Chapter Summaries

Jiang Qiao unleashed a fusion of terrifying powers and withstood the two evil spirits’ combined assault, drawing their attacks into a vortex and turning them into threads linked to the spirits. Fang Xun recognized traces of Chong Heng’s Demonization and an ancient divine blessing in Jiang Qiao’s power, but could not identify the deity behind it.

• Jiang Qiao erupted with dark demonic energy, a mysterious portal, and a giant godlike figure, revealing a fusion of at least three rules that shocked Fang Xun.
• The evil spirit turned its Sorrowful Face toward Jiang Qiao and joined the other spirit in attacking his consciousness.
• Jiang Qiao fused with the giant figure and hid inside the portal’s vortex, absorbing the spirits’ resentment and sorrow before sending them back as threads.
• The two evil spirits grew more powerful, unleashing monstrous corpses, swarms of black figures, and all four of the sorrowful spirit’s faces against Jiang Qiao.
• Jiang Qiao’s vortex and Sea of Thunder blocked the assaults while the threads connecting him to the spirits thickened.
• Fang Xun recognized Chong Heng’s Demonization and an ancient blessing in Jiang Qiao’s aura, but wondered which deity had granted it.

Jiang Qiao used a curse to erase two rampaging Evil Spirits, revealing a power that left Fang Xun gravely injured. He remained alone beside the River of Forgetfulness, contemplating what had happened.

• Fang Xun realized Jiang Qiao had grown into a threat capable of surpassing the Guangming Society’s ability to restrain him.
• Jiang Qiao used Demonization and the Mad Scientist’s mysterious world to sever the Evil Spirits’ control while preserving his connection to them.
• Jiang Qiao began a Wish, and Fang Xun suffered a devastating injury after hearing the words.
• The two Evil Spirits and the battlefield’s strange phenomena vanished, leaving Jiang Qiao alone by the River of Forgetfulness.

Jiang Qiao discovered that his wish to the Mysterious World had caused an unknown being to erase the two evil spirits, rather than merely weaken them. The Simulator identified the being as the God of Hell and revealed that Jiang Qiao had attracted its attention through a karmic connection to Chong Heng.

• Fang Xun watched Jiang Qiao kill the two evil spirits and considered making him an ally for the coming calamity.
• Jiang Qiao realized that the Mysterious World had answered his wish by erasing the evil spirits outright.
• Jiang Qiao checked the Simulator and found a new origin curse called Hell God's Response.
• Jiang Qiao concluded that a deity had noticed him, possibly because Demonization shared a karmic connection with Chong Heng.
• Jiang Qiao cursed the God of Hell for intervening when he had expected to defeat the evil spirits himself.

Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun traveled upstream along the River of Forgetfulness, discussing its history and the strange sun above the Yellow Springs Road. After passing through increasingly oppressive fog, they found the Bridge of Helplessness.

• Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun continued upstream past a river filled with venomous creatures and corpses, while Fang Xun explained the River of Forgetfulness's history and pollution.
• Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun discussed the sun's illusory nature and the rumors that it had fallen long ago but developed a form of self-awareness.
• Fang Xun described how the river's width narrowed and widened in cycles, warning that explorers could get lost or fall into it farther upstream.
• Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun sensed an ancient, desolate presence and hurried through the fog.
• The surrounding mist suddenly cleared, revealing the Bridge of Helplessness to Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun.

Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun found the Bridge of Helplessness and discovered that deathly shadows guarded Meng Po’s Soup. Fang Xun’s attempt to distract them with a straw doll backfired, leaving eight shadows blocking their way.

• Fang Xun spotted the remaining Meng Po’s Soup beside the Bridge of Helplessness and moved toward it.
• Jiang Qiao and Fang Xun learned that approaching the soup summoned human shadows whose touch caused certain death.
• Fang Xun’s window-bound bodies attacked the shadows, but the shadows endured and killed Fang Xun when they overlapped with him.
• Jiang Qiao explained that the shadows embodied death and could only be diverted, not defeated.
• Fang Xun sent a straw doll containing his blood, hair, and teeth toward the soup, but the shadows destroyed it and doubled from four to eight.

Fang Xun used an Ouija ritual to reveal his true form as a Special Weird Tale and slip past the eight figures. Jiang Qiao realized Fang Xun had exploited a loophole to move through the cracks between worlds without truly leaving the Yellow Springs Road.

• Fang Xun stepped back and forward, confirming that eight figures blocked his path.
• Fang Xun drew circles with a broken ballpoint pen and performed an Ouija ritual, causing his human aura to fade as his true form entered the cracks between worlds.
• Jiang Qiao recognized Fang Xun as a Special Weird Tale whose diffused true form would be difficult to locate and destroy.
• Jiang Qiao realized Fang Xun's Ouija nature explained his knowledge and apparent precognition, and wondered whether multiple Ouijas existed.
• Fang Xun floated through a gap between the eight figures, and Jiang Qiao noticed he had exploited a loophole rather than truly leaving the Yellow Springs Road.

Fang Xun used Ouija’s abilities to evade the figures guarding Meng Po’s Soup and reached the pot. Hoping to erase Ouija’s growing consciousness before it could replace him, he drank the soup, leaving his fate uncertain.

• Jiang Qiao worked out that Fang Xun moved along the World Barrier using the connection between Ouija’s projection and true form, while warning that breaking through the barrier would lead into the River of Forgetfulness.
• Fang Xun slipped past eight pursuing figures and reached Meng Po’s Soup, though the effort left him nearly devoid of living aura.
• Fang Xun saw a blood-red flower close into a bud and inferred that drinking the soup might erase Ouija’s self-awareness.
• Fang Xun drank Meng Po’s Soup in one gulp, choosing to risk it because Ouija’s consciousness was growing and he had no way to turn back.

Jiang Qiao crossed the Bridge of Helplessness and encountered a mysterious adult and child who appeared to be waiting for him. When the adult finally turned around, Jiang Qiao recognized it, and it asked whether he was willing to be friends.

• Jiang Qiao left the motionless Fang Xun behind and stepped onto the Bridge of Helplessness.
• The bridge silenced the surrounding sounds, and Jiang Qiao saw an enormous herb-filled forest beyond it but no Three Lives Stone.
• A figure holding a Paper Umbrella appeared ahead of Jiang Qiao, while a child appeared behind him and sang a nursery rhyme.
• Jiang Qiao armed himself with scissors and Ball Lightning, then continued toward the silent figures despite being cornered.
• The Paper Umbrella figure turned toward Jiang Qiao, who recognized it as the person that had asked to be his friend.

Jiang Qiao encountered Braided Girl on the Bridge of Helplessness and learned that she remembered meeting him before his apparent transmigration. Her account suggested he had once come from the other side of Yellow Springs Road and promised to return for a strange stone, leaving Jiang Qiao shaken by the possibility that his memories were incomplete.

• Jiang Qiao recognized Braided Girl and realized he could not touch or attack her, despite believing he had killed her before.
• Braided Girl said Jiang Qiao had told her his name and promised to be her friend when he returned.
• Jiang Qiao questioned Braided Girl about their past meeting, hoping to uncover the truth about his transmigration.
• Braided Girl recalled that Jiang Qiao had found her in the woods, brought her to the Bridge of Helplessness, and told her to wait for him.
• Braided Girl said Jiang Qiao had promised to return and asked her to take him to find a strange stone, making him wonder whether his memories had been sealed.

Jiang Qiao recalled the history of his ruined homeland and how its survivors fled to the supernatural world, bringing the Black Tide with them. The Braided Girl’s claim that he had crossed over on his own overturned his belief that he had been chosen and sealed as the Simulator’s vessel.

• Jiang Qiao reviewed the chain of events that began when a supernatural meteorite struck Earth and led humanity to explore the Asteroid Belt, creating the first Mountain Ghosts.
• He recalled how supernatural civilization rose, encountered the Abyss, and forged the Red Moon to seal it before the Red Moon became contaminated.
• Jiang Qiao recounted how the Escape Plan sent survivors from his homeland toward Blue Star through passages including the Yellow Springs Road, and how their arrival and unfinished passages contributed to the Black Tide.
• Jiang Qiao reconsidered his theory that he had been chosen, sealed, and released as the Simulator’s vessel because the Simulator was connected to the Red Moon.
• The Braided Girl told Jiang Qiao that he had crossed over from the other side of the Bridge of Helplessness himself, overturning his assumptions.

Jiang Qiao questioned the Braided Girl about their past encounter and grew wary of what the Three Lives Stone might reveal about him. As he tried to leave the Bridge of Helplessness, a child only he could see trapped him in a supernatural attack.

• Jiang Qiao learned that his younger self had come to the bridge in red clothes, asked the Braided Girl to be friends, and sought the Three Lives Stone.
• Jiang Qiao wondered whether the Three Lives Stone could reveal secrets tied to his past and the Simulator’s stalled upgrade, but decided he still needed to find it to survive the coming calamity.
• Jiang Qiao asked the Braided Girl about the child behind him, but she said she could not see anyone there.
• Jiang Qiao and the Braided Girl walked toward the far end of the bridge, while the child followed and the distance between Jiang Qiao and the bridgehead stretched impossibly long.
• Strange hands erupted from the bridge and seized Jiang Qiao, who destroyed them with lightning and his vortex, then demanded to know who the child was and what it wanted.

Jiang Qiao confronted the Bridge Spirit, who urged him to abandon his search and accept that the Great Calamity and eventual destruction were unavoidable. Jiang Qiao rejected the Bridge Spirit’s fatalism and challenged it over the Green Lotus Sect’s Other Shore Plan.

• Jiang Qiao asked the child to take him to the Three Lives Stone, but the child warned him to leave Yellow Springs Road, the River of Forgetfulness, and the stone alone.
• The child questioned why Jiang Qiao resisted death and kept struggling against the Great Calamity, and Jiang Qiao asked what it was.
• The child revealed it was the Bridge Spirit of the Bridge of Helplessness and said it was only a residual image, while the River of Forgetfulness and others had already fallen.
• The Bridge Spirit said the Red Moon had shattered and urged Jiang Qiao to sever his karma rather than prolong suffering.
• Jiang Qiao rejected the Bridge Spirit’s reasoning and pointed out that the Green Lotus Sect’s Holy Mother was planning to activate the Other Shore Plan.

Jiang Qiao questioned the Bridge Spirit about the Other Shore, the fallen Deities, and the meaning of a xian. The Bridge Spirit revealed that xian were the supernatural dead reincarnated into the Void Abyss, and warned that Jiang Qiao would encounter many when the black tide returned.

• The Bridge Spirit dismissed the Other Shore Plan and told Jiang Qiao to abandon his search for the Three Lives Stone and leave the Bridge of Helplessness.
• Jiang Qiao asked whether the Bridge Spirit, Meng Po, and Forgetfulness were Deities, and learned that Meng Po and the Kitchen God had been Deities who later fell or vanished.
• Jiang Qiao pressed the Bridge Spirit about Changyang Mountain and Crow Country, and learned that Crow Country was a remnant of the black tide where the Kitchen God slew an evil Deity from the Void Abyss.
• The Bridge Spirit told Jiang Qiao that xian were people swallowed by the Void Abyss who became vicious ghosts after death and transformed into xian when slain again.
• The Bridge Spirit explained that the Void Abyss was the destroyed source world of the supernatural, now existing as a concept, and that xian were reincarnated into that conceptual world.

The Bridge Spirit explained that those who died under the Abyss’s influence could become Zhan, including homeland deities and possibly the Kitchen God, and said the Black Tide would keep the cycle of death going until the Abyss was defeated. It also revealed that Granny Meng likely opened a passage to the other shore at Changyang Mountain before she fell, while the Green Lotus Sect could no longer use that passage for its Other Shore Plan.

• The Bridge Spirit told Jiang Qiao that people swallowed or eroded by the Abyss could become vicious ghosts and then Zhan, and confirmed that the homeland deities had become Zhan.
• The Bridge Spirit said the Kitchen God had discovered the Zhan secret and might also have become one after falling in Crow Country.
• The Bridge Spirit recounted how humanity’s survivors fought the Abyss, how it became a barrier on Yellow Springs Road, and how it fell during the Black Tide.
• Jiang Qiao asked about Changyang Mountain, and the Bridge Spirit said Granny Meng likely opened a passage to the other shore there before terrifying fluctuations and her apparent death.
• The Bridge Spirit explained that the passage at Changyang Mountain had closed, and said the Green Lotus Sect’s leader had taken a shortcut to become a deity and would have to pay for it.

Jiang Qiao refused Bridge Spirit’s demand to leave Yellow Springs Road and was overwhelmed by its power on Bridge of Helplessness. As Bridge Spirit began to reduce him to bones, a strange pair of infinity-shaped pupils appeared in Jiang Qiao’s eyes, releasing Gray Light and blood-red light.

• Jiang Qiao insisted on reaching the Three Lives Stone despite Bridge Spirit’s warnings and threats.
• Bridge Spirit aged and filled Bridge of Helplessness with visions of people rapidly decaying into bones and vanishing into the River of Forgetfulness.
• Bridge Spirit immobilized Jiang Qiao and suppressed his Stove Fire, Fate Weaver, talents, and Divine Firmament Thunder Seal.
• Jiang Qiao’s body became more than half skeletonized, but he glared at Bridge Spirit and insisted it had not won.
• Infinity-shaped pupils appeared behind Jiang Qiao’s pupils, and Gray Light followed by blood-red light burst from his eyes.

Jiang Qiao unleashed Red Moon power on the Bridge of Helplessness, halting the Bridge Spirit’s attack and purging its effects from his body. The Bridge Spirit recognized that he had obtained a Red Moon Shard and prepared to fight him over his plan to sever the cycle of reincarnation.

• The Bridge Spirit’s power caused Jiang Qiao’s body to rot and turn to stone, leaving him near death and unable to resist with his usual abilities.
• Jiang Qiao slowly opened his Dual Pupils and released Red Moon power across the Bridge of Helplessness.
• A vast will descended, restored Jiang Qiao’s body, and cleansed away the Bridge Spirit’s supernatural power.
• The Bridge Spirit recognized the Red Moon Shard and guessed Jiang Qiao intended to use the Three Lives Stone to locate the other shards.
• The Bridge Spirit declared Jiang Qiao’s path wrong and prepared to test how much Red Moon power he could unleash.

Jiang Qiao resisted the Bridge Spirit’s attacks with the Red Moon power and discovered that the River of Forgetfulness formed a spacetime loop around the Three Lives Stone. He then spotted a Klein-bottle-shaped plane intersecting the river, leaving him questioning how it connected to the road to his homeland.

• The Bridge Spirit made the Shore Flowers bloom and tried to sever Jiang Qiao’s mortal ties, but the Red Moon power nullified the attack.
• Jiang Qiao saw that the Bridge Spirit was the damaged stele of the Bridge of Helplessness and examined signs of an ancient battle and strange black flesh on the bridge.
• The Bridge Spirit tried to trap Jiang Qiao by splitting the bridge, but the Red Moon power again dissolved its attack while Jiang Qiao remained unable to control that power.
• Jiang Qiao observed Fate Lines in the River of Forgetfulness and saw that it looped through all spacetime around a stele he suspected was the Three Lives Stone.
• Jiang Qiao searched for the road to his homeland and saw a Klein-bottle-shaped plane intersecting the River of Forgetfulness.

Jiang Qiao learned that the Klein Bottle-like space led to the homeland and that the River of Forgetfulness guarded its entrance and a mysterious stele. After his connection with the Red Moon ended, he confronted the Bridge Spirit, which summoned a chained Vicious Ghost to attack him.

• Jiang Qiao realized the homeland might be the true netherworld, then returned from the Red Moon’s vast will to his own consciousness.
• The Bridge Spirit noticed gaps in Jiang Qiao’s Red Moon defenses and concluded the Red Moon could not oppose the Abyss, even if it returned intact.
• Jiang Qiao tried to invoke the Red Moon’s authority to persuade the Bridge Spirit to let him pass, but the Bridge Spirit rejected his argument.
• The Bridge Spirit summoned a black Vicious Ghost, whose chains wrapped around Jiang Qiao and began twisting his body.
• Jiang Qiao’s Red Moon power snapped the chains, and he charged at the Bridge Spirit.

Jiang Qiao faced the Bridge Spirit and a remnant of Black Impermanence on the Bridge of Helplessness as the Bridge Spirit explained the failed attempt to create a heavenly court and warned that the Red Moon must not be reunited. Jiang Qiao summoned the Nether Sea to restrain Black Impermanence, but the Bridge Spirit said his power was still insufficient to defeat him.

• Jiang Qiao recognized the corpse blocking his way as Black Impermanence, and the Bridge Spirit revealed that it was only a remnant of the ghost god's soul.
• The Bridge Spirit explained that the ancient deities had failed to reverse the supernatural and create a heavenly court before the Void Abyss consumed the world.
• The Bridge Spirit warned that the Red Moon fragment in Jiang Qiao had developed a will and said it had to eliminate him to prevent the Red Moon from being reunited or descending upon the world.
• Black Impermanence raised an iron chain that entangled Jiang Qiao's fate, so Jiang Qiao used talismans and Red Moon power to summon a wisp of the Nether Sea.
• The Nether Sea slowed Black Impermanence's movements but could not devour him, and the Bridge Spirit told Jiang Qiao that he lacked the strength and understanding to harm Black Impermanence before becoming a half-god.

Jiang Qiao fought the Bridge Spirit on Yellow Springs Road and learned that the Bridge of Helplessness could seal his connections to hell and the Nether Sea at immense cost to itself. The Bridge Spirit declared the outcome decided, leaving Jiang Qiao to face it without those powers.

• Jiang Qiao reflected on the Bridge Spirit's ability to withstand the Red Moon and wondered whether the great calamity could be resisted.
• Jiang Qiao summoned the Hell Gate and tried to make a Wish, but the Bridge Spirit recognized his attempt to summon the God of Hell.
• The Bridge Spirit unleashed the Bridge of Helplessness, severing Jiang Qiao's connections to hell and the Nether Sea and sealing space and time.
• Jiang Qiao noticed the Bridge of Helplessness had cracked and reasoned that it could not use its full power many more times.
• The Bridge Spirit accepted that the Bridge of Helplessness would eventually die and told Jiang Qiao that the Red Moon alone could not save him.