Chapter Summaries

Skinny Monkey tried to recruit Chu Sheng into the Unity Convoy by promising him resources and revenge against his supposed bullies. Chu Sheng agreed to join, but remained unsure when Skinny Monkey proposed attacking Captain Hui and An Xi.

• The Unity Convoy arrived, and its burly leader greeted Captain Hui while claiming a sacrificial item had restored his lost sense of taste.
• Skinny Monkey approached Chu Sheng and assumed An Xi and Captain Hui mistreated him based on his prophecy.
• Skinny Monkey offered Chu Sheng the Unity Convoy’s supernatural materials and promised he would not be bullied.
• Chu Sheng claimed his Sequence could turn supernatural materials into weapons and said his convoy had made him repay them for unsuccessful results.
• Chu Sheng agreed to join the Unity Convoy, and Skinny Monkey suggested they take revenge on Captain Hui and An Xi.
• Chu Sheng hesitated and asked whether attacking them would really be right.

Chu Sheng and An Xi launched a surprise attack on Skinny Monkey, Brawny Man, and Third Brother after Chu Sheng tricked Skinny Monkey into meeting his gaze. Brawny Man fled toward the Anomaly Realm as Chu Sheng and An Xi battered the Pickup Truck and pursued him.

• Chu Sheng pretended to resent An Xi, Captain Hui, and the others, then used Human Eyes, Cat Pupils to stun Skinny Monkey and slash his throat with the Butcher.
• Captain Hui wounded Brawny Man and ran toward Zhu Qing, while An Xi attacked Third Brother and forced him to dodge into the ground.
• Chu Sheng used a psychic attack on Brawny Man and summoned the Butcher, which shielded him from Brawny Man's Flame Bombardment before vanishing after five slashes.
• Brawny Man fled for the Pickup Truck, but the Butcher's wounds and Chu Sheng's Red Celebration Arrow struck him as he escaped.
• Third Brother tried to reach the Pickup Truck but ran off when An Xi and Chu Sheng attacked it with spear rays and arrows.
• Brawny Man jumped from the damaged Pickup Truck and ran toward the Anomaly Realm.

Zhu Qing, An Xi, and Chu Sheng defeated the ambushers and killed the burly man and Third Brother. After the group welcomed the rescued survivors and counted the captured supplies, Chu Sheng examined a telescoping steel rod and learned the price of using it.

• Zhu Qing chased down the burly man while An Xi blasted him with her Geng Metal Spear, and Zhu Qing stomped him into a puddle of flesh.
• Chu Sheng struck Third Brother with a mental hammer, allowing Zhu Qing to crush him in his grip.
• Chu Sheng returned to the convoy and told Captain Hui that the burly man was dead and reminded him not to hide the supernatural materials.
• Captain Hui and An Xi agreed to let the survivors join the convoy.
• The group counted two sacrificial items, twelve supernatural materials, and other supplies, then Chu Sheng examined a Telescoping Steel Rod and read its use price.

Chu Sheng and the others divided the supernatural materials, sacrificial items, and ordinary supplies from the defeated convoy. After learning that the enemy convoy may have killed its Guide, Chu Sheng returned to the Netherbone Car and prepared to experiment with his new materials, focusing on an unusual basin of water.

• Chu Sheng and the others inspected the Retractable Steel Baton and Black Tongue, then agreed to divide the special items among those who had fought and share the remaining supplies.
• Chu Sheng claimed first pick based on his battle contributions, taking a black backpack, Rubik's Cube, basin of water, and green eyes; An Xi, Zhu Qing, and Captain Hui chose after him.
• Chu Sheng took the pistol and seventy rounds while the others divided the food, gasoline, cigarettes, and other supplies.
• Chu Sheng explained that the defeated convoy had no Guide, and Captain Hui reasoned that its members had probably killed their Guide rather than lost one by accident.
• Chu Sheng returned to the Netherbone Car, examined the basin that held water without spilling, and fetched a Little Yellow Gourd after considering how the two might relate.

Chu Sheng fused several supernatural materials into powerful upgrades for himself and the Netherbone Car, including endless purified water, a transforming machine gun, expanded storage, and enhanced eyes. An Xi arrived with two more supernatural materials to give him, but froze when he asked whether she had washed herself clean.

• Chu Sheng fused the ornamental gourd with supernatural water to create the Purifying Gourd, which produced endless water and could cleanse wounds and remove curses.
• Chu Sheng fused a puzzle cube with his pistol to create a firearm that transformed into a machine gun and generated ammunition, then mounted it on the Netherbone Car’s roof.
• Chu Sheng fused a backpack with the car’s cargo compartment to create an interdimensional storage space, raising the Netherbone Car’s ranking to 2912.
• Chu Sheng fused green eyes from an Anomaly Eagle with his Cat Pupils, gaining enhanced vision and the ability to detect Anomalies within one kilometer.
• Chu Sheng set aside the Mourning Clothes when An Xi arrived with two supernatural materials, then asked whether she had washed herself clean.

Chu Sheng fused supernatural materials into cat ears that restored A Xin’s hearing, and An Xi brought them back to her. A Xin’s new ears proved unusually sensitive, and she teased An Xi about her hidden interest in Chu Sheng’s services.

• An Xi asked Chu Sheng to fuse cat ears and flesh into a hearing-restoring sacrificial item, and he made the Pure White Cat Ears.
• An Xi gave the cat ears to A Xin, who put them on and immediately regained her hearing.
• An Xi touched A Xin’s cat ears, causing A Xin to become weak and flustered from their sensitivity.
• A Xin teased An Xi about wanting Chu Sheng’s other services, while An Xi denied having a secret as her tiger ears stood upright.

Chu Sheng upgraded Captain Hui’s glasses and Zhu Qing’s telescoping baton into sacrificial items, then redesigned and upgraded the Netherbone Car. The chapter ended with Chu Sheng exploring the vehicle’s new interior and roof access.

• An Xi teased A Xin by pinching her cat ears, and A Xin fought back by reaching for An Xi’s ears.
• Captain Hui had Chu Sheng fuse two pairs of glasses into Clear-Sight Glasses, which could reveal energy flow and structural weaknesses but caused mental corruption when used.
• Zhu Qing had Chu Sheng fuse snake materials into a telescoping steel baton, creating the Snake-Whip Staff with extendable, whip-like, and self-repairing abilities.
• Captain Hui warned Chu Sheng that the energy flow in his eyes was conspicuous, then left to check on the survivors.
• Chu Sheng used 89,000 survival points to upgrade and redesign the Netherbone Car, raising the cab, turning the rear seats into a bed, and adding steps to the roof hatch.

Chu Sheng realized that his upgrade ability was part of the Heavenly Craftsman Sequence and that using it consumed Survival Points, leaving him with only seven hundred. When Gu Hao, Liu Ruyan, and Jiang Yancheng asked him to fuse a Sacrificial Item from their single supernatural lighter, Chu Sheng demanded a second material as payment; after Jiang Yancheng insulted and threatened to report him, Chu Sheng stopped them from leaving.

• Captain Hui laid out the convoy’s rules for its survivors and said Chu Sheng could fuse supernatural materials into Sacrificial Items.
• Gu Hao, Liu Ruyan, and Jiang Yancheng decided to bring a lighter they had found to Chu Sheng for fusion.
• Chu Sheng spent most of his Survival Points upgrading the vehicle and Gourd, then realized his upgrade ability belonged to the Heavenly Craftsman Sequence and required Survival Points.
• Chu Sheng confirmed that Gu Hao’s lighter was supernatural and said he needed a second material as payment for making a Sacrificial Item.
• Jiang Yancheng accused Chu Sheng of disobeying Captain Hui and threatened to report him, so Liu Ruyan tried to pull him away.
• Chu Sheng ordered the three to stop, refusing to let them leave after Jiang Yancheng insulted him.

Chu Sheng killed Liu Ruyan, Jiang Yancheng, and Gu Hao after they provoked him and tried to shield one another. The convoy resumed its journey, with Chu Sheng practicing archery from his vehicle.

• Liu Ruyan blamed Gu Hao for bringing her and Jiang Yancheng to Chu Sheng, but Chu Sheng accused them of taking him for a fool and drew his Butcher Knife.
• Chu Sheng slashed Liu Ruyan, killed Jiang Yancheng, and then killed Gu Hao after Gu Hao confronted him over Liu Ruyan's death.
• Zhu Qing warned his new lackey not to provoke Chu Sheng, while the other convoy survivors watched and criticized the dead trio.
• After Cheng Xue announced the convoy's departure, Captain Hui led the vehicles, followed by Chu Sheng and the others.
• Chu Sheng practiced archery from the rear window while the Butcher drove according to his order to follow the vehicle ahead.

As the convoy endured unprecedented heat, Captain Hui divined that the extreme weather would continue forever and learned that other convoys had suffered deadly hail. Chu Sheng offered water from his Purifying Gourd in exchange for supernatural materials, leaving An Xi angry at his per-person price.

• Chu Sheng and the convoy struggled through the heat, while An Xi and A Xin stayed cool in their air-conditioned vehicle.
• Captain Hui stopped the convoy and revealed that his divination predicted the heat would never end.
• Captain Hui said other convoys had encountered severe weather, including hail that killed more than half their survivors.
• Chu Sheng offered an endless water supply from his Purifying Gourd in exchange for supernatural materials.
• Zhu Qing traded a cat rib for water, and An Xi and A Xin each gave Chu Sheng a material for their own water supply.
• An Xi called Chu Sheng cold-hearted for charging her and A Xin separately, but he defended his price.

Chu Sheng traded water for supernatural materials and Old Man Li’s Peashooter pea, then demonstrated that his purified water could cool the body, cleanse wounds, and remove curses. As the survivors learned the heat would continue, they faced hard choices about conserving food and trading for water.

• Captain Hui traded his last supernatural material to Chu Sheng for water, while Old Man Li gave Chu Sheng a pea that could grow into a fighting plant or explode when thrown.
• Chu Sheng showed An Xi that purified water relieved the heat and explained its ability to cleanse wounds and remove curses.
• Chu Sheng filled four water jugs and offered survivors water in exchange for supernatural materials, rare goods, or food.
• Captain Hui told Cheng Xue to inform the survivors that they would rest and leave at nine the next morning, and to warn them to conserve water.
• Cheng Xue told Wu Meng about the water’s effects, while Wu Meng worried that her group’s food might not last through the extreme heat.

Chu Sheng upgraded the Netherbone Car, improving its abilities and adding an automatic machine-gun attack. As survivors endured the extreme heat and rationed water, Captain Hui passed Cheng Xue a strange rumor he had to spread, leaving her struggling with whether to tell her friends.

• Chu Sheng fused supernatural materials and a pea into the Netherbone Car, upgrading its self-repair, speed, engine, ghostfire, and machine gun.
• An Xi and A Xin decided to save one of their daily buckets of Chu Sheng’s water for other survivors while using the other themselves.
• Zhu Qing explained sacrificial items and sequence powers to Wang Ming as they drank purified water and discussed running their air conditioner.
• Captain Hui told Cheng Xue a bizarre rumor about a survivor from Sichuan Province who welcomed marble-sized hail, then pretended to sleep so she would pass it on.
• Cheng Xue went to Wu Meng and the others but hesitated to repeat the rumor, while Wu Meng invited her to eat and asked what was wrong.

Cheng Xue shared Captain Hui’s hint about sacrificial items’ prices, while Old Man Li gave Little Chen supernatural plants and explained how to use them. After the convoy resumed its journey through the extreme heat, Chu Sheng explained his vehicle’s unlimited power to Zhu Qing and spotted a skeleton while practicing with his bow.

• Cheng Xue told Wu Meng and the others that sacrificial items demanded strange prices, and Captain Hui praised her for understanding his hint.
• Captain Hui ate near-expired chicken legs and worried about securing the convoy’s food supply.
• Old Man Li explained that his truck contained a space-expanding sacrificial item and gave Little Chen an explosive chili and a shield-producing cucumber.
• The convoy set off the next morning, and Zhu Qing complained to Chu Sheng about being repeatedly woken by the heat and asked to use his vehicle’s air conditioning.
• Chu Sheng explained that the Netherbone Car and An Xi and A Xin’s vehicle could run their air conditioning without fuel, then practiced with his Red-and-White Bone Bow and spotted a skeleton.

Chu Sheng’s convoy encountered Lu Guan, a skeleton who claimed to be a human Sequence-powered superhuman of the White Bone Sequence. An Xi and Zhu Qing brought him back to the convoy, where Chu Sheng mistook him for an anomaly and prepared to experiment on him before Lu Guan spoke into everyone’s minds.

• Chu Sheng spotted a running skeleton and fired Red Celebration Arrows at it, while Captain Hui failed to divine what it was.
• Zhu Qing transformed and confronted the skeleton, who identified himself as Lu Guan and pleaded for the group to stop attacking him.
• An Xi flew in and hurled her Black Jade Bone Spear at Lu Guan, but she stopped attacking after realizing he was not mind-controlling Zhu Qing.
• An Xi ordered Zhu Qing to escort Lu Guan back to the convoy so the captain could deal with him.
• Chu Sheng welcomed Lu Guan as a live anomaly and sent the Butcher toward him, but Lu Guan spoke into everyone’s minds, startling Chu Sheng into raising a mental shield.

Lu Guan, a White Bone Sequence Adept who had wandered alone for three months, asked to join Chu Sheng’s convoy and was accepted after signing the Iron Hoop Contract. After the convoy prepared to move on, An Xi offered Chu Sheng two bones and demanded that he take off what he was wearing.

• Captain Hui confirmed that Lu Guan was a human White Bone Sequence Adept rather than an Anomaly, and Lu Guan explained that awakening had dissolved his flesh and left him stranded in the wasteland.
• Lu Guan asked to join the convoy, and Chu Sheng, Captain Hui, An Xi, A Xin, Zhu Qing, and Old Man Li agreed to let him join.
• Lu Guan signed Chu Sheng’s Iron Hoop Contract with his glowing finger bone, becoming its newest signatory.
• After the others dispersed, Zhu Qing invited Lu Guan into his vehicle while Chu Sheng returned to the Netherbone Car with An Xi.
• An Xi gave Chu Sheng two bones and told him to take off what he was wearing.

An Xi impulsively offered Chu Sheng two supernatural materials for an intimate encounter, but hesitated when she realized it might be her first time. Chu Sheng carried her to the Black-Heart Off-Road Vehicle, and afterward An Xi was embarrassed but considered returning to him that night as the convoy set off.

• An Xi brought Chu Sheng two supernatural materials and agreed to his offer, then backed out when he asked whether it was her first time because the Netherbone Car forbade blood.
• Chu Sheng pulled An Xi back inside, took the materials, and carried her to the Black-Heart Off-Road Vehicle while Zhu Qing, Lu Guan, and A Xin watched.
• Chu Sheng sent A Xin away on a false pretext, then used a psychic barrier to conceal the vehicle from the convoy.
• Afterward, A Xin teased the exhausted An Xi, who refused to share details but privately wondered whether she wanted to see Chu Sheng again.
• Chu Sheng said he had gained two supernatural materials without losing out, and Butcher drove the convoy onward.

The convoy debated whether to enter Fragrant City after Captain Hui divined that both entering and detouring were safe. Chu Sheng proposed using the Netherbone Car and A Xin’s ability to conceal their life force, with Lu Guan driving so the group could search for supernatural materials while disguised.

• Captain Hui told the Sequence Adepts that Fragrant City lay ahead and his divination showed no danger whether they entered or went around it.
• Lu Guan described Fragrant City’s persistent Anomalies and revealed that he had found supernatural materials there, prompting Chu Sheng to change his mind about exploring.
• Chu Sheng, An Xi, A Xin, Old Man Li, and Zhu Qing initially favored detouring, while Lu Guan was indifferent to either choice.
• Chu Sheng suggested the group hide in the Netherbone Car’s cargo compartment while Lu Guan drove, and A Xin concealed their life force near the city.

Chu Sheng led An Xi, A Xin, Zhu Qing, and Lu Guan toward Fragrant City to investigate why Anomalies remained there, while Captain Hui and Old Man Li stayed behind. As the Netherbone Car reached the city’s outskirts, Lu Guan drove it straight at an Eerie Spider.

• A Xin argued that the group should investigate Fragrant City because the Anomalies’ presence there was abnormal and understanding it could help humanity rebuild civilization.
• Chu Sheng agreed to take everyone who wanted to go, while Captain Hui and Old Man Li stayed behind and set a twelve-hour deadline for their return.
• An Xi, A Xin, Zhu Qing, and Lu Guan joined Chu Sheng in the Netherbone Car, and Lu Guan took the wheel for the trip.
• The Netherbone Car sped toward Fragrant City as the group found Chu Sheng’s large stockpile of food and supplies in its cargo compartment.
• Near the city’s outskirts, Lu Guan spotted a feather-covered Eerie Spider and accelerated toward it.

Lu Guan trapped the Eerie Spider with the Netherbone Car but was struck by its mental attack, forcing Chu Sheng and the others to intervene. They prepared to fight as the wounded anomaly broke free and Zhu Qing transformed into a thirteen-foot-tall giant.

• Lu Guan rammed the Eerie Spider with the Netherbone Car, whose spinning grinding wheel trapped and shredded it.
• Lu Guan attacked the Eerie Spider with ghostly blue flames, but its mental strike pierced his Mental Barrier and left him clutching his head.
• Chu Sheng summoned An Xi, Zhu Qing, and A Xin, who concealed their life energy within a two-hundred-meter area.
• Chu Sheng sent the Butcher after the Eerie Spider, and it severed one of the anomaly's legs before the creature broke free of the grinding wheel.
• Chu Sheng readied the Red-and-White Bone Bow, An Xi prepared her spear, and Zhu Qing transformed into a thirteen-foot-tall giant.

Chu Sheng and the others killed the Eerie Spider, divided its supernatural materials, and continued toward Fragrant City. As they neared the city, Chu Sheng felt an intense longing and sensed that his Heavenly Craftsman Sequence might advance there.

• Chu Sheng struck the Eerie Spider with a Red-and-White Arrow, and An Xi and Zhu Qing worked together to kill it while Lu Guan contributed little.
• Chu Sheng assigned the three supernatural materials among himself, An Xi, and Zhu Qing, while giving Lu Guan credit for half a material.
• The group returned to the Netherbone Car, and Lu Guan estimated they were a little over ten minutes from Fragrant City.
• As the Netherbone Car approached Fragrant City, Chu Sheng hid from the distant houses and felt his longing grow stronger, along with a sense that his Heavenly Craftsman Sequence would advance.