Chapter Summaries

Lu Ce entered the faction deathmatch in Qian City, where he discovered that demons were invading and rode Black Knight toward the invasion zone. He reached a stadium inside the red zone, where several girls mistook his outfit for cosplay.

• Death Emissary explained that the faction leaders could fight a one-on-one deathmatch and that clearing the game depended on the outcome and players' kills.
• Lu Ce arrived in Qian City as a Saint and checked the map, locating the city's Demon Beacon and the first red invasion zone.
• Lu Ce summoned Black Knight and rode toward the red zone near the Demon Beacon.
• Lu Ce stopped near a stadium inside the red zone and wondered why no opponent had appeared.
• Several girls approached Lu Ce and asked if he was attending a cosplay convention and whether they could take a photo with him.

Lu Ce encountered cosplayers at the stadium, where one girl began transforming under the demons' mark, while Xie Antong met Chiyo Eon and wondered whether the Death Emissary had a perfect-clear condition. The chapter left Pride sensing the girl's change and Xie Antong considering what the Emissary might require.

• Lu Ce ignored the cosplayers who mistook him for a performer, then struck the pavement with his axe and watched a nearby girl stiffen as black mist entered her body.
• Pride sensed something was wrong and turned toward the transforming girl.
• Xie Antong explored Kun City and detected spiritual energy in a dark corner, where Chiyo Eon emerged and greeted her.
• Chiyo Eon told Xie Antong she was an Apostle and offered to switch factions so they could work together against Sin.
• Xie Antong said she knew one way Apostles could change factions, then asked whether the Death Emissary had a clear rating and what Its perfect-clear condition might be.

Xie Antong and Chiyo Eon discussed the Death Emissary’s likely hidden goal of killing every player, then planned to head toward Qian City. Meanwhile, Lu Ce killed a disguised attacker and faced a giant egg erupting beneath the stadium as the city fell into chaos.

• Xie Antong reasoned that the Death Emissary might intend to kill every player rather than merely help defeat Sin, and warned Chiyo Eon not to trust them.
• Xie Antong learned that demon faction members could convert people and deploy a Hell Envoy, which had been sent to Qian City.
• Xie Antong told Chiyo Eon to keep playing normally and suggested they travel to Qian City via a teleport point.
• Lu Ce sensed an attacker behind him and killed the person with his battle axe, discovering the body was not human.
• A giant egg burst from beneath the stadium, releasing spikes and turning people into monstrous creatures as the crowd fled.
• Lu Ce sent the Black Knight to scout the area and walked against the fleeing crowd toward the egg.

Lu Ce, as Pride, charged through the demon puppets in Qian City and struck the giant egg with his battle axe, cracking it open and drawing out a terrified response from the demon within. As Xie Antong and Chiyo Eon headed toward the stadium, Lu Ce prepared another blow, but a purple-black barrier slowed him as an unseen opponent arrived.

• Pride cut through the demon puppets and reached the giant egg at the center of the stadium.
• Lu Ce struck the egg with his axe, cracking it and provoking an agonized wail from within.
• The demon tried to assimilate Lu Ce, but he raised his axe again and taunted the frightened eye inside the crack.
• Xie Antong and Chiyo Eon arrived at Qian City's teleportation point and headed toward the fight as the Sun sped toward the golden light.
• Lu Ce struck the egg again, sending it crashing into the stadium, but a purple-black barrier slowed his next attack as someone arrived.

Lu Ce fought the Death Emissary, breaking her violet-black restraints with raw strength and attacking her again despite his injuries. Xie Antong arrived as the Sun struck the stadium with a gigantic fireball, leaving Lu Ce and the Death Emissary facing the other faction members amid the ruins.

• The Death Emissary pierced Lu Ce with violet-black needles, but his pain fueled Arrogance and he shattered her restraints with the Extreme Path Battle Axe.
• The Death Emissary and Lu Ce clashed again, and Lu Ce asked what support had made her believe she could defeat him.
• The Sun appeared above the stadium and unleashed a gigantic purple-flamed fireball that reduced the arena to ruins.
• Xie Antong and Chiyo Eon appeared at the edge of the ruins, while the Hell Envoy began transforming from a giant egg.
• The Death Emissary mocked Lu Ce for his allies’ apparent unwillingness to help, and Arrogance derided her for calling them weak players.

Lu Ce faced Death Emissary, the Sun, and Blank as the battle erupted into a three-on-one siege. As Lu Ce attacked Death Emissary and deflected the Sun’s meteor hammer, Blank began to reveal itself, showing the fight was not merely one against three.

• Death Emissary and Lu Ce cleared the violet-red flames around them, and Death Emissary confronted the Sun over his indiscriminate attack.
• Death Emissary recognized Joy’s aura on Xie Antong and questioned her about Chiyo Eon, but Xie Antong denied seeing anyone.
• The Sun summoned a Legendary Grade meteor hammer as Death Emissary, Blank, and the Sun formed a siege around Lu Ce.
• Pride dismissed all three opponents as unqualified and attacked first with the golden battle axe.
• Lu Ce lunged at Death Emissary, who dodged, then knocked away the Sun’s incoming meteor hammer as Blank began to unfurl.

Lu Ce fought the Hell Envoy and the other divine emissaries while Xie Antong searched for the missing Perfect Life. A blue-haired youth unexpectedly joined the battle and asked Lu Ce if he was a Saint, prompting Lu Ce to declare that he was Holy.

• The prematurely hatched Hell Envoy attacked Lu Ce, but Lu Ce’s aura froze it before his axe tore off one of its wings.
• The Death Emissary attacked Lu Ce, who escaped and counterattacked while Sun’s indiscriminate attacks complicated the battle.
• Xie Antong threw Burning Demon Incense at Lu Ce and told the Death Emissary to suppress and convert him, while wondering why Perfect Life had not appeared.
• A blue-haired youth burst into the fight and slammed into the Death Emissary, catching it off guard.
• The blue-haired youth asked Lu Ce whether he was a Saint, and Lu Ce rejected the title and declared that he was Holy.

A blue-haired man named Jiang Yuan mistook Pride, who called himself the Highest Will, for a prophesied Holy Lord and begged him to save the world. Death Emissary challenged the supposed title and demanded an end to the farce.

• Jiang Yuan questioned whether Pride was a Saint after Pride said he was the Highest Will.
• Jiang Yuan interpreted Pride's confirmation and nod as proof that he was the Holy Lord, filling him with hope.
• Xie Antong and the others who knew Lu Ce recognized that the Holy Lord title was being improvised.
• Jiang Yuan offered to become Pride's eternal slave if he saved the world, but Pride dismissed him and Jiang Yuan asked to become a Saint instead.
• Death Emissary demanded to know how long they would keep the farce going and rejected the idea that someone could become a Saint just by claiming it.

Lu Ce declared Jiang Yuan a saint and affirmed that he was the Holy Lord, deepening Jiang Yuan’s belief in him and strengthening his fusion with the Arrogance Mask. After Death Emissary challenged their claims, Lu Ce sent Jiang Yuan toward Sun to begin the fight.

• Death Emissary mocked Jiang Yuan for believing Lu Ce was the Holy Lord and insisted he could never become a saint.
• Lu Ce declared that Jiang Yuan was a saint, and Xie Antong and Sun recognized the force of Arrogance’s conviction.
• Jiang Yuan asked Lu Ce if he was the Holy Lord, and Lu Ce confirmed it as Jiang Yuan recited the Holy Lord’s powers and felt his fusion with the Arrogance Mask increase.
• Death Emissary rejected the claim, but Jiang Yuan firmly insisted that Lu Ce was the Holy Lord.
• Lu Ce threw Jiang Yuan toward Sun, and Jiang Yuan declared that Sun was the Holy Lord’s first trial.

Jiang Yuan, convinced that Arrogance was the Holy Lord, refused Sun’s offer to join the Heaven and Earth Society and fought him head-on. Meanwhile, Arrogance’s belief seemed to strengthen him as he battled the Death Emissary, whose Hell Envoy stopped his axe in its chest.

• Sun tried to recruit Jiang Yuan into the Heaven and Earth Society, but Jiang Yuan declared himself a holy disciple of the Holy Lord.
• Jiang Yuan refused Sun’s suggestion to attack the Death Emissary and instead charged Sun with his sword and shield.
• Sun and Jiang Yuan traded powerful blows without dodging, while Arrogance fought the Death Emissary and the Hell Envoy.
• Arrogance’s aura surged as he fought, alarming the Death Emissary, who sent the Hell Envoy on a suicidal charge.
• Arrogance’s Extreme Path Battle Axe struck the Hell Envoy’s chest but could not cut through it.

Lu Ce wounded the Hell Envoy and exposed a half-beacon in its chest, leading Xie Antong and Chiyo Eon to discover a matching octagonal structure beneath Qian City. As Lu Ce tried to tear the half-beacon free, Jiang Yuan entered the Death Emissary’s domain and shielded him from a deadly strike.

• Lu Ce blasted open the Hell Envoy’s chest with his battle axe, revealing a broken, patterned object inside.
• Xie Antong recognized the object, guided Chiyo Eon to an octagonal patch of ground, and had her uncover a matching structure beneath it.
• Xie Antong fired at Lu Ce and called out the Death Emissary, who bound Lu Ce with his death domain.
• Lu Ce struck at the half-beacon in the Hell Envoy’s chest as the Death Emissary’s scythe came down on him.
• Jiang Yuan charged into the death domain and deflected the scythe strike with his shield, suffering a deep wound across his face.

Lu Ce killed the Hell Envoy while Jiang Yuan asked him to fulfill the opportunity foretold by a prophecy. As the Death Emissary challenged Jiang Yuan’s faith and revealed that his world had been destroyed, Jiang Yuan stood by Lu Ce and called upon the restless dead.

• Lu Ce tore the beacon from the Hell Envoy, killing it, and the demon faction’s game interface announced its fall as the first of sixteen.
• Arrogance protected Jiang Yuan from the Death Emissary’s attack, and Jiang Yuan asked him to act on the prophecy and recognize him as a true saint.
• The Death Emissary attacked again, but Arrogance’s axe met its sword, and the two attacks annihilated each other.
• Jiang Yuan told the Death Emissary that he belonged to this world, which had been destroyed, and accused it of carrying the aura of the culprit.
• The Death Emissary dismissed Jiang Yuan’s prophecy and called Lu Ce an outsider, but Lu Ce reaffirmed Jiang Yuan’s opportunity and Jiang Yuan pledged himself to the Holy Lord.
• Jiang Yuan threw out a strange object and called to the restless dead who had held on until then.

Jiang Yuan awakened the surviving remnant souls in the Qianling World, who recognized Pride as the Holy Lord. The chapter ended with all fourteen pledging to serve him.

• Jiang Yuan chanted over the phantom lotus as most of the bean-like remnants withered and vanished.
• Jiang Yuan cried out for the remnants to awaken, moving Xie Antong and even drawing a reaction from Sun.
• One remnant transformed into a human figure, and thirteen more awakened alongside Jiang Yuan.
• The fourteen awakened figures bowed to Pride and greeted him as the Holy Lord.
• Jiang Yuan declared that only fourteen independent remnant souls remained in the Qianling World, and all pledged to serve Pride.

Lu Ce accepted Jiang Yuan and the others as saints, while Xie Antong traded information about the Demon Beacons for the prophecy that had guided them. The Death Emissary warned that bearing a world's Karma carried a great price, but Arrogance gave Jiang Yuan half a beacon and assigned him a mission.

• Sun claimed that he was the real Holy Lord, but Jiang Yuan and the steadfast ones ignored him and gathered around Arrogance.
• Lu Ce told Jiang Yuan and the others to follow their prophecy, and Jiang Yuan declared that the Holy Lord's will was his own.
• Xie Antong told Jiang Yuan about the Demon Beacons in eight cities and the Hell Envoys' chest contents, then asked him to share the prophecy.
• Jiang Yuan said the prophecy foretold the world's destruction and offered hope through saints and demons, while the Death Emissary recognized it as Karma's scheme.
• The Death Emissary warned Arrogance about the cost of bearing a world's Karma, but Arrogance tossed half a beacon to Jiang Yuan and called it his mission.

Lu Ce, in Pride’s guise, accepted the burden of a world’s karma and ordered Jiang Yuan and the New Saints to destroy the Demon Beacons across the eight cities. The Death Emissary withdrew through a black door, leaving the conflict unresolved as Pride and the sun mocked her retreat.

• Lu Ce accepted the Death Emissary’s challenge to bear the karma of an entire world and dared Karma to come.
• Pride gave Jiang Yuan half a beacon and ordered him to destroy the Demon Beacons so demons could no longer enter the corresponding cities.
• Jiang Yuan ordered the thirteen New Saints to search the eight cities and destroy their Demon Beacons.
• Xie Antong considered the possibility of spies among the game’s participants and worried that Lu Ce had provoked two gods.
• The Death Emissary opened a black door and began to leave, while the sun mocked her for abandoning the fight and Pride said he was disappointed in her.

Lu Ce used the Chaotic Chain to trap Death Emissary as the enemy faction withdrew, then sent Jiang Yuan to respond to demons appearing across eight cities. The New Saints began defending the cities under Lu Ce’s name, leaving the other Saints faction players bewildered by their zeal.

• Lu Ce mocked Death Emissary, then attached the Chaotic Chain to their wrist and activated its link as they escaped through a rift.
• Sun and Xie Antong discussed the enemy’s plans, but Xie Antong used a Traveler Talisman to leave rather than join a fight.
• Jiang Yuan warned Lu Ce that demons were appearing in the cities, and Lu Ce sent him to help while the destruction progress reached 1.6%.
• The New Saints traveled between cities, killing demons, evacuating civilians, and searching for Demon Beacons in the Holy Lord’s name.
• The Saints faction players watched the New Saints’ earnest defense efforts and wondered why they seemed to be playing a different game.

Spirit Speaker—Bai encountered a New Saint who treated the Holy Lord’s commands as absolute, despite Bai believing they were merely the game’s faction objectives. Their disagreement over the Saints’ purpose continued as Bai suggested they could switch sides if the war went badly.

• In Gen City, Spirit Speaker—Bai watched the longbow-wielding New Saint reassure civilians and ask for the Demon Beacon’s location.
• Bai flew over to the New Saint, who berated him for failing to obey the Holy Lord and help fight demons.
• The New Saint declared that the Holy Lord’s rules stood above all others and that Saints had to follow the Holy Lord’s commands.
• Bai used Earth’s power to bury the demons within ten kilometers, then asked the New Saint what the commands were.
• The New Saint listed protecting civilians, killing demons, finding the Demon Beacon, and trying to seal it, while Bai dismissed them as game objectives and suggested switching to the demons’ side.

The New Saints attacked Spirit Speaker—Bai after mistaking his willingness to change factions for betrayal, while Xie Antong warned Chiyo Eon that faction conversion was dangerous and the Death Emissary was slaughtering the world’s people. Perfect Life entered the game but found his divination could not explain why the eight-city hexagrams were reversed.

• The New Saints punched Spirit Speaker—Bai and declared to the crowd that he was no true Saint and that the Holy Lord’s followers would never betray their cause.
• Xie Antong told Chiyo Eon that becoming a Saint caused irreversible mental contamination and warned that the Death Emissary’s faction-conversion rules were likely a trap.
• Xie Antong revealed that demons and Hell Envoys had returned in large numbers and that the Death Emissary was massacring real people across the world.
• Xie Antong asked Chiyo Eon to watch for Perfect Life, who she believed had entered the game as a Saint.
• Perfect Life used Yin Yang Hand to inspect a map of the eight cities but found that the hexagrams remained reversed no matter how he adjusted them.

Perfect Life emerged from hiding to find Gen City transformed into a battlefield, where he began protecting civilians and hunting demons. He then saw Lu Ce arrive with Arrogance and Black Knight to confront a Hell Envoy, while the New Saints hailed Lu Ce as the Holy Lord.

• Perfect Life studied the reversed Bagua pattern connecting the eight cities and wondered whether switching factions was part of the game's challenge.
• Perfect Life left the shop and found the city overrun by demons, with corpses and civilians caught in the fighting.
• Perfect Life used a golden barrier to protect civilians and attacked demons, then saw other saints working to save the city.
• Perfect Life noticed that Lu Ce had slain a Hell Envoy and that the Hell Envoy had arrived in Gen City, where its beacon could help seal the city's Demon Beacon.
• Black Knight charged toward the Hell Envoy carrying Arrogance, as six or seven New Saints gathered and called Lu Ce the Holy Lord.
• Perfect Life realized the New Saints were hailing Lu Ce as the Holy Lord and reacted in shock.

Arrogance appeared over Gen City as the New Saints proclaimed him the Holy Lord, inspiring the frightened citizens to worship him. As he fought a powerful Hell Envoy restrained by Jiang Yuan, Arrogance demanded that the true force behind the death energy reveal itself.

• The New Saints lined the sky with pillars of light and cries of “Holy Lord” as Arrogance passed, and the people of Gen City began praying to him.
• Perfect Life and other players watched in confusion as the city filled with New Saints, while Spirit Speaker Bai realized why he had been attacked earlier.
• Perfect Life flew toward Sin to help, but a devout New Saint stopped him and demanded that he swear loyalty to the Holy Lord.
• Arrogance reached the Hell Envoy, whose terrified eyes reflected a gigantic golden axe as Jiang Yuan restrained it.
• Arrogance smashed the Hell Envoy toward the ground with the Extreme Path Battle Axe, flattening nearby buildings, then shouted for the hidden enemy to emerge.