Chapter Summaries

After the survivors escaped the Rabbit Hole, Ji Jue helped Wen Wen face the burden she had carried alone and reminded her that the North Mountain Team trusted her. That night, he presented the captive Angel and a single bullet to the camp, asking who would fire it.

• Yu Shu treated the wounded while the survivors rebuilt their camp, and Bao Dacai used his hat to disgorge supplies from their old camp.
• Ji Jue found Wen Wen alone, gave her homemade beer, and teased her about her small appearance and her plans to handle everything by herself.
• Ji Jue told Wen Wen that the North Mountain Team did not want her to shut them out, and she thanked him before returning to camp.
• That night, Ji Jue addressed the assembled survivors beside the bound Angel and loaded the only silver bullet into his revolver.
• Ji Jue held the revolver out toward the crowd and asked who would shoot the Angel.

Ji Jue gave a gun capable of killing Angels to a boy, who shot and killed the Angel, igniting the camp’s hope. Later, Ji Jue used the Angel’s remains for Living Spirit Alchemy in Bao Dacai’s workshop and asked about the boy’s past.

• The crowd hesitated when Ji Jue offered the gun, but the boy pushed forward and volunteered to fire it.
• Ji Jue warned the boy that Sky City would brand him a traitor, but the boy asked why they should not be the ones burning in Border Purgatory and shot the Angel dead.
• The camp erupted in celebration while the boy stared at the corpse with hatred, and Ji Jue praised his potential before leaving.
• Ji Jue took over Bao Dacai’s workshop and used the Angel’s remains for Living Spirit Alchemy, trading barbs with Bao Dacai about forbidden techniques and their associates.
• Ji Jue mentioned a promising young man, and Bao Dacai identified the boy as a volatile outcast who refused management and often got into fights.
• Ji Jue asked Bao Dacai to tell him more about the boy while waiting for the furnace’s Purification to finish.

Ji Jue gave Yan Fei a transformed power drawn from the Angel of Wheel and Giant Tree, awakening him as a steel giant and directing his grief toward revenge. Bao Dacai recognized that Ji Jue was assimilating Yan Fei’s dream and desires, and Ji Jue named the power Demon Armament as he began gathering followers for his campaign.

• Bao Dacai told Ji Jue that Yan Fei and his younger brother had been taken by Ai Kongzuo’s followers, who consumed the younger brother until he became an empty shell.
• Ji Jue summoned Yan Fei and asked whether he wanted revenge for his younger brother.
• Yan Fei drank the red liquid from a golden cup and transformed into a towering steel giant before kneeling to Ji Jue.
• Ji Jue restored Yan Fei to his boyish form and charged him with taking revenge on those who had created hell.
• Bao Dacai sensed that Ji Jue was assimilating Yan Fei’s dream and desires, while Ji Jue named his granted power Demon Armament and resolved to gather followers.

Ji Jue and Yan Fei explored the Eastern Diocese’s Central City, where believers unknowingly surrendered their selves through prayer to sustain the Yellow Millet Dream. Ji Jue then met a corrupt Priest to trade for supplies and ended by unveiling a device he called the Fully Automatic Prayer Machine.

• Ji Jue toured the devout city with Yan Fei, gave him candy to ease his bitterness, and observed how believers prayed without noticing a man’s death or regeneration.
• Ji Jue saw prayer turn believers’ self-natures into light that flowed toward Sky City, gradually stripping away their emotions and individuality.
• Ji Jue and Yan Fei met Bao Dacai and a Priest of the Eastern Diocese, who secretly supplied the Resistance Camp for profit.
• Ji Jue selected a large order of overpriced goods, then told the Priest that their main purpose was to sell something through barter.
• Ji Jue placed a holy seal before the Priest and introduced it as the Fully Automatic Prayer Machine.

Ji Jue offered the High Priest a Fully Automatic Prayer Machine, presenting the Resistance Camp as willing to join the Order while secretly aiming to undermine its foundations. After the High Priest arranged a trial, Ji Jue explained to Yan Fei that the device would make prayer easier and more widespread, strengthening the Holy God as intended.

• Ji Jue presented the High Priest with a holy seal that prayed automatically and argued that the Resistance Camp wanted to cooperate with the Order.
• The High Priest questioned Ji Jue’s motives, but Ji Jue offered more holy seals and invited him to test one.
• After Ji Jue left, the High Priest ordered an attendant to secretly mix a holy seal into those distributed by the sanctuary and monitor its recipient.
• Ji Jue told Yan Fei that the seals used a pseudo-soul construct to perform prayers and pass sanctuary verification.
• Bao Dacai explained that the machines threatened the church by making prayer into a convenient tool that believers would feel compelled to use to keep up.
• Yan Fei worried that the machines would strengthen the Holy God, and Ji Jue confirmed that making him stronger was their goal.

Ji Jue explained how the Fully Automatic Prayer Machine could overwhelm the Holy God with believers’ prayers, then promised to help Yan Fei recover his younger brother by educating him. A week later, the machine had driven the High Priest and his congregation to crave more holy seals, and Ji Jue prepared to exploit that demand.

• Ji Jue and Bao Dacai concluded that the Holy God could be overwhelmed by excessive prayer and might lose its self-nature or cut off believers to limit the influx.
• Ji Jue decided to teach Yan Fei, telling him that his younger brother might recover if they reclaimed his self from the Holy God and would need costly care.
• Yan Fei agreed to study, and Ji Jue gave him malt candy while promising that the candy would eventually taste good.
• A week of lessons in languages, mathematics, and engineering left Yan Fei exhausted and dispirited.
• The High Priest begged Ji Jue for more holy seals after the Fully Automatic Prayer Machine helped believers reach their monthly faith quota in less than a week.
• Ji Jue assured the High Priest that more holy seals were available and asked him to admit that he wanted them.

Ji Jue and the High Priest traded supplies and information, but Ji Jue predicted the High Priest would betray him. When the Faith Guard Army ambushed them, Yan Fei revealed his Iron Demon form and destroyed the force, while the High Priest later received a grisly message from Ji Jue.

• Ji Jue collected supplies and treasure maps from the High Priest in exchange for Holy Seals and arranged for more supplies to be delivered.
• Ji Jue realized the High Priest intended to capture him and exploit the Holy Seals, and he explained to Yan Fei that betrayal required no personal trust.
• The Faith Guard Army ambushed Ji Jue and Yan Fei, and Yan Fei transformed into an Iron Demon and slaughtered the soldiers.
• Ji Jue praised Yan Fei for handling the ambush and ordered him to clean up the wreckage.
• The High Priest learned that his army had been annihilated, then found his trusted aide's severed head stuffed with Holy Seals and repeating a message about being partners for life.

The Holy Seals spread through Central City's eastern district, driving a surge in church rites and faith contributions while Ji Jue’s sales scheme expanded beyond its original church. Ji Jue pressured a High Priest to expose his rivals’ use of the seals, leaving him tempted by the chance to rise in the Church.

• Believers in the eastern district noticed people becoming more devout and socially distant as Holy Seals circulated in secret.
• The Archbishop celebrated an eighty-nine percent increase in faith contributions, while six High Priests realized their churches had all pursued similar schemes.
• The High Priests argued over their unexpected shared growth and left the meeting on bad terms.
• A High Priest confronted Ji Jue about the other churches spreading Holy Seals, and Ji Jue revealed that their sales were expanding across the Church.
• Ji Jue threatened the High Priest with exposure to the Tribunal, then urged him to report his colleagues to Sky City and use the resulting purge to advance.
• After Ji Jue left, the High Priest remained alone and began considering the offer.

Miracle Holy Seals drove a prayer-fueled frenzy across the dioceses, leaving believers emptied and the Church’s leaders implicated. Idra arrived in Central City to investigate, where the Archbishop and several High Priests began accusing one another as they discovered that the holy man had letters against them all.

• Miracle Holy Seals spread through the Eastern Diocese, and believers prayed constantly as their faith and the Church’s influence grew.
• Yan Fei recoiled at the believers’ madness, while Ji Jue explained how Church leaders exploited them and expected to evade blame.
• The Pope ordered Idra to go to Central City and take control of the investigation into the Holy Seals.
• Idra arrived at the Grand Cathedral of Sacrifice, executed two absent officials, and demanded that the assembled leaders explain the Holy Seals.
• The Archbishop blamed his subordinates, and several High Priests accused him before realizing that Idra had brought accusation letters naming them as well.

Idra punished the Church officials involved in the holy seal affair and delayed a crackdown on the Resistance Camp, intending to lure its members into the open. As he left the cathedral, Ji Jue and a companion attacked, and Idra’s mangled body was left impaled on the Divine Gate.

• Idra condemned four high priests to beheading and Border Purgatory, punished the Archbishop, and assigned Sobora to take over the vacant churches.
• Idra delayed action against the holy seal distribution network so he could strike the Resistance Camp in one blow.
• Idra left the Grand Cathedral of Sacrifice while believers gathered in the square, unaware of the Church’s crisis.
• Idra spotted Ji Jue and a tall companion among the crowd, and Ji Jue revealed his face.
• A spear pierced the Divine Gate with Idra’s mangled body on it, and the square erupted into panic as Ji Jue removed his hood.

Ji Jue and Wen Wen waited for the saint to appear, then Wen Wen attacked Idra while Ji Jue handled the fanatics. After Idra transformed and shattered her spear with his powers, Wen Wen struck him with a punch that sent him crashing into the cathedral.

• Ji Jue and Wen Wen joked together while waiting for the cathedral doors to open and the saint to emerge.
• Wen Wen hurled her Long Spear into Idra’s chest, pinning him to the Divine Gate, while Ji Jue shot the fanatics who rushed them.
• Idra broke free of his human form and unleashed a destructive wave that crushed the remaining believers, but Wen Wen blocked it with her spear.
• Wen Wen charged Idra, but his scarlet lightning broke her Long Spear, forcing her to retreat and throw the pieces toward Ji Jue as he fought off Angels.
• Wen Wen rose through Idra’s lightning and punched him into the ruined cathedral, then reminded him she had beaten his kind before gaining her powers.

Wen Wen fought Saint Idra while Ji Jue forged a weapon from the Saint’s guardian Angels, then used the finished spear to kill Idra. His death exposed cracks in Dreamland, and the Pope ordered Absolute Punishment, sending the survivors into Border Purgatory.

• Wen Wen used her negation ability and overwhelming physical strength to fight Idra, while Ji Jue delayed his weapon-making as he faced the Saint’s guardian Angels.
• Idra unleashed a giant Sword of Thunder, but Wen Wen caught it and broke free of the restraints she had carried from her childhood.
• Wen Wen battered Idra until Ji Jue finished forging a spear from the Angels’ materials and threw it to her.
• Wen Wen stabbed Idra with the spear, killing him and exposing cracks in Dreamland as Sky City appeared above the world.
• The Pope declared Absolute Punishment, and beams of heavenly light killed the believers below and cast their souls into Border Purgatory.

After the Resistance Camp celebrated the Saint’s death, Ji Jue discovered that Wen Wen’s injuries could not heal in the dreamscape and secretly worried that something was wrong with her soul. He then questioned why the Church had sacrificed so many believers in response to losing one Saint, and asked Bao Dacai what its real priority had been.

• Ji Jue and Wen Wen returned to the Resistance Camp, where the people celebrated the Saint’s death and Ji Jue promised they would soon have a chance to join the fight.
• Ji Jue found Wen Wen hiding a deep wound in her palm and used alchemy to repair it, realizing that injuries she suffered in the dreamscape would not heal on their own.
• Wen Wen dismissed Ji Jue’s concern, then confronted the mocking shattered figure in her mirror and declared that it would have to wait until she was dead.
• Ji Jue sensed discord in Wen Wen’s soul but left without investigating further, then told Bao Dacai he was thinking about how to deal with him.
• Ji Jue explained that the Church’s response to the Saint’s death seemed disproportionate because it had sacrificed a third of the Eastern Diocese’s believers, and asked Bao Dacai what its actual priority had been.

Ji Jue realized the Church was trying to suppress knowledge of the Saint’s death because shared consensus shaped reality inside the Millet Dream Remains. After awakening a power fueled by others’ trust, he resolved to oppose the Holy God through fear and hatred rather than faith, while refusing to sacrifice the dream’s inhabitants.

• Ji Jue deduced that the Church’s mass sterilization was meant to prevent people from learning of the Saint’s death and weakening the Holy God’s authority.
• Ji Jue tested how consensus altered reality by firing two different rifles at a steel target, then awakened further when his experiment confirmed his insight.
• Ji Jue absorbed the camp members’ trust and expectations, and recognized that Wen Sheng’s stolen authority had given him an administrator-like advantage in the dream.
• Ji Jue rejected Bao Dacai’s idea of destroying the dream by killing its inhabitants and warned him not to pursue it.
• Ji Jue proposed using fear and hatred to make the Holy God’s hell more powerful than its heaven, then walked away while Bao Dacai wondered why he refused to face his own dreams.

After the Church crushed the Eastern Diocese and tightened its control, Ji Jue used Yu Shu and the spread of corrupted Holy Seals to deepen suspicion and conflict among believers. As Stagnant Rot began to surface within the Church, Ji Jue prepared something in Bao Dacai’s Workshop, while urgent intelligence and a corpse reached the Pope.

• The Pope’s reprimand and the Church’s account of the Eastern Diocese’s punishment stabilized the dioceses as angelic forces and purges strengthened its grip.
• Bao Dacai warned Ji Jue that the Church was tracking Rabbit Hole’s traces, so Ji Jue assigned Yu Shu to work among the parishes while Yan Fei stayed to guard the camp.
• Corrupted Holy Seals spread through the parishes, encouraging believers to evade prayer and giving them ways to accuse and sabotage one another.
• Reports and witch hunts multiplied until suspicion and conflict spread through the Church, and Ji Jue recognized Stagnant Rot taking hold from within.
• Ji Jue burned Yu Shu’s reports in Bao Dacai’s Workshop while preparing something in a stone cauldron.
• The Anti-Rebellion Legion sent urgent intelligence and a corpse to Sky City, where the Pope received them.

The Pope and the Saints convened after learning that the Resistance Camp was preparing a deadly Spirit Essence Poison, while Guang Wen revealed that Ji Jue had extensive connections and that the camp’s travel method pointed to the lost art of Mythical Alchemy. The chapter ended with Guang Wen identifying the old man in the intelligence as Fan Gan, the last known master of Mythical Alchemy.

• The Pope summoned the Saints, and Wen Su attacked Ai Kongzuo after he annoyed her during the meeting.
• Guang Wen demonstrated that the mycelium in a sealed case was a poison that had infected an undercover agent and sixteen High Priests.
• Wen Su killed a Guardian Saint after he insulted her, and the Pope redirected the meeting toward the threat posed by Ji Jue.
• Guang Wen described Ji Jue’s far-reaching connections and showed photographs indicating that the Resistance Camp had become an armory.
• Guang Wen explained that the camp’s passage through Yellow Millet Dream matched the Mythical Alchemy creation called the Rabbit Hole.
• Guang Wen revealed that the old man pictured in the intelligence was Fan Gan, the last known master of Mythical Alchemy.

Guang Wen revealed that Tide Sound’s spiritual poison could spread through the Divine Realm and that Rabbit Hole had repeatedly moved supplies, prompting the Church to launch a brutal hunt for the heretics. Yu Shu escaped through Rabbit Hole, but his passage was destroyed and exposed the gap between dreams to the Church; Ji Jue welcomed him and praised him.

• Guang Wen explained that the self-replicating spiritual poison could infect believers on a massive scale, while Sky Eye Hall reported that Rabbit Hole had been activated more than eight times to transport supplies.
• The Pope ordered the Church to find and destroy the heretics before Holy Arrival Day, and the Church mobilized its forces to search the Divine Realm and raid Resistance Camps and Ji Jue’s hidden caches.
• Angels overran the underground organization and killed the gaunt man who stayed behind to help Yu Shu escape through Rabbit Hole.
• Yu Shu opened Rabbit Hole, but the connection collapsed behind him, destroying its true body and revealing the gap between dreams to the Church’s Angel legions.
• Ji Jue pulled the distressed Yu Shu to his feet and praised him for what he had done.

Ji Jue revealed that he had deliberately used the camp’s destruction to infect the Divine Realm and empower his new King of Flies, while the rebels escaped aboard a recreated Doomsday Train. The train broke through the Yellow Millet Dream and entered Border Purgatory, the destination the Pope realized the rebels had been seeking.

• Ji Jue told Yu Shu that the camp’s destruction had been part of his plan and revealed that the Spirit-Body Mycelium had already spread throughout the Divine Realm.
• Ji Jue triggered the latent strains, infecting the Angels and using the gathered power to form the King of Flies’ Crown.
• The Guardian Saint attacked the collapsing camp, where a golden train powered by Idra’s Heaven’s Punishment Thunder emerged and broke through the Dreamland.
• Yu Shu boarded the train with the camp survivors, and Ji Jue urged the rebels to drink Blood Wine and embrace their journey to hell.
• The train shattered the final barrier and entered Border Purgatory, while the Pope recognized it as the rebels’ true destination.

Ji Jue and the Hell Express broke into Border Purgatory, severing its routes to the outside world for three days and launching a revenge assault on its Angels. As his metal demons charged toward the Sanctuary, Ji Jue welcomed the defeated Angels to the hell they had once imposed on others.

• The Hell Express followed traces planted by Bao Dacai’s Exorcism Wedges and smashed through the blockade into Border Purgatory.
• The train’s arrival triggered a chain of collapses that severed Border Purgatory from the present world for three days.
• The train crashed through the entrance fortress, killing Homini’s body and allowing Ji Jue and the metal demons to enter.
• Yan Fei and the other demons attacked the Angels while Ji Jue sat back and ordered them to carry out their revenge.
• Ji Jue’s forces prepared to confront the Angel legions at the Sanctuary, and Ji Jue reduced the recovering Homini to ash.

Ji Jue offered Border Purgatory’s sinners the choice to remain slaves or drink Blood Wine and become demons, while Iron Demons broke through the City of Sorrow’s defenses. With the heretics closing in on the central Sanctuary, Legion Commander Kong Sai faced a desperate situation.

• Kong Sai received reports that Iron Demons had overrun multiple strongholds and were advancing on the City of Sorrow.
• Yan Fei rampaged through Angels until a comrade relayed Ji Jue’s order for him to withdraw and rest.
• At Border Purgatory Gate, Ji Jue condemned a rescued sinner who objected to being saved and had him returned to the flames.
• Ji Jue offered the gathered sinners a Stone Knife and Blood Wine, and a burned woman became the first to accept and transform into a demon.
• More sinners drank the Blood Wine as demons counterattacked the Angels, and the heretics breached the City of Sorrow and advanced toward the central Sanctuary.