Chapter Summaries

Daoist He Ming explained the history of his discarded corpse and asked Xiya and Lu Ban to destroy it in exchange for protection and forbidden knowledge. He revealed that his corpse was a Mud Monster hidden in Rainstorm Villa, but Lu Ban questioned how He Ming had killed Gaud while controlling his body.

• Daoist He Ming said the Old One of the Ruined City struck him with lightning, contaminating his body and allowing him to preserve himself as a concept.
• He Ming explained that his discarded corpse was heavily contaminated and could revive to challenge him for the name of Daoist He Ming.
• He Ming offered to protect Xiya and Lu Ban and share special knowledge if they destroyed his corpse.
• He Ming said his corpse had become a Mud Monster, and that he had tried to expose it by faking death and killing Gaud.
• Lu Ban realized He Ming had controlled Gaud's body to kill himself and asked how He Ming had dealt with Gaud's internal organs.

Byron revealed that he was Daoist He Ming, fused with a Mud Monster and trapped in an incomplete state after the Old One split his consciousness. He offered to restore Liz and Ai Ou if Stone helped him break the paintings’ restraints, and Stone agreed to hear what he must do.

• Byron told Stone that he had merged with a Mud Monster and become a new existence, but the Old One had split his consciousness and left part of it in Rainstorm Villa.
• Byron explained that a will anchored to the paintings was trying to replace him and could kill Stone and his companions during Soul Summoning Night.
• Byron asked Stone to move the paintings and break Browning’s restraints so he could regain his lost power and complete his transformation.
• Byron offered to restore Liz and Ai Ou from the souls within the Mud Monster if Stone helped him.
• Stone weighed Byron’s offer and the consequences of resurrecting the dead, then lowered his revolver and asked what he needed to do.

Lu Ban and Xiya learned that Byron might be a Mud Monster mimic and received a spell from Browning to petrify him. Stone then revealed a conflicting account of Daoist He Ming, leaving the group uncertain which version was true.

• Browning suspected that Byron was a mimic formed from his remains and warned that Byron might try to find him and complete the Soul Summoning ritual.
• Browning gave Lu Ban and Xiya knowledge of a spell that could seal a Mud Monster as a Glass Flower, and both learned how to use it.
• Lu Ban and Xiya set out to speak with Stone before confronting Byron, and Stone told them he had encountered a will of Daoist He Ming that intended to kill them.
• Stone said Byron had fused with the Mud Monster to become an Old One, but Lu Ban countered that Daoist He Ming had blamed his own body for Soul Summoning Night.

Lu Ban, Xiya, and Stone stopped trying to decide which Daoist He Ming was real and agreed to eliminate both sides. Lu Ban and Xiya went to Byron and offered to cooperate with him.

• Xiya and Stone compared their accounts and debated which Daoist He Ming was trustworthy.
• Stone proposed investigating both sides by switching places with Xiya.
• Lu Ban argued that they did not need to identify the real Daoist He Ming and should deal with both versions instead.
• The three agreed to use each side’s method to kill the other, preventing Soul Summoning Night and eliminating the threat.
• Lu Ban and Xiya visited Byron, and Lu Ban told him they had decided to cooperate.

Stone confronted Browning in the funeral hall and learned that uniqueness in the Otherworld came from leaving a mark that could develop into a concept. After Browning offered to create imitations of the dead, Stone activated the seals and brought him down, leaving an indescribable polyhedron before Browning’s portrait.

• Stone entered the funeral hall and found Browning waiting there with a glass of wine.
• Stone questioned Browning about his return, his fusion with the Mud Monster, and whether he had remained himself.
• Browning explained that ascension required leaving a unique mark, and said Daoist He Ming was the mark that made him irreplaceable.
• Browning offered to create counterfeit versions of the people Stone wanted back, but Stone challenged him over his defeat and confinement.
• Stone snapped his fingers and activated the seals, suppressing Browning until he collapsed as a corpse-like polyhedron fell before the memorial portrait.

Lu Ban petrified Byron and reunited with Xiya and Stone in the funeral hall, where they secured Daoist He Ming’s strange rock. Though they thought the Soul Summoning Night might be nearly resolved, Lu Ban noticed an unnatural silence and discovered a strange orange glow outside as footsteps approached.

• Byron tried to touch Lu Ban, but Lu Ban’s body swelled and ruptured before his hand petrified Byron into a lifelike stone statue.
• Lu Ban melted and reformed, then joined Xiya in carrying Byron’s statue to the funeral hall, where Stone had recovered an eight-sided rock.
• Lu Ban wrapped the rock and discussed with Xiya and Stone whether it and Byron’s petrification had truly resolved the threat of Daoist He Ming.
• Lu Ban noticed the funeral hall had become unnaturally quiet, opened the curtains, and saw an orange-yellow glow over the ruined landscape.
• Steady footsteps, like someone wearing high heels, sounded in the corridor as Lu Ban, Xiya, and Stone turned toward the doorway.

A mysterious woman arrived at Byron’s funeral, erased the polyhedral stone and destroyed Byron’s statue before taking Lu Ban away. Xiya and Stone were left behind as The Silent Land declared the mission complete.

• A woman whose appearance matched an old Ruined City legend entered the funeral hall and mesmerized Lu Ban, Stone, and Xiya.
• The woman took the polyhedral stone and made it disappear, then destroyed Byron’s statue with a flick of her hand.
• The woman reached for Xiya, but Lu Ban grabbed her wrist and tried to uncover her face.
• The woman’s power transformed Lu Ban into worms, but she restored him, and he fired the Last Words at her without effect.
• The woman revealed her face, seized Lu Ban, and vanished with him as The Silent Land announced that the mission was complete.

Lu Ban awoke in a dead world and found the qipao-clad woman who had brought him there roasting a lamb. She revealed that his scent reminded her of something she had left behind and named the ruined world the Glorious Realm.

• Lu Ban woke amid colossal ruins and shattered moons, then realized Stone and Xiya were nowhere to be seen.
• Lu Ban found the woman beside a campfire and asked her for food.
• The woman conjured a roast lamb, which Lu Ban eagerly ate before offering her a lamb leg.
• The woman said Lu Ban carried a familiar scent and that she had brought him there to investigate it.
• The woman told Lu Ban that the ruined world had once been called the Glorious Realm.

Lu Ban met Charlotte, who revealed that she was an avatar of the Crawling Chaos, a god above the Old Ones. After warning him that she was not the most rational avatar, Charlotte led him toward a towering building and asked for his help.

• Lu Ban recognized the ruined satellite world as the remains of the Glorious Realm.
• Charlotte introduced herself by an alias, explained that her appearance was a disguise, and identified the Man of Darkness as one of her fellow avatars.
• Charlotte revealed that she and the other avatars were all created by the Crawling Chaos, the God of a Thousand Faces.
• Charlotte warned Lu Ban that she was not the most rational avatar, briefly showing him a terrifying crimson glimpse of her true nature.
• Charlotte walked toward a towering building and asked Lu Ban to help her.

Lu Ban accompanied Charlotte across the desolate Glorious Realm and learned that its civilization had sealed Old Ones and their contamination before disappearing. Inside a gigantic building, he realized the scattered stone forms outside were the remains of the realm’s enormous inhabitants.

• Lu Ban tried to escape Charlotte, but she transported him back to her side and told him he could not leave on his own.
• Lu Ban decided to explore the Glorious Realm with Charlotte, hoping to learn from the civilization’s struggle against contamination.
• Charlotte explained that the Glorious Realm’s people had sealed Old Ones together with the contamination they brought.
• Lu Ban and Charlotte reached a vast building whose oversized entrance, stairs, and furnishings dwarfed him.
• Charlotte asked whether Lu Ban understood the difference between the Glorious Realm and his own realm, and Lu Ban realized the scattered stone forms were the civilization’s former inhabitants.

Key Plot Points and Events

• The chapter opens with Harry Potter waking up early, anxious about an upcoming test in Divination.
• Professor Trelawney is absent, and Professor McGonagall substitutes, announcing a Potions test instead.
• Harry, Ron, and Hermione are surprised and unprepared, as they had been studying Divination.
• Harry struggles with the Potions test, unable to remember most of the ingredients and steps.
• After the test, Harry is frustrated and feels he has failed.

Character Developments

• Harry's anxiety about tests and his struggle with Potions are highlighted.
• Ron and Hermione show concern for Harry's well-being and offer support.
• Professor McGonagall is portrayed as fair and understanding, despite the unexpected test.

Significant Themes

• Preparation and Expectation: The characters' expectations are subverted, and they must adapt to an unexpected situation.
• Frustration and Failure: Harry's struggle with Potions and his feelings of failure are emphasized.

Character Interactions

• Harry, Ron, and Hermione's friendship is reinforced as they support each other through the unexpected challenge.
• Harry and Professor McGonagall have a brief, respectful interaction, with her expressing understanding about the surprise test.

Lu Ban and Charlotte explored the Glorious Realm’s immense Academy Library, where records appeared only when Lu Ban touched a blank stone board. Charlotte read the library’s warning to him, leaving Lu Ban to question why the library accepted his touch as biometric information from the Glorious Realm.

• Charlotte used tentacles beneath her dress to lift Lu Ban and slam him against a blank board, revealing carved records.
• Charlotte identified the board as part of the Glorious Realm’s library and explained that it preserved knowledge in stone.
• Lu Ban asked Charlotte to read the records despite her warning that the knowledge could drive him mad.
• Charlotte read the library rules against removing books and contacting books above one’s clearance level.
• Charlotte explained that the library used biometric information and clearance levels to control access, prompting Lu Ban to ask why it recognized him.

Lu Ban and Charlotte discovered how the Glorious Realm’s survivors became humanity and witnessed a record of a world destroyed by an Old One awakening inside its star. The record revealed that the world’s life had originated from pollution left by the sealed Old One.

• Charlotte told Lu Ban that humans in many realms descended from survivors of the Glorious Realm who had mutated, and that the Glorious Realm had made realms to imprison Old Ones.
• Charlotte led Lu Ban into a room where writing on the walls transferred knowledge into his mind.
• Lu Ban saw a peaceful world whose setting sun burst open as an Old One’s tentacles emerged and split the planet apart.
• Lu Ban learned that the Glorious Realm had sealed the Old One in the region billions of years earlier, and that its remains had become a star around which planets and life formed.
• Lu Ban discovered that pollution had been the source of life and that every living creature had carried pollution since birth.

Charlotte explained how the Glorious Realm used its library to study dangerous knowledge while limiting contamination, then described three beings as powerful as her true form. Lu Ban was overwhelmed by the information and melted, but re-formed a quarter of an hour later and accused Charlotte of causing it deliberately.

• Lu Ban realized the library let scholars examine contaminating materials while retaining only their conclusions after leaving.
• Charlotte said the Glorious Realm's people could resist contamination and worshiped Outer Gods.
• Charlotte described a being called the Black Mother who governed mutation, contamination, and corrosion.
• Charlotte described another being who governed time and space and was the source of knowledge and contamination, and Lu Ban melted from hearing about her.
• Lu Ban re-formed and accused Charlotte of deliberately causing his collapse, which she denied.

Charlotte explained that Glorious Realm observed civilizations facing the Old Ones in search of life’s purpose, but concluded that life was a mistake in a purposeless universe. After Charlotte left to investigate further, Lu Ban searched the library and found information about Pure Fire.

• Lu Ban asked Charlotte why she was investigating apocalypses, and she explained that Glorious Realm had watched foreign civilizations confront the Old Ones without intervening.
• Charlotte told Lu Ban that Glorious Realm sought answers about life’s future and meaning, but concluded that life was a mistake and the universe had no purpose.
• Charlotte left Lu Ban in the library while she continued examining the materials.
• Lu Ban learned to operate the library’s facilities and searched for information about how a substance was made and used.
• A multicolored, deep-black flame identified as Pure Fire appeared before Lu Ban.

Lu Ban learned how the Glorious Realm discovered and contained purifying fire by observing the last days of an alien civilization. The chapter ended with the Glorious Realm collecting the fire in containers made from the giants’ bones.

• Lu Ban entered a barren alien world and saw giants tending pale flames atop towers.
• Lu Ban learned that the flames, called Gray Fire, burned giant corpses and held back monsters created by the Old Ones’ pollution.
• As the last Gray Fire dwindled, the final giant succumbed to hatred, threw himself into the flames, and transformed them into black fire that consumed the planet and twisted the Old Ones.
• The Glorious Realm later observed the burning planet and found that the flames spared the giants’ bones.
• The Glorious Realm made containers from the bones and transported the flames to laboratory worlds, creating purifying fire.

Lu Ban learned that Pure Fire came from the Old Ones and that the Glorious Realm had failed to escape the corruption and despair it studied. When he noticed the Realm's stone remains moving, Charlotte warned him not to look at them, but the two became trapped on the library roof as the stones closed in.

• Lu Ban retained the coordinates of the foreign lands where Pure Fire was stored, hoping to find the giants' remains and use them to contain it.
• Lu Ban noticed that the Glorious Realm's stone remains were shifting and speeding up under his gaze.
• Charlotte warned Lu Ban that the relics could detect them and change when observed, then led him upstairs in silence.
• Lu Ban and Charlotte reached the library roof, where the stones surrounded them and drew closer from every direction.

Charlotte rescued Lu Ban from the Glorious Realm’s living stone corpses, and he awoke in a luxurious room in the Ruined City. As Charlotte explained that he was no longer human and bore a mark that might interest avatars of the Crawling Chaos, Lu Ban made clear he wanted nothing to do with them.

• Charlotte transformed into a monstrous Mass of Flesh, absorbed Lu Ban, and tore open a passage into a starfield to escape the closing stones.
• Lu Ban woke naked in a luxurious room, dressed as a maid brought food, and ate before Charlotte arrived.
• Charlotte told Lu Ban that his head was literally a lump of paste and that he was no longer human.
• Charlotte said Lu Ban’s unusual mark might attract the Crawling Chaos’s avatars, but claimed she had a purpose unlike theirs.

Lu Ban learned that the Glorious Realm had turned its Great Library into a trap and that Charlotte wanted to seal the being who created her. Charlotte sent him away just as she began to explain what she knew about Silence, then wondered whether Lu Ban’s disappearance had been part of Silence’s calculations.

• Charlotte explained that the Glorious Realm’s remains and library protections were designed to lure in those seeking its knowledge and power.
• Charlotte told Lu Ban that she wanted to find a way to seal her creator, though she still needed an Outer God’s power and had to visit a supreme existence.
• Charlotte gave Lu Ban her business card for the Ruined City Grand Theater and said she sometimes sang there.
• Charlotte mentioned Silence and began to explain that everyone knew Her, but Lu Ban suddenly vanished into a colorful blur.
• Charlotte showed no surprise at Lu Ban’s disappearance and wondered aloud whether it had been within Silence’s calculations.

After returning to The Silent Land, Lu Ban discovered Daoist He Ming’s Pale Knuckle in his stomach and used it with two other refined materials to upgrade Last Words. The upgraded pen revealed detailed information about objects, while Lu Ban’s home briefly reacted to the refinement.

• Lu Ban returned from the Glorious Realm and checked that he was physically healthy, though he felt nauseated.
• Lu Ban vomited a finger identified as Daoist He Ming’s Pale Knuckle and suspected Charlotte had placed it in his stomach.
• Lu Ban used the Twisted Heart of the Swarm, the Fate Jade, Daoist He Ming’s Pale Knuckle, and 500,000 Silence Points to refine Last Words.
• The refinement briefly caused Lu Ban’s eyes to turn crimson and made objects and creatures in his home react strangely.
• Lu Ban tested the upgraded pen and saw it produce detailed descriptions of his coffee table and its contents.