Chapter Summaries

Lu Yuan studied Klaus’s personal booklet and learned that Klaus followed the difficult Amber Eerie Path, which involved excavating and sealing away fragments of one’s human spirit. After deciding the method could still inform his own training, Lu Yuan agreed to revisit the Pipe Network with Bolen and Klaus to examine the Copper Pillars’ Inscriptions.

• Lu Yuan checked on the recovering Key and Worm of Knowledge, then read Klaus’s booklet about Qiao’s Amber Sealing Method and Klaus’s progress toward the Fifth Order.
• Lu Yuan concluded that the Amber method could not be replicated without following its path, but that its practice of excavating one’s spirit might help his own explorations.
• Bolen and Kael visited Lu Yuan, and Lu Yuan told Bolen that all the Night Watchers had returned from the Tower of Erudition ritual but none of its twenty-three students had survived.
• Bolen showed Lu Yuan a more complex Inscription ring and proposed examining the Copper Pillars in the Pipe Network again.
• Lu Yuan agreed to bring Klaus along and said they would arrange the trip after he recovered and consulted the Deputy Chief.

Kael stepped onto the path of Inscription Studies, and Bolen asked Lu Yuan to summon the Dwarves because the Tower of Erudition’s aura had become unstable. Hank visited Lu Yuan and explained that he had tried every cultivation method he could find to improve his sanity without success, leaving him to ask Lu Yuan for help.

• Lu Yuan recognized that Kael had become a Knowledge Transcendent in Inscription Studies, and Bolen celebrated his apprentice’s progress.
• Bolen told Lu Yuan that the Tower of Erudition’s aura and Bronze City’s Transcendence aura had become chaotic, then asked to borrow the Copper whistle to summon the Dwarves.
• Hank arrived with fruit wine, met Bolen and Kael, and said he wanted to discuss cultivating sanity with Lu Yuan.
• Hank explained that Eerie contamination and dependence on Potions threatened Night Watchers’ sanity, while top-tier Potions, talent, changing Paths, and useful items were out of reach for him.
• Hank told Lu Yuan he had tried every Night Watcher cultivation method suited to his Path, but none had helped his sanity, and the latest mission had left him the most badly injured among his brothers.

Lu Yuan explained that sanity and willpower were distinct, and that willpower could not prevent the damage caused by depleted sanity or bodily aberration. Hank reconsidered years of training and asked how Eerie Transcendents could improve their sanity.

• Bolen described the costly methods for raising sanity and explained that different Transcendence paths were unequal.
• Lu Yuan asked Hank whether he could sense sanity, and Hank recalled seeing an empty place in his mind after a Nightmare attacked him.
• Lu Yuan told Hank that willpower only helped him endure briefly while sanity remained, and that it could not prevent aberration.
• Hank realized his past survival had not been due to willpower, and Bolen clarified that willpower could only keep a mutated person conscious and restrained.
• Hank mentioned a senior whose sanity had stayed stable with a Transcendence weapon, and Bolen said the weapon had borne the burden for him.

Lu Yuan advised Hank to strengthen his sanity by visualizing the Nightmare, while Bolen revealed he had never heard of the method. The dwarf Green arrived, recruited Kael’s interest in inscription studies, and became captivated by Bolen’s bottle of Crystal Juice.

• Lu Yuan told Hank to picture the Nightmare every day as a way to cultivate sanity, and Hank left to try the practice.
• Bolen said Lu Yuan’s method was unknown to him and suggested that such an ability would be better used against eeries on the front lines.
• Green climbed through the window, recognized the copper whistle, and scolded Duo Huo Ke for giving it to Lu Yuan.
• Green recognized Bolen as a Third Order and pitched him a contract with the dwarf race, then gave Kael a marked stone slab and a copper flute to help him choose a path.
• Bolen took a bottle of Crystal Juice from his toolbox, and Green fixed his attention on it.

Green confirmed that the Dwarves had helped the Empire seal something in the Tower of Erudition and had also been hired by the Ascension Society. After buying Lu Yuan’s linked Ghoul Brain Cores, Bolen warned that the Dwarves’ presence signaled a risk of widespread Eerie contamination and said he planned to leave Bronze City with Kael after the Pipe Network mission.

• Green admitted that the Dwarves had made sealing inscriptions for the Empire in the Tower of Erudition and said the Ascension Society had hired Dwarves too.
• Green inspected Lu Yuan’s linked Ghoul Brain Cores, praised the concept despite their rough workmanship, and bought three with a Dwarf Coin.
• Green suggested Lu Yuan scale up his linked-inscription idea, then left after telling Kael to choose a good flute.
• Bolen told Lu Yuan he planned to leave Bronze City with Kael after the Pipe Network mission and urged Lu Yuan to leave as well, warning that Dwarves’ sealing work indicated a risk of Eerie things and pollution spreading.
• Bolen explained that the Dwarf Coin marked Dwarf recognition and could hire a Dwarf for a favor, while Kael revealed his specializations were Dark Inscription Studies and Eerie Inscription Studies.
• Bolen warned that Dark Inscription Studies was exceptionally rare and dangerous, though powerful for anyone who survived to the Third Order.

Lu Yuan received a custom Transcendent revolver that converted sanity into blazing bullets and named it Flame. After learning that Headquarters might issue new missions after tomorrow, he joined Hank, Bolen, Kael, and the other Night Watchers on a trip to the tavern as Bronze City returned to its usual trade and bustle.

• Bolen advised Kael to think carefully before choosing a direction, while Lu Yuan considered the Dwarves' involvement in the Tower of Erudition's seal and the Ascension Society.
• A Wanderer delivered Lu Yuan a custom revolver from Master's Hand, and Bolen identified its central sanity chamber as a feature of a man-made Transcendent weapon.
• Lu Yuan spent one point of sanity to form a blazing bullet, then named the revolver Flame and put it away.
• Bolen and Kael left with Lu Yuan, and Hank arrived with Night Watchers to invite Lu Yuan to a tavern and warn him that new missions might come after tomorrow.
• Lu Yuan invited Bolen and Kael to join the group, and they walked through Bronze City's busy streets as trade resumed after the Ghoul tide.

Lu Yuan visited a tavern with Hank and the others, where a Bard’s music revealed a subtle Transcendent effect and reminded him of Ancient Music Theory. After hearing talk of disrupted roads and increased church activity, Lu Yuan approached the Bard and recognized that the man knew he was a Night Watcher.

• Lu Yuan entered a Bronze City tavern with Hank, Bolen, Kael, and Frank and watched a group of Bards prepare to play.
• The middle-aged Bard’s music spread a faint calming Transcendent fluctuation that Lu Yuan connected to an underlying logic resembling Ancient Music Theory.
• The group ate and drank while Frank, Hank, a young Night Watcher, and the Bards shared reports of increased suspicious arrivals, church inspections, and sealed roads.
• Lu Yuan noticed Kael’s growing fascination with the Bards and approached their leader after several songs.
• Lu Yuan remarked on the principles behind the Bard’s music, and the man recognized his Night Watcher’s Badge.

Lu Yuan learned from the bard Haimeng that Ancient Music Theory had few practitioners and little practical use. Their evening was interrupted when Lu Yuan sensed pollution and saw members of The Tree carrying an incomplete plant construct while the Ascension Society pursued them; the two groups closed in as a mechanical pursuer aimed an Alchemy Flame weapon.

• Lu Yuan asked the middle-aged bard about Ancient Music Theory and learned that its knowledge had been passed down imperfectly and rarely proved useful.
• Lu Yuan paid for the drinks, learned the bard was named Haimeng, and returned to his companions as the tavern evening continued.
• Lu Yuan sensed a weak source of pollution outside, alerted Hank, and joined the Night Watchers as they left the tavern.
• Lu Yuan saw three people with dark green plant-like growths carrying an incomplete humanoid plant construct, whose aura resembled the branches from Baron Von Linde.
• Lu Yuan recognized four pursuers as Ascension Society members, including a Mechanical Augmentor whose arm unfolded into a device capable of spraying Alchemy Flame.

Lu Yuan and the Night Watchers confronted the Ascension Society in Bronze City as they pursued three people from The Tree. The leader escaped with the wooden man, but the Worm of Knowledge attached a faint thread to him, while the street fight continued.

• Lu Yuan interrupted the mechanical-armed Ascension Society member's charge with a shot from his new Flame, and the Night Watchers surrounded the group.
• The leader of the Ascension Society ordered two companions from The Tree to transform into Aberrants, sending branches lashing across the street.
• The leader carrying the wooden man slipped toward the Ascension Society, and the mechanical-armed man stopped his own companion from intercepting him.
• The leader escaped into a dark alley, and Lu Yuan sensed the Worm of Knowledge attach a thread to him.
• The Aberrants continued attacking as the civilians fled and shuttered themselves inside.

Lu Yuan and his allies defeated one Wooden Aberrant, but its hidden Forest Seed survived and began merging with the other Aberrant. The two creatures fused together as the chapter ended.

• Lu Yuan divided the group between the two Aberrants, while Bolen trapped the right one in an Inscription ring and Hank, Frank, and an Ascension Society member destroyed its body.
• Haimeng’s lute redirected the right Aberrant’s corrosive spray, protecting Hank and the others.
• Lu Yuan spotted a surviving Forest Seed in the right Aberrant’s remains and identified its core as its weakness.
• Lu Yuan’s first incendiary shot missed, and his second burned away the core’s outer layer without destroying it.
• Haimeng briefly disrupted the vine growing from the core, but it reached the left Aberrant and pulled the creatures’ remains together.
• The two Aberrants collided as dark-green veins spread between their bodies, beginning to merge them.

Lu Yuan and the others fought the newly fused Amalgam as its spores contaminated Kael and Milo and its core began to overload. Lu Yuan destroyed it with a special bullet, then learned Kael’s infection could only be treated with a difficult purification plan before it reached his heart.

• The Aberrants fused into an Amalgam that sprayed contaminated spores across the street, infecting Kael and Milo.
• Bolen turned his fury on the Amalgam while an Ascension Society member moved to kill the contaminated pair, but Lu Yuan stopped him with help from the mechanical-armed man.
• The Amalgam’s cores merged and began to overload, threatening to spread spores across the street.
• Haimeng halted the Amalgam’s expansion briefly, and Bolen’s Inscription stripped away its branches as Lu Yuan fired a white bullet into its core.
• The bullet unleashed Alchemy Flame inside the Amalgam and destroyed it before it could explode.
• Lu Yuan used Deep Study on Kael and found that hope, high-grade Holy Water, and Flame-type herbs could treat the infection, though the best plan had only an 81% success rate.

Lu Yuan brought the contaminated Kael and Milo to the Seed in Room 7, District C, where he prepared a Flame-based accelerant to help cure them. The chapter ended with Bolen opening the Seed’s inscriptions so its aura could fill the room.

• Lu Yuan used high-grade Holy Water to slow the contamination spreading through Kael and ordered Hank and Frank to carry the wounded men to Room 7, District C.
• Haimeng and the remaining members of his group departed, while Lu Yuan’s party hurried back to the branch and summoned Deputy Chief Klaus and supplies.
• Lu Yuan placed Kael and Milo beside the Seed and confirmed that the Holy Water was suppressing the contamination but would not be enough on its own.
• Lu Yuan used Deep Study to determine how to combine three Flame-type herbs with igniting essential oil into an accelerant.
• Lu Yuan asked Bolen to open the glass cover and activate every Inscription, causing the Seed to brighten and spread its warm presence throughout the room.

Lu Yuan treated Kael and Milo’s contamination with Holy Water and the Forest Seed’s aura, then arranged to pursue the Tree Man’s hidden master with Leike and Bolen. The three left the branch and headed into the inner city to track the threat.

• Lu Yuan mixed Holy Water into potions and used them to drive the contamination from Kael and Milo, stabilizing both of them.
• Lu Yuan told Hank and Frank to keep Kael and Milo in Room 7 overnight while the Seed’s aura continued neutralizing the remaining contamination.
• Lu Yuan told Klaus that he could track the escaped Tree Man and requested Leike’s help pursuing the force behind it; Klaus approved Leike’s deployment.
• Klaus warned Lu Yuan that Bronze City was becoming more dangerous and urged him to consider his future plans, but Lu Yuan chose to stay and hunt the hidden enemy.
• Lu Yuan met Leike in the backyard, and Bolen joined them at the branch entrance despite having used much of his strength.
• Lu Yuan, Leike, and Bolen left the branch and headed toward the inner city.

Lu Yuan, Leike, and Bolen followed a fading mark to the Hoffman Freight Company warehouse and uncovered a hidden passage beneath its cellar. They found a vast underground hall covered in gray-green Roots, but had not yet discovered what lay inside.

• Lu Yuan led Leike and Bolen into the inner city, where the mark stabilized and pointed to the Hoffman Freight Company warehouse.
• Leike sent bugs beneath the warehouse door and found that the guards were asleep; the three entered through a side passage.
• Leike and Bolen found no tainted aura in the warehouse, but Lu Yuan sensed that the mark led beneath the floor.
• Lu Yuan opened a hidden cellar passage by pressing a smooth brick, and Leike scouted the dark route with his bugs.
• Lu Yuan, Leike, and Bolen descended past an open iron door into a large underground hall covered in gray-green Roots.

Lu Yuan and Leike discovered a hidden root-filled chamber beneath Bronze City, where the Grey Covenant had turned dozens of conscious people into fertilizer and prepared Wooden Men on an altar. The Grey Covenant’s Fourth Order leader, Nine, emerged with two allies, and the prisoners silently begged Lu Yuan to save them as the enemies ordered the intruders to stay.

• Lu Yuan found the Tree Man leader fused into the roots and dozens of living people embedded in the chamber walls.
• Lu Yuan recognized that the roots connected to the Worm of Knowledge and discovered four Wooden Men on an altar, including constructs linked to earlier disappearances.
• Bolen confronted Leike over Bronze City's failure to detect the hidden nest, while Leike warned them to prepare for danger.
• Three Grey Covenant members emerged from hiding, and Lu Yuan identified their leader as the missing Fourth Order member codenamed Nine.
• The people trapped in the roots opened their eyes and desperately whimpered for help as Nine ordered Lu Yuan and the others to stay.

Lu Yuan, Bolen, and Leike were trapped in the Underground Hall as Nine and his Grey Covenant allies attacked. Lu Yuan used the Sealing Disk to suppress the two Third Order controllers, leaving the vines to run wild as he prepared to fight.

• Nine sealed the hall with vines, while Bolen's prepared Inscription began burning through them to reopen the escape route.
• Leike unleashed his Insect Tide against Nine, and Bolen protected himself and Lu Yuan from the spores while working to free their exit.
• Lu Yuan used Time Bestower to track Nine and identified the two Third Order Grey Covenant members controlling the root network.
• Lu Yuan spent the Sealing Disk's final charge near the controllers, suppressing their abilities and severing their control of the vines.
• The uncontrolled vines began devouring everything, and Lu Yuan drew Flame as he retreated.

Lu Yuan trapped himself with Nine after the vines divided the hall, then used Time Bestower and the Worm of Knowledge to strike back at the Fourth Order Transcendent. Nine’s attack sent Lu Yuan crashing toward the altar, where he activated Guard II as the vines closed in.

• Lu Yuan fired a sanity bullet and ten Copper-Shell Incendiary Bombs at the two Grey Covenant members, while the vines killed one and the other escaped among the Wooden Men.
• Nine took control of the root network, raised a vast vine wall that separated Lu Yuan from Leike and Bolen, and trapped Lu Yuan with him.
• Lu Yuan learned through the Symbiotic Link that the Worm of Knowledge was interested in the black-yellow aura around Nine and told it to wait for his signal.
• Lu Yuan activated Time Bestower as Nine attacked from behind, and the Worm of Knowledge traveled from Lu Yuan’s shoulder into Nine’s skin.
• Nine broke through the temporal barrier and blasted Lu Yuan toward the altar, where Lu Yuan activated Guard II as the vines closed in.

Lu Yuan used Deprivation and the Worm of Knowledge to weaken Nine, then spent more sanity to escape his attack with Stasis. Leike rescued Lu Yuan in his insect form and unleashed an Insect Tide, while Nine activated the altar Inscription and began draining the Root tissue’s remaining nutrients.

• Lu Yuan fired his last Copper-Shell Incendiary Bomb to sever the Grey Covenant member’s connection to the ground, then dodged the black water spilling from the vine-pierced body.
• Lu Yuan froze Nine with Time Bestower long enough for the Worm of Knowledge to enter Nine’s body, but Nine recovered and charged at him.
• With Nine and the black water closing in, Lu Yuan used Guard II a second time to restore his sanity and activate Stasis again.
• A massive insect tentacle broke through Stasis and dragged Lu Yuan away from the altar as Leike revealed his transformed insect body.
• Leike unleashed an Insect Tide that overwhelmed the hall, forcing Nine to retreat to the altar.
• Nine pressed the Inscription on the altar, causing the Root tissue to shudder and the vine-pierced bodies to be drained of their remaining nutrients.

Lu Yuan watched Leike’s Swarm Insects overwhelm the severely injured Nine after Bolen’s beam destroyed the altar’s power and the vine defenses. Just as the insects began dismantling Nine, black vascular tubes pulsed up from beneath the Stone Slabs and sent an unknown power into him, killing the insects around him.

• Bolen’s beam burned through the passage, destroyed much of the altar’s energy, killed two Third Order fighters, and left Nine severely injured but alive.
• Bolen’s inscriptions failed, but the damaged altar and withering vines caused the spores to thin out as Leike’s Swarm Insects broke through the defenses.
• Leike’s Insect Tide surrounded Nine and began devouring him, stripping away his body and multiplying from his flesh.
• Lu Yuan noticed the thin red threads beneath Nine swell into black vascular tubes that pulsed with power from underground.
• The unknown power suppressed the insects multiplying inside Nine, changed his aura, and caused nearby Swarm Insects to die and fall as hollow shells.

Leike recognized that the rampaging "9" would burn himself out, but Q appeared and sealed off the entrance, leaving Leike outmatched. Leike wrapped Lu Yuan and Bolen in the Insect Tide and fled toward another passage, while Lu Yuan sensed that the Worm of Knowledge feared an aura carried by Q.

• Leike used the Insect Tide to evade the unstable "9" and wear him down as his body burned through its strength.
• Q emerged from black liquid and attacked Bolen, but Leike's insectile tentacles struck him aside before he could land a direct hit.
• Leike realized Q had blocked their retreat and that the communication crystal had been cut off by a black membrane.
• Leike judged that he could not defeat the two Fourth Orders while protecting Lu Yuan and Bolen, and changed the Insect Tide's focus to escape.
• Leike encased Lu Yuan and Bolen in layers of insects and carried them toward a deeper passage.
• Lu Yuan felt the Worm of Knowledge recoil in fear of an aura carried by Q, then began to lose consciousness from exhaustion.