Recaps

Xu Zhi led Lotus City Light Institute in a surprise all-out attack against Lotus City College, crushing them in a brief finals match. After Xu Zhi and Little One eliminated Chu Minghe, the watching teams realized Lotus City Light Institute had been hiding its strength.

• Tong Zhou replaced Qiu Hou, and Xu Zhi persuaded Xi Min to let Ji Muge play so the team could attack without a support position.
• Xu Zhi released Little One as the match began, and the team charged Lotus City College together.
• Little One disrupted the opposing formation, while its resistance to Chu Minghe’s [Moth] ability let it and Xu Zhi pursue her relentlessly.
• Xu Zhi and Little One overwhelmed Chu Minghe, who was seriously injured and eliminated in under a minute.
• Lotus City Light Institute routed its opponents, leaving watching teams afraid to face them.

Xu Zhi and Lotus City Light Institute won the league championship, securing rewards that she planned to use to strengthen herself and the Little Aberration. As her teammates celebrated, Xu Zhi felt lonely and understood that the victory marked the end of a stage of her life.

• After Lotus City Light Institute's overwhelming victories discouraged further challengers, the finals ended with the institute still in first place.
• Xu Zhi calculated how to use the league and institute rewards to advance [Moth] and [Lamp], then planned to take the Little Aberration into the Lost Land to devour the [Cup].
• The host declared Lotus City Light Institute the champion, and Xu Zhi and her teammates went onstage to receive the trophy amid golden rain and cheers.
• While her teammates celebrated around her, Xu Zhi smiled but felt alienated and lonely, thinking of the people she wished could share the moment and the memories she would keep.

After Lotus City’s teams placed highly in the league, Xu Zhi returned from Freedom City with her teammates and traded her prosthetic reward for [Lamp] Attribute Cores. She arrived at her home in Lotus City, where a gentle woman welcomed her back.

• Lotus City’s league success discouraged its opponents from provoking it, while Xu Zhi anticipated further trouble involving the [Proxy] and the [Cup].
• During the break in Freedom City, Xu Zhi exchanged most of her rewards for [Moth], [Lamp], and [Blade] Attribute Cores before returning with her team.
• Xi Min explained that the students could seek teacher protection for their Lost Land slots and announced the council’s reward of a custom TC-8600 unrestricted prosthetic for each student.
• Xu Zhi chose to sell her prosthetic opportunity and exchange it for [Lamp] Attribute Cores, while Ji Muge wanted to replace her hand.
• Xu Zhi parted from her teammates and reached home, where a woman opened the door and warmly welcomed her back.

Xu Zhi consumed the cores she had acquired to rebuild her strength and advance toward Named, while wondering why Jiang Qing’s presence had seemed appetizing to her. After reaching Immortality Level Four, Xu Zhi’s progress slowed because the remaining step required her to pass the Great Dream trial and earn her own Title.

• Xu Zhi inspected her house, confirmed Qi Yanxin had not entered her room, and suspected whoever left blood food there knew her whereabouts.
• Xu Zhi fed high-purity [Blade] Attribute Cores to Little One and began absorbing [Lamp] and [Moth] Attribute Cores herself.
• Xu Zhi wondered why Jiang Qing’s aura seemed unusually tempting and recalled that Jiang Qing had looked at her as if they had met before.
• Xu Zhi spent a month consuming cores, recovering from injuries, restoring her former abilities, and curing her nearsightedness as her [Moth] attribute reached Immortality.
• Xu Zhi sold her prosthetic body quota for more cores and advanced to Immortality Level Four before her progress slowed.
• Xu Zhi realized that advancing to Named required her to pass the Great Dream trial and obtain her own [Title].

After raising both [Lamp] and [Moth] to Longevity Level Four, Xu Zhi entered Mansus to undergo her first true trial to advance to [Named]. She found her lantern in the fog, but entering a wooden cabin sent her back to the starting point and made the lantern disappear.

• Xu Zhi waited until [Moth] reached Longevity Level Four, then accepted Mansus's powerful pull and entered the Great Dream.
• Xu Zhi awoke in a foggy forest with no visible path and chose a direction to walk.
• Xu Zhi found her lantern hanging from a tree and took it, causing the fog around her to recede.
• Xu Zhi came upon a new wooden cabin and pushed open its door.
• Xu Zhi returned to the foggy starting point, and the lantern vanished from her hand.

Xu Zhi walked the muddy path again, resisting its temptations, oppressive rain, and thunder until she reached the cabin. Inside, she found herself in her destroyed home in Cloud City, where the Lantern had become a Game Console, and realized she was undergoing the Great Dream's trial.

• Xu Zhi decided to walk the path again, and the fog revealed the longer trail and her Lantern.
• Xu Zhi resisted the temptation to turn back as the path grew harder, and the Lantern sheltered her from the rain and cold.
• Xu Zhi reached the cabin and opened the door without returning to the starting point.
• Xu Zhi found herself in her old home in Cloud City and realized the scene was an illusion in the Great Dream's trial.
• Xu Zhi wiped her fingers and reached for the Game Console on the coffee table.

Xu Zhi rejected the Game Console’s offer to rest and continued through the Great Dream, pushing past an invisible barrier even after her extraordinary energy ran out. A bolt of lightning struck her, and she was left in agony as something was forced into her mind.

• The Game Console told Xu Zhi she could become Named by waiting in the cabin, but she refused to believe it and chose to leave.
• Xu Zhi recognized the cabin’s comfortable sofa as a trap that drained her will, opened the door, and stepped into a new forest path.
• The path consumed Xu Zhi’s [Moth] and [Lamp] energy until an invisible wall stopped her and the ground began pulling her into mud.
• Xu Zhi struggled against the barrier, broke through it, and crawled forward despite being nearly buried and exhausted.
• A silver-white bolt of lightning struck Xu Zhi, causing intense pain as something was forced into her mind.

After surviving the lightning, Xu Zhi woke as a Named One and discovered that the Mansus had given her two unique true names, [Everlasting Lamp] and [Moth Fluttering Inside the Skull]. She studied the powers and meaning of her names, then found that her appearance had not changed as she expected.

• Xu Zhi absorbed the lightning through strange patterns in her body, and her talent circuits consumed its energy before she collapsed into sleep.
• Xu Zhi woke the following evening and realized that she had advanced to the Named stage as information flooded into her mind.
• Xu Zhi learned that Named Ones received unique true names from the Mansus and discovered that she had two: [Everlasting Lamp] and [Moth Fluttering Inside the Skull].
• Xu Zhi wrote [Everlasting Lamp] on paper and felt a subtle connection form between herself and the name.
• Xu Zhi checked her reflection and found that, despite reaching the Named life level, her hair and appearance had not changed as she expected.

After becoming a Named One, Xu Zhi discovered that her body had changed and her abilities had grown stronger. She awakened [Remnant Land], a power that recreated a tiny fragment of the shattered Federation as a world she could rule.

• Xu Zhi found that she no longer needed to breathe and could channel extraordinary energy through her body, which held the lightning that had struck her in the Great Dream.
• Xu Zhi used [Authority] to contact her Familiars in the Lost Land and told them she would soon join them, then severed the connection before Midnight's mark could perceive her.
• Xu Zhi discovered that [Moth] had gained [Remnant Land], which could draw people into a world where she set the rules for up to three minutes.
• Xu Zhi activated [Remnant Land] and found herself in a miniature version of the old Federation, created from the shattered world's final gift to her.

After advancing to [Named One], Xu Zhi reflected on how the Great Dream had tested her acceptance of her past and found that she had never doubted her chosen path. She created a Spirit Vessel in the Lower District to prepare for the coming fog while her main body set off for the Lost Land.

• Xu Zhi realized that the Great Dream had tested whether she accepted her past and affirmed her choices, and she concluded her self-chosen path had made the trial easy.
• Xu Zhi used her Authority and nearly all her Transcendent energy to create an attribute-less Spirit Vessel in the Lower District.
• Xu Zhi adapted to controlling two bodies and inspected the abandoned home where she had once lived, tidying it before waiting for an opportunity.
• Xu Zhi told Qi Yanxin that she was leaving on a long journey and instructed her to say that Xu Zhi had gone to the Lost Land if anyone asked.

Xu Zhi entered the Lost Land and fed the sleeping [Cup] to Little Aberration, restoring its strength and consciousness. She discovered the Observer’s lightning hidden in its damaged body, while researchers detected the Observer’s aura near the Lost Land and dispatched investigators.

• Xu Zhi traveled through the Light Institute’s gate into the Lost Land and headed alone for the marked location of the [Cup].
• Xu Zhi used [Moths] to subdue the roots and retrieve the sleeping [Cup] from underground.
• Xu Zhi ordered Little Aberration to devour the [Cup], restoring it to around the second stage of Longevity and bringing back its voice.
• Xu Zhi found a bolt of the Observer’s lightning concealed inside Little Aberration’s damaged body.
• Researchers detected the Observer’s faint aura near the outskirts of the Lost Land and ordered investigators to be dispatched.

After discovering the Observer's aura hidden in Little Aberration, Xu Zhi concealed it with [Moth] and headed deeper into the Lost Land to avoid detection. She left to meet Xiao Zhen while keeping watch on the dangers ahead and used her Spirit Vessel to explore Lotus City's Lower District at night.

• Xu Zhi found the Observer's aura inside Little Aberration and used [Authority] and [Moth] to conceal it, then decided to hide deeper in the Lost Land.
• Xu Zhi planned to keep Little Aberration below Archbishop level until her [Authority] could conceal it, and resolved to avoid taking sides between Cup and its opponents.
• Xu Zhi chose to meet Xiao Zhen before Doggie because Xiao Zhen was fast and Doggie's size made travel difficult.
• Xu Zhi traveled through the Lost Land, easily defeated attacking supernatural creatures, and found a concealed high place to rest when night fell.
• Xu Zhi kept watch with Little One and Little Aberration, then sent her Spirit Vessel out of its room in Lotus City's Lower District into the darkness.

Xu Zhi searched the Lower District for a cult connected to [Cup] and found a likely gathering place among the scavengers. She approached the cult’s building and asked to join.

• Xu Zhi drove to the Seventh Garbage Dump and followed three scavengers to their settlement.
• Xu Zhi overheard a scavenger say that the cult’s priest would perform a ceremony to make him a transcendent.
• Xu Zhi concluded that the cult was connected to [Cup] and searched the settlement for its location.
• Xu Zhi found a brightly lit building where cloaked people gathered and smelled blood nearby.
• Xu Zhi asked the person at the door how she could join the cult.

Xu Zhi posed as an ordinary newcomer seeking supernatural abilities and gained entry to a small Cup-aligned cult. After the priest confirmed her identity and scheduled her conversion ritual, she agreed to remain there while preparing to turn her Spirit Vessel into a Cup believer.

• Xu Zhi told the wary doorman she wanted to join the cult and obtain supernatural abilities, and he let her inside.
• The priest examined Xu Zhi, noticed her exceptional aptitude, and tested her blood to confirm she was an ordinary person.
• The priest scheduled a ritual for the following evening and told Xu Zhi to stay and meet the other cult members.
• Xu Zhi accepted, intending to become a Cup believer through the ritual while using safeguards to protect her true consciousness from contamination.

Xu Zhi joined a lower-level [Cup] cult through her Spirit Vessel while continuing through the Lost Land in search of her Familiar. As investigators poured into the Lost Land and the cult began her initiation ritual, Xu Zhi remained separated from Xiao Zhen.

• The priest introduced Xu Zhi to Du Cheng, gave her the surname Ling, and told her to join the cult’s ritual the next night.
• Xu Zhi sensed she was being watched, then shifted her attention to the Lost Land, where Midnight’s presence emerged in the night fog.
• Xu Zhi avoided the deepest part of Midnight and traveled through the Lost Land by day, drawing closer to Xiao Zhen.
• Investigators from various factions entered the Lost Land in unprecedented numbers, prompting speculation about a major discovery.
• In Lotus City, Xu Zhi’s Spirit Vessel sat inside a [Cup] ritual circuit as the priest scattered blood from a scarlet cup over it.

Xu Zhi endured the [Cup] ritual as her Spirit Vessel was transformed into a supernatural being and connected to the [Cup] clan. The ritual left her at the rank of [Messenger], with growing power and new knowledge, while she struggled to keep the vessel’s consciousness from being consumed by the scarlet influence.

• Xu Zhi resisted the [Cup] ritual’s seductive corruption by using her true body to keep the Spirit Vessel’s consciousness awake.
• The Spirit Vessel entered the supernatural realm, gained a connection to the [Cup] clan, and continued absorbing power as its circuits grew.
• The priest named Xu Zhi the cult’s Saintess, though she was too focused on resisting the ritual to hear him.
• Xu Zhi discovered the Spirit Vessel could advance without passing through the Mansus, but its consciousness nearly succumbed to the scarlet aura.
• A higher [Cup] existence acknowledged the Spirit Vessel, increasing its mental power before the ritual ended.
• Xu Zhi learned that the Spirit Vessel had reached [Messenger] rank and gained [Cup] knowledge, but it also developed an unsettling mental static, thirst, and altered thought patterns.

After the Spirit Vessel awakened with a mind altered by [Cup], Xu Zhi became the cult’s saintess and decided to lead its followers toward stronger groups in the industrial district. Meanwhile, Xu Zhi’s main body continued toward Xiao Zhen and the nearest Lost One territory.

• The Spirit Vessel realized that [Cup] had made her thinking more emotional and less intelligent, though she could still share information with Xu Zhi’s main body.
• The priest declared the Spirit Vessel the cult’s saintess, and Xu Zhi sensed that she outranked the two Fanatics and one of The Redeemed.
• The priest explained that scattered [Cup] cults existed in settlements and that stronger groups likely operated in a nearby industrial district.
• Xu Zhi ordered the three followers to prepare to seek out those stronger cults, and the priest gave her a hood to conceal her red hair and eyes.
• Xu Zhi’s main body sensed that Xiao Zhen was less than four hours away and that the nearest Lost One territory could be reached before nightfall.

Xu Zhi reunited with Xiao Zhen in the ruins of Lincheng, then followed the Gyrfalcon to a Lingzhou team heading for a settlement. The team recognized Xu Zhi and questioned why she had entered the Lost Land alone, while they were seeking protection from Jiang Qing.

• Xu Zhi crossed the overgrown ruins of Lincheng and caught Xiao Zhen as the Gyrfalcon swooped down to reunite with her.
• The Little Aberration and Xiao Zhen bickered over Xu Zhi until she reprimanded them and put the Little Aberration back in her pocket.
• Xiao Zhen showed Xu Zhi a bag of cores it had collected, and Xu Zhi decided to trade for cores it could use at a nearby settlement.
• Xu Zhi sent Xiao Zhen to locate people, and the Gyrfalcon guided her to a four-person team wearing Lingzhou uniforms.
• The Lingzhou team recognized Xu Zhi and asked whether she had come alone; Xu Zhi said she was training, while the team remained doubtful and revealed they had come seeking Jiang Qing's protection.

Xu Zhi encountered Jiang Qing in a Lost Ones gathering place, noticed Jiang Qing feared her, and followed her deeper into the Lost Land. After three people tried to rob Xu Zhi, she and Xiao Zhen killed them and took their spatial bracelet.

• Xu Zhi entered the Lost Ones' gathering place and ran into Jiang Qing, who admitted she did not want to see her there.
• Xu Zhi sensed an unusual scent from Jiang Qing, then exchanged Xiao Zhen's useless cores for [Moth], [Lamp], and [Winter] cores.
• Xiao Zhen spotted Jiang Qing leaving, and Xu Zhi followed her farther into the Lost Land as several people tailed her.
• Xu Zhi exposed the three pursuers, and Xiao Zhen and [Moth] incapacitated and killed them.
• Xiao Zhen took the Named One's spatial bracelet, which held all three robbers' wealth, and brought it to Xu Zhi.

Xu Zhi witnessed Jiang Qing absorb a powerful [Lamp]-attribute transcendent’s talent circuit, which caused Jiang Qing to break through into the Named One realm without entering the Mansus. When Xu Zhi confronted her, Jiang Qing’s guards decided they had to kill her.

• Xu Zhi followed Jiang Qing’s group through the Lost Land and watched them ambush a powerful [Lamp]-attribute Named One.
• After the battle left Jiang Qing and two guards alive, Jiang Qing cut open the defeated transcendent and absorbed his shattered talent circuit, advancing into the Named One realm.
• Xu Zhi realized Jiang Qing’s method resembled Dingchan’s ability to advance without passing through the Mansus or the Great Dream.
• Xu Zhi revealed herself and asked Jiang Qing if she had eaten the transcendent’s talent circuit.
• One of Jiang Qing’s guards said they had to kill Xu Zhi because she had witnessed the secret.

Xu Zhi tested the Remnant Land by trapping Jiang Qing and her two guards, then killed the guards and restrained Jiang Qing. Jiang Qing refused to reveal her mission and explained that she had foreseen her death, but came because it was part of a plan and fate.

• Xu Zhi established a rule in the Remnant Land that restricted supernatural abilities to beings able to create or summon supernatural creatures.
• Xu Zhi trapped Jiang Qing and her two injured guards in the Remnant Land, suppressed their abilities, and destroyed the guards’ cores.
• Xu Zhi used Authority to freeze Jiang Qing’s supernatural energy and sealed her with a Moth.
• Jiang Qing refused to reveal what she was doing or why she had come, despite Xu Zhi threatening to kill her.
• Xu Zhi learned that Jiang Qing had seen her in a prophecy and had foreseen being killed by her.
• Jiang Qing said her death was a link in fate and part of a plan she and Xu Zhi had to go through.

Xu Zhi tested Jiang Qing’s ability to absorb talent circuits and discovered that her [Lamp] circuit could devour and incorporate Jiang Qing’s power. She spared Jiang Qing for the moment, left a concealed [Moth] in her, and arranged to keep rescuers away, while Jiang Qing remained confused by Xu Zhi’s choices.

• Xu Zhi cut open Jiang Qing’s abdomen and discovered that she could instinctively absorb Jiang Qing’s talent circuit into her own [Lamp] circuit.
• Xu Zhi stopped absorbing the circuit before taking all of it and told Jiang Qing that she would leave her fate to destiny rather than kill her.
• Jiang Qing asked Xu Zhi to take her along so she could understand why Xu Zhi had spared her, but Xu Zhi left her behind.
• Xu Zhi secretly left a concealed [Moth] in Jiang Qing and planned to prevent anyone from rescuing her, hoping she would die to the Lost Land’s creatures or at midnight.
• Xiao Zhen stayed nearby to watch Jiang Qing and the surrounding area.

After Jiang Qing was swallowed by Midnight, Xu Zhi investigated the route taken by the Lamp-attribute supernatural being she had fought. She found a hidden, well-traveled path in the Lost Land and realized it led to something important.

• Xu Zhi watched Jiang Qing wander into Midnight, where the mist took her and Xu Zhi's [Moth] stopped working.
• Xu Zhi concluded that Midnight lay at the center of the Lost Land, then set out the next morning to investigate where the Lamp-attribute supernatural being had come from.
• Xu Zhi traveled nearly seven hours through the Lost Land without encountering another supernatural being, despite the area's proximity to a settlement.
• Xu Zhi discovered a path worn by regular foot traffic and sent Xiao Zhen ahead to scout it.
• An attacker spotted Xiao Zhen and fired at it, but Xiao Zhen dodged; Xu Zhi realized she had stumbled upon something important.

Xu Zhi waited in the Lost Land while her Spirit Vessel infiltrated and helped expand a [Cup]-aligned cult in Lotus City’s industrial district. As the cult prepared a large ritual, Xu Zhi claimed the chance to receive it and threatened to kill anyone who challenged her.

• Xu Zhi waited for her Familiars to rendezvous while the Spirit Vessel advanced into the industrial district’s [Cup]-aligned cult.
• The cult grew to nearly forty believers, killed workers for blood food, and remained largely unnoticed by Lotus City’s authorities.
• Believers worried about the delayed mist and planned to assimilate factory management before their activities were exposed.
• Over the following week, the cult assimilated the factory managers and expanded to around three hundred members.
• The senior believers gathered to choose who would receive a large ritual, and Xu Zhi volunteered, threatening to kill anyone who tried to take her place.

Xu Zhi secured the qualification for the sacrificial ritual while waiting for her Familiars to return, then investigated a hidden research institute in the Lost Land. She discovered it belonged to [Gods Heavy Industries] and learned that an unknown extraordinary individual had recently entered and left it.

• Xu Zhi threatened the [Cups], and they agreed that whoever killed Ling before the ritual began would gain the qualification; otherwise, it would belong to her.
• Doggie, Little Aberration, and Kitty returned to Xu Zhi, triggering the formation of a new Familiar within her circuits.
• Xu Zhi sent Black Cat ahead to scout, and it trapped two patrolling extraordinary individuals in dreams.
• Xu Zhi questioned the two [Gods Heavy Industries] guards and learned that a research institute lay underground and that an unknown extraordinary individual had recently visited it.
• Xu Zhi estimated that the visitor had left around the time Jiang Qing killed the [Lamp]-attribute extraordinary individual.