Chapter Summaries

King Xia Xuan backed a plan to replace the Old Era Ascetics with New Ascetics, then learned that Lin An could rapidly create powerful Ascetic Cultivators. Xia Xuan ordered Great Xia to recruit Lin An, while Lin An’s team prepared to turn the dynasty’s people into Ascetic Cultivators for a final assault on the Blood Corpses.

• Xia Xuan and his ministers discussed the Old Era Ascetics’ refusal to fight and Great Xia’s effort to build up New Ascetics.
• The Minister of War told Xia Xuan that Lin An had turned Zhang Yan into an Ascetic Cultivator in two hours and had already cultivated dozens of powerful fighters.
• Xia Xuan ordered officials to contact Lin An, grant him a guardian position, and offer him whatever he wanted.
• At the Seventh Fortress, Zhang Tie received imperial edicts offering the team the corpses of fallen soldiers and Ascetic Cultivators.
• Bear Dunce heard that Lin An planned to make everyone in Great Xia Ascetic Cultivators and send them to fight the Blood Corpses until none survived.

Lin An entered the Initial Land and witnessed a vision of an ancient city destroyed by Zombies. The vision ended with a Foreign Race man revealing psionic power as he fought a Zombie.

• Lin An reached the cave entrance and learned from Number 002 Ascetic that he had twelve double-hours inside the Initial Land.
• Lin An used the Mechanical Compass to predict that he and Number 002 would die simultaneously, then entered the cave.
• Lin An discovered an immense plain inside the cave and confirmed that the strange landscape was real.
• Lin An watched a vision of a city overwhelmed by Zombies, where fleeing residents and soldiers were killed.
• A Foreign Race man appeared among the ruins, lamented that the Zombies had found him, then punched through a Zombie's skull with psionic energy.

Lin An witnessed Colonel Wang survive two Zombie apocalypses and discover that unwavering conviction could grant power in the Secret Realm World. The chapter ended with Lin An realizing the same rule as Colonel Wang.

• Colonel Wang led survivors across a wasteland and helped defeat the Zombies, then rebuilt the empire and ruled for decades.
• A merchant drank from a sealed well, became infected, and triggered a second Zombie outbreak during the empire's celebration.
• Colonel Wang fled the ruined Royal City as Mutants slaughtered his soldiers and destroyed his family and empire.
• Colonel Wang sought greater power and discovered that the world's rules tied power to unwavering conviction.
• Colonel Wang repeatedly gave himself orders and struggled against his own efforts until he gained enough power to cut off his finger.
• Lin An watched Colonel Wang's breakthrough and understood the Secret Realm World's power rules at the same time.

Lin An realized that the Ascetic Cultivators gained power through conviction and a strange cycle linking the present to the future, then watched the First Ascetic stop a new Zombie outbreak. The scene ended with the First Ascetic peering into the well at a red-eyed infant, possibly connected to the Blood Corpses.

• Lin An deduced that ascetic suffering tempered the will, allowing future power to flow back to the present, and the System confirmed that he had solved the mystery.
• Lin An suspected that the First Ascetic had been a Player, but wondered when the Blood Corpse would appear.
• The First Ascetic rebuilt the empire and led Ascetic Cultivators in eradicating the remaining sources of infection.
• The First Ascetic recognized a merchant near the Water Well as the source of another outbreak and crushed the first Zombie before it could spread.
• The First Ascetic looked into the well and saw black hair on the water and a red-eyed infant crying below.

Lin An watched the First Ascetic imprison his infected child instead of killing it, then saw the Undead outbreaks continue despite the child remaining contained. The First Ascetic fought the recurring monsters for a thousand years and reached the end of his life, with the struggle still unresolved.

• The First Ascetic recognized the Corpse Infant as his child and took it away to imprison it, while Lin An feared he had missed a chance to stop the disaster.
• Three years later, the First Ascetic guarded the child in a fortified underground cavern, but reports arrived that Undead had appeared and four cities had fallen.
• The First Ascetic ordered another campaign against the monsters and strengthened the cavern's defenses, while Lin An wondered where the new infection had come from.
• The Undead returned repeatedly in later scenes, grew stronger, and forced the First Ascetic and his forces into an unending war.
• After a thousand years of struggle, the First Ascetic reached the end of his life as flying Undead appeared.

Lin An witnessed the First Ascetic discover a strange artifact producing Zombies, then feed his own flesh to the infant held in the dungeon before transforming into the Blood Corpse. The Deathmatch mission was declared complete, with its reward waiting until The Ending War mission was finished.

• The First Ascetic left the Royal City to investigate the Zombie Tide at Coordinate 641-1921-.
• The First Ascetic found an eerie blue Technological Artifact producing Zombies, but the images skipped over what he discovered.
• The wounded First Ascetic returned to the dungeon, picked up the infant, and pleaded to the sky before feeding it flesh from his arm.
• The First Ascetic turned into flesh and blood around the infant, and the Blood Corpse appeared.
• Lin An returned to the entrance of the Initial Land, and the Savior System announced that the Deathmatch mission was complete.

After spending seven days in the Initial Land, Lin An emerged to face Ascetic Cultivators who accused him of monopolizing the place and demanded he reveal what he had seen. As their hostility grew, Lin An prepared to act while the Minister of War tried to intervene.

• Lin An realized he had spent seven days in the Initial Land when he saw the crowd gathered outside and heard Bear Dunce’s frantic messages.
• The Second Ascetic and Number 100 Ascetic Cultivator accused Lin An of violating the code and demanded that he disclose what he had learned.
• Lin An recognized that the Ascetic Cultivators were driven by greed, while he had already uncovered much of the Secret Realm World’s truth and intended to kill fewer of them.
• Bear Dunce rushed toward the Initial Land after Lin An replied to him, while Lin An reassured him and faced the hostile crowd.
• The Minister of War asked the Ascetic Cultivators to let Lin An rest, but the Second Ascetic rebuked him and demanded Lin An share his enlightenment immediately.
• The Minister of War looked to Lin An apologetically as the Ascetic Cultivators’ oppressive auras intensified and violence seemed imminent.

Second Ascetic tried to force Lin An to reveal his secrets, but Lin An unleashed a devastating assault on the Ascetic Cultivators. He used an illusion to appear as the First Ascetic and left Sequence Two kneeling in fear.

• Second Ascetic ignored the First Legion general’s appeal to Xia Xuan’s authority and ordered Lin An to open his mind.
• Lin An transformed into Heavenly Man and Demon Form, then attacked the Ascetic Cultivators with a relentless series of sword strikes and abilities.
• Second Ascetic regenerated through Lin An’s attacks and threatened to kill him, while other Ascetic Cultivators recognized Lin An’s Psionic Energy.
• Lin An pinned Second Ascetic with Blood Annihilation and used the Mechanical Compass and Milai’s Scalpel to project the First Ascetic’s appearance.
• Lin An commanded Second Ascetic to kneel and used his Mental Strength to smash him into the ground, leaving him trembling in a deep pit.

Lin An returned to Great Xia’s Royal City disguised as the First Ascetic, using the First Ascetic’s Bell to gain the Ascetic Cultivators’ obedience. He told Zhang Tie that the First Ascetic had been a Player and that his death completed Lin An’s Deathmatch mission, then explained the First Ascetic’s long struggle and hinted at a thousand-year plan.

• Lin An used the Bell and the First Ascetic’s aura to make the Ascetic Cultivators kneel, then returned to Great Xia and was accepted as emperor by Xia Xuan and the royal representatives.
• Zhang Tie asked Lin An why he had impersonated the First Ascetic, and Lin An explained that the First Ascetic had given him the Bell and wanted him to deal with the Blood Corpses.
• Lin An told Zhang Tie that the First Ascetic had been a Player, was already dead, and had therefore completed Lin An’s Deathmatch mission.
• Lin An described the visions he had seen in the Initial Land, and Zhang Tie speculated that the First Ascetic had fought Zombies for centuries before becoming a Blood Corpse.
• Lin An corrected Zhang Tie, saying the First Ascetic had never abandoned hope and had made a complicated plan spanning a thousand years to resist the Apocalypse System.

Lin An explained how the First Ascetic overcame the Secret Realm’s rejection to create ascetic cultivation, then argued that his mercy and self-denial were a plea for the world’s rules to show compassion. The Savior System answered him, though Zhang Tie found Lin An’s metaphor of becoming a “good dog” absurd.

• Lin An told Zhang Tie that outsiders could not use the Ascetic Cultivator power because the Secret Realm rejected them.
• Lin An explained that the First Ascetic had overcome that rejection and created a new power system after a century of struggle.
• Lin An said the First Ascetic prayed to the rules by practicing asceticism, sparing infected children, and treating people kindly.
• Lin An interpreted the First Ascetic’s actions as a plea for mercy from the Secret Realm’s rules and from greater rules beyond it.
• Lin An said the Savior System had responded to the First Ascetic, while Zhang Tie questioned the idea using the metaphor of becoming a good dog.

Lin An explained how the First Ascetic had delayed humanity’s extinction by replacing the Zombie disaster with Blood Corpses, then revealed that his plan to counter them involved Zhang Tie. The chapter ended with Lin An identifying the Undying Asura as a Blood Corpse and connecting it to the grotesque Buddha Child Birth Diagram in the Weapon Research Institute.

• Lin An explained that the First Ascetic had tested whether the disaster’s rules had consciousness and searched for loopholes in their operation.
• Lin An said the First Ascetic had replaced the strengthening Zombie threat with weaker Blood Corpses, allowing human civilization to survive for a thousand years.
• Lin An proposed that the Blood Corpses’ attacks had been calibrated to keep humanity under pressure and ensure Ascetic Cultivators continued to emerge.
• Bear Dunce wondered whether they needed to enter the Zombie Tide to find and destroy the First Ascetic’s contingency plan.
• Lin An revealed that the First Ascetic had left Zhang Tie a way to deal with the Blood Corpses: the Undying Asura, which was itself a Blood Corpse.
• Lin An reminded Zhang Tie of the Undying Asura and the Buddha Child Birth Diagram found in the Weapon Research Institute.

Lin An explained his theory that the First Ascetic had planned across five timelines to defeat the Secret Realm’s disasters. He concluded that Zhang Tie’s resurrection made him a System error capable of breaking the Secret Realm’s chaotic time loop, and prepared to test what would happen when the two rule systems met.

• Lin An listed the mysteries surrounding the Blood Corpse and proposed that the First Ascetic had made plans across five timelines.
• Lin An described how the First Ascetic’s plans and failures unfolded across the first four timelines, including his attempts to control the Undying Asura and connect it to the Blood Corpse.
• Lin An said the First Ascetic had foreseen a final timeline in which Zhang Tie would be the key and had paid Lin An with the reward from the System’s Deathmatch mission to resolve the Ending War.
• Zhang Tie asked how he could solve the problem, and Lin An explained that his resurrection made him an error superior to the Secret Realm’s rules.
• Lin An wondered whether Zhang Tie’s error would make the Secret Realm’s rules crash and reboot.

Lin An mobilized the Great Xia Dynasty for a counterattack against the Blood Corpses and proved his power by using 117 sets of equipment to turn newly advanced soldiers into overwhelming fighters. With the Old Era Ascetic Cultivators routed, he ordered the army to march toward the Blood Corpse Gathering Place.

• Lin An issued a National Mobilization Order and gathered people across Great Xia to prepare for war against the Blood Corpses.
• When an Ascetic Cultivator questioned his plan, Lin An summoned 117 sets of equipment and ordered newly advanced military Ascetic Cultivators to fight Old Era Ascetic Cultivators ranked below thirtieth.
• Lin An's equipment empowered the soldiers, and their combined Soul Shriek instantly killed an opponent before the Ascetic Cultivators resurrected.
• Lin An commanded the soldiers to activate Destruction, Demon Form, and Wither, transforming them into 117 powerful Demons who pursued and repeatedly killed the fleeing Ascetic Cultivators.
• Xia Xuan cheered as Lin An ordered the army to set out and counterattack the Blood Corpses.

Lin An led a massive human army through Blood Corpse positions, using Ascetic Cultivators to absorb artillery and help the troops break through. As reconnaissance revealed increasingly vast enemy hordes ahead, Lin An ordered the mass production of Potions and told everyone to take them so the advance could continue.

• Lin An ordered Ascetic Cultivators to absorb incoming artillery and launch suicidal attacks with captured explosives, allowing the army to advance through the first Blood Corpse positions.
• The soldiers and Ascetic Cultivators overwhelmed fewer than a thousand Blood Corpses with coordinated attacks, suffering few close-combat casualties.
• Lin An replaced the army commanders with military officers and drove the forces toward the coordinates, prioritizing speed over casualties.
• Bear Dunce reported enemy groups of 70,000, 330,000, and at least 1.6 million Blood Corpses ahead, while Zhang Tie warned that morale and infection could break the army.
• Lin An ordered Potions produced without concern for quality and told everyone to take them, accelerating their transformation into Ascetic Cultivators.

Lin An’s drug-fueled army fought its way through the Zombie Tide as soldiers died, revived, and rapidly became Ascetic Cultivators. With the Blood Corpse core six hours away, Lin An ordered the army to accelerate and reach it within four hours.

• Drugged cavalry and soldiers charged into the Zombie Tide, fighting with reckless frenzy and even biting Blood Corpses.
• A cavalry captain took the God Drug repeatedly, became a New Ascetic, and detonated explosives among the enemy before reviving.
• Old Era Ascetics watched the soldiers’ relentless deaths and revivals as the drug and mass brainwashing drove more fighters to advance.
• Bear Dunce reported that the Ascetic Cultivator count had reached 14.71 million, while 13.03 million soldiers and 14,500 Ascetic Cultivators had died in battle.
• Zhang Tie observed that Ascetic Cultivators were being created faster than soldiers were dying, while Lin An approved of the army’s progress.
• Lin An ordered the army to speed up and cover the final three hundred kilometers within four hours.

Lin An held the army’s advance until he sent 117 elite Ascetic Cultivators toward the Deep Blue core, despite the New Ascetics’ growing madness and the Blood Corpses’ overwhelming defenses. The squad broke through the missile barrage with a Sword Net and charged into the opening.

• Lin An delayed sending the elite unit while New Ascetics lost their sanity from consuming brain-derived crystals, and he realized their cannibalism had completed the Sesha Mystery quest.
• Lin An ordered 117 elite Ascetic Cultivators to coordinate with the first ten sequences and attack Deep Blue.
• The Blood Corpses turned to form a Zombie Wall and launched a massive missile barrage at the charging squad.
• Lin An activated Celestial Human Form and Sword Net, guiding the squad as their blades cut through the missiles and opened a brief passage.
• Lin An shouted for the squad to charge through the opening.

Lin An led Zhang Tie and the Ascetic Cultivator squad through the Blood Corpses’ defenses, ordering the army to charge and buy them time. When the Zombie Wall threatened to stop them, Lin An ordered the squad to unleash Soul Shriek, breaching the wall and pressing toward the core.

• Lin An charged toward the deep-blue building with Zhang Tie and a hundred Ascetic Cultivators while Blood Corpses attacked them with missiles and formed a towering Zombie Wall.
• Lin An ordered the military’s New Ascetics and the wider human army to charge the Blood Corpses and prevent reinforcements from reaching the core.
• Zhang Tie suggested withdrawing, but Lin An refused, warning that the Blood Corpses regenerated and ordering the squad to keep advancing.
• Lin An told everyone to abandon defense and repeatedly use Soul Shriek, combining their Mental Shocks into a Mental Storm that annihilated the Zombie Wall.
• The squad revived after unleashing Soul Shriek, and Lin An ordered them to keep advancing toward a point twelve kilometers away.

Lin An drove his squad through the Blood Corpses toward their core, using the Death Seed to drain Vitality from Ascetic Cultivators who tried to retreat. He combined his trump cards and revived the Black Dragon, leaving the surrounding Blood Corpses trembling and disintegrating.

• Lin An and his squad fought deeper into the Blood Corpse tide as the creatures abandoned the battlefield’s outskirts to defend their core.
• The human fighters on the outskirts realized the Blood Corpses feared Lin An’s advance and rallied to keep them from returning to the core.
• Lin An’s squad reached three kilometers from the core after losing more than half of its equipment-wearing Ascetic Cultivators, while Second Ascetic and other survivors urged him to retreat.
• Lin An seized Second Ascetic and used the Death Seed to drain his Vitality, then had Zhang Tie grab the other Ascetic Cultivators who wanted to flee.
• Lin An activated Soul Conversion, Causality Sequence Eight, and Time Lock to stack his power with the Amoeba Instance Dungeon’s Tier 3 state.
• Lin An’s aura broke through to a level near Third Order, and the Black Dragon revived as nearby Blood Corpses trembled and disintegrated.

Lin An unleashed his enhanced power to break through the Blood Corpse army and destroy the structures protecting its core. Inside the complex, he found a Spiritual Energy Core and a room that resembled their base, while the system listed the remaining missions.

• Lin An used the Black Dragon’s power and his Third Order Soul to annihilate Blood Corpses and lead his team toward the Corpse Tide’s core.
• Lin An and Zhang Tie carved through the Zombie Wall as the Ascetic Cultivators followed, with Lin An’s temporary enhanced state nearing its limit.
• Lin An detonated his Mental Strength against the dark-blue complex, exposing its entrance and causing the pursuing Blood Corpses to freeze.
• The system announced that the Simulated Control Center had been detected and listed the remaining missions.
• Lin An and Zhang Tie entered the complex and found a Spiritual Energy Core in a hall that resembled their base.

Lin An and the surviving Ascetic Cultivators entered a strange Control Center hidden amid the Zombie Tide, where he recognized powerful Spiritual Energy Nodes that could complete his Celestial Human Form. The facility’s defense system identified the group as intruders and began targeting them, but Lin An stopped Zhang Tie from attacking and waited as it tried to contact the Base Supreme Commander.

• Lin An recovered his strength inside the hall and ordered the exhausted soldiers to stay still while he examined the technological devices.
• Lin An concluded the powerful Spiritual Energy Nodes were not from Dragon An Base and decided he had to obtain one to complete his Celestial Human Form.
• Lin An proposed searching the inner area for Artificial Intelligence and data, then led the group farther into the Control Center.
• The facility scanned the intruders, activated its defense systems, and identified Zhang Tie as a Modified Experimental Subject while failing to classify Lin An.
• Zhang Tie transformed and rushed to attack, but Lin An stopped him and waited as the system reported an Experimental Subject leak and contacted the Base Supreme Commander.