Chapter Summaries

Xia Yu entered the Grassland of Eternity to meet Bast and request a large supply of Heart-Shaped Herb. Bast agreed to arrange the herb and asked Xia Yu for a divine position in Asgard.

• Xia Yu followed Black Panther and the Wakandans to Bast’s shrine and entered alone.
• Xia Yu allowed the statue to draw his soul into the Grassland of Eternity, where he met Bast.
• Xia Yu recognized that Bast and the Grassland were sustained by outside energy and Wakandans’ faith.
• Xia Yu asked Bast to approve a large supply of Heart-Shaped Herb, and she agreed.
• Bast asked Xia Yu to grant her a divine position in Asgard.

Bast told Xia Yu how she had become Wakanda’s goddess and asked for a chief god’s position to protect its dead. Xia Yu refused but offered to help her build a stable divine kingdom, leaving Bast hopeful.

• Bast asked Xia Yu for a chief god’s position so she could create a lasting afterlife for Wakanda’s dead.
• Bast explained that she had been a warrior’s pet, a black cheetah, before the Soul Stone’s energy altered her soul after she died in an ancient war.
• Bast said she had awakened to find her master’s descendants fighting, so she chose a warrior, granted him the Heart-Shaped Herb’s power, and created a kingdom for Wakandan souls.
• Xia Yu concluded that Bast’s main motive was surviving and refused to grant her a chief god’s position.
• Xia Yu offered to help Bast establish a stable divine kingdom, and Bast reacted with excitement.

Xia Yu granted Bast a divine position under Death and secured Wakanda’s supply of Heart-Shaped Herbs, then forced the Avengers to consume the herbs so they could prepare to inherit divine positions. The chapter ended with Tony, Banner, and the others enduring the painful transformation while Xia Yu monitored their conditions.

• Xia Yu granted Bast a divine position that helped her stabilize the Eternity Grassland and maintain it with her own energy.
• Bast gave Xia Yu unrestricted access to Wakanda’s Heart-Shaped Herb supply, and Xia Yu declined her offer to make Wakandans worship him.
• Tony took a Heart-Shaped Herb to his laboratory, hoping to combine it with his father’s Super-Soldier Serum research, but Xia Yu dragged him out three days later.
• Xia Yu forced Tony to eat a Heart-Shaped Herb and ordered the Avengers at the compound to take theirs as well.
• Tony and the other Avengers convulsed and endured severe pain as Xia Yu monitored their bodies and minds, while Banner suffered without Hulk emerging.

After distributing divine positions and investigating Hulk’s sleeping soul, Xia Yu went to Vormir to seek the Soul Stone. Loki emerged from the Bifrost’s spatial turbulence into a TVA interrogation room, where he found himself dressed as a prisoner.

• Xia Yu teased and treated Tony after their ordeal, and Tony offered to donate ten years of the Herbal medicine Group’s income to charity.
• Xia Yu assigned divine positions to Natasha, Tony, Hawkeye, Banner, Captain America, Black Panther, Ant-Man, and the Scarlet Witch, while leaving one for the Ancient One to decide about later.
• Xia Yu and the Ancient One determined that Hulk’s soul was sleeping, and Xia Yu resolved to pursue the Soul Stone as a possible way to awaken him.
• With no news of Thanos, Xia Yu traveled to Vormir, where strange forces prevented him from teleporting or flying through the mountain range.
• Loki appeared a week after Thor in a TVA office, found his own profile on the table, and realized he was wearing a prisoner’s uniform marked TVA.

Xia Yu reached the Soul Stone’s desolate mountain on Vormir and met its guardian, Red Skull. After revealing Red Skull’s hidden past, Xia Yu pretended to be his long-lost biological father and left Red Skull stunned.

• Xia Yu climbed Vormir’s barren mountain and wondered whether he could sacrifice himself for the Soul Stone.
• Red Skull approached Xia Yu, expecting to startle him by revealing his name and his father’s name.
• Xia Yu recited Red Skull’s childhood history, including his mother’s death and his father’s attempt to drown him.
• Red Skull recoiled in fear and asked Xia Yu how he knew so much about him.
• Xia Yu claimed that he was Red Skull’s biological father, embraced him, and wailed while wiping his nose on Red Skull’s robe.

Xia Yu manipulated Red Skull into believing he was his father, then pushed him off the cliff in an attempt to reach the Soul Stone. Red Skull vanished without explanation, while Loki was brought to a conference room and found Thanos waiting there.

• Xia Yu convinced Red Skull that he was his biological father by exploiting Red Skull’s curse and using mental manipulation.
• Xia Yu implanted a false love story in Red Skull’s mind and hypnotized him into acting like a child who trusted his father.
• Xia Yu promised to take Red Skull to heaven and pushed him off the cliff, but Red Skull disappeared before Xia Yu could obtain the Soul Stone.
• After Loki was taken to a conference room with three men in black suits, he recognized Thanos at the far end of the table.

The Time Variance Authority told Loki and Thanos that their universe’s fate had gone off course and recruited them to help correct it in exchange for freedom from their destined fates. Loki agreed to oppose the Avengers, especially Xia Yu, without learning what his own fate was.

• Loki saw Thanos and the real Infinity Gauntlet, then assumed the men in black had brought him to help destroy Asgard.
• A TVA agent told Loki that Asgard had already been destroyed, prompting Loki to angrily demand his release.
• The agent introduced the Time Variance Authority and explained that it monitored fate and needed Loki and Thanos to correct an unprecedented deviation.
• Loki learned that the TVA would help him escape his fate if he cooperated, and he asked what he was destined to do.
• The TVA agent told Loki to oppose the Avengers, especially Xia Yu, and Loki agreed.

Xia Yu repeatedly destroyed Red Skull after discovering that he had returned from the fall and broken free of Xia Yu’s mental control, but Red Skull kept reappearing. When Xia Yu captured the returning wisp of Red Skull’s true spirit, it escaped his defenses and entered his mental world.

• Red Skull reappeared with his hatred and mental faculties restored, and Xia Yu suspected the Soul Stone had helped him break free.
• Red Skull explained the Soul Stone’s sacrifice requirement and said the curse would end once someone claimed it.
• Xia Yu crushed Red Skull, then watched him rematerialize in the same spot minutes later.
• Xia Yu destroyed Red Skull again and caught his wisp of true spirit before the altar could draw it back.
• The wisp broke through Xia Yu’s energy barrier, struck the Aether, and then entered Xia Yu’s mental world.

Xia Yu was pulled into the Soul Stone after Red Skull’s spirit attached itself to his origin, where he encountered the Soul Stone’s guardian and Old Master Li. Old Master Li explained that Xia Yu was in the space where the Soul Stone’s consciousness and guardians resided, then invited him to hear more.

• Red Skull’s spirit latched onto Xia Yu’s origin and pulled his soul from his body toward the altar.
• Xia Yu found himself in a gray space with Red Skull’s spirit and a threatening figure resembling Stan Lee.
• The figure’s pressure faded, and Old Master Li awakened, scolded Xia Yu for killing the Soul Stone’s guardian, and struck him with a balloon hammer.
• Old Master Li told Xia Yu that the gray space was outside the Soul Stone, where its guardians and consciousness resided.
• Old Master Li described the Soul Stone’s consciousness as a kind of artifact spirit and invited Xia Yu to sit and listen.

Old Master Li told Xia Yu how he reached the world and revealed that he had chosen Xia Yu to reincarnate there, though he did not give Xia Yu the system. Their conflicting accounts left them suspecting another force was involved, and Old Master Li began explaining how he and another creator came up with a plan.

• Old Master Li explained that creators could enter worlds they had made or choose someone from their original world to reincarnate in one.
• Xia Yu challenged Old Master Li about his memories, his unchanged childhood home, and the system that had helped him.
• Old Master Li confirmed that Xia Yu bore his mark but said he knew nothing about the system, leaving both men wondering whether someone else was behind Xia Yu's arrival.
• Xia Yu asked Old Master Li to explain why he had chosen him, appeared inside the Soul Stone, stayed silent before, and spoke openly now.
• Old Master Li recounted meeting a renowned Huaxia martial arts novelist in the unknown space, where they debated their creations and devised an idea to avoid wasting their opportunities.

Old Master Li explained how he entered the Marvel world through the imprints of his cameo roles and became connected to the Soul Stone’s consciousness. He revealed that he sought Xia Yu’s help because he could not bear to watch the superheroes he had created grow old and die, and said Xia Yu’s arrival had already pushed the universe beyond its original control.

• Old Master Li explained that Xia Yu had been chosen because he was the only person who tore down an advertisement and replied to its text.
• Old Master Li said he had arrived in the Marvel world during World War II and discovered that he could influence and briefly inhabit people connected to his cameo roles.
• Old Master Li revealed that the Soul Stone’s consciousness was linked to his imprint, which he had suggested as a hidden plot device for the films.
• Xia Yu asked why Old Master Li had sought him out and why he could now speak openly, and Old Master Li explained that he could not bear to watch the superheroes he had created die.
• Old Master Li told Xia Yu that his arrival had caused the universe to slip out of its original control.

Xia Yu learned from Old Master Li that his changes to the universe had weakened the cosmic consciousness’s control, making it focus its attention on him. After the two speculated about the hidden force behind his transmigration and system, Xia Yu decided to stop guessing and asked Old Master Li how to obtain the Soul Stone.

• Old Master Li explained that Xia Yu’s changes had drawn the cosmic consciousness’s attention and that it would try to restore the universe’s predetermined course.
• Xia Yu and Old Master Li discussed the unexplained circumstances behind Xia Yu’s transmigration, his retained memories, and his system, but could not verify any theory.
• Xia Yu abandoned their speculation and resolved to confront whatever was ahead of him.
• Xia Yu asked Old Master Li how to find the Soul Stone, the only Infinity Stone he did not possess.

Xia Yu learned that the Soul Stone could not be obtained without a genuine soul sacrifice, while Old Master Li promised to search for another solution and investigate the hidden threat. Back at the Avengers' base, Xia Yu apologized for acting alone and found the others sparring, with Thor asking him to take him to Nidavellir for a new weapon.

• Old Master Li told Xia Yu that the Soul Stone required a genuine sacrifice of someone bound by love and that its rules could not be bypassed.
• Xia Yu agreed to prepare for the unknown danger while Old Master Li searched for a solution and investigated the mysterious antivirus software.
• Xia Yu returned to the base, where Rhodey and Tony teased him for going off alone, and he apologized to the Avengers.
• Natasha explained that the Avengers were training to adjust to their new strength and had begun a friendly match that turned into a free-for-all.
• Thor claimed he was the strongest Avenger, but Tony showed footage of knocking him down with a Nano Armor axe and mocked him.
• Thor asked Xia Yu to take him to Nidavellir so he could have a new weapon made.

Thor persuaded the Avengers to prepare new equipment and travel to Nidavellir, where they expected the Dwarves to forge upgrades. They found the legendary forge deserted and damaged, and Eitri attacked Thor before Thor recognized him.

• Thor agreed to have the Dwarves forge him a new weapon while also repairing Mjolnir, and Xia Yu proposed upgrading the Avengers' equipment.
• The team trained for a week as Tony and Shuri designed and tested equipment suited to each hero's fighting style.
• Xia Yu opened a portal to Nidavellir, where Thor and the Avengers found a desolate forge marked by signs of fighting.
• Thor called for Eitri, and the massive, handless Dwarven king lunged out and knocked him down.
• Thor told everyone not to attack and asked Eitri what had happened, while Rhodey questioned what kind of dwarf he was.

Thor and the Avengers found Eitri, the last surviving dwarf, and learned that Thanos had slaughtered his people and forced him to forge the Infinity Gauntlet. Eitri agreed to help forge weapons against Thanos, while Tony asked Xia Yu for a powerful energy source to complete his new armor.

• Thor asked Eitri what had happened, and Eitri blamed Asgard for failing to protect the dwarves before Xia Yu knocked him unconscious.
• After waking, Eitri explained that Thanos had killed more than three hundred dwarves and taken his hands after forcing him to forge the Infinity Gauntlet.
• Thor told Eitri that Asgard had also been destroyed and promised to avenge the dwarves, while Tony offered to make replacement hands.
• Eitri agreed to repair Thor's hammer, forge a Stormbreaker, and help develop equipment, then began collaborating with Tony on new designs.
• Eitri said Tony's armor needed a planet-core power source, and Tony summoned Xia Yu to ask for an energy source like the one in Mjolnir.

Xia Yu gave Tony the Tesseract to power the artifact armor Tony was designing with Eitri. After more than ten days of work, the new Iron Man armor was completed, and Tony invited Xia Yu to test its power.

• Xia Yu suggested using energy blocks from the Tesseract, but Eitri rejected them as too weak for the armor.
• Xia Yu brought out the Tesseract, and Eitri and Tony eagerly accepted it as the armor’s energy core.
• Xia Yu used the Aether to crack the Tesseract’s casing so Eitri could use its material for the armor’s visor and chest cover.
• Eitri planned enchanted Uru Metal energy conduits alongside a Vibranium-titanium alloy shell, while Tony programmed the armor to change shape and energy output.
• After more than ten days of development, Tony completed the new Iron Man armor and asked Xia Yu to test it.

Xia Yu tested Tony’s Space Stone-powered Armor and discovered its full attack could push even the Aether’s shield back. Tony celebrated that he could fight beside Xia Yu again, leaving Xia Yu touched but embarrassed by his sudden show of affection.

• Tony fired an energy blast from his Armor’s wolf-shaped gauntlet, and Xia Yu took the hit without defending himself, flying into a console.
• Xia Yu and Tony estimated that the first blast had used less than ten percent of the Armor’s potential output.
• Xia Yu urged Tony to fire at full power, and Tony combined seven energy beams into one powerful attack.
• Xia Yu raised an Aether shield, but the blast drove him back and burned away his shoes, though he remained unharmed.
• Tony hugged Xia Yu and said he no longer had to hide behind him and wanted to fight at his side, while Xia Yu teased him for his sudden tenderness.

Xia Yu and Tony arrived on Xandar to find the planet devastated by Thanos, who had wiped out its leadership and slaughtered its people. A survivor delivered Thanos’s message to Xia Yu, warning that the fated slaughter and destruction would continue despite him.

• Xia Yu and Tony arrived on ruined Xandar and learned from Star-Lord that Thanos had attacked and vanished.
• Rocket explained that Thanos’s fleet had caught the Nova Corps by surprise, destroyed Xandar’s leadership in one strike, and bombarded the planet.
• Nebula reported that Thanos’s fleet had appeared out of nowhere, and Xia Yu denied that Thanos had obtained the Space Stone.
• Gamora brought a frightened girl named Dorothea to Xia Yu and explained that Thanos had spared her to deliver a message to an Earthling.
• Dorothea told Xia Yu that Thanos said the fated slaughter and destruction would not disappear because of him, and Xia Yu’s expression changed dramatically.

Xia Yu returned to the base fearing Thanos would target the people he cared about, while Tony tried to reassure him that the Avengers faced the danger as a team. When news revealed that Chinatown had been destroyed in an attack tied to Xia Yu, he vanished through a portal after hearing a reporter blame the Avengers.

• Xia Yu checked that the Power Stone, Vision, and the Ancient One were safe, then told Tony he feared Thanos might attack the base.
• Tony comforted Xia Yu and reminded him that the Avengers shared responsibility as a team.
• A news bulletin reported that explosions had devastated Manhattan's Chinatown, including the house where Xia Yu had grown up.
• The Captain said a purple-skinned giant had claimed the attack was revenge against Xia Yu for preventing a destined death, and that someone had delayed the news reaching the Avengers.
• After a reporter blamed the Avengers for the destruction, Xia Yu shouted, pulled away from Natasha, and tore open space to leave.

Xia Yu returned to the devastated Chinatown and confronted the human cost of the alien attack, blaming himself for the deaths and injuries. As Tony faced reporters, Xia Yu vowed to take responsibility and raised a glowing, time-marked bracelet toward Chinatown.

• Xia Yu appeared on live television, drove off reporters with a shock wave, and went to Chinatown.
• Xia Yu found the ruins of his building and recognized Uncle Wang and other Chinatown residents among the dead and wounded.
• An injured middle-aged man blamed Xia Yu for his wife and child’s deaths and beat him, and Xia Yu apologized to him as Uncle Wang.
• Tony told the reporters that the Avengers had been protecting Earth and warned those who had suppressed news of the disaster.
• Xia Yu appeared beside Tony, declared that he would take responsibility, and raised his green, time-marked bracelet toward Chinatown.