Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Wu Yu discovers that the Heavenly Prison’s materials are unusually durable: an explosion from his [Bi Fang Talisman] damages a cell only slightly.
• He kills a Bliss Fiend and collects two purple Cards: [Bliss Incense], which can strengthen the soul but also contaminate it with the [Fasting God]’s power, and [Bliss Soul Armor], a body-and-soul-fused armor plate linked to the prisoner’s former technique.
• Using the [Evernight Lamp], Wu Yu finds a more efficient way to defeat Bliss Fiends: he channels blood-and-qi power into the lamp to intensify its light, trapping and destroying the creatures in their cells.
• He clears the third floor’s ten cells. Three prisoners died by suicide; the other seven became Bliss Fiends. The kills yield twelve Cards, mostly [Bliss Incense], plus other random rewards, including [Bliss Powder], which causes pleasure but harms mental power.
• Afterward, Wu Yu searches the floor thoroughly and detects airflow behind an earthen wall. Protected by his [Diamond Badge], he smashes through it and discovers a Silver Chest.

Character development and interactions

• Wu Yu is cautious and observant, learning from past exploration to inspect the prison carefully and test how his equipment works.
• He grows more confident and resourceful, combining the lamp, his blood-and-qi power, talisman-making, and protective gear to manage threats and conserve resources.
• The Bliss Fiends react in fear and pain to the lamp, hiding and wailing, but attack the summoned divine bird when provoked. They are dangerous yet unintelligent.
• Wu Yu’s practical excitement over the valuable Card drops contrasts with his disappointment at finding empty cells and unusable prison materials.

Significant themes

• Preparation and adaptation: Wu Yu improves his tactics by understanding the lamp’s effects and matching tools to threats.
• Power and consequence: Higher-quality rewards can carry serious costs, as shown by Bliss Incense’s spiritual contamination and Bliss Powder’s damage to mental power.
• Exploration and hidden opportunity: Careful investigation reveals a concealed passage and the promise of further treasure.
• The supernatural nature of the world: Even prison walls and ordinary materials possess extraordinary resilience, reflecting the setting’s pervasive power.

Plot points and events

• Wu Yu cautiously opens a Silver Chest, waiting out its timer while using his Divine Sense to draw talismans.
• The chest contains a Transcendent-grade Divine Strength Vitality Pill, Hundred-Year Ginseng, and the blue-quality Sin Incense, which attracts Weird Objects and Eerie Gods. Wu Yu sees its potential for luring monsters but decides it is too dangerous to use carelessly.
• After searching all three levels of the Heavenly Prison and finding nothing else, Wu Yu leaves.
• A prisoner escort arrives at the prison. Its guards threaten the captives, including a chained woman, with sexual violence.
• A young prisoner recognizes the old Village Chief and calls to him. The shout spoils the Chief’s ambush, but he attacks anyway, fighting the guards and killing one with a burst of speed.
• The guards counter with blood-red chains that pursue and bind the Village Chief, disarming him and leaving his fate uncertain.

Character developments

• Wu Yu remains cautious and practical, weighing the rewards of Sin Incense against the risk of attracting an overwhelming supernatural threat. He also reflects on how modern technology has displaced traditional cultivation professions.
• The old Village Chief shows courage and formidable combat skill, but the failed ambush and the guards’ coordinated counterattack put him at a disadvantage.
• The young prisoner reacts impulsively when he sees the Chief, accidentally revealing him before the attack can begin on favorable terms.
• The guards are portrayed as cruel and predatory, relying not only on numbers and martial skill but also on unusual blood-red restraints.

Significant themes

• Technological change and obsolescence: Industrialized talisman-making and other modern industries have marginalized traditional cultivation crafts.
• Power balanced by risk: Sin Incense offers a way to draw monsters for rewards, but may attract beings far beyond Wu Yu’s ability to face.
• Oppression and resistance: The prisoners’ anger and the Village Chief’s intervention contrast with the guards’ abuse of authority.
• The cost of impulsiveness: The young man’s reunion with the Chief compromises a carefully planned ambush.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu considers whether technology could reproduce his innate Bi Fang Sigil, distinguishing personal talent from ordinary talisman craft.
• The guards taunt and threaten the prisoners, provoking their defiance.
• The young prisoner’s emotional recognition alerts the guards to the Village Chief; the Chief rebukes him before confronting them.
• The Village Chief fights the guards head-on, but their teamwork and blood-red chains turn the encounter against him.

Plot and key events

• The old village chief and his grandson are captured after their attempt to ambush a Heavenly Prison escort goes wrong. The guards beat the chief and prepare to take the prisoners inside.
• Wu Yu discovers a gold-rank hidden quest involving a descendant of the True Martial Royal Clan. He chooses to help the descendant and earn the True Martial God’s blessing, then hides to plan his attack.
• As the guards escort the captives into the prison, Wu Yu ambushes them. He summons the Mountain Lord, which kills the scar-faced captain and engages the remaining guards.
• Wu Yu uses a flying sword to decapitate several guards, then a talisman to destroy more. He finishes a surviving Innate martial artist himself.
• Wu Yu frees the captives and is recognized by the village chief and his grandson.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu acts strategically rather than charging in, and reveals considerable power through his summoned beast, flying sword, talisman, and combat skill. His reunion with the village chief hints at a shared past.
• The old village chief is resourceful but furious with his grandson for disrupting his plan. His reunion with Wu Yu is complicated, and he resents the nobles’ involvement in their plight.
• The grandson is impulsive and inexperienced. Though he apologizes and thanks Wu Yu, he repeatedly draws the chief’s rebuke.
• The woman, a noble of the former dynasty, apologizes to the chief and tries to shield the grandson from blame.
• The guards are confident and cruel, but Wu Yu’s attack turns their attempted escort into a rout.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and choice: Wu Yu’s quest forces him to choose between aiding the guards or protecting the True Martial descendant.
• Power and vulnerability: The guards’ confidence collapses when faced with Wu Yu’s overwhelming abilities.
• Class resentment and responsibility: The chief’s complaint about nobles dragging commoners into danger highlights the divide between the former ruling class and ordinary people.

Plot points and events

• Wu Yu rescues Zhao Yulian, Tang Ya, Tang Li, and the Lin brothers from imprisonment and abuse by local power holders. Zhao Yulian explains that the villains exploit ordinary people and collaborate with eerie gods.
• The group leaves the prison and shares a meal at the True Origin Inn, a protected establishment owned by the True Essence Sect. Wu Yu rewards an attendant who had quietly covered the shortfall on his earlier bill.
• Over dinner, the group discusses the chaos in True Martial City. A major eerie-god disaster has drawn away the city lord and the True Essence Sect’s forces, leaving smaller clans and martial halls free to prey on people.
• Wu Yu gathers information about the city, its factions, supernatural threats, and the changing value of silver under the Silver Dynasty.
• Zhao Yulian reveals that she is a descendant of the former imperial family with a faint trace of True Martial blood. Though already an Innate martial artist, she has been unable to receive the True Martial God’s blessing.
• At Wu Yu’s request, the group visits the ruined True Martial Temple. Zhao Yulian offers to pray for a blessing on his behalf, setting up Wu Yu’s hidden quest reward.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains composed and tactful, using the rescue and dinner conversation to learn more about the world. His real goal is to obtain the True Martial Blessing.
• Zhao Yulian is grateful to Wu Yu but also discouraged by her failure to earn the blessing. She appears to hope Wu Yu will help her, while he instead asks her to act on his behalf.
• Tang Li admires Zhao Yulian and openly promises to accompany her in seeking the blessing, clearly revealing affection that Zhao Yulian’s kindness encourages.
• Tang Ya and the Lin brothers express gratitude and fear at how close they came to disaster. The Lin brothers also lament the city’s disorder.
• Zhao Yulian and Wu Yu establish a practical alliance: she agrees to help repay him by praying at the temple.

Significant themes

• Power and exploitation: With authority distracted, local clans abuse ordinary people and profit from disorder.
• Political and religious upheaval: The Silver Dynasty regards as “Heavenly Gods” those whom the previous dynasty’s people called eerie gods, reflecting a changed worldview.
• Faith, legitimacy, and worthiness: Zhao Yulian’s uncertain bloodline and inability to receive the blessing leave her questioning whether she is a true or worthy descendant.
• Self-interest and obligation: Gratitude, affection, and strategic motives overlap as the characters offer help and seek their own aims.

Key plot points and events

• At the ruined True Martial God temple, Zhao Yulian begins humming before the damaged statue. Divine light gathers around her, and Wu Yu is transported into darkness.
• The True Martial God appears and creates a world around them. He recognizes Wu Yu as a Night Watcher, a legacy he has not encountered for thousands of years, but clarifies that Zhao—not Wu—is the “lucky one” he sensed. He values the Night Watchers more than his own descendants.
• The god grants Wu Yu a blessing anyway: the purple-quality talent True Martial Heart, which is assigned to his Night Watcher identity. He then returns Wu Yu to the temple.
• The talent transforms Wu Yu’s heart, producing a snake-and-tortoise vision and potent new blood that rapidly strengthens and nourishes his body. Zhao’s heartbeat echoes his during the change.
• Zhao’s divine radiance fades, leaving her visibly transformed. She pays respect to the statue, then is startled by Wu Yu’s suddenly enlarged physique.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu gains a major blood-based talent and physical boost. He speculates that his Night Watcher identity and existing long-night power may be connected, while struggling to keep his enhanced body from ruining his cultivated image.
• Zhao Yulian receives an unspecified but apparently substantial blessing from the god. Her appearance and bearing become more ethereal.
• The True Martial God is solemn but fair: he favors neither bloodline nor family ties, and expresses particular regard for the Night Watcher legacy. He ends the encounter abruptly after noticing something troubling in the heavens.
• Wu Yu listens to Zhao’s song, meets the god, and later observes her changed state; their synchronized heartbeats link their transformations.

Key plot points and events

• After completing the hidden quest, Wu Yu and Zhao Yulian compare their blessings. Zhao received a rare bloodline blessing that lets her draw on the True Martial God’s power while in the Strange God Martial Realm. Wu Yu gained the True Martial Heart talent, which he realizes is more portable and likely more valuable beyond this realm.
• Zhao explains that divine blessings vary widely, but bloodlines and talents are exceptionally rare. Wu Yu suspects the Great Ruins may grant similar rewards to others, then reassures himself that his own starting talent, Nameless Chaos, still sets him apart.
• Zhao’s group plans to stay at the True Origin Inn as unrest grows in True Martial City. She invites Wu Yu to join them, but he declines and remains independent.
• Wu Yu studies the map and learns that a drought has driven roughly 100,000 refugees to the city. The Refugee Camp has become the Flesh Mountain Cult’s base, where people eat Fragrant Meat. He judges it far more dangerous than the Evil Tiger Stronghold and decides not to go there.
• Liu Zheng and Yu Tiezhu arrive at the ruined temple to install equipment. Liu deploys advanced machinery, and Yu begins scanning and repairing the temple.

Character developments

• Wu Yu is pleased with his rare, potentially transferable talent and grows more cautious after learning the scale of the Refugee Camp’s threat. He continues to prioritize his own plans over joining the locals.
• Zhao Yulian reveals both her new power and her confidence in the True Martial God. She remains warm and straightforward, offering Wu Yu help without pressuring him.
• Liu Zheng returns somewhat awkwardly after scouting the city, then focuses on setting up the group’s equipment.
• Yu Tiezhu takes on the practical task of repairing the temple with the reconstruction device.

Significant themes

• The value and limits of power: Blessings can be extraordinary, but some are restricted to a particular realm, while Wu Yu’s talent may travel with him.
• Faith and divine authority: The chapter contrasts the widespread, varied blessings of many gods with Zhao’s absolute devotion to the True Martial God.
• Scale of danger and survival: The refugee crisis and Flesh Mountain Cult present a threat far beyond the earlier, smaller dungeon-like challenges.
• Different approaches to the world: Wu Yu assesses risks strategically, while Zhao’s group remains connected to local events and communities.

Character interactions

• Wu Yu and Zhao discuss their blessings, and she invites him to stay with her group; he declines politely.
• Tang Li’s curiosity prompts Zhao to explain her bloodline blessing, while Tang Ya cautions against asking too freely.
• Wu Yu exchanges a brief greeting with Yu Tiezhu and watches Liu Zheng and Yu begin the temple’s technological repair work.

Plot and events

• Wu Yu declines to help with the temple repairs and instead spends the remaining daylight crafting talismans in a ruined building. Using spirit wine, recovery pills, and Spirit-Restoring Incense to sustain himself, he creates twelve powerful Bi Fang Talismans.
• As he returns to the temple, a massive explosion shakes the city and distorts the clouds in the distance. Wu Yu suspects Liu Zheng may have access to advanced weapons, though the cause remains unknown.
• The group regathers in the newly restored temple and prepares for night. They reveal several defenses against Weird Objects and other threats: Chen Lingling’s True Martial God cloth, Liu Yu’s death-substitution straw figure, Bai Xiaotian’s protective powder boundary, and Liu Zheng’s psionic field. Wu Yu adds his Evernight Lamp, a Heavenly God Artifact that repels Weird Objects.
• With their protections ready, Liu Zheng orders Tiezhu to shut the doors as night approaches.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu acts independently, prioritizing preparation over helping with repairs. His hard work produces a substantial stock of potent talismans, and he remains alert to the unexplained explosion.
• Yu Tiezhu appreciates Wu Yu for helping and saving Liu Zheng, but thinks his youth and refusal to join the Inspection Bureau will eventually lead him to regret it. Liu Zheng appears to disagree but avoids arguing.
• Liu Zheng continues to lead the group’s preparations, while keeping quiet about the explosion and its possible connection to him.
• The group shares and assesses its protective resources, showing growing cooperation as they prepare for the dangers of night.

Significant themes

• Preparation and self-reliance: Wu Yu and the group each contribute different tools and abilities to survive.
• Technology and uncertainty: The distant blast suggests weapons may exist beyond Wu Yu’s expectations, raising questions about Liu Zheng’s capabilities and the era’s technology.
• Survival under pressure: The looming night turns the repaired temple into a last line of defense against supernatural threats.

Key plot points and events

• Wu Yu and the others seal themselves inside a ruined True Martial Temple before the countdown to Weird God Pollution expires. They prepare protective items and light Wu Yu’s Evernight Lamp.
• Wu Yu notices that his strengthened blood-and-qi power—enhanced by his True Martial Heart talent—has greatly increased the lamp’s range and supernatural effectiveness.
• When the pollution arrives, the world briefly falls into absolute silence and then becomes intensely cold and eerie. The group stays inside the temple, where the lamp and their preparations keep them safe.
• To ease everyone’s fear, the group talks through the night. They discuss their Great Ruins Source Points, which they still cannot spend, and the growing number of Tower Climbers and the challenges they pose.
• Liu Zheng urges the others to protect public order. Chen Lingling reports that the Tower has appeared in other cities as well, while Liu Yu asks whether news came by Spirit-Energy train before learning it arrived by corporate airship.
• Liu Zheng shares that some first-time transcendents enter the True Great Ruins directly rather than the Newcomer Secret Realm, and that events are already growing dangerous: one transcendent went berserk after contracting cyber superpower disease, possibly after a Tower Climber hacked their Brain Chip.
• The group eventually settles down to sleep. Wu Yu drifts into a dream, setting up the next chapter.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains observant and reserved, learning more about his companions while reflecting on the growing power of his talents and equipment.
• Liu Yu is calm and enigmatic. He offers lore about the temple’s sacred status, downplays his own old lamp, and his questions suggest particular interest in news and transportation.
• Liu Zheng takes a public-minded, official stance, calling for restraint and order, though Wu Yu sees him as relatively ordinary and concerned with appearances.
• Yu Tiezhu is earnest and somewhat comic, first locking the temple doors with an anti-theft lock and later marveling at his device’s inability to scan or repair the statue.
• Chen Lingling reveals that she has access to information from beyond River City, hinting at a powerful background and knowledge she has previously concealed.
• Bai Xiaotian drops his childlike disguise and openly voices hostility toward corporations and the Inspection Bureau, clashing in outlook with Liu Zheng.
• Their conversation and shared preparations help the group’s fear subside, reinforcing their temporary solidarity despite their differing views.

Significant themes

• Faith and the supernatural: The damaged temple may offer protection, but the group’s precautions show that its sacred status is no guarantee.
• Power and transformation: Wu Yu’s strengthened essence-refinement talent improves even the tools he uses.
• Social order amid upheaval: Tower Climbers, corporations, government authorities, and ordinary citizens are beginning to collide.
• Fear and fellowship: Conversation and companionship help the group endure an eerie, dangerous night.

Plot points and events

• Wu Yu wakes in a blurred, dreamlike world and suspects his [Mountain-Sea Sigil] Talent has transported him into the Classic of Mountains and Seas. Instead, the scene resolves into the Moon Palace.
• Unable to leave the palace’s dreamlike surroundings, he explores its familiar halls and finds a pool of milky water in a jade palace.
• The water makes him feel deeply refreshed. While bathing, he is startled by a fairy and instinctively grabs her thigh. She kicks him away and demands to know how he entered the Moon Palace.
• The fairy, Chang Xi, threatens him with punishment for trespassing but also asks how to enter and leave the place. Before they can resolve the matter, she senses someone approaching and hides Wu Yu underwater.
• Wu Yu overhears another voice warn Chang Xi not to leave the Lunar Immortal Palace. He then wakes in the ruined temple at dawn, with the dream rapidly fading from memory.
• Suspecting the experience was caused by his [Mountain-Sea Sigil], Wu Yu checks his mind and sees a new figure beside the divine bird Bi Fang—evidence that he may have gained a new sigil.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu moves from alarm and confusion to curiosity as he explores the Moon Palace. His encounter with Chang Xi leaves him embarrassed and bewildered, but he remains unable to explain how he arrived.
• Chang Xi is initially angry and suspicious, treating Wu Yu as a trespasser. Her questions about entering and leaving the palace suggest that she may herself be confined or seeking a way out. She protects Wu Yu from discovery when someone approaches.
• Wu Yu and Chang Xi have a tense, awkward first encounter: she accuses and threatens him, while he insists he has no idea how he got there. Their exchange is interrupted before either learns more about the other.

Significant themes

• Dreams and reality: The Moon Palace visit feels vivid, yet its setting, characters, and memories dissolve when Wu Yu wakes.
• Mystery and transformation: The dream may signal a new sigil, linking Wu Yu’s inner powers to an unfamiliar celestial world.
• Confinement and hidden motives: Chang Xi’s apparent inability—or reluctance—to leave the Lunar Immortal Palace hints at restrictions and secrets beyond Wu Yu’s immediate understanding.

Key plot points

• Wu Yu awakens after dreaming of the immortal maiden Chang Xi and gains the Lunar Yin Sigil, which feels unlike his violent Bi Fang Sigil: its power suggests oppression and restraint. He suspects it may develop through future dreams.
• He tests the sigil by making a red, transcendent-tier-one Lunar Yin Talisman, with the abilities Moon Cage and Lunar Shadow.
• The group wakes in the True Martial Temple, relieved that the night seemed to pass without incident. Yu Tiezhu opens the door, but Wu Yu suddenly realizes nobody has checked their Bronze Tokens and warns him to stop.
• Yu Tiezhu has already stepped outside. Chen Lingling teleports to grab him and drag him back, but he suffers a horrifying assault: his vitality drains, his body withers, and his soul begins to be pulled away.
• Wu Yu gives him a Ganoderma Blood-Replenishing Pill. The group checks their tokens and discovers that Weird God Pollution has descended and the first exit point will appear in about four and a half hours.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu gains a new sigil and talisman, but his dream leaves him with lingering longing for Chang Xi. More importantly, his alertness saves the group from unknowingly walking into danger.
• Chen Lingling shows strong trust in Wu Yu, acting immediately on his warning and rescuing Yu Tiezhu.
• Yu Tiezhu nearly loses his life after stepping beyond the temple threshold; his condition underscores how dangerous the outside has become.
• Liu Yu, Bai Xiaotian, and Liu Zheng move from relief at surviving the night to alarm as the threat becomes clear, with Liu Zheng preparing his equipment.

Significant themes

• Mystery and growing power: Wu Yu’s dream, Chang Xi, and the evolving Lunar Yin Sigil hint at a deeper connection that has yet to be explained.
• Vigilance and trust: A small oversight—failing to check the tokens—almost proves fatal, while Chen Lingling’s trust in Wu Yu enables a timely rescue.
• Safety is deceptive: Morning light and the group’s relief mask the fact that the danger has only begun.

Key plot points and events

• The group realizes the apparent daylight outside is an illusion: more than four hours remain until dawn, and Weird God Pollution is still active.
• Wu Yu uses the Evernight Lamp to push back an invisible, freezing force seeping into the ruined temple. The others recognize it as Weird God Pollution.
• Yu Tiezhu, badly injured after opening the door, recovers with a rare emergency injection. When he tries to shut the door, supernatural cold freezes his arms and prevents him from moving it.
• Liu Yu warns everyone to stay away from the contaminated doorway and not trust what they see outside. The group checks their defenses: the Cosmic Sphere remains active, the Scarecrow has not reacted, and the True Martial Portrait has not lit up.
• Bai Xiaotian discovers blood-red claw-like marks in the medicinal powder near the entrance. The group concludes an unseen Eerie God may have lured them into opening the door and is trying to enter.
• Wu Yu adds a drop of his blood essence to the Evernight Lamp. Its light blazes outward, dispelling the false daylight and restoring the night sky.

Character developments

• Wu Yu remains composed and resourceful, using the lamp to protect the group and then amplifying its power with his blood essence.
• Yu Tiezhu survives his injuries and shows increased physical strength, but is still vulnerable to the supernatural force because his vital energy has not yet transformed.
• Bai Xiaotian demonstrates sharp observational skill by spotting the tracks that reveal the threat’s presence.
• Liu Zheng is cautious and practical, tending to Yu Tiezhu and checking the group’s equipment.

Character interactions

• Yu Tiezhu thanks Wu Yu for saving him, while Liu Zheng treats his injuries with an emergency injection.
• Liu Yu directs Yu Tiezhu away from the dangerous door and helps the group focus on surviving until dawn.
• The group compares their protective measures, then responds together to Bai Xiaotian’s discovery of the claw marks.

Significant themes

• Deceptive perception: The false daylight tempts the group into lowering their guard.
• Limits of technology and strength: Equipment and physical power cannot readily counter an invisible supernatural threat.
• Cooperation and vigilance: The group survives by sharing observations, following warnings, and relying on Wu Yu’s intervention.

Plot points and events

• Activating the Evernight Lamp shatters the peaceful illusion outside the True Martial Temple, revealing a dense, writhing mass of darkness filled with distorted faces and body parts. The darkness presses against the temple but cannot fully penetrate its defenses.
• The group recoils at the horror, especially Yu Tiezhu and Liu Zheng. Yu Tiezhu thanks Wu Yu and Chen Lingling for preventing him from stepping into danger.
• Liu Yu organizes the defenses: the temple is their first line of protection; the Cosmic Sphere, Bai Xiaotian’s medicinal powder, and Wu Yu’s lamp reinforce the entrance; other treasures provide a final safeguard. They strengthen the barriers, and the darkness retreats slightly.
• Bai Xiaotian determines that the “Wall of Darkness” is not a physical monster or an illusion. It is an abnormality caused by weird god pollution, so the lamp cannot kill it. The group concludes that the temple is a safe zone but avoids risking a journey to find other possible shelters.
• A figure resembling Liu Zheng emerges from the darkness with only its upper body intact. It claims that the real Liu Zheng is an impostor and that the group is trapped in an illusion. It crosses the medicinal powder unharmed and approaches the temple.
• The Cosmic Sphere scans the newcomer and verifies its identity as Captain Liu Zheng, directly contradicting the terrified Liu Zheng already inside and leaving the group facing an apparent identity paradox.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Yu stays composed, analyzes their situation, assigns roles, and reassures the others with humor.
• Wu Yu explains the lamp’s limits: its revealing burst is usable only once, though its ordinary light can remain lit.
• Bai Xiaotian remains functional despite feeling sick, prepares more medicinal powder, and identifies the darkness as a pollution-based phenomenon.
• Chen Lingling is frightened by the revealed scene but remains observant, helps reinforce the entrance, and questions Liu Zheng about his lack of field experience.
• Liu Zheng regains confidence when Liu Yu entrusts him with responsibility, though he is shaken by the horrors and admits he has never faced such creatures outside the city.
• Yu Tiezhu is deeply rattled and grateful to Wu Yu and Chen Lingling for saving him from the darkness.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: The lamp exposes the grotesque truth behind a seemingly peaceful world.
• Limits of power and knowledge: The darkness cannot simply be fought or dispelled, and even careful defenses may not protect against deception.
• Trust and identity: The chapter ends by undermining certainty about who is real.
• Leadership under fear: Liu Yu’s planning and the group’s cooperation help them respond despite their terror.

Key events

• A second Liu Zheng enters the ruined temple, claiming the other is an impostor. The group’s identity-checking [Cosmic Sphere] confirms both as genuine, but Wu Yu realizes the impostor has subtly dulled everyone’s urge to act.
• Wu Yu uses his newly learned Long Night Vigil technique to clear the group’s minds. They attack and destroy the impostor, which leaves behind a white Card.
• More impostors emerge from the Wall of Darkness, including a false Yu Tiezhu. The [Evernight Lamp] and the group’s defenses expose their fear of the lamp, and Wu Yu kills the fake Yu Tiezhu, obtaining an [Impostor Skin] Card.
• Once alert to the impostors’ mind-affecting power, the group dispatches each newcomer with little difficulty. Yu Tiezhu focuses on protecting Liu Zheng while the others fight.
• The [Bronze Token] countdown reaches zero, and [Exit Point One] appears. The next evacuation point is due in 24 hours, while weird-god pollution is due in 12.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu recognizes the danger not by spotting the impostor, but by noticing his own unusual passivity. His spiritual cultivation and Long Night Vigil let him break the mental influence and protect the group. He remains calm afterward, helping steady everyone.
• Liu Zheng is shaken to realize he was arguing with a monster while armed, then tries to prevent another deception by changing the [Cosmic Sphere]’s identity-recognition settings.
• The group responds quickly once Wu Yu restores their awareness. Liu Yu, Bai Xiaotian, and Chen Lingling attack the first impostor; Yu Tiezhu takes a defensive role. They thank Wu Yu and later coordinate effectively against further attacks.

Significant themes

• Perception and vigilance: Advanced technology can be fooled, and the impostors’ greatest threat is their ability to suppress suspicion rather than their physical strength.
• Inner discipline as protection: Wu Yu’s clear mind and Long Night Vigil succeed where devices and pollution-repelling powder do not.
• Cooperation under pressure: Once the danger is understood, the group combines defensive measures, weapons, and abilities to control the repeated attacks.

Key plot points and events

• At dawn, the group discovers that Exit Point One is outside the city, beside the Refugee Camp, a stronghold of the Flesh Mountain Cult. The camp’s Fragrant Meat can transform people into wraith-like servants of the Flesh Mountain God, making the route potentially dangerous.
• Wu Yu reasons that the cult may not be able to see the evacuation marker, since Tower Climbers perceive it differently from locals. The group tests the area with Liu Zheng’s drone, then packs up and sets out.
• In the ruined district, they encounter a dozen bloated beggars who attack. Liu Zheng’s bullets break the creatures apart but cannot kill them; Wu Yu explains that Fragrant-Meat Wraiths require spirit energy or other transcendent attacks to finish off.
• Liu Zheng uses a Psionic Bomb, killing most of them—but its loud blast draws a much larger horde. The group chooses to fight rather than flee, treating the wraiths as useful prey compared with the more dangerous Impostors.
• Wu Yu’s Evernight Lamp is especially effective, reducing wraiths to ash and allowing him to collect their dropped Cards. After half an hour, the group clears the ruined district. As Wu Yu nears the city proper, he spots an astonishing sight.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu continues to establish himself as a capable leader: he assesses the evacuation route, explains the wraiths’ weaknesses, and leads the fighting with the Evernight Lamp. His success tempts him to consider pushing into the Refugee Camp.
• Liu Zheng is cautious, using a drone to test the route, but panics when the wraiths resist ordinary bullets. He recovers enough to use a Psionic Bomb, though its noise worsens the situation.
• Liu Yu is confident and sardonic, warning the group about the cult and joining the fight once the wraiths appear.
• Yu Tiezhu protects Liu Zheng during the battle, while Bai Xiaotian and Chen Lingling also join the attack.
• The group’s growing trust in Wu Yu is evident: they accept his reasoning about the evacuation point and follow his guidance in combat.

Significant themes

• Corruption disguised as aid: The cult’s abundant food offers relief to the poor but carries the hidden cost of transformation and subservience.
• Preparedness and adaptation: The group’s survival depends on testing assumptions, understanding enemy weaknesses, and matching the right kind of weapon to the threat.
• Power and reward: The weak wraiths become an opportunity for the climbers to gain Cards and resources, though most rewards are mundane.
• Unanswered mysteries: Wu Yu wonders why some wraiths yield better rewards than others and how structures such as the Exquisite Pavilion’s Array Diagram and the families’ pigpens relate to the transformation process.

Key plot points and events

• Beyond the ruins, the group finds True Martial City filled with Fragrant-Meat Wraiths kneeling and chanting in worship. Wu Yu tests them with his Tiger-Soul Sword, then kills several using the Evernight Lamp; they drop the same Cards as before.
• After the group kills over a hundred wraiths, they hear the Flesh Mountain God’s “Feeding Speech,” urging them to kneel and worship. Liu Yu warns everyone not to respond, since answering may draw the god’s attention. The voices fade once they retreat from the city.
• Liu Yu identifies the speech as preaching from the Flesh Mountain Cult. The group suspects that a clash of divine powers could transform the city’s million residents, so they abandon the prospect of collecting more Cards and head for the exit.
• Near the gate, they discover signs of a conflict between the Flesh Mountain Cult and the Fasting Cult: Big-Headed Monsters watch the wraiths, while Bliss Fiends have appeared in a building that had been clear the previous day. At the gate, the gods’ competing voices assault the group until they escape beyond the city.
• The group reaches Exit Point One and enters its formation, which begins a ten-minute evacuation countdown. Yu Tiezhu and Liu Zheng leave first. Just before the others’ timers expire, Wu Yu’s group steps back out, canceling their evacuation.
• Liu Yu and Bai Xiaotian recognize that both groups intended to stay behind to pursue the same objective, though it is not yet revealed.

Character developments and interactions

• Wu Yu remains cautious and observant. His Divine Sense and Evernight Lamp help the group fight the wraiths and endure the gods’ voices.
• Liu Yu shows knowledge of the cults and takes charge when the Feeding Speech begins, warning the others not to answer.
• Yu Tiezhu is frightened by the divine influence and urges the group to leave, showing how deeply the encounter has shaken him.
• Bai Xiaotian notices the city’s change suggests a cult conflict and later calmly calls out the shared intentions behind the group’s staged evacuation.
• Liu Zheng checks the map and guides the group to the exit; he leaves before the others reverse course.
• The final exchange between Liu Yu and Bai Xiaotian signals a new alignment—or rivalry—over whatever they plan to pursue.

Significant themes

• The danger of divine influence: Even distant gods can exert terrifying mental pressure, and responding to their calls may have consequences.
• Greed versus survival: The group gives up easy Card rewards when the city’s danger becomes clear, but some members later choose to remain for an undisclosed goal.
• Faith and corruption: The wraiths’ simple, repeated prayers suggest worship itself is tied to the city’s transformation.
• Hidden agendas and trust: The apparent evacuation becomes a feint, revealing that the remaining characters have plans they have not shared.

Key plot points and events

• Liu Yu’s group introduces their talents: Future Diary, Hyperdimensional Replication, Teleportation, and Talisman Master. They discuss the limits of their abilities and the restrictions of their Bronze Tokens.
• The team agrees to share information and investigate the Flesh Mountain Cult and its deity, the Flesh Mountain God, who is believed to be in a vast refugee camp below them.
• Bai Xiaotian sends a drone into the camp. Its footage shows masses of greasy, overfed refugees lying around like livestock, along with huge, agile patrol figures identified as Heavenly God Warriors.
• The drone spots a heavily guarded temple at the camp’s center. Liu Yu suspects the Flesh Mountain God is inside.
• Liu Yu shares a warning from his Future Diary: in a possible future, he and Chen Lingling failed to enter the temple, and the Temple Warden badly injured Liu and broke Xiaotian’s arm. Chen escaped by teleporting.
• Liu Yu explains the Warden’s abilities: a blood-and-qi-corroding beam, the power to transfer damage to followers, and formidable close-combat strength.

Character developments

• Liu Yu takes the initiative, encourages cooperation, and shares crucial future knowledge. His confidence is tempered by the Warden’s power.
• Bai Xiaotian demonstrates his practical resourcefulness with the drone, while remaining wary of the limits of his replication talent.
• Wu Yu reveals his talent as a powerful talisman maker and stays reserved about what he did—or did not do—in Liu Yu’s predicted future.
• Chen Lingling remains composed and contributes little verbally, though Liu Yu’s account establishes her teleportation and combat equipment as valuable assets.

Significant themes

• Cooperation and trust: Liu Yu argues that a shared goal requires everyone to disclose what they can do.
• Power and limitation: Talents and equipment are useful but constrained; even extraordinary abilities may not be enough against supernatural enemies.
• Dehumanization and suffering: The refugees’ treatment resembles livestock farming, prompting Liu Yu’s sympathy and Bai Xiaotian’s cynical comparison to the real world.
• Uncertainty of foreknowledge: Liu Yu’s diary reveals possible events, but its predictions are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Character interactions

• The group exchanges abilities and questions one another about their limits, with Liu Yu setting a cooperative tone.
• Liu Yu and Xiaotian discuss the refugee camp’s conditions, disagreeing in outlook: Liu is troubled, while Xiaotian responds cynically.
• Wu Yu identifies the patrol figures as Heavenly God Warriors, helping the group interpret what the drone reveals.
• Xiaotian questions Liu Yu’s predictions; Liu answers with the group’s possible outcomes, prompting concern over the Temple Warden’s strength.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Liu Yu warns the group that, in his previous vision, escaping the Refugee Camp cost them dearly. Knowing the route now should make their escape easier, and they may be able to defeat a few Fragrant-Meat Wraiths along the way—but they must not linger.
• The greatest danger is the sleeping Flesh Mountain God, not the Temple Warden. Bai Xiaotian is tempted by the potential rewards of killing a god, but Liu Yu cautions that the group is not strong enough to risk it.
• The group sends Bai Xiaotian’s drone to scout the Temple, avoiding the highly perceptive and agile Flesh Mountain Believers guarding it.
• Inside, they discover that the endless Fragrant Meat distributed by the cult is being cut directly from the sleeping god’s immense body. Robed workers and martial artists harvest the god’s regenerating flesh while the Temple Warden chants nearby.
• Chen Lingling explains that Fragrant-Meat Essence is a valuable offering to gods. Natives may be raising Fragrant-Meat Wraiths, killing them, and offering their bodies. The group suspects the Flesh Mountain God may be deliberately enabling this process—possibly through some form of parasitism. Liu Yu is relieved he never ate the meat.
• While continuing to scout, Wu Yu spots a Golden Treasure Chest in a corner of the Temple. Liu Yu notes that it requires a key, which the Temple Warden carries.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Yu acts as the group’s cautious strategist, using knowledge from his previous vision to direct their scouting and restrain Bai Xiaotian’s ambition.
• Bai Xiaotian briefly considers pursuing the immense rewards of killing a deity, but accepts Liu Yu’s warning and focuses on reconnaissance.
• Chen Lingling contributes crucial knowledge about the uses of Fragrant-Meat Essence and how it may be cultivated as an offering.
• Wu Yu connects the meat’s strange properties to the possibility of parasitism and discovers the treasure chest.
• The group works collaboratively: Liu Yu guides their decisions, Bai Xiaotian operates the drone, and the others interpret what they see.

Significant themes

• Greed versus survival: The prospect of god-slaying rewards tempts the group, but recklessness could be fatal.
• Deceptive appearances: The apparent “worship” of the Flesh Mountain God is actually the harvesting of its body, raising doubts about who is exploiting whom.
• Corruption and hidden costs: Fragrant Meat may not be food but part of a sinister cycle involving monsters, offerings, and possible parasitism.
• Knowledge as an advantage: Liu Yu’s foresight and the group’s careful investigation help them avoid danger and identify an opportunity.

Plot points and events

• Liu Yu explains that Tower Climbers alone can see the Temple’s enormous Golden Treasure Chest, and that the Temple Warden will drop its key when killed.
• The group plans to strike during the Warden’s noon blessing ceremony at the Refugee Camp. Attacking the Temple directly risks drawing the attention of the Flesh Mountain God, while the ceremony will bring the Warden and many Heavenly God Warriors into a crowded area.
• With no obvious way to separate the Warden from his guards, Chen Lingling reveals Sinner Incense, which irresistibly attracts Heavenly God Warriors. The group agrees to use it alongside Wu Yu’s explosive Bi Fang Talisman and Chen Lingling’s limited teleportation.
• Chen Lingling transports Wu Yu, Liu Yu, and Bai Xiaotian into the Refugee Camp, where they prepare traps near the ceremony site.
• At noon, the Temple Warden addresses a huge crowd of new refugees. He promises that the Flesh Mountain God will provide “Fragrant Meat” and orders the people to kneel, kowtow, and chant the deity’s name. Their unified chanting fills the camp.

Character developments and interactions

• Liu Yu uses his Future Diary knowledge to guide the group, but admits he cannot disclose everything. His caution underscores the group’s mutual secrecy.
• Wu Yu contributes a powerful talisman and agrees to the plan, yet privately intends to avoid the Temple itself. He is more unsettled by the incomprehensible Flesh Mountain God than by ordinary physical danger.
• Chen Lingling proves crucial by supplying the lure and demonstrating her spatial teleportation talent. She offers additional weapons and an emergency escape, though her ability has limits.
• Bai Xiaotian proposes using drone-dropped bombs and asks questions about the others’ abilities, showing practical ingenuity and curiosity.
• The group cooperates while carefully withholding some information, relying on trust but remaining guarded.

Significant themes

• Secrecy and trust: The climbers share only what they choose, even as they coordinate a dangerous mission.
• Faith as control: The Warden uses promises of food, ritual, and mass chanting to bind desperate refugees to the cult.
• The unknown as horror: Wu Yu’s dread centers not on visible violence but on the Flesh Mountain God’s inexplicable nature.
• Power and vulnerability: Special items and talents give the group options, but the Warden’s intelligence, the guards’ numbers, and the crowd make the operation perilous.

• Plot and events: Liu Yu’s group prepares an ambush during the Temple Warden’s blessing ritual, discussing Liu Zheng’s mysterious Talent and the powerful equipment he may have collected. As the Warden leads refugees in worship, the group detonates traps and releases Sinner Incense, which drives the Heavenly God Warriors into a frenzy and draws them away from the ritual. Liu Yu interrupts the blessing with an Incense Burner, and the group attacks the exposed Warden with Psionic weapons, explosives, and Wu Yu’s abilities. A bell-like Spirit Energy attack apparently shatters the Warden’s head. But his body turns to ash rather than the expected white light, and the group narrowly escapes a blood-red beam. The Warden reappears, regenerating with a worm’s head.
• Character developments: Wu Yu’s Divine Sense lets him perceive the ritual’s gathering Blood-and-Qi Power and recognize the Warden as a serious threat. Liu Yu stays focused on the mission and takes the lead in disrupting the ritual. Bai Xiaotian coordinates the trap and brings heavy firepower to bear. Chen Lingling provides a crucial warning and teleports the group clear of the Warden’s counterattack. Liu Zheng remains an off-page mystery: Liu Yu hints that his Talent may explain his access to high-grade equipment, possibly through spatial abilities.
• Character interactions: Bai Xiaotian’s resentment toward the authorities surfaces while the group discusses Liu Zheng, but Liu Yu cuts the talk short and redirects everyone to the mission. The team works in coordination, using the incense to isolate the Warden before launching a combined assault. The Warden responds with fury, condemning them as “filthy peasants” and attacking Liu Yu, while the group questions why he has not revived or fought back after appearing to die.
• Significant themes: The chapter emphasizes the danger of religious fanaticism and mass ritual, as well as the value of teamwork, preparation, and exploiting an enemy’s vulnerabilities. Its cliffhanger undercuts the apparent victory, suggesting that the Warden’s power and nature are stranger—and more resilient—than the group expected.

• The Temple Warden transforms into a monstrous enemy. After regrowing a grotesque worm head, he appears to have become a Weird Object, attacking with blinding speed and strength. The group opens fire, but his crimson aura initially protects him. Wu Yu’s Evernight Lamp weakens that defense, allowing their weapons to injure him.
• The team is pushed to its limits. The Warden darts between Bai Xiaotian, Liu Yu, Chen Lingling, and Wu Yu. Bai is thrown aside with both arms broken; Liu survives a neck strike thanks to the Scarecrow at his waist; and Chen evades an attack by teleporting. When the Warden finally lunges at Wu Yu, Wu catches his fist barehanded.
• Wu Yu reveals his strength and finishes the fight. A Transcendent Martial Artist, enhanced by his abilities, Wu Yu overpowers the Warden, stuffs Bi Fang Talismans into his maw, and knocks him into the area where more talismans have been placed. Their explosions overwhelm the Warden’s crimson aura and reduce him to ash. The group finds five Cards among the remains.
• The group reacts and distributes the spoils. Liu Yu and Bai Xiaotian are stunned by Wu Yu’s power. Wu jokes that he is “only a billion times stronger,” while Liu reminds everyone of their agreement that the greatest contributor gets first pick. Wu accepts and collects the Cards: a technique-enhancing consumable, Divine Oil, a Silent Belt, a Flesh Mutation Pill, and a Treasure Chest Key.
  Character developments and interactions: Wu Yu shifts from supporting the team with the lamp to taking the decisive role, revealing both his extraordinary physical strength and his skill as a Talisman Master. His companions coordinate their attacks and use their own abilities to survive, but are visibly astonished by how completely Wu outmatches the Warden. Their brief exchange afterward mixes relief, admiration, and humor with practical attention to dividing the rewards.
  Themes: Teamwork and preparation help expose the Warden’s defenses, but overwhelming strength and a well-planned trap ultimately secure victory. The chapter also contrasts the uncanny danger of supernatural transformation with the group’s increasingly matter-of-fact use of powers, artifacts, and loot.