Chapter Summaries

Li Miao and Landfall followed the Ugly Elder’s directions, witnessing him devour the forest’s creatures before reaching a desolate wasteland and discovering a mound filled with corpses. After they killed an Evil Infant Antlion and realized the remains might point to a greater danger, the mound erupted beneath them.

• Li Miao stopped Landfall from attacking the Ugly Elder and continued along the road he had indicated.
• The Ugly Elder devoured the creatures gathered before him, then sank into the earth as Li Miao and Landfall watched.
• Li Miao and Landfall crossed a broken bridge to a desolate region, where an Evil Infant Antlion ambushed Li Miao from underground.
• Li Miao dragged out and crushed the Evil Infant Antlion, and the two entered a mound filled with the remains of fallen warriors.
• Li Miao realized something was wrong as the ground shook, and the mound exploded, blasting him and Landfall backward.

Li Miao and Landfall defeated the Evil Infant Antlion King and obtained a Lingering Spirit in the Belly that could briefly restore intelligence to its original corpse. After searching unsuccessfully among nearby remains, they found a distant, intact corpse that the spirit recognized, and it began to enter it.

• Li Miao and Landfall fought the Evil Infant Antlion King and killed it with Landfall's Shadow Long Scythe.
• Li Miao collected the Lingering Spirit in the Belly and Landfall took the Vile Infant Antlion Mask.
• Li Miao and Landfall tried the spirit on nearby corpses but found no match, while Landfall read an Adventure Log and learned about an earlier trial.
• Landfall spotted an intact, spiked corpse in the distance, and Li Miao brought out the lingering spirit to test it.
• The Lingering Spirit in the Belly reacted to the corpse and began flying into it.

Li Miao and Landfall found a repentant spirit’s token and continued through the wasteland, where they fought a Wasteland Corpse who spoke of protecting Kainara. They collected its strange token and headed onward, wondering what had happened to Kainara.

• The Lingering Spirit in the Belly possessed its corpse, knelt toward the Ugly Elder’s forest to apologize, then dissipated and left behind Trialist’s Repentance.
• Li Miao picked up the token, and he and Landfall continued along a path through the desolate wasteland.
• A Wasteland Corpse attacked Li Miao, but Landfall struck it with a meteor and Li Miao finished it with his spear.
• The Wasteland Corpse begged them to be gentle with his beloved Kainara as it died, leaving only a Withered Kidney token and very little wax oil.
• Li Miao and Landfall joked about the token, speculated about Kainara, and decided to go find her.

Li Miao and Landfall met Barren Shadow · Kainara in the Barren Palace and learned that she had once offered challengers comfort in exchange for their vital essence. She explained that passing the trial required killing either her or the forest elder and taking one of their hearts, and Landfall urged Li Miao to choose the elder instead.

• Li Miao and Landfall entered the palace and discovered that its beautiful hostess was Kainara, the wife of Yinas, the withered figure they had encountered earlier.
• Kainara recognized Yinas’s Withered Kidney and explained that his obsession had led to his death after he sought more from her than she offered other challengers.
• Li Miao asked how to pass the trial, and Kainara revealed that they had to kill either her or the forest elder and take one of their hearts.
• Kainara offered her heart, saying Long Night would restore her, but Li Miao hesitated to kill her.
• Landfall urged Li Miao to return to the forest and kill the elder instead, citing the elder’s attacks on the Little Shrub Spirits and the lives he had devoured.

Li Miao and Landfall questioned the trial’s heart-collecting requirement and went to inspect the Night Stone Disk, while weighing whether Ugly Elder or Barren Shadow was the wrong choice to kill. They found the disk above the chasm, where it could bridge the forest and barren land, and learned that placing the key items on it would activate it.

• Li Miao questioned Barren Shadow about the trial, and she explained that the hearts had to be placed on the Night Stone Disk to open the way out.
• Li Miao and Landfall discussed the warning from the Lingering Spirit in the Belly and wondered why it had regretted its choice to kill Ugly Elder.
• Landfall spotted something flash beneath the chasm, and Li Miao decided to investigate the Night Stone Disk first.
• Li Miao and Landfall found the Night Stone Disk at the edge of the Trial Ground, positioned above the chasm with a groove for the hearts.
• The trial system announced that the stone disk was the mechanism for passing the trial and that placing the key items on it would activate it.

Li Miao and Landfall searched the remains near the stone disk, uncovering a clue about the Dusk Era and finding a strange hut in the forest. Inside, Li Miao discovered the final letter of Awa, which revealed how the Long Night Kindling had reunited Awa and Dolan before Awa died of old age.

• Li Miao and Landfall found the corpses of dead trial-takers and recovered a faith skill book and a fragment describing a terrifying disaster during the Dusk Era.
• Landfall showed Li Miao a skeleton pointing toward the forest or the fissure, and Li Miao decided to seek answers from the Ugly Elder.
• Li Miao and Landfall crossed the fissure with the Night Stone Disk and found a deadwood hut and a moss-covered chair that stood up and groaned when Landfall sat on it.
• Li Miao and Landfall entered the hut and found Awa's final letter to his wife Dolan.
• Li Miao learned that Awa had been killed during Meteorite Chaos, Dolan had been gravely wounded resisting it, and the Long Night Kindling had reunited them in the trial until Awa died of old age.

Li Miao and Landfall learned from Awa’s letter and the Ugly Elder that she had sacrificed her strength to keep the forest alive, while Kainara had pursued beauty by absorbing trial-takers’ life essence. The Ugly Elder still required them to choose whose heart to obtain to pass the trial, leaving Landfall reluctant to attack her.

• Landfall found a bloodstained skull spike that appeared to belong to a trial-taker who killed himself after learning the truth about Avadolan.
• Li Miao and Landfall watched newborn deer-like creatures receive vitality from the forest and then returned to the Ugly Elder with Awa’s letter.
• The Ugly Elder explained that she consumed lives nearing death to sustain the forest, accepting the toll and her frightening appearance to protect the place she and Awa had lived.
• The Ugly Elder explained that Kainara took life essence from trial-takers to preserve her beauty, while the Wasteland Corpse had chosen his own fate.
• The Ugly Elder told Li Miao and Landfall they still had to obtain either her heart or Kainara’s to pass the trial, and Landfall hesitated to attack her.

Li Miao realized Ugly Elder's account and the supposed requirement to kill her and Kainara could be part of Long Night's trial, so he and Landfall jumped into the fissure to search for its true key. They found hidden waterlogged terrain beneath the Night Stone Disk and headed toward the Trial Ground's edge as the space widened.

• Li Miao questioned why Ugly Elder had left her suicide note in the cabin and concluded that the trial might have forced her to leave it there.
• Li Miao argued that Ugly Elder and Kainara might be lying about needing to die for the trial to be passed, and he identified the fissure as the likely way forward.
• Li Miao jumped into the fissure, and Landfall followed him despite briefly fearing they had guessed wrong.
• Landfall landed in water and joined Li Miao aboard the Submersible Ghost Submarine.
• Li Miao and Landfall explored the narrow underwater passage beneath the Night Stone Disk and found that the hidden space widened toward the Trial Ground's edge.

Li Miao and Landfall reached the stone platform and encountered Chaos Without Form, a self-aware being who knew nothing of the world's destruction but guarded the path ahead. When Chaos Without Form demanded they defeat it, the two launched their opening attack, but its beam overwhelmed Landfall's spell torrent.

• Li Miao and Landfall found corpses and battle remains as they climbed the stone steps, then prepared their skills at a Milestone Spirit Candle.
• The two reached the platform and saw Chaos Without Form, which explained that it had retained its self through the Long Night's protection.
• Chaos Without Form said it could not reveal the truth behind the world's destruction, but offered remnants left by its fallen lord as possible help.
• Chaos Without Form recognized Li Miao and Landfall's wisdom and courage, then demanded they defeat it to proceed.
• Landfall unleashed his prepared Miteros Torrent as Chaos Without Form fired a beam, but the beam tore through the spell torrent.

Landfall heavily damaged Chaos Without Form, but at the brink of death it activated Born of the Formless and turned intangible to attacks. Li Miao warned Landfall that the state was temporary, but Chaos Without Form pierced him even while he used Become Intangible, leaving him trapped by its tentacles.

• Landfall used Miteros Torrent to rapidly reduce Chaos Without Form's vitality while Li Miao cheered him on.
• At one-fifth vitality, Chaos Without Form reassembled, halted Miteros Torrent's impact, and entered a state wreathed in Saint's Fire.
• Chaos Without Form's tentacle passed through Li Miao's shield and body to strike Landfall, while Li Miao's attacks proved unable to affect it.
• Li Miao discovered Chaos Without Form's Born of the Formless talent and warned Landfall that its intangible state had a time limit.
• Landfall tried to evade Chaos Without Form while casting spells, then used Become Intangible when its tentacles and gaze threatened to trap him.
• Chaos Without Form pierced Landfall's chest despite his intangible form and wrapped its tentacles around his limbs.

Landfall nearly died when Chaos Without Form bypassed Become Intangible, but the creature stopped after recognizing the spell’s familiar magic and declared that the trial was over. It explained that Become Intangible originated from its own teachings to Mithrilos Academy, leaving Li Miao and Landfall to realize they had used the spell against its source.

• Chaos Without Form struck Landfall through Become Intangible and the Ancient Dragon Night Scale Robe, bringing him close to death before abruptly stopping.
• Chaos Without Form withdrew its tentacles, ended its invisibility, and declared that Landfall had passed the trial.
• Li Miao put away her lance while Landfall healed himself with Replenish Wax Blocks and complained about the attack.
• Chaos Without Form recognized Become Intangible as a spell from Mithrilos Academy and said the spell originated from its own teachings.
• Chaos Without Form recounted how Mithrilos scholars had studied its power, and Li Miao joked that they had wielded a broadsword before Guan Gong.

Li Miao and Landfall questioned Chaos Without Form and learned about his history, Long Night Kindling, and the meaning of his intangible state. Chaos Without Form explained that the power came from his seed and that intangibility meant existing without form in a special place, not complete nothingness.

• Chaos Without Form told Li Miao and Landfall about the Mithrilos scholars, including the lively Wei Jia and their leader, Mersedors.
• Chaos Without Form shared his thoughts about Long Night Kindling, including Long Night's anger when the sun was mentioned and his change after the burning.
• Chaos Without Form revealed that he had grown up under Long Night's care, retained strange memories of a flickering world, and entered the Long Night Domain to help his master after Meteorite Chaos damaged his source.
• Li Miao agreed to watch for clues about Chaos Without Form's strange memories, then told him about Candlewood Island and Mithrilos Academy.
• Chaos Without Form explained that intangibility meant being formless rather than nonexistent, and that he could strike Landfall because both of them were intangible.

Li Miao and Landfall listened as Chaos Without Form explained that the Long Night Trial tested whether challengers could see beyond instinct and judge Avadolan and Kainara through thought. He gave Li Miao a quest scroll and Ermei's Token, then faded away after warning them that the trials ahead would demand power.

• Chaos Without Form gave Li Miao a quest scroll and Ermei's Token.
• Chaos Without Form explained that challengers who killed Avadolan or Kainara would face a harder battle and miss Ermei's belongings.
• Chaos Without Form revealed that the trial tested whether challengers could overcome instinct and think for themselves.
• Li Miao realized the trial's true purpose and privately thanked his luck for not following Landfall's advice.
• Chaos Without Form urged Li Miao and Landfall to strengthen their power through battle, then died and left behind glowing drops.

After defeating Chaos Without Form, Li Miao and Landfall collected its drops and traded Ermei’s Token for Ermei’s armor set. They left with new equipment and planned to continue the trials after Landfall recovered some Fire Offering Power.

• Landfall noticed that a road to the next Trial Ground had appeared, then discovered Chaos Without Form had dropped a high-tier Seedfire, an epic wristband, and a collector’s accessory.
• Li Miao took the Thinker's Tentacle Accessory, while Landfall claimed the Formless Wristband and they decided to visit Ermei.
• Li Miao and Landfall returned to Ermei’s bridge, woke him, and gave him the token they had found.
• Ermei rummaged inside the sleeping Cold Night Bat and gave Li Miao and Landfall his full set of night-combat armor.

Li Miao and Landfall debated whether to return and kill Ugly Elder and Barren Shadow for possible extra rewards, but Li Miao refused and chose to visit the bosses peacefully. Ugly Elder congratulated them for passing the trial and told them that neither she nor Kainara had rewards for them.

• Ermei gave Li Miao and Landfall a set of equipment and told them to continue the trial to find another token.
• Li Miao realized the road opened by Ermei’s Token might lead to extra rewards, and Landfall urged him to take it.
• Li Miao pointed out they had not killed Ugly Elder and Barren Shadow, but rejected Landfall’s suggestion to kill them for possible rewards.
• Li Miao and Landfall returned to Ugly Elder’s Trial Ground, where Ugly Elder congratulated them and explained that the Little Shrub Spirit needed to stay in the soil.
• Landfall asked Ugly Elder for rewards, and she said she had none and that Kainara had none either.

Li Miao confirmed that Long Night Kindling had arranged Ugly Elder’s suicide note for the trial, then continued with Landfall toward Kainara’s temple. Landfall taunted the Wasteland Corpse guarding the entrance before they went inside together.

• Ugly Elder confirmed that Long Night Kindling had arranged the suicide note and explained that remaining alive to help was her own choice.
• Li Miao thanked Ugly Elder and set off with Landfall toward Kainara’s temple, prompting Ugly Elder to wish them a smooth journey.
• Landfall accused Li Miao of visiting Kainara for comfort, while Li Miao insisted he wanted to learn more about the story.
• A revived Wasteland Corpse ordered them to enter the temple one at a time, but Landfall mocked him and went in with Li Miao.
• Landfall celebrated the Wasteland Corpse’s helpless, furious expression, leaving the corpse roaring after them.

Landfall and Li Miao visited Kainara after completing the trial and asked about the Long Night Kindling. Kainara recounted how her childhood ugliness and a false hope of companionship led her to accept the Kindling’s blessing and become part of the trial.

• Landfall and Li Miao teased the Wasteland Corpse at the temple gates before Kainara invited them inside to talk.
• Kainara explained that she had been abandoned as a child because she was extremely ugly, then raised and abused by a Hate Demon that used her to frighten people.
• A wandering Blind Knight killed the Hate Demon, traveled with Kainara, and gave her hope that she could change her appearance by gaining power.
• Kainara learned through the Long Night Kindling that the Blind Knight had returned to his Hometown, married a noble daughter, and traveled with her only to strengthen himself through his secret technique.
• Kainara said the Long Night Kindling made her beautiful and invited her to become part of the trial, where she agreed to beguile future trial-takers.

Kainara explained that she had willingly seduced trial-takers after Long Night Kindling gave her beauty and acceptance. Li Miao and Landfall found a hidden star along the void path, used the Coiled Horn Key to open a descending wall, and prepared to discover the reward beyond it.

• Kainara told Li Miao and Landfall that Long Night Kindling had asked her to bewitch trial-takers, but everything beyond that had been voluntary.
• Li Miao and Landfall left the temple, while the Wasteland Corpse watched Kainara focus on Li Miao and grew jealous.
• Li Miao and Landfall found a small star along the peaceful void path and entered it, discovering a towering wall with a key-shaped groove.
• Li Miao inserted the Coiled Horn Key and infused it with Warfire, causing the wall to rumble and descend.

Li Miao and Landfall found a bizarre greatsword in the reward chamber, and Li Miao triggered the contract left on it by Ancient Dragon Durzakal. After learning the contract had lost its binding force, Li Miao accepted it and returned to Landfall.

• Li Miao and Landfall saw that the chamber held only a huge, strange greatsword embedded in the earth.
• Li Miao approached the weapon and touched its grip, triggering its contract and plunging his vision into darkness.
• Ancient Dragon Durzakal explained that the greatsword was forged from his remains and offered Li Miao its power in exchange for helping him if he fell into danger.
• Li Miao learned the Extinguishing Moment had erased the contract's binding force, leaving it without compulsory consequences.
• Li Miao accepted the contract, the darkness faded, and Landfall called out to him.

Li Miao accepted the contract for an ancient weapon forged by Ancient Dragon Durzakal and chose to keep it in greatsword form. After naming it the Dragon Ridge Greatsword and testing its strength and defense, he wondered why Durzakal had left it behind and remained open to helping the dragon if needed.

• Li Miao discovered that Durzakal’s weapon could change shape, inspected its abilities, and decided its heavy, defensive qualities suited him best as a greatsword.
• Li Miao drew the weapon, named it the Dragon Ridge Greatsword, and tested it by smashing a stone monster and blocking Landfall’s attacks.
• Li Miao concluded that the greatsword was powerful, though he postponed testing its adaptive strike effect.
• Li Miao told Landfall about the weapon and speculated that Durzakal had made it versatile to help more people form a contract.
• Li Miao and Landfall discussed Durzakal’s past and the uncertain reason it had left the weapon, and Li Miao said he would help the dragon if he could.