Chapter Summaries

Bai Xiaowen looted offerings from the Snakefolk altar and examined the treasure chests of Kasares and Eliki. He identified a mysterious stone as the Eye of Amotava and left with a possible clue to the nature of gods.

• Bai Xiaowen stole Netherworld Grass, Ghost Hydra Eyeballs, Incense, and an unknown item from the altar, then escaped the pursuing Snakefolk warriors.
• Bai Xiaowen opened Kasares's treasure chest and obtained a Sea Serpent Trident, a Four-Star Equipment Enhancement Card, and Superior Psionic Crystals.
• Bai Xiaowen opened Eliki's chest and obtained an Alert Stone, a Matriarch's Bracer, and Withered Petals.
• Bai Xiaowen used his Insight Talent and the Eye of Evolution to reveal that the ordinary-looking stone was the Eye of Amotava.
• Bai Xiaowen recalled Eliki using the eyeball during Divine Descent and concluded that it was a special item connected to faith and Divine Might.

Bai Xiaowen returned safely from the Dead Spirit Lake Treasure Ground Space after killing the Snakefolk leader, exploring the Pale Mire, and reviving Rageclaw. Back with the Jinghai University group, he settled tensions with Bao Yiming and sold some of his Ghost Hydra Eyeballs to Yan Xiaoxin before the convoy left Inverted Mountain.

• Bai Xiaowen explored the Dead Spirit Lake Space for several days, killed a group of Swamp Hydras, and collected six Ghost Hydra Eyeballs.
• Bai Xiaowen spent ten thousand Psionic Points to revive Rageclaw and returned safely to the lakeside clearing, where Li Shuyi and the Jinghai University group welcomed him.
• Bai Xiaowen learned that Han Xu had earned enough Psionic Points to repay ten thousand of his loan, while Chen Guowei had earned less from the Snakefolk Tribe.
• Bao Yiming apologized to Bai Xiaowen for their earlier conflict, and Bai Xiaowen accepted his apology.
• Bai Xiaowen sold Yan Xiaoxin six Ghost Hydra Eyeballs for five thousand Psionic Points each and kept the remaining twelve.
• The Jinghai University group boarded their vehicles and departed Inverted Mountain after all their Awakened students returned safely.

After returning from Dead Spirit Lake, Bai Xiaowen trained his skills, filmed the Version 97 Battle Platform promotional CG, and created a character template with thirty-two listed skills. The CG gave him a dramatic solo appearance, and he celebrated the release with Sister Zheng and his household.

• Bai Xiaowen rested after Dead Spirit Lake and spent the following days practicing his skills and Kusanagi-Style Ancient Martial Arts.
• Bai Xiaowen auditioned for Director Kelvin, impressed him, and agreed to stay in contact about possible film appearances.
• Bai Xiaowen customized his character template, whose skill list included thirty-two skills, including ten summons split from Return of the Dead.
• Bai Xiaowen watched the Version 97 promotional CG and saw his cloaked figure atop a bone mountain appear alone for one second.
• Bai Xiaowen credited Sister Zheng's negotiations for his prominent CG appearance and invited her to celebrate over dinner at home.

Bai Xiaowen hosted a dinner with Li Shuyi, Xiao Jun, Sister Zheng, and He Zhiqing before Fu Hong visited to recruit him for Titan Guild. Bai Xiaowen refused to leave Super God Guild, and Fu Hong ended by asking him to supply Titan Guild with Perfect Potions.

• Xiao Jun and Sister Zheng discussed how Bai Xiaowen's appearance in the Virtual Battle Platform CG had attracted attention, while Bai Xiaowen thanked Sister Zheng for arranging his screen time.
• Fu Hong arrived with an expensive bottle of sparkling wine, and Bai Xiaowen invited him in as a senior alumnus of Jinghai University.
• Fu Hong promised not to target Super God Potion Shop again and invited Bai Xiaowen to join Titan Guild on a long-term S-Tier contract, but Bai Xiaowen firmly declined.
• Li Shuyi told Sister Zheng that she trusted Bai Xiaowen and would not stop him from choosing his own path.
• Fu Hong recognized Bai Xiaowen as the owner of the Virtual Hall shop displaying a Book of Revelation item and asked him to supply Titan Guild with Perfect Potions for a signing bonus and potion revenue.

Bai Xiaowen rejected Fu Hong’s attempts to recruit him and secure potion distribution rights, while his new Virtual Battle Platform character gained attention and sales interest. The chapter ended with Bai Xiaowen completing an azure-blue potion as Ouyang Heng and Lin Haoyang discussed their rivalry with him.

• Bai Xiaowen refused Fu Hong’s requests but offered to make a few potions in exchange for psionic items, and Fu Hong concluded that driving a wedge between Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi would not work.
• Fu Qiu proposed delaying Bai Xiaowen’s Shark Livestream Platform contract renewal, but Fu Hong warned that Bai Xiaowen might not need the platform anymore.
• The Virtual Battle Platform’s new CG featured Bai Xiaowen, and Sister Zheng’s promotional videos helped push his character template, named “Spirit Channeling Prince,” to 100,000 purchase registrations in three days.
• Ouyang Heng mocked Bai Xiaowen’s template name and vowed to outsell him and prove the Virtual Battle Company wrong, while Lin Haoyang challenged Ouyang Heng’s confidence.
• Bai Xiaowen finished making a potion at Super God Potion Shop, turning its pale yellow liquid azure blue.

Bai Xiaowen gave Li Shuyi a Highland Drake Strength Potion and the Gold Equipment [Matriarch's Bracer] for New Year's, helping her raise her Strength enough to equip it. After the Spring Festival began, he summoned his World Fame prize roulette.

• Bai Xiaowen gave Li Shuyi the [Matriarch's Bracer] and had her drink a 97%-purity Highland Drake Strength Potion.
• Li Shuyi endured the enhancement and gained 5 points of Strength, allowing her to equip the [Matriarch's Bracer].
• Bai Xiaowen visited Zhang Jing and Sun Hecheng, then planned to take Li Shuyi to see Li Beihai.
• The two eaglets entered their growth stage as Elite Tier level 1 mutated birds, each with the skill Peck.
• On New Year's Day, Bai Xiaowen summoned the prize roulette and flicked its pointer.

Bai Xiaowen’s roulette draw produced custom Strength-enhancing belt equipment, and Li Beihai gave him and Li Shuyi a B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket for New Year. After Bai Xiaowen shared an Alert Stone with Li Beihai, he began researching the ticket’s likely destination and suspected it would take them to the homeland of Eliki, Kasares, and Majik.

• Bai Xiaowen’s roulette pointer landed on the equipment reward, and he chose Strength +3 for a custom belt called Wild Bear's Might Belt.
• Li Beihai presented Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi with a B-Tier Spirit Realm Ticket bearing the Speculation and Challenge prefixes as a New Year’s gift.
• Bai Xiaowen gave Li Beihai one half of his Alert Stone so Li Beihai could know whether the pair were safe in the Spirit Realm and summon them back if needed.
• Bai Xiaowen studied Western fantasy legends and told Li Shuyi he suspected the ticket would send them to the homeland of Eliki, Kasares, and Majik.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi entered the Black Tide Plane as siblings in Hodge Town, where they took on missions to solve a series of disappearances and uncover the Voodoo Cult. After investigating the missing people’s locations, Bai Xiaowen paid shopkeeper Akea for information and began asking questions.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi accepted the Secret of the Voodoo Cult side mission and entered the Black Tide Plane as Dio Skalboom and Charlotte Skalboom.
• They learned that Hodge Town’s sheriff, Ahan, was investigating disappearances and received the main mission Truth in the Mist.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi decided to investigate secretly rather than approach Ahan, then examined the sheriff’s notice listing thirteen missing residents.
• Bai Xiaowen reasoned that the disappearances had progressed from isolated people to residents with families, making the siblings more likely targets next.
• Bai Xiaowen traced the missing people’s last known locations to a run-down commercial street and entered Akea’s Cauldron with Li Shuyi.
• Bai Xiaowen showed Akea a gold coin from the Gorseflower Empire, and Akea accepted it as payment for information.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi confronted The Crows while investigating Hodge Town’s missing-person cases, then subdued its leader, Benny, and demanded his cooperation. Benny agreed to hear Bai Xiaowen’s conditions, leaving the pair with a chance to use the gang’s information and influence.

• Bai Xiaowen learned from Akea that The Crows operated in Blackwater Alley, then headed there with Li Shuyi to seek information about the disappearances.
• Li Shuyi subdued a Crow guard, and he led them to Benny after Bai Xiaowen claimed they were investigating for Sheriff Ahan.
• Bai Xiaowen used Insight to assess Benny and his gang, then watched Li Shuyi kill a bald Crow member who attacked him.
• Bai Xiaowen summoned Fatty and his Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, then used Overawing Presence to stun or frighten the Crow members.
• Bai Xiaowen questioned a Crow member about the Voodoo Cult and threatened Benny until the gang leader agreed to cooperate.

Bai Xiaowen killed Benny after the Crow Organization leader refused to reveal what he knew about the Voodoo Cult. He installed the bewitched Joshua as the new leader of The Crows, prompting Elite Tier officer Gide to offer his service.

• Benny claimed he knew little about the Voodoo Cult, but Bai Xiaowen saw through his lie and attacked him with Li Shuyi and his summoned creatures.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi killed Benny while his subordinates stood by, and Bai Xiaowen claimed Benny's treasure chest.
• Bai Xiaowen offered Benny's position to the Crow Organization members, and Joshua knelt to swear loyalty.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered Joshua to prove his loyalty, and the bewitched Joshua stabbed Benny's corpse before receiving gold and leadership of The Crows.
• Gide, one of the Elite Tier officers, knelt before Bai Xiaowen and offered to serve him, claiming he was more useful than Joshua.

Bai Xiaowen gained Gide’s loyalty and questioned him about the missing persons case and the Voodoo Cult, learning that a Stitched Corpse Monster collected materials for the cult. After studying the cult’s irregular supply lists, Bai Xiaowen formed a new theory and hurried with Li Shuyi to Akea’s Cauldron.

• Gide proved his loyalty by decapitating Benny, and Bai Xiaowen made him co-leader alongside Joshua.
• Gide told Bai Xiaowen that the Crow Organization had no connection to the missing persons case but had supplied materials to the Voodoo Cult through a Stitched Corpse Monster.
• Gide explained that the Crow Organization had once tried to follow the monster, but the men it sent were killed and displayed at Blackwater Alley.
• Bai Xiaowen studied the recent materials lists and reasoned that the Voodoo Cult’s experiment had likely reached a successful stage, making an immediate visit unlikely.
• Bai Xiaowen ordered Gide to seal off Blackwater Alley, then led Li Shuyi to Akea’s Cauldron after realizing he had overlooked a clue.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi traced the Voodoo Cult’s secret base to a cellar beneath Akea’s Cauldron and confronted its alchemist. Bai Xiaowen exposed Norton’s hiding place, leaving them face-to-face with a powerful Level 8 boss.

• Bai Xiaowen confused Akea and searched his memories, discovering a concealed cellar beneath the shop that led to the Voodoo Cult’s base.
• Joshua suddenly died at the Crow Organization’s headquarters, and Gide blamed Bai Xiaowen before directing the members to investigate the missing-persons cases.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi entered the underground laboratory, where a hidden alchemist taunted them and claimed he could create life.
• Bai Xiaowen summoned Fatty, whose Meat Hook pulled Norton out of a Mutated Giant Corpse, and identified him as a Level 8 Voodoo Alchemist boss.

Bai Xiaowen’s group fought Norton in the Underground Research Lab as the alchemist used toxin potions and summoned three Mutated Giant Corpses to restrict their movement. With Norton’s Life Value halved and Potion Mutation underway, Bai Xiaowen leaped over the corpses while the Bone Warlock tried to interrupt the transformation.

• Norton opened the fight by throwing a Frost Potion that slowed Li Shuyi and the summoned creatures, but Li Shuyi and the Skeleton Champion escaped the area with mobility skills.
• The Skeleton Champion interrupted Norton’s next throw, but the dropped bottle created a Choking Toxin zone, forcing Bai Xiaowen’s allies to retreat while Norton used his poison resistance to stay inside it.
• Bai Xiaowen shot Norton in the eye, dealing heavy damage and partially blinding him, then fired rapidly as Norton summoned three Mutated Giant Corpses.
• The Mutated Giant Corpses pressed Bai Xiaowen’s group into a corner while Norton continued throwing potions, and Bai Xiaowen reduced Norton’s Life Value to half.
• Norton activated Potion Mutation, but Bai Xiaowen used Swooping Flight and Gliding to leap over the corpses as the Bone Warlock cast Lightning Strike to interrupt him.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi overwhelmed Norton before he could use another transformation potion, while Fatty and two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldiers held back the Mutated Giant Corpses. As Norton’s self-destruct mechanism began collapsing the Underground Research Lab, Bai Xiaowen killed him, claimed the treasure chest, and ordered everyone to retreat.

• Bai Xiaowen used Ghost Path and Lightning Strike’s pauses to reach Norton and stop him from drinking another transformation potion with a chain of close-range attacks.
• Li Shuyi and the summoned creatures joined Bai Xiaowen in keeping Norton staggered while Fatty and two Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldiers blocked the Mutated Giant Corpses.
• The Mutated Giant Corpses grabbed weapons from a wall rack and began dealing greater damage to Fatty.
• Li Shuyi’s Thunder Marks dealt a powerful finishing blow that brought Norton’s Life Value to the red line.
• Norton activated the lab’s self-destruct mechanism, but Bai Xiaowen emptied his Life Value, claimed a Large Golden Treasure Chest, and ordered a retreat.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi escaped Norton’s collapsing underground laboratory, rescued Hodge Town residents, and gained Sheriff Ahan’s trust by presenting the Voodoo Cult alchemist as the culprit behind the missing persons case. They followed Ahan to inspect the bodies, while Bai Xiaowen knew the real mastermind behind the disappearances remained undiscovered.

• After Norton died, Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi escaped the collapsing Underground Research Lab, which devastated the street and trapped residents beneath the ruins.
• Bai Xiaowen agreed to help rescue survivors, and he and Li Shuyi worked alongside Sheriff Ahan and his patrol soldiers.
• Bai Xiaowen received an S-Tier completion rating for the Secret of the Voodoo Cult quest, earning 10,000 Psionic Points and increased favor with the Church of Light.
• Bai Xiaowen told Ahan that Norton’s laboratory and Mutated Giant Corpses were connected to the missing persons case, concealing that Norton was unrelated to it.
• After patrol soldiers unearthed evidence of the laboratory, Ahan accepted Bai Xiaowen’s explanation and invited him and Li Shuyi to inspect the bodies in the sealed boxes.
• Bai Xiaowen told Li Shuyi that the real mastermind behind the disappearances was still at large.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi discovered that the corpses in the Voodoo Cult’s crates had been preserved for years, clearing the alchemist Norton of involvement in the recent disappearances. Sheriff Alexei Ahan enlisted them to help investigate, and after dinner at his home, they opened Norton’s treasure chest and obtained a Frost Toxin Formula.

• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi examined the corpses with Ahan and learned that Rot-Proof Powder had preserved them for years, meaning they were unrelated to the recent missing persons cases.
• Bai Xiaowen persuaded Ahan to let them join the investigation, earning Patrol Militia Insignias and permission to review the sheriff’s missing persons files.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi went to Ahan’s residence, met his wife Ginny, and stayed there for the night.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi opened the Large Golden Treasure Chest dropped by Norton, and Li Shuyi obtained a Frost Toxin Formula that required Alchemist level 7 to learn.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi collected their rewards after defeating Norton, including a defensive shroud and a potion that could temporarily redistribute attributes. The next morning, Bai Xiaowen began investigating the missing persons case by reviewing its files.

• Bai Xiaowen declined to open the Scrawled Research Notes and let Li Shuyi reveal a Gold equipment card instead.
• Bai Xiaowen assessed the Dirty Shroud's powerful defense against attacks from behind and decided to trade it because neither he nor Li Shuyi wanted to wear it.
• Bai Xiaowen obtained Norton's Aberration Potion and placed it in the team's Shared Storage Space for use according to their tactics.
• The next morning, Ahan gave Bai Xiaowen access to the missing persons case files before taking the patrol militia to the southern commercial street.

Bai Xiaowen suspected a mole in Hodge Town’s patrol was helping run an underground slave trade, and his investigation pointed to the Davy family. He and Li Shuyi went to the David Family Estate, where Bai Xiaowen sent the Shadow Assassin inside after guards refused them entry.

• Bai Xiaowen examined Hodge Town’s records and concluded the missing residents’ cases might be connected to a patrol mole and slave trafficking.
• Bai Xiaowen ruled out Ahan as the mastermind, reasoning that Ahan’s trust was central to the reduced difficulty of their main quest.
• Bai Xiaowen identified Mayor Halerum Davy’s family as his leading suspect but warned Li Shuyi that they had no conclusive evidence and should not tell Ahan yet.
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi went to the David Family Estate, where militiamen refused them entry.
• Bai Xiaowen pretended to leave and summoned the Shadow Assassin to slip past the guards and enter the estate.

Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi decoded Mayor Halerum’s message and learned that a meeting would take place that night at Night Owl Wharf. Bai Xiaowen persuaded Ahan to change the patrol route and bring the militia to the wharf, where a convoy arrived carrying burlap sacks.

• Bai Xiaowen told Li Shuyi that Halerum had used lines from [Tyrael Anthology] as a cipher, and he had memorized the coded excerpts.
• Gide pledged the Crow Organization’s loyalty to Bai Xiaowen, then directed him to Ginny’s books when he could not obtain a copy of [Tyrael Anthology].
• Bai Xiaowen and Li Shuyi matched Halerum’s excerpts to page and line numbers and decoded the meeting details: Mistmoon 12th at Night Owl Wharf.
• After Ahan reported two more disappearances, Bai Xiaowen persuaded him to secretly change the militia’s patrol and go to Night Owl Wharf.
• Ahan’s militia hid near the wharf, and a convoy arrived at midnight with drivers unloading burlap sacks.

Bai Xiaowen and Ahan uncovered Mayor Hiram Davy’s role in trafficking Hodge Town residents to the Snakefolk. Ahan led the militia into battle and killed the Snakefolk leader Clement, while the fight against the remaining Snakefolk continued.

• Bai Xiaowen had Kitz notify Gide of the Crow Organization while he and Ahan waited for the buyers to arrive.
• A ship brought Snakefolk warriors ashore, and Mayor Hiram Davy emerged from a carriage beside the unconscious captives.
• Ahan recognized Hiram, ordered the militia to surround the Snakefolk, and confronted the mayor over betraying Hodge Town.
• Ahan activated Battle Roar, boosting the militia and their allies as they charged the Snakefolk.
• Ahan used Sword of Judgment to cripple Clement, then killed him with a second strike.