Recaps

Lu Yuan traded with the weakened Person on the Wall, offering to remove the Seed in exchange for releasing the people trapped by the domain. Back in the tower, he found the Great Ascendant fully parasitized and the Seed still lodged in the Skull, while the Worm of Knowledge refused to eat it.

• Lu Yuan entered the Person on the Wall’s domain and saw that the Seed had contaminated His left eye.
• Lu Yuan offered to pull out the Seed in exchange for freeing the Transcendents and ordinary people, and the Person on the Wall granted the Wish.
• Lu Yuan returned to the tower and used Time Bestower, finding the Great Ascendant frozen beside the Skull with Seed roots spreading through his mechanical body.
• Lu Yuan summoned the weakened Worm of Knowledge and asked it to eat the Seed roots in the Skull.
• The Worm of Knowledge refused because the Seed was beyond what it could safely consume, so Lu Yuan withdrew rather than touch the roots.

Lu Yuan saw Great Ascendant revive by channeling the power of the City of Chains, then touched the Key and awakened the Authority of the Sea of Knowledge. Great Ascendant recognized Lu Yuan carried another Taboo’s Authority and approached him in chains, preparing to challenge it.

• Great Ascendant restarted and used eerie green power from the City of Chains to push back Person on the Wall’s suppression.
• Great Ascendant proposed that he and Lu Yuan work together, but Lu Yuan rejected him and called him a Fourth Order.
• Lu Yuan touched the Key behind the Worm of Knowledge and activated the Sea of Knowledge’s Authority, which let him see the essences of objects as colors.
• Great Ascendant noticed Lu Yuan’s Authority, inferred that he carried traces of another Taboo, and said his blank file made sense.
• Great Ascendant summoned green chains and advanced toward Lu Yuan while claiming that Authorities differed in power.

Lu Yuan used the Authority of the Sea of Knowledge to strip the Great Ascendant of the City of Chains' power, then seized the Seed from the Skull. The Seed was removed and the Skull began to revive, while the Key absorbed some of the Seed's darkness.

• The Sea of Knowledge answered Lu Yuan's Authority, empowering him as he used Deprivation to strip the chains from the Great Ascendant.
• The Great Ascendant's chains failed to resist, and a Rift briefly revealed the ancient city and a furious figure inside its Cocoon of Chains, which threatened Lu Yuan.
• Lu Yuan approached the Skull and grabbed the Seed, with the Sea of Knowledge's river water dissolving its dark aura and erasing its attacking roots.
• Lu Yuan tore the Seed from the Skull's eye socket, and the Key absorbed some of its power as the Worm of Knowledge retreated in fear.
• Silver-white light burst from the Skull as its black markings receded, while the Great Ascendant's powerless metal skeleton fell to the platform.

Leike alerted the Guardian to the crisis at the Tower of Erudition, but an Empire agent persuaded the Guardian to stand down. Inside the tower, Klaus and the others found Lu Yuan beside the recovered Skull and the fallen Great Ascendant, whose consciousness had been erased.

• Leike learned from Glock that the Main Tower had been sealed and its occupants had lost consciousness, then hurried to find the Guardian.
• The Guardian sensed the Sea of Knowledge flooding toward the tower, but an Empire agent stopped him with a written order and medal and asked him to prevent others from intervening.
• The Guardian turned back, and he told Leike that someone else had gone to handle the situation.
• Klaus reached the top floor and heard Lu Yuan explain that the Person on the Wall had awakened, the Seed had been removed, and the Great Ascendant had suffered retaliation.
• Arthur, the Dean, Adrian, and Agnes arrived and saw the Great Ascendant’s motionless metal skeleton beside the Circular Platform.
• Adrian examined the Great Ascendant and told Lu Yuan that his drive core was missing and his consciousness had been wiped clean.

Lu Yuan and the others confirmed that the Person on the Wall had killed the Great Ascendant’s old body and stripped the Seed from the Skull. The Great Ascendant arrived in a new mechanical body after transferring his consciousness, and the team prepared to descend into The Abyss.

• Arthur confirmed that the Skull’s Inscription was intact and its Seed was gone, and Lu Yuan showed Klaus the withered Seed.
• Klaus ordered the summit sealed while the group left the Main Tower and learned that the Guardian had turned back after an unknown person said the matter was being handled.
• The Great Ascendant arrived with several dozen Black-Robed Mechanical Constructs and revealed that the Ascension Society could transfer Fourth Order consciousness into new bodies.
• The Great Ascendant announced that he would retrieve his old body and that the group would head for The Abyss.
• Lu Yuan drank a Sanity Potion, and the Great Ascendant privately remarked on his method before returning to his troop.

Klaus and the other leaders agreed on a combined plan for descending into the Abyss beneath Bronze City, then gathered their forces at Old Council Square. Klaus warned Lu Yuan that the Great Ascendant’s consciousness transfers weakened him and that he would prioritize his own survival; the chapter ended as the Great Ascendant asked whether everyone had arrived.

• Adrian urged a cautious descent with Fourth Orders leading, church members purifying Carrion Fungus, and enough defenders left aboveground, while the Great Ascendant argued for committing enough people to clear a route and gather information.
• After a tremor shook the ground, Klaus ordered all three sides to send people, with Fourth Orders leading, the Ascension Society taking point, and the church handling purification.
• On the way to Old Council Square, Klaus told Lu Yuan to watch the Great Ascendant and reasoned that each consciousness transfer weakened him, making him more likely to protect himself underground.
• Lu Yuan and Klaus arrived at the square, where the Iron Guard Battalion, Holy Armor Army, and church Monks had sealed off the area around the descent entrance.
• The Great Ascendant arrived with a formation of Born and asked Klaus whether everyone was present.

Klaus organized the descent into the Pipe Network Layer and assigned teams from the Night Watchers, church, and Ascension Society. Hilde’s report revealed that Bronze Sin was spreading faster than expected, the collapse sites were worsening underground, and the sealing function could fail within two months; the chapter left the group preparing to investigate the full Bronze Sin network below.

• Klaus assigned Leike, Bishop Adrian, and the Great Ascendant to lead the descent, with Lu Yuan, Agnes and two Nuns, and the Ascension Society’s Born accompanying them while he and Glock guarded the surface.
• Blue Knight arrived as the Earl’s Mansion representative, and Hilde Winter returned from the Pipe Network Layer with a report.
• Hilde reported accelerating Bronze Sin spillover and secondary collapses at five refilled Collapse Points; Glock added that three more minor collapses had appeared and Carrion Fungus was growing at the sites.
• Hilde estimated that Bronze Sin would exceed the controllable range and its sealing function would fail within two months, so Klaus ordered Glock to revise the contingency plans.
• Hilde explained that the four Bronze Sin Pillars were nodes in a much larger network and said the descent would investigate the network, its emergence, and whether a Curse or living creature was sealed below.

Klaus’s team opened the route into The Abyss and descended through the reinforced Copper Plate layers, with Lu Yuan detecting rising pollution below. At the entrance to the deeper passage, Lu Yuan handed Leike two sets of Tandem Brain Cores before the team proceeded.

• Margaret distributed supplies, and Klaus ordered the team to carry extra Copper-Shell Incendiary Bombs.
• The Blue Knight joined the descent team at the Earl’s request, and Glock’s soldiers removed the Copper Plate covering the Collapse Point.
• The Born formation, Leike, Adrian, the Great Ascendant, Agnes, the nuns, and Lu Yuan descended the ladder into the Pipe Network Layer.
• Leike unlocked the deeper Copper Plate barrier, and the team pushed it aside as Lu Yuan detected a weak Source of Pollution below.
• Lu Yuan took two sets of Tandem Brain Cores from his oilcloth pouch and handed them to Leike.

Lu Yuan and the others descended into the fungus-infested underground passage, protected by Adrian’s blessing and carrying Ghoul Brain Cores to mask their Transcendence fluctuations. Above ground, the River of Light ruptured and Arthur rushed to the Tower of Erudition after learning that someone had begun the Fourth Fishing; underground, Lu Yuan’s group reached a vast collapse and discovered that polluted creatures were approaching from every direction.

• Lu Yuan handed Ghoul Brain Cores linked with Eerie Inscriptions to the group, and Adrian’s Scripture blessed everyone except the Great Ascendant with Holy Light that purified the Carrion Fungus.
• Leike led the descent, followed by the Born, Adrian’s group, the Blue Knight, and finally Lu Yuan, while colored fragments drifted across the sky above them.
• The River of Light above the Tower of Erudition burst apart, and Arthur said someone had started the Fourth Fishing before running back to the tower.
• Klaus ordered Glock to keep the exit open and maintain the blockade, then went with Hilde toward the Tower of Erudition.
• Lu Yuan’s group reached an enormous underground collapse, where Gray-White Text warned that Sources of Pollution were approaching from every direction and countless eyes lit up in the darkness.

Lu Yuan detected and captured a Great Ghoul parasitized by the Forest Seed, then warned that its infection could make the ancient seal beneath Bronze City ineffective. The chapter ended with the creature’s woody roots reaching for his copper knife, demonstrating its hunger for copper and its ability to spread.

• The Born held off the Great Ghouls while Adrian’s Holy Light cleared Fungal Hyphae and the others defended the group.
• Lu Yuan spotted a Forest Seed-parasitized Wood-Armored Ghoul retreating into a dark passage and ordered the Blue Knight to catch it.
• The Blue Knight killed the attacking Great Ghouls and bound the Wood-Armored Ghoul, bringing it before Lu Yuan and Adrian.
• Lu Yuan identified the creature as a polluted entity whose life essence had been replaced by the Forest Seed, and warned Adrian that such infections could undermine the Ghoul seal beneath Bronze City.
• Lu Yuan stabbed the creature with a copper knife, and woody roots erupted from its wound to reach for the copper and his glove.

Lu Yuan’s team pushed deeper into the Abyss as the Tower of Erudition’s connection to the Sea of Knowledge destabilized. Above ground, Kame began the Fourth Fishing using the Old Dean as a medium, while Klaus and the others found themselves unable to intervene; underground, the exploration team advanced toward the Seal Center and encountered a sudden halt.

• Lu Yuan realized the Worm of Knowledge was reacting to a vast disturbance at the Tower of Erudition, while the woodenized Ghoul was sent back to the surface for study.
• Klaus, Hilde, Arthur, and Calvin learned that Kame had returned, seized the Old Dean and Selina, and begun the Fourth Fishing in the Main Control Room.
• Klaus and the others found the Old Dean pierced by energy beams as Kame and K channeled knowledge into a black fragment, but Arthur warned that breaking in would unleash the Sea of Knowledge on Bronze City.
• Adrian ordered a Born to carry the bound Wood-Armored Great Ghoul to the surface, and Lu Yuan’s team continued toward the Seal Center as the remaining Ghouls fled.
• At the next rocky bend, the two Born at the front stopped, and the light in their eye sockets went out.

Lu Yuan's team discovered that a Forest Seed-like organism had paralyzed the Born by devouring and replacing copper inside them, while the Great Ascendant moved the remaining Born to the rear and Adrian sent a nun to warn the surface. At the Collapse Point, a Born that had carried a Wood-Armored Great Ghoul climbed back up fused with it, but the Copper Plate's Seal Inscription suppressed its roots.

• The Great Ascendant opened a stalled Born and found bluish-green roots eating its copper components and replacing them with woody fibers.
• The Great Ascendant confirmed the roots could corrode even his alloy arm, then moved the remaining Born to the back of the group without sending them to the surface.
• Lu Yuan worried that the organism could threaten the copper Bronze Pillars and the Born carrying the Wood-Armored Great Ghoul, while the Great Ascendant noted that the Copper Plate Protective Barriers remained intact.
• Adrian ordered Agnes to send a nun to the surface with a warning about the contamination.
• Glock saw the Born climb out of the Collapse Pit fused with the Wood-Armored Great Ghoul, and ordered everyone to retreat when the Seal Inscription on the Copper Plate burned back its spreading roots.

Margaret contained the Amalgam after learning that metal-devouring roots had corroded the Born, while Lu Yuan’s team descended deeper into The Abyss and found the fifth Bronze Sin being eroded by Forest Seed. As they fought the Ghouls gathered around it, a huge creature emerged from the darkness behind the pillar.

• Margaret sealed the Amalgam in a container and learned from a nun that roots underground devoured metal, especially copper, and had corroded the Born’s internal structures.
• Lu Yuan’s team continued deeper into The Abyss, where Forest Seed-infected Ghouls had become increasingly common.
• Lu Yuan scattered Copper Powder at a three-way fork, drawing several infected Ghouls out of their caves and revealing that they made up roughly thirty to forty percent of the Ghouls there.
• The team found a large cavern containing a damaged Bronze Sin, whose inscriptions were being consumed by blue-gray roots as infected Ghouls gathered around it.
• Leike and the Blue Knight fought the Ghouls, while Lu Yuan noticed that the infected ones moved toward the pillar; then a huge creature crawled out from behind it.

Lu Yuan studied the Copper Pillar while Leike, the Blue Knight, and Adrian fought and killed a Giant Chimera Ghoul. Touching the pillar’s Inscription triggered a vision of its ancient origin and a vast force being sealed in an Abyss, leaving Lu Yuan connected to the same source as the Inscription.

• Leike, the Blue Knight, and Adrian attacked the Giant Chimera Ghoul while Lu Yuan concealed himself with Tandem Brain Cores and examined the Copper Pillar’s Inscription.
• The three Transcendents killed the Chimera, and Adrian used Holy Light to burn away roots encroaching on the pillar before warning that the Inscription’s reserves would not last much longer.
• Lu Yuan felt pain in his left eye when his Seeker perception entered the Inscription and detected an ancient presence from the same source as his own path.
• Lu Yuan saw a vision of a man awakening Inscription across Bronze Pillars around an Abyss.
• Lu Yuan saw the Inscription form a net that forced a massive resisting outline deeper into the Abyss, while corpses covered the wasteland and one person remained standing.

Lu Yuan saw a vision of the Bronze City’s creator shattering a control object and scattering its fragments among Copper Pillars in The Abyss, then continued exploring the inscription network with the group. They descended through increasingly dangerous passages and reached a vast space filled with the stench of decay.

• Lu Yuan touched a Copper Pillar and saw the city’s creator scatter fragments of a glowing object into Copper Pillars before seemingly noticing him.
• Lu Yuan learned that the Bronze City Seal Hub might be externally controlled, and he told Agnes the inscriptions pointed toward another Copper Pillar.
• The Great Ascendant, Adrian, and the Blue Knight agreed to continue deeper, following the inscriptions through passages where Corpse Rot Fungus rapidly regrew.
• The group fought waves of Ghouls as Lu Yuan mapped the passages and found that Forest Seed infection had become more prevalent at greater depths.
• At the third fork, the passage opened into a vast space filled with a strong, cloying stench of decay.

Lu Yuan and the others attacked a vast hive of Great Ghouls clustered around a Bronze Pillar, whose Inscription was being eaten away. As the group fought through the endless swarm, Lu Yuan noticed that the attacking Ghouls showed no signs of Forest Seed infection.

• Lu Yuan saw Forest Seed Infected clinging to the Bronze Pillar and realized the Ghouls were consuming its Inscription.
• Leike, the Blue Knight, Adrian, and the Great Ascendant prepared to fight after learning the hive far exceeded their estimates.
• Adrian blasted the Ghouls off the pillar with Holy Light, drawing a tide of Great Ghouls toward the group.
• Leike unleashed his flesh-worm swarm, the Blue Knight cut down Ghouls with threads, and the Great Ascendant smashed them with his fists.
• Adrian raised a Holy Light barrier for the group and carefully kept it from touching Lu Yuan's Turbid Qi.
• Lu Yuan watched the battle and noticed that every attacking Great Ghoul was uninfected, unlike the Forest Seed Infected on the pillar.

Lu Yuan and Adrian reached the Copper Pillar, where they found a Serpentine Chimera fused from a Ghoul and a Forest Seed and feeding on the Inscription. The group attacked it with Swarm Insects, Holy Light, and the Blue Knight’s Rapier, leaving the Chimera badly wounded but still struggling.

• Lu Yuan saw Forest Seed Infected command ordinary Ghouls as cannon fodder while guarding the Copper Pillar.
• Leike, the Blue Knight, and the Great Ascendant cleared a path, allowing Lu Yuan and Adrian to approach the pillar.
• The Infected formed a living barrier, revealing the Serpentine Chimera coiled around the Copper Pillar and boring into its Inscription.
• Lu Yuan identified Holy Light as the Chimera’s weakness, and Adrian summoned a Holy Eye that burned the cavern’s fungus and scorched the creature.
• Leike covered the Chimera with Swarm Insects while the Blue Knight struck its roots with her Rapier, and the Great Ascendant charged in as it writhed under their assault.

The Blue Knight and the Great Ascendant weakened the Serpentine Chimera’s hold on the Copper Pillar while fighting off its attacks and the arriving Ghoul horde. With the Inscription beginning to repair and reinforcements approaching, Lu Yuan asked Leike to carry him to the pillar.

• The Serpentine Chimera split into several faster bodies and filled the cavern with spores as Lu Yuan took Purification and Antidote Potions.
• The Blue Knight parried the Chimera’s attacks while Great Ghouls and additional Chimeras poured into the cavern.
• The Blue Knight unleashed a scarlet shockwave that severed roots and swept away more than half of the incoming Ghouls.
• The Great Ascendant burned and broke apart the damaged roots, loosening the Serpentine Chimera’s connection to the Copper Pillar.
• Lu Yuan saw the Inscription begin to repair itself as more Ghouls approached, then asked Leike to get him to the pillar.
• Leike formed a passage of Swarm Insects across the cavern toward the Copper Pillar.

Lu Yuan reached the Copper Pillar and discovered that it held the second Key Fragment, along with a warning that the fragments could help him fight when the seal failed. Connecting to the fragments activated the pillar’s defense and drew a larger Ghoul swarm, forcing the group to retreat.

• Leike’s Insect Tunnel carried Lu Yuan alone to the Copper Pillar while Adrian stayed behind to hold off the Ghouls.
• Lu Yuan examined the damaged pillar and found that most of its Inscription remained intact.
• Touching the pillar gave Lu Yuan a vision in which the faceless man warned that the seal had failed, explained the Key Fragments’ purpose, and cautioned him not to remove them all at once.
• Lu Yuan received the second fragment, learned that the fragments could point him toward the others, and suspected the Grey Covenant had been searching for them.
• Lu Yuan’s connection to the fragments triggered the Copper Pillar’s defense, unleashing crushing pressure and drawing an even larger tide of Ghouls.
• Lu Yuan called for retreat, and Leike’s swarm carried him, the Great Ascendant, and the Blue Knight away as Agnes and the nun followed Adrian.

Lu Yuan and the others retreated through tunnels overrun by Great Ghouls and rapidly spreading Corpse Rot Fungus while the Born held the enemy back with fire. The group continued toward the surface, and the Great Ascendant kept a living Serpentine Chimera fragment to take back for research.

• Lu Yuan saw Great Ghouls pour into the cavern as the Corpse Rot Fungus spread, and Adrian used the Holy Eye to cover the group's retreat.
• The Great Ascendant carried a still-living fragment of the Serpentine Chimera and discovered that Forest Seed roots had contaminated several Born.
• The Great Ascendant ordered the less-contaminated Born to retreat and the rest to form a line and attack the Ghouls with flamethrowers and Copper-Shell Incendiary Bombs.
• Adrian withdrew after the Born blocked the tunnel, and the group ran upward while the Born continued fighting behind them.
• Lu Yuan noticed the Blue Knight washing contamination from her clothes with water as they climbed toward the surface.
• Adrian questioned why the Great Ascendant was carrying the fragment, and the Great Ascendant said the Ascension Society would study its ability to consume copper.

The team inspected the Born and found that the Corpse Rot Fungus had corroded their copper components, then climbed out of the Collapse Pit. Aboveground, Leike discovered that the Sea of Knowledge was leaking near the Tower of Erudition, where Klaus and Hilde had gone.

• The Great Ascendant inspected several Born and found shallow corrosion on their copper components, while their iron parts remained mostly intact.
• The Great Ascendant judged the damage minor and sent the Born up the ladder, followed by Adrian, Lu Yuan, and himself.
• Leike emerged from the Collapse Pit and asked Glock to obtain a Containment Vessel for the still-living Serpentine Chimera fragment.
• Leike saw colorful Fragments leaking across the sky near the Tower of Erudition and learned that Klaus and Hilde had gone there after an explosion.
• Margaret arrived at the Collapse Pit as Glock returned with an Iron Guard Battalion soldier carrying a sealed container.

After the first dive, Lu Yuan mapped the tunnels and concluded the next expedition needed to descend deeper, while Klaus stayed behind to contain the crisis at the Tower of Erudition. The chapter ended with Hilde reporting that the expanding River of Light was overwhelming the city’s defenses as Klaus asked how far the harvest had progressed.

• Leike sealed the Serpentine Chimera fragment in a container as Adrian, Lu Yuan, the Great Ascendant, and the Born climbed out of the Collapse Pit.
• Margaret reported that the River of Light above the Tower of Erudition had exploded and that Klaus had ordered everyone to finish their underground work and prepare for a second dive without approaching the tower.
• Lu Yuan mapped the tunnels, identified the Copper Pillars as outer Anchor Points, and concluded that the next dive should follow passages descending more steeply toward the Seal Network’s core.
• Klaus and Arthur failed to find a safe way through the Crystal Protective Gate while the Old Dean’s condition worsened inside the Main Control Room.
• Hilde reported that the River of Light was expanding, the Silver Needles were failing within seconds, and people on the outskirts were developing symptoms; Klaus asked what stage the harvest had reached.

The Guardian entered the Tower of Erudition and sealed the Sea of Knowledge’s breach with a giant Black Eyeball. He then destroyed Kame and cornered K, while the Old Dean remained trapped in the Sarcophagus as the harvest continued.

• Klaus warned Arthur that the Old Dean could not endure the harvest to its end.
• The Guardian appeared in the corridor and sent a giant Black Eyeball through the tower roof to stop the Sea of Knowledge from overflowing.
• The Guardian shattered the barriers around the Main Control Room and approached Kame and K.
• The Guardian caused Black Eyeballs to emerge from Kame’s body, and Kame collapsed into sludge.
• K tried to escape by liquefying his body, but Black Eyeballs emerged wherever he fled and blocked every route.

The Guardian killed K and held the breach in the Sea of Knowledge shut while Arthur freed the Old Dean and began shutting down the harvest program. Lu Yuan and the others rushed to the Tower of Erudition as the Guardian’s darkness began to fade, and Leike found a way through it.

• The Guardian pinned K beneath a mass of eyeballs until K died, while Klaus asked Margaret to send every Suppression Potion for the Guardian to the Tower of Erudition.
• Arthur disconnected the Old Dean from the Sarcophagus and began shutting down the harvest program as the Guardian held the breach closed.
• Lu Yuan saw the Guardian’s enormous eyeball block the flow of knowledge fragments and led the Blue Knight, the Great Ascendant, Adrian, and Leike toward the tower.
• The group reached the shrinking darkness around the Tower of Erudition, and Lu Yuan realized the Guardian’s power was fading.
• Leike tested the darkness with a swarm of insects, pulled them back, and said they could enter.

Lu Yuan and the others entered the Tower of Erudition, where they found the Guardian severely Eerie-fied after the Grey Covenant forced Old Dean to initiate the harvest. Margaret brought potions and supplies, and Lu Yuan began using Deep Study to examine them for a way to help the Guardian.

• Great Ascendant punched open the Guardian's domain wall, and Lu Yuan's group entered the domain.
• Lu Yuan found Calvin Morton, Selina, and other mentors unconscious outside the Tower of Erudition and continued inside with the others.
• The group followed the destruction to the Main Control Room, where Arthur was shutting down the Fishing Channel and Old Dean and an Eerie Transcendent lay dead.
• Klaus explained that the Grey Covenant had used Old Dean to force the harvest, prompting the Guardian to act and leaving him close to complete Eerie-fication.
• Margaret arrived with potions and supplies, and Lu Yuan activated Deep Study to examine them.