Recaps

Fu Qian recovered Eternal Clarity of Thought and used the Memoirs to confront Jade Soul Master and the other figures in Forsaken Prison. The remnant scroll’s ending changed, leaving Fu Qian alone as the returned master of the prison, able to extinguish its baleful flames.

• Fu Qian found Eternal Clarity of Thought and a paper cup that had survived the burning, then dismissed his Mythical Form and filled the cup with blood.
• Jade Soul Master warned Fu Qian that he would follow him into Forsaken Prison and that Meria would not be the only one opposing him.
• Jade Soul Master summoned Ramon, Abomination, Boerthia, Typhon, and others, while Fu Qian used the parchment to identify them.
• Fu Qian wrote the final stroke on the parchment and declared that he was the immortal King of Prison Break.
• The remnant scroll’s ending changed, and Fu Qian returned as master of Forsaken Prison, extinguishing its flames as its forsaken inhabitants rejoiced.

After surviving the deathmatch, Fu Qian reflected on the Long Night and the Cast-Off, then reclaimed the Madness Flame and the King of Prison Break’s authority over Forsaken Prison. He gained the power of a complete Mechanical Tyrant but lost Supernatural Perception.

• Fu Qian considered the memoir’s account of the Long Night, concluding that the Cast-Off had abandoned their own will to survive by accepting the Tyrant’s Madness Flame.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Jade Soul Master had split his power among five Second Order opponents because he feared Fu Qian’s immortality and the Tyrant’s retaliation.
• Fu Qian saw that the deathmatch’s chains had been severed and summoned a manifestation of the King of Prison Break’s will as a paper cup.
• Fu Qian used the restored Madness Flame to reclaim Forsaken Prison, ending its thousand years without a master and potentially weakening Old Man Stos and Lady Nepheli.
• Fu Qian found that his Mythical Form no longer consumed strength and that he had become a complete Mechanical Tyrant, but Supernatural Perception had vanished.

Fu Qian completed a mechanical reorganization that made him a far stronger, fully realized King of Prison Break, but left him without Supernatural Perception and unable to activate some of his equipment. He tested his altered abilities and began using tiny parts to determine whether he could return to the otherworldly realm.

• Fu Qian confirmed that his Supernatural Perception had vanished, while his mechanical power had risen enough that three punches could kill the Dragon King.
• Fu Qian found that his wounds, curses, and distortions had been cleared, and that he could precisely reshape his face and body through technical control.
• Fu Qian tested Air Bullet and his Dark Claw, discovering that his supernatural abilities remained but had taken on a more mechanical, geometric quality.
• Fu Qian tried his Dark Moon Ring and other items, but could not activate effects that depended on Supernatural Perception.
• Fu Qian wondered whether he could return to the otherworldly realm without Supernatural Perception, then gathered sand into tiny, joined parts.

Fu Qian returned from Forsaken Prison after using his Higher Being powers to make a mechanical ring that could send him back. He found that his work ID still could not activate, then returned to the Spirit Ash Institute and was greeted by Miss Wen.

• Fu Qian finished a mechanical ring from Sinful Sand that served as a key to Forsaken Prison.
• Fu Qian used the ring to return to the Warehouse, where he adjusted his power down from Higher Being to lower ranks before restoring it to Demigod.
• Fu Qian found that he could not activate his work ID and used his powers to create a black outfit.
• Fu Qian used the mechanical ring and Messenger to travel to a recording point near the Spirit Ash Institute, then put on Red Moon's Adoration Ring.
• Fu Qian left the Institute after seeing Old Man Weilong watching him, and Red Moon's ring returned to its normal color.
• Fu Qian entered the laboratory, where Miss Wen greeted him.

Fu Qian assessed Wen Li’s rapid advancement and learned that the Spirit Ash Institute had helped her touch the divine after she returned with Liliana’s legacy. Her account confirmed that she had faced and overcome an inner demon, though Fu Qian still could not determine Jade Soul Master’s fate or whether the institute had deeper troubles.

• Fu Qian used Calamity Authority to assess Wen Li’s supernatural resistance and saw that she had made astonishing progress.
• Wen Li told Fu Qian that she was unsettled despite the Spirit Ash Institute’s care and support.
• Fu Qian recalled using the Return Edict to disturb the Spirit Ash Institute and inviting Wen Li over to check on her condition.
• Wen Li explained that her mentors had used precious materials to help her digest Liliana’s legacy and that she had begun to touch the divine.
• Fu Qian concluded that Wen Li’s inner demon had already been resolved, while he still had no sign of his own inner demon or certainty about Jade Soul Master.

Wen Li tested the mental influence she had gained after digesting Senior Liliana’s relic, but it had no effect on Fu Qian. Ji Liushuang volunteered as the next test subject and experienced an unexpected surge of joy.

• Wen Li warned Fu Qian that something had changed after she digested Senior Liliana’s relic and asked him to assess her new ability.
• Fu Qian found that Wen Li’s mental influence had no effect on him, even when he lowered his rank.
• Ji Liushuang offered to let Wen Li test the ability on her, saying her Sword Intent could detect mental effects.
• Fu Qian approved the test, and Wen Li began carefully influencing Ji Liushuang.
• Ji Liushuang gasped and said that her joy seemed to have come alive.

Wen Li tested her new ability to make emotions come alive on Ji Liushuang while Fu Qian monitored the experiment and used the Return Edict to reset its effects. Ji Liushuang found that awakened emotions differed from Ecstasy, though Fu Qian suspected the two abilities might still be connected.

• Ji Liushuang reported that Wen Li's awakened joy had begun to consume more space in her mind, despite leaving her thoughts clear and causing no harmful urges.
• Fu Qian used the Return Edict, and Wen Li and Ji Liushuang confirmed that the ability's influence had faded while Wen Li's halo remained effective.
• At Fu Qian's request, Wen Li made fear come alive in Ji Liushuang, and Ji Liushuang felt it rapidly consume her other emotions.
• Ji Liushuang said the awakened fear felt like an ancient essence rather than a catalyzed seed, and she believed it differed fundamentally from Ecstasy.
• Fu Qian trusted Ji Liushuang's assessment but suspected that Wen Li's emotion ability and Ecstasy could still be related.

Fu Qian examined Wen Li’s unusual advancement and concluded that her new scales formed a Mythical Form. Wen Li demonstrated that it could unsettle onlookers and tear at a target’s emotions when her attacks landed.

• Fu Qian explained that the Spirit Ash Institute had once suffered a dangerous accident involving animated desire, but believed Wen Li’s abilities were different.
• Wen Li revealed that she had kept an unusual part of her advancement from the Spirit Ash mentors.
• Wen Li transformed her skin into scales bearing shifting human faces, and Ji Liushuang reported that watching them made her uncomfortable.
• Fu Qian identified Wen Li’s transformation as a Mythical Form and observed that it also changed her hand and arm into a powerful, beastlike shape.
• Wen Li demonstrated that her form could influence the emotions of onlookers and said its attacks could inflict a flood of emotions, which Weilong believed could seriously harm even demigods if repeated.

Fu Qian discussed Wen Li’s remarkable rise and her acceptance that luck had played a major role, while considering why the Warehouse had arranged her advancement. Wen Li prepared to return, but Fu Qian told her to wait for the Spirit Ash mentors to come to her.

• Fu Qian asked Wen Li whether she had ever thought she was the Chosen One, and Wen Li said she recognized how fortunate she was and accepted the risks that came with her power.
• Fu Qian considered how the Warehouse’s mission had both targeted Eve and helped Wen Li advance, possibly placing her on a path toward the Realm of Ultimate Bliss.
• Fu Qian approved of Wen Li’s attitude and told her not to worry because the Night Watchers could handle trouble.
• Fu Qian thought that Your Excellency Stomach was more likely than the Lord of the Realm of Ultimate Bliss to cause future problems, and that Spirit Ash could serve as a scapegoat.
• Wen Li asked to share her extra gains with the Spirit Ash mentors and said she was ready to return, but Fu Qian told her to wait for them to arrive.

Wen Li tested her Mythical Form by attacking Fu Qian, who confirmed that she had reached the high ranks but that its most distinctive effect remained unmanifested. As they celebrated her promotion, Yuan Fang and Li Weixuan visited with news that the Institute of Curses had withdrawn from the investigation and Lord Stos and Lady Su had left to report back.

• Fu Qian arranged a lavish dinner to celebrate Wen Li's promotion and asked her to attack him as part of the Mythical Form evaluation.
• Wen Li wounded Fu Qian with her talons, but the form's distinctive effect did not appear, and Fu Qian stopped the test when she grew tired.
• Ji Liushuang prepared clothes for Fu Qian, and he changed and showered before returning downstairs.
• Yuan Fang and Li Weixuan arrived, scrutinized Wen Li's rapid advancement, and relaxed after Fu Qian vouched that he had checked her and found nothing wrong.
• Yuan Fang told Fu Qian that the Institute of Curses had withdrawn from the investigation and Lord Stos and Lady Su had left to report back; Fu Qian remembered that he still had Su Gao's ring.

Fu Qian accepted Stos's invitation to visit the Night Watchers and agreed to advise Aiko about the Finger Ball incident. When Weilong and Ni Huayuan arrived to celebrate Wen Li's achievement, Fu Qian welcomed them and immediately asked how she had done it.

• Yuan Fang delivered Stos's invitation for Fu Qian to visit the Night Watchers, and Fu Qian accepted.
• Yuan Fang told Fu Qian that Aiko was staying to handle matters related to the Finger Ball incident, and Fu Qian agreed to advise her if needed.
• Weilong and Ni Huayuan arrived, and Fu Qian invited them to join the celebration of Wen Li's achievement.
• Li Weixuan left the gathering, leaving Fu Qian to host Weilong and Ni Huayuan.
• Fu Qian asked Weilong and Ni Huayuan to explain every detail of how Wen Li had accomplished her feat.

Professor Weilong described how Wen Li assimilated divinity-imbued material, while Fu Qian examined her new Sufferer form and questioned the Spirit Ash Institute’s rushed process. Fu Qian sent Weilong back to discuss whether to share more information and asked whether Wen Li should stay at the Apocalypse Institute.

• Fu Qian asked Weilong to reveal details about Wen Li’s new ability, but Weilong initially refused to disclose classified information.
• Fu Qian had Wen Li demonstrate her ability, and Weilong was visibly shaken by the change in her supernatural form.
• Fu Qian said Wen Li was fine, compared her case with Ian’s, and identified her form as the Sufferer.
• Weilong explained that the Spirit Ash Institute had used divinity-imbued material to help Wen Li assimilate it, while Fu Qian questioned how quickly they had acted.
• Fu Qian urged Weilong to consult his colleagues about sharing more details, then asked whether Wen Li should stay at the Apocalypse Institute.

Professor Fu settled the tense incident with the Spirit Ash Institute and explained how Jade Soul Master had kept its practitioners from realizing they were delusions. Wen Li joined the celebration banquet, where Professor Fu noticed Jia Keke's orange eye opening slowly.

• Weilong accepted Wen Li's request to stay with Professor Fu, reassured her, and left to study under him for a few days.
• Wen Li worried about the Spirit Ash Institute's instructors, and Professor Fu said they should be fine but needed to examine what had gone wrong.
• Professor Fu explained that Jade Soul Master had kept the Spirit Ash Institute's practitioners as themselves despite their being delusions, and said the institute's investigation could help him find his defeated opponents.
• Ji Liushuang praised Wen Li's achievement as a demigod in her twenties, while Professor Fu compared the efficiency of ritual and cultivation paths.
• Jia Keke returned with more banquet supplies, joined the group, and Professor Fu examined the orange eye on her forehead.

Fu Qian hosted Jia Keke, allowing Lady Kelin to test him and conclude that the Bookstore Owner in Shangjing was a demigod unrelated to the person in Xiyuan. The next morning, Lanaia summoned Fu Qian to the Night Watcher base after Yuan Fang reported that Lily had appeared with a crown of real thorns.

• Fu Qian recognized Lady Kelin concealed within Jia Keke and hosted her for dinner while pretending not to notice her test.
• Jia Keke helped Ji Liushuang clean up and agreed to discuss the Gospel Group's affairs the following week.
• Lady Kelin left believing Fu Qian was a genuine demigod in Shangjing with no connection to the person in Xiyuan.
• Lanaia told Fu Qian that Yuan Fang wanted him at the Night Watcher base because Lily had been found wearing a crown woven from real thorns.

Fu Qian and Lanaia visited a Night Watcher base after Lily was found wearing a painful crown woven from inward-pointing thorns. Aiko sought Fu Qian’s insight into whether the crown resembled anything from Ian’s execution, and Fu Qian raised the Benevolent Virtue Society as a possible lead.

• Lanaia told Fu Qian that Lily had been found with a Thorn Crown at the Night Watcher base, and he agreed to investigate.
• Yuan Fang explained that Lily had requested a quiet place and that the crown appeared the morning after Aiko tried to treat her.
• Fu Qian and Lanaia met Aiko and examined Lily through the glass, where she stood smiling beneath the bloodied crown.
• Aiko asked Fu Qian whether he noticed anything unusual, and he compared the crown with Ian’s tree-like transformation before saying the crown had no supernatural aura.
• Fu Qian mentioned the Benevolent Virtue Society as Aiko frowned over the crown’s nature.

Fu Qian deduced that the Benevolent Virtue Society might have left Lily’s crown as a taunt, while warning that the culprit could be an infiltrator with knowledge of the Night Watcher base. After leaving the base with Lanaia, he returned to the lab and found Cas waiting for him.

• Fu Qian explained that the crown’s lack of practical value suggested the culprit wanted to mock the Night Watchers, though he could not rule out a frame-up or a connection to Ian’s case.
• Lily asked to be moved to a room with a window, and the Night Watchers granted her request while allowing her to keep the crown.
• Fu Qian left the Night Watcher base with Lanaia after touring it with Yuan Fang, and Lanaia thanked him for his work.
• Fu Qian returned to the lab and found Cas there, who said he had been asked by Fu Qian’s research assistant to watch the door.

Fu Qian discussed the Benevolent Virtue Society’s influence with Cas and heard about the dean’s successful field trip. The conversation ended with Fu Qian asking whether Professor Lisha knew she looked like Kalaodola.

• Cas admitted that membership in the Benevolent Virtue Society made it easier to get things done, and Fu Qian updated him on the Night Watchers’ progress with Lily and the Ian incident.
• Fu Qian explained that the Society’s involvement had muddied the investigation around the Invitation incident and helped keep attention away from him.
• Fu Qian praised Professor Lisha and the Academy’s other instructors, and Cas said he would inspect their progress.
• Cas hinted that he had returned from his field trip with valuable materials, leading Fu Qian to suspect he had taken advantage of a clash between major organizations.
• Fu Qian asked whether Professor Lisha knew she looked like Kalaodola, and Cas said he had not yet visited her.

Fu Qian learned from Cas how Professor Lisha came to possess some of Kalaodola’s flesh and why she wore a black ring around her neck. The conversation ended when Lisha entered the laboratory and noticed Cas.

• Fu Qian recalled meeting Kalaodola in an unreal place and told Cas that she had asked what she was like in the future.
• Fu Qian asked whether Lisha had ever removed the item around her neck, and Cas confirmed she had not.
• Cas explained that he had fused Kalaodola’s flesh with a living supernatural creature and had found young Lisha, whose body was unusually compatible.
• Cas said he had placed a prepared item around Lisha’s neck when unwanted changes began to appear.
• Lisha entered the laboratory, noticed Cas, and froze.

Professor Fu Qian told Professor Lisha and Dean Cas that Wen Li had become a demigod through joint training with Spirit Ash. When Spirit Ash failed to arrive for a planned exchange, Fu Qian suggested they visit instead, and Cas agreed.

• Professor Lisha joined Cas and Fu Qian for tea and credited Fu Qian with the laboratories’ successful cooperation.
• Lisha questioned Fu Qian about recruiting another gifted student from Spirit Ash, and he said the mentors had agreed to joint training.
• Fu Qian revealed that the student had become a demigod, a result confirmed by Professor Weilong and himself.
• Fu Qian noted that Spirit Ash had not arrived for a planned exchange and suggested they go there instead.
• Cas agreed to visit Spirit Ash with Lisha and Fu Qian.

Fu Qian, Cas, and Lisha went to the Spirit Ash Institute after its mentors failed to report back about Wen Li’s suspicious advancement. They found the academy sealed and overwhelmed by psychic residue, and Weilong said the institute had uncovered something but still needed their help.

• Fu Qian, Cas, and Lisha agreed to visit the Spirit Ash Institute and investigate its silence over Wen Li’s strange progress.
• Fu Qian forced open the institute’s locked gate, and Lisha sensed that the building was filled with an unusually foul atmosphere of psychic residue.
• Weilong and Professor Yang appeared to meet the visitors, while Yang examined the damaged gate.
• Fu Qian asked whether the Spirit Ash mentors had found anything, and Weilong said they had and led the group inside.

Fu Qian joined the Spirit Ash Institute’s senior members as they investigated an undetectable presence influencing their minds. He used the Return Edict to intensify the disturbance, hoping the institute’s members would reveal more about the entity and Jade Soul Master’s condition.

• Professor Weilong told Fu Qian and the other visitors that a hidden presence inside the building could enter people’s minds and evade their abilities.
• Weilong realized Fu Qian had suspected the danger since Wen Li’s ability development and had tried to keep her away from it.
• Professor Yang asked Fu Qian to use a stronger stimulus to help them detect the presence, while Weilong explained their reluctance to lift the institute’s restriction.
• Fu Qian activated the Return Edict, triggering an invisible tempest that intensified the effects of the Golden Spiral.
• Fu Qian watched the institute members react and considered whether they could help him learn more about Jade Soul Master’s inner demon.

Fu Qian disrupted the Spirit Ash Institute’s attempt to detect an invisible beast, smashing their contemplative chandelier and urging them to abandon their assumptions. Cas promised the Apocalypse would cover the damage, while Weilong and the others returned to their observation.

• Fu Qian’s Return Edict purified the Golden Spiral, leaving the Spirit Ash Institute’s members feeling empty and unsettled.
• Fu Qian and Weilong told the instructors to focus on detecting the invisible beast through the chandelier’s faint supernatural fluctuations.
• Fu Qian hurled an armchair into the giant chandelier, shattering it, then urged everyone to abandon their delusions and preconceived ideas.
• Weilong questioned Fu Qian’s reasoning, and Cas said the Apocalypse would cover the damage.
• Weilong sat back down without trying to make amends for the ruined chandelier.

Fu Qian had the Spirit Ash Institute members reflect while Professor Weilong and Professor Yang watched for signs of Jade Soul Master’s cognitive corruption. Their efforts produced little, but Professor Yang’s chimes drew out a reaction from Silei, and Weilong used his strange mask to affect him.

• Fu Qian told Professor Lisha she did not need to join the reflection exercise, while Cas examined a clear chandelier fragment.
• Professor Weilong and Professor Yang watched the seated group as they reflected, though Fu Qian warned that their demigod rank might make them less vulnerable to cognitive corruption.
• Professor Yang struck two chandelier fragments together, producing chimes and an electric-like sound in the air.
• Professor Yang called out to Silei, who opened his eyes and said the experience had yielded no insight.
• Professor Weilong asked Fu Qian to pause, then put on a black-and-white weeping mask that immediately twisted Silei’s expression.

Fu Qian watched Silei undergo a transformation during Professor Weilong’s test, while Professor Lisha narrowly avoided the mental shock that followed. Silei described his changed understanding of the self and named his new state “Impermanence.”

• Weilong continued testing Silei, and Fu Qian asked Lisha to search for a chandelier fragment.
• Silei sobbed, triggering a powerful mental shock that nearly overwhelmed Lisha; she saw bloody tears running down his face as he became serene.
• Weilong asked Silei what he had learned, and Silei said the self-forged cage had vanished and that the experience could not truly be explained.
• Weilong told Fu Qian that the ritual’s missing knowledge had mysteriously filled in during a similar process.
• Fu Qian asked Silei whether he was still Silei, and Silei called his new state “Impermanence.”

Fu Qian considered whether Jade Soul Master was hiding his condition or too damaged to act, then struck Silei when he began speaking of transcendence. He left the Spirit Ash Institute with Wen Li while Weilong and the others continued their investigation.

• Fu Qian weighed several explanations for the lottery result and Jade Soul Master's lingering influence, including whether Jade Soul Master had reached the end of the cultivation path.
• Fu Qian questioned Silei, who called communication meaningless and began speaking about transcending everything.
• Fu Qian smacked Silei with half a tabletop, interrupting his speech and leaving him badly injured.
• Fu Qian agreed to take Wen Li with him while Weilong and Professor Yang continued testing Silei and investigating the Hidden Danger.
• Cas praised the Spirit Ash Institute's achievements and said he would arrange compensation for the chandelier.