Chapter Summaries

Key plot points

• During recruitment for the artificial-sun project, Zhang Hongxing has a team build an aerial maglev circuit around Super Farmstay so his family can travel more easily. It is completed in half a month, and he takes his family for a ride.
• The train uses a mature autonomous-driving system that combines technology with a Spirit-Control Formation. Although some people object that creating it may harm a spirit entity, Zhang’s public support effectively silences most opposition.
• Zhang prepares to transport more than 8,000 researchers and support staff, along with their equipment and supplies, to the Classic of Mountains and Seas World to build a research base and work on the artificial sun. He hopes eventually to create a direct passage between that world and Xia Kingdom.
• He discovers that his eldest son, Zhang Jun, has joined the research team. Zhang Jun has been studying nuclear fusion at Shimen Research Base and was accepted onto the project.
• After checking that everyone is ready, Zhang announces their destination: a world of strange, ferocious beasts, named after the Classic of Mountains and Seas.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shows his practical, decisive attitude toward both technology and the spirit-control controversy. He also supports his children’s choices, though he lightly scolds Zhang Jun for not telling the family sooner.
• Zhang Jun reveals the responsibility beneath his usual joking manner. During his father’s thirty-year absence, he helped support his mother and kept the family going. After Zhang Hongxing returned, he deliberately used humor to help his parents reconnect. Now, with his own life less burdened, he pursues his longstanding interest in science.
• Zhang Jun has told his wife, Meizi, about the three-month assignment, and she supports him. He assumes his mother will be fine because his father is now with her; Zhang Hongxing nearly responds with a playful smack but restrains himself in front of others.

Significant themes

• Power and public influence: Zhang’s standing in society can rapidly shape public debate, even when he has not set out to use his popularity.
• Pragmatism about nature: Zhang regards the use of spiritual entities as part of the natural order, provided it does not involve deliberate cruelty or extermination.
• Family responsibility and reconciliation: Zhang Jun’s past sacrifices helped preserve the family, while his playful behavior later helped his parents rebuild their relationship.
• Science and ambition: The artificial-sun project represents a major leap in research, requiring cooperation across worlds and a vast support operation.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Jun joins more than eight thousand people on a trip beneath the sea and into the Classic of Mountains and Seas World. They marvel at its underwater scenery, the enormous entrance gate, the landscape scarred by nuclear strikes, and its strange plants and dangerous beasts.
• As researchers and supplies are transported, a wave of foreign visitors heads to the Xia Kingdom, drawn by news of its artificial-sun research recruitment and the newly revealed world.
• Lucia, a popular Western travel blogger, begins livestreaming from Egret Island. He praises the city’s technology and development but says he will visit neglected neighborhoods and rural areas to judge the country’s “real” conditions.
• His stream attracts a large international audience. Some viewers hold outdated, hostile assumptions about the Xia Kingdom; Xia Kingdom viewers push back and eagerly suggest places for him to visit.
• Lucia encounters a nuclear-powered maglev train running overhead. Skeptical viewers challenge him to find the supposed ground-based propulsion system, while locals insist the equipment is built into the stations.
• Lucia asks residents whether the ground has been dug up. Their confirmation fuels foreign viewers’ suspicions, but Xia Kingdom commenters explain that locals are referring to the frequent roadworks. They invite Lucia to film ongoing construction nearby.

Character developments

• Lucia is curious and confident in his role as an independent observer, but begins with a somewhat skeptical framing: he suspects the city’s impressive appearance may be limited to areas near transport hubs. He is willing to follow viewer suggestions and investigate claims firsthand.
• The Xia Kingdom viewers are proud of their country and quick to defend it, though their comments also show a playful, combative streak.
• Foreign viewers are divided between curiosity and entrenched disbelief; some interpret even ordinary evidence in a way that supports their preconceptions.

Significant themes

• Reality versus propaganda: Lucia’s livestream promises to test rumors against what he sees.
• Technology and national image: The maglev train and Egret Island’s infrastructure challenge foreign assumptions about the Xia Kingdom.
• The power of social media: A travel stream becomes a public argument, with viewers on both sides shaping what Lucia investigates.
• Everyday life as spectacle: Routine roadworks—usually a source of annoyance for residents—unexpectedly become material for international scrutiny.

Character interactions

• Lucia addresses his global audience while exploring Egret Island and questions local residents about the area.
• Foreign viewers urge him to uncover what they believe is concealed propulsion equipment; Xia Kingdom viewers counter that the system is built into the stations.
• When Lucia asks about excavation, residents answer casually, while viewers argue over what their replies mean. Locals then invite him to film the familiar, recurring roadworks in their neighborhoods.

Key plot points and events

• Travel blogger Lucia explores Egret Island in the Xia Kingdom. After locals repeatedly explain that the dug-up roads are for construction, he ventures into smaller streets and films unfamiliar sights: unsupported bridges, floating sculptures, silent construction, flying devices, armored fliers, and cultivators playing Go in midair.
• The chapter shows how rapidly Xia’s mix of technology, spiritual energy, and array formations is changing daily life. New products proliferate, while government agencies struggle to regulate them and set rules for devices such as flying vehicles and armored toys.
• Police and military forces are adapting too. Cultivators serve in powerful nuclear-powered armor, while police use hover motorcycles, recording camera balls, and force-array net guns.
• Lucia witnesses an officer use a net gun to stop a speeding car that has run a red light, preventing it from hitting an elderly pedestrian. The officer suspends the car, moves it to safety, and efficiently detains the driver.
• Lucia’s livestream broadcasts the incident worldwide. Viewers are amazed, many express a desire to visit or move to Xia, while some dismiss the footage as staged. Other governments realize too late that suppressing the livestream would only look like evasion.

Character developments

• Lucia shifts from privately dismissing local concerns about construction as pointless to becoming captivated by Xia’s unusual technology and policing. His commitment to honest livestreaming gives the footage credibility.
• The officer is presented as calm, capable, and focused on public safety; he refuses to be distracted by Lucia while handling the incident.
• The reckless driver’s excuses quickly expose that he knowingly ran the red light, underscoring the officer’s firm, no-nonsense approach.

Significant themes

• Rapid change and regulation: The fusion of cultivation, technology, and arrays creates exciting innovations but forces the government to keep pace with new risks.
• Public safety and capable governance: Xia’s upgraded police equipment demonstrates how innovation can strengthen law enforcement and protect citizens.
• Media, perception, and credibility: Lucia’s unscripted footage challenges foreign audiences’ assumptions about Xia, while skeptics reveal how difficult it can be to accept unfamiliar realities.
• Admiration and envy: Many viewers idealize life in Xia and compare it favorably with conditions in their own countries.

Character interactions

• Locals give Lucia consistent explanations about the construction, prompting him to explore elsewhere.
• Lucia approaches the officer with questions about cultivation, but the officer prioritizes his duties and tells him to stand aside.
• The officer questions and detains the driver, who apologizes and offers excuses; the exchange remains brisk and controlled.
• Viewers around the world react to Lucia’s broadcast with wonder, aspirations to visit or relocate, regional pride, and accusations that the scene was staged.

Plot and events

• Xia Kingdom publicly reveals its advanced space, transport, and military technology. The display establishes it as the world’s leading superpower, completing its national-revival goal while setting its sights on further progress.
• In the Classic of Mountains and Seas World, Zhang Hongxing travels on the Netherfire Black Tortoise to meet the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox. After the fox accepts a compromise, other Fierce Beasts have also submitted, and the long-running conflict has paused while they await the Artificial Sun project.
• Zhang teases the tortoise about the fox until it retreats into its shell. Once coaxed back out, the tortoise recounts ancient history: Earth and the Classic of Mountains and Seas World were once joined; a catastrophic War of the Gods shattered the Immortal Realm; and the fox was once enslaved and abused by the powerful god who destroyed it. Zhang listens skeptically, more focused on his practical goals.
• At the meeting, the fox asks when the Artificial Sun will be completed and worries about caring for the many humans Zhang has brought. He says he cannot give a timeline and clarifies that the beasts need only control dangerous and supernatural creatures; humans can manage ordinary wildlife.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing remains practical and ambitious. Though astonished by the tortoise’s revelations, he doubts them and keeps his priority on developing Xia Kingdom’s technology so his family can live forever.
• The Netherfire Black Tortoise is proud and easily provoked. Zhang’s teasing makes him sulk in his shell, but he eventually shares what he knows and carries Zhang to the fox.
• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox appears to be in a position of authority among the beasts. Her question about the project and the humans’ welfare shows concern about the practical burden of the arrangement. The tortoise’s account also reveals a traumatic past that helps explain her reaction to Zhang’s earlier “pet” remark.

Significant themes

• Technological progress and national power: Xia Kingdom’s public displays signal its rise, while Zhang’s long-term ambitions remain technological.
• Ancient history and uncertain knowledge: The tortoise offers a sweeping mythic account, but Zhang’s skepticism leaves its reliability unresolved.
• Power, trauma, and compromise: The fox’s past abuse contrasts with the present negotiations between humans and beasts.
• Humor and pride: Zhang’s banter with the tortoise provides comic relief amid grand revelations and political arrangements.

Plot points and events

• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox heads through the gate toward Earth. When the Netherfire Black Tortoise tries to follow, Zhang Hongxing stops him and insists he sign a soul contract first. Eager to visit Earth, the tortoise agrees.
• The fox emerges from the Pacific Ocean, her immense size and appearance shocking people around the world. Her howl alerts cultivators across Xia Kingdom, who rush to investigate.
• The arriving Immortal Venerables find Zhang Hongxing with the fox and tortoise, realizing the fox remains under his control. Zhang scolds her for making such a dramatic entrance, then turns the incident into an excuse to host an Immortal Friends’ Banquet. The group happily agrees.
• Meanwhile, the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom joins forces with the Yellow Dragon Kingdom and sends a fleet of more than three thousand battleships—including over forty equipped with Planet-Buster Cannons—toward the Solar System. Emperor Tu Tianlang leads the invasion, hoping Earth’s powerful cultivators conceal a secret that could help his empire reach level 5 civilization.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing remains confident and playful, using teasing persuasion to secure the tortoise’s contract and keep the others reassured. He also maintains authority over the fox, publicly correcting her without escalating the conflict.
• The Netherfire Black Tortoise shows how eager he is to visit Earth by readily agreeing to Zhang’s condition.
• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox makes a conspicuous entrance, then accepts Zhang’s reprimand. Her silence suggests she recognizes that her display was excessive.
• The Immortal Venerables respond protectively to the fox’s arrival, but relax once they see Zhang. Their concern quickly turns into conviviality as they plan a feast.
• Tu Tianlang is ambitious and intrigued rather than deterred by reports of Earth’s cultivators. He sees Earth as an opportunity for his empire’s expansion.

Significant themes

• Power and trust: Zhang uses a soul contract to make cooperation with the tortoise secure.
• Cultural influence: Online discussion suggests Xia Kingdom’s language, culture, and cultivation-related technology are spreading internationally.
• Contrast between celebration and danger: The Immortals arrange a friendly banquet even as a heavily armed interstellar invasion approaches.
• Ambition and discovery: Tu Tianlang’s desire to uncover Earth’s secrets drives the looming conflict.

Plot points and events

• The Heavenly Wolf Kingdom returns with a fleet of more than 3,000 interstellar battleships. Earth’s forces receive the alert and mobilize for the long-anticipated battle.
• The Xia Kingdom leads the Cosmic Alliance, which was formed after the invaders’ previous retreat. It launches 5,000 nuclear-powered fighter jets and 1,000 mechs operated by immortal cultivators.
• General Huo and the Americans are largely unprepared: their joint antigravity engine remains unfinished, and the damaged alien battleship they captured is still unusable.
• Zhang Hongxing and a group of powerful allies—including Long Aotian, Nana, the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox, and the Netherfire Black Tortoise—head into space. One Sword Immortal and Mo Qianchou volunteer to join them.
• The enemy fleet opens fire as the fighter pilots approach. Pilots from many nations charge into battle, proclaiming that they fight to defend Earth.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing and his companions respond immediately to the call, while One Sword Immortal and Mo Qianchou demonstrate their resolve by insisting on joining them.
• Tu Tianlang, alarmed by Earth’s unexpectedly advanced fighters and mechs, rebukes a subordinate but prioritizes preparing for combat.
• Lin Mo, now revealed as the commander and pilot of fighter No. 1, asks the international pilots to identify themselves so their names will be remembered.
• The pilots’ boastful exchanges give way to a shared declaration of purpose. Xia Kingdom pilots remain silent until Lin Mo’s appeal, then join the roll call.

Significant themes

• Unity in the face of danger: Countries that once acted separately now contribute forces to defend Earth.
• Sacrifice and remembrance: The pilots accept the risk of death, and Lin Mo promises that their names will be honored.
• Xia Kingdom’s leadership: Its technology and major contribution to the alliance establish it as Earth’s foremost power, while the story contrasts its cooperation with other nations’ past hostility.
• Preparation versus complacency: The Cosmic Alliance is ready for the invasion, while General Huo’s American partnership has made little progress.

Key interaction

The chapter ends with pilots from across the world naming themselves and their homelands over the shared channel. Lin Mo’s final declaration—“I fight to defend Earth!”—turns their individual national pride into a collective commitment.

Key plot points and events

• Earth’s forces attack the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom fleet: 5,000 nuclear-powered fighters and 1,000 combat mechs piloted by immortal cultivators. Their names are shared with the public, and people around the world honor and pray for them.
• The fleet’s missile and beam defenses struggle to hit Earth’s small, agile craft. Earth’s fighters land hits, but the enemy begins ramming them, destroying nearly 300 fighters.
• The combat mechs cut into the warships with cultivation-forged sabers, allowing the surviving fighters to strike their exposed interiors. Earth loses nearly 500 fighters before the fleet’s first ship is destroyed.
• Zhang Hongxing and his companions arrive, targeting the capital ships and their Planet-Buster Cannons. The Immortal Venerables engage the fleet while powerful allies attack smaller ships.
• The cannons fire after a five-second charge, wiping out most of the combatants in their path. Zhang Hongxing, Qian Sen, Deng Jia, and Yuan Ping survive, along with only a small number of fighters and mechs.
• Zhang and the other surviving Immortal Venerables retaliate, sabotaging capital ships by planting detonation devices in their engine rooms. But they cannot sustain the fight: space offers no energy to replenish their strength.
• Zhang boards the command ship and captures Tu Tianlang by the throat, leaving the Heavenly Wolf soldiers stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Earth’s pilots and cultivators fight with courage and coordination, while the public’s tribute frames their sacrifice as a shared human cause.
• Zhang Hongxing shifts from vengeance to strategy: rather than killing crews, he prioritizes destroying ships and disabling their engines.
• Tu Tianlang’s confidence turns to frustration as Earth’s tactics defeat his defenses. He orders the Planet-Buster Cannons fired, then retreats while they cool.
• The surviving Immortal Venerables and their allies fight together despite overwhelming losses. The Netherfire Black Tortoise’s shell protects Long Aotian, Nana, and the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox from the cannon’s blast.
• Tu Tianlang’s soldiers, who regard him as the universe’s strongest human, are shocked to see him helpless in Zhang’s grasp.

Significant themes

• Unity and shared identity: The fighters are remembered not by nationality but as soldiers of Earth.
• Courage and sacrifice: The pilots and cultivators press on despite devastating losses.
• Technology and power have limits: Earth’s agility counters advanced weapons, but the Planet-Buster Cannons prove catastrophically effective.
• The cost of endurance: Even formidable Immortal Venerables cannot fight indefinitely without a source of energy.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing demonstrates his overwhelming power by killing the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom soldiers around him and torturing their commander, Tu Tianlang, in an effort to make him order the fleet to stop attacking. Tu refuses and dies after trying to self-destruct.
• Other officers say they lack authority and expect the fleet to flee. Zhang kills them and rushes to destroy the remaining ships, but the Immortal Venerables have nearly exhausted their power, and seven or eight enemy warships escape.
• Zhang pursues one main warship beyond the Solar System, kills its crew to prevent them activating a self-destruct, and takes control of it to bring it back to Earth. The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox and Netherfire Black Tortoise join him.
• Yuan, Qian, and Deng rescue survivors. Earth wins, but at terrible cost: most fighter jets and combat mechs are destroyed, and only Zhang and three other Immortal Venerables remain.
• People worldwide honor the dead, while crowds in America demand retaliation against the invaders. President Baita Thomas and Secretary of State Baldur Smith are shown evidence that a main warship and more than a dozen escort ships are still approaching Earth.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang is relentless and ruthless under pressure, prioritizing stopping the enemy and securing a warship for research. Despite his dwindling strength, he insists on pursuing the fleet, prompting Yuan to urge him to conserve his power.
• Tu Tianlang shows defiance even under extreme torture, choosing death rather than obeying Zhang.
• The Netherfire Black Tortoise’s protection proves crucial: it saves Long Aotian, Nana, One Sword Immortal, and Mo Qianchou, and its bond with Zhang prevents it from mistaking the captured warship for a threat.
• Yuan, Qian, and Deng shift from fighting to rescuing survivors; Earth’s public and political leaders confront the consequences of the battle.

Significant themes

• Victory at a cost: Earth survives the attack, but the losses are immense.
• Sacrifice and collective remembrance: The worldwide half-mast tribute recognizes those who died defending humanity.
• Power and desperation: Zhang’s strength is formidable, yet exhaustion and the enemy’s escape limit what he can accomplish.
• An unresolved threat: The approaching fleet makes the victory feel temporary and sets up the next crisis.

Chapter Summary: “Doomsday for the Public Intellectuals”

Key plot points and events

• U.S. President Baita Thomas reassures General Huo of the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom that he will protect him, provided Huo keeps their alliance promise.
• Thomas publicly announces continued cooperation with the Heavenly Wolf Kingdom and conducts a video interview with Huo, hoping to bind him politically and preserve his own position if the aliens win.
• The public presentation is misleading: the “alien flagship” is actually the vessel Zhang Hongxing captured, while the accompanying ships belong to the Yellow Dragon Kingdom and were taken along during the retreat.
• Zhang’s fleet heads to a remote desert in the Xia Kingdom to land. Meanwhile, online commentators and resurfacing public intellectuals condemn the Xia Kingdom’s resistance and urge people to flee to America.
• Xia’s senior leaders reveal that Zhang has already captured the alien ships. They decide to let the public intellectuals’ statements stand until the fleet lands, then expose the truth and act against those they consider traitors.
• The battleships land safely, and the Xia Kingdom releases its announcement. The public intellectuals realize they have been deceived and try to regret or escape, but military officials have already surrounded them.

Character developments and interactions

• Baita Thomas acts out of self-preservation: he publicly ties himself to General Huo, hoping to secure his presidency and perhaps a future place on the Heavenly Wolf Star.
• General Huo accepts Thomas’s assurances and renews his promise, though he remains wary of relying on American protection.
• Zhang Hongxing remains focused on the military operation, keeping his capture of the fleet largely secret while coordinating with Xia’s Grand Elder.
• Elder Xia reveals a harsher, more vengeful side, deciding that the crisis is an opportunity to settle accounts with disloyal public figures. The other elders are surprised, while the military leaders become energized once they learn the fleet has been captured.
• The public intellectuals lose credibility and face consequences after encouraging defeatism and reliance on America. Their attempted retreat is blocked by Xia’s authorities.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and self-interest: Thomas’s alliance with Huo is driven by political survival, while the online commentators’ loyalty shifts according to their fear.
• Public opinion and misinformation: False assumptions about the alien fleet and Xia’s prospects shape public reaction until the government’s announcement reveals the truth.
• Patriotism versus cowardice: The chapter contrasts those willing to resist with people who advocate surrender or escape.
• Reprisal and accountability: Xia’s leaders frame the coming crackdown as a reckoning for those they believe undermined the country during a crisis.

Plot points and events

• After the Xia Kingdom reveals the truth, Baita Thomas’s position collapses. Former President Pratt returns to power and orders the extermination of General Huo and the remaining Heavenly Wolf Kingdom forces.
• The Xia Kingdom prosecutes its public intellectuals, while other nations return exiled critics to face punishment. It also holds a memorial for the soldiers who died protecting Earth, honoring them as heroes regardless of nationality.
• Zhang Hongxing travels to Mars with the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox. At a concealed site protected by an illusion formation, she opens the chest of a colossal stone statue and disappears inside. Before their connection is severed, she tells him she will wait for him in the Divine Realm.
• Zhang cannot access the passage himself. The Netherfire Black Tortoise recounts the legend of the Venerable Destruction God, who once tried to destroy their world and was driven away by six sages of Xia. Zhang then returns to Earth.
• Planning to visit his family, Zhang sends the tortoise to stay with Long Aotian in the East Sea and shops in Magic City, filling his Spatial Ring with gifts after paying for them.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang shifts from cosmic mysteries back toward ordinary family life, though he remains curious about the fox’s destination and the statue.
• The Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox appears deeply emotional at the Martian site and acts with purpose, but her disappearance leaves Zhang without answers.
• The Netherfire Black Tortoise admits it knows nothing about the statue, then offers its account of the Destruction God. Zhang questions the story but ultimately leaves Mars without solving the mystery.
• Zhang’s decision to leave the tortoise with Long Aotian is played for humor: he imagines the dragon as an East Sea ruler and the tortoise as his fitting “Turtle Chancellor,” though Long Aotian’s real opinion is unknown.
• The chapter also contrasts Zhang’s powerful, supernatural world with his affectionate intention to bring home gifts for his family.

Significant themes

• Honor and sacrifice: The memorial presents the fallen soldiers as heroes who protected all of Earth.
• Political reversal and accountability: America’s leadership changes abruptly, while the Xia Kingdom pursues harsh punishment of its critics.
• Mystery and destiny: The fox’s passage to the Divine Realm and the statue’s origin hint at larger supernatural history.
• Home and normalcy: After extraordinary events, Zhang’s return to shopping for his family underscores the pull of everyday bonds.

Key plot points

• After lunch, Zhang Hongxing follows a strangely behaving man, Lin Hai, to a hotel, where Lin threatens Wang Fangquan with a fruit knife.
• Lin explains that his seven-and-a-half-year-old son qualifies for school in Magic City but was assigned to a distant, poorly regarded school. He believes Wang took bribes of 80,000 yuan from other parents to secure their children places at the preferred Flying Star Primary School.
• Zhang disarms Lin and promises to investigate. The mayor and an investigative team arrive within half an hour; Wang admits wrongdoing.
• The investigation invalidates all placements obtained through Wang, including those of Lin’s coworkers’ children. Everyone must attend their originally assigned schools, leaving Lin likely to face blame and abuse.
• Zhang refuses to use his influence to secure Lin’s son a special placement, arguing that doing so would repeat the favoritism he is condemning. He asks the mayor whether the broader school-placement problem can be addressed, then hints at an unconventional solution.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing shifts from curiosity to sympathy as he learns Lin’s motive and thinks of the difficulties his own family may have faced. He acts decisively against the knife threat, but ultimately insists on fairness rather than granting Lin an exception.
• Lin Hai is desperate and emotionally volatile: he threatens Wang, then pleads with Zhang. Though his actions are unlawful, the narrative presents his frustration as rooted in perceived injustice. The investigation’s result leaves him despondent.
• Wang Fangquan initially resists Lin in public, but his guilt becomes apparent, and he confesses once officials arrive.
• The mayor supports the investigation and suggests practical help for Lin, such as finding nearby work, while acknowledging that the schooling issue has long resisted solutions. Zhang’s challenge prompts discussion of a different approach.

Significant themes

• Fairness versus favoritism: Bribery buys access for some families at others’ expense, while Zhang rejects using personal connections even for a sympathetic case.
• The cost of systemic problems: Correcting corruption restores the rules but does not erase the hardship or resentment produced by unequal school assignments.
• Desperation and parental devotion: Lin’s extreme conduct reflects how schooling pressures can drive parents to desperate choices.
• Justice and unintended consequences: Exposing wrongdoing is necessary, yet the consequences affect many children and leave the underlying problem unresolved.

Key plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing travels to Capital City to propose relocating prestigious schools and universities to smaller communities and counties.
• The Grand Elder reveals that the government had already considered similar reforms and convenes senior officials to begin advancing them.
• The meeting expands to discuss universal free healthcare and support for workers displaced by fully automated factories. Officials worry about disruption, unemployment, and the strain of rapid technological change.
• The Grand Elder explains that medical advances gained from the captured Yellow Dragon Kingdom aliens may eliminate incurable diseases within six months. Their technology also raises the prospect of lifespans exceeding 500 years in the near future.
• The attendees thank Zhang for making these advances possible. With automation already approaching, they recognize that the Xia Kingdom must rethink people’s roles and carefully navigate an uncertain future.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang is portrayed as decisive and modest, embarrassed to receive credit for an idea others had also considered. The Grand Elder and senior leaders nevertheless treat him as the country’s foremost contributor and publicly honor him.
• The Grand Elders and Zhang share a candid, friendly relationship, united by their commitment to strengthening the country and improving people’s lives. Elder Qin’s teasing breaks the meeting’s formality.
• Some officials initially object to the pace and possible consequences of relocation, free healthcare, and automation. As the medical breakthroughs are explained, their focus shifts from resistance to preparing for change.

Significant themes

• Practical fairness: Perfect equality is unattainable, but leaders should strive to make society fairer and happier.
• Technology and social change: Automation and medical progress will transform work, longevity, and public policy, requiring society to redefine human roles.
• Uncertainty and responsibility: The Xia Kingdom is a pioneer at a crossroads; no one knows the right path, so progress must be cautious and deliberate.

Key plot points and events

• The Xia Kingdom plans to provide universal free healthcare, enabled by medical advances, AI, robots, and medicinal resources from the Classic of Mountains and Seas World. AI will handle routine nursing and general practice, while specialists treat serious cases. Traditional medicine led by Divine Doctor Xu Qinian is also available, though few practitioners have been trained.
• Construction begins on 100 large smart hospitals. Private hospitals and skeptical citizens criticize the plan, while others defend it and look forward to its completion.
• Foreigners mock the initiative, claiming the Xia Kingdom is copying their systems and cannot afford to make treatment genuinely free. Xia citizens initially argue among themselves, then unite to answer the criticism.
• Elder Xia announces an even more dramatic policy: from the first of the next month, domestic electric buses, nuclear-powered maglev trains, and passenger aircraft will be operated by AI and be permanently free for citizens.
• Foreign audiences largely dismiss the announcement as a bluff, especially the claim about aircraft. Xia citizens are more confident that it is genuine, and many celebrate the prospect of traveling without cost.

Character developments

• Zhang Hongxing is briefly shown heading home with gifts as the hospital construction program begins.
• Xu Qinian has gained a longer life and a widespread reputation, but remains limited by the small number of disciples he has trained.
• Elder Xia demonstrates the authority and confidence behind the country’s ambitious announcements.

Character interactions

• Xia citizens debate whether free healthcare is believable, then close ranks when foreign users ridicule their country.
• Private hospitals oppose the new system out of concern for their future.
• Internet users from other nations trade claims about which country pioneered free healthcare, while Xia citizens respond with criticism of those countries’ own shortcomings.

Significant themes

• Technological transformation: AI and robotics are presented as tools for reorganizing healthcare, construction, and transportation.
• Trust and national confidence: Citizens’ reactions contrast with foreign skepticism, and Elder Xia’s announcement is treated at home as credible.
• Public welfare versus private interests: Free hospitals threaten established private providers while promising broader access.
• National pride and rivalry: The policies become a source of international comparison, online mockery, and patriotic solidarity.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Kingdom’s buses, nuclear-powered maglev trains, and aircraft begin operating without drivers. After initial public hesitation, people—and visiting foreigners—use them, making the technological achievement a major boost to Xia Kingdom’s reputation.
• In the Classic of Mountains and Seas World, a newly completed Artificial Sun is swallowed by the Sun-Bearing Firebird. The bird’s power surges, and the world’s temperature rises by thirty degrees, then continues climbing.
• The human outpost’s air-conditioning fails under the heat. Zhang Hongxing cannot arrive in time, and most of the people there die. His son, Zhang Jun, survives with fewer than a thousand others, protected by a small group of cultivators.
• Zhang Hongxing evacuates the survivors and the bodies through the Beast-Head Passage. Other leaders arrive and share the blame for the inadequate defenses.
• The Netherfire Black Tortoise suggests that the Classic of Mountains and Seas World and Earth may be merging. Zhang Hongxing senses the same mysterious pulse and confirms the merger is imminent.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing is shaken by the disaster and recognizes that his recent run of success made him complacent. He blames himself for failing to strengthen the outpost’s defenses and rushes to save the survivors.
• Zhang Jun helps hold the survivors together by insisting that his father will come, then urges him to evacuate them once he arrives.
• Immortal Venerable Yuan Ping, Qian, and the others feel responsible for the deaths and argue over who should bear the blame; they ultimately accept shared responsibility.
• The Netherfire Black Tortoise denies knowing of any plot by the missing fox and offers the possible explanation that the worlds are merging. Zhang Hongxing challenges it but then verifies its claim.
• Long Aotian, Nana, and the Black Tortoise arrive as the survivors’ leaders gather to assess the crisis.

Significant themes

• Technological progress and public trust: Xia Kingdom’s driverless transport demonstrates how bold innovation can change public opinion and international standing.
• Complacency and responsibility: Zhang Hongxing’s regret highlights the cost of neglecting precautions after a period of success.
• Sacrifice and solidarity: The cultivators expend themselves to protect others, while Zhang Jun and the outpost commander try to keep people from giving up.
• Escalating, unforeseen change: The Artificial Sun’s transformation and the possible merging of worlds reveal that the crisis is larger than a local disaster and may threaten Earth as well.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing warns the Ten Grand Elders that Earth and the Classic of Mountains and Seas World are about to merge. The process is expected to bring severe earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and other upheavals.
• Though initially incredulous, the Xia Kingdom’s leaders accept Zhang’s warning. They begin preparing spacecraft, life-support systems, supplies, and expanded facilities on the Moon so citizens can be evacuated.
• The Xia Kingdom warns other governments, but most dismiss the warning. When disasters begin and the Xia Kingdom starts evacuating its citizens, people abroad accuse it of withholding the truth.
• The Grand Elder releases evidence that the Xia Kingdom had warned foreign governments, exposing their failure to act. Public anger turns toward those governments, while some overseas Xia citizens arrange to return home.
• The worlds finally merge. Earth expands to five times its former size as mountains, rivers, and oceans are violently reshaped. A dying firebird appears, plunges toward the sea, and curses the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing acts responsibly despite the warning seeming impossible, persuading the leaders to prepare for the population’s safety.
• The Ten Grand Elders move from disbelief to trust, then coordinate the evacuation effort and publicly defend their response.
• Foreign citizens shift from blaming the Xia Kingdom to condemning their own governments once the warnings are revealed.
• The firebird, apparently near death, ends the chapter with a curse against the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, hinting at a larger conflict.

Significant themes

• Trust in extraordinary warnings: leaders must act before they have conventional explanations.
• Preparedness and responsibility: the Xia Kingdom’s early planning contrasts with other governments’ dismissal.
• National loyalty and inequality: citizens abroad fear abandonment, while some find ways to return to the Xia Kingdom.
• Catastrophic transformation and mystery: Earth’s enlargement and the firebird’s death signal that the merging has begun and that supernatural forces are involved.

Chapter summary

• After the Sun-Bearing Firebird is defeated and plunges into the ocean, Earth’s upheaval begins to ease. The planet has grown to five times its former size, with double the gravity and twenty times the spiritual qi. Survivors return, though they face a long adjustment to the changed conditions.
• Zhang Hongxing and several powerful cultivators return to the territory of the former Xia Kingdom. There, Zhang senses a formidable presence awakening on Mars. He, Long Aotian, and Immortal Venerables Qian Sen and Deng Jia travel to investigate, while Yuan Ping remains behind to protect humanity.
• Mars is engulfed in flames, with a colossal human figure standing upon it. The giant’s aura suggests the power of a Sage, whose command of laws makes him vastly stronger than the Immortal Venerables.
• The giant speaks only to Zhang, demanding to know why he pursues technology. Zhang denies abandoning cultivation and says he combines both approaches. The giant claims he arranged Zhang’s journey to the cultivation world so he would bring cultivation back to the Xia Kingdom, but says Zhang instead promoted technology and disappointed him.
• Zhang challenges the giant’s secrecy and asks why he did not act himself. The giant insists he cannot, and orders Zhang to continue spreading the Immortal Cultivation Method. When Zhang demands a reasonable explanation, the enraged giant attacks him with a black-energy sword, piercing his heart and leaving him screaming in agony.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang is shaken by the fox’s power and later by the Sage-like giant, but still confronts the giant rather than submit blindly. His reunion with his family makes the danger especially painful, yet he insists on understanding why he is being commanded.
• Long Aotian is the first to propose going to Mars. The other cultivators recognize the danger and allow Zhang to approach the giant alone, since following him could mean certain death.
• The giant reveals that Zhang’s earlier journey may have been part of a deliberate plan, contradicting the account Zhang had previously learned. He treats Zhang as both a tool and a disappointment, while Zhang questions his motives and authority.

Significant themes

• Power and vulnerability: Even top Immortal Venerables are nearly helpless before a Sage.
• Trust and manipulation: Zhang’s understanding of his past is unsettled by the giant’s claim that his journey was orchestrated.
• Technology versus cultivation: The giant demands that Zhang prioritize cultivation, while Zhang argues for combining both.
• Agency and accountability: Zhang refuses to obey without an explanation, setting his judgment against the giant’s overwhelming power.

• Key events: An unidentified giant inflicts unbearable pain on Zhang Hongxing by striking his heart with an energy sword, then gives him the Primordial Human Cultivation Compendium and orders him to return to Mars once he reaches the Great Golden Immortal realm. Zhang collapses and is carried back to Earth by Long Aotian, Qian Sen, and Deng Jia. He remains in a coma for six months, then wakes, learns his family is safe, and goes to reunite with them.
• Revelations and character development: While unconscious, Zhang studies the compendium. It overturns his understanding of cultivation: traditional methods treat the body as a container for energy, while the new methods either turn the body into a weapon or draw directly on the Great Dao and the forces of heaven and earth. Zhang concludes that his own cultivation is only around the level of a crippled Heavenly Immortal, far below the realms needed to meet the giant again. He begins using the compendium’s Cloud-Riding and Mist-Riding Art, but recognizes that the giant likely knows even greater techniques.
• Character interactions: Long Aotian angrily vows to challenge the giant once he becomes a Sage, but prioritizes rescuing Zhang. Qian Sen and Deng Jia help protect Zhang during the journey. After Zhang wakes, Long asks what happened and shows concern for his family; Zhang thanks the group, and Long brushes off his gratitude.
• Significant themes: The chapter challenges established knowledge and authority, presenting cultivation as a path to far greater powers than Zhang—or the wider immortal world—understood. It also emphasizes humility, the cost of pursuing hidden knowledge, and the vast gap between present strength and true mastery.

Key events

• After more than six months of rebuilding and adjustment on the transformed Earth, Zhang Hongxing returns to his family’s new home.
• He reunites with his wife, children, grandchildren, and their partners, meeting his newborn grandson, Zhang Xiaoxing, for the first time. He accepts that his daughter Yingzi is with Zhou Dong, though he warns him to treat her well.
• At the children’s request, Zhang Hongxing teaches the family the powerful Eight-Nine Mysterious Art. Zhang Bing learns it first, followed by Zhang Jun and Yingzi, while the others gain insights as well.
• He spends a month recording and writing down thousands of cultivation methods so his family—and potentially others—can learn them.
• Zhang Hongxing then takes the family, including Zhou Dong, on a tour of the new Earth aboard an auspicious cloud. A protective shield keeps them safe, though he hopes they will eventually learn to fly on their own.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang Hongxing’s return underscores his devotion to his family, while his apology for missing the rebuilding of their home is met with affection and reassurance.
• He is warmly welcomed by his children and grandchildren, especially as he bonds with baby Zhang Xiaoxing. Lele’s cheerful interruption lightens the reunion.
• Though still protective and reserved toward Zhou Dong, Zhang Hongxing makes room for him because the family accepts him and Yingzi’s happiness matters most.
• Zhang Hongxing shifts from returning hero to teacher and guide, encouraging the whole family to cultivate. His own understanding deepens as he explains the art.

Significant themes

• Family unity and affection: Shared hardship has strengthened the family’s bonds.
• Inheritance and preparation: Zhang Hongxing passes on cultivation knowledge to equip his loved ones for the future.
• Protection versus independence: He keeps the family safe on the cloud but hopes they will eventually gain the skill to travel unaided.
• A larger unresolved purpose: His wish for the family to grow stronger reflects his intention to seek out the giant once he surpasses quasi-saint level.

Plot points and events

• Zhang Hongxing continues developing his ability to use—and eventually control—the laws of nature, hoping one day to create laws of his own and protect himself from stronger beings.
• He takes his family to New Capital City, where they find a modernized, well-defended metropolis. There, he reunites with the Ten Grand Elders.
• Elder Qin asks to buy a life-extending pill for his father. Impressed by Qin’s restraint and sense of duty, Zhang gives him a much more powerful Half-Step Immortal Pill, then gives the same pill to all ten elders.
• Zhang also hands the elders thousands of recordings and books on cultivation, leaving them to decide how humanity should use the knowledge.
• He remains wary of the giant’s demand that he spread cultivation, and plans to delay going to Mars until he is powerful enough to confront the giant.
• The chapter then cuts to Mars: the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox and the giant return through a rift, badly injured and apparently pursued by “birdmen.” The fox urges Venerable Li to seal the passage, but he cannot. Li sacrifices his body in an explosion to hold back their pursuers, only widening the rift. The two argue and realize they are in grave danger.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhang has grown beyond his former rule-bound mindset. He is ambitious about mastering the laws, but also cautious about the risks of acting before he is strong enough.
• Elder Qin’s willingness to ask for help only by offering to buy the pill earns Zhang’s respect. Zhang responds with generosity, and the elders bow to him in gratitude.
• The fox and Venerable Li reveal their strained partnership through frantic, profane arguments. Li resents the fox’s failure to find its true body, while the fox insists their pursuers are formidable.

Significant themes

• Power and preparation: Zhang seeks greater strength so he cannot be controlled by those more powerful than himself.
• Duty and generosity: The elders’ conduct earns them extraordinary help, while their new abilities may also bring responsibilities and consequences.
• Knowledge and its consequences: Cultivation techniques could benefit humanity, but their wider effects are uncertain.
• A widening threat: The crisis on Mars hints at powerful pursuers and dangers beyond Earth.

Key plot points

• An angel, demon, and minotaur emerge from the Martian rift. The angel, Venerable Li, attacks the unseen giant, then self-detonates in the ensuing confrontation, destroying himself.
• The demon and minotaur pursue the Nine-Tailed Human-Faced Fox, but the fox escapes through the rift. Sensing Eastern cultivators on Earth, the demon and minotaur head there.
• The demon crushes a lunar base with a giant claw and hurls the moon toward the Xia Kingdom.
• Zhang Hongxing sends his family to flee and joins Qian Sen, Deng, Yuan, and the dragon Long Aotian in trying to stop the moon. The demon kills Zhang and Long with crushing force; the others self-detonate without harming him.
• The people of the Xia Kingdom mourn their fallen defenders, then resolve to fight. Mecha and nuclear-powered fighter forces mobilize, while ordinary citizens also step forward.
• Zhang’s soul awakens in a lava-filled realm, where it battles and ultimately absorbs a mysterious mass of light, gaining knowledge it had lacked.

Character developments and interactions

• Venerable Li’s impulsive self-sacrifice leaves the fox grieving and angry; the fox nevertheless survives and escapes.
• The demon is revealed as overwhelmingly powerful and contemptuous of both the minotaur and Earth’s defenders. The minotaur is eager to fight and feed, while the demon suspects Earth may be an Eastern cultivator stronghold.
• Zhang chooses to face the crisis despite his family’s plea to flee. His daughter Yingzi voices a desire to survive, and he allows his family to escape rather than forcing them to stay.
• Long Aotian attacks in grief after Zhang’s death, but is killed in turn. The Xia Kingdom’s despair gives way to collective defiance.
• In the afterlife-like realm, Zhang changes from a helpless soul into a stronger one by fighting and consuming the light.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and its cost: Several defenders give their lives, but their deaths do not immediately stop the threat.
• Courage and collective resistance: Even in the face of near-certain defeat, people unite to defend their home.
• Power and vulnerability: Earth’s strongest protectors are easily overwhelmed by the demon, sharply exposing the scale of the danger.
• Transformation through struggle: Zhang’s battle with the light suggests death may lead to new understanding or power.