Chapter Summaries

Lin Tie won the Forgemaster trial with his puppet Years Flow, leaving Ou Tian determined to surpass him. The displayed puppet stirred memories in Tang Mu, who recalled how it had shaped his life and how he burned it decades earlier.

• Lin Tie took first place with 31,872 points, and the system awarded him the Liuli Hammer and Flying Star Cauldron.
• Players admired Years Flow, while Ou Tian accepted his defeat and vowed to become the strongest Forgemaster.
• Tang Mu recognized Years Flow on the ranking display and remembered meeting its maker in a ruined temple fifty-seven years earlier.
• As a boy, Tang Mu watched the old man perform with Years Flow, then took the puppet and a book to teach himself string puppet shows.
• Tang Mu devoted his life to performing with Years Flow, but his family rejected him when he returned after his father's death.
• Tang Mu burned Years Flow in despair, then watched it bow farewell before the flames reduced it to ash.

Tang Mu reunited with Years Flow, the puppet he had lost decades earlier, after Lin Tie recognized him as a descendant of the Machinery Mysteries lineage. Lin Tie gave him the puppet in repayment for his ancestors’ kindness, while Lin Nuo learned why their family honored its inheritance.

• Tang Mu saw Years Flow in the game and rushed to find its owner, hoping to see the puppet again.
• Tang Mu met Lin Tie and asked to see Years Flow, then revealed that he had once owned a puppet like it.
• Lin Tie learned Tang Mu was connected to the Machinery Mysteries lineage and showed him his family’s ancestral instruction to repay that lineage’s kindness.
• Lin Tie gave Years Flow to Tang Mu, who accepted the puppet with tears in his eyes.
• Lin Nuo questioned his father’s decision, and Lin Tie explained that descendants must carry forward their ancestors’ struggles and honor their roots.

Tang Mu danced with Years Flow beneath the moon and received the Heroic Spirit Sui Yue Shi’s inheritance, creating the Puppet Master class. Years Flow gained a faint consciousness, and Tang Mu vowed they would never be separated again.

• Tang Mu finished painting Years Flow and controlled her with strings as they danced together beside Liuli Coast.
• Sui Yue Shi’s Heroic Spirit resonated with Tang Mu and flew from the Hall of Heroes into Years Flow.
• Tang Mu accepted the new Puppet Master class after learning it could grant puppets spirituality, and Players shared a video of his dance on the forums.
• Tang Mu discovered that Years Flow had gained a faint consciousness, new abilities, and the capacity to grow alongside him.
• Tang Mu caught Years Flow’s tear and promised they would never be separated again.

As the Bei Qi players prepared for war with the Nine Radiance Great Domain, Ai Rui built the Black Light Organization to challenge the American military for spirit ore in the Blue Valley Ruins. Lu Wu learned that Ai Rui had become a player and responded by having his account banned for three days.

• Bei Qi players chose the Land of Buried Bones as their planned battlefield against the advancing Nine Luminaries Army.
• Ai Rui and Tesla discussed how Black Light could acquire spirit ore and strengthen its mechs to fight the American military.
• Ai Rui’s Black Light Organization recruited players and won several small clashes with the American military despite losing major battles.
• Bei Li showed Lu Wu the artifact’s profile identifying Ai Rui as a talented and ambitious researcher who had become a player.
• Lu Wu decided to suppress Ai Rui instead of killing him, and Ai Rui was forcibly logged out after receiving a three-day account ban.

After his account was banned for three days, Ai Rui failed to get help from customer service or the forum and decided to investigate Conquest Company himself. Meanwhile, Lu Wu and Bei Li chose a Gene Lock evolution system for the planned Asian Server, though its settings still needed work.

• Ai Rui found customer service unable to explain his ban, and the representative refused to lift it before disconnecting the chat.
• Ai Rui posted his ban notice on the China Server forum, but players mocked him and flooded his inbox with questions about hacks and requests for resources.
• Ai Rui left his Game Pod and resolved to investigate Conquest Company, believing his extraordinary forces could eventually take it down.
• Lu Wu dismissed Ai Rui's complaint and explained that a true permanent ban would imprison a player's soul inside the divine artifact.
• Bei Li told Lu Wu that the Asian Server's settings were still being developed, and Lu Wu selected her Gene Lock evolution system over the Shikigami and ninjutsu proposal.

Sun Radiance led the Nine Luminaries Army into Bei Qi as Players prepared to defend the Netherworld and met him in the Land of Buried Bones. Sun Radiance used a spatial law crystal to teleport his army into the lightly defended Netherworld City, where he broke through the gates and began killing Players who refused to submit.

• Sun Radiance advanced toward the Land of Buried Bones after the Nine Radiance Brothers chose him to replace Moon Radiance as Bei Qi's Lord Governor.
• Players prepared for war by buying Nie Feng's Explosion Pills, gathering spirit mines, building war machines, and assembling at the Land of Buried Bones.
• The Players and the Nine Luminaries Army clashed, and Rune Warriors used Strength Gems to drive back the beast cavalry in the opening collision.
• Sun Radiance used a spatial law crystal and a marker planted earlier to teleport himself and the Nine Luminaries Army outside Netherworld City.
• Sun Radiance's army smashed through the city gates, and he crushed and burned Players who refused his offer to submit.

Sun Radiance’s army slaughtered the Underworld’s defenders, and the Players and NPCs fought back despite overwhelming odds. After Sun Radiance killed Copper Hanger, Pan Shi, Nine-Headed Serpent, and the remaining Players, a black beam erupted from the Pan Shi Alchemy Association and swallowed the area.

• The NPCs charged Sun Radiance’s soldiers, and Tong Gua broke Sun Radiance’s pressure over the Players so they could join the fight.
• Copper Hanger fought Sun Radiance repeatedly but was struck down and crumbled into ash, prompting the Players in the Land of Buried Bones to try to return to the Underworld.
• Liu Chai sent nearly half the Players back toward the Underworld while the others held off the Nine Luminaries Army, then ordered them to fight to the death.
• Pan Shi and Nine-Headed Serpent attacked Sun Radiance but were defeated, and Sun Radiance turned the remaining Players to ash as they vowed revenge.
• As Sun Radiance celebrated taking the Underworld, a black beam burst from the Pan Shi Alchemy Association and engulfed his troops before swallowing him in an explosion.

Nie Feng sacrificed himself while using the Dark Element Law to destroy Sun Radiance's army, but the explosion erased the entire Underworld and cost Lu Wu millions of Soul Coins. Lu Wu and Bei Li watched the destruction in shock, then quarreled over Bei Li's ice cream.

• As Sun Radiance's Nine Luminaries Army slaughtered the Underworld's players and NPCs, Nie Feng saw his mentor Pan Shi die and returned to the Alchemy Association to make a final stand.
• Nie Feng poured more than forty thousand medicinal ingredients into Pan Shi's Alchemy Furnace, and his Dark Element Law intensified the unstable mixture until the furnace exploded and killed him.
• The Dark Element Law-fueled blast consumed the Underworld, erased Sun Radiance's soldiers, and left a vast crater after its shockwaves subsided.
• Lu Wu and Bei Li stared in shock at the vanished Underworld, while Lu Wu realized he had lost more than ten million Soul Coins.
• Lu Wu took Bei Li's ice cream and ate it to calm himself, prompting Bei Li to slam her head into his chest and threaten to fight him.

The Players found the Underworld destroyed and killed the mortally wounded Sun Radiance, then learned that a server-wide mission could revive fallen NPC friends. As they prepared to retaliate against the Nine Radiance Great Domain, Nie Feng panicked over the Explosion Pills that had caused the blast and the herbs he owed.

• The Players found Sun Radiance dying in the crater, attacked him, and killed him, triggering a server-wide level-up as the Nine Luminaries Army retreated after heavy losses.
• Lu Wu launched the server-wide Returning Friends mission, letting Players earn revival points by killing members of the Nine Luminaries Army.
• The Players rallied around the mission and discussed how the Underworld had exploded and why Sun Radiance had been injured.
• Nie Feng feared confessing that his Explosion Pills had destroyed the Underworld, but also worried he could not repay the forty thousand medicinal herbs he had used.
• Guild leaders messaged Nie Feng to buy more Explosion Pills, and he realized he had no stock or money to replace the herbs.

With the Underworld Mansion in ruins, Lu Wu motivated the Players to capture the Nine Radiance Great Domain, while Star Radiance mistook Sun Radiance’s killer for a passing underworld god and pressed ahead with the invasion. The Nine Radiance army marched into Bei Qi unopposed as Players intensified their attacks across its homeland.

• Lu Wu delayed rebuilding the Underworld Mansion, enabled random-location resurrection for the Hell Server Players, and offered rewards for capturing the Nine Radiance Great Domain.
• Gu Yu’s Myth Guild, Xiao Mo and Xiao Yuzi, Proud Sword, Tang Mu, Years Flow, and other Players attacked Nine Radiance forces and seized spirit ore across the domain.
• At the Profound Heaven Pavilion, Star Radiance and his brothers debated Sun Radiance’s death and concluded that an unknown powerful figure had destroyed the Underworld Mansion.
• Star Radiance detected a faint Dark Element Law aura at the Underworld Mansion crater and suspected an underworld god had killed Sun Radiance, so he abandoned thoughts of revenge against that power.
• Star Radiance and his brothers ordered their armies to invade Bei Qi, and Players prepared to keep weakening the Nine Radiance forces rather than defend their territory directly.
• The Nine Radiance army entered Bei Qi without resistance while Players launched a widespread offensive across the Nine Radiance Great Domain.

The Evil King investigated why the Player Race kept growing despite its many battles and deaths, then secretly experimented by killing McCree. McCree repeatedly returned after resurrection, and the Evil King finally admitted he was targeting him for stepping out of the village with his left foot first.

• After the battle against the Yuan Xu Army, the Evil King went to Dragon Concealment Village to investigate the Players’ inexplicably rising numbers.
• The Evil King secretly observed the Players for a day and night and found that their population had increased again.
• McCree left Dragon Concealment Village to catch earth dragons, but the Evil King’s black wind killed him.
• Three hours later, McCree returned and was swept into the air again; the Evil King let him fall after McCree begged to be released.
• After checking the forums and finding no reports of other attacks, McCree logged in again, but the Evil King attacked him once more and blamed his left foot.

After investigating why the Player Race kept growing stronger and surviving wars, the Evil King confronted Li Xing about the race’s hidden resurrection ability and their lies. Li Xing left without revealing the secret, promising he would not betray the Evil King, and Cang Xu appeared at the ruins to speak with him.

• McCree posted on the European Server Forum that the Evil King had killed him four times, prompting speculation among Players.
• Li Xing visited the Ruins of the Relics and asked the Evil King why he had killed McCree.
• The Evil King explained that he had tested the Player Race’s claimed resurrection ability after noticing its growing numbers, strength, and battlefield experience.
• The Evil King accused Li Xing of lying but said he still trusted him and considered him a friend.
• Li Xing withheld the Player Race’s secret, promised he would never wrong the Evil King, and left.
• Cang Xu entered the Stone Pillar Palace, survived the Evil King’s attacks, and revealed himself as a white-haired child.

Cangxu confronted the Evil King and offered him a body, the Player Race's secret, and a chance to join the Player Race in exchange for his loyalty. After seeing Cangxu create and dismiss a body with impossible power, the Evil King began to believe that the being behind Cangxu might be a Great Emperor.

• The Evil King attacked Cangxu with his True Devil Grand Array, but Cangxu re-formed unharmed and explained that he was an incarnation made from underworld yin energy.
• Cangxu offered the Evil King a body and knowledge of the Player Race's secret in exchange for his loyalty, then used nearly two million Soul Coins to forge a body that resonated with the Evil King's evil thought.
• The Evil King considered taking the body by force, but Cangxu made it vanish before he could act.
• The Evil King dismissed his gathered subordinates and offered treasures or cultivation methods instead, but Cangxu insisted that he wanted loyalty and said the Evil King could join the Player Race.
• The Evil King called Cangxu a Chess Player, and Cangxu clarified that the Evil King would serve the powerful being behind him; the Evil King wondered whether that being was a Great Emperor.

Azure Void recruited Evil King, and Bei Li gave him a soul and a new body in Lu Wu’s world. After learning about the Players and their masters, Evil King pledged to lead the Player Race, then returned to Azure Void, who demanded repayment for the body.

• Evil King accepted Azure Void’s offer, took the Soul Oath, and was sent through a black hole after learning Azure Void’s identity.
• Evil King arrived in Lu Wu’s world, where Bei Li used soul power to transform his wisp of evil intent into a soul and fuse it with a new body.
• Evil King learned about the Players and the divine artifact, recognized Lu Wu and Bei Li as beings beyond Chess Players, and pledged to serve them.
• Lu Wu sent Evil King back to the Stone Pillar Palace, where Evil King promised to lead the Player Race to rise.
• Azure Void calculated that Evil King owed him 5,782,421 Soul Coins for the body, but Evil King refused to pay.

Black Tiger, a city dweller trapped as a servant in Black Prison Village, was ordered along with the other servants to use Virtual Helmets to earn Soul Coin for the sect. The chapter left him preparing to enter a game whose mysteries and opportunities had drawn the Sect Leader’s interest.

• Black Tiger returned to Black Prison Village with water and was whipped by the steward for arriving late.
• Black Tiger recalled how a Black Prison Sect disciple had rescued him from a ravine three years earlier and forced him into servitude, where escape was prevented by the Black Prison Seal.
• Black Tiger treated his wound, then hurried with the other servants to the sect gate when an elder summoned them.
• The black-robed elder distributed Virtual Helmets and ordered the servants to earn Soul Coin in a game each night, with their quotas determining their work the next day.
• The elder told his Personal Disciple that the Sect Leader believed the game held great mysteries and opportunities and needed the servants to produce Soul Coin.

Black Tiger discovered a God-tier cultivation technique in Battle Online that could steal other cultivators’ Spiritual Roots, then realized he could cultivate with it in reality. After the Black Prison Sect’s disciples beat him for failing to earn enough Soul Coins, he resolved to seize the foundations of fellow servants so he could survive and grow stronger.

• Xuan Tianji recalled how Qi Ming defeated him and directed him to Battle Online, where he used three thousand captive menials to earn Soul Coins for him.
• Black Tiger fled a Level 59 Fanged Tiger in the Ghost Mountains and found a bloodstained stone tablet in a pit.
• Black Tiger comprehended the Foundation Stealing Grand Technique, a God-tier technique that could take others’ Spiritual Roots, and learned that his own Spiritual Root was Inferior.
• After being whipped for failing to submit enough Soul Coins, Black Tiger discovered he could cultivate in reality, though spiritual energy was scarce.
• Black Tiger decided to target the injured servants around him and steal their foundations rather than risk attacking the Black Prison Sect’s disciples.

Black Tiger used the Foundation Stealing Grand Technique to kill laborers and improve his Spiritual Root while hiding his actions from the Black Prison Sect. After meeting his Soul Coin quota, he logged into the game and saw his progress, but the next morning two more laborers were missing.

• Black Prison Sect disciples discovered that nearly ten laborers were missing, and Xiao Lang sent disciples to search for them with the Black Prison True Seal.
• Black Tiger revealed that he had killed nearly ten laborers and stolen their Spiritual Roots, raising his own from Inferior to Basic quality.
• Black Tiger killed a laborer in a hut and refined his body into a blood pellet, then killed another laborer before logging into the game.
• Black Tiger checked his status panel and saw that his Basic Spiritual Root had reached 58/100 and his Foundation Stealing Grand Technique had reached Level One, 2.8%.
• Black Tiger completed his Soul Coin quota and mailed the coins to the disciple managing him, but the next morning the Black Prison Sect disciples found two more laborers missing.

Black Tiger killed a Black Prison Sect Manager Disciple and refined him, strengthening his spiritual root as he continued plotting to escape the sect. Lu Wu discovered Black Tiger’s cultivation and the sect’s crimes, but Bei Li urged him to wait because the situation might bring them an unexpected gain.

• Black Prison Sect disciples questioned the servants about the disappearances, while Black Tiger hid his involvement and continued cultivating and hunting servants.
• A Manager Disciple caught Black Tiger in the act and attacked him, but Black Tiger strangled the disciple with his own whip and refined his body.
• Black Tiger’s spiritual root advanced to Superior Spiritual Root after he consumed the Manager Disciple, bringing him closer to escaping the Black Prison Sect.
• Lu Wu investigated a cluster of abnormal player deaths and discovered that more than a hundred players in the area were cultivators.
• Lu Wu identified Black Tiger and uncovered the Black Prison Sect’s brutality, but Bei Li stopped him from intervening because she had noticed a possible opportunity.

Black Tiger hunted servants and sect disciples while the Black Prison Sect investigated the disappearances, until Elder Xue Han trapped him and tried to seize his devouring technique. After Xue Han killed Black Tiger, the Evil God emerged from the corpse and announced his return and his intent to resume his battle with Bei Li.

• Xiao Lang ordered the disciples to investigate the disappearances in groups after five more servants went missing.
• Black Tiger continued secretly devouring victims, including a sect disciple he killed near the inner lake.
• Elder Xue Han revealed that he had used the disciple as bait, ambushed Black Tiger, and demanded to learn his devouring technique.
• Black Tiger refused Xue Han’s offers and threats, then struck him before Xue Han killed him with a blow to the head.
• A hand formed from Black Mist emerged from Black Tiger’s body, killed Xue Han, and declared that the Evil God had returned to continue his contest with Bei Li.
• Lu Wu and Bei Li watched the scene on a screen, applauded, and laughed.

Lu Wu and Bei Li revealed that Evil God’s resurrection had made him their controlled pawn, while Evil God secretly healed Black Tiger and began manipulating him. After learning about the game and the Black Prison Sect, Evil God dismissed its cruelty and recalled the Extraterrestrial Demons he had idolized.

• Bei Li explained that the Foundation Stealing Grand Technique let Evil God parasitize its cultivators, but Players’ souls remained under Lu Wu’s control.
• Evil God revived through Black Tiger, turned Xue Han and another disciple’s corpses into blood pills, and used them to stabilize Black Tiger’s soul.
• Black Tiger awoke and spoke with Evil God, who claimed he had saved him and promised to help him grow stronger in exchange for cultivating the technique.
• Black Tiger told Evil God about the game, Bei Qi, and the Black Prison Sect, prompting Evil God to suspect Bei Li was behind the scheme.
• Evil God mocked the Black Prison Sect’s cruelty and described the Heavenly Devil sect and its followers, the Extraterrestrial Demons, as the true demonic force he had admired.