Chapter Summaries

Li Wen, posing as Mephisto, met Fu Qingyan and learned that the missing group had encountered Old Joey, who had gone to confront the Two-tailed Mermaid. As they led Li Wen toward him, Fu Qingyan recounted Old Joey’s cursed past, leaving Li Wen close to uncovering the truth.

• Fu Qingyan mistook Li Wen for an NPC who knew about players, and Li Wen introduced herself as Mephisto.
• Li Wen explained that Colonel Grant suspected Old Joey was the pirate fugitive Joseph and that Fu Qingyan’s group were his accomplices.
• Fu Qingyan told Li Wen that Old Joey had sought revenge on the Two-tailed Mermaid and had urged the group to stay safe.
• Fu Qingyan and the others agreed to lead Li Wen toward Old Joey.
• Fu Qingyan recounted how Old Joey stole the Two-tailed Mermaid statue from a salvage wreck, survived its curse by pretending to be mad, and vowed revenge.

Li Wen and Fu Qingyan reached the stormy sea, where Old Joey fought the Two-tailed Mermaid and Li Wen flew to attack its statue. Old Joey reached the reef but discovered the mermaid had manipulated him, and the ship's log he needed was missing.

• Fu Qingyan used a tracking pendant to lead Li Wen and the others out to the storm-tossed sea, where Old Joey battled a horde of mermaids near the Two-tailed Mermaid statue.
• Li Wen entered Witch State and flew toward the statue, using the Candle of Darkness and Crow Feather Dagger to fight off the mermaids blocking her way.
• Fu Qingyan ordered the group to fall back to the deck as Drowned Corpses and skeletal remains swarmed aboard the ship.
• Old Joey reached the reef and was lured by the statue's song into remembering how he had sacrificed his companions to it.
• Old Joey realized the Two-tailed Mermaid had made him stab himself with his harpoon, then found that the ship's log he needed was gone.

Li Wen defeated the Two-tailed Mermaid by reciting an incantation from a blueprint, turning it back into stone and ending its control over the storm. Swept into the sea afterward, she saw a vast abyss and heard whispers urging her to surrender to the depths, but reached for a faint light instead.

• Li Wen teleported past the mermaid Demonic Beasts and fought the Two-tailed Mermaid, striking it with Spell-less Arc Light as its wounds quickly healed.
• The Two-tailed Mermaid lured Li Wen close and tried to control her with its eerie song, but its mental attack failed against her.
• Li Wen stabbed the Two-tailed Mermaid in the forehead, then used the blueprint's incantation to petrify it and strip away its power.
• The storm intensified after the Two-tailed Mermaid became stone, and a tsunami swept Li Wen and the others into the sea.
• Li Wen saw a boundless abyss beneath the water and heard whispers inviting her to sink, but reached for a faint, icy light.

Li Wen woke aboard the Adventurer as enormous flesh-made hands lifted the ship from the sea, and Joseph revealed that he had impersonated Colonel Grant to reclaim the Two-tailed Mermaid statue. Joseph invoked the Oath of the Black Tide and challenged Captain Remington to a duel, leaving Remington badly injured and at a severe disadvantage.

• Moria told Li Wen that he had rescued her after she was swept into the sea and that the missing people had returned.
• Giant hands made of flesh lifted the Adventurer, and Li Wen and Moria hurried onto the deck.
• Captain Remington confronted Colonel Grant, who revealed himself as Joseph Willbrard, the pirate Blood Hook, and said he had come for the Two-tailed Mermaid statue.
• Joseph proposed the Oath of the Black Tide, a duel to decide the ship's fate, and placed the statue inside his chest.
• Remington accepted the challenge, but Joseph bound and injured him, then declared that Remington had to force both of Joseph's feet off the mast to win.

Captain Remington used a conch’s illusion and the Wave Commander’s power to knock Joseph down and claim victory in their duel. Joseph rejected the result and revealed he had planted flesh parasites in Remington, leaving the captain trapped and being consumed.

• Li Wen explained that Stage Five Joseph’s strength and regenerative abilities made him far more powerful than Stage Four Remington, but Moria insisted Remington would not lose.
• Joseph offered to end the duel if Remington knelt and swore submission, then pierced him with bone spikes when he refused.
• Joseph snapped Remington’s neck, but the apparent corpse turned into seawater as the real Remington attacked from behind.
• Remington used a conch to create an illusion of a colossal wave, then struck Joseph with the Wave Commander’s power and declared himself the winner.
• Joseph stood back up, triggered parasites he had planted inside Remington, and said he had never intended to let anyone go.

Moria used a broken saber infused with Radiance to defeat Joseph aboard the Adventurer, but Joseph escaped with the mysterious warship Mist Devourer. Moria collapsed after the battle, leaving Li Wen to catch him.

• Joseph threatened the passengers, and Moria offered to let him go if he survived one strike from his sword.
• Moria channeled Radiance through the broken saber, and Joseph panicked and raised the Two-tailed Mermaid statue as a shield.
• Moria's strike split Joseph in two and destroyed the statue, while the giant flesh hand released the Adventurer and the vines vanished from Remington.
• Moria revealed that Joseph had escaped aboard Roberts's Mist Devourer, which disappeared into the fog.
• Moria walked toward the cabins and collapsed into Li Wen's arms, and Li Wen realized his apparent triumph had been a dangerous bluff.

After Moria defeated Joseph with the Temple’s secret medicine, Li Wen learned that Old Joey had died and that Fu Qingyan’s group possessed a Sea Chart marking an underwater ruin near Port Belen. Fu Qingyan asked Li Wen to help obtain materials for a supernatural advancement ritual, and Li Wen agreed in exchange for seeing the chart.

• Li Wen checked on Moria, who explained that he had used Breath of Dawn to suppress his curse and stop Joseph, leaving him weak for three days.
• Moria told Li Wen that Joseph had escaped badly wounded and was unlikely to return soon, while the crew repaired the ship.
• Li Wen joined Fu Qingyan on deck and learned that Old Joey had died from blood loss and would be cremated at sea.
• Fu Qingyan revealed that one of her companions had a Sea Chart marking an underwater ruin near Port Belen.
• Fu Qingyan asked Li Wen to help provide materials for a ritual that could advance someone into a supernatural, and Li Wen agreed on the condition that she could see the Sea Chart.

Li Wen traveled to Amber City to question Giant Bell about the Abyss of Dito. She learned that it formed around the corpse of the Sun of Repose, and Giant Bell refused to help her reach it until she fulfilled their agreement.

• Li Wen used the Shattered Eye of the Transcendent to travel to Amber City, where Giant Bell recognized the End Path's power within her.
• Li Wen told Giant Bell that advancing along the End Path required time and asked where the Abyss of Dito was.
• Giant Bell explained that a sage became a Pillar Deity by seizing the creation and dominion authority that had belonged to the Sun of Repose, Crown of the Crimson.
• Giant Bell said the fallen Sun of Repose's corpse drifted through the void before the surrounding region became the Abyss of Dito.
• Giant Bell said there was a way to reach the Abyss of Dito but refused to assist Li Wen until she completed their agreement.

Li Wen asked Perfect Amber for a way to reach the Abyss of Dito and learned that the Emerald Tablet lay in the grasp of a still-breathing Sun's Offspring. Perfect Amber gave her a Twilight Tree leaf that could lead her into the deity's Dream Abyss, and Li Wen swallowed it to begin her attempt.

• Li Wen told Giant Bell she intended to seek the Emerald Tablet in the Abyss of Dito and promised to fulfill their agreement when she returned.
• Li Wen went to the Amber Temple, where Perfect Amber recognized the Final Codex fused with her and asked why she had come.
• Perfect Amber explained that Hermes had made the Emerald Tablet as a copy of the Book of Formation, and that the tablet remained in the hand of the corpse in the Abyss of Dito.
• Perfect Amber gave Li Wen a leaf from the Twilight Tree, explaining that it would let her enter the departed deity's Dream Abyss and that she had only one chance to obtain the tablet.
• Perfect Amber told Li Wen that she was destined to succeed, and Li Wen swallowed the amber leaf and fell asleep.

Li Wen entered a deity's Dream Abyss and found herself in the role of Triss, a High Priest preparing to lead the Sunset Ritual in an ancient Sun temple. She reached the ritual hall, where the priests were waiting for her to begin.

• Li Wen awoke in a golden city and learned from an elderly woman that she was expected to preside over the Sunset Ritual as Triss.
• The woman explained that the Crown of the Sun had reached its zenith and led Li Wen toward the temple complex.
• Silver Elves knelt along the street and prayed to High Priest Triss as Li Wen passed.
• The woman sent Li Wen up the temple stairs, telling her to complete the ritual before sunset.
• Li Wen reached a circular hall with a golden sphere of light at its center, and the eldest priest told her the ritual was ready.

After completing the Sunset Ritual as Triss, Li Wen learned that another ritual would be held in seven days and that failing to perform it would bring endless night and destroy the world. She realized the next ritual was her best chance to enter the black spire and reach the Emerald Tablet, and planned to spend the intervening days learning how the ritual worked.

• Li Wen left the temple with Alphonsina, who praised her for the ritual and said the next Sunset Ritual would take place in seven days.
• Alphonsina warned Li Wen that missing the ritual would bring eternal night and destroy their world.
• Li Wen recalled that the Hall of the Dome lay directly beneath the black spire and decided to use the next ritual as her chance to enter it.
• Children brought Li Wen pomegranates and figs from the Sacred Tree, and she shared the pomegranate seeds with them.
• Alphonsina led Li Wen to her room at the monastery, where Li Wen found that her usual powers and Fairy Pocket were unavailable but the Game Panel still responded.
• Li Wen watched the Crimson Crown and resolved to gather information about the Sunset Ritual during the seven days before it began.

After seven days trapped in the Dreamscape, Li Wen took part in the Sunset Ritual, which revealed that the Silver Elves’ fate depended on her. She used Vantnirgen's Bone to open the orb and entered the darkness of the spire.

• Li Wen spent seven days in the monastery, unable to log out, while Dean Afonsina evaded her questions about the city and the ritual.
• On the seventh day, Afonsina gave Li Wen a ceremonial robe and said the ritual would decide their fates.
• Li Wen entered the temple as the Silver Elves gathered and worshipped her as Triss.
• The priests’ ritual transformed the orb into a golden eye, and Vantnirgen's Bone appeared before Li Wen.
• Li Wen inserted Vantnirgen's Bone into the orb and awoke in a place of void and darkness.

Li Wen entered the void and encountered the childlike incarnation of the fallen Sun of Repose, who revealed that Li Wen had met her before and lost the memory because mortals could not gaze directly upon divinity. The deity asked whether Li Wen had found something of equal value to offer for the Emerald Tablet, or still wished to see it.

• Li Wen struggled through the void and saw a white-haired girl sketching amid a sea of solidified time.
• Li Wen recognized the girl as the remaining will of the fallen Sun of Repose, and the rib Impurities had given her displayed the maxim, “All who seek must first give.”
• The deity freed Li Wen from the void’s restraints and said she wanted the Emerald Tablet, which required an offering of equal value.
• Li Wen asked why she had no memory of their previous encounter, and the deity explained that mortals could not gaze directly upon divinity.
• The deity asked whether Li Wen had found something equivalent to the Emerald Tablet or still wanted to see it again.

Li Wen negotiated with the Sun of Repose for the Emerald Tablet, offering to improve the Sunset Ritual and then promising to help kill a Pillar God. The deity revealed that their target was the Mother God and agreed to give Li Wen the tablet if she assisted in that god’s fall.

• Li Wen offered to repair the Sunset Ritual so the Silver Elves would no longer have to sacrifice their lives, but the Sun of Repose said the elves had begun the ritual themselves.
• Li Wen offered to accomplish anything for the deity in exchange for the Emerald Tablet.
• The Sun of Repose asked whether Li Wen would help kill a Pillar God, and Li Wen promised to offer that god’s blood once she had enough strength.
• The Sun of Repose revealed that the target was the Mother God and said Li Wen only needed to assist in the god’s fall for the deity to give her the Emerald Tablet.

In the Sun of Repose’s Dreamscape, Li Wen learned that the Pillar of Bloodlust’s incarnation was underway and agreed to help the fallen deity kill it after it became vulnerable. The deity gave her a guiding mark and the Emerald Tablet before the Dreamscape collapsed.

• Li Wen learned that the Sun of Repose sought to fulfill an old promise by stopping the Pillar of Bloodlust after its incarnation made it vulnerable.
• The Sun of Repose warned Li Wen that Bloodlust’s apostles were preparing its incarnation and gave her a golden mark to guide her when the Crimson Rain descended.
• Li Wen accepted the mark and agreed to the deity’s terms, which would kill her if she broke their agreement.
• The Sun of Repose revealed the Emerald Tablet, and Li Wen confirmed that it was a copy of the Book of Formation containing the mysteries of creation and formation.
• The Sun of Repose ended their transaction and reminded Li Wen of her promise as the Dreamscape collapsed around her.

Li Wen confronted the Impurities in a dark palace and learned that they had used her to retrieve the Emerald Tablet. The Impurities seized the tablet and began drawing out its power, while Li Wen entered meditation rather than surrendering to defeat.

• Li Wen found herself in a black palace, where the Impurities emerged after Vantnirgen's Bone shattered.
• Li Wen accused the Impurities of using her, and they demanded the Emerald Tablet in exchange for letting her leave alive.
• The Impurities revealed that the key was part of their body, which had let them track Li Wen while bypassing the commandment against entering the City of Dito.
• Li Wen refused to hand over the tablet, but the Impurities drained her magic and took it from her.
• The Impurities began drawing power from the Emerald Tablet, and Li Wen abandoned her futile struggle and entered meditation.

Li Wen used Urd's Thorn to rewind fate and returned to the moment she received the Emerald Tablet, then fused it with The Final Codex. Impurities unleashed their divinity as the world collapsed, and the chapter ended with the artifacts merging into an amber-and-emerald spiral.

• Li Wen awakened Urd's Thorn and used it to rewind time, returning to the instant she received the Emerald Tablet.
• Li Wen brought the Emerald Tablet into contact with The Final Codex, and their powers began to fuse.
• Impurities attacked Li Wen, but Urd's Thorn kept their blows from reaching her as the palace was destroyed.
• Impurities revealed their nearly complete divinity and began chanting a spell that threatened to destroy the world.
• The Final Codex's cloaked girl looked at Impurities, causing their body and runes to crack as golden liquid erupted.
• The Emerald Tablet completely merged into The Final Codex as the world fell into annihilation.

Li Wen survived her battle with Impurities and took the Emerald Tablet’s mysteries into The Final Codex, though her artifacts weakened and Urd’s Thorn was left cracked and nearly powerless. After learning that Perfect Amber would enter Long Slumber, she returned to Giant Bell and asked how to find Short Hand in the Outer City.

• Li Wen woke in the temple with The Final Codex, now fused with the Emerald Tablet’s core mysteries, and learned that she had fulfilled the advancement requirements for Stage Two of the End Path.
• Perfect Amber told Li Wen that she had returned with the Emerald Tablet as seen in a mirror, then announced that it would enter Long Slumber until Twilight of the Apocalypse.
• Perfect Amber warned Li Wen that the sun mark on her wrist carried both the blessing and curse of a god’s promise, and Li Wen left the temple as amber motes drifted from its dome.
• Li Wen returned to Giant Bell, who sensed the sulfur and corruption clinging to her and asked what she had experienced.
• Li Wen asked how to find the person in the Outer City, and Giant Bell identified him as Short Hand, a former Final Rite ritualist exiled for rejecting the end of twilight.

Li Wen entered the Outer City to find Short Hand, following Giant Bell’s warning not to trust voices or answer calls. After a threatening presence approached her in the Gray Mist, a distant metallic knock drove it back, and she saw a faint light ahead.

• Giant Bell gave Li Wen a spiral Copper Key and warned her not to trust voices, touch objects, or answer calls in the Outer City.
• Li Wen found that the Fire Mage’s corpse had disappeared from the bridge and wondered whether outsiders had taken it.
• Li Wen used the key to open the spire’s bronze door and descended the staircase into the Outer City.
• A voice urged Li Wen to turn around, but she ignored it as an enormous shadow gathered behind her.
• A metallic knock sounded in the distance, forcing the shadow and its pressure to retreat, and Li Wen spotted a faint light.

Li Wen followed a Lantern Sprite through the Gray Mist to a ruined settlement called the Gray Mist Gathering Place, where she met Sir Grendel, a talking guinea pig. She learned that those trapped there could not die and was directed to ask the Headless Army about Short Hand.

• Li Wen followed a Lantern Sprite through the Gray Mist to a ruined complex and entered after it vanished.
• Sir Grendel, a talking guinea pig who claimed to be a lord and chief scholar of Lafatia, greeted Li Wen and identified the ruins as the Gray Mist Gathering Place.
• Li Wen learned from Sir Grendel that the gathering place drew in people from the end of the world and that its inhabitants could suffer but could not die.
• Li Wen asked Sir Grendel about Short Hand, and he said she could ask the Headless Army if she was willing to pay its price.