Chapter Summaries

After the chains broke, Xiao Wu left despite Meng Po urging him to rest. Maitreya prepared for Spirit Mountain’s return, then discovered the Merit Pool was empty and confronted Dragon Subduer, who tried to blame Elephant-Riding Arhat.

• Du Ziren and the others broke the chains, and Xiao Wu departed with Xiao Er after declining Meng Po’s offer to rest.
• Maitreya warned the Bodhisattvas to prepare for Spirit Mountain’s return in three days and threatened anyone who caused trouble.
• Maitreya went to retrieve the Merit Pool and found it empty, with the secret realm stripped nearly bare.
• Dragon Subduer remembered that the Merit Pool might have been stolen and grew terrified of the consequences.
• Dragon Subduer denied knowing what happened and accused Elephant-Riding Arhat of moving around after he fell asleep.

Maitreya killed Elephant-Riding Arhat and Deer-Riding Arhat after Dragon Subduer blamed Elephant-Riding Arhat for the missing Merit Pool. Dragon Subduer revealed that Jianan had taken it, while hiding that he had been promised the position of Buddha.

• Dragon Subduer accused Elephant-Riding Arhat of losing the Merit Pool and claimed he might be a Heavenly Court infiltrator.
• Elephant-Riding Arhat attacked Dragon Subduer, but Maitreya stabbed Elephant-Riding Arhat from behind with a tonsure knife.
• Maitreya intercepted Deer-Riding Arhat as he tried to flee, and Dragon Subduer joined Maitreya in killing him.
• Maitreya drained Elephant-Riding Arhat with the tonsure knife and demanded that Dragon Subduer explain who took the Merit Pool.
• Dragon Subduer named Jianan and claimed he had taken the Merit Pool to save the Buddha Kingdom, while concealing his promised reward.

Maitreya covered up the Merit Pool theft by making Dragon Subduer his subordinate and manufacturing replacement water from two Arhats’ blood and relics. Dragon Subduer accepted Maitreya’s account of the incident and returned to sleep after Maitreya left with the pool’s water.

• Maitreya recast Elephant-Riding Arhat and Deer-Riding Arhat as thieves who attacked him, naming Dragon Subduer Ling Mountain’s greatest contributor for helping kill them.
• Dragon Subduer agreed to serve Maitreya, who held the secret that could expose his role in the incident.
• Maitreya drained Deer-Riding Arhat’s corpse, then used both Arhats’ blood, crushed relics, and Buddhist scriptures to create golden Merit Pool water.
• Maitreya warned Dragon Subduer that he had helped only because the Arhats provided more blood, and Dragon Subduer submitted completely.
• Maitreya instructed Dragon Subduer to claim that the Arhats had stolen the water and that the battle had scattered most of it, then left with the remaining pool water.
• After Maitreya departed, Dragon Subduer stepped over the corpses and returned to his place to sleep.

Maitreya used Merit Pool water to recover from the side effects of his forced revival, then went to Xiao An Temple to confront the old monk who had taken a forbidden step. The old monk rejected Maitreya’s justification for their past conflict and dismissed him.

• Maitreya soaked in Merit Pool water and recovered, then accused Dragon Subduer of stealing the water, killing two Arhats, and attempting to bribe him.
• Maitreya entered Xiao An Temple, where the dead Shamis fell from a tree and vines tried to bind him.
• Maitreya reached the rear courtyard and found an old monk sitting up in a coffin, newly regaining his reason.
• Maitreya and the old monk argued over the forbidden step, the laws of survival, and their past conflict.
• The old monk’s anger subsided, and he told Maitreya to leave before turning back toward the coffin.

Maitreya tried to recruit the old monk into Spirit Mountain’s plans for the Third Awakening of Eternal Night, using the threat of his former disciple and the old monk’s fear of death. He revealed that he knew where the disciple slept and suggested Wang Ye could disrupt his awakening, but the old monk doubted the plan would prevent Heaven’s Court from eventually destroying them.

• Maitreya told the old monk that the Third Awakening of Eternal Night was approaching and urged him to return to Spirit Mountain as one of two hidden pieces.
• The old monk mocked Maitreya for serving Spirit Mountain and explained that he stayed alive to witness his wicked disciple’s death.
• Maitreya argued that submission had given him a better life, then revealed he knew the old monk relied on an avatar.
• The old monk threatened Maitreya, but backed down when Maitreya warned that others might know his secret.
• Maitreya suggested that Wang Ye could expose the sleeping place of the old monk’s disciple and interfere with his awakening.
• The old monk considered the possibility but warned that killing the disciple could leave Heaven’s Court strong enough to purge them all.

Maitreya secured the old monk’s help with a scheme to steal the Buddha’s energy, while the little girl prepared the Heavenly Court’s return. Wang Ye returned to a heavily fortified Ghost Gate Pass and met Zhang Ziliang six days before Eternal Night’s Third Awakening.

• Maitreya and the old monk struck a deal: the monk would help him and demanded to witness the Buddha’s death, though each planned to betray the other if the chance arose.
• The little girl ordered the Heavenly Court to return in two days, called for Li Changgeng’s death, and demanded more Divine Generals and twenty-eight Star Lords.
• Wang Ye found Ghost Gate Pass evacuated and under martial law, with Liang Zhi Shui leading a much stronger force of Superhumans.
• Wang Ye went to Zhang Ziliang’s office to discuss the coming Third Awakening of Eternal Night and questioned the heavy defenses at Ghost Gate Pass.
• Zhang Ziliang asked Wang Ye to provide supplies, claiming they would not survive the coming winter without them.

Wang Ye discussed the Third Awakening of Eternal Night and the plan to make Ghost Gate Pass the decisive battlefield with Zhang Ziliang. Zhang Ziliang then tried to guilt Wang Ye into donating supernatural items, but Wang Ye saw through his act, and the chapter ended with Zhang Ziliang demanding them outright.

• Zhang Ziliang predicted that Heaven and Spirit Mountain would be drawn into a decisive battle at Ghost Gate Pass if the Heaven Group challenged them.
• Zhang Ziliang reasoned that most of the ancient enemies could not fully awaken during the Third Awakening of Eternal Night, and said the Underworld, Daoist Sect, and Lu Wu could help defend the pass.
• Wang Ye asked whether Zhang Ziliang had overworked Lu Wu, and Zhang Ziliang awkwardly claimed Lu Wu was living a fulfilling life.
• Zhang Ziliang staged an emotional plea for supernatural items to help Heaven Group fighters survive, but Wang Ye criticized his acting and pointed out that his prosthetic hand was trembling.
• Zhang Ziliang abandoned the performance, stood on the coffee table, and demanded that Wang Ye hand over the items.

Wang Ye discussed Heaven Group’s desperate survival plan with Zhang Ziliang, who urged him to flee into the Wasteland and grow stronger before the Third Awakening of Eternal Night. After Wang Ye left, Zhang Ziliang revealed that he was seriously ill and had barely managed to hide his condition.

• Wang Ye intimidated Zhang Ziliang with the Ghost Messenger Blade, then asked what Heaven Group would do if the Heavenly Court and Spirit Mountain rejected their plan.
• Zhang Ziliang said Heaven Group had few defensive options and told Wang Ye to run deep into the Wasteland until he became strong enough to face the coming threat.
• Zhang Ziliang proposed sending women with Wang Ye and other groups into hiding to preserve humanity, while saying he would command from a Safe Room in the Wasteland.
• Wang Ye gave Zhang Ziliang bags of weapons, plant-based medicine, Merit Pool water, and Jade Pool water, then agreed to flee despite refusing the proposed women.
• After Wang Ye left, Zhang Ziliang spat up blood, swallowed two pills, and struggled to recover from the effort of keeping up his act.

Zhang Ziliang distributed the remaining supplies and waited alone as his health deteriorated, while Zhao Hai was allowed to leave his cell and inspect Ghost Gate Pass before meeting him. Their conversation ended with Zhang Ziliang calmly dismissing Zhao Hai’s threat as they faced the three days remaining until Eternal Night’s Third Awakening.

• Zhang Ziliang gave Yang Chen three bloodstained cloth bags and instructed him to deliver supplies to Zhang Xiao and Li Xinghe, while Yang Chen insisted he wanted to stay by his side.
• Meng Po returned to the Number Seven Grocery Store as Ghost Gate Pass grew quiet, and Zhao Hai marked three days remaining until Eternal Night’s Third Awakening.
• Zhao Hai pushed open his cell door, walked freely through Ghost Gate Pass, and inspected its defenses without being stopped.
• An eighteen-year-old Superhuman told Zhao Hai that Zhang Ziliang wanted to see him, explaining that he feared death but would not run because others would suffer.
• Zhao Hai met the weakened Zhang Ziliang and warned that killing him could ruin his plans, but Zhang Ziliang calmly said Zhao Hai could not defeat him.

Zhang Ziliang challenged Zhao Hai to reconsider the light in his heart, prompting Zhao Hai to reveal why he had deliberately let Maitreya, Lu Qing, and others ruin his prospects. Zhao Hai found a measure of peace, but he and Zhang Ziliang remained poisoned and expected to die together.

• Zhang Ziliang argued that light persisted in the world and depended on a person's choices, while Zhao Hai doubted that everyone still carried it within them.
• Zhao Hai confessed that he had orchestrated the war with Maitreya and Lu Qing to destroy his own future before his jealous comrades could kill him outright.
• Zhang Ziliang told Zhao Hai that he had chosen to join and remain in the Celestial Court's darkness, and that his unhappiness followed from those choices.
• Zhao Hai reflected on Zhang Ziliang's words, saw the view outside as beautiful, and bowed to thank him.
• Zhang Ziliang said the poison had no cure, and he and Zhao Hai accepted that they would die together before sharing a quiet moment by the window.

Wang Ye questioned what he was fighting to survive for, then accepted that he had to grow strong enough to help others survive too. As the Third Awakening of Eternal Night approached, he took a mission from the Post Office and prepared to leave Ghost Gate Pass, while Liang Zhi Shui chose to stay and defend it.

• Wang Ye reflected on his struggles and realized he had begun carrying Zhang Ziliang’s hopes and humanity’s future, not just his own desire to survive.
• At the Post Office, Wang Ye received a mission to kill five Arhats or Heavenly Kings and one Bodhisattva or Star Lord during the Third Awakening of Eternal Night, with access to the second floor as the reward.
• Wang Ye threatened the Post Office into making him a new Ghost Messenger uniform using his own design plans, and the Post Office eventually complied.
• Wang Ye told Liang Zhi Shui that Ghost Gate Pass faced danger and offered him the chance to leave, but Liang Zhi Shui declared that he would stay and defend the city.

Wang Ye left Ghost Gate Pass and planned to spend the next ten days attacking enemies across the Wasteland. Zhang Ziliang and Zhao Hai set out for Shangjing, where Zhang expected the enemy’s elite forces to strike the Heaven Group, and disappeared into the Wasteland.

• Wang Ye left Ghost Gate Pass, intending to hunt enemies and sabotage them from the shadows rather than hide.
• Zhang Ziliang appeared on the city wall with Zhao Hai and concealed that he was dying, joking that he had not told Wang Ye because he still owed him money.
• Zhang Ziliang explained that the enemy’s main force would likely attack Ghost Gate Pass while its elites targeted Shangjing and the Heaven Group’s headquarters.
• Zhang Ziliang revealed that he owned the black market and had arranged to buy Zhao Hai’s storage pouch, prompting Zhao Hai to threaten to push him off the wall.
• Zhao Hai pushed Zhang Ziliang away from Ghost Gate Pass as they bickered about whether Zhao Hai could match Wang Ye, then the pair vanished into the Wasteland.

With the Third Awakening of Eternal Night one day away, Zhang Xiao struggled to complete an experiment she hoped would save Zhang Ziliang, while Mao Yong'an left Dao City to seek strength. Wang Ye retraced his first route through the Wasteland and encountered the opera-singing female ghost again.

• Zhang Xiao broke down over her experiment with Wang Ye's heart and blood, then ordered preparations for Project B after three hours of rest.
• Mao Yong'an told the Dao ancestor he was leaving to become stronger, and the ancestor gave him a jade pendant that might save his life once.
• The Dao ancestor sealed Dao City for ten days after Mao Yong'an departed.
• With the Third Awakening one day away, Wang Ye walked his old route through Ten Miles of Graves and the Qin Estate.
• Wang Ye found the female ghost singing on a stage as ghosts gathered beneath it, and he smiled at the familiar sight.

Wang Ye discovered that the opera stage absorbed ghostly energy from its audience and tried singing on it to cultivate. After forcing the opera-singing ghost to perform without absorbing the energy herself, he found that the stage only modestly accelerated his cultivation.

• Wang Ye watched the opera-singing ghost perform and realized the stage quietly drained ghostly energy from the audience.
• Wang Ye climbed onto the stage and asked the opera-singing ghost and her accompanists to join him in performing his improvised song, “Ghost Falls in Love with Human.”
• The opera-singing ghost and the accompanists turned hostile, but Wang Ye struck the stage with his Ghost Messenger Blade and made them resume the performance.
• Wang Ye sang off-key and found that performing onstage increased his cultivation speed by only about ten percent.
• Wang Ye ordered the opera-singing ghost to perform and stop absorbing energy, then sat onstage and found the performance increased his cultivation speed to only about twice normal.

Wang Ye let the opera ghost go after realizing she belonged to the underworld, then visited Xiao An Temple and found its rear courtyard disturbed. An old monk appeared and claimed they had cooperated before, leaving Wang Ye uncertain about his intentions.

• Wang Ye ordered the opera ghost to join his troupe, but she revealed a finger from Meng Po’s vegetable basin and showed she was from the underworld.
• Wang Ye decided to let the opera ghost go, though he made her perform one more song before leaving.
• Wang Ye reached Xiao An Temple and noticed fresh footprints leading to the rear courtyard, where he found an open, empty coffin.
• An old monk confronted Wang Ye, claimed they had cooperated before, and said Wang Ye had come to reminisce.

At Xiao An Temple, the old monk asked Wang Ye to destroy the evil intention sealed inside a Buddha statue or reinforce its seal before the monk's body vanished. Wang Ye refused until the monk offered three drops of Buddha's Blood, then agreed while remaining wary.

• Wang Ye tried to leave Xiao An Temple, but stopped when the old monk called after him and asked for his help.
• The old monk explained that his evil intention had taken his flesh and blood, and that he had sealed it inside the Buddha statue at Xiao An Temple.
• The old monk asked Wang Ye to destroy the evil intention or reinforce the seal, offering everything in Xiao An Temple as compensation, but Wang Ye refused.
• The old monk offered a relic, and Wang Ye revealed a bracelet made from relics, startling him.
• The old monk offered three drops of Buddha's Blood, and Wang Ye immediately agreed to help, though his smile vanished as he followed the monk.

Wang Ye pretended to prepare a powerful attack while the old monk tried to break the seal on the Buddha statue, then turned on him after realizing the monk and the bell were not allies. Wang Ye fought the old monk hand-to-hand as the monk revealed his evil aura and challenged him.

• The old monk used a phantom bell to crack the Buddha statue and asked Wang Ye to help destroy it.
• Wang Ye pretended to gather energy into a shortsword while the old monk struggled to hold the statue’s seal back.
• Wang Ye sent the shortsword into the old monk’s chest, disrupting the bell and allowing the seal to begin restoring itself.
• Wang Ye attacked the old monk, who evaded his strike and asked why he had turned against him.
• Wang Ye explained that he had noticed the unexplained footprints and realized the monk and bell were not allies, then fought the monk hand-to-hand.
• The old monk admitted he had underestimated Wang Ye and unleashed an evil aura as he challenged him.

At Xiao An Temple, Wang Ye used the black phantom’s resemblance to the black-robed youth to frighten the old monk into surrendering a porcelain bottle containing the Buddha’s blood. The old monk left without reaching the Buddha statue, while Wang Ye kept the blood and wondered about the monk’s strange behavior.

• The old monk revealed that he wanted the energy in the Buddha statue’s flesh and blood to restore his power, then attacked Wang Ye.
• Wang Ye summoned a black phantom, and the old monk recognized it as the black-robed youth and offered to leave in exchange for the three drops of blood.
• The old monk exposed his hollow body and handed Wang Ye a porcelain bottle containing the Buddha’s blood after Wang Ye threatened him with his mental power and blade.
• Wang Ye put away the bottle and let the old monk leave Xiao An Temple.
• Outside the temple, the old monk brooded over his failed plan and his need for the Buddha statue’s flesh and blood to survive.

Wang Ye took the bell from Xiao An Temple, then prepared a trap for the old monk by feeding the sealed flesh pills and setting up an illusion. He escaped over the wall while the old monk waited near the front gate.

• The old monk hid near the main hall, tempted by the flesh sealed inside the Buddha statue but instinctively afraid.
• The bell entered Wang Ye’s body and appeared as a tattoo on his arm, while Wang Ye realized it was connected to the old ghost’s good intent.
• Wang Ye cracked the Buddha statue and fed its flesh pills refined by Ge Hong, including one that would restore the old monk before killing him ten minutes later.
• Wang Ye arranged illusion talismans to make it appear that he was guarding the hall and took the wooden fish and prayer cushions.
• Wang Ye climbed over a side wall and saw the unstable old monk waiting near the front gate.

Ran Deng broke the Buddha statue in Xiao An Temple and absorbed the flesh within it, restoring much of his strength before the pills Wang Ye had left behind caused him severe pain. As Wang Ye neared Scavenger City, the crying of an old supernatural acquaintance reached him, and he turned to face it.

• Ran Deng charged at Wang Ye, but Wang Ye's phantom kept him at bay until the old monk turned to the Buddha statue.
• Ran Deng broke the statue, absorbed the blood and flesh, and regained much of his strength.
• Ran Deng set out to settle old debts and take Wang Ye's body, but the pills he had consumed made his energy turn violent and left him vomiting blood.
• Wang Ye wondered whether Ge Hong's pills had worked as he walked toward Scavenger City, whose ordinary appearance still unsettled him.
• Wang Ye heard crying and turned to see a figure in an iron helmet and white Mourning Clothes carrying a black pot, its gaze filled with resentment.