Chapter Summaries

Li Wen tested Guinea Pig Lord’s claim that settlement residents could not truly die, then forced it to guide her to the Headless Army. She reached the central square, where twelve Headless Knights patrolled as the settlement’s rulers.

• Guinea Pig Lord told Li Wen that the ancient Headless Army guarded the settlement and sometimes accepted requests for a steep price.
• Li Wen beheaded Guinea Pig Lord to test the settlement’s rules, and it recovered after reattaching its head.
• Li Wen threatened Guinea Pig Lord into leading her through the settlement, where she learned that Fluorescent Vines protected residents from the dangers of the Gray Mist.
• Guinea Pig Lord asked about the Gray Mountain Kingdom, but Li Wen did not tell it that the kingdom had fallen more than three thousand years earlier.
• Li Wen and Guinea Pig Lord reached the central square and saw twelve Headless Knights patrolling around a damaged fountain.

Li Wen bargained with a Headless Knight’s Metal Book for information about the Brass Mask, offering the story of her death and return as payment. The book revealed that the masked figure was the last survivor of the Eternal Descendants, but Li Wen still did not learn where he was now.

• Li Wen stopped Guinea Pig Lord from leaving and approached the Headless Knights, whose Metal Book offered information in exchange for a price.
• The Metal Book demanded Li Wen’s memories, knowledge, path, true name, or a personally experienced story, and she refused to give up her name.
• After rejecting her story about getting lost in a forest, Li Wen told the book how she and her companions died fighting a calamity and how she returned to the past.
• The Metal Book showed Li Wen the Eternal Descendants’ ancient civilization, its destruction by dim yellow liquid falling through cracks in the Sky Dome, and the Brass Mask figure’s failed attempt to stop the disaster.
• The Metal Book identified the Brass Mask figure as the last surviving Eternal Descendant, and Li Wen pressed it to reveal his current location.

Li Wen escaped the Headless Knights and entered the Ash Corridor despite Guinea Pig Lord’s warnings about its corrosive ash and chaotic time. Inside the Gray Mist, she recognized the strange apparitions as The Tide.

• The Metal Book demanded that Li Wen complete her story, and the Headless Knights attacked when she refused.
• Li Wen entered Witch State and escaped the knights, whose Gray Mist had drained more than 30% of her health.
• Li Wen asked Guinea Pig Lord about the Ash Corridor, and it warned that the corridor’s Gray Mist turned living things to ash and distorted time.
• Guinea Pig Lord left Li Wen to proceed alone, warning her that she might encounter things or people whose reality could not be confirmed.
• Li Wen entered the Ash Corridor, found that its ash corroded her cloak and skin, and saw fleeting visions of a Stone Tablet and a running figure.
• Li Wen recognized the strange phenomenon in the mist as The Tide.

Li Wen crossed the Tide-corrupted Gray Mist and reached a vast desert of ruined temples, only for the Sky Dome to fall and destroy everything. She then appeared at the bottom of Amber City and wondered whether she had reached the Outer City.

• Li Wen recognized the Gray Mist and ash as manifestations of the Tide and pressed on through the collapsing Ash Corridor.
• The Tide distorted matter and time around Li Wen, and a strange girl appeared before vanishing into the mist.
• Li Wen endured a lethal attack, lost access to her character panel and her memory of flying, then charged through the mist while treating its horrors as illusions.
• Li Wen emerged into a gray desert filled with pyramid-shaped temple ruins and approached the remains of a city.
• The Sky Dome darkened, fell onto the desert and destroyed everything.
• Li Wen descended beneath Amber City through the Gray Mist and asked whether she was in the Outer City.

Li Wen found a Clock Shop in the Gray Mist and met Haelie, the Clockmaker’s daughter. Haelie said her father would return when the hands reached the correct position, leaving Li Wen waiting for a chance to speak with him.

• Li Wen crossed the Gray Mist and found a Clock Shop that appeared out of nowhere.
• Li Wen entered the shop and examined its stopped clocks and strange exhibits, including a dangerous Metal Book.
• Haelie appeared behind the counter, introduced herself, and said the shop belonged to her father, who had gone to collect exhibits.
• Haelie noticed the ash on Li Wen’s cloak and explained that it was common among people returning from the Gray Mist.
• Li Wen identified Haelie’s father as the Clockmaker and asked when he would return, and Haelie said he would come back when the hands reached the correct position.

Li Wen discovered that Haelie wielded the Temporal Path and could control time inside the Clock Shop. Haelie trapped Li Wen in her workshop and attacked her, but Li Wen's cloak shielded her from the lantern's flames.

• Haelie told Li Wen that most of the Clock Shop's strange exhibits were her own collection.
• Li Wen saw that her life had fallen to 20% and Witch State was on a cooldown of more than ninety hours.
• Li Wen attacked Haelie with her dagger, but time rewound and restored Haelie unharmed.
• Li Wen recognized Haelie's brass pocket watch as a Temporal Path ability, and Haelie revealed her decayed face and welcomed Li Wen to her inner layer of time.
• Haelie slowed Li Wen's movements and accelerated her dagger thrust, then caused a lantern to explode and engulfed Li Wen in flames.
• Li Wen's Emerald Star Cloak activated its Eternal Guardian ability and formed three shields that blocked the flames.

Li Wen endured Haelie's time manipulation and used Craving Light to set the girl ablaze. As Li Wen prepared to finish Haelie, a masked figure asked her to show mercy.

• Haelie reversed and froze time to torment Li Wen, whose wounds healed while glass shards remained embedded in her body.
• Haelie examined Li Wen's broken prayer spell and reached for the sun mark on her wrist, which erupted with golden light and blasted her away.
• Li Wen cast Craving Light, and its flaming moth struck Haelie despite the frozen time.
• Haelie's time manipulation triggered Craving Light's delayed effect, igniting her and causing her to drop the pocket watch.
• Li Wen freed herself and prepared to kill Haelie, but a voice behind her asked her to show mercy, and she turned to see a brass mask.

Li Wen met Short Hand, also known as the Clockmaker, in the Clock Shop and learned that a catastrophe had trapped the exiled Elders in the Gray Mist. Short Hand revealed that the being called Perfect Amber was created when the Elders’ attempts to awaken their vanished master summoned an unnamed existence, leaving Li Wen to reckon with the truth behind the Inner City’s claims.

• Li Wen delivered the Evening Bell’s request to Short Hand as he repaired Haelie’s pocket watch and stopped her burning agony.
• Short Hand warned Li Wen that the Gray Mist outside was an irresistible force tied to the catastrophe that had imprisoned the Elders.
• Li Wen told Short Hand she had heard he was exiled after failing to obtain Perfect Amber, and he asked whether she had encountered the being who called herself that.
• Short Hand explained that the Elders had repeatedly tried to awaken their vanished master, until an unnamed existence answered them and called itself Perfect Amber.

Li Wen left Short Hand’s Clock Shop after learning that Amber City was an everlasting cage surrounded by Gray Mist. Outside, she found corpses representing possible deaths of herself before meeting an identical Li Wen, who attacked her.

• Short Hand explained that Gray Mist had ruined the kingdom and that Amber City was a prison protected by Perfect Amber.
• Li Wen delivered Evening Bell’s message and left the Clock Shop, which vanished behind her.
• Li Wen found a headless corpse that looked like her and discovered other corpses showing different possible deaths.
• Li Wen realized the corpses might represent ways she could die in Gray Mist, then saw an identical version of herself emerge from the fog.
• The two Li Wens challenged each other and clashed with their Crow Feather Daggers.

Li Wen defeated a mirror-like opponent in the Gray Mist by exploiting the flaw in its left-eye vision, then discovered it vanished like a dead player. Suspecting she might be a copy, she killed herself to test whether she would be reborn, but the Gray Mist consumed her instead.

• Li Wen fought an identical opponent who stole her Crow Feather Dagger and initially overpowered her with superior stamina.
• Li Wen used Devotion to Light and Fire to boost her strength, recovered the dagger, and continued the fight as her opponent ignited a candle too.
• Li Wen noticed her opponent's left-eye vision lagged and used that blind spot to guide her into a fatal dodge, then pierced her throat.
• The defeated opponent vanished with the dispersal effect of a dead player, making Li Wen question whether she was the real Li Wen.
• Li Wen stabbed herself to test whether she would be reborn, but no rebirth came and the Gray Mist consumed her body.

Li Wen recovered from her death and assessed the damage to her equipment after obtaining the Emerald Tablet, which had enabled her to advance The Final Codex. As the ship approached Port Belen, she and Moria discussed their plans, and Li Wen began studying Fu Qingyan’s Sea Chart.

• Li Wen woke aboard the ship, recalled being killed by an impostor, and examined the damage to the Shattered Eye of the Transcendent, her other equipment, and the contents of the Ghost Fairy's treasure bag.
• Li Wen summoned The Final Codex and found that the Emerald Tablet had granted it creation-lineage knowledge and met the conditions for advancement.
• Moria told Li Wen that the ship would reach Port Belen within three days and said he planned to find a diviner to learn who had taken the Great Blood.
• Li Wen said she might stay in Port Belen to pursue her own leads, including a player connected to Soul Lord and the Decaying Codex.
• Moria told Li Wen that Princess Victoria had disembarked early and invited her to seek help at the Sycamore Inn near the harbor.
• Li Wen discarded ruined materials into the sea, stored what remained usable, and began studying the Sea Chart Fu Qingyan had given her.

Li Wen arrived in Port Belen and began investigating the ominous locations Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn. She found evidence that someone else was seeking information about them and ended the chapter listening for clues in a harbor tavern.

• Li Wen studied a sea chart marking Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn, wondering if the Soul Lord had been sealed in one of them.
• After two days at sea, Li Wen and Moria arrived in Port Belen, where Moria set out to find the diviner Eye of the Tide Sivell.
• Li Wen found a private notice seeking information about Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn and memorized its cross-like emblem.
• Li Wen avoided the Sycamore Inn and went to the Deep Sea Anchor to listen for information about the two locations.

Li Wen investigated rumors about the Eternal Life Blessing Cult and watched its members intimidate a sailor in the Tavern. She suspected the cult was connected to Black Reef Bay, Sunken Horn, and the Soul Lord, but left to find Fu Qingyan and ask about the Sea Chart.

• Li Wen heard rumors about a church recruiting followers with promises of eternal life and wealth.
• Five members of the Eternal Life Blessing Cult entered the Tavern and preached about their Lord’s gift of eternal life.
• A sailor challenged the cult, but a believer’s glowing ring caused him to collapse in terror.
• The cult members handed out pamphlets and left, while Li Wen connected their emblem to a bounty notice about Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn.
• Li Wen decided to approach the cult later and went to find Fu Qingyan about the Sea Chart.

Li Wen returned Fu Qingyan’s Sea Chart and learned how to reveal its hidden coordinates to the ruins. After discovering that Fu Qingyan and her companions sought materials for six Knowledge Path advancement rituals, Li Wen decided she could gather what they needed.

• Li Wen found Fu Qingyan’s group at the House of Sea Breeze and returned the Sea Chart.
• Fu Qingyan revealed the hidden coordinates on the Sea Chart by rubbing it with seawater and an Ink Soaking Stone.
• Li Wen recognized the newly revealed markings as valuable clues and listened as Fu Qingyan requested materials for all six companions’ advancement rituals.
• Li Wen identified their ritual as the Stage One Seeker of Knowledge advancement on the Knowledge Path and realized she could gather six sets of materials.

Li Wen investigated the Eternal Life Blessing Cult in Port Belen and overheard merchants discussing its apparent ability to bring drowned sailors back to life and its leader’s uncanny market predictions. She left suspecting the cult was far more powerful and dangerous than she had thought.

• Li Wen postponed traveling to Black Reef Bay and Sunken Horn so she could prepare and investigate the Eternal Life Blessing Cult first.
• Li Wen watched the cult’s church and observed followers from different social classes, including wealthy merchants who appeared to conduct business there.
• Li Wen followed several merchants to an upscale tavern and listened from outside as they argued about the cult’s claims and influence.
• A merchant said sailors who had drowned in a shipwreck later appeared alive at the docks, while another suggested the cult leader had valuable secrets about Coleman’s fleet.
• Li Wen withdrew from the tavern, concluding that the Eternal Life Blessing Cult was not an ordinary sect.

Li Wen infiltrated a church belonging to the Eternal Life Blessing Cult and overheard its members preparing to reach Sunken Horn near Black Reef Bay. A Highland Race guard detected her and confronted her inside the church.

• Li Wen connected the Eternal Life Blessing Cult’s resurrection claims and search for Black Reef Bay to her investigation of the Soul Lord, then decided to investigate the cult.
• Li Wen entered the church unnoticed and found a hidden door leading to an underground room.
• Li Wen overheard cult members say their ship would sail at midnight the next day and that they had to reach Sunken Horn within three days, ahead of others.
• A Highland Race man discovered Li Wen and called her an intruder.

Li Wen fought the Highland Race man inside the church after her infiltration was discovered, using darkness, curses, and enhanced speed to exploit a weakness in his senses. She wounded him in the neck and escaped through a window as the guards rushed in.

• Li Wen evaded the Highland Race man's attack and summoned a darkness that stopped the arriving guards outside the church.
• Li Wen used Dark Word Curse and Devotion to Light and Fire, then attacked the Highland Race man with her dagger.
• Li Wen tested his reactions and noticed that he defended himself less effectively from a particular angle.
• Li Wen used Lost Moth to maneuver behind him, then stabbed the left side of his neck, triggering Scarlet Curse and Lethal Pain.
• Li Wen ended Candle of Darkness and flew out through a side window as the guards rushed toward the wounded Highland Race man.

After escaping the Eternal Life Blessing Cult, Li Wen decided to use Princess Victoria as a bridge to alert the Investigation Bureau about the cult’s plans to sail for Black Reef Bay. She reached the Sycamore Inn and found Victoria, ready to seek her help before the cult departed.

• Li Wen escaped the church after defeating a powerful Highland Race guard and realized the cult planned to sail for Black Reef Bay at midnight the next day.
• Li Wen weighed her options and decided that confronting the cult directly was too risky and finding her own ship and guide would take too long.
• Li Wen chose to pass the cult’s information to the Investigation Bureau through Princess Victoria, whose influence could prompt a swift response.
• Li Wen reached the Sycamore Inn and spotted Victoria sitting by the window.

Li Wen confronted Victoria about the Eternal Life Blessing Cult and warned that its cultists planned to reach Black Reef Bay and break the seal on the Soul Lord. Victoria revealed that authorities had received a report but had not investigated, and Li Wen asked her to force the Investigation Bureau to act by the next night.

• Victoria greeted Li Wen at an inn and explained that the Eternal Life Blessing Cult had gained influence in Port Belen.
• Victoria said the cult had been reported to the Leicester branch more than a month earlier, but upheaval there had delayed an investigation.
• Li Wen challenged Victoria’s apparent reluctance to intervene and suggested the cult’s plans were connected to the Soul Lord sealed nearby.
• Li Wen warned that the cultists would sail for Black Reef Bay by midnight the next day and asked Victoria to make the Investigation Bureau act.

Moria visited Sivell’s home in Fog Bell Alley and discovered that the Eternal Life Blessing Cult was watching it with a supernatural trap. He followed a nervous worker to a harbor shanty and overheard that he delivered food to Sivell while being watched himself.

• Moria found two Eternal Life Blessing Cult followers guarding the entrance to Fog Bell Alley.
• Moria spotted supernatural threads around Sivell’s door and decided not to enter, suspecting she was under pressure from hidden watchers.
• Moria waited near the alley and followed a tense dockworker after he emerged carrying a sack.
• The dockworker hurried to a shanty, where Moria overheard him complain about watching Sivell and delivering food to her.
• Moria concluded that the Cult of Eternal Life was keeping Sivell alive while surveilling her.