Chapter Summaries

Jiang Fu and the Bearded Pirate Crew encouraged Han Sichen to draw explosive talismans on a saber, hoping to help him prove himself against the Han Family. As Han Sichen began the experiment, Qing Ling warned that a nonhuman presence had been watching Ink Abyss Island.

• Jiang Fu offered Han Sichen a Profound-tier Upper Grade saber to test his talismans, and Qing Ling and Lu Pin enthusiastically proposed using the explosive weapon against their enemies.
• Lu Pin teased Han Sichen about wanting revenge on the Han Family, and Han Sichen admitted he wanted to blow them up openly and prove he was no good-for-nothing.
• Jiang Fu called over Shi Tianqiong, Xue Qianlan, and Ouyang Zheng to supervise Han Sichen as he began drawing talismans on the saber, with Abyss Potion supplied to replenish his sequence power.
• Jiang Fu asked Qing Ling whether Sequence:001 had appeared, and Qing Ling said it had not but revealed that a nonhuman presence had been watching Ink Abyss Island and was deliberately letting him sense it.

Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu investigated the presence watching Ink Abyss Island and traced it to the mastermind behind the island’s theft. A hundred-meter-wide invisible head rose from the sea, visible to them but undetectable to their Psychokinesis, System Screen, and Lin Que.

• Shi Jiu searched the waters around Ink Abyss Island and found nothing, while Jiang Fu used the waves to test whether the watcher was connected to Sequence:001.
• Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu concluded that the watcher might be linked to the mastermind from whom they had taken Ink Abyss Island, and Jiang Fu’s test confirmed the connection.
• A hundred-meter-wide black head rose from the sea and fixed its gaze on the island’s residents.
• Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu sensed nothing with their Psychokinesis, and the System Screen showed nothing, even though they could see the head.
• Lin Que arrived with a Profound-tier Upper Grade Battle Knife, but he could not see the head when Shi Jiu pointed it out.

Jiang Fu and the others discovered that the heads surrounding Ink Abyss Island were Sky Ghosts, creatures hidden from those who had ascended to sainthood. As the Sky Ghosts closed in and their gaze threatened the islanders, Jiang Fu identified an enormous one as the likely true body and urged Shi Tianqiong to strike it.

• Lin Que could not see the head offshore, but Shi Jiu could, and Jiang Fu's Eye of the Deceiver briefly showed Lin Que its blurry outline.
• More than a hundred dark heads appeared around Ink Abyss Island, visible to some but not to Lin Que, Xue Qianlan, or Ouyang Zheng.
• Shi Tianqiong identified the phenomenon as Realm Isolation and explained that those below Saint Ascension who could see the creatures were marked for death.
• The heads' gaze compelled everyone except the three Saint Ascension experts to approach the sea, while Qing Ling protected Lu Pin and Han Sichen.
• Shi Tianqiong revealed that the heads were Sky Ghosts, with only one true body among thousands of Phantom Clones, and warned that a missed strike could multiply the threat.
• Jiang Fu spotted a Sky Ghost ten times larger than the others and told Shi Tianqiong to attack it.

Jiang Fu used Multiply by Ten to make the Sky Ghost and its Phantom Clones repeatedly grow and shrink while the group watched from Ink Abyss Island. Lu Pin intimidated Ouyang Zheng with his Defense Item, and Shi Jiu offered Shi Tianqiong Bearded Pirate Crew equipment to help hunt the Sky Ghost.

• Jiang Fu made the Sky Ghost’s true body and its thousands of Phantom Clones alternate between growing and shrinking, leaving them unable to tell the true body apart.
• Lu Pin pointed out that the true body always changed size first, prompting Ouyang Zheng to warn Shi Tianqiong not to act rashly.
• Ouyang Zheng tried to grab Lu Pin but sensed his Defense Item and withdrew, then stayed silent as Lu Pin declared that Ouyang Zheng was only Pinkbeard among the Bearded Pirate Crew.
• Shi Tianqiong asked Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu to lend him a Defense Item so he could hunt the Sky Ghost in the Open Sea.
• Shi Jiu took out a Defense Item and an Invisibility Talisman, and Lin Que said he still needed to sign the Bearded Pirate Crew Contract before receiving his equipment.

Lin Que became the pirate Orangebeard, while Shi Tianqiong, Han Sichen, Lu Pin, and Qing Ling prepared to approach the real Sky Ghost under invisibility and Lin Que’s protection. As they vanished and set out to test Han Sichen’s rune patterns, Xue Qianlan asked Shi Jiu how to get her father to accept her, leaving Lin Que and Ouyang Zheng stunned.

• Lin Que signed a sequence contract with Jiang Fu and officially became the pirate Orangebeard.
• Jiang Fu gave Ouyang Zheng a pink defense item, Shi Tianqiong a gray one, and Han Sichen a light purple one, prompting the group to trade jokes about their pirate names.
• Shi Tianqiong recruited Han Sichen to use Rune Pattern Detonation on the real Sky Ghost, and Han agreed while asking Shi to kill it if the rune patterns failed.
• Lu Pin exposed Ouyang Zheng’s hidden desire to take the spotlight through his lie detector sequence, which he secretly activated with sign language.
• Shi Tianqiong, Han Sichen, Lu Pin, and Qing Ling used invisibility talismans while Lin Que concealed their presence, then disappeared to approach the Sky Ghost.
• Xue Qianlan asked Shi Jiu how she could get her father to accept her, startling Lin Que and Ouyang Zheng.

Xue Qianlan asked Shi Jiu how to win Shi Yuehan’s approval to be with Shi Wu, and Shi Jiu and Jiang Fu proposed publicly calling Shi Yuehan her father-in-law while making him the Bearded Pirate Crew’s scapegoat captain. The group then spotted Sky Ghost’s enormous phantom form over the sea and recognized its resemblance to the tentacled Rubik’s Cube.

• Xue Qianlan asked Shi Jiu how to get Shi Yuehan to approve of her relationship with Shi Wu, and Lin Que and Ouyang Zheng realized she was the Dancing Cat Shi Yuehan had complained about.
• Shi Jiu and Jiang Fu suggested that Xue Qianlan dye her hair blue, call Shi Yuehan her father-in-law in public, and make him the Bearded Pirate Crew’s scapegoat captain.
• Lin Que and Ouyang Zheng backed the plan, while Xue Qianlan agreed and asked whether Shi Yuehan might join the crew and discover Ink Abyss Island’s treasures.
• Shi Jiu and Jiang Fu explained that they would let others investigate and reveal that Shi Yuehan was the crew’s scapegoat captain, then high-fived over their plan to make him Tianhuang Martial Arts University’s security team captain.
• Sky Ghost’s more than twenty thousand phantom clones shuddered and shot into the air, and Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu noticed that its tentacled form resembled the Rubik’s Cube from the Mist Forbidden Zone.

Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu identified the Sky Ghost’s true form as the tentacled heads hovering over Ink Abyss Island, while the unseen group trapped it and Han Sichen drew destructive talismans on its body. The Sky Ghost found the invisible attackers but its tentacles broke when it struck at them, and Han Sichen continued drawing as the monster cautiously searched for them.

• Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu revealed that the floating tentacled heads were Sky Ghosts, alarming Xue Qianlan, Lin Que, and Ouyang Zheng because Saint Ascension experts could not see them.
• The Sky Ghost panicked as invisible talismans appeared across its body and it found itself unable to escape Ink Abyss Island.
• The Sky Ghost dispelled its Phantom Clones and struck at the gap in its ripples, but its tentacles snapped against the invisible attackers.
• Shi Tianqiong, Han Sichen, Lu Pin, Qing Ling, and Graybeard clung invisibly to the Sky Ghost while Han Sichen drew runes with a Spirit Brush.
• Han Sichen drank Abyss Potion to restore his Sequence Power and continued drawing as the Sky Ghost cautiously felt around for the invisible group.

Lu Pin and Shi Jiu trapped Sky Ghost while Jiang Fu realized monsters could feel fear, prompting the Bearded Pirate Crew to claim they would become monsters’ terror. A tentacled Rubik’s Cube arrived to rescue Sky Ghost, and Jiang Fu drew a silver sword.

• Sky Ghost tried to pry Shi Tianqiong and the others off its forehead, but Lu Pin used Wood's Protection to root their barrier in place.
• Shi Jiu layered her Spatial Maze and stopped Sky Ghost from escaping, while Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu concluded that monsters could feel fear.
• Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu revealed that they were Forbidden Zone Masters of the Mist Forbidden Zone and said the Bearded Pirate Crew could become monsters’ fear.
• A massive tentacled Rubik’s Cube appeared and began rotating the space in the Spatial Maze to rescue Sky Ghost.
• Jiang Fu narrowed his eyes at Sky Ghost and drew a silver sword as Lin Que, Ouyang Zheng, and Xue Qianlan watched.

Jiang Fu killed the Magic Cube Sky Ghost with One Sword Slaying Gods, unlocking the sixth System Screen's ability to appraise Sky Ghosts. He discovered the Sky Ghost had a moving weak point and ordered Shi Jiu to capture the remaining Sky Ghosts alive.

• Jiang Fu learned that personally killing the Magic Cube Sky Ghost would unlock Sky Ghost appraisal, then unleashed One Sword Severing Heaven with Multiply by Ten.
• Shi Jiu used Divine Sequence: Space Sovereign to hold the Magic Cube Sky Ghost in place, while Jiang Fu's sword strike cut it in two.
• The Human-Head Sky Ghost watched from a distance as the Magic Cube Sky Ghost fell into the Open Sea and died.
• Jiang Fu recovered after exhausting himself, and the sixth System Screen identified the dead Sky Ghost as No Return and showed its moving weak point.
• Jiang Fu told Shi Jiu to capture the remaining Sky Ghosts alive.

Jiang Fu revealed that he had slain a Rubik's Cube Sky Ghost with one sword strike, while Han Sichen's talisman repeatedly destroyed and restored Sky Ghost: No Return. The Sky Ghost remained trapped in a Spatial Maze, with the rune patterns on its forehead flaring each time it re-formed.

• Shi Tianqiong returned to Ink Abyss Island and was stunned to learn Jiang Fu had killed the Rubik's Cube Sky Ghost with one sword strike.
• Jiang Fu explained that the Sky Ghost had escaped him when he was weaker, and Shi Tianqiong collapsed in shock.
• Han Sichen's talisman caused Sky Ghost: No Return to explode, but its body regenerated almost immediately.
• Sky Ghost: No Return continued exploding and reforming, leaving Han Sichen unsure whether his attempt had succeeded.
• Sky Ghost: No Return remained trapped in the Spatial Maze as the rune patterns on its forehead flared with each reformation.

Jiang Fu realized Han Sichen’s mutated Spirit Painter sequence had turned Sky Ghost into an endlessly exploding and regenerating talisman. Lin Que concluded that someone had invaded Han Sichen’s sequence, while the Beards began plotting how to use the revelation against their families.

• Jiang Fu identified Sky Ghost as a mutated explosive talisman created by Han Sichen’s sequence, and Han Sichen recounted the Han Family’s failed attempts to awaken his painting talent.
• Jiang Fu explained that anything Han Sichen drew on could become an explosive talisman, and Lin Que confirmed this when the battle knife transformed and exploded after five minutes.
• Lin Que concluded that multiple sequences, especially the Chaos Sequence, had invaded Han Sichen’s sequence and caused its mutation.
• Qing Ling proposed that she and Han Sichen take revenge on the Qing and Han Families by bringing them into the Bearded Pirate Crew, and Lu Pin suggested making them scapegoats.
• Qing Ling’s Judge sequence recognized Sky Ghost’s condition as the punishment Cycle of Life and Death.

Reset successfully turned his talismans into a Sequence Punishment, while Jiang Fu revealed plans to capture a living Sky Ghost and break the barrier hiding them from Saint Ascension experts. As the group wondered what in Bin City had drawn the Sky Ghosts, Lin Que privately recalled that it contained something capable of turning people—or monsters—into gods.

• Reset used his new Sequence Punishment, Cycle of Life and Death, to make Sky Ghost: No Return repeatedly explode and reform.
• Shi Tianqiong realized the Bearded Pirate Crew had the potential to grow powerful and wanted to plunder monsters in the Human Forbidden Zone.
• Jiang Fu said he had found Sky Ghosts’ weakness and could make a detector, and promised a one-hundred-percent chance of breaking Realm Isolation if they captured one alive.
• Lin Que, Xue Qianlan, and Ouyang Zheng wondered what in Bin City had attracted the rare Sky Ghosts, and Lin Que privately connected their arrival to a secret that could create gods.
• Shi Jiu dismissed the revelation, thinking Jiang Fu could make her a God King.

Lin Que revealed that Bin City contained an Opportunity to Become a God that Monsters were targeting, prompting the group to plan to defend the city. Shi Jiu then sent the endlessly exploding Sky Ghost: No Return into the True Water Realm near Realm Demon: Red Chaser, before saying it was time to return to the Laboratory.

• Lin Que realized Jiang Fu, Shi Jiu, and the young Beards had been pretending to be shocked by the possibility of becoming gods.
• Ouyang Zheng concluded that Monsters were attacking Bin City to seize its Opportunity to Become a God, and the others agreed they could not let the city fall.
• Shi Jiu said the Opportunity to Become a God was not with her and should still be somewhere in Bin City.
• Jiang Fu promised that everyone in the Bearded Pirate Crew would become gods, alarming the Sequence Divine Artifact.
• Shi Jiu drew Sky Ghost: No Return into the True Water Realm near Realm Demon: Red Chaser, and its explosions blasted Hong Zhu away.
• Shi Jiu said they had picked all their perks and should return to the Laboratory.

The Bearded Pirate Crew prepared to distribute benefits while its members continued developing a composite face-slapping item. At Ruihang Laboratory, Ji Mingchang received Realm Beast Detectors and waited impatiently to study the captive Domain Demons, but Shi Tianqiong summoned the researchers to the lounge for the distribution.

• Qing Ling and Lu Pin said they needed to return to work on their failed composite Sequence Item, and Shi Tianqiong offered to arrange calculations at Ruihang Laboratory.
• Xu Yunfeng collected eighteen Realm Beast Detectors from Ji Mingchang to deliver to Tianhuang Martial Arts University's temporary base, and learned his collectible walnuts were fake and chemically harmful.
• Ji Mingchang waited impatiently to examine Domain Demon: Shattered Glow and Domain Demon: Tianheng, but held off because Shi Tianqiong had ordered the Laboratory not to begin without him.
• Shi Tianqiong returned and told Ji Mingchang to gather the Laboratory staff for the Bearded Pirate Crew's benefit distribution.
• Ji Mingchang brought more than four hundred reluctant researchers and professors to the lounge, where several complained about being pulled away from their work.

Shi Tianqiong gave the researchers Abyss Potions and a trove of research materials, turning their complaints into a frenzy of looting. When Principal of Tianhuang arrived to see Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu, the Beards prepared to go greet him in disguise.

• Shi Tianqiong distributed 263 jars of Abyss Potion and revealed a mountain of rare materials and instruments as benefits for the Bearded Pirate Crew.
• The researchers rushed to claim the treasures, while Ji Mingchang recognized that many had been taken from Lingyue Pavilion and decided to forgive the pirates.
• The researchers divided up the materials, leaving several Abyss Potions untouched.
• Xu Yunfeng told Ji Mingchang that Principal of Tianhuang was outside asking to see Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu.
• Shi Jiu put on a red wig and beard, dressed Jiang Fu with Little Blondie, and led the Beards to go annoy Old Deng; Shi Tianqiong asked if anyone had a gray wig and beard.

Shi Yuehan arrived at Ruihang Center Laboratory and discovered that its researchers had become the Colorful Beard Crew, a pirate research team. He was overwhelmed when he learned that Xue Qianlan was calling him Dad and fainted.

• Xu Yunfeng loudly summoned Shi Yuehan through the main entrance, drawing a crowd and humiliating him before he entered Ruihang Center.
• Xu Yunfeng revealed that he had stayed behind at Ruihang Center, observed Shen Yan and Li Dazhi, and planned to return to the Patrol Team before taking his turn to rise to prominence.
• Shi Yuehan found the building sealed against Psychokinetic probing and encountered Jiang Fu, Shi Jiu, and the multicolored, bearded researchers.
• Shi Tianqiong explained that the laboratory's researchers had signed a Sequence Contract to form the Bearded Pirate Research Team, officially called the Colorful Beard Crew.
• Shi Yuehan learned that Xue Qianlan was Shi Wu's partner and watched her call him Dad, then spat blood and fainted.

Shi Yuehan woke from a nightmare to discover that Xue Qianlan and Shi Wu were together and that Shi Jiu had joined the Bearded Pirates. Meanwhile, Shi Si revealed plans for 8,600 Xia Country Martial Artists to attack the pirates’ eighteen bases, while Xia Fan remained in the dark about the operation.

• Shi Yuehan woke in Ruihang Center, recoiled from Xue Qianlan, and fainted again after realizing that Shi Wu loved her and that Shi Jiu was with Jiang Fu.
• Jiang Fu photographed Shi Yuehan surrounded by the colorful-haired Bearded Pirates and sent the picture to Black-and-Whitebeard.
• At the Kill Hu Alliance headquarters, Shi Si told Xing Bin that 3,600 Evil Ghost Squad members and 5,000 members of the Seventh Martial Artist Squad would attack eighteen pirate bases within three days.
• Shi Si took Xia Fan’s phone after seeing his reaction to the photo, leaving Xia Fan unaware of the plan and still at risk of being made to take the blame for the Bearded Pirate Crew.

Xia Fan listened in fear as the Xia Country Authorities and Lingyue Pavilion negotiated a joint operation against the Bearded Pirate Crew. Lingyue Pavilion agreed to double its promised payment and sign a nonaggression pact, but demanded a condition protecting its research facility.

• Xia Fan realized Shi Si had seen the photo implicating him and heard the plan to target the Bearded Pirate Crew's strongest members.
• Xin Musen and Xing Bin told Shi Si that Lingyue Pavilion had deployed three thousand Martial Artists and proposed joining forces with the Xia Country Authorities.
• Shi Si agreed to form a joint force if Lingyue Pavilion doubled its promised money and supplies.
• Shi Si presented a Sequence Contract barring the Evil Ghost Squad and Lingyue Pavilion's Martial Artists from attacking each other without cause.
• Xin Musen and Xing Bin agreed to sign the contract but demanded that the Xia Country Authorities not seize Lingyue Pavilion's research facility once it was found.

Shi Si revealed to Xia Fan that he was the Bearded Pirate Crew’s leader while the Lingyue Pavilion leaders secretly arranged to use parasites against Xia Country’s Seventh Squad. In Bin City, Shi Yuehan confronted Jiang Fu about Evergreen Elixir Group’s destroyed headquarters and the resulting loss of Vitality Pill supplies.

• Shi Si and the Lingyue Pavilion leaders signed a Sequence Contract barring attacks between their forces, then negotiated plans for the allied forces.
• After Lingyue Pavilion left, Shi Si told Xia Fan that he knew Shen Yan and revealed his pink-bearded identity as the Bearded Pirate Crew’s leader.
• Shi Si warned Xia Fan to turn off his phone in dangerous situations and suspected Lingyue Pavilion had agreed to the deal too readily.
• Xin Musen told You Xianfeng that Lingyue Pavilion would target Xia Country’s Seventh Squad instead of the protected Evil Ghost Squad, and You Xianfeng agreed to breed more parasites.
• Shi Yuehan demanded that Jiang Fu explain how they would replace Evergreen Elixir Group’s Vitality Pills after its headquarters was burned down.

Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu planned to return to Tianhuang Martial Arts University and eliminate the Sikong Clan members hiding there. Lin Que revealed that their purchase of the university was already nearing approval, leaving Principal Shi Yuehan furious as the Bearded Pirate Crew discussed who would own and run it.

• Shi Yuehan warned Jiang Fu and the others that the Sikong Clan’s troubles had halted Evergreen Elixir Group’s Vitality Pill production, driving prices sharply upward.
• Jiang Fu said the Bearded Pirate Crew could produce and sell Vitality Pills cheaply, and argued the Sikong Clan’s Sequence Patent would lapse if the clan were wiped out.
• Shi Jiu suggested that she and Jiang Fu return to Tianhuang Martial Arts University to deal with the Sikong Clan members hiding there, and Jiang Fu agreed to bring their grandparents’ laboratory.
• Lin Que revealed that the purchase of Tianhuang Martial Arts University was nearing completion, with approval from a senior Xia Country official.
• Shi Yuehan protested that he had not been told the university was being bought, while Lin Que and the others discussed making Jiang Fu and Shi Jiu its owners and Xia Fan its Principal.
• Shi Yuehan coughed up blood as the Bearded Pirate Crew continued discussing how to divide ownership of the university.