Chapter Summaries

Murphy, Austin, and Rahem discussed signs that the demons’ weak performance during the Demon Eye disturbance might conceal a conspiracy. Meanwhile, Evelina’s group escorted Lu Li through the Demon Capital, where his holy power drew attacks, and continued toward the Ancient Basin after Vladimir warned them it was dangerous.

• Rahem told Murphy and Austin that the demons’ low losses seemed deliberate, though it lacked enough data to determine why.
• Vladimir warned Evelina to keep Lu Li using his deceptive power in the Demon Capital, while Kagmo objected that it would attract attacks.
• Lu Li entered the chaotic Demon Capital under layered barriers and killed more than twenty low-ranking demons with [Lightning Arrow].
• Vladimir claimed Lu Li was prey shared by himself, Kagmo, and Bogang, then revealed he was taking him to the entrance of the Ancient Basin.
• Di Ge Niu You warned Vladimir that the Ancient Basin entrance was crowded and urged him to proceed carefully.

Vladimir led Evelina and Lu Li to the outer perimeter of the Ancient Basin, where he revealed that reaching the Demon Ancestor required crossing the miasma and the Path of Pain. As they entered the corpse-strewn underground passage, Vladimir dismissed the dead as failed challengers.

• Di Ge Niu You warned Vladimir that the crowd could draw Prince Dai Li’s attention, but Vladimir continued toward the city center with Lu Li and Evelina.
• Lu Li used [Object Lift] to suspend a Stamina Power Bank behind him, prompting greedy interest from Kagmo and unease from Bogang.
• Vladimir revealed that Evelina and Lu Li would have to cross the miasma and the Path of Pain for a chance to glimpse the Demon Ancestor.
• Evelina concealed her doubts after Lu Li’s prompt and pretended to thank Vladimir for guiding them.
• Vladimir led the pair into the underground outskirts of the Ancient Basin, where Evelina saw corpses lining the road.
• Vladimir told Evelina the corpses belonged to challengers who had overestimated their abilities.

Evelina learned that Vladimir believed summoners could safely cross the Ancient Basin’s Path of Pain, but watching two brain devils suffer a fatal attack made the danger clear. Lu Li nevertheless ordered her to enter, and she demanded that Vladimir show them the entrance.

• Evelina questioned Vladimir about the Ancient Basin’s dangers, and he claimed summoning-class talents could pass the Path of Pain safely.
• Lu Li told Evelina to agree to watch from the spectator stands before entering the basin.
• Vladimir showed Evelina the flesh ball that projected the living passages inside the Ancient Basin.
• Evelina watched two brain devils test the passages and saw them killed when a previously safe route attacked them on their return.
• Lu Li ordered Evelina to enter without delay, and she asked Vladimir to take them to the entrance.

Prince Dai Li learned that Lu Li was only level 42 and suspected Vladimir was using the newly ascended Evelina as a sacrifice, but allowed the challenge to proceed. At the Ancient Basin, Lu Li confirmed that only two people could enter the Path of Pain and then pushed a frightened Evelina into its entrance.

• Prince Dai Li questioned a minor demon about Lu Li and Evelina, learning Lu Li was level 42 and Evelina was a recently blessed succubus over level 80.
• Dai Li concluded Vladimir was trying to sacrifice Evelina and permitted the challenge because the Ancient Basin's War Blessing field was active.
• Lu Li and Evelina reached the Ancient Basin entrance while demons mocked them, and Lu Li asked Vladimir to confirm that only two people could enter the Path of Pain.
• Lu Li checked his Great Auspicious Omen and reassured himself that entering the Ancient Basin would bring him great fortune.
• Evelina nervously tried to avoid entering, but Lu Li pushed her into the hole.

Evelina and Lu Li entered the Ancient Basin, where Lu Li discovered that its walls were alive and protected Evelina from a flesh monster. When Lu Li revealed a map of the basin, it sprang from his hands and covered Evelina’s head.

• Evelina fell into the darkness and landed safely on layers of soft flesh.
• Lu Li arrived with glow sticks and attacked a huge flesh-and-blood face that had trapped Evelina’s hand and drained her blood.
• Lu Li concluded that the entire Ancient Basin was alive, while Evelina berated him for entering without a plan.
• Lu Li revealed a map of the Ancient Basin and began unfolding it.
• The map moved on its own, leapt at Evelina, and covered her head.

Lu Li discovered that the Human Skin Map had fused with Evelina and revealed its complete, readable routes on her skin. He recorded the map's first half and prepared to begin the Path of Pain, while Evelina mistook his examination for seduction and endured it to survive.

• Lu Li tried to remove the Human Skin Map from Evelina but watched it reveal a face and fuse with her body.
• Lu Li spotted map patterns on Evelina's shoulder and realized the Human Skin Map had become fully readable across her skin.
• Lu Li traced the route with black mist while Evelina misunderstood his actions and blushed.
• Lu Li asked Evelina to lower her collar so he could inspect the covered map, then formed a black-mist barrier to shield them from the audience.
• Lu Li photographed the first half of the map with the Data Panel as Evelina closed her eyes and lowered her collar further.

Lu Li stopped Evelina from undressing further, realizing she had misunderstood his request to reveal the Human Skin Map, and tried to make her wear a mind-clearing device. At the Ancient Basin, Di Ge Niu You told Prince Dai Li that Lu Li possessed the Talent Abilities she wanted.

• Evelina began taking off her clothes after misunderstanding Lu Li's request, but Lu Li stopped her and suspected the Human Skin Map had muddled her mind.
• Lu Li offered Evelina devices to clear her thoughts, and she insisted she was lucid while enduring the awkward misunderstanding.
• Demons watching the Ancient Basin speculated about why Lu Li and Evelina had not moved, while Prince Dai Li observed them cautiously.
• Di Ge Niu You arrived to congratulate Prince Dai Li on clearing the Path of Pain and claimed he had important news that could increase her strength.
• Di Ge Niu You told Prince Dai Li that Lu Li possessed the Talent Abilities she wanted, and she warned him not to make false claims.

Di Ge Niu You told Prince Dai Li that Lu Li could control powerful corpses and bargained for a reward, while Lu Li and Evelina entered the Ancient Basin’s dangerous labyrinth. The chapter left Evelina falling after Lu Li teased her as they climbed an unusual route.

• Di Ge Niu You told Prince Dai Li that Lu Li had controlled five level-100 demon prince corpses and argued that his Talent Abilities could benefit her.
• Dai Li pointed out that Vladimir had priority over any Talent Crystal if Lu Li died, then paid Di Ge Niu You one Perfect Quality item for his information.
• After Di Ge Niu You left, Dai Li sent ghostly Summon Objects to watch him and saw Lu Li and the transformed Evelina emerge from the flesh ball.
• Lu Li followed his map through the shifting Ancient Basin and warned Evelina to stay close and remain quiet.
• Lu Li climbed a strip of dangling flesh and told Evelina to grab his foot, then pulled away and struck her with a hand of black mist, sending her plunging downward.

Lu Li used Evelina as bait to lure out a Living Minecart in the gray haze, then rode it away with her as it sped through the route. Evelina realized he had not abandoned her, while demons watching from outside questioned his unconventional approach to clearing the area.

• Evelina landed in the gray haze after Lu Li vanished and feared that he had left her behind.
• Lu Li's Servant Contract prevented Evelina from speaking or moving, leaving her helpless as a monstrous figure approached.
• A Living Minecart charged at Evelina, and Lu Li scooped her up with a massive arm of black mist just before it reached her.
• Lu Li praised Evelina for luring out the Living Minecart in only three minutes and carried her as he rode it through the haze.
• Evelina realized Lu Li had used her as bait and grew more favorably disposed toward him.
• Demons watching from outside criticized Lu Li for ignoring the standard method of clearing the route and expected him to die.

Lu Li and Evelina skipped ahead through the living Labyrinth and reached the fifth section of the Path of Pain, where their strange behavior led Prince Dai Li to suspect Evelina held clues to the route. The pair then ran backward toward an abyssal maw, leaving Dai Li and the watching demons unsure whether they had found a hidden path or were heading to their deaths.

• Lu Li and Evelina rode through a shortcut in the Labyrinth, passing several sections of the Path of Pain and reaching the fifth.
• Prince Dai Li watched the pair arrive at the fifth section and convinced herself they would fail because they had not seen her or Ora's clearing process.
• Lu Li examined Evelina at the starting point while black mist blocked the demons' view, and Dai Li deduced that Evelina's body held clues to clearing the Path of Pain.
• After the black mist dispersed, Lu Li and Evelina stepped forward, then turned around and ran backward through the fifth section.
• The demons mocked the pair as they approached an abyssal maw that seemed to block their path.

Lu Li escaped the Moving Maw with Evelina and gave her a Soul Anchoring Stake before they split up in the Path of Pain. Evelina followed the Maw toward the fifth section’s midpoint while Lu Li continued deeper, and she reached a gigantic door of flesh and blood.

• Lu Li used Spirit Flash to carry Evelina past the Moving Maw and gave her a Soul Anchoring Stake to keep in her pocket.
• Lu Li told Evelina to follow the Moving Maw to the fifth section’s midpoint while he went deeper into the Path of Pain.
• Evelina asked Lu Li how he had passed through the Maw, but he left before she could ask more.
• Xing Anlin reassured Evelina and urged her onward as she followed the Maw without encountering danger.
• Evelina reached the midpoint and found a gigantic door forged from flesh and blood.

Vladimir, Bogang, and Kagmo worried that Daji would discover their deception, but Lu Li’s astonishing progress through the hidden trial unsettled them further. Vladimir then noticed Di Ge Niu You acting terrified, though he did not learn why.

• Bogang blamed Vladimir for luring Daji and Lu Li onto the Path of Pain, and Vladimir angrily defended his plan.
• Kagmo urged Vladimir and Bogang to placate Daji after she emerged from the trial.
• Vladimir, Bogang, and Kagmo watched Lu Li race through the deadly hidden path, destroying traps and monsters as he went.
• Vladimir reassured himself that Lu Li’s Servant Contract with Daji would keep the mortal from threatening them.
• Vladimir noticed Di Ge Niu You sweating and pale, and Di Ge Niu You awkwardly tried to change the subject.

Di Ge Niu You panicked when Vladimir and the succubus survived the Ancient Basin, fearing Princess Dai Li would punish him for his betrayal. After Dai Li’s Netherfire Spirit Envoys seized him, Vladimir and the others learned he had sold them out and heard Dai Li sentence him to become an ingredient for her meals.

• Di Ge Niu You tried to leave the stands, but Kagmo and Vladimir kept him talking as the succubus and the human youth advanced inside the flesh gate.
• Netherfire Spirit Envoys appeared and blocked Di Ge Niu You’s escape, then a messenger announced that Princess Dai Li had summoned him.
• Vladimir, Kagmo, and Bogang followed the Spirit Envoys and learned that Di Ge Niu You had sold Princess Dai Li information about the human youth’s special Summoning Class talent.
• Vladimir and the others grew furious when they realized Di Ge Niu You had gambled their lives for a chance to enter the Demon Pool.
• Princess Dai Li declared that Di Ge Niu You would provide the high-ranking Demon King meat for her daily meals.

Prince Dai Li realized Lu Li’s progress through the Ancient Basin might reveal a path beyond the one she knew, and hurried to alert the Council of Elders. At the start of the seventh section, Lu Li prepared to continue alone after losing clear contact with Xing Anlin and the Burrowing Bee Queen.

• Prince Dai Li saw footage of Lu Li using crystalline spikes to break through three flesh walls and reach a new stretch of road.
• Prince Dai Li ordered the Noisy Imp to keep Vladimir and the others from leaving, then went to inform the Council of Elders herself.
• The Noisy Imp received temporary authority over the trolls and began devising a way to stop the group without fighting them.
• Lu Li added twenty Stamina Power Banks to his formation and reviewed the omen promising first-rate great fortune.
• Lu Li found that his connection with Xing Anlin and the Burrowing Bee Queen had weakened, so he gave them instructions and prepared to continue alone.

Prince Dai Li warned the Council of Elders that a mortal Challenger carrying an item tied to the power of falsehood was advancing through an unknown section of the Ancient Basin’s Path of Pain. The elders agreed to travel with her to the Greed region and investigate before the Ancient Basin’s force field was damaged.

• Prince Dai Li reported that two Challengers were nearing the end of the Path of Pain, but one was a mortal who had entered an unexplored section carrying an item capable of triggering the power of falsehood.
• The three demon elders initially dismissed her warning, then became alarmed when Dai Li explained the mortal had been brought in by Vladimir, Kagmo, and Bogang and had a master-servant contract with a succubus Challenger.
• The elders learned that the mortal was the servant and decided to speak with the succubus after she emerged, while accompanying Dai Li to the Ancient Basin to prevent accidents.
• Dai Li rejected an elder’s offer of a lift and urged the group to hurry to the Greed region before the force field of War Blessing was affected.

The demon elders cleared the entrance to the Ancient Basin and restricted entry to high-ranking demons willing to answer the Council of Elders’ call. Vladimir, Kagmo, and Bogang tried to leave, but the toad-headed elder confronted them after Dai Li arrived, leaving their fate uncertain.

• The three demon elders teleported to the Ancient Basin and the toad-headed elder scattered the crowd blocking its entrance.
• Dai Li and Prince Ora arrived, and the Council of Elders limited entry to high-ranking demons who agreed to serve in a crisis.
• Vladimir, Kagmo, and Bogang tried to leave, but Dai Li kept them surrounded by trolls.
• The toad-headed elder appeared behind the three demon princes and challenged Vladimir as he tried to escape.

Lu Li reached the eighth section of the Ancient Basin and decided to use his stored crystals to level up before continuing. To prepare for the dangerous path ahead, he summoned Luo Yonghao to load the Crystal Dissolving Mixture with mana crystals, while the demon princes were held outside and questioned about Evelina and Lu Li.

• The demon elders ordered Vladimir, Kagmo, and Bogang to take responsibility and wait outside the Ancient Basin for Evelina and Lu Li.
• Lu Li recovered from the seventh section and worried that rising demonic energy and stamina costs would overwhelm his supplies.
• Lu Li used his Crystal Dissolving Mixture to dissolve his stored crystals, including the tenth-tier rainbow crystal, and decided to gather more experience.
• Lu Li summoned Luo Yonghao from the Living Nest and asked how many mana crystals remained there.
• Luo Yonghao estimated that the mana crystals formed four and a half piles about five meters high, and Lu Li sent him inside with the mixture to load them quickly.

Lu Li prepared for the eighth segment of the Path of Pain, reached Lv.88, and gained an item that could reveal and raise his Luck stat. As he charged deeper into the Ancient Basin, the demons watching from outside realized that time flowed increasingly slowly within it.

• Lu Li drank the Crystal Dissolving Mixture, sent Luo Yonghao to the Soul Realm after the Dragon Egg seemed angered, and prepared to face the eighth segment of the Path of Pain.
• Lu Li became the first player to reach Lv.88 and opened eight Jade Level-up Chests, finding a Useless Candy Bean that could make Luck visible and assignable.
• Lu Li allocated his Free Attribute Points to Luck, then used Soul Transformation [Levitation] and charged deeper into the Ancient Basin.
• Prince Ora asked Dai Li whether Lu Li was nearing collapse, but Dai Li said his speed had slowed because time was passing more slowly around him.
• A demon elder explained that time slowed further into the Ancient Basin, and another estimated that the outside might eventually run more than ten times faster than Lu Li's surroundings.

Lu Li’s presence in the Ancient Basin caused the demon elders to halt their expansion plans and place the demon princes under house arrest while they waited for the challengers to emerge. On Outpost Star 886, the Overlord Army honored the fallen You Wei, and Rahem revealed that the front lines had eased enough for the army to take a vacation.

• The Council of Elders sealed off the Ancient Basin and confined Vladimir, Kagmo, and Bogang, fearing Lu Li might disrupt the war.
• The surviving soldiers on Outpost Star 886 celebrated their promotions, then proposed building a memorial for You Wei, whose sacrifice had saved them.
• Austin joined the soldiers in mourning You Wei and learned that Murphy had been promoted to Gold Boot.
• Rahem said Murphy’s promotion might be connected to the calming of the Demon Eye’s unrest and noted that pressure on the front lines had eased.
• Rahem announced that the Overlord Army and the reinforcements from across the Star Domains had been disbanded for a vacation because no major battles were expected soon.

The Chen Family investigated Lu Li’s theft of its treasury and the fake Mad Blade Manual that had crippled Chen Ding and driven Chen Kou mad. Chen Ding insisted that even Chen Li could not have detected the manual’s hidden flaw, and the Chen Family Patriarch arrived as Chen Li’s anger threatened to turn violent.

• Chen Li and the other Chen Family leaders learned that the treasury had been emptied and gathered to question Chen Ding.
• Chen Nuo presented the copied Mad Blade Manual, and Chen Li condemned it as an obvious fake.
• The elders suspected Lu Li had used a mind-control ability or item, but Chen Ding confirmed that he had carefully checked the manual before giving it to Chen Kou.
• Chen Li grieved over Chen Kou’s madness and nearly attacked Chen Ding, who insisted the tragedy could not have been prevented.
• The Chen Family Patriarch entered the Council Hall and the gathered elders greeted him.