Chapter Summaries

Li Miao and the Storyteller discovered that the Yasum chief had falsified Ryan’s memories and planned to use his body for his own goal. Li Miao asked the Candle Keepers for help, and they agreed to provide assistance.

• Li Miao uncovered that Ryan had been enslaved by the Yasum rulers and forced to become a Firewood Collector, while the chief had hidden the truth behind an illusion.
• Li Miao told the Storyteller what he had found, and they discussed how difficult it would be to save Ryan without destroying his soul.
• Li Miao suggested asking the Candle Keepers for help, and the Storyteller agreed to investigate other possible solutions.
• Li Miao summoned the Candle Keepers and explained Ryan’s situation, but they first said the request did not benefit Candlefire as a whole.
• The Candle Keepers revealed that Li Miao’s past contributions had earned him favor and agreed to offer assistance.

After the players discussed ways to save Ryan from the Yasum chieftain, Li Miao reported that the Candle Keeper had agreed to help, thanks to the players’ high favorability with him. Rogue then contacted the temple and asked to speak with its Temple Master, Yagony.

• Gray Sky shared two spells that could separate Ryan’s souls and draw out his soul, and mentioned a Soul Jar that could preserve it.
• Li Miao told the players that the Candle Keeper had agreed to help after hearing their request.
• The players celebrated the news and joked about what else high favorability might persuade the Candle Keeper to do.
• Rogue considered the risks of helping but decided that Candlefire and its warriors should accomplish one another.
• Rogue contacted the temple and asked to speak with its Temple Master, Yagony.

Rogue persuaded Yagony to reveal Ryan and Yasum’s location, learning that they had entered an Ember Gate connected to the Long Night. Li Miao discovered Ryan was in the newly opening Primal Flame Mark instance, and Rogue agreed to take multiple warriors there while warning them to be careful.

• Rogue told Yagony that Li Miao and the others wanted to find Ryan, but Yagony initially refused to reveal Ryan’s whereabouts because Ryan was important to Bonfire.
• Rogue insisted on helping the warriors, explaining that what they gave was never something they owed, and Yagony agreed to reveal Ryan and Yasum’s location if Rogue stayed out of their grievance afterward.
• Yagony told Rogue that Yasum had entered an Ember Gate connected to the Long Night while searching for the Long Slumbering Soul, and gave him an item to pinpoint the location.
• Players discussed the announcement for the Primal Flame Mark instance, and Li Miao learned that Ryan was inside it.
• Rogue told Li Miao to bring Ryan’s scale and said Candlefire would take them to the instance, warning that its unusual region required caution.

Li Miao learned that Ryan was in the upcoming Primal Flame Mark dungeon, while Wang Dao refused to study the Fallen Fire Will and was offered a task instead. On Upper Candlewood Island, Little Snail and Ligardel found the big figure they wanted to take out to play.

• Rogue told Li Miao that Candlefire could provide Ryan with a body, and Li Miao shared the news that Ryan was in the Primal Flame Mark dungeon with Landfall and Storyteller.
• Landfall teased Storyteller about entering the dungeon, and Storyteller hinted that someone else might use Ryan's Scale.
• Wang Dao refused to study the prayers and books the Acting God had ordered him to learn, so a deep voice offered him a task.
• Little Snail and Ligardel went to Candlelight Hall to find the big figure, and Little Snail accidentally made herself dizzy ramming the door.
• The door opened, and Little Snail invited the towering figure to come play with them.

Li Miao entered the Primal Flame Mark instance, where an unnatural night limited his visibility and cut off contact with his companions. He discovered that killing a Lightless slightly increased his Night Visibility, and continued onward to test the rule.

• Yuanfang joined Li Miao and Landfall for the instance, while the three learned each instance allowed only three players.
• Li Miao entered a dark wetland where Illumination Candle did little to improve visibility and the night prevented him from contacting other players.
• Li Miao found that activating Carlos's Eye reduced his Night Visibility, though it revealed a route ahead.
• Li Miao encountered a Lightless and discovered that only his Warfire-coated lance could harm it.
• After Li Miao killed the Lightless, his Night Visibility slightly increased, suggesting the creatures' deaths could push back the night.

Li Miao, Landfall, and Yuanfang explored the Primal Flame Mark dungeon and learned how Night Visibility affected combat and item use. Following Carlos's Eyes, Li Miao found a strange clam warning him of danger ahead.

• Li Miao confirmed that killing The Lightless increased Night Visibility and that attacks only worked while they were visible.
• Landfall was swarmed by The Lightless in a ruin, lost Night Visibility as they hit him and fear reduced it further, then unleashed his Saint's Fire Aspect to destroy them.
• Yuanfang tested how external items, potions, and food affected Night Visibility while fighting off The Lightless.
• Li Miao obtained a Lightless Night Stone and continued along the route guided by Carlos's Eyes, noticing fewer enemies and strange plants along the way.
• Li Miao found a Strange Large Clam that warned him of danger and displayed a blood-red arrow pointing toward it.

Li Miao followed the strange giant clam’s directions to a depression, where he defeated a Thirsting Light Phantom and gained a new spell art. As he searched the area for treasure, an unexpected development stopped him.

• Li Miao discovered that someone had moved the strange giant clam and returned it to its original position, which pointed him toward the dangerous path.
• Li Miao fought through Lightless and Lightless Night Shadows as the path descended into a muddy depression.
• Li Miao entered the depression and endured shrieks and shadow-claw attacks from a hidden Thirsting Light Phantom.
• Li Miao tracked down and killed the Thirsting Light Phantom, gaining ten Lightless Night Stones and the spell art Thirsting Light Lure.
• Li Miao began searching for treasure, but a new development made him stop.

Li Miao encountered and killed an Unknown Spark in the dark, discovering that its flame increased his strength. The dead devotee’s belongings pointed him toward the Long Night Kindling and revealed that he had stolen a strange clam’s pearl and likely misled travelers.

• An Unknown Spark attacked Li Miao, who could neither identify it nor communicate with it in the darkness.
• Li Miao summoned the Saint's Fire Aspect and killed the Unknown Spark, absorbing its flame and slightly increasing his level progress.
• Li Miao examined the corpse and collected Oiled Old Cloth, an Unknown Witch Potion, a Letter of Unknown Origin, and a Strange Clam's Pearl.
• The letter linked the devotee to the Night Eater and the Land of the Black Night, where the Long Night Kindling was located.
• Li Miao concluded that the devotee had stolen the giant clam’s pearl, turned it around to misdirect travelers, and waited to ambush them.

Li Miao found the Long Night Idol and traded Lightless Night Stones for a blessed item that might work through the Long Night. After returning Pearl to the Strange Large Clam, he learned more about the clam’s history and the thief who had taken it.

• Li Miao offered a pile of Lightless Night Stones to the Long Night Idol and received a Two-Faced Tumbler, which was unaffected by the Long Night.
• Li Miao suspected that the Strange Large Clam and Pearl came from the same source as the tumbler, and decided to return Pearl and test other offerings later.
• Li Miao returned Pearl to the Strange Large Clam, which snapped shut and mistook him for the thief before accepting his explanation and becoming a Guiding Clam.
• The Guiding Clam told Li Miao that Hero Aluga had left it there and that the thief had paint on his face and fur on his neck.

Li Miao learned about three routes through the Long Night Domain and decided to postpone the Nightmare route while he contacted his allies. After leaving the dungeon, he met Landfall, who described a dangerous fight, and they began considering how to coordinate and help Ryan.

• Li Miao learned that the Guiding Clam could guide him along Hero Aluga's path, toward a Long Night Idol, or toward Nightmare, which required killing a Wandering Nightmare and offering its Nightmare Skull.
• Li Miao decided to postpone the Nightmare route, save his remaining offering opportunity, and consult Yuanfang, Landfall, and the Storyteller about Ryan's situation.
• Players in Candlewood Island's Chat Channel described dangerous dungeon encounters, and Li Miao found no useful information there.
• Li Miao left the dungeon and contacted Yuanfang and Landfall; Yuanfang did not respond, while Landfall appeared and complained that party chat did not work inside.
• Landfall told Li Miao that he had survived a monster-filled ruin after using up his Saint's Fire Aspect, and Li Miao said they needed another way to coordinate and help Ryan.

Li Miao followed Hero Aluga's route through the Long Night Domain, gathering drops and finding fresh footprints that might belong to Ryan. The footprints split into five paths, and after choosing the leftmost one, Li Miao found himself on an apparently endless road that branched again.

• Li Miao collected Lightless Night Stones, sacrificed them at the Long Night Idol, and obtained an Omen Pillar.
• Li Miao followed Hero Aluga's route, fighting stronger Lightless and fallen NPCs while gathering useful drops.
• Li Miao found a recently killed, mummified corpse and fresh human footprints that might have been Ryan's.
• Li Miao followed the footprints to a canyon where they split into five directions, then began exploring the leftmost path.
• Li Miao found that the road kept widening and the footprints continued until another fork appeared ahead.

Li Miao found evidence that Ryan had left behind a shed skin, then reunited with Yuanfang and followed him through the forest. They survived an arrow ambush, and Yuanfang quickly killed the attacker, a small glasslike humanoid.

• Li Miao found a humanoid shed skin that matched the scale Ryan had given him and suspected Ryan had used it to split off a clone.
• Li Miao concluded that the Yasum clan chief was using Ryan's body to draw power from the Long Night Domain.
• Yuanfang appeared at the fork and identified himself with words formed from starlight, reassuring Li Miao.
• Yuanfang chose the second path on the right, and Li Miao followed him through signs of earlier battles and into a forest.
• An ambush sent arrows raining down on Li Miao and Yuanfang, but the arrows barely harmed Li Miao's armor.
• Yuanfang swiftly killed the attacker, a small glasslike humanoid with visible blood vessels.

Li Miao and Yuanfang tracked Ryan to the Soul Cleansing Night Pool, where Chief Yasum was using Ryan’s body and a mass of trapped souls. They disrupted Yasum’s control, but Yuanfang had not yet recovered Ryan’s soul.

• Li Miao learned that a leaf dropped by a Night Goblin of the Forest pointed toward the Soul Cleansing Night Pool, and he realized Chief Yasum might be tampering with Ryan’s soul.
• Yuanfang rushed ahead toward the pool while Li Miao fought through the goblins’ traps and attacks to follow him.
• Li Miao reached the pool and found Yuanfang fighting Yasum, who was controlling Ryan’s body amid a mass of souls.
• Yuanfang used Soul Shock to weaken Yasum, and the pool’s power prompted some of the trapped souls to struggle for freedom.
• Yasum forced the souls back into his body and immobilized Yuanfang, but Li Miao arrived and struck him with the Saint’s Fire Aspect.
• Li Miao asked whether Yuanfang had recovered Ryan’s soul, and Yuanfang said he had not because Yasum contained too many souls.

Li Miao, Yuanfang, and Landfall freed Ryan from the Yasum chieftain’s control and rescued his soul, but the chieftain escaped by vanishing with the souls inside him. Ryan’s body collapsed, and the group was left without knowing where the chieftain had gone.

• Li Miao told Ryan that the Yasum chieftain had falsified his memories and devoured his brothers, while Yuanfang challenged the chieftain to let them prove it.
• The Yasum chieftain tore Ryan’s soul from his body and threatened to harm it unless Li Miao and the others found the Long Slumbering Soul.
• Landfall struck the Yasum chieftain with Soul Shock, allowing Li Miao to restrain him while Yuanfang captured Ryan’s soul in a jar.
• Landfall and Yuanfang used their soul techniques to free the trapped souls as Li Miao beat the chieftain.
• The Yasum chieftain ignited the souls with orange-red flames and vanished with them, leaving Ryan’s body collapsed on the ground.

Li Miao and his companions restored Ryan’s soul and used Carlos’s Eye to dispel the illusion hiding his real memories. Ryan accepted the truth about Yasum and his lost abilities, and Landfall gave him Soul Shock scrolls in case he encountered the clan chief again.

• Li Miao praised Landfall for arriving in time to stop the Yasum clan chief from threatening them.
• Yuanfang used the Soul Summoning Incantation to return Ryan’s soul to his body, and Ryan awoke asking whether Li Miao’s claims were true.
• Li Miao used Carlos’s Eye to remove the illusion in Ryan’s memories, revealing that Yasum had manipulated and used him.
• Ryan thanked his friends and accepted that he had lost the abilities forged from other souls, though his ignition remained Spirit Combustion—the Saint of Blazing Fire.
• Landfall gave Ryan three Soul Shock scrolls to help him escape if he encountered the Yasum clan chief again.

Ryan returned to the Bonfire after receiving a precious item and reassurance from the Candle Keepers, while Li Miao, Landfall, and Yuanfang compared their discoveries in the Eerie Voyage. Ryan learned he had escaped his clan’s control and become a Saint of Blazing Fire, but the Witch departed in the Bonfire’s flames before he could say goodbye.

• Landfall gave Ryan a precious item, and Li Miao passed along the Candle Keepers’ assurance that Ryan could return safely to the Bonfire.
• After Ryan left, Li Miao, Landfall, and Yuanfang shared what they had encountered in the Eerie Voyage.
• Landfall described reaching the Soul Cleansing Night Pool and hearing from a Skeletal Soul that Hero Aluga had once helped him.
• Yuanfang showed them an Aluga Fruit and explained that NPCs had fought over its tree and smashed it to pieces.
• Yuanfang drew a map of the explored area, and Li Miao inferred that Hero Aluga had explored near the Soul Cleansing Night Pool before leaving through the forest.
• Ryan returned to the Bonfire, where the Witch told him he had escaped his clan’s control and become a Saint of Blazing Fire before departing in its flames.

After the Witch was taken by the Bonfire, Yagony warned the Yasum Clan Chief not to target Candlefire or Ryan again, and the Clan Chief accepted his loss. Li Miao then found another Long Night Idol at the location revealed by Carlos's Eyes.

• Ryan grieved as the Bonfire took the Witch's soul and recognized the act as a warning to him.
• The Yasum Clan Chief angrily confronted Yagony over Candlefire's intervention and his losses.
• Yagony told the Yasum Clan Chief that Candlefire was valuable to the Bonfire and ordered him to avoid Candlefire and Ryan.
• The Yasum Clan Chief thanked Yagony, accepted the warning, and left to recover his strength.
• Li Miao followed Carlos's Eyes to a mound of twisted trees and stones, where he found another Long Night Idol.

Li Miao, Landfall, and Yuanfang each sacrificed part of their stamina or mental power to receive different combat skills from the Long Night Idol. Afterward, Landfall begged Li Miao to give him a copy of a Vampiric Spell, and Li Miao relented when Landfall called him godfather.

• Li Miao offered half his stamina to the Long Night Idol and learned the combat skill Sinking Fire Lure.
• Landfall sacrificed half his mental power and learned the spell Long Night's Enlightenment.
• Yuanfang chose a spell sacrifice and learned Shadow Long Scythe, while Landfall eagerly asked him for an imprint.
• Li Miao showed Landfall a Vampiric Spell, but refused to hand it over until Landfall called him godfather.
• Li Miao gave Landfall the spell and called him Big Son.

Yuanfang discovered Hero Aluga’s combat technique on a shattered Stone Tablet, and the three players tested the Soul Cleansing Night Pool before returning to a Long Night Idol. When Yuanfang offered his Nightmare Skull, the Nightmare route appeared to admit only one person, so he signaled Li Miao and Landfall and closed his eyes as its power descended.

• Yuanfang pieced together a shattered Stone Tablet, spent candle wax to reveal it, and learned about Hero Aluga’s combat technique, Valiant Ambition.
• Li Miao sat in the Soul Cleansing Night Pool to test its effect, but Landfall poured water on him and Yuanfang explained that the pool probably did not affect players.
• The three decided to return to a Long Night Idol so Landfall could use his unspent sacrifices and Yuanfang could try the Nightmare route.
• Landfall and Li Miao exchanged Lightless Night Stones for items, while Yuanfang checked for another Wandering Nightmare but found none.
• Yuanfang sacrificed his Nightmare Skull at the Long Night Idol, signaled Li Miao and Landfall when the route appeared to allow only one person, and closed his eyes as Nightmare power descended.

Li Miao and Landfall discovered a strange Pebble Road and followed it to a Nameless Road Builder, who attacked them. Landfall killed the monster in one burst before Li Miao could learn more from its words.

• Li Miao and Landfall followed Hero Aluga’s route away from the Soul Cleansing Night Pool and found a sign warning them to detour from the Pebble Road.
• Li Miao stepped onto the road despite suspecting a trap and noticed glittering pebbles that grew increasingly blood-red as bones appeared along the way.
• A Nameless Road Builder emerged from the darkness and called Li Miao greedy before attacking with the power of darkness.
• Landfall unleashed Miteros—Torrent and killed the Nameless Road Builder, stopping the Pebble Road from splitting apart.
• Li Miao scolded Landfall for killing the boss before it could reveal more information.