Chapter Summaries

In the rain-soaked wilderness, Bai Zhi learned that Withered Heart belonged to [Big Bird Spinning Bar] and discussed the anomaly affecting people who gathered there. Withered Heart tried to recruit him by boasting about the guild’s Elite Level titleholders, but Bai Zhi did not agree to join.

• Withered Heart explained that Fireworks of Romance, her Guild Master, had saved Bai Zhi and that she was the Vice Guild Master of [Big Bird Spinning Bar].
• Bai Zhi warned Withered Heart that the wilderness anomaly created personal illusions that could become real, and Withered Heart recalled her Water Puppet.
• Withered Heart showed off her puppets, while Bai Zhi mistakenly guessed their names and suggested they could combine into a Gourd Puppet.
• Withered Heart praised Fireworks of Romance and invited Bai Zhi to join [Big Bird Spinning Bar].
• Withered Heart claimed the guild had three players with Elite Level titles, including Lord of the Five Grains Cycle, Fireworks of Romance, and herself, but Bai Zhi remained silent.

Bai Zhi met Withered Heart, a certified Crafter and Vice Guild Master of [Big Bird Spinning Bar], and tried to recruit her for a dangerous operation promising a Perfect Grade item. After she demanded a 1,000 Game Coin guarantee, she agreed to be teleported.

• Withered Heart tried to recruit Bai Zhi into [Big Bird Spinning Bar], but he refused and learned she earned rewards for recruiting Players.
• Bai Zhi discovered that Withered Heart was the world's sixth [Crafter], and she showed him her Elite-quality [Substitution Doll].
• Withered Heart explained why she used a QQ contact instead of a phone number and asked Bai Zhi whether he wanted to buy the doll.
• Bai Zhi invited Withered Heart to join an operation that could earn her a Perfect Grade item, and she grew interested.
• Withered Heart suspected Bai Zhi might be trying to hypnotize or scam her, but agreed to be teleported after he offered 1,000 Game Coins as a guarantee.

Tian Huo and Bai Zhi prepared to confront a powerful intruder approaching the ruined city, while Tian Huo reflected on the three years of hardship that had shaped her. The chapter ended as the White Horse rider arrived, with Bai Zhi ready to snipe and Tian Huo facing him in the rain.

• Tian Huo warned Bai Zhi that their enemy might have grown strong enough to be a Patrol Envoy, while Bai Zhi said he had found a helper and prepared his [Silver Reaper].
• Tian Huo explained that her Master would stay occupied by the Living Corpses unless someone triggered an Anomaly mechanism, and warned Bai Zhi to run if the fight went badly.
• Tian Huo jumped from the rooftop to buy time, but Bai Zhi decided to join the fight and steal the enemy's Perfect Quality White Horse.
• Tian Huo recalled how she had endured three years in the sealed city, surviving on Flayed Living Corpses and hiding her despair from the remaining survivors.
• Tian Huo saw the White Horse rider emerge from the wilderness and lit a cigarette as he approached.

Bai Zhi appeared between Tian Huo and the blond “Prince” after the man threatened her and taunted her with news of her family’s deaths. He challenged the intruder to give up his horse, strip, and tie himself up, leaving the confrontation unresolved.

• The blond Young Man rode into the city on a White Horse and claimed he had come to take Tian Huo home.
• Tian Huo rejected him, threatened to kill him, and asked about her family.
• The blond Young Man said Tian Huo’s family had died in an Anomaly and showed her their Ashes, then offered to spare her if she became his female slave.
• The blond Young Man threw a dog collar at Tian Huo, but Bai Zhi’s Golden Bullet struck his Golden Shield before it could reach her.
• Bai Zhi appeared between them and refused to stay out of the conflict.
• Bai Zhi told the blond Young Man to give him the White Horse, then strip and tie himself up with a Dog Leash.

Bai Zhi confronted the Blond Young Man, who threatened Tian Huo and her Master and attacked Tian Huo with his White Horse. Bai Zhi rescued Tian Huo and questioned the Blond Young Man’s strange power, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• The Blond Young Man claimed he represented justice and offered Bai Zhi a chance to indulge himself with Zi'er and her Master before taking them away.
• The Blond Young Man taunted Tian Huo and revealed his plans to enslave her and turn her Master into a combat weapon if she could not be saved.
• Tian Huo attacked the Blond Young Man, but his White Horse’s golden shield repelled her and its hooves nearly crushed her.
• Bai Zhi appeared beneath the White Horse, rescued Tian Huo, and challenged the Blond Young Man about his attempt to kill her.
• Bai Zhi observed that Tian Huo’s attack seemed strangely ineffective and speculated that the Blond Young Man’s power might grow through anger.

Bai Zhi realized the Blond Young Man grew stronger by provoking others into anger and warned Tian Huo to control her emotions. After the Blond Young Man revealed he had noticed Bai Zhi’s nonhuman form and attacked, a Young Girl sent her puppets against him, awakening a gigantic Stone Giant beneath the wilderness.

• Bai Zhi deduced that the Blond Young Man gained strength from others’ anger and cautioned Tian Huo to calm down.
• The Blond Young Man spotted the blackness beneath Bai Zhi’s injured arm, then declared that Bai Zhi and the others would not leave alive.
• The Blond Young Man sliced a Wooden Puppet in two, angering the Young Girl who controlled it from a Residential Building.
• The Young Girl summoned her puppets, and emerald vines and a Stone Hand rose to attack the Blond Young Man.
• Bai Zhi and Tian Huo escaped the Stone Hand while the Blond Young Man’s White Horse shattered it.
• The stones reformed around the White Horse and the Blond Young Man as a colossal Stone Giant began rising from underground.

Bai Zhi, Tian Huo, and the Sniper confronted the Blond Young Man as a massive Stone Giant began rising beneath them. After the Blond Young Man was struck and swallowed by the Stone Giant’s hand, Bai Zhi’s Shadow Puppet crumbled away, leaving the outcome uncertain.

• The Blond Young Man shattered the Stone Giant’s forming arm and flew toward the city on his White Horse, evading Tian Huo’s seven Fire Dragons.
• The Blond Young Man tried to reach the city, but a figure wielding Tian Kong’s knife blocked his path and destroyed the White Horse with a strike.
• The Blond Young Man recognized the figure as an Inheritor and demanded to know where his true body was.
• The Sniper shot the Blond Young Man with a golden Bullet, cracking his Golden Crown and sending him into the Stone Giant’s palm, which closed around him.
• Bai Zhi’s Shadow Puppet noted that the Blond Young Man had many life-saving items, then crumbled into ash after its arm and weapon were destroyed.

Bai Zhi and Withered Heart argued over the destruction of her Earth Puppet after he used the wilderness Anomaly to create a gigantic Monster. Before they could escape, the Blond Young Man attacked and nearly killed Withered Heart, while a strange child's voice began singing about her death.

• Bai Zhi offered Withered Heart loot and money to make up for the loss of her Five Elements Puppets, and they haggled over the compensation.
• The Blond Young Man suddenly appeared above them and struck Withered Heart with a lightning-fast sword attack.
• Withered Heart's shield shattered, and she was left gravely wounded with her body embedded in a building wall.
• The Blond Young Man confronted Bai Zhi and threatened to kill everyone, accusing him of humiliating him despite not being an Inheritor.
• A strange little girl's voice began singing about Withered Heart's injuries and death.

Bai Zhi watched Withered Heart revive through the Elite Level [Marionette] Title, then confronted the Blond Young Man as the city shook. Before Bai Zhi could attack, a purple-haired Young Girl appeared and bombarded him with missiles.

• Withered Heart's White Puppet Strings raised her corpse, and a Puppet Doll used the [Marionette] Title to carry her to Bai Zhi.
• The Puppet Doll vanished, Withered Heart's wounds healed, and Bai Zhi teleported her away after she woke in his arms.
• Bai Zhi and the Blond Young Man exchanged threats while the city's ground trembled beneath the Black Rain.
• The Blond Young Man launched a missile barrage at Bai Zhi, and a purple-haired Young Girl appeared beneath the Black Rain Curtain.

The Blond Young Man survived Bai Zhi’s ambush but recognized how thoroughly Bai Zhi had outmaneuvered him. He dismissed the suspiciously dropped Rubik’s Cube and prepared to seal the Curse Origin so he could capture the purple-haired girl.

• The Blond Young Man assessed the losses Bai Zhi had inflicted and realized he had been led into a chain of traps.
• The Pitch Black Rubik’s Cube fell from the rubble, but the Blond Young Man suspected it was bait and moved away from it.
• The Blond Young Man identified the purple-haired girl as his true Quest Target and considered Tian Huo and the research achievements expendable.
• As the city shook, the Blond Young Man prepared to seal the Curse Origin, which would put the monsters and the purple-haired girl into dormancy.

Bai Zhi fled through the collapsing city while reasoning through his plan to use the Blond Young Man to help extract and seal Tian Huo’s Master’s Curse Origin. He recovered the [Pitch Black Rubik's Cube] and left the outcome to Tian Huo’s Master.

• As artillery and collapsing buildings devastated the city, a massive stone arm burst from the ground as the Stone Giant began to awaken.
• Bai Zhi realized the [Pitch Black Rubik's Cube] could not enter the shadows with him, and his Spiritual Energy had nearly run out after using numerous abilities and items.
• Bai Zhi reasoned that the Blond Young Man would likely use a Puzzle Card to seal the Mechanized Girl and planned to use him as hired muscle while Tian Huo extracted her Master’s Curse Origin.
• Bai Zhi exchanged places with a Shadow Guard and found the [Pitch Black Rubik's Cube] still lying in the street.
• Bai Zhi picked up the Magic Cube and said that everything now depended on Tian Huo’s Master.

The Blond Young Man decided to prioritize containing the destruction in the city before dealing with Ziyi, while planning to capture her afterward. He prepared a valuable Half-Epic Puzzle Card and dismissed the threat posed by the person who had wounded him.

• The Blond Young Man saw that the Stone Giant emerging beneath the city threatened the Domain of Delirium and decided he could no longer delay dealing with the crisis.
• The Blond Young Man recalled how an attacker had damaged his crown and wounded him, and vowed to torture the attacker if they appeared again.
• The Blond Young Man examined the Half-Epic Puzzle Card the Council had given him and considered its power and the risks of combining it with another card.
• The Blond Young Man reflected that Tian Huo would not surrender or help him, and blamed the attacker for interrupting his plan to deal with Ziyi.
• The Blond Young Man noted that more than five hours remained before the next safety protocol and warned his unseen enemy to prepare an excuse to beg for mercy.

Tian Huo confronted the Blond Young Man after Ziyi and the underground Stone Giant were sealed and put into dormancy, while a hidden ally stole the box containing the Pitch Black Rubik's Cube. The Blond Young Man taunted Tian Huo about her family and blamed her Master for their downfall, as Ziyi began to awaken behind him.

• The Blond Young Man sealed the Pitch Black Rubik's Cube in a box and left Ziyi and the underground Stone Giant dormant with the Puzzle Card▪Guardian.
• The Blond Young Man taunted Tian Huo and demanded that she become his slave, while a hidden ally quietly stored the box in an Inventory.
• Tian Huo asked the Blond Young Man about his Level and what had happened outside during her three years of captivity.
• The Blond Young Man said Tian Huo's family had been ruined and their assets taken, then blamed her Master's sacrifice for their destruction.
• Tian Huo condemned the Blond Young Man and his allies, and Ziyi slowly opened her eyes behind him.

Tian Huo confronted the Blond Young Man over her past and her parents, but Bai Zhi destroyed the Puzzle Card’s seal and brought about her awakening. With the Curse Origin Devoured, Bai Zhi realized he might have saved Tian Huo’s world.

• Tian Huo told the Blond Young Man she still blamed her Master personally, despite recognizing her as a Hero, and asked whether he had killed her parents.
• The Blond Young Man claimed Anomalies had killed Tian Huo’s parents and mocked her as she knelt before him.
• Tian Huo awakened, cut off the Blond Young Man’s hand and legs, and warned him to stay silent.
• Bai Zhi appeared beside the box and revealed that the Pitch Black Rubik’s Cube had Devoured the Curse Origin.
• Bai Zhi concluded that destroying the Curse Origin completely would mean confronting the Lord of Anomaly behind it, and wondered whether he had saved a world.

Bai Zhi negotiated his reward while the Purple-haired Girl and Tian Huo confronted the ruin of their master-disciple relationship. Tian Huo rejected her master and killed the Blond Young Man, leaving their separation final.

• Bai Zhi put the Pitch Black Rubik's Cube away after it devoured the Curse Origin.
• The Purple-haired Girl apologized to Tian Huo, who asked to stop being her disciple, and the Purple-haired Girl agreed.
• Bai Zhi insisted that his help had been a transaction and urged the Purple-haired Girl to take the Blond Young Man's Puzzle Card and White Horse figurine.
• The Purple-haired Girl said she would take the Blond Young Man back and settle accounts, but Tian Huo shot him dead.
• Tian Huo told the bewildered Purple-haired Girl that she was no longer her disciple.

After the battle, Bai Zhi offered Tian Huo a place in his dead world after she rejected returning to her ruined home. Tian Huo considered the offer and awaited her Little Brother and former Master, who were on their way to the city.

• Bai Zhi asked Tian Huo about her future, and she said she had no home to return to.
• Tian Huo asked whether Bai Zhi regretted killing the man; Bai Zhi said he had eliminated a threat and kept the incomplete Prince Set.
• Bai Zhi invited Tian Huo to his desolate world, and she said she did not want to return home or stay where she was.
• Bai Zhi warned Tian Huo that his world was completely dead and unreconstructed, but she said she did not care.
• Tian Huo told Bai Zhi she had already informed Tian Kong, who was heading to the city with her former Master, and Bai Zhi invited her to help prepare grilled meat.

Bai Zhi examined the spoils from the battle, including an incomplete Elite Level [Prince's Set] and the Perfect Grade mount [Earth Horse], while Tian Huo ate by the campfire. Withered Heart and a crowd of hungry survivors arrived, and the purple-haired girl asked Bai Zhi to speak with her outside.

• Tian Huo devoured grilled meat and wooden skewers while Bai Zhi left her by the campfire to inspect his spoils.
• Bai Zhi examined the incomplete Elite Level [Prince's Set] and discovered the [Earth Horse]'s abilities and demanding usage conditions.
• A Young Girl rushed into the Library and demanded the [Earth Horse], but Bai Zhi stored it in his Inventory and offered Withered Heart the Elite Level equipment instead.
• Withered Heart objected to receiving a sword because she was a Puppeteer who summoned from range.
• Nearly a hundred ordinary people gathered around the campfire, drawn by the smell of meat, but none dared approach Tian Huo.
• The purple-haired girl asked Bai Zhi to come outside because she had something to ask him.

Bai Zhi confronted the purple-haired girl about the Council’s role in the Fantasy Curse disaster and argued that they had manipulated her into sacrificing herself. She stayed silent as he suggested her sacrifice was connected to the Core Zone’s crisis, then asked whether she had already known the truth.

• The purple-haired girl asked Bai Zhi to take care of Tian Huo, explaining that she intended to return to her own world to help the people left behind and settle scores.
• Bai Zhi questioned why the Council had not used its Puzzle Card to save her and challenged her explanation that there had been no time.
• Bai Zhi argued that Curse-type Anomalies could not be controlled by containing them in a physical entity and said the Fantasy Curse had been artificially created and released.
• Bai Zhi reasoned that the Council had known the Core Zone was in trouble well before it erupted and had deliberately left the purple-haired girl with little time to act.
• Bai Zhi accused the Council of using her willingness to sacrifice herself, speculated that her sacrifice was needed to resolve the Core Zone’s crisis, and asked if she had already known.

Bai Zhi uncovered how the purple-haired Young Girl had been manipulated into sacrificing herself and others, then urged her to blame the people who orchestrated it rather than herself. She remained determined to return, avenge those who suffered, clear Tian Huo’s name, and protect her world, while Bai Zhi promised to look after Tian Huo.

• The Young Girl admitted she had suspected something was wrong but had chosen to save hundreds of thousands of people as a Patrol Envoy.
• She questioned why the families and followers of a Hero had been persecuted, and Bai Zhi told her that she, Tian Huo, and the dead Researchers had all been treated as sacrifices by the people behind the plot.
• Bai Zhi said he would protect those close to him and asked whether she would sacrifice herself if the Council claimed it was necessary to save the Core Zone.
• The Young Girl said she would sacrifice herself to protect the billions of ordinary people in her world.
• Bai Zhi returned to the Library and promised to look after Tian Huo, while the Young Girl stayed behind, intent on avenging old wrongs and reclaiming justice.

Bai Zhi reflected on the purple-haired girl's self-sacrificing beliefs and wondered what secrets lay in the Core Zone. Back in the Library, Xu Lian joined Withered Heart's Player Guild, and Withered Heart argued with Bai Zhi over his White Horse.

• Bai Zhi considered Tian Huo's resentment toward her Master and concluded that the two Patrol Envoys were responsible for the conflict.
• Bai Zhi wondered what had happened in the Core Zone and what the Council was hiding.
• Xu Lian told Bai Zhi that the purple-haired girl had healed her hand and that she had joined Withered Heart's Player Guild, Big Bird Spinning Bar.
• Withered Heart complained that Bai Zhi had taken her White Horse and threatened to make a Prince Puppet modeled after him.
• Bai Zhi insisted that adults chose to have everything, continuing his argument with Withered Heart over the horse.