Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian deduced that the Transcendents shared damage through a chain linked to a yearly pact, then questioned the Old Man about Jiang En and the ritual. The shared injuries stopped spreading, the survivors panicked at a familiar buzzing, and Fu Qian vanished.

• Fu Qian worked out that the Transcendents were linked in a chain that transferred damage and suspected Darnetta was at its end.
• Fu Qian questioned the Old Man about Jiang En, the yearly recruitment limit, and the being behind their pact, making the Old Man lose his composure.
• The Old Man attacked Fu Qian with a barrage of spikes made from his own flesh, but Dimensional Strike left Fu Qian unharmed.
• Fu Qian asked whether Jiang En needed to complete the ritual to become like the others, but the Old Man refused to answer.
• The group’s injuries stopped spreading, and the survivors turned their murderous attention toward Fu Qian.
• A familiar buzz sent the survivors fleeing, but no second giant insect appeared, and Great Fortune Ming King vanished.

Fu Qian left the survivors behind and went to the Jiang Clan to find Jiang En, posing as the Great Fortune Ming King and claiming he had come to challenge the clan. Jiang Chengqing escorted him inside, where Jiang En received him with weary composure.

• Fu Qian escaped the shifting restriction and decided to seek out Jiang En after the survivors focused on pursuing a Soul of Vengeance.
• Fu Qian arrived at the Jiang Clan and introduced himself to the guards as the Great Fortune Ming King, saying he had come to challenge them.
• Jiang Chengqing confronted Fu Qian, who explained that he wanted to challenge someone famous but lacking substance and was also there to see Jiang En.
• Jiang Chengqing accepted Fu Qian's claim that he had an appointment with Jiang En and escorted him into the residence.
• Jiang En sat motionless and sighed as Fu Qian entered.

Fu Qian privately questioned Jiang En about the ritual and learned that Darnetta had guided him into a dangerous process that awakened his beastly nature. Jiang En revealed he had returned to Shangjing when he began to fear losing himself.

• Jiang En offered to kneel and admit defeat, but Fu Qian asked to speak with him alone.
• Jiang En agreed, and Jiang Chengqing cleared the hall for their private conversation.
• Fu Qian asked who had told Jiang En about the ritual, and Jiang En said he had received an insight after facing a special being and striking a particular pose.
• Jiang En named Darnetta as the person who guided him and said he had followed Darnetta's instructions to gain insight into the ritual.
• Jiang En explained that the ritual awakened his true self but threatened to consume him with beastly nature, so he secretly returned to Shangjing before losing control.

Fu Qian questioned Jiang En about Darnetta and learned that Jiang En’s ritual was meant to suppress his true self and overcome his bottleneck. Fu Qian used the Return Edict to disrupt the ritual, which brought forth a powerful translucent figure calling itself Tail.

• Jiang En explained that he had left Darnetta after growing uneasy, but later received another enlightenment and began a ritual to control his body and mind.
• Jiang En admitted that the ritual’s repeated provocation of his true self had injured Taylor and asked Fu Qian not to stop him from completing it.
• Fu Qian judged Jiang En’s plea less than fully sincere, then activated the Return Edict to disrupt the Promotion Ritual without killing him.
• The Return Edict triggered Jiang En’s flesh to transform, and a snake’s head emerged from his chest and drew strands of pure white Long Feather from his blood.
• A translucent humanoid figure appeared as Jiang En lost consciousness, and it told Fu Qian to call it Tail.

Fu Qian uncovered A'wei's role in Jiang En's planned ascension and rejected his offer to become a channel for Him. A'wei then revealed that Fu Qian's contributions had let him truly descend, as his white Long Feathers began to grow.

• Fu Qian learned that A'wei was a demigod who had been watching through Jiang En and had helped guide his second enlightenment.
• A'wei explained that Darnetta and the others planned to exploit Jiang En's ascension to elevate themselves, and could kill him if the ritual failed.
• A'wei offered Fu Qian a chance to join him by killing the others, but Fu Qian refused because he would still be beneath A'wei.
• A'wei said Fu Qian had contributed enough vitality for him to truly descend, and his white Long Feathers began to extend.

Fu Qian confronted A'wei in the Skinning Realm, where A'wei’s transformed body drained Fu Qian’s vitality and he explained the ritual’s power. Fu Qian deduced that A'wei’s oppressive domain relied on a higher being, and A'wei summoned a bloodied Crescent Saber as the confrontation escalated.

• A'wei transformed into a feathered, birdlike form and rapidly drained Fu Qian’s vitality.
• A'wei explained that Jiang En was shielded from the realm’s effects and could become a Fourth-Order Transcendent by completing the ritual without sharing.
• Fu Qian agreed to hear A'wei’s secrets in exchange for a better chance of winning and accused him of not being a divine emissary.
• Fu Qian reasoned that A'wei’s power over the domain came from authority granted by a higher being rather than from A'wei himself.
• A'wei produced a bloodied Crescent Saber and challenged Fu Qian to guess how he would use what he had learned.

Fu Qian fought A'wei, whose death domain threatened to drain his life, and managed to wound him with a close-range attack. A'wei survived the blow and appeared energized, leaving Fu Qian uncertain how to defeat him.

• Fu Qian attacked A'wei with Physical Black Dragon Wave, but A'wei's decay pulses withered the tentacles away.
• A'wei turned the domain into a boundary of death that would kill Fu Qian if he tried to force his way out or maintain Blood Conquest.
• Fu Qian used Air Bullets and a Scarlet Whip to approach A'wei, then inflicted cuts on both of them through Old Day Engraving.
• A'wei's hooked sword nearly cut Fu Qian in half, but Fu Qian reached into A'wei's wound and landed Internal Organ Critical Hit.
• Fu Qian retreated as A'wei's wound produced long arms, and A'wei claimed Fu Qian knew nothing about death while remaining full of vigor.

Fu Qian faced A'wei, who claimed the Death Master made him impossible to kill, and used the Bug Whistle to summon the worm again. After seeming to forgo an escape, Fu Qian unleashed a strange darkness and attacked A'wei, leaving him corrupted and falling into a dark place.

• A'wei told Fu Qian that the Death Master protected him and that Fu Qian could not kill him.
• Fu Qian blew the Bug Whistle, and the worm burst from the ground, but Fu Qian dodged its mouthparts instead of letting it carry him away.
• Fu Qian said he had received the worm's final ripple as darkness rose from his body.
• Fu Qian crossed space to attack A'wei with gunfire and a bone claw, while A'wei struck him with a crescent hook sword.
• Fu Qian's next touch intensified the corruption, caused A'wei's attack to pass through him, and sent A'wei falling toward a dark place.

Fu Qian used Granting Ashes to send Brother A'wei to Unseen Hill, ending the boundary of death, then woke Jiang En and completed his mission. Jiang En survived but lost his chance to advance through his ritual, and Jiang Chengqing and the others found him amid the ruined hall with no explanation of what had happened.

• Fu Qian used Granting Ashes to send Brother A'wei to Unseen Hill, and the boundary of death vanished.
• Fu Qian found Jiang En alive, activated Return Edict, and used the Purifying Heart and Benevolent Mantra to overcome the remaining fleshly struggles.
• Jiang En woke to Fu Qian's transformed face as the mission notification confirmed that 3-0009 had been contained.
• Fu Qian returned to the Warehouse, leaving Jiang En alive but unable to advance through his failed ritual.
• Jiang Chengqing and the others entered the ruined hall and asked where the missing man was, while Jiang En could only shake his head.

After receiving the mission evaluation and rewards, Fu Qian considered the God of Death’s return and the uses of the Crystallized Teardrop and Idol of Fools. He left the Warehouse and found Selena, a vampire demigod, knocking at the bookstore door.

• Fu Qian read the evaluation, learned that his actions had disrupted the Death Master’s return, and wondered whether other deities were wounded and imprisoned.
• Fu Qian examined the Crystallized Teardrop and considered giving it to Wen Li.
• Fu Qian inspected the Idol of Fools, which could strip supernatural power and turn it into good fortune, and considered asking Loretta and another person to touch it.
• Fu Qian received the notice that his Warehouse work was complete and put on the Messenger.
• Fu Qian sensed Selena outside the bookstore and watched the vampire demigod knock at the door.

Selena asked Fu Qian to use Ancient Recollection to investigate the Red Moon and the secret behind the progenitor’s fall, suspecting a connection to Great Fortune Ming King. Fu Qian agreed to lend her the relic and help with the investigation.

• Selena visited Fu Qian, thanked him for helping her recover, and explained that she had come to ask for his help.
• Fu Qian recounted the rumors about Great Fortune Ming King defeating Taylor and Jiang En, and Selena said Taylor’s account had raised questions for her.
• Selena asked to borrow Ancient Recollection to learn where the Red Moon came from and uncover the secret behind the progenitor’s fall.
• Selena said Taylor had described Great Fortune Ming King using vampire-like abilities, which made her suspect a connection to the Red Moon.
• Fu Qian agreed to lend Selena Ancient Recollection and help with her investigation.

Fu Qian persuaded Selena to let him help explore the Ancient Recollection, a dangerous secret she had kept for a long time. They activated it beneath the moonlight, and its shifting patterns formed a pupil facing them.

• Fu Qian insisted on joining Selena's exploration, and she agreed after he argued that his help would improve their chances.
• Fu Qian retrieved the Ancient Recollection from his Warehouse and handed it to Selena.
• Selena placed the object beneath a window and waited for the moonlight to activate it while Fu Qian read nearby.
• As the Ancient Recollection turned translucent, Selena explained that it was said to be the first vampire's left eye, preserving a scene of the progenitor.
• The patterns on the activated eye shifted and gathered into a pupil facing Fu Qian and Selena.

Fu Qian and Selena crossed the moonlit wasteland beyond the replica of the real world in search of the Moonlight Forest, while Selena explained the vampire clans’ differing beliefs about Annalise. After more than two hours of searching, Selena announced that they were in luck.

• Selena said they had at most ten hours to find the Moonlight Forest before she might lose the strength to escape from inside.
• Fu Qian followed Selena through the replica area as she explained that the three vampire clans all recognized Annalise as their progenitor but disagreed about her relationship to the moon.
• Fu Qian and Selena reached the edge of the replica and entered a vast, moonlit wasteland where the light sped up their accumulating restraints and distorted their perception.
• Selena searched with Fu Qian for more than two hours, then stopped and said they were in luck.

Fu Qian and Selena found the Moonlight Forest and its ruined building, where Selena sensed the aura of her ancestor, Annalise. Selena explained that the ancestor’s will had kept her from entering, but she insisted on going inside with Fu Qian.

• Selena led Fu Qian to the Moonlight Forest, where he guessed its beams numbered 767 and teased her for never counting them.
• Fu Qian deduced that Selena’s concern was not an unsolved mystery, and Selena admitted she had always feared entering the forest’s ruin.
• They found a damaged statue whose aura Selena recognized as belonging to her ancestor, Annalise.
• Selena explained that she felt Annalise’s will resisting intruders and that a passage led deeper into the building.
• Fu Qian offered to investigate the passage alone, but Selena refused and said she would go with him.

Fu Qian and Selena explored a temple Selena believed belonged to her progenitor, but discovered it was only the remains of a building lying on a sand dune. Their search ended without answers, leaving Selena devastated and Fu Qian asking why she had singled out Moonlight Forest.

• Fu Qian challenged Selena over her suspicion that he might have planned to trap her, then pressured her into continuing the exploration.
• Selena identified her progenitor's emblem beside a descending passage and led Fu Qian farther into the building.
• Fu Qian and Selena found that the passage ended in sand and realized the apparent buried temple was only a building's remains on a dune.
• Selena asked whether digging could reveal more, but gave up after Fu Qian explained the poor odds.
• Fu Qian asked why Selena had been certain the temple would hold information about her progenitor, and learned Moonlight Forest was the only place she had identified as suspicious.

Fu Qian and Selena tested whether reaching their limits fastest by standing partly in moonlight and shadow would reveal the confinement’s hidden anomaly. As they began to hear something unusual, Fu Qian attacked Selena and stopped her from activating Ancient Memory, leaving their confrontation unresolved.

• Fu Qian reasoned that Selena had experienced the least and greatest confinement, so the pair needed to test the fastest onset by standing across the boundary between moonlight and shadow.
• Fu Qian left one arm in the shadows, while Selena spread her wings into them, and the confinement rapidly blackened those parts of their bodies.
• Fu Qian and Selena sensed their shadowed limbs separating from the rest of their bodies and heard something unusual as the confinement intensified.
• As Selena tried to retreat, Fu Qian tore off one of her wings and interrupted her attempt to activate Ancient Memory.
• Fu Qian taunted Selena about her determination and struck again, ending the chapter with another sound of flesh tearing.

Fu Qian and Selena escaped the moonlit restraints by tearing away the body parts where the shadows had gathered, entering a reconstruction of an ancient scene. They investigated how Ancient Recollection worked and prepared to continue Selena’s plan at the nearby church.

• Selena unleashed a hidden blood spear at Fu Qian, but he survived and tore off his shadow-covered body parts as her wings were ripped away.
• Selena and Fu Qian found themselves in an ancient reconstruction beneath the moonlight, with Selena badly wounded and Fu Qian missing an arm.
• Selena realized Fu Qian had deliberately tested whether removing the shadow-bound parts would synchronize them with the ancient scene, though he admitted he had acted on a hypothesis.
• Fu Qian proposed that moonlight synchronized their bodies with the past until cutting away the affected parts let them cross into the ancient space-time.
• Selena asked what they should do next, and Fu Qian suggested continuing her plan by visiting the nearby church.

Fu Qian and Selena infiltrated the church looking for the Progenitor, but found Annalise alive and being told she was the moon’s chosen reincarnation. Selena recognized the priest Herbert as the First Vampire and revealed that Ancient Recollection was his eye.

• Fu Qian and Selena entered the church unnoticed and found no statue of the Progenitor in the main hall.
• Selena found the passage to the ruins locked, and Fu Qian opened the door so they could continue.
• Fu Qian and Selena reached a room where Herbert was telling a kneeling Annalise that she had been chosen as the moon’s reincarnation.
• Herbert said he and the church would watch over Annalise until she awakened, while Annalise struggled to understand his claim.
• Selena recognized Herbert as the First Vampire and told Fu Qian that Ancient Recollection was his eye.

Fu Qian and Selena witnessed Annalise’s meeting with Herbert and learned that the future Blood Clan Progenitor may have begun as an ordinary believer in the Moon. They followed Annalise back to the believers, where her connection to Herbert and her question about red eyes left Selena shaken.

• Fu Qian realized Annalise might be the Blood Clan Progenitor, while Selena struggled to accept what Herbert had revealed.
• Annalise asked Herbert whether he would serve her forever, and he promised that he would before she left him.
• Fu Qian questioned Selena about the Blood Clan’s legends, and she described the Progenitor as an ancient deity who later became less active after being injured.
• Fu Qian and Selena followed Annalise to the hall, where the believers welcomed her and an old woman asked about Herbert.
• Annalise admitted her relationship with Herbert and wondered aloud whether red eyes would suit her better, making Selena pale.

Fu Qian and Selena followed Annalise through an Ancient Recollection, learning that she had once been human and might have become the Blood Clan Progenitor. When they opened the door to the person Annalise had gone to see, they found her alone, and the scene shattered.

• Fu Qian concluded that the recollection showed Annalise before her ascension and wondered whether it preserved her humanity.
• Fu Qian warned Selena that their unstable condition left them little time, and Selena agreed to gather information quickly.
• Annalise left the prayer gathering to visit someone, and Fu Qian and Selena followed her to a secluded room.
• Selena suggested they leave, but Fu Qian pushed the door open after hearing a sigh from inside.
• Selena glimpsed Annalise alone in the room before the Ancient Recollection shattered.