Chapter Summaries

Xilos saved Murong Xue and Long Aoshuang from a giant insect’s suicidal charge, then Long Aoshuang raised concerns that similar monsters might appear elsewhere. She feared the Black Fog monsters could have gained intelligence, leaving the group facing a potentially wider threat.

• Xilos toyed with the giant insect while Murong Xue shielded Long Aoshuang and the Shelter personnel nearby.
• The insect suddenly changed course and charged at Murong Xue and the others, prompting Xilos to rush in and protect them.
• Xilos killed the insect, while Murong Xue and Long Aoshuang recovered from their brush with death.
• Long Aoshuang arranged for the survivors to be collected and warned them not to tell ordinary people about the monsters without Lord Shen’s approval.
• Long Aoshuang told Murong Xue she suspected similar monsters might appear elsewhere and that the Black Fog monsters might have gained intelligence.

Long Aoshuang explained why Shen Yi’s power should remain hidden, then she and Murong Xue went to visit the elves’ new location. Three hours later, Lin Zhiwei was studying a black fragment in her laboratory when Wen Ke’er, Nila Shun, and Shimada Yukimi returned to the Shelter, leaving Lin Tu to ask what had brought them back.

• Long Aoshuang told Xilos that Shen Yi should avoid displaying his strength so the Shelter’s people would not become resentful or overly dependent on him.
• Murong Xue said she and Long Aoshuang would visit the elves’ new location because Shen Yi had asked who was nearby.
• Lin Zhiwei tested a black carapace fragment in her laboratory, while Lin Tu complained about the noise from her experiments.
• Wen Ke’er, Nila Shun, and Shimada Yukimi arrived at the laboratory, and Lin Tu asked whether they had brought news or a request from Shen Yi.

Wen Ke'er and Shimada Yukimi learned that the new insect monsters were heavily armored and had already killed seventeen people, while Lin Zhiwei struggled to damage a carapace fragment. Back with Shen Yi, Wen Ke'er recalled painful memories of the Outer Realm Evil God and the Black Fog on her home planet.

• Wen Ke'er asked Lin Zhiwei about the insect monsters, and Lin Zhiwei confirmed that their defenses resisted even her laboratory equipment.
• Wen Ke'er said the monsters had killed seventeen people and that Long Aoshuang's earlier encounter had been only a probing attack.
• Lin Zhiwei continued testing the carapace fragment and managed to cut only a few millimeters into it, revealing a corroded patch.
• Wen Ke'er and Shimada Yukimi returned to Shen Yi, and Wen Ke'er drank his juice while sulking.
• Wen Ke'er said she had remembered bad memories, and Shen Yi asked if they concerned the Outer Realm Evil God and the Black Fog on her original planet.

Shen Yi planned for the Shelters to respond to further strange-insect attacks while Mei Fu recovered and prepared to seek help from the Elf race. He left the next step until Mei Fu was ready, fourteen Blue Star hours later.

• Wen Ke'er urged Shen Yi to find a safer world, but he insisted he would face any threat alongside his people.
• Shimada Yukimi agreed that they should wait and proposed capturing strange insects or recovering fragments to learn more about them.
• Shen Yi assigned capable fighters to guard the Shelters and respond to insect attacks, while prioritizing the prevention of casualties.
• Mei Fu emerged from the Elf Tree and said she could guard the area, then expected to recover and have a seventy percent chance of persuading Kolun and the other elves to help.
• Shen Yi agreed to take Mei Fu to the Elf race after fourteen Blue Star hours.

Shen Yi gathered with the women in the Shelter as Lin Zhiwei reported on the mutant insects, the Consciousness Collective, and the Black Fog. The insect threat seemed familiar, but the faster-corroding Black Fog in the Shadow World remained a concern as Lin Zhiwei was asked what else her reports revealed.

• Shen Yi stayed calm while the women worried about Mei Fu's situation and the dangers confronting them.
• Long Aoshuang and Lin Zhiwei brought Shen Yi research files and displayed a mutant insect carapace, which Lin Zhiwei identified as a stronger variety of insects they had encountered before.
• Shen Yi dismissed most of the women, then asked Lin Zhiwei about the Consciousness Collective's condition.
• Lin Zhiwei reported that the Consciousness Collective showed no signs of communication and had severely disrupted brainwave patterns.
• Lin Zhiwei compared the Black Fog in both worlds and said it corrupted living beings much faster in the Shadow World, prompting Wen Ke'er to note that power offered some resistance.
• Wen Ke'er asked Lin Zhiwei what else she had to report.

Shen Yi gathered the women to review reports about the monstrous insects and considered how to confront them. Winnie revealed that the Insect Race forbade individuality and said the swarm would contain a controller they could investigate.

• Lin Zhiwei shared her reports, and Shen Yi synchronized their contents directly into the gathered women’s minds.
• Long Aoshuang said her trained people were unlikely to adapt to the new weapons, while Fu Yunxi and Shimada Yukimi discussed the threats and limits of using them against the insects.
• Shen Yi asked about Mei Fu’s recovery and how far Shimada Yukimi and Fei Mi could suppress their power.
• Winnie appeared and told Shen Yi she did not know the insects’ origins, then explained that the Insect Race treated individuality as taboo and that one insect would be able to control the others.

Shen Yi explained that his distrust of Shimada Yukimi came from his suspicions about Winnie, who shared her body, while Fei Mi worried that his caution had hurt Yukimi. Yukimi joined Long Aoshuang at the command post, where she quickly learned a new weapon and was asked about the Authority Winnie had mentioned.

• Xilos and Long Aoshuang considered whether consciousness transfer could explain why the bug monsters had a new manager, but Shen Yi put off further speculation and sent Shimada Yukimi out with the special field personnel.
• Fei Mi questioned why Shen Yi was keeping Yukimi close without taking her in, and Shen Yi said Yukimi's flawless conduct made him wary because he did not trust Winnie.
• Fei Mi suggested Shen Yi might have hurt Yukimi's feelings, and Shen Yi teased her by asking whether he should take Yukimi in that day.
• At the command post, Long Aoshuang taught Yukimi to use a weapon, and Yukimi mastered its basics in less than half an hour.
• Long Aoshuang asked Yukimi what the Authority Winnie had mentioned meant and whether Winnie had explained it to her.

Shen Yi helped Mei Fu recover, and the Elf Tree advanced to its next stage of growth, raising its chance of surviving transplantation to thirty percent. Mei Fu said a High Elf’s sacrifice or an infusion of stronger power could improve its odds, leaving Shen Yi to ask what those options would require of Xilos.

• Long Aoshuang told Shimada Yukimi that she could handle urgent matters during the upcoming mission, while Shimada Yukimi hesitated to explain her Authority.
• A brilliant green light spread through the Shelter as the Elf Tree grew taller and entered its next stage.
• Mei Fu thanked Shen Yi for his help and said the Elf Tree’s normal growth period had shortened by around one hundred and fifty years.
• Mei Fu told Shen Yi that the Elf Tree now had a thirty percent chance of surviving, whereas its odds had previously been nearly zero.
• Mei Fu said a High Elf’s sacrifice or the infusion of stronger power could raise the odds, and Shen Yi asked what those methods would require of Xilos.

Mei Fu explained the Elf race’s origins and why natural spirits like Xilos were both revered and feared. She revealed that their birth came at the cost of other elves, but had not yet explained the full price.

• Mei Fu said Xilos would most likely die in her current condition, then explained that elves could live for thousands of years and far longer after growing stronger.
• Shen Yi asked why the Elf race had so few survivors despite its long-lived and powerful members.
• Shen Yi isolated the group from their surroundings and invited Mei Fu to speak freely about the Elf race’s secrets.
• Mei Fu explained that elves were born from the Elf Tree, which formed from the realm’s purest substance and primordial Psionic Energy.
• Mei Fu said pure spirits of nature were powerful, long-lived elves who were placed on the throne, but their birth and power came at the cost of other elves.
• Shen Yi asked whether the Elf Tree existed to bear and pass on power.

Mei Fu explained how the Elf Tree carried the elves’ power and how Xilos became their Clan Leader. Shen Yi and Shimada Yukimi realized that Xilos and the Elf race had been forced into a trap over the Source of Black Mist, but Shen Yi’s ability to cross worlds had given them a possible way forward.

• Mei Fu explained that the Elf Tree preserved and passed down the elves’ power, and that Xilos had been born from the previous Clan Leader’s sacrifice.
• Mei Fu revealed that the Elf Tree was fragile and vital to the elves, making its difficult transplantation a closely guarded secret.
• Shen Yi and Shimada Yukimi inferred that other races had maneuvered Xilos into taking responsibility for sealing the Source of Black Mist while leaving the Elf race vulnerable.
• Shimada Yukimi understood that Xilos had risked provoking the Overseers and threatening to unseal the Source of Black Mist to protect her people.
• Shen Yi’s ability to cross barriers and travel between worlds offered Xilos and the Elf race a turning point.

Mei Fu explained that Xilos had sacrificed her power to make the Elf Tree grow and would die if she did so again, so she refused to ask for another sacrifice. As Shen Yi and the others reached the elves’ settlement, Winnie questioned Shimada Yukimi’s trust in Shen Yi and wondered whether there was anything he could not resolve.

• Mei Fu confirmed that Xilos had used her own power to catalyze the Elf Tree’s first growth, and warned that another such sacrifice would kill her.
• Mei Fu refused to tell the elves or ask Xilos to sacrifice herself again, saying she hoped Xilos could leave the Elf race behind.
• Shen Yi assured Mei Fu that they would find another way, then headed with Shimada Yukimi and Long Aoshuang toward the elves’ settlement.
• Winnie told Shimada Yukimi that the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha was extraordinarily precious and wondered why Shen Yi treated it so casually.
• At the settlement, Kolun watched Shen Yi and Mei Fu arrive as Winnie challenged Shimada Yukimi’s belief that Shen Yi could solve everything.

Winnie warned Shimada Yukimi that Shen Yi’s plan to enlist the Elves might force Xilos to sacrifice herself to restore the Elf Tree. After Shimada told Shen Yi, Kolun asked about Xilos, and Mei Fu insisted the Elf race stop tying its affairs to her.

• Shimada Yukimi watched Shen Yi and Mei Fu persuade most of the Elves to join the fight against the monster insects.
• Winnie explained that Shen Yi could restore the Elf Tree either through Xilos’s sacrifice or by using his remaining Seven-Petaled Polo Sha, and Shimada realized Xilos might choose to sacrifice herself.
• Shimada Yukimi warned Shen Yi about the possibility, and Shen Yi’s expression briefly turned cold.
• Kolun asked Shen Yi where Xilos was, and Shen Yi said her whereabouts had nothing to do with Kolun.
• Mei Fu told Kolun that Xilos was safe and urged him not to involve her in the Elf race’s affairs if he wanted her to live in peace.

Shimada Yukimi explained to Kolun that Xilos had entrusted him with leading the Elf race and that he needed to prove he deserved the role. Kolun was left frozen as Mei Fu joined the other elves and Shen Yi departed.

• Kolun asked about Mei Fu's recovery and when the Elf Tree could be transplanted, but Shen Yi answered for her and ordered the elves to help fight the monster insects.
• Shen Yi criticized Kolun, lifted the barrier, and vanished, leaving Mei Fu, Long Aoshuang, Nila Shun, and Shimada Yukimi behind.
• Mei Fu went with Long Aoshuang and Nila Shun to join the elves below, while Kolun asked Shimada Yukimi what Shen Yi had meant.
• Shimada Yukimi questioned Kolun about his leadership and told him to prove he deserved Xilos's trust or ask Shen Yi to help him find Xilos.
• Kolun froze after Shimada Yukimi challenged him to recognize his responsibility as Clan Leader of the Elf race.

Shen Yi considered the Black Fog, Winnie’s hidden knowledge, and his suspicions that Xilos was concealing something about the Elf race. When Xilos came to discuss the Elf Tree, he criticized her and Kolun for their different kinds of stubbornness.

• Shen Yi reflected on the Shadow World’s Source of Black Mist, the mysterious object from the True Demon, and the way his Familiar Mark seemed to strengthen him.
• He suspected Winnie knew the Black Fog’s origin and why other worlds had been invaded, and he decided he needed to pressure her and Xilos for answers.
• Xilos came to Shen Yi to discuss the Elf Tree, and he immediately identified her purpose.
• Shen Yi compared Xilos with Kolun, calling her stubborn for trying to change a bad outcome and describing Kolun as a dutiful puppet.
• Xilos questioned Shen Yi’s meaning, and he said Kolun lacked her stubborn refusal to admit a mistake.

Shen Yi showed Xilos a Seven-Petaled Polo Sha and explained that he had found it in a technologically advanced underground city. Xilos asked him to take her there, but they arrived in a barren, dusty landscape instead, leaving Shen Yi confused.

• Shen Yi revealed a Polo Sha petal and asked Xilos how much it could help save the Elf Tree.
• Xilos recognized the Polo Sha and realized it had seven petals, a legendary treasure powerful enough to heal her injuries and help cultivate a new Elf Tree.
• Shen Yi said he had found the Polo Sha in a place where advanced technology and Psionic Energy coexisted.
• Xilos asked Shen Yi to take her to the place, and he brought them through a portal.
• Xilos found herself in a dim, dusty wasteland and asked Shen Yi if he was having fun at her expense.
• Shen Yi, certain he had chosen the underground city's location, opened another portal and vanished with Xilos.

Shen Yi and Xilos failed to teleport to the underground labyrinth, while the Shadow World overseers discovered that the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha had vanished without leaving a trace. The Venerable One gave the remaining overseers four days to find it, and Old Three then drew a strange trace of aura from the space.

• Shen Yi realized that he and Xilos had arrived in the wrong place and teleported away again.
• The Venerable One and three cloaked overseers appeared, but Old Five reported that their detection methods had found no trace of the intruders.
• The Venerable One blasted the overseers with his power and killed one of them for failing to protect the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha.
• The remaining overseers restored the dead overseer’s body and acknowledged that a thousand years of effort had been ruined.
• The Venerable One gave the overseers four days to find the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha, and Old Three pulled a strange trace of aura from the space.

Several cloaked regulators investigated a faint aura beside an elven one and used Abyss Measuring Sand to identify it as human. Their argument over the lost Polo Sha ended with Third Brother invoking the first clause of the Regulator Contract and reminding them that responsibility was shared.

• A regulator examined a nearly invisible aura and found it difficult to analyze, while another brought out Abyss Measuring Sand to test it.
• The Abyss Measuring Sand reacted with a dark gray color, and the man who tested it concluded that the aura belonged to a human.
• The others doubted the result, but the man argued that a human had accompanied an elf, bypassed their tracking measures, and taken the Polo Sha without triggering warnings.
• One regulator blamed the lost Polo Sha on the Succubus race and complained that the others had to clean up the failure.
• Third Brother asked the group to recite the Regulator Contract’s first clause and said the loss was not solely the guard’s fault, questioning the responsibilities of Sixth Brother and Fourth Brother as well.

Several supervisors argued over the missing Seven-Petaled Polo Sha and prepared to seal the Source of Black Mist before their lord awakened. Back on Blue Star, Xilos told Shen Yi that four beings in Shadow World history were far more powerful than her, leaving him to consider who had altered the place where the Polo Sha had been found.

• A supervisor accused the others of failing to secure the Seven-Petaled Polo Sha and ordered them to seal the Source of Black Mist before their lord awakened.
• Seventh questioned why they had weakened the Elf race, but Third Brother defended the plan because Xilos had become unexpectedly powerful.
• The supervisors discussed the lord's impending awakening and the missing Polo Sha, then returned to their posts when Third Brother dismissed them.
• Shen Yi brought Xilos back to his bedroom and confirmed that the city and underground labyrinth where he had obtained the Polo Sha had disappeared amid signs of spatial power and hidden restrictions.
• Shen Yi asked whether anyone in Shadow World history was far more powerful than Xilos, and Xilos answered that there were four such beings.

Xilos told Shen Yi about Karl Reed, the erased human powerhouse whose failed attempt to seize the Twilight Abyss’s lifeline devastated the Shadow World and condemned humanity. Shen Yi understood why humans had fallen so low, leaving Xilos astonished by his response.

• Xilos described Alicia, Valentine, and Reed as powerful historical figures whose abilities had reshaped the Shadow World.
• Xilos revealed that the last figure was Karl Reed, a human known as the Star Annihilator, whose name other races had erased.
• Xilos explained that Karl had altered the Twilight Abyss’s lifeline and tried to use the power of human leaders to surpass his limits.
• Karl’s attempt failed, destroying a quarter of the Shadow World and killing at least 1.6 million people.
• The other races took revenge on humanity, slaughtering most survivors and leaving the remaining humans powerless; Shen Yi said he understood, astonishing Xilos.

Shen Yi and Long Aoshuang coordinated a planned operation to lure and attack the bug monsters, but Lin Tu’s reconnaissance revealed eighteen enemies, including eight unlike the expected type. The chapter ended with Lin Tu and Mia staring at a vast mass of dark mist gathering over the sky.

• Shen Yi sent Xilos away and turned the group’s attention to the approaching bug monsters.
• Long Aoshuang directed the zones to lure the enemies toward Fu Yunxi’s heavy weapons, while Shen Yi reassured Long Aoshuang that he had prepared support and safeguards.
• Lin Tu and Mia observed the sky from Zone A, 14B, as a group of bug monsters swept past and attacked fleeing Black Mist Mutated Beasts.
• Mia stopped the soldiers from firing and helped Lin Tu report that eighteen bug monsters had appeared, including eight with different colors and body patterns.
• Lin Tu spotted a vast, dense mass of dark mist hanging over the sky.