Chapter Summaries

After defeating the Zodiac Twelve, Lin Qiye rejected Baili Xin’s offer and vowed to destroy the Baili Family. Baili Xin revealed the power of the Primordial Devouring Sword Sheath and struck back with a massive flaming blade, while black sand kept the collapsing floor standing.

• Jialan defeated Wei Xiuming, and she and An Qingyu regrouped with Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang as Mad Demon Cao Yuan chased a giant python off the 166th floor.
• Shen Qingzhu stayed behind with the Ninth Seat, saying he was worried about his companions.
• Baili Xin offered Lin Qiye and his team the Baili Family’s resources if they stopped fighting, but Lin Qiye refused and declared that Baili Xin and the family had to die.
• Lin Qiye unleashed flames at Baili Xin, but Baili Pangpang warned that the Primordial Devouring Sword Sheath could absorb energy attacks.
• Baili Xin absorbed the flames and released them as a huge flaming slash that cut through the floor’s supports, while black sand connected the pillars and stabilized the structure.

Lin Qiye and his companions prepared to face Baili Xin, reviewing the forbidden items he could use and deciding who would fight him. Jialan charged into the battle and proved immune to Baili Xin’s attacks, leaving him stunned after she kicked him off the platform.

• Baili Pangpang identified the forbidden items already in play and told Lin Qiye about the Fire Demon Bottle and Elegy, two of Baili Xin’s remaining collectibles.
• Lin Qiye told An Qingyu and Baili Pangpang to stay away from the central fight while he and Jialan confronted Baili Xin, then kept Zhanbai for himself.
• Baili Xin attacked Lin Qiye and his companions with a Golden Pillar of Light, prompting Lin Qiye to teleport into the venue and try to restrain him with Void Lock.
• Jialan charged through Baili Xin’s Golden Pillar of Light unharmed, reached the platform, dodged his response, and kicked him off it.
• Baili Xin stared in shock at Jialan and the others, calling them monsters.

Lin Qiye, Baili Pangpang, Jialan, and An Qingyu fought Baili Xin on the 166th floor, stripping him of his spear and countering his black flames with Cao Yuan’s Malevolent Qi Flames. Baili Xin drew a blood-red skullcap as his final weapon, leaving the battle poised to escalate.

• Lin Qiye bombarded Baili Xin with magic while Jialan kept him within range, and Lin Qiye’s Mystic Iron Cone knocked the golden spear from Baili Xin’s hand.
• Baili Pangpang used Universe Reversal to take the spear and attack Baili Xin, who was then kicked away by Jialan.
• Baili Xin unleashed black flames and summoned a Black Fire Demon from a porcelain bottle.
• Mad Demon Cao Yuan arrived in the elevator, but Baili Xin struck him off the 166th floor with his sword.
• An Qingyu caught Cao Yuan with threads and hurled him into the Black Fire Demon, whose flames weakened as Cao Yuan’s Malevolent Qi Flames grew stronger.
• Baili Xin pulled a blood-red skullcap from his pocket as his last item.

Baili Xin used Elegy to turn Lin Qiye and the others into sand, but a sudden Vacuum Domain stopped the song and let them seize the skull. A young man in a dark red cloak arrived and confronted Baili Xin, leaving his identity unresolved.

• Baili Xin activated Elegy, and its song began turning Lin Qiye, An Qingyu, Mad Demon Cao Yuan, and Baili Pangpang into sand while Jialan remained unaffected.
• The Ninth Seat explained Elegy's deadly history to Shen Qingzhu, who snapped his fingers and created a Vacuum Domain that stopped the song.
• Lin Qiye used space magic to cut off Baili Xin's arm, and Baili Pangpang took Elegy and shut its jaw.
• The air returned after less than four seconds, and Baili Pangpang searched for the person he believed had created the Vacuum Domain.
• A young man in a dark red cloak flew into the venue and addressed Baili Xin, saying Ye Fan's guess had been right.

Zuo Qing arrived to arrest Baili Xin on orders from Ye Fan, but Baili Xin accused Lin Qiye and the Fifth Reserve Team of multiple crimes and tried to use the Night Watchmen's rules to protect himself. When Lin Qiye insisted Baili Xin had to die, he trapped Zuo Qing and urged Baili Pangpang to kill him, leaving the team facing the consequences together.

• Zuo Qing identified himself as Director of the Night Watchmen's Special Operations Department and announced that he had come to arrest Baili Xin.
• Zuo Qing presented a military court summons, and Baili Xin agreed to attend while claiming the Fifth Reserve Team had committed numerous crimes.
• A Magic Array activated beneath Baili Xin, and Zuo Qing pulled him away before its blades could strike.
• Lin Qiye tried to kill Baili Xin and teleported Zuo Qing away, but Zuo Qing interrupted the spell and warned Lin Qiye against defying the military court.
• Lin Qiye trapped Zuo Qing with sealing spells and told Baili Pangpang to kill Baili Xin, promising that the team would bear the consequences together.

Shen Qingzhu killed Baili Xin before Baili Pangpang could decide whether to strike, then escaped the Night Watchmen with Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang's help. After Lin Qiye collapsed from exhaustion, Shen Qingzhu left with the Ninth Seat to look around Guangshen.

• Baili Pangpang lowered his spear after Baili Xin warned that killing him would ruin his friends' futures.
• Shen Qingzhu stabbed Baili Xin with the Soul Severing Blade, burned his body, and told Baili Pangpang he had repaid his debt before escaping through a window.
• Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang stopped Zuo Qing from pursuing Shen Qingzhu, and Lin Qiye fainted from exhaustion.
• Zuo Qing abandoned the chase and returned to help Lin Qiye.
• Shen Qingzhu met the Ninth Seat, learned Baili Xin's death could earn him a higher rank, and chose to look around Guangshen before returning to the church.

After Baili Xin’s death, Zuo Qing warned the team that headquarters might revoke their chance to become the Fifth Special Squad for their actions at the Baili Family. As their missions were suspended and they were confined to Guangshen City, Cao Yuan reminded Baili Pangpang that someone was waiting for him there.

• Zuo Qing said Miao Su would testify against Baili Xin and warned the team that their actions could cost them their qualification as the Fifth Special Squad.
• Zuo Qing canceled the team’s missions and ordered them to stay in Guangshen City until headquarters reached a judgment.
• Baili Pangpang apologized, but Cao Yuan and An Qingyu reassured him and said becoming a Special Squad was not their main concern.
• Cao Yuan reminded Baili Pangpang that someone was waiting for him in Guangshen, and Baili Pangpang remembered his promise to her beside a hospital bed in Gusu.

Baili Pangpang visited Molly in disguise but left without meeting her, adding a promise to her Sandalwood Peace Talisman. He decided to stay away until he was strong enough to protect her and give her a happy life.

• Molly waited at the high-speed rail station, then took a bus toward the Baili Group stop when no one arrived.
• Baili Pangpang sat behind Molly in a Pigsy Mask, took her Sandalwood Peace Talisman, and carved an apology and a promise to return onto it.
• Molly spotted the masked figure pointing at her bag as he left on the bus, then found the new message on her talisman.
• Baili Pangpang told Lin Qiye that he had nearly put Molly in danger and would not see her again until he could protect her.

Lin Qiye and his friends realized Shen Qingzhu might have survived the believers’ Soul Contract and could be working against them, while Baili Pangpang tried to lift everyone’s spirits. The story then showed Shen Qingzhu at a nightclub with the Ninth Seat, where he rejected three women sent to approach him.

• Baili Pangpang identified the white Fox Mask wearer as Shen Qingzhu, and he and Cao Yuan recalled seeing him near Abstinence Hall.
• Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang considered whether the Heaven Returning Jade had blocked the Soul Contract and whether Shen Qingzhu was secretly working against the believers.
• Cao Yuan and Jialan noticed Baili Pangpang’s newfound seriousness, and he joked with them before Jialan broke a cleaver against her forehead.
• At Miu Nightclub in Guangshen City, the Ninth Seat sent three women to sit beside Shen Qingzhu, and Shen Qingzhu coldly told them to get lost.

The Ninth Seat explained to Shen Qingzhu why people under constant danger needed ways to relieve pressure, then revealed how his faith in The Whisperer had led him to lose himself. He voiced hope that Shen Qingzhu could change the Believers, while Shen Qingzhu understood that a Soul Contract had controlled the Ninth Seat’s loyalty.

• The Ninth Seat sent away the women and urged Shen Qingzhu to find an outlet for the pressures of their dangerous lives.
• The Ninth Seat explained how Night Watchmen could rely on teammates, while Believers like them often endured their burdens alone.
• The Ninth Seat described how he had joined the Believers believing they would save the world, but gradually followed The Whisperer’s orders without questioning them.
• Shen Qingzhu realized that The Whisperer’s Soul Contract had controlled the Ninth Seat and that the Heaven Returning Jade had spared him the same fate.
• The Ninth Seat told Shen Qingzhu he had high hopes that he could change the Believers and lead them toward glory.

Lin Qiye and Baili Pangpang reflected on the corruption of Team 010, while Shen Qingzhu chose not to kill the sleeping Ninth Seat. Zuo Qing announced the Night Watchmen’s judgments, ending with Lin Qiye’s reserve team ordered to undergo indefinite education in Huaihai City.

• Lin Qiye reassured Baili Pangpang that he was not to blame for Team 010’s corruption and said most Night Watchmen were good people, though people could not be divided simply into good and bad.
• Shen Qingzhu considered using his Soul Severing Blade to kill the sleeping Ninth Seat but decided to spare him as an exception.
• Zuo Qing announced that Baili Xin’s remaining sentence was revoked because he was dead, while the corrupt members of Team 010 were stripped of their identities and sentenced to lifelong imprisonment; Miao Su was appointed captain of the rebuilt team.
• Baili Pangpang accepted the judgment against Baili Xin and the former Team 010 members.
• Zuo Qing revoked the Fifth Reserve Team’s qualification to become a Special Squad, canceled its missions, and ordered it to Huaihai City for indefinite education while retaining its members and freedom to act.
• Zuo Qing asked Lin Qiye whether he had any questions about the punishment, and Lin Qiye and An Qingyu exchanged a thoughtful glance.

Lin Qiye and his team learned that their suspended Special Squad status meant they had to undergo open-ended comprehensive education in Huaihai. Baili Pangpang gave up control of the Baili Group and Forbidden Artifact Collection Hall to join them, and the chapter ended as their mysterious teacher arrived at their rundown accommodations.

• Zuo Qing told Lin Qiye and the others that their Special Squad qualifications were suspended and that their comprehensive education had no fixed end date.
• Zuo Qing informed Baili Pangpang that he had inherited the Baili Group and Forbidden Artifact Collection Hall, but Baili Pangpang chose to join the squad and surrender control of both.
• Lin Qiye, Baili Pangpang, and the others traveled with Zuo Qing to a military base in Huaihai, where they were forbidden to leave until their education ended.
• A young man carrying a black sword case arrived at the warehouse that night and muttered that he wanted to go home.

Lin Qiye and his companions settled into an abandoned warehouse that would serve as their home during their uncertain comprehensive education. Baili Pangpang divided up the five ultra-high-risk Forbidden Items among the group, leaving the story with Lin Qiye receiving Zhanbai and Praying Abyss.

• Lin Qiye and the others moved into the dusty warehouse and prepared its old staff rooms as living quarters.
• Lin Qiye said the group might stay there for years, while Baili Pangpang explained that he could not use Baili Group funds to improve the place.
• Lin Qiye returned Praying Abyss and Zhanbai to Baili Pangpang, who gave Zhanbai to Lin Qiye as a gift.
• Baili Pangpang gave the Sky Palace golden spear to Jialan and Dirge to An Qingyu, while keeping the Jade Armor for himself.
• Baili Pangpang gave Praying Abyss to Lin Qiye, leaving Cao Yuan without a Forbidden Item.

Lin Qiye and his squad discovered that their mysterious new trainer, Zhou Ping, had spent the night cleaning their warehouse. Zhou Ping introduced himself as the Sword Saint, leaving the squad shocked by his identity.

• Lin Qiye accepted Praying Abyss from Baili Pangpang and put it aside after carving a summoning array into its hilt.
• Lin Qiye and the others gave up waiting for their trainer and went to bed, unaware that Zhou Ping had arrived and begun cleaning the warehouse.
• Cao Yuan woke Lin Qiye and showed him the spotless kitchen, then they found Zhou Ping mopping the warehouse.
• Zhou Ping told Lin Qiye and the squad that Ye Fan had brought him to handle their comprehensive training and that he was not a Night Watchman.
• Zhou Ping said they could call him the Sword Saint.

Lin Qiye and the others discovered that their instructor, Zhou Ping, was the Sword Saint, who worked as a waiter and had Ye Fan cover his restaurant shift. Zhou Ping began their lesson by handing them a box of books, leaving them puzzled by its eclectic contents.

• Lin Qiye and his companions learned that Zhou Ping was the Sword Saint, but he insisted on finishing his cleaning before teaching them.
• Zhou Ping told the students that he worked as a waiter at his Third Uncle's restaurant and that Ye Fan was covering his shift.
• Ye Fan scrubbed dishes at Third Uncle's Rustic Cuisine Restaurant while the customers teased him and Third Uncle compared him unfavorably to Zhou Ping.
• Zhou Ping began the lesson and told the students to take the teaching materials from a cardboard box.
• Lin Qiye and the others found the box filled with assorted books, and Zhou Ping quickly hid The Legend of Zhen Huan, claiming it had been included by mistake.

Lin Qiye and the others followed Zhou Ping’s unusual training assignment to read novels, while Lin Qiye discovered that Zhou Ping had accidentally ruined the kitchenware trying to clean it. At lunch, Zhou Ping explained how he learned swordsmanship by immersing himself in stories and revealed his longing to become a great hero, then warmed to Baili Pangpang’s suggestion that he become a Sword Immortal.

• Zhou Ping assigned Lin Qiye and the others to spend the morning reading novels as training, and Lin Qiye chose The Moon Also Shines for the Blade.
• Lin Qiye found Zhou Ping trying to cook a burnt meal and learned that Zhou Ping had scraped the engraved designs off the plates while cleaning them.
• Lin Qiye cooked lunch for the group, and Zhou Ping asked whether anyone had gained anything from reading.
• Zhou Ping told Lin Qiye to deeply experience the characters’ emotions and said that was how he learned famous sword techniques from novels.
• Cao Yuan questioned whether Zhou Ping’s ability came from his Forbidden Ruins, and Zhou Ping said he did not know its name and wanted to become a great hero like the characters in books.
• Baili Pangpang suggested that Zhou Ping could become a Sword Immortal, and Zhou Ping became interested in the title.

Zhou Ping began practical combat training by sparring with the students, quickly overpowering Cao Yuan and making him fight sixteen rounds. When Baili Pangpang’s turn came, he layered on defenses and used Universe Reversal to snatch Zhou Ping’s chopstick, leaving the sparring match poised to begin.

• Zhou Ping announced one-on-one combat training and made the students wash the dishes before they cleared the warehouse for sparring.
• Cao Yuan volunteered first, transformed into Mad Demon Cao Yuan, and Zhou Ping disarmed and defeated him with a Wooden Chopstick.
• Zhou Ping made Cao Yuan attack again until he had been knocked down sixteen times, then let the battered Cao Yuan rest.
• Baili Pangpang reluctantly took his turn and surrounded himself with Forbidden Objects, armor, and layers of defenses.
• Baili Pangpang spread a Taiji Bagua Diagram and used Universe Reversal to pull the Wooden Chopstick from Zhou Ping’s hand.

Lin Qiye and his companions trained against Zhou Ping, whose overwhelming swordsmanship exposed the gap between their strength and that of a Human Apex. That night, the injured group sat by a bonfire wondering what Zhou Ping was doing alone in his room.

• Baili Pangpang tried to snatch Zhou Ping’s chopstick, then endured a one-sided beating after Zhou Ping took out another.
• An Qingyu faced Zhou Ping and became fascinated by him as Zhou Ping beat him down.
• Jialan caught and snapped Zhou Ping’s chopstick, withstood his sword energy, and was eventually trapped in a Sword Cage.
• Lin Qiye used nearly all his Forbidden Ruins against Zhou Ping, but Zhou Ping broke each attack with a single strike.
• Zhou Ping ended training, and Lin Qiye and the others returned to their rooms battered.
• That night, Lin Qiye and his companions sat around a bonfire and wondered why Zhou Ping had stayed in his room and skipped dinner.

Lin Qiye and the others began another day of training with Zhou Ping, who had them read novels with complete emotional immersion. The group finished the exercise without sensing any new power, but they found Zhou Ping weeping over his book.

• Baili Pangpang and Cao Yuan wondered whether Zhou Ping was socially anxious, while Lin Qiye said the group could still learn from the Human Apex.
• Lin Qiye arrived at the warehouse at six in the morning and found Zhou Ping cleaning, as he had done for years at Third Uncle’s restaurant.
• Zhou Ping refused help with the cleaning, and Lin Qiye and the others watched him work until class began at eight.
• Zhou Ping instructed the group to immerse themselves in their books and experience the characters’ emotions, so Lin Qiye read The Smiling, Proud Wanderer as Linghu Chong.
• After reading for hours, Lin Qiye and the others felt no new power, then saw Zhou Ping crying as he read at the warehouse entrance.

After fleeing from teaching Lin Qiye and the others, Zhou Ping returned to the warehouse following Ye Fan’s encouragement and joined them for lunch. He then began their afternoon training by giving each of them a detailed handwritten analysis of their combat styles.

• Zhou Ping became embarrassed when Lin Qiye noticed his tears and abruptly left with his luggage.
• Lin Qiye used his spiritual perception and discovered Zhou Ping was running away from the warehouse.
• Ye Fan called Zhou Ping and urged him to keep teaching, explaining that he needed to overcome his weakness and might be Great Xia’s best hope of reaching a higher realm.
• Zhou Ping turned back, and Lin Qiye and the others tactfully welcomed him back without mentioning his attempted escape.
• After lunch, Zhou Ping handed Lin Qiye and the others thick handwritten reports analyzing their strengths, weaknesses, and fighting styles.