Chapter Summaries

• Key event: Wei Junlan looks at the dark sea and jumps in, convinced that entering the water will make a fish tail appear.
• Character development: Wei Junlan acts with confidence and without hesitation, showing a strong belief—or hope—in the transformation.
• Themes: The excerpt hints at transformation, belief, and risk-taking.
• Character interactions: No interactions with other characters are shown.

Dongfang Minghui and Wei Junlan infiltrated the Merfolk island to find Qian Wanyu, but their escape turned into a fight inside a prison holding dangerous sea creatures. Qian Wanyu rescued them and freed a Merfolk-Human Hybrid, while Wei Junlan finally transformed into a merfolk with a dark blue tail.

• Wei Junlan leapt into the sea, and Dongfang Minghui discovered that his legs still looked human as Merfolk surrounded them and captured them in a net.
• Dongfang Minghui and Wei Junlan escaped the Merfolk and reached a prison building, where she resisted a captive Merfolk-Human Hybrid's Siren Charm before Merfolk trapped her inside.
• A released cuttlefish and a Merfolk's sound attack injured Dongfang Minghui, and Qian Wanyu arrived, defeated the creature, and freed the captive hybrid.
• Qian Wanyu learned from Qing Mo that the captive was a Merfolk-Human Hybrid, then left the island with Dongfang Minghui, Wei Junlan, and the freed man as the Merfolk backed away in fear.
• Wei Junlan's legs plunged into the sea and transformed into a dark blue mermaid tail, leaving him and Qian Wanyu stunned.

After Dongfang Minghui lost her hearing and Wei Junlan developed a fish tail, Qian Wanyu searched for a way to find a Merfolk Fish Shaman and heal her. Following the Merfolk-Human Hybrid to an underwater settlement, they found him and other hybrids captured by human hunters, and Dongfang Minghui began treating an injured captive.

• Dongfang Minghui woke on the Deserted Island unable to hear, and Qian Wanyu reassured her while examining her ears without finding a clear cure.
• The Merfolk-Human Hybrid brought fish to the island, and Qian Wanyu told Wei Junlan to follow him to discover where the Merfolk gathered.
• Wei Junlan followed the Hybrid underwater and found an abandoned settlement where Merfolk-Human Hybrids lived; later, he led Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui there.
• A net trapped Wei Junlan, and Qian Wanyu helped him fight off the human ambushers before she went to find the captured hybrids.
• Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui reached a ship where the human hunters had killed one another, and Dongfang Minghui treated an injured Merfolk-Human Hybrid.

The narrator crushed pills and gently bandaged the injured person. Wei Junlan returned after dealing with three people beneath the sea, and they prepared to go back to the isolated island with them.

• The narrator crushed the pills and helped bandage the wounds.
• Wei Junlan complained that he had been left alone below.
• Wei Junlan surfaced after dealing with three people beneath the sea.
• The narrator told Wei Junlan to lead the way back to the isolated island.
• Wei Junlan asked whether they would take the others along, and the narrator said yes.

Dongfang Minghui uncovered the truth hidden in the White Silk Scroll, burned it, and fell into despair, while Qian Wanyu and Wei Junlan searched underwater for a cure for her damaged hearing. Qian Wanyu learned the cure might be found through a companion plant, but Dongfang Minghui’s distress remained unresolved as the chapter ended.

• Wei Junlan returned to the island and learned from Little Mute that he could not directly cure Dongfang Minghui’s ears, though Little Mute later indicated he knew where to search.
• Qian Wanyu and Wei Junlan followed Little Mute underwater, gathered purple plants, and returned to find Dongfang Minghui devastated beside the campfire.
• Dongfang Minghui read the White Silk Scroll’s revelations about the Longlife Tribe, then burned the scroll and nearly caught herself on fire before Little Lecher pulled her away.
• Qian Wanyu returned and comforted Dongfang Minghui, who asked whether they would ever be separated; Qian Wanyu promised they would not.
• Little Lecher identified a gathered plant as one half of a color-changing companion pair and said its counterpart might be the spirit medicine they needed, but Qian Wanyu was too exhausted to search immediately.
• Qian Wanyu promised to take Dongfang Minghui to find the plant after recovering her spiritual power, and Dongfang Minghui began asking whether she had ever told Qian Wanyu something.

Qian Wanyu asked to hear the confession again after being told she was loved. Wei Junlan watched the two women kiss and profess their love in public.

• Someone told Qian Wanyu, "I love you so much, so very, very much."
• Qian Wanyu smiled and asked to hear it a few more times.
• Wei Junlan pressed a hand to his forehead as the pair kissed and confessed their feelings in front of everyone.

Dongfang Minghui, Qian Wanyu, Wei Junlan, and Little Mute explored an ancient Dragon Clan palace, where they clashed with Azure Mist Sect intruders and opened a hidden Dragon Gate. They discovered a preserved room full of glittering objects, and Qian Wanyu noticed airflow behind the heap as Little Mute urgently tried to warn them of something.

• Dongfang Minghui found the purple companion plant needed to heal her ears, while a disturbance from the palace swept the Water Shield away.
• Qian Wanyu and the others entered the palace, learned it was Dragon Ascendant’s, and encountered Azure Mist Sect disciples searching its halls.
• Dongfang Minghui followed Little Mute to a hidden door, where Little Lecher tried to open it and drew the attention of the intruders.
• Little Lecher and Little Mute opened the Dragon Gate with help from Wei Junlan and Qian Wanyu, driving off Qi Xinli and the Azure Mist Sect group with the red-eyed creatures.
• Inside the door, Dongfang Minghui, Little Mute, and Little Lecher found a preserved room filled with glittering objects, and Qian Wanyu detected airflow behind them.

Key plot points and events

• The expedition crosses a dangerous stretch of water filled with hidden hazards. The mute crew member warns the others through gestures, and the group uses careful observation and coordination to find a safe route.
• They reach Dragon Gate in a blizzard and descend toward a rumored cave. Inside, they encounter a giant spider and discover young cultivators who have been caught in its web.
• The captain and a male companion investigate the spider’s territory. The captain works out how the web functions and uses that knowledge to help free the trapped youths; the companion risks injury in the process.
• Outside the cave, the trapped group’s companions clash with another party, escalating the danger around the expedition.
• The chapter also shifts to a town, where armed groups and local authorities confront one another amid visible poverty and social tension.

Character developments and interactions

• The captain stays composed under pressure, reading both the environment and the spider’s behavior. His ingenuity and concern for others are central to the rescue.
• The male companion shows willingness to take risks and increasingly cooperates with the captain, suggesting growing trust between them.
• The mute crew member proves valuable through observation and nonverbal communication; the crew’s willingness to watch and interpret his gestures demonstrates their reliance on one another.
• The young cultivators appear vulnerable and inexperienced compared with the hazards they face. Their companions’ confrontation outside further complicates the rescue.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and communication: The group survives by listening, observing, and coordinating—even when communication is nonverbal.
• Cleverness over force: Understanding the spider’s web proves more useful than attacking blindly.
• Risk and responsibility: Several characters endanger themselves to protect or retrieve others.
• Power and inequality: The town scenes contrast the struggles of ordinary people with the authority and violence of those who control them.

Tong Yao and Qian Wanyu rushed to prepare a Christmas and first-birthday celebration for Qian Le Le after nearly forgetting the holiday. After putting Le Le to bed, they reunited privately, while Le Le dreamed she had a younger brother.

• Tong Yao and Qian Wanyu bought groceries, a small Christmas tree, and a cake for Qian Le Le, and Tong Yao apologized when Qian Wanyu asked whether she remembered her birthday.
• Tong Yao kissed Qian Wanyu in the car until Qian Wanyu agreed to go inside, where they found Le Le waiting with Auntie Li.
• Qian Wanyu set up the Christmas tree, and Le Le tugged at a gift box and nearly toppled it before Qian Wanyu stopped her.
• Tong Yao and Qian Wanyu celebrated Le Le's first birthday with a cake and dinner, then put the tired child to bed.
• Tong Yao and Qian Wanyu spent Christmas together privately, while Le Le dreamed she had a younger brother who fought her for Mama.

Dongfang Minghui and her companions defeated a giant spider beast, exposed the Azure Mist Sect disciples waiting outside, and entered a dark garden where black obsidian soil caused plants and spirit medicines to behave strangely. The chapter ended with Dongfang Minghui cultivating amid a growing circle of green light as hundreds of spirit medicines gathered around her, leaving Qian Wanyu increasingly uneasy.

• Qian Wanyu, Wei Junlan, Dongfang Minghui, Little Lecher, and Little White Ball battled the giant spider beast, while Dongfang Minghui’s Heart-Guarding Mirror reflected its attack and helped kill it.
• Qian Wanyu set a formation behind the iron door, trapping the Azure Mist Sect disciples in a repeat of the spider beast encounter, and the group followed the revealed path through the mist.
• Dongfang Minghui and Little Lecher touched black obsidian soil, which caused Little Lecher’s vines to multiply and stained Dongfang Minghui’s hand until Little Sprout’s flower buds cleansed it.
• The group encountered a mutated spirit medicine and were bound by hostile vines, but Dongfang Minghui calmed herself and began cultivating as the spirit medicines gathered around her.
• Pig Immortal Grass protected Dongfang Minghui from the crowding plants as the green light around her expanded, and Qian Wanyu grew worried about the strange spectacle.

Summary

• Plot: The narrator asks Qing Mo about the effects of black obsidian soil on people, after hearing that it can cause many spirit herbs to mutate. The excerpt ends before Qing Mo answers.
• Character development: The narrator shows curiosity—and perhaps concern—about whether the soil’s effects extend beyond plants.
• Themes: The passage raises questions about the risks and unknown properties of a potentially powerful substance.
• Character interaction: The narrator directly seeks information from Qing Mo, continuing their discussion of black obsidian soil.

Dongfang Minghui awakened her Longlife Tribe bloodline in the Black Forest, made transactions with its tree vines, and escaped with Qian Wanyu and their companions as the Azure Mist Sect pursued them. After following Little Mute over a cliff into the sea, Qian Wanyu encountered corpse-like merfolk underwater, while Dongfang Minghui grew worried when Little Lecher recoiled from the water.

• Dongfang Minghui cultivated as awakened spirit medicines gathered around her, and Little Sprout grew larger after absorbing spiritual energy and black obsidian soil.
• Dongfang Minghui made a transaction with the tree vines to free Qian Wanyu, Wei Junlan, and Little Mute, awakening a Longlife Tribe mark that later vanished after the vines drew out her spiritual power.
• Little Lecher found a mutated phoenix king true stamen, and Qian Wanyu sensed ten Azure Mist Sect members approaching, so the group used a path opened by the tree vines to escape the Black Forest.
• Qian Wanyu chose the right-hand path, while Xu Haoqing led the Azure Mist Sect group down the left; Dongfang Minghui's group reached a sea cliff and followed Little Mute over it.
• Qian Wanyu entered the sea to investigate after Little Mute warned them of danger, then found ten hollow-eyed, corrosive-smelling merfolk surrounding her with a net.
• Dongfang Minghui asked Little Lecher to take her underwater to check on Qian Wanyu, but Little Lecher pulled its vines back after detecting death aura and a corrosive odor.

Chapter 2: “Corrosion”

• Key events: A strong, pungent smell of corrosion fills the air. Someone asks “Little Color” whether Seventh Sister is in danger.
• Character developments: No clear development is shown in this brief excerpt.
• Themes: The corrosive smell creates an ominous atmosphere and suggests possible danger.
• Character interactions: An unnamed speaker addresses Little Color with concern about Seventh Sister’s safety.

Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui rescued a group of imprisoned merfolk from a hidden water prison and brought them to the Deserted Island, where Dongfang Minghui later woke after taking medicine intended to restore her hearing. As attackers besieged the island, Little Mute mapped the area for Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui, pointing out the treasure’s location.

• Qian Wanyu followed living-dead merfolk to an underwater prison, where she found Wei Junlan, Little Mute, and other imprisoned merfolk; she and Wei Junlan freed them with Dongfang Minghui’s help.
• Qian Wanyu and Wei Junlan brought the injured merfolk to the Deserted Island, where Dongfang Minghui treated them and Little Mute reminded her to prepare medicine for her hearing.
• Little Lecher refined medicine from the companion plant and Phoenix King True Stamen, and Dongfang Minghui swallowed a pill before collapsing unconscious.
• While Dongfang Minghui slept for three days, Wei Junlan organized the island’s residents to prepare for an attack; Dongfang Minghui woke, and Wei Junlan reported that someone was trying to break in.
• Qian Wanyu activated the island’s formation and asked Little Mute to reveal the treasure’s location; he drew a map, and Dongfang Minghui helped identify the spot.

Qian Wanyu’s group exposed a trafficking operation targeting the Merfolk, and Wei Junlan learned that they revered him as their Sacred Ancestor because of his transformed blood and growing power. Dongfang Minghui also revealed that she came from the Longlife Tribe, which had been destroyed over the stolen Elf Heart; after comforting her, Qian Wanyu set out to recover it and find the tribe’s traitor.

• Qian Wanyu opened a gap in the Deserted Island’s formation to lure intruders into Wei Junlan’s traps, where the group fought Lord Jin and a horde of Living Dead Merfolk.
• Qian Wanyu used Soul Search on Lord Jin and learned that a mercenary company sold Merfolk to Death Spirit Masters, who specifically sought a deep-blue-tailed Merfolk like Wei Junlan.
• Ba Tian called Wei Junlan the Sacred Ancestor, and Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui concluded that Merfolk blood had triggered his transformation and rising spiritual power.
• Dongfang Minghui confessed that she was born from a spirit medicine and a human in the Longlife Tribe, which was destroyed after a traitor stole the Elf Heart; Qian Wanyu comforted her and vowed to find the heart and traitor.
• Qian Wanyu offered Wei Junlan the choice of checking his blood or uniting the Merfolk, then took him along with Dongfang Minghui and Little Mute to pursue their treasure hunt.

Qian Wanyu, Dongfang Minghui, Wei Junlan, and Little Mute discovered a hidden cave containing spirit pearls and Merfolk remains, where Wei Junlan gained the power and enormous tail of a revered Merfolk ancestor. After his transformation caused a three-day sea storm, Qian Wanyu explained that the Merfolk now regarded him as their sacred ancestor and that leaving could doom them.

• Little Mute led the group through a concealed passage to a cave filled with spirit pearls and a locked Iron Case, then helped reveal a hidden chamber containing Merfolk remains.
• Wei Junlan touched a blue pearl and the remains, triggering a force that sealed him inside while Qian Wanyu, Dongfang Minghui, and Little Mute were thrown out.
• Qian Wanyu broke through the stone door with the Reincarnation Bow, and the group rescued the unconscious Wei Junlan and carried him back to the sea.
• Wei Junlan transformed into a Merfolk with an enormous blue tail and unleashed a violent storm that lasted three days before the group returned to the Deserted Island.
• Qian Wanyu told Wei Junlan that the remains belonged to a Merfolk Spirit Saint revered as their sacred ancestor and warned that the Merfolk might face extinction if he left.

Wei Junlan considered abandoning the Merfolk, but Qian Wanyu reminded him that the Death Spirit Masters were targeting him and Ninth Sister. He was left to choose between fleeing and confronting them.

• Wei Junlan said the Merfolk could be wiped out and argued that they had managed before he arrived.
• Qian Wanyu watched Wei Junlan quietly.
• Qian Wanyu told Wei Junlan that the Death Spirit Masters had targeted him and Ninth Sister.
• Qian Wanyu left Wei Junlan to choose whether to flee or face the Death Spirit Masters.

Wei Junlan learned that the Sacred Ancestor’s writings could help the Merfolk and chose to stay behind to unite them while Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui departed. At the Azure Mist Sect’s ambush, Qian Wanyu drained Qingyan’s spiritual power, and he recognized her just before he died.

• Qian Wanyu explained that the Merfolk and Elf Clan were threatened by a scheme to control the living dead, and Wei Junlan discovered the Sacred Ancestor’s journal and cultivation methods in the Iron Case.
• Wei Junlan decided to remain with the Merfolk, promised to help unite them, and gave Qian Wanyu the Blood Baleful Alliance’s spirit token before she and Dongfang Minghui left.
• After seven days at sea, Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui reached a shore where the Azure Mist Sect was lying in ambush for them.
• Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui fought the Azure Mist Sect disciples, and Qian Wanyu offered them a chance to survive if they killed Qingyan.
• When the disciples hesitated, Qingyan attacked Dongfang Minghui with a water dragon, but Qian Wanyu appeared behind him and drained his spiritual power and vitality.
• As Qingyan died, he remembered that Qian Wanyu had been the young lad he and his fellow disciples met in the Purple Demon Mountains.

Qian Wanyu discovered that Qingyan had been behind it all and killed her, leaving the Azure Mist Sect shaken by the sound of soul tablets breaking.

• Qian Wanyu realized that the repeated mention of Seventh Sister had been an obvious clue about Qingyan.
• Qian Wanyu hurled Qingyan into the flames, reducing her to ashes and smoke.
• Soul tablets shattered repeatedly in the Azure Mist Sect's Soul Pavilion, frightening the disciples.

Qian Wanyu and Dongfang Minghui reached the isolated Long County Village, where Sister-in-law Hua recruited Dongfang Minghui to cook dried fish while Qian Wanyu grew suspicious of the villagers' unexplained strength and strange customs. After mending a large fishing net, Qian Wanyu hauled it from the lake and found it unexpectedly heavy.

• Azure Mist Sect disciples searched the burned woods and Senior Brother Meng Yang concluded that Senior Brother Qingyan and the others were likely dead.
• Qian Wanyu navigated by the stars with Dongfang Minghui and led them out of the woods to Long County Village.
• Sister-in-law Hua took the pair to her home, where Dongfang Minghui cooked dried fish and learned that the village chief might sleep for several more days.
• Qian Wanyu noticed the village's unusual houses, extravagant bedding, and residents' extraordinary strength, but Qing Mo sensed no spiritual power.
• Sister-in-law Hua brought Dongfang Minghui fishing, then returned with an herb to treat her bruised wrist.
• Dongfang Minghui and Qian Wanyu repaired Sister-in-law Hua's oversized net, and Qian Wanyu cast it into the lake and found the catch unusually heavy.