Chapter Summaries

Plot points

• Bounty Hunter Jiaoxin reveals he followed the Golden Eagle Group for their bounties, but is now more interested in the treasure Zhou Fan’s group found in the Cave. He decides to take it by force.
• Zhou Fan sends Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei to fight him. Jiaoxin easily knocks both aside, even overpowering Zhao Qiu after he releases his second Life Shackle.
• Duan Fei cuts Jiaoxin’s face with his scythe, provoking him. Jiaoxin launches his detachable fist through Duan Fei’s heart—but Duan Fei survives and performs a blood ritual, using his own pain to curse Jiaoxin.
• Jiaoxin appears to be struck by the Curse, yet survives. A masked creature emerges from his back and vanishes, revealing that he has an unusual way to withstand the attack.
• Zhou Fan interrupts the fight and tries to recruit Jiaoxin into Dawn, impressed by his strength, ability, and talent for earning money. Jiaoxin refuses, so Zhou Fan proposes a wager: if he beats Jiaoxin, Jiaoxin must join. Jiaoxin accepts, confident he cannot lose.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiaoxin is established as a powerful, pragmatic bounty hunter motivated largely by money. His strength and apparent resistance to Duan Fei’s Curse make him an intriguing potential recruit.
• Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei attack together but are outmatched. Duan Fei’s pain-fueled ritual reveals his extreme, unsettling enthusiasm for suffering and combat.
• Zhou Fan stays observant during the fight, then abruptly shifts from combat to recruitment, showing his ambition to expand Dawn and his practical concern for the organization’s finances.
• The group is startled by Zhou Fan’s unconventional offer, while Jiaoxin dismisses it at first and accepts only when challenged.

Significant themes

• Money and survival: Risky work is weighed against its rewards, and Jiaoxin’s success makes him a potential source of income for Dawn.
• Strength and recruitment: Zhou Fan sees powerful opponents not only as threats but also as valuable allies.
• Unusual abilities and resilience: Jiaoxin’s bodily hardening and survival of Duan Fei’s Curse leave the source and limits of his powers uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Jiaoxin mocks Zhou Fan and attacks first, but immediately falls into Zhou Fan’s Tsukuyomi genjutsu. He experiences twenty-four hours of torture in the illusion while only one second passes in reality.
• Although Jiaoxin is declared defeated, he refuses to honor the agreement and continues fighting. Zhou Fan counters his Earth Dragon Bomb with Wood Release, then uses a marked kunai and Flying Thunder God Slash to deal him a seemingly fatal blow.
• Jiaoxin survives because his body contains multiple masked entities, each representing a heart. Zhou Fan’s attack destroys one mask, and Jiaoxin reveals two more; two of his four hearts have now been lost.
• Zhou Fan summons his Perfect Susanoo and demonstrates its power by carving a vast ravine into the ground. Jiaoxin recognizes it as matching the ravine that split Ashen City.
• Zhou Fan warns that he can destroy Jiaoxin’s remaining hearts and gives him a final choice: join [Dawn] or die. Unable to win or escape, Jiaoxin agrees to join.

Character developments

• Zhou Fan establishes himself as overwhelmingly powerful, combining genjutsu, Wood Release, Flying Thunder God, and Perfect Susanoo. He shifts from offering Jiaoxin a chance to join to using force when Jiaoxin breaks his word.
• Jiaoxin begins arrogant and certain of victory, but repeated defeats expose the limits of his confidence. His unusual ability to survive fatal injuries makes him formidable, yet he ultimately recognizes that he has no viable way to resist Zhou Fan.
• Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei watch the confrontation. They understand the severity of Zhou Fan’s genjutsu and are shocked by Jiaoxin’s strange survival and masked hearts.

Significant themes

• Power and humility: Jiaoxin’s contempt for his opponents collapses as he encounters abilities far beyond his expectations.
• Consequences and integrity: Jiaoxin’s refusal to keep his agreement forces Zhou Fan to subdue him more decisively.
• Survival and vulnerability: Jiaoxin can endure fatal wounds through his extra hearts, but that advantage has limits—and Zhou Fan identifies them.
• Recruitment through coercion: The chapter’s “bringing into the fold” ends not with persuasion but with a choice made under overwhelming threat.

Character interactions

• Zhou Fan first defeats Jiaoxin through genjutsu, then confronts him physically when he refuses to concede.
• Jiaoxin repeatedly challenges Zhou Fan, but Zhou Fan steadily reveals greater power and knowledge of Jiaoxin’s weakness.
• Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei react from the sidelines, commenting on the fight and expressing disbelief at Jiaoxin’s survival.
• Zhou Fan’s final warning leaves Jiaoxin with no realistic alternative, compelling him to join [Dawn].

Key plot points

• After Zhou Fan defeats Jiaoxin, Jiaoxin reluctantly agrees to join [Dawn], believing he has no realistic way to refuse.
• Zhou Fan warmly welcomes him and introduces the group: deputy leader Lin Qianqian, and members Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei.
• Jiaoxin is startled to learn that [Dawn] has only five members. Zhou Fan explains that it is newly formed and intends to recruit a small number of powerful “elites,” rather than many weaker members.
• When Jiaoxin asks what the organization actually does, the others realize it has no clear mission yet. Zhou Fan decides to establish an off-campus base, since Jiaoxin is too old and powerful to return to university with the students.
• Zhou Fan divides the group: he, Lin Qianqian, and Zhao Qiu will remain at Xinghai University, while Jiaoxin will stay at the new base. [Dawn]’s immediate goal will be earning money through legitimate work, such as hunting mutant beasts, clearing secret realms, and taking bounty jobs.
• Zhou Fan appoints Jiaoxin head of the organization’s finances, which interests him. He insists that [Dawn] must earn money ethically and forbids wrongdoing.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiaoxin shifts from a defeated captive to a cautious new member. Though resentful at being forced into the organization, he becomes more engaged when offered responsibility for its finances.
• Zhou Fan pairs intimidating strength with friendliness and ambition. He is eager to recruit and build [Dawn], while also setting limits on how it will operate.
• Lin Qianqian, Zhao Qiu, and Duan Fei have joined largely through their ties to Zhou Fan or because they could not defeat him; their commitment to the organization’s purpose is still undeveloped. Zhao Qiu’s question exposes that [Dawn] lacks a concrete mission.

Significant themes

• Power and coercion: Jiaoxin’s recruitment is presented as a choice made under overwhelming pressure.
• Quality over quantity: Zhou Fan argues that a small, elite team is more useful and easier to manage than a large group.
• Building an organization: [Dawn] is still more like a loose circle of friends than a functioning organization, and Jiaoxin’s arrival pushes it toward having a base, roles, and a source of income.
• Ethics and ambition: The group needs money to grow, but Zhou Fan draws a firm line against earning it through evil or illegal means.

Plot points and events

• Jiaoxin explains why he became a bounty hunter: to earn money and punish people who commit serious evil. He carefully screens targets rather than hunting everyone with a bounty.
• Zhou Fan assigns Jiaoxin responsibility for [Dawn]’s finances, but reveals the organization has no money. Jiaoxin’s first task is therefore to earn funds for it.
• Zhou Fan pairs Jiaoxin with Duan Fei to hunt wanted criminals and insists they never take missions alone. Both agree, though Jiaoxin warns that he dislikes foolishness; Duan Fei says Jiaoxin cannot kill him.
• The next day, Zhou Fan rents a modest house in Xinghai City as [Dawn]’s temporary base. He tells the pair to start looking for bounty jobs and offers to help with difficult missions.
• Zhou Fan leaves a Flying Thunder God Mark at the house and teleports away. He privately worries about Xia Qingran, who has been unreachable since returning to the Imperial Capital, and hopes to visit her.
• The chapter closes by asking readers who should become [Dawn]’s next member.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiaoxin joins [Dawn] despite doubts about its finances and organization. His respect for Zhou Fan grows because Zhou defeated him personally; Jiaoxin believes Zhou’s strength will eventually make the organization successful.
• Duan Fei welcomes the chance to leave Xinghai University and work with Jiaoxin. His confidence rests partly on his apparent immortality, which Jiaoxin has already witnessed.
• Zhou Fan takes charge as leader, using his strength to secure Jiaoxin’s loyalty and establishing the team’s initial structure. He also reveals a more personal, concerned side through his thoughts about Xia Qingran.
• The exchanges between Jiaoxin and Zhou Fan are comic and practical: Jiaoxin questions whether joining changes anything if he still has to earn money, while Zhou insists that carrying out an assigned mission is different from earning for himself.

Significant themes

• Leadership and loyalty: Zhou believes members must respect a leader’s strength, and deliberately defeats Jiaoxin himself to ensure Jiaoxin submits to him.
• Building from nothing: [Dawn] begins with no funds and a rented house, relying on its members to earn the resources needed to grow.
• Justice with discernment: Jiaoxin’s bounty-hunting code distinguishes genuinely wicked criminals from people targeted for merely offending someone.
• Teamwork and safety: Zhou requires paired missions, emphasizing that cooperation matters more than individual action.

Key plot points and events

• In the Xia estate, Xia Qingran suppresses another flare-up of her ice spirit body. Its increasingly severe backlash leaves her covered in frost and threatens to become uncontrollable.
• She thinks about Zhou Fan and rereads their old messages. Though he has continued checking on her, she has not replied, believing that staying in contact from far away will only deepen her longing.
• Her mother, Qin Lin, visits and worries that passing the ice spirit body to Qingran was a mistake.
• Qin Lin explains the constitution’s history: its power once made the Qin Family dominant, but its dangerous backlash eventually forced the family to stop cultivating it and decline.
• Qingran’s innate ice spirit body is said to be the strongest in history, but its backlash is correspondingly extreme. Two years earlier, when it nearly killed her, Qin Lin transferred some of the harm to herself; Qin Lin now suffers alongside her daughter and is physically vulnerable.
• The Eastern Family’s pure yang flame could suppress Qingran’s condition, which is why her father has hoped to match her with Dongfang Yue. Qingran rejects this as only a temporary fix and intends to find a lasting solution through the Void Rift, opening in two months.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Qingran remains determined and independent despite her worsening condition. She refuses to regret inheriting the constitution or to rely on a marriage arrangement as a cure. Her affection for Zhou Fan is clear, though she distances herself by not answering his messages.
• Qin Lin is loving and protective, but guilt-ridden over Qingran’s suffering. She respects her daughter’s choices and reveals that she has sacrificed her own health to keep Qingran alive.
• Qingran and Qin Lin share a tender but serious conversation: Qin Lin voices her fears, while Qingran reassures her and insists on finding her own solution.
• Zhou Fan, though absent, remains emotionally important to Qingran; their distance and unanswered messages highlight her loneliness.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: The ice spirit body grants extraordinary potential but inflicts escalating harm on both Qingran and Qin Lin.
• Family sacrifice and legacy: Qin Lin’s transferred suffering and the Qin Family’s history show how inherited power can burden generations.
• Agency versus obligation: Qingran rejects a politically convenient match and chooses her own path.
• Longing and separation: Her silence toward Zhou Fan reflects the pain of distance and the fear that closeness will intensify her yearning.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qianqian asks Zhou Fan whether he truly intends to develop [Dawn] or merely founded it to replace [Evening Bell] after Xia Qingran left. Zhou Fan says he is now serious about building the organization and recruiting more members.
• With Jiaoxin’s recruitment and the establishment of a shared base, Zhou Fan feels newly responsible as Leader. [Dawn] has five members, with room for five more; Zhou plans to reserve a place for former leader Xia Qingran.
• Zhou invites Lin, as Deputy Leader, to help grow [Dawn], but she dismisses his promise that she’ll be “second-in-command.”
• The next morning, Zhou brings custom black robes decorated with red clouds to the base. He explains that they are [Dawn]’s uniforms and have some resistance to water, fire, punctures, and scratches.
• Zhao Qiu, Jiaoxin, Duan Fei, and Zhou begin settling into the base, which is intended for all members. Zhou, Zhao, and Duan try on the uniforms, and the matching outfits make them feel more unified and imposing.

Character developments

• Zhou Fan shifts from treating [Dawn] casually to embracing his responsibilities as its Leader and renewing his ambition to make it powerful.
• Lin Qianqian remains skeptical of Zhou’s promises and uninterested in taking on extra work, though she serves as Deputy Leader.
• Zhao Qiu is enthusiastic about the base and the uniforms, joking that the coat makes him more handsome.
• Jiaoxin and Duan Fei are establishing their living spaces at the new base, reflecting [Dawn]’s growth beyond the university.

Character interactions

• Lin challenges Zhou about his intentions for [Dawn]; he answers confidently and tries to enlist her support, but she refuses to be persuaded by promises.
• At the base, Zhao teases Zhou about the mysterious bag, then jokes about the uniforms. Zhou responds with mock irritation while sharing the outfit and its practical benefits.

Significant themes

• Responsibility and renewed purpose: Zhou’s leadership becomes more serious as the organization expands.
• Belonging and unity: The matching robes transform the members’ appearance and reinforce their shared identity.
• Ambition versus skepticism: Zhou wants [Dawn] to grow, while Lin remains unconvinced by his grand claims.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan gives Zhao Qiu, Duan Fei, and Jiaoxin rings bearing their organization code names: Xuan, Three, and North. His own ring is Zero. Each ring contains a mark that lets Zhou locate and teleport to its wearer if they are in danger.
• Zhou outlines [Dawn]’s ambitions: build a reputation, earn money through commissions, recruit stronger members, and eventually become the strongest organization.
• Jiaoxin has already accepted a 500,000 bounty online. He and Duan Fei are assigned to it. Zhou chooses another bounty—worth 300,000—and sets out with Little Ball.
• The teams travel to separate missions. At the second target, Flying Leaf City, a powerful local thug and his gang are extorting shopkeepers under the guise of collecting protection money.
• As the thug finishes robbing the street, two members of [Dawn] confront him in their organization’s robes and announce who they are.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan acts as the organization’s practical, ambitious leader. He equips the members with a way to be rescued, plans [Dawn]’s growth, and assigns the missions.
• Jiaoxin shows initiative and professionalism by finding and accepting a high-value bounty online. He confidently directs Duan Fei to accompany him.
• Duan Fei remains argumentative and easily irritated, particularly when Jiaoxin orders him around, though he follows Zhou’s decision.
• Zhao Qiu reacts dramatically and sentimentally to the rings, prompting Zhou to knock him down twice.
• The chapter highlights both Zhou’s care for his teammates and the group’s playful, teasing camaraderie.

Significant themes

• Ambition and organizational growth: [Dawn] aims to turn commissions and publicity into a path toward greater strength.
• Loyalty and protection: The rings are not merely identifiers; they let Zhou reach members in danger.
• Power and corruption: In Flying Leaf City, a relatively strong thug exploits weak local oversight to terrorize residents.
• Justice and reputation: By taking a bounty against criminals and announcing [Dawn]’s name, the organization begins building its public identity.

Plot points and events

• In Flying Leaf City, Jiaoxin and Duan Fei confront the local criminal boss, Li Hu, also known as Bald Tiger, whom Jiaoxin identifies as a wanted bounty target.
• Jiaoxin quickly proves stronger than Li Hu, while Duan Fei charges into Li Hu’s gang’s attacks without flinching and defeats the underlings despite his injuries.
• Li Hu’s fire-based attacks are countered by Jiaoxin’s water and lightning abilities, which combine to stun him. Jiaoxin then knocks him through a wall and pins him down.
• Li Hu offers Jiaoxin a larger payment to let him go, but Jiaoxin refuses, citing his principles and commitment to completing accepted missions.
• Li Hu makes a last, desperate attack. Jiaoxin breaks through it, kills him, and extracts his heart, adding it to his own because he still needs two more.
• With their boss dead, the remaining gang members flee. Duan Fei is disappointed that the fight is over.

Character developments

• Jiaoxin is revealed as a powerful and versatile fighter with multiple elemental abilities. He is disciplined about fulfilling bounty contracts and rejects a bribe, but he is also ruthless: he kills Li Hu and takes his heart.
• Duan Fei displays extraordinary endurance and a fanatical appetite for combat, willingly absorbing attacks and invoking Lord Jashin as he fights.
• Li Hu shifts from arrogant confidence to fear and bargaining once he realizes he is outmatched, then resorts to a concealed attack when persuasion fails.

Themes

• Justice and accountability: Li Hu’s long-running abuse of civilians catches up with him through the bounty system.
• Principle versus profit: Jiaoxin refuses to abandon a mission for extra money.
• Power and survival: Li Hu’s authority in his own territory cannot protect him against stronger opponents.
• Violence and fanaticism: Duan Fei’s pain-defying fighting style and Jiaoxin’s heart-taking underscore the chapter’s brutal world.

Character interactions

• Jiaoxin and Li Hu begin with threats and a brief exchange about their organization, [Dawn], before their fight exposes the gap in their abilities.
• Duan Fei takes on Li Hu’s underlings alone, while Jiaoxin focuses on Li Hu.
• Li Hu tries to negotiate with Jiaoxin, then betrays the apparent surrender with a sudden attack; Jiaoxin anticipates and kills him.
• Duan Fei’s eagerness to keep fighting contrasts with Jiaoxin’s focus on completing the mission.

Key plot points and events

• Jiaoxin and Duan Fei kill Li Hu, a wanted criminal whose abuses had terrorized Flying Leaf City. Locals thank them, and the pair identify themselves only as members of Dawn.
• Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu arrive in Dawn City to hunt the Dusk Butcher, a Lawbreaker who stalks isolated people at dusk and later leaves their bodies mutilated and missing their organs.
• Learning that the killer targets people alone, Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu decide to use the pattern to draw him out. As dusk empties the streets, a frightened girl appears to walk alone through a secluded alley.
• The girl encounters a scruffy man in a raincoat, who pretends to warn her about the killer before revealing that he is the Dusk Butcher. He describes his plan to kill her and consume her organs.
• The apparent victim abruptly drops the frightened act, speaks in a man’s voice, and transforms into a man—setting up a confrontation.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiaoxin remains reserved and focused on completing the bounty; Duan Fei is more openly friendly toward the grateful townspeople.
• Zhou Fan takes the practical lead in planning the hunt and lightly scolds Zhao Qiu, whose curiosity makes him conspicuous. Zhao Qiu is energetic and inquisitive.
• The disguised man uses the Dusk Butcher’s arrogance and appetite for terror against him, suggesting the hunters have turned the killer’s preferred method into a trap.
• The Dusk Butcher reveals himself as cruel and theatrical, enjoying his victims’ fear before killing them.

Significant themes

• Justice and relief: Removing a violent criminal gives powerless victims a chance to express their gratitude.
• Predation and reversal: The Dusk Butcher expects to control a helpless victim, but the supposed prey’s transformation reverses the power dynamic.
• Fear and vulnerability: The killer exploits the city’s panic and isolation, while the bounty hunters use his predictable habits to pursue him.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan transforms into a lone schoolgirl to bait the Dusk Butcher, correctly guessing that the killer prefers targeting women who are alone.
• Once the Butcher appears, Zhou Fan reveals himself and provokes him with jokes. The Butcher attacks with a knife controlled through his metal-manipulation ability, slashing Zhou’s throat—but Zhou quickly heals thanks to his regenerative power.
• The Butcher becomes excited by Zhou’s unusual abilities and tries to kill him with guided throwing knives. Zhou deflects the knives, but the Butcher gets behind him and aims for his heart.
• Zhao Qiu, waiting nearby as backup, charges in and knocks the Butcher away. Zhou explains that they belong to the bounty-hunting group Dawn and are pursuing him for a 300,000 bounty.
• The Butcher launches a storm of metal objects. Zhou counters with his Great Fireball Technique, but the Butcher escapes into the city’s alleys.
• Relying on his intimate knowledge of Flying Leaf City and carefully planned escape routes, the Butcher reaches an abandoned building he uses as a hideout. Zhou and Zhao track him there.

Character developments

• Zhou Fan shows resourcefulness by using transformation as bait, confidence in combat, and comic self-importance as he insists his disguise caused him emotional distress. His regeneration makes him unusually hard to injure.
• Zhao Qiu proves to be a loyal and effective partner, staying hidden until Zhou is in danger and then intervening decisively.
• The Dusk Butcher is revealed as a meticulous, experienced killer who knows the city well and plans his crimes and escape routes in advance. His eagerness to devour Zhou’s “delicious” flesh also shows that he is more excited than intimidated by powerful opponents.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and strategy: Zhou’s bait-and-switch works because Zhao is positioned to support him.
• Power and vulnerability: The Butcher’s lethal metal control is countered by Zhou’s regeneration and fire technique, while the Butcher’s own confidence proves insufficient to prevent his escape from being pursued.
• Darkness and humor: The chapter’s brutal cannibal villain is contrasted with Zhou’s absurd complaints about having transformed into a girl.
• Preparation versus improvisation: The Butcher relies on planned routes and local knowledge, while Zhou and Zhao adapt to his tactics.

Character interactions

• Zhou needles the Butcher about his attraction to the disguise, while the Butcher angrily condemns Zhou for deceiving him.
• The Butcher treats Zhou’s unusual healing as a reason to attack him more eagerly rather than retreat.
• Zhao’s protective shout and sudden charge interrupt the Butcher’s attempted finishing blow, underscoring the brothers’ trust and coordination.
• After the Butcher flees, Zhou and Zhao pursue him together, confronting him at his hideout.

Plot points and events

• The Dusk Butcher reveals that he fled earlier to keep his identity secret, not because he feared Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu. He lures them into his metal-filled hideout, where his metal-manipulation ability gives him an advantage.
• He attacks with waves of metal, but Zhou Fan protects both himself and Zhao Qiu with Susanoo. A dagger and repeated metal strikes fail to penetrate it.
• The Butcher fuses metal into a powerful spear. Its clash with Susanoo’s second form destroys both the armor and the spear, proving him a capable opponent.
• Zhou Fan avoids using Complete Body Susanoo because it could devastate Flying Leaf City and harm innocent residents. Instead, he opens the Sixth Gate of View; Zhao Qiu activates his Fourth Internal Organ Lock.
• The two overwhelm the Butcher with coordinated attacks. When he tries to surrender, Zhao Qiu interrupts him, and their final blows send him crashing from the fifth floor.
• They reveal the captured man to the gathered crowd as the Dusk Butcher. The people celebrate his capture, while Zhao Qiu uses the moment to promote their bounty-hunting organization, Dawn.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan shows restraint and responsibility by refusing to use a power that could endanger the city, while still finding another way to defeat the Butcher.
• Zhao Qiu backs Zhou Fan in battle, jokes about his Susanoo, and enthusiastically promotes Dawn after their victory.
• The Dusk Butcher is confident on his own turf and demonstrates considerable strength, but his confidence collapses when the pair’s combined power overwhelms him.
• Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu fight as a close, effective team: they coordinate their power-ups and attacks, banter throughout the confrontation, and present the captured criminal together.

Significant themes

• Teamwork: The two hunters’ combined abilities defeat a formidable enemy.
• Restraint and responsibility: Zhou Fan weighs the danger to civilians before choosing how to fight.
• Justice and public reassurance: The Butcher’s capture gives Flying Leaf City’s frightened residents relief.
• Reputation and opportunity: Dawn turns a public victory into a chance to build its name and attract future work.

Key plot points

• Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu, along with Duan Fei and Jiaoxin, complete two bounty missions, earning a total of 800,000.
• Duan Fei hopes the money will be split among the four founders. Zhou Fan explains that it is organizational funding, though members will receive a monthly salary of 10,000, mission expenses will be reimbursed, and good performance may earn bonuses. Jiaoxin agrees to manage the accounts.
• Zhou Fan teleports himself and Zhao Qiu from the organization’s base to their villa at Xinghai University using the Flying Thunder God Technique. Zhao Qiu is thrilled by the experience, and the two joke around until Lin Qianqian appears and silences them.
• Later, Zhou Fan brings Lin Qianqian a bag of clothes he bought for her. She initially suspects the gift may signal romantic interest, but accepts it after he insists. When she opens the bag, she discovers the outfit is a Red Cloud Black Robe.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan takes a practical, leader-like approach to the organization’s money and responsibilities, while also showing consideration for its members by setting up salaries and expense reimbursement. He is playful with Zhao Qiu and unexpectedly generous toward Lin Qianqian.
• Duan Fei is excited by the mission earnings and disappointed not to receive a personal share, but accepts the proposed compensation plan.
• Jiaoxin is comfortable with the salary arrangement and eagerly takes charge of the organization’s finances.
• Zhao Qiu admires Zhou Fan’s teleportation, shares a teasing exchange with him, and quickly retreats when Lin Qianqian’s presence changes the mood.
• Lin Qianqian is surprised and flustered by Zhou Fan’s gift, briefly interpreting it as a possible romantic gesture. Her reaction shifts when she sees the robe, whose significance is not yet explained.

Significant themes

• Building an organization: Mission earnings are treated as shared operating funds rather than personal profit, with salaries and reimbursements establishing a more formal structure.
• Power and convenience: Zhou Fan’s teleportation demonstrates how extraordinary abilities can make ordinary travel obsolete.
• Misunderstandings and romantic tension: Lin Qianqian reads personal meaning into Zhou Fan’s unexplained gift, while his practical reason for buying the clothes remains unclear to her.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan gives Lin Qianqian a custom-sized Red Cloud Black Robe, which she mistakes for a personal fashion gift. He explains it is the uniform for his organization, [Dawn].
• He then presents her with a glowing blue ring. Lin again assumes it is a romantic gesture, but Zhou clarifies that it is standard issue too, bearing her codename, “White Tiger.” She takes it and slams the door.
• Over the next month, Zhou balances school missions with [Dawn]’s work. The group completes more than a dozen bounty missions, targeting notorious Lawbreakers.
• Their victories earn [Dawn] growing recognition across the Southern District. Locals spread the word, new clients approach them, and the organization appears repeatedly in trending searches.

Character developments

• Lin Qianqian’s embarrassment turns to anger after she twice mistakes organizational equipment for romantic gifts. She blames Zhou for being unclear and vents her frustration on a stuffed toy.
• Zhou remains oblivious to Lin’s interpretation of events, baffled by her anger and convinced he has simply delivered the organization’s uniform and ring.
• Zhou increasingly focuses on building [Dawn]’s reputation, prioritizing public recognition over the money from its missions.

Character interactions

• Zhou and Lin’s exchange is driven by a comic mismatch: Lin reads personal meaning into the coat and ring, while Zhou treats both as practical membership items.
• Zhou works alongside Zhao Qiu, Jiaoxin, and Duan Fei on [Dawn]’s bounty missions; Jiaoxin’s standing as a top Southern District bounty hunter helps attract attention to the group.

Significant themes

• Miscommunication and mismatched expectations: Zhou’s blunt practicality repeatedly clashes with Lin’s hopes and assumptions.
• Reputation and public perception: [Dawn] builds influence through visible actions, word of mouth, and media attention.
• Justice and community impact: By bringing long-feared Lawbreakers to justice, the organization gains support from residents it protects.

Plot points and events

• [Dawn] has become well known after completing around ten bounty missions in a month. It now receives commissions directly, but only accepts jobs that pay at least 100,000 and do not harm innocent people.
• The group earned 2.5 million last month. Zhou Fan decides to give each member a 100,000 bonus while keeping funds in reserve. Low-paying jobs do not interest him or Jiaoxin.
• Jiaoxin reports that a Fourth-Tier Chaos Secret Realm has appeared in the Yunmeng Mountains. Its Beast King may be a Fourth-Tier Five-Star creature nearing a Fifth-Tier breakthrough, drawing people seeking rare treasures and its Crystal Core.
• The group agrees to investigate. Jiaoxin and the others head out first; Zhou Fan plans to teleport to them with their Flying Thunder God Marks once the realm opens.
• Zhou Fan checks his system and finds he has 108,730 emotion points. He decides to spend them on the shop’s Kamui dōjutsu.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan shows a balance between rewarding his team and protecting the organization’s finances. He is willing to investigate the realm, but delegates the initial travel while he prepares.
• Jiaoxin demonstrates his sharpness with money and intelligence-gathering, reporting both the organization’s earnings and the realm’s details.
• Duan Fei is eager for the bonus and for another chance to fight; Zhao Qiu is equally enthusiastic about the expedition. Jiaoxin’s lack of objection signals his agreement.
• The team’s rising reputation and shared enthusiasm reinforce their growing cohesion as an organization.

Significant themes

• Reputation and ambition: [Dawn] has moved beyond beginner-level work and is establishing itself through selective, high-profile missions.
• Reward balanced with sustainability: Zhou Fan celebrates the team’s success without risking the organization’s future by distributing all its earnings.
• Risk and opportunity: Chaos Secret Realms are dangerous, yet their powerful beasts and potential rewards make them attractive to the bold.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan spends 100,000 emotion points to redeem Kamui: Intangibility, gaining the ability to shift parts of himself into an alternate dimension so attacks pass through him. Though Kamui strains the Mangekyō Sharingan, his Eternal Mangekyō and Hashirama cells let him use it without fear of blindness.
• He reminds himself not to become overconfident: Kamui can be countered, and no technique guarantees victory. Still, he jokes that he can combine it with his many other powers for extra safety.
• At school, Lin Qianqian begins the third stage of Principal Xi Yan’s demanding special training. She is the first student to reach this stage, and Xi Yan is hopeful she can complete it.
• Lin sees the training as her chance to catch up to and defeat Zhou Fan, who is absent and, in her view, wasting time on bounty missions.
• Zhao Qiu messages Zhou Fan that their group has reached the Yunmeng Mountains and found the entrance to the Chaos Secret Realm. Zhou Fan prepares to join them.
• To strengthen his authority and conceal his identity as the leader of [Dawn], Zhou Fan puts on his Red Cloud Black Robe, Uchiha Gunbai, and white three-tomoe mask. He then uses Kamui to vanish into the alternate dimension.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan gains a major defensive ability but remains cautious about its limits. He also deliberately cultivates a more mysterious, commanding persona as [Dawn]’s leader.
• Lin Qianqian shows determination and ambition, committing to Xi Yan’s training because she wants to surpass Zhou Fan.
• Xi Yan believes in Lin’s potential and encourages her, while deciding Zhou Fan does not need the same training.
• Zhao Qiu and Zhou Fan coordinate by message about the secret realm expedition.

Significant themes

• Power and its limits: Even formidable abilities can be countered, so caution matters.
• Determination and competition: Lin’s drive to improve is fueled by her rivalry with Zhou Fan.
• Identity and authority: Zhou Fan’s mask separates his ordinary student identity from his role as a feared organization leader.

Plot points and events

• The Yunmeng Mountains, a dangerous mutant-beast habitat, become crowded as people gather to enter a newly discovered Chaos Secret Realm.
• The realm is believed to be fourth tier and guarded by a fourth-tier, five-star Beast King. Even weaker Espers hope to find crystals and rare treasures without confronting the Beast King directly.
• Dozens of people wait at the realm’s entrance, wary of rival groups and aware that survival may depend on powerful fighters.
• The Blood Wolf Society arrives in force, led by Vice President Xiong Biao. He declares the secret realm belongs to his organization and threatens anyone who refuses to leave.
• Though the crowd protests, Xiong Biao’s strength intimidates everyone into silence.
• A plump, unidentified figure in a distinctive Red Cloud Black Robe pushes through the Blood Wolf Society and asks them to move, interrupting the standoff. The chapter ends as attention turns toward this newcomer.

Character developments

• Xiong Biao is introduced as a powerful, domineering leader who relies on intimidation and force to claim control.
• The plump newcomer is presented as unexpectedly bold—or oblivious to the danger—by brushing past the Blood Wolf Society and challenging the tense atmosphere simply by demanding space.

Character interactions

• Esper groups assess and discuss one another while waiting, sharing rumors about fighters and organizations.
• Xiong Biao confronts the gathered crowd, provoking protests before his strength silences them.
• The newcomer directly intrudes on the Blood Wolf Society’s formation, setting up a likely confrontation.

Significant themes

• Power and coercion: Strength, rather than fairness, determines who controls access to the secret realm.
• Risk and ambition: Treasure draws people into extreme danger despite the Beast King and the realm’s many threats.
• Collective fear versus defiance: The crowd objects to Xiong Biao but lacks the courage to act—until the newcomer disrupts the stalemate.

Key plot points and events

• The Blood Wolf Society, led by Vice President Xiong Biao, claims exclusive rights to the Chaos Secret Realm and orders everyone else to leave.
• Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei interrupt Xiong Biao’s show of force, followed by Jiaoxin. The three wear [Dawn]’s distinctive Red Cloud Black Robes, prompting onlookers to recognize the new organization.
• Xiong Biao taunts Jiaoxin, his former rival, and boasts that Jiaoxin could have become his subordinate if he had joined the Blood Wolf Society. Bystanders explain that Xiong Biao allegedly framed Jiaoxin to secure his own place in the Society.
• Duan Fei and Zhao Qiu challenge the Blood Wolf Society’s claim. Xiong Biao orders his men to attack, but Zhou Fan suddenly appears between the groups.
• Zhou Fan’s ominous presence and powerful gaze make the Blood Wolf Society’s front ranks recoil. He rejects their claim and declares that [Dawn] is claiming the Secret Realm: anyone who tries to take it will be beaten.

Character developments and interactions

• Jiaoxin shows rare anger at Xiong Biao’s taunts but remains controlled. His brief description of Xiong Biao as a shameless bastard reveals their bitter history.
• Xiong Biao flaunts his rank and authority, using Jiaoxin’s departure from the Blood Wolf Society to assert that he has come out ahead. He dismisses [Dawn] as insignificant, though Zhou Fan’s arrival unsettles him.
• Duan Fei and Zhao Qiu are outspoken and quick to confront the Blood Wolf Society, injecting irreverence into an otherwise tense standoff.
• Zhou Fan takes command through a dramatic entrance and calm, intimidating authority. His declaration transforms [Dawn] from an apparent underdog into an open challenger.
• The crowd’s gossip and reactions establish Jiaoxin’s reputation and make the confrontation a public contest between an established power and a rising organization.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: The Blood Wolf Society relies on its status and numbers, while Zhou Fan’s personal presence challenges that dominance.
• Loyalty and rivalry: Jiaoxin’s choice to join [Dawn] despite his history with Xiong Biao underlines the unresolved conflict between them.
• Defiance and ownership: Both organizations claim the Secret Realm, setting up a struggle over who has the right—and strength—to control it.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Fan, representing [Dawn], publicly claims the Chaos Secret Realm, provoking the Blood Wolf Society and the crowd.
• Blood Wolf leader Xiong Biao orders his men to attack Zhou Fan. Their swords and techniques pass through him without causing harm.
• Zhou Fan’s ability, Kamui, lets him become intangible to incoming attacks. He can still make himself solid to seize Xiong Biao and strike him, sending Xiong Biao tumbling.
• The baffled spectators speculate about illusions or clones, while their confusion and curiosity appear to fuel a displayed system readout.
• Enraged, Xiong Biao powers up and charges again. Zhou Fan calmly raises his Mangekyō Sharingan and uses Tsukuyomi; the chapter ends before its effects are shown.

Character developments

• Zhou Fan displays confidence and control, revealing a powerful defensive ability while remaining composed under attack.
• Xiong Biao shifts from boastful confidence to frustration and bewilderment after his attacks repeatedly fail. He responds by escalating his power and aggression.
• The spectators move from dismissing Zhou Fan’s claim to being fascinated and confused by his seemingly impossible technique.

Significant themes

• Power and reputation: The Blood Wolf Society’s status is challenged by [Dawn] and exposed as no guarantee of victory.
• Perception versus reality: Zhou Fan appears to be struck, yet remains untouched, leaving observers unsure what they are seeing.
• Composure against brute force: Zhou Fan’s calm, precise ability contrasts with Xiong Biao’s increasingly forceful attacks.

Character interactions

• Zhou Fan’s public claim directly challenges the Blood Wolf Society’s authority.
• The Society’s members attack Zhou Fan, but he demonstrates his ability on them and then humiliates Xiong Biao in front of the crowd.
• Xiong Biao’s anger drives him into a final, more powerful charge, which Zhou Fan counters with Tsukuyomi.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan traps Blood Wolf Society vice president Xiong Biao in his Mangekyō Sharingan’s Tsukuyomi, subjecting him to seventy-two hours of unbearable pain in an illusion that lasts only one second in reality.
• Xiong Biao collapses, too weakened to fight. Zhou Fan spares him, declares himself the leader of [Dawn]—Madara Uchiha—and the Blood Wolf Society retreats with their unconscious vice president.
• Spectators are stunned that Zhou Fan defeated the group alone. Zhao Qiu and his companions congratulate him.
• The Chaos Secret Realm opens, and the crowd rushes inside. Zhou Fan’s group enters an ancient forest and sets off in a direction he chooses at random, hoping to find the Beast King.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan demonstrates overwhelming power through Kamui and Tsukuyomi, then maintains his intimidating Madara persona. He tells Zhao Qiu to use his title while they are working.
• Xiong Biao goes from confident aggression to helplessness and humiliation after the illusion. He memorizes Zhou Fan’s alias before losing consciousness.
• Zhao Qiu remains unawed by Zhou Fan despite the dramatic performance. He teases his friend about showing off and jokes that he should have worn a mask too.
• The spectators and Blood Wolf Society shift from confusion and disbelief to recognizing Zhou Fan as a serious threat; the Society ultimately withdraws.

Significant themes

• Power and perception: Zhou Fan’s abilities are so unfamiliar that observers cannot understand how he wins.
• Pride and humiliation: Xiong Biao’s defeat is made worse by Zhou Fan’s calm, dismissive attitude.
• Performance and friendship: Zhou Fan cultivates a fearsome public identity, while Zhao Qiu’s familiarity lets him see the showmanship behind it.
• Competition and opportunity: Once the Secret Realm opens, the crowd’s desire to get in first quickly eclipses the previous confrontation.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Fan, Zhao Qiu, Duan Fei, and Jiaoxin enter the Chaos Secret Realm. Zhou Fan insists on being the only one allowed to wear a mask, joking that it marks him as leader.
• A scaled black panther attacks Zhao Qiu, who knocks it down and beats it. Dozens more appear, but Zhou Fan leaves the fight to the others; the group defeats them quickly.
• The team searches deeper for the Beast King, believed to dwell in the realm’s deepest reaches. They collect useful resources along the way, including a High-Grade Spirit Stone deposit, which they keep rather than sell.
• They pass other entrants fighting over spirit herbs and supplies. Zhou Fan’s group avoids getting involved, staying focused on finding the Beast King.
• Mutant beasts grow more numerous and powerful as the team advances, but the group dispatches them easily. They finally reach a vast, mist-covered lake thought to lie at the realm’s deepest point, where the Beast King should be nearby.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan acts as a confident, practical leader: he delegates minor fights, prioritizes the main objective, and advises Zhao Qiu and Duan Fei to keep valuable Spirit Stones they can still use.
• Zhao Qiu is impulsive and comically aggressive, turning his fright at the panther’s ambush into an excessive beating. He is also eager to spot and claim valuable resources.
• Duan Fei and Jiaoxin support the group in combat and resource-gathering; Jiaoxin provides knowledge about the Spirit Stone deposit and the realm’s dangers.
• The team works smoothly together, trusting Zhou Fan’s decisions and avoiding distractions from other treasure-seekers’ disputes.

Significant themes

• Survival and vigilance: The apparently quiet realm hides dangerous mutant beasts.
• Practical leadership and teamwork: Zhou Fan delegates according to the group’s strengths and keeps everyone focused.
• Scarcity breeds conflict: Other entrants fight over resources, while the protagonists avoid wasting time on disputes.
• Progress and preparation: The group gathers resources that can strengthen its members as it pursues the greater challenge of the Beast King.