Chapter Summaries

The Mysterious Woman discovered that someone was burning away her corridor’s traps and rushed inside, while Jiang Qiao realized the fire was activating the corridor’s self-cleaning mechanism. Wu Jia’s arson brought him face-to-face with Jiang Qiao, and the chapter ended with the Mysterious Woman confronting them both.

• The Mysterious Woman sensed Wu Jia destroying her corridor’s traps and suspected the Longevity God Church was involved.
• Jiang Qiao recognized that Wu Jia’s fire was activating the corridor’s self-cleaning mechanism and suspected a marked fanatic was hidden among the ship’s crew.
• Wu Jia continued setting fires in the corridor until he encountered Jiang Qiao.
• Jiang Qiao told Wu Jia that the Mysterious Woman was pursuing him and denied working with her.
• The Mysterious Woman appeared and accused Jiang Qiao and Wu Jia of working together.

Jiang Qiao fought off the Mysterious Woman’s attack on Holy Spirit Island and escaped when she used Ninth-Rank rule power. She suspected his abilities came from a long-eradicated organization, summoned seven Ninth-Rank figures, and sent birds to call for reinforcements.

• Jiang Qiao denied being allied with the Mysterious Woman and joked about building seaside villas, but she offered to help only if she could uncover his secrets.
• The Mysterious Woman attacked Jiang Qiao with vines, flowers, and monstrous hands, while Wu Jia fled to call for help.
• Jiang Qiao fought back with electricity and talismans, then escaped deeper into the island as the Mysterious Woman used rule power to flatten the area around him.
• Jiang Qiao activated Stealth and vanished with Gray Light, leaving the Mysterious Woman astonished that an Eighth-Tier expert had escaped her rules.
• The Mysterious Woman recognized his ability as resembling the legacy of an eradicated organization, summoned seven Ninth-Rank figures, and sent strange birds from Holy Spirit Island to call in reinforcements.

Jiang Qiao and Wu Jia encountered a strange old man in the corridor, where Hefu revealed himself and identified the woman pursuing them as Mary Shaw of the Celestial Association. Hefu explained the group’s connection to the Return Journey Research Institute, leaving Jiang Qiao to connect its destruction to the Longevity God and the Institute’s forbidden research.

• Jiang Qiao found the corridor’s room, murals, and reliefs had vanished, then saw Wu Jia stop before a motionless old man.
• Hefu emerged from a sinister liquid on Wu Jia’s back and offered to cooperate with Jiang Qiao against the Celestial Association.
• Jiang Qiao introduced himself as K. C. and asked Hefu about the Celestial Association and the woman who had pursued them.
• Hefu said the Celestial Association was linked to the Return Journey Research Institute and identified the woman as Mary Shaw, a surviving member hostile to the Longevity God Church.
• Jiang Qiao recalled the Institute’s research into reversing the supernatural and its hidden passage home, and suspected its work had provoked the Longevity God.

Jiang Qiao agreed to cooperate with Hefu of the Longevity God Church while suspecting that the church had hidden motives and that a battle between demigods was approaching. A sudden supernatural storm then struck Holy Spirit Island, leaving the stranded sailors facing disaster.

• Hefu threatened Jiang Qiao with losing access to Demon Port unless he helped the Longevity God Church find the coffin on Holy Spirit Island.
• Jiang Qiao recognized the motionless old man as a manifestation of the church's Sage and agreed to wait for their enemies to arrive, while privately suspecting the coffin was bait.
• Wu Jia feared the danger but realized he had nowhere to escape on the open sea.
• A torrential storm and enormous waves engulfed Holy Spirit Island as twisted shadows churned above the clouds and the Nether Sea's weeping grew louder.
• The stranded sailors discovered that their leaders and the Fearless had vanished, and a sudden apocalyptic storm scene appeared before them.

Jiang Qiao and Wu Jia heard the Vengeful Infant approaching while Hefu trusted the Sage to protect them, and Jiang Qiao reflected on how his self-aware clone would reunite with the Main Body if it died. Outside Holy Spirit Island, the Vengeful Infant massacred sailors as Wanye and a crimson figure discussed the reported successor of Soul-Seizing.

• Hefu identified the Vengeful Infant as a terrifying Celestial Church arbiter who could devour ghosts, people, supernatural phenomena, and even rules and concepts.
• Explosions shook the corridor, but Hefu remained calm and claimed the Sage would keep them safe.
• Jiang Qiao explained that his conscious clone shared the Main Body's self-awareness and would merge back into it after death.
• The Vengeful Infant landed on Holy Spirit Island, crushed sailors, and swallowed dozens more.
• Wanye complained about the mess as a crimson figure asked whether a successor of Soul-Seizing had appeared, and Wanye told him to ask Mary.

The Vengeful Infant and two other arbitrators prepared to attack the people hiding in the underground corridor, dismissing the Holy Spirit and suspecting Jiang Qiao of ties to Soul-Reaping. As Hefu explained the arbitrators’ power, Jiang Qiao questioned the mysterious Half-God remnant spirit’s past; then the Vengeful Infant confronted the three of them.

• The Mysterious Woman told the arbitrators that the Longevity God Church’s people were in the underground corridor and that Jiang Qiao might be connected to Soul-Reaping.
• Wanye and the Vengeful Infant dismissed the threat posed by the Holy Spirit and decided to capture Jiang Qiao to learn more about Soul-Reaping.
• Mary stopped warning the other arbitrators, while the red-haired man reassured her that they would act together.
• Hefu explained the Divinity Staircase to Jiang Qiao and said the arbitrators near Holy Spirit Island were not among the strongest.
• Jiang Qiao questioned why the Half-God remnant spirit had been transported on a civilian vessel and why no large search had followed its disappearance.
• The Vengeful Infant called the three people in the corridor little mice, and the corridor began to shake.

Archbishop Posen confronted Wanye, Hong Zhou, and Jiang Qiao while seeking the Sage’s remains, and the Vengeful Infant demanded to know how Jiang Qiao was connected to Soulreaper. Jiang Qiao insulted the Giant Infant, provoking it to unleash a powerful suction attack as the confrontation turned violent.

• A flood breached the underground corridor, but the Holy Spirit kept the area around it dry.
• Wanye recognized Hefu as Archbishop Posen, and Posen insisted the gods had sent him to retrieve the Sage’s remains.
• The Vengeful Infant asked Jiang Qiao about Soulreaper and demanded to know where he had encountered the organization.
• Jiang Qiao mocked the Giant Infant, drawing amused reactions from Gao Ye, Hong Zhou, Mary Shaw, and approving words from Posen.
• The Giant Infant opened its mouth and sucked fiercely, pulling Jiang Qiao toward a bottomless Abyss.

The Vengeful Infant and the other attackers unleashed supernatural forces against Jiang Qiao, Hefu, and Wu Jia, but Jiang Qiao remained unharmed by the mental pressure. As the Holy Spirit Island awakened and rose into the sky, Gao Ye revealed it as their trump card.

• The Vengeful Infant attacked Jiang Qiao with a mass of fused severed limbs, while Wu Jia collapsed under its negative mental field.
• Jiang Qiao realized the Holy Spirit's incomplete consciousness prevented it from blocking the attack and stayed calm as the others questioned why he was unaffected.
• Gao Ye summoned a gigantic figure and used tentacles to constrict the golden, translucent coffin around Jiang Qiao and the Holy Spirit.
• Hong Zhou covered Holy Spirit Island in steam, bringing animated myth-like figures out of stone pillars.
• Holy Spirit Island trembled, awakened, and rose toward the cloud-covered sky as Gao Ye revealed it as the attackers' trump card.

Hefu realized Holy Spirit Island was a demigod-level trap devised by the Celestial Association to ensnare the Longevity God Church, but the Church’s Saint's Remnant Soul awakened and revealed a Half-God’s power. Jiang Qiao suspected the creatures it created were not truly alive and connected the Sage’s title to the Longevity God’s nature.

• Hefu explained that Holy Spirit Island and its underwater reflection were alternating forms of a hidden demigod-level item created by the Celestial Association.
• Gao Ye revealed that the Supreme Committee had activated the island to trap the Longevity God Church and claimed its preparations could withstand a Half-God or Taboo Weapon.
• The Saint's Remnant Soul awakened, unleashed a storm that destroyed the attacks around the golden coffin, and rose above Holy Spirit Island.
• The awakened Saint filled the surrounding void with trees, fruits, and animals, displaying power that appeared to create living creatures.
• Jiang Qiao sensed that the creatures’ vital energy did not truly belong to them and connected the Longevity God’s title as the Father of the undead to the Church’s Sage.

Gao Ye used a mirror to reveal Holy Spirit Island’s true form and pit the Celestial Association’s Demigod-Class item against the Sage’s Remnant Soul. While the two entities reached a stalemate above the Nether Sea, Jiang Qiao and Hefu faced the Giant Infant, the other arbiters, and Mary Shaw below, with Wu Jia already dead.

• The Sage’s Remnant Soul ascended and filled the sky with strange lifeforms, but Gao Ye used his mirror to expose Holy Spirit Island as a gigantic tentacled eyeball.
• Gao Ye’s mirror caused Holy Spirit Island to collapse, and its revealed eyeball manipulated the Nether Sea and void rifts to attack the Sage’s Remnant Soul.
• The Sage’s Remnant Soul used a golden ear of wheat to produce multiplying copies, while the eyeball dissolved them with corrosive seawater, leaving both sides in a stalemate.
• Jiang Qiao and Hefu lost the Holy Spirits’ protection and faced the Giant Infant, the other arbiters, and Mary Shaw; Wu Jia was already dead.
• Jiang Qiao quietly urged Hefu to use any remaining tricks, and the Giant Infant said he wanted to see what they could do.

Jiang Qiao and Hefu were swallowed by the Giant Infant’s abyss-like mouth, while Jiang Qiao considered the rules of the Vengeful Infant and the risks of his time abilities. The chapter left their fate inside the darkness unresolved.

• Hefu calmed the storm with his solemn proclamation, but the Giant Infant opened its enormous mouth and plunged the surroundings into darkness.
• Jiang Qiao realized the darkness was the Giant Infant’s rule drawing him into an abyss and held onto Hefu so they would not be separated.
• Jiang Qiao noticed the Longevity God Church’s repeated association with eyes and wondered whether it was connected to the Red Moon and the Dual Pupils.
• Jiang Qiao considered how his clone could receive support from his Main Body and how Time Rewind could restore his consciousness if the clone were annihilated.
• Jiang Qiao reflected on the risks of using Time Rewind alongside a clone, but could not determine whether the clone’s consciousness would still return after its death.

Jiang Qiao and Hefu were transported with several others into a supernatural space controlled by the Longevity God Church. Jiang Qiao hid in the vast temple plaza, and the chapter ended as Hong Zhou emerged in the form of a stitched curse monster.

• Hefu's doll opened a rift that swallowed Jiang Qiao, Hefu, the Giant Infant, and three others, leaving the two Demigod-Class fighters battling above the Nether Sea.
• Jiang Qiao landed alone in a vast plaza before an ancient stone temple and concluded that he had entered a supernatural space tied to the Longevity God Church.
• Jiang Qiao hid among the plaza's stones, reasoning that the Celestial Church members and Hefu would reveal their plans before he needed to act.
• After about ten minutes, a black stone pillar rose and crumbled, revealing a stitched curse monster that Jiang Qiao identified as Hong Zhou.

Jiang Qiao watched the Divine Temple destroy a stitched curse monster, then realized a subtle mental influence was making the Awakened restless and exposing them. The group gathered in the plaza and recognized the Temple as their threat, while Hong Zhou summoned a tortured giant from gray-white mist.

• The stitched curse monster collapsed near the boulder, and a huge butterfly landed there as blood erupted, leaving Jiang Qiao uncertain whether Hong Zhou had been attacked.
• Dozens of butterflies arrived, but the stitched monster revived, seized them, and grew larger after absorbing them.
• The monster rushed onto the Divine Temple’s first step, shattered under an unseen force, and was swallowed by the steps.
• Jiang Qiao recognized that a powerful mental influence had caused his frustration and forced the other Awakened to reveal themselves in the plaza.
• The Vengeful Infant and Gao Ye accused the Longevity God Church of using the Divine Temple, and Gao Ye urged Hong Zhou to stop holding back.
• Hong Zhou agreed and summoned a giant with half its body reduced to bone and the other half bound in barbed wire.

Jiang Qiao fled the plaza as a giant’s blood unleashed a supernatural flame that revealed graves and corpses beneath the temple. After Mary pursued him, Hong Zhou warned the Vengeful Infant that Mary’s family had ties to the Return Journey Research Institute and that some people from its destruction may have survived; Mary’s scream then came from afar.

• The giant’s blood turned into strange characters and ignited a freezing black flame that revealed graves beneath the plaza and across the sky.
• Jiang Qiao retreated from the flame, exposing himself, and the Vengeful Infant tried to pull him in, but Jiang Qiao resisted and escaped through his Ghost Domain.
• Mary pursued Jiang Qiao while the Vengeful Infant angrily threatened her, and Hong Zhou urged him to leave her alone.
• Hong Zhou reminded the Vengeful Infant of the Return Journey Research Institute’s terrifying legacy and said Mary’s father had been an important figure there.
• Hong Zhou revealed that Mary’s family had more than a father and that some people may have survived the institute’s destruction, then Mary screamed from the far end of the plaza.

Jiang Qiao confronted Mary Shaw among the ruins outside the plaza and used his ability to ignite her Puppet Strings. He began a counterattack, setting Mary ablaze and preparing another attack.

• Jiang Qiao noticed space undulating beyond the plaza and reflected on the corpse-built ruins surrounding him.
• Mary Shaw appeared on a half-collapsed wall and demanded that Jiang Qiao return with her, then sealed the area with her Puppet Strings.
• Jiang Qiao recalled how he had tried to use the Saint's Remnant Soul to close the power gap, but the Longevity God Church's grand bishop had released it before his plan succeeded.
• Jiang Qiao set Mary's Puppet Strings on fire, causing the flames to spread to her and leaving her trapped in the blaze.
• Jiang Qiao drew a twisted spell in the air and prepared a final attack against Mary.

Mary Shaw trapped Jiang Qiao with Ninth Tier Dolls and prepared to capture him, hoping to seize his Stove Fire and regain her former power. Just as she believed she had cornered him, she sensed a threat from above.

• Mary Shaw realized the Stove Fire could ignite rules but could not seriously injure her, and she became eager to claim its power.
• Mary Shaw summoned several Ninth Tier Dolls, each woven with curses and rules, to capture Jiang Qiao.
• The dolls’ rules altered Jiang Qiao’s body and made movement dangerous, while Mary Shaw attacked him with puppet strings.
• Mary Shaw noticed Jiang Qiao remained calm, then looked toward the sky and reacted with alarm.

Mary Shaw saw a terrifying presence from the unseen invading the Supernatural Space and recognized that her Fate Line was turning gray. Jiang Qiao revealed that he had openly used the Heaven-Reaching Talisman to steal power from a Nether Sea entity, released his coordinates, and tied them to his Fate Line, leaving Mary convinced he had invited certain death.

• Mary Shaw identified the colored Fate Lines of the living and watched her own line turn gray under an encroaching shadow.
• Mary sensed a powerful presence watching them and suspected it was a Half-God from the Nether Sea who had once controlled fate.
• Mary tried to capture Jiang Qiao to stop the ritual, but the unseen presence's gaze grew clearer and forced her to halt.
• Jiang Qiao revealed that he had used the Heaven-Reaching Talisman to steal power openly and connect his coordinates to his Fate Line.
• Mary realized Jiang Qiao had summoned a Nether Sea entity through a suicidal method and demanded to know who he was.

Jiang Qiao burned away the rules afflicting him and destroyed Mary’s puppets, then wounded her while she tried to avoid drawing the attention of the unseen entity. As Mary attempted to escape through her Ghost Domain, a vast white expanse appeared before her and something struck her chest.

• Jiang Qiao used Blazing Flame to burn the rules and curses from his body, enduring the pain and damage.
• Jiang Qiao attacked Mary’s uncontrolled puppets with his threads, thunder, and flames, destroying all three Ninth Rank puppets.
• Jiang Qiao entered Stealth and cut Mary’s neck, while Mary avoided using more Supernatural Means because the unseen entity was watching her.
• Mary called for help with Seizing Souls and tried to flee toward the square’s center through her Ghost Domain.
• Mary saw a vast white expanse, felt her chest turn cold, and cried out in pain.

A summoned Half-God locked onto Mary, and the Celestial Association members realized she could become its vessel, so they agreed to rescue her. While the Prisoner froze the plaza, Jiang Qiao taunted and slapped the immobilized Mary, until someone shouted at him from behind.

• A Half-God appeared over the plaza, and the Vengeful Infant, Gao Ye, and Hong Zhou recognized that it had been summoned through a Divine Descent ritual.
• The Prisoner froze the plaza’s central area, prompting the Vengeful Infant to let it slowly spread while they waited for Posen and Jiang Qiao to react.
• Gao Ye and Hong Zhou warned that the Half-God had locked onto Mary as a potential vessel, and the Vengeful Infant agreed to help save her.
• Mary felt the Half-God eroding her body and questioned why it had chosen her, while Jiang Qiao explained that it was trying to descend into her.
• Mary threatened Jiang Qiao and his allies, but he taunted her and slapped her before an unseen person shouted at him.

Gao Ye attacked Jiang Qiao after seeing him slap Mary, but Mary’s strange Half-God power blocked the blow. As Hong Zhou took sole control of the Prisoner, the space shook and Archbishop Posen’s face appeared across the sky.

• Gao Ye tried to strike Jiang Qiao, who retreated behind Mary as her white light dispersed the shadowy figures.
• Hong Zhou identified Mary’s condition as resembling an old monster from the Depths of the Nether Sea and ordered the group to force it away.
• Hong Zhou admitted he could control the Prisoner alone and said he would keep doing so until the mission ended.
• The Prisoner wrapped barbed wire around Mary and tried to pull the white light out of her.
• The space trembled, and Archbishop Posen’s face appeared across the sky with a trace of Hefu’s aura.