Recaps

Fu Qian returned to the academy to study after resolving the danger at Linghui and learning more about the mysterious Redeemed One. His quiet afternoon ended when Night Watcher Aiko arrived to say goodbye and take Lily to headquarters for treatment.

• Fu Qian wondered how the Redeemed One had wielded godlike power and survived being destroyed, then returned to the academy to study.
• Fu Qian told Professor Lisha that Linghui's internal reorganization was complete and that Wen Li had stayed there to continue studying.
• Fu Qian reassured Professor Lisha that Cas supported opening the Repository further, then spent the afternoon reviewing the academy's files.
• Professor Lisha questioned Fu Qian's unhurried study, and he claimed that work came looking for people in their position just before Aiko arrived.
• Aiko thanked Fu Qian for his help and said she was taking Lily to Night Watcher headquarters for treatment.

Aiko visited Professor Fu to say goodbye and assess his position on the Night Watchers’ sensitive investigation. Fu shared his findings linking the Realm of Ultimate Bliss to Heaven and the White-Headed Holy See, leaving Aiko with information to report back.

• Aiko went to Professor Lisha’s lab looking for Professor Fu, and Fu suspected that her visit concerned the Night Watchers’ investigation.
• Fu told Aiko that he had vague insights connecting Finger Ball to Heaven and described what he had learned about the Realm of Ultimate Bliss.
• Aiko admitted that she had not known about the connection and asked how Fu had confirmed it.
• Fu said an acquaintance who had visited Heaven had seen buildings resembling the White-Headed Holy See.
• Aiko thanked Fu, said she would seek his advice again, and departed after bidding farewell to Professor Lisha and the others.

Fu Qian visited Lisha’s laboratory to review her bone-reassembly project, which could link fragments into a chain leading to divinity but was losing power. He questioned whether reaching the chain’s endpoint was possible and proposed examining it from a god’s perspective.

• Lisha warned Liu Shuang and Lita to keep Aiko’s visit confidential, then ended their workday while Fu Qian stayed behind.
• Fu Qian told Lisha he wanted to discuss her project, and she led him to her laboratory.
• Lisha showed Fu Qian the fading bone plate and the creations made by breaking down and reassembling bones.
• Lisha explained that the experiments supported the idea of a chain leading to divinity, which Cas also appeared to accept.
• Fu Qian suggested looking down the chain from a god’s perspective and asked whether an endpoint could necessarily be reached by following it.

Fu Qian guided Professor Lisha to turn her research into an investigation of whether every Higher Being had a divine path and feared being replaced. Their discussion of how such beings might suppress successors led Fu Qian to suggest that this could explain the rise of faiths before the Long Night.

• Fu Qian proposed that Lisha’s research might help prove a link between born gods and divine paths, tentatively naming the hypothesis the First Law of the Occult.
• Lisha questioned whether the hypothesis was supported by evidence, but Fu Qian insisted that he had witnessed phenomena that made him confident a Higher Being could come into existence out of nothing.
• Lisha agreed to seek evidence for the First Law, and Fu Qian asked her to imagine how a Higher Being would respond to the threat of being replaced.
• Lisha suggested killing potential successors, hiding essential elements to make advancement difficult, and establishing a monitored system with a trusted occupant.
• Fu Qian praised her reasoning and proposed that this might explain why faiths flourished before the Long Night.

Fu Qian explained to Professor Lisha that gods might have sought faith to gain control and protect themselves from rivals, inspiring her to pursue her research. Before leaving the academy, he asked her to deliver another batch of Kalaodola’s flesh for his field research.

• Fu Qian told Lisha that gods may have encouraged faith to secure control and guard against powerful rivals.
• Lisha said she understood the need for greater control and pledged to help prove the theory through her research.
• Lisha realized Fu Qian was injured, and he confirmed her suspicion while saying he was still puzzled by what had happened.
• Lisha thanked Fu Qian and offered to help, so he asked her to arrange the usual amount of Kalaodola’s flesh and deliver it to him while he recovered.

Fu Qian returned to his laboratory, reflected on Nepheli’s departure and the strange limits of the Warehouse’s missions, then used the Tyrant’s Mechanical Fist to enter Forsaken Prison from the Warehouse. He began investigating whether the prison lay inside the Bookstore World’s barrier or whether the Warehouse alone enabled the connection.

• Fu Qian returned to his laboratory after Professor Lisha and her visitors had left, and considered his responsibilities and preparations for the Sea of Ashes.
• Fu Qian recalled Nepheli’s research, her possible discovery of a terrifying secret, and the way missions seemed to stop at the apocalypse’s time limit.
• Fu Qian removed the Messenger and examined the Entwined Umbilical Cord before using the Tyrant’s Mechanical Fist.
• Fu Qian synced directly from the Warehouse into Forsaken Prison and observed that his health regenerated faster there.
• Fu Qian wondered whether Forsaken Prison lay inside the Bookstore World’s barrier or whether the Warehouse’s power explained his access.

Fu Qian questioned why the universe’s primordial forces and Higher Beings were tied to Bookstore World, then tested whether his status as an ancient Higher Being affected his connection to the Forsaken Prison. The chapter left him examining the prison’s molten sand, which reflected a familiar crimson.

• Fu Qian considered whether the Higher Beings coveted powers within Bookstore World and questioned why they would risk the barrier to obtain them.
• Fu Qian wore the Emissary Mask, returned to his laboratory, and used the ring to travel directly to the Forsaken Prison.
• Fu Qian concluded that reaching the prison without going through the Warehouse ruled out the idea that the Warehouse’s transcendent status made such connections easier.
• Fu Qian carried the Entwined Umbilical Cord into the prison to see whether it would react to his mechanically reconstructed body and ancient Higher Being status.
• Fu Qian examined the molten sand, remembered the Lost Ones’ torment, and saw a familiar crimson reflected in the scattered grains.

Fu Qian discovered that the umbilical cord had stirred Scarlet Fever within Forsaken Prison and suspected the curse was tied to his identity as an ancient Higher Being and the ancient Tyrant. As the scarlet gathered around him, an alien urge to kill began rising inside him.

• Fu Qian recognized the scarlet contamination as Scarlet Fever, a curse connected to the Tyrant and his past encounters.
• Fu Qian concluded that bringing the umbilical cord had triggered Forsaken Prison’s reaction, despite his belief that he already possessed the attributes of a Higher Being.
• Fu Qian tossed sand and watched Scarlet Fever grow clearer and take shape around him.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the curse had been dormant in Forsaken Prison and that his ancient Higher Being label had awakened it.
• Fu Qian crushed a clump of scarlet as a desire to kill that did not feel like his own welled up inside him.

Fu Qian suspected the umbilical cord had awakened an ancient tyrant’s remnant within Prison Break, but chose to engage with the Scarlet Fever rather than sever the connection. As the Scarlet Angels restored corrupted traces of Prison Break, Fu Qian absorbed them and glimpsed another throne and a familiar, roaring presence.

• Fu Qian noticed an urge to kill and suspected the ancient tyrant’s remnant was influencing him through Prison Break and the umbilical cord.
• Fu Qian reached toward the Scarlet Angels, allowing them to climb onto his fingertip and leave marks that spread across his body.
• The Scarlet Angels swarmed Fu Qian, and corrupted outlines of buildings began appearing throughout Prison Break.
• Fu Qian tore open his clothes and swallowed the approaching Scarlet Angels to increase his strength before the cord’s half-hour limit.
• A second throne appeared amid the scarlet, and Fu Qian recognized the familiar feeling of a roar filled with pain and hatred.

Fu Qian traced Scarlet Fever to the Blood Lake in the Graveyard of Gods and connected it to the tyrant’s remains and the Golden Throne. He suspected the Dragon King had consumed part of the dead tyrant, leaving a connection that explained the traces Fu Qian had encountered.

• Fu Qian recognized the corruption’s stench and appearance as resembling the Blood Lake in the Graveyard of Gods, where Rainbow of Yao Bian had once trapped him.
• Fu Qian concluded that the umbilical cord linked the present place to the Graveyard of Gods, where part of the tyrant had been buried.
• Fu Qian recognized the rotting throne as the Golden Throne he had sat on at Dragon Peak and connected it to the Dragon King’s role in the tyrant’s downfall.
• Fu Qian theorized that the wounded Dragon King had eaten part of the tyrant, explaining the Dragon King’s traces and why Fu Qian had seen Sunny while using the Burial Scroll.
• Fu Qian considered how the Blood Lake might contain the Dragon King’s remains and wondered why a phoenix had gestated inside it.

Fu Qian investigated the connection between Eternity, the Tyrant, and the Long Night, while Scarlet Fever transformed his body with phoenix-like Long Feathers. After purifying the scene and returning to the Warehouse, he was left with new clues about the Graveyard of Gods and the world's history.

• Fu Qian suspected Rainbow of Yao Bian had used the Warehouse and the Eternity trap to learn about the Tyrant's fall and the Long Night.
• Fu Qian's Scarlet Fever produced a golden-flecked Long Feather, confirming a connection between the Dragon King-related curse and a phoenix.
• Fu Qian's body began growing sharp Long Feathers as the Mechanical Tyrant took on the appearance of the Star Officer of the Sun.
• Fu Qian decided to postpone testing the umbilical cord until the Burial Scroll had finished cooling down.
• Fu Qian used Return Edict to purge the corruption, returned to the Warehouse, and resumed the Messenger.
• Fu Qian considered the Graveyard of Gods and concluded that his recent discoveries offered a starting point for investigating its role in the Long Night.

Fu Qian heard Professor Rob’s report that Professor A Kai had gone missing after asking Rob for material from his experiments. Rob feared something had happened to A Kai, and Fu Qian learned that the material was connected to a secret project at the Institute of Curses.

• Fu Qian enjoyed a quiet afternoon until Professor Rob arrived looking anxious.
• Rob told Fu Qian that Professor A Kai had gone missing.
• Rob explained that A Kai had recently asked him for a special material, and Rob had provided results from his experiments.
• Rob said A Kai had not explained what he planned to do with the material, so Rob had warned him about the dangers and left it at that.
• Rob reported that he had gone to check on A Kai at the Institute of Curses that day and found him gone, prompting him to seek Fu Qian’s help.

Fu Qian went with Rob to check on the missing Professor A Kai and found his office empty, with borrowed experimental materials arranged around an unusually spread-out fungus. After Rob confirmed the swarm had behaved strangely, Fu Qian asked to inspect Rob’s lab.

• Fu Qian learned that Professor A Kai had been working at the damaged Institute of Curses and decided to go there with Rob.
• On the way, Rob told Fu Qian that divine flesh had made his mushroom swarm grow faster and larger, and that some mushrooms had begun floating in midair.
• Fu Qian and Rob found A Kai’s office empty, with four materials arranged in a pattern and the fungus spread into a web across the floor and notes.
• Fu Qian found no obvious trace of A Kai or a Seed of Death and asked Rob whether anything unusual had happened at his lab.
• Rob said he had noticed a strange change and hurried to A Kai’s office, and Fu Qian asked him to lead the way to the lab.

Fu Qian investigated Rob's strange floating mushrooms, gathered a sample, and returned to his laboratory before heading out again with the mushroom and a cylinder of divine flesh. The mushroom withered as he moved away from the laboratory, suggesting its strange effects had a limited range.

• Fu Qian inspected Rob's laboratory and confirmed that mushrooms were multiplying and floating among the insects.
• Fu Qian asked Rob to collect a floating mushroom and find Lanaia and other Institute of Curses tutors to investigate A Kai's accident.
• Fu Qian returned to his laboratory, where Lisha delivered a metal cylinder containing divine flesh and declined his offer to try the mushroom.
• Fu Qian left with the mushroom sample and the divine flesh, then noticed the mushroom had withered away.

Fu Qian tested whether Professor Rob’s miraculous mushrooms depended on the Academy grounds and ate one after it collapsed outside the boundary. The mushroom revealed a mycelial structure beneath reality, leaving Fu Qian seeing the stars move as he headed back toward the Academy.

• Fu Qian found that Professor Rob’s mushroom rapidly collapsed when he carried it beyond the Academy’s boundary.
• Fu Qian ate the mushroom and discovered that it caused no obvious transformation, but left a strong mushroom smell on his fingers.
• Fu Qian crushed the mushroom’s container and saw mycelium-like strands in its broken edges, reminding him of the Sword Pavilion and the Mycelial Emperor.
• Fu Qian gestured toward the sky and watched the stars sway and swirl, seeing the world as governed by mycelium.
• Fu Qian concluded that the mushroom had caused a dangerous, reality-distorting effect and turned toward the Academy.

Fu Qian used his poison-induced insight to enter the abstract world of the Mycelial Emperor, fighting off the Mushroom Sword Saint as he searched for answers about Professor Rob’s mushroom experiment and A Kai’s disappearance. After stepping through a tear in reality, he struck a female creature whose identity remained uncertain.

• Fu Qian felt the poison’s effects grow stronger as he walked toward the academy and encountered layers of black-hearted cotton.
• The Mushroom Sword Saint attacked Fu Qian, who punched back and shattered the attacker and the surrounding darkness.
• The Sword Saint used damage transfer to escape Fu Qian’s follow-up strike, but Fu Qian’s Gospel Blast tore open the night and revealed countless mycelial threads.
• Fu Qian stepped through the opening into the abstract space behind the world, intending to find the Mycelial Emperor and learn what happened to A Kai.
• Fu Qian punched a female creature in the strange space and wondered whether she was a Sword Saintess.

Fu Qian fought the female Sword Saint inside the mushroom world and shattered its mycelial reality, expecting the Mycelial Emperor to respond. The academy returned to normal, but no further enemy appeared, and the mushroom effects vanished.

• Fu Qian confirmed the female Sword Saint’s identity as she attacked him with a barrage of slaying swords.
• Fu Qian unleashed the Biochemical Demon Arm and destroyed the female Sword Saint, breaking through the mycelial reality around them.
• Fu Qian continued tearing at the broken world with his tentacles, enduring the mycelium’s counterattacks until it crumbled into ash.
• Fu Qian found the academy restored and saw no sign of the Mycelial Emperor or another opponent.
• Fu Qian noticed that the mushroom smell and the magic covering his body had disappeared.

Fu Qian considered the vanished Mycelial Emperor and connected its disappearance to Jade Soul Master’s account of Meria, leading him to suspect that the Snow Tree Goddess and the Mycelial Emperor were the same being. He returned to the laboratory intending to investigate Meria, Professor A Kai’s disappearance, and the secrets known by old man Henry.

• Fu Qian concluded that the Mycelial Emperor’s power had vanished like Meria, despite the evidence of a true world and a powerful source behind the fungal display.
• Fu Qian examined Kalaodola’s flesh and reasoned that its curse, divinity, the insect swarm, and the Academy’s testing site might explain the Mycelial Emperor’s manifestation.
• Fu Qian conjectured that the Snow Tree Goddess and the Mycelial Emperor were one and the same, though he acknowledged that he still lacked evidence.
• Fu Qian planned to investigate Meria and speak with old man Henry, while recalling that Meria’s resurrection had enabled Mother of Gospel to breach the barrier and that Professor A Kai had gone missing during research into stories about gods.
• Fu Qian opened the laboratory door and found Wen Li waiting inside.

Fu Qian asked Wen Li about the Spirit Ash Institute’s recovery and showed her a sample of Kalaodola’s flesh to learn what she sensed from it. Wen Li hummed the strange melody she perceived, and Fu Qian recognized it from an Old Acquaintance who had been called a Sage.

• Wen Li told Fu Qian that the Spirit Ash Institute’s injured mentors had recovered well, its hidden danger was resolved, and Professor Weilong had waived compensation for the damage.
• Wen Li said she had kept the collection room secret and had observed the Institute treating the injured while Professor Weilong checked her condition.
• Fu Qian opened the metal cylinder containing a sample of Kalaodola’s flesh and asked Wen Li what she sensed.
• Wen Li described rigid, repeating emotions inside the flesh as a melody and agreed to hum it for Fu Qian.
• Fu Qian recognized Wen Li’s brief melody as one he had heard from an Old Acquaintance called a Sage.

Fu Qian and Wen Li discovered that the melody associated with Kalaodola’s anomalous flesh matched one used centuries earlier by the Blind Eye Academy. Fu Qian considered whether the melody came from the Crystalline Blessing, then made the flesh disappear from its container.

• Wen Li replayed the melody, and Fu Qian recognized it as the password for a door in an ancient ruin.
• Fu Qian explained that the melody’s age made it less likely to prove Kalaodola’s will remained alive and suggested it might be connected to the Crystalline Blessing.
• Wen Li asked what the melody represented, and Fu Qian reflected on the curse’s effects and the Academy expedition he intended to follow.
• Fu Qian performed a magic trick and reopened the cylinder to show Wen Li that the lump of flesh had vanished.

Fu Qian swallowed Kalaodola's flesh and blood and gained the passive skill Etched Wisdom, whose effects remained unclear. After Liu Shuang and Wen Li worried over his condition, Fu Qian wondered whether the skill made the reflections in his eyes less reliable.

• Fu Qian swallowed the divine flesh and blood, then gained the passive skill Etched Wisdom and expanded his insight slots.
• Liu Shuang returned, noticed Fu Qian's condition, and said she could barely discern the emotions in the flesh and blood but hoped they did not belong to Professor Kalaodola.
• Fu Qian and Ji Liushuang considered the suffering Kalaodola might have endured, and Ji Liushuang left, uneasy about the possibility.
• Wen Li told Fu Qian that Liu Shuang's reaction had made her realize something was wrong with him, and Fu Qian praised Liu Shuang's Sword Heart Clarity.
• Fu Qian wondered whether Etched Wisdom made his eyes' reflections less reliable, then abruptly asked Wen Li what he had just said.

Fu Qian realized that his new insight had made him experience an apparently ordinary exchange with Liu Shuang that had never happened in real time. After sending Wen Li to rest, he was interrupted by Rob, who invited him to review the Institute of Curses' analysis.

• Fu Qian questioned Wen Li and learned that she had seen no exchange with Liu Shuang, while the clock showed no time had passed.
• Fu Qian concluded that his perception had been altered so completely that the false encounter had seemed real, and considered using a clock or a trusted observer to detect future incidents.
• Fu Qian chose not to tell Wen Li what he had eaten and advised her to rest, and she left without pressing him for answers.
• Fu Qian reflected on the secrets of the Sufferer ability and looked forward to taking his new power to the Sea of Ashes.
• Rob arrived and invited Fu Qian to see several Institute of Curses instructors analyzing the situation.

Professor Rob told Fu Qian that Professor A Kai had vanished and the Institute of Curses' mentors had found no answers yet. Professor Lanaia later asked whether to bring in more help, while Fu Qian adjusted the Tyrant's Mechanical Fist and said he was adjusting the time.

• Professor Rob told Fu Qian that Professor Lanaia and the Institute of Curses' mentors were investigating A Kai's disappearance but had found no results.
• Fu Qian advised Rob to keep working with the mentors and wait, noting that less than twelve hours had passed since A Kai went missing.
• Rob returned to the Institute of Curses to continue the search, and Fu Qian considered that A Kai's disappearance might signal something serious.
• Professor Lanaia visited Fu Qian and asked whether the situation warranted bringing in more help.
• Fu Qian said the disappearance might be connected to the meteor incident but that the Night Watchers were away, then showed Lanaia the Tyrant's Mechanical Fist and said he was adjusting the time.

Fu Qian told Lanaia he had untested ideas about Professor A Kai’s disappearance and planned to investigate further, but he would rest for the night. He suspected A Kai’s miracle was connected to Meria and planned to use the Burial Scroll at dawn to explore the connection.

• Fu Qian showed Lanaia a ring he had modified into a clock, and she asked whether he intended to use it to find Professor A Kai.
• Fu Qian admitted he had ideas about A Kai’s situation but said he would rest and told Lanaia to return if she learned anything.
• After Lanaia left, Fu Qian considered how A Kai’s Ark expedition, mushroom experiments, and disappearance might connect him to Meria.
• Fu Qian decided to use the Burial Scroll after its cooldown ended at dawn, reasoning that his connection to the Jade Soul Master might help him investigate A Kai’s predicament.
• Fu Qian checked the ring and confirmed that time was flowing normally and that the Lanaia who had visited was real.

Fu Qian volunteered to help Professor Lisha again, surprising her and Wen Li after breakfast. As he settled into the collection room, a stern old demigod entered and demanded to know who he was and who had let him in.

• Fu Qian agreed to help Professor Lisha after Liu Shuang and Wen Li headed to their work and studies.
• Jia Keke delivered breakfast, and Fu Qian noticed she had made progress since they last met.
• Fu Qian went to Professor Lisha’s room and repeated that he was interested in helping with the strange collection.
• Professor Lisha let Fu Qian inside, where Lita was already working, and he made small talk with her.
• A stern old woman entered without warning and challenged Fu Qian, drawing his attention as a powerful demigod.