Chapter Summaries

Gu Zhe, the reincarnated son of Yuzhou’s richest man, celebrated the Gu Group’s Nasdaq listing and Zhou Linlin agreeing to be his girlfriend at Heaven on Earth. He vowed to love Linlin and planned to spend his life enjoying his family’s wealth.

• Gu Zhe arrived at Heaven on Earth with Zhou Linlin and his entourage, drawing the club’s attention and admiration.
• Gu Zhe announced that he would cover the night’s expenses to celebrate the Gu Group’s trillion-dollar listing and Linlin becoming his girlfriend.
• Gu Zhe and Linlin went to a private room, where she told him she had always liked him.
• Gu Zhe promised to love Linlin for the rest of his life and resolved to keep living as a pampered rich kid.

After Gu An told Gu Zhe that the family conglomerate had collapsed, Zhou Linlin and Gu Zhe’s friends abandoned him, and Heaven on Earth drained nearly all his prepaid balance. Gu Zhe left with only a hundred yuan and questioned whether any of his former relationships had been genuine.

• Gu An called Gu Zhe and explained that government seizures, collapsing investments, failed financing, and debt had left the family bankrupt.
• Gu An and Gu Zhe’s mother said they would live in part of a building in Feng County and arranged for Gu Zhe to take over his grandfather’s funeral supply shop at 49 Old Street, Stillheart Road, Yuzhou South District.
• Zhou Linlin rejected Gu Zhe, saying she had only teased him and that their zodiac signs were incompatible, then left after a call from her family.
• Gu Zhe’s friends made excuses and departed, with several mocking his reduced circumstances or reneging on their friendship.
• Gu Zhe tried to stop the group from charging him, but his cards had been frozen and Heaven on Earth left him with only a hundred yuan from his prepaid balance of over seven million.
• Gu Zhe left Heaven on Earth and reflected on his parents’ decision to return home and the loss of his supposed friends and soulmate.

After the Gu Family went bankrupt, Gu Zhe saw how his friends and classmates distanced themselves from him and took a taxi to Stillheart Road Old Street. The driver’s talk of a secret from ’99 stirred Gu Zhe’s suspicions that the world might be changing after all.

• Gu Zhe read messages and social media posts that exposed how his friends, classmates, and former romantic interests reacted to his family’s bankruptcy.
• Gu Zhe left his sports car and luxury homes behind and took a taxi to Stillheart Road Old Street, where he planned to seek shelter.
• The taxi driver joked that Gu Zhe looked like a male escort from Heaven on Earth and asked why he was going to the deserted street of funeral supply shops.
• The driver told Gu Zhe a legend about the Gu Family’s fortune and mentioned that his son said the secret from ’99 could no longer be kept.
• Gu Zhe considered whether the rumored changes in the world were connected to his family’s funeral business before arriving at Stillheart Road Old Street.

After losing his family’s wealth, Gu Zhe settled into his parents’ old shop and decided to make a living as a Paper Effigy Maker. When he paid respects to the founding master Lu Ban, his long-awaited Career System appeared and transformed his career into Esoteric Spacetime Paper Effigy Maker.

• Gu Zhe found his parents’ shop, cleaned it, and reassured them that he was settling in.
• Gu Zhe inspected the funeral supplies and recognized the tools and materials used by a Paper Effigy Maker.
• Gu Zhe called his father, who told him to use the technique books in the storeroom and observe the ritual of paying respects to the founding master.
• Gu Zhe offered incense and bowed to Lu Ban, then the Career System activated and mutated his career into Esoteric Spacetime Paper Effigy Maker.

Gu Zhe examined his system and discovered that his Mysterious Origami Craftsman talent could send burned paper offerings to their intended destinations in a Sacrificial Spirit Realm. He began teaching himself traditional paper crafts in his family’s shabby shop, leaving his supernatural ability and how to earn spirit points untested.

• Gu Zhe inspected his system panel and learned that his class talent, Ritual transmutation, could make burned paper offerings appear in places such as the Netherworld or Underworld.
• Gu Zhe discovered that upgrading his talent required one hundred million spirit points, despite having no skills or spirit points.
• Gu Zhe decided to start fresh as a funeral shop owner and wondered how his talent could benefit him and how he could obtain spirit points.
• Gu Zhe retrieved old paper-craft books from the storeroom and studied their instructions, supplementing them with online research and practice.
• Gu Zhe devoted his time to learning paper folding in the shop while keeping in touch with his parents and receiving his belongings and documents.

Gu Zhe spent a week learning origami, unlocked beginner crafting skills in his system, and opened his shop to the public. He posted about his return to the Gu family's old craft, then met a young neighbor who laughed at his creepy wares.

• Gu Zhe practiced making paper effigies, figures, and artifacts until the system recorded all three skills at beginner level.
• Gu Zhe discovered that each skill could be upgraded with spirit points, but he still had none.
• Gu Zhe posted photos of his creations and himself on Moments, drawing bemused comments and no replies from his former close friends.
• Gu Zhe opened his shop and met the young woman minding the neighboring convenience store.
• The young woman inspected Gu Zhe's crooked paper creations, questioned whether anyone would buy them, and complained that they might scare off customers.

Gu Zhe burned his first paper offerings and sensed their smoke drifting through a vast, directionless void, leaving him unsure whether an afterlife existed. After searching online, he found that the strange rumors all seemed to begin five years ago.

• Gu Zhe spent the day making paper offerings and got no customers for his shop.
• At dusk, Gu Zhe prepared to burn his creations while Zhaodi and her mother left, and the urn shop owner teased him about his craftsmanship.
• Gu Zhe offered incense and paper goods to his ancestors, then sensed a mysterious connection following the smoke through an endless void.
• Gu Zhe considered whether the underworld and his ancestors existed, or whether the dead vanished or reincarnated.
• Gu Zhe searched online forums and noticed that the strange rumors and stories all began five years ago.

Gu Zhe spent days running his funeral goods shop without making a sale while strange reports spread across the Supernatural Legends Forum and Liu Zhaodi grew closer to him. A mother and son finally entered his shop, and Gu Zhe used their purchase to test whether his supernatural offerings could reach the dead.

• Gu Zhe opened his shop for several days, recorded no revenue, and watched Liu Zhaodi visit, ask him about advanced mathematics, and start calling him Brother Gu.
• On the twelfth day, Liu Zhaodi accepted a paper effigy from Gu Zhe and fled in panic, while the Supernatural Legends Forum filled with reports of strange dreams and countries collecting blades.
• Gu Zhe learned that his parents could not return yet, then noticed the forum growing busier as reports of supernatural events and armed police carrying melee weapons spread.
• An elderly woman and her middle-aged son entered Gu Zhe's shop, criticized his crude paper offerings, and decided to buy some after he joked that they could help her dead husband stay faithful.
• Gu Zhe reflected that his earlier offering had failed because it lacked coordinates, and waited to see whether the new buyers' offerings could reach their intended recipients.

Qiu Jianguo drifted through the Netherworld, where ghosts struggled to survive, until a Paper Servant Effigy arrived through his family’s incense offerings and became his servant. Through the effigy, Gu Zhe witnessed the Netherworld and wondered how long it had existed.

• Qiu Jianguo searched for shelter and feared being consumed by other ghosts as the Netherworld’s chill winds weakened his body.
• He saw ghosts devouring one another and realized that incense from the living could nourish him through his family’s blood ties.
• A sturdy Paper Servant Effigy appeared and called Qiu Jianguo its master.
• Qiu Jianguo ordered the servant to protect him from other ghosts and the chill winds while they searched for shelter.
• Gu Zhe witnessed the Netherworld through the effigy and wondered whether the realm had appeared only in recent years.

Gu Zhe witnessed a colossal skeletal dragon named Ba Kui awaken in the Underworld and clash with a powerful netherghost before retreating into the Nine Nether astral force. Convinced that a new era was beginning, Gu Zhe returned to crafting a spirit house, hoping it would transform in the Underworld.

• Ba Kui emerged from the void and devoured ghosts, declaring that the spirit tide had risen and the old era had returned.
• A netherghost struck Ba Kui to protect Brown Mountain, and Ba Kui retreated into the Nine Nether astral force as the clouds closed again.
• Gu Zhe considered the Underworld's desolation and the possibility that the changes were only beginning, then welcomed the prospect of an age of great struggle.
• Gu Zhe realized he could observe the paper figurine through the Mysterious Origami Craftsman profession but could no longer control it because he had sold its ownership.
• Gu Zhe worked through the night to build a crooked, practical spirit house, while his neighbor mocked his craftsmanship and left.

Qiu Jianguo, a weak ghost struggling to survive in the Underworld, discovered that an apartment building had appeared in the barren land and went to investigate. He and the other ghosts reached its entrance, where strange armed figures guarded the doors, and the doors opened.

• Qiu Jianguo ate one of the two black fruits his servant had gathered, hoping it would strengthen his body and soul.
• A mysterious apartment building appeared amid the ghostly winds, stirring Qiu Jianguo’s longing for shelter and company.
• Qiu Jianguo and nearby wandering ghosts, including Vengeful Ghosts, headed toward the building.
• At the entrance, the ghosts saw several tall, flattened figures carrying sabers and swords guarding Nine Springs Apartment, labeled Gu Group Apartment No. 1.
• The ghosts discussed the Gu Group and life in the Underworld until the apartment doors creaked open.

Gu Zhe tested his ability to create and control a Netherworld apartment, then tried to recruit ghosts as tenants without knowing what rent or currency to demand. The chapter ended with a Headless Ghost attacking him after Gu Zhe identified how it had died.

• Gu Zhe considered the mental strain of guiding transformed offerings to the Netherworld and confirmed his Ritual Transmutation talent.
• Gu Zhe inspected the Nine Springs Apartment’s effects and controlled a Human Effigy to announce the Gu Group’s new Netherworld housing business.
• Gu Zhe described the apartments’ benefits to the ghosts but struggled to decide what to charge for rent.
• A Headless Ghost demanded a key and became enraged when Gu Zhe remarked that a car accident had taken its head.
• The Headless Ghost attacked Gu Zhe’s effigy as the other ghosts watched in fear.

Gu Zhe used his Mysterious Paper Figures to destroy a Vengeful Ghost and establish them as guards for the Apartment. Old Zhou offered spiritual essence to rent a room, and Gu Zhe accepted it before leaving the effigy to manage the Apartment.

• Gu Zhe sent his Mysterious Paper Figures to dismember and destroy the attacking severed-head ghost.
• The other ghosts watched as the Vengeful Ghost's remains dissolved, while the woman in red calmly curtsied to Gu Zhe.
• Old Zhou praised the paper figures and asked whether they would guard the Apartment and maintain order.
• Old Zhou offered Gu Zhe spiritual essence as payment for shelter and explained how vital it was to ghosts.
• Gu Zhe accepted the offering through his system and gave Old Zhou a key to the Apartment.
• Gu Zhe withdrew his consciousness and left the effigy to manage the Apartment on its own.

Gu Zhe tested how ghost spirituality behaved in reality, discovered a new paper-control skill, and converted five ghosts’ rent payments into spirit points. When Qiu Jianguo offered a Wooden Tumor Fruit instead of spirituality, Gu Zhe accepted it as a one-time exception.

• Gu Zhe withdrew a wisp of ghost spirituality from storage and watched it evaporate in the real world, even after putting it in a glass bottle.
• Gu Zhe noticed Basic Paper Control Technique had appeared on his skill list, then converted five ghosts’ rent payments into 0.259 spirit points.
• Qiu Jianguo offered Gu Zhe a Wooden Tumor Fruit in place of rent, claiming he lacked enough spirituality.
• Another ghost challenged Qiu Jianguo’s attempt to pay with the fruit, while the surrounding ghosts eyed his servant and Gu Zhe’s paper effigy.
• Gu Zhe called Qiu Jianguo an old friend and agreed to accept the fruit just this once.

Gu Zhe turned the apartment building’s Netherworld connections into a growing business, waiving Qiu Jianguo’s rent and hiring Ye Qiang as its manager. As the ghosts continued renting rooms, Ye Qiang confronted a red-clothed female ghost, who appeared to offer Talisman Money.

• Gu Zhe told Qiu Jianguo that his wife and child were customers of Gu Zhe’s boss and let him use a Wooden Tumor Fruit to cover his rent.
• Gu Zhe reflected on the changes underway in the living world and decided he already held the key to the new era.
• Ye Qiang claimed to be a former Gu Group line supervisor, and Gu Zhe hired him to manage the apartment building for 0.3 ling a month.
• Ye Qiang assessed ghosts’ offerings and negotiated rent as Gu Zhe watched the apartments being rented out.
• Ye Qiang warned a red-clothed female ghost against causing trouble, and she showed him what he suspected was Talisman Money.

The Red-Clothed Female Ghost revealed that the jade she offered was a Low-Grade Talisman Coin and explained the Netherworld’s currencies and their uses. Gu Zhe learned that talisman-making might be possible, while the ghosts debated whether the living world’s monks and Daoists had ever possessed real powers.

• The Red-Clothed Female Ghost presented a jade coin, and Ye Qiang and the other ghosts questioned whether Talisman Money truly existed.
• The first tenant identified the jade as a Low-Grade Talisman Coin, and Ye Qiang asked Gu Zhe how much rental time it was worth.
• Gu Zhe turned his eerie Paper Figure subordinates toward the Red-Clothed Female Ghost, who admitted she had only one coin and explained its origins.
• The Red-Clothed Female Ghost described Nether Iron Coins, Talisman Money, and Spirit Crystals, warning that contaminated spiritual essence could hinder advancement beyond Ghost King.
• The ghosts dismissed the possibility that living-world talismans and religious practices held real power, then traded stories about frauds they had encountered.

In the real world, Gu Zhe assessed his Netherworld earnings and used spirit points to improve his paper-making and control skills. He ended with too few points for another upgrade and considered collecting rent or building his business further.

• Gu Zhe reviewed the Talisman Coin exchange rates and considered the Red-Clothed Female Ghost’s unusual knowledge and her trust in his apartment.
• After a day of operations, Gu Zhe checked his spirit points and assorted Netherworld items, then upgraded Basic Paper Figure Technique from beginner to proficient.
• Gu Zhe tested his improved paper-cutting by making a Paper Figure, which came out far better than his earlier work.
• Gu Zhe upgraded Basic Paper Control Technique, gaining smoother control and consciousness shifts between puppets in the Netherworld.
• Gu Zhe learned that his Nether Jujube, nether spirit grass, inferior soul-nourishing stone, and Talisman Money contained spiritual energy, but converting the two lesser items would not give him enough points for another upgrade.
• Gu Zhe decided to keep the items and considered waiting to collect rent or making Spirit Houses to expand his business.

After bringing Nether Jujube back from the Underworld, Gu Zhe opened his shop, practiced paper-cutting, and joked with Liu Zhaodi and Old Zhang. International and domestic headlines suggested mounting turmoil, and Gu Zhe left the chapter wary of a storm brewing.

• Gu Zhe felt energized after eating Nether Jujube, ordered breakfast and specialty paper, and began cutting paper figures for a planned spirit house.
• Liu Zhaodi brought Gu Zhe steamed buns, blushed at his appearance, and offered to make him soup.
• Old Zhang praised Gu Zhe’s improving paper-cutting and tried to impress Liu Zhaodi, who told him to get lost.
• Gu Zhe read headlines about military preparations, religious disputes, and a major earthquake, then remarked that a storm was brewing.
• Gu Zhe gave Liu Zhaodi a paper figure to discourage her from lingering, but she thanked him and ran home.

Gu Zhe read online speculation about supernatural changes and the weakening of firearms, then wondered whether the rules of the living world were changing. In Shuzhou, officials confronted a mysterious tunnel where 104 people were trapped and called on three unusual people to enter.

• Gu Zhe browsed forum posts about world changes and cold weapons, then read a claim that firearms were losing power.
• Gu Zhe suggested supernatural events might explain the changes and resumed cutting paper figures.
• In Shuzhou, officials blocked a tunnel after discovering that 37 vehicles and 104 people had disappeared inside it.
• Director Yan and a military major discussed the growing supernatural crisis as a secretary reported the situation.
• Director Yan turned to the three unusual people and asked them to enter the tunnel.

Qian Yao teased Qiu Lanlan about her family’s spirit-medium traditions and the soul inside her pagoda-wood carving while Director Yan promised the recruited talents government jobs and support. Old Che accepted help for his son’s blood disorder and pledged to complete the mission with Big Yellow, who watched the tunnel warily.

• Qian Yao joked that ghosts could enjoy a second life and pointed out the carving containing Qiu Lanlan’s family immortal.
• Qiu Lanlan defended her family’s spirit-medium traditions and warned that dying in a secret or eerie realm might not allow someone to become a ghost.
• Director Yan promised Qiu Lanlan official employment, allowances, and benefits for her family after the operation.
• Qian Yao checked her phone and talked about a woman she hoped would learn that her former love had been dumped.
• Director Yan promised Che Yongyuan a resettlement allowance and medical support for his son, and Che Yongyuan agreed to finish the mission with Big Yellow.