Chapter Summaries

Lin Baici discovered that walking backward let him evade the ghostly hands in First Town and guided Fang Mingyuan and Long Miaomiao to a door, then left to rescue the other examinees. The two entered a plaza with three passages, where they met Gu Qingqiu and Hua Yueyu and learned that Lin Baici had gone to find more survivors.

• Ghostly hands attacked Fang Mingyuan and Long Miaomiao, but Lin Baici shattered them with Red Rolling Stone and his pipe wrench.
• Lin Baici walked backward through the flagged alleys with Fang Mingyuan and Long Miaomiao, avoiding further attacks and finding two dead examinees.
• Lin Baici told Fang Mingyuan and Long Miaomiao to continue through the final alley while he went to rescue others, and the God of Gluttony revealed that crossing nine streets led to Second Town.
• Fang Mingyuan and Long Miaomiao found a wooden door, passed through it, and arrived at a plaza with three archways instead of escaping First Town.
• Gu Qingqiu and Hua Yueyu arrived at the plaza, and Long Miaomiao explained that Lin Baici had helped them and gone to rescue other examinees.
• Gu Qingqiu realized their team leader was Lin Baici and remarked to Hua Yueyu that he had beaten her again.

Gu Qingqiu led a group of examinees onward while Lin Baici searched Luoyang Seven Towns for survivors and learned how to escape the dangerous alleys. After helping several candidates, Lin Baici joined Zhang Hao to continue the rescue.

• Gu Qingqiu agreed to let Fang Mingyuan and Long Miaomiao join her group, and Ai Xuri and Ai Xuyue arrived and asked to team up.
• Lin Baici followed his compass through the black-mist alleys, using Muscle Buddha to destroy monsters while calling out to stranded examinees.
• Lin Baici found Xu Wei and He Zi'ang, slapped Xu Wei for trying to exploit his connection to Nangong Shu, and told them how to escape after nine alleys.
• Lin Baici reached Shen Nan, Red-haired Sister, Zhang Hao, and a group of examinees, then explained how to leave the trial.
• Shen Nan departed alone, Red-haired Sister led the examinees out, and Zhang Hao urged Lin Baici to continue searching with him.

Lin Baici and Zhang Hao rescued candidates in the increasingly dangerous Luoyang Seven Towns God Ruin, where a dazed young man in a red down jacket slaughtered an examiner and her group. The examiners gathered in the plaza, but Shen Nan and several others headed into the next town before Commander Pan arrived.

• A young man in a red down jacket killed Red-haired Sister with a sudden attack, then watched as ghost hands strangled the fleeing candidates before walking away unharmed.
• Lin Baici and Zhang Hao continued finding candidates, and they encountered the smoking candidate Li Xiang before meeting up with An Yixian and Liu Langqing.
• Zhang Hao split the examiners into groups and took Lin Baici with her, while An Yixian led candidates toward the plaza but found they were still inside the God Ruin.
• The examiners concluded that they might need to cross all seven towns to escape and discussed whether the stronger pollution could help them locate the God's Remains.
• Shen Nan headed for the city gate to purify the God Ruin, and Gu Qingqiu, Fang Mingyuan, and others also set out despite warnings to wait for the main group.

Lin Baici and Zhang Hao led the examinees from First Town into Crow Ridge, where Dead Meat People attacked them and the spreading Rule Pollution caused corrosive injuries. Lin Baici used a powerful Divine Grace to knock down a horde of monsters, but the Dead Meat People rose again and charged at him.

• Lin Baici chose the right archway to Crow Ridge after Zhang Hao let him decide, and she explained that they had to find the Dragon Gate Inn in the fog.
• A Dead Meat Person burst out of the ground, killed the young man in the windbreaker, and was hacked apart by Lin Baici and Muscle Buddha before it exploded, spraying corrosive flesh over nearby examinees.
• Lin Baici told the examinees to find the Dead Meat Person's liver to counter the toxins, while Zhang Hao warned that the Rule Pollution had grown stronger.
• More than a dozen Dead Meat People charged through the fog, so Lin Baici stayed behind to draw them away from the fleeing examinees.
• Lin Baici used Floating Life Night Rain, Wild Buddha Blows Out the Lamp to knock down the pursuing monsters, but they stood up again and charged at him.

Lin Baici and Zhang Hao escaped the Dead Meat People on Lin Baici’s reindeer sled and set out to find the Dragon Gate Inn and purify the God Ruins. They heard cries for help and raced toward Deng Mingyu’s group, where He Zi’ang had been struck by a monster’s rib.

• Lin Baici ordered Zhang Hao to draw the Dead Meat People away while he summoned his reindeer sled.
• Zhang Hao fought off the monsters with her hand crossbow, then leaped onto the sled as Lin Baici pulled her aboard.
• Lin Baici and Zhang Hao rode deeper into the woods, discussing the spreading pollution and the danger to nearby towns.
• Deng Mingyu’s group fled a Dead Meat Person that regenerated after being attacked, while He Zi’ang injured his ankle and begged for help.
• The Dead Meat Person shot a rib into He Zi’ang’s shoulder, and Deng Mingyu saw Lin Baici’s sled rush toward them through the mist.

Lin Baici and Zhang Hao tried to escape the Dead Meat Person, but the God of Gluttony said they had to offer its head as a sacrifice to leave Crow Ridge. Lin Baici returned to fight the monster, using teleportation Divine Grace and Great Impression Hand to slam it into the ground.

• Lin Baici rescued He Zi'ang from the Dead Meat Person, but Zhang Hao threw He Zi'ang off the sled after he said the other candidates deserved to die.
• Lin Baici and Zhang Hao fled, but the God of Gluttony told Lin Baici that the Dead Meat Person had to be sacrificed before they could leave Crow Ridge.
• The Dead Meat Person caught and killed He Zi'ang while Lin Baici and Zhang Hao circled around to Deng Mingyu and the candidates.
• Deng Mingyu urged Lin Baici to draw the monster away, but Lin Baici refused to leave the candidates and went to fight it.
• Lin Baici used teleportation to appear behind the Dead Meat Person and struck it with Great Impression Hand, slamming it into the ground.

Lin Baici killed the Dead Meat Person with a single slap, stunning the examinees and revealing a Divine Grace connected to the God of Gluttony’s appraisal. He then set out with Zhang Hao to confront a nearby monster that could split apart, while Gu Qingqiu stayed behind.

• Lin Baici slapped the Dead Meat Person, making it vanish and leaving its image drawn on the ground.
• Deng Mingyu, Du Ke, and the other examinees were stunned when they realized Lin Baici had killed the monster almost instantly.
• Zhang Hao approached Lin Baici and asked what kind of Divine Grace he had used.
• Lin Baici asked where the monster that could split apart was, and Gu Qingqiu pointed out its location two miles away.
• Lin Baici said the monster could reproduce without limit and went with Zhang Hao to deal with it, leaving Gu Qingqiu and the others behind.

Lin Baici joined Xia Hongyao and the others fighting the multiplying Dead Meat People, then used the God of Gluttony’s guidance to find and defeat their original BOSS. He reunited with Gu Qingqiu’s group and led everyone back toward the Dragon Gate Inn, leaving Fang Mingyuan surprised that the BOSS was already dead.

• Lin Baici arrived at Xia Hongyao, An Yixian, Big Aunt, and the examinees as they fought Dead Meat People that regenerated and multiplied when killed.
• The God of Gluttony directed Lin Baici to the original Dead Meat Person, which Xia Hongyao found hiding in a poplar tree.
• Lin Baici and Xia Hongyao attacked the BOSS, froze its severed head, and ordered the others to retreat toward the Dragon Gate Inn.
• Xia Hongyao told the group that Lin Baici had given her a teleportation Divine Grace, prompting speculation about their relationship.
• Lin Baici found Gu Qingqiu’s group and told them the BOSS was dead, leaving Fang Mingyuan astonished at how quickly it had been defeated.

Lin Baici and the group escaped the contaminated tunnel and reached the Third Town, the Arena, where Big Aunt was chosen to fight two copies of herself. The chapter left Big Aunt charging at the copies after Lin Baici warned that delaying would make them stronger.

• Lin Baici led the group through the tunnel, where Rule Pollution stirred violent urges until he calmed everyone by chanting the Heart Sutra.
• Zhang Hao broke through the tunnel floor, and Lin Baici and the others followed her down into the Third Town, the Arena.
• The group landed in a vast arena beneath a mirrored dome, where Zhang Hao explained that those selected had to defeat their copies to pass.
• Mirrors created two armed copies of Big Aunt, and the God of Gluttony warned Lin Baici that the copies would grow stronger over time and multiply every three minutes.
• Lin Baici urged Big Aunt to stop retreating and attack, while Zhang Hao warned that nobody else could help without increasing the number of copies.

In Luoyang's Third Town Arena, the copycat death match punished anyone who failed to kill their copies within three minutes by producing more. After Zhou Ziyang was overwhelmed and killed, Hua Yueyu was chosen as the next fighter, leaving Lin Baici's group facing another desperate match.

• Lin Baici warned Big Aunt that she had to finish within three minutes, but another copycat began printing before she killed her first two opponents.
• Big Aunt killed both copycats within the next three minutes, though one punched and bruised her face.
• Four copycats appeared for Zhou Ziyang, who killed one and attacked another while it was still printing, but four more copies appeared anyway.
• The seven copycats overwhelmed and beat Zhou Ziyang to death while the others watched helplessly.
• Hua Yueyu appeared in the dome mirror as the next fighter, and Xia Hongyao urged Lin Baici to help her.

Hua Yueyu and the others cleared the copy challenge, with Lin Baici helping most of them pass by using the Ghost Card. The group then entered Fourth Town, where they had ten days to climb a perilous tower in the desert.

• Hua Yueyu used Lin Baici's Ghost Card to beat two copies at Old Maid and pass the challenge.
• Zhang Hao and Xia Hongyao refused the card and defeated their copies in combat, while Ai Xuyue, Fang Mingyuan, and the others used it to win their matches.
• After everyone completed the challenge, the dome shattered and transported the group to a sun-scorched plaza beside a narrow tower.
• Big Aunt explained that they had to reach the tower's top within ten days, and the group hesitated over who would climb the railing-free spiral stairs first.

Lin Baici led the group up the Tower of Heaven despite the danger and their supplies becoming polluted, while the trial announced that food would be dropped each day. The exhausted climbers stopped for a break, then faced a charging horde of explosive fruit monsters, and Gu Qingqiu fell down the steps.

• Lin Baici chose to climb the Tower of Heaven, and the others followed after debating whether to wait for Pan Yunxiang.
• As they climbed through the desert heat, the group discovered that their food and water had been ruined by Rule Pollution, but Lin Baici insisted they continue.
• The trial announced that random food would be air-dropped each day, so the group pressed on despite their thirst and exhaustion.
• Lin Baici called a fifteen-minute break, then God of Gluttony warned him that something was approaching.
• A watermelon monster leaped past Xia Hongyao and exploded against Gu Qingqiu, while a mango struck Xia Hongyao and sent her tumbling down the steps.

Lin Baici's group fought off a horde of explosive fruit monsters on the Tower of Heaven's stairs, ate the fallen fruit, and discovered that different kinds caused Rule Pollution. As they continued climbing after their food spoiled, they remained concerned about the slow pace and the dangers of the night, while a second group farther below was overwhelmed by another fruit wave.

• Xia Hongyao and the others fought the fruit monsters, surviving a durian's foul explosion and a jackfruit barrage before Long Miaomiao began eating the fallen fruit.
• After eating the fruit, Big Aunt rapidly gained weight and Ai Xuyue reported that her brother had grown thinner; Lin Baici relayed God of Gluttony's warnings and told everyone to track which fruits they ate.
• Shen Nan's group encountered a second wave of fruit monsters, and several examinees were knocked off the stairs as the horde engulfed them.
• Lin Baici's group continued climbing after their stored fruit spoiled, and Gu Qingqiu urged him to find a way to speed their progress as night approached.

Lin Baici led the group up the Tower of Heaven and used the fruit monsters’ appearance to gather the fruits needed for a teleportation combination. He prepared a mixture of durian, lemon, avocado, and passion fruit, leaving the others unsure whether to trust it.

• Lin Baici learned from God of Gluttony's commentary that durian, avocado, passion fruit, and lemon could teleport people to the tower’s top, while watermelon, cherries, grapes, and strawberries would send them back to the bottom.
• Lin Baici led the group onward through the night, and the fruit monsters appeared around midnight.
• Gu Qingqiu and Xia Hongyao attacked the fruit monsters while Lin Baici protected Gu Qingqiu and told Zhang Hao to catch a durian whole.
• Lin Baici knocked passion fruit unconscious, while Xia Hongyao caught an avocado and Zhang Hao secured three durians.
• Lin Baici learned that durian could counteract adverse effects from eating fruit, then combined durian, lemon, avocado, and passion fruit and asked who would try it first.

Lin Baici discovered that eating a mixture of durian, lemon, passion fruit, and avocado transported people to the top of the Tower of Heaven. The group remained stranded there despite ringing the bell, and Shen Nan arrived to find that others had reached the summit before him.

• Lin Baici used the fruit mixture to transport Hua Yueyu, Xia Hongyao, and Gu Qingqiu to the tower’s summit, then shared it with the others.
• Lin Baici, Zhang Hao, and the rest of the group were transported to the top, where they found a bronze bell and welcomed Big Aunt’s interest in joining the Seventh Star.
• Zhang Hao and the others rang the bell repeatedly, but it did not take them out of the tower, and they remained there for two days.
• Shen Nan reached the summit after running day and night, then realized the others had used a shortcut and withdrew to collect himself.
• Another examinee reached the summit by the afternoon.

Lin Baici’s group reached the tower’s rooftop and learned that eating mixed fruit could teleport people there, while a strange, hungry examinee threatened Gu Qingqiu. After one hundred people gathered and the bronze bell rang, Lin Baici concluded that jumping from the tower would take them to the next town and prepared to leap with his companions.

• A down-jacketed examinee demanded food from Lin Baici, then said he wanted a woman to eat, so Lin Baici threatened him and gave him bread and milk.
• Pan Yunxiang and Yuan Jifeng arrived at the rooftop without knowing how to reach the next town, while An Yixian and Li Xiang teleported there after discovering the effects of eating mixed fruit.
• More examinees arrived, and they learned that Lin Baici had first figured out how to teleport to the rooftop.
• After Xie Yangchun arrived and the group reached one hundred people, the bronze bell began ringing.
• Lin Baici heard God of Gluttony’s assessment that people could reach the next town by jumping when the bell rang, then took his companions’ hands and prepared to jump.

Lin Baici led Xia Hongyao, Hua Yueyu, and Gu Qingqiu off the tower, and several others followed his example while Pan Yunxiang waited. Those who stayed behind were scorched by a beam after the bell stopped, while Lin Baici and his companions plunged toward a primeval forest with no apparent way to slow their fall.

• Lin Baici jumped from the tower with Xia Hongyao, Hua Yueyu, and Gu Qingqiu, and Zhang Hao, Big Aunt, Fang Mingyuan, the chubby girl, Shen Nan, and Ai Xuyue followed.
• Pan Yunxiang chose to wait for another chime, and a beam burned Wang Lei, Zhao Fengxing, and an examinee after the bell stopped.
• The examinee jumped from the tower, while Wang Lei and Zhao Fengxing endured the beam until it vanished and left them badly burned.
• Lin Baici and his companions fell through the clouds and spotted a vast forest and a towering tree below.
• Hua Yueyu worried that they would hit the treetops at full speed, and Lin Baici's group had not found a way to stop their fall.

Lin Baici’s group survived their fall into a primeval forest and gathered with the other exam takers, where they encountered a deadly giant. After the giant killed Ai Xuri and chased Shen Nan, Lin Baici led the group away to learn how the monster could be defeated.

• Lin Baici, Xia Hongyao, Hua Yueyu, and Gu Qingqiu stopped just before hitting the ground and found themselves in a forest filled with enormous plants and animals.
• Lin Baici’s group reunited with Zhang Hao, Big Aunt, Fang Mingyuan, Long Miaomiao, and Shen Nan, then followed the twins’ voices through the forest.
• Lin Baici found Ai Xuyue and learned that a giant had attacked her and Ai Xuri.
• The group discovered that the giant had crushed Ai Xuri, and God of Gluttony warned that it would pursue anyone it targeted until they died.
• Lin Baici ordered everyone to run, but Shen Nan stayed behind to fight the giant before being overpowered and chased.
• Lin Baici refused to turn back, urging the group to keep running until they could determine how to kill the giant.

Lin Baici’s group fled through the forest after the Golden Crow demanded their eyes, while Li Chenguang killed Wang Lei at the Tower of Heaven and then jumped off. Lin Baici and Zhang Hao slowed the pursuing crow with a freezing punch and a sword strike, but it revived and chased them as Li Chenguang fell into their path.

• Long Miaomiao ate a venomous snake’s gallbladder despite Lin Baici warning her that it could be dangerous.
• At the Tower of Heaven, Li Chenguang broke Wang Lei’s arm, crushed his face, and killed him before jumping off the tower; the bell rang, and the examiners and examinees followed.
• The Golden Crow demanded everyone’s eyes, and Lin Baici ordered the group to run after God of Gluttony warned that only a giant could kill it.
• The Golden Crow attacked with flaming feathers, and Lin Baici stayed behind with Zhang Hao to cover the others’ escape.
• Zhang Hao’s blade melted against the crow, but Lin Baici froze and sliced it in half; the crow revived from its burning corpse and resumed the chase.
• Li Chenguang suddenly fell from the sky in front of the fleeing Lin Baici and Zhang Hao.

Lin Baici and his companions escaped a battle with the regenerating Number 156 and planned to use Long Miaomiao’s Divine Grace and unusual ingredients to deal with the giant. As they prepared their strategy, the giant began tracking them, while Pan Yunxiang’s group searched the forest for it.

• Li Chenguang’s corpse revived and attacked Zhang Hao, but Lin Baici wounded him and fled with her as Number 156 swallowed the flaming crow.
• Li Xiang ordered Number 156 to pursue An Yixian, who had witnessed the fight, but Number 156 remained distracted by burping flames.
• Lin Baici, Zhang Hao, and Xia Hongyao regrouped with Gu Qingqiu’s party and ran until Fang Mingyuan collapsed from exhaustion.
• Long Miaomiao proposed poisoning or tempting the giant with food, and Lin Baici supplied ingredients, including Mad Beef, pufferfish, honey, and crow eyeballs.
• The giant detected intruders and followed their footprints while Pan Yunxiang’s group searched for it; Pan Yunxiang suddenly turned toward a sound or movement nearby.