Chapter Summaries

Xu Xiao crossed from his post-apocalyptic world into Chronicle, where he had thirty days to gather energy before the world rejected him. After reaching a road, he stole a car and supplies from two strangers and drove off to search for the superpower crystal.

• Xu Xiao used the Heavens World-Crossing Gate to reach Chronicle, and a countdown warned him to gather enough energy to return within thirty days.
• Xu Xiao climbed a tree, spotted a distant road, and made his way out of the forest.
• James stopped beside Xu Xiao in a Chevrolet and offered him drugs, but Xu Xiao dragged James from the car and took control of it.
• Xu Xiao disarmed James's companion, forced both of them out, and learned he was in Snohomish County, Washington State.
• Xu Xiao looted the pair and drove away, intending to find the superpower crystal and replenish his golden finger's energy.

Xu Xiao used money from the delinquent couple to get settled, then searched for the school connected to the superpower crystal. At Cascadia High School, he spotted a boy who might be Andrew and followed the car driven by the boy’s companion into a nearby neighborhood.

• Xu Xiao checked a local map, found Cascadia High School near a coniferous forest and hills, and decided to investigate it the next day.
• Xu Xiao drove to Cascadia High School and noticed a banner advertising a football victory party at Haven Hills on Wednesday.
• Xu Xiao waited in the school parking lot and watched students leave, looking for a boy with a video camera.
• Xu Xiao saw a timid blond boy carrying a Panasonic camera leave with a taller boy and suspected the blond boy was Andrew.
• Xu Xiao followed their car into a nearby neighborhood, recalling that Andrew lived near a gang of punks and had a seriously ill mother.

Xu Xiao confirmed that Andrew was the story’s key character and that the life-changing discovery would happen at a party that night. After neighborhood thugs tried to rob him, Xu Xiao killed them and looted their weapons and money.

• Andrew filmed neighborhood thugs, fled home, and Xu Xiao followed him to identify him as his target.
• Xu Xiao realized the story was at its beginning and that Andrew would find the life-changing thing after a party that night.
• Three armed thugs confronted Xu Xiao and mocked him for being Asian, but he offered them money to answer questions about Andrew.
• The thugs identified Andrew and described his family before taking Xu Xiao’s Franklin.
• The thugs tried to rob Xu Xiao, so he shot all three and took their money, guns, and daggers.

Xu Xiao found the Superpower Crystal in a cave beneath the hills and absorbed its energy, suffering severe pain and losing consciousness. He remained underground until three young people arrived and woke him.

• Xu Xiao drove to Haven Hills, searched the coniferous forest, and found the cave after nightfall.
• Xu Xiao descended into the cave and discovered a gigantic pale blue Superpower Crystal.
• Xu Xiao prepared himself and pressed his palm against the crystal, causing it to turn red and release energy into his body.
• The crystal’s energy caused Xu Xiao to bleed from his nose, eyes, and ears before the pain made him pass out.
• After more than an hour, the red mist was exhausted, and Xu Xiao remained unconscious until three young people entered the cave and woke him.

Xu Xiao woke in a cave after absorbing the Superpower Crystal, but his body was too weak to move before Steve and the others left and police took him to a hospital. As doctors secretly planned to study his abnormal body, Xu Xiao sensed his growing telekinesis and decided to use the time in custody to develop his power before attempting to escape or return.

• Steve, Andrew, and Matt found Xu Xiao in the cave and left to call the police, unaware that he had taken the Superpower Crystal.
• Police found Xu Xiao unconscious, identified him as a suspect, and sent him to Seattle Bala General Hospital under surveillance.
• The attending physician discovered Xu Xiao's unusual brain activity and growing organs, then joined the hospital director in planning secret experiments.
• Xu Xiao sensed fragile telekinesis that could move a strand of hair, while his body wasted away from the power's nutritional demands.
• Xu Xiao decided to stay in America and secretly train for a week rather than risk returning to the dangerous outer city without sufficient power.

Xu Xiao avoided being arrested when Dr. Jonathan persuaded Inspector Bill to leave him in the hospital, then used the privacy of his ward to train his newly awakened Telekinesis. He quickly gained precise control and continued meditating, determined to grow stronger.

• Dr. Jonathan argued that Xu Xiao was too critically ill to be taken from the hospital, and Inspector Bill agreed to question him without arresting him.
• Xu Xiao told Bill and two officers that an unknown attacker had injured him and that he could not remember the details, so they left without evidence to arrest him.
• Xu Xiao kept nurse Mary busy fetching food and water, then sent her away so he could test his changing abilities.
• Xu Xiao used Telekinesis to move his hospital gown and undo and refasten its buttons, mastering fine control in less than ten minutes.
• Xu Xiao recalled how meditation had helped people develop abilities in the apocalypse and continued training because he feared remaining weak.

Xu Xiao killed the FBI agents and police who came to arrest him at the hospital, then learned his body was deteriorating as his organs consumed its nutrients. He left to seek power for his golden finger and prepare to return to his original world, while hiding his real destination from Dr. Jonathan.

• FBI agents and police arrived to arrest Xu Xiao and threatened Dr. Jonathan for concealing his condition.
• Xu Xiao used telekinesis to kill the officers and agents, leaving Dr. Jonathan and Mary alive.
• Xu Xiao thanked Dr. Jonathan, who warned him that his rapidly developing organs were draining his body's nutrients.
• Xu Xiao decided to leave the world because his body was weakening and the government had discovered him.
• Xu Xiao asked Dr. Jonathan about a power plant, then took a taxi toward the Wanapum Power Plant instead of the Seattle Power Plant he had mentioned.

Xu Xiao returned to the outer energy reserve center to recharge the Heavens World-Crossing Gate and selected a new world. After killing five patrolmen and stealing a crystal core, he crossed over just as ability users arrived.

• Xu Xiao used the reserve center’s electricity to recharge his gate, then searched for a faster-charging crystal core storage tank.
• He found four tanks guarded by a five-man patrol and used telekinesis and sharp iron plates to kill the patrolmen.
• Xu Xiao selected a new world and charged the gate by touching a crystal core storage tank.
• As guards approached, Xu Xiao tore open a nearby tank’s conversion device and took its crystal core.
• Ability users rushed toward Xu Xiao, but he vanished in a flash of white light and began his next adventure.

Xu Xiao arrived in the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, hoping to learn Internal Energy to sustain his failing body, and discovered he had a hundred days to find enough energy to return. While scouting Mount Wuliang for signs of people, he startled Duan Yu, who fainted after seeing him flying in a black cloak.

• Xu Xiao arrived in the world of Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils and learned that he had a hundred days to collect enough energy to return.
• Xu Xiao considered learning the Northern Darkness Divine Art and thought Wang Yuyan might be able to teach him martial arts.
• Xu Xiao flew over Mount Wuliang and found a mountain path that suggested people lived nearby.
• Duan Yu walked along the mountain trail carrying a woman's embroidered shoe while searching for the Valley of Ten Thousand Enmities.
• Xu Xiao called down to Duan Yu for directions, and Duan Yu looked up, shouted that Xu Xiao was a ghost, and fainted.

Xu Xiao recognized the unconscious young man as Duan Yu and used his courtesy and guilt to ask him for help learning martial arts-related subjects. Duan Yu tried to leave to rescue Zhong Ling, but Xu Xiao stopped him and revealed he knew about her.

• Duan Yu woke, mistook Xu Xiao for a ghost again, then apologized after realizing he was a man.
• Xu Xiao reassured Duan Yu about his appearance and planned to use his gentlemanly nature to learn from him.
• Duan Yu offered to recommend physicians, then said he needed to find help for Zhong Ling and prepared to leave.
• Xu Xiao blocked Duan Yu and asked him to decipher classical texts and teach him about medicine and meridians.
• Duan Yu refused because he had an urgent rescue to carry out, but Xu Xiao immobilized him and said he knew about Zhong Ling.

Xu Xiao demonstrated his powers to Duan Yu and promised to help rescue Zhong Ling in exchange for Duan Yu's help with texts and martial arts knowledge. At Sword Lake, Xu Xiao found the hidden entrance to Langhuan Blessed Land, where Duan Yu saw an immortal sister in a secret chamber.

• Xu Xiao used Telekinesis to fell a tree with iron slivers, convincing Duan Yu that he was a martial arts master.
• Xu Xiao carried Duan Yu through the air to Sword Lake and threw him into the water to search for the entrance to Langhuan Blessed Land.
• Xu Xiao spotted a concealed cave entrance downstream and dried Duan Yu's clothes with a wave of his hand.
• Xu Xiao explored the cave, opened a stone door, and found a hidden mechanism leading to a secret chamber.
• Duan Yu entered the cave and exclaimed at the sight of an immortal sister in the secret chamber.

Xu Xiao found the Northern Darkness Divine Art in the Langhuan Blessed Land and persuaded Duan Yu to help him understand it. The chapter ended with Xu Xiao pressuring Duan Yu to explain the manual so he could learn the art and then rescue Zhong Ling.

• Xu Xiao searched the chamber beneath Li Qiushui's statue and found the Northern Darkness Divine Art concealed in a meditation cushion.
• Xu Xiao ignored Li Qiushui's written demand that anyone who learned the art kill the Carefree Sect's disciples and called Duan Yu away from admiring the statue.
• Duan Yu mistook the manual's diagrams of naked women for erotic paintings until Xu Xiao pointed out their marked acupoints and meridians.
• Duan Yu studied the thirty-six diagrams and warned Xu Xiao that absorbing others' internal force seemed unorthodox and contrary to nature.
• Xu Xiao argued that martial arts were tools whose morality depended on their users, then reminded Duan Yu that Zhong Ling remained captive.
• Xu Xiao led Duan Yu to sit and asked him to decipher the Northern Darkness Divine Art line by line.

Xu Xiao struggled to learn the Northern Darkness Divine Art because he knew nothing about martial arts, so he persuaded Duan Yu to teach him and promised to rescue Zhong Ling. After three days of study, Xu Xiao set out to find Zhong Ling and the antidote to Duan Yu’s poison.

• Xu Xiao admitted he knew nothing about meridians or acupuncture points and asked Duan Yu to teach him from the basics.
• Xu Xiao promised to rescue Zhong Ling if Duan Yu taught him, and Duan Yu agreed to learn the Northern Darkness Divine Art himself before teaching Xu Xiao.
• Duan Yu began practicing the art and learned its first sixteen steps, while Xu Xiao grasped the basics of the first step over three days.
• Xu Xiao told Duan Yu to remain in the cave and study while he went out to rescue Zhong Ling and obtain the antidote to the Seven-Day Gut-Severing Powder.

Xu Xiao killed Zuo Zimu after the sect leader insulted his appearance, then found Zhong Ling and carried her away after she fainted at the sight of him. The chapter left Xu Xiao taking Zhong Ling back to Duan Yu so he could resume studying the Northern Darkness Divine Art.

• Zuo Zimu failed to purge the mink's poison and vowed to kill Zhong Ling and Xu Xiao once he obtained the antidote.
• Xu Xiao appeared above Zuo Zimu, who called him a ghost, and Xu Xiao killed him with spinning iron hidden weapons.
• Xu Xiao spared the disciple who had come to report the news and ordered him to lead the way to Zhong Ling.
• The disciple unlocked Zhong Ling's room, and Xu Xiao shook her awake to tell her Duan Yu had sent him.
• Zhong Ling saw Xu Xiao's face, fainted, and was carried away over Xu Xiao's shoulder.

Xu Xiao teased Zhong Ling after rescuing her from the Wuliang Sword Sect, frightening her into thinking he was an evil ghost. Back in the cave, he handed her to Duan Yu and, frustrated by how his appearance affected others, pressed Duan Yu to teach him martial arts.

• Zhong Ling woke while Xu Xiao carried her through the sky and mistook him for an evil ghost who planned to eat her.
• Xu Xiao teased Zhong Ling about cooking her until she fainted from fear.
• Xu Xiao returned to the cave and tossed Zhong Ling toward Duan Yu, who caught her using Lingbo Weibu.
• Duan Yu told Zhong Ling that Xu Xiao had rescued her, and she thanked Xu Xiao while staying close to Duan Yu.
• Xu Xiao reflected that people judged him by his frightening appearance and immediately asked Duan Yu to teach him martial arts.

After mastering six diagrams of the Northern Darkness Divine Art, Xu Xiao left the mountain with Duan Yu and Zhong Ling for the Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities. They arrived amid a battle between the Dali Duan Clan and the valley’s forces, where Duan Zhengchun claimed Zhong Ling was his daughter.

• Xu Xiao agreed to accompany Duan Yu and Zhong Ling to her home, hoping to find opportunities to absorb internal energy.
• Xu Xiao walked down the mountain with them, using his growing internal energy to support his weakened body.
• The three reached the Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities and found soldiers and valley residents dead along the path, with the two sides facing off inside.
• Duan Yu’s arrival stunned both groups, and the Duan Clan gathered around him while Zhong Ling asked her father what had happened.
• Duan Zhengchun recognized Zhong Ling as his daughter and ordered Chu Wanli and Zhu Danchen to protect her, throwing the confrontation into confusion.

Xu Xiao watched the confrontation between the Dali Duan Clan and the Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities, then killed Yun Zhonghe when he tried to seize Zhong Ling. Duan Yanqing questioned Xu Xiao’s intentions, leaving both sides unsure whether to fight or retreat.

• Xu Xiao realized that Zhong Ling’s identity as Duan Zhengchun’s daughter had been revealed, while Duan Yu was shocked by the news.
• Yun Zhonghe rushed toward Zhong Ling and declared that he would make her his wife.
• Zhong Ling fled to Xu Xiao for help, and Xu Xiao used Telekinesis to kill Yun Zhonghe with a flying iron shard.
• Zhong Ling thanked Xu Xiao and hid beside him as the people in the Valley of Ten Thousand Calamities stared at the newcomer.
• Duan Yanqing asked Xu Xiao who he was and whether he intended to join the dispute, while Xu Xiao dismissed Yun Zhonghe as a fly and stood his ground.

Xu Xiao intervened in the standoff between the Dali Duan Clan and the Four Great Evils, agreeing to rescue Duan Yu’s father but refusing to kill Duan Yanqing. He saved Duan Zhengchun, wounded Ye Erniang and Yue Laosan, and left Duan Yanqing alive.

• Ba Tianshi asked Duan Yu to persuade Xu Xiao to help the Dali Duan Clan deal with Duan Yanqing and save Duan Zhengchun.
• Duan Yu asked Xu Xiao to save his father and kill Duan Yanqing, and Xu Xiao agreed only to the rescue.
• Xu Xiao attacked Duan Yanqing with telekinetically controlled iron shards, forcing him to dodge and wounding Ye Erniang and the Divine Crocodile of the South Sea.
• Xu Xiao pulled Duan Zhengchun and Ye Erniang away from the Four Great Evils, then had the Dali Duan Clan take the wounded Ye Erniang and Yue Laosan for treatment.
• Xu Xiao returned Duan Zhengchun to the Dali Duan Clan and told Duan Yanqing to leave, saying he would not kill him.

Xu Xiao defeated Duan Yanqing and used a secret about Dao Baifeng to send him after Ding Chunqiu. After the clash ended, Duan Zhengchun and Duan Yu invited Xu Xiao to Dali, and he accepted.

• Duan Yanqing admitted defeat and prepared to leave, but Xu Xiao stopped him with a verse about a beggar and Guanyin beneath a bodhi tree.
• Xu Xiao told Duan Yanqing that Guanyin had borne the beggar a son and promised to reveal more if Duan Yanqing found Ding Chunqiu within thirty days.
• Duan Yanqing vowed to find Ding Chunqiu or bring back his head, while Xu Xiao planned to use the head as a gift for Wuyazi.
• The fight between the Valley of Ten Thousand Enmities and the Dali Duan Clan ended, and Zhong Wanchou fled as Zhong Ling followed him.
• Duan Zhengchun thanked Xu Xiao for saving him, and Duan Zhengchun and Duan Yu invited him to Dali.
• Xu Xiao accepted the invitation and looked forward to enjoying the hospitality there.

At a banquet in Dali, Xu Xiao asked Emperor Baoding to hand over troublesome martial artists so he could practice the Northern Darkness Divine Art and help restore order. After Xu Xiao agreed to let the Duan Clan’s direct descendants learn the art, the two sides struck a deal, and Dali began a three-day roundup.

• Duan Zhengming hosted Xu Xiao at a royal banquet and asked how Dali could repay him for saving Duan Zhengchun.
• Xu Xiao requested that Dali hand over martial artists who bullied and preyed on people so he could use their Internal Energy and improve public order.
• Duan Zhengming and Duan Zhengchun negotiated with Xu Xiao, citing concerns about offending the Central Plains martial world and the need to stabilize Dali.
• Xu Xiao agreed to teach the Northern Darkness Divine Art to the Duan Clan’s direct descendants, and the two sides reached an agreement.
• Dali began a three-day campaign to round up martial artists in the city.