Chapter Summaries

Instructor Hong assigned Lin Qiye to lead a rescue squad into Jinnan Mountain’s most remote disaster-stricken village, while recruits prepared to rescue survivors across eight villages. At Village No. 7, a desperate man searched the ruins for his family before military trucks arrived and rescuers charged into the village.

• Instructor Hong explained the rescue plan and named Lin Qiye captain of the squad heading to Village No. 1.
• Instructor Hong selected Baili Tumming, Shen Qingzhu, Molly, Deng Wei, Li Jia, Li Liang, and Wen Qingqing for the squad and distributed Star Sabers to the recruits.
• A wounded man returned to the buried Village No. 7 and frantically dug at the ruins of his family’s house.
• Military trucks arrived at Village No. 7, and Lin Qiye and the other rescuers leaped out and rushed toward the devastated village.

Lin Qiye and the recruits rushed to aid villages devastated by mudslides while Yuan Gang coordinated rescue teams at headquarters. As the rain froze and the others disappeared, Yuan Gang confronted the Whisperer.

• Lin Qiye watched a grieving survivor being carried from Village No. 7 as rescue teams continued toward other disaster sites.
• At Village No. 5, recruits jumped from the moving truck and shouted that Great Xia soldiers had come, while the truck carried the remaining nine toward Jinnan Mountain.
• Yuan Gang received status reports from the rescue teams and studied the risks of continued heavy rain.
• The rain stopped in midair, the instructors vanished, and the Whisperer approached Yuan Gang through the altered world.
• Yuan Gang identified the Whisperer as an Ancient God Church god and creator of the Believer's Contract, and the Whisperer greeted him as Chief Yuan.

The Whisperer revealed that the disasters around Jinnan Mountain were nightmares meant to keep Yuan Gang from interfering with an attack on Lin Qiye, then trapped Yuan Gang in a nightmare. Lin Qiye and the others pressed toward Village No. 1 through the storm, where Baili Pangpang blocked a landslide and led the team onward.

• Yuan Gang deduced that the Whisperer had sent followers to target Lin Qiye while using a nightmare projection to hold him back.
• The Whisperer trapped Yuan Gang in a nightmare, and instructors searching for him found that he had vanished.
• Lin Qiye led the team through the forest toward Village No. 1 after a landslide blocked their truck's route.
• Lin Qiye spotted a second landslide, and Baili Pangpang stopped Molly from using her Forbidden Ruins and raised a golden wall to block it.
• Baili Pangpang returned to the formation without boasting, and Molly watched him with newfound admiration.

Lin Qiye and Rescue Team No. 1 reached Village No. 1 and rescued all seventeen survivors, but Commander Yuan Gang was missing. After reporting their success, the exhausted team stayed to guard the wounded and waited for follow-up rescuers.

• Instructor Hong learned that Yuan Gang had been missing for eight hours, and the team hurried toward Village No. 1.
• The team found no sign of Yuan Gang and split up to search for survivors, with Lin Qiye locating them and Wen Qingqing treating the wounded.
• Rescue Team No. 1 rescued all seventeen survivors and reported the completed operation to headquarters.
• Instructor Hong told the team to guard the wounded until the official rescue force arrived, then leave without meeting them.
• Baili Pangpang fell asleep against Molly's shoulder, and Molly let him rest there.

After a mudslide, Yaya woke among the survivors and learned that her grandparents had died while her parents were missing in the mountains. The group decided to stay together and wait for rescue, leaving Yaya's parents' fate unresolved as Instructor Hong urged the rookies to rest before their oath ceremony.

• Yaya woke and found her grandparents among the dead, and Wen Qingqing comforted her by saying they were asleep.
• Shen Qingzhu learned that Yaya's parents had gone into the mountains, then suggested searching for them.
• Instructor Hong refused to split the group, citing the danger and the slim chance that Yaya's parents had survived.
• Wen Qingqing put Yaya to sleep and covered her with her military coat.
• Instructor Hong praised the rookies' growth and criticized Shen Qingzhu's temper, prompting Shen Qingzhu to walk away.

Shen Qingzhu and three fellow trainees secretly searched the mountains for Yaya’s parents, while Lin Qiye prepared a way to help them. After they found a woman’s shoe, Li Jia encountered a sinister axe-wielding man who threatened to kill him.

• Deng Wei, Li Jia, and Li Liang joined Shen Qingzhu in searching the muddy mountains for clues to Yaya’s parents.
• Lin Qiye told Baili Pangpang that the searchers had entered the mountains and gathered bats and insects to help them.
• Shen Qingzhu’s group found a battered women’s sneaker embedded in the mud and spread out to search nearby.
• Li Jia met an axe-carrying man, who denied knowing Yaya and said Li Jia’s head looked ripe to pick.
• The man swung his axe at Li Jia.

Shen Qingzhu and the others encountered a brutal enemy in the forest, while Lin Qiye discovered that powerful intruders had entered the mountains. Suspecting that he was their target, Lin Qiye split the group’s tasks and prepared to draw the other enemies away from Village No. 1.

• A bare-chested man carrying an axe and Li Jia’s severed head appeared before Shen Qingzhu, Deng Wei, and Li Liang, and Shen Qingzhu charged him in rage.
• Lin Qiye told Instructor Hong that he had detected three enemies at the 'River' realm and another who might be at the 'Sea' realm near the rescue teams.
• An explosion sounded from the direction of Shen Qingzhu’s group, and Instructor Hong requested support before learning that other instructors would take more than three hours to arrive.
• Lin Qiye suspected the intruders were targeting him and warned that the rescue operation might be compromised by a mole among the Night Watchmen’s upper ranks.
• Lin Qiye sent Instructor Hong and Baili Pangpang to rescue Shen Qingzhu’s group, assigned Molly and Wen Qingqing to hide the survivors, and planned to lure away the other three enemies.

Lin Qiye left Village No. 1 and drew the enemy fighters toward himself to protect the others while buying time for reinforcements. As Baili Pangpang headed to help Shen Qingzhu, Instructor Hong was ambushed, and the suspected Sea realm fighter stayed behind to investigate a Blazing Vein Earth Dragon.

• Lin Qiye convinced Instructor Hong that he would draw the enemies away and stall them in the forest, then left the village and released the Seraph's divine might to attract them.
• A fighter in a baseball cap sensed Lin Qiye's divine pressure and rushed toward him, while another River realm expert did the same.
• The suspected Sea realm expert chose not to pursue Lin Qiye and instead focused on the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon sleeping inside a cave.
• Instructor Hong leaped toward Shen Qingzhu's battle but was caught by hidden vines and attacked by an enemy emerging from a tree trunk.
• Baili Pangpang saw Instructor Hong being held up and chose to sprint toward Shen Qingzhu instead.

Lin Qiye and Mumu ambushed Zhuang Qi with a buried mine, a rocket, and a barrage of transformed guns, but Zhuang Qi survived and pursued them. The chase continued as Lin Qiye tried to escape and learned that Zhuang Qi could break apart and control his hunting knife.

• Zhuang Qi tracked Lin Qiye through the jungle and stepped on an anti-tank mine planted beside a piece of bark.
• Lin Qiye sent Mumu to fire a rocket at the injured Zhuang Qi, then fled with Mumu over his shoulder.
• Zhuang Qi survived the blast and chased after Lin Qiye, nearly catching him.
• At Lin Qiye's command, Mumu grew larger and fired a barrage of guns at Zhuang Qi.
• Zhuang Qi shattered and controlled his hunting knife to block the bullets, then used the fragments to withstand another rocket.

Lin Qiye escaped Zhuang Qi’s encircling blade fragments by using Mumu and explosives to launch them into the air and out of danger. Elsewhere, a burly axe-wielding man survived a blast and taunted his opponent.

• Lin Qiye learned from the bats that another River Realm enemy was pursuing him, Instructor Hong was occupied, and Baili Pangpang was heading toward Shen Qingzhu.
• Zhuang Qi caught up to Lin Qiye and sent sand-sized hunting knife fragments to surround him.
• Lin Qiye pinned Mumu beneath him, and Mumu produced two packs of explosives from its back.
• The explosives launched Lin Qiye and Mumu out of the blade fragments’ encirclement and toward a distant valley.
• A burly man carrying an axe rose from a crater after a blast and told his opponent that his firepower was still lacking.

Shen Qingzhu fought an axe-wielding enemy while protecting the gravely wounded Li Liang and Deng Wei. He sent Baili Pangpang to carry them to safety and stayed behind to make the enemy pay for his brothers' lives.

• The axe-wielding man broke through Shen Qingzhu's Vacuum Domain, wounded him, and shrugged off his explosive attack.
• Baili Pangpang arrived and struck the man with lightning, but the man quickly scattered the attack and nearly hit him with his axe.
• Shen Qingzhu borrowed Baili Pangpang's Scroll of Sealing and ordered him to take Li Liang and Deng Wei for treatment.
• Shen Qingzhu begged Baili Pangpang to leave with the wounded, and Baili Pangpang carried them down the mountain.
• Shen Qingzhu faced the axe-wielding man alone and vowed to make him pay for his brothers' lives.

Shen Qingzhu used the Scroll of Sealing to survive a Vacuum Domain and killed the wounded River-realm man who had murdered Li Jia. He avenged Li Jia but collapsed unconscious, and Baili Pangpang arrived to find him alive.

• Shen Qingzhu sealed his wounds and expanded his Vacuum Domain to cover the area around him.
• The man charged after Shen Qingzhu, but his wounds began bleeding foamy blood as the vacuum weakened him.
• Shen Qingzhu chased the man as he tried to escape, keeping him trapped in the moving Vacuum Domain.
• The man collapsed, and Shen Qingzhu picked up the axe and beheaded him.
• As air returned, Shen Qingzhu said he had avenged Li Jia and passed out.
• Baili Pangpang found Shen Qingzhu breathing beside the headless corpse and praised him.

Lin Qiye and Mumu were fleeing two River-realm pursuers when Jinnan Mountain abruptly flipped, dropping them into a deep underground cave. Lin Qiye entered the Psychiatric Hospital to seek help, only to find Nyx, Merlin, Li Yifei, and A Zhu playing mahjong.

• Lin Qiye and Mumu fought off a silver metal beast while escaping Zhuang Qi and another River-realm pursuer.
• The mountain and surrounding landscape tilted as the sky turned flame-red, and gravity shifted wildly.
• Lin Qiye and Mumu fell through darkness and landed unharmed in an underground cave more than a hundred meters below the surface.
• Lin Qiye sent his consciousness into the Psychiatric Hospital and found Nyx, Merlin, Li Yifei, and A Zhu playing mahjong.

Lin Qiye sought Nyx’s help and asked Merlin how to overcome three stronger pursuers; Merlin hinted that he could break the rules by using the hospital’s patients. Lin Qiye contracted with Li Yifei and A Zhu, then entered the underground caves to hunt, while Baili Pangpang found the badly wounded Shen Qingzhu and used a jade shard to help him.

• Lin Qiye reassured A Zhu and Li Yifei, then asked Nyx to lend him her strength when he needed it.
• Merlin deduced that three stronger enemies were hunting Lin Qiye and advised him to use the hospital and its patients to break the rules.
• Lin Qiye realized Merlin’s hint might offer a way forward and formed a Magic Array to sign another contract with Li Yifei and A Zhu.
• After the little mummy returned to its world, Lin Qiye walked into the caves and declared that he would become the hunter.
• Baili Pangpang woke in a cave, found Shen Qingzhu gravely wounded, placed a green jade shard in his chest, and carried him onward.

Baili Pangpang carried the gravely wounded Shen Qingzhu through an underground cave after using the Heaven Returning Jade to save his life. When Zhuang Qi and the silver man caught up with them, Lin Qiye arrived and faced the pursuers.

• Baili Pangpang told Shen Qingzhu that Li Liang and Deng Wei had survived and explained that the Heaven Returning Jade had kept Shen alive.
• Shen Qingzhu promised to repay Baili Pangpang for using the jade as Baili carried him through the cave.
• Baili Pangpang and Shen Qingzhu hid from Zhuang Qi and the silver man, who were searching the underground caves after an earth dragon turned the mountain.
• The silver man detected their blood, and Zhuang Qi's blade fragments shattered Baili Pangpang's golden shield as they fled.
• The silver man pursued Baili Pangpang and Shen Qingzhu, but Lin Qiye dropped through the cave ceiling and blocked his path with his sword.

Lin Qiye confronted Zhuang Qi and the silver man in the cave while Baili Pangpang carried Shen Qingzhu to safety. He summoned the Chaos Cube to disrupt Zhuang Qi’s blade fragments, then expanded its chaotic space to pull the silver man inside.

• Lin Qiye ordered Baili Pangpang to take Shen Qingzhu and leave, and Shen Qingzhu vowed to destroy the cult if they survived.
• Lin Qiye fought the silver man’s physical assault and used his swordsmanship to block the man’s spear-like arms.
• Zhuang Qi sent a cloud of hunting blade fragments toward Lin Qiye, but Lin Qiye summoned the third-order Chaos Cube from the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods.
• Lin Qiye used the Chaos Cube to scramble nearby space and redirect Zhuang Qi’s blade fragments away from him.
• The silver man attacked from outside the chaotic space with a long bayonet, but Lin Qiye doubled the cube’s range and dragged him inside.

Lin Qiye used the Chaos Cube to trap and wound the silver man while setting up Zhuang Qi for a close-range attack. After killing Zhuang Qi, Lin Qiye buried the silver man and waited until he neared the surface before stabbing him through the skull.

• Lin Qiye trapped the silver man in distorted space and used Zhuang Qi’s blade mist to cut him until the silver man warned Zhuang Qi to stop controlling it.
• Lin Qiye ended the spatial distortion and buried the wounded silver man under falling earth and rocks, then attacked Zhuang Qi as he lost control of his blade mist.
• Zhuang Qi dodged Lin Qiye’s first strike and tried to escape, but Lin Qiye drove his straight blade through Zhuang Qi’s back and killed him.
• Lin Qiye commanded the Chaos Cube to keep burying the silver man, trapping him underground until the cube’s power ran out.
• As the silver man struggled to within a meter of the surface, Lin Qiye stabbed through his eye socket and skull with his straight blade.

Ma Yitian encountered a Blazing Vein Earth Dragon beneath Jinnan Mountain and called for The Whisperer’s help, while The Whisperer fought Yuan Gang inside a lethal Nightmare. The Whisperer ended the Nightmare after receiving unexpected news, and Yuan Gang returned injured to the command post and demanded a report on the mountain.

• Ma Yitian confronted the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon and lost his right arm to its fire.
• Ma Yitian crushed a bead to contact The Whisperer and request help.
• The Whisperer battled Yuan Gang in a Nightmare, injuring him with attacks made real by his Divine Realm.
• After hearing unexpected news, The Whisperer ended the Nightmare and Yuan Gang crashed back outside the command post with his wounds intact.
• Yuan Gang refused assistance from the instructors and demanded an immediate report on the situation inside Jinnan Mountain.

The Whisperer subdued the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon while Lin Qiye reunited with Baili Pangpang, Shen Qingzhu, and Instructor Hong in the underground caverns. They learned they were trapped in the dragon’s Absolute Earth Domain, far beneath Jinnan Mountain, and needed to find a way back to the surface.

• The Whisperer arrived in the lava cavern, praised Ma Yitian, and used his soul authority to control the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon.
• The Whisperer learned that Zhuang Qi and the others had failed to kill Lin Qiye, then said his Nightmare had altered the caverns to lead them into an ambush.
• Lin Qiye learned from a bat that the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon was fighting the Sea-realm enemy and continued searching for his companions.
• Lin Qiye caught up with Baili Pangpang, Shen Qingzhu, and Instructor Hong, who said he had killed his opponent.
• Instructor Hong explained that they were inside the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon’s Absolute Earth Domain, at least two kilometers underground, and would need the dragon to turn over or break through the earth to escape.

Lin Qiye and the others were transported into the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon’s lava cavern, where The Whisperer trapped Instructor Hong and threatened the group. The Whisperer prepared to invade Lin Qiye’s soul, while Lin Qiye concealed his intentions behind a feigned expression of fear.

• Lin Qiye, Instructor Hong, Shen Qingzhu, and Baili Pangpang decided to wait for rescue rather than try to break through the ground.
• The Whisperer used the Soul Contract to make the Blazing Vein Earth Dragon his believer and ordered it to bring the group to him.
• The Blazing Vein Earth Dragon shifted the cave passages and transported Lin Qiye and the others into the lava cavern, where they faced The Whisperer and the wounded Ma Yitian.
• The Whisperer bound Instructor Hong, threatened to kill Lin Qiye and make Baili Pangpang and Shen Qingzhu into believers, and explained why he could not turn Lin Qiye into one.
• The Whisperer said he would enter Lin Qiye’s soul to uncover his secrets, and Lin Qiye responded, "Ah... I'm so scared?"