Recaps

Chen Lin watched an old man and an old woman tend the wheat field near the Thatch Cottage, unsure whether they were people or puppets. After waiting several days for Gu Siming and the others, he approached the hut and called for an audience, but received no response.

• Chen Lin observed the artificial sun set and saw the sky change through night, with a moon and stars whose laws suggested Oddity Island held extraordinary power.
• An old man came out of the Thatch Cottage and spent more than four hours weeding the wheat field; later, an old woman fetched water and spent hours watering it.
• Chen Lin hid for several nights, suspecting the silent, separately working elders might be high-grade puppets, while Gu Siming and the others failed to appear.
• Chen Lin entered the valley at midday, called to the cottage’s occupants, and received no response before walking up to the door.

Chen Lin entered the Thatch Cottage and discovered that its residents were statues, then searched the statue collection with the Silver Bowl for the mission’s target. He found statues of himself and Huiye before stopping at a statue whose hands seemed to fit the Silver Bowl.

• Chen Lin opened the Thatch Cottage after receiving no answer and found a cramped room filled with floating statues.
• Chen Lin recognized the two old men who tended the Spiritual Field as small statues beside an offering table of fresh steamed buns.
• Chen Lin counted 108 statues and tested them with the Silver Bowl, discovering statues resembling himself and Huiye, Lord of the Moon Palace.
• Chen Lin tried to record the statues with an Image-Recording Bead, but it failed, so he memorized their appearances himself.
• Chen Lin stopped before a foot-tall statue whose hands appeared to fit the Silver Bowl.

Chen Lin learned how Oddity Island’s Offerings House and attendant statues worked, collected his golden-wheat stipend, and heard about a task that could earn him valuable moonlight rice. The chapter ended with him considering clearing the polluted water and restoring the abandoned paddy field.

• Chen Lin inspected the statues and found that his amber resonated with a Jet-Black Statue whose hat appeared to be missing a piece matching the amber.
• Chen Lin met Hunchback Qi, who explained that attendants left statues in the Offerings House and could use them for contact, clone manifestation, and other permissions.
• Hunchback Qi identified Huiye as the woman who had refined the moon, but could not provide details about her life or the sun’s creator; he said the stars had been refined by a master surnamed Yang.
• Chen Lin learned that his four companions had not passed Oddity Island’s selection, then collected one year’s allotment of golden wheat from Hunchback Qi.
• Hunchback Qi offered Chen Lin one hundred jin of fluorescent rice and a yearly allotment if he cleared polluted water from the abandoned paddy field and purified its water source.

Chen Lin investigated the contaminated Paddy Field on Oddity Island and tried to activate the Silver Bowl at the thatched cottage. He contacted Sikong Fu through a Transmission Talisman, who identified the island and began giving him the missing activation instructions.

• Chen Lin learned that a mutated water lotus in the marsh had contaminated the water and was in the Late True Realm, then decided to inspect it before agreeing to help Elder Qi.
• Chen Lin examined the murky, sinister water at the edge of the Paddy Field and withdrew to the valley entrance to wait.
• Chen Lin placed the Silver Bowl on the Long-Armed Statue's palm, but nothing happened, so he activated his Alliance Transmission Talisman.
• Sikong Fu answered Chen Lin and reacted with shock when Chen Lin confirmed he had entered Oddity Island.
• Sikong Fu checked the task details and told Chen Lin to bow three times, then place the bowl with its small protrusion facing the statue's body.
• Chen Lin asked Sikong Fu to tell him the secret incantation before he continued.

Chen Lin helped Sikong Fu obtain the God-Slaying Crossbow’s activation method from the Long-Armed Statue, then used his amber to receive the Soul Confrontation secret art from the Jet-Black Statue. He left off approaching Huiye’s statue to continue exploring.

• Chen Lin placed the Silver Bowl on the Long-Armed Statue, and Sikong Fu recited the incantation to awaken it.
• The statue gave Sikong Fu the God-Slaying Crossbow’s activation sequence and said it could fire a bolt capable of killing a low Eternal Realm expert.
• Chen Lin destroyed the Transmission Talisman after Sikong Fu promised to request a reward for him.
• Chen Lin placed his amber on the Jet-Black Statue, which imparted the Soul Confrontation secret art by projecting characters and chants into his mind.
• Chen Lin learned that Soul Confrontation could annihilate the loser’s soul, but using it against a stronger soul could destroy him instead.
• After reviewing the art, Chen Lin walked toward Huiye’s statue.

Chen Lin investigated his statue and Demon Lotus on Oddity Island, then secured a temporary entry token so he could bring in a helper to fight the creature. After leaving the island and reuniting with Liu Rumian, Gu Siming, and the others, he learned more about the island’s history and valuable secrets.

• Chen Lin failed to activate Huiye’s statue, sensed a weak connection to his own statue, and located Demon Lotus beneath lotus leaves at the mountaintop lake.
• Chen Lin judged Demon Lotus too powerful to confront alone, studied the Soul Confrontation secret art, and decided he needed Gu Siming’s knowledge and help.
• Elder Qi gave Chen Lin a temporary entry token for a helper, explained how to bind his statue, and warned that Demon Lotus was transforming and should be attacked soon.
• Chen Lin left Oddity Island through its barrier with the Spirit-Sealing Cauldron and met Liu Rumian, who said she and the others had been unable to enter.
• Chen Lin reunited with Gu Siming and the others, then learned from Gu Siming that Oddity Island once selected the strongest practitioners and held a link to a higher plane and spirit rice that aided ascension to Dominator.

Chen Lin brought Gu Siming onto Oddity Island to help him kill a demon lotus and asked her about the Soul Confrontation secret art. Gu Siming revealed that she had inherited Lifespan Confrontation, a rare art that used true lifespan, and explained why the Yunming Flower mattered to her.

• Chen Lin told the group he had completed the mission and warned Luo Sanhuai that Huyan Wushuang and the Ouyang Family might attack them on the way back.
• Chen Lin took Gu Siming onto Oddity Island, leaving the others outside, and explained that he planned to kill a demon lotus.
• Chen Lin asked Gu Siming about Soul Confrontation, and she said the art was a rare inheritance that required a special affinity.
• Gu Siming revealed that she had mastered Lifespan Confrontation, an inherited art from Yesterday Manor that let its users pit their true lifespans against each other.
• Chen Lin realized that the Yunming Flower could strengthen Gu Siming's Lifespan Confrontation by increasing her true lifespan.

Chen Lin learned the restrictions and benefits of Gu Siming’s life-sacrificing secret method, then brought her to the Red Hole Fruit tree to hunt its guardian. The little dragon ignored Chen Lin and attacked Gu Siming, who retaliated with her fishing rod.

• Gu Siming explained that the Art of Righteousness at the Cost of Life only worked on evil people and left its user helplessly weakened after use, while mastery protected against similar spells.
• Chen Lin learned that the art could not assess an enemy’s strength beforehand, and Gu Siming clarified that Unique Secret Methods did not prevent their users from attacking one another.
• Gu Siming urged Chen Lin to show her the island’s treasures, and he offered to split the spoils evenly if they explored together.
• Chen Lin led Gu Siming to the Red Hole Fruit tree and warned her about the aggressive little dragon guarding it.
• The little dragon sprang from the tree and charged at Gu Siming, who angrily swung her fishing rod at it.

Chen Lin and Gu Siming killed a dragon on Oddity Island, then negotiated over the spirit rice they hoped to obtain. Gu Siming revealed that Chen Lin’s strange run of fated encounters might stem from his destiny talent and advised him to ask her grandfather to examine his River of Time.

• Chen Lin and Gu Siming combined their treasures and attacks against the dragon, which exploded and launched a golden object at Gu Siming before the Pink Orb struck it.
• After the dragon’s golden light affected Gu Siming, she clung to Chen Lin until he used the Yin-Yang Lotus to restore her, and she demanded a share of any spirit rice he obtained.
• Chen Lin agreed to give Gu Siming some golden wheat and fluorescent rice if she helped him kill the Demon Lotus, and she explained that the rice could aid Eternal Realm cultivators seeking dominator status.
• Chen Lin questioned why Yesterday Manor had not sent experts to Oddity Island, and Gu Siming explained that reaching the island required a fated connection.
• Gu Siming told Chen Lin that his destiny talent caused the abnormalities surrounding him and suggested that he ask her grandfather to examine his River of Time.

Chen Lin explored Yin-Yang Valley with Gu Siming and discovered that she could not perceive its hidden wheat field or cottage, though she could see golden wheat grains he had taken out. After securing her agreement to keep the wheat secret, he bound his Destiny Talent to his statue in the Offerings House, gaining a way to control it but learning it could not leave the cottage.

• Chen Lin agreed to visit Yesterday Manor sometime and explored the island with Gu Siming, but they could not enter its buildings and instead collected rare herbs and treasures.
• Chen Lin brought Gu Siming into Yin-Yang Valley, where she could see only an ordinary valley and could not perceive or touch its wheat field or Thatch Cottage.
• Chen Lin showed Gu Siming a few grains of golden wheat, and she asked for her share; he made her sign a purported confidentiality contract before agreeing.
• Chen Lin told Gu Siming to wait outside the valley until nightfall, then went to the Offerings House and bound his Destiny Talent to his statue.
• Chen Lin shifted his consciousness into the statue and tested its abilities, discovering he could speak, move, and cast his Innate Divine Ability through it, but it could not leave the Thatch Cottage.

Chen Lin learned how the statue allowed him to communicate and receive stipends, then questioned Old Servant Qi about Oddity Island and the Demon Lotus. He and Gu Siming prepared to attack the Demon Lotus, with Gu Siming planning to immobilize it using a treasure.

• Chen Lin confirmed that the statue let his consciousness reach it from afar, let others summon him with suitable medium objects, and could teleport small objects.
• Chen Lin gave Gu Siming his bag of golden wheat to mend their relationship, and she accepted it as a gift for her grandfather.
• Old Servant Qi told Chen Lin that Oddity Island could recover if the Demon Lotus was slain and the Paddy Field reclaimed, but warned that all its leaves had to be destroyed at once.
• Chen Lin explained the Demon Lotus's danger to Gu Siming, who agreed to use a treasure that could immobilize it.
• Chen Lin and Gu Siming activated their Invisibility Eyeballs and approached the Demon Lotus together, and Gu Siming hurled her Black Box.

Chen Lin and Gu Siming used the Box of Time and the Firefly Divine Ability to destroy the Demon Lotus, and Chen Lin’s divine ability grew stronger. When he asked the old servant how Gu Siming could stay on Oddity Island, the servant hinted that there might be another way.

• Gu Siming used the Box of Time to immobilize the mountain and lake, allowing Chen Lin to attack the Demon Lotus.
• Chen Lin’s Firefly motes burned away the Demon Lotus, and his divine ability’s runic inscription gained a surge of energy.
• Gu Siming asked whether Chen Lin had seen a statue of Huiye, and Chen Lin denied knowing or dealing with the Lord of the Moon Palace.
• Chen Lin told Gu Siming he would ask the old servant about securing her permission to remain on Oddity Island.
• The old servant refused to grant Gu Siming long-term permission or let her earn it through a task, but said there might be another way to enter and leave the island freely.

Chen Lin learned that Oddity Island depended on abyss crystals gathered in the dangerous Abyss, and received golden wheat and fluorescent rice from Elder Qi and his wife. After warning Gu Siming about the risks of entering, he learned that upheaval was imminent and flew off the island before daybreak.

• Elder Qi explained that abyss crystals could be exchanged for points and that the Abyss could be entered through the offering at the Thatch Cottage.
• Chen Lin learned outsiders could enter with an Oddity’s introduction and guarantee, then exchanged part of his reward for fifty jin of golden wheat and received ten jin of fluorescent rice.
• Chen Lin told Gu Siming how to gain an official identity and offered to vouch for her alone; she said she would consult her lineage.
• Elder Qi warned Chen Lin that upheaval on the island was about to begin and urged him to leave before daybreak.
• Chen Lin spread his Soul Wings and flew toward the island’s edge with Gu Siming.

After leaving Oddity Island, Chen Lin and his companions escaped the Sea of Despair and chose a route back toward the Gen Domain. Luo Sanhuai departed to seek the dangerous Great Handprint Secret Realm, while Chen Lin, Gu Siming, and Liu Rumian continued aboard Gu Siming’s shuttle, only to be struck by an enormous Silk of Light.

• Chen Lin confirmed the group was safe, and the island’s light barrier vanished after they escaped.
• The group chose to return through the route they knew, avoiding the Sea of Despair’s central region and the bizarre woman.
• After they emerged safely, Gu Siming decided to travel with Chen Lin, while Luo Sanhuai left to explore the Great Handprint Secret Realm and gave Chen Lin a jade talisman for contacting Yan Xiaodie.
• Chen Lin traded Gu Siming fluorescent rice for time crystals, and she promised to obtain light of law for the time law.
• Chen Lin, Gu Siming, and Liu Rumian set off aboard Gu Siming’s Flying Shuttle, but an enormous Silk of Light struck it and jolted it out of the void.

Chen Lin and Gu Siming were ambushed by Huyan Wushuang, Li Fuyao, and their companions, but Chen Lin's counterattack killed Xiaocheng and turned the fight into a fierce clash. Huyan Wushuang empowered Li Fuyao with a radiant sphere as the battle escalated.

• The Azure Flying Shuttle was forced from the void by a mid true realm attack, revealing Huyan Wushuang, Li Fuyao, an old man, and another man.
• Huyan Wushuang insulted Chen Lin and dismissed the Alliance, while the old man offered Gu Siming a chance to leave before attacking Chen Lin.
• The old man struck Chen Lin by surprise, but the Heaven-Swallowing Golden Toad swallowed the saber light; Gu Siming's Fishing Rod was briefly pinned by the old man's Skeleton Ring.
• Huyan Wushuang and Li Fuyao joined the old man's assault on Chen Lin, while their companion attacked Tianshu; Chen Lin's counterattacks killed Xiaocheng, and Tianshu escaped the old man's Skeleton Hand.
• Tianshu unleashed his Darkness Domain, and Chen Lin filled the sky with fireflies from the Firefly Divine Ability.
• Huyan Wushuang ordered her companions to kill everyone and used a radiant sphere to pour power into Li Fuyao, making her aura climb.

Chen Lin and Gu Siming fought the three Huyan Lineage cultivators, using their secret arts and treasures to turn the battle around. After Huyan Wushuang and the old man fell, Li Fuyao remained a threat, and Gu Siming suddenly vanished after pressing the orb to her brow.

• Chen Lin learned that Gu Siming could not reuse the Box of Time, then sent her to fight the old man while he faced Li Fuyao and Huyan Wushuang.
• Chen Lin attacked Li Fuyao with the Black Little Sword, which pierced her colorful radiance and weakened her aura, while Huyan Wushuang unleashed her Red Ribbon and began forming a deadly pattern.
• Chen Lin used Death Gaze and the Soul Confrontation Secret Art on Huyan Wushuang, leaving her unable to resist as Tianshu swallowed her.
• Gu Siming used Lifespan Confrontation to exhaust the old man's remaining lifespan, and he died while Chen Lin's sword continued to hold Li Fuyao at bay.
• Gu Siming warned Chen Lin that Li Fuyao was about to break free, then pressed the orb to her brow and vanished in a burst of light.

Chen Lin and his companions faced a boy and a talking bird who sought the black Divine Sword, but their attacks failed against the pair’s strange abilities. As Gu Siming prepared to teleport them away, the bird realized the Rainbow Realm had supposedly been struck by a World-Extinguishing Talisman and questioned how it still existed.

• After Li Fuyao escaped, Chen Lin kept the black sword, and Gu Siming identified it as an eternal-grade treasure.
• A chubby boy and the white bird confronted Chen Lin’s group and demanded the Divine Sword, saying Chen Lin had to die because the sword carried his aura.
• Chen Lin and his companions attacked, but their techniques passed harmlessly through the boy; Tianshu’s Darkness Domain and Chen Lin’s Silence Technique helped reveal the boy’s hidden position before the pair vanished.
• The boy and the bird argued, while Gu Siming secretly prepared a teleportation treasure to help the group escape.
• The boy and the bird recognized Chen Lin’s Firefly Divine Ability as belonging to the Moon Palace and discussed the Rainbow Realm as a place from an ancient story.
• The bird asked how the Rainbow Realm could still exist and retain Heaven and Earth Essence Qi if a World-Extinguishing Talisman had struck it.

Chen Lin stalled Boss Bai and Little Chubby Boy with a poem while Gu Siming prepared an escape. After she transported the group away, she collapsed, and Chen Lin used life essence and the Black and White Jade Pendant to try to keep her alive as his danger warning persisted.

• Chen Lin challenged Boss Bai's refinement and recited a flattering poem, satisfying the bird and persuading it to delay its attack.
• When Gu Siming activated her escape, Boss Bai sealed the area and Little Chubby Boy shot at Chen Lin, but the group vanished in the azure light.
• Little Chubby Boy blamed Boss Bai for letting them escape, while the bird flew after the group and took the larger Muddled Fruit with it.
• Gu Siming transported Chen Lin and the others through a strange time-law effect before telling Chen Lin to take her back to his plane.
• The group emerged from the Void, where Chen Lin found Gu Siming unconscious and near death, treated her, and infused the Black and White Jade Pendant with advanced soul source as his danger warning remained.

Chen Lin escaped to the Kaiyuan Realm with Liu Rumian, Tianshu, and Gu Siming by forcing the damaged Black Crystal Insect to open a passage, then spent three months unconscious recovering. After awakening, he learned Gu Siming had left for Yesterday Manor and began assessing the damaged treasure and his other spoils.

• Chen Lin used soul origin essence to widen a passage with the Black Crystal Insect, damaging it, then carried Gu Siming through with Liu Rumian and Tianshu.
• A white bird arrived too late to stop them, then transformed into a white-robed young man and flew off to explore the realm.
• Chen Lin woke after three months unconscious, and Chen Ling'er told him Gu Siming had left for Yesterday Manor using a Realm-Breaking Talisman.
• Chen Lin learned that Aunt Liu and the Great Cyan Pill were investigating mysterious corrosive ore in the Seafloor Trench, while White Moonlight and Feng Changqing were in hiding.
• Chen Lin examined the damaged Black Crystal Insect and his spoils, then found that the golden wheat and fluorescent rice could neither be cooked nor ground into flour.

Chen Lin met the newly human-shaped Feng Changqing, received pill liquid from the Great Cyan Pill, and learned about the Spirit-Sealing Cauldron and the possible power of a Wish Pill. He concluded that Huiye might have mistaken him for the Mysterious Fiend’s reincarnation, then watched the Great Cyan Pill subdue the Transparent Pill and react strangely to it.

• Chen Lin met Feng Changqing, learned of his exceptional cultivation talent, and planted a spiritual seal in him to prevent betrayal.
• The Great Cyan Pill gave Chen Lin a bottle of pill liquid and discussed the Spirit-Sealing Cauldron, identifying it as a Four Symbols Bagua Furnace and the Azure Leaf as a remnant of a spirit-nourishing tree.
• The Great Cyan Pill said a Wish Pill might restore someone if traces of them remained, leading Chen Lin to suspect Huiye had mistaken him for the Mysterious Fiend’s reincarnation.
• Chen Lin decided to maintain the appearance that he was the Fiend’s remaining trace while secretly seeking a way to manage the danger.
• The Great Cyan Pill opened the bottle and used cyan threads to restrain the Transparent Pill, then trembled and begged Chen Lin not to interrupt as he admired it.

Chen Lin let the Great Cyan Pill keep the Wish Pill as his Pill Companion in exchange for a favor, then asked the pill about golden wheat, fluorescent rice, and what it remembered of a high plane. The Great Cyan Pill identified the spirit rice and revealed that ore in the Seafloor Trench had restored some of his memories.

• The Great Cyan Pill weakened the Wish Pill and declared that he wanted her as his Pill Companion, while Chen Lin demanded an explanation.
• The Great Cyan Pill refused to help Chen Lin reach the True Realm and explained that the Wish Pill could only fulfill the wishes set by her refiner.
• Chen Lin agreed to give the Wish Pill to the Great Cyan Pill in exchange for a favor, and the pill safely embraced her.
• Chen Lin showed the Great Cyan Pill golden wheat and fluorescent rice, which the pill identified as spirit rice once bestowed by the Lord of the Moon Palace on Red Hair Old Ancestor.
• The Great Cyan Pill said Oddity Island was linked to the Abyss of Despair and a passage to a high plane, then revealed that ore in the Seafloor Trench had restored some of his memories.

Chen Lin questioned the Great Cyan Pill about the world beyond the Rainbow Realm and learned of the Boundary River, the Star Domain, and the Abyss. After learning how to prepare the spirit rice, he planned to seek chaos water and refine the Four Symbols Bagua Furnace, but the Xikuli Cloak still prevented him from returning to the Inner World.

• Chen Lin asked the Great Cyan Pill about his origins and the outside world, and learned that a princess had brought him to the Rainbow Realm and that Supremes were its highest known experts.
• After absorbing black ore, the Great Cyan Pill recalled that the Rainbow Realm lay within the Boundary River, near the Star Domain, while the Abyss lay beyond its other side.
• The Great Cyan Pill explained that the Nightmare Realm might exist both within the Boundary River and beyond it, and he could not recall how the princess entered the Rainbow Realm.
• The Great Cyan Pill told Chen Lin to cook the fluorescent rice and golden wheat with chaos water, Four Symbols fire, and a Bagua Furnace to strengthen yin-yang power and the Unique Secret Method.
• Chen Lin considered finding chaos water in the Inner World, but the Sword Will in the Xikuli Cloak's hole kept him from returning, so he began restoring his soul and preparing to refine the Spirit-Sealing Cauldron.

Chen Lin used the Unnamed Treasure-Refining Formula to refine the Four Symbols Bagua Furnace, subduing its artifact spirit with Big Black Dog’s hair and claiming the cauldron as his own. Afterward, he told Chen Ling'er about the Boundary River and discovered that a booklet she had found might contain a written language matching the altar’s runes.

• Chen Lin prepared the altar and began refining the Four Symbols Bagua Furnace with Chen Ling'er’s help.
• Chen Ling'er showed Chen Lin a booklet whose runes resembled those appearing in the formation, and he asked to study it after the refinement.
• The cauldron’s artifact spirit attacked Chen Lin with the phantom Four Divine Beasts, but Big Black Dog’s hair suppressed it.
• Chen Lin absorbed the little beast’s consciousness, became the cauldron’s primary artifact spirit, and gained some of its pill-refining memories.
• Chen Lin explained his star domain stowaway origins and shared what he knew about the Boundary River and cultivation systems, urging Chen Ling'er to improve her life level.
• Chen Lin concluded that the booklet’s markings were likely a written language, then continued studying them.

After a century of cultivation, Chen Lin sent Tianshu to learn how the war was going and visited the Great Cyan Pill to ask for Memory Stones. The Great Cyan Pill gave him some ore and revealed that he had recovered a memory: the mystic runes Chen Lin had asked about were a form of writing.

• Chen Lin used the Four Symbols Bagua Furnace to improve his pill refining and cultivated his innate abilities, Seven-Star Shining Sun, Sword Dao, and Soul-Slicing Guillotine.
• After a hundred years, Chen Lin gave Tianshu a Communication Jade Talisman and instructed him to check the war, contact Elder Jin only if the situation was favorable, and keep the Heaven-Connecting River space node secret.
• Chen Lin visited the Seafloor Trench and found the Great Cyan Pill and Ruyuan watching yaoguai mine ore.
• Chen Lin asked the Great Cyan Pill for Memory Stones, and the Great Cyan Pill handed him several pieces of ore while saying he was experimenting with another use for them.
• The Great Cyan Pill told Chen Lin that he had recovered a little of his memory and that the mystic runes Chen Lin had asked about were a form of writing.

Chen Lin investigated the abyssal script on the altar and spent twenty years improving the Soul-Slicing Guillotine while waiting for Tianshu. When Tianshu returned, he reported that the Alliance had suffered three defeats after Red-Robed Cultivators joined the Dark Cultivators, leaving Chen Lin worried about the fate of the Sword Saint and Hong Tingzhen.

• The Great Cyan Pill told Chen Lin that the runes were abyssal script, recalling that a Princess had described similar inscriptions inside an abyss crystal.
• Chen Lin traced the altar’s possible connection to the Abyss to the gold-spotted soul-crossing stones Gu Siming had given him, but could not confirm their origin or contact her.
• Over twenty years, Chen Lin failed to advance his cultivation but raised the Soul-Slicing Guillotine to the true realm level by studying and testing it.
• While reflecting on old companions and Hong Tingzhen’s rapid rise, Chen Lin heard Chen Ling'er announce Tianshu’s return and went to meet him.
• Tianshu told Chen Lin that Red-Robed Cultivators had joined the Dark Cultivators about eighty years earlier and that the Alliance had lost all three major battles; Chen Lin asked whether the Sword Saint and Hong Tingzhen were still alive.