Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian entered the Dark Holy See with Wen Li and Professor Lisha, where he found Liu Shuang and another veiled woman waiting. When Lisha offered him wine, Wen Li stopped him from drinking and gestured toward the window.

• Professor Lisha warned Fu Qian that turbulence after dark could cause them to get lost.
• Fu Qian entered the Dark Holy See and recognized the veiled Liu Shuang among the two women waiting inside.
• Wen Li directed Fu Qian to sit at the table, where Lisha explained that she had poured wine for the group.
• Lisha offered Fu Qian a cup, but Wen Li took it from him and indicated the window.

Fu Qian challenged Professor Lisha over her prediction that it would soon get dark, prompting her to throw wine in his face. The darkness arrived moments later, and Fu Qian resumed questioning Lisha while remaining chained and watched by Wen Li.

• Fu Qian refused the prisoner’s drink and pressed Professor Lisha to justify her claim that night would fall soon.
• After Fu Qian berated her, Professor Lisha threw half a glass of wine over his face while Wen Li watched without intervening.
• Fu Qian demanded proof of Lisha’s prediction, and the sky abruptly darkened until nothing outside could be seen.
• Lisha clarified that darkness had only been a possibility and sarcastically invited Fu Qian to investigate the turbulent current outside.
• Fu Qian declined to explore because he was chained, then asked Lisha whether she had arrived first and took a sip of the wine Wen Li held.

At Professor Lisha’s gathering, Fu Qian drank the wine while Wen Li pressed the masked seventh woman to reveal her face. The woman resisted by attacking Fu Qian’s mind, but Wen Li steadied him, and the confrontation left the pair poised to test their strength.

• Fu Qian drank Professor Lisha’s wine, and Wen Li explained that she had let him drink because it was dark.
• Yuan Shan asked the masked seventh woman why she had refused the wine, and the woman said she needed to keep her head clear.
• Wen Li politely demanded that the woman remove her mask and said she would take it off herself if the woman refused.
• The woman appeared ready to remove her mask, then attacked Fu Qian with a mental assault instead.
• Wen Li snapped her fingers to stabilize Fu Qian’s mind, making the woman’s attack clearer and leaving the confrontation unresolved.

Lady Number Seven and Wen Li tested their abilities on Fu Qian, using him as the arena for their contest. Wen Li appeared to suppress Lady Number Seven’s attack, while Fu Qian wondered why the Warehouse and the Mechanical King of Prison Break had stripped away his extraordinary attributes before the mission.

• Lady Number Seven resisted Wen Li’s demands by attacking Fu Qian with a mental technique, and Wen Li countered with her own ability.
• Lady Number Seven made Fu Qian’s throat feel as though its flesh had come alive, stopping his breathing.
• Wen Li tapped Fu Qian’s throat, easing the suffocation but dividing the effect into four parts that disturbed different areas of his body.
• Yuan Shan noticed Fu Qian had lost his extraordinary attributes and asked how it had happened.
• Fu Qian wondered why the Warehouse and the Mechanical King of Prison Break had made him ordinary before the mission.

Fu Qian and Wen Li spoke with Yuan Shan, then Wen Li made Lady Number Seven reveal her cursed face and bald head. Wen Li spared Liu Shuang from removing her mask but asked to inspect her unusual sword.

• Fu Qian kept the reason for his mortal form confidential, and Yuan Shan guessed that he had been hiding from the turbulence until Wen Li tracked him down.
• Wen Li refused to explain how she had found Fu Qian and then demanded that the defeated Lady Number Seven remove her mask.
• Lady Number Seven revealed a horribly disfigured face, which Wen Li acknowledged before ordering her to remove her crown as well.
• Lady Number Seven took off her crown, revealing a completely bald head, then put both it and her mask back on after Wen Li apologized.
• Wen Li decided not to make Liu Shuang remove her mask and instead examined Liu Shuang's unusually rough-sheathed sword.

Wen Li questioned Liu Shuang about the sealed checkpoint while weighing the suspicions surrounding their group. Liu Shuang suggested someone had deliberately blocked the road, and Fu Qian proposed that one of Wen Li’s companions might be his mole.

• Wen Li handled Liu Shuang’s distinctive sword without drawing it, then returned it and asked why the checkpoint was empty.
• Liu Shuang said she did not know why the road was blocked and had come to investigate.
• Liu Shuang said she suspected someone was behind the blockage and suggested the culprit might have prepared a failsafe.
• Fu Qian offered himself as an example of someone who might have sealed the exit after being caught, then claimed one of Wen Li’s companions was his mole.

Liu Shuang admitted that the others had reason to suspect her, then urged them to focus on escaping rather than proving anyone innocent. When she suggested killing Fu Qian to provoke the culprit, Wen Li revealed that the Holy See required him alive, and Lisha questioned why they were taking him there.

• Liu Shuang acknowledged that she could not prove her innocence and argued that no one else could fully clear themselves either.
• Liu Shuang urged the group to stop dwelling on suspicion and work together to solve their predicament, and Wen Li agreed with her approach.
• Wen Li asked whether Liu Shuang had found a way through the checkpoint, and Liu Shuang suggested killing Fu Qian to draw out whoever had caused the incident.
• Fu Qian asked whether the Holy See required him alive, and Wen Li confirmed that it did.
• Lisha expressed surprise that Wen Li planned to take Fu Qian to the Holy See and asked why they could not simply keep him alive without going there.

Fu Qian and the others discussed how to identify a suspected mole by torturing their prisoner without killing him. Wen Li agreed to let everyone take a turn stabbing him, and Nepheli volunteered to go first.

• Lisha suggested hurting Fu Qian’s prisoner to see whether a suspected mole would react.
• Wen Li asked Fu Qian how far they should go, and he proposed letting everyone take a turn stabbing the prisoner and judging their reactions.
• Wen Li agreed to the plan and warned Fu Qian that his handcuffs would prevent any escape measures.
• Nepheli volunteered to go first.

Lady Nepheli used an unusual ritual to torture Fu Qian, linking his heartbeat and body to a candle in the Dark Holy See. As she continued, Fu Qian felt his sense of self merging with the place, and another organ was exposed.

• Lady Nepheli volunteered to deal with Fu Qian and began by snapping her fingers.
• Fu Qian felt his will being tormented as his chest split open and his heart emerged.
• Fu Qian noticed the candle flame beating in sync with his heart and recalled a similar ritual involving Olyntel.
• Lady Nepheli blew on the candle and explained that if it went out, Fu Qian would suffer more pain but would not die.
• Fu Qian felt his identity blending with the Dark Holy See, and another organ emerged.

Fu Qian endured Lady Nepheli’s mind-altering torture while studying the strange Holy See and the women around him. After Wen Li asked him to choose the next torturer, he selected Chief Yuan, who agreed to step forward.

• Lady Nepheli grafted Fu Qian’s sense of self onto the Dark Holy See, and Fu Qian recognized his stomach in the long table before him.
• Fu Qian treated his exposed heart and changing body with curious amusement, prompting the others to notice how calmly he endured the torture.
• Wen Li thanked Nepheli and asked Fu Qian to choose who would go next.
• Fu Qian considered the women’s motives and selected Chief Yuan, the driver who had brought him there.
• Chief Yuan briefly composed herself, then agreed to take her turn.

Fu Qian was about to receive treatment from Yuan Shan when Wen Li stopped her, warning that an unusual poison was spreading through the place. The chapter left the group facing evidence that the contamination could affect people who had not drunk the wine.

• Yuan Shan offered to treat Fu Qian with a black ball, and Fu Qian directed her to apply it to the hole in his stomach.
• As Yuan Shan prepared to begin, Wen Li grabbed her wrist and stopped her.
• Wen Li said an unusual contamination, or poison, was spreading through the place.
• Wen Li began coughing up wine despite not having drunk any, and Yuan Shan stopped the treatment.
• Fu Qian told Yuan Shan to trust Wen Li's judgment and noted that Wen Li had thrown up on him.

Wen Li revealed that a spreading poison was eroding the group’s sense of self and allowing the Dark Holy See to digest them. With the doors impossible to open and their abilities seemingly restricted, Yuan Shan questioned whether Fu Qian’s captivity was connected to the same effect.

• Fu Qian explained his reasoning to Yuan Shan, while Ji Liushuang sensed an unusual poison spreading through the group.
• Ji Liushuang and Professor Lisha failed to open or break the door, and Lisha’s strength could not move it.
• Wen Li stopped Lisha and said the poison was eroding their sense of self, trapping them so the Dark Holy See could digest them.
• Yuan Shan said she believed Wen Li and asked whether the erosion resembled what Fu Qian was suffering as a captive.

Fu Qian and the others suspected Lady Nepheli of poisoning the group, and Wen Li added details that made the accusation seem stronger. Nepheli admitted she had joined the journey out of curiosity and had stepped forward to see what Fu Qian would do.

• Yuan Shan pointed out that the poison's effects resembled Fu Qian's condition, prompting the group to consider whether the same person caused both.
• Lady Number Seven accused Lady Nepheli of poisoning them and volunteering to hide her role, and Nepheli acknowledged that the suspicion made sense.
• Wen Li recalled that Nepheli had been the last to board the bus and seemed to avoid sitting beside Fu Qian.
• Lady Nepheli admitted she had avoided Fu Qian but said she did not care much about escaping the sealed checkpoint.
• Nepheli said she had joined the journey because she was curious about Wen Li's plans, and had stepped forward to see what Fu Qian would do.

Fu Qian watched as Wen Li pressed Nepheli to identify another suspect after Nepheli defended herself over the poison’s effects. Nepheli pointed to Professor Lisha, then dismissed her and several others, leaving the group with a new but shaky line of suspicion.

• Nepheli claimed the change in Fu Qian was a coincidence and suggested it might reveal an interesting result.
• Wen Li asked Nepheli to explain what caused the coincidence and pushed her to identify another suspect.
• Nepheli singled out Professor Lisha, saying she seemed familiar and likely knew the answer.
• After Wen Li questioned Nepheli’s reasoning, Nepheli said Lisha might have had time to make arrangements because she arrived early.
• Nepheli dismissed Liu Shuang as an unlikely poisoner because she was a swordswoman, then said Lady Number Seven lacked the ability.

Nepheli criticized the Dark Holy See members, and Wen Li shifted suspicion toward Professor Lisha while revealing a method to test whether two suspects were guilty. The chapter left Lisha questioning why Nepheli was excluded after Wen Li stated that she believed Nepheli was innocent.

• Nepheli judged Lisha suspicious because she had arrived first, said Liu Shuang's specialty did not fit, and called Lady Number Seven incapable.
• Lady Number Seven thanked Nepheli, and Wen Li thanked her before turning to question Lisha.
• Lisha admitted Nepheli's reasoning made her seem more suspicious and asked what would happen if she could not prove her innocence.
• Wen Li told Lisha to identify another suspect, then revealed her Mythical Form and said she could test whether two people were guilty or both innocent.
• Lisha pointed out that Nepheli and Lisha were already two suspects, and Wen Li replied that she believed Nepheli was innocent.

Professor Lisha’s accusation of Su Gao backfired when Su Gao revealed that Lisha had activated the effect trapping everyone and had served as its catalyst. Lisha admitted it, leaving Fu Qian to recognize that Su Gao’s ability, Echoes, had let her see through the situation.

• Professor Lisha chose Su Gao as her next suspect, but Su Gao calmly denied being responsible and accused Lisha instead.
• Wen Li asked Su Gao for a reason, and Su Gao said she had known from the moment the door closed that the special effect was active.
• Su Gao explained that Lisha had served as the catalyst for the powerful effect, though warning the others would not have helped.
• Nepheli questioned Lisha, who admitted that she had activated the effect and had somehow known she could act as its catalyst.
• Fu Qian identified Su Gao’s ability as Echoes and understood how it had allowed her to see through the situation.

Su Zhiyan revealed that Professor Lisha had caused the disaster but could not undo it, and Su Gao refused to let Wen Li kill her. Fu Qian discovered his altered throat echoed from a shrine room and asked Lisha about her connection to the checkpoint, but she said the real sanctuary had already been that way when she arrived.

• Su Zhiyan identified Professor Lisha as the one behind the disaster and said the damage could not be undone.
• Professor Lisha confirmed she had set events in motion and had been contaminated herself, while Wen Li threatened to force her to remember a way to reverse them.
• Su Gao stopped Wen Li from killing Lisha, refusing to explain why he would protect her.
• Fu Qian noticed his altered throat echoed from a small shrine room and asked Lisha whether she was connected to the checkpoint.
• Professor Lisha said the real sanctuary had already been in that state when she arrived.

Fu Qian questioned Professor Lisha about the sealed level and argued that the group’s predicament was more than a plan to keep him captured. Su Gao revealed that they were trapped in a mental space where dying would worsen the contamination, and Fu Qian ended by claiming he had lured everyone there to claim them for himself.

• Fu Qian questioned Lisha about why the level had been sealed, but she said she did not know.
• Fu Qian suggested the sealed level and the group’s gathering might be part of a plan connected to him, and identified Lisha as an Academy elite.
• Wen Li confirmed that Fu Qian had been poisoned, while Su Gao explained that dying in this mental space would worsen the contamination and deepen their connection to it.
• Fu Qian argued that the space’s rules made it unlikely he had arranged the situation simply to escape capture.
• Lisha asked what his supposed method was, and Fu Qian claimed he had lured them all there so he could claim them for himself.

Fu Qian spun a conspiracy theory in which he had arranged the poisoning and the women’s presence, implicating Wen Li and Professor Lisha while probing how well the women knew one another. Their lack of apparent ties suggested they might all have gathered because of their connection to him, though probably not for the vulgar reason he claimed.

• Yuan Shan suggested Fu Qian could have used Wen Li and the handcuffs to help bring the victims to the checkpoint, and Fu Qian claimed he was an ordinary person who had relied on Wen Li’s protection.
• Wen Li accepted that Fu Qian’s theory sounded plausible but asked how he had sealed off the checkpoint, since that was not part of her role.
• Fu Qian said Professor Lisha was one of his accomplices but had not sealed off the checkpoint, and Lisha’s silence made the group reconsider her identity and motives.
• Fu Qian observed that none of the women stepped forward to clear one another, suggesting they were acting alone and might have gathered because of their connection to him.

Fu Qian questioned Nepheli about the technique causing his transformation, and their exchange revealed that she had once been called Dean and had triggered a foundational fallacy within him. As Fu Qian began to grasp the nature of his symptoms, Nepheli suddenly noticed something and demanded to know what he had done.

• Wen Li acted as though Fu Qian had everything arranged, then asked who his other ally was, stirring suspicion among the group.
• Fu Qian asked Nepheli how she had caused his symptoms, and she refused to explain unless he gave her a reason.
• Fu Qian called Nepheli “Dean,” and she admitted she had not heard that title in a long time.
• Fu Qian described his symptoms, and Nepheli explained that she had set off a fallacy at the foundation of the world inside his body.
• Fu Qian considered what Nepheli’s knowledge implied about her understanding of the world, but she abruptly asked what he had done.