Chapter Summaries

Ren Suo struggled to defeat Merlin and Librom in the seventh stage, trying several companions and Holy Grail cheats before realizing Seeker of the Way could use equipped abilities differently. He equipped Profound Monarch Secret Records One as a Spell, and Seeker of the Way kept its effect while striking Merlin with overwhelming speed and power.

• Ren Suo tried Zhao Zili and several Holy Grail cheats against Merlin and Librom, but their shared health and healing overwhelmed the party.
• Ren Suo found that he could eventually defeat Merlin and Librom through precise control, though it would take days of practice and cost his companions their lives.
• Ren Suo equipped Seeker of the Way with Profound Monarch Secret Records One, but she dealt little damage and died during the fight.
• Ren Suo realized Seeker of the Way had fought for more than ten minutes, then equipped Profound Monarch Secret Records One as a Spell instead.
• Seeker of the Way gained a protective aura, charged Merlin at tremendous speed, and pierced his body with her Clothing-wrapped hand while the ability remained active.

Ren Suo used the Seeker of the Way and her duplicate to defeat Merlin and Librom, then chose to redeem Merlin and discovered that the Holy Grail had turned Merlin into a female Special Follower. The seventh stage ended in victory, with the forbidden fruits purified and the Transcendent forces surviving.

• Zach and the other commanders questioned the blond magician about the Seeker of the Way, and the magician explained her connection to the Immortal Palace and her exceptional ability to learn spells.
• Ren Suo equipped the Seeker of the Way with combat abilities, and she dominated Merlin until he summoned Librom at half health.
• Ren Suo created a second Seeker of the Way, and the two fighters defeated Merlin and Librom.
• Merlin revealed that he was the Holy Grail and asked the blond magician to sacrifice him, but she chose to redeem him instead.
• The Holy Grail fulfilled Ren Suo's wishes by making Merlin and seven other characters female Special Followers of the Magician.
• The Black Sea vanished, golden fields appeared, and the mission ended with all forbidden fruits purified and no Transcendent troops dead.

Ren Suo uploaded his 92-point Great Merit result for "Magician Under the World Tree," earning Merit Points, a treasure chest, the Pure White Little Holy Grail, and eight special followers for the Magician. He reflected on how his cultivation and abilities could strengthen game characters before a new message arrived.

• Ren Suo reviewed his Great Merit score and concluded that off-game abilities and accumulated experience had enabled the Holy Hand path and its high rating.
• Ren Suo wrote down his insights about how his cultivation and resources could help Ren Nesser and the game characters.
• Ren Suo uploaded the result and received 276 Merit Points, a Three-Star Treasure Chest, the Pure White Little Holy Grail, and eight special followers for the Magician.
• Ren Suo found that Dindelan, Nimue, Red Riding Hood, Lompena, and Merlin could join the Magician, then wondered whether jealousy had motivated Merlin to kill Librom.
• Ren Suo received a new message notification.

Ren Suo advanced to Level 4 Player, won a random wish and upgraded privilege through the Fantasy Lottery, then made another draw whose result remained unknown. In Cambridge, Old George found a strange book that showed him a forest outside the library window and hid it in a bookshelf, where an unseen voice said, "Again, it is 'Him.'"

• Ren Suo equipped the Pure White Little Holy Grail and inspected its skill boosts and wish-fulfillment effect.
• Ren Suo reached Level 4 Player and used a lottery draw to fulfill his old wish to accelerate game console hardware development.
• Ren Suo spent 200 Merit Points on another draw and upgraded Slow and Steady Stream into Wild Goose Plucks Its Feathers.
• Ren Suo spent 400 Merit Points on a third draw, but the chapter did not reveal its result.
• At Cambridge University, Old George found a strange brown book, saw a forest beyond the library window, and hid the book deep in a bookshelf.
• After Old George left, a voice from inside the bookshelf said, "Again, it is 'Him.'"

Ren Suo awakened the Bond System after helping Li Dan sleep, gaining an ability that enhanced his senses and bodily control. As he left the academy, Gu Yueyan saw him embrace a delicate-looking boy, give him money, and take him away.

• Qiao Muyi caught Ren Suo leaving a room where he had helped Li Dan sleep and wondered about their relationship.
• Ren Suo discovered that Li Dan had become his Level 1 Bond and gained the ability “Insight into the Mortal World.”
• Ren Suo explained that bonds required closeness, shared effort, and an Awakened target, and recalled that helping Zhao Huo with subtitles had failed to form one.
• Gu Yueyan received Qiao Muyi’s message but dismissed the idea that Ren Suo was gay.
• Gu Yueyan saw Ren Suo hug a boy near the academy gates, give him money, and leave with him.

Gu Yueyan and Dong Chengling investigated Ren Suo after believing he had brought a male escort home, only to discover the visitor was his younger sister, Ren Xingmei. Ren Xingmei privately decided to keep Ren Suo single so she could fleece him for money.

• Gu Yueyan told Dong Chengling that Ren Suo had brought a man home after an intimate meeting at the school gate, and Dong Chengling agreed to investigate.
• Dong Chengling opened Ren Suo’s locked door with her finger, and the group found him gaming on the sofa with the visitor.
• Ren Xingmei revealed she was Ren Suo’s sister and explained that she wore men’s clothes because she found them comfortable.
• Ren Suo said he had reimbursed Ren Xingmei for her travel expenses, while Gu Yueyan wondered if their greeting had been too intimate for siblings.
• Ren Xingmei privately resolved to stop Ren Suo from getting a girlfriend so she could keep taking money from him.

Ren Suo spent a carefree day gaming with his visiting sister, Ren Xingmei, then brought her to dinner with Gu Yueyan, Lin Xianyu, and Dong Chengling. Ren Xingmei showed off her talents and hinted at staying in Lianjiang for one or two months, but Ren Suo firmly refused.

• Ren Suo and Ren Xingmei played Spirit Warriors together, and Ren Suo described how they had shared games since childhood.
• Ren Suo brought Ren Xingmei to Dong Chengling's home, where she quickly befriended Gu Yueyan and met Lin Xianyu.
• Lin Xianyu rejected Ren Suo's tentative offer to accompany her somewhere, while he reflected that he only wanted to build a few close bonds.
• Ren Xingmei cooked dinner for the group, then impressed everyone with her exam results, guitar playing, writing, and volunteer work.
• Ren Xingmei said she planned to stay in Lianjiang for one or two months and follow Ren Suo around, but he crossed his hands and said no.

Ren Suo tried to keep his secrets from Ren Xingmei while the group planned a shopping trip, and Lin Xianyu questioned Dong Chengling about her relationship with him. At the mall, Qiao Muyi proposed that everyone choose a gift for Ren Xingmei, giving Ren Suo a chance to form bonds with all five Awakened women.

• Ren Suo told Ren Xingmei she had to return home in two days, and she suggested sleeping together as a joke before he agreed because he wanted her First Star Key.
• Dong Chengling told Lin Xianyu that she and Ren Suo were only friends for now, but she intended to become his wife.
• Lin Xianyu told Gu Yueyan that Ren Xingmei seemed too performative in her affection for Ren Suo.
• Qiao Muyi joined Ren Suo, Ren Xingmei, Dong Chengling, Gu Yueyan, and Lin Xianyu on their shopping trip.
• Qiao Muyi proposed that everyone pick a gift for Ren Xingmei and send Ren Suo the bill, and Ren Suo realized the group activity might let him gain five bonds.

Ren Xingmei spent a day shopping with Ren Suo and his companions, who tried to choose gifts for her while Qiao Muyi investigated her relationship with Ren Suo. After Ren Suo bought her clothes and she left for home, she revealed that she had chosen Heavenly Lotus Academy and would move nearby to attend university.

• Ren Xingmei questioned Ren Suo about whether he had an ability that made girls like him, then tried to protect his wallet while the group shopped for her gifts.
• Qiao Muyi and the others dressed Ren Xingmei in a feminine outfit, but she became upset and changed back; Qiao Muyi also offered relationship advice to Gu Yueyan and Dong Chengling.
• Ren Suo missed the group's calls while treating an injured girl at the mall, and Ren Xingmei recalled how he used to play games with her during her childhood hospital stays.
• Ren Suo bought Ren Xingmei two sets of clothes and told her he knew she liked dressing up female game characters.
• As Ren Xingmei left the next day, she announced that she had chosen Heavenly Lotus Academy and would be moving there for university.

Ren Suo and the Countermeasures Bureau traveled to Xiang City to investigate the rainbow Cotton Candy surrounding Ailan Lake, which marked the entrance to a Special Secret Realm. The group approached under heavy protection as Magician Under the World Tree began.

• Ren Suo examined his bonds with Ren Xingmei and Li Dan and found that only they had formed bonds with him.
• Ren Suo and the Countermeasures Bureau captains traveled with Dong Chengling and Gu Yueyan to Ailan Lake in Xiang City.
• The group found Ailan Lake surrounded by a huge rainbow Cotton Candy, with scholars, soldiers, and fortifications around the site.
• Li Dan explained that the Yangtze River Unit would help protect Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan as they approached the Secret Realm.
• Dong Chengling, the captains, and twelve Yangtze River Unit soldiers escorted Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan to the Cotton Candy's outer layer.

Ren Suo joined the Countermeasures Bureau’s investigation of the secret realm at Ailan Lake and argued that similar realms had appeared worldwide and could change from within. As he predicted, the realm began rotating and turned black, leaving everyone stunned and Ren Suo unsure why his words had come true.

• Qiao Muyi explained that the secret realm blocked non-living things and ordinary people, and that a cultivator’s clone had vanished inside.
• Ren Suo suggested the realm was connected to the July 5 incident and urged the group to gather intelligence rather than send cultivators in recklessly.
• Li Dan reported that similar phenomena had appeared in Cambridge, Birdsville, and Salt Lake between July 23rd and 24th.
• Ren Suo argued that extraordinary forces might enter the realm and trigger changes, and he predicted that it could roll or change color.
• Cotton Candy began rotating, its colors darkened to black, and Ren Suo realized he had not equipped the Pure White Little Holy Grail.

After the secret realm at Ailan Lake changed, Dong Chengling rescued Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan and joined the investigation. Ren Suo urged the Countermeasure Force to act quickly, then volunteered to enter the realm if required, while Gu Yueyan worried that she had caused the changes.

• Ren Suo and Gu Yueyan fell as the secret realm shifted, but Dong Chengling used a special Space Coordinate to bring them safely to her side.
• Qiao Muyi and the others regrouped, and Li Dan learned that no similar changes had been reported from secret realms in other countries.
• Ren Suo advised the Countermeasure Force to act quickly because the secret realm existed around the world, and Li Dan went to report the situation.
• Gu Yueyan feared that she and Ren Suo had caused the secret realm's changes, so Dong Chengling and Ren Suo reassured her that they would not let her face danger.
• Ren Suo declared that he would take responsibility and enter the secret realm if necessary, prompting Qiao Muyi to tease him about being a virgin.

Ren Suo volunteered to join the Yangtze River Unit’s second expedition into the secret realm, and Dong Chengling went with him after learning she could not pull him out from inside. They entered a strange building and found the mage Charred Remains facing the Iron Maiden just after casting his Forbidden Art.

• Dong Chengling told the team that the first group’s Space Coordinates had vanished, leaving her unable to pull them out of the secret realm.
• When the Yangtze River Unit sought a healing cultivator for its second expedition, Ren Suo volunteered, and Dong Chengling joined him as a Space Awakened cultivator.
• Qiao Muyi reassured Gu Yueyan that Ren Suo had ways to escape danger and teased her about their time underwater.
• Ren Suo and Dong Chengling entered the secret realm with the Yangtze River Unit after Ren Suo assured her they would return safely.
• Inside a strange, overheated building, Ren Suo recognized Charred Remains and saw the mage’s Forbidden Art strike the bloodied, chained Iron Maiden.

After the Iron Maiden fell, Charred Remains died from his wounds, leaving the Yangtze cultivators to treat the survivors as the secret realm reopened. Ren Suo enjoyed hearing Yuan Dang praise the magician before a Green-skinned Monster emerged from a black vortex and targeted him.

• Charred Remains turned the brown-clad girl into motes of light, then faded away after declaring that his fellow Magicians Under the World Tree would carry on his will.
• Ren Suo tried and failed to heal Charred Remains, who died in the arms of the Yangtze cultivator he had saved.
• The Yangtze cultivators learned that the secret realm had opened and began organizing reports, epidemic prevention checks, and medical treatment.
• Ren Suo healed injured cultivators while Dong Chengling assisted, and Yuan Dang described the magician as an enduring beacon to him.
• A Green-skinned Monster emerged from a black vortex beside Ren Suo and fixed its gaze on him.

Ren Suo entered the purified secret realm, where Green-skinned Monsters suddenly appeared and the cultivators killed them. After leaving, he met Nan Xi, leader of the Ren Naiser Immortal Palace Task Force, and declined her offer to join; he later reunited with Dong Chengling and Gu Yueyan as they prepared for quarantine inspections.

• Green-skinned Monsters appeared, and Ren Suo fought one while switching his equipment, but Dong Chengling killed it before he could finish.
• The Changjiang cultivators killed the remaining monsters and ordered everyone to leave the secret realm.
• Gu Yueyan hugged Dong Chengling after they exited, while Li Dan brought Ren Suo to meet Nan Xi and her task force.
• Nan Xi asked Ren Suo to join the task force and questioned him about the Magician; Ren Suo declined and described the Magician as courageous and responsible.
• Nan Xi told Li Dan that Ren Suo seemed lucky rather than talented and said he should remain a researcher.
• Ren Suo returned to Dong Chengling and Gu Yueyan, mentioned quarantine inspections, and asked Gu Yueyan whether she could eat durian.

After discovering his bond ability with Dong Chengling, Ren Suo found its short-range teleportation difficult to use and continued cultivating while waiting to reach the Second Cycle. Meanwhile, the Ren Immortal Task Force investigated how Ren Nesser might film inside secret realms, and a new analysis of the magicians’ behavior left Ren Suo wondering how to explain the game’s settings.

• Ren Suo tested Dong Chengling’s bond ability, teleported five meters across his home, and concluded that its cooldown and disorientation made it impractical for now.
• Ren Suo resumed cultivating the Profound Monarch Secret Records, hoping to reach the Second Cycle and access more useful spells.
• The Ren Immortal Task Force discussed how to locate Ren Nesser’s recording equipment in secret realms and assumed he would film with a DV camera.
• Ren Suo opened an internal-network post analyzing the magicians’ repeated appearances and the male magician’s female companions.
• Ren Suo realized that the game’s character and companion settings looked suspicious in reality and worried that people might deduce the truth.

Ren Suo’s answer about the mages stirred up debate among researchers and helped shift discussion toward believing in the World Tree. He planned a movie outing with Dong Chengling, but Gu Yueyan arranged for him to supervise her training the next night, leaving his plans crowded; meanwhile, Qiao Muyi enjoyed watching the wave he had started.

• Ren Suo posted a theory about the mages’ roles and the secret realms, and his answer gained attention as he advanced to Level 2 Researcher.
• Ren Suo realized the mages had cleared the fourth stage within four days and decided to focus on cultivation while waiting for more news.
• Dong Chengling invited Ren Suo to watch Demon Slayer with her the next afternoon, and he agreed to the date.
• Gu Yueyan asked Ren Suo to accompany her while she trained her Awakened Spell on the academy’s back mountain at eight the next night, and he agreed.
• Ren Suo declined Zhao Huo’s invitation to hang out, then wondered about the apparent coincidences as Qiao Muyi said she enjoyed riding the wave.

Ren Suo and Dong Chengling tried to learn about a new virtual reality system, watched a film about Transcendents, and went out to dinner together. As they walked, Ren Suo realized their evening might count as a date.

• Ren Suo and Dong Chengling saw Pandora’s Box, a virtual reality device using shapeshifting materials, and Ren Suo wondered if his wish had accelerated its development.
• Dong Chengling explained that Liaoyuan Entertainment was a subsidiary of Liaoyuan Technology, a state-backed company that produced equipment and goods using Awakened abilities.
• Ren Suo and Dong Chengling watched Demon Slayer, whose story depicted demons and praised Countermeasure Cultivators while suggesting ordinary people might one day cultivate.
• Dong Chengling invited Ren Suo to a restaurant because Xiao Yan would not be joining them for dinner, and Ren Suo agreed to treat her.
• Ren Suo noticed people looking at Dong Chengling in her dressed-up outfit and realized their outing might be a date.

Dong Chengling nervously tried to turn her meal with Ren Suo into a date, but Qiao Muyi intervened and took her shopping for clothes instead. Meanwhile, an Immortal Palace Seeker of the Way demonstrated overwhelming power against enemies above the Black Sea, while Chief Ren investigated the mages’ origins.

• Dong Chengling confided to Qiao Muyi that she was nervous about her date with Ren Suo and explained how much she cherished her friendships, including her bond with Xiao Yan.
• Qiao Muyi interrupted Ren Suo and Dong Chengling after their meal, then took Dong Chengling away to choose clothes for future dates.
• Dong Chengling told Qiao Muyi that she had fallen for Ren Suo without being able to name a single reason, and Qiao Muyi resolved not to meddle in their relationship.
• Extraordinary Warriors watched an Immortal Palace Seeker of the Way split off an external incarnation and defeat two powerful enemies with her fists.
• Chief Ren reviewed a report linking the four male mages’ speech to the southeastern coast of the Xuan Kingdom, with Lian Province as the likeliest origin.

Ren Qingqing and Tang Yihan watched Ren Nesser’s video about the World Tree magicians battling monsters and rescuing people in secret realms. They recognized connections to the Immortal Palace and the Ren family, and Ren Qingqing concluded that these groups could not all be deceiving the public together.

• Ren Qingqing persuaded Tang Yihan to watch Ren Nesser’s new video, “Magician Under the World Tree.”
• The video showed silver-haired and Red Riding Hood magicians fighting monsters in an abandoned monastery and rescuing people transformed into them.
• Xuan Kingdom cultivators joined the battle, and the silver-haired magician repeatedly sacrificed himself to protect them before defeating the monster with a forbidden spell.
• The video showed further secret realm battles and revealed that the World Tree magicians had ties to the Immortal Palace and the ancient Demon Hunter Ren of the East.
• After watching, Ren Qingqing and Tang Yihan discussed the World Tree’s relationship with the Immortal Palace and the Ren family, and Ren Qingqing said it was impossible for them all to deceive people together.