Chapter Summaries

The Black-armored Knights demanded twenty children from Brown Village for the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony, killed Tajik when he protested, and seized the village children. As Belial and the others were held in cages overnight, a stealthy figure searched the carriages and reached Belial’s.

• Tajik hesitated over sending children to the Great Hunt Ceremony, then told the Black-armored Knight that Brown Village would provide one child.
• The Black-armored Knight demanded twenty children under fifteen and killed Tajik when he begged for leniency.
• The knights bound and abducted the children, including Belial, despite the villagers’ fear and grief.
• At the carriages, the knights beat a crying child until he was badly injured, frightening the other children into silence.
• After the knights fell asleep, a furtive figure crept between the carriages calling for Belial and reached his cage.

Eao freed Belial and the other children from the Hunting Temple’s cages, then fled into the forest with his son. A Black-armored Knight caught them, killed Eao in front of Belial, and a mysterious voice asked Belial if he needed help.

• Eao unlocked the cages and helped the imprisoned children escape before fleeing with Belial toward a hunter’s cabin.
• A Black-armored Knight tracked Eao through the forest and attacked him after Eao threw Belial toward the bushes.
• The knight beat Eao and crushed his fingers, but Eao wounded him with a poisoned blade before passing out.
• The Black-armored Knight captured Belial, brought him to his father, and snapped Eao’s neck in front of him.
• As Belial cried out in despair, a voice asked him if he needed help.

Li Si entered the Luen Pocket World ahead of the coming conflict to find the Hunting Divinity Shard, then rescued Belial and learned about the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony from a Black-armored Knight. After resurrecting Eao, Li Si asked to borrow Belial for a while.

• Li Si saved Belial from the Black-armored Knight, seized the knight with a Mage Hand, and searched his memories for information about the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony.
• Li Si learned that the Luen Pocket World held a Hunting Divinity Shard intended for Luen, and decided to infiltrate the ceremony to find it.
• Belial begged Li Si to save his murdered father, and Li Si agreed in exchange for Belial doing something for him.
• Li Si resurrected Eao with holy light, and Eao reunited with his son.
• Li Si told Eao and Belial that he would borrow Belial for a while.

Li Si infiltrated the Hunting Temple’s Rune Great Hunt Ceremony by controlling Belial’s body and disguising himself among the captured children. He reached the ceremony grounds at Gray Castle, where the priests controlled the children, and suspected the Great Hunt was preparing them as sacrifices for an evil god.

• Li Si controlled Belial’s body and let the Black-armored Knights recapture him so he could infiltrate the Hunting Temple without exposing his outsider soul.
• Li Si impersonated the dead Stede to explain the missing children and send the convoy toward the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony’s location.
• Li Si learned from Stede’s memories that the Rune Great Hunt required ten thousand participants and that the Hunting Temple forced captured children to join.
• The convoy brought the children to Gray Castle, where black-robed priests used mental force to make them follow orders.
• Li Si observed that the children were fed and made to sleep, then suspected the Hunting Temple was preparing them as sacrifices to empower an evil god.

Li Si entered the Dream World to investigate the Hunting Temple’s preparations for the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony and discovered the ceremony had left dreams shrouded in gray. After questioning Igor about the ceremony, Li Si encountered the God Child of Hunting, Luen, within Igor’s dream.

• Li Si waited until night, entered the Dream World, and observed that its dream spaces were clouded by an abnormal gray mist.
• Li Si entered a Gold-level professional’s dream, saw the owner’s fantasy of being a revered white-armored knight, and uncovered a deeper nightmare of a battlefield strewn with corpses.
• Li Si questioned the knight, Igor, and learned he was a Hunting Temple guard captain in Zeke City and that the gathered children would take part in the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony.
• Igor told Li Si that Archbishop Karl said participants would offer everything they had to Lord Luen, but he did not know how the ceremony would work.
• Igor revealed that he had met Luen ten years earlier, and Luen suddenly appeared before them in the dream.

Li Si investigated the dreams of Hunting Temple members and learned that Luen’s Hunting Ceremony may have imprinted them with faith and marked them as nourishment for his ascent to godhood. As the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony began beneath the Blood-colored Mountains, Li Si sensed Luen’s divine power in the barrier sealing the area and watched with interest.

• Li Si found that Igor imagined Luen as a devoutly worshiped figure, then soothed Igor’s memories and learned that the Hunting Ceremony took recruits to a dark palace where Luen granted them power while watching them with blood-red eyes.
• Igor told Li Si that he believed in Luen but feared that Luen wanted to eat him, and Li Si later found similar dream imprints and blood-colored battlefields in other Hunting Temple members’ dreams.
• Li Si inferred that Luen used the ceremonies to imprint faith on Hunting Temple transcendents and might regard them as nourishment for his path to godhood.
• More people arrived under the priests’ control, and two days later the priests brought nearly ten thousand captives beneath the Blood-colored Mountains as Hunting Temple members entered the range for the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony.
• A blood-red curtain surged from Gray Castle and sealed the mountains off from the outside world; Li Si sensed divine power unlike Mara’s and suspected it came from Luen.

Li Si observed the Rune Great Hunt Ceremony, where more than two hundred Gold-level Hunting Temple professionals slaughtered one another to empower a blood altar and Luen. As the Blood Mist drove the fighters into madness, the children around Li Si remained unaffected, drawing the gray-robed priests’ attention to him.

• Li Si watched the ceremony’s participants enter the Blood-colored Mountains and saw their deaths send streams of bloody light into the altar.
• Li Si realized the ceremony had likely been repeated over a long period, with the altar accumulating the power of countless Gold-level professionals.
• Hill fought a three-person team but was killed after an arrow wounded him and an assassin stabbed his throat.
• Blood Mist spread across the mountains, maddening the participants and turning even the three teammates who killed Hill against one another.
• The children at the mountains’ foot remained unaffected by the Blood Mist, and the gray-robed priests stopped praying and turned their blank gazes toward Li Si.

Li Si revealed that he had evacuated the children from Luen’s Rune Great Hunt Ceremony and replaced them with Dream World phantoms, exposing the scheme to the Hunting Temple. Luen confronted him, then transformed into a gigantic Blood Wolf empowered by the Hunting Divinity Shard, leaving Li Si facing an attack that pierced his shield.

• Li Si dismissed the child phantoms after the priests noticed they were unaffected by the Blood Mist, then faced a black-robed figure who attacked him with a blood claw.
• Li Si blocked the attack with his Iridescent Elemental Shield and recognized the figure as a clone of Luen.
• Luen demanded that Li Si leave his Pocket World, but Li Si refused, prompting Luen to intensify the altar’s power.
• Luen caused the extraordinary participants across the mountains to burst apart, drawing their blood mist into the altar and forming a gigantic Blood Wolf.
• Li Si spotted the Hunting Divinity Shard inside the Blood Wolf as Luen unleashed blood-colored blades that broke through Li Si’s Magic Shield.

Li Si fought Luen’s blood wolf, which wielded the Hunting Divinity’s power, and discovered that his purification divine spells could hurt it. After enduring the wolf’s attacks and stalling for time, Li Si opened a Space Channel to a vast azure city.

• Li Si deduced that Luen could not freely move the Hunting Divinity Shard or return to the Pocket World, then faced the blood wolf Luen had summoned.
• Li Si dodged the blood wolf’s attacks and fired golden arrows, but they could not break through its blood-energy defenses.
• Li Si used the Legendary Divine Spell Holy Rain Cleanses the World, which injured and briefly restrained the blood wolf.
• The blood wolf broke free and relentlessly wounded Li Si, who continued fighting because he needed to stall for time.
• After the blood wolf sent him crashing into a mountain, Li Si stood up and announced that the time had come as a Space Channel opened above him, revealing a vast azure city.

Li Si used the Phillips Crystal’s transformation to open a channel from Kane Floating City into the Luen Pocket World, then annihilated Blood Wolf Luen with the Floating City’s attack. With Luen’s avatar dead, Li Si prepared to claim the Divinity Shard of Hunting and the Pocket World.

• Li Si confirmed Blood Wolf Luen had recognized him after a Space Channel opened into the Luen Pocket World.
• Kane Floating City gathered power and unleashed a four-colored pillar of light through the channel toward Luen.
• Luen tried to resist the attack, but the pillar destroyed his body and left a shattered black gemstone behind.
• Li Si identified the gemstone as the Divinity Shard of Hunting and concluded that Luen’s avatar had been killed.
• Li Si prepared to claim the Divinity Shard and the Luen Pocket World as spoils.

Li Si defeated Luen and secured the Luen Pocket World, but he could not remove the Hunting Divinity Shard floating there. Wisdom of Sphinx absorbed the shard, letting Li Si carry it safely as he prepared to return home.

• Li Si confirmed Luen was dead and considered Kane Floating City’s readiness for the coming mutation of the Phillips Crystal.
• Li Si resisted the Hunting Divinity Shard’s influence and found that ordinary magic and brute force could not move it.
• Li Si decided he might have to ask the Church of the Gods for help, despite the cost of revealing his secrets and owing them a favor.
• Li Si discovered Wisdom of Sphinx growing hot near the shard and brought the accessory into contact with it.
• Wisdom of Sphinx absorbed the Hunting Divinity Shard, and Li Si realized he could summon it again whenever he wished.

After returning safely from the Luen Pocket World, Li Si helped the Church of the Gods attack the Heretic Believers’ weaker Pocket Worlds while preparing Dan'erluo Port and players for retaliation. He later met Joyce on a terrace and gave him a shattered black gemstone that carried a divine authority.

• Li Si learned from Maurice that the Church of the Gods had invaded more than thirty Heretic Believer Pocket Worlds, taking half and heavily damaging the rest.
• Li Si focused on supporting the war from Dan'erluo Port, ordered players to search for Heretic Believer strongholds, and equipped them with custom alchemical bombs for future attacks.
• Joyce warned Li Si not to risk himself in the conflict, and Li Si promised to be more careful.
• Li Si presented Joyce with a shattered black gemstone, and Joyce recognized the aura of a divine authority.

Li Si gave Joyce the Hunting Divinity Shard and reviewed the rewards he gained from killing Luen, including progress in the Godslayer mission. In Sorrowful Wind Pocket World, the Church of the Gods began a prepared assault on the Heretic Believers of Ktonia, and their conflict had only just started.

• Li Si gave Joyce the Hunting Divinity Shard, explaining that it suited Joyce better than it suited him, then teleported away before Joyce could refuse.
• Joyce accepted the shard and wondered how he could absorb it, resolving to protect Li Si's territory in return.
• Li Si reviewed his rewards for defeating Luen, including new feats, a skill, a milestone, and the God's Wound feat from advancing the Godslayer mission.
• Li Si decided to wait and see how the Church of the Gods' conflict with the Heretic Believers developed.
• In Sorrowful Wind Pocket World, the clergy ambushed the Heretic Believers of Ktonia and began routing them with coordinated attacks.

Oriel led the Dawn Church’s forces through the Sorrowful Wind Pocket World, where Undying Ones using alchemical bombs routed the Heretic Believers. As the Clergy advanced toward the Church of Decay’s cemetery, the church’s Legends gained the upper hand, while Li Si’s avatar watched and searched for the key to enter the Pocket World.

• Oriel led the Clergy and Holy Knights against the Heretic Believers, pushing back their counterattack with coordinated attacks and divine support.
• Dozens of Undying Ones charged into the enemy ranks and detonated alchemical bombs, devastating the Heretic Believers and causing the survivors to flee.
• Oriel learned that Li Si’s Undying Ones and alchemical bombs had helped the Dawn Church’s assault advance so effectively, then led the Clergy deeper into the Pocket World toward the cemetery.
• Oriel saw sacred flashes in the distant sky and recognized that Legendary forces, including Maurice, were fighting the Church of Decay’s Legends.
• A Dawn Church holy warrior pierced a Legendary Decay Priest’s defenses with a powerful strike, while Li Si’s avatar watched and wondered where the key to entering the Pocket World was.

Li Si entered the Star Realm through the Sorrowful Wind Pocket World to investigate the route to the Ortega Pocket World and its possible World Rune. After mapping the Star Realm coordinates of the Pocket Worlds linked to Ortega, he confirmed they were close together and began searching the surrounding region.

• Li Si observed the Dawn Church's conquest of the Sorrowful Wind Pocket World while his true body stayed in Kane Floating City.
• Li Si found Decay Fortress nearly abandoned and recorded the coordinates of a Space Channel leading to the Church of Decay's headquarters.
• Li Si entered the Star Realm through a Space Rift and used Stephens's teachings to orient himself and identify the Gaia Main World and the Endless Abyss.
• Li Si mapped the Star Realm coordinates of the Sorrowful Wind Pocket World and the other Pocket Worlds connected to Ortega.
• Li Si concluded that Ortega was likely nearby in the Star Realm and began traveling through the region.

Li Si found the Ortega Pocket World and discovered that its World Rune [Thunder] was the source of a devastating lightning storm. He reached the Rune but realized that the power protecting it was beyond what he could withstand directly.

• Li Si searched the nearby Pocket Worlds until he found the barren Ortega Pocket World.
• Li Si recognized the world’s lightning storm and flew into it to look for its World Rune.
• Li Si followed the intensifying lightning across the world and reached a silver-white Sea of Thunder.
• Li Si identified the pale blue orb at the Sea of Thunder’s center as World Rune [Thunder] and gained insights into lightning’s World Rules.
• Li Si realized the lightning around the Rune was too powerful to face head-on and hesitated over how to proceed.

Li Si explored the Sea of Thunder in an attempt to reach World Rune [Thunder], but a flash of its pale blue lightning destroyed his Mirror Image before he could enter the core. Unable to approach the rune safely, he began studying its patterns to strengthen his understanding of lightning rules.

• Li Si sent a Mirror Image into the Sea of Thunder, where the silver-white lightning quickly consumed its severed arm.
• Li Si protected the Mirror Image with Shield of the Four Sources and Li Si's Sage Robe, then struggled through the Sea of Thunder toward World Rune [Thunder].
• Pale blue lightning struck in the core region, shattered Li Si's defenses, and destroyed the Mirror Image.
• Li Si concluded that he could not yet withstand the pale blue lightning and would need to improve his understanding of lightning rules.
• Li Si studied the fragmented patterns surrounding World Rune [Thunder] and traced them in the air to gain insight.

Li Si comprehended the thunder rules in the Sea of Thunder until his Legendary Realm Thunder reached 100%, qualifying him to attempt the Ascension to Godhood and form a Nascent Divinity. He used a new defensive Arcane spell to withstand the pale blue thunder and touched the World Rune [Thunder], triggering a furious voice in his mind.

• Li Si studied and traced the fragmented patterns around the World Rune [Thunder], deepening his understanding of thunder and improving his Legendary Realm Thunder to 100%.
• Li Si realized that he had qualified to attempt the Ascension to Godhood, though he still lacked the preparation to become a god.
• Li Si created the Legendary Arcane spell Resonance Thunder Control Technique and used it to pass through the silver-white thunder and withstand the pale blue thunder.
• Li Si advanced to the World Rune [Thunder] and touched the pale blue orb.
• A voice in Li Si's mind accused Lanasis of betrayal and demanded to know why Mother had done it.

Li Si entered the World Rune [Thunder] to investigate the hateful roars inside it and discovered the memories of the Storm Giant God Vilmos. The visions revealed that Titan God Lanasis had betrayed Vilmos and his brothers, leaving Vilmos’s resentment trapped in the rune.

• Li Si touched the World Rune [Thunder], heard furious roars, and drew the pale-blue orb into his hand as the Sea of Thunder poured into it.
• Li Si sent his Mental Power into the rune, explored its vast lightning-filled space, and found a gray mass of residual consciousness.
• Li Si touched the gray mist and witnessed a battlefield where Titan Giant Lanasis fought a host of giant gods.
• Vilmos, a grievously wounded Storm Giant, accused Lanasis of treachery and charged him, but Lanasis struck him down and his body vanished into a Space Rift.
• Li Si viewed further scenes from Vilmos’s memories and realized that Lanasis had betrayed Vilmos and his brothers.

Li Si obtained the World Rune [Thunder], which held the resentment and memories of Vilmos, the fallen God of Storm Giants, and concealed the Sea of Thunder before leaving Ortega. He went to Elf Village Tyrion to ask Adela about the Giant Race and its gods, hoping to learn more about Vilmos and other World Runes.

• Li Si learned that Vilmos had obtained the World Rune [Thunder] and apparently fallen after the Titan God Lanasis betrayed him.
• Li Si found that Vilmos's ancient resentment prevented him from using the rune's power, but he planned to use it to study the rule of thunder.
• Li Si sealed the World Rune, destroyed the remaining traces of the Sea of Thunder, and left the Pocket World.
• Li Si met Adela in Elf Village Tyrion and asked her for information about the Giant Race and its gods.
• Li Si explained that Vilmos's memories showed other giant gods had joined the ancient divine war, and he wondered whether they had possessed World Runes too.