Chapter Summaries

Bai Xiaowen examined the Skeleton Champion and Vengeful Spirit added to the Black Soul Stone and considered the mystery of the Ghost Clan summon. He left off weighing the Vengeful Spirit’s unusual abilities and the possibility that Goliya had grown stronger while Aaron Plane World’s time advanced.

• Bai Xiaowen found no enhancement options for the Skeleton Champion or Vengeful Spirit in the fifth layer of the Enhancement Blueprint and decided to save his chances to Devour souls.
• Bai Xiaowen inspected the Skeleton Champion’s skills and judged its Whirlwind Slash useful for damage, knockback, and interrupts.
• Bai Xiaowen examined the Vengeful Spirit’s attributes and skills, including its Spirit-draining Venomous Resentment and its physical evasion.
• Bai Xiaowen asked Delifa why a Ghost Clan creature appeared in the Black Soul Stone, but Delifa could not explain its origin and said her memories were sealed.
• Bai Xiaowen recalled Goliya and considered how Aaron Plane World’s accelerated time might have allowed her to grow stronger.
• Bai Xiaowen returned his attention to the Vengeful Spirit and noted that its Venomous Resentment could be effective against enemies with low Spirit.

Bai Xiaowen strengthened his Undead Disguise and traveled to the Undead Sinkhole to meet Li Shuyi. After she arrived, the two set off into the sinkhole together, leaving the other Awakened behind.

• Bai Xiaowen used the Drowning Bones from Yinwind Ridge to upgrade his Undead Disguise to intermediate grade, gaining faster stamina recovery in the Ghost Mist Zone.
• Bai Xiaowen traveled toward the Undead Sinkhole, where he encountered Ruan Chong and later saw Wang Jin, Geng Chen, Duanmucheng, Bao Yiming, and Qi Ruifeng among the gathered Awakened.
• Ruan Chong praised Qi Ruifeng for completing an A-Tier Elite Quest, and Bai Xiaowen pretended to be impressed as the Awakened discussed the achievement.
• Li Shuyi arrived and mocked Ruan Chong's boast, while Bai Xiaowen defended her and told Ruan Chong to take back his insult.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi entered the Undead Sinkhole together without waiting for the other Jinghai University students.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi reunited in the Undead Sinkhole, exchanged Gold Equipment, and celebrated their growing strength. When Bao Yiming tried to join their party, they escaped by gliding into the depths of the sinkhole.

• After Bai Xiaowen entered the Undead Sinkhole, awakened students from several universities followed in successive groups.
• Bai Xiaowen told Li Shuyi about his battles, his Level 5 Black Soul Stone, and his new Dark Gold accessory, Absolon's Blood Essence Stone.
• Bai Xiaowen gave Li Shuyi the Ghost Mist Veil, and Li Shuyi gave him the Ghost Pauldrons, raising his Spirit to 50.
• Bao Yiming approached Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi and asked to join their party, but they refused.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi leaped from the narrow slope and used his Tribal Feather Cloak to glide deeper into the Undead Sinkhole, leaving Bao Yiming behind.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi explored the Pale Mire, tested the Blood Essence Stone against Swamp Giant Crabs, and confronted a regenerating Swamp Hydra. Bai Xiaowen learned how to defeat the hydra, which tried to flee before his Skeleton Champion blocked its path.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi reached the Pale Mire and avoided a deep bog after Bai Xiaowen sensed danger.
• Li Shuyi defeated a Swamp Giant Crab by repeatedly striking the same spot, and Bai Xiaowen stored its corpse for later cooking.
• Bai Xiaowen discovered that only his own attacks could activate the Blood Essence Stone and began filling its Life Value capacity by fighting two more crabs.
• Bai Xiaowen tested the Swamp Hydra's regeneration and found that each destroyed head regenerated after ten seconds with decreasing Life Value, eventually reaching one point.
• The Swamp Hydra tried to flee, but Bai Xiaowen summoned his Skeleton Champion to block its path.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi defeated a Marsh Hydra and two Mudflat Snakefolk, demonstrating the strength of Bai Xiaowen’s new summons. After the Snakefolk Priest’s chest yielded no ordinary loot, Li Shuyi found a clay tablet bearing a cryptic prophecy, leaving its meaning unknown.

• Bai Xiaowen summoned a Skeleton Champion, and he and Li Shuyi killed the Marsh Hydra and opened its chest, which contained Psionic Points and low-quality leather armor.
• Two Mudflat Snakefolk attacked Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, and Bai Xiaowen identified the female as a Priest and the male as a Warrior.
• Bai Xiaowen’s Vengeful Spirit drained the Snakefolk Warrior’s Spirit and stunned him, allowing Li Shuyi and the other summons to kill both Snakefolk.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi discussed the Vengeful Spirit’s strengths and limitations, and Bai Xiaowen reflected on the Black Soul Stone’s power and mysterious origin.
• Bai Xiaowen opened the Snakefolk Priest’s chest, and Li Shuyi found a clay tablet that Bai Xiaowen translated as a prophecy about a god descending from the Abyss and the world returning to chaos.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi concluded that the clay tablet described a doomsday prophecy tied to a Spirit Realm Plane, not Earth. After Fatty swallowed the Voodoo Core and entered evolutionary hibernation, they carried him onward through the Pale Mire until Kitz detected a large group fighting nearby.

• Bai Xiaowen interpreted the tablet as a likely prophecy about the destruction of a Spirit Realm Plane and reassured Li Shuyi that it did not foretell Earth's end.
• Bai Xiaowen summoned Fatty and gave him the Voodoo Core, which Fatty swallowed before falling into evolutionary hibernation.
• Bai Xiaowen refused to recall Fatty and had four Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldiers carry him while the group continued exploring the Pale Mire.
• Kitz detected a large group fighting in the fog to their front left.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi encountered Han Xu, Chen Guowei, and a group of Shandong University Awakened fighting Mud Lobsterfolk in the Pale Mire. Their unexpected meeting despite entering at different times led Bai Xiaowen to suspect the swamp hid a Snakefolk tribe, possibly with elite and Boss Tier creatures.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi emerged from the fog and found Han Xu, Chen Guowei, and five Shandong University Awakened fighting Mud Lobsterfolk.
• Bai Xiaowen declined to join the battle, and the group defeated the Lobsterfolk and divided two ordinary treasure chests.
• Shi Haiyan introduced himself and said his team had entered by the crater’s ring road and encountered the Lobsterfolk after advancing only a few hundred meters.
• Bai Xiaowen said he had been in the mire for at least five hours, leaving the group puzzled about how their paths had crossed.
• Bai Xiaowen told the Awakened that he and Li Shuyi had encountered two elite Snakefolk and suspected a hidden Snakefolk tribe with possible Boss Tier creatures.

Bai Xiaowen invited Shi Haiyan and three other Shandong University students to join his search for the Snakefolk Tribe, on the condition that they obey his orders. The team prepared to use the other awakened ones to handle ordinary and Elite Tier Snakefolk while Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi fought the tribe’s bosses.

• Shi Haiyan asked Bai Xiaowen to take his group to the hidden Snakefolk Tribe, and Bai Xiaowen agreed in return for Shi Haiyan’s earlier help with Han Xu and Chen Guowei.
• Bai Xiaowen required the Shandong University students to follow his commands and avoid interfering with his targets, especially Boss Tier monsters.
• Zhang Yubin objected to Bai Xiaowen keeping the boss rewards, then left alone when the other four students stayed with Bai Xiaowen.
• Shi Haiyan and the others agreed to follow Bai Xiaowen’s orders and showed him their attributes and skills.
• Bai Xiaowen planned to use the Shandong University students to hold off Elite Tier Snakefolk while he and Li Shuyi fought the bosses.
• Chen Guowei asked how the team would find the Snakefolk Tribe.

Bai Xiaowen used Lobsterfolk memories and a zigzag route to overcome the Pale Mire’s disorienting Ghost Mist and search for their settlement. After defeating a large group of Lobsterfolk, his team followed Rageclaw’s scent and found a Lobsterfolk village.

• Bai Xiaowen’s group defeated two waves of swamp monsters, and the Awakened shared Treasure Meat from a Giant Swamp Crocodile.
• Bai Xiaowen controlled three Lobsterfolk with the Heart-Confounding Talisman and learned that they served the Snakefolk and could lead him toward their settlement.
• Bai Xiaowen realized the Ghost Mist made travelers walk in circles and led the group along a zigzag route to avoid returning to their starting point.
• Bai Xiaowen’s group battled dozens of Lobsterfolk, with Han Xu, Shi Haiyan, and the others engaging the Elites while Li Shuyi and Bai Xiaowen fought alongside Rageclaw and the skeleton soldiers.
• Bai Xiaowen had Rageclaw track the Lobsterfolk by scent, and the group found their village.

Bai Xiaowen’s group fought Shadow Prophet Magik, a powerful Lobsterfolk boss whose silent Shadow Ripples steadily reduced everyone’s maximum Life Value. The Awakened weakened and controlled Magik with poisoned arrows, summons, and Li Shuyi’s weapon skill, leaving the boss badly injured as Bai Xiaowen closed in for another attack.

• Bai Xiaowen’s group reached the center of the Lobsterfolk village and battled ten elite Lobsterfolk and over a hundred ordinary warriors.
• Shadow Prophet Magik appeared, empowered the Lobsterfolk, and used Shadow Ripple to reduce nearby enemies’ maximum Life Value.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered the Awakened to spread out and focus their attacks on Magik while Chen Guowei used his Desiccated Poison Sac arrows to weaken him.
• Chen Guowei’s poisoned arrow reduced Magik’s Strength, allowing six Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldiers to repeatedly interrupt him with Shield Bash.
• Rageclaw, Bai Xiaowen, Li Shuyi, and the summoned creatures attacked Magik while Li Shuyi used Blood Drain and Bai Xiaowen stunned him with a Spell Talisman.
• After Magik’s third Shadow Ripple reduced maximum Life Value by 30%, Bai Xiaowen charged in and struck him with a flaming combat combo that brought him to his knees.

Bai Xiaowen killed Shadow Prophet Magik and opened his treasure chest, gaining items that might help locate the Snakefolk Tribe. Meanwhile, Shi Haiyan bid on a Gold pincer weapon, and Bai Xiaowen asked Han Xu why he had stopped bidding.

• Bai Xiaowen used Intimidation to interrupt Magik’s Prophecy of Suffering, then attacked him with a combo that killed him.
• Magik refused to reveal the Snakefolk Tribe’s location, and the surviving Lobsterfolk fled as the Shadow Ripple curse ended.
• Bai Xiaowen opened Magik’s Golden Treasure Chest and obtained a Shadow Sanctuary Scroll, a Memory Conch, and a Book of Fate Revelation.
• Bai Xiaowen gave Chen Guowei 7,000 Psionic Points as compensation for his share of the treasure.
• Shi Haiyan bid 15,000 Psionic Points for the Gold-tier Heavy Pincer, while Han Xu stopped bidding, prompting Bai Xiaowen to ask him why.

Bai Xiaowen used Shadow Prophet Magik’s Memory Conch and discovered that the Snakefolk had conquered the Lobsterfolk and entered the Pale Mire through a black gateway. He found a ritual recipe for reaching the Snakefolk Tribe, sent the others to hunt a Marsh Hydra, and began preparing the ritual as Fatty woke from hibernation.

• Bai Xiaowen lent Han Xu thirty thousand Psionic Points so he could bid for the golden weapon, which Han Xu won for twenty-seven thousand.
• Bai Xiaowen viewed Magik’s memories in the Memory Conch and saw the Snakefolk conquer the Lobsterfolk and Magik close a black gateway in the Pale Mire.
• Bai Xiaowen broke open Magik’s staff and found an animal-hide record describing a ritual to enter the Snakefolk Tribe’s hidden isolation formation.
• Bai Xiaowen gathered Netherworld Grass and Drowning Bone from the group and sent Shi Haiyan, Han Xu, and Chen Guowei to hunt a Marsh Hydra for its gallbladder.
• Bai Xiaowen began arranging the ritual while Fatty woke from his evolutionary hibernation.

Bai Xiaowen confirmed Fatty’s evolution into a Voodoo Stitched Monster, then opened a portal to the Snakefolk Tribe’s hidden space with his group. After a patrol sounded an alarm, he and Li Shuyi rode ahead to intercept the approaching reinforcements.

• Bai Xiaowen confirmed Fatty’s evolution, giving the Voodoo Stitched Monster Bloat and Corrupting Blood alongside Meat Hook.
• Shi Haiyan and the others returned with a Marsh Hydra’s gallbladder, which Bai Xiaowen used to open the entrance to the Internal Isolation Array.
• Bai Xiaowen led the group through the gate and identified the Snakefolk Tribe’s hidden space attached to the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space.
• A patrol of one Snakefolk priestess and three warriors discovered the group, and the priestess sounded an alarm.
• Bai Xiaowen assigned Shi Haiyan and the others to fight the patrol, then rode Rageclaw with Li Shuyi to intercept the reinforcements.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi ambushed the Snakefolk Tribe, destroyed two of the four crystal pillars powering its Internal Isolation Array, and opened the tribe to the Pale Mire. With the Snakefolk guarding the remaining pillars and searching for them, Bai Xiaowen planned to hide while outside Awakened arrived.

• Bai Xiaowen and his summoned creatures killed ten Elite Snakefolk patrol members, then detoured around the tribe's main force of dozens of elites, Marsh Hydras, and a level-six Boss Tier.
• Bai Xiaowen told Li Shuyi they would target the Snakefolk Tribe's crystal pillars rather than fight its reinforcements, using Shi Haiyan and the others as a distraction.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi killed two guards and destroyed the first crystal pillar, causing spatial gates to open between the Internal Isolation Array and the Pale Mire.
• The Snakefolk Tribe dispatched forces to defend the remaining pillars, but Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi destroyed the second pillar before the defenders arrived.
• Bai Xiaowen's Shadow Assassin spotted more than a dozen Elite Snakefolk and two Marsh Hydras guarding the third pillar, so he recalled his summons and took out the Skin of Metamorphosis to hide.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi infiltrated the Snakefolk Tribe and discovered that Eliki was struggling to repair the Crystal Formation as Awakened ones entered the Pale Mire. Qi Ruifeng and the other Hero Classes suspected Bai Xiaowen had revealed the hidden tribe and hurried toward it to claim its rewards.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi used the Skin of Metamorphosis to slip through the Snakefolk walls and hide in a wooden house near the center.
• Bai Xiaowen sent the Shadow Assassin to scout and saw a nine-headed snake statue and the six-armed Snakefolk leader Eliki near the central altar.
• Eliki told Kasares that intruders had destroyed and taken the crystals needed to repair the formation, and ordered him to drive out or kill the outsiders.
• Awakened ones entered the Pale Mire through newly appeared spatial gates, where Snakefolk patrols overwhelmed those who fought alone.
• Qi Ruifeng, Bao Yiming, and Duanmucheng led teams toward the Snakefolk Tribe, suspecting Bai Xiaowen had uncovered its hidden secret.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi used the Snakefolk Tribe’s weakened defenses to make their way toward its central altar, where they confronted two Advanced Bosses. Bai Xiaowen used Insight on Eliki and was shocked by what he saw.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi waited while the Snakefolk warriors fought the Awakened, and Fatty captured Snakefolk residents so Bai Xiaowen could examine their memories.
• Bai Xiaowen learned that Lobsterfolk guards warned the tribe about outsiders, explaining why Snakefolk had usually stayed hidden from explorers in the Pale Mire.
• Bai Xiaowen decided to attack the central altar, believing its secrets and the treasure chests of its two Advanced Bosses were worth the risk.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi killed Snakefolk they encountered and reached the altar despite the tribe raising the alarm.
• Kasares and Eliki confronted Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi, and Bai Xiaowen used Insight on Eliki before crying out in shock.

Bai Xiaowen used the Vengeful Spirit to drain Kasares’s mental power, then coordinated his summoned creatures and attacks to wear down the Snakefolk warrior while Li Shuyi held off Eliki. As Kasares neared defeat, Eliki summoned a swarm of brightly colored snakes from beneath the Hydra statue.

• Bai Xiaowen sent Li Shuyi to fight Eliki while he used the Vengeful Spirit to draw Kasares’s attacks and drain his mental power.
• Kasares’s skills injured Rageclaw and the Skeleton Champion, but the Vengeful Spirit’s drain left him stunned and unable to use skills.
• Bai Xiaowen and his summoned creatures focused their attacks on Kasares, while Eliki cast Mud Armor on him to reduce incoming damage.
• After Kasares recovered, Bai Xiaowen’s team kept their distance until Mud Armor expired, then closed in and rapidly depleted Kasares’s health.
• Eliki shrieked and summoned finger-thick, brightly colored snakes from beneath the Hydra statue.

Bai Xiaowen used Fatty’s Septic Venom to neutralize Eliki’s snake swarm, then helped his summoned creatures defeat Kasares. With Kasares dead, Bai Xiaowen quickly pinned Eliki down to prevent the fight from dragging on.

• Bai Xiaowen warned Li Shuyi about Eliki’s tens of thousands of venomous snakes and deployed Fatty before the Hydra Statue.
• Fatty’s Septic Venom killed the snakes as they swarmed him, countering Eliki’s Snake Formation.
• Bai Xiaowen’s summoned creatures overwhelmed Kasares after his mental power ran out, and Kasares collapsed, leaving a Large Golden Treasure Chest.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered his creatures to attack Eliki, and Rageclaw used Howl and Suppression to pin her down.
• Bai Xiaowen told Li Shuyi he had used Rageclaw’s long-cooldown skills to avoid complications from prolonging the fight.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi fought Eliki until Qi Ruifeng, Duanmucheng, Bao Yiming, and two Elite Awakened arrived to claim a share of the boss’s loot. Eliki invoked Divine Descent, and the Hydra Statue unleashed two powerful auras; Bai Xiaowen shielded his allies with the Shadow Sanctuary Scroll as the newcomers faced the same threat.

• Bai Xiaowen controlled Eliki while Li Shuyi and the summoned creatures attacked, using the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldiers to absorb the boss’s blows.
• Qi Ruifeng, Duanmucheng, and Bao Yiming arrived with two Elite Awakened and announced they would join the fight to claim a share of Eliki’s loot.
• Bai Xiaowen welcomed the newcomers and continued attacking, causing Eliki to regard them as his allies.
• Eliki activated Divine Descent and became immune to attacks of priority 7 or below, prompting Bai Xiaowen to order his summoned creatures to retreat.
• Qi Ruifeng suggested driving Bai Xiaowen out to increase their share, but Bao Yiming and Duanmucheng objected to clearing the field.
• The Hydra Statue unleashed Despair Aura and Shadow Aura, and Bai Xiaowen used the Shadow Sanctuary Scroll to protect himself, Li Shuyi, and his summoned creatures.

Bai Xiaowen endured Eliki’s Divine Descent and defeated her after her shield broke and her sacrificed life force left her weakened. He honored Magik’s wish to free the Lobsterfolk, then prepared to flee the approaching Snakefolk warriors and open the boss treasure chests.

• Bao Yiming, Duanmucheng, Qi Ruifeng, and Li Shuyi left the Dead Spirit Lake space, while Bai Xiaowen stayed to fight Eliki.
• Bai Xiaowen used the Blood Essence Stone to offset Shadow Aura’s damage and shot at Eliki until her 1,000-point shield shattered.
• Eliki’s Divine Descent ended, revealing that she had permanently sacrificed half her attributes; Bai Xiaowen overwhelmed her with a punch combo and killed her.
• Bai Xiaowen took Eliki’s Golden Treasure Chest and reflected on how Magik had secretly left him the means to destroy the Snakefolk’s defenses and free the Lobsterfolk.
• Snakefolk warriors charged toward Bai Xiaowen, who decided to find a safe place and open the boss treasure chests.