Chapter Summaries

Fu Qian, Cas, and Lisha entered the Forbidden Zone and discovered strange bone-armored spirits drifting above a vast underground structure. Cas suspected they were maggots on a corpse, and Fu Qian wondered if the corpse belonged to a god.

• Fu Qian entered the Forbidden Zone through the bronze monster’s mouth and met Lisha and Cas inside a cave.
• Cas and Fu Qian joked about forcing the entrance monster to open its mouth, while Lisha questioned their approach.
• The three left the cave and saw a vast underground landscape filled with bone-armored, blue-green spirits.
• Fu Qian called one spirit a maggot, and Cas agreed that the spirits looked like maggots on a corpse.
• Lisha wondered what kind of being could leave such a corpse, and Fu Qian suggested it might be a god.

Fu Qian and Cas examined the Forbidden Zone and concluded that its creatures formed parts of a divine corpse, then led Lisha on a field study. Lisha reflected on treating supernatural creatures as subjects of study, while Fu Qian warned her against both sanctifying others and belittling herself.

• Cas explained that gods were usually concepts or symbols, and said a First Order's death could not account for the place they had found.
• Fu Qian argued that the Forbidden Zone's creatures shared a common origin because they were built from Bone Armor and spirit-like beings, and Lisha began to believe the area was a corpse.
• Cas revealed that he had brought Fu Qian to confirm his judgment with a newcomer, then proposed continuing with a field study.
• Fu Qian asked Lisha what she had learned, and she concluded that supernatural creatures should remain objects of study rather than be sanctified.
• Fu Qian added that people who sanctified one group could look down on another, and urged Lisha not to belittle herself.

Fu Qian recognized that Professor Lisha was a snake-like being and accidentally revealed that Cas had told him about the Academy’s Giant Snake Girl. The chapter left Lisha curious rather than angry, while Cas’s secret was exposed.

• Fu Qian suspected that Professor Lisha was not human and that her black collar helped maintain her state.
• Lisha thanked Fu Qian for his advice, then asked his age while twisting her neck more than four hundred degrees toward him.
• Fu Qian realized Lisha was the Giant Snake Girl and asked Cas why she had no tail, making both of them grim.
• A giant bat swooped at the group, and Cas caught it with a Black Fire Whip before tearing off its bone faceplate.
• Cas gave the bone armor to Lisha for testing, but she pressed him again about the tail.
• Fu Qian explained that Cas had told him the Academy had a Giant Snake Girl, and Lisha admitted she had been trying to scare him.

After their expedition into the giant beast, Fu Qian and Professor Lisha went to inspect his new laboratory at the Academy of Revelation. Their visit was cut short when Lisha reported that the Night Watchers had arrived at the place they had visited the previous day.

• Professor Lisha showed the Spirit Ash Institute members the snakeskin bag containing their test sample, while Dean Cas handled the giant beast and the handover.
• Lisha led Fu Qian to his new laboratory, a lavish tower designed to let a demigod conduct dangerous experiments privately.
• Fu Qian learned that Lisha's own tower stood nearby and that Dean Cas had assigned it to her.
• Lisha teased Fu Qian by offering to show him her tail, but he rejected the suggestion as an inappropriate shortcut to academic research.
• As Lisha prepared to leave, she received word that Cas wanted Fu Qian to return to yesterday's location because the Night Watchers had arrived.

Fu Qian joined the Night Watchers’ renewed review of the academy incident, where the arrival of divine emissary Xiumeng heightened everyone’s unease. After Xiumeng asked for the list of people present and began using a tracking mark, Fu Qian removed his mask before it could take effect.

• Fu Qian met Cas and learned that the Night Watchers had summoned everyone from the previous day to review the investigation.
• Li Weixuan arrived with Yuan Fang and Xiumeng, whose presence made the gathered instructors increasingly tense.
• Li Weixuan and Yuan Fang recounted the incident, while Xiumeng scrutinized everyone in the room rather than focusing on Fu Qian.
• Xiumeng asked to see the list of people present, confirmed that everyone was there, and raised a hand to create a faint light.
• Fu Qian recognized Xiumeng’s tracking method and removed his mask before the mark could take effect.

Fu Qian watched Xiumeng test the meeting room with a strange ear from a Source of Evil, while hiding the Adoration ring to avoid provoking the Red Moon. The test ended with Xiumeng announcing that An Jing Shizhi was dead.

• Fu Qian removed the Adoration ring in the Warehouse before returning to the meeting room.
• Xiumeng marked the attendees and produced a sealed cylinder containing a distorted left ear.
• The ear opened its canal like a mouth and released a frenzied murmur that let Fu Qian glimpse a familiar night sky.
• Fu Qian stayed composed and inferred that Xiumeng was testing the group with something from a Source of Evil, possibly after discovering the Night Watcher's planted messenger.
• Professor Yang and Li Weixuan demanded an explanation, and Xiumeng said An Jing Shizhi was dead.

Xiumeng told the academy that An Jing Shizhi had been assassinated in public on Leaf Island, prompting the Night Watchers to investigate people suspected of helping conceal his earlier misconduct. He explained that the academy was being questioned because its investigation team had uncovered evidence against An Jing, though he said the academy was in the clear.

• Xiumeng announced that An Jing Shizhi was dead, shocking the academy's attendees.
• Professor Fu Qian realized the Night Watchers had come to ask about An Jing Shizhi and suspected the academy's investigation team of suppressing a warning.
• Li Weixuan quieted the room and asked Xiumeng why he had come; Xiumeng praised Professor Fu and apologized for using the earlier incident as a pretext.
• Cas questioned how An Jing Shizhi's death had been confirmed, and Xiumeng said someone had killed him in public during an appearance on Leaf Island, leaving only ash.
• Xiumeng explained that the Night Watchers were checking a list of people who might have helped cover up An Jing's serious breach of the rules, and said the academy was in the clear.

Xiumeng explained that An Jing Shizhi had accidentally disturbed a dangerous entity, and tested the academy’s staff for signs of contamination; everyone present was cleared. After the meeting, Cas discussed the investigation with Xiumeng, who said his search list was long and difficult to complete.

• Xiumeng explained that the contaminated ear was connected to a dangerous entity whose traces had been monitored, and said An Jing Shizhi’s actions had likely caused its recent anomaly.
• Xiumeng tested the gathered academy staff for signs of contact with the entity and found everyone present clean.
• Professor Fu asked where the entity’s ashes existed, and Xiumeng warned that the place was extremely dangerous and that contact was prohibited.
• After the meeting, Xiumeng apologized to Cas for the test, and Cas said the explanation might clarify what had happened to the Kamakura Family.
• Yuan Fang asked whether an absent student should be called back, but Xiumeng declined and noted that Yin Hehong’s list still contained people who would be hard to find.

After Xiumeng left, Fu Qian questioned Yuan Fang about a vanished ancestor and headed to his new lab. There, he used Affection’s Homecoming effect for the first time, apparently summoning someone despite the warning prompt.

• Li Weixuan thanked Cas, Fu Qian, and Lanaia after Xiumeng’s visit, while Yuan Fang thanked Fu Qian for killing Ian and helping people at the ball.
• Fu Qian asked Yuan Fang whether anyone else in his family shared his name, and Yuan Fang said his father had named him after a gifted ancestor who vanished after transcending himself.
• Fu Qian decided to learn more about the ancestor through Chief Yuan’s archives and ended the conversation.
• Lanaia followed Fu Qian to his new lab, where he said he was going to conduct a dangerous experiment.
• Fu Qian used Affection’s Homecoming effect for the first time as a warning prompt began to appear.

Fu Qian asked the Red Moon to find the strange place where Liliana had hidden, and it opened a door through his Clear Dream. He reached the ruined building and encountered a powerful tide that triggered his loss of control, but he sensed a possible opportunity among the chaotic gazes and activated False God Incarnation.

• Fu Qian visited the Red Moon and recreated Liliana’s hiding place in a Clear Dream to show it what he sought.
• The Red Moon formed a sinister door in the dream, and Fu Qian stepped through to reach the place he had described.
• Fu Qian explored the building, found it had crumbled to two pillars, and saw no one else nearby.
• A powerful tide swept through the area, intensifying the gazes and pressure around Fu Qian and rapidly growing his loss of control.
• Fu Qian sensed a connection among the chaotic gazes and activated False God Incarnation.

Fu Qian followed a faint connection that might lead to a divine trait, crossing into a chaotic realm of illusory spaces and entering a lake of crimson liquid. He explored the decaying, dangerous environment while watching for signs of an alarm planted by the Night Watchers.

• Fu Qian spent 10 Sanity Value to use False God Incarnation, then followed the connection and used Return Edict to ease the tide's instability.
• Fu Qian crossed a distorted stretch of space and entered a realm where illusory bubbles contained different places and information.
• Fu Qian stepped into the bubble linked to his target and found himself in a crimson lake surrounded by enormous structures of decayed Flesh Material.
• Fu Qian discovered that the lake corroded his limbs and that worms fed on his exposed flesh, so he regenerated while keeping his distance from them.
• Fu Qian sensed that some of the similar-looking worms felt unusual and canceled Return Edict to avoid disturbing the surroundings as he searched for signs of a Night Watchers alarm.

Fu Qian resisted the Blood Lake’s corruption long enough to record the target’s eternal effect with the White Ring, securing a coordinate for a future operation. He escaped the frozen region and returned to the ruins, where his False God Incarnation ended.

• Fu Qian reached the target’s sphere of influence and discovered that its power froze his body and corruption in place.
• Fu Qian waited for the White Ring to tremble, then fled after it recorded a trace of the effect of eternity.
• Fu Qian tried Return Home, Blood Conquest, and the Messenger, but none could connect him to Half-step Moon.
• Fu Qian escaped the rusting landscape and returned to the ruins, where his False God Incarnation ended.
• Fu Qian tore off his skin and headed for the ruins.

Fu Qian recovered from his injuries and contamination on the Half-step Moon, then returned to the Academy under the Red Moon’s watch. He encountered Lanaia outside and persuaded her to go for a drink instead of returning early to watch for trouble.

• Fu Qian stayed on the Half-step Moon after the tide stopped, recovering while considering how Hajima Shiki might have entered the ruins through a dream.
• After his injuries had healed and his contamination had nearly cleared, Fu Qian left through the door and returned to the Clear Dream.
• The Red Moon watched Fu Qian, then a door appeared and led him back to his laboratory at the Academy.
• The Red Moon bathed the Academy in crimson light, and Fu Qian decided to spend the night quietly before leaving the tower.
• Fu Qian met Lanaia outside the Academy as she worried that something might happen, then convinced her to join him for a drink.

Fu Qian went drinking with Lanaia at a midnight diner, where they discussed the Red Moon and he spun a tale about Emperor An Jing’s defeat. Jia Keke approached him with a letter from Ji Liushuang, who was still away and would return in a few days.

• Lanaia took Fu Qian to a small midnight diner and reassured him that people there would admire his armor.
• Fu Qian and Lanaia noticed Jia Keke watching them and covertly discussed how she seemed to recognize him.
• Fu Qian told Lanaia that Emperor An Jing had fled to the moon and claimed another group had secretly helped Siren attack him.
• Fu Qian suggested that his friend Jia had witnessed strange people aboard the cruise ship and that they should be arrested and questioned.
• Jia Keke approached Fu Qian, gave him a letter, and said Ji Liushuang had sent congratulations on his promotion and would return in a few days.

Fu Qian received a letter from Ji Liushuang, delivered by her assistant Jia Keke, and invited her to visit his lab. After an evening with Lanaia, he returned to his lab and received an order to recontain Blind Eye.

• Jia Keke told Fu Qian and Lanaia that she would assist Ji Liushuang with family matters and gave Fu Qian her letter.
• Fu Qian read Ji Liushuang's letter, thanked Jia Keke, and asked her to tell Liushuang she could visit his lab anytime.
• Jia Keke paid for the drinks before leaving, and Fu Qian and Lanaia argued about his offer to treat them.
• Fu Qian returned to his lab before midnight, where he received a warning to recontain Blind Eye and spent one Sanity Value to begin.

Fu Qian solved a puzzle in an illusion by sacrificing the fingers and hand of his left hand, then emerged underground with a team searching for the Blind Eye Holy Grail. The team called him Left Hand and asked what challenge he had faced.

• Fu Qian found himself in a stone chamber where the mission required him to solve an illusion puzzle and reunite with his team.
• He interpreted the balance-scale puzzle as a problem involving five fingers on one side and a hand on the other, then cut off his left fingers and hand and placed them in the goblets.
• The stars on the hide lit up, the stone door opened, and Fu Qian passed through to complete the mission.
• Fu Qian emerged underground among nine team members wearing combat uniforms and golden gear, including a golden glove on his left hand.
• A female team member greeted him as Left Hand and asked what puzzle he had encountered, and Fu Qian said it was simple finger-counting math.

Fu Qian woke from an illusion and met the other members of the expedition, learning that each had faced a different riddle. As the group waited for the others to wake, one sleeper began to undergo a disturbing transformation.

• Fu Qian confirmed that his severed hand had regrown and learned that Ess and a saintly old man were the only others awake.
• The old man assessed Fu Qian and said he had little lingering mental influence from the illusion.
• Ayou woke, praised Fu Qian, and sat down with the others.
• Ess told Fu Qian not to forget how to use his Golden Left Hand, while Fu Qian wondered whether their Golden Holy Garments granted them supernatural powers.
• The group waited for the five still asleep, then a man wearing a Golden Belt gasped, collapsed, and had his facial features twist and swirl.

Fu Qian observed a teammate whose facial features had become chaotic and tested how they moved before Scrooge woke and joined the group. Scrooge noticed a smell, leaving the team’s next move unclear.

• Ayou vomited after seeing the first failed teammate’s distorted face, and Ess offered him water.
• Fu Qian decided to remain with the team and examined the failed teammate’s shifting features.
• Fu Qian dragged the teammate’s ear across his face, herding the other features like fish beneath the skin.
• Scrooge woke, laughed at Fu Qian’s description, and Ayou warned him not to risk the group by making noise.
• Scrooge apologized, then sniffed the air and asked what the smell was.

Fu Qian studied the Golden Holy Garments after learning that the team’s mission involved the Holy Grail, while the old Saint assessed the surviving teammates. By the end, Fu Qian had simplified the symbol on his glove and sensed that he had understood something important about it.

• Scrooge taunted Charlotte about the strange smell, and Ess intervened to ease the tension.
• The old Saint declared that a teammate had died after making too many mistakes in the Holy Grail’s puzzle, and Ess took the dead man’s gold belt.
• Fu Qian accepted the belt and examined its markings, suspecting the Golden Holy Garments were connected to the Holy Grail Cult and its Golden Cups.
• Round Card woke up injured, and Charlotte told him to rest while the old Saint continued assessing the team.
• Fu Qian memorized the interconnected symbols on his glove, then mentally simplified them until the glove felt lighter and he sensed he had grasped their meaning.

Fu Qian and the group descended into an ancient underground complex, where they encountered a twisted humanoid figure. The Sage ordered Fu Qian to attack it with the Resonance Spike, and Fu Qian summoned the weapon.

• Fu Qian learned that his glove could produce a Resonance Spike that inflicted a mental shock on both its target and its wielder.
• The group mourned two members who had fallen unconscious, while the Sage urged them to rely on knowledge and led them toward a passage.
• Fu Qian observed that the underground complex differed from the monastery and bore eye symbols that excited Ess and the others.
• Fu Qian and Round Card found a twisted figure in a black robe blocking the passage.
• The Sage ordered Fu Qian to use his left hand, and Fu Qian summoned the golden Resonance Spike.