Chapter Summaries

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.

Fu Qian investigated the strange demigod who claimed to be the laboratory’s original owner and challenged her views on learning from mistakes. He killed her with a giant claw, ending the encounter as Lisha remained affected by the woman’s power.

• Fu Qian pointed to Professor Lisha as the person who had let the old demigod into the laboratory.
• The old woman claimed she was the laboratory’s owner and condemned Fu Qian for looking for value in instructors’ failures.
• Professor Lisha defended sharing the reasons for failure so others could learn, but the old woman silenced her and the others with an invisible power.
• Fu Qian questioned the old woman about her beliefs, and she insulted him and dismissed Lisha as mentally unwell.
• Fu Qian killed the old woman with a giant claw and concluded that people in Etched Wisdom could be killed to end it early.

Fu Qian checked Professor Lisha’s condition while helping her organize research materials, then reflected on what Etched Wisdom revealed about the world’s underlying logic. He left the archive work for the day with his theory of the Warehouse and Kalaodola’s abilities still developing.

• Fu Qian reassured Professor Lisha that he might have misread her condition, though his vision showed her resistance to calamity had slightly increased.
• Fu Qian asked whether Lisha had visited Cas, and she admitted she feared she would make him eat the materials on her desk.
• Fu Qian and Lisha began organizing the materials for Cas to review.
• Fu Qian considered how Etched Wisdom seemed to connect to proximity, the Warehouse, and the world’s underlying rules.
• Fu Qian set down the archive files and said he had to leave to take care of other matters.

Fu Qian left Lisha’s laboratory and went to the Institute of Curses, where he examined invisible snow covering the building. Rob and Professor Boyd reported a subtle contamination that might be connected to A Kai’s accident, and Fu Qian headed to A Kai’s office to investigate further.

• Fu Qian thanked Lisha and Lita, then left the laboratory to visit the Institute of Curses.
• Fu Qian found invisible cold falling around the Institute and tested how it behaved on his hand.
• Rob introduced Professor Boyd, who explained that the invisible snow could freeze hidden things and make them easier to detect.
• Boyd told Fu Qian that the area seemed subtly contaminated, though the instructors had not confirmed whether it was linked to A Kai’s accident.
• Fu Qian praised their findings, directed the instructors back to work, and went to inspect A Kai’s office while activating the Burial Scroll with his blood.

Fu Qian examined Professor A Kai’s office and found no clues about what had happened or where A Kai had gone. Using the Burial Scroll to view the world from Meria’s perspective, he established a conceptual connection with a Snow Tree leaf, but still had no sign of A Kai.

• Fu Qian asked the instructors to keep the snow falling as they searched Professor A Kai’s office, but Boyd reported that the team had found no useful evidence.
• Fu Qian reached through space and plucked a Snow Tree leaf, startling Rob and the others.
• After activating the Burial Scroll, Fu Qian used his connection to his inner demon to view his surroundings through an abstract perspective he associated with Meria.
• Fu Qian examined the leaf and confirmed that snow had turned parts of it white, but he found no trace of A Kai.
• Fu Qian looked for conceptual connections that might establish him as Meria, and a clear connection appeared between him and the leaf.

Fu Qian used his connection to Meria to test the nature of Meria’s Land of Kin, but increasing his tier unexpectedly pushed him out of the conceptual domain. He concluded that Meria might not exist above Second Order, though the reason remained unclear.

• Fu Qian realized Jade Soul Master had likely absorbed Meria and his other avatars but forgotten them as past lives.
• Fu Qian stopped the intangible snow, and the resulting change connected the Snow Tree leaf and the room to Meria’s conceptual domain.
• Fu Qian found no trace of Professor A Kai and considered whether his limited perception prevented him from seeing beyond the room.
• Fu Qian raised his tier and unexpectedly fell out of Meria’s conceptual domain.
• Fu Qian reasoned that Meria might have no state above Second Order, a possibility that fit Jade Soul Master’s past accounts.