Chapter Summaries

Gu Qingshan discovered that the corpses in the city contained ghosts, which he suspected had emerged when the Entropy Ghosts he killed disintegrated. He and Lola headed toward the strange disturbance ahead, while Black Horse abandoned its lonely watch and followed them.

• Gu Qingshan examined the warm, uninjured corpses and wondered whether their souls had been attacked by ghosts.
• Gu Qingshan used lightning sword aura to reveal and trap a ghost rising from a corpse, and Mountain Girl identified it as a Soul-Devouring Demon.
• Gu Qingshan learned that an Entropy Ghost might scatter into at least 1,204 ghosts and monsters, and realized he had killed eleven of them.
• Gu Qingshan and his swords destroyed thirteen Soul-Devouring Demons, then he set off with the frightened Lola to investigate the road ahead.
• Black Horse noticed a nearby corpse but saw no clear sign it had moved, then hurried after Gu Qingshan and Lola.

Gu Qingshan fortified a secluded spot so Lola and the Black Horse could eat and rest while he kept watch. After Lola fell asleep, he left Mountain Girl to guard her and rushed alone toward the city center, where a terrifying battle zone awaited.

• Gu Qingshan, Lola, and the Black Horse found a huge bloodied pit with giant footprints leading toward the city center, and Gu Qingshan warned Lola not to look toward the distant growls.
• Gu Qingshan set up layers of defensive and offensive formations, cooked a meal, and arranged for Lola and the Black Horse to rest inside them.
• As Lola struggled to sleep, she told Gu Qingshan how she had fallen from the Thorn Holy Tree as a newborn, and he shared a secret about returning to age eighteen after dying in a previous life.
• When Lola cried out for her mother in her sleep, Gu Qingshan lit Peaceful Spirit Incense, then summoned Mountain Girl to take his likeness and guard her.
• Gu Qingshan left the formations and raced alone through the corpse-strewn city toward the center, where eerie voices marked the approach to a horrifying battle zone.

Su Xue'er regretted leaving Gu Qingshan behind and entered Blood Sea Demon Lord's Mentor Rank trial. Meanwhile, Gu Qingshan confronted a monstrous creature that had gathered the dead and transformed the plaza, then fought to escape its attacks.

• Su Xue'er watched Gu Qingshan's recent battles and regretted not staying by his side.
• Su Xue'er unlocked Blood Sea Demon Lord's trial room, determined to pass the Mentor Rank challenge and reunite with Gu Qingshan.
• Gu Qingshan sensed thousands of corpses merging into a black, mountain-sized monster in a plaza.
• The monster announced that the ceremony was over and trapped Gu Qingshan in a bottomless pit, but he escaped its first attack with his swords and Severance.
• Gu Qingshan struck the monster with Moon Slash—Ninefold Strike, but it evaded the sword auras through the Void Turbulence.
• Gu Qingshan drew the Tide Sound Sword alongside the Earth Sword and prepared to face the monster more seriously.

Gu Qingshan fought a regenerating, many-faced monster whose teleportation and soul attack nearly overwhelmed him. An old man transformed into an Ancient Species and interrupted the monster, then told Gu Qingshan that lightning was its weakness.

• Gu Qingshan used his swords to tear the monster apart, but it quickly regenerated and grew stronger.
• The monster sent thousands of teleporting faces at Gu Qingshan, and he destroyed them with Secret Sword, Painted Shadow, only for the faces to reappear.
• The monster unleashed a sound that attacked Gu Qingshan's Divine Soul and threatened to banish him, but he used formations to block it.
• As the monster prepared another attack, a bloodied old man transformed into an Ancient Species and knocked it away, interrupting its spell.
• The Ancient Species told Gu Qingshan that only lightning could counter the monster and that he carried the aura of a Thunder Spirit.

Gu Qingshan used lightning to annihilate the black monster, then learned that Purgatory wanted him to stop fighting the Demon King's Order. He refused the offer and declared Purgatory's master his enemy.

• Gu Qingshan used Tide's Sound to paralyze the black monster, then unleashed a lightning-powered Thunder Dragon that annihilated it.
• The Ancient Species turned back into an old man, accepted Gu Qingshan's pill, and said he was the city's last survivor.
• Gu Qingshan found a bottomless pit of Purgatory's fires where the plaza had been, and a man in a black suit appeared as Purgatory's representative.
• The representative offered Purgatory's mediation, promising to protect Gu Qingshan from the Demon King's Order if he left the battlefield.
• Gu Qingshan refused, and the representative threatened that Purgatory's master would collect and torment his soul; Gu Qingshan declared the master his enemy.

Gu Qingshan defeated the Purgatory envoy but learned that the Lord of Purgatory had placed a soul mark on him, promising to claim his soul when he died. After the Purgatory projection vanished, Gu Qingshan discovered Earth Sword had weakened from a lack of Soul Power and nourished it.

• Gu Qingshan rejected the tall man's proposal and realized the man had projected himself from Purgatory, making him difficult to hit.
• The tall man summoned a horned demon and began casting a spell, but Earth Sword struck while he attacked and cleaved him in two.
• The Lord of Purgatory appeared through the flames and revealed that his subordinate's death had completed a soul spell, placing Purgatory's Embrace on Gu Qingshan.
• Gu Qingshan challenged the Lord of Purgatory, but his sword strikes passed through the projection before the Lord vanished with the purgatorial flames.
• Earth Sword admitted that a lack of Soul Power had worsened its old problems, so Gu Qingshan gave it a hundred thousand Soul Power and saw it recover.

Gu Qingshan and Old Reef prepared to travel to Tide City, where survivors had gathered under Frost of the Cold Night Ilia’s protection. After waking Lola, they set out to contact the city and find Ilia.

• Gu Qingshan learned from Old Reef that Tide City was the last refuge and that Frost of the Cold Night Ilia was helping survivors there.
• Gu Qingshan returned to Lola, waited for her to wake, and told her they had found Ilia.
• Lola joined Gu Qingshan and Old Reef, and used a tortoise shell so all three could travel despite Black Horse carrying only two riders.
• Old Reef led them out of the city toward a forest where they could contact Tide City through a Whispering Tree.

Anna woke after drinking at a church bar, paid her bill, and headed back to the Death Holy Church while locals avoided her because of the deadly causal protection surrounding her. Meanwhile, Gu Qingshan and his companions raced through the wilderness, where he prepared for battle and killed an entropy ghost.

• The Black Dog scolded Anna for drinking all night, and the bar owner told her to pay their bill; Anna paid with a diamond-shaped skull and left.
• Anna staggered through the war-zone streets toward the church, while bystanders kept their distance after recalling that would-be abductors had died in fatal accidents around her.
• Gu Qingshan rode the Black Horse with Old Reef and Lola toward their destination as golden circles revealed entropy ghosts entering through the Ancient Gods' barrier.
• Gu Qingshan set up arrays while they traveled, and Lola equipped Old Reef with protective tortoiseshell armor.
• A five-story entropy ghost crashed into Gu Qingshan's Ghost Repelling Array, and Gu Qingshan killed it with his flying sword.

Gu Qingshan annihilated a massive ghost attack with an amplified sword technique, while Anna awakened the power of the Death God's Tear in her scythe. The chapter ended with the Dog God and Black Raven discussing how the changed divination meant Anna would avoid Abluxi and the Demon King's Order.

• The ghosts overwhelmed the Black Horse's formations, so Gu Qingshan used his Talent of a General title to unleash six Thunder Dragons that destroyed the attacking army.
• After the battle, Gu Qingshan drank Qin Xiaolou's Hundred Flowers medicinal brew and thought about visiting the Hundred Flowers Sect.
• Anna unsealed the Death God's Tear, which transformed her scythe and gave it the power to split open the void.
• The Dog God and Black Raven revealed that they had gotten Anna drunk to influence events and learned from Nine Lives that she would avoid Abluxi and the Demon King's Order.

Gu Qingshan, Lola, and Old Reef reached the Whispering Tree and contacted Tide City, where Lady Frost of the Cold Night gave them a safe route. As the Gods' Barrier activated and countless Entropy Wraiths invaded, they raced toward Tide City and found it under siege.

• Old Reef grieved at the Whispering Tree after discovering that contact with every city but Tide City had been lost.
• Old Reef contacted Tide City through the tree, and Lady Frost of the Cold Night recognized Lola and told them to follow a safe route to the city.
• Golden light spread across the sky as the Gods' Barrier activated, allowing countless Entropy Wraiths to enter the ancient world.
• Gu Qingshan realized the Origin was invading to obtain materials left by the ancient gods and urged everyone to hurry toward Tide City.
• Gu Qingshan reassured the frightened Lola as the Black Horse raced toward Tide City, where monsters were attacking the fortress city.
• Old Reef declared he was ready to fight for the land of the gods, and Gu Qingshan prepared to charge into the battle.

Gu Qingshan and Lola reached the battlefield outside Tide City as Iliya summoned royal guards and a route home for Lola. Lola chose to stay and fight beside Gu Qingshan, who accepted her request and pledged to fight for her.

• Gu Qingshan used Earth Sword's lightning to signal Tide City, and Iliya answered by casting the Thorn Bird's Call before collapsing back into the city.
• The Thorn Bird's Call brought ten warriors and six spellcasters to the plains, while the spellcasters opened a portal to the Holy Tree for Lola.
• Lola refused to return home and said she would fight Trist, despite the approaching Demon God Army and the spellcasters' warnings.
• Gu Qingshan reasoned that Trist had not taken control of the world because something outside had changed in their favor.
• Lola asked Gu Qingshan to take her into battle, and he knelt and pledged, "I fight for you, Your Majesty."

Lady Taisis searched the Royal Box for Lola and Gu Qingshan’s hidden world before Trist could find it, using a spell to question the room’s objects. After Trist arrived and failed to locate the world, the two women stayed behind, each suspecting the other knew more than she revealed.

• Lady Taisis realized Trist must not find Lola’s hidden world first and reasoned that Gu Qingshan and Lola might still be inside the Royal Box.
• Lady Taisis enchanted the room and learned from the sofa that Lola had been sitting there, while the door confirmed that neither she nor Gu Qingshan had left.
• A crying cake began to reveal where the pair had hidden, but Lady Taisis sensed Trist approaching and concealed the room’s magical traces.
• Trist entered and searched the room’s objects, unable to find the world whose spell she had briefly sensed.
• Lady Taisis and Trist questioned each other and pretended not to know anything, then remained in the box while both wondered where the world was hidden.

Taisis and the arriving Nine Billion Worlds Allied Forces stopped Trist from unsealing her world, but Trist threatened to detonate it rather than surrender. In Trist's Treasured World, Gu Qingshan led Lola and the Thorn Bird guards into a seemingly hopeless charge toward Tide City, while his sword wind became the signal for Iliya to attack.

• Taisis tried to seize the crystal ball, but Trist used the Demon King's Order to blast the Big Rooster away and began unsealing her world.
• The submachine gun and armed reinforcements arrived, forced Trist to sit down, and demanded the crystal ball; Trist threatened to die and detonate the world rather than surrender it.
• In Trist's Treasured World, Lola distributed epic weapons to the guards, and Gu Qingshan learned that demons had captured Tide City's wall and were pouring into the city.
• Gu Qingshan ordered Iliya to wait for the wind, then set Lola on his shoulder and led the guards on a charge toward Tide City as the Demons Iron Cavalry advanced.
• Gu Qingshan paid Soul Power to channel a thirty-sixfold Taiyi Sword Formation, creating a vast sword wind that Lola recognized as the signal for Iliya to attack.

Gu Qingshan used the Taiyi Sword Formation and the Spark God of War’s Conquer skill to slaughter the Demons Army and draw its forces away from Tide City. As the demons charged toward him, the War God System explained that Conquer was an exclusive God of War skill and urged him to understand causality skills more deeply.

• Gu Qingshan deployed the Taiyi Sword Formation, which carved a path through the Demons Iron Cavalry as he and Lola’s sixteen riders raced toward Tide City.
• Gu Qingshan equipped the Spark God of War title and used Conquer to make the fleeing demons attack him, feeding his Soul Power as the sword wind devastated them.
• When the demons fled again, Gu Qingshan activated Conquer once more, and the sword formation wiped out more of their forces as it closed around them.
• Lola warned Gu Qingshan that Tide City’s wall had fallen and Iliya was badly wounded, so he used Conquer on the demons attacking the city.
• A gigantic demon called Gu Qingshan the key to the war, prompting the attacking demons to abandon Tide City and charge toward him.
• Gu Qingshan questioned the War God System about the title, and it explained that Conquer was an exclusive God of War skill and that he needed to understand causality skills better.

Gu Qingshan used the Taiyi Sword Formation to destroy the Demons Army and signaled Tide City to launch a counterattack. As he charged at the remaining Demons, Lola accepted her role as the Thorn King and vowed to protect her kingdom.

• Gu Qingshan drove away the Entropy Ghosts with lightning and used the Taiyi Sword Formation to wipe out most of the Demons Army.
• Gu Qingshan signaled Tide City, and Ilya led the Ancient Species in attacking the fleeing Demons.
• Gu Qingshan reunited with Lola and Ilya, then borrowed Lola’s Black Horse and charged toward the gathering Demons commanders.
• Ilya revealed that Lola was the last royal heir and declared her the Thorn King.
• Remembering Gu Qingshan’s words about grief, Lola steadied herself and vowed to defend her kingdom and people.

Gu Qingshan used his Flying Swords to kill the demons’ commanders and scatter their vast army without fighting it head-on. He returned to Lola after driving the demons into the forest, leaving Tide City safe from an immediate attack.

• Gu Qingshan used Earth Sword and Swallow’s Return to kill two Demons Commanders, but an Entropy Ghost took command of the army.
• Gu Qingshan sent the Six Realms God Mountain Sword, which became Mountain Girl and killed the Entropy Ghost; the other Entropy Ghosts fled.
• Gu Qingshan used the Taiyi Sword Formation to frighten the demons into abandoning their weapons and scattering across the Plains.
• Gu Qingshan dispelled the formation once the army had fled and rode back toward Tide City.
• Gu Qingshan found Lola waiting outside the city, explained that he had been scaring the demons, and lifted her onto his shoulder.

After Gu Qingshan returned with Lola to Tide City, he learned that the Remnant Clan was testing its God Seeds for the Inheritance of the Gods, a relic the Origin sought. Ilya asked him to investigate the demons, but after he gave her a purifying injury-treatment pill, she hurried away with an urgent problem, leaving him to wait for her.

• Lola introduced Gu Qingshan to Frost of the Cold Night Ilya, who thanked him for saving the Queen.
• The survivors returned to Tide City, where the God Seeds repaired the defenses and Old Reef went to face the inheritance test.
• Gu Qingshan learned that the Origin's forces wanted the Inheritance of the Gods and that the Remnant Clan would destroy it rather than surrender it.
• Ilya asked Gu Qingshan to join her in investigating the demons, and he agreed despite her wounds.
• Gu Qingshan gave Ilya a pill that healed external injuries but purified the body, prompting her to vanish in a hurry while he waited for her return.

Gu Qingshan and Iliya flew out to scout the demons’ retreat and sparred to assess each other’s fighting skills. After Gu Qingshan held his own against Iliya’s suppressed attacks, she raised her strength and the two continued their duel.

• Iliya praised Gu Qingshan’s healing pills, and he arranged for Mountain Girl to defend the city and protect Lola before leaving with Iliya.
• Gu Qingshan and Iliya flew across the Plains to the place where the demons had gathered, then prepared to search enemy territory.
• Iliya suggested a spar to learn how they could work together and suppressed her strength to match Gu Qingshan’s.
• Iliya attacked with her daggers, but Gu Qingshan blocked her strikes and sent her stumbling back after ten moves.
• Iliya raised her strength and launched another attack, and Gu Qingshan fought her for thirty moves before sending her flying again.

Gu Qingshan sparred with Iliya, who tested his swordsmanship and judged that his cultivation limited his ability. She revealed a possible path beyond the Sword Immortal realm and told him about the Contention Zone, leaving him with new guidance for his future training.

• Iliya increased her power during their spar, and Gu Qingshan defeated her with sword techniques before stopping to avoid attracting the Demons Army.
• Iliya assessed Gu Qingshan as a Sword Immortal whose cultivation restrained his Flying Swords and suggested he could reach a higher realm.
• Iliya explained that compressing the power of a sword formation into one strike could lead beyond the Sword Immortal realm.
• Gu Qingshan thanked Iliya for her guidance, and she credited the idea to a friend who had used a sword a thousand years earlier.
• Iliya told Gu Qingshan that the friend and Barry and Xiao Miao came from the Contention Zone, and encouraged him to go there to fight and cultivate.

After sparring with Iliya, Gu Qingshan learned why she had escaped World Apocalypse Online and received a suit of armor that rejected him, revealing that Lola’s mysterious armor remained dormant. Gu Qingshan and Iliya tracked the retreating Demon Army to a valley, where they found that hundreds of thousands of Demons had vanished.

• Gu Qingshan decided Iliya was trustworthy, and she explained that she had evaded World Apocalypse Online by hiding beneath the ice before entering the Lost World through a divine might barrier.
• Iliya told Gu Qingshan that the Demon King's Order had attacked the Remnant Clan to seize its sacred treasure and that God Seeds were creations of the gods, unlike the divine descendants called Divine Scions.
• Iliya offered Gu Qingshan an Epic Thorn General's War Armor, but the armor rejected him because he already wore a hidden, dormant suit that the War God System identified as an ancient object from the Chaotic Abyss of World Fragments.
• Gu Qingshan and Iliya followed the Demon Army's tracks into a valley, where they found signs of the Demons' presence but no trace of the hundreds of thousands who had retreated there.