Chapter Summaries

Li Chen tested Wu Ding’s Thunder Dao talisman treasure and saw how its power could fuel a new Mechanism Device. He planned a swarm of Floating Balls controlled by an Auxiliary Brain, deciding to implant the device in himself.

• Li Chen used the talisman treasure’s impact and continuous-discharge modes, and Wu Ding warned him that its full power could destroy the storeroom.
• Wu Ding gave Li Chen the Foundation Establishment treasure, which Li Chen stored in his ancestral aperture and considered adapting for Mechanism Devices.
• Li Chen planned to refine Floating Balls from parts of his Flying Claws and use the treasure as their power source.
• Li Chen reconsidered the Floating Ball’s Puppet Core and devised a swarm controlled through sensing components and a shared dedicated core.
• Li Chen decided to perform a craniotomy on himself and implant an Auxiliary Brain to handle the swarm’s computations.

Li Chen explored how an Auxiliary Brain could offload calculations without replacing the self, then modified Worker Bee One into a wearable core and loaded his Dominator system onto it. The chapter ended with the dragon-scale-like Auxiliary Brain ready for use.

• Li Chen considered how emotion, memory, and consciousness shaped the self, and why altering them was far riskier than ordinary bodily changes.
• Li Chen reasoned that external tools such as writing and calculators already acted as auxiliary brains, and concluded that his divine sense could make human-machine interaction practical.
• On the third day of the ninth month, Li Chen sealed the storeroom and began modifying Worker Bee One for use as an Auxiliary Brain.
• Li Chen loaded Dominator, the management system for Worker Bee and the foundation for cloud computing and the Swarm of Bees Technique, onto the core.
• Li Chen removed the core's casing, trimmed it, and repackaged its essential components into a thin, dragon-scale-like Auxiliary Brain.

Li Chen implanted the Auxiliary Brain in his skull, then tested his eight Floating Balls with He Ran and Wu Ding. The test showed that their magnetic force made them extremely difficult to catch.

• Li Chen used his Keen Warrior body to install the Auxiliary Brain in the back of his skull, reinforced the bone, and reattached his head.
• Li Chen took He Ran and Wu Ding outside and demonstrated the Floating Balls, using them to destroy a tree with a chain of lightning.
• Li Chen explained that Magic Power threads and magnetic attraction linked the eight Floating Balls, disguising which one held the Talisman Treasure.
• He Ran tried to grab a Floating Ball, but a repulsive force field pushed it away.
• Wu Ding tested the Floating Balls and realized their surfaces were wrapped in magnetic force, making them impossible to catch.

Li Chen demonstrated three ways to wield the Nine Heavens Divine Thunder Talisman, impressing He Ran and Wu Ding with its destructive power. He revealed that he was developing a fourth technique called “Thunder Dragon Spits Its Core,” but had not yet mastered how it worked.

• Li Chen explained how his Floating Gold Balls used repulsive shields and Law Threads, then demonstrated the Thunder Whip by smashing a boulder and gouging a tree.
• Li Chen arranged the balls into a ring and unleashed Thunderstorm Barrage, scattering conductive mercury slurry across the forest and scorching the ground.
• Li Chen focused the talisman's power into a bolt of Nine Heavens Divine Thunder that split and ignited a large tree, then explained its threat to metal puppets.
• Wu Ding praised Li Chen's techniques and urged him to decipher the talisman, while Li Chen said he was still investigating its principles.
• Li Chen named his unfinished fourth technique Thunder Dragon Spits Its Core, and He Ran and Wu Ding mistook it for a dangerous method of expelling an inner core.

Li Chen considered ways to make an electromagnetic cannon effective against cultivators and decided to seek income at the Black Market by offering Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting. He arrived with He Ran and Wu Ding, where the innkeeper greeted them as honored guests.

• Li Chen reasoned that Silk-Threading Art or special spirit materials could help electromagnetic cannon projectiles pierce Gang Essence, though he still needed to find suitable materials and funding.
• Li Chen proposed visiting the Black Market with He Ran and Wu Ding to look for ways to earn money and told Wu Ding to conceal his past identity.
• Li Chen explained that he would use Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting to make money, relying on the Creation Sect's authorization and his Foundation Establishment status.
• The three entered the Black Market inn, where the innkeeper came out and welcomed them as honored guests.

Li Chen opened a painted-skin and body-reshaping business in the Black Market after securing approval from You Renzhi and President Ye. His first major customer asked him to transform a fierce-looking man into a woman from head to toe.

• Li Chen and Wu Ding persuaded the Black Market innkeeper to consider hosting Li Chen’s skin-painting business, and You Renzhi and President Ye approved it under the market’s tax rules.
• Li Chen finalized arrangements to sell painted skins and provide reshaping and beautification services in the Black Market.
• Customers began visiting Li Chen’s new business, though most only wanted to buy painted skins.
• A middle-aged Rogue Cultivator asked Li Chen to transform his entire body into a woman’s body, prompting Wu Ding to laugh and He Ran to regard the request suspiciously.

Li Chen transformed Old Wu into a convincing woman with his extraordinary skin-painting skill, stunning the city's Skin-Painters. They admitted they could not compete and decided to ask Elder Lan to deal with the new rival.

• Li Chen explained the costs of Old Wu's painted skin, and Old Wu chose the cheapest reversible option.
• Li Chen applied a painted skin that made Old Wu look like a voluptuous middle-aged woman, while warning that some features could not be concealed.
• The city's Skin-Painters watched Old Wu emerge and examined the transformation, realizing Li Chen's skill far surpassed theirs.
• The Skin-Painters gave up on competing and decided to ask Elder Lan to intervene.

Li Chen met Lan Boyuan, resolved a conflict over the local painted-skin market by joining the Skin-Painting Guild, and prepared to make an identity Command Token. The guild soon referred Madam Liu, the city lord's wealthy principal wife, to him for cosmetic procedures.

• Lan Boyuan visited Li Chen and offered to nominate him for membership in the city's Skin-Painting Guild and as a central guild director.
• Li Chen agreed to join the guild and said he would buy moonstone to make an identity Command Token.
• Li Chen explained to Wu Ding that Lan Boyuan had yielded to draw him into the guild, and decided to accept the invitation.
• The guild referred Madam Liu to Li Chen, and she offered a hundred thousand talisman coins for him to restore her youth and beauty.
• Li Chen accepted Madam Liu as a client and promised to do his utmost.

Li Chen reshaped Madam Liu into a refined beauty while preserving her original features, and she paid him generously for his work. Her explanation revealed that Elder Lan and the city's Skin-Painting Guild had helped fund the procedure.

• Li Chen agreed to beautify Madam Liu and spent the afternoon planning her new appearance with her.
• Li Chen delayed the procedure for several days and made plaster busts to showcase his painstaking preparation.
• Li Chen performed the Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting alterations at the Black Market inn, and Madam Liu recognized herself in the mirror.
• Madam Liu praised Li Chen's craftsmanship and paid him one hundred and fifty thousand Talisman Coins.
• Madam Liu told Li Chen that Elder Lan had recommended him and the city's Skin-Painting Guild had covered half the expense.

Li Chen’s transformation of Madam Liu made his name spread through Suyang City and brought him a surge of cosmetic commissions. Lan Boyuan then delivered an invitation for Li Chen to attend a banquet hosted by Feng Mingzhu, where two other Foundation Establishment experts would also be present.

• A tavern waiter told Demon Hunters that Li Chen, a Foundation Establishment Master Artisan, had restored Madam Liu’s beauty.
• Lan Boyuan spread Li Chen’s name across Suyang City, and Li Chen completed several transformations that earned him more than ten thousand Talisman Coins.
• Wu Ding assisted Li Chen and asked him to make his disguised appearance more handsome next time.
• Lan Boyuan brought Li Chen an invitation from Feng Mingzhu to a banquet at the Feng Household the following day.

Li Chen attended Feng Mingzhu’s gathering at the Feng Residence, where the aging city lord welcomed him and introduced him to other Foundation Establishment figures. The gathering began with Li Chen meeting the local power players, including the lords of Windward Island and Qishan Valley.

• Li Chen asked Lan Boyuan to arrange an introduction to Feng Mingzhu, and Feng Mingzhu invited him to a gathering.
• Li Chen brought Wu Ding to the Feng Residence, where Feng Mingzhu greeted them with a lavish reception.
• Li Chen exchanged formal greetings with Feng Mingzhu, whose advanced age and declining condition were evident.
• Feng Mingzhu introduced Li Chen to Fu Wei, lord of Windward Island.
• Feng Mingzhu introduced Qi Yuetian, master of Qishan Valley, who attended inside a Black Scorpion Puppet after suppressing a beast tide.

Li Chen attended a banquet hosted by Feng Mingzhu, where he met local Foundation Establishment cultivators and studied their unusual techniques and modifications. The gathering ended with him recognizing that powerful cultivators used many strange methods to enhance themselves.

• Li Chen examined Qi Yuetian’s Black Scorpion puppet and considered upgrading his Armored Warrior designs with refined gold and floating gold.
• Feng Mingzhu introduced Li Chen to You Renzhi and other prominent cultivators, including clan patriarchs, guild leaders, and Madam Liu.
• Feng Mingzhu seated Li Chen beside himself as the guest of honor at a lavish banquet featuring spiritual foods and medicinal pills.
• You Renzhi drank through a modified palm, and Qi Yuetian’s Black Scorpion puppet sucked wine into its mouth.
• Li Chen drank the spiritual wine through his Keen Warrior body and reflected on the strange enhancements he would encounter among powerful cultivators.

At Feng Mingzhu’s banquet, Li Chen explained the Dao of Painted Skin through human aesthetics and the uncanny valley effect, impressing the gathered Foundation Establishment cultivators. Feng Mingzhu then invited You Renzhi to discuss the Cosmic Dao, and Li Chen listened attentively.

• Feng Mingzhu proposed that the guests compare their Dao Paths and share what they had learned.
• You Renzhi, Fu Wei, and Qi Yuetian asked Li Chen to explain the Dao of Painted Skin.
• Li Chen described why humanlike forms gained recognition and explained how the uncanny valley shaped people’s reactions to imitations and beings unlike ordinary humans.
• The guests praised Li Chen’s explanation and connected it to eerie humanoid puppets and accounts in the Complete Book of the Puppet Master Order.
• Feng Mingzhu invited You Renzhi to explain the Cosmic Dao, and Li Chen focused his attention on the discussion.

Li Chen listened to Feng Mingzhu explain the principles behind Divine Ability Mechanism Devices and asked to study the craft. Feng Mingzhu agreed to an exchange, leaving Li Chen to find a method of equivalent value.

• Li Chen listened as Fu Wei and Qi Yuetian described biological modification and the Poison Dao, and considered trading techniques with the Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Feng Mingzhu explained how Divine Ability Mechanism Devices worked, prompting Li Chen to recognize their similarities to magic arrays and his rune script.
• After the lecture, Li Chen asked Feng Mingzhu for treatises or instructional texts about Divine Ability Mechanism Devices.
• Feng Mingzhu explained the Array Dao foundation required and shared that he had mastered only three schematics inherited from his master.
• Li Chen insisted on studying the craft, and Feng Mingzhu said he would exchange methods of equivalent value.

Feng Mingzhu offered Li Chen a choice between trading the String-Puppet Theater technique and serving as an attendant elder for the Feng Household. Li Chen distrusted the risks tied to the household’s looming succession struggle, asked for time to consider, and left with study materials from Feng Mingzhu.

• Li Chen considered whether he could properly teach the String-Puppet Theater technique in exchange for the Feng Household’s offer.
• Feng Mingzhu offered Li Chen techniques and cultivation provisions if he would serve as an attendant elder and protect the Feng Household after Feng Mingzhu’s death.
• Li Chen weighed the offer against the likely struggle over Suyang City and resolved inwardly not to trust Feng Mingzhu’s promises.
• Li Chen told Feng Mingzhu he needed time to think, and Feng Mingzhu offered him general materials to study.

Li Chen weighed Feng Mingzhu’s offer to become an Attendant and examined the Array Dao materials Feng had given him. At the gathering, Qi Yuetian commissioned Li Chen to paint his ruined face and revealed that he hoped Water of Time could keep the painted skin from corroding.

• Li Chen returned to the front courtyard, where Wu Ding warned him to be wary of Feng Mingzhu’s offer and advised him to cultivate an aloof image while raising his worth.
• Li Chen realized Feng Household descendants might be easier to negotiate with than Feng Mingzhu and examined the Array Dao materials, finding that they mostly expanded on Qi Refining knowledge he already knew.
• Wu Ding told Li Chen that Qi Yuetian, the master of Qishan Valley, was approaching in a Black Scorpion Puppet.
• Qi Yuetian asked Li Chen to paint his ruined face, explaining that previous attempts had been corroded away by an extraordinary poison.
• Qi Yuetian revealed that he had obtained Water of Time and hoped its Temporal Dao laws could permanently preserve the painted skin, and Li Chen understood his plan.

After settling into the Skin-Painting Guild’s residence, Li Chen discussed Suyang City’s political order and chose to focus on a concrete commission from Qishan Valley’s master. Qi Yuetian visited that night to arrange the skin-painting, but asked Li Chen to travel to Qishan Valley because his actual body was there.

• Li Chen returned to the residence provided by the Skin-Painting Guild, where He Ran asked about the Foundation Establishment Gathering and Wu Ding mentioned Feng Mingzhu’s proposed attendant position.
• He Ran and Li Chen discussed how the Creation Sect oversaw the City-State Alliance and local power struggles, while Li Chen judged Feng Mingzhu’s interest premature and prioritized his existing commission.
• Li Chen agreed with He Ran that completing the Qishan Valley master’s commission could build ties with local Foundation Establishment cultivators.
• Qi Yuetian arrived at Li Chen’s courtyard on his Black Scorpion Puppet and asked whether Li Chen could use the Water of Time to preserve the changes made by Skin-Painting Art.
• Li Chen confirmed he could perform the art for a hundred thousand, but Qi Yuetian asked him to come to Qishan Valley because his actual body was there.

Li Chen accepted Qi Yuetian’s invitation and traveled with him to Qishan Valley, where he discovered a secluded settlement devoted to raising insects and plants. After waiting in Qi Yuetian’s courtyard, Li Chen finally met the Valley Master’s true body: a masked woman.

• Li Chen agreed to visit Qishan Valley with Qi Yuetian despite Wu Ding’s warning, and he told Old Wu to watch over the residence.
• Li Chen and Qi Yuetian flew through the night while Li Chen asked about Qishan Valley and learned about the Suyang region.
• Qi Yuetian led Li Chen to a secluded valley filled with houses, cultivated insects and plants, and a deep chasm emitting demonic baleful energy.
• Qi Yuetian welcomed Li Chen into his courtyard, instructed a middle-aged couple to prepare food, and went to fetch his true body.
• A fragrant breeze reached Li Chen as Qi Yuetian’s true body appeared before him as a masked woman.

Li Chen used Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting and the Water of Time to restore Qi Yuetian’s appearance. After Qi Yuetian rejoiced at his transformation, Li Chen asked about Qishan Valley’s history.

• Li Chen examined Qi Yuetian’s ruined face and hands, then learned how he planned to use the Water of Time to preserve the transformation.
• Li Chen tested the technique on Qi Yuetian’s hands, then painted the skin over his submerged body in the bath.
• Qi Yuetian absorbed the Water of Time and emerged with the appearance of a beautiful woman.
• Qi Yuetian celebrated his recovery and grew warmer toward Li Chen.
• Li Chen asked Qi Yuetian about the history of Qishan Valley.

Li Chen learned from Qi Yuetian about wildsteads, blessed lands, and the Black Market’s services before leaving Qishan Valley with a gift of Black Scorpions. Back in Suyang City, He Ran and Wu Ding told him that Yunshan Valley’s allies had turned on Luo Changshan after he called them for help.

• Qi Yuetian explained that Qishan Valley was an insect-filled resource site and described how cultivators established wildsteads and joined the City-State Alliance.
• Li Chen toured Qi Yuetian’s herb garden and Insect Pool, then discussed the relative value and legal protections of wildsteads and blessed lands.
• Qi Yuetian paid Li Chen for the Painted Skin modification and gave him more than ten jin of Black Scorpions, inviting him to try his cooking later.
• Li Chen returned to Suyang City, where He Ran and Wu Ding told him that people from Yunshan Valley had arrived.
• Wu Ding explained that Luo Changshan had called for help after Li Chen’s ambush, but the rescuers had turned against him.