Chapter Summaries

After retaking Tiannan Pass, Chen Qing considered the danger posed by a mysterious assassin and the Ghost Domain’s limits, then delegated Jiangnan’s defenses and administration before preparing to return. Tian Heng asked how the newly available Underworld would be allocated, hoping to secure a place for the Tian Household.

• Quefeng returned to King Chujiang without killing Chen Qing and reported that his danger-sensing ability had warned him he would die if he attacked.
• Chen Qing learned through the Mirror Demon that the mysterious assassin had escaped, and he considered recruiting assassins to protect his growing Divine Path domain.
• Chen Qing reasoned that Ghost Domain forces were constrained by their need to wait in Ghost Temples and protect their own territories, explaining why no major enemy had appeared in the Underworld battles.
• After Tiannan Pass fell, Chen Qing ordered Tian Heng to manage military defenses and Wei Gongcheng to assign civil officials, while he headed back to Jiangnan.
• Tian Heng asked Chen Qing how the newly available Underworld would be allocated and hoped to secure a position for the Tian Household.

Chen Qing outlined a performance-based system for appointing Underworld officials, using public approval and fixed terms to raise the status of civil administrators while preventing permanent control of divine offices. He returned urgently to Jiangnan after learning that Zhang Zhengyuan, commander of the Federation's Central China Region military district, wanted to meet him.

• Tian Heng sought a share of the Underworld, but Chen Qing said future appointments would follow a new system rather than direct factional appointments.
• Chen Qing explained that civil administrators would serve three-year terms and be assessed on their achievements and public reputation, with the people voting on their performance.
• Chen Qing said outstanding administrators could become Underworld officials, but divine posts would rotate and their holders could eventually reincarnate.
• Chen Qing hinted that greater realms existed beyond the world, capturing Ao Zhen's attention with the possibility of ventures beyond the heavens.
• Chen Qing left Tian Heng and Wei Gongcheng to handle the southeastern aftermath and used the Divine Descent Technique to return to Jiangnan.
• At the academy, Jiang Xiaoling told Chen Qing that Zhang Zhengyuan wanted to arrange a meeting with him.

Chen Qing met Zhang Zhengyuan in a virtual buffer zone and learned why the Federation wanted to cooperate rather than invade the Underworld. Zhang proposed sending five hundred people to Jiangnan and asked whether Chen Qing could use the Underworld to intercept them during reincarnation.

• Jiang Xiaoling told Chen Qing that Zhang Zhengyuan wanted to meet him at a classified vulnerability site near Nanming Prefecture, and Chen Qing agreed to go.
• Federation council members debated Zhang Zhengyuan’s private meeting with Chen Qing and most supported joining the project while demanding Central China disclose its information.
• Chen Qing met Zhang Zhengyuan in an encrypted space and chose to be addressed as Chen Qing rather than Pu Yunchuan.
• Zhang Zhengyuan explained that a direct invasion could trigger a devastating counterattack and said the Federation wanted an alliance.
• Zhang Zhengyuan proposed sending five hundred people to Jiangnan and asked whether Chen Qing could intercept the Reincarnators with the Underworld.

Chen Qing agreed to help the Federation place and restrain three hundred foreign Reincarnators in exchange for support developing undeveloped regions, but Zhang Zhengyuan then demanded an Underworld lord position. In Jiangnan, the Shen Family discussed the new civil-official appointments and learned that Underworld lords would rotate every ten years, while Tian Heng realized his family was poorly positioned to compete.

• Zhang Zhengyuan told Chen Qing the Federation might stop funding his world and asked him to arrange the families and potential of three hundred foreign Reincarnators; Chen Qing agreed in exchange for information and support developing undeveloped regions.
• Zhang Zhengyuan asked Chen Qing for one of his Underworld lord positions.
• Shen Shiyi protested the plan for civil officials to become Underworld lords, but Shen Laosan and Shen Lao'er silenced him.
• Second Master Shen explained that Underworld lords would rotate every ten years, giving them time to accumulate merit and virtue before cultivating, and Shen Laosan said the Shen Family could still compete in Jiangnan.
• Tian Heng realized his family lacked the spellcraft foundations to compete for Underworld positions, and news of the policy spread across Jiangnan within two days.

Liu Xie, a county assistant administrator who had grown disillusioned with his overlooked work, learned that officials with outstanding local records might be chosen as City Gods in the Underworld. As his family celebrated his likely promotion to magistrate, Chen Ying arrived asking for him.

• Liu Xie reflected on how his work improving Luming County had gone unrecognized and had begun neglecting his duties.
• Liu Xie’s father and uncles visited and learned that Liu Xie had been managing the county since Mr. Mu resigned and had received an excellent evaluation.
• Liu Wenlong praised Liu Xie after his uncle told him that outstanding civil officials might be selected to govern as City Gods in the Underworld.
• Liu Xie learned that capable officials from Jiangnan might soon be sent to govern the Underworld in the newly conquered southeast.
• Chen Ying, the head of Jiangnan Academy, arrived and asked whether Liu Xie was there.

Liu Xie learned that he had been selected as a candidate for an Underworld City God post and prepared to leave for Liuzhou. During Liuzhou’s first Spirit Return Festival and the public selection, Wei Gongzhan and Xiaoli encountered unfamiliar wandering souls whose presence unsettled her.

• Chen Ying told Liu Xie to hand over his county duties and travel to Liuzhou for the Underworld selection, and he hurried to arrange the transition.
• Liu Xie's family discussed his chances, noting his high administrative ranking and hoping his candidacy would revive interest in government service among the younger generation.
• Liuzhou held its first Spirit Return Festival, allowing spirits to visit the living, while notices announced the selection of ten county Underworld City Gods and a public vote.
• Wei Gongzhan brought Xiaoli into Liuzhou City, where they saw families reunited with the dead and headed to the academy to visit Shen Yuan.
• Xiaoli became nervous when she saw a group of fair-haired, blue-eyed wandering souls, and Wei Gongzhan noticed that she felt both familiarity and aversion toward them.

Chen Qing cooperated with the Federation to let its Reincarnators enter Liuzhou’s Underworld, where Wu Xiaoli presented the Central China project to the Federation Parliament. The session ended in a confrontation after Aiver Sari challenged the project’s controls and Wu Xiaoli threatened to expel the North American delegation.

• Chen Qing told Wei Gongzhan that the unfamiliar people in Liuzhou were outsiders and revealed that the Underworld selection was part of an agreement with the Federation.
• Wu Xiaoli used new technology to broadcast Liuzhou’s streets to the Federation Parliament as Reincarnator Ruth explored the city and made a racist remark.
• Wu Xiaoli explained that people entering the project as spirit bodies could reincarnate repeatedly, even after dying of old age.
• Aiver Sari challenged Chen Qing’s control over reincarnation and questioned whether Central China would use the project to dominate the Federation.
• Wu Xiaoli warned Aiver to stop interrupting and said that Aiver and the North American representatives could leave if her behavior represented their region.

Wu Xiaoli confronted the North America Region’s legislators, then explained that Chen Qing had refused to grant the Federation territory in the Underworld. She presented his public, democratic selection process as the way for their people to compete for Underworld positions, and the chapter ended as Liu Xie was called to the stage.

• Mr. Zhou backed Wu Xiaoli and demanded that North America either remove Aiver or leave the meeting, forcing Mr. Wells to apologize and send Aiver out.
• Wu Xiaoli told the assembly that Chen Qing had rejected the request to grant the Federation a territory in the Underworld, insisting that its rules could not be broken.
• Wu Xiaoli explained that Underworld administrators would serve rotating ten-year terms and be selected through public evaluations and citizen votes.
• Wu Xiaoli argued that modern candidates could win many positions through their technical and administrative abilities, and Wells asked whether Chen Qing’s process would be fair.
• The assembly watched Jiangnan’s public selection, where the host called Luming County assistant administrator Liu Xie to the stage.

Wei Gongcheng recounted Liu Xie's achievements, and Liu Xie received public recognition and a chance to win votes to become Luming County's City God. Chen Qing upheld his promise to let Federation citizens compete fairly throughout his territory, a decision that impressed Federation politicians and left Zhang Zhengyuan wondering what Chen Qing intended.

• Wei Gongcheng described how Liu Xie developed Luming County's Spirit Deer industry, and the people applauded as Liu Xie wept.
• Wei Gongcheng announced Liu Xie's fourth-place assessment and invited him to seek the people's votes to become a county Underworld official.
• Liu Xie gave a halting promise to work harder, and the crowd cheered while Western observers dismissed his speech.
• Chen Qing watched the election and reaffirmed his decision to let Federation citizens enter and compete freely in his territory.
• Wells asked Wu Xiaoli to confirm the Federation's people could be born, grow up, study, and compete fairly under Chen Qing's terms, and Wu Xiaoli confirmed it.
• Zhang Zhengyuan watched the Federation Parliament react to the election and wondered whether Chen Qing was confident he could control the consequences.

Liu Xie returned to the Liu Family with an appointment as City God of Luming County, offering his relatives positions and advice about their futures. Meanwhile, Chen Qing’s reincarnation choices left Western-camp players struggling to accept that they would lose their former appearance and bloodlines.

• Liu Xie reunited with his father and relatives, who praised him for bringing honor to the Liu Family.
• Liu Xie told the elders they could serve in Luming County’s Underworld in spirit form, and they agreed to accompany him.
• Liu Xie advised his younger cousins to study in Liuzhou, while Liu Wenlong let them choose between staying to pursue advancement or taking Underworld posts.
• Most of the younger generation chose to stay in Liuzhou, and several spirit bodies watched the family from outside.
• Chen Qing allowed newly arrived spirits to choose among suitable families, with their family circumstances affecting the Power of Merit and Virtue they received.
• Western-camp players worried that reincarnation would cost them their white skin and Western bloodlines, and Chen Qing offered them two choices.

Chen Qing let the Western players choose to be reincarnated among distant island minorities so they could keep their skin color, while warning them of the disadvantages. The Federation prepared for Chen Qing’s visit in ten days, and Ziyue realized he was returning to the world beyond the virtual one.

• Chen Qing offered the Westerners a choice between being born in Jiangnan with local features or keeping their appearance among the distant island minorities, and nearly all chose the latter.
• Chen Qing considered the Westerners’ confidence misplaced and noted that the island minorities faced isolation, poverty, and conflict with relocated northerners.
• After agents secured placements and parties signed an energy agreement, Wu Xiaoli and Zhang Zhengyuan discussed why the Western players had chosen the islands, and Zhang warned that Chen Qing was capable and should not be underestimated.
• Zhang Zhengyuan said Chen Qing would arrive in the Federation in ten days, and Ziyue reacted with alarm before A Li realized he meant the world outside.

Ziyue warned A Li that the Federation might fear people who left the virtual world, while Heavenly Secrets revealed the Federation’s deadlock with immortal players and questioned why it would let Chen Qing return. Chen Qing suspected he had forgotten something important and wondered what made the Federation dare to let him go there.

• Ziyue told A Li that the Federation might only want Chen Qing and could see people returning from the virtual world as a threat.
• Heavenly Secrets admitted he had led the team before the King of Qin and had cut contact with the Federation to live freely and avoid triggering the disintegration program.
• Heavenly Secrets told Chen Qing that Federation nobles had colluded with immortal players, leaving both sides in a stalemate over control of the virtual world.
• Heavenly Secrets explained that the Federation could no longer create virtual worlds and that all their original designers had mysteriously disappeared.
• Chen Qing felt he had forgotten something important, then asked why the Federation dared to let him return while retaining his in-game abilities.

Ziyue confronted the King of Qin, who admitted he was Number One and asked her to help him if he proved Chen Qing was not Pu Yunchuan. Meanwhile, officials in Data City prepared for Zhang Zhengyuan's project and resolved to prevent Central China from having another leader like him.

• The King of Qin visited A Li's room and told Ziyue he had deliberately kept her at a distance while posing as Pu Yunchuan.
• The King of Qin asked Ziyue to return to his side if he proved Chen Qing was not Pu Yunchuan within ten days, and Ziyue agreed if he provided evidence.
• Elderly officials in Data City discussed Zhang Zhengyuan's preparations and his decision to stake his fortune on Chen Qing.
• Wu Xiaoli confirmed the timing, and the head official ordered preparations, declaring that Central China must never have another Zhang Zhengyuan.

A Li learned that the King of Qin had approached Ziyue and was told to infiltrate the imperial palace after Cui Yan was found. Meanwhile, Wei Gongcheng’s fear of the newly arrived spirit bodies led Shen Qi to suspect that the real problem was Chen Qing, who appeared behind them.

• Ziyue told A Li that the King of Qin had visited and sought their help claiming northern passages, but she had refused.
• Ziyue asked whether A Li would keep helping Chen Qing if he was not Pu Yunchuan, and A Li said she believed Chen Qing was Pu Yunchuan.
• Ziyue told A Li to infiltrate the imperial palace after Heavenly Secrets reported that Cui Yan had been found.
• Wei Gongcheng told Shen Qi that unfamiliar spirit bodies had appeared in Liuzhou’s Underworld and admitted that their arrival frightened him.
• Shen Qi realized Wei Gongcheng feared that Chen Qing was the one with a problem, just as Chen Qing appeared behind them.

Chen Qing admitted that he and the newcomers were compatriots from another world who planned to settle in Jiangnan, then promised to punish anyone—including his own people—who threatened his vision. Wei Gongcheng pledged to keep serving him, but Shen Qi challenged whether reincarnated newcomers could truly integrate without provoking chaos.

• Wei Gongcheng asked Chen Qing whether the newly arrived spirit entities were the same kind of people as him, and Chen Qing confirmed they were compatriots from a place unsuitable for survival.
• Chen Qing explained that he had found this world and was arranging for more of his people to come, prompting Wei Gongcheng and Shen Qi to fear an otherworldly invasion.
• Wei Gongcheng asked whether Chen Qing would favor his compatriots, and Chen Qing vowed to kill anyone who broke the system, regardless of whom they belonged to.
• Chen Qing warned Wei Gongcheng that refusing to serve would mean death, and Wei Gongcheng reaffirmed his loyalty as long as Chen Qing's aspirations remained unchanged.
• Shen Qi questioned whether newcomers with memories could integrate into local families without causing public unrest, and asked whether Chen Qing could kill everyone who objected.

Chen Qing outlined plans for reincarnated newcomers and entrusted Shen Qi and Wei Gongcheng with Liuzhou while he prepared to return to the Federation. The next day, Central China's leaders gathered as Wu Xiaoli prepared the process for his arrival.

• Chen Qing told Shen Qi that most newcomers would reincarnate without their memories, while exceptional individuals could retain them if they concealed their identities and contributed to the world.
• Chen Qing assigned Shen Qi and Wei Gongcheng temporary control of Liuzhou, ordered them to support Ziyue in the north, and placed Wei Gongcheng in charge of the five hundred spirit bodies whose memories would remain intact.
• Chen Qing explained that another group would reincarnate in West Sea families because they did not want to become people of the Central Plains.
• Chen Qing worried that the Federation would use special means to control him when he returned.
• The next day, Wu Xiaoli prepared the opening process at the Federation military district as Central China's leading figures gathered, and Zhang Zhengyuan ordered her to begin.

Zhang Zhengyuan and the aristocratic leaders activated the project and opened a passage to the Demon World, convinced it offered immortality. Chen Qing crossed the rift despite Wei Gongcheng’s warning, leaving Wei to believe his lord was protecting their world.

• Wu Xiaoli warned that the capture device’s success could not be guaranteed, but Hou Tianhua ordered the project to begin.
• Wu Xiaoli and the project leaders entered their passwords, and Zhang Zhengyuan gave the final authorization.
• The project opened an enormous rift and an invisible passage between the worlds, stirring the leaders’ desire to survive forever.
• Chen Qing faced the people across the rift and prepared to enter, while Wei Gongcheng begged him not to go.
• Chen Qing told Wei Gongcheng that the other side could destroy their world, then crossed the rift as Wei knelt and wished him a safe return.

Chen Qing entered the Federation’s system, where his data volume surged to an unprecedented 17 million YB and alarmed the officials monitoring him. Zhang Zhengyuan ordered the operation to continue despite a 60 percent chance of capturing him, leaving Wu Xiaoli fearful that the Federation’s gamble would fail.

• Heavenly Secrets and Jiang Xiaoling watched Chen Qing go, and Heavenly Secrets suspected the King of Qin had deliberately set events in motion.
• Chen Qing entered the Federation’s system and dissolved into an enormous mass of data.
• Federation monitors tracked Chen Qing’s data volume as it climbed past 17 million YB, triggering a red alert.
• The data specialist reported that Chen Qing’s growth had stopped and estimated a 60 percent chance of intercepting and retaining him.
• Wu Xiaoli pointed out the risk, but Zhang Zhengyuan ordered the operation to continue.

Zhang Zhengyuan’s team stabilized Chen Qing’s data and implanted a disintegration program to control him. When Chen Qing emerged, he recognized Hou Tianhua, despite having no reason to know him.

• The expert reported that Chen Qing’s data had been suspended for three hours, giving the team time to install or remove programs.
• The expert found no disintegration program in Chen Qing, surprising Zhang Zhengyuan and Hou Tianhua, who ordered a new one implanted.
• The implantation succeeded with zero rejection, and Zhang Zhengyuan ordered the program backed up as Chen Qing’s data reconstruction began.
• Chen Qing emerged in white robes and greeted Hou Tianhua by name, causing Hou Tianhua and Zhang Zhengyuan to realize something was wrong.

The King of Qin revealed that he had taken control of Chen Qing’s body during the data restructuring, after secretly hiding inside him and waiting for the chance. He confronted Zhang Zhengyuan and the others, then began gathering energy for an attack.

• Chen Qing’s strange behavior made Zhang Zhengyuan and Hou Tianhua suspect that he was not really Chen Qing.
• At East Sea City, Mr. Origami watched over the King of Qin’s empty body and recalled the plan to seize Chen Qing during data restructuring.
• The King of Qin revealed himself and explained that he had let Chen Qing build power while ancient players lowered their guard.
• Zhang Zhengyuan challenged the King of Qin about his control of Chen Qing and the Disintegration Program, but the King of Qin said it did not apply to him.
• The King of Qin refused to reveal what he had learned about the Federation’s past and summoned a magic array with the attack name “Divine Wind.”