Chapter Summaries

Wen Li unleashed an aura of pleasure in the Dark Holy See, drawing a violent response from Yuan Shan and linking everyone’s sensations together. As Fu Qian watched the pleasure spread beyond himself, Wen Li’s pierced hand revealed a stream of rainbow-colored fluid.

• Nepheli realized that an extraordinary pleasure had appeared, and Wen Li admitted that she had caused it.
• Wen Li leaned close to Fu Qian as the candle connected to his heart burned down toward its expected limit.
• Yuan Shan attacked the candle with a black spike, but Wen Li blocked it and was pierced in the hand.
• Rainbow-colored fluid flowed from Wen Li’s wound, and Fu Qian suspected Yuan Shan had attacked to test Wen Li’s reaction to his possible death.
• A second wave of pleasure rose from Wen Li’s pain and spread to Lady Number Seven, showing that Wen Li had connected everyone’s pleasure.

Wen Li extinguished part of Fu Qian’s heartfire, pushing the sanctuary into a wave of pleasure that she hoped would help the captives communicate. Near death, Fu Qian questioned the six women about what they believed, but the chapter ended before he heard their response to his final question.

• Wen Li blew out a wisp of Professor Fu’s heartfire, leaving Fu Qian near death and filling the sanctuary with intense pleasure.
• Wen Li told Fu Qian she could no longer get him out and had created a better environment for him to talk with the others.
• Fu Qian asked Wen Li how many women remained, and she confirmed there were six.
• Fu Qian told the six women he was enjoying himself, and Yuan Shan said she believed him.
• Fu Qian said his mission was to reach the real sanctuary; Liu Shuang claimed to believe him, though Fu Qian suspected otherwise.
• Fu Qian asked whether the women believed the person he had been before or the person he was now.

Fu Qian deduced that the women had been instructed to save Professor Fu from being taken to the Holy See, even as their erased relationships and implanted beliefs made them distrust one another. He suspected Wen Li was also protecting him, then asked Su Gao whether she could escape.

• Fu Qian inferred that Liu Shuang distrusted his claim because Professor Fu had planted a warning in her mind not to believe him if he said he wanted to go to the Holy See.
• Wen Li indicated that she could not answer Fu Qian’s third question, said time was running out, and showed signs of strain from the battle and her growing True Self.
• Fu Qian concluded that the women were likely following instructions to save him, and that Professor Lisha’s attempt to poison him fit her effort to prevent his journey to the Holy See.
• Fu Qian asked Su Gao whether she could get out, and Su Gao said she could escape alone.

Su Zhiyan revealed that she had been poisoned but could still escape, and she chose to stay because she had unfinished business. Fu Qian realized she could help him escape only briefly, leaving him to decide how to use that chance and continue through the Dark Holy See.

• Su Zhiyan told the gathered women that she had been poisoned but could still leave, while Lady Number Seven removed her mask and asked why she stayed.
• Su Zhiyan said she had things to do and looked at Fu Qian, who recognized that she had stayed to help him despite the danger.
• Fu Qian thanked Su Zhiyan and asked about the third question, but she said she could not answer it.
• Fu Qian reasoned that the mission used the women's trust in him to make them doubt his statements and prevent him from entering the Holy See.
• Fu Qian asked how long Su Zhiyan could remain and whether she could escape, and she said she had no more than three minutes and could help him get out.

Fu Qian and Su Gao discussed why opening the door would not let the trapped group escape, and Fu Qian searched for another way to get help. He suspected Lady Number Seven was Rachel and asked her to open the door, but the chapter ended before she answered.

• Su Gao explained that the others were too deeply connected to the place to leave through the door, and that she could not destroy it or take Fu Qian out without exhausting her power.
• Fu Qian refined his ideas and concluded that someone would need to open the door while Su Gao stayed inside.
• Chief Yuan guessed that Fu Qian meant to call for help, and Fu Qian addressed Lady Number Seven as Rachel.
• Lady Number Seven's hesitant reaction led Fu Qian to suspect that she was Rachel and shared a secret agreement with him.
• Fu Qian asked Rachel to use her physical strength to open the door, while recalling a head named Li Min.

Fu Qian tried to persuade Rachel and Li Min to help him reach the Dark Holy See, while keeping Li Min’s hidden presence secret. When Rachel refused to be swayed, Liu Shuang drew her sword and threatened to kill her.

• Fu Qian reasoned that Li Min was concealed inside Rachel and had been guiding her through the gathering.
• Rachel warned Fu Qian that exposing herself would cost her the advantage of remaining hidden.
• Fu Qian asked Liu Shuang to convince Rachel that he intended to go to the Dark Holy See.
• Liu Shuang admitted she could not use the Heart-Questioning Sword Prison and urged Rachel to understand Fu Qian’s intentions.
• Rachel refused to give in, and Liu Shuang drew her sword and threatened to kill her within a minute.

Fu Qian escaped the holy sanctuary with Su Gao and the others after Liu Shuang persuaded Rachel to open the door. He feared the Seed of Ecstasy could still pursue them, and the group reached the sealed checkpoint with no clear way across.

• Liu Shuang persuaded Rachel to open the sanctuary's side door, and Rachel's action allowed Li Min to communicate through her shoulder.
• Fu Qian thanked Li Min and Rachel for helping him, then Su Gao carried him out while Wen Li unlocked his handcuffs.
• The group crossed the sanctuary's threshold, where the overwhelming pleasure and other sensations abruptly vanished.
• Su Gao hurried away with Fu Qian, who worried that the Seed of Ecstasy could still track them and affect the guests.
• Su Gao stopped at the sealed checkpoint and asked how they would get across.

Fu Qian and Su Gao reached the sealed checkpoint and found a local worker on duty. The worker suspected Fu Qian was an illegal border-crosser and accused him of carrying a stolen candlestick.

• Su Gao identified the worker as a regular checkpoint employee and suspected Yuan Shan had influenced the checkpoint while they were leaving.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao approached the guard booth, where the worker told them pedestrians did not need to be checked.
• Fu Qian asked what the checkpoint searched for, and the worker said it looked for people sneaking across the border in cars.
• The worker claimed he identified illegal travelers by looking at their eyes, then told Fu Qian he looked suspicious and smelled wrong.
• The worker pointed at the black candlestick Fu Qian had taken from the Dark Holy See and accused him of stealing it.

Fu Qian tested the checkpoint on foot and learned that only drivers could pass, while his encounter with Su Gao and the mission’s altered memories strengthened his suspicion that they were being sent into the Sea of Mind. He then had Su Gao take the candlestick and asked her to pierce his heart without killing him outright.

• Fu Qian admitted to taking the candlestick, and the checkpoint staff member told him pedestrians did not need inspection but could not pass through on foot.
• Fu Qian and Su Gao left the checkpoint, and Fu Qian concluded that the mission’s dreamlike setting, familiar women, and altered memories pointed toward the Sea of Mind.
• Fu Qian told Su Gao that driving was necessary and took the driver’s seat himself.
• Fu Qian gave Su Gao the candlestick and asked her to pierce his chest accurately without pushing it all the way through.

Fu Qian used the candlestick to reinforce his connection to the world, then drove with Su Gao toward the checkpoint to reach the Sea of Mind. The inspection staff member sensed that Fu Qian was close to death, but Fu Qian challenged him to name a rule that barred him from driving.

• Su Gao carefully pierced Fu Qian with the candlestick, helping him entangle himself more firmly with the world.
• Fu Qian drove toward the checkpoint and instructed Su Gao to answer only yes if questioned.
• Fu Qian told the staff member he was heading to the Holy See and explained that he had obtained a car for the inspection.
• The staff member's gaze went blank as he examined Fu Qian, but he later said Fu Qian looked like he was about to die.
• Fu Qian admitted that he was near death and asked whether any rule forbade him from driving.

Fu Qian persuaded the checkpoint staff to let him cross alone, claiming he needed to reach the Holy See because he was near death. Su Gao stayed behind as Fu Qian drove through the cleared checkpoint toward the Sea of Mind.

• Fu Qian explained that his apparent decline showed why he needed to go to the Holy See, and the staff member initially found his reasoning convincing.
• The staff member refused to let Fu Qian and Su Gao cross together, suspecting they were using her local identity as cover.
• Fu Qian said Su Gao had only driven him to the checkpoint and that he would cross alone, and Su Gao confirmed it.
• The staff member told Su Gao to get out and moved the traffic cone aside to let Fu Qian pass.
• Su Gao remained by the roadside as Fu Qian thanked the staff member and drove through the checkpoint.

Fu Qian crossed the checkpoint into a strange, living landscape that he recognized as connected to Your Excellency Stomach. After a figure warned him to avoid the Holy See and turn back, Fu Qian drove toward it anyway.

• A hoarse, sweet-scented figure invited Fu Qian to stay as he crossed the checkpoint, and he found the guard booth and surrounding road transformed into living membranes.
• Fu Qian recognized the biopunk structures as resembling Your Excellency Stomach’s power and suspected Warehouse’s mission involved the Holy See.
• Fu Qian reversed across the checkpoint and asked the figure whether the Holy See lay in the direction of the Dark Holy See.
• The figure warned Fu Qian not to go to the Holy See and urged him to turn back.
• Fu Qian turned the car toward the hotter region and drove toward the Holy See.

The narrator reached the White-Headed Holy See, where the Warehouse assigned a mission to defile the Primordial Anchor of Your Excellency Amnion. He touched the statue’s chin and completed the mission, successfully containing No. 1-330.

• The narrator drove through increasingly viscous, sweet-smelling terrain toward the White-Headed Holy See.
• He concluded that the earlier mental space had been the Warehouse’s indirect means of guiding him to this destination in the Sea of Mind.
• The narrator entered the Holy See and received the mission to defile the Primordial Anchor of Your Excellency Amnion.
• He examined the statue of a long-haired woman lying across a ball of fingers, then pinched its chin.
• The Warehouse announced that the mission was complete and No. 1-330 had been contained successfully.

Fu Qian destroyed Your Excellency Amnion’s White-Headed Holy See in the Sea of Mind, completing the task by touching its signpost while disguised as an outsider. The Warehouse’s evaluation revealed that Amnion had been using the refuge during a calamity, and Fu Qian wondered whether he had helped create the opening that let the Warehouse strike.

• Fu Qian touched the signpost, causing the White-Headed Holy See to crack apart and collapse.
• The Warehouse evaluated the task, awarding Fu Qian 20 Sanity Value and the Firstborn’s Vision.
• Fu Qian concluded that the task had sent him into the Sea of Mind as a disguised outsider to attack Your Excellency Amnion’s hidden refuge.
• Fu Qian inferred that Amnion had been in danger and had tried to use the Holy See as a safeguard when the Warehouse brought him there.
• Fu Qian wondered whether he had played a part in creating the window of safety that let the Warehouse act.

Fu Qian examined the special reward The Firstborn's Vision and recognized it as the bloodied ribbon once worn by God of Mourning. Its connection to Your Excellency Amnion and the Lord of Heaven raised new questions about the Sun God's identity, and Fu Qian ended by testing the ribbon's effect.

• Fu Qian received The Firstborn's Vision and wondered whether the Night Watchers had helped drive Your Excellency Amnion into a desperate situation.
• Fu Qian inspected the ribbon and noticed its golden stains were positioned like blood around a pair of eyes.
• Fu Qian recognized the ribbon from his vision of the tyrant's fall, when God of Mourning had worn it over their eyes.
• Fu Qian questioned whether Your Excellency Amnion, God of Mourning, and the Lord of Heaven were connected, and considered the significance of the titles Firstborn and Father.
• Fu Qian wrapped the ribbon around his head to test whether it would keep him far from suffering.

Fu Qian tested the Firstborn’s Vision ribbon and discovered that it erased the experience of suffering while worn. After completing his task, he found the doll called Clockwork Xi’er and wound its key, revealing an eerie bride whose eyes began to rotate inward.

• Fu Qian wore the ribbon and found that it erased suffering while leaving the world clearer to see.
• Fu Qian compared the sensation to past encounters and considered its connection to several Higher Beings.
• The Warehouse announced that Fu Qian’s task was complete and his weekly progress was 2/4.
• Fu Qian located the box numbered 1-330 and found a bride doll with a winding key in its back.
• Fu Qian wound the key, making the doll sob as her eyes rotated inward, and guessed that she might be Xing Fei.

Fu Qian connected Clockwork Xi'er, Consort Xing, and the Mad Princess of the Larrea family, forming a theory that the Blood Wedding and several historical events involved Higher Beings. After putting the drained doll away and returning to Shangjing, he went downstairs to work at the bookstore.

• Fu Qian recognized Clockwork Xi'er as a doll modeled on Consort Xing and suspected she was connected to Amnion and the smuggling into the Sea of Mind.
• Fu Qian linked the doll's tiny crown to the Larrea family and theorized that Consort Xing was the Mad Princess who married Don Juan Larrea.
• Fu Qian connected the Blood Wedding, Ji Feng, the Larrea bloodline, and the Witch's mother to a possible convergence of several Higher Beings.
• Fu Qian returned the drained Clockwork Xi'er to its box, put on the Emissary Mask, and returned to the bookstore in Shangjing.
• Fu Qian went downstairs and opened the bookstore for the night.

Fu Qian considered why Higher Beings could return from death and whether their mastery of authority explained their immortality and exclusion from the Sea of Mind. As he looked for someone who could help him test his theory, Selena Gulad entered his bookstore.

• Fu Qian reflected on the Warehouse’s finding that Higher Beings could not enter the Sea of Mind and wondered whether their ability to return from death was connected.
• Fu Qian compared mastery of authority among gods with the enduring nature of those who reached the end of the cultivation path.
• Fu Qian questioned whether he could return from death himself and suspected his outsider status meant he would stay dead.
• Fu Qian began considering possible test subjects, but Selena Gulad entered the bookstore and examined him in silence.

Selena returned to Shangjing and questioned Fu Qian about the Death Master, sharing what she had learned in Moore. Fu Qian identified the group’s likely goal as finding the Ancient Angel, then began describing the angel’s origins.

• Selena returned to Shangjing and went to Fu Qian’s bookstore to ask about the Death Master.
• Selena told Fu Qian that Moore was connected to the Death Master and described its living nature and the storm-bound construct opposite it.
• Selena described the bug-controlled bird she had seen, and Fu Qian drew a remarkably accurate picture of it.
• Fu Qian said the group was probably searching for the Ancient Angel rather than trying to summon the Death Master themselves.
• Fu Qian began explaining that the Ancient Angel first appeared during an Apocalypse, when the Death Master blessed an angel.

Fu Qian revealed his true identity to Selena and explained that his investigation of the Apocalypse was only a side matter. He then told her he had caused the Rebirth Club’s collapse in the Ring Archipelago.

• Fu Qian told Selena that the Ancient Angel was the Death Master’s Messenger, prompting her to ask about the Apocalypse and his knowledge of it.
• Fu Qian changed his appearance to his true face, and Selena recognized him as Professor Fu.
• Selena apologized for her earlier conduct and asked whether the bookstore was a cover for investigating the Apocalypse.
• Fu Qian said the Apocalypse was only a small part of what he studied and asked Selena whether she had heard of the Rebirth Club.
• Selena recalled the Rebirth Club’s disaster in the Ring Archipelago, and Fu Qian admitted that he had caused it.