Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan livestreams himself entering the Crimson Forest, a human forbidden zone, and warns viewers that it is genuinely dangerous.
• A group of third-tier mutant beasts ambushes him. Zhou Fan blocks their attack with Susanoo and kills them using Blaze Release: Kagutsuchi, whose Amaterasu flames take the form of blades.
• He spends two hours fighting through the forest, defeating more than two hundred third-tier beasts. The stunned audience earns him a record five thousand emotion points.
• Ye Chen, watching from the Imperial Capital, recognizes Zhou Fan and resolves to face him, inviting him to come to the capital.
• After ending the stream, Zhou Fan returns to the villa covered in beast blood. He prepares to use the Azure Bathtub, but Lin Qianqian enters the bathroom in a bathrobe just after he gets in.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan shows confidence and showmanship while streaming, but remains aware that forbidden zones are dangerous and keeps his guard up. He jokes that his strength comes from “cheats,” concealing or playfully explaining his abilities.
• Ye Chen develops a strong interest in Zhou Fan after seeing his feat. He considers him a rare potential rival and reveals his own pride and loneliness as a powerful fighter.
• Lin Qianqian notices Zhou Fan’s bloodied condition and asks what happened. She leaves when he says it is his turn to use the tub, then later enters the bathroom, setting up an abrupt, potentially awkward encounter.
• The viewers move from alarm at the beasts’ appearance to amazement at Zhou Fan’s strength.

Significant themes

• Power and spectacle: Zhou Fan turns a dangerous solo battle into entertainment, impressing viewers and gaining emotion points.
• Rivalry and recognition: Ye Chen sees Zhou Fan as a worthy counterpart, introducing the prospect of a clash between powerful young fighters.
• Danger versus confidence: Zhou Fan’s impressive strength does not make the forbidden zone harmless; he recognizes that carelessness could still cost him his life.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan is already bathing when Lin Qianqian enters the bathroom in a bathrobe and says she wants to bathe with him. He initially fears she means something sexual, but she clarifies that she simply wants to use the Azure Bathtub together.
• Lin Qianqian is secretly trying to complete a system mission. The system reveals a hidden requirement: she should remove her bathrobe for a better reward. Though annoyed by the surprise rule, she takes it off, keeping her underwear on.
• Another mission condition requires them to bathe face-to-face. Lin persuades Zhou Fan to turn around. He is struck by her beauty and figure, while she blushes and covers her chest.
• The system registers Lin’s embarrassment. Zhou Fan notices, but his own heartbeat quickens as he feels the same unusual “pressure” he experienced during an earlier intimate moment with her.

Character developments

• Lin Qianqian pushes past her nervousness to pursue the mission, showing determination and self-control despite the system’s frustrating hidden conditions. Her shyness becomes visible once Zhou Fan looks at her.
• Zhou Fan begins the scene confused and wary, then becomes captivated by Lin’s appearance. His reaction suggests his feelings—or at least his physical response to her—are growing stronger.

Significant themes

• Embarrassment and intimacy: A seemingly ordinary shared bath becomes emotionally charged because the two are not a couple and must face each other.
• System-driven pressure: Lin’s private mission dictates increasingly awkward actions, while its hidden requirements frustrate her.
• Growing attraction: Their mutual self-consciousness and Zhou Fan’s racing heart hint at a developing romantic tension.

Character interactions

• Zhou initially tries to preserve modesty by facing away, but follows Lin’s request to turn around.
• Lin directs the encounter while struggling to hide her nerves; once Zhou looks at her, she chastises him for staring, and he points out that she was the one who asked him to face her.

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan and Lin Qianqian bathe face-to-face, both self-conscious in the intimate, quiet setting.
• Lin asks about their cultivation. They are both at the third tier with three stars, and Zhou teases her that her S-rank ability should make her stronger than his C-rank one.
• Their argument escalates into a water fight. Zhou grabs Lin’s wrists to stop her, bringing them close enough to feel each other’s breath; both are flustered by the sudden intimacy.
• After ten minutes, Lin completes her system’s bathing challenge and earns a Gold Chest.
• The system prompts her to complete a final task: massage Zhou while he is unclothed. She persuades him by suggesting they take turns. Her awkward massage lasts long enough to earn a Diamond Chest.
• Zhou insists on returning the favor. Lin tries to back out, but he begins massaging her shoulders, making her increasingly uncomfortable and warm.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin’s attraction and nervousness around Zhou become more evident, even as she frames her actions as task completion. She remains determined to finish her system challenges.
• Zhou is blunt and teasing, provoking Lin’s pride, but also responds to the intimate situation with his own embarrassment and attraction.
• Their banter, splashing, brief wrist-grab, and exchange of massages shift their relationship from playful antagonism toward mutual physical awareness.

Significant themes

• Awkward intimacy: Shared bathing and physical contact heighten both characters’ self-consciousness.
• Rivalry and attraction: Their teasing conflict coexists with growing romantic tension.
• Obligation and reciprocity: Lin uses the idea of repaying favors to justify the massage, while Zhou insists on returning it.
• System-driven challenges: Lin’s tasks shape the scene and reward her with increasingly valuable chests.

Key plot points and events

• Lin Qianqian becomes tense when Zhou Fan massages her shoulders. He turns the massage into a more thorough routine, but when his hands reach her sensitive waist, she quickly stops him and leaves the bath.
• Back in her room, she reflects uneasily on their close contact, then dismisses her feelings and opens the Gold and Diamond Chests earned from completing her system tasks.
• The chests grant her two Supreme-Grade Spirit Stones, two S-Rank superpowers—Elemental Paper Transformation and Paper-Style Barrier—and two powerful single-use gems: a protective shield and a superpower-sealing effect.
• Lin absorbs the spirit stones, advancing from Third Tier, 3-Star to Third Tier, 4-Star. Though she gains only one star, she recognizes this as normal for an S-Rank Esper.
• Confident that her new abilities and items have closed the gap, she resolves to defeat Zhou Fan in their upcoming contest.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qianqian is flustered by the intimacy of the bath and massage, and briefly wonders about her reaction to Zhou Fan before pushing those feelings aside. Her excitement over her rewards restores her confidence.
• Zhou Fan innocently interprets the massage as an opportunity to show off his technique. He is disappointed when Lin Qianqian stops him, unaware of how sensitive the contact felt to her.
• Their interaction shifts Lin Qianqian from awkward, unexpected closeness to renewed competitive determination.

Significant themes

• Intimacy and denial: Lin Qianqian’s physical reactions and lingering thoughts suggest emerging feelings, which she immediately tries to suppress.
• Power growth and preparation: Her rewards strengthen both her resource efficiency and combat options, showing that strategic abilities can matter as much as raw cultivation.
• Rivalry and confidence: Lin’s final declaration frames her gains as a chance to catch up with Zhou Fan and reclaim the advantage.

Key plot points and events

• At midnight, Lin Qianqian faces her third system comparison with Zhou Fan. She refuses to postpone it, confident because her cultivation is slightly higher—third tier, four stars to his three—and she has gained new powers and items from a side quest.
• Choosing to control the simulated fight herself, she opens with the Sealing Gem, temporarily blocking Zhou Fan’s superpowers.
• Zhou Fan counters with Peerless State, a taijutsu buff unaffected by the seal. He pierces Lin’s body, but she survives through Paper Transformation, takes to the air, and unleashes a barrage of multiplying paper bombs.
• The explosions badly injure Zhou Fan, briefly stirring Lin’s sympathy. His rapid healing and activation of Sage Mode, however, turn the fight against her.
• Lin evades another attack with a paper substitute and traps Zhou Fan in a paper barrier. Just as victory seems close, the Sealing Gem wears off. Zhou destroys the barrier with black flames, then summons Shukaku and Matatabi. Their twin Tailed Beast Bombs engulf Lin, leaving the battle’s outcome unresolved at the chapter’s end.

Character developments

• Lin Qianqian enters the comparison determined and self-assured, convinced her preparation will finally let her defeat Zhou. She fights more proactively than before and uses her resources strategically, but repeatedly underestimates the range of his abilities.
• Zhou Fan remains calm and relentless. His Peerless State, Sage Mode, healing, Blaze Release, and tailed-beast summons reveal that he has formidable options beyond the superpowers Lin anticipated.

Significant themes

• Preparation versus uncertainty: Lin’s planning and higher cultivation give her an early advantage, but Zhou’s unexpected abilities overturn it.
• Rivalry and resentment: Lin’s wish to win is fueled by accumulated humiliation, though a brief moment of sympathy shows her feelings are not entirely one-dimensional.
• Adaptation and escalation: Each fighter responds to the other’s tactics, with the conflict intensifying as new powers are revealed.

Character interactions

• Lin and Zhou face off in a simulated battle shaped by their history of repeated comparisons. Lin tries to suppress Zhou’s abilities and control the pace; Zhou counters, recovers, and escalates. Their fight is a direct contest of preparation, endurance, and adaptability.

Plot points and events

• Lin Qianqian reviews her first simulated loss to Zhou Fan, frustrated that he summoned two powerful beasts. She decides that, in a rematch, she must defeat him before her Sealing Gem’s five-minute effect ends.
• In the second battle, she again seals Zhou Fan’s abilities and overwhelms him with a huge barrage of explosive tags—multiplying ten thousand tags into one hundred thousand.
• Believing Zhou Fan dead, Lin Qianqian lets her guard down. The “corpse” is revealed to be a Wood Clone, and Zhou Fan emerges protected by Susanoo.
• Zhou Fan explains that Sage Mode is unaffected by the Sealing Gem. He kills Lin Qianqian, and the system records another loss.
• Though the system warns that a direct victory is extremely unlikely and prepares her penalty task, Lin Qianqian demands another challenge. She plans to use an ability she has not yet tried: Sexy Jutsu.

Character developments

• Lin Qianqian is persistent and resourceful, adapting her strategy after each defeat. However, her confidence leads her to assume Zhou Fan is dead, leaving her vulnerable. She remains unwilling to accept the system’s assessment that she cannot beat him head-on.
• Zhou Fan demonstrates that his apparent limits are misleading: Sage Mode can bypass the Sealing Gem, and his Wood Clone lets him deceive Lin Qianqian while protecting himself.

Significant themes

• Adaptation and incomplete knowledge: Lin Qianqian improves her tactics, but each attempt exposes another hidden advantage.
• Overconfidence and deception: Her premature belief that she has won creates the opening Zhou Fan needs.
• Persistence versus realistic odds: Lin Qianqian refuses to quit, even when the system judges her chances poor.
• Power and countermeasures: Seemingly decisive abilities can have limits or exceptions.

Character interactions

• Lin Qianqian argues with the system’s reminder that summons count as part of a fighter’s strength, then continues consulting it after her losses.
• In the second battle, she confronts Zhou Fan with her explosive-tag attack, only for his taunting explanation of the Wood Clone and Sage Mode to reveal how thoroughly he outmaneuvered her.
• After the system discourages another direct challenge, Lin Qianqian rejects its advice and prepares a different tactic.

Plot and events

• Lin Qianqian begins her third simulated battle against Zhou Fan by using Sexy Jutsu, creating a seductive clone to distract him. Though the tactic embarrasses her, she hopes the opening will let her win.
• Zhou Fan is briefly affected, but his racing heartbeat signals that he is feeling pressure and clears his mind. He grabs the clone by the throat.
• Lin Qianqian immediately traps him with the Sealing Gem, numerous Sealing Tags, and a Paper-Style Barrier, forming a triple seal.
• Zhou Fan breaks free by summoning Perfect Susanoo. Its enormous sword cleaves the simulated space apart, giving him the win in four minutes and twenty seconds.
• As punishment for losing, Lin Qianqian receives a task to sleep together with Zhou Fan once, with an S-Rank Superpower Book and a permanent high-grade item as rewards. The system insists the task was randomly assigned and reminds her of her growing familiarity with Zhou Fan.
• The system adds bonus challenges: let Zhou Fan rest his head on her lap, sleep in his arms, and give him a goodnight kiss, each for an additional chest.

Character developments and interactions

• Lin Qianqian shows how far she is willing to go to beat Zhou Fan, using a tactic she considers shameless and layering multiple seals to ensure victory. Her failure leaves her frustrated, though she resolves to treat it as preparation for a future win.
• Zhou Fan proves exceptionally resilient: even a momentary distraction does not stop him from recognizing danger and unleashing overwhelming power.
• Lin Qianqian’s response to the punishment hints at a change in her feelings. Rather than rejecting the task outright, she initially doubts only whether she can complete it. The system frames this as evidence that her relationship with Zhou Fan has grown more intimate.

Significant themes

• Power and perseverance: Lin Qianqian keeps adapting, but Zhou Fan’s strength outmatches even elaborate tactics.
• Embarrassment and intimacy: Her discomfort with Sexy Jutsu and the increasingly personal punishment blur the line between rivalry and closeness.
• System-driven escalation: The system turns defeat into increasingly intimate challenges, using humor and rewards to push Lin Qianqian toward Zhou Fan.

• Lin Qianqian resists the system: After losing to Zhou Fan for the third time, Lin Qianqian is furious at the system’s additional challenges, which require intimate acts such as letting Zhou Fan rest on her lap, sleeping in his arms, and kissing him goodnight. The system warns that her losses may continue—and that the next punishment could be worse—but she refuses to accept the missions. Zhou Fan’s Perfect Susanoo has shaken her confidence, yet she resolves to improve through her own effort instead of relying on the system’s rewards.
• An awkward morning: The next day, Zhou Fan notices Lin Qianqian’s unusually resentful expression and emotionless greeting. Misreading her mood, he assumes she has started her period and wisely keeps quiet. Their strained interaction contrasts with his cheerful mood after a good night’s sleep.
• Zhou Fan is assigned to another class: At the Training Ground, Xia Qingran tells Zhou Fan that she has lent him to Wang Yiyi’s Class Six to help with a mission. He protests at being treated like an object but accepts the assignment. He also asks Xia Qingran to let his friend Zhao Qiu, an A-rank ability user, join their organization, the Evening Bell. Though she considers Zhao’s rank modest, she trusts Zhou Fan’s judgment and agrees.
• Lin Qianqian chooses independence: Xia Qingran offers Lin Qianqian a customized training plan, but Lin declines and asks to train alone. Though the defeat has unsettled her, she refuses to give up or complete the system’s intimate challenges. She is determined to catch up to Zhou Fan through her own talent and effort.
  Character developments and themes: Lin’s pride and determination overcome her initial despair, while her growing frustration with the system sets up a clash between coerced shortcuts and self-reliance. Zhou Fan remains oblivious to the real reason for her resentment, and Xia Qingran shows both practical authority over training and trust in Zhou Fan’s choices.

Plot and events

• Zhou Fan joins First-Year Class Six to fill a vacancy on a mission. The class consists of adviser Wang Yiyi, students Zhao Qiu and Li Mengmeng, and the notably reserved Situ Ya.
• Wang Yiyi explains that Falling Moon City, about twenty kilometers from Xinghai City, recently survived a mutant-beast horde but still has beasts lurking outside its walls.
• The group’s task is to clear out those remaining beasts, mostly second- and third-tier creatures. They set off on a Gale Eagle, a standard transport used for routine missions.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan is friendly and polite, but focuses on understanding the mission rather than making an impression. He recognizes Situ Ya’s S-rank ability as impressive, though her arrogance does not appeal to him.
• Li Mengmeng enthusiastically recognizes Zhou Fan as the Southern District’s top entrance-exam scorer and is excited to work with him. She also asks whether their small team can handle the assignment.
• Situ Ya, an S-rank water-type Esper at third tier, one star, enjoys Zhou Fan’s praise. As the eldest daughter of a powerful family, she looks down on his exam achievement and believes she would have outperformed him had she taken the exam.
• Wang Yiyi calmly introduces the students, explains the mission, and leads the team. Zhao Qiu and Zhou Fan’s familiarity is evident.

Themes

• Power and responsibility: Xinghai University helps cities that lack the strength to defend themselves, reflecting the idea that greater power carries greater obligations.
• Status and merit: The contrast between Zhou Fan’s exam-earned reputation and Situ Ya’s privileged confidence raises questions about how achievement is valued by different social circles.
• Teamwork under uncertainty: Even a small student group is sent to assist after a dangerous attack, setting up the need for cooperation in the mission ahead.

Key plot points and events

• Wang Yiyi, Zhou Fan, Zhao Qiu, Li Mengmeng, and Situ Ya arrive at Falling Moon City on a Gale Eagle.
• Because the city is under level-one alert after a recent beast tide, defenders stop and verify the group. Wang Yiyi presents her Xinghai University credentials, and they are escorted inside.
• Principal Zheng Yao welcomes them and explains that most of the beast tide has been driven off, but 20–30 mutant beasts remain in a nearby valley west of the city. Most are second tier; several are third tier, including one powerful third-tier, five-star beast.
• With the city’s forces depleted, Zheng can provide only two third-tier and five second-tier Espers. Wang Yiyi decides the combined group of eleven should launch a preemptive strike before the beasts attack again.

Character developments

• Wang Yiyi takes charge of the mission discussion, calmly assessing the threat and accepting responsibility for the strike. She is polite but confident in the university’s assignment.
• Zhou Fan jokes with Zhao Qiu, encouraging him to take the mission seriously.
• Zhao Qiu boasts that he will not fail in front of the girls, hinting at his confidence—and his eagerness to fight alongside Zhou Fan again.
• Principal Zheng is cautious about the university party’s small size, but provides the available support and briefing.

Character interactions

• Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu trade friendly banter about fighting together and impressing their female classmates.
• Wang Yiyi handles the checkpoint and reassures the city’s officials that the security questioning is understandable.
• Zheng Yao and the local teachers brief and coordinate with the visiting students; Wang Yiyi’s university rank and strength earn her respect despite her youth.

Significant themes

• Collective responsibility: Espers and Esper schools serve as essential defenders of their communities.
• Preparedness and caution: The city’s alert status and Wang Yiyi’s questions emphasize the need to understand enemy numbers and strength before acting.
• Confidence versus danger: The group is optimistic about the planned attack, but the surviving beasts—especially the elite one—remain a serious threat.

Plot points and events

• Wang Yiyi’s team approaches the valley where mutant beasts are gathering. Li Mengmeng scouts by sensing vibrations through the ground, finding twenty-five beasts and two guards at the entrance.
• Wang Yiyi and Teacher Wu divide their forces: her students attack from the front while Wu’s group circles around to flank the beasts. Wang assigns Zhao Qiu to defend the front, Situ Ya to provide ranged attacks, and Mengmeng to disrupt enemies. Zhou Fan is told to act independently.
• The team attacks the two Demon Wolf guards before they can raise the alarm, but the noise draws the rest of the beasts out of the valley.
• Zhao Qiu, Situ Ya, and Mengmeng work together effectively, while Teacher Wu’s group joins from the sides to break up the beasts’ advance.
• Wang Yiyi locates the leader, a Third Tier, Five Stars Blue Crystal Lion King, and launches a surprise attack. Its crystal armor deflects her wind blades, leaving the beast unharmed and setting up a confrontation.

Character developments and interactions

• Mengmeng’s impressive earth-based perception reveals her value as a scout; she also uses an earthquake to disrupt the charging beasts.
• Zhao Qiu demonstrates strength and teamwork, serving as the group’s durable front line. He defends Zhou Fan when Situ Ya questions whether Zhou will be useful.
• Situ Ya is skeptical of Zhou Fan, insisting strength must be proved through action. Zhou declines to argue and says he will adapt independently.
• Wang Yiyi takes responsibility for the whole group, including Zhou Fan, despite not being his teacher. She directs the coordinated assault and prioritizes killing the enemy leader.
• Teacher Wu cooperates with Wang’s plan, leading the flanking force into battle.

Significant themes

• Teamwork and preparation: The students’ training and the flanking maneuver help them respond to a larger force.
• Proving oneself through action: Situ Ya challenges Zhou Fan to demonstrate his ability rather than boast about it.
• Leadership and strategy: Wang’s focus on eliminating the beast leader reflects the importance of disrupting an enemy force at its source.
• Uneven power and danger: The Blue Crystal Lion King’s armor shows that even a well-coordinated team may face an opponent resistant to their attacks.

Plot points and events

• The humans’ battle against the Mutant Beasts initially goes well. Wang Yiyi keeps the Blue Crystal Lion King occupied while the others defeat the beasts around them; Zhou Fan offers support wherever needed, dispatching one attacker with ease.
• Wang Yiyi appears close to defeating the Lion King, but it suddenly transforms: its fur and crystals turn gold, and it breaks through to Fourth Tier, 1 Star. It shatters her wind shield and injures her.
• The Golden Crystal Lion King’s roar summons a much larger force of Mutant Beasts, revealing that the beasts had deliberately lured the humans into a trap. The group is surrounded and ordered to fight its way out.
• Situ Ya finds a weak point and tries to open a path, but a Third Tier, 4 Stars Demon Tiger breaks through her defenses. Zhou Fan arrives in time to kill it with his halberd and save her.
• The Golden Crystal Lion King directs the beasts to attack Zhou Fan. He takes up the Star Shatter Halberd, ignites it with crimson flames, and charges into the enemy, declaring, “I am unstoppable!”

Character developments and interactions

• Wang Yiyi moves from confident attacker to injured commander, quickly recognizing the trap and ordering the group to stay together and break out.
• Situ Ya shows initiative by trying to breach the encirclement, then faces apparent death before Zhou Fan rescues her. Her surprise highlights that she did not expect him to be the one to save her.
• Zhou Fan continues to act as though he wants to avoid effort, but repeatedly helps when needed. His dramatic decision to confront the Golden Crystal Lion King suggests he is now fully engaging with the crisis.
• The Golden Crystal Lion King proves unexpectedly powerful and cunning: it transforms mid-battle and uses its roar to bring reinforcements.
• The group shifts from coordinated offense to desperate cooperation under Wang Yiyi’s leadership.

Significant themes

• Hidden danger and deception: The apparent victory was part of a deliberate ambush.
• Teamwork under pressure: The humans must cover one another as the encirclement closes.
• Power revealed at a turning point: The Lion King’s breakthrough transforms the battle, while Zhou Fan’s final charge sets up a possible reversal.
• Duty versus reluctance: Zhou Fan complains about trouble and wanting to slack off, yet steps in when others are in danger.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan charges into the mutant-beast horde in the valley, using his Star Shatter Halberd to mow down the attackers. Most beasts die within one or two clashes.
• The Golden Crystal Lion King, a fourth-tier, one-star elite beast, attacks. Zhou Fan restrains it with Susanoo and kills it with Amaterasu’s black flames.
• The stunned Falling Moon City Espers realize Zhou Fan has single-handedly ended a battle they had been unable to win.
• Afterward, the team returns to Falling Moon City and reports the mission to Principal Zheng Yao. Teacher Wu explains that Zhou Fan killed more than thirty beasts, including the Lion King.
• The group is sent to rest at a hotel. The city remains subdued after its recent battle, while an unidentified figure watches them and calls Zhou Fan their “prey.”

Character developments

• Zhou Fan demonstrates overwhelming strength and confidence, but also humility: he apologizes for not intervening sooner and praises the others’ efforts.
• Situ Ya acknowledges that she underestimated Zhou Fan, apologizes, and sets aside her pride. His gracious response surprises her and leaves her visibly moved.
• Wang Yiyi and Li Mengmeng are astonished by Zhou Fan’s abilities. Wang Yiyi now understands why the Execution Department assigned him alone.
• Principal Zheng Yao is impressed by Zhou Fan and recognizes him as an exceptional young talent.

Character interactions

• Zhou Fan reassures Situ Ya when she apologizes, refusing to hold her earlier judgment against her.
• Wang Yiyi and the others react with shock and admiration after witnessing Zhou Fan’s fight.
• At the command post, Teacher Wu credits Zhou Fan with saving the team, prompting Zheng Yao to praise him.
• The chapter ends with a watcher secretly tracking the group, introducing a new threat.

Significant themes

• Power and changing perceptions: Zhou Fan’s performance overturns the team’s assumptions about him.
• Humility and accountability: Despite his strength, Zhou Fan takes responsibility for the group’s injuries, while Situ Ya admits her mistake.
• The ongoing threat of mutant beasts: The beasts are becoming more cunning, and humanity cannot yet eliminate them entirely.
• An approaching danger: The mysterious watcher suggests the mission’s aftermath may not be peaceful.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Fan and the others settle into luxurious hotel suites arranged by Teacher Wu. Zhao Qiu jokingly suggests sharing a room, but Zhou Fan chooses to sleep alone and locks his door.
• While Zhou Fan sleeps with the window open, a masked intruder lowers himself from the roof using web silk. He releases knockout smoke into the room, waits for it to clear, then climbs inside to capture Zhou Fan.
• The intruder is surprised when Zhou Fan wakes unharmed and kicks him out the window. He catches himself with web silk, alerts accomplices over an earpiece, and attacks Zhou Fan.
• The intruder uses spider-themed techniques: a large web, cutting web blades, a barrage of web knives, and a powerful spreading net. Zhou Fan counters with throwing knives and fire techniques, eventually burning through the largest web.
• The attacker claims he has won after apparently binding Zhou Fan from behind. Zhou Fan remains calm and challenges him to look more carefully, suggesting the capture may not be what it seems. The chapter ends on this cliffhanger.

Character developments

• Zhou Fan is cautious enough to lock his door, but relaxed and confident once attacked. He quickly reads the intruder’s abilities, counters each assault, and never appears rattled.
• The intruder is skilled and prepared, with an accomplice team supporting him, but grows frustrated when Zhou Fan proves far more capable than expected. He relies on a final trick and becomes overconfident when it seems to work.
• Zhao Qiu provides light comic relief with his teasing invitation to share a room; Zhou Fan’s suspicions about him quickly give way to the real threat.

Significant themes

• Appearances versus reality: The intruder’s apparent victory may be another misdirection, while Zhou Fan’s calm suggests he has the situation under control.
• Confidence and composure under pressure: Zhou Fan’s steady responses contrast with the attacker’s mounting desperation.
• Skill and adaptability: The fight turns on each combatant adjusting tactics and exploiting the other’s defenses.

Character interactions

• Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu exchange playful banter about sharing a suite.
• Zhou Fan confronts the intruder, who refuses to identify himself and attacks instead.
• During the fight, the intruder’s confidence shifts to desperation, then triumph, while Zhou Fan remains composed and questions the apparent outcome.

Chapter Summary: “The Bounty Organization”

Key plot points and events

• Zhou Fan is caught in a web trap by a masked assassin, but calmly uses his Sharingan to place the attacker under Genjutsu. The illusion makes the assassin believe he is the one bound.
• As Zhou Fan tries to interrogate him, a second masked man throws a knife that kills the first assassin.
• Zhou Fan confronts the second attacker, who proves stronger than his companion. They exchange water-based techniques, including competing water dragons.
• Realizing Zhou Fan is more powerful than expected, the assassin creates a mist screen and attempts to escape. Zhou Fan catches him using the Body Flicker Technique and subdues him with the Sharingan.
• Under Genjutsu, the assassin reveals that he belongs to the Jashin Cult, a bounty organization whose members take assassination missions through an intermediary and do not know who hired them.
• Before he can disclose the organization’s base, the assassin abruptly coughs up blood and dies, leaving Zhou Fan without the information needed to pursue the organization directly.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan remains composed under attack and demonstrates the Sharingan’s ability to control and interrogate opponents. His confidence is tempered by frustration when the final captive dies before revealing the organization’s location.
• The first assassin refuses to talk but is killed by his own teammate, who considers failed operatives expendable.
• The second assassin is more capable and ruthless. He fights Zhou Fan, then tries to flee once he recognizes the mismatch in strength, but ultimately becomes a helpless source of information under Genjutsu.
• The confrontation highlights Zhou Fan’s tactical advantage: he combines deception, speed, and powerful water techniques to outmaneuver both attackers.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and anonymity: The bounty organization shields its clients from the assassins carrying out their orders.
• Ruthlessness and expendability: The second assassin kills his teammate without hesitation, reflecting the organization’s harsh rules.
• Power and control: Zhou Fan’s Sharingan lets him dominate the encounter psychologically as well as physically.
• Unresolved mystery: The identity of the person who placed the bounty—and the organization’s location—remain unknown.

Key plot points and events

• After Zhou Fan defeats two would-be assassins, one dies suddenly after apparently triggering a restriction that kills anyone who reveals the organization’s base. Zhou Fan learns they belong to the Jashin Cult, a bounty group hired to capture him; the client’s identity remains unknown.
• Wang Yiyi and the students discover the bodies. Zhou Fan explains what happened and suspects the bounty may be connected to She Wan, though he has no proof.
• The next morning, Principal Zheng says the Jashin Cult is a recent group whose members worship “Lord Jashin” and believe they can become immortal. Many have died fighting mutant beasts.
• Zheng reports that the Cult has been active near the Devil Forest, west of the city. Zhou Fan decides to investigate, and Zhao Qiu insists on joining him. They leave despite Wang Yiyi’s suggestion that they seek backup from the school’s Execution Department.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan is curious and determined to identify who placed the bounty, but remains composed after the attack. Once he learns the Cult’s likely whereabouts, he acts rather than wait.
• Zhao Qiu’s comic manner gives way to fierce loyalty: he volunteers to accompany Zhou Fan, despite being less powerful, and Zhou Fan warmly calls him a true brother.
• Wang Yiyi is cautious and responsible, urging them to get support, while Principal Zheng provides background and a lead.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and friendship: Zhao Qiu risks danger to stand by Zhou Fan.
• Fanaticism and false promises: The Cult’s claim of immortality draws followers to their deaths.
• Secrecy and danger: The fatal restriction protecting the Cult’s base hints that it is more threatening—and more organized—than its newness suggests.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Fan tells Zhao Qiu that Xia Qingran has approved his membership in their organization, Evening Bell. Zhao Qiu welcomes the news but jokes that the name sounds gloomy and suggests Zhou might eventually become its leader.
• The two travel to Devil Forest, a major hunting ground where organizations kill mutant beasts for valuable materials, especially Crystal Cores.
• They witness the Jashin Cult fighting a pack of beasts. Its members believe Lord Jashin grants them power: before becoming “immortal,” they lose their sense of pain, allowing them to fight through severe injuries. Several are nevertheless killed.
• The cult’s leader demonstrates his own immortality by surviving a beak piercing his heart and defeating many beasts with a scythe. He explains that immortality restores pain, which he claims helps believers remember who they are.
• The leader invites Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu to join. Zhou Fan declines, calling himself a good student who does not believe in evil cults.

Character developments

• Zhao Qiu shows unexpected ambition and optimism, joking that he could benefit if Zhou Fan rises to leadership.
• The Jashin Cult leader presents himself as both a powerful fighter and a persuasive preacher, using his abilities to reinforce his authority.
• Zhou Fan remains skeptical and cautious, refusing the cult’s offer.

Character interactions

• Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu banter about Evening Bell’s name and their prospects in the organization, then head to the forest together.
• The cult leader instructs and inspires his followers, who respond with intense devotion and praise.
• The leader directly recruits Zhou Fan and Zhao Qiu, but Zhou Fan rejects him.

Significant themes

• Faith and fanaticism: The cult’s followers treat Jashin’s supposed blessing as proof of divine favor, even when it leads them into deadly danger.
• Pain, identity, and sacrifice: The leader portrays pain as essential to remembering one’s identity, though his doctrine is presented alongside the cult’s reckless violence.
• Ambition and loyalty: Zhao Qiu’s joking support for Zhou Fan contrasts with the cult’s absolute devotion to its leader and god.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Fan confronts the Jashin Cult and asks its leader, Duan Fei, who put a bounty on him. The bounty is worth one million, which Zhou finds surprisingly low.
• Zhao Qiu takes on the cult members while Zhou fights Duan Fei.
• Zhou’s attacks—including fire techniques and a wooden spike through Duan’s chest—fail to stop him. Duan claims pain makes him stronger and seems to possess an immortal body.
• Zhou activates his Sharingan, becomes intrigued by Duan’s abilities, and considers recruiting him, while continuing to test his strength.
• Duan lands a cut on Zhou with his chained scythe, then performs a blood ritual: he draws a symbol, licks blood from his weapon, turns glossy black, and stabs himself in the heart. The chapter ends before the ritual’s effect is shown.

Character developments

• Zhou Fan is practical and controlled in combat, initially holding back to keep Duan alive for questioning. His curiosity grows when Duan proves unusually durable, and he begins considering him as a potential recruit.
• Duan Fei is revealed as a fanatical, pain-seeking fighter who trusts his apparent immortality and relies on relentless close combat. His ritual suggests he has another, more dangerous ability.
• Zhao Qiu shows initiative and confidence by volunteering to manage the cult’s followers, using his giant rolling form to scatter them.

Significant themes

• Faith and fanaticism: Duan treats criticism of the Jashin Cult as an insult to his god and fights in Jashin’s name.
• Pain, endurance, and power: Duan’s willingness to absorb injuries—and apparent ability to survive them—defines his fighting style.
• Pragmatism versus zealotry: Zhou seeks information and evaluates Duan’s usefulness, while Duan is driven by devotion and the thrill of pain.

Character interactions

• Zhou questions Duan about the bounty, but Duan insists they fight first.
• Zhao protects Zhou’s chance to face the leader by taking on the cult members himself.
• Zhou and Duan trade attacks, with Zhou dodging and testing him while Duan taunts him and tries to turn injury into an advantage.

Plot points

• Duan Fei stabs himself to activate his curse, but Zhou Fan reveals that the apparent attack happened inside a Sharingan genjutsu. Zhou infers that Duan’s power resembles Hidan’s: an apparently immortal body and the ability to redirect his own injuries onto a cursed target.
• Zhou restrains Duan with Wood Release, while Zhao Qiu defeats the Jashin Cult’s followers. Zhou uses genjutsu to question Duan about the bounty on him; Duan only knows that an unknown person offered two million to capture Zhou alive and promised to meet them afterward.
• Zhou offers Duan a choice: join his organization or face a fate that could leave him helplessly trapped or eaten despite his immortality. Duan agrees to consider joining and explains that Esper universities rejected him for his cult activities.
• Duan’s account reveals that he tried to recruit students—including the principal’s young daughter—with disturbing talk about painful and pleasurable experiences. Zhou and Zhao recognize why the schools expelled him.
• Zhou asks whether Duan has killed innocent people or made human sacrifices. Duan says he has sacrificed only the flesh and blood of powerful mutant beasts.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan demonstrates that he can outwit Duan with genjutsu and contain him physically. He wants Duan’s unusual ability, but makes clear that recruitment depends partly on whether Duan has harmed innocents.
• Duan Fei shifts from confident, fanatical aggressor to a captive weighing the consequences of refusing Zhou. He is socially inappropriate and convinced his religious behavior is harmless, yet claims not to have killed people.
• Zhao Qiu helps subdue the cultists, then shares Zhou’s disappointment at the lack of useful information about the bounty and his shock at Duan’s story.

Significant themes

• Power versus vulnerability: Duan’s immortality does not protect him from restraint, dismemberment, or being trapped.
• Deception and control: Zhou defeats Duan by manipulating his perception rather than meeting his curse head-on.
• Recruitment and moral limits: Zhou seeks to use Duan’s talent but first checks whether his practices cross a line.
• Fanaticism and social consequences: Duan sees his proselytizing as innocent, while others view it as alarming and unacceptable.

Plot points and events

• Zhou Fan confirms that Duan Fei has never killed a person and accepts him into the organization, despite their recent fight. Duan Fei agrees reluctantly, but insists he will continue worshipping Jashin and making offerings.
• Zhao Qiu worries that Duan Fei cannot be trusted because Jashin Cult members once tried to assassinate Zhou Fan. Zhou Fan explains that his Genjutsu revealed someone else had ordered the attack; the cult members were hired for the job, and Duan Fei was not involved. Zhao remains cautious but accepts Zhou Fan’s decision.
• The three head back to Xinghai University on a mutant beast Zhou Fan controls with Genjutsu.
• On the way, Zhou Fan asks how Duan Fei gained his immortal body. Duan Fei says Jashin saved him after he fell into a cave as a child, giving him some of his flesh and blood. Duan Fei recalls Jashin having six eyes and says he makes offerings by killing mutant beasts through a curse ritual.
• Duan Fei says he later returned to the cave but Jashin was gone. Zhou Fan begins to wonder whether the god is real, while Zhao dismisses Duan Fei as possibly delusional.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhou Fan shows that he values ability but also has limits: he will recruit Duan Fei, but not someone who kills indiscriminately. He trusts his own investigation and sees Duan Fei as simple and manageable.
• Duan Fei is revealed to be devoted to Jashin out of gratitude, not a desire to kill people. He remains sincere and fervent in his beliefs, even when others question them.
• Zhao Qiu acts as the cautious voice, raising concerns about trust and past conflict. Though unconvinced by Duan Fei’s claims, he defers to Zhou Fan’s judgment.
• Zhou Fan and Zhao discuss whether Duan Fei’s beliefs make him dangerous; Zhou ultimately defends the value of having purpose, even if others see someone as strange or irrational.

Significant themes

• Trust and judgment: Zhou Fan distinguishes Duan Fei from the cult members involved in the assassination attempt, choosing to assess him individually.
• Faith and the unknown: Duan Fei’s account raises the possibility that gods or forces beyond ordinary superpowers exist.
• Purpose and meaning: Zhou Fan argues that pursuing a goal can make life meaningful, even if others regard that pursuit as madness.