Chapter Summaries

Xia Fan used Venerable Shengtian’s voice and Escape Tower’s lights to order the defenders into Skywell, then launched the tower’s emergency procedure. The launch hurled the Evil Spirits and much of the Chaos entity into the sky, leaving the survivors to witness Escape Tower’s return to action.

• Xia Fan imitated Venerable Shengtian and used Escape Tower’s lights to spell “RETREAT,” convincing the defenders to withdraw into Skywell.
• Xia Fan activated the emergency launch procedure and broadcast a warning that Escape Tower was entering its launch phase.
• Skywell sealed its corridors, and the Evil Spirits regained their mobility as the system completed its launch checks.
• Xia Fan ordered Escape Tower to launch, sending electric bolts through the shaft and blasting its contents into the sky.
• The launch tore much of the Chaos entity from Skywell and hurled tens of thousands of Evil Spirits into the air as Li Mengyun and the others watched.

Xia Fan used the Escape Tower’s emergency launch to hurl the Evil Spirits into space, stopping the purge procedure and weakening the remaining threats. As Luo Qingqing and Li moved to finish off the Demonsha, Xia Fan found Yao Wu preparing to summon another Evil Spirit.

• Olina spotted a pillar of light tearing a black hole in the sky, and Qian agreed to seek the Jinxia Army’s commander while keeping order in Baili Town.
• Xia Fan used the Escape Tower to launch the Evil Spirits into space, eliminating the chaos entity threat but damaging the charging system.
• Xia Fan told Luo Qingqing and Li to destroy the weakened Demonsha, and they rushed toward it.
• Xia Fan searched Skywell’s upper levels and found Yao Wu chanting a Chaos spell to summon a Lesser Evil Spirit.
• Xia Fan interrupted Yao Wu’s spell, causing it to backfire and make her spit blood.

Xia Fan confronted Yao Wu, who had been secretly trying to open a Boundary Gate and aid the Evil Spirits. He stopped her spell and took the soul bottle, while Yao Wu’s collapsing mark left her dying and convinced that Xia Fan had crossed the boundary between life and death.

• Xia Fan questioned Yao Wu about the Western Pole Spellbook and accused her of causing the unprecedented Evil Spirit assault.
• Yao Wu mistook Xia Fan for a phantom created by Skywell and continued trying to open the Boundary Gate.
• Xia Fan told Yao Wu that the Evil Spirit assault had already been defeated, but she dismissed his claim and began chanting.
• Xia Fan struck Yao Wu with an iron ball, interrupted her spell, and caught the soul bottle as she fell.
• The electronic voice explained that Yao Wu’s mark was collapsing and that she would die without becoming an Evil Spirit or Chaos entity.
• After Li called for him, Xia Fan left for the hundredth level, and Yao Wu died believing he had become a being like King Yong.

Xia Fan secretly used the Escape Tower’s control system and learned that most people in the world descended from artificial lifeforms created by the Escape Committee. The system explained that those synthetic ancestors had been made to satisfy practical needs and keep Moon Guard Base and the Escape project alive.

• Li, Ning Wanjun, and Luo Qingqing searched for Xia Fan until he appeared at the doorway and claimed he had used a hidden passage beneath the chair.
• The control system questioned why Xia Fan had lied, and he wondered whether he feared his companions would reject him for becoming a fused lifeform.
• Xia Fan told the group that the Escape Tower had destroyed the Evil Spirits and that he had found a shortcut upward.
• The system explained that lawful lifeforms required an unbroken lawful ancestry, and that the Escape Committee had manufactured 26.9 million synthetic lifeforms.
• The system said synthetic lifeforms had been created as substitutes for lawful people and to provide settlers and workers needed to sustain Moon Guard Base and complete the Escape Tower.

Xia Fan asked Thought Control why humanity had abandoned Earth, and learned that technological progress—especially the discovery and use of dark energy—had transformed human civilization. The chapter ended with humanity’s brain modifications allowing people to sense dark energy for the first time.

• Xia Fan took the group to the elevator and asked Thought Control what had happened on Earth and why humanity had fled.
• Thought Control revealed that Earth and most reachable places had become dead lands, though no alien invaders were responsible.
• Thought Control explained that humanity’s progress in dark energy had brought changes greater than any previous industrial revolution.
• Thought Control described how people modified their brains, including enlarging their heads to increase their capacity.
• Humanity crossed a threshold in brain development and directly sensed dark energy for the first time.

Thought Control explained how humanity discovered thought energy and transformed consciousness, leading to the rise of creatures of Chaos and the fall of Earth. Xia Fan learned that the Escape Committee fled from Home while Moon Guard Base and the Escape Tower preserved a remnant of humanity, and the elevator reached the top floor.

• Thought Control explained that dark energy was renamed thought energy, or qi, and that consciousness could use it to affect the world and the fundamental forces.
• Thought Control told Xia Fan that humanity’s technological peak led pioneers to transform themselves into pure consciousness forms, which risked turning them into creatures of Chaos.
• Thought Control revealed that researchers used chaotic phenomena in projects such as Moon Guard Base, but the transformed creatures eventually devoured others and defeated humanity on Earth.
• Thought Control explained that the Escape Committee was formed to flee Home, while Moon Guard Base and the Escape Tower preserved a few sparks of humanity.
• Xia Fan reflected on the legal life-forms, fusion life-forms, and artificial individuals left behind as the elevator jolted to a stop at the top floor.

Xia Fan brought the survivors to the Salvation Sect’s top floor and exposed Venerable Pingtian as a follower of King Yong and the Pope as his puppet. He presented recordings of Pingtian’s attack on Wang Sha and her transformation of the Pope, leaving the assembly hall’s leaders stunned and the Pope pale.

• Li, Xia Fan, and the others reached the top floor, where Xia Fan told Ning Wanjun he knew the Salvation Sect’s mole and had enough evidence to prove it.
• Xia Fan’s group entered the assembly hall and faced Venerables Qitian and Tongtian, who questioned his account of Venerable Huntian’s death and resisted delaying the alliance.
• Xia Fan announced that he had killed Venerable Pingtian and accused her of serving King Yong, while claiming the Pope had become King Yong’s puppet.
• Xia Fan showed the assembly a recording of Yao Wu, revealing that she had attacked Wang Sha and pressed a bronze sphere into the Pope’s chest.
• The Venerables watched the evidence and turned toward the Pope, whose face had gone deathly pale.

Xia Fan exposed the infected Pope Wuyi, who vanished like an Evil Spirit, and the Salvation Sect proposed Xia Fan as its new leader. He accepted while warning the Venerables that the Kingdom of Heaven could not survive the Evil Spirit calamity.

• Xia Fan warned the gathering that Wuyi was infected and that evidence of Yao Wu’s crime could still be found in Wuyi’s room.
• Wuyi revealed that he recognized Xia Fan, then turned into smoke and dust while Venerable Tongtian tried to restrain him; Tongtian found the Pope’s Dui Ring was fake.
• Li Mengyun proposed Xia Fan as the Salvation Sect’s next Pope, and Xia Fan argued that the Sect should work within the secular world alongside Ning Wanjun’s rule.
• Xia Fan agreed to lead the Sect but used the Skywell to show the Venerables that Evil Spirits had destroyed the fleets fleeing the world, proving the Kingdom of Heaven was no safe refuge.

Xia Fan accepted the position of Salvation Sect Pope and set new priorities for the sect, including securing Skywell, limiting recruitment, relocating refugees, and training the Venerables. Three days later, a special train arrived at Skywell, where Mo Yun stepped into the district for the first time.

• Xia Fan questioned Thought Control about the Earth-Moon base, the Gate of Heavenly Dao, and the Dragon-Climbing Tower, but learned little about the latter two.
• Xia Fan told the Salvation Sect that he would accept leadership while prioritizing protection of the people, Escape Tower development, and the secular world.
• Venerable Qitian, Venerable Tongtian, and Li Mengyun accepted Xia Fan as the Salvation Sect's new Pope.
• Xia Fan ordered the sect to secure Skywell and eliminate the Evil Spirits there, suspend recruitment and outside missions, and reduce the risk of leaks by relocating newly arrived refugees to Jinxia City.
• Xia Fan said he would establish a passage to transport Escape Tower supplies and require the Venerables to train in Jinxia City.
• Three days later, Mo Yun arrived in the Skywell District by special train.

Xia Fan showed Mo Yun the Escape Tower’s spare-parts workshop and explained how its Talisman templates and manufacturing machines could help Jinxia reproduce Pioneer technology. The chapter ended with him giving her more than a hundred books to study before the city could build large-scale projects like the Underground Express.

• Xia Fan led Mo Yun and Li to the Escape Tower’s spare-parts workshop on the two hundred and tenth floor.
• Thought Control introduced itself to Mo Yun as the Escape Tower’s control system and explained that Omega had granted her access.
• Xia Fan showed Mo Yun the Standardized Artifacts and Talisman Etching Machines that could support the manufacture of mechanical devices.
• Xia Fan explained that the Escape Tower’s templates, teaching materials, and assessment processes could help Jinxia develop artifact technology.
• Xia Fan gave Mo Yun a list of more than a hundred books and told her Jinxia could not build large-scale projects until she understood the artifacts’ principles and Talismans.

Xia Fan explained how the new humans’ enhanced learning abilities and the special train’s artifact modules could help Jinxia master advanced knowledge and harness abundant electricity. Mo Yun embraced the prospect of using Mechanism Art to transform the city and, eventually, the wider world.

• Mo Yun resolved that her descendants and the Mechanical Bureau's disciples would study the books Xia Fan had compiled, and Xia Fan explained how training could awaken the new humans’ expanded learning abilities.
• Mo Yun asked why the machine could not print Talismans in bulk, and Xia Fan explained that consciousness-controlled manufacturing required tools to function like extensions of the operator’s body.
• Xia Fan said mastering the underlying knowledge was essential because Jinxia could not repair the advanced machines, but the artifact modules could still provide major benefits.
• Xia Fan outlined how wireless power transmission modules could bring electricity from the Skywell to Jinxia and enable Zhen Lamps and other electrical applications.
• Xia Fan described a future of expanded utilities, electric transport, household appliances, and advanced communications, and Mo Yun felt newly inspired to change the world through Mechanism Art.

Xia Fan learned that extending his consciousness could eventually strip away his humanity, while Li reassured him that she would wait for him if he left. He went to the seventieth floor of Skywell after Princess Twilight and Feleton found Matriarch Stitch’s tomb, where they discovered a huge stone coffin surrounded by ancient weapons and armor.

• Mo Yun touched Xia Fan’s face to confirm that he was still himself, then asked him to show her where she could read the books.
• Xia Fan recalled Thought Control’s warning that spreading his consciousness could turn him into a Chaos entity, and Li told him she would wait for him if he ever left.
• Venerable Shengtian told Xia Fan that his Western Pole friends had found something on Skywell’s seventieth floor and asked Li to stay with her.
• Xia Fan teleported to Princess Twilight and Feleton, who told him that they had discovered Matriarch Stitch’s tomb.
• Xia Fan saw a large stone coffin in the center of a room lined with decayed weapons, armor, and helmets.

Xia Fan and the others opened Matriarch Stitch’s sealed tomb, only to find two ancient skeletons and her preserved Primordial Blood. Princess Twilight used the blood to activate a hidden mechanism, revealing murals that recorded the long sleeper’s life.

• Hualin explained that the Key of the Zodiac had led them to Matriarch Stitch’s tomb and opened its bloodline seal with Primordial Blood.
• Feleton lifted the coffin lid, and Hualin and Xia Fan found two sets of ancient bones inside instead of the sleeping Matriarch.
• Thought Control recalled that a group had reached the Escape Tower over a hundred years earlier, while Hualin found a bottle of Stitch’s Primordial Blood among the bones.
• Xia Fan concluded that the blood had been left for Stitch’s descendants, and Princess Twilight searched the hall with Feleton.
• Princess Twilight poured the blood into a hidden obsidian mechanism, causing murals about the long sleeper’s life to appear on the wall.

Xia Fan and the others discovered murals showing Matriarch Stitch’s travels and marriage to a Yong emperor, as well as their eventual settlement at Baiyao Mountain. The murals revealed that Stitch used the Inheritance Ritual on their child, leaving Hualin to realize the child was destined to become the next Matriarch.

• Xia Fan identified the man beside Matriarch Stitch in the murals as a Yong emperor and concluded that the paintings depicted their wedding.
• Thought Control dated the group’s visit to the Escape Tower to 186 years earlier, and Xia Fan determined that Stitch had met an earlier Yong emperor.
• The murals showed Stitch and King Yong exploring the Eastern Continent before leading an expedition into Baiyao Mountain to find the Skywell.
• After many explorers died, King Yong chose to remain at the Skywell, and Stitch stayed with him and gave birth to a child carrying both their bloodlines.
• Hualin recognized that Stitch had performed the Inheritance Ritual, making the child the next generation’s Matriarch.

Xia Fan and the others learned that Qian Yan was the Matriarch’s heir and that the Living Dead lineage originated from her unusual blood. Hualin chose to reseal the tomb and left Xia Fan to decide whether to tell Qian Yan about her origins; as the group prepared to return to Jinxia City, an unfamiliar woman appeared to guide them onto a special train.

• Hualin explained that the inheritance ritual had made the Matriarch’s successor her equal and that the Matriarch had likely entered eternal hibernation beside King Yong.
• Hualin and Feleton concluded that Qian Yan was the Matriarch’s heir, and Xia Fan reasoned that her bloodline had created the Living Dead.
• Hualin decided to seal the tomb again and asked Xia Fan to decide whether Qian Yan should learn the truth about her origins.
• Hualin planned to stay in Jinxia City for the time being, and Xia Fan promised the city would welcome her wherever she went.
• Xia Fan and Mo Yun prepared Talismans for a trial transmission station, then set out to return from the Baiyao Mountains.
• An unfamiliar woman greeted Xia Fan and the others as they opened the carriage door and announced their special train’s departure.

Thought Control appeared in a humanlike mechanical body and agreed to accompany Xia Fan’s group to support Jinxia City’s energy diversion project. As they prepared to leave, Xia Fan noticed Li was embarrassed about a private conversation with Venerable Shengtian but chose not to investigate.

• Thought Control explained that she had created an assistance doll so she could provide technical support beyond the Escape Tower’s area.
• Xia Fan introduced Thought Control to the group and explained that her doll would accompany them while remaining connected to Skywell District.
• Mo Yun eagerly inspected and touched Thought Control’s humanlike mechanical body.
• Li explained that Thought Control’s departure would not leave Skywell District without its systems, since the doll was a backup that could synchronize when connected.
• Xia Fan asked Li what Venerable Shengtian had discussed with her, and Li blushed before hurrying away.
• Xia Fan considered asking Thought Control to retrieve the conversation but decided to respect Li’s privacy.

Xia Fan, Mo Yun, and Thought Control completed a test of Jinxia City's Energy-Gathering Tower, which received power transmitted from Baili Station. Thought Control explained that the Escape Tower ran on energy released from souls and had about one hundred and fifty years of operation remaining, while the Defense Ring's limit was unknown.

• Mo Yun tested the Talisman receiver atop the Spirit Tree tower and confirmed it was receiving a Zhen Technique response.
• Mo Yun told Xia Fan and Thought Control that the wireless power transmission from Baili Station worked better than expected, then returned to the Mechanical Bureau's work.
• Xia Fan asked Thought Control how Skywell's artifacts could operate without human operators, and Thought Control explained that some qi could activate spontaneously.
• Thought Control explained that qi could be extracted from souls and used to power artifacts, and confirmed the Escape Tower was fueled by the souls of people who had failed to board the spacecraft.
• Thought Control estimated that the Escape Tower had about one hundred and fifty years left, but said the Lunar Satellite Defense Ring's remaining time was unknown.

Xia Fan learned more from Thought Control about fused lifeforms, the Escape Tower, and the danger of crossing humanity’s boundary, then arranged for her to help Luo Qingqing. Elsewhere, an isolated and impoverished Zhou Sheng remained in Jinxia City, fretting over the failed invasion and the threat of arrest, when a man entered his compound.

• Thought Control explained that fused lifeforms could guide the Escape Tower and warned Xia Fan against crossing humanity’s boundary.
• Thought Control claimed she was concerned about Xia Fan’s transformation because it would force her into dormancy and conflict with the Escape Tower’s purpose.
• Xia Fan learned Thought Control had spent the rainy night on the Tree Tower and asked her to help Luo Qingqing when she was free.
• Zhou Sheng, alone in his residence after his last servant left, lamented his dwindling money and blamed the rules protecting servants.
• Zhou Sheng worried that the imperial court’s defeat and the missing spies had left him vulnerable to arrest, but he refused to abandon his mission.
• A man entered Zhou Sheng’s compound.

Zhou Sheng learned that his former companion Chen Qiran had joined the Affairs Bureau and offered him a way out of his financial troubles by recruiting him to help build Jinxia City's new water system. Chen described how the system would bring running water into homes at no charge, leaving Zhou Sheng astonished by the project.

• Zhou Sheng confronted Chen Qiran, who explained that he worked as a clerk in the Affairs Bureau's Construction Department.
• Chen offered Zhou financial help from himself and their former companions, but Zhou refused.
• Chen invited Zhou to join a team repairing the city's water supply system, explaining that the Affairs Bureau had begun accepting applicants like them.
• Zhou questioned how the system would work, and Chen described pipes that would deliver water to household taps, powered by mechanisms from the Mechanical Bureau.
• Chen told Zhou that the Affairs Bureau would cover the system's costs and charge residents only for wasting water.

Zhou Sheng rejected Chen Qiran’s faith in Jinxia and became enraged after learning that Liu Ruyan was marrying an Affairs Bureau official. He renewed his efforts to send intelligence to the Capital Region and, two weeks later, prepared to leave Jinxia with the money from selling his residence.

• Zhou Sheng argued that Jinxia’s finances and political support were too weak for the rebels to endure, and urged Chen Qiran to resign from the Affairs Bureau.
• Chen Qiran told Zhou Sheng that Liu Ruyan was getting married to a respected Affairs Bureau official, leaving Zhou furious and shaken.
• Zhou Sheng wrote another secret letter containing intelligence about Jinxia and set out to send it to the Capital Region.
• Two weeks later, after selling his residence, Zhou Sheng prepared to depart by carriage in the early hours of the morning.