Chapter Summaries

Xiumeng and Aiko laid a trap for Fu Qian, hoping to confirm whether he was the outsider they sought. Fu Qian revealed himself willingly, joined them for a drink, and admitted that he had told the city about the outsider.

• Xiumeng questioned Aiko about a man who had mentioned fire, then crushed a glowing shard to activate a mark across the bar.
• Xiumeng told the hidden Fu Qian that the mark would let him pinpoint Fu Qian if he revealed himself, and invited him to drink.
• Fu Qian removed his mask and sat beside Xiumeng, surprising Aiko with how well he had concealed himself.
• Fu Qian explained that he had left a mark as an invitation and had come because he wanted to answer their questions.
• Xiumeng asked whether the city was waiting for an outsider, and Fu Qian confirmed it and said he had told them.

Fu Qian explained why he had exposed the Hunting Squad’s presence and proposed joining them as a temporary ally while he searched for fire. Xiumeng agreed to consider the arrangement, and Fu Qian learned that the flame came from traces left by the deaths of Divine creatures.

• Fu Qian revealed that he was an outsider seeking a special kind of fire, and explained that he had alerted potential targets after the Hunting Squad attacked him.
• Fu Qian proposed that he and the Hunting Squad become temporary allies, offering to help them confront the danger in exchange for learning about fire.
• Aiko questioned Fu Qian’s claims, and he showed the group a severed claw gifted to him by a Lady named Akasha.
• Xiumeng agreed that an alliance might be worth considering, but said the squad would not share its spoils with Fu Qian.
• Xiumeng explained that fire was formed from traces left by the deaths of Divine creatures, giving Fu Qian a lead in his search.

Fu Qian accepted a toast with Xiumeng and the Hunting Squad, but they used the apparent partnership to spring a coordinated trap on him. As Stos’s curse began burning Fu Qian away, he pulled another version of himself from his swollen arm and had it swallow his remaining body.

• Fu Qian confirmed that Xiumeng had hunted demigods, and the group raised a toast to their supposed partnership.
• Xiumeng revealed that the trap could transfer the clown’s frenzied mental state to Fu Qian and amplify it, while Aiko restricted Fu Qian’s movement.
• Stos shattered a talisman and sent a blazing point of light toward Fu Qian, whose mark guided the attack despite his attempt to escape with Blood Conquest.
• The attack began burning Fu Qian’s hand and arm, and tearing off the arm did not stop the destruction from spreading.
• Fu Qian pulled another version of himself from his swollen left arm, and a mouth in its chest swallowed his burning remains.

Fu Qian survived the cursed flame by devouring part of its power, then disguised himself as the Mirror Knight and returned to the Hunting Squad under the name Andir. He learned that they sought the flame to treat the chaotic Logan, but the group remained wary of him.

• Fu Qian devoured cursed flesh and gained enough resistance to keep the flame from destroying his body immediately.
• Fu Qian ended Blood Conquest, reshaped his skin into dark, mirror-bright armor resembling Ballard, and faced the startled Hunting Squad.
• Aiko tried to attack Fu Qian, but a half-god intervened on Xiumeng's behalf.
• Xiumeng accused Fu Qian of being a local half-god, and Fu Qian claimed he might have become one after arriving as an outsider.
• Fu Qian said he had intended to cooperate with the group and admitted he was searching for the flame because he felt it could help him end his journey.
• Xiumeng explained that the group wanted the flame to treat Logan, whose mind and body had fallen into extreme chaos.

Fu Qian confronted Andir and the Hunting Squad, using the danger of nearby demigods to prevent them from attacking. After they left, he burned the Clown and Akasha's severed claw to draw attention, while the Clown confirmed that the Prophet might know about the special flame.

• Fu Qian told Andir that he had found a death-born power that could dispel chaos and decay, then refused to reveal more about it.
• Fu Qian warned the Hunting Squad that demigods might surround the bar and revealed that Logan was outside in the carriage, making Stos and Andir hesitate to fight.
• Andir learned that the carriage was reacting to someone’s arrival and led the Hunting Squad out of the bar.
• Fu Qian asked the Clown about the special flame, and the Clown said he had never heard of it but thought the Prophet might know.
• Fu Qian set the Clown ablaze and placed Akasha’s severed claw in the flames to create a supernatural disturbance and attract nearby demigods.

Fu Qian used the fragrance from Akasha’s severed limb to distract the bar before Crystal arrived and froze the room. He claimed that a God Envoy had swapped his will with Andir’s, and Crystal decided he should be taken to the Prophet for judgment.

• Fu Qian’s burning severed limb released a seductive fragrance that threw the bar into chaos, while a cloud of mist from outside chilled the room and subdued the guests.
• Crystal, an Ice Wolf demigod, entered and ordered everyone out; Ballard and Akasha arrived and found Fu Qian beside the remains.
• Fu Qian called himself the Clown, Andir, and told Ballard that two God Envoys had disrupted their operation and escaped.
• Akasha questioned why Fu Qian held her severed limb, and he claimed the body that burned was the Clown’s while Andir’s will had occupied it.
• Crystal confirmed that the bar’s occupants bore strange, high-ranking marks and urged Ballard to take Fu Qian to the Prophet, despite Ballard wanting to kill him.

Fu Qian claimed that a special flame inside him might offer the demigods a way out of Unseen Hill, and the prophet ordered Ballard to take him along. As Fu Qian rode away in the Greed Heart Chariot, he sensed the many powerful figures watching from the darkness.

• Ballard questioned Fu Qian about how he had become him, and Fu Qian revealed his heat-shimmering face and claimed an outsider had given him a special flame.
• Fu Qian suggested the flame could help the demigods escape their prison, prompting Ballard to challenge him and Fu Qian to taunt him about his own imprisonment.
• Ballard announced that the prophet wanted them to take Fu Qian back, and Crystal left after the surrounding air grew hot again.
• Fu Qian teased Akasha with her severed claw, and Ballard urged him to leave; Akasha let him go without asking for the claw back.
• Fu Qian rode with Ballard in the Greed Heart Chariot, sensed its protective barrier, and noticed numerous powerful figures watching from the darkness.

Fu Qian met the prophet Yuan Fang in room 802 and learned that everyone in this sealed world was trapped with no way to escape. Yuan Fang asked Fu Qian to help wipe out the outsiders, leaving Fu Qian facing an uncertain mission.

• Ballard brought Fu Qian to an ordinary apartment building and sent him alone to room 802 to meet the prophet.
• Fu Qian entered the dark apartment and met the casually dressed, potbellied prophet, who introduced himself as Yuan Fang.
• Yuan Fang called Fu Qian the Clown and explained that he had observed him through Ballard and the others.
• Fu Qian described the place as chaotic but governed by rules, and Yuan Fang said everyone trapped there was only dust with no real hope of escape.
• Yuan Fang revealed that he could not observe Fu Qian's fate and asked him to help wipe out the outsiders.

Yuan Fang explained that the people in this immortal place gradually lost themselves and asked Fu Qian to prevent the worst outcome. He revealed that a quiet lake contained fire and urged Fu Qian to awaken it and draw a hunting party there.

• Fu Qian questioned Yuan Fang about the demigods’ earlier actions, and Yuan Fang said he was only their adviser and could glimpse an uncertain future.
• Yuan Fang explained that the place itself was immortal, but its inhabitants continually lost memories and identity, especially when they died.
• Yuan Fang asked Fu Qian to help prolong the inhabitants’ existence and suggested Fu Qian could save their world.
• Yuan Fang showed Fu Qian a lake and revealed that it held annihilation, which he also called fire.
• Yuan Fang asked Fu Qian to awaken the fire and lure the hunting party to the lake.

Fu Qian learned Yuan Fang planned to use the lake’s flames and their saintly source against the Hunting Squad, then traveled to the lake with Akasha and Crystal. Akasha explained how demigods were reborn and why the flames and drifting escape routes had failed to free them, leaving Fu Qian increasingly suspicious of Yuan Fang’s true motives as they reached the shadowed lake.

• Yuan Fang explained that the Hunting Squad would become enemies of the annihilating saint whose flames they sought, and said he could locate other demigods more efficiently than the squad could.
• Fu Qian found Akasha and Crystal waiting under orders from Ballard to keep watch over him, then set off with them for the lake.
• Fu Qian asked Akasha about dying and rebirth, and she described how Crystal’s friend had become a demigod after spider eggs hatched inside her.
• Akasha told Fu Qian that the lake’s flames could not free them and that attempts to escape through drifting unusual areas had failed.
• Fu Qian questioned whether Yuan Fang’s plan would worsen the danger by drawing more investigators and making the divine envoys more determined to gather flames.
• Akasha announced that they had reached the lake, where the area ahead lay in shadow.

Fu Qian crossed the lake into a hidden crystal hall and discovered that the supposed saint was an active entity tied to a stone sarcophagus. As dark figures emerged from its strange, black-and-yellow tongue, Fu Qian faced an unexpected threat.

• Fu Qian walked across the lake with Ice Wolf and Akasha following, despite Yuan Fang's instruction that they remain on the perimeter.
• At the lake's center, Fu Qian passed into a separate space where Ice Wolf and Akasha could no longer reach him.
• Fu Qian found a towering crystal hall containing an opened stone sarcophagus filled with dark mist.
• The mist gathered into a writhing, tongue-like mass, and Fu Qian realized the sarcophagus itself was the saint.
• Blisters appeared across the mass, and dark human figures crawled out and drifted toward Fu Qian.

Fu Qian fought the Humanoid Phantoms released by the Abyssal Saint and realized they were predicting his movements as if he were being assimilated into Unseen Hill. After destroying them, he watched the coffin's flames spread and waited for Yuan Fang's plan to draw Xiumeng and the others into the hall, though the Hunting Squad had arrived sooner than expected.

• Fu Qian recognized the Abyssal Saint as a godlike threat and found that its Humanoid Phantoms anticipated his escape routes.
• Fu Qian suspected Unseen Hill was assimilating him, then used Old Day Engraving to destroy the Phantoms despite being badly wounded.
• Fu Qian saw the Phantoms' faces and wondered whether they had come from the people of Unseen Hill and become food for the coffin.
• The Saint's fiery markings spread across the coffin and sent waves of flame sweeping through the hall, which Fu Qian avoided.
• Fu Qian held back from attacking the Saint and prepared for Xiumeng and the others to arrive, but the Hunting Squad reached the hall unusually quickly.

Fu Qian stayed beside the stone coffin as Xiumeng’s Hunting Squad arrived, insisting that they bring everyone in so he could watch what happened. After Xiumeng summoned Stos and Aiko, he used a flame talisman to pull Old Man Logan into the room.

• Fu Qian sensed that Xiumeng’s team had launched a fast, deliberate attack despite knowing Yuan Fang’s setup might be a trap.
• Xiumeng arrived with a puppet, checked the coffin, and tried to make Fu Qian leave by raising the danger to Akasha and his other teammate.
• Fu Qian refused to leave and urged Xiumeng to bring in the rest of the team, saying the locals would soon learn about the scene.
• Xiumeng summoned Stos and the injured Aiko, then told Aiko to leave Fu Qian alone while he kept watch over him.
• Xiumeng crushed a flame talisman and pulled a huge lump from empty space, bringing Old Man Logan into the room.

Fu Qian watched Xiumeng use the stone coffin’s flames to restore Old Man Logan, but the process separated strange beings from Logan instead of ending the danger. The hall’s fire continued to intensify as the yellow spread across the coffin.

• Xiumeng set Logan before the stone coffin and engulfed him in powerful flames, causing him to thrash as the chaos within him began to fade.
• Logan regained a human form, and Xiumeng urged Fu Qian to leave; Fu Qian stayed and fired an Air Bullet at him.
• The flames swept over Logan again, and scarlet lines tore free from his body to form a blood-red figure beside him.
• Old Man Logan’s body split open, and a white skeleton forced its way out as the fire continued spreading across the hall and stone coffin.

Fu Qian learned from Xiumeng that the flames could protect people from the darkness, but they had to be obtained early. After testing the fire, Fu Qian failed containment and was immediately sent into a new scene as the mission deadline arrived.

• Aiko realized Fu Qian had been trying to warn the Hunting Squad, while Xiumeng transferred his restraint from Fu Qian to the attacking skeletal Logan.
• Xiumeng explained that people entering the place gradually merged with it and needed to obtain the flames early to resist the influence.
• Logan's empty body walked toward the coffin as Xiumeng questioned why so many flames had appeared.
• Fu Qian attacked the giant tongue with Air Bullets, then ran into a ring of fire to try to bless himself.
• Fu Qian received a containment failure notification and was sent into a new containment scene because it was midnight and the mission deadline had arrived.

After learning from his failed attempt to touch the fire, Fu Qian used the clown’s attack to draw out the Hunting Squad and confronted Aiko and Xiumeng’s puppet demigod. He offered to lead them to a greater source of fire and identified himself as Andir.

• Fu Qian concluded that touching the fire had caused his previous mission failure and decided to pursue the Hunting Squad’s direct attack strategy.
• Fu Qian baited the clown into attacking, killed him, and destroyed the black liquid trying to restore his skull.
• Aiko and Xiumeng’s puppet demigod approached, and Fu Qian asked whether they were outsiders.
• Fu Qian recognized that Aiko was carrying the kind of fire she had been seeking and offered to take both demigods to a larger source.
• Fu Qian revealed his helmet and told Aiko to call him Andir.

Fu Qian persuaded Xiumeng and the Night Watchers that he knew where they could find more flames, then offered to lead them to a lake in the city. Xiumeng accepted, unaware that Fu Qian had deliberately planted a flaw in his story to make him believe he had seen through the deception.

• Stos drove Xiumeng’s carriage through the mist and stopped in front of Fu Qian and the others.
• Fu Qian claimed he understood the outsiders’ search for flames because he was a product of death, and denied being Ballard’s dark side.
• Fu Qian told Xiumeng that a lake in the city gathered the dead and held many flames, claiming he had just come from there.
• Xiumeng thanked Fu Qian for the information and asked him to show them the way.
• Aiko voiced the outsiders’ unfamiliarity with the area, and Fu Qian agreed to lead them to the perfectly circular lake.

Fu Qian led Aiko and the Night Watchers to the lakeshore, where he revealed that the Prophet watched over the site. As the group approached the lake’s center, Fu Qian vanished and Aiko found herself inside a hall with a stone coffin.

• Fu Qian walked with Aiko and the demigod puppet while the Night Watchers followed in their carriage, and he told Aiko they were going to break the cage.
• Fu Qian explained that the Prophet watched the lakeshore from a distant apartment building and urged the Night Watchers to hurry.
• Stos joined Fu Qian at the lake, while Xiumeng stayed behind with the carriage.
• Fu Qian stepped onto the lake and led Aiko, Stos, and the others toward its center.
• Fu Qian put on his Mirror Armor, vanished, and left Aiko inside a magnificent hall with a stone coffin.

Fu Qian watched the Hunting Squad battle the phantoms pouring from the stone coffin while Xiumeng weighed whether to turn on him. Stos unleashed a flame-blessed attack at the coffin, leaving the black tongue struck by the blazing point of light.

• Old Man Xiumeng arrived as phantoms erupted from the black giant tongue, and he ordered the Hunting Squad to attack.
• Xiumeng threatened Fu Qian, but Fu Qian refused to leave and welcomed the possibility of a fight.
• Aiko lost much of her fiery blessing when a phantom grabbed her, so Xiumeng gave her a talisman that restored it.
• Xiumeng hesitated to attack Fu Qian and instead let him remain a spectator while the squad fought the phantoms.
• Stos crushed a flame talisman and sent a blazing white point of light toward the stone coffin, striking the black giant tongue.

Fu Qian realized that the mission might require merging with Unseen Hill rather than destroying the Saint, and he let the phantoms contaminate him to test his theory. He then left the hall while Xiumeng and the Night Watchers continued trying to save Logan.

• Fu Qian watched the flames turn the Saint and its coffin bright yellow, while Xiumeng sent Logan into the fire to treat him.
• Fu Qian noticed the great hall was losing its separation from the outside world and reasoned that attacking the Saint had not completed the mission.
• Fu Qian let several phantoms embrace him and felt himself beginning to merge with them, but no mission-failed notification appeared.
• Xiumeng questioned Fu Qian about his actions, but Fu Qian said he had something to do and turned to leave.
• Xiumeng held back Aiko and the other Night Watchers so they would not endanger their effort to save Logan, and Fu Qian walked out of the hall.