Chapter Summaries

He Ao and Li Cheng discovered that the ruins’ hall and its passages were alive with blood-red eyes, then fell into a dark abyss as the spherical chamber awakened. In the Main World, He Ao learned that Liu Zhengyun had a daughter and possible ties to Shannan, giving him new leads in his search.

• He Ao pulled open the stone gate and saw a line of blood-red eyes watching from the darkness, so he and Li Cheng retreated from the hall.
• He Ao stopped Li Cheng from entering the concealed passageway, which transformed into an enormous eyeball as eyes opened across the hall’s walls.
• He Ao realized the spherical hall resembled an eyeball, but the floor turned into a passageway and sucked him and Li Cheng into an abyss.
• He Ao reflected in the East Metropolis Research Institute that the danger surrounding Hao Yi and Li Cheng had eased after their fall.
• Wu Ganglie told He Ao that Liu Zhengyun had a Safehouse in Shannan and a daughter whose identity was classified, then sent him the information he had gathered.

He Ao searched for Liu Nan, the daughter of Liu Zhengyun, hoping she could provide information, then descended into Hao Yi as the ruins’ contamination threatened their connection. He followed visions of the Original Federation to a hall, where he witnessed a figure drink from a mithril test tube and learned the talent was Sequence 240: King.

• He Ao found Liu Nan’s profile in the Research Institute records and suspected she was Liu Zhengyun’s daughter.
• He Ao replied to Ye Ying, then left the hotel and sent his soul into Hao Yi after sensing their connection becoming unstable.
• He Ao discovered that Li Cheng had vanished from sight, though his mark suggested Li Cheng was still alive.
• He Ao followed twisted lines through the radiance, enduring increasingly powerful contamination and pressure as visions of the Original Federation appeared around him.
• He Ao witnessed a figure being elected Consul in a vision, then saw another figure drink from a mithril test tube in a hall.
• He Ao received the information: “Talent Sequence 240: King.”

He Ao watched memories of an Angel’s ascension and later rise to power within the ruins civilization, but the visions left him with questions about the ascension’s outcome and a possibly living sixth figure. He entered the final illusion, where the blurry figure sat slumped before a landscape of ruins.

• He Ao observed a blurry figure’s Angel ascension and sensed the potion’s contamination as the figure began to mutate.
• He Ao resisted the spreading urge to tear open his skin, then saw a sixth figure look directly at him before the memory shattered.
• He Ao considered whether the sixth figure was still alive and checked that Li Cheng’s condition had stabilized somewhat.
• He Ao watched the blurry figure argue in a conference room, where the attendees fought over extraordinary matters and prosperity.
• He Ao saw the figure receive pleas to stay as he stepped down amid a prosperous city, then entered the final illusion and found him slumped before the ruins.

He Ao and Li Cheng escaped an angel’s collapsing Consciousness Space and found themselves deep inside a cave, where they decided to continue onward together. He Ao’s true body returned to West Capital and headed toward West Capital University to investigate.

• He Ao witnessed a memory of angels gathered around a missing figure as the ruin civilization faced destruction, then the angel’s blood-red eyes discovered him and the Consciousness Space began to collapse.
• He Ao used the Eye of Truth to find a crack in the collapsing space, and the Thunder Figure helped him escape through it.
• He Ao and Li Cheng emerged in a cave with injuries that had carried over from the Consciousness Space, and Li Cheng warned that their enemy was stronger than expected.
• Li Cheng offered to send He Ao back, but He Ao agreed to keep going with him into the darkness.
• He Ao’s true body arrived in West Capital by the Old Train and headed toward West Capital University to finish his investigation.

He Ao brought Liu Nan to her family’s villa at White Bird Lake to investigate her missing father, Liu Zhengyun. They found signs of a powerful presence inside, and He Ao asked where Liu Zhengyun liked to spend his time as the villa’s strange symmetry began affecting him.

• Liu Nan told He Ao that Liu Zhengyun had not visited her recently and said he would stay at their villa by White Bird Lake.
• He Ao took Liu Nan aboard the Verola and traveled with her to the villa.
• Liu Nan opened the villa, where He Ao sensed someone powerful inside and warned her that it might be dangerous.
• He Ao and Liu Nan entered the villa and noticed its unnaturally symmetrical design and cold atmosphere.
• An invisible force inside the villa tried to make He Ao move symmetrically, but Liu Nan seemed unaffected.
• He Ao asked Liu Nan where her father liked to stay in the villa.

He Ao found Liu Zhengyun in his West Capital study, dead and consumed by a force that twisted everything into symmetrical shadows. When Liu Nan rushed in, He Ao shut her out and vowed to save her father before taking the World Eye Fragment.

• Liu Nan told He Ao that Liu Zhengyun had favored the rooftop garden when she was home and the second-floor study when she was away.
• He Ao climbed to the second floor, resisted the growing force of symmetry, and told Liu Nan to wait outside the study.
• He Ao opened the shadow-formed door and found Liu Zhengyun sitting dead behind the desk with a shattered glass container in his arms.
• He Ao realized Liu Zhengyun had likely come to West Capital hoping to see Liu Nan before losing control, but had died before he could reach her.
• Liu Nan rushed into the study, and He Ao shut the door to protect her from the surging shadows.
• He Ao promised he could save Liu Zhengyun, smashed the glass container, and grabbed the World Eye Fragment.

He Ao tried to save Liu Zhengyun by separating the World Eye Fragment from him and building a magic array to stabilize his soul and body. As the array was completed, a radiant force descended on the sealed room, and Liu Nan witnessed light spilling through its door.

• He Ao used the Eye of Truth to weaken the force tying the World Eye Fragment to Liu Zhengyun, then pulled the fragment up to Liu Zhengyun's chest.
• He Ao used extraordinary beast blood to draw a magic array across the room, hoping to channel the fragment's power and preserve Liu Zhengyun.
• He Ao gathered jade-like objects from Radiance City into the shape of a K at the room's highest point.
• The girl in Radiance City opened her eyes as terrifying pressure swept across the universe.
• Liu Nan sensed a divine force descend behind her and saw brilliant light spill through the sealed door.

He Ao used the World Eye Fragment and a ritual array to halt Liu Zhengyun’s loss of control, but he could not restore him completely or identify the cause of his Cognitive Misalignment. After arranging for Liu Nan to stay safely at the sealed villa, He Ao returned to the Old Building where his home was.

• He Ao used the ritual array to seize control of the World Eye Fragment, suppress the shadows consuming Liu Zhengyun, and restore part of Liu Zhengyun’s body.
• He Ao found Liu Zhengyun’s soul remained chaotic and could not determine the cause of his Cognitive Misalignment; Liu Zhengyun briefly warned him to be careful before falling silent again.
• He Ao told Liu Nan that her father was no longer in immediate danger and learned Liu Zhengyun had asked her for photos from a trip more than seven weeks earlier, when they had taken none.
• He Ao sealed the villa, told Liu Nan to stay there and contact him if anything happened, then left her beside the door to Liu Zhengyun’s room.
• He Ao arrived at the Old Building near West Capital University and entered, thinking about how long it had been since he returned home.

He Ao and Li Cheng descended through abandoned satellite laboratories in the ruins and found a sealed Angel-level Item Reassembly laboratory. After opening its gate, they discovered a vast machinery-filled chamber and a huge floating Stone Egg that He Ao believed was what they had been seeking.

• He Ao and Li Cheng followed the spiral corridor downward through abandoned laboratories toward the center of the cavern hall.
• In the main world, He Ao returned to his dusty home, opened the study window, and retrieved an old black notebook from the desk.
• He Ao read a plaque identifying the sealed site as an Angel-level Item Reassembly Experiment Project Group and found a warning that the project had been terminated.
• He Ao used the Shadowless Sword to disable the weakened ritual array, and the Stone Gate opened as its pillars collapsed.
• He Ao and Li Cheng entered the immense chamber and saw a floating Stone Egg containing glowing deep-blue crystal clusters, which He Ao identified as likely what they had been searching for.

He Ao and Li Cheng searched the abandoned laboratory for records and found that its computers and instruments had all been destroyed. Beneath the Stone Egg, He Ao activated a platform marked “Analysis Egg,” revealing a crack that unleashed violent contamination and blood-red eyes inside the sealed chamber.

• He Ao and Li Cheng entered the laboratory and found no blood, suggesting the researchers had evacuated calmly before the mutation.
• He Ao and Li Cheng inspected computers throughout the laboratory, but every motherboard was burned out and no documents remained.
• He Ao identified the Stone Egg as an Angel-level Item and concluded it was the laboratory's main research subject.
• He Ao found faint patterns leading to a circular platform beneath the Stone Egg, while Li Cheng stayed back to guard with the Spear of Andarville.
• He Ao touched the platform, which displayed the words “Analysis Egg” and revealed a tiny crack beneath the Stone Egg.
• Violent contamination struck He Ao as blood-red eyes appeared around him, and he saw that the Stone Gate remained shut.

He Ao and Li Cheng used lightning and the Shadowless Sword to destroy the blood-red eyeballs beneath the Stone Egg, while He Ao grew stronger by sacrificing them. As a colossal eyeball entity entered the space and tried to dominate He Ao, he killed the final monster and faced the king directly.

• Li Cheng's lightning trapped the blood-red eyeballs, allowing He Ao to kill and sacrifice them to the Maid Puppet for power.
• He Ao killed the Big Octopus earlier and used its sacrifice to strengthen his avatar before harvesting the eyeballs beneath the Stone Egg.
• He Ao destroyed the last three eyeball monsters despite their transformations and the crushing pressure from an entity forcing its way into the space.
• A colossal eyeball and a chain of linked eyeballs emerged through the folded space, and its gaze flooded He Ao's mind with corruption and an urge to submit.
• He Ao resisted the king's influence, killed the centaur-like monster, then smiled at the giant eyeball as lightning unfolded behind him.

He Ao and Li Cheng faced the King Angel in its nest, using the Stone Egg and the Spear of Andarville to survive its gaze and launch a surprise attack. Li Cheng’s strike failed to seriously injure the angel, so He Ao drew its attention again as he raced toward the Stone Gate.

• The King Angel’s gaze began taking control of He Ao, but Li Cheng shared the Spear of Andarville’s power with him, and He Ao stabilized it with the Eye of Truth.
• He Ao used the Stone Egg’s shadow to evade the King Angel’s beams, then sped past and destroyed three eyeballs guarding its edge.
• He Ao realized the space was one of the King Angel’s nests and that escaping would be harder than driving off a pursuing angel.
• He Ao drew the King Angel’s attention while Li Cheng attacked it with lightning, but the strike caused less damage than they had hoped.
• The King Angel turned its focus toward Li Cheng, so He Ao used a roaring train whistle to draw its gaze back to himself as he fled toward the Stone Gate.

Li Cheng and He Ao faced the King Angel’s overwhelming attacks while trying to complete a plan tied to the Shadowless Sword and the Stone Gate. He Ao’s diversion drew nearly every eyeball toward him as Li Cheng finished tracing a magic array, and the chapter ended with He Ao touching the glass box holding a Rhomboid Crystal.

• Li Cheng survived the King Angel’s attack and followed the Shadowless Sword after it diverted the giant eye’s attention.
• He Ao dodged the King Angel’s beams and used the Stone Gate’s magic array to fire back at the eyeballs.
• The King Angel overwhelmed the Stone Gate and destroyed it, then redirected many eyeballs toward Li Cheng.
• He Ao pretended to flee through the corridor, drew the King Angel’s attention, and charged back into the space.
• Li Cheng stopped after tracing a magic array across the ground, while He Ao touched the Dark Brown Glass Box containing a Rhomboid Crystal.

He Ao and Li Cheng used a lightning formation and the World Eye Fragment to awaken part of the King Angel’s sanity and drive it away. With the guard gone, He Ao prepared to use the Analysis Egg, while warning Li Cheng that angelic advancement carried risks.

• Li Cheng maintained the lightning formation while He Ao arranged ritual items into a K above the King Angel.
• He Ao sent the Rhomboid Crystal through the formation, and its light briefly awakened the King Angel’s rational will.
• The King Angel fled through a rift into Dark Space, leaving He Ao and Li Cheng alive beside the Stone Egg.
• He Ao explained that the King Angel had partly resisted attacking them and warned Li Cheng not to attempt advancement lightly.
• He Ao revealed that the Analysis Egg could break down Angel-level items and restore the Spear of Andarville to a Talent Sequence.

He Ao explored a ruined capital inside the Fate Entrapment Disk and discovered evidence of a massacre and a path to immortality based on killing people to refine pills. After engraving the Control Array and returning to the plane, he learned that Wu Ganglie still had no leads and prepared to investigate Old Liu’s black notebook in North Capital.

• He Ao entered a vast abandoned capital inside the Fate Entrapment Disk and found bloodstains covering its buildings from the Outer City to the Imperial City.
• He Ao traced scattered high-rank armor to a library, where a Stone Tablet depicted a figure killing people, refining their blood and souls into a pill, and returning from death.
• He Ao concluded that the illustrations showed a martial path of killing people to become immortal, then engraved the Control Array and left the Fate Entrapment Disk.
• He Ao returned to the airplane, discovered that he could bring people or objects into the disk if their transcendent rank was low enough, and learned that the flight would soon land in North Capital.
• He Ao spoke with Wu Ganglie, who reported no leads and urged him to arrive quickly, as He Ao examined Old Liu’s black notebook.

He Ao and Li Cheng restarted the Analysis Egg and discussed the risks and possible venues for Li Cheng’s advancement to Thunder Master. In the Main World, He Ao brought Ye Ying to the Research Institute’s Special Item Shelter and went inside with Wu Ganglie, leaving her waiting alone in the corridor.

• He Ao explained that the Analysis Egg required a lengthy cold start, and he and Li Cheng stabilized a failing array pattern with the Spear of Andarville’s power.
• Li Cheng proposed recording the array’s changing flicker frequencies, while He Ao warned that their meaning might be encrypted.
• Li Cheng showed He Ao his materials and mithril bottle for the Thunder Master advancement; He Ao tested and reinforced the bottle.
• He Ao and Li Cheng weighed whether Li Cheng should perform his advancement on the Main World or in the ruins, where stronger enemies could make the ritual more powerful but far more dangerous.
• He Ao brought Ye Ying to the Research Institute’s Special Item Shelter, joked with her to ease her fear, then entered a room with Wu Ganglie while Ye Ying waited in the corridor.

Wu Ganglie recounted how Liu Zhengyun and the early Research Institute survived the chaotic rise of Transcendent powers, then revealed that he and Liu planned to remove K’s influence from He Ao. He Ao restrained Wu Ganglie with the Weaving Puppet Lock and left with Ye Ying, intending to find a way to stabilize Liu Zhengyun and resolve the crisis.

• Wu Ganglie told He Ao how he, Li, and Liu Zhengyun formed the Research Institute after Transcendent factions threatened them and Liu was nearly killed.
• Wu Ganglie described the deadly early ruin trials and credited K’s Talent Sequence Periodic Table with making Transcendent advancement safer.
• Wu Ganglie revealed that he planned to keep He Ao confined while he and Liu Zhengyun tried to remove K’s influence, and He Ao confronted him about the plan.
• He Ao told Wu Ganglie that Liu Zhengyun had lost control and warned him to be careful, then used the Weaving Puppet Lock to restrain Wu.
• He Ao left the room and told Wu Ganglie that Liu’s condition was stable and that he would solve their problems.
• He Ao met Ye Ying in the corridor, asked for her help, and prepared to leave by train.

He Ao gathered support across several regions to suppress all rituals suspected of involving Evil Gods, then asked Goya to stop powerful superhumans from conducting rituals. Goya gave him three life-filled fruits, and He Ao left with the wider crackdown underway.

• He Ao sealed Wu Ganglie's trusted subordinates in a hall, then ordered Ye Yun to take control in South Capital and West Capital and shut down suspected Evil God rituals.
• He Ao traveled to the Tiya Empire and reached an agreement with Jie An to impose martial law and stop rituals there.
• Yan Yue learned that mysterious rituals were being attempted across West Land.
• He Ao asked Goya to stop powerful superhumans from conducting rituals, and she agreed but said stopping K's cult was beyond her authority.
• Goya gave He Ao three crystalline fruits and offered to pass his suggestion to Jodel.

He Ao discovered that Sealed Item 005 had subtly altered his memories through changes to other people’s recollections, leaving countless hidden distortions in his soul. He mobilized the Church Knights Order and brought Lin Chichi and Ye Ying aboard the Old Train as the conflict over K began to intensify.

• He Ao found Liu Nan’s name in his old notebook and realized that his memories of Liu Nan had been erased or altered.
• He Ao used the Eye of Truth to see countless memory-altering specks fused into his soul and deduced that 005 had changed his memories indirectly through other people.
• After failing to reach Dawn’s leader, He Ao met Yan Yue and learned that ritual incidents were overwhelming West Land and that the Church Knights Order had completed an improved communication rune.
• He Ao told Yan Yue to activate the Church Knights Order and traveled by Old Train to bring Lin Chichi aboard.
• He Ao gave Lin Chichi a dangerous task, and she agreed to help despite K’s reputation, while Ye Ying joined her and He Ao assured them that their side was not yet at war with the whole world.

He Ao analyzed the limits of 005’s memory-altering ability and concluded that it worked through uneven mystical connections, with its influence varying by person. As Savior Rituals spread worldwide and threatened to overwhelm the Three Great Organizations, he began testing a theory about how 005 established those connections.

• He Ao realized 005 had not directly altered Li Cheng’s memories because Li Cheng lacked information about 005, and he inferred that restricted mystical connections limited its influence over people linked to High Status power.
• He Ao sorted the affected people into layers, concluding that 005 had changed Wu Ganglie and Liu Zhengyun’s memories heavily, influenced Jie An, Goya, Yan Yue, and others less extensively, and barely affected ordinary people like Ye Ying.
• He Ao suspected that the Savior Rituals were part of an agreement between 005 and the Starlight Figure, and that successful rituals could bring the figure and his companions to the Main World.
• Yan Yue, Ming Guang, and Ye Yun reported that Savior Rituals were spreading across the world, overwhelming containment resources and pushing the Three Great Organizations toward their limits.
• He Ao drew a dense rune with blood to test his theory about how 005 established mystical connections.