Chapter Summaries

Lin Yu survived the Righteous Thunder Law by dismissing the Rakshasa before the lightning struck, then tracked down the puppet Daoist Mage and identified the operator controlling the puppet crowd. He attacked the operator with his Pale Flame torch, leaving the fight underway.

• Xuan Yunzi warned that the Thunder Art would lock onto the Rakshasa and that the summoned creature would be in danger.
• Lin Yu ended his Rakshasa transformation before the lightning struck, then explained that the summon had been put away.
• Lin Yu used [Shady Corner] to reach and burn the puppet Daoist Mage with the Fear Flame.
• Lin Yu detected the operator's abnormal fear through the puppets and identified him among the martial artists.
• The operator sent martial artist puppets to surround him, but Lin Yu crossed through their shadows and swung his torch at the operator.

Lin Yu fought the puppet controller and used the GPWW Special Combat Suit to escape the martial artists restraining him. As the controller summoned more puppets, Xuan Yunzi completed a ritual that shook the earth and brought the surrounding mountains into motion.

• The martial artists seized Lin Yu, but he transformed his limbs into spider legs and broke free before chasing the controller.
• Lin Yu mocked the young controller and taunted him about his connection to Zhu Qiansi, while the controller explained that his body was made from Karma Threads and summoned more puppets.
• Lin Yu revealed that he had been stalling for time while Xuan Yunzi prepared his ritual inside the Taoist temple.
• Xuan Yunzi invoked the Taiqing Celestial Venerable and local spirits, sending talismans outward in a grand array.
• The earth trembled and mountain peaks collapsed as dragons and serpents rose from the ground.

Xuan Yunzi activated the Hundred Tribulations Forbidden Art, trapping himself and the Players in a collapsing mountain range and planning to send them into the array space containing Willow Town and the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord. Lin Yu chose to face the fiend, and Li Nian agreed to accompany her after revealing her escape items.

• Xuan Yunzi revealed his Taiqing Sect rank and used five Qi Transformation External Bodies to activate the Earth-Covering Mountain-Destroying Sealing Array.
• The controller warned that the array would collapse the mountains and seal everyone underground, while Xuan Yunzi explained that it could send them into the space holding Willow Town and the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord.
• Snowy Owl, Seagull, and Gao Shan accepted that they would have to fight the fiend, while Fei Dao worried about going.
• Li Nian showed Lin Yu her Blink Scroll and more than two hundred Limit Breaking Jade, offering to teleport them away.
• Lin Yu told Li Nian she wanted to confront the fiend because the array offered a chance to clear the game and obtain something she wanted, and Li Nian chose to go with her.

Xuan Yunzi used Taiqing Sect’s Hundred Tribulations Forbidden Art to seal the area and draw Lin Yu and the others into an isolated space beneath the earth. He safely slowed their fall and landed them inside the array, but the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord and its puppets were still some distance away.

• The players accepted Xuan Yunzi’s arrangement after Lin Yu and Li Nian reached an agreement, and Xuan Yunzi unleashed the Earth-Covering Mountain-Destroying Sealing Array against the puppet demons.
• As the temple collapsed and the ground sank, Xuan Yunzi protected Lin Yu and the others with a jade-green bell of light.
• Old Zheng explained that the array opened and sealed an independent space, while Lin Yu and the others fell rapidly into the darkness below.
• Xuan Yunzi formed a new hand seal, slowed their descent, and brought the group safely to the ground amid scattered talismans.
• When Snowy Owl asked where the demon and puppets were, Xuan Yunzi said they had landed some distance away from them.

The group crossed the blazing underground talisman array space toward old Willow Town, where the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord awaited. Li Nian shared stolen cooling talismans, and Xuan Yunzi led everyone through a breach in the rock wall toward the demon.

• Seagull complained about the underground heat, and Lin Yu and Xuan Yunzi explained that magma veins and True Yang Mountain’s earth veins made Fire Hell hot.
• Li Nian handed out cooling talismans, and Snowy Owl and Gao Shan accepted them while promising her favors.
• Xuan Yunzi recognized the talismans as belonging to the Taiqing Sect, and Li Nian admitted she had taken them from a temple box before the temple collapsed.
• The group followed Xuan Yunzi to gaps in the rock wall separating the talisman array spaces.
• Xuan Yunzi entered the passage first and led the group toward old Willow Town and the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord.

Xuan Yunzi led the group through a dark passage toward the spider demon, while Lin Yu used their fear to charge Chat’s Supplies and gain a physical enhancement. The group reached the next runic space and saw the enormous demon looming over the ruins of Willow Town.

• Fei Dao and Seagull grew frightened by a chewing sound in the passage, but Li Nian revealed that Lin Yu had been eating behind them.
• Lin Yu used Chat’s Supplies to collect their fear, ate eight biscuits, and gained the Solid and Tight buff.
• Xuan Yunzi warned the group to be careful as they reached the end of the passage.
• The group entered the lava-lit space and saw the mountain-sized spider demon perched on the ruins of Willow Town.
• Lin Yu judged that defeating the demon head-on would likely be difficult.

Xuan Yunzi explained that the Players could kill the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord by entering its Karma Threads and erasing its identity as Zhu Qiansi. With Xie Chong’s remains forcing the demon to act, Xuan Yunzi led the Players toward Willow Town to seize the opportunity.

• Xuan Yunzi explained that the demon’s Karma Threads were tied to Willow Town’s residents and that destroying the source of those threads could kill it.
• Lin Yu and the others realized that attacking the demon’s karmic network offered a better path than fighting its enormous body directly.
• Xuan Yunzi revealed that the demon would use Xie Chong’s remains to trace its past through the Karma Threads, letting them enter the network and attack Zhu Qiansi.
• Xuan Yunzi said the demon had planted Karma Threads in his original body, giving him a way to force the timing of its move.
• Xuan Yunzi told the six Players to prepare, and the group set out for Willow Town.

Lin Yu and the others were drawn into a false past of Willow Town, created by the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s Karma Threads. Lin Yu arrived alone and realized he needed to find the others.

• Xuan Yunzi used Shifting Stars to link the Players and Xie Chong’s remains to his own fate, preventing the demon from manipulating their pasts.
• Lin Yu used the Fear Lens on the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord and saw two blue-robed Daoists and a martial artist in white.
• Lin Yu awoke in bustling Willow Town more than three hundred years earlier.
• Lin Yu recognized the town as a vivid illusion rather than a true past or independent world.
• Lin Yu discovered that he and the others had arrived in different places.

Lin Yu entered the illusory Willow Town in a resident’s identity and found that food there could give him a useful BUFF. He discovered Li Nian had caught a thief, then kicked the boy away when he tried to stab her.

• Lin Yu realized he had fused with an unknown Willow Town resident and entered the town to find his companions and investigate his identity.
• Lin Yu bought and ate meat buns, gaining a two-hour Blood Qi Full BUFF from the [Carnival Pendant].
• Lin Yu heard a crowd shouting about a thief and hurried over, fearing Li Nian had been caught.
• Li Nian restrained a young thief, but he suddenly pulled out a metal shard and attacked her.
• Lin Yu kicked the thief into a wall, and Li Nian recognized him as Zhu...Sister Yao.

Lin Yu and Li Nian dealt with a thief in Willow Town, then discussed their identities and how to reunite with the other players. They decided to head for Zhu Qiansi, the group’s shared objective, where they expected to find the others.

• Li Nian clung to Lin Yu and suggested they could claim their feelings had warmed after Lin Yu saved her, while Lin Yu explained why they should avoid killing anyone in the illusion.
• Town constables arrested the thief, and Lin Yu and Li Nian left without needing to give statements.
• Li Nian guessed she had taken the identity of a local shopkeeper’s daughter, while Lin Yu suspected her fine clothing indicated a wealthy or influential family.
• Lin Yu proposed finding Zhu Qiansi to regroup with Snowy Owl, Gao Shan, and Xuan Yunzi, and Li Nian agreed that they should reach her quickly.

Lin Yu and Li Nian searched Willow Town for Zhu Qiansi by asking locals about fortune-tellers. They learned that the daughter of the Zhu family at Apricot Grove Medical Hall had recently become a renowned diviner after a serious illness.

• Lin Yu decided to search for Zhu Qiansi without involving the employer or Seagull, and told Li Nian to stay quiet while she asked around.
• Lin Yu gave Li Nian three steamed buns, then questioned a stall owner about fortune-tellers in Willow Town.
• The stall owner directed Lin Yu toward the chaotic White Crane Old Courtyard, where many diviners gathered.
• After Lin Yu bought brass tortoise tea ornaments with Li Nian's money, the stall owner recommended a fortune-teller at Apricot Grove Medical Hall.
• Lin Yu and Li Nian learned that the diviner was the Zhu family's daughter, who had become unusually clever and mastered fortune-telling after a grave illness.

Lin Yu and Li Nian crossed Willow Town toward Apricot Grove Medical Hall, reflecting on Zhu Qiansi’s influence and the town’s history. In a wealthy residential district, Lin Yu recognized a young miss climbing into a carriage as the Seagull, leaving them needing to stop her.

• Lin Yu and Li Nian questioned the puppet’s exaggerated account of Zhu Qiansi’s fame as they headed to Apricot Grove Medical Hall.
• They passed the stone tablets and talismans that helped make Willow Town habitable, and discussed the Taiqing Sect founder sinking the town to kill Zhu Qiansi.
• Lin Yu recalled records of the Prison Mountain Realm’s former unified dynasty while Li Nian admired the wealthy households and wished to hunt for treasure.
• Li Nian pointed out a young miss with an attractive hairpin, but Lin Yu recognized her as the Seagull and said they had to stop her.

Li Nian and Lin Yu caught up with Seagull, who had awakened in the body of Eldest Miss Wan and was traveling to Zhu Qiansi for help. The three shared what had happened and confirmed that the locals did not object to people seeking Zhu Qiansi out.

• Lin Yu identified Eldest Miss Wan as Seagull, and Li Nian agreed to catch up with him.
• Li Nian stopped the carriage, and Seagull welcomed her and Lin Yu inside.
• Seagull explained that he had awakened as a woman in the Wan Family compound and had been told his wedding was the next day.
• Seagull said he had insisted on going to Zhu Qiansi for help because he feared an expert might harm him or leave him helpless.
• Lin Yu concluded that the locals allowed them to discuss Zhu Qiansi and seek her out openly.

Seagull reunited with Lin Yu and Li Nian, and the three cautiously approached Zhu Qiansi’s family’s Apricot Grove Medical Hall. Lin Yu spotted a teahouse across the street as the likely place to find Gao Shan and Snowy Owl, leaving the group poised to reconnect before confronting Zhu Qiansi.

• Li Nian teased Seagull about his rash attempt to find Zhu Qiansi, and Seagull explained that his sudden change from male to female had unsettled him.
• Lin Yu warned that Zhu Qiansi might remember everything and would be dangerous on her home ground, so Seagull told the coachman to stop two streets from her house.
• Seagull, Lin Yu, and Li Nian walked through an upscale shopping district toward the Apricot Grove Medical Hall, where a crowd appeared to be waiting for divination rather than treatment.
• Lin Yu decided not to join the crowd and instead searched nearby shops for Gao Shan and Snowy Owl.
• Lin Yu identified a teahouse across from the medical hall as the best place for Gao Shan to watch the storefront and gather information.

Lin Yu and the other players gathered in Willow Town debated whether to confront Zhu Qiansi or wait for a chance to find the Taiqing Patriarch. Lin Yu argued that the town might be recreating the period before Zhu Qiansi was sealed, and said he already knew what the Patriarch looked like.

• Lin Yu, Li Nian, and Seagull found Gao Shan and Snowy Owl together in a tavern, where they learned that everyone but their employer had gathered.
• Snowy Owl urged the group to contact Zhu Qiansi without waiting, but Lin Yu said the timing was not right.
• Lin Yu proposed that the town’s current past might be set before Zhu Qiansi’s sealing and that the Taiqing Patriarch could appear there.
• Lin Yu observed that some townspeople seemed less real than others, possibly reflecting the difference between those with Karma Threads and those without.
• Lin Yu told the group he did not need Xuan Yunzi to identify the Patriarch because he had seen the Patriarch’s appearance through the Fear Lens.

Lin Yu and the other Players encountered a blue-robed Daoist he suspected was the Taiqing Patriarch, whose genuine soul appeared to be part of Willow Town’s illusion. Lin Yu questioned him and confirmed that the Daoist did not know he was inside the illusion, then asked whether he belonged to the Taiqing Sect.

• Lin Yu recognized the blue-robed Daoist from the Fear Lens and reasoned that the Taiqing Patriarch had likely left behind a contingency in Willow Town.
• Lin Yu sensed that the Daoist possessed a genuine soul, unlike the town’s other residents, and concluded Zhu Qiansi had not simply created a false image.
• Lin Yu led Snowy Owl, Gao Shan, and the others down to the street to approach the Daoist.
• The Daoist said he had come to Apricot Grove Medical Hall to rest and did not understand why Lin Yu asked about his plans.
• Lin Yu realized the Daoist had not recognized that he was inside an illusion and asked if he was from the Taiqing Sect.

Lin Yu impersonated a Daoist from Changchun Temple and met Yunzhen, the acting sect master of the Taiqing Sect, while investigating Willow Town. After learning Yunzhen planned to confront Zhu Qiansi despite the danger to the town’s residents, Lin Yu was left doubting whether he would later regret his choices.

• Lin Yu claimed she was Qingyao of Changchun Temple, and Yunzhen accepted her introduction as they exchanged their identities.
• Yunzhen explained that he suspected the fortune-teller’s daughter at Apricot Grove Medical Hall was a demon with powers that could distort minds, fate, and the Laws of Heaven.
• Lin Yu realized Yunzhen had already understood much of Willow Town’s situation, which made her more wary of Zhu Qiansi’s strength and preparations.
• Yunzhen proposed investigating the medical hall together, but Lin Yu warned that alerting the demon could endanger nearly a million residents.
• Yunzhen insisted they should act quickly and said that subduing demons could require sacrifices, leaving Lin Yu questioning whether he would later be consumed by guilt.

Lin Yu persuaded Yunzhen to wait for reinforcements before confronting Zhu Qiansi, and the group took shelter near Apricot Grove Medical Hall. When the physician mistook Seagull for Wan Lu and said her older sister was coughing up blood, Lin Yu realized he had become Zhu Qiansi’s younger sister.

• Lin Yu convinced Yunzhen that attacking Zhu Qiansi immediately risked letting her escape, so Yunzhen decided to summon a helper.
• Yunzhen used a Sound Transmission Jade to call for reinforcements, telling them that the target was tough and to come quickly.
• Lin Yu led Yunzhen and the others toward a nearby teahouse, while Seagull offered to pay for tea in exchange for lessons in ordinary talismans.
• A physician came out of Apricot Grove Medical Hall and announced that Zhu Qiansi could no longer perform divinations because she felt unwell.
• The physician mistook Seagull for Wan Lu and told her that her older sister was coughing up blood, leading Lin Yu to realize he had become Zhu Qiansi’s younger sister.

Lin Yu explained his assumed identity to Yunzhen and chose to meet the demon despite the danger. Yunzhen deduced that they were inside the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord’s illusion, then realized he had died confronting it and that his master had spared the infant who later enabled the demon to threaten its seal.

• Lin Yu admitted that the Wan Family identity came from the demon’s method and said he would investigate the invitation, while Yunzhen urged him to wait for reinforcements.
• Lin Yu argued that confronting the demon was an opportunity and that Yunzhen had accepted far greater sacrifices; Yunzhen reluctantly told him to take care.
• Yunzhen deduced that Lin Yu was an Outworlder and that the events around them were unfolding within the demon’s divine ability, possibly in the past.
• Lin Yu told Yunzhen that the demon was a spider called the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, whose Karma Threads had created their illusion, and that a Taiqing Sect successor had brought him there.
• Yunzhen realized that he had been the first-generation chief disciple, not the sect founder, and concluded that he had died before his master spared the infant who later gave the demon a chance to break its seal.

Lin Yu entered Apricot Grove Medical Hall to confront Zhu Qiansi, the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord, after learning the illusion had forced him into the identity of her younger sister. He concluded that Zhu Qiansi’s human emotions and identity were fabricated, leaving him face-to-face with the demon’s true nature.

• Lin Yu told Yunzhen that the Taiqing Sect disciple had entered the illusion to kill the demon, and Yunzhen praised the disciple and wished Lin Yu success.
• Lin Yu told the other Players to accompany Yunzhen, then entered Apricot Grove Medical Hall alone.
• Doctor Zhu directed Lin Yu to the decoction room, where Zhu Qiansi was controlling the stoves with spider silk.
• Zhu Qiansi said that Zhu Wanlü had been her human younger sister, while Lin Yu challenged her claim to have feelings for anyone.
• Lin Yu saw that Zhu Qiansi’s eyes held no real emotion and concluded that Zhu Qiansi had never existed apart from the Thousand-Eyed Thousand-Silk Demon Lord.