Recaps

Lu Bai took Warden Xiong Pi’s Golden Core, gained a Deathmatch Arena Node, and canceled his [Electronic Succubus] effect, but Xiong Pi remained devoted to him. When three thugs tried to extort Sister Shrimp’s shop, Lu Bai called White Shark, who arrived with a crowd of All Villains members.

• Xiong Pi extracted his Golden Core and gave it to Lu Bai, who refined it and received a prompt confirming he had acquired the current Deathmatch Arena Node.
• Lu Bai canceled [Electronic Succubus], but Xiong Pi continued acting affectionately and agreed to cook for him.
• Three thugs entered Sister Shrimp’s shop and demanded a cleaning fee, then attacked the shop when Sister Shrimp pointed to the All Villains sign.
• Lu Bai messaged White Shark for help after the redhead threatened him and overturned another table.
• White Shark arrived with a crowd of All Villains members and apologized to Lu Bai for failing to manage the situation.

Lu Bai’s authority in Chikan Bay forced White Shark to punish his own men after three gangsters disrupted Lu Bai’s shop. The deathmatchers struggled to find a way to reach Lu Bai, while Lu Bai set out with Dao Long to rescue Dao Master and take control of the prison’s forces.

• White Shark apologized to Lu Bai for the gangsters’ actions, and Lu Bai ordered him to handle the problem and improve All Villains.
• White Shark had his men remove the three gangsters, then shot Little Crow and ordered him to bring in Li Fuji.
• Guan Jin and the other deathmatchers concluded they could not get near Lu Bai, and Changhu left their meeting after arguing with Guan Jin.
• Lu Bai told Dao Long that Dao Master was alive and invited him to go to the prison.
• Lu Bai said he planned to free Dao Master and bring the prison’s forces under his command.

Lu Bai returned to the prison with Xiong Pi and demanded that its Section Chiefs serve him, demonstrating his Golden Core strength when Jun Yi attacked. The Section Chiefs and Xiong Pi surrendered, and Lu Bai put Xiong Pi in charge of the prison and Chikan Bay.

• Lu Bai entered the prison with Dao Long and Xiong Pi, then dispelled the dark zones covering much of the grounds.
• Xiong Pi told Misa and the other Section Chiefs that he had chosen to follow Lu Bai.
• Lu Bai offered the Section Chiefs a choice between working for him and being killed, and Jun Yi attacked him.
• Lu Bai's Internal Energy barrier repelled Jun Yi's punch, and Lu Bai revealed he had become a Golden Core martial artist.
• Heide, Hong Zhu, Misa, and Jun Yi knelt and agreed to follow Lu Bai.
• Lu Bai placed Xiong Pi in charge of the prison and Chikan Bay and told him to cleanse the city of evil.

Lu Bai learned that Deathmatchers were fighting each other on Health Street and went to investigate after the Node countdown ended. He arrived above the brawl as more fighters gathered around it.

• Dao Master thanked Lu Bai for rescuing him from prison, while Dao Zhengmu reminded him that Lu Bai had saved his life.
• Dao Master offered to repay Lu Bai, but Lu Bai told him to recover first.
• Xiao Xueyin told Lu Bai that Deathmatchers were fighting on Health Street, and Lu Bai hurried there.
• Lu Bai obtained the Deathmatch Arena Node, bringing his points to 202 and keeping his rank at 1/24.
• Lu Bai reached Health Street and saw seven or eight Deathmatchers fighting fiercely amid a growing crowd of armed punks.

As deathmatchers fell into infighting, Lu Bai rejected a group of survivors’ offer to join forces and killed them, then left the cleanup to the Golden Han Gang. In the south, Misa brought the defeated Hua Yue Association president to Xiong Pi, who declared that their forces had taken the entire city.

• Huangfu Zhuo and Changhu discussed how they would use the deathmatchers’ conflict and threatened to kill each other if their plans required it.
• Lu Bai asked Guan Jin and three other deathmatchers to prove they were not Replicants, then killed them with his Destructive Death Ray.
• Lu Bai ordered the Golden Han Gang to clean up and left as its members saluted him as the Spokesperson.
• Misa delivered the badly beaten Hua Yue Association president, Hua San, to Xiong Pi, with Heide, Thirteen Yao, A She, and other Grandmasters following.
• Xiong Pi said their faction had taken the remaining territory in the city and could report back.

Lu Bai told Chikan Bay’s factions they could act as they pleased, hoping to complete the Sin City objective. Two days later, as the city returned to its usual bustle, he wandered into the streets and ended up outside the Shrimp Claypot Rice restaurant.

• Lu Bai told Xiao Xueyin that Simba and Xiong Pi were unlikely to create a civilized city, and they agreed that Sin City was the easier objective.
• Dao Long brought Lu Bai a thug who had murdered someone and buried the body in his yard, prompting Lu Bai to question why Dao Long was handling criminals.
• Lu Bai learned Dao Long had made money as a middleman and told him to keep earning, while informing Chikan Bay’s factions that they could do whatever they wanted without worrying about him.
• Xiao Xueyin thanked Lu Bai and declined to explore the Deathmatch Arena further, while Lu Bai left the suite expecting the objective to be completed.
• Two days later, Lu Bai wandered through Chikan Bay’s bustling streets and found himself outside the Shrimp Claypot Rice restaurant.

Lu Bai finished the Fourth Deathmatch Showdown while eating at Sister Shrimp’s restaurant, then returned to the real world and reviewed his rewards. He retained Mental Time Chamber and received a boost to his talent, leaving him satisfied with the results.

• Lu Bai visited Sister Shrimp’s restaurant, where Ma Qingyun thanked him for saving his sister and said he planned to keep earning money for her treatment.
• Lu Bai’s Deathmatch Showdown objective completed, and the arena closed as he sat eating Shrimp Claypot Rice.
• Lu Bai returned to the real world ranked first, with 218 Deathmatcher Points and permission to permanently retain one ability.
• Lu Bai chose Mental Time Chamber from the abilities he had gained during the showdown.
• Lu Bai checked his titles and talent rewards, noting his rainbow ability and increased talent.

After completing Deathmatch Showdown, Lu Bai combined his titles and learned more about New Birth Festival and his campus principal’s invitation. He later went to Livability City to meet an organization contact and was approached by a hooded man.

• Lu Bai combined several titles into a Four Star [Innocent Smile] and left Desheng Tower after watching cleanup workers handle the participants’ bodies.
• Qu Yawen offered Lu Bai psychological counseling, and Pu Xueli invited him and his younger siblings to celebrate New Birth Festival at his home.
• Lu Bai left Zudian Campus and went to a nearby internet café to wait before his appointment at Truth or Dare.
• A hooded man sidled up to Lu Bai in the internet café and asked if he wanted to play.

Lu Bai met Can Society's vice president, President Zheng, at the Truth or Dare nightclub and learned the group planned to cause trouble at the upcoming New Birth Festival. The safehouse was exposed before he could learn whether Can Society's president would join them, and Lu Bai ended up in an interrogation room.

• Ding Zhongmin brought Lu Bai to the nightclub, where he met President Zheng and saw the vice president's three abilities.
• President Zheng admitted he had arranged the meeting early because Can Society did not yet trust Lu Bai.
• President Zheng said Can Society might stir up trouble during the New Birth Festival, and Lu Bai asked whether the society's president would take part.
• A server announced that people from Daxiang Campus had found the safehouse, and some members accused Lu Bai of being a mole.
• Ding Zhongmin urged everyone to escape, while President Zheng vanished in a puff of smoke after wishing Lu Bai luck.
• Two men dressed as police officers questioned Lu Bai about following a stranger to the nightclub.

After the police arrested Lu Bai, Secretary Shen took him to meet Xiao Xueyin, who had recognized him as the Zudian Campus prodigy and welcomed him to Shelter No. 9. Xiao Xueyin offered his family’s support and explained that his City Councilor father approved of their connection.

• Lu Bai questioned why Daxiang's Field Operations Department had handed him over to the police, and Secretary Shen arrived to take him away.
• Secretary Shen told Lu Bai that his Young Master wanted to meet him and drove him to an upscale restaurant.
• Xiao Xueyin greeted Lu Bai at the restaurant, said he had recognized him from his achievements at Zudian Campus, and invited him inside.
• Xiao Xueyin offered Lu Bai the Xiao Family’s help at Shelter No. 9 and revealed that his father, a City Councilor, supported their meeting.
• Lu Bai accepted Xiao Xueyin’s offer with a smile.

Lu Bai reflected on his place in a society he distrusted and returned home after dinner with Xiao Xueyin, who warned him to avoid the Can Society. In the days that followed, life stayed quiet as the New Birth Festival approached, until Lu Bai received a notification and turned to Xiao Xueyin.

• Xiao Xueyin warned Lu Bai that the authorities monitored the Can Society and advised him to keep his distance.
• Lu Bai left dinner early, and Xiao Xueyin drove him toward Livability City while discussing how his life differed from ordinary people's.
• Lu Bai returned home, found Lu Ziyi waiting for him, and ate the cold food she had set aside before going to sleep.
• Lu Bai continued practicing at Zudian Campus while the Can Society stayed silent and Xiao Xueyin kept visiting him.
• As the New Birth Festival approached, Lu Bai received a chime on his smart screen and asked Xiao Xueyin, "Now?"

Lu Bai agreed to attend Zudian Campus’s student exchange after Xiao Xueyin invited him. Meanwhile, Ding Zhongmin recruited Ding Zhen to provide technical support for President Zheng’s plan to attack a group of promising reserve students.

• Lu Bai turned down Xiao Xueyin’s invitation to meet influential heirs, but agreed to go watch the campus exchange.
• Ding Zhongmin met Ding Zhen at an internet cafe, where Ding Zhen agreed to provide technical support when the time came.
• Ding Zhongmin reported to President Zheng, who revealed that he had deliberately tipped off Daxiang’s field operations department about their previous gathering.
• President Zheng said their new plan would take out a whole group of promising reserve students, and Ding Zhongmin predicted campus exchanges would end afterward.

The annual Deathmatch school exchange filled a sports complex in the Democratic Zone, where Lu Bai and Xiao Xueyin watched the matches. Ding Zhongmin started Ding Zhen’s operation, and a blast struck the stands as a laser tripwire grenade appeared.

• The ten Deathmatch schools competed in hand-to-hand matches before a large paying crowd, while instructors discussed the students’ abilities.
• Lu Bai and Xiao Xueyin watched from a luxury box and discussed the strength and prospects of the female students.
• Ding Zhongmin pushed back his hood and sent the signal to begin the operation.
• The complex’s screens flickered and went black, angering spectators and leaving the instructors waiting for technicians.
• A furious spectator stepped across the Safe passage, triggering a laser tripwire grenade that exploded and hurled spectators into the arena.

Explosions struck all sixteen Safe passages at the stadium, and President Zheng then launched a vehicle packed with special chemical fuel into the gathered students and team leaders. As Lu Bai watched the devastation from the VIP box, Xiao Xueyin realized the attackers had targeted the Deathmatch students.

• Explosions at all sixteen Safe passages injured and killed spectators, while Lu Bai and Xiao Xueyin survived the blast beneath their VIP box.
• Xiao Xueyin blamed Can Society, and Lu Bai questioned how he had failed to anticipate the attack.
• Outside the stadium, President Zheng directed a blond young man to drive a modified off-road vehicle toward the stadium and detonate it.
• With communications cut off, Liang Fuzhong and the other team leaders gathered students and tried to guide them to safety.
• The vehicle smashed through the stadium wall and exploded among the gathered students and team leaders, killing everyone in the blast radius.
• Lu Bai watched from the VIP box as Xiao Xueyin realized the attackers had targeted the Deathmatch students.

After the stadium bombing, Lu Bai returned to his routine while the authorities staged Operation Sweep against Can Society, which failed to capture any important members. As the New Birth Festival approached, Pu Xueli pressed Lu Bai for an answer about dinner, but Lu Bai put him off because he was secretly preparing for another Deathmatch Showdown.

• Lu Bai stayed at the stadium after the explosion, then left Xiao Xueyin and went home to Livability City.
• Can Society claimed responsibility for the bombing, while the public panicked and Lu Bai wondered why the group had not told him about its plan.
• Over the following half month, campus field teams launched Operation Sweep, destroying Can Society bases but arresting no important members.
• Pu Xueli stopped Lu Bai at the campus gate and demanded an answer about the New Birth Festival dinner invitation.
• Lu Bai promised to answer the next day, concealing that he had not told anyone about the upcoming Deathmatch Showdown.

Lu Bai entered the Fifth Deathmatch Showdown, chose Maoshan Daoism from the first-round Ability Pool, and explored the apartment tied to his assigned identity. He discovered that he was an eighteen-year-old high school dropout whose parents had died and who survived by working as a food delivery rider.

• Lu Bai registered for the Deathmatch Showdown at Desheng Tower and waited until the system teleported him into the arena.
• Lu Bai hid his secondary titles and found himself alone in a rented apartment with a tracksuit, scooter keys, and an old phone.
• Lu Bai rejected Holy Lord Dragonization because it was irreversible and ruled out the Sign-in System because its rewards depended on luck and time.
• Lu Bai chose Maoshan Daoism, learned its spells, and found that they were less powerful than he had expected.
• Lu Bai checked the phone and learned that his assigned identity was an eighteen-year-old dropout with deceased parents who worked as a food delivery rider.

Lu Bai explored the unnaturally silent city and entered a park, where an old man revealed himself as a dangerous tour guide. The police recognized the threat as the elderly tour guide from Sequence 183 and rushed to respond.

• Lu Bai rode his scooter through the quiet residential complex and empty streets, noticing a police officer react fearfully to him.
• Lu Bai entered the park after sensing that something was watching him and found no birds or insects there.
• An old man emerged from the bushes, introduced himself as a tour guide, and produced a blood-red triangular flag.
• Lu Bai refused to follow the old man and confronted him about forcing people to buy things.
• The officer on duty reported that someone had entered the park, and a middle-aged man identified the threat as the elderly tour guide from Sequence 183 and headed over with help.

Lu Bai entered the park’s supernatural territory and attacked the white-haired tour guide, making the hidden paths reappear. After seeing police gather outside, Lu Bai released darkness to engulf them, hoping to avoid being arrested.

• The white-haired tour guide led Lu Bai through a park whose paths had vanished into dense woods.
• Lu Bai used a simplified Evil Repelling Technique on the tour guide, setting him on fire and revealing the path.
• Police arrived and identified Lu Bai as a civilian who had wandered into Sequence 183’s territory, then called an expert team.
• Lu Bai spotted the officers from behind a flower bed and engulfed them in darkness, causing them to panic.

Lu Bai learned that paranormal entities had appeared around the world two years earlier and that humanity was struggling to contain them. Meanwhile, officers investigated the darkness he had created and the missing electric scooter, then found charred objects and an unfamiliar incense scent in the park.

• Lu Bai escaped the officers during the blackout, returned to his apartment, and read online about the paranormal crisis and the entities’ danger rankings.
• The darkness faded, and the middle-aged officer found that none of his team had been harmed, though Lu Bai’s electric scooter was missing.
• The officers guarded the park overnight while experts tested Old Man Tour Guide’s range and searched unsuccessfully for the scooter thief.
• The Action Department entered the park in a chained line and found charred objects beside a bench with a faint scent of incense.
• The team leader wondered what the charred objects were because Old Man Tour Guide’s victims were believed to disappear without a trace.

Captain Mao’s team discovered that the charred fragments might be the first remains ever recovered from a dead anomaly, while Li Hanbin independently tracked down the electric scooter’s owner. Li Hanbin found the scooter outside Lu Bai’s basement rental and called the Action Department, fearing the anomaly that took it might be nearby.

• Captain Mao learned that Lu Bai, an eighteen-year-old local resident, owned the scooter, but the surveillance cameras had malfunctioned.
• Captain Mao received test results suggesting the charred fragments were anomalous flesh and blood and ordered more samples sent for analysis.
• Li Hanbin continued investigating the scooter’s owner after the Action Department stopped searching for Lu Bai’s address.
• Li Hanbin followed Lu Bai’s landlady to the basement rental and spotted the missing electric scooter outside.
• Li Hanbin called the Action Department to report that he had found the scooter and feared the anomaly was nearby.

After the Action Department evacuated the residential complex, Lu Bai emerged from the basement unharmed and explained that he had encountered the Old Man Tour Guide in Bamboo Grove Park. The interview ended when a scream came from Building 8, prompting Captain Mao and the others to respond to a new incident.

• Li Hanbin waited for backup, and the Action Department evacuated the residents before approaching the scooter and basement.
• Lu Bai opened the basement door and emerged sleepy but unharmed, leaving Captain Mao and Li Hanbin puzzled.
• At the temporary shelter, Li Hanbin questioned Lu Bai about the previous night, and Captain Mao identified the white-haired man as Sequence 183, the Old Man Tour Guide.
• Lu Bai claimed he had pinned the Old Man Tour Guide down after learning Maoshan Daoism, then described a black creature biting off the old man's head.
• A hysterical scream came from Building 8, and Captain Mao called the personnel to attention.

A fully formed Sequence 65 Red-clothed Female Ghost appeared in Building Eight and trapped the residential complex within a vast territory of yin energy. As residents and Action Department agents tried to evacuate, Lu Bai opened his spiritual eyes, and the ghost leaped from the fourth-floor window.

• Captain Mao led the Action Department agents into Building Eight to investigate the screams, while Li Hanbin stayed outside with Lu Bai.
• A fourth-floor room glowed red, and Captain Mao recognized the signs of the Red-clothed Female Ghost and ordered residents to evacuate.
• The ghost revealed its fully formed body, prompting Captain Mao to order an immediate evacuation.
• Lu Bai chanted a spell and opened his spiritual eyes, revealing a gigantic inverted-bowl-shaped field of yin energy covering the residential complex.
• Residents discovered they could not escape the complex, and the Red-clothed Female Ghost leaped from the fourth-floor windowsill.

Lu Bai confronted the Red-clothed Female Ghost, breaking her hold over the crowd with the Lightning Law and weakening her with a willow branch. As the Action Department watched in shock, Captain Mao asked Lu Bai to finish her off.

• The Red-clothed Female Ghost bewitched nearby residents and drew them toward her while Captain Mao and the Action Department fired at her.
• Lu Bai picked a willow branch and walked toward the ghost, telling Li Hanbin that he would handle her.
• Lu Bai channeled the Lightning Law, freeing the bewitched civilians and scorching the Red-clothed Female Ghost.
• Lu Bai struck the ghost repeatedly with the willow branch, making her shrink and scream until she could no longer fight back.
• Captain Mao asked Lu Bai to put the Red-clothed Female Ghost out of her misery.

Lu Bai became a public symbol of hope after killing the Red-clothed Female Ghost, while the government organized the Lu Bai Bureau to support and study him. Captain Mao brought him to Keshan University of Arts to investigate the disappearance of six female students.

• Lu Bai destroyed the Red-clothed Female Ghost, and Captain Mao recognized that Lu Bai had also dealt with the Old Man Tour Guide.
• The government publicized Lu Bai’s abilities, and public opinion embraced him as humanity’s Guardian God.
• Lu Bai served as a consultant rather than joining the Action Department, while the government established the Lu Bai Bureau to support and study him.
• Captain Mao told Lu Bai that six female students had disappeared from Keshan University of Arts and that the Action Department had found no clues.
• Lu Bai arrived at Keshan University of Arts, where a crowd of administrators, officers, and citizens gathered to welcome him.

Lu Bai searched Keshan University of Arts for the supernatural entity but found no sign of it in the women’s dormitory or an unused teaching building. As he waited to see what would happen after dark, several deathmatchers watched the news and began moving toward the campus.

• Lu Bai arrived at Keshan University of Arts, where Captain Mao led him to the women’s dormitory, but Lu Bai found almost no yin energy and said the supernatural entity probably was not there.
• An observer reported Lu Bai’s attention to black tights to the bureau, which ordered its Entertainment Division to require women there to wear them.
• At a private hospital, a suited man cut up a corpse while discussing whether supernatural entities could be created, and Fu Xuejia teased him about Lu Bai’s televised appearance.
• A construction worker watching Lu Bai’s broadcast left with a large wrench, while three taxi drivers decided to go see what was happening.
• Lu Bai checked an unused teaching building and found no yin energy there either; he told Captain Mao they should wait until dark to see what happened.