Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Players arrive in the Immortal Realm, where rapid leveling is possible, but the Magpie Bridge back to the Mortal World has been cut. Some players realize they can use Respawn Points to move between realms by dying, and decide to exploit the system and avoid Lin Bai’s plans.
• The Immortal Realm’s Heavenly Beings are alarmed by the sudden influx of weak mortals and begin capturing them. Players respond with wildly different stories about who they are, including claims that they are Heaven-Sent Ones, disciples, or new beings sent by Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai’s hastily organized strike teams attack with modern weapons. Conventional artillery fails against the Heavenly Beings, while lasers cause only minor, quickly healed burns. A low-yield nuclear bomb destroys Thousand Waters City and kills some Heavenly Beings, but the attackers are then wiped out.
• The attack convinces leaders in the Real World and West Continent that technology alone cannot defeat the Immortal Realm. The Heavenly Beings, meanwhile, focus less on the bomb than on Lin Bai’s mysterious Way of Laws and the supposedly immortal beings created by a new Mother Body.
• The nine Heavenly Kings order an investigation into Lin Bai and the Mother Body, and prohibit teaching the new arrivals Heavenly Being skills or cultivation methods.
• Just as the worlds await Lin Bai’s response, he announces a lavish wedding to deepen his understanding of the Way of Love. His announcement dominates public discussion, prompting speculation about his motives, strength, and the absent leaders of the Righteousness Sect.

Character developments

• Hua Feihua emerges as a cynical, opportunistic player who prioritizes leveling and personal gain over Lin Bai’s cause. He persuades Wuli Hua to follow his cautious strategy.
• Wuli Hua is initially uncertain but readily accepts Hua Feihua’s reasoning, choosing to avoid danger and level up first.
• Lin Bai remains unpredictable: rather than immediately addressing the crisis, he turns to a grand wedding, presenting it as part of his cultivation of the Way of Love.
• The Heavenly Kings treat Lin Bai and the new arrivals as a genuine strategic threat and respond with coordinated restrictions and investigation.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Modern weapons that seem overwhelming in the mortal world barely affect the Heavenly Beings; the nuclear strike is devastating but not decisive.
• Self-interest versus loyalty: Players differ between serving Lin Bai’s plans and exploiting their unusual freedom and respawn abilities for personal advancement.
• Uncertainty and misinformation: Players offer contradictory explanations of their origins, while the Immortal Realm struggles to understand Lin Bai’s powers and intentions.
• Tradition versus new forces: The Heavenly Beings fear that the new, fast-growing and apparently undying arrivals could eventually displace them.
• Love as cultivation: Lin Bai’s wedding frames romantic spectacle as a means of comprehending a law, though the public questions whether the event is strategy, desperation, or both.

Character interactions

• Hua Feihua convinces Wuli Hua to avoid alliances and focus on leveling, establishing a pragmatic partnership.
• Captured players give the Heavenly Beings conflicting accounts, making it difficult to assess the newcomers’ origins.
• The strike teams confront the Heavenly Beings, but their weapons prove ineffective and the teams are destroyed.
• Lin Bai’s wedding announcement sparks widespread debate across the worlds, with supporters, skeptics, and gossipers arguing over his motives and the implications of his Way of Love.

Plot points and events

• Preparations for Lin Bai’s wedding move at extraordinary speed. His disciples build Magpie Bridges, supplies pour in, performers arrive, and officials and cultivators help organize and secure the event.
• The wedding gathers many brides, including Xu Longyun, Jiang Qingqin, Madam Huaxi, True Person Zhou Zu, True Person Li, Hu Qing, and others. Little White Fox, despite considering herself Lin Bai’s destined bride, is too young to marry and must serve as a bridesmaid.
• Lin Bai reflects on the influence and power he has gained, but worries that the wedding’s combination of a huge gathering and his planned enlightenment may attract enemies. He warns Qingyun that some people may want to stop his growth.
• On the West Continent guest list, player Robert has brought a bishop from the Gods and Devils Continent, hoping to provoke Lin Bai into triggering tribulation lightning and causing widespread destruction.
• The bishop refuses to attack Lin Bai: he recognizes that Lin Bai is trying to bring order, and admits his own side needs Lin Bai’s Magpie Bridges. He also exposes Robert’s deeper motive—to destroy the world and leave the game players unchecked.
• Robert reveals that he has another plan: trap Lin Bai for eighty-one days, exploiting the fact that Lin Bai’s doubles are weaker than he is.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai is briefly content with the wedding preparations but remains alert to threats. He sees that power brings responsibility and that his ambition to transcend the world puts him at odds with those who fear his growth.
• Qingyun supports her master and initially believes the wedding will be safe. After Lin Bai voices concern, she offers to inspect the West Continent guests for hostile intent.
• The brides share excitement at marrying the people they love, though the unusual mix of humans, beasts, and players makes the group striking.
• Little White Fox feels left out and heartbroken, wanting to be Lin Bai’s bride rather than a bridesmaid.
• Robert presents himself as a world-saver but is revealed as a nihilistic, self-interested player willing to destroy humanity.
• The bishop proves perceptive and pragmatic: he can read hearts, rejects Robert’s portrayal of Lin Bai, and prioritizes his deity’s need to travel between worlds.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: Lin Bai’s influence can unite worlds, but his growth also creates fear and opposition.
• Public appearances versus true motives: Robert’s claims of heroism conceal hatred and destructive intent.
• Love and belonging: The wedding celebrates sincere bonds, while Little White Fox’s exclusion highlights the pain of unfulfilled love.
• Interdependence between worlds: Even rivals need Lin Bai’s Magpie Bridges, making cooperation and conflict inseparable.

Plot points and events

• Robert’s attempt to challenge the black-haired bishop ends as Robert turns transparent and disappears.
• Lin Bai’s extravagant wedding to Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin begins. The spectacle includes Magpie Bridges, celebrity performances, and an eclectic collection of couples among the guests.
• A lich attacks, spreading life-draining black vapor and raising the dead. Qingyun lures him away, while Ye Song silences the undead and Lu Wei absorbs the remaining vapor. Lin Bai orders the performers to continue, even offering them new bodies and longevity if they die.
• A second attacker curses the brides, turning them into frail, corpse-like figures. He claims the curse can only be undone through genuine love, framing the spectacle as a test of Lin Bai’s Way of Love and divine legitimacy.
• Lin Bai identifies the attacker as Curse God Nos through a Truth-Telling Spell. Nos insists that his curses follow fixed conditions and that he is an authentic god.
• The Super Villain System gives Lin Bai a mission to defeat or subdue Nos. Lin Bai’s Red String fails to bind him, but Lin Bai uses Absolute Suppression to pin him down and begins shaving his head with a kitchen knife. Nos is left incredulous that Lin Bai can capture and hurt him.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai stays focused on preserving the wedding and his public image, directing his followers from afar. He is privately troubled by the curse’s challenge to his love and authority, but quickly shifts to confronting Nos.
• Xu Longyun panics at her transformed appearance yet tries to reassure Lin Bai, declaring her faith in him and refusing to let Nos dictate the outcome.
• Qingyun, Ye Song, and Lu Wei respond effectively to the first attack, each using their abilities to contain a different part of the threat.
• Curse God Nos presents himself as an untouchable, self-cursing deity, but his confidence collapses when Lin Bai overpowers him.
• Robert and his companions, who arranged the lich’s attack, are surprised by the more powerful second attacker and uncertain about his role.

Significant themes

• Love as belief and public proof: Nos turns the brides’ curse into a test of whether Lin Bai’s love—and his Way of Love—is genuine.
• Power versus legitimacy: The crowd watches to see whether Lin Bai’s supernatural claims are real, while Lin Bai knows his power does not depend on faith as Nos assumes.
• Control, performance, and spectacle: The wedding’s polished pageantry continues even amid mortal danger, reflecting Lin Bai’s determination to control both events and public perception.
• The limits of supposedly absolute power: Nos’s curses seem immutable, but Lin Bai’s unconventional abilities undermine his claims of invulnerability.

Key events

• The Curse God, North, appears at Lin Bai’s wedding and curses him so that any pain inflicted on North rebounds on Lin Bai tenfold. Lin Bai endures the pain and discovers that North’s curses have rules: they cannot be repeated on the same person until lifted, and each has a specific condition for removal.
• Lin Bai asks Tuo Hai to attack, but North curses him too. Lin Bai then grants Xu Longyun Absolute Suppression, allowing her to cut North without harming Lin Bai.
• North curses everyone over thirty with lightning if Xu Longyun continues, adding that the curse can only be lifted if the men and women present exchange sexes. Lin Bai briefly uses Silence, but realizes North can still finish speaking, so the curse takes effect.
• A player reads the curse’s condition aloud. The guests panic, but Lin Bai tests his Card ability on Madam Huaxi and Hu Qing, restoring them and proving he can undo curses by other means.
• Lin Bai takes North away from the wedding, promising to return. He reveals that his multiple heads can grow into new versions of himself, making him effectively expendable, and prepares to kill North despite the rebound curse. Frightened, North apologizes and proposes an alliance.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai remains composed under pressure, investigates North’s limitations, and uses his powers creatively rather than surrendering to threats. He prioritizes his dignity but also prevents the wedding guests from being forced to bear the curse’s cost.
• North first boasts that he is both the weakest and strongest god, relying on his curses to intimidate others. As Lin Bai repeatedly finds ways around them, North shifts from mockery to fear, apology, and attempted negotiation.
• Xu Longyun acts decisively against North, driven by anger and concern for Lin Bai. She stops when Lin Bai warns her that the mass curse has taken effect.
• Tuo Hai volunteers to help, but North’s curse immediately restrains him. The guests, officials, and players react with fear, while one player’s lip-reading helps reveal North’s curse condition.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: North has little direct strength but can threaten powerful opponents through strange, rule-bound curses.
• Adaptation and ingenuity: Lin Bai defeats apparent magical absolutes by probing their conditions and applying unrelated abilities.
• Power’s wider consequences: The opening discussion highlights public fear that the Magpie Bridges expose the real world to supernatural incursions, while the wedding scene shows how one god’s actions can endanger an entire crowd.
• Dignity and control: Lin Bai refuses to be intimidated, while North’s attempt to dictate terms collapses once Lin Bai demonstrates that his curses are not the only forces at work.

Plot points and events

• Lin Bai takes the God of Curses, North, far from the wedding venue to avoid endangering the guests. North proposes cooperation, but Lin Bai refuses and threatens to have a clone expose him to tribulation lightning indefinitely—an attack that would not technically violate North’s curse.
• Frightened, North offers to submit. Lin Bai considers whether he can trust him, then brings out the heavenly demon heart. Its aura dispels North’s curse, while drawing and then losing the attention of a heavenly tribulation.
• Lin Bai claims the heart’s power and invents a story that he is a supreme heavenly demon who chose to become good. Convinced and terrified, North sincerely pledges loyalty, completing Lin Bai’s system task.
• Lin Bai uses his extraction skill on North, repeatedly provoking him into admitting defeat so he can take more abilities. He extracts several spells and ultimately North’s divine essence.
• With his divine essence gone and his magic greatly diminished, North begs for mercy, then attacks Lin Bai. Lin Bai kills him with Undead Dispersal.
• Lin Bai places the stolen divine essence into a separate divine-soul fragment, creating a new incarnation of the God of Curses while keeping his own body unchanged.

Character developments

• Lin Bai is resourceful and ruthless, turning North’s curse and fear against him. He frames himself as a good man forced into evil, but openly enjoys manipulating North and extracting his powers. His priority remains returning to the wedding without involving innocent people.
• North shifts from proposing cooperation to submission, then desperation and rage. His confidence collapses once the curse is lifted and Lin Bai begins stripping away his abilities; he dies after a final failed attack.

Themes

• Power and fear: North submits not out of trust, but because Lin Bai makes resistance seem hopeless.
• Goodness versus evil: Lin Bai presents himself as someone who wanted an ordinary, good life, yet behaves with calculated cruelty when provoked.
• Deception and control: Lin Bai uses a fabricated backstory, staged “duels,” and North’s fear to accomplish his goals.
• Consequences and retribution: Lin Bai sees North’s attack on him and disruption of the wedding as grounds for severe punishment.

Character interactions

• North repeatedly tries to negotiate, submit, and plead with Lin Bai; Lin Bai answers with threats, mockery, and false reassurance.
• Lin Bai manipulates North into believing he has secured a place as a subordinate, then exploits that submission to extract his powers.
• Their final confrontation ends with North’s attack and Lin Bai’s decisive use of Undead Dispersal.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai learns that the Curse God’s power was heavily restricted: curses had to obey the world’s rules, be announced in person with a valid way to break them, and could not be reused on the same target. His divine core also depended on faith.
• After defeating North, Lin Bai absorbs the Curse God’s divine core and gains the super villain system’s Extraction skill, which lets him take abilities from anyone he defeats. His enormous fan base supplies enough “faith” to power the core.
• Lin Bai worries that Extraction could turn him into a villain, but rationalizes that his past actions have helped people and that power itself is morally neutral.
• Returning to the wedding, he presents the Curse God’s attack as a trial that made the celebration more meaningful. His fans and promises of Concentrating Spirit Fruits persuade the guests to call the wedding perfect.
• The curse has left Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin looking like zombies. Lin Bai publicly declares that love can overcome curses, then uses the hidden heavenly demon heart as he kisses Xu Longyun. The curses lift and both brides regain their beauty, convincing the crowd that the law of love worked.
• A bishop recognizes the evil aura from the heavenly demon heart and concludes that Lin Bai is an evil god, but is too frightened to challenge him.
• The wedding concludes, and Lin Bai receives the matchmaker system’s reward. A new mission offers Wedding Domain, a powerful ability that would prevent anything at a wedding except marriage—but earning it would require forcing two equally powerful people to wed.
• In the bridal chamber, Lin Bai sets aside his worries about the wider world and spends the night with both women.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai gains a potentially limitless way to grow stronger, while recognizing that his new powers and systems may be steering him toward villainy. He also uses spectacle and careful manipulation to preserve the wedding and public confidence in his beliefs.
• Xu Longyun fears that her cursed appearance will invite ridicule, but Lin Bai reassures her and kisses her publicly. She interprets this as proof of his love.
• Jiang Qingqin is ashamed of her appearance and initially urges Lin Bai to marry someone else. She accepts his support and feels no resentment when he kisses Xu Longyun first, understanding that Xu holds a more central place in his heart.
• The crowd moves from skepticism and mockery to enthusiastic belief after the brides’ transformations. The bishop alone suspects the truth, but fear keeps him silent.

Significant themes

• Power and morality: Extraction offers immense growth but risks turning Lin Bai into the villain he fears becoming; he comforts himself by judging power through its use.
• Love as public performance: Lin Bai’s kiss is sincere in its reassurance but also staged to protect the wedding, his reputation, and the supposed law of love.
• Faith and belief: Fans’ devotion powers Lin Bai’s divine core, while the crowd’s interpretation of events shows how easily belief can be shaped by spectacle.
• Appearance, sacrifice, and acceptance: Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin fear being seen in their cursed forms, while Lin Bai’s willingness to stand beside and kiss them becomes emotionally significant.
• Escalating temptation: The villain, matchmaker, and other systems reward increasingly coercive or morally dubious behavior, hinting that Lin Bai’s path may grow darker.

Plot points and events

• News of Lin Bai’s powers, methods, and weaknesses spreads throughout the Immortal Realm. Many Heavenly Beings dismiss him, believing his emphasis on love makes him ineffective against beings who know neither romance nor gender.
• The Lightning Heavenly King arrives in Pine-Stone City and captures Long Tianxi, Nan Lingtian, and Lin Bai’s War God Body. His lightning cage nullifies the body’s usual escape methods, forcing Lin Bai to decide whether to risk a confrontation to learn what a Heavenly King can do.
• Lin Bai prepares for the threat by warning Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin to remain in the lower realm, cutting off the Magpie Bridges, leaving them resources and a soul fragment for protection, and asking them to manage affairs and seek followers. He promises to help them grow stronger by acquiring powerful abilities and Law Sacred Artifacts.
• At Pine-Stone City, the Lightning Heavenly King invites the War God Body to attack. Lin Bai’s Truth-Telling Spell and forced-smile ability work on him, but Immortal Binding fails to restrain him, and Absolute Suppression is repelled by the Heavenly King’s Thunder Hammer. The Heavenly King reveals that the Magpie Bridge interests him most and demands Lin Bai submit in exchange for help conquering other worlds.

Character developments

• Lin Bai recognizes that marriage has given him people he can lose, turning affection into a vulnerability—but he accepts that attachment rather than retreating from it. He responds by taking precautions and planning to strengthen his companions.
• Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin are anxious about becoming burdens and frustrated by their limited power, but Lin Bai reassures them and gives them responsibilities and hope for future strength.
• The Lightning Heavenly King is confident and curious about Lin Bai’s abilities, though he treats them as minor tricks and assumes Lin Bai can be coerced.
• Lin Bai loses faith in several newly recruited disciples after their loyalty collapses under pressure, dismissing them and deciding players may be more dependable.

Significant themes

• Love as both vulnerability and strength: Lin Bai’s new attachments expose him to emotional leverage, yet he chooses to protect and support the people he loves.
• Information and power: The players’ willingness to reveal secrets shapes how the Heavenly Beings assess Lin Bai, while Lin Bai seeks firsthand knowledge of the Heavenly King’s abilities.
• Confidence versus competence: The Lightning Heavenly King’s immense power contrasts with his underestimation of Lin Bai’s systems and Law-based skills.
• Preparation and trust: Lin Bai plans for threats across multiple worlds and places responsibility in the hands of those closest to him.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai comforts Xu Longyun and Jiang Qingqin, makes arrangements for their safety, and promises them a role in governing the Immortal Realm. Little White Fox barges in, playfully asserts that she intends to marry Lin Bai too, and asks for power of her own.
• The Lightning Heavenly King taunts the War God Body and tests its abilities, while Lin Bai uses the encounter to probe the limits of his powers.
• Long Tianxi recognizes the danger of speaking up to the Heavenly King and stays silent, hoping Lin Bai can defeat him.

Key plot points and events

• The Lightning Heavenly King confronts the War God Body, or Xingtian, about his motives. Xingtian invents a tragic story claiming Lin Bai stole his Law Sacred Artifact and that he knows nothing about the new Heavenly Beings or the Mother Body’s changes. Nan Lingtian recognizes the familiar deception, while the Heavenly King appears unconvinced but proceeds.
• Xingtian takes the Lightning Heavenly King to the Gods and Devils Continent via a Magpie Bridge. The Heavenly King keeps Xingtian under a lightning cage and makes clear he sees through his schemes.
• On arrival, the Heavenly King demands to meet the world’s strongest person. He appears above Freedom City, surrounds it with lightning, and threatens to destroy it unless someone answers him.
• City Lord Sandeli and Bishop Garnett panic. Garnett tries to enlist John’s help and suggests sending the Heavenly King toward the God of Darkness. John realizes Garnett has withheld information about the local deities and demands the notes he has gathered.
• Lin Bai, acting through his divine incarnation in John’s body, studies the deity information and forms a plan to exploit conflicts between powerful factions. John then flies to meet the Lightning Heavenly King, offers to guide and interpret for him, and proposes leading him to challenge the deities in exchange for a share of the spoils.

Character developments

• Xingtian: Continues to rely on lies and ingratiating behavior, but his account fails to fool the Lightning Heavenly King. He also considers whether his Absolute Suppression ability might work if he could get past the Heavenly King’s protective lightning.
• Lightning Heavenly King (Beigui): Shows immense confidence and power, readily traveling to a new world and challenging its rulers. His patience with Xingtian’s tricks is limited, and he quickly resorts to intimidation when no one answers him.
• Lin Bai/John: Shifts from trying to avoid a direct confrontation to acting as a strategist. He gathers intelligence and plans to direct the Heavenly King toward the local deities, hoping to benefit from the resulting conflict.
• Garnett: Reveals that he has gathered information on the deities but withheld it from John, exposing his cautious, self-protective approach.
• Nan Lingtian: Recognizes Xingtian’s familiar style of deception and recalls having been fooled by similar tactics before.

Significant themes

• Deception and mistrust: Xingtian’s fabricated history, the Heavenly King’s suspicion, and Garnett’s withheld information show how little trust exists between characters.
• Power and intimidation: The Heavenly King’s overwhelming control of lightning lets him terrorize Freedom City and demand an audience.
• Strategy over strength: Unable to defeat the Heavenly King directly, Lin Bai looks for ways to manipulate rival powers and profit from their confrontation.
• Worlds in collision: The arrival of an Immortal Realm Heavenly King disrupts the Gods and Devils Continent, where Players and local authorities are already unsettled by recent events.

Character interactions

• The Lightning Heavenly King repeatedly challenges Xingtian’s story and warns him against tricks, while Xingtian responds with submissive smiles and feigned helplessness.
• Xingtian and the Heavenly King travel with a Magpie Bridge Guardian, who is visibly terrified of being caught between them.
• Garnett appeals to John for help, but John turns the exchange into a demand for intelligence, exposing Garnett’s secrecy.
• John approaches the Heavenly King as a helpful guide, presenting himself as a Player familiar with the world and offering to lead him toward the deities.

Plot and events

• Players, increasingly frustrated that Lin Bai controls the game’s major events and their own prospects, form the Anti-Lin Bai Alliance. Its members argue that Lin Bai has ruined the game, exploited players, and blocked their civilization’s progress. They organize openly through forums, recruit his enemies, expose his movements, and target his supporters.
• The alliance’s attacks leave members of the Lin Household Fan Club frightened. Its leaders also threaten mass Tribulation Transcendence: if Lin Bai retaliates or targets players’ families, they will destroy the Game World.
• Lin Bai rejects large-scale suppression. He believes players will be less willing to risk destroying the world once they have built lasting lives and interests in it. He plans to let the opposition grow, publicize its activities, and eventually draw its hidden leaders into view.
• Lin Bai encourages the Fan Club Leader to protect the group and become more capable without relying on his name. She leaves newly determined, with gifts from Lin Bai.
• After telling his disciples to focus on cultivation, Lin Bai disguises himself as a player and enters the Immortal Realm through the Magpie Bridges.
• Meanwhile, “Justice Weekly” publicizes the Lightning Heavenly King’s arrival, information about powerful figures in both worlds, and the opening of bridges between the Immortal Realm and the Gods and Devils Continent. The news stirs suspicion and excitement, but both sides are eager to explore the other world.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai stays calm under pressure and treats the Anti-Lin Bai Alliance as a problem to manage rather than crush. He presents himself as willing to tolerate opposition, while secretly aiming to let it expand until its leaders reveal themselves. He also withholds the nature of his newly mastered law from his followers.
• The Fan Club Leader shifts from fear and helplessness to resolve after Lin Bai entrusts her with safeguarding the group.
• Xu Longyun recognizes that her concern for Lin Bai could cloud her judgment. He urges her to think broadly and trust that he can address mistakes; she accepts his guidance.
• Little White Fox wants to retaliate violently, while Ye Song and the elders point out that the alliance is too large and difficult to identify. The group’s discussion highlights the limits of their power and the danger of provoking players.
• Qingyun is more interested in Lin Bai’s progress and his hidden law than in the political crisis.

Themes

• Powerlessness and agency: Players feel they have lost control of their destinies, prompting them to organize against Lin Bai.
• Mutual dependence and restraint: The players’ threat to destroy the world makes forceful retaliation too risky; Lin Bai instead hopes that investment and prosperity will give them reasons to protect it.
• Leadership and trust: Lin Bai encourages others to take responsibility while reassuring them that they are not alone.
• Information as power: Public forums, journalism, exposed movements, and concealed abilities shape the conflict as much as direct force.
• Interconnected worlds: Opening travel between the Immortal Realm and the Gods and Devils Continent promises exchange, but also spreads uncertainty and potential conflict.

Key plot points and events

• To protect his disguise in the Immortal Realm, Lin Bai seals the Curse God, Long Tianxi, and Nan Lingtian into Cards. This reduces his apparent cultivation to Bronze, though he discovers that sealing the Curse God alongside his Divine Core gives him a new way to use Cards.
• At the Immortal Realm’s entrance, players are detained and registered. Officials issue Nameplates and make each player smile, using Lin Bai’s Smile the Moment You See Me skill to identify people whose bodies he may have possessed. Lin Bai realizes the new security measures will expose his disguise.
• Rather than submit to inspection, Lin Bai releases Long Tianxi and Nan Lingtian, immobilizes General Meng, and escapes the Reception Pool. The moment they emerge, a prepared lightning strike kills Nan Lingtian and gravely wounds Long Tianxi, while Lin Bai survives with mostly superficial injuries thanks to his stacked defensive abilities.
• Four Star Radiance Heavenly Beings reveal that the Lightning Heavenly King anticipated Lin Bai’s return. Lin Bai receives an “extreme danger” mission from his comeback system, offering a chance for attacks to deal one hundred times their normal damage.
• Though he considers retreating, Lin Bai chooses to fight for the reward. He protects Long Tianxi by treating him as an “ingredient,” then uses Dazzling Bewitchment to distract the attackers while creating many heads with Three Heads and Six Arms. The chapter ends as the heads unleash a massively amplified shout.

Character developments

• Lin Bai shifts from covert infiltration to open combat when the new identity checks make stealth impractical. He shows quick tactical thinking, resourcefulness, and a willingness to risk a fight for a major power boost.
• Long Tianxi is gravely injured but remains essential to Lin Bai: their shared strength helps Lin Bai withstand the lightning, so Lin Bai must protect him.
• Nan Lingtian is killed by the lightning strike, demonstrating how vulnerable Lin Bai’s allies are against the Heavenly Beings’ prepared attack.
• General Meng and the four Heavenly Beings act with confidence, believing the Lightning Heavenly King has anticipated and contained Lin Bai.

Significant themes

• Adaptability and the value of every ability: Skills that seemed useless or unconventional—such as Lin Bai’s cooking-related defense and identity-triggering smile—prove decisive.
• Trust and dependence: Lin Bai’s survival is tied to Long Tianxi’s strength, making the alliance both a source of power and a vulnerability.
• Control versus improvisation: The Heavenly Beings’ inspections and ambush are designed to control entry, but Lin Bai continually adapts to their plans.
• Escalating conflict: The Lightning Heavenly King’s intervention turns Lin Bai’s attempted infiltration into a direct confrontation.

Character interactions

• Officials interrogate the incoming players, while Lin Bai silently observes until the smile test threatens to expose him.
• Lin Bai coordinates with Long Tianxi and Nan Lingtian in the escape, then uses his abilities to immobilize General Meng and attack the others.
• The four Heavenly Beings mock Lin Bai and question his strange behavior as he handles Long Tianxi with a kitchen knife, unaware that he is securing his ally before counterattacking.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai is ambushed in the Immortal Realm by four Star Radiance Realm experts. Knowing he cannot beat them through strength alone, he deliberately unleashes his full sonic attack at close range, damaging himself as well as blinding and deafening his opponents.
• He rapidly heals by severing his ruined heads and regrowing them, then chains together several abilities. A false image of the Lightning Heavenly King disrupts the enemies’ reactions, allowing Lin Bai to destroy Shi Biao’s magic treasures, bind him with Red String, and suppress his spiritual power.
• Rather than fight all four enemies, Lin Bai focuses on capturing Shi Biao. He escapes with his captive through a Magpie Bridge, first to Xu Longyun and then away from the Immortal Realm.
• Lin Bai dissects Shi Biao, seals him in a golden Card, and releases him to absorb his strength. This raises Lin Bai to the Star Radiance Realm and grants him Shi Biao’s law-based ability, Thunder Spirit: Judgment, which attacks an opponent’s soul directly.
• The three surviving experts realize Lin Bai impersonated the Lightning Heavenly King to mislead them. They decide to guard the remaining Magpie Bridge and kill Lin Bai if he returns.
• Xu Longyun urges Lin Bai to deal with the Anti-Lin Bai Alliance, whose cooperation with the Heavenly Beings turns the conflict into a struggle against a vast network of enemies.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai shows his defining combat style: ruthless self-sacrifice, rapid planning, and layered tricks rather than a fair fight. He turns an overwhelming ambush into a victory by targeting one opponent and escaping with him.
• Shi Biao is captured after his hesitation—caused by Lin Bai’s false command from the Heavenly King—leaves him open to attack. His capture gives Lin Bai the breakthrough to Star Radiance Realm.
• The three survivors shift from confidence to alarm and embarrassment. They recognize that Lin Bai’s abilities and the information they received were underestimated, and they argue over their failure.
• Xu Longyun reacts with concern to Lin Bai’s injuries, then calmly emphasizes the larger political danger posed by the Anti-Lin Bai Alliance.

Significant themes

• Strategy over strength: Lin Bai wins by exploiting surprise, misdirection, and a focused target rather than overpowering four stronger foes.
• Calculated self-sacrifice: He willingly suffers severe damage to create an opening, trusting his regeneration to outlast the danger.
• Information and deception: The enemies’ reliance on player reports misleads them, while Lin Bai’s impersonation of the Heavenly King turns their own obedience against them.
• Power gained through capture: Defeating an enemy also lets Lin Bai absorb that enemy’s strength and abilities, rapidly escalating the stakes.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai rejects Xu Longyun’s suggestion to delay entering the Immortal Realm. He believes that pausing means falling behind and intends to become a Heavenly King so he can protect his loved ones and eventually reshape the world’s order.
• After sealing Shi Biao in a Card, Lin Bai discovers he can repeatedly extract the captive’s skills, then let the Card restore him. He exploits this system loophole to obtain Shi Biao’s soul-targeting law skill, Judgment.
• Lin Bai restores Shi Biao’s awareness and uses the Curse God’s Divine Core to force him to slap himself until he reveals the laws of his three companions: Tang Hao’s Violet Flame Heavenly Thunder, Peng Lang’s Twisting Thunder, and Fei Shang’s Synchronized Thunder.
• Lin Bai dismisses the Heavenly Beings’ laws as limited by spiritual-power costs and proposes using Shi Biao to exhaust them before attacking. He and Xu Longyun agree to target Peng Lang first.
• Returning to the Immortal Realm, Lin Bai throws Shi Biao at Peng Lang and compels him to use Judgment. Peng Lang is badly wounded. As Fei Shang tries to restrain Shi Biao and Tang Hao attacks Lin Bai, Lin Bai escapes via the Magpie Bridge—then another Shi Biao emerges, leaving the fight’s next move uncertain.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai grows more confident and ruthless, prioritizing strength over schemes or public opinion. He treats cards, curses, and even Shi Biao’s loyalty as tools, while remaining playful and affectionate toward Xu Longyun.
• Xu Longyun worries about Lin Bai’s safety and hopes he will act cautiously, but she accepts his determination. She also joins in planning the ambush once she sees a chance to defeat the enemy.
• Shi Biao begins defiant and loyal to his sworn brothers, but Lin Bai’s curse, threats of public humiliation, and manipulation wear down his resolve. He ultimately reveals the others’ abilities and is forced into the attack.
• Lin Bai’s exchanges with Shi Biao are marked by taunts and psychological pressure; his tender reassurances to Xu Longyun contrast sharply with his cruelty toward his captive.

Significant themes

• Strength over strategy and reputation: Lin Bai believes power is what ultimately determines survival, and that being feared may be more useful than being liked.
• Ingenuity and exploitation: He turns the Card System’s restoration mechanics and the Curse God’s Divine Core into practical advantages, preferring effective methods over lofty ideals.
• Loyalty under coercion: Shi Biao’s devotion to his companions is tested by pain, shame, and the threat of being forced to fight them.
• Protection versus risk: Xu Longyun values safety and stability, while Lin Bai sees continued advancement—and the dangers it brings—as necessary to protect those he loves.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai defeats the four Star Radiance Realm subordinates of the Lightning Heavenly King. He exploits Tang Hao’s hesitation when confronted with an apparent duplicate of Shi Biao, then uses Judgment and other skills to disable and capture his opponents. He seals the remaining two as cards and receives the system reward, Critical Hit.
• Lin Bai’s amplified Thunder Spear devastates the battlefield, impressing both players and Shi Biao. He immediately publicizes the battle through Justice Weekly and combat footage, while planning to capture more Star Radiance Realm experts to strengthen his mastery of laws.
• The Anti-Lin Bai Alliance remains defiant, hoping to provoke stronger enemies and pressure the Game Company to provide more Game Pods. Real-world authorities instead condemn the alliance and threaten sanctions, judging Lin Bai the safer side to support.
• The Lightning Heavenly King’s staff decides to wait for his return rather than confront Lin Bai. Meanwhile, the Metal Heavenly King orders his steward to send twenty Star Radiance Realm fighters after Lin Bai, but he and other Heavenly Kings are more excited about exploring the Gods and Devils Continent than personally intervening.
• On that continent, the God of Darkness expresses interest in meeting Lin Bai and studying his Magpie Bridges, despite a player’s warnings. The player secretly hopes the gods will weaken one another so he can seize the Divine Core.
• The Lightning Heavenly King arrives at the Mist Forest, eager to face the God of Darkness. Before the encounter, he asks John to smile and wish him luck.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai demonstrates rapid growth, tactical ingenuity, and confidence. His success strengthens his public influence and convinces him that collecting more cards and laws is vital for future battles.
• Shi Biao is devastated by the capture of his companions and warns Fei Shang to flee, recognizing that they cannot defeat Lin Bai.
• The Anti-Lin Bai Alliance doubles down on its reckless strategy, treating its members’ apparent protection in Game Pods as leverage.
• The Heavenly Kings appear complacent and curious about the newly accessible world, leaving the danger posed by Lin Bai to their subordinates.
• The God of Darkness is intrigued by Lin Bai rather than immediately hostile; Dark Heart, his player-servant, outwardly serves him but privately plots to exploit a conflict between him and the Lightning Heavenly King.
• The Lightning Heavenly King and John share an unsettlingly casual exchange before the coming confrontation: the king seeks John’s smile as a personal good-luck charm.

Significant themes

• Power and adaptation: Lin Bai’s combination of system-enhanced skills, quick reactions, and tactical thinking lets him overcome stronger opponents.
• Escalating ambition: The Anti-Lin Bai Alliance, the Heavenly Kings, and Dark Heart all pursue their own gains, often disregarding the wider consequences.
• Publicity and political power: Lin Bai turns his victory into a media event, while governments and factions try to shape the narrative and control the fallout.
• A changing balance between worlds: The Magpie Bridges draw the Immortal Realm’s rulers toward the Gods and Devils Continent, setting up new rivalries and conflicts.

Key plot points and events

• The Lightning Heavenly King realizes that “John” and Xingtian are both incarnations of Lin Bai, spotting their matching mannerisms. Lin Bai drops the pretense and proposes an alliance.
• Xingtian escapes the Lightning Cage using a Magpie Bridge, and the two incarnations explain that negotiating through them leaves room for reconciliation if talks fail.
• The Heavenly King remains wary but is intrigued by Lin Bai’s ambition and eventually agrees to cooperate. Their smiles and handshake leave the sincerity of the pact uncertain.
• The Heavenly King attacks the Mist Forest, revealing the devastating power of his lightning. Lin Bai watches from the Sacred Ultimate Sect and recognizes that the Heavenly King’s speed and strength far exceed his own.
• The God of Darkness blankets the forest in a domain that suppresses light, perception, and opponents’ abilities. The Heavenly King pulls Lin Bai’s incarnations to his side and uses Xingtian’s Provocation skill to draw the hidden god into view.
• The Heavenly King’s attack appears to catch the God of Darkness, but the god retaliates: Xingtian is decapitated, while John’s possessed body is destroyed and Lin Bai’s incarnation is expelled. Xingtian survives by activating Three Heads and Six Arms. The chapter ends as the God of Darkness claims lightning cannot harm him.

Character developments

• Lin Bai reveals his skill at strategic negotiation, but privately recognizes that he is badly outmatched by the world’s rulers. He also decides his current allies and incarnations may not be sufficient for battles at this level.
• The Lightning Heavenly King shifts from suspicion to cautious admiration, though he still treats Lin Bai as a useful—and potentially disposable—partner.
• The God of Darkness emerges as a formidable opponent whose domain distorts perception and suppresses power.

Significant themes

• Pragmatic alliances: Cooperation is driven by shared interests, not necessarily trust.
• Ambition versus strength: Lin Bai’s plans reach far beyond his current ability to control events.
• Power and perception: The God of Darkness’s domain turns information and visibility into weapons.
• Calculated risk: Lin Bai protects his valuable War God Body while accepting that other incarnations may be expendable.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai and the Heavenly King trade teasing, probing remarks as they negotiate, each testing the other’s intentions.
• Once the battle begins, the Heavenly King takes control of the situation and uses Lin Bai’s Provocation skill as bait.
• The God of Darkness taunts the Heavenly King and attacks both incarnations, quickly demonstrating that their temporary partnership faces a dangerous common enemy.

Key plot points and events

• During the War God Body’s confrontation with the God of Darkness and the Lightning Heavenly King, Lin Bai uses Wrath of Gods and Men to stir up their anger and keep their attention on each other.
• The Lightning Heavenly King mentions a “health bar,” leading Lin Bai to conclude that the nine Heavenly Kings are players from another world. He suspects the Immortal Realm is itself a game: its Heavenly Beings may be system-created NPCs, and the mother body may function as their production center.
• Lin Bai tells Xu Longyun what he has inferred. Though alarmed, she discusses the danger with him, and he proposes turning the revelation into a political and strategic advantage.
• Lin Bai publishes a special issue of Justice Weekly accusing the Heavenly Kings of being players and the Immortal Realm’s Heavenly Beings of being NPCs. He also releases a video of the Lightning Heavenly King’s remark and questions whether the Heavenly King Challenge Tournament is a sham.
• The news ignites debate among players and people in the Real World. Some believe it; others suspect Lin Bai is spreading disinformation to divide his enemies.
• General Chen and Cheng Xunyun consider the possibility that players could someday enter the Real World. In the Immortal Realm, Steward Meng urges Heavenly Beings to visit the Gods and Devils Continent. Meanwhile, the Gold Heavenly King confirms privately that the Heavenly Kings are players and wonders what Lin Bai is.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai is shaken by the possibility that he has been manipulated by successive layers of games, but quickly regains his resolve. He plans to expose the Heavenly Kings, sow doubt among the Heavenly Beings, and provoke players into challenging their counterparts.
• Xu Longyun moves from concern to fear when she hears the Heavenly Kings may be players, then helps assess Lin Bai’s plan and its difficulties.
• The Lightning Heavenly King inadvertently gives Lin Bai the clue that triggers his theory. His remark also confirms the game-like worldview Lin Bai suspects.
• Steward Meng responds to the report with apparent dismissal, but his suggestion that the Heavenly Beings explore the Gods and Devils Continent hints at possible curiosity or concern.
• The Gold Heavenly King recognizes Lin Bai’s perceptiveness but questions Lin Bai’s own nature.

Significant themes

• Reality versus game: The chapter blurs the line between players, NPCs, and living beings, suggesting that one world’s rulers may be another world’s players.
• Power and agency: Lin Bai refuses to accept being a pawn and looks for ways to turn a frightening discovery into leverage.
• Manipulation and propaganda: The truth is used strategically, while characters and readers alike must decide whether Lin Bai’s claims are revelation or another scheme.
• Competition across worlds: The prospect of players from different worlds facing one another reframes the conflict as a potentially universal contest.

Chapter Summary: “Just Snatch It”

Key plot points and events

• After learning the Heavenly Kings are players, Lin Bai realizes his earlier scheme—using them to plunge two worlds into chaos and profit from it—is no longer viable. With both realms distrustful of him, he decides to build his own strength and win allies through power.
• Lin Bai watches the Lightning Heavenly King battle the God of Darkness. The Darkness God reveals that his realm absorbs incoming energy and converts it into dark power, making the Lightning King’s prolonged attacks seem ineffective.
• Lin Bai tries to play both sides, offering the Darkness God a partnership while reminding the Lightning King that he may seek other allies. Both powerful beings recognize his manipulations, but Lin Bai’s ability to travel between worlds makes him valuable.
• When the two gods prevent Lin Bai’s War God Body from leaving, he uses Deification and Wrath of Gods and Men to provoke them and manipulate the Lightning King’s thoughts, keeping them focused on each other.
• Meanwhile, Lin Bai discovers that he can seal his own heads and arms into Cards, treating the body parts as expendable. This also reveals a new use for Cards: sealed beings can carry inanimate objects into them.
• The Lightning King finally summons the Thunder Hammer, his Law Sacred Artifact, and uses it to reclaim the lightning the Darkness God absorbed, cracking the darkness space. As the War God Body appears to be destroyed, Lin Bai floods the Lightning King’s mind with distracting images and phrases.
• Lin Bai sends a mass of heads and arms through the Magpie Bridge, grabs the Thunder Hammer, and recalls the Card, successfully stealing the artifact. The War God Body’s fragments escape with it. The Darkness God’s realm begins to repair itself, while the Lightning King vows revenge.

Character developments

• Lin Bai shifts from relying on large-scale political chaos to pursuing direct personal strength and opportunistic alliances. He proves willing to risk expendable body parts and exploit newly discovered abilities to secure the Thunder Hammer.
• The Lightning Heavenly King moves from seeming to toy with the Darkness God to revealing the Thunder Hammer’s power. His confidence collapses into fury and disbelief when Lin Bai steals it.
• The God of Darkness is exposed as a calculating opponent who absorbs energy, but he is genuinely hurt when the Thunder Hammer reverses that process. Lin Bai’s theft leaves him laughing at the Lightning King’s humiliation.
• Xu Longyun witnesses Lin Bai’s bizarre experiment with sealing his own heads and arms into Cards.

Significant themes

• Opportunism and betrayal: Lin Bai treats negotiations as leverage and turns his opponents’ conflict to his advantage.
• Adaptability and ingenuity: He converts seemingly absurd abilities—Card storage, expendable body parts, and mental distractions—into a practical strategy.
• Power and trust: Having lost credibility with both worlds, Lin Bai seeks to make himself indispensable through unique abilities and strength.
• The risks of underestimating others: The Lightning King and Darkness God focus on their rivalry, allowing Lin Bai to seize the decisive prize.

Character interactions

• Lin Bai flatters and tempts the Darkness God with promises of access to other worlds, while telling the Lightning King he lacks the strength and sincerity to be a partner.
• The Lightning King and Darkness God briefly consider cooperating against Lin Bai, but Lin Bai’s provocations and mind manipulation reignite their mutual hostility.
• Lin Bai ultimately turns their battle into an opening to steal the Thunder Hammer, leaving the Lightning King enraged and the Darkness God amused.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai’s Magpie Bridge trick leaves his War God Body badly mangled by the God of Darkness’s devouring power. Lin Bai, drained by his artificial DDoS attack, nonetheless laughs uncontrollably after successfully stealing the Lightning Heavenly King Beigui’s Thunder Hammer.
• The Super Villain System assigns him a new mission: steal all nine Heavenly Kings’ Law Sacred Artifacts. The reward, Backup, would let him perfectly duplicate anything he possesses, potentially giving him a way to protect himself and his allies.
• Lin Bai examines the Thunder Hammer. Its powerful, game-like abilities require practice, but its skills are accessible without the restrictions that govern ordinary cultivators. Xu Longyun is shaken by how unfair this advantage is.
• Lin Bai reassures Xu Longyun that he intends to overthrow the Game Company’s unjust order. She pledges to help him and says she trusts him above all others.
• The War God Body rapidly regenerates on its own, revealing that it is far more resilient than an ordinary Heavenly Being’s body.
• Lin Bai tests Shadowing Step, a movement ability gained during the theft. By combining it with the Great Heavenly Venerable System’s marking and locating abilities, he can appear behind a marked target across vast distances—and even across realms.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai shifts from feeling outmatched by the Heavenly Kings to recognizing that his systems and newly acquired abilities may let him challenge them. He is excited by the theft, wary of their ultimate attacks, and increasingly confident in his tactical potential.
• Xu Longyun moves from amusement and concern for the damaged War God Body to despair at the unfairness of the powerful, then resolves to join Lin Bai’s fight. While he tests Shadowing Step by repeatedly appearing behind her, she is flustered by his oblivious teasing but helps him verify the ability.
• The War God Body demonstrates exceptional self-healing, hinting at hidden potential.
• Lin Bai’s theft humiliates Beigui, reducing the once-formidable Lightning Heavenly King to a foe without his signature weapon.

Significant themes

• Power and unfairness: The Thunder Hammer’s easy access to immense strength exposes how rigged the world is in favor of extraordinary beings and systems.
• Resourcefulness over raw strength: Lin Bai succeeds through surprise and clever use of abilities, despite being far weaker than his opponents.
• Resistance and self-determination: Xu Longyun embraces Lin Bai’s mission to challenge the Game Company and create a world where people control their own fates.
• Unpredictable growth: A single ability—especially when combined with other systems—can transform the balance of power and close an apparently impossible gap.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Lin Bai tests his new Shadowing Step by appearing behind Jiang Qingqin while she cultivates, nearly frightening her into cultivation deviation.
• After the Lightning Heavenly King Beigui loses the Thunder Hammer, Lin Bai sends a succession of disposable heads into the darkness space to taunt him. Beigui’s anger fuels his use of Thunder God Descends, which shatters the space and badly injures the God of Darkness.
• Lin Bai marks the God of Darkness during the fight, then watches Beigui and the deity continue battling in the Mist Forest. Though Beigui has the advantage of the Thunder Hammer’s powerful skills, the God of Darkness steadily wears him down.
• Beigui unleashes the true World-Destroying Strike, pinning the God of Darkness. Lin Bai uses the opening to seize Beigui, suppress his spiritual power, and repeatedly extract his skills—including Lightning Field, Thunder Strike, Chain Lightning, and ultimately Thunder God Descends.
• Beigui realizes Lin Bai is stripping away his abilities. He tries bargaining and threatening to expose Lin Bai, but Lin Bai refuses to release him for good and continues extracting skills. Beigui finally sacrifices levels by entering the World-Destroying Strike, escaping through death rather than lose more abilities.
• Once the strike fades, the weakened God of Darkness tries to flee. Lin Bai catches him with Shadowing Step and suppresses him too, leaving the deity to plead for a chance to talk.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai grows more confident in Shadowing Step and discovers that Skill Extraction can reduce even a powerful player to a shell. He shifts from manipulating Beigui and the God of Darkness against each other to directly exploiting Beigui’s helplessness.
• Beigui moves from arrogant confidence and promises of cooperation to horror, bargaining, and rage as his hard-earned skills disappear. His choice to die and lose levels rather than continue being stripped shows his desperation and resolve.
• The God of Darkness initially dominates within his own space, then is forced into a costly battle with Beigui. After surviving the World-Destroying Strike, he is too weakened to escape Lin Bai.
• The chapter also briefly shows Lin Bai testing Shadowing Step on Jiang Qingqin, emphasizing his playful, risky approach to experimentation.

Significant themes

• Power through strategy rather than strength: Lin Bai wins by provoking enemies, exploiting timing, and using specialized abilities rather than overpowering them directly.
• Abilities as identity and investment: Beigui’s skills represent thousands of years of cultivation, making their loss more devastating than a simple defeat.
• Betrayal and shifting alliances: Lin Bai encourages Beigui and the God of Darkness to fight, then turns on Beigui when the opportunity appears.
• The vulnerability of the powerful: Even a “top-tier” account can be dismantled when its abilities and resources are taken away.

Plot and key events

• Lin Bai uses his extraction skill on the captured God of Darkness, then seals him in a Card rather than release him. By exploiting his divine skill, Absolute Suppression, Lin Bai restrains the god’s power and undying body.
• Lin Bai discovers that extracting the god’s divine core does not permanently remove it: the Card restores it, letting him repeatedly obtain copies. He concludes that a small number of well-supported divine cores will be more useful than giving one to everyone, since a deity’s power depends on believers.
• Lin Bai offers six God of Darkness cores to his disciples. Ye Song accepts the first and demonstrates a limited darkness domain, which could grow stronger by gaining followers.
• Lin Bai encourages his disciples to develop followings in other worlds and proposes a Justice Weekly story claiming the original God of Darkness split into six parts after falling to the Lightning Heavenly King. The account could help the new gods inherit the old god’s believers and provoke other deities into revealing themselves.
• Several disciples choose divine identities, and Lin Bai promises to help them obtain the cores they want. His ambition expands to making the deities belong to his “family.”
• Elsewhere, Afra and an unnamed male deity inspect the ruined Mist Forest and conclude that the God of Darkness has fallen. They fear the invading heavenly beings and seek allies and information about other worlds, while Afra blames Lin Bai for the disaster.
• Back in the Immortal Realm, the Lightning Heavenly King mourns the loss of his Thunder Hammer and erased skills. He warns his fellow heavenly beings that Lin Bai is far stronger and more dangerous than they believed. Their chat falls silent when one suggests Lin Bai may have been sent to eliminate them.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Bai grows more confident after defeating powerful opponents and discovering how to duplicate divine cores. He is pragmatic, opportunistic, and willing to use propaganda or even staged betrayal to help his disciples gain strength.
• Ye Song chooses power over status, accepts a God of Darkness core, and displays loyalty to Lin Bai. He admits that confronting stronger beings had made him consider withdrawing into seclusion; Lin Bai pushes him and the others toward greater ambition.
• The disciples move from anxiety over their limited prospects to renewed enthusiasm. They debate which gods suit them, then begin planning how to win followers and claim divine roles.
• Afra and her companion shift from observing the battle’s aftermath to recognizing that their world faces an existential threat and that cooperation may be necessary.
• The Lightning Heavenly King suffers a major loss of power and confidence. His account transforms the group chat’s curiosity about Lin Bai into alarm.

Significant themes

• Power through faith: Divine strength depends not merely on possessing a core but on cultivating believers.
• Ambition and collective advancement: Lin Bai frames his disciples’ growth as necessary to his larger struggle across worlds.
• Deception as strategy: Lin Bai proposes a fabricated account of the God of Darkness’s fall to redirect believers and lure rival gods into conflict.
• Shifting perceptions of threat: The chapter contrasts Lin Bai’s growing confidence with the heavenly beings’ dawning fear of him.

Key plot points and events

• The Heavenly Kings discuss Lin Bai’s attack and debate whether he is a Game Master, a saboteur, or part of a new game mechanic. They agree they must stop him to protect their power, recover the Lightning Heavenly King’s stolen hammer, and learn how to use the Magpie Bridge. Some hope to capture Lin Bai and force him to serve them.
• Players struggle to keep up with the game’s accelerating news cycle. Justice Weekly—now publishing several times a day—has become their main guide to events and the game’s changing direction.
• The Consortium’s in-game managers realize their parent company is sidelining them as the game merges with reality. Far-Sighted Eagle urges them to shift allegiance toward Lin Bai and seek positions in the Righteous Alliance, though Sun at Zenith questions why only nine players remain among the Immortal Realm’s Heavenly Kings.
• In the West Continent, officials discover Lin Bai has left John and fear they have been abandoned. The Speaker resigns in despair; General Joseph proposes contacting Lin Bai and cooperating with him.
• Lin Bai welcomes Joseph’s delegation and recruits the West Continent’s leaders to help spread worship of the God of Darkness. He also directs players to gather the scattered Divine Core fragments through conflict with the continent’s native believers.
• Ye Song and other disciples arrive on the Gods and Devils Continent, using new identities and the West Continent’s language to gather believers. Lin Bai announces that players may inherit shattered Divine Cores and promises them a chance to become gods if they help defeat other deities.

Character developments and interactions

• The Heavenly Kings are shaken by Lin Bai’s success but remain overconfident, dismissing him as a low-level opportunist despite the Lightning Heavenly King’s personal warning signs.
• Far-Sighted Eagle abandons loyalty to corporate structures in favor of aligning with Lin Bai, arguing that individual power and the Righteous Alliance will matter more than companies. Sun at Zenith remains cautious and questions the larger mystery behind the Heavenly Kings.
• The West Continent’s Speaker loses hope and resigns, while Joseph takes a pragmatic approach, seeking an alliance with Lin Bai.
• Lin Bai continues to manipulate events strategically, offering different groups incentives and narratives that steer them toward his goals.

Significant themes

• Rapid change and instability: Events move so quickly that players and institutions struggle to adapt.
• Power shifts: Corporate authority and established rulers are losing influence to individuals and new alliances.
• Manipulation and competing truths: Lin Bai uses selective information and opposing interests to provoke conflict and advance his plans.
• Faith, conflict, and opportunity: The promise of divine power turns religious rivalry into a path for players to gain resources and status.