Chapter Summaries

Lu Yao met Magic Bag Norland in the Fifth Layer, where Norland mistook him for the Brain Worm’s former self and challenged him to choose between friendship and enmity. After revealing his identity and discovering Norland’s strength, Lu Yao reconsidered dismissing him, and Norland began explaining how he had ended up imprisoned in his current form.

• Niu Sansi formed a defensive circle around the Brain Worm as Mage Towers surrounded them, but Lu Yao waited while a red-robed mage led him to Norland.
• Norland accused the Brain Worm of serving Rock King and White God and killing his mages, then demanded to know whether it would be his friend or enemy.
• Lu Yao told Norland that people from Four Directions Country were outside, then consulted the Abyss encyclopedia and learned about Norland’s history and the Dark God’s punishment.
• Lu Yao summoned Forrest’s Saint Seal Style, causing Norland to realize he was a god and reveal that his true body was a koala perched on a wooden puppet.
• Lu Yao inspected Norland’s powerful abilities and decided to hear him out, while Norland explained that he had once been a mage assassin and was punished for refusing to abandon the Silver Hand title.

Norland recounted how his fixation on Silver Hand had cost him the Dark God's favor and explained why he failed to unite the Fifth Layer's four wonders. Lu Yao accepted Norland as his eleventh apostle, restored his Spell Blade ability, and learned that the Inherited Mage Tower was part of the Immortal Wonder Miniature Empire.

• Norland described how the Dark God had criticized his Silver Hand title and later imprisoned him in a koala's body to make him focus on the Spell Bag.
• Norland asked to serve Lu Yao, offering his population, mage corps, stored Power of Faith, and knowledge that the Fifth Layer's four wonders belonged to the Miniature Empire.
• Norland explained that Curse Worm attacks and rivals Hu Yizi and Stoke had thwarted his attempts to take the Duel Forest, Centaur Stable, and Second Hall Galan.
• Lu Yao made Norland his eleventh apostle and unsealed his Spell Blade ability for 1,000 points of faith.
• Norland showed Lu Yao the Inherited Mage Tower, a miniature wonder that had produced the Fifth Layer's mages, and proposed working with Four Directions Country to claim the remaining wonders.

Lu Yao met Pizi on East Road and learned that the Black-hearted Duke wanted formal trade relations with Four Directions Country to combat the fraudulent Golden Plate Merchants. He suspected the merchants’ leader, Puxi, was connected to the Golden Dice and decided to investigate and arrest him.

• Lu Yao found a feather message in the Brain Worm’s house inviting him to meet on East Road.
• Lu Yao met Pizi, who asked him to help establish formal trade and diplomatic relations between Four Directions Country and Second Hall Galan.
• Pizi explained that Puxi and the Golden Plate Merchants used deception and the Golden Plate Ritual to defraud and recruit people.
• Lu Yao searched the world backend but found no Demigod named Puxi in the Fifth Layer.
• Pizi described Puxi’s Golden Dice, Golden Turntable, and mysterious arrival through a crack, leading Lu Yao to decide to arrest him.

Lu Yao learned how Puxi’s fraud had disrupted trade and used Norland’s spell to track the merchant to Duel Forest. There he discovered Puxi was Hu Yizi, confronted him, and summoned the God-born Giant to attack as Hu Yizi tried to flee.

• Butterflies and Rock King explained the Brain Worm’s delayed report about Stoke and described how Puxi’s Golden Plate Ritual had harmed trade, especially Stoke’s food-dependent territory.
• Norland used a Golden Dice he had bought from Puxi to cast Object Tracking, locating Puxi at Duel Forest and revealing his Golden Plate Ritual in action.
• Lu Yao traveled to Duel Forest and used True Sight to identify Puxi as Hu Yizi, a Demigod and Kinfolk of the God of Greed.
• Lu Yao challenged Hu Yizi to name his own price, but rejected his offer to become a Subordinate God and declared him not worth buying.
• As Hu Yizi tried to flee, Lu Yao summoned the God-born Giant to envelop him in its shadow.

Stoke weighed whether to flee or resist after Four Directions Country arrived with overwhelming forces and demanded his submission. Remembering the Prince’s advice, he accepted conscription and agreed to join the victors.

• Stoke met Xiao Zhi, who revealed that Four Directions Country had taken over the Centaur Stable and brought the mindless Hu Yizi as proof.
• Xiao Zhi told Stoke that Norland had joined Four Directions Country and announced that Stoke and his territory had been conscripted.
• A Vampire warned Stoke that Four Directions Country’s armies had reached the defensive line and surrounded Second Hall Galan.
• Stoke considered fleeing into Duel Forest or resisting with the Galan Guardians, then recalled the Prince’s advice to become the storm.
• Stoke returned to Xiao Zhi and accepted recruitment into Four Directions Country.

Stoke integrated Second Hall Galan into Four Directions Country and presented plans for vampires and monks to contribute to the Yao Tribe. After three months of study and growing responsibility, he accompanied the Brain Worm to investigate the reappearance of the Fifth Layer’s Immortal Wonder.

• Stoke gave Second Hall Galan’s residents the choice to stay under Four Directions Country or leave, and about four hundred people departed.
• At a meeting led by the White God, Stoke explained the vampires’ livestock-based blood safety practices and agreed to train them as physicians, while proposing stable food supplies and cultivation opportunities for the monks.
• The White God promised that vampires who passed physician assessments could settle and practice in a Yao Tribe city, and Stoke joined discussions on plans for the Fifth Layer.
• During three months in Four Directions Country, Stoke studied Yao Tribe culture and learned from the Brain Worm that Lord Yao had personally selected him for his abilities.
• A pillar of light announced the appearance of an Immortal Wonder, and Stoke followed the Brain Worm through a passage to investigate its restored form.

Lu Yao uncovered Hu Yizi’s history and acquired his equipment, then recruited Stoke and transformed four wonders. Their fusion created the Miniature Empire, which brought Lu Yao a major supply of faith and revealed powerful Crystal Structure Craftsmanship.

• Lu Yao learned that Hu Yizi had gambled away his Divine Kingdom and freedom, then served the God of Greed before becoming trapped in the Abyss.
• Lu Yao obtained Hu Yizi’s Copper Mask and combat items, while the Brain Worm took Hu Yizi as its hound.
• Lu Yao reviewed Stoke’s reputation and Second Hall Galan, then ordered White God to recruit Stoke into the Four Directions Country system.
• Lu Yao examined Centaur Stable as Butterflies led a team to exterminate the Head-tail Worms near Duel Forest.
• Lu Yao transformed the four wonders, and they fused into the Miniature Empire, granting him 4.2 million Flame of Faith and access to Crystal Structure Craftsmanship.

Lu Yao placed the Miniature Empire in the Abyss and sent Yao Clan Scholars to study the Crystal Structure Empire’s technology while consolidating control of the Fifth Layer. After Butterflies defeated the Head-tail Worm and recovered an Old God's Remnant Dream, the Yao Tribe began making breakthroughs in crystal technology, and Lu Yao’s Faith Reserve surpassed 30 million.

• Lu Yao deployed the Miniature Empire beside the Four Directions Country and sent Philes and other Scholars to research its Crystal Structure Craftsmanship.
• The Four Directions Country’s population rose above one million, and Lu Yao used the Wishing Star to learn that most Abyss residents wished for food or strength rather than freedom.
• Butterflies reported the Head-tail Worm’s defeat, and Lu Yao collected 310,000 Flame of Faith and the Old God's Remnant Dream it had left behind.
• Lu Yao realized the Old God's Skull and Remnant Dream might be clues to finding the Old God’s identity and true name.
• The Yao Tribe discovered crystal structures, learned Artificial Crystal technology, and invented a Crystal Structure Gate and Crystal Structure Stone Washing Craft.
• Lu Yao’s Faith Reserve passed 30 million, and he celebrated with a grilled fish feast.

Black Forge’s crystal structure research produced a promising method for cleansing polluted Omnipotence Stone, while the Yao Clan gained new professions and races from the fused wonders. Lu Yao spent his accumulated assets on Huang Jia, a powerful Yellow Turban Warrior that could serve as his proxy and let him travel instantly to his believers.

• Black Forge warned that the Stone Washing Craft still needed years of testing, though it could cleanse Omnipotence Stone far faster than natural dissipation.
• Lu Yao considered how Crystal Structure Gates could improve travel and labor across the Yao Clan’s world despite their limitations.
• Isabelle reported that Vampires could excel at medical examinations and Werewolves could become strong adventurers, spies, and soldiers.
• Lu Yao opened Low-Dimensional Game’s exchange and rejected the expensive Fenrir’s Curse Lock.
• Lu Yao bought Huang Jia, Taiyi Zhenren’s original Yellow Turban Warrior, and kept his Flame of Faith with him through it.

Lu Yao entered Yao City in the Yellow Turban Warrior’s disguised body and explored the city while posing as Huang Jia. At a tavern, he met Andre, a struggling mage from Four Directions Country, and his vampire wife, Alyosha.

• Lu Yao shaped the Yellow Turban Warrior into a bearded Yao Clan human named Huang Jia, then entered the Yao Clan World through God's Proxy.
• Lu Yao visited Yao City, learned about its cleanliness and currency, and found himself unable to buy anything because he had no money.
• Lu Yao met Andre, an Abyss Wanderer from Four Directions Country who could not find work, and offered to help him find a job in exchange for a drink.
• Andre explained that he had failed the Academy of Theology's Scholar assessment and had found no suitable work as a mage.
• Alyosha arrived at the tavern and joined Lu Yao and Andre's conversation; Lu Yao noticed she was a vampire.

Lu Yao encouraged Andre to adapt to life in Yao City, then visited Qian Yuan Mountain and tested the cultivators there in a spar. He returned to the Abyss to begin investigating the Old God's Remnant Dream with Norland.

• Alyosha asked Lu Yao to help Andre find opportunities, then left to return to the Nursing Home.
• Lu Yao told the discouraged Andre that the mages sent to Yao City were being assessed and urged him to study at the Academy of Theology.
• Lu Yao teleported to Qian Yuan Mountain, met the Mountain Gate Attendant Lie Xiaolu, and entered Golden Light Cave's sparring valley.
• Lu Yao defeated the cultivators who attacked him, including Taixi and Fahai, and the mountain lord urged them to train harder after he vanished.
• Lu Yao returned to the Abyss, where Norland said he could track corpses, and prepared to investigate the Old God's Remnant Dream.

Lu Yao discovered that a Feathered One’s Curse Decree protected the Old God’s remains, then entered the Old God’s dream and followed the Backpacker’s account of his attempt to cross into the world of the Curse Worms. After fighting off the dream’s attackers, Lu Yao faced the six-winged Feathered One Amer, who noticed him as the dream froze.

• The Brain Worm identified a Feathered One’s Curse Decree on the Old God’s remains, marked with the command “Do not destroy.”
• Lu Yao entered the Old God’s Remnant Dream in person and encountered a one-armed, one-legged Backpacker traveling with a Little White Mouse called Mapmaker.
• The Backpacker explained that the Curse Worms lived on the reverse side of the world and hoped to map it to end the endless war between both sides.
• About thirty beastlike Curse Worms attacked Lu Yao, who defeated them using the Yellow Turban Warrior’s power.
• Amer, a six-winged figure, appeared and spoke to the exhausted Old God before the dream froze; Amer turned toward Lu Yao and asked who he was.

Lu Yao uncovered the truth behind the Old God's forgotten identity in the remnant dream and received the title Pathfinder. The Little White Mouse awakened with the ability to reveal the Abyss's true coordinates, giving Lu Yao a real-time map for travel through the Void Universe.

• Lu Yao observed Amer's feathered wings and watched the dream resume as the Old God fled, lost his memories, and repeatedly asked for his true name.
• Lu Yao cycled through the dream and consulted veteran gods and Song Shiyi, but no one could identify the Mapmaker; he also learned that Xilijili Si might be connected.
• Lu Yao realized Amer's Curse Decree protected the Old God's remains and guessed that the Old God was part of Amer, the Feathered One.
• Lu Yao told the Old God that he was part of Amer, and the Old God revealed that Amer had created him from divine bones and false memories as an agent.
• The Old God thanked Lu Yao and bestowed the title Pathfinder before disappearing, leaving the Little White Mouse asleep.
• The Little White Mouse awakened and revealed a Star Chart showing the Abyss's precise location within a vast, empty region.

Lu Yao used the Pathfinder title to survey the Void Universe and guide Vortex World toward several marked worlds, then investigated Xilijili Si’s history while traveling. He reached the green-marked Skyfall Island, found it appeared to be an ownerless Divine Kingdom, and wondered what made it rare.

• Lu Yao activated Pathfinder, viewed its detailed map and Star Chart, and discovered that the chart showed Divine Kingdoms, Taisui, and rare green-marked locations.
• Lu Yao tested Pathfinder by steering Vortex World to the ruined Sinking Realm, collected it for its Omnipotence Stones, and then set course for Skyfall Island.
• Lu Yao asked Song Shiyi for information about Xilijili Si, and she also invited Mary to join a Confidentiality Bureau project in Wasteland No. 7.
• Lu Yao read that Xilijili Si had warned gods of a Dark Tide, possessed an exceptional detection ability, and had vanished without joining the Pantheon.
• Lu Yao arrived at Skyfall Island and found it had no Godhead, Divinity, or Divine Body, leaving him puzzled about why Pathfinder marked it as rare.

Lu Yao explored Skyfall Island, a water-starved world whose rules and history had been damaged, and learned from the Moai Fourteen that they awaited ships and the sea. At a monument covered in Chinese writing, he discovered that the island’s Eternal Prodigy was Xu Xiake.

• Lu Yao connected Skyfall Island to the Tree of Sylvanus and found that its early history was missing and its water-related rules had collapsed.
• Lu Yao and Isabelle descended onto the barren island, where Lu Yao discovered that a stone statue was the living Moai Fourteen.
• Lu Yao communicated with Fourteen through touch and learned that the Moai could not reproduce, had dwindled to 400, and waited for ships and the sea to return.
• Fourteen led Lu Yao and Isabelle to a stone tablet surrounded by the remains of Moai who had died waiting.
• Lu Yao read the tablet’s Chinese title, “Diary of Traveling Skyfall Island,” and its signature revealed that the Eternal Prodigy was Xu Xiake.

Lu Yao learned Skyfall Island’s history from Xu Xiake’s stone record and arranged to take in the Moai Stone Men willing to leave. He agreed to transfer the island to the committee for 810,000 faith, then discovered Xu Xiake’s links to the titles Eternal Prodigy and Pathfinder.

• Lu Yao read Xu Xiake’s account of Skyfall Island and learned that its Moai Stone Men had once served the Golden Tortoise Archipelago.
• Lu Yao asked Fourteen whether the stone men would leave, then ordered him to gather those willing to migrate to the Yao Clan World.
• Lu Yao consulted his Apostles about the Golden Tortoise Archipelago and Eternal Prodigy, then asked Song Shiyi to check the committee’s records on Xu Xiake.
• Song Shiyi confirmed that the committee had records of Skyfall Island and offered compensation for its transfer; Lu Yao agreed on the condition that he could take 104 willing Moai Stone Men.
• Lu Yao used a Location Card to begin the handover and read that Xu Xiake had held the titles Eternal Prodigy, Pathfinder, and World Tour Collation.
• Lu Yao learned that Guiguzi had previously held Eternal Prodigy and reflected on how past figures’ legacies had guided those who came after them.

Lu Yao secured Skyfall Island and learned more about Pathfinder, then oversaw new transportation and stone-processing systems in the Yao Clan World. After selling his Sleepless Civilization investment, he learned that Mao Cao had become the Resurrection Kingdom’s true ruler, and the Messenger of the Gods asked him to let her stay.

• Lu Yao handed Skyfall Island and Xu Xiake’s stone-tablet diaries to Mingzai, while Song Shiyi explained the committee’s payment process.
• Lu Yao decided to follow Pathfinder’s green markers for safer gains and reviewed how title-bearing gods differed from Title Gods.
• Lu Yao inspected the Crystal Structure Gates and stone-washing facilities, and Isabelle explained why the Moai stone men settled in Wuda City.
• Lu Yao sold his Sleepless Civilization investment for a projected profit of 370,013 Fire.
• The Messenger of the Gods asked to buy Mao Cao, then revealed she had become the Resurrection Kingdom’s ruler and urged Lu Yao to let her continue working there.
• Lu Yao opened Mao Cao’s portrait to find out how she had displaced the kingdom’s king.

Mao Cao rallied the army, removed King Chesak, and oversaw his trial and execution before preparing the Resurrection Kingdom for a new expedition. Lord Yao recognized her as the Twelfth Apostle, and she learned that the kingdom would support a joint effort to enter a strange new world.

• Mao Cao left the temple and persuaded the besieging Skeleton Soldiers to protect her and march against King Chesak.
• Mao Cao's army surrounded the palace, removed Chesak from the throne, and sentenced him to death after a public tribunal found him guilty of grave crimes.
• Mao Cao submitted farmer and Craftsman candidates for the next king and learned that Theodore and Appia had asked for her to remain in the kingdom.
• Lord Yao blessed Mao Cao and made her the Twelfth Apostle, granting her the ability to receive divine oracles directly.
• Lord Yao and the Messenger agreed to develop a new world, with the Resurrection Kingdom and Twin Snake Empire providing support, and Mao Cao learned that a Yao Tribe assistant was on the way.

Xiao Zhi, a Curse Worm chosen by Lord Yao, joined Mao Cao in developing the Resurrection Kingdom and prepared Bone Ancestor soldiers for a mission in the forbidden world of Geno polis. After finding a Godhead almost immediately, Xiao Zhi discovered his Skeleton Soldiers had vanished and faced an unseen threat.

• Xiao Zhi arrived in the Resurrection Kingdom and worked with Mao Cao, learning how she had given its commoners hope and a role in governing.
• Isabelle explained that Xiao Zhi had been chosen because he lacked a Flame of Faith, understood the Abyss, and could enter the forbidden world.
• After three years of preparation, Mao Cao tasked Xiao Zhi with training Bone Ancestors and retrieving a Godhead from Geno polis.
• Xiao Zhi led his soldiers into Geno polis, found a Godhead in a box clutched by a corpse, and confirmed it was genuine.
• Xiao Zhi realized the Skeleton Soldiers had disappeared as an unseen presence laughed, and he prepared to use his practiced escape plans.

Lu Yao learned that Messenger had created the Sleepless Civilization to cultivate Undead explorers for Dog City, the sealed legacy of Anubis, and negotiated to co-develop it. He agreed to verify Messenger’s claims and consider sending a Curse Worm to explore, leaving the deal pending while he sought more information.

• Lu Yao saw that Mao Cao had helped the Resurrection Kingdom grow into a developed realm with four cities and had removed its king.
• Messenger revealed that Dog City could only be entered by faithless undead, and proposed that Lu Yao become a co-owner and share in its development.
• Lu Yao demanded ninety percent of the profits, and Messenger accepted in exchange for receiving any Godhead found in Dog City.
• Messenger asked Lu Yao to send more talent to help the Resurrection Kingdom prepare for exploration.
• Lu Yao proposed sending a Curse Worm after verifying Messenger’s claims, then decided to ask Song Shiyi about Dog City.