Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Fei Dao reached the summit of Double Saw Mountain and realized the giant spider’s web had trapped the surrounding region, leaving them little time before Li Nian’s item expired. They deduced that another piece of Xie Chong’s remains might lie near the temple northwest of them, then spotted a powerful player using Ancestral Spirit Witchcraft in that direction.

• Li Nian’s mermaid-song item held back the spiders, while Lin Yu saw that their webs had trapped Chen Family Fortress and Five Springs Village across a vast area.
• Lin Yu rejected Fei Dao’s hope that local experts would save them and said the giant spider likely had a goal connected to the players or the remains.
• Lin Yu and Li Nian deduced that another piece of the remains might be near the northwest temple and prepared to head there.
• A massive phantom and burning meteors appeared in the northwest, and Li Nian recognized the display as Black Marsh World’s Ancestral Spirit Witchcraft.
• Old Zheng identified the distant player as likely Tier 2, explained her Student profession, and said she had released a stored ability using a Lesson Plan and Student ID.

Seagull, Gao Shan, and Snowy Owl fought off a spider tide in the Instance, but the spiders suddenly fled toward an unknown threat. Three Players arrived, and their leader introduced herself as a friend of Night Watcher from Jiang City's Jiang'an Hall.

• Seagull used a powerful meteorite attack to clear a safe zone, while Snowy Owl warned that it could only be used once and might not defeat the spiders for good.
• Gao Shan, Seagull, and Snowy Owl discussed the Instance’s unclear objective, the missing escort caravan, and the possibility that the spiders could control people.
• As Seagull’s attack faded, the spiders and webs abruptly turned away from the group and rushed toward something approaching.
• Gao Shan spotted a moving mound of spiders and silk heading toward them, and Snowy Owl prepared to meet whoever was behind it.
• Three unfamiliar Players emerged, and their leader introduced herself as a friend of Night Watcher from Jiang City's Jiang'an Hall.

Lin Yu and Li Nian encountered members of the Night Watchers and Order, who recognized Li Nian as the Divine Thief of the Freedom Alliance. Lin Yu helped persuade them to cooperate against the spider threat, and the group agreed to postpone dealing with Li Nian.

• Lin Yu introduced his companions to Snowy Owl, Seagull, and Gao Shan, explaining that Fei Dao had hired him and that he had met Alian inside the Instance.
• Gao Shan recognized Li Nian as the Divine Thief, prompting the others to put away their Items and treat her with caution.
• Lin Yu pretended to be surprised by Li Nian's identity, then argued that the group should work together against the spiders because she had protected him and Fei Dao.
• Gao Shan concluded that Order's rules did not require them to fight Li Nian, and Snowy Owl and Seagull accepted cooperating while warning her not to steal from them.
• Seagull accused Li Nian of stealing Kres's Siren's Blessing, but Li Nian denied it and claimed her statue was a Mermaid's Elegy she had bought herself.

Lin Yu and Snowy Owl’s teams agreed to cooperate in the Instance, then compared their conflicting Clearance Conditions. They discovered that both goals concerned the lost Willow Town, but Snowy Owl questioned how their objectives could be reconciled.

• Lin Yu judged that Gao Shan had recognized Li Nian, but neither team was ready to fight, so both sides agreed to prioritize clearing the Instance.
• Lin Yu explained that the teams might have opposing Clearance Conditions and asked Snowy Owl’s group to reveal theirs.
• Snowy Owl said her group had to prevent Willow Town from emerging and had slaughtered the mountain bandits who tried to rob an escort convoy.
• Seagull described letters linking the convoy’s cargo to Willow Town and recounted what the surviving bandits knew about the town.
• Lin Yu revealed that the real Willow Town was an ancient town buried in Double Saw Mountain and that his team had to reach it.
• Lin Yu concluded that their objectives might allow cooperation, but Snowy Owl asked how reaching Willow Town could be reconciled with preventing it from emerging.

Lin Yu explained that a mountain-sized spider demon controlled the ruins of Willow Town beneath Double Saw Mountain and proposed cooperating to reach the town while stopping it from emerging. He revealed that the corpse on his back was the escorted dart, which he said was the Instance’s key.

• Seagull guessed that stopping Willow Town from emerging meant going to the renamed town, but Lin Yu and Snowy Owl rejected the idea.
• Lin Yu said the true Willow Town lay beneath Double Saw Mountain and was occupied by a giant spider demon that controlled webs, spiders, and people by manipulating their pasts.
• Snowy Owl, Gao Shan, and Seagull agreed that cooperation was necessary, and Lin Yu proposed that one group enter Willow Town while the other fought the demon.
• Snowy Owl challenged the plan as impractical, and Lin Yu said the Instance’s core key was the dart he had been carrying.
• Seagull mistook Lin Yu for the Embalmer, but Gao Shan corrected him, and Lin Yu revealed that the corpse he carried was the escorted dart.

Lin Yu explained that the escort cargo was the living mutilated body of martial arts master Xie Chong, and the group set out to find another body part near a Taoist temple. When Li Nian’s protective sculpture ran out, spiders swarmed the group, Snowy Owl revealed the effects of a powerful curse, and Lin Yu prepared to take the sculpture.

• Lin Yu told Snowy Owl, Seagull, and Gao Shan that the cargo was the living remains of Xie Chong, the Blade Demon, and recounted what Chen Yuanye had told him about Xie Chong’s past.
• The group concluded that they needed more information to understand the connection between Xie Chong, Willow Town, and the spider monsters.
• Lin Yu said another part of Xie Chong’s body was likely northwest of Double Saw Mountain, inside a building resembling a Taoist temple, and Gao Shan offered to lead the way.
• Li Nian’s [Mermaid’s Elegy] ran out, ending the barrier and allowing spiders and Spider Silk to surge toward the six people.
• Snowy Owl drove back the monsters with her blade, but curse patterns appeared on her arm; Old Zheng explained that her curse had greatly reduced her strength.
• Lin Yu asked Li Nian to hand him the sculpture.

Lin Yu refreshed Li Nian’s Siren’s Blessing with his Repaired Mist Pocket Watch, allowing the group to push through the spider-infested mountains and reach the bandit stronghold. There, they found evidence of the bandits’ cruelty and the corpses of its former occupants hanging at the gate.

• Lin Yu reset Li Nian’s Siren’s Blessing with his Repaired Mist Pocket Watch, and Li Nian used it to repel the spiders again.
• Gao Shan warned Lin Yu to guard his items around Li Nian, prompting playful banter that left the group’s mutual distrust more apparent.
• The group divided tasks and followed Gao Shan’s directions through the mountains toward the stronghold and the nearby temple.
• Snowy Owl confirmed the temple was the unusual place the team had spotted earlier but skipped while pursuing the caravan.
• Lin Yu and the others reached the bandit stronghold, where human bones lined the walls and the former bandits’ corpses hung at the gate.

Lin Yu's group questioned why the bandit corpses had attracted no scavengers, then met an old Daoist who claimed he had cleared the surrounding mountains of beasts and Great Demons. After demonstrating his Taiqing Sect identity, the Daoist recognized that Lin Yu carried the incomplete remains of Xie Chong.

• Li Nian condemned the bandits for eating children, while Snowy Owl explained that their bodies had been displayed as a warning to other criminals.
• Lin Yu noticed that no Great Demons or wild beasts had touched the corpses, and Gao Shan urged the group to stay alert.
• An old Daoist emerged from the stronghold and said he had cleared the surrounding mountains of Great Demons and beasts.
• Snowy Owl questioned the Daoist, who claimed he came from the Taiqing Sect and demonstrated the Qi Transformation Clear Wind Technique.
• Lin Yu recognized the technique, and the old Daoist revealed that he knew Lin Yu had been entrusted with the incomplete remains of Xie Chong.

Lin Yu met Xuan Yunzi, a Taiqing Sect Daoist who explained that Xie Chong’s remains could help confront the spider demon threatening Double Saw Mountain. Xuan Yunzi revealed the demon’s history and the failing seal beneath Fire Hell, then invited Lin Yu’s group to his temple to explain why he guarded it alone.

• Xuan Yunzi warned Lin Yu’s group that Xie Chong’s remains concealed a great secret and could bring disaster.
• Lin Yu told Xuan Yunzi that he intended to use the remains against the spider demon near Double Saw Mountain.
• Xuan Yunzi introduced himself and identified the demon as the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, which the Taiqing Sect had sealed in Fire Hell centuries earlier.
• Xuan Yunzi explained that the demon’s spider silk and descendants indicated its seal was failing, while the Taiqing Sect lacked the knowledge to safely repair it.
• When Lin Yu asked why no other Daoists helped guard the seal, Xuan Yunzi invited the group to his temple to hear the full story.

Xuan Yunzi explained how the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord used Karma Threads to rewrite people’s pasts and how he used that power to trap it. He revealed that the five Taoist temples were one temple replicated through the demon’s altered memories, leaving the group with the formation’s flaws concealed in those false pasts.

• Gao Shan asked why Xuan Yunzi had ignored the nearby bandits, and Xuan Yunzi explained that the threat of thousands of twelve-giving monsters made the loosened seal a lower priority.
• Xuan Yunzi brought the group to his Taoist temple, where Lin Yu recognized it as identical to the temple inside Double Saw Mountain.
• Xuan Yunzi admitted that the five temples across the mountains were one temple, and that he had used the demon’s ability to create four false pasts and restrict its true body.
• Xuan Yunzi explained that the demon’s Karma Threads rewrote memories, consumed living souls, and turned victims into puppets.
• Xuan Yunzi said he had let the demon devour his past, then used Qi Transformation External Body to make his true body vanish and trigger a formation that concealed flaws in the demon’s four altered pasts.

Xuan Yunzi explained how the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord became bound to Willow Town and why erasing the town’s existence could strip it of its Resurrection Means. He then connected the demon’s growing activity to Xie Chong, whose role remained to be explained.

• Xuan Yunzi told Lin Yu that he had crippled his divine ability to block four of the demon’s Resurrection Means and sworn a Daoist Oath restricting his cultivation to fighting demons and monsters.
• Snowy Owl asked Xuan Yunzi how the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord was connected to Xie Chong and Willow Town.
• Xuan Yunzi recounted how the Taiqing Sect Patriarch trapped and defeated the demon in Willow Town, causing the town to sink underground and all its people to die.
• Xuan Yunzi explained that the demon had fused itself with Willow Town’s past, bound its life to the souls of its former residents, and could be killed only if the concept of Willow Town disappeared.
• Xuan Yunzi said Willow Town was close to disappearing and suggested that this explained why the spider demon had grown increasingly restless.
• Xuan Yunzi brought the discussion back to Xie Chong, who had stirred up the martial world.

Xuan Yunzi explained how the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord spread its Karma Threads through people’s relationships and revealed how it manipulated Xie Chong’s past and memories. Lin Yu realized that Xie Chong’s remains may have become the demon’s new web of connections, suggesting someone was working to bring it into the world.

• Xuan Yunzi explained that the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord began with people who had few connections and spread its influence through their relationships.
• Xuan Yunzi revealed that Xie Chong’s ancestor had been the abandoned infant rescued by the founder of the Taiqing Sect, and that the demon later manipulated Xie Chong into believing he had slaughtered his sect.
• Xuan Yunzi admitted that he had confronted Xie Chong and told him the truth, but an unknown human martial artist knocked him unconscious before Xie Chong died.
• Lin Yu realized that Xie Chong’s remains had formed new connections throughout the martial world, potentially giving the demon a way to spread its Karma Threads.
• Li Nian concluded that someone from the Prison Mountain Realm was operating outside to hasten the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s return.

Lin Yu and the others learned that Xie Chong’s remains could help expose the demon’s accomplice, and Xuan Yunzi gave Lin Yu the sealed leg hidden in his temple. The reunited remains drew out the disguised Chen Yuanye, who revealed how he had used the real Chen Yuanye to deceive Lin Yu.

• Xuan Yunzi gave Lin Yu Divine Speed Talismans and identified a wealthy man in Xian Town, marked by a mole on his left cheek, as a lead to Xie Chong’s accomplice.
• Lin Yu reasoned that Xuan Yunzi had Xie Chong’s remains and persuaded him to surrender the sealed left leg, despite the danger of holding two pieces together.
• The leg flew to Lin Yu and rejoined the remains on his back, releasing an aura that could attract the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord.
• A disguised Chen Yuanye appeared at the temple, and Lin Yu revealed that he had doubted the stranger’s claim of being trapped for a year.
• The impostor admitted that the real Chen Yuanye had disappeared a year earlier and that he had fabricated a year of memories before releasing him to deceive Lin Yu.

Lin Yu confronted Chen Yuanye, discovered that he had genuinely released Chen Yuanye’s consciousness, and learned he could use the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s Karma Threads. Rather than fight over Xie Chong’s remains, Lin Yu offered to negotiate, leaving Chen Yuanye to explain his plans for them.

• Lin Yu revealed that he had lured Chen Yuanye out by carrying Xie Chong’s remains, and Chen Yuanye admitted he had commissioned the Jinfu Escort Agency to transport them.
• Chen Yuanye claimed he was human despite using the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s Karma Threads, while Xuan Yunzi condemned him as a demon.
• Chen Yuanye summoned martial-artist Shadows and demanded Xie Chong’s remains, prompting Snowy Owl, Gao Shan, and Seagull to prepare for battle.
• Lin Yu interrupted the fight and offered to hand over the remains if Chen Yuanye fulfilled the Players’ objective, despite Xuan Yunzi’s objections.
• Lin Yu asked Chen Yuanye what he intended to do with Xie Chong’s remains.

Lin Yu and the others learned that Chen Yuanye planned to use Xie Chong's remains to resurrect the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, then heard his accusations against the Taiqing Sect. The chapter ended with Xuan Yunzi unable to deny that the Taiqing Patriarch may have killed most of Willow Town's million residents.

• Chen Yuanye admitted he intended to use Xie Chong's remains to resurrect the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord.
• Chen Yuanye accused the Taiqing Sect of abandoning civilians near Double Saw Mountain and using them to monitor demons, while Gao Shan challenged his claims.
• Chen Yuanye accused the Taiqing Patriarch of sinking Willow Town with the Hundred Tribulations Forbidden Art, killing a million people to stop the demon.
• Xuan Yunzi defended the patriarch but refused to deny Chen Yuanye's account or swear a Daoist Oath.
• Seagull, Gao Shan, and Snowy Owl reconsidered whether Xuan Yunzi and the Taiqing Sect were righteous, while Lin Yu said he had only intended to hear both sides.

Lin Yu and the players learned that the Taiqing Patriarch had mistakenly killed Zhu Qiansi, a benevolent spider demon whose descendants included Xie Chong. Chen Yuanye revealed that Zhu Qiansi had used her Karma Threads to help Willow Town, but Lin Yu questioned why Chen Yuanye had killed Xie Chong and arranged for his remains to be delivered to Willow Town.

• Xuan Yunzi admitted that the Taiqing Patriarch had sacrificed a million people to seal the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, while insisting the demon must remain sealed.
• Chen Yuanye revealed that Zhu Qiansi had lived peacefully in Willow Town and that the Taiqing Patriarch had mistaken her for a murderous demon.
• Chen Yuanye explained that Zhu Qiansi had married a pawnshop ledger clerk and that Xie Chong was descended from her.
• Chen Yuanye said Zhu Qiansi had used Karma Threads to take the souls of heinous criminals and help Willow Town prosper.
• Chen Yuanye identified himself as a remnant of a Willow Town survivor who had received Zhu Qiansi's kindness.
• Lin Yu asked Chen Yuanye why he had killed Xie Chong, divided his remains into five parts, and arranged for the Jinfu Escort Agency to bring them to Willow Town.

Chen Yuanye revealed his plan to resurrect Zhu Qiansi and Willow Town using Xie Chong’s remains, but Lin Yu shot him and rejected cooperation. As the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s puppets attacked, Lin Yu used the remains as a hostage and urged Xuan Yunzi and Snowy Owl’s team to prepare for battle.

• Chen Yuanye explained that he had altered Liu Town’s records and spread Karma Threads so Xie Chong’s remains could draw people to Willow Town and revive Zhu Qiansi and its dead residents.
• Lin Yu and Li Nian realized the Instance centered on escorting or destroying Xie Chong’s remains, and Fei Dao suggested cooperating with Chen Yuanye.
• Lin Yu shot Chen Yuanye, then argued that neither Zhu Qiansi nor Taiqing Patriarch could be assumed innocent.
• The Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s puppets charged the temple, and Lin Yu threatened to burn Xie Chong’s remains to stop them.
• Lin Yu told Xuan Yunzi to use his prepared measures and urged Snowy Owl’s trio to fight, while Seagull remarked that it was hard to tell which side were the good guys.

Lin Yu chose to side with Xuan Yunzi against the spider demon, while the puppets overwhelmed the Taiqing Sect temple's failing defenses. Snowy Owl, Gao Shan, and Seagull fought off the first attackers, but more than ten martial artist puppets poured into the courtyard.

• Lin Yu judged Xuan Yunzi more trustworthy than Zhu Qiansi and the Willow Town people, despite the Taiqing Sect's own past crimes.
• The puppets tore through the temple formation as Xuan Yunzi arranged talismans and chanted, asking the others to hold them off.
• Snowy Owl killed the puppet calling itself Feng Libo, then faced three more martial artist puppets.
• Gao Shan and Seagull helped Snowy Owl defeat the three attackers while Li Nian set up defensive Items around Lin Yu.
• More than ten martial artist puppets entered the courtyard, prompting Li Nian to say it was time for them to fight.

Li Nian used her ability to steal the spider silk carrying the Karma Threads and made the puppets attacking Snowy Owl, Seagull, and Gao Shan collapse. Yue Zhenqiao then arrived with six Twelve-Guans martial artists, whose Qi Mechanisms locked onto Li Nian.

• Snowy Owl, Seagull, and Gao Shan fought off a coordinated swarm of puppets while Xuan Yunzi worked on a talisman array.
• The puppets focused their attacks on Snowy Owl, worsening the effects of her curse as more puppets joined the battle.
• Li Nian revealed that she had stolen the spider silk carrying the Karma Threads, causing the puppets in the courtyard to collapse and disappear.
• Yue Zhenqiao appeared and announced that stronger experts had arrived.
• Six Twelve-Guans martial artists entered the temple and locked their Qi Mechanisms onto Li Nian.

Lin Yu revealed Rakshasa, Moro, and overwhelmed the martial artist puppets, turning the battle against the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord in his favor. As the puppets began to falter, a hidden Daoist Mage unleashed Thunder Art.

• Snowy Owl prepared to fight the six newcomers, while a Mountain Demon Leader rampaged through the puppets outside the temple.
• Lin Yu explained that the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord needed a relay hidden among the puppets to control its Karma Threads.
• Lin Yu summoned Rakshasa, Moro, and crushed the martial artist who had gone out to face the Mountain Demon Leader.
• The five Twelve-Guans martial artists and the other puppets attacked Lin Yu, but he overpowered them with Rakshasa's brute strength.
• A hidden Daoist Mage gathered dark clouds and invoked Thunder Art, startling Xuan Yunzi.