Chapter Summaries

He Ao battled Velen Te, using his spear and knowledge of Velen Te’s Energy Convergence Points to destroy the core in his heart. Winding Hill’s power restored Velen Te just as lights revealed an enormous pattern covering the city, and He Ao declared that it was over.

• Velen Te stabbed He Ao with an invisible blade, but He Ao trapped it in his chest and used the opening to disarm Velen Te and wound him with his spear.
• He Ao and Velen Te fought in their transformed forms, and He Ao repeatedly targeted Velen Te’s secondary Energy Convergence Points while defending against his blades and tentacles.
• Velen Te’s tentacles pierced He Ao’s thigh, and a bone blade wounded his arm; He Ao lost the Butterfly Knife but struck Velen Te through the chest with a spear in a U-Turn Strike.
• Velen Te recognized that He Ao had influenced his choice, but the destruction of his core Energy Convergence Point caused his energy structure to collapse.
• After three minutes, Winding Hill’s power stabilized Velen Te and began regenerating his secondary Energy Convergence Points.
• He Ao told Velen Te it was over as lights across the city revealed an enormous pattern.

He Ao summoned the Desire Witch, whose lightning exposed Winding Hill as an empty shell and destroyed the park as he drained Velen Te’s power. At the South Gate, Fiss defeated Bran’s plan to keep him away from the ritual, and Bran killed himself as the city’s battle turned against him.

• He Ao used the Inverted Array to contact the Desire Witch and warned her that Winding Hill’s Master was about to return.
• The Desire Witch descended and unleashed purple lightning, exposing Winding Hill’s core as an empty shell and cutting off Velen Te from its power.
• As Winding Hill collapsed, He Ao extracted Velen Te’s power, and the lightning swallowed Central Park and the ritual array.
• At the South Gate, Fiss and Bran paused their duel when they felt the divine pressure from the city, and Fiss revealed that he had led Bran into an ambush of Nolanka mechas.
• Bran realized fate had not favored him and slit his own throat while Fiss watched.

Sketer, Sien Ji, and Lina uncovered evidence that Kajet Group’s food factories used an Evil God altar powered by employees’ lives and turned some workers into contaminated monsters. K broadcast the truth across Dawn City, urging people oppressed by the consortium to unite and break their shackles, then declared that he had never left.

• Sketer showed Sien Ji and Lina investigation records linking Kajet Group’s unusually productive food machines to workers’ short lifespans and disappearances.
• Sketer revealed that a K of Hearts card had been left beside the factory’s main console as a hint.
• K hijacked Dawn City’s outdoor screens and exposed Kajet Group’s human farms, contaminated workers, and exploitation of Saint Jon City residents.
• K called on oppressed people to unite against the consortiums and announced, “K never left.”

Jessie helped expose Kajet Group’s Evil God sacrifices, setting off protests, investigations, and the group’s collapse. The story ended with Jia Qian visiting Sito Hall’s statue before leaving Saint Jon City for Kaya City.

• Two years after meeting the hooded boy, Jessie watched K’s video and left to join the parade groups.
• Ino Media’s investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s findings exposed Kajet Group’s sacrifices, prompting protests, factory closures, and a collapse in its stock and finances.
• Kajet Group entered bankruptcy restructuring, its directors and executives were arrested, and Sien Ji was elected mayor of Saint Jon City.
• Dawn City passed the Food Support Bill to subsidize local grain producers and restrict grain imports from major consortiums.
• At Sito Hall’s statue, Annie told Jia Qian that Kaya City had very few homeless people and described this as hope.
• After Annie went to buy vanilla ice cream, Jia Qian climbed onto the statue’s pedestal, took its hand, and looked up at the stars.

He Ao examined the Character Cards he had used and reasoned that Dream Phantom contained remnants of Winding Hill and its dead Master, whose corpse had been stolen and concealed. He concluded that the Desire Witch had left Winding Hill’s remnants as bait in a contest with the hidden existence, then turned to the system as it began evaluating his main mission.

• He Ao noted that King of the Night and Primal Fire were on cooldown after he had used them in the Copy World.
• He Ao reviewed the unavailable god-related cards and considered the risks of exchanging for Deep Sea Glimmer.
• He Ao examined Dream Phantom and connected its dream power to the remnants of Winding Hill and Sito.
• He Ao inferred that a hidden existence had stolen Winding Hill’s Master’s corpse and disguised its absence, while the Desire Witch’s lightning had suppressed the corpse’s resurrection.
• He Ao concluded that the Desire Witch had left Winding Hill’s remnants as bait to draw out the hidden existence and decided Dream Phantom carried the risk of divine punishment.
• He Ao closed the Character Card interface as the system began settling his main mission evaluation.

He Ao received a four-star Main Mission evaluation, a four-and-a-half-star Side Mission evaluation, and a five-star Hidden Mission evaluation for his work in Saint Jon City. After choosing the Blood-Moistening Jade Pendant as his upgraded reward, he felt its disturbing power and began probing it with his divine sense.

• He Ao saw that his Side Mission evaluation had risen to four and a half stars and his Hidden Mission evaluation had reached five stars, bringing his comprehensive evaluation to four and a half stars and earning him five Exchange Stars.
• The Silent Night Coffin Nailer achievement triggered again, upgrading his mission reward and offering him a choice of three dangerous items.
• He Ao rejected the flute and incomplete cross and selected the Blood-Moistening Jade Pendant.
• The pendant's blood markings struck He Ao with a wave of pain and twisted whispers, nearly making him faint.
• He Ao steadied himself and cautiously began probing the pendant with his divine sense.

He Ao used the jade pendant’s corrupting power to correct his martial arts pathways, then discovered and took control of the vast energy stored inside it. After checking his completed mission and preparing for the next instance, he saw a grotesque vision in the bathroom before his phone vibrated.

• He Ao used the pendant to peer into Truth and adjusted his energy pathways, greatly improving his circulation and cultivation speed.
• He Ao sensed the pendant’s immense energy reserve, endured its corruption, and formed a Control Array that let him control its energy.
• He Ao identified the pendant’s abilities and used its energy to cultivate, while noting that its corruption was dangerous to most people.
• He Ao saw that his Super Exchanger Mission was complete and the exchange system would finish upgrading when the next instance opened.
• He Ao checked his attributes, absorbed energy from Dawn, and then saw a huge fleshy eyeball in the bathroom doorway before the vision vanished.
• He Ao’s phone began vibrating.

After learning that the Newland City State branch had vanished, Wu Lan prepared to investigate while He Ao took over Ji Po’s duties. He Ao then discovered that Dawn’s deputy leader was gathering people near Newland, suggesting the disappearance might be connected to Dawn.

• Yang De told He Ao, Wu Lan, and Ji Po that the entire Newland City State branch had disappeared without a trace, and Moonlight had found an empty office with signs of fighting in the director’s room.
• Wu Lan volunteered to investigate because she was nearby and the missing branch director was her friend; Yang De assigned Ji Po to support her and He Ao to take over Ji Po’s responsibilities.
• Yang De announced that the ruin exploration report was available, and He Ao learned that time within the ruin was moving closer to the Main World’s pace and that explorers no longer received newcomer protection.
• He Ao read that his actions aboard the Navigator had made him the Research Institute forum’s top trending topic, while Lin Chichi’s praise had also made Hao Yi popular.
• Noding told He Ao that Dawn’s deputy leader wanted manpower sent to Velen City, near Newland City State, and He Ao ordered the deputy leader to come speak with him directly.
• He Ao suspected Dawn’s B-rank deputy leader might be connected to the Newland disappearance and took up the Substitute Cape.

He Ao used the Substitute Cape to take Lenke’s identity and investigated the Newland City State, where he learned that Dawn’s deputy leader’s faction was rushing a secret plan that needed manpower. After He Ao’s appearance unsettled Moonlight, he went to Lenke’s residence on Wenlan Island, where a stranger delivered an invitation from the faction’s boss, confirming He Ao’s suspicions that a dangerous plot was underway.

• He Ao killed Lenke with the Substitute Cape and gained his memories, then learned from Li Cheng that the Research Institute’s Newland branch might need support.
• Disguised as Hao Yi, He Ao entered the Newland City State, met Moonlight’s Wester, and disappeared before Wester could arrange accommodations for him.
• Newland’s leaders discussed Hao Yi’s arrival, decided to accelerate their plan, and ordered someone to recruit Lenke, unaware that He Ao had already taken Lenke’s place.
• Li Cheng told Wu Lan that Hao Yi’s appearance in Newland would discourage Moonlight from interfering with her investigation.
• On Wenlan Island, He Ao visited Lenke’s home and gave apple pie to his young neighbor, whose parents had gone missing.
• A red-haired man approached He Ao and said the boss wanted to see him, confirming that there was a hidden danger in Newland.

Wu Lan investigated the disappearance of the Research Institute’s Newland branch, uncovering a hidden report about citywide missing-person cases and footage showing everyone vanish at once. After sharing her findings with Hao Yi, she vowed to find Xia Ye, while He Ao arrived at a bloodstained courtyard and faced a Dawn figure who asked whether he craved chaos.

• Wu Lan examined the damaged office and recovered Xia Ye’s hidden report, which linked a rising number of disappearances across Newland City State to a suspected supernatural phenomenon.
• Wu Lan watched surveillance footage in which the branch staff vanished at 9:17:16 before the camera went black, then concluded that Xia Ye’s investigation had likely provoked an early ambush.
• Hao Yi called Wu Lan and asked for her findings; she shared her clues and analysis, then resolved to bring Xia Ye home whether she was alive or dead.
• He Ao, wearing Lenke’s face, followed the red-haired man to a courtyard associated with their boss and found a middle-aged man cleaning a bloodied blade among bloodstained roses.
• The middle-aged man looked at He Ao and asked whether he craved chaos.

He Ao challenged the Church of Chaos’s understanding of its own doctrine and slaughtered the Right Missionary and his followers. After leaving the Red-Haired Man alive, He Ao returned home and received a call from the Church’s leader, who thanked him for improving its doctrine.

• He Ao challenged the Right Missionary’s claim that Dawn and the Church pursued chaos, then questioned whether an organized Church could truly serve chaos.
• After a gunman attacked him, He Ao killed the man and pointed out that the Church’s rigid order contradicted its faith, leaving the believers uncertain.
• The Right Missionary transformed with a gift from chaos and attacked He Ao, but He Ao dodged the blow and killed him by severing his throat and Energy Convergence Point.
• He Ao killed the Church’s remaining followers, spared the terrified Red-Haired Man, and said the Church should thank him.
• After He Ao returned to Lenke’s house, the leader of the Newland City State Church of Chaos called and thanked him for his additions to the Church’s doctrine.

He Ao refused the Church of Chaos leader’s offer to join and learned how to contact the god, while the leader planned to use him in the church’s operations on Wenlan Island. On Core Island, Wester trapped Wu Lan in a mirror world, captured her, and sent her to the ritual site, where she secretly signaled a shackled companion that she was still conscious.

• He Ao rejected the Church of Chaos leader’s invitation but asked for the ritual method to contact the god, which the leader agreed to explain.
• The Church leader ordered his followers to proceed with their plan on Wenlan Island and use the chaos stirring there to test He Ao.
• He Ao warned the Little Girl to hide with her grandmother in the cellar until nightfall and accepted her woven grass charm.
• Wester lured Wu Lan to the Maple Leaf Hotel, trapped her in a mirror world, and defeated her when she attacked.
• Wester’s followers shackled Wu Lan, stripped her of her equipment, and took her to the ritual site.
• A shackled companion examined Wu Lan’s wounds and saw her blink, realizing she was still conscious.

A coordinated attack blew up Newland City State’s bridges as Wester prepared a chaotic sacrifice atop a Core Island high-rise. He Ao arrived by train to rescue Wu Lan, but a giant hand appeared at the shattered window as the chapter ended.

• An explosion destroyed the middle of the Wenlan-Core Sea-Crossing Bridge, while violence and supernatural criminals spread through the city.
• Wester and the Thin Man prepared a ritual on Core Island, and Wester’s coin toss returned the captured Wu Lan, Xia Ye, and other prisoners to the real world.
• Wester explained that he planned to sacrifice the captives to chaos, then Wu Lan attacked him and Xia Ye tried to intervene.
• Wester began the ritual, but He Ao’s train engine crashed through the window and knocked Wester out of the hall.
• He Ao pulled Wu Lan from the flames, gave her a Nutrient Can, and cut off her shackles with the Shadowless Sword.
• Wu Lan asked what had been knocked out, and a giant hand gripped the ledge beside the broken window.

He Ao explained how he had uncovered Wester’s plan to abduct people as sacrifices, while Wu Lan and Xia Ye freed the captives and loaded them onto the Verola. Wester then revealed overwhelming power and struck He Ao into a pillar, preparing a potentially fatal sword attack.

• He Ao told Wester that he had traced the disappearances to the Church of Chaos and deduced that Moonlight’s Newland branch had been compromised.
• He Ao revealed that Wu Lan had volunteered to act as bait so he could locate the ritual site and rescue the captives.
• Wu Lan retrieved her weapons and, with Xia Ye, loaded nearly half of the captives onto the Verola.
• Wester accepted that He Ao had outmaneuvered him, then unleashed his chaotic power and attacked.
• Wester punched He Ao into a support pillar and raised his thin sword, warning that He Ao would die if he could not dodge.

He Ao tested his strength against Wester while Wu Lan and Xia Ye rescued the hostages, but Wester sacrificed his followers and himself to gain immense power from the God of Chaos. As Wester prepared to threaten the city, He Ao’s Supermemory advanced to B-rank, leaving him ready to face the giant with strength exceeding six thousand.

• He Ao used his explosive-strength technique to fight Wester and destroyed three of Wester’s five moving Energy Convergence Points.
• Wu Lan fought off the Left Missionary while Xia Ye helped guide the hostages into the Verola.
• Wester threw the Left Missionary into the flames and began a greater citywide sacrifice, but He Ao and Wu Lan escaped with the rescued hostages.
• Wester transformed into a giant after sacrificing himself to borrow power from the God of Chaos, and He Ao explained that the power would require him to keep killing.
• He Ao’s Personal Attribute Panel showed that Supermemory had advanced to B-rank, raising his Physical Fitness to 3520 and his unleashed strength to over six thousand.
• He Ao gripped the Shadowless Sword and faced Wester as the giant challenged him to fight or flee.

He Ao defeated Wester by destroying his final Energy Convergence Point and intercepted the energy the God of Chaos reclaimed from Wester. After examining Super Memory’s new B-rank abilities, He Ao warned Wu Lan that the battle might only be the beginning as a figure arrived by helicopter.

• He Ao pierced Wester’s last Energy Convergence Point with the Shadowless Sword, and Wester collapsed as his body began to decay.
• He Ao took the coin Wester tried to use against him and loosened the jade pendant’s restriction, causing it to absorb energy from Wester’s body.
• He Ao assessed Super Memory’s advancement to B-rank, including its enhanced Chess Player abilities and the Orator abilities Oration and Followers.
• Wu Lan asked whether the fight was over, and He Ao said it was probably only the beginning while wondering where the world’s earliest divine gifts had come from.
• A black helicopter arrived, and a white figure jumped down.

An old woman and her granddaughter emerged from their cellar to find a bloodied doorstep and a strange grass charm, while He Ao investigated the Church of Chaos’s connection to Wester’s ruin expedition. He Ao warned Moonlight against pursuing chaos’s power and prepared to return Wu Lan to the Research Institute, where she asked him to protect He Ao if Newland’s troubles deepened.

• The Old Man spotted a puppet-like doll staring through the cellar door, then emerged with the Little Girl after finding the living room apparently untouched.
• The Little Girl opened the front door and screamed at a pool of blood, but she and the Old Man noticed a woven grass charm hanging from the doorknob.
• He Ao asked Ke Duo for information on the Church of Chaos, and Fiya arrived with Moonlight’s authorization to share the investigation materials.
• Fiya explained that Wester’s interest in fire worship and the Church of Chaos began after he advanced to C-rank in a ruin, and He Ao warned her not to pursue chaos’s power.
• He Ao and Wu Lan boarded the Verola, where Wu Lan explained that He Ao was traveling to Newland and asked He Ao to protect him if her suspicions proved true.
• He Ao reassured Wu Lan that He Ao was his friend too, then watched the moon and stars from his plane window.

He Ao studied the Mirror Image Coin and, while in the Matt Islands as Hao Yi, killed a Chaos creature that attacked a seaside bar. He realized the attack was meant to confirm his location, but by the time he warned Wu Lan, Newland City State’s dawn had stopped before sunrise.

• He Ao arrived at Newland Airport, where Chen Lin took him to the Maple Leaf Hotel.
• On the Matt Islands, He Ao examined the Mirror Image Coin’s abilities and limitations, then sat at a seaside bar while Wu Lan recovered at a Research Institute hospital.
• A giant creature attacked the bar and targeted the bunny girl, but He Ao cut off its tentacle and killed it with the Shadowless Sword.
• He Ao discussed the attack with Wu Lan and concluded the creature had come to confirm his location; Wu Lan realized Newland City State was in danger.
• At the Maple Leaf Hotel, He Ao saw that the stars and moon still shone at seven thirty and that dawn had stopped at the horizon.

A supernatural fog trapped the Acorn Tree in a storm, and He Ao used the Verola to guide it safely back to its starting point. In Newland City State, He Ao fought monsters emerging from unstable passages while arranging to meet Moonlight’s Fiya, and he began to suspect the passages were connected to the city’s spatial disorder.

• The Acorn Tree entered the fog near Newland City State, lost satellite positioning, and was caught in a violent storm as a train appeared in the clouds.
• The captain followed the train through the fog, returned to the ship’s starting area, and saw He Ao watching from a reef.
• He Ao explained that chaotic space engulfed Newland City State and that he had used the Verola to guide the Acorn Tree through the fog’s outer edge.
• He Ao killed monsters emerging from doors in the city and told a frightened boy to leave without opening closed doors.
• Chen Lin told He Ao that the passages could carry people away as well as release monsters, while Fiya contacted him and offered to bring a helicopter to the Maple Leaf Hotel.
• He Ao tested a seemingly stable passage, watched it collapse into a back kitchen, and wondered whether the passages caused or reflected the city’s spatial disorder.

He Ao explained that Newland City State was being drawn toward a chaotic other world and suspected an unseen force was engineering the phenomenon. As the group planned to use Fiya’s ability to create a stable passage, He Ao’s Hao Yi avatar prepared monster flesh and mirrors on a deserted island.

• He Ao proposed that the growing doors connected two worlds pressing against each other, and the others discussed whether Newland alone was affected and whether a mastermind had caused it.
• Fiya suspected an angel or god was behind the event, while the group realized Newland had been cut off from the outside world and might contain an enemy agent.
• He Ao suggested entering the other world through the doors, and Chen Lin reasoned that the doors might eventually stabilize enough for powerful Transcendents to cross.
• Fiya offered to gather the fixed doors into a temporary passage that a C-grade could traverse, and He Ao agreed to try.
• On a deserted island, He Ao’s Hao Yi avatar arranged mirrors around sliced tentacled-monster flesh and tossed a butterfly-stamped coin into the air.