Chapter Summaries

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• At the zoo, Lele confronts a blond visitor who is pulling feathers from the Swan King. Wenwen also speaks up, and visitors from several countries join in to condemn the man. He apologizes, and zoo staff take over, thanking the witnesses with free tickets.
• Zhang Hongxing praises both children for intervening. The family finishes their outing without further trouble and shares lunch at home.
• That afternoon, Zhang Hongxing and Li Xiuying prepare invitations for Zhang Bing’s wedding. Zhang Hongxing plans generous gifts for relatives: a car or pickup truck for each household, Life-Extending Vitality Pills, and cultivation videos. He intends to help relatives who meet basic standards of decency, while making clear that not everyone will be able to cultivate.
• Zhang Ying is unsettled when Zhou, who has brought her flowers for ninety-five consecutive days, fails to appear. He returns at the end of her workday with a more elaborate bouquet and asks her to dinner.
• Zhang Ying rejects him, explaining that she is a single mother and suspects he may only want casual entertainment. She warns him not to come back, but Zhou disregards her warning and says he will return tomorrow. Zhang Ying considers calling on the special-forces bodyguards assigned to her family.

Character developments and interactions

• Lele shows boldness by directly confronting the feather-plucking visitor. Wenwen also participates, and Zhang Hongxing reassures and praises both children, supporting their willingness to act rather than hold back.
• The visitors’ collective response shows solidarity across nationalities, while the zoo staff handle the offender and reward those who spoke up.
• Zhang Hongxing demonstrates generosity and a strong sense of family duty, offering substantial support to relatives without assuming that wealth or cultivation ability makes them worthy—or unworthy—of help.
• Zhang Ying remains cautious about romance despite having moved beyond the shadow of her former relationship. Her concern for Wenwen and her protectiveness as a single mother shape her rejection of Zhou.
• Zhou presents himself as devoted and sincere, but his insistence on returning after Zhang Ying tells him not to raises doubts about whether he respects her boundaries.

Significant themes

• Courage and responsibility: Lele and Wenwen are encouraged to intervene against wrongdoing rather than stay silent.
• Solidarity across differences: Visitors from different countries unite in defense of the Swan King.
• Family obligation and generosity: Zhang Hongxing uses his success to support relatives, while recognizing that relationships cannot be forced by wealth or fame.
• Caution, trust, and boundaries: Zhang Ying’s guardedness reflects past hurt and concern for her child; Zhou’s persistence tests her clearly stated limits.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Ying continues working at Dream Gallery, where she can focus on painting. Though her technique is still developing, the gallery owner values the originality and emotional depth of her work.
• Zhou returns with roses and tries again to court her. Zhang Ying rejects him, and two special forces guards warn him off; one knocks him down when he persists. Zhang Ying and Zhou exchange a brief, complicated look, but neither shows any romantic spark.
• The next day, Zhou joins the gallery as an apprentice. He stops approaching or bothering Zhang Ying and instead quietly observes her and her paintings. His growing appreciation for her art turns into genuine admiration for her. He briefly stays away and drinks, but soon returns, content to watch her from a distance.
• Meanwhile, Zhang Hongxing and Li Xiuying arrange a lavish wedding banquet for their relatives. They send invitations and cars to relatives near and far, and set up a large temporary banquet venue. Zhang Hongxing declines offers from prominent outsiders, including the Grand Elder, making clear that the celebration is meant for family—not to display wealth or connections. The family intends to give each relative a Life-Extending Vitality Pill.
• In America, Marcus prepares to board the twenty-eighth Mars Project mission. He publicly presents himself as an eager pioneer and receives praise from reporters and fans. Privately, he is terrified and believes the mission is reckless; he is participating only because the Eternal Life Society has threatened him.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Ying remains focused on her art and sets a firm boundary with Zhou. After his behavior changes, she tolerates him as a quiet presence in the gallery but does not suggest romantic interest.
• Zhou shifts from persistent, unwelcome pursuit to respectful distance. By observing Zhang Ying’s work, he develops a deeper appreciation of both the paintings and their creator, and abandons some of his former nightlife and womanizing.
• Zhang Hongxing and Li Xiuying show generosity toward their relatives while keeping the wedding celebration centered on family. Zhang Hongxing politely rejects outside dignitaries’ attempts to join.
• Marcus maintains a confident public image but privately reveals fear and resentment at being forced into the mission. The reporters admire him without realizing his true feelings.

Significant themes

• Art and emotional understanding: Zhou’s appreciation of Zhang Ying grows through engaging with her paintings, rather than through pursuit or flirtation.
• Boundaries and changing attitudes: Zhang Ying’s rejection is clear, and Zhou’s subsequent restraint marks a change in how he relates to her.
• Family generosity over status: The wedding preparations emphasize tangible care for relatives rather than social display or political connections.
• Public image versus private truth: Marcus is celebrated as a bold explorer, while privately he feels coerced and afraid.

Key plot points and events

• Marcus reluctantly launches the MKST-28 spacecraft despite having no astronaut training. The craft uses an experimental nuclear-powered engine supplied by the Xia Kingdom, whose researchers closely monitor the flight.
• At Zhang Hongxing’s wedding banquet, relatives are astonished by how young Zhang and his wife, Li Xiuying, look. Zhang gives out Life-Extending Vitality Pills, prompting guests—and even children—to take them.
• Zhang Bing and Ziyue make their wedding entrance, complete the traditional ceremonies, and toast the guests. Ziyue is visibly happy, while Zhang Bing jokes inwardly that he has married an alien from another galaxy.
• In space, Marcus orders the spacecraft to accelerate toward the moon. The astronauts praise the Xia Kingdom’s engine, but their conversation is interrupted when the radar detects a fast-moving cluster of red objects that cannot be explained as meteors.
• Fearing the objects may be alien, Marcus orders an immediate return to Earth. Earth’s satellite-owning nations detect the same threat, and the Grand Elder calls Zhang Hongxing for help.

Character developments and interactions

• Marcus moves from reluctant test pilot to decisive commander when danger appears. He cuts off the astronauts’ speculation and prioritizes getting back to Earth.
• The two astronauts admire the Xia Kingdom’s technology and its unknown inventor, but their confidence gives way to shock when the radar detects the approaching objects.
• Zhang Hongxing draws attention away from the wedding couple by sharing the pills and demonstrating their effects. His importance extends beyond the family celebration when the Grand Elder turns to him in the crisis.
• Zhang Bing and Ziyue share a joyful, affectionate wedding. Ziyue’s sincere happiness contrasts with the looming danger elsewhere.
• The Grand Elder’s call to Zhang Hongxing signals that the authorities regard him as Earth’s best available defense against the possible alien threat.

Significant themes

• Technological progress and risk: The experimental engine enables the spacecraft’s remarkable performance, but the flight becomes dangerous when an unforeseen threat appears.
• Humanity facing the unknown: The unexplained objects raise the possibility of extraterrestrial life and expose Earth’s vulnerability.
• Youth, health, and transformation: The vitality pills amaze the wedding guests and show how extraordinary technology can alter ordinary life.
• Private joy beside public danger: A warm family celebration unfolds as a potential global crisis emerges in space.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing learns that visitors from Bluewater Planet may have arrived and watches a cluster of objects in space reveal itself as an alien fleet.
• The fleet belongs to the Heavenly Wolf Empire: a powerful main battle force led by a flagship capable of firing planet-destroying weapons. Its prince, Tu Xiaoyao, sees Earth as an easy prize and orders his forces to demand its surrender.
• The aliens mistake astronaut Marcus and his spacecraft, the MKST-28, for representatives of Earth’s leadership. Tu Xiaoyao offers him no meaningful terms, but demands that he submit and declare Earth the prince’s territory, to be renamed Xiaoyao Star.
• Marcus pretends to agree, concealing the aliens’ hostile intentions while returning to Earth. The spacecraft lands safely, despite this being its first crewed test flight.
• The fleet makes itself visible to Earth without attacking. Global attention shifts to the alien presence, while only Marcus and the other two astronauts know that the visitors intend conquest.

Character developments

• Marcus stays composed under pressure. He quickly recognizes that the aliens have mistaken his status and exploits their arrogance by pretending to submit, buying time to return to Earth.
• Tu Xiaoyao is boastful and entitled, treating Earth and its people as property before making contact with them.
• Zhang Hongxing reacts with concern, anticipating that the visitors may bring trouble.

Character interactions

• Tu Xiaoyao and his officers celebrate their apparent discovery of an easy conquest.
• Tu Xiaoyao tries to intimidate Marcus into submission, but Marcus plays along rather than revealing his real position or intentions.
• The contrast between Marcus’s cautious deception and the aliens’ overconfidence shapes their exchange.

Significant themes

• Imperialism and exploitation: The Heavenly Wolf Empire assumes it can claim Earth without consulting its inhabitants.
• Arrogance versus resourcefulness: The aliens’ confidence makes them underestimate Marcus, who turns their mistake to his advantage.
• Unequal power and uncertainty: Earth faces a technologically superior force, while the aliens’ peaceful public display masks a serious threat.

Plot points and events

• Humanity learns that a powerful alien fleet has appeared near Earth. Online commenters argue over whether the United States, Xia Kingdom, or anyone else could defend the planet, while governments worldwide recognize they are outmatched.
• In Shimen County, Ziyue tells Zhang Hongxing that the fleet belongs to the aggressive Heavenly Wolf Kingdom. Its flagship, the Wolf King, carries a Planet-Buster Cannon capable of destroying Earth.
• Ziyue urges Zhang Hongxing to stop the weapon. She explains that the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom has conquered other civilizations and will not spare Earth, which has become her second home.
• Zhang Hongxing avoids acting immediately, fearing a premature attack could provoke the aliens. He flies to Capital City to brief Xia Kingdom’s Grand Elders and discuss a response.
• Zhang proposes infiltrating the flagship and taking control of the alien leader, but warns that the plan could trigger retaliation he might not be able to withstand. Xia Kingdom’s weapons offer little reassurance: its space-capable fighters may be able to engage, but their missiles might not penetrate the warships.
• The elders acknowledge the danger but have no better plan. Zhang remains determined not to let the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom annex Earth.

Character developments and interactions

• Ziyue reveals how deeply she has come to care for Earth and Xia Kingdom. Her pregnancy with Zhang Bing’s child strengthens her personal ties to the planet, and she entrusts Zhang Hongxing with its defense.
• Zhang Hongxing weighs the risk of provoking the fleet against the danger of allowing it to conquer Earth. He takes the threat seriously and seeks cooperation from the national leadership before acting.
• The Grand Elders respond with a mix of worry, bravado, and humor. The Grand Elder recognizes the strategic danger, while the more combative elders insist Xia Kingdom has survived severe hardships before.
• The elders’ discussion with Zhang exposes the limits of Earth’s military capabilities and leaves his risky infiltration plan as the only apparent option.

Significant themes

• Human vulnerability: Earth’s nations are divided and technologically outmatched by the alien fleet.
• Duty and belonging: Ziyue’s attachment to her adopted home motivates her plea to protect it.
• Courage versus recklessness: Zhang and the elders must consider whether bold action will save Earth or provoke its destruction.
• Collective strength and perseverance: The chapter contrasts Zhang’s extraordinary individual power with the greater force of organized civilizations, while Xia Kingdom’s leaders draw confidence from their history of surviving hardship.

Key plot points

• Earth’s leaders fear that capturing the Heavenly Wolf envoy could provoke a devastating response. The Fourth Elder suggests recovering nuclear weapons from the Pacific; Zhang Hongxing realizes the powerful beings sealed there might provide protection. He leaves to test whether he can retrieve them.
• In space, Tu Xiaoyao learns that Marcus’s account was misleading. He punishes no one, instead calmly sending General Huo to find the “primitive” who deceived him. His subordinates respond with lavish praise.
• Once away from Tu Xiaoyao, Huo tends his injured forehead and redirects his humiliation into anger at Earth. He takes his warship toward the American landing site.
• The American government detects the ship. President Pratt questions Marcus’s interrogation and orders Army Marshal Locke Johnson to prepare for battle, while privately doubting that his forces will resist if overwhelmed.
• General Huo’s ship enters American airspace and contacts the White House. He demands that America hand over Marcus and declare allegiance to Tu Xiaoyao and the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom, threatening annihilation if it does not comply within a minute.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing moves from concern about provoking an alien attack to pursuing a possible defensive option: retrieving the beings beneath the Pacific.
• Tu Xiaoyao appears cold and authoritative but controlled. He understands the value of flattery without being fooled by it, and his subordinates’ fear and praise reinforce his command.
• General Huo shifts from abject fear before Tu Xiaoyao to aggression once he has a target he can safely blame. His encounter with his ruler exposes the rigid hierarchy of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom.
• President Pratt publicly insists America will not surrender, but privately doubts its military’s resolve. His exchange with Locke Johnson highlights the tension between defiance and the likelihood of capitulation.
• Earth’s public reacts with fear, suspicion, and divided views: some hope America will fight, while others prefer surrender to avoid mass casualties.

Significant themes

• Power and hierarchy: Status governs relationships in the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom, and fear keeps subordinates obedient.
• Pride versus survival: Earth’s leaders and citizens debate resistance against the possibility that surrender might save lives.
• Humiliation and redirected anger: Huo cannot retaliate against Tu Xiaoyao, so he turns his resentment toward Earth.
• Uncertainty and impending conflict: Zhang’s plan is untested, America faces an ultimatum, and the chapter ends with the threat of annihilation rather than an immediate battle.

• Zhang Hongxing’s appeal: Inside the Beast-Headed Gate, Zhang Hongxing tells the Immortal Venerables that an alien fleet has arrived and carries weapons powerful enough to destroy Earth. He asks them to dismantle the Defensive Grand Array and help defend the planet. The array has kept their immortal essence replenished and helped contain mutant beasts, so removing it is dangerous—but leaving it intact may mean Earth is destroyed.
• The Venerables decide: Most of the Immortal Venerables support Zhang. Yuan Ping, Qian Sen, and Deng Jia—the three peak-level Venerables—hesitate, since they cannot verify events outside the gate. But Qian Sen and Deng Jia argue that change is necessary and that breaking free might let one of them advance to sagehood. Yuan Ping eventually agrees, though he stays behind to guard the array’s site.
• The array is dismantled: The three peak Venerables summon a rune-covered, three-legged black cauldron from beneath the ground. A surge of spiritual energy spreads from the gate across Earth. Cultivators immediately feel the increase; plants and animals absorb the energy, and ancient creatures begin awakening their intelligence. Ordinary people notice little more than fresher air.
• The Venerables emerge: Long Aotian transforms into an eight-clawed golden dragon and announces his return. One Sword Immortal, Mo Qianchou, and the other Venerables follow, revealing an extraordinary concentration of powerful beings on Earth. Their appearance interrupts General Huo’s preparations to attack America.
• The alien fleet retreats: General Huo and Tu Xiaoyao are stunned by the newcomers’ strength. As more Venerables appear, the alien commanders panic; Tu Xiaoyao and the others flee, leaving General Huo without orders or support.
  Character developments and interactions: Long Aotian is still sulking over Zhang having revealed Nana’s location, while Nana remains devoted to her boss despite knowing he is comparatively weak. Zhang prioritizes Earth’s survival and persuades the Venerables to accept the risks of dismantling the array. The cautious Yuan Ping yields to Qian Sen and Deng Jia’s arguments, while the newly freed Venerables’ dramatic entrance shifts the balance of power.
  Significant themes: Collective action in a crisis; the cost of choosing between immediate safety and greater freedom; spiritual energy’s power to transform the natural world; and the contrast between technological might and the overwhelming strength of cultivation.

Key plot points and events

• Sensing dozens of powerful Immortals near Earth, Heavenly Wolf Crown Prince Tu Xiaoyao orders his fleet to retreat rather than risk being killed. He suspects the primitive planet conceals a powerful secret but prefers safety to investigating it.
• General Huo is left behind after Tu Xiaoyao’s departure. The new American president, Baita Thomas, has already signed an unfair agreement with Huo and sent Marcus to the alien warship.
• Once news arrives that the Immortals and the Xia Kingdom’s Divine Dragon have appeared—and the alien fleet has withdrawn—Huo realizes his forces are stranded. He orders the agreement circulated worldwide and proposes cooperation with Earth’s countries.
• The treaty sparks outrage at America’s capitulation. Meanwhile, Xia Kingdom citizens celebrate the Immortals and speculate that the country is entering an era of cultivation; online claims reveal that the military has already been taught the cultivation method.
• Americans protest Baita Thomas’s unelected rise to power and the unequal treaty. Former president Pratt tries to exploit the protests, but powerful institutions and the secretive Eternal Life Society prevent him from regaining control.
• Despite the fleet’s withdrawal, Baita Thomas announces that America will maintain its alliance with the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom and continue the Mars Immigration Plan. The Eternal Life Society hopes to use alien technology to reach Mars and find a path to eternal life.
• Zhang Hongxing and the Immortal Venerables arrive in Capital City to learn about modern Earth and meet with the Ten Grand Elders. The elders decide to publish Zhang Bing’s cultivation video in full, judging openness more useful than secrecy.

Character developments and interactions

• Tu Xiaoyao is revealed as cautious and self-preserving: he abandons General Huo rather than face a potentially overwhelming force.
• General Huo adapts to being stranded, shifting from military confrontation to cooperation and insisting his subordinates follow his orders.
• Baita Thomas consolidates power without an election, makes concessions to the aliens, and continues the Mars plan despite growing public condemnation.
• Pratt turns from deposed president into a protest leader, but lacks the backing needed to make a comeback.
• The Ten Grand Elders treat the Immortals as a strategic resource and choose to share the cultivation video publicly.
• Online exchanges show citizens arguing, celebrating, mocking America, and competing over their revived martial sects.

Significant themes

• Power and survival: Tu Xiaoyao’s retreat and Huo’s change of strategy show how perceived strength shapes political and military choices.
• Public trust and national pride: America’s agreement damages its reputation, while the Xia Kingdom’s supernatural defenders inspire confidence and excitement.
• Secrecy versus openness: The elders conclude that releasing the cultivation video is preferable to concealing knowledge that is now central to Earth’s future.
• Ambition and exploitation: The Eternal Life Society sees the alien crisis not merely as a threat but as a chance to pursue immortality through the Mars project.

Plot points and events

• On an alien warship, American President Baita Thomas asks General Huo for help with a Mars migration plan. Huo is skeptical, noting the immense cost and difficulty, but agrees to provide some assistance. Thomas suggests that helping America would benefit their cooperation and probes whether Huo might instead work with the Xia Kingdom.
• In the Xia Kingdom’s capital, Zhang Hongxing mediates a meeting between the nation’s Ten Grand Elders and dozens of ancient Immortal Venerables. Penglai Island is designated as a sanctuary where the immortals may live and take disciples, with limits on disrupting ordinary life. The meeting then turns to national defense against mutant beasts and a possible invasion by the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom.
• An official video demonstrating immortal cultivation becomes an overwhelming online sensation, eclipsing news of aliens, politics, and celebrity scandals. Zhang Bing, who recorded and presented the instructions, becomes famous.
• Many viewers cannot cultivate despite practicing. Though Zhang Bing explains that not everyone is suited to it—and recommends giving up after three fruitless months—some accuse him of withholding instructions or continue hoping for a shortcut.
• The resulting frenzy overwhelms Zhang Hongxing’s family in Shimen County. Their home’s protective array attracts even more visitors, and family members are unable to go to school, work, or move freely.
• Li Xiuying is surrounded at the vegetable market by people demanding to learn cultivation. She calls Zhang Hongxing for help; he tells her to keep calm and promises to come.

Character developments and interactions

• Baita Thomas presents cooperation as mutually beneficial while carefully testing General Huo’s willingness to work with the Xia Kingdom. His interest in Huo’s reaction suggests America is concerned about the Xia Kingdom’s powerful cultivators.
• General Huo remains condescending toward Earth’s supposed “level-zero” civilization but is intrigued by the Xia Kingdom’s immortals. He offers limited help with Mars migration while warning that it may not be worthwhile.
• Zhang Hongxing acts as a mediator between ancient immortals and modern government, establishing practical rules and arrangements. When his family is harassed, he responds protectively and urges restraint.
• Zhang Bing becomes a public figure because of his cultivation tutorial, but the popularity creates suspicion and unreasonable expectations.
• The family bears the immediate cost of public fascination: Lele and Wenwen cannot attend school, Zhang Ying cannot reach the gallery, Zhang Bing and his wife are confined to the farmstay, and Li Xiuying is trapped in public.

Significant themes

• The clash between ancient power and modern society: The immortals and government must find ways to coexist, cooperate, and maintain public order.
• Public hope and credulity: The promise of immortality fuels mass enthusiasm, but also denial, suspicion, and harassment when cultivation proves inaccessible to many.
• Power and international rivalry: America seeks alien assistance to regain influence, while the Xia Kingdom’s cultivators reshape the strategic balance.
• The costs of fame: The cultivation video brings Zhang Bing recognition, but the attention quickly becomes a threat to his family’s privacy and safety.

Plot points and events

• Li Xiuying is besieged by villagers asking for access to immortal cultivation or life-extending pills. They invoke past favors, but Zhang Hongxing points out that few of those present had genuinely helped his family.
• Zhang silences the crowd with a display of authority, escorts Li home, and tells his family to identify the households that truly supported them and give each two Life-Extending Vitality Pills. Anyone else who causes trouble is to be removed by guards. He also asks Lin Kui to strengthen the family’s protection.
• Abroad, the United States advances its Mars project and selects 500 young pioneers. Foreign internet users use the news to mock Xia Kingdom and its cultivation craze; an insulted Xia Kingdom citizen brings their comments home, stirring public debate.
• Xia Kingdom’s communications authorities are ready to unveil a new network system built with principles from Zhang Hongxing’s knowledge of array formations. Its Network Terminal Server is designed to speed up and stabilize communications, improve older equipment, and resist hacking. Officials invite Zhang to witness the invention.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shifts from reluctance to impose visible protection to accepting that his family’s changed status requires firm boundaries. He remains willing to reward genuine kindness, but rejects attempts to exploit old acquaintanceship.
• Li Xiuying is overwhelmed by the villagers’ appeals and initially worries about turning them away. Zhang reassures her that their circumstances have changed, and she agrees to help determine who truly deserves support.
• The villagers try to pressure the Zhang family through shared history, but retreat when confronted with Zhang’s power.
• Communications officials seek Zhang’s presence not for technical guidance alone, but to lend credibility to a system others doubt.

Significant themes

• Power and social change: The family’s new strength transforms how neighbors approach them and makes stronger boundaries necessary.
• Fairness and gratitude: Zhang distinguishes sincere past help from opportunistic appeals.
• National rivalry and public opinion: The Mars announcement fuels online mockery and nationalist debate.
• Science meeting cultivation: Array-formation principles are adapted into communications technology, linking spiritual knowledge to modern infrastructure.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing arrives in Capital City after Minister Wang Wang asks him to assess a Super Server intended to connect Xia Kingdom’s internet with the outside world.
• Ninth Grand Elder Elder Ming had delayed approval because he was concerned about cybersecurity. The server incorporates several formations, including modified acceleration, stabilization, and concealment arrays.
• Zhang judges the formations excellent and finds no fault with them. Elder Ming approves a gradual rollout, beginning with research, government, and banking networks, with a goal of opening the internet within two months.
• Zhang meets Professor Yang Weiguo, who developed the server’s formations with Academician Qian Zhong. Their work reflects how researchers are combining cultivation knowledge with technology.
• Zhang offers Yang and Qian Life-Extending Vitality Pills in recognition of their dedication.
• Elder Ming asks whether the pills can be produced in bulk for the government to purchase. Zhang says he can make them more easily now, but not enough for the entire population, and argues that long-term health research would benefit everyone.
• Zhang nevertheless agrees to provide 10,000 pills. Elder Ming is grateful, but immediately faces the difficult question of how to distribute them—and whether the senior leadership should receive them first.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing acts as a respected technical authority, praising the researchers’ independent innovations while remaining realistic about the limits of pill production. He supports both scientific progress and recognition for dedicated researchers.
• Elder Ming shifts from cautious concern about opening the internet to enthusiastic approval once Zhang validates the server. His gratitude over the pills is tempered by anxiety about fair distribution and public perception.
• Wang Wang facilitates the meeting, explains the server’s reliance on array formations, and connects Zhang with the researchers.
• Yang Weiguo and Qian Zhong are revealed as collaborators whose renewed enthusiasm has driven practical advances in combining arrays with technology.

Significant themes

• Science and cultivation working together: Array formations are being adapted for modern technological infrastructure.
• Collective effort and national progress: The chapter credits the country’s advancement to committed researchers and collaboration.
• Public service versus personal benefit: The pills could extend lives, but their scarcity raises questions about who deserves them and whether leaders should receive priority.
• Progress balanced with caution: Xia Kingdom wants to display its capabilities by opening its internet, but cybersecurity concerns remain central.

Chapter summary

• The Life-Extending Vitality Pills are distributed: Elders Qin, Zhou, and Ming deliver 589 pills to the elderly residents of Capital City’s First Military Sanatorium. The Ten Grand Elders had chosen to give the pills to these decorated veterans and contributors rather than take them first themselves. Each recipient is personally thanked, and Zhang Hongxing is credited by name every time. The distribution also serves to reassure officials and strengthen their ties to Zhang, though he is largely indifferent to their suspicions and focused on his family.
• A family outing uncovers a burial: Back in Shimen County, Zhang relaxes at home and digs a fishpond with his grandchildren, Lele and Wenwen. Their digging turns into a treasure hunt as they find unusually well-preserved old objects, then a woman’s skeleton. The woman appears to have died around age twenty-five and less than thirty years earlier; the objects are likely her burial goods. Zhang comforts the frightened Wenwen, while Lele tries to act brave.
• The former homeowners become suspects: Zhang learns that the couple who sold him the house moved to Capital City and then left Xia Kingdom for Fa Kingdom by way of an apparently deliberate route. Their departure suggests they are hiding something. Despite Li Xiuying’s concern that he may learn nothing, Zhang decides to pursue the matter, leaving her to arrange a new home for the family.
• The Eternal Life Society prepares for Mars: In Fa Kingdom, the masked president struggles to make the Society’s two factions agree on who will join the Mars Project. The Left Hand and Right Hand trade accusations and excuses, exposing their selfishness and distrust. The president orders each side to provide half the personnel. His authority has weakened since the Left Daoist’s betrayal, and he fears that failure in the Mars Project could force the Society to disband.

Character developments and interactions

Zhang remains committed to his family and follows his own judgment, whether ignoring political maneuvering or investigating the skeleton. He is gentle and reassuring with Wenwen, while Lele supports her despite concealing his own fear. Li Xiuying trusts Zhang enough to stop arguing once he has made up his mind. The Eternal Life Society’s president, by contrast, is increasingly frustrated and politically weakened, unable to command genuine unity from his followers.

Significant themes

The chapter contrasts public loyalty and private motives: officials use the pill distribution to secure confidence in Zhang, while he cares chiefly about his family. It also emphasizes the past resurfacing, as ordinary home improvements uncover a possible crime and hidden secrets. Finally, the Society’s infighting shows how self-interest and declining authority threaten collective ambition, putting its Mars mission—and perhaps its survival—at risk.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing confronts the masked president of the Eternal Life Society, demanding answers about a corpse found in a courtyard in Shimen County.
• He uses a powerful soul-interrogation technique to break the president’s resistance. The president admits the corpse was his daughter, who died of leukemia, and confesses to killing her and many others to collect souls in pursuit of immortality.
• Zhang kills him with thunderfire and captures his soul inside the thundercloud within his body, where it continues to scream.
• Zhang summons the Society’s members under the president’s name and destroys them all along with Lofu Palace, ending the organization.
• He then secretly boards General Huo’s interstellar battleship in America and removes its engines and weapons, storing them in his Spatial Ring.
• With the ship rendered immobile and defenseless, General Huo accuses Baita Thomas, who denies responsibility and points out that Huo now depends on America. Huo and Thomas recognize they still share an interest in continuing the Mars Project.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing acts with greater power and ruthlessness, using his Immortal Venerable abilities to interrogate, kill, and dismantle the Society. He also demonstrates that his ambitions extend beyond the immediate case by secretly sabotaging the battleship.
• The Society’s president shifts from boastful claims of being humanity’s savior to a terrified confession. His admission reveals the organization’s pursuit of immortality is built on murder.
• General Huo loses the military leverage his battleship gave him and is left shocked and humiliated. His confrontation with Thomas shows his weakened position.
• Baita Thomas becomes more assertive once Huo’s ship is disabled, reminding him that he now needs American support. Despite their tension, Thomas and Huo identify the Mars Project as a shared priority.

Significant themes

• Immortality at any cost: The president’s ideal of eternal life is exposed as a justification for murder.
• Power and vulnerability: Zhang’s overwhelming abilities contrast with Huo’s sudden dependence after losing his ship.
• Shifting alliances: Practical interests, rather than trust, govern Huo and Thomas’s partnership.
• Justice and vengeance: Zhang destroys the Society, but his torture and use of the president’s captured soul make his justice deliberately brutal.

Plot points and events

• At the Shimen County Research Base, Zhang Hongxing unveils unfamiliar advanced weapons and equipment, astonishing Pan Qiwu and the researchers. He tells Pan to keep expanding the base, accept anyone working for Xia Kingdom, and take responsibility for the equipment.
• Zhang Hongxing meets Immortal Venerables Deng Jia and Qian Sen, who are studying explosives and aerodynamics. They ask him to arrange practical access to modern weapons and aircraft once they have learned enough theory; he agrees.
• Zhang returns home to find his family packed and ready to move into Zhang Bing’s Super Farmstay. The family relocates there, where Zhang Bing shows them experimental crops and fish developed with Ziyue’s biotechnology knowledge and some cultivation techniques.
• Zhang Jun doubts whether the new farm products will work. Zhang Hongxing rebukes him, while Zhang Bing admits he is relying on his confidence in Ziyue. Zhang Hongxing senses that the modified organisms have genuine potential.
• Meanwhile, America’s Mars Project has completed its selection process and set a launch date. General Huo’s group joins American workers to build a simplified reverse-thrust engine, since Earth’s technology cannot yet reproduce the original; the new engine should be capable of a round trip to Mars.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing continues promoting cooperation between science and cultivation, welcoming researchers and treating technology as a national priority. He is also eager to settle near his family.
• Deng Jia and Qian Sen are adapting their scientific curiosity to modern technology, seeking hands-on study after beginning with theory.
• Zhang Bing shows ambition in developing the farmstay, but acknowledges uncertainty and trusts Ziyue’s expertise. Their mutual affection is evident.
• Zhang Jun’s skepticism prompts Zhang Hongxing to defend his younger son. The family’s teasing and laughter show their closeness.
• Zhang Hongxing notices that Zhang Ying appears comfortable and happy, taking this as a sign that she has moved on.

Significant themes

• Science and cultivation: The chapter presents the two fields as compatible, with research and immortal techniques potentially reinforcing each other.
• Family support and belonging: The move is treated as a shared family decision, and relatives encourage one another even when they disagree.
• Progress under limits: Both the farmstay experiments and the Mars engine show promise, but their success remains unproven or constrained by current capabilities.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Kingdom’s internet restrictions are unexpectedly lifted, and its netizens quickly swarm American websites. Their numbers and baffling, poorly translated slang overwhelm American users, who fail even when they try retaliating by targeting Xia Kingdom sites.
• American users shift the argument from online strength to space exploration, boasting about an imminent Mars mission and mocking Xia Kingdom for lacking a Mars spaceship. Xia Kingdom netizens have little concrete evidence to counter them and feel frustrated.
• In response to the public outcry, Elders Shang and Qin announce plans for a lunar base: a residential town for 500,000 people, to be built within six months. The announcement galvanizes Xia Kingdom netizens, who celebrate the project and imagine becoming its first residents.
• American netizens dismiss Moon Town as less ambitious than Mars and question the plan’s practicality. The chapter closes with them defending their own mission—and joking about one of the selected emigrants.

Character developments

• The Xia Kingdom netizens move from playful confidence in their online numbers to embarrassment and frustration when challenged over space technology, then regain their enthusiasm after the Moon Town announcement.
• Elders Shang and Qin show that they are responsive to public sentiment and willing to make a bold commitment to answer America’s challenge.
• The American netizens’ initial confusion turns into contempt and competitive boasting, though their conversation also reveals envy and regret among some who were not selected for the Mars mission.

Significant themes

• National pride and rivalry: Online skirmishing becomes a contest over technological achievement and national status.
• Public pressure and leadership: Netizens’ complaints help prompt a major government announcement.
• Ambition versus credibility: Moon Town excites Xia Kingdom citizens, while Americans see the six-month, 500,000-resident target as implausible and the Moon as an inferior destination.
• The power of technology and communication: Translation tools, internet access, and space programs shape who can dominate the argument.

Character interactions

• Xia Kingdom netizens coordinate their attack on American websites and trade exaggerated boasts and jokes.
• American and Xia Kingdom users taunt each other, especially over the Mars mission and Moon Town.
• The public’s frustration reaches Elders Shang and Qin, whose announcement changes the mood of the discussion.
• American users mock the Moon Town plan while teasing a Mars selectee who offers private information and photos.

Plot points and events

• Elder Shang and Elder Qin’s plan to develop the moon is presented as practical: Xia Kingdom’s new Aerospace Carrier could transport huge quantities of cargo, while the Immortal Venerables’ return made powerful climate-altering arrays possible. Together, these advances could support hundreds of thousands of lunar residents and perhaps make the moon habitable.
• Tu Xiaoyao returns to the Andromeda Galaxy after his failed mission to capture Princess Ziyue. To compensate for that failure—and for losing General Huo’s battleship—he raids a Yellow Dragon Kingdom resource planet, kills its guards, and steals ore.
• Tu Xiaoyao’s forces conceal their responsibility and blame the attack on pirates or Yellow Dragon Kingdom insiders. Despite the kingdom’s accusations and political pressure from rival princes, he denies the charges in public and claims his fleet met at least thirty Cosmic Supremes, explaining that he could not seize Ziyue.
• Tu Tianlang publicly accepts his son’s denial and sends away the Yellow Dragon Kingdom’s ambassadors. In private, Tu Xiaoyao admits the raid was real and reports the details of his journey, especially the powerful auras he encountered.

Character developments and interactions

• Tu Xiaoyao is calculating and politically adept. He resorts to plunder after failing his mission, then lies convincingly in the imperial court while privately confessing to his father. He also shows contempt for a hotheaded younger prince who tries to denounce him.
• Tu Tianlang protects his son’s political position in public, silencing the younger prince and dismissing the ambassadors’ complaint. In private, he already knows about the raid and wants a full account of the encounter with the Cosmic Supremes.
• The younger prince tries to exploit Tu Xiaoyao’s failure but is reprimanded by Tu Tianlang and removed from the hall.
• The Yellow Dragon Kingdom’s guards and ambassadors represent a weaker state struggling to defend its resources and obtain justice from the more powerful Heavenly Wolf Kingdom.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: The Yellow Dragon Kingdom’s limited defenses leave its resource outpost exposed to a stronger aggressor.
• Political deception and family loyalty: Tu Xiaoyao lies to officials and foreign envoys, while Tu Tianlang shields him publicly but demands the truth privately.
• Technological and strategic advancement: Xia Kingdom’s transport and environmental technologies open the possibility of large-scale lunar settlement.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing and his family enjoy a relaxed day at the reservoir beside their Super Farmstay. He catches a carp without using a hook, while his grandchildren, Lele and Wenwen, play nearby.
• They spot the newly built Aerospace Carrier taking off. Its construction base was moved to Shimen County so researchers could consult Zhang Hongxing about integrating array formations with technology.
• Zhang takes Lele and Wenwen aboard. There, he meets Immortal Venerables Qian and Deng, who are also involved with the vessel, and discusses the combination of cultivation techniques and modern engineering.
• The maiden flight succeeds: the carrier reaches the Moon, unloads construction materials, and returns safely to Earth.
• The flight draws worldwide attention. Xia Kingdom’s online popularity grows as foreigners explore its websites and history, while rival governments’ attempts to discredit it largely fail.
• After the successful mission, Immortal Venerable Yuan Ping sends a distress signal from the Pacific Ocean: the Classic of Mountains and Seas World has released the Netherfire Black Tortoise, a powerful beast he has fought before.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing balances family life with his role as a cultivation expert. He eagerly brings his grandchildren aboard and exchanges technical ideas with Qian and Deng.
• Lele and Wenwen are curious, confident, and unusually well educated for their age. Once aboard, they explore the carrier independently while the adults talk.
• Qian and Deng’s participation shows that the vessel’s success depends on cooperation between cultivators and researchers. Qian helped enable its takeoff and landing; Deng seeks Zhang’s expertise.
• Yuan Ping’s distress signal shifts the mood from celebration to looming danger, setting up a new confrontation.

Significant themes

• Technology and cultivation working together: Array formations and engineering combine to make the Aerospace Carrier possible.
• National achievement and global influence: The successful Moon round trip strengthens Xia Kingdom’s standing, while foreign interest in its culture grows organically.
• Family alongside extraordinary progress: The launch unfolds against a warm, ordinary family outing, highlighting Zhang’s affection for his grandchildren.
• Success shadowed by danger: The maiden flight marks a major triumph, but the arrival of the Netherfire Black Tortoise signals that new threats remain.

Plot points and events

• The Netherfire Black Tortoise waits without attacking as Immortal Venerables gather. Zhang Hongxing arrives with advanced weapons recovered from the human world, hoping they can help compensate for the loss of the Defensive Grand Array.
• The Moon-Swallowing Dragonfly and Nethersea Mad Ox join the tortoise, followed by a gigantic Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox. Their united presence leaves the immortals facing a potentially disastrous fight.
• The fox proposes trading anything the humans want for Mars. Zhang probes its motives; the fox says Mars contains a “fire seed” that offers the Fierce Beasts hope of becoming sages and surviving.
• Zhang connects their desperation to the weakening Sun-Bearing Firebird, whose sun appears close to fading. Once he reveals his deduction, the fox drops the negotiations and the beasts prepare to attack.
• Zhang offers to repair the failing sun in exchange for the fox and the Netherfire Black Tortoise signing soul contracts and becoming his subordinates. The beasts angrily reject the demand, and conflict seems imminent.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing acts as the humans’ negotiator and shows confidence in his weapons, using their apparent threat to gain leverage. He also proves observant, inferring the beasts’ true concern from the fox’s reaction.
• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox is persuasive and initially open to negotiation, but its composure breaks when Zhang identifies the Sun-Bearing Firebird’s weakness. It then turns hostile.
• The Immortal Venerables are wary and disadvantaged without the Defensive Grand Array, but Zhang’s weapons briefly restore their confidence.
• Zhang and the fox engage in a tense exchange: she bargains for Mars, while he questions her motives and ultimately attempts to turn the beasts’ need into an offer of submission.

Significant themes

• Power and leverage: Both sides avoid attacking until they understand the other’s capabilities; unfamiliar technology gives humans negotiating power.
• Survival and desperation: The beasts’ interest in Mars is driven by the threat of their sun failing and their world becoming uninhabitable.
• Knowledge as a weapon: Zhang’s observations reveal the beasts’ vulnerability and shift the balance of the negotiation.
• Cooperation versus domination: The beasts unite against a shared threat, while Zhang’s proposed solution demands control over them.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing confronts the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox, who is enraged by his intention to make her his master. She attacks, but he anticipates her move and uses a Radiation Rocket to drive her back.
• Zhang’s group combines pilfered spaceship weapons, attacks from the other Fierce Beasts, and the modified artifacts of Immortal Venerables Qian Sen and Deng Jia. Their initial advantage begins to fade as the beasts prove difficult to exhaust.
• Zhang lands a powerful Lightning Punch, then repeatedly retreats to recharge from a nuclear generator. The fox survives his attacks, though her injuries accumulate.
• As the humans’ endurance falters, Deng Jia prepares his enhanced Mushroom Bomb Artifact. The other beasts flee from its gathering power, but the badly injured fox cannot escape.
• The fox sets herself ablaze and launches a desperate, near-suicidal charge. Deng Jia detonates the artifact, while Zhang shields them. The blast destroys the fox’s attack and leaves her gravely wounded, though still alive.
• Zhang restores her heart with immortal essence and begins inscribing a Beast-Taming Formation. When the fox protests, he insists it is not enslavement but insurance.

Character developments

• Zhang Hongxing shows tactical foresight, stamina, and resolve, coordinating with his allies while repeatedly recharging to keep fighting. He ultimately tries to secure control over the surviving fox.
• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox is fiercely proud and deeply hostile to the idea of having a master. Even when injured and unable to flee, she chooses to fight on rather than surrender.
• Deng Jia reveals the destructive power of his upgraded artifact, delivering the decisive blow.
• Qian Sen demonstrates the remarkable speed granted by his technologically modified Rocket Artifact, though his attacks lack force.

Themes

• Power and control: The fox’s hatred of mastery clashes with Zhang’s attempt to impose a safeguard on her.
• Technology and cultivation: Advanced weapons and immortal artifacts combine to give the humans an edge against formidable beasts.
• Endurance and sacrifice: The humans must conserve energy, while the fox stakes her life in a final attack.
• Courage under desperation: The fox’s refusal to retreat underscores her pride and determination.

Character interactions

• The fox repeatedly attacks Zhang, while he anticipates her moves and retaliates.
• Zhang protects Deng Jia as he prepares the bomb; Deng Jia’s attack then gives Zhang the chance to approach the fallen fox.
• Zhang treats the fox’s injuries before attempting to bind her with the formation. She rejects his stated purpose, leaving their struggle over control unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing uses the Beast-Taming Formation and Immortal Essence Power to subdue and heal the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox. After several failed attempts to resist, she agrees to cooperate.
• Zhang offers to help solve the crisis of the failing artificial sun in the Classic of Mountains and Seas World. In return, humans from Earth must be allowed to enter, and the Fox must ensure their safety—especially since they will be ordinary mortals.
• Immortal Venerable Yuan and Xia Kingdom soldiers remain behind to guard the human presence. Zhang returns to the Shimen Research Base and announces recruitment for an artificial-sun research team, offering each selected member a Life-Extending Vitality Pill and a place in the first expedition.
• The Xia Kingdom publicizes the project and footage from the other world. The announcement sparks global debate and skepticism, while supporters promote the country’s technology and plans online.
• Recruitment attracts researchers from around the world. After screening applicants for both personal circumstances and expertise, the team reaches 5,000 members; recruitment closes after only two weeks.

Character developments

• Zhang Hongxing shifts from forceful captor to negotiator, using control over the Fox to establish terms for cooperation and protect the future expedition.
• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox moves from open resistance to reluctant trust. She recognizes that the agreement is straightforward, but only after the battle has made a calm negotiation possible.
• Pan Qiwu is briefly startled by the scale of Zhang’s plan, then follows instructions to publicize recruitment.
• The Grand Elder and public officials back the project, while online supporters and media figures help amplify it.

Significant themes

• Trust built through conflict: The Fox and Zhang can negotiate only after their confrontation establishes boundaries and leverage.
• Cooperation across worlds: Humanity’s scientific expertise may help another civilization, while safe access to its world becomes part of the bargain.
• Science and cultivation working together: The artificial-sun project depends on both researchers’ technical skills and the Immortal Venerables’ formations.
• Public perception and propaganda: The project becomes an international talking point, with disbelief, patriotism, and political rivalry shaping reactions.
• The cost of exploration: The team must be selected not only for competence but also with attention to family responsibilities and the dangers facing ordinary people.

Character interactions

• Zhang warns the Fox that any harm to the visiting humans will endanger their agreement; she accepts responsibility for their safety.
• Zhang and Pan coordinate recruitment, while Zhang separately informs the Grand Elder and other authorities.
• Online users argue over whether the other world is real, and Xia Kingdom supporters answer skeptics with claims and images of the country’s technological progress.