Chapter Summaries

Lu Cang passed Lotie's third trial by rejecting the dream of Deep Earth and choosing to return to reality, then began the fourth trial: sabotaging Aertemi's Ten Thousand Skins Sacrifice. He reached the skin-covered continent and was horrified by its cruelty.

• Lotie explained that trials could turn a god's followers into disciples and strengthen the bond used to channel divine power.
• Lotie offered to erase Lu Cang's memories of awakening and return him to Deep Earth's beautiful dream, but he chose reality and passed the third trial.
• Lotie revealed that four trials were required and sent Lu Cang to disrupt Aertemi's Ten Thousand Skins Sacrifice.
• Lu Cang crossed two million kilometers at astonishing speed and arrived above a continent built from countless human skins, where he felt disgusted and angry.

Lu Cang infiltrated the Rose of Skin Shedding’s island stronghold, took control of its wards, and gathered spells while learning about the four Level 8 Skin Stealers overseeing and guarding the ritual. He prepared a soul-enhancing staff and condensed six cores as Lotie watched, leaving his plan to disrupt the ritual underway.

• Lu Cang bypassed and took control of the island’s wards, then used his perception to locate the Rose of Skin Shedding’s concealed stronghold.
• Lu Cang knocked out a white-robed mage, took his storage pouch, and examined a map and a list identifying the skins worn by powerful Skin Stealers.
• Lu Cang collected three Origin Magics, stole spells from mages in several tents, killed some Level 5 Class-changers, and took control of more wards.
• Lu Cang discovered that four Level 8 Skin Stealers guarded or oversaw the ritual, and decided he could disrupt it without fighting them directly.
• Lu Cang summoned a Soul Burst Iron Staff and condensed six brilliant cores at its tip while Lotie watched.

Lu Cang unleashed Hollow Void on the island, destroying the surrounding sea and the Skin Stealers but leaving the island intact. Aertemi’s Immortal Skin and three other guardians confronted him, and Lu Cang tried to flee as the Warrior pursued him.

• Lu Cang chose not to summon Bai and cast Death Spell: Hollow Void at the island.
• Hollow Void erased the Skin Stealers and cleared the surrounding sea, while Aldeius survived inside his protective runes.
• Lu Cang recognized the island’s living skin as Aertemi’s Immortal Skin and sensed four guardians surrounding him.
• Aldeius and the other guardians said Aertemi had ordered them to guard the place and that Lu Cang would make a fine skin.
• Lu Cang used Skyward Flow’s Eighth Form to escape, but the Warrior with a single-edged blade kept pace and challenged him.

Lu Cang faced a group of level 8 class-changers and was repeatedly torn apart by their attacks, but he regenerated through the Core of the All-Encompassing Whole. Unable to match them without time to build up his strength, he activated the island’s prohibitions to turn the fight in his favor.

• Lu Cang recognized the level 8 Warrior’s speed and identified a mage’s analysis rune as a threat his Unsolvable Mystery talent could counter.
• The Warrior struck with Annihilation Kill, but Lu Cang evaded using Forget and fled through the Void as blades pursued him.
• A level 8 assassin pierced Lu Cang’s shields and repeatedly sliced his body into blood mist, while Lu Cang regenerated from scattered droplets.
• Lotie watched Lu Cang survive the attacks, and an arcane spell disintegrated the area where his blood had scattered.
• Lu Cang reappeared elsewhere on the island because the Core of the All-Encompassing Whole remained intact, then activated the island’s prohibitions.

Lu Cang activated the island’s restrictions, which stripped and weakened the four level-eight Skin Stealers while leaving him unaffected. He then revealed his perfected ninth technique by teleporting behind the Assassin and making its wounds burst open.

• Lu Cang activated every restriction on the island, trapping the four Skin Stealers in effects designed to counter powerful Class-changers.
• The Skin Stealers struggled against the restrictions, and the mage concluded that only Lord Aertemi’s vessel of descent or a legendary level-nine Array Master could have activated them.
• Lu Cang assessed how difficult level-eight opponents were to fight without his divine artifact and considered seeking divine artifacts from Lotie after the trial.
• Lotie noticed Lu Cang conceal his core in a remote nook on the island.
• Lu Cang appeared behind the Assassin and used Skyward Flow—Ninth Form: Scars, causing invisible wounds to cover its body and then burst open.

Lu Cang used the island’s restrictions and his knowledge of the Skin Stealers to impersonate Aertemi and take control of the ritual. He removed one Skin Stealer’s skin and ordered the others to surrender their skins so he could perform the ritual himself.

• Lu Cang’s attack revealed that the ritual was hidden in the four Skin Stealers’ skins, and he realized they were hesitant to fight.
• Lu Cang claimed to be Aertemi and blamed the Skin Stealers for failing to protect the island from an intruder.
• The Skin Stealers accepted Lu Cang’s claim when he removed the restrictions and stored the assassin’s skin in his Ten Thousand Skins Bag.
• The assassin abandoned her skin, revealing the monstrous creature beneath it, and Lu Cang took the skin containing a quarter of the ritual.
• Lu Cang disrupted the arcane mage’s spell and ordered the remaining Skin Stealers to remove their skins so he could conduct the ritual himself.

Lu Cang pretended to be Aertemi to control the four Skin Stealers overseeing the ritual, but a Divine Decree exposed him as a fake. He turned three of them against the Warrior, leaving the fight at three against one.

• Lu Cang refused to give the Skin Stealers a Divine Decree and offered to prove his identity by showing them he could reclaim their skins.
• Lu Cang stole the mage Aldeius's high-tier magic, but a Divine Decree reached the Warrior and revealed that Lu Cang was a fake.
• The Warrior attacked, while Lu Cang used Oblivion · Void to make Aldeius forget how to cast his runes.
• Lu Cang killed the worm-like creature and revived it as an undead ally wearing the assassin's skin.
• Lu Cang trapped Merso's soul, revived him as an undead ally, and left the Warrior as the only enemy still fighting.

Lu Cang defeated Aertemi’s final confidant in the trial, but Lotie stopped the scene before Aertemi could descend through him. She declared Lu Cang Deep Earth’s next heir and began discussing their cooperation.

• Lu Cang used Morsø, the restriction, and Aldeius’s undead form to overwhelm the Warrior as his soul and body deteriorated.
• Aldeius trapped the Warrior with Boundary and destroyed him with Destruction.
• Lotie ended the trial, explaining that killing all four confidants could let Aertemi briefly descend through the last one.
• Lotie confirmed Lu Cang had passed all four trials and become Deep Earth’s next heir, granting him the ability to travel to and from Deep Earth.
• Lotie invited Lu Cang to discuss the terms of their cooperation.

Lotie agreed to teach Lu Cang without demanding his complete faith, and explained how Deep Earth's power could remove Luluwei's Spiritual Pollution. She offered to teach him mind magic and passage-making, leaving Lu Cang with a promise of future help and a possible artifact if she reached Moon Star.

• Lu Cang asked whether becoming Lotie's disciple required him to believe in her completely, and she said she would not restrict his freedom of belief.
• Lu Cang asked Lotie to explain how to remove Spiritual Pollution so he could take Luluwei with him, and she said Luluwei might have been targeted by another force.
• Lotie explained that Deep Earth's power could make Luluwei's belief that she was cured become reality, though the effect depended on belief and strength.
• Lotie refused to give Lu Cang an artifact because nothing belonging to Deep Earth could leave it, but offered to teach him mind-reading, mental protection, mind magic, and how to build a passage between Deep Earth and the outside world.
• Lotie promised that if she reached Moon Star, she might be able to extend her power into the real world and lend Lu Cang an artifact.

Lu Cang used the forbidden arts Lotie taught him to destroy the Foul Worms that had taken over Luluwei’s mindscape and bring her back to the real world. He then repeated the journey through Deep Earth, where Lotie questioned his connection to Ekhatol, before he returned with Luluwei and wondered whether his fantasies could now affect reality.

• Lotie taught Lu Cang mental defenses and several forbidden arts, and asked him to help with her Moon Star ritual.
• Lu Cang confronted the worm-infested version of Luluwei in her mindscape, shielded her with Complete Consciousness Defense, and destroyed the false consciousness.
• The Foul Worms faded from Luluwei’s mindscape, and Lu Cang explained that she had been contaminated in Deep Earth and was recovering.
• After ending Future Simulation, Lu Cang found himself connected to Deep Earth and returned there to retrieve Luluwei.
• Lotie recognized that Lu Cang could travel through nonexistent time and asked what his relationship was to Ekhatol.
• Lu Cang took Luluwei back to the real world and wondered whether his fantasies could affect reality.

Lu Cang discovered that his thoughts could subtly alter reality and rebuilt his sea of consciousness into an impregnable cloud sea. He left Black Secret in the Dark Church’s Forbidden Hall and returned to Moonfall Island as the peaceful Pure Month began.

• Lotie explained that belief and observation could shape reality, and Lu Cang tested the effect by imagining worms inside an apple, which proved rotten when he opened it.
• Lu Cang restored memories of a previous Future Simulation and realized that his imagination had changed the apple even after the simulation ended.
• Lu Cang considered whether the level-nine illusionist Eliayoumi, the Secret Keeper, had hidden Luluwei’s true identity from his God-Tier Talent.
• Lu Cang opened Black Secret and watched its foul corruption fail to penetrate his newly rebuilt Consciousness Cloud Sea.
• Lu Cang placed Black Secret in the Dark Church’s Forbidden Hall, then returned to Moonfall Island on the calm morning of May 1.

Lu Cang gathered the Demonic Tide on Moonfall Island to create a Tier 7 Dungeon, but a mage attacked him after recognizing the Source of Calamity. Lu Cang killed the mage, then entered the newly formed Dungeon alone.

• Lu Cang drew a ritual in the wilderness and used souls to gather the Demonic Tide.
• Lu Cang released the Source of Calamity, and a mage attacked it with lightning.
• Lu Cang told the mage that the Source of Calamity was his contracted beast, but the mage accused him of evil and attacked again.
• Lu Cang killed the mage with his battle spear, and the onlookers backed away or fled.
• A Tier 7 Dungeon formed, and Lu Cang put away the Source of Calamity before walking inside alone.

A yellow-robed mage recovered Old Lei’s body and decided he would have to tell Mesa the truth about his death. Lu Cang spent the day creating and clearing Tier 7 dungeons on Moonfall Island, collecting powerful undead and materials before returning to the docks, where the unrest caused by Luluwei still lingered.

• A yellow-robed mage found Old Lei dead, mourned him, and carried his body away, resolving to tell Mesa despite the danger of her seeking revenge.
• Lu Cang emerged from the Tier 7 Dungeon, summoned the Source of Calamity, and created several more Tier 7 dungeons while powerful onlookers watched.
• Lu Cang sacrificed one hundred million souls to enter Lomo’s Abnormal Nest and later defeated four Nest Masters and two Tier 7, Sixth-Transformation monsters.
• Lu Cang examined the Flesh Origin beneath Moonfall Island and a mutated spinal-brain creature, then returned both undead creatures to the Underworld with his other spoils.
• Lu Cang cleared the remaining dungeons, left the islanders’ memories of the Demonic Tide’s cause hazy, and returned to the docks, where Luluwei’s disturbance still weighed on the island.

Lu Cang prepared to leave Moonfall Island after killing the church hunters who came after him, while Luluwei remained corrupted and under his watch. Leng Qingying challenged his decision to kill people she considered good, but Lu Cang defended himself and warned that her way of thinking would not keep her alive.

• Lu Cang reassured Luluwei that her sea of consciousness would recover, while threatening to kill her if she remained corrupted, and asked Leng Qingying to watch over her.
• Over the next four days, Lu Cang crafted weapons and sensed more church fighters arriving to hunt him, then decided to leave the island.
• Lu Cang told Leng Qingying and Luluwei that he had bought tickets for the next island and planned to travel toward the Land of Seeing the Moon.
• Leng Qingying confronted Lu Cang about the Moonfall Island Incident Report and accused him of killing good people, including members of the Life Church.
• Lu Cang argued that he had the right to kill people who tried to kill him and warned Leng Qingying that her beliefs would not help her survive.

Lu Cang reassured Leng Qingying that he had not been corrupted and led their group off Moonfall Island in disguise. After nine days at sea, they reached the Valley of Emptiness, where Xiu Mi had also traveled to begin an adventure.

• Leng Qingying questioned whether Lu Cang had been corrupted after he killed the people who attacked him, but he insisted he had acted in self-defense.
• Lu Cang and his companions left Moonfall Island under disguise, avoiding the island's security and leaving an evil legend behind.
• During the voyage, Luluwei's corruption eased somewhat, and she became friends with Xiu Mi while practicing archery.
• Lu Cang taught Leng Qingying to fight, crafted equipment and enchantments, and studied mind magic during the nine-day voyage.
• The ship reached the Valley of Emptiness, and Xiu Mi leaned over the railing and seemed to get seasick as they docked.

Lu Cang reached Valley of Emptiness, where he planned to prepare a ritual to open a passage to Deep Earth and saw a chance to obtain one of the Ten Original Forbidden Magics. Ansu warned him that Lotie of the Mind might have influenced his trust in her, while Lu Cang joined up with Luluwei, Xiu Mi, and her party to explore the region.

• Lu Cang considered setting up a ritual at Valley of Emptiness and noticed a radiant cluster of light that might lead to a Forbidden Magic.
• Ansu questioned Lu Cang about his recent changes, and Lu Cang asked whether Ansu knew Lotie of the Mind.
• Ansu recognized Lotie and warned that she was cunning, then suggested she might be seeking the position of Moon Star through the ritual.
• Ansu told Lu Cang that Lotie had once controlled the minds of everyone in the world for five seconds, though no one knew what she did during that time.
• Xiu Mi tousled Lu Cang's hair after Luluwei introduced them, and Lu Cang greeted Xiu Mi politely.
• Lu Cang, Leng Qingying, Luluwei, Xiu Mi, and Xiu Mi's four companions formed a group to explore Valley of Emptiness, where the forbidden spell lay hidden in ruins.

Lu Cang explored the Valley of Emptiness’s White Tower, where he learned about the three Abysses and extracted an enchantment that could let someone move freely through the Abyss of Falling. The chapter ended with him noticing an artifact called the Book of Answers and considering taking it from its owner.

• Lu Cang arrived in the City of Dark Silence with his companions, while Xiu Mi went to have the Fallen Moon Fragment appraised and planned to explore the Abyss with Luluwei and the others.
• Lu Cang registered at the White Tower as a Tier 5 scholar and studied its research on the Sea Abyss, the Abyss of Falling, and the Heavenly Abyss.
• Lu Cang reached the White Tower’s upper levels and read about Falling Reverse Stones, which rose through the Abyss of Falling while people wearing equipment made from them still sank.
• Lu Cang used God-Tier: Extract on a Falling Reverse Stone and obtained an enchantment that let its wearer move freely through the Abyss of Falling.
• Lu Cang spotted an artifact called the Book of Answers on a Level 8 scholar’s desk and considered taking it.

Lu Cang watched Level 8 Scholar Inda take his own life, then took his divine artifact, Book of Answers, and storage pouch. He left the White Tower with Inda’s undead spirit, convinced that killing him was justified because he could save the Moon Sea from the Abyss of Falling.

• Lu Cang watched Inda, a Level 8 Scholar with little time left to live, stab himself with a dagger.
• After three minutes, Lu Cang examined Inda’s corpse and took his storage pouch, while Ansu accused him of being cruel.
• Lu Cang obtained an Enchantment Stone that granted a sea of consciousness capable of seeing deeper truths.
• Lu Cang read Inda’s report that the Valley of Emptiness and Moon Sea could sink into the Abyss of Falling, and reasoned that his ritual in Deep Earth would prevent it.
• Lu Cang took the Book of Answers, left Inda’s body for the White Tower to find, and departed with Inda’s undead spirit.

Lu Cang declined to join Xiu Mi and Luluwei, then spread his new magic and Battle Skills for others to learn. To advance as a Decipherer, he publicly presented his solution to the Harvest Moon Phase riddle, and the man at the Riddle Enthusiasts Association offered him a new conjecture to solve.

• Lu Cang turned down Xiu Mi and Luluwei's invitation to farm Abyss Creatures with them.
• Lu Cang registered his new spells for free at the Mage Association and sent improved Battle Skills to the Warrior school for free teaching.
• Lu Cang used a previewed future to learn the answer to the Harvest Moon Phase riddle and went to the Riddle Enthusiasts Association to make it public.
• The man at the front desk recognized Lu Cang's quick progress toward becoming a level-six Decipherer and asked him to investigate a White Tower conjecture about monsters transforming into intelligent beings.

Lu Cang met Euynri, a Decipherer researching how monsters could become human, and suspected he might be the reincarnation of Eukrin. After entrusting Euynri with publicizing his solution so he could advance his Decipherer level, Lu Cang traveled toward the Abyss of Falling to inspect nearby ruins related to Original Forbidden Magic.

• Euynri introduced himself as a Level 6 Decipherer researching transformations between monsters and humans, and Lu Cang noticed his resemblance to Eukrin.
• Lu Cang wondered whether Euynri was Eukrin reincarnated, then agreed to work with him on monster transformation research.
• Euynri offered to publicize Lu Cang’s solution to help him fulfill the requirements for advancing his Decipherer level, and Lu Cang paid him with a Money Bag.
• Euynri suggested Lu Cang search the White Tower’s sixth tier for research on monster transformation, and the two parted ways.
• Lu Cang traveled toward the center of the Valley of Emptiness and approached the Abyss of Falling, whose powerful pull could trap him inside forever.