Chapter Summaries

Huo Qubing chose the Soul Concealment Technique, and Gongyang Wan used it to preserve his soul in a weapon. Lin Qiye learned the weapon had to be nurtured in the strongest torrent of destiny, and the others identified Chang'an.

• Huo Qubing accepted the painful Soul Concealment process to preserve his strength and soul.
• Gongyang Wan took the heart Huo Qubing had retrieved for Gongyang Zhuo and knelt to thank him, then agreed to perform the procedure.
• Lin Qiye emerged from the Willow Tree after binding Cthulhu with Karma Threads and found Huo Qubing undergoing Soul Concealment.
• Gongyang Wan smelted Huo Qubing's bones and blood into a broken spear, preserving his soul as his body vanished.
• Yan Zhong explained that the weapon needed two years in the strongest torrent of destiny, and Lin Qiye learned that place was Chang'an.

Lin Qiye and the others returned to Chang'an and arranged for Gongyang Wan to impersonate the dead Huo Qubing so she could lead the Evil Suppression Department in his place. They severed Cthulhu’s heart from its true body and began using it to rebuild Gongyang Zhuo’s body, leaving Gongyang Wan watching her brother take shape.

• Lin Qiye and Yan Zhong decided to conceal Huo Qubing’s death and entered Chang’an without explaining the truth to the welcoming crowds.
• Gongyang Wan disguised herself as Huo Qubing, and Lin Qiye and Yan Zhong explained how she would appear publicly as the Marquis while continuing to serve as herself within the Evil Suppression Department.
• Gongyang Wan agreed to fulfill Huo Qubing’s final wish and lead the Evil Suppression Department in his place.
• Lin Qiye used Uncaused Cause to sever the Karma Threads between Cthulhu’s heart and Cthulhu’s sealed true body, then warned Gongyang Wan that the body created from it might not be entirely human.
• Hu Jia played the Stone Xun to separate Gongyang Zhuo’s consciousness from Gongyang Wan, and the heart began forming a new body around itself as Gongyang Wan watched.

Gongyang Zhuo was resurrected, and Lin Qiye realized the boy could become the Black King. After Gongyang Wan buried Huo Qubing’s spear beneath Chang’an to nurture his divine soul, Lin Qiye set out to find Lingbao Tianzun.

• Cthulhu recreated Gongyang Zhuo’s body, and he awakened and reunited with Gongyang Wan.
• Gongyang Zhuo kowtowed to Huo Qubing’s broken spear and thanked Lin Qiye and the others for bringing him back.
• Lin Qiye noticed malevolent qi in Gongyang Zhuo’s wound and realized he could become the Black King sealed inside Cao Yuan in the future.
• Gongyang Wan sank Huo Qubing’s spear beneath Chang’an so the Han dynasty’s dragon vein could nurture his divine soul.
• Gongyang Wan left with Gongyang Zhuo, while Lin Qiye concluded that the Black King’s karmic paradox would conceal Cao Yuan’s history.
• Lin Qiye declared that the Death Star had vanished and that he would find Lingbao Tianzun.

After the Heavenly Court massacre, Lin Qiye met Lingbao Tianzun and warned him about Cthulhu and the Three Pillars. Lingbao agreed to enter True Self Samsara, completing the karmic link that Lin Qiye had come to establish.

• The Queen Mother of the West told the three Celestial Venerables about Cthulhu's attack and revealed that Jialan had consumed the Immortal Pill.
• The Queen Mother of the West guided Lingbao Tianzun to Lin Qiye, who explained that he had come from two thousand years in the future.
• Lin Qiye warned Lingbao Tianzun that Cthulhu and the Three Pillars threatened humanity and asked him to enter True Self Samsara.
• Lingbao Tianzun explained that True Self Samsara could build reincarnation power to break through the Supreme Realm, though his technique remained incomplete.
• After learning that his future self had entered samsara and awakened, Lingbao Tianzun agreed to do so, completing the karmic paradox observed by the Key of Doors.

Lin Qiye learned that the Eastern Emperor Bell could suppress time and borrowed it from Lingbao Tianzun to help an ordinary person attain immortality. Lingbao Tianzun returned to Heaven, kept Lin Qiye’s existence secret, and announced that he would enter the True Self Samsara for over two thousand years.

• Lin Qiye gave Lingbao Tianzun a white piece to conceal his existence and serve as a token of their agreement, and Lingbao Tianzun teased Lin Qiye and Jialan about becoming a couple.
• Lin Qiye learned that his Primordial Spirit Embryo body had a lifespan equal to heaven and earth, then asked whether an ordinary person could escape the passage of time.
• Lingbao Tianzun explained that the Eastern Emperor Bell could suppress time and space within its walls, and Lin Qiye borrowed it for the grand Chess Game.
• Lingbao Tianzun returned to Heaven and kept Lin Qiye’s identity confidential from Taoist Celestial Venerable and Primordial Celestial Venerable.
• Lingbao Tianzun told the two Celestial Venerables that he would enter the True Self Samsara for over two thousand years and had lent Lin Qiye the Eastern Emperor Bell for roughly the same length of time.

Lin Qiye and Jialan discussed the Celestial Venerable’s claim that they were a perfect match, and Lin Qiye confessed that he wanted to build a romance with her in their own way. Their moment was interrupted by another Mi Go attack, which Lin Qiye realized was likely meant to spy on them for the Key of Doors rather than take the Immortal Pill.

• Jialan nervously asked Lin Qiye what he thought about the Celestial Venerable calling them a perfect match, and her embarrassed stomp triggered an avalanche.
• Jialan admitted she was happy about the match but doubted she could understand love or belong beside Lin Qiye.
• Lin Qiye reassured Jialan that he would not abandon her and confessed that their shared inexperience could make their relationship a romance of their own.
• Jialan said it was too soon to discuss love and accused Lin Qiye of possibly trying to trick her into dancing almost naked.
• A new wave of Mi Go appeared, and Lin Qiye sent Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi to attack them.
• Lin Qiye concluded that the Key of Doors was sending the Mi Go to observe him and Jialan rather than to reclaim the Immortal Pill.

Lin Qiye decided to remain in the Western Han for two thousand years, using the Eastern Emperor Bell to preserve Wu Quan until the future. He and Jialan departed Chang'an to travel across the Han Empire, while Chloe and Wu Quan set out on their own journeys.

• After Kusanagi-no-Tsurugi destroyed the Mi Go, Lin Qiye asked Jialan to work for him when they returned.
• Lin Qiye told Chloe that he would not return to the future and explained that the Eastern Emperor Bell could freeze Wu Quan until more than two thousand years later.
• Lin Qiye decided to save the remaining two sacred covenants for other purposes and planned to travel across the Han Empire with Jialan.
• Wu Quan chose to retrace the Marquis's expedition route to try to break through his Heart Barrier, and Chloe gave Lin Qiye a vow-mark so he could summon her later.
• Lin Qiye and Jialan left Chang'an by carriage, with Jialan agreeing to serve as his traveling assistant for wages.

One year later, Wu Quan traveled to the Qilian Mountains after broadening his horizons and breaking through the Heart Barrier. Lin Qiye sealed him inside the Eastern Emperor Bell for two thousand years, then left with Jialan.

• Wu Quan asked an old man for directions to the Qilian Mountains and used his power to make the man's carrying pole weightless.
• Wu Quan reached the Qilian Mountains and met Lin Qiye and Jialan on a mountaintop.
• Wu Quan told Lin Qiye that he had broken through the Heart Barrier after traveling through the mortal world and meditating on Mount Langjuxu.
• Lin Qiye explained that Wu Quan was ready to return to his era and placed him inside the Eastern Emperor Bell, where he would remain sealed until the bell rang again.
• Lin Qiye buried the Eastern Emperor Bell beneath the mountain and left with Jialan.

During their journey, Lin Qiye and Jialan were confronted by the Key of Doors, which appeared to notice the hidden causality connecting Jialan to the Cthulhu Mythos. Jialan tried to destroy the Immortal Pill within herself, but Lin Qiye stopped her and suggested another possibility.

• Jialan told Lin Qiye she wanted to return to Chang'an after a year of travel, and they stopped beside a lake to make tea.
• A Spacetime Vortex appeared in the clouds, searched the land, and paused over Jialan before fading away; nine Mi Go then descended.
• Lin Qiye killed the Mi Go and realized the Key of Doors had noticed the causality he had concealed.
• Jialan asked whether the Key of Doors had noticed her because the Mi Go had been following her, and Lin Qiye said he could not yet conceal the connection between the Immortal Pill and the Cthulhu Mythos.
• Jialan tried to stab herself with a short blade to destroy the Immortal Pill, but Lin Qiye stopped her and said there might be another way.

Lin Qiye arranged for Jialan to be sealed in a Profound Yin Wood coffin in Fengdu for two thousand years, protecting her from the monsters pursuing her and preserving their plan. Before they parted, Jialan told him she would wait for him to marry her when they met again.

• Lin Qiye learned from Yan Zhong that the Evil Suppression Department had obtained the only piece of Profound Yin Wood in Fengdu.
• Lin Qiye and Jialan agreed that she would hide in the coffin for two thousand years, and he promised to visit her regularly.
• Huo Qubing’s three hundred bronze-armored soldiers escorted the coffin and Jialan from Chang'an to Fengdu, where attacks killed them all before an indescribable existence intervened.
• Lin Qiye asked the Eastern Ghost Emperor to dedicate a palace to the coffin, then privately reassured Jialan that he would return to see her.
• Jialan asked Lin Qiye to marry her when they met again, saying she would wait for him.

Lin Qiye said goodbye to Jialan as she entered her coffin, then concealed her history and the Immortal Pill’s aura before leaving the era. The records traced the Evil Suppression Department’s later history through its members’ deaths, Gongyang Wan’s clashes with Wang Mang, and the department’s retreat into seclusion.

• Lin Qiye and Jialan promised to reunite and marry two thousand years later before she lay down in the coffin.
• Lin Qiye used Uncaused Cause to create a false history for Jialan and the Black Coffin, and planned to isolate Fengdu from the outside world.
• Lin Qiye told Hu Jia to tell Gongyang Wan and the others not to seek him out, then left to consider his remaining sacred covenants.
• The records described Huo Qubing’s founding-era deeds and the later deaths and disappearances of members including Gongyang Zhuo, Zhan Yuwu, Yan Zhong, and Hu Jia.
• Gongyang Wan drove Wang Mang and his armies away from the Evil Suppression Department, then moved it to Changbai Mountain and withdrew it from the mortal world.

Lin Qiye met Destiny, a monk formed from the Fruit of Predestination, in the Kunlun Mountains and learned that humanity’s odds in the Chess Game were less than two-thousandths. Destiny planned to give his body to Zhou Ping to complete a karmic paradox, then left to carry out their plans.

• Lin Qiye found the ancient temple ruins and watched a young monk emerge from the clay Buddha statue.
• The monk named himself Destiny and told Lin Qiye that his calculations gave humanity less than a two-thousandths chance of winning the Chess Game.
• Destiny explained that the quality of the pieces mattered more than their number, and said he would give Zhou Ping a Fate Transfer Bead refined from his body.
• Lin Qiye told Destiny he would seal his own karma fifty years before his era and leave another person’s concealed karma to Destiny.
• Destiny asked whether humanity could afford to lose the Chess Game, and Lin Qiye said there would be no point in continuing if humanity ceased to exist.
• Destiny walked away through the snow to carry out the plan, while Lin Qiye descended the mountain.

Gongyang Wan told Lin Qiye she planned to disband the Evil Suppression Department and asked him to free her from the immortality she had sustained by consuming Extraordinary Individuals. Lin Qiye agreed to use the Soul Concealment Technique, and Gongyang Wan closed her eyes as he approached with a Broken Sword.

• Lin Qiye met Gongyang Wan, Lu Fanglin, and Nie Jinshan in the rain, then asked Lu Fanglin to take Nie Jinshan away.
• Gongyang Wan revealed her plan to disband the shrinking Evil Suppression Department and showed Lin Qiye a stone bearing the names of more than ten thousand members.
• Gongyang Wan told Lin Qiye that she was weary of living after consuming more than one hundred and forty Extraordinary Individuals to extend her life.
• Gongyang Wan asked Lin Qiye to help her become a Heroic Spirit, and said Hu Jia and Yan Zhong would care for Nie Jinshan.
• Lin Qiye agreed and approached Gongyang Wan with a Broken Sword as she closed her eyes, ready to be freed.

Destiny Monk left the infant Shen Qingzhu at Hanshan Orphanage, while Si Xiaonan watched over the wounded Zeus on Olympus. In a dream, Yan Zhong delivered Si Xiaonan a Go stone from Lin Qiye and told her to wait for the Eastern Emperor Bell.

• Destiny Monk rescued an abandoned infant and left him at Hanshan Orphanage with the name Shen Qingzhu written on his towel.
• An old man at the orphanage found the feverish infant and carried him inside as the blood-written name washed away.
• Zeus learned that his children were stirring against him and ordered Si Xiaonan to keep them from entering his forbidden ground.
• Si Xiaonan secretly surveilled Olympus, then dreamed of Yan Zhong, who gave her a white Go stone from Lin Qiye.
• Yan Zhong told Si Xiaonan that the stone’s purpose would become clear when the Eastern Emperor Bell rang.

Zuo Qing learned that a full-sized psychiatric hospital was approaching the moon and rushed there to investigate. The hospital transported Michael from the lunar surface into a white room, where a doctor greeted him as Patient Number One.

• Zuo Qing examined satellite images showing the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods moving toward the moon and ordered powerful allies to set out.
• Zuo Qing opened a window and flew toward the moon, telling his secretary to check the second drawer of his desk if anything happened.
• Michael sensed a growing shadow above the moon and was suddenly enveloped by a ray of light.
• Michael found himself in a white room inside the hospital, where a doctor greeted him as Patient Number One.

Chaos imprisoned Michael in the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods on the moon, where Michael fought back despite the hospital’s rules. As their battle continued in a hidden hospital descending toward the lunar seal, a meditating monk on Earth sensed the events had begun but decided it was not yet time to act.

• Chaos introduced himself as Doctor Nyarlathotep and revealed that Michael was his first patient in the Psychiatric Hospital of the Gods.
• Chaos saw that Michael required no treatment and explained that he intended to break and restore Michael’s mind to obtain his power.
• Michael feared Chaos planned to release the Lovecraftian Gods sealed on the moon and unleashed his divine might.
• Michael wounded Chaos with his Mortal Divine Domain, but Chaos’s power began forcing Michael’s domain back.
• Michael charged Chaos again as their battle shook the hidden hospital, which descended toward the lunar sealing formation.
• A monk meditating in Earth’s snowy mountains sensed that events had begun, then closed his eyes and said it was not yet time.

Chaos trapped Michael in a dark chamber and used four contaminated universes to break down his Mortal Divine Domain and reduce his Treatment Progress to zero. After claiming the hospital as its director, Chaos began treating Michael and triggered an extraction of his Divine Personality Ability.

• Chaos transformed the battlefield into a dark chamber and weakened Michael's connection to the outside world.
• A Black Coffin revealed a contaminated universe, and Chaos summoned three more, causing Michael's Mortal Divine Domain and Treatment Progress to collapse.
• Chaos said he intended to make Michael a patient and take his Mortal Divine Domain so he could use the hospital to generate patients and seize divine power.
• Chaos put on the director's white coat, restored Michael's consciousness, and raised his Treatment Progress to one percent.
• A system message announced the random extraction of Michael's Divine Personality Ability.

Chaos gained Angel Affinity and fought Michael, who stabbed himself with the Golden Holy Sword and unleashed a blast that tore apart the dark chamber. On the moon, Zuo Qing found Chaos instead of Michael and learned that Michael had died, while Chaos revealed he had secretly studied the Night Watchmen.

• Chaos gained Angel Affinity, then restored Michael’s clarity and taunted him as Doctor Nyarlathotep.
• Michael resisted Chaos, stabbed himself with the Golden Holy Sword, and released a golden explosion that destroyed the chamber.
• Zuo Qing reached the lunar seal but found no sign of Michael or the hospital.
• A figure emerged from a rift above the crater, vanished, and attacked Zuo Qing, who escaped as an azure flamebird.
• Chaos told Zuo Qing that Michael had died in a self-destruction whose divine power he had suppressed.
• Chaos recognized Zuo Qing and said he had observed the Night Watchmen, even posing as an ordinary person to speak with Old Li.

Chaos tried to turn Zuo Qing’s doubts about his worth as Commander into resentment and recruit him as a believer. Zuo Qing saw through Chaos’s earlier attempt to kill him, but Chaos struck first and left him helpless.

• Chaos listed the achievements of the previous Night Watchmen Commanders and told Zuo Qing he was mediocre and unworthy of his position.
• Chaos offered Zuo Qing power and urged him to overthrow the Commanders’ legacy by becoming an Evil God’s lackey.
• Zuo Qing dropped his sword and approached Chaos, but questioned why Chaos wanted to recruit him instead of freeing the Lovecraftian Gods directly.
• Zuo Qing deduced that Chaos had first tried to kill him before he could expose its presence to the Heavenly Court Gods.
• Chaos pierced Zuo Qing’s heart, sealed his Mental Power, and declared that he had no chance of escaping at close range.

Zuo Qing endured Chaos’s attack on the moon while protecting Nightfall’s medals, then revealed that he had secretly prepared a vast sea of Qingluan flames beneath the lunar surface. He died as the flames formed a burning emblem visible from Earth, leaving Chaos racing to dismantle the lunar seal.

• Chaos crushed Zuo Qing’s Forbidden Ruin and questioned why its provocation had failed to break him.
• Zuo Qing explained that he had devoted himself to guiding the Night Watchmen and protecting the seeds Commander Ye and Lin Qiye had planted.
• Chaos withdrew its arm from Zuo Qing’s heart, and Nightfall’s medals spilled from his damaged iron box as he tried to gather them.
• Zuo Qing revealed that he had been buying time while Qingluan flames spread beneath the moon, and Chaos rushed to dismantle the lunar seal.
• Zuo Qing died as the cyan flames consumed him and formed a vast ring crossed by two lines, an emblem that burned visibly across space.