Chapter Summaries

After surviving a monster’s mental attack, Chen Shouyi discovered that the Faith Power in his Book of Knowledge had been exhausted and planned to contact his followers on the other world. Meanwhile, two investigators arrived in Hedong City to seek help for a dangerous mission into the isolated Donghai Province, where the Barbarian God and Southeast Asian forces were suspected of involvement.

• Chen Shouyi returned home, washed up, and checked the Book of Knowledge, but the World Tree showed no change after the monster’s death.
• Chen Shouyi found that his Faith Power had vanished, realized it had helped resist the monster’s mental attack, and decided to arrange sacrifices among the Barbarian Tribe on Small Island.
• Chen Shouyi tried to contact the Barbarian Tribe’s priest through a Faith Line but stopped when Earth’s weak Primal Force could not support the connection.
• Senior Luo and a young woman arrived at Hedong Railway Station and discussed seeking local support, preferably from a Martial Master, for their mission.
• Senior Luo explained that Donghai Province had become an information black hole after cults, sabotage, and blockades disrupted communications, and that investigators suspected the Barbarian God and Southeast Asian forces were involved.

Chen Shouyi was asked to join a dangerous mission to investigate Donghai Province, which might have fallen. He initially refused, but agreed after Luo Jingwen offered Primordial Divine Marrow as the reward.

• Chen Shouyi sensed that worship on Small Island had produced substantial Faith Power, while his strength reached 17 points.
• Luo Jingwen and an unfamiliar young woman visited Chen Shouyi to request his help with a mission to Donghai Province.
• Chen Shouyi tried to refuse, claiming that a recent battle had injured his mind and left him recovering.
• Luo Jingwen revealed that the mission's reward was Primordial Divine Marrow from a weak-level god killed in Jiqing Province.
• Chen Shouyi accepted the offer and asked when they would leave, while the young woman silently doubted his excuse.

Chen Shouyi left for a mission to investigate conditions in Donghai Province, traveling with Luo Jingwen and Zhu Xueqing. During the journey, Zhu Xueqing met Shell Girl, who was frightened by the group.

• Chen Shouyi reviewed his imbalanced attributes and hoped the mission reward would provide enough Divine Marrow to improve his Intelligence.
• Shell Girl practiced reading animal names from a picture book, and Chen Shouyi patiently taught her about elephants.
• Chen Shouyi quietly left home at midnight and met Luo Jingwen and Zhu Xueqing at the helicopter pad.
• The three flew to Nanshan City, planning to cross the mountains overnight and enter Qujiang City to investigate Donghai Province.
• Zhu Xueqing asked to see Shell Girl, and Chen Shouyi brought her out; Shell Girl trembled and asked him to chase the bad giants away.

Chen Shouyi joined Luo Jingwen and Zhu Xueqing on a mission into Donghai Province, where they discovered a city under the influence of a heretical cult. The group found foreign soldiers patrolling the streets and took shelter in an empty house to wait for daybreak.

• Zhu Xueqing asked Chen Shouyi to give her Shell Girl, but Chen refused and explained that he had escaped a Barbarian God in the Otherworld.
• Chen Shouyi, Luo Jingwen, and Zhu Xueqing flew to Nanshan City and crossed the mountains, fighting off Otherworld Creatures along the way.
• Chen Shouyi sensed a faint Faith Domain near a village, and Luo Jingwen concluded that the area had been infiltrated by a heretical cult.
• The group watched a patrol of undisciplined soldiers, and Luo Jingwen said that many Southeast Asians and people of Chinese descent had entered Donghai Province.
• Luo Jingwen opened an empty house with a wire, and he began telling Chen Shouyi about the Agent Training required of Martial Masters in the past.

Chen Shouyi, Luo Jingwen, and Zhu Xueqing discovered that Qujiang had been dominated by worshippers of the God of Order and left to continue their mission. Luo Jingwen revealed that they were heading to Qinggang City to investigate whether Donghai Province had recovered nuclear warheads from a sunken strategic submarine.

• At dawn, Chen Shouyi watched crowds of Qujiang residents head to church, and Luo Jingwen remarked that the city no longer felt like part of Great Xia Nation.
• Chen Shouyi secretly took three badges from pedestrians so he, Luo Jingwen, and Zhu Xueqing could pass unnoticed.
• The three ate breakfast while hearing locals praise the God of Order and discuss the growing influence of Luzon people in the religious hierarchy.
• After hearing a hymn outside a church, Luo Jingwen concluded that Qujiang had been thoroughly infiltrated and said they should leave.
• Luo Jingwen told Chen Shouyi that they were going to Qinggang City to check whether Donghai Province had obtained nuclear warheads from a submarine that may have sunk nearby.

Chen Shouyi, Luo Jingwen, and Zhu Xueqing investigated Qinggang City, which was under the Church of the God of Order’s control, while searching for clues about a missing nuclear submarine. After learning how to disguise themselves, Chen Shouyi killed four Southeast Asian soldiers and took a more convincing emblem.

• Luo Jingwen told Chen Shouyi that a nuclear submarine had gone missing after leaving Qinggang City, and that its warheads might have fallen into enemy hands.
• The three reached ruined Qinggang City and learned from a young woman that the Church had enslaved dissenters and that the God of Order’s forces had seized the city six months earlier.
• The young woman explained that people’s emblems revealed their rank, so Luo Jingwen proposed they change theirs before scouting the naval port.
• Chen Shouyi overheard four Southeast Asian soldiers discussing their occupation of Donghai Province and killed them after accusing a Chinese-descended soldier of lying about being from Xia.
• Chen Shouyi took the soldier’s emblem, and he and Zhu Xueqing hid the bodies when Luo Jingwen warned that someone was approaching.

Chen Shouyi, Zhu Xueqing, and Luo Jingwen reached the abandoned Naval Port, where they encountered a gigantic winged monster that appeared to serve the Savage God. Luo Jingwen urged the group to leave before the creature noticed them.

• The group traveled toward the Naval Port through a downpour, and Zhu Xueqing learned that Chen Shouyi used his will to keep the rain away.
• Chen Shouyi expanded his will domain to shelter Zhu Xueqing and Luo Jingwen, but both found it oppressive and quickly left it.
• The group found the Naval Port deserted and damaged, with signs that its garrison had been overwhelmed.
• Chen Shouyi spotted savages sheltering in distant buildings, so the group skirted around them and stopped to look at two abandoned destroyers.
• A huge winged monster emerged from the sea and landed at the port; after it looked toward their hiding place and walked away, Luo Jingwen told the group to leave.

After discovering that twenty-one Sea Monsters were searching the seafloor for a strategic nuclear submarine, Luo Jingwen, Zhu Xueqing, and Chen Shouyi decided to confront them rather than retreat. At one in the morning, they set out to attack.

• Luo Jingwen, Zhu Xueqing, and Chen Shouyi watched twelve Sea Monsters return from the ocean and realized they were searching for the nuclear submarine.
• Luo Jingwen ordered Zhu Xueqing to return to the capital with the intelligence, but Zhu Xueqing refused to leave the others behind.
• Chen Shouyi urged the group to kill the monsters, and Luo Jingwen agreed to fight while keeping retreat as a last resort.
• After nine more Sea Monsters returned, the three ate sashimi together and tried to keep their spirits up.
• At one in the morning, Luo Jingwen led Zhu Xueqing and Chen Shouyi out to begin the attack.

Luo Jingwen, Chen Shouyi, and Zhu Xueqing infiltrated a factory to kill sleeping giant monsters, but their covert attack was discovered. As Luo Jingwen fought several monsters alone, Chen Shouyi transformed, and the creatures around Luo Jingwen began to dwindle.

• Luo Jingwen led Chen Shouyi and Zhu Xueqing past the Southeast Asian guards and into the factory, where they found twenty-one sleeping giant monsters and scores of barbarians.
• Chen Shouyi silently killed a barbarian who woke, then he and Luo Jingwen began stabbing the giant monsters while Zhu Xueqing watched the entrance.
• Luo Jingwen and Chen Shouyi killed seven monsters without alerting the rest, but the eighth survived its wound and crashed into a machine tool, waking the factory.
• Luo Jingwen killed one waking monster and urged Chen Shouyi and Zhu Xueqing to escape, then fought off several others as the factory erupted into chaos.
• Chen Shouyi grew rapidly in size, while Luo Jingwen, surrounded by monsters, failed to notice that the creatures around him were gradually being drawn away.

Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen fought the giant monsters and barbarians at the factory, and Chen Shouyi’s strength broke the attackers’ morale. After the survivors fled, he found Zhu Xueqing alive, then realized Giant Transformation had left him completely naked.

• Chen Shouyi fought off the giant monsters surrounding him while Luo Jingwen battled three others.
• Chen Shouyi killed or wounded the fleeing giant monsters, and the remaining monsters and barbarians panicked and fled.
• Luo Jingwen saw the corpses and confirmed Zhu Xueqing was still alive before collapsing from exhaustion.
• Chen Shouyi ended Giant Transformation, checked Zhu Xueqing’s injury, and discovered his clothes had been destroyed.
• Chen Shouyi took clothing from a corpse and wrapped it around his waist.

After the group escaped the factory battle, Luo Jingwen decided to get Zhu Xueqing and the intelligence out of Donghai while the cult tightened its control. Chen Shouyi used his mind power to stop bullets as they fought through checkpoints, and the group reached the mountains near the provincial border before dawn.

• Chen Shouyi found Shell Girl hiding in a postbox and comforted her after she showed him the mosquitoes she had squashed.
• Luo Jingwen arranged for Zhu Xueqing to carry the intelligence out, and Chen Shouyi agreed to help escort her.
• Chen Shouyi stopped a storm of bullets with his mind power, then killed the twelve Southeast Asians at a checkpoint.
• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen took turns clearing checkpoints and killed three giant monsters that swooped down on them.
• The group reached the mountainous border region near dawn, and Luo Jingwen warned Zhu Xueqing to stay hidden and avoid contacting the military in Nanshan City.

Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen returned to Qujiang City, where a demigod searched for the invading Alien Race and they realized the God of Order likely had a powerful ally. They went undercover among the cultists and entered a church for evening prayers.

• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen slipped out of the village, avoided patrolling soldiers, and returned to Qujiang City, which was under lockdown.
• After discovering Luo Jingwen had lost his wallet, the two left a restaurant and sensed a terrifying presence overhead as they walked through the city.
• A naked, green-haired woman with purple eyes searched the city from above; Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen pretended to chat casually until her aura disappeared.
• Luo Jingwen identified the woman as a demigod and told Chen Shouyi that Great Xia had already defeated six demigods, then agreed the God of Order had likely recruited this one.
• At evening prayers, Chen Shouyi stole two cultists' Divine Emblems, and he and Luo Jingwen exchanged them for their warrior Divine Emblems before entering a church with the crowd.

Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen attended a church service in Qujiang City while hiding from the God of Order’s followers. After the priest announced that Saye was hunting them and claimed Zhu Xueqing had been captured, the two considered their options, and Chen Shouyi hinted that he had a plan.

• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen entered the church using Divine Emblems, while soldiers beat and dragged away a couple whose emblems were missing.
• The pair knelt and joined the congregation’s prayer as the church’s Faith Power pressed heavily on Chen Shouyi.
• A priest announced that Saye had arrived in Qujiang City, that Zhu Xueqing had been captured, and that the evening prayer would be extended to two hours.
• Back at their lodgings, Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen suspected the capture was a trap but recognized they needed to verify the intelligence or pass it on.
• Luo Jingwen proposed leaving the next day while Chen Shouyi stayed behind, but Chen Shouyi told him he had an idea.

Chen Shouyi entered his memory world and attacked a church to seize a message about captured Great Xia agents and a search of the city. As he questioned the messenger, a towering naked woman arrived, bringing the threat of Lord Saye close.

• Chen Shouyi told Luo Jingwen about his ability to enter realistic memories, and they cleaned their hideout together.
• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen caught and roasted a rooster for dinner.
• Chen Shouyi entered the church memory and violently attacked the cultists, while Luo Jingwen urged him to flee.
• Chen Shouyi took a note ordering an extended prayer service and a citywide search, and claiming three Great Xia agents had been captured.
• Chen Shouyi questioned the messenger about the note, but the man said he knew nothing.
• A towering naked woman entered the church as an oppressive aura spread.

In a virtual memory world, Chen Shouyi tried to make the demigod Saye reveal whether she had set a trap, but she attacked and killed him. He woke on Earth, concluded that demigods were terrifyingly powerful, and practiced the Thirty-Six Forms of Hardening in the occupied zone.

• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen argued over who would face Saye, then Chen Shouyi realized they were in a virtual memory world and stopped fearing death.
• Chen Shouyi taunted Saye about the God of Order and claimed that many demigods and true gods had died on Earth, making her hesitate.
• Chen Shouyi falsely claimed their companion had been with them all along, then admitted he had lied after Saye revealed she meant to use them to find her.
• Saye attacked Chen Shouyi, and after three devastating strikes, she killed him in the virtual memory world.
• Chen Shouyi woke on Earth, reflected on Saye's strength, and practiced the Thirty-Six Forms of Hardening beneath the red moon.

Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen hid in Donghai Province while waiting for the cult threat to subside, then saw military planes overhead and realized war had begun. Luo Jingwen urged them to flee immediately as gunfire sounded in the distance.

• Chen Shouyi told Luo Jingwen that the cult had staged Zhu Xueqing's supposed capture, and Luo Jingwen was relieved to hear it.
• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen kept a low profile for several days, then decided to avoid the provincial capital and wait before leaving Donghai Province.
• Chen Shouyi trained and checked his Status Panel, noting small increases in his attributes.
• Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen saw a formation of military planes, and Luo Jingwen said they had to leave at once.
• Chen Shouyi packed Shell Girl into his briefcase as distant machine-gun fire signaled that the war had begun.

Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen fled as Great Xia Nation attacked the cult-occupied city, while Chen Shouyi killed a priest on the way. After a female demigod fought the fighter jets and was badly wounded, she pursued them, and Chen Shouyi stopped inside an alley.

• Great Xia Nation's fighter jets bombed the city as cultists and soldiers panicked in the streets.
• Chen Shouyi killed the priest with a quick sword strike while he and Luo Jingwen hurried away.
• A female demigod shot down three fighter jets but drew heavy fire as Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen fled.
• The fighter jets struck the demigod, and she crashed into the street with serious injuries.
• The wounded demigod ran toward Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen, who rushed into a narrow alley before Chen Shouyi stopped.

Chen Shouyi attacked the wounded female demigod while Luo Jingwen carried Shell Girl’s briefcase to safety. After a brutal fight weakened her further, Chen Shouyi and Luo Jingwen brought her down, and Chen Shouyi killed her with a sword through the temple.

• Chen Shouyi gave Luo Jingwen the briefcase and chose to ambush the injured female demigod instead of fleeing.
• Chen Shouyi disarmed the female demigod and fought her through a building as her wounds steadily weakened her.
• Chen Shouyi tackled the female demigod and held her down while Luo Jingwen stabbed her neck with his sword.
• The female demigod briefly regained strength, but Chen Shouyi restrained her and drove the sword through her temple.

Chen Shouyi killed a badly wounded female demigod but suffered a severe injury and barely escaped the area with Luo Jingwen as the air force bombed it. After checking on Shell Girl, they continued toward the mountains on the border between the provinces.

• Chen Shouyi beheaded the female demigod, then collapsed as divine blood gushed from her body.
• Luo Jingwen supported Chen Shouyi and found him clothes, while Chen Shouyi discovered that his groin had been badly injured.
• Luo Jingwen warned Chen Shouyi that the area was being bombed, and they fled as thermobaric bombs destroyed the building they had left.
• Luo Jingwen promised to report Chen Shouyi's achievement, and Chen Shouyi asked about the reward and how long it would take.
• Chen Shouyi checked on Shell Girl inside his briefcase, rested briefly with Luo Jingwen, and continued toward the mountains at the provincial border.

Chen Shouyi checked the curse left by the dead god and saw the World Tree absorbing it as he and Luo Jingwen returned to the military command center with intelligence from Donghai Province. After Chen Shouyi explained how he killed the demigod, the commander arranged for a helicopter to take them home.

• Chen Shouyi entered the Book of Knowledge and found the space overwhelmed by the dead god's curse, but the World Tree was steadily absorbing the black mist.
• Luo Jingwen brought Chen Shouyi game, and the two reached Nanshan City, where soldiers escorted them to the Combat Military Region's command center.
• Luo Jingwen reported their findings from Qujiang City and said Chen Shouyi had killed the demigod.
• Chen Shouyi told the commander that he had cut off the demigod's head and credited the air force for weakening her first.
• The commander promised the military would recognize Chen Shouyi's credit and sent him and Luo Jingwen home by helicopter.
• Luo Jingwen advised Chen Shouyi not to be modest about major accomplishments, and Chen Shouyi resolved to remember the lesson.