Chapter Summaries

Zhang Yuanqing accepted the Hunter Guild mission to hunt the Five Elements Alliance team while secretly plotting with Mr. President to escalate the conflict against the evil faction. The next morning, he learned that the Executive Department had lost two teams, leaving the Heaven's Punishment branch tense.

• Catherine assigned Bacchus, Hecate, and Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader to lure out and kill the Five Elements Alliance team, while Zhang Yuanqing intimidated Hydra into backing down.
• Catherine explained that the Eye of the Sky could reveal Spirit Realm Walkers' Role Cards, and Hecate proposed drawing out the Five Elements Alliance by causing trouble in Heaven's Punishment territory.
• Zhang Yuanqing contacted Mr. President and reported that the evil faction planned to weaken the lawful faction before targeting the Sea God Church; they agreed to pursue the evil faction's core members and escalate the war.
• Zhang Yuanqing decided to use some of Yuanshi Tianzun's items during the mission so he could kill Bacchus and Hecate without exposing his connection to the Hunter Guild spy network.
• The next morning, Zhang Yuanqing told Yuan Ting that two Executive Department teams, including seven Saints, had been wiped out, then checked the Heaven's Punishment forum announcement.

Zhang Yuanqing followed the fallout from Heaven's Punishment's losses as Sean Mead faced replacement and the organization planned its response. Meanwhile, Bacchus and Hecate launched a citywide diversion to draw out the Five Elements Alliance team, and the Dream Master identified their vehicle.

• Zhang Yuanqing read Heaven's Punishment members' reactions to the deaths of eighteen Spirit Realm Walkers and learned they were demanding accountability and reinforcements.
• Sean Mead asked to use the Eye of the Sky, but Channing Lu said headquarters planned to replace him and urged him to send Norse after someone on the Class A wanted list.
• Zhang Yuanqing heard that Winifred Elena might replace Sean Mead and reconsidered whether he wanted to stop Bacchus and Hecate.
• Bacchus and Hecate ordered widespread destruction across Manhattan to draw out the Five Elements Alliance team, while secretly plotting to kill the Dream Master.
• The Dream Master sent Bacchus the license plate number of the vehicle carrying the Five Elements Alliance team.

Zhang Yuanqing lured Bacchus and Hecate into an ambush at Desen River Park, where he revealed his hidden role and used powerful items to defeat Bacchus. Hecate survived in an invulnerable state, so Zhang Yuanqing had Princess Yinyao carry her away in her coffin just as Wind Mages arrived.

• Zhang Yuanqing drove into the darkness at Desen River Park, where Bacchus and Hecate ambushed him and put him and Bacchus to sleep.
• Zhang Yuanqing entered Hecate's dream and struck her with a meteor shower, forcing her into her invulnerable passive state.
• Zhang Yuanqing and the Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader confronted Bacchus, who trapped the area in a Master-grade painting before Zhang Yuanqing's armor and abilities let him kill Bacchus.
• Zhang Yuanqing sealed Hecate inside her coffin and sent Princess Yinyao down the Desen River with it.
• Wind Mages arrived at the battlefield after Zhang Yuanqing dispelled the darkness.

Zhang Yuanqing killed Bacchus and Hecate, secured the Sleeping Coffin, and learned more about the Night God Church and Hunter Guild. As Catherine summoned him to the wellness club, Fu Qingyang received an invitation to a meeting with the Five Elements Alliance’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

• Zhang Yuanqing showed the Wind Mages Bacchus's corpse, and they reported his death to Heaven's Punishment.
• Sean Mead thanked Zhang Yuanqing for killing Bacchus, questioned him about the attack, and promised a reward while Zhang Yuanqing requested protection.
• Zhang Yuanqing met Princess Yinyao in an abandoned house and identified the coffin as the Sleeping Coffin, an item that enhanced Evernight professions and could seal enemies.
• The president arrived and killed Hecate after Zhang Yuanqing explained that Hecate's passive ability had triggered; Zhang Yuanqing then devoured Hecate's soul and learned about the Night God Church and Hunter Guild.
• Mr. Chairman told Zhang Yuanqing to reassure Catherine after the failed mission, and Zhang Yuanqing later saw her message ordering him to meet her at the wellness club.
• Fu Qingyang received an invitation from Elder Miao to attend an online meeting with the Five Elements Alliance's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Fu Qingyang learned that Ju Mang had killed three peak Saints in New Covenant County and discovered that the Five Elements Alliance credited the feat to Yuanshi Tianzun’s artifacts. Meanwhile, Zhang Yuanqing sent a clone to meet Catherine and prepared to enter the Spirit Realm, where he was assigned to Horror Cruise.

• Elder Miao told Fu Qingyang that Heaven’s Punishment wanted Hecate extradited and praised Ju Mang for killing Beast Haas, Bacchus, and Hecate.
• Fu Qingyang read forum posts celebrating Ju Mang’s victories and learned from Yuan Ting’s post that Fu Qingyang and Guan Ya had lent him Yuanshi Tianzun’s artifacts.
• Zhang Yuanqing created a clone disguised as Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader and left his Sovereign-grade artifacts and materials hidden before entering the Spirit Realm.
• The clone went to Catherine’s wellness club, while Zhang Yuanqing received a notification that he would enter the Horror Cruise instance in thirty seconds.

Zhang Yuanqing entered the S-rank Horror Cruise Spirit Realm as Lieutenant Haas after confronting Catherine about the failed Hunter Guild mission. He began investigating the ship’s impending disappearance and asked two sailors who held the highest rank aboard.

• Zhang Yuanqing entered the S-rank, single-player Horror Cruise instance, whose main quest was to survive five days.
• Catherine questioned the Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader about how Ju Mang had learned of the ambush and how he survived; Zhang Yuanqing blamed the Hunter Guild’s intelligence and identified Ju Mang’s powerful items.
• Zhang Yuanqing claimed he had escaped by hiding in Hecate’s dream, and Catherine paid him five hundred thousand federal dollars as compensation.
• Catherine and the Hunter Guild’s leaders concluded that Ju Mang had detected the ambush through stargazing aided by Yuanshi Tianzun’s astrolabe, rather than through a leak.
• Zhang Yuanqing arrived aboard the 1900 cruise ship, surveyed it with Spirit Roaming, and questioned two sailors about the ship’s highest-ranking officer.

Zhang Yuanqing investigated the Petrel to learn why it had disappeared, but Captain James and the crew refused to explain what had happened. He found a file about a comet that had triggered mutations in the southern sea, then was interrupted while searching the captain’s cabin for more information.

• Zhang Yuanqing questioned sailors and Captain James, who said the mission was already over and ordered him to leave.
• Zhang Yuanqing explored the liner and was barred by two Holy See Knights from entering the third lower deck.
• Zhang Yuanqing learned that the crew feared discussing an incident aboard the ship and decided to search Captain James’s cabin that night.
• Zhang Yuanqing found a file describing a 1899 comet impact and the mutations and attacks by marine creatures that followed.
• As Zhang Yuanqing began searching a locked desk drawer, someone opened the captain’s cabin door.

Zhang Yuanqing decoded the Petrel’s telegrams and uncovered signs that Captain James had cut off communication and lied about the ship’s return time. He secretly investigated the hold, where he encountered Isabella guarding the sealed extraterrestrial object, and escaped after she detected him.

• Zhang Yuanqing retrieved a code manual from the telegraph room and deciphered the Petrel’s telegrams, which stopped on August 30.
• Zhang Yuanqing realized James had cut off communications and lied about how long the return voyage would take, but chose not to break into the locked desk drawer.
• Zhang Yuanqing sneaked into the hold to investigate the Holy See’s team and the extraterrestrial object sealed there.
• Isabella detected Zhang Yuanqing and attacked him with wind blades, but he escaped using Star Escape Art.
• Isabella told the cardinal that an invisible human intruder had appeared and vanished in starlight, and the cardinal ordered her to inform Captain James.

Zhang Yuanqing investigated the strange role of Lieutenant Hass aboard the ship and found evidence that Hass had replaced the missing Lieutenant Stephen Simpson. He discovered a notebook hidden beneath the bed, leaving him with a new clue to investigate.

• Zhang Yuanqing sensed an unseen presence watching him and noticed that Lieutenant Hass's dormitory was suspiciously bare.
• Captain James ordered Zhang Yuanqing to join the night patrols and agreed to send cigarettes to his room.
• Zhang Yuanqing used an illusion to inspect the crew registry and found no Lieutenant Hass, while nearly half the listed crew had been crossed out.
• Zhang Yuanqing questioned the supply administrator about Stephen Simpson in a dream, but the man's terror threatened to collapse the dream, so Zhang Yuanqing withdrew.
• Zhang Yuanqing summoned Little Doubi to search the dormitory, and Little Doubi found a notebook taped beneath the bed.

Zhang Yuanqing read Stephen Simpson’s ship log and pieced together how the crew had been corrupted after salvaging the demon seed. After learning Captain James planned to restrain him for a ritual that night, Zhang Yuanqing decided to hide what he knew and strike first.

• Zhang Yuanqing read Stephen Simpson’s diary and learned that the crew began hearing whispers and transforming after the demon seed was brought aboard.
• Zhang Yuanqing concluded that Captain James, the Holy See team, and possibly the entire crew had been contaminated.
• James told the aged voice hidden behind the flour that Zhang Yuanqing had noticed something was wrong and that he would have him restrained during patrol for a ritual.
• Zhang Yuanqing decided to conceal his suspicions and use the night patrol to attack the captain and crew before facing the Holy See team and the demon seed.

Zhang Yuanqing replenished his Solar Power aboard the cruise ship and weighed whether to attack Paji, but the demon seed’s call triggered a mass mutation among the patrol soldiers. He fought back and faced the mutated Paji, using Night Roaming to evade her charge as the chapter ended.

• Zhang Yuanqing cultivated the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record in the sunlight, restoring his Solar Power despite the risk of burning himself.
• Zhang Yuanqing joined the night patrol and considered killing Paji, but decided he might be safer waiting until his Solar Power reached its peak.
• A mysterious whisper triggered cellular mutations in Zhang Yuanqing, though his Solar Power suppressed much of the corruption.
• Mutated soldiers surrounded Zhang Yuanqing and repeatedly urged him to go below deck, so he killed several with Mental Strike and gunfire.
• Paji mutated into a tentacled creature and charged Zhang Yuanqing on a horse made of seawater, and he dodged her attack by using Night Roaming.

Zhang Yuanqing killed Paji and the ship’s crew, then discovered Captain James, Isabella, and a cardinal guarding a ritual array tied to a demon seed. After his spirit servant was destroyed, he teleported into the hold and attacked the array.

• Zhang Yuanqing killed Paji by snapping her neck and stabbing her with a Solar Power sword, then sent the Ghost Bride to kill the crew in the dormitory.
• Zhang Yuanqing searched for Captain James, learned he was likely in the hold, and scouted it with a Spirit Servant.
• Zhang Yuanqing saw Captain James, Isabella, and a cardinal praying beside a blood-red array and learned they planned to bring a demon seed to Surli Port.
• The cardinal detected and annihilated Zhang Yuanqing’s Spirit Servant, injuring his soul.
• Zhang Yuanqing teleported into the hold and attacked the array with two wind blades.

Zhang Yuanqing fought the ship’s Holy See agents, killed Isabella, and survived the cardinal’s lethal explosion before escaping to recover. After Princess Yinyao questioned his actions, he read Captain James’s log and realized he might be the contaminated Mutant aboard the ship.

• Zhang Yuanqing used illusions and summoned corpse puppets to battle Captain James, Isabella, the cardinal, and two Knights in the hold.
• Zhang Yuanqing killed Isabella, provoking the cardinal to abandon the magic circle and attack him with lightning.
• The cardinal detonated himself, badly wounding Zhang Yuanqing, who escaped with Princess Yinyao and healed using Life Essence.
• Princess Yinyao pointed out that Zhang Yuanqing had fought unusually recklessly and said the people aboard the ship had not seemed like monsters.
• Zhang Yuanqing found Captain James’s log, which described the ship’s Mutant infection and Lieutenant Stephen’s transformation into Lieutenant Hass.
• Zhang Yuanqing realized that he himself might be the contaminated Mutant.

Zhang Yuanqing realized the demonic seed had corrupted his mind and that completing Beast Haas's mission could turn him into a Fallen One. With Princess Yinyao's help, he returned to the hold to seek the surviving red-robed bishop's aid, but the demonic seed's whispers began corrupting him again as they tried to save the bishop.

• Zhang Yuanqing recognized that his perception had been distorted and fought to cleanse the corruption with Solar Power, but the demonic seed's whispers overwhelmed him.
• Princess Yinyao used the Cat King Speaker's drumbeats to restore Zhang Yuanqing's awareness and learned he feared that completing the mission would make him a Fallen One.
• Zhang Yuanqing decided to seal himself in the black coffin and wait for the president, but Princess Yinyao reminded him that the Holy See might know how to suppress the demonic seed.
• Zhang Yuanqing and Princess Yinyao returned to the hold, where they discovered the red-robed bishop had survived, while Hundred-Man Slayer and Greedy Divine General kept the two Knights pinned down.
• Princess Yinyao used the Mountain God Scepter to keep the bishop alive as Zhang Yuanqing tried to treat him, but the demonic seed's whispers began twisting Zhang Yuanqing's mind again.

Zhang Yuanqing survived the Demon Seed’s corruption by arranging a purification ritual and gathering intelligence from the cardinal. After enduring the five-day Horror Cruise instance, he completed his mission and awaited his rewards.

• Zhang Yuanqing injected the cardinal with Life Source Fluid, then left Princess Yinyao to revive him and explain what had happened.
• The cardinal restored the knights’ senses, helped draw a Rune purification formation, and used it to clear Zhang Yuanqing’s immediate corruption.
• Zhang Yuanqing learned that the Light Compass had prophesied the Demon Seed could destroy the world and that the Holy See’s shifting treasury location was recorded on a map kept by the Holy Knights.
• Over the next five days, Zhang Yuanqing cultivated the Pure Yang Body Cleansing Record and endured the Demon Seed’s whispers while the cardinal and knights guarded him.
• Before leaving the instance, Zhang Yuanqing saw the five-meter-tall Demon Seed but chose not to take it, then completed the S-rank Horror Cruise mission.

After clearing the Horror Cruise, Zhang Yuanqing received powerful rewards and returned to find his belongings missing, but learned that Guan Ya had safeguarded them while his clone fought in New Covenant County. The county’s faction war continued to escalate, and Vinnie assigned Zhang Yuanqing to help intercept Saints supporting the evil faction.

• Zhang Yuanqing received Unyielding Will, the Thunder Bracer, and Smoker's Whisper as rewards for completing the Horror Cruise.
• Zhang Yuanqing returned to reality, found his clone and belongings gone, and learned from Guan Ya that his clone had left the items with her while joining the fighting in New Covenant County.
• Guan Ya sent Zhang Yuanqing casualty reports showing that 180 Spirit Realm Walkers had died and 240 had been injured as the lawful and evil factions battled across the county.
• Zhang Yuanqing reunited with Guan Ya and agreed that she would discreetly investigate whether an Irish United Nations Petrel had gone missing in 1900.
• Vinnie told Zhang Yuanqing that the level-six Dream Master Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader had killed six Saints and become a major rival for the Slaughter Dungeon.
• Vinnie ordered Zhang Yuanqing and the Hunter Guild to intercept Saints from the Dark Night Rose, Lord of Weapons Cult, and Nihility Sect who were heading to support the evil faction.

Zhang Yuanqing pursued leads on the evil faction's plans in New Covenant County while learning more about the Petrel's disappearance. A classified report revealed that Lieutenant Stephen Simpson, whom he had impersonated, survived the 1900 incident and appeared on a battlefield fifteen years later.

• Zhang Yuanqing told Vinnie that locating Beast Haas required his DNA, agreed to provide Spirit Realm IDs for the Eye of the Sky, and asked to visit her grandfather after the operation.
• Fu Xue arrived in New Covenant County to negotiate selling mechanism weapons to Heaven's Punishment and invited Chen Shu to invest in the deal.
• Demon Eye Heavenly King identified Envy Divine General as Unjust Heaven and said a level-six Star Official sent by Dark Night Rose was supporting the evil faction.
• Zhang Yuanqing learned that Ling Tuo remained in an instance dungeon, then invited Demon Eye Heavenly King to New Covenant County, but Demon Eye declined.
• Guan Ya showed Zhang Yuanqing the classified Petrel file and an account of John Simpson seeing his supposedly dead father, Stephen, alive and still young in 1915.
• Zhang Yuanqing realized that Lieutenant Stephen Simpson, whose role he had assumed, had not died.

Zhang Yuanqing uncovered the likely truth behind the Petrel’s disappearance and joined a meeting where Heaven’s Punishment planned to strike an incoming enemy Saint squad. He then learned that both factions intended to turn the operation into a decisive battle at New Covenant Harbor, where he would fight alongside the evil faction’s Saints and might witness a god.

• Zhang Yuanqing connected Lieutenant Stephen’s survival to the Demon Seed and asked Guan Ya to investigate whether Stephen’s son had living descendants.
• At a meeting called by Vinnie, Sean Mead announced a plan to use the Eye of the Sky to locate and attack an incoming enemy squad of three peak Saints and roughly ten to fifteen ordinary Saints.
• Zhang Yuanqing deduced that the operation would draw Sovereigns into the faction war, and Vinnie confirmed that the battle would mark a turning point.
• At the wellness parlor, Catherine told Zhang Yuanqing that the free faction planned to use the incoming support team to launch a decisive battle against Heaven’s Punishment.
• Catherine assigned Zhang Yuanqing to fight the lawful faction’s Saints alongside Typhoeus, Cocktail, and Hydra, then hinted that he would see a god at New Covenant Harbor.

Zhang Yuanqing accepted the Hunter Guild’s protection ritual and traveled with Catherine to the Free Covenant’s Divine Kingdom, where he drank a small amount of water from the Blood Lake. The divine water triggered a revelation: it contained the Demon Seed from the cruise ship.

• Catherine told Zhang Yuanqing that the Hunter Guild would seek a god’s protection before the coming battle, so Zhang Yuanqing arranged for his clone to take on his true body’s identity using the Perfect Skin.
• Zhang Yuanqing returned to Catherine, and she opened a gate that led them to a realm containing the Free Covenant’s Blood Lake.
• Catherine explained that the god slept in the lake as an incarnation and demonstrated how drinking its water granted protection against attacks from peak Sovereigns and demigods.
• Catherine warned Zhang Yuanqing that too much divine water could destroy his body or turn him into a mindless monster, and he drank only a tiny amount.
• Zhang Yuanqing suffered intense physical and spiritual pain, then recognized the power in the Blood Lake as the Demon Seed from the cruise ship.

After Catherine exposed Zhang Yuanqing to the Demon Seed’s divine water, Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader discovered that the Free Covenant’s deity was the same Demon Seed from the Horror Cruise dungeon. Zhang Yuanqing connected it to the Holy See’s destruction and prepared to keep the revelation from the president while his clone returned to Catherine’s suite.

• Catherine told Zhang Yuanqing that the divine water would let the Demon Seed notice and save him if powerful beings threatened him, then tried to seduce him; he resisted and left using Dream Traversal.
• Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader told Zhang Yuanqing that the Free Covenant’s god was the Demon Seed sleeping beneath a lake of blood in its divine kingdom.
• Zhang Yuanqing and his clone concluded that the Demon Seed was the evil god of the Deadly Poison Master profession and had caused the Holy See’s destruction by intervening in the human world.
• Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader warned that the Demon Seed could sense him through the divine water, so Zhang Yuanqing gave him three days away from the Eight-Span Mirror.
• Zhang Yuanqing warned Guan Ya to keep the Undead Squad rested and out of trouble the next day, then watched through the Eight-Span Mirror as Heaven-Connecting Cult Leader returned to Catherine’s suite.