Chapter Summaries

Li Chen destroyed Huizhou City, then confronted Cang Yue about how her knowledge of the future had shaped events. Cang Yue revealed that she had sent future memories into another timeline to change the world and save Li Chen, leaving him to consider what the old man had said.

• Li Chen's explosion reduced Huizhou City to ash, while Cang Yue used the Time Engraving Gun to send Ling and the other Eerie Monsters away.
• Blood Charm brought Li Chen a captured Special Affairs officer and reported that everyone underground had been killed.
• Li Chen accused Cang Yue of knowing the future and planning events from the shadows.
• Cang Yue explained that her future self could transmit memories into another timeline only after truly falling in love, and that doing so cost her life.
• Cang Yue admitted she had given the Evil Cult information about Pandora, Li Chen, and the Forbidden Door so Li Chen could become the one who could oppose the gods.
• Cang Yue said she had changed the world because she wanted to save Li Chen, and Li Chen thought about what the old man had told him.

After Huizhou City was destroyed, Li Chen accepted that people with memories of the future had shaped his path, then continued onward as Cang Yue and Ling followed him through the ruins. The Special Affairs Bureau held an adjudication meeting over the catastrophe, while Su Zhe, Su Xian, and Ji Shao debated why Li Chen had turned against humanity.

• Li Chen realized that people who remembered the future had changed his fate, laughed in lonely despair, and walked away from Huizhou City's ruins with Ling and Cang Yue following.
• News spread that Huizhou City had been destroyed and the Eerie Tide had entered the Human Race's inland territory, prompting nearby cities to strengthen their defenses.
• Light Fiend opened an adjudication meeting about Li Chen and warned that public panic could leave humanity unable to resist the Eerie Tide.
• A member of the Order of Justice accused Light Fiend of avoiding the question of how to deal with Li Chen, and Light Fiend blamed the Order for disobeying the Bureau's orders.
• Su Zhe, Su Xian, and Ji Shao discussed Li Chen's motives, and Su Xian argued that humanity's fear and hostility had helped drive him against humans.

Su Zhe struggled with Li Chen’s departure but reaffirmed his responsibility to protect humanity as refugees crowded the remaining cities. The meeting turned to securing food and underground cultivation areas, leaving the Human Race focused on survival as its territory continued to shrink.

• Su Zhe felt conflicted about standing against Li Chen, but Su Xian reminded him that he bore responsibility for the people under his protection, and Su Zhe steeled himself.
• Su Xian promised Ji Shao that he would marry her in one year, after the family’s immediate burdens had eased.
• Light Fiend said the fall of Huizhou City and other locations had brought masses of refugees into the cities and worsened food shortages, then called for terrain-control and plant-control Sequence Users to help create cultivation areas.
• Di Li stepped forward among the Sequence Users, despite grieving the destruction of her hometown, Huizhou City, and the death of her lover, Lin Hua.
• Light Fiend urged the young Sequence Users to help secure the Human Race’s food supply, while the meeting acknowledged that underground farming might be vital if more cities fell.

After the meeting, Di Li asked Su Zhe for everything he knew about Li Chen so she could pursue revenge for Huizhou City. In Li Chen’s castle, God-Binding Cult apostles arrived seeking his cooperation, and he recognized the Eighth Seat among them.

• The meeting ended without a solution to the refugee crisis, as attendees feared more outer cities would fall and food would run short.
• Di Li confronted Su Zhe and demanded information about Li Chen and why he had destroyed Huizhou City.
• Su Zhe told Di Li what he knew, despite Su Xian warning that helping her would deepen her obsession with revenge.
• Su Xian told Su Zhe to stop assisting Di Li, warning that her path could lead to her destruction.
• In his castle, Li Chen faced God-Binding Cult apostles, including the Eighth Seat and Sixth Seat, who asked him to cooperate with their cult.

Li Chen confronted the God-Binding Cult’s envoys, learned that the Forbidden Door was the cult’s faith, and exposed its leader spying on him. The leader, Bai Qinglian, lost her watching eye and remarked that Li Chen’s growth suggested her Lord had begun to awaken.

• Li Chen rejected the God-Binding Cult’s attempt to negotiate and ordered Blood Charm to wait before moving the Eerie Monsters so they could deal with the cult first.
• Li Chen questioned the apostle about the God-Binding Cult’s beliefs, and the apostle said the Forbidden Door was their faith and promised to reveal what the top nine seats believed.
• The Eighth Seat killed the apostle before he could continue, and Calamity kicked the Eighth Seat into a dark energy wall.
• Li Chen accused the cult leader of spying and broke the watching eye above Bai Qinglian at Canghai Pass.
• Bai Qinglian said Li Chen had finally grown and that her Lord seemed to be awakening, while a gentle voice said she deserved much of the credit for the path of bones he had taken.

Li Chen confronted the God-Binding Cult’s envoys and exposed why they sought his cooperation, as both the Human Race and the cult feared the consequences of war. The Sixth Seat concluded that Li Chen had allied with the Eerie Monsters, while Li Chen questioned which version of himself he was addressing and declared himself on the side of freedom.

• The Sixth Seat warned Li Chen that killing the cult’s envoys would bring an all-out war and leave him vulnerable to every faction.
• Li Chen argued that the God-Binding Cult also had no choice, explaining that it wanted his help controlling Eerie Monsters and guarding against a Human Race counterattack.
• Li Chen described how both sides depended on him to keep the balance from tipping into a war that could destroy the Human Race.
• The Sixth Seat saw Calamity’s smile and concluded that Li Chen had joined forces with the Eerie Monsters to annihilate everything.
• Li Chen wondered whether he was speaking to his future or past self, questioned which side he belonged to, and declared that he stood with freedom.

Li Chen rejected any need to cooperate with the Human Race or the Evil Cult, while the Sixth Seat and Eighth Seat realized they had been abandoned by their cult leader. Clown arrived with a masked man on behalf of the God-Slaying Cult to reclaim Cang Yue, and Li Chen ordered Lust to attack him before recognizing that Clown’s body was bound together by fear.

• The Sixth Seat concluded that Li Chen had no reason to join either side and lamented that the cult leader had abandoned him and the Eighth Seat.
• Clown and a man wearing a wooden mask entered the hall after forcing Lust and Jingang back.
• Clown greeted Li Chen and said the God-Slaying Cult had come to take its holy maiden, Cang Yue, home as a necessary sacrifice.
• Li Chen ordered Lust to kill Clown, but Lust’s saber passed through him without drawing blood or damaging his clothes.
• Li Chen stopped Lust and inferred that Clown’s ability used fear to bind his dark energy into an unbreakable body.

Li Chen confronted Clown as the God-Slaying Cult demanded Cang Yue as a blood sacrifice, while an unseen cult leader challenged Li Chen from above. As Clown and the other cultists moved to seize Cang Yue, she rejected their faith, and Clown began transforming as the battle escalated.

• Clown told Li Chen that the God-Slaying Cult had come to reclaim Cang Yue, whom their leader needed as a blood sacrifice, and threatened that the leader might annihilate everything.
• Li Chen filled the castle with Black Mist and challenged the cult, then sensed a gaze from above and met it with his blood-red eye as the two leaders probed each other.
• Clown moved toward Cang Yue while the Sixth Seat carried the Eighth Seat through a hole in the Dark Energy barrier and escaped.
• Ling slowed Clown with his Time Engraving Gun, but Clown declared that Cang Yue had to die so he could summon the cult's lord and become the ultimate Fear.
• Cang Yue denounced the cult's promise of eternal life and called its leader an Eerie Monster, while Clown began swelling and transforming as another cultist summoned silver threads and Calamity Realm followers.

Li Chen was trapped in a strange mental space by a terrifying presence and used Forbidden to resist its attack. To stop Forbidden from consuming him uncontrollably, he merged it with his soul and escaped, leaving his transformation into an Eerie Monster far more advanced.

• Li Chen realized a black-hole-like presence had pulled his consciousness into a void and suspected it was an Eerie Monster near the God Realm.
• Li Chen unleashed Forbidden to corrode the mental space, but the presence attacked him with a destructive red beam.
• The Eldritch God urged Forbidden to consume Li Chen and take over his body, while Li Chen resisted its taunts.
• Li Chen plunged Ink into his heart and used the resulting injury to draw the rampaging forbidden substance back into Ink.
• Li Chen's soul merged with Forbidden, transforming him further into an Eerie Monster as he endured the presence's attack.
• Before his consciousness returned to the outside world, Li Chen hurled forbidden-tainted residual energy back at the presence.

While Li Chen remained unconscious and fought the cult leader in the void, Ling struggled to protect him from the God-Slaying Cultists. Just as Ling was about to fall, Li Chen woke and thanked him.

• Ling guarded Li Chen and killed cultists who tried to attack them.
• The God-Slaying Cultists concentrated their attacks on Li Chen, forcing Ling to shield him with his body and tentacles.
• Calamity and Blood Charm fought three Calamity Realm cultists while Lust and Cang Yue battled Clown and the man.
• Ling's wounds overwhelmed his healing, but he stood between Li Chen and the cultists as they broke through his defenses.
• Li Chen placed a hand on Ling's head and thanked him.

Li Chen escaped the God-Slaying Cult leader’s trap and unleashed the full power of the Forbidden, devastating the cultists and turning the battle in his and Cang Yue’s favor. Clown and Puppeteer escaped into the void, while Li Chen reflected on the unknown being and how unfamiliar the world had become.

• Li Chen returned to his body, realized the God-Slaying Cult had trapped him to give its members time to kill him and Cang Yue, and declared that they would perish.
• Li Chen used the Forbidden to summon weapons and a cage across the sky, crushing the cultists with pressure and driving many to kill themselves or flee into the deadly net.
• Li Chen killed a Calamity Realm expert with a gesture, while Clown and Puppeteer recognized that their plan had failed because Li Chen had escaped the cult leader’s control.
• Puppeteer threw Clown into the void, and Calamity followed them before being knocked back out with a scythe wound.
• Li Chen let Clown and Puppeteer escape, then looked toward the starry sky and considered the danger posed by the unknown being and the world’s mysteries.

Li Chen chose to head for Dawn Pass, sparing Ruined Pass for the sake of those who had helped him. A month later, the Human Race launched Operation Hope to retake Huizhou City, while Su Xian challenged Gu Changkong over the Daoist Family’s plans for the future.

• Li Chen ordered Blood Charm to lead the survivors toward the Black Mist Border and Dawn Pass, where he hoped to uncover truths about his family and the Strange Pavilion.
• Li Chen decided not to attack Ruined Pass first because he still remembered the people there who had helped him, and he left Cang Yue alive because the God inside her still had a role to play.
• A month later, Human Race forces advanced toward Huizhou City to seal its breaches and clear out the Eerie Monsters as Operation Hope began.
• Su Xian worried about the likely casualties, while Gu Changkong argued that the Human Race had to press forward to escape its age of despair.
• Su Xian accused the Daoist Family of manipulating people and extinguishing hope, but Gu Changkong denied that his family tampered with cause and effect.

At Dawn Pass, Li Chen met Jianping and fought him as the two confronted the paths that had separated them. Li Chen affirmed his resolve to uncover the truth and break free of the world’s judgment.

• Li Chen arrived at Dawn Pass, where Jianping and Mu Ziyu were waiting, and Mu Ziyu asked whether he had caused the events in Huizhou City.
• Jianping ordered Mu Ziyu to return to Sword Mountain and forget what she had seen, then clashed blades with Li Chen.
• Jian En stopped onlookers from going up to watch and urged his junior brother to let go of the past and temper his state of mind.
• As they fought, Jianping told Li Chen that they had never been on the same path and that he had watched Li Chen move toward standing against the world.
• Li Chen said his parents had died at Dawn Pass for the Human Race and declared that he would seek the truth, break the cage, and remain the Eerie Lord.

After Li Chen defeated Jianping, Jian En, Mu Ziyu, and a burly companion visited Jianping as he recovered at Dawn Pass. Jianping warned that Li Chen might be capable of reaching the God Realm, leaving them to contemplate whether he would become humanity’s hope or its end.

• Jianping collapsed after his clash with Li Chen, and Mu Ziyu carried him away to recover.
• Jianping told Jian En and the others that he intended to return to Sword Mountain and break through to the Calamity Realm, but Mu Ziyu insisted that he rest.
• Jianping explained that he had encountered Li Chen himself and knew little about the changes in Li Chen since the previous year.
• Mu Ziyu and the burly man speculated that Li Chen might be seeking to break through the Four Passes and reach the God Realm, while Jian En argued that the human race and its powerful experts could oppose him.
• Jianping said he believed Li Chen could become a god, and the group wondered whether Li Chen would bring humanity hope or its end.

Cheng Yao and Captain Hu’s team fought Eerie Monsters in the devastated Huizhou City, suffering heavy casualties despite Cheng Yao’s help. Elsewhere, Ji Shao and Su Xian worked to hold the city wall against the monsters, while the counterattack continued.

• Cheng Yao and her white tiger helped Captain Hu’s team kill an Eerie Monster with support from special operations weapons.
• Captain Hu ordered the team to rest for six hours after learning that nearly half of its twenty members had died that day.
• Captain Hu told his team that Cheng Yao was a reserve member of the Twelve Zodiac's special squad and warned them to focus on surviving.
• Ji Shao called for Sequence Users with rock-control abilities to plug holes in the city wall while she held off the Eerie Monsters.
• Su Xian stabilized the rocks with an array after the monsters began cracking through them.

Su Xian and Ji Shao discussed the battle for Huizhou City, the shortage of powerful fighters, and Ji Mumu’s prospects as a Saintess. On the city wall, Su Zhe questioned whether Li Chen had caused the destruction in the city, while Yan Li’s captain considered what to do about him.

• Su Xian followed Ji Shao after the magic arrays were inscribed and learned that Su Zhe had volunteered to relieve the Zodiac squads on the wall.
• Ji Shao told Su Xian that Ji Mumu was being groomed as the Ji Family Saintess and would compete in another Academy Tournament.
• Su Zhe stared at the enormous crater and wondered whether Li Chen had caused it, then absorbed an attacking Eerie Monster and suffered because it was still alive.
• Yan Li told Su Zhe that the Chenlong Squad had suffered no losses and that other Sequence Users had taken heavy casualties.
• Yan Li’s captain pulled him aside and asked what his prediction had revealed, and Yan Li said it revealed nothing and questioned whether they could arrest Su Zhe.

Yan Li tried to prove Su Zhe’s innocence while the Daoist Family Saint Son warned Su Xian that Li Chen had used Huizhou City as a diversion to attack Dawn Pass. As the Eerie Tide reached the pass, Jian En opened a massive rift through it with one strike.

• Yan Li challenged the Chenlong Team captain’s reasons for interrogating Su Zhe, then closed his eyes to make another prediction.
• The Daoist Family Saint Son told Su Xian that Li Chen had lured the Human Race into retaking Huizhou City to draw forces away from Dawn Pass.
• The Daoist Family Saint Son revealed that his master had discovered how a Godhead was born and urged that Li Chen be killed before he fully entered the Wasteland Realm.
• The Eerie Tide reached Dawn Pass, where Jian En stood ready with his blades.
• Jian En struck the tide and tore a huge gap through its center.

As the Eerie Tide battered Dawn Pass, Jian En and Mu Ziyu fought to protect the defenders, while a controlled army of Eerie Monsters advanced on Dawn City under Li Chen. The retired Sixth Sequence, Wangyang, arrived to face Li Chen and revealed the strength of a Wasteland Realm powerhouse.

• Jian En cut down attacking Eerie Monsters while Mu Ziyu treated the wounded, but one injured man refused medicine and died.
• Li Chen emerged from the Black Mist with an orderly army of Eerie Monsters and advanced on Dawn City, prompting the city to sound the alarm.
• Wangyang offered to defend the city, and an old man identified him as the Sixth of the Nine Great Sequence Users.
• Wangyang launched himself into the Eerie Tide like a flaming meteor and landed near Li Chen, crushing surrounding Eerie Monsters with his pressure.
• Li Chen recognized Wangyang as a Wasteland Realm powerhouse as the two faced each other.

Li Chen fought a Wasteland Realm expert who drove him away from Dawn City, where a six-winged woman and the Order of Justice revealed their plan to capture him. As the woman attacked, Li Chen prepared to trigger an explosion, and the burly man revealed that he had killed the Vector Manipulation user.

• The burly man struck Li Chen and sent him crashing into a barren mountain range.
• Li Chen armored himself with Ink and clashed with the burly man using Demon Blade Vermilion, but the weapon began to crack as the fight carried them farther from Dawn City.
• The burly man caught Li Chen in a blood-colored hand and dragged him toward a spaceship carrying members of the Order of Justice and a six-winged woman.
• Li Chen realized the Wasteland Realm experts intended to capture him alive and began building energy for an explosion.
• The six-winged woman launched Flaming Sun Burns the Heavens at Li Chen, and the burly man claimed he had killed the Vector Manipulation user.

Li Chen was defeated by Yan Qing and two other Wasteland Realm experts, but the Human Race chose to seal him rather than kill him. Old man Dunhuang warned that his death could worsen the Eerie Tide, leaving Yan Qing to consider why Li Chen had slaughtered humans.

• The burly man and Yan Qing trapped Li Chen as he unleashed an explosion and collided with her Judgment Blade, leaving him near death.
• The Eldritch God urged Li Chen to hold on, and Li Chen asked whether it could carry out both their wills if it took over his body.
• Yan Qing marked Li Chen for judgment and had old man Dun's silver hook carry him to the spaceship, while the burly man departed to collect his promised payment.
• Yan Qing asked Dunhuang why they could not kill Li Chen, and he explained that his death might drive the Eerie Monsters into a frenzy and bring calamity upon the Human Race.
• Dunhuang said they could not kill Li Chen but could seal him, and Yan Qing wondered why a human like him had slaughtered people.