Chapter Summaries

Ding Lexin investigated the source of Survivors’ severe headaches and found an invisible force that destroyed his mental defenses and set his mental world and soul ablaze. He called for Consultant Su, but received no response as he lost control and plunged into unconsciousness.

• Ding Lexin equipped an array of mental-protection items and began investigating the headache source near East District 36 and East District 35.
• Ding Lexin used reports and measurements to triangulate the source to a barren area outside any known [Dangerous Terrain].
• Ding Lexin approached the coordinates as his protection items reacted increasingly violently, and he saw nothing unusual when he illuminated the area.
• Ding Lexin discovered that a cold black flame had appeared on his chest and spread through his mental world, attaching itself to his mental power and soul.
• Ding Lexin shouted for Consultant Su, but got no answer before the flame overwhelmed him and he lost control of his body.

Ding Lexin woke after Su Luo’s experimental Heartfire attack and learned that Su Luo had altered his body as compensation. Following Su Luo’s instructions, he used tea and special glasses to study the Vast Sea Scroll, beginning to sense the conviction behind its visions.

• Ding Lexin regained consciousness and heard Su Luo explain that his new Heartfire technique had accidentally injured him.
• Su Luo and Song Shige told Ding Lexin he would stay for data collection, and he discovered he had been healed and left naked in a coffin-like metal room.
• Ding Lexin found nuclear-bomb-like cylinders in the corridor and entered an empty room where furniture and experimental materials emerged from the floor.
• Su Luo said he had improved Ding Lexin’s Constitution and strength and given him an additional organ; Ding Lexin confirmed his Constitution had risen to 14.5.
• Ding Lexin drank tea and studied the Vast Sea Scroll, then put on silver-rimmed glasses and sensed the force of will behind the scroll’s visions.

Su Luo and Song Shige discussed using the Vast Sea Scroll to awaken Martial Will and investigated Ding Lexin’s potential after testing Su Luo’s Heartfire on Song Shige. As the District War approached, Su Luo left the laboratory, while Ye Xu woke from a dream still dreading a return to reality.

• Su Luo explained that his modified Vast Sea Scroll used Heart Fiend Blood Qi and special glasses to help Ding Lexin awaken a weak Martial Will.
• Su Luo and Song Shige discussed how growth-type special items might strengthen entire districts and noted that most reported items had come from the Wishing Well.
• Su Luo’s Heartfire attacked Song Shige’s Martial Will, and Su Luo explained how he had expanded its effective range.
• Song Shige offered to designate a large, cleared area for Su Luo’s experiments, and Su Luo agreed before leaving to prepare for the District War.
• Ye Xu woke from a dream in which he called being sent back to reality the cruelest punishment, as faint black flames faded around him.

Ye Xu relived a life of disappointment in a dream, from his poor mock exam score through adulthood, unemployment, and debt, before Su Luo burned away the memories. Su Luo and Han Song discussed the experiment and prepared to use three spheres formed from Su Luo’s secondary subconscious.

• Ye Xu received a mock exam score of 398 and faced his parents’ silent disappointment before leaving for school.
• Ye Xu drifted through university and work, eventually getting fired and threatened with compensation for his mistakes.
• Ye Xu reflected on his worsening life, closed his eyes, and was consumed by a black flame.
• Han Song told Su Luo that the dream had not driven Ye Xu into despair or an intense desire for power.
• Su Luo explained that real-life setbacks affected Ye Xu more than imagined apocalypses and burned away his memories of them.
• Su Luo drew three spheres of light toward him and began explaining that the first controlled the passage of time in dreams.

Su Luo entrusted Han Song with using dream simulations to push Ye Xu toward becoming stronger, while warning him to avoid excessive memory damage. After dismantling the laboratory, Su Luo gave Ding Lexin experimental work and left him wondering how to reach his Sanctuary before the District War.

• Su Luo gave Han Song three dream tools and assigned him the long-term task of guiding Ye Xu’s subjective consciousness toward becoming stronger.
• Han Song proposed putting Ye Xu through brutal horror scenarios, painful losses, betrayal, and rebirth, and Su Luo told him to give Ye Xu a cheat.
• Su Luo connected Han Song’s dream to Ye Xu’s and left Han Song ready to advance the plot and collect simulation data.
• Su Luo dismantled the laboratory, moved Ding Lexin out of the burial chamber, and gave him a Mana Pool and experiments to document after the District War.
• Ding Lexin asked how he could return to his Sanctuary in time, and Su Luo asked whether he had ever tried flying.

Su Luo reviewed the updated District War rules and registered a deliberately small team for Zone 76, reasoning that stronger groups might face tougher opponents and weaker teammates could become a burden. He then noticed a discussion among top class holders about whether Sanctuaries were still useful in battle.

• Su Luo sent Ding Lexin home with a wind spell and checked his improved attributes after days of training and inscribing skills.
• The System announced that District War settlement would begin when one-tenth of all groups remained, and top-ranked zones could choose to continue into a more difficult battle for greater rewards.
• Su Luo and Song Shige agreed on a strategy and registered Group seven with Jing Yunxin and Guizishi, leaving the roster short to avoid bringing underpowered teammates.
• Zone 76 had eighty class holders, but sixteen were excluded from the war; Su Luo noted that Number One had nukes and told participating squads to use them for intimidation.
• Su Luo opened the World Channel and saw Ye Zizhen say she would leave her Sanctuary behind, prompting discussion among top class holders about the usefulness and costs of Sanctuaries.

Su Luo’s group entered a dark battlefield for a defensive District War, where they had to protect the central [Tinder]. After investigating the lethal darkness and exploring the [Tinder], Su Luo found himself inside a strange hall and was greeted as a Scholar.

• Ye Zizhen pinned a message on the World Channel, prompting survivors to speculate about his warning.
• Su Luo, Song Shige, Jing Yunxin, and Guizishi were assigned battlefield 1314 for a defensive District War, where their team had to protect the [Tinder].
• Su Luo tested the darkness beyond the [Tinder]’s light and found that it erased anything that touched it, including his fingertip and Song Shige’s.
• Jing Yunxin explained that Sanctuaries could be placed along four defensive paths, and enemies would target them before the [Tinder].
• Su Luo entered the [Tinder] and found his consciousness in a bright hall with a round table, where someone greeted him as a Scholar.

Su Luo and the other powerful Survivors gathered in a consciousness space before the District War and introduced themselves by name and class. The ghost remained silent, leaving the group to wonder whether it considered those without Forbidden Classes unworthy of speaking.

• Song Shige brought Jing Yunxin and Guizishi into the consciousness space after arranging the Sanctuary defenses.
• Father Tali Lang ended the wait for an absent zone and asked the participants to introduce themselves.
• Tali Lang introduced himself as a [Lord of Contracts] from North America and described his nine companions.
• Su Luo, Song Shige, Shan Yixian, Jiang Mengrui, Wangu Chaoqitu, Gai Li Darwin, Mu Hongyuan, and Kundina Orlando each stated their origin and class.
• Su Luo privately warned Song Shige that Mu Hongyuan seemed unusual, and Song Shige agreed that her beauty was remarkable.
• The ghost stayed silent, and the others recognized its apparent disdain for anyone without a Forbidden Class.

As the District War began, Su Luo and the other zone representatives agreed to prioritize defense, while recognizing that Yashan would likely be targeted. Su Luo established defenses around the allied Sanctuaries, then Black Flame intercepted the first creature to appear at the edge of their safe zone.

• Yashan revealed that he was a Forbidden Existence, the National Guardian Mage of the Yashan Empire, inhabiting a [Silent Wraith].
• Father Tali Lang and Su Luo proposed cooperating and focusing on defenses and [Tinder] strength rather than attacking other zones, while the representatives singled out Yashan as a likely target.
• Su Luo and Song Shige discussed the seven trait-qualified professionals among the nine zones, and Su Luo left the mental space to assemble the Laboratory.
• Su Luo inspected Jing Yunxin's and Guizishi's level-seven Sanctuaries, then placed the Laboratory to guard another direction.
• The District War began with the first wave, and Su Luo's Black Flame melted the lower body of a black-furred giant ape that appeared at the edge of the light.

Su Luo and his allies tested the battlefield’s monster and Tinder Shard rules, compared Guardian Rankings, and investigated Mu Hongyuan’s uncanny voice. Gai Li then urged Su Luo to start the waves early, revealing that he had already reached the fourth wave.

• Su Luo and Song Shige confirmed that monsters could be thrown into the battlefield’s darkness and gave no experience when killed.
• Guizishi killed the Black-Evil Giant Ape, which dropped ten Tinder Shards and completed the first wave.
• Su Luo and Song Shige examined the Tinder options and Guardian Rankings, where Guizishi ranked tenth and Wangu Chaoqitu ranked first.
• Su Luo imitated Mu Hongyuan’s introduction and discovered that listeners perceived her voice differently according to their own preferences.
• Su Luo confirmed with Shan Yixian that the battlefield rules matched across their groups and saw that some groups had been eliminated in the first wave.
• Gai Li called Su Luo and advised him to start waves early, saying he had reached the fourth wave and could quickly clear the early monsters.

Su Luo started successive monster waves early to test the battlefield and obtain a special card, while he and Song Shige discussed the limits of Forbidden Existences. After learning that at least one Forbidden Existence had a Main Attribute above 27, Su Luo gathered the participants to share information, with five minutes remaining before the next wave.

• Gai Li and Jiang Mengrui returned to the [Tinder] Hall of Consciousness, where Jiang Mengrui showed the [Wave Advance Card (Specified)] she had obtained.
• Su Luo explained to Song Shige that the District War would give way to Continued Battle when only 10% of [Groups Remaining in the World] remained, then left to start another wave.
• Su Luo spent [Tinder Shards] to start waves early, and Black Flame killed the monsters as the waves grew in size and strength.
• A level 7 monster dropped a [Monster Quantity Increase Card (Specified)], which Su Luo collected.
• Song Shige told Su Luo that a Forbidden Existence encountered by Father Tali Lang had at least one Main Attribute above 27.
• Su Luo confirmed that Yashan was absent, turned on all his microphones, and prepared to address the participants before the next wave.

Su Luo coordinated early cooperation among the districts and confirmed how cards and wave intervals worked. After the sixth wave, the group debated whether advancing waves early could conserve resources, and Guizishi went back to check the rules when Su Luo challenged his concern about speeding up their elimination.

• Su Luo and Father Tali Lang exchanged card information, then Su Luo asked the districts to cooperate and share basic intelligence.
• The participants displayed cards, including Jiang Mengrui’s Wave Advancement Card, which could immediately start the next wave in every district.
• Su Luo’s district defeated the sixth wave and collected 1,000 Tinder Shards, confirming that waves advanced automatically every twenty minutes.
• Su Luo explained that incoming waves might overlap if survivors had not cleared the previous wave, while Song Shige suggested advancing to more rewarding waves to save shards.
• Guizishi worried that early advancement would make the districts reach elimination sooner, and Su Luo told him to read the rules before returning to the Tinder hall.

Su Luo and the other team members clarified the District War’s scoring and card mechanics, then agreed to develop quickly while coordinating their wave progress. Su Luo upgraded his Tinder to Fine quality and expanded its range as the team prepared to push through waves and use cards to gather resources.

• Guizishi realized the District War rewarded high waves and strong Tinder, while the war would end once only 10% of groups remained and the Continued Battle began.
• Su Luo explained his rapid-development strategy in the Tinder Hall, and Mu Hongyuan, Song Shige, and Chao Ketu shared that cards had to match or exceed the target Tinder’s quality.
• The group confirmed that Battlefield No. 1314 had only nine teams because one area had no occupant, and they formed a preliminary cooperation plan.
• Su Luo spent 120 Tinder Shards to upgrade his Tinder to Fine quality, expanding its firelight to a radius of one hundred meters.
• Su Luo added another 200 Tinder Shards to expand the firelight to a radius of one hundred and fifty meters, then planned for the team to advance to balanced waves and share card information.

Su Luo and Song Shige fought through the fourteenth wave, collected Tinder Shards and cards, and then joined the other Forbidden Class holders to compare their cards. The group began discussing how to coordinate their cards for the District War.

• Su Luo and Song Shige started waves seven through fourteen, killing the monsters quickly while keeping the Tinder at Fine quality.
• Su Luo and Song Shige stopped before level 10 monsters appeared and counted more than ninety-five thousand Tinder Shards and twelve cards among their gains.
• Su Luo showed Jiang Mengrui a Wheel of Fortune Card and traded cards with her after learning she had an identical one.
• Chao Ketu arrived late after fighting two extra waves and struggling to kill the latest monsters instantly.
• The group shared their card information, and Jiang Mengrui revealed thirty-seven types and forty-five cards.
• Su Luo recorded the card effects and began discussing priorities and coordination for the District War.

Xi Ji's team fought an unexpectedly advanced Monster Tide, and he used his auras to keep his inexperienced teammates alive. After deciding they should defend the Sanctuary and improve their Tinder, Xi Ji tried to build cooperation among the battlefield's teams, then confronted a Forbidden Class holder whose refusal to impose order had helped fuel the chaos.

• An all-zone wave advancement and a randomly targeted card pushed Xi Ji's team into the fifth wave, where they fought three level 7 monsters and twenty level 6 monsters.
• Xi Ji stacked Defense, Strength, and Speed Auras on endangered teammates, helping them survive and defeat the monsters.
• Xi Ji decided the team would defend its Sanctuary during the next wave and prioritize upgrading its Tinder over pursuing Guardian Rankings.
• Xi Ji explained Zone 76's strategy of splitting veterans among teams to strengthen newcomers, earn more team points, and reduce the risk of an early collapse.
• Xi Ji tried to coordinate with other teams but secured only a fragile temporary nonaggression alliance with three teams.
• Xi Ji cursed out the battlefield's only Forbidden Class holder, who defended his refusal to establish rules by saying absolute strength was itself a form of order.

Xi Ji taunted a Forbidden Class holder from another zone, then prepared his team for the District War’s increasingly dangerous waves. When a level 8 Holy Giant Eye appeared, Xi Ji triggered a massive sequence of buried explosives, but the monster survived the first blast as a thermobaric bomb detonated beneath it.

• Xi Ji insulted a Forbidden Class holder and warned that the man should focus on catching up with him before they met again.
• Xi Ji told his team to prepare for card attacks and considered how the District War’s waves and rewards would favor stronger participants.
• At the third time marker, a card caused Waves 6 and 7 to arrive together, and Xi Ji strengthened his team with group and individual auras.
• Xi Ji used two cards to increase the rewards from Wave 8, where a level 8 Holy Giant Eye appeared on a path toward the Tinder.
• Xi Ji ordered his team to trigger buried explosives, but the blast only scorched the Holy Giant Eye’s feathers and slowed it slightly.
• Xi Ji activated a thermobaric bomb beneath the Holy Giant Eye, setting off a second explosion.

Yashan destroyed the level 10 monster with a Forbidden Spell and reflected on his forgotten past as the last Forbidden Spell mage and founder of the Yashan Empire. As his empire fell to an unknown calamity, he discovered a possible path to survival.

• Xi Ji killed the Holy Giant Eye with a saber strike and picked up a card from its remains.
• Yashan spent Tinder Shards to begin wave twenty, and a level 10 monster charged across five kilometers toward him.
• Yashan used a Forbidden Spell to immobilize and dissolve the monster, then confirmed that his re-cultivation had restored his ability to cast advanced spells.
• Yashan recalled founding the Yashan Empire after the God War and ruling it as the world's last Forbidden Spell mage.
• Yashan remembered that an unknown calamity destroyed his thousand-year-old empire within a month, and that he found a possible path to survival as his power faded.

Yashan reflected on how the Survivors’ rapid growth and powerful skills threatened him, then entered the hall to observe the faction leaders. Chao Ketu invited him into an alliance while arguments erupted between Shan Yixian and Gai Li, and between Jiang Mengrui and Su Luo.

• Yashan recalled discovering an outsider in his destroyed world, arranging to become his teacher, and later escaping to the Land of Darkness.
• After studying the Survival System’s Skill Books, Yashan decided the Survivors’ rapid progress posed a danger and entered the hall to see what was happening.
• Shan Yixian and Gai Li traded insults and threatened each other with cards as Yashan watched the gathering.
• Chao Ketu invited Yashan to join an alliance with the [Goddess of Luck], citing their cards and Yashan’s strength.
• Jiang Mengrui argued with Su Luo on the public voice channel, and Su Luo claimed she had buried Jiang Mengrui.

Yashan saw through the Survivors’ staged offer of cooperation and rejected their attempt to deceive him, while leaving open the possibility of future cooperation. The group discussed his response and their next steps as the fourth system time point arrived.

• The Scholar proposed that Yashan cooperate with the Survivors and offered to share card information.
• Yashan accused the Scholar and Chao Tuke of staging a false three-way standoff, rejected further discussion, and used three cards to strengthen himself before leaving.
• Shan Yixian and Gai Li Darwin discussed how a Tinder Probe Card could expose their ruse, while Song Shige and Mu Hongyuan considered Yashan’s stance on cooperation.
• Su Luo argued that Forbidden Existences had varied motives, and Jiang Mengrui asked whether their forces could be united.
• Gai Li Darwin and the others shared jokes and reminisced until Su Luo announced that the fourth time point had arrived and told everyone to handle their problems before returning.

Su Luo and Song Shige discussed why the region’s monsters seemed weaker and more artificial than those outside it, then joined the other regions to prepare an amplified wave. The enhanced eighteenth wave arrived in overwhelming numbers, but Su Luo’s Black Flame quickly consumed the monsters, leaving the cooperation’s defenses intact.

• Song Shige explained that monsters outside the region were mostly Elite or Boss types, unlike the ordinary monsters in the waves, and Su Luo noted that the region’s monsters had suspiciously simple attributes.
• Su Luo and Song Shige speculated about whoever created the region’s monsters and the nature of the system while Guizishi listened.
• Representatives from the cooperating regions gathered, and Jiang Mengrui coordinated a set of amplification cards expected to multiply the Tinder Shard reward twenty-onefold.
• The eight regions used their cards, including Su Luo’s Wave Mirror Card, and began defending against the super-amplified eighteenth wave.
• More than thirty level 9 monsters and over a hundred level 8 monsters charged from four directions, but Su Luo’s Black Flame burned through them and grew stronger.