine appeal for rights or a way to prevent them from aligning with the Heavenly Beings. General Chen decides to send a limited force of trained player-soldiers, while avoiding ordinary troops.
• Lin Bai insists that victory must be followed by rules and order. He announces the “Tenth Heavenly King’s Law,” a legal code that proclaims equality among subjects but places the Heavenly King above the law.
• Using the new code, Lin Bai’s disciples and Nan Lingtian arrest and execute Heavenly Beings who traffic in or mistreat Ascenders. When merchants and other residents try to flee Pine-Stone City, Lin Bai’s forces block them; the crackdown breaks their resistance. Captive players are released, and local business leaders offer gifts and submission.
• Lin Bai then shifts from force to persuasion, courting Pine-Stone City’s merchants and industry leaders with promises of prosperity and demonstrations of the Righteous Alliance’s powers.
• In the Real World, players enthusiastically enlist in a technological vanguard force after weapons are sent to the Sacred Ultimate Sect. Before they can confront the Heavenly Beings, however, the United States launches the first invasion of another world.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai presents himself as a champion of equality and order, but openly reserves supreme authority and privilege for himself. He uses strict laws, selective violence, and political persuasion as complementary tools.
• Gale Sword Fanatic argues for exterminating the Heavenly Beings, but Lin Bai strikes him with the Disciplinary Ruler and demands obedience to sect rules. Gale initially resents this; after seeing Lin Bai’s power and learning of his past victories, he and the other Ascenders become fervently loyal.
• Nan Lingtian, frightened by Lin Bai’s earlier display of power, obeys his orders and becomes an effective enforcer.
• The players remain divided over Lin Bai’s motives, but their leaders accept that they must take a side. General Chen favors a carefully limited military contribution rather than a full-scale deployment.
• Lin Bai’s disciples, despite having less cultivation than the senior Ascenders, demonstrate how their laws and teamwork can overwhelm Heavenly Beings, making the older cultivators recognize their own limitations.

Significant themes

• Power and hypocrisy: Lin Bai condemns one hierarchy while establishing himself at its apex.
• Order versus violence: He argues that violence can win control, but durable rule requires laws—laws he also uses to justify harsh, unequal treatment.
• Justice as political strategy: Lin Bai frames the war as liberation rather than revenge, presenting a “just cause” as essential to authority and support.
• Shifting social status: Formerly dominant humans, now Ascenders, experience the subjugation they once inflicted on Demon Beasts.
• Pragmatism and survival: Players and Ascenders weigh ideals against safety, resources, and the need to adapt to a stronger power.

Plot points and events

• Lin Bai’s Magpie Bridge lets the Western Continent Federation move troops and supplies to the Gods and Devils Continent. The federation expects intimidation and negotiation to secure control, believing modern weapons—including nuclear arms—can defeat the continent’s magic.
• Native leaders, however, see the federation as invaders and reject surrender. Lin Bai’s earlier display of power has not persuaded them, and conflicting agendas among players further destabilize the situation.
• In Freedom City, Four-Winged Angel Claudia ignores Bishop Garnett’s attempts to negotiate. She kills the players and federation negotiators, then attacks the army near Red Wolf Valley.
• General Joseph responds with a massive artillery barrage. The first two volleys devastate the Third Priest Legion, killing or wounding most of its more than ten thousand members.
• Claudia flies toward the federation’s position to avenge the legion. Radar-guided missiles and antiaircraft fire badly wound her, but she presses on.
• At Red Wolf Valley, Claudia’s final Cross Slash destroys the players’ protective array, cuts through armored vehicles, destroys dozens of artillery pieces, and causes heavy casualties. She then collapses and dies, having exhausted her strength.
• The livestream of the battle sparks celebration, fear, and outrage among Western viewers. Many blame the federation’s leaders, Lin Bai, and the Magpie Bridge for the war. East Continent viewers are more detached, judging the federation likely to lose without Lin Bai’s intervention.

Character developments and interactions

• Claudia begins as a confident commander who dismisses Garnett’s pleas. After seeing her legion destroyed, she accepts responsibility and chooses to fight on despite knowing the weapons may kill her. Her faith and sense of duty drive her final attack.
• Bishop Kumo, wounded in the bombardment, asks Claudia to avenge the legion. She orders him to treat the survivors and report the battle to the pope if she does not return.
• Garnett’s earlier warnings go unheeded by Claudia, underscoring the failure of diplomacy between the two sides.
• General Joseph uses intelligence from players to strike first, demonstrating the federation’s ability to coordinate modern warfare.
• Lin Bai watches events through the livestream rather than intervening. The battle’s deaths bring him a surge of negative emotions from Western viewers, while East Continent viewers supply positive emotions.

Significant themes

• Technology versus magic: Artillery and guided missiles overwhelm the priest legion and badly injure Claudia, but her supernatural strike proves equally devastating to conventional forces.
• The cost of arrogance and failed diplomacy: Both sides underestimate the other, and Claudia’s refusal to negotiate leads to mass casualties.
• War’s human cost and public backlash: The federation’s casualties turn initial confidence into fear and anger, especially among citizens whose families lack the players’ ability to resurrect.
• Faith, duty, and sacrifice: Claudia continues fighting for her legion and her faith even when survival is unlikely.
• Conflicting interests and unintended consequences: Political ambitions, player interference, and Lin Bai’s bridge drive events beyond the federation’s carefully planned strategy.

Key plot points and events

• General Chen and Cheng Xunyun discuss the West Continent’s failed attempt to establish power on the Gods and Devils Continent. Chen believes they acted too impatiently and misjudged Lin Bai: their goal was leverage and independence, but their gamble is likely to fail. Chen remains unsure whether Lin Bai will help repair the damage.
• Lin Bai reflects on the West Continent’s choices and his own growing power. He is trying to stop acting like everyone’s caretaker and instead think like a strategist, while recognizing that the Game Company treats people—and him—as pieces in a larger contest.
• John’s forced logout pulls Lin Bai back into reality. Joseph asks him to resurrect fallen soldiers through Butterfly Transformation, but Lin Bai explains that it requires a willing pair to die together and become butterflies. The condition makes the proposal impractical, and Lin Bai warns Joseph not to interrupt him again over minor matters.
• Joseph reports that modern weapons defeated a large enemy force but suffered severe casualties against one Four-Winged Angel. Fearing stronger angels and gods, he asks Lin Bai to help the Righteous Alliance. Lin Bai agrees to assist in two days, when he can make better use of Magpie Bridges and preserve the element of surprise. He also agrees to accompany the alliance toward Freedom City, which they plan to take as a stronghold.
• Lin Bai gathers three trusted press-pass holders—[Immortal World’s Number-One Paparazzo], [Brilliant-Pen Scholar], and [Warzone Maniac]—to advance his media plans. They propose expanding beyond print, beginning with radio broadcasting. Lin Bai tells them to coordinate through Xu Longyun and reveals that media is a Dao, with the potential to influence thought, uncover events, and even traverse space.

Character developments

• Lin Bai is becoming more calculating and less inclined to protect or manage everyone personally. He treats political conflicts as opportunities, but still shows restraint and offers help when it advances his larger plans.
• General Chen remains cautious and pragmatic, but admits he can no longer predict Lin Bai’s motives or behavior.
• Joseph shifts from seeking an easy public-relations solution to recognizing the scale of the threat. He is eager to secure Lin Bai’s aid and establish a base.
• The three press-pass holders, initially focused on their work and ideals rather than personal recognition, begin to see fame as essential to mastering the Media Dao.

Significant themes

• Power and strategy: Lin Bai is learning to treat events and factions as pieces in a larger struggle, while others try to gain leverage before he arrives.
• Uncertainty and competing motives: Lin Bai’s erratic expansion makes him difficult to understand, and even allies are unsure whether he is a ruler, a player, or something else.
• The cost of war: The battle demonstrates the limits of technology against supernatural forces, while resurrection comes with an extreme personal price.
• Media as power: Information is presented not merely as publicity but as a force that shapes thought, establishes influence, and may become a supernatural path.

Character interactions

• Chen explains the West Continent’s motives to Xunyun, who initially sees the conflict mainly in terms of Lin Bai’s greed; their exchange underscores their caution and uncertainty about him.
• Lin Bai bluntly rejects Joseph’s resurrection plan once its conditions are clear, then reprimands him for forcibly summoning him. Joseph accepts the rebuke and appeals for military support.
• Lin Bai agrees to help Joseph’s alliance while keeping control over timing and tactics, reinforcing their unequal but cooperative relationship.
• Lin Bai encourages the three media players, insists their fame matters, and reframes their work as a path to the Media Dao—turning their loyalty and professional ambitions into part of his broader strategy.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai establishes a Righteous Alliance media empire across several worlds, appointing three prominent players to oversee publicity in the Immortal World, Immortal Realm, and Gods and Devils Continent. He also launches Alliance-run online, radio, television, and forum channels.
• The Alliance claims exclusive rights to distribute major news about events such as ascensions, battlefields, and the Immortal Realm expedition. Players protest the restrictions, but Lin Bai’s overwhelming power leaves them unable to challenge him.
• The Media System rewards Lin Bai with Disguise Glasses and the title Uncrowned King after his media expansion succeeds. He delegates the next, much larger task—bringing modern information technology to the Immortal Realm—to his media team.
• Lin Bai tests the glasses by disguising his war god body and himself as Nan Lingtian. Realizing he might use the disguise to approach the reclusive dean of Prosperity Academy, he considers subduing the star-radiance-level expert. His followers urge caution, but Lin Bai insists that growing stronger quickly is essential.
• Lin Bai tests Uncrowned King by selecting Long Tianxi for an interview. The skill forcibly transports Lin Bai to the subject and temporarily restricts that subject’s movement. Though initially frustrated by the loss of control, Lin Bai recognizes the ability’s potential for tracking and capturing targets, and considers using it against Wuwang and Zhou Zu.

Character developments and interactions

• The newly appointed media players rise rapidly in status and become intensely loyal to Lin Bai, knowing their power and position depend on him.
• Cheng Xunyun privately concludes that Lin Bai is building a power base almost effortlessly, despite earlier efforts to interpret his actions through ordinary political logic.
• Nan Lingtian helps Lin Bai assess the disguise plan, but his warnings inadvertently give Lin Bai ideas about how to approach the dean. He now actively advises Lin Bai as an ally.
• Mad Gale Sword Fanatic, Fairy Xuan Yun, and others fear for Lin Bai’s safety and emphasize how much the Alliance depends on him. Lin Bai dismisses their concerns, reaffirming his willingness to take risks.
• Long Tianxi confirms the interview skill’s effect by describing his temporary confinement. Lin Bai shifts from seeing the ability as a nuisance to recognizing it as potentially powerful.

Significant themes

• Power and control: Lin Bai’s influence allows him to shape public discourse and suppress opposition, making the Alliance increasingly authoritarian.
• Loyalty and dependence: Lin Bai’s followers’ fortunes—and the media team’s new status—are tied directly to him.
• Ambition and risk: Lin Bai believes that failing to grow stronger is more dangerous than confronting powerful enemies.
• Unintended potential: Rewards that initially seem awkward or useless may become formidable when their mechanics are understood.

Key events

• Lin Bai reflects on the danger of distributing Press Passes, which can immobilize even him, but keeps their powers secret from their holders to generate publicity for the Way of Media.
• He sends his War God Body to retrieve Wuwang and Zhou Zu for his wedding while he remains in Pine-Stone City, keeping its occupation secret from the Immortal Realm.
• The War God Body tracks the pair to a cosmetic surgery hospital in the Real World. Zhou Zu has undergone surgery to become a woman so they can attend the wedding in the forms they consider most perfect. Wuwang and Zhou Zu eagerly agree to return, and Lin Bai sends them Charisma Fruits as a wedding gift.
• Around the same time, Players across the world finish transcending their tribulations and enter the Immortal Realm through Magpie Bridges. Lin Bai’s disciples ambush and seize the lightly guarded Reception Pools, enabling the Players to spread throughout the realm.
• The disciples then cut the bridges linking the pools back to the Mortal World, trapping the new arrivals in the Immortal Realm. A Player commander objects that this disrupts supplies, but Qingyun insists Lin Bai has a plan.
• Lin Bai tells Nan Lingtian and Long Tianxi to hold Pine-Stone City and detain investigators. With millions of Players stirring up the Immortal Realm, he postpones going to Prosperity Academy and decides to attend to his wedding first.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai balances caution with showmanship: he limits access to the Press Passes, but also uses their secrecy to promote his media-themed abilities. He is touched—if embarrassed—by Wuwang and Zhou Zu’s devotion, and recognizes how profoundly the Red String has shaped their lives. Their story strengthens his resolve not to use it on himself.
• Wuwang and Zhou Zu are deeply committed to each other and grateful to Lin Bai for bringing them together. They pursued major surgery so they could celebrate their wedding in their preferred forms, and respond to Lin Bai’s gift with extravagant loyalty.
• The War God Body finds the couple after a frustrating search and handles their reunion with Lin Bai’s summons, even as their transformation leaves him stunned.
• Qingyun firmly rejects the Player commander’s logistical objections, placing Lin Bai’s strategy above conventional military planning.
• Nan Lingtian and Long Tianxi are entrusted with maintaining control of Pine-Stone City while Lin Bai is away.

Significant themes

• Love and transformation: Wuwang and Zhou Zu’s relationship shows how love can reshape identity and choices, while also highlighting the unsettling power of the Red String.
• Faith, loyalty, and control: Lin Bai’s followers trust his plans, but the Press Pass and severed Magpie Bridges reveal how much power he holds over allies and newcomers.
• Uncertainty and escalation: Millions of Players enter a realm unaware of the scale of the upheaval, setting the stage for conflict as the Immortal Realm investigates.
• Preparation over haste: Lin Bai delays his next move, prioritizing added skills and personal matters even amid a rapidly developing campaign.