Recaps

Xu Zhi examined the Game Console’s suspicious behavior and chose Cursed Speech as her new Familiar, which bound itself to her throat. Narrator then returned with news about Ye Yan and warned that things had gotten worse.

• Xu Zhi considered why Narrator had pretended the Game Console was under maintenance and listed the mysteries she needed to investigate.
• Xu Zhi selected Cursed Speech, a special Familiar that attached itself to her throat.
• Xu Zhi inspected Cursed Speech’s abilities and learned that it could use cursed words, but would die if her throat were pierced.
• The Game Console flickered and displayed garbled text before Narrator announced that it had figured out Ye Yan’s situation and things had gotten worse.

Xu Zhi and the Narrator investigated Ye Yan’s defective Archbishop foundation and reasoned that the supreme existence of the Cup attribute had arranged false foundations because the true Archbishop paths were already occupied. Xu Zhi’s theory about His effort to prevent a new supreme existence from emerging drew a deadly gaze from a distant presence.

• The Narrator told Xu Zhi that Ye Yan’s Archbishop foundation had been made from a fragment of a true foundation and was a defective imitation.
• The Narrator suspected the other Archbishops’ foundations were also defective products created by the supreme existence of the Cup attribute.
• Xu Zhi considered why He would create false Archbishops and learned that the current Archbishop paths had already been occupied.
• The Narrator explained that the supreme existence had fallen with the Cup rules and could return as those rules rebuilt themselves.
• Xu Zhi guessed that He was trying to prevent a new supreme existence from rising and eating Him, and the Narrator warned her not to speak recklessly.
• Xu Zhi sensed a distant gaze filled with killing intent and feared its owner would discover and kill her.

Xu Zhi learned that the supreme being of the Cup attribute was pursuing a dangerous goal beyond resurrection and resolved to hurry after Lust. Meanwhile, Lin Zizhen returned from Cloud City with a sealed file and considered whether serving Xu Zhi could advance his position.

• Xu Zhi learned that the Cup supreme being was reviving, that its defective Archbishops were part of a larger plan, and that her interference had deepened its grudge against her.
• The Narrator warned Xu Zhi to gain strength quickly, and she decided to rest for half a day before setting out to capture Lust.
• Lin Zizhen and the other two survivors endured questioning by the Federation after leaving Cloud City.
• Lin Zizhen's superior gave him a sealed document envelope that higher-ups had authorized him to read after resting.
• On his way home, Lin Zizhen considered leaving the Federation to work for Xu Zhi and saw her control over Cloud City as a possible path to advancement.

Xu Zhi tested whether Little Aberration could absorb the false Archbishop foundations and confirmed that Lust’s foundation was the same as Wrath’s. After feeding it the other Archbishops, she began preparing to trade Cloud City passes with the Federation and planned to tell Zhong Lingfan about the passage and the dangers facing the world.

• Xu Zhi captured Lust in Cloud City and brought him to Little Aberration to test whether it could absorb his foundation.
• Little Aberration consumed Lust, including his foundation, without problems, proving that Lust and Wrath had the same foundation; it gained five levels but remained level 49.
• Xu Zhi decided to feed the other two captured Archbishops to Little Aberration but keep Yu Shenwei alive as a possible lead to the source.
• Xu Zhi admitted that she had always viewed Yu Shenwei as a tool and had deliberately avoided forming a friendship with her.
• Xu Zhi explained that she could now create unlimited Cloud City entrances and planned to trade one-use passes with the Federation.
• Xu Zhi decided to tell Zhong Lingfan about the Cloud City passage and the dangers threatening the world.

Xu Zhi consulted Zhong Lingfan and Shen Jinwen about negotiating with the Federation now that she could control Cloud City's restrictions, then went alone to discuss terms. She brought Lin Zizhen into the meeting with the Federation's leaders, setting him up to assist in future dealings.

• Xu Zhi told Zhong Lingfan and Shen Jinwen that she could control Cloud City's restrictions and asked what terms she should demand from the Federation.
• Zhong Lingfan advised Xu Zhi to charge ten high-grade Attribute Cores per pass and offer the Federation an exclusive buyout; she also asked to leave Cloud City to bring in her family and visit the Federation's supernatural laboratory.
• Shen Jinwen declined Xu Zhi's offer to go outside, while Zhong Lingfan explained that her research fulfilled her ideals rather than feeling like work.
• Xu Zhi gave Zhong Lingfan and Shen Jinwen passes with unlimited time and uses, then went to meet the Federation's leaders after reaching an agreement on the terms.
• Lin Zizhen greeted Xu Zhi outside Cloud City and escorted her through Federation security to the meeting room.
• Xu Zhi invited Lin Zizhen into the meeting, and he saw the decision as an opportunity to prove his sincerity with intelligence from top-secret files.

Xu Zhi negotiated with Federation officials over increased payment for dealing with the Archbishops and demanded ownership of Cloud City. After proving she controlled entry and exit, she gave the Federation ten minutes to decide whether to accept her terms.

• Xu Zhi told the Federation representatives that the payment for dealing with the Archbishops needed to increase because there had been three instead of two.
• Xu Zhi offered to halve the added payment if the Federation made Cloud City independent and placed it under her personal ownership.
• After the officials refused, Xu Zhi claimed Cloud City was already her private property and that she controlled who could enter or leave.
• Xu Zhi gave the Federation a wooden Cloud City Pass, and a test confirmed that it let one person enter or leave Cloud City once.
• Xu Zhi gave the Federation ten minutes to accept her terms or lose access to Cloud City.

Xu Zhi negotiated Cloud City’s ownership and access-pass arrangement with the Federation, securing a costly deal without making concessions. After Lin Zizhen joined her, she brought him to Cloud City and turned her attention to increasing her strength so she could explore Midnight.

• Xu Zhi left the Federation representatives to deliberate, then returned and said Cloud City access would be limited to one thousand passes every half month.
• Xu Zhi set the price at ten high-grade Attribute Cores per pass and demanded a buyout fee when the Federation offered to purchase all the slots.
• After two hours of talks, Xu Zhi finalized a deal for the Federation to announce Cloud City’s ownership change in three days and deliver the Cores in exchange for passes.
• Xu Zhi agreed to make Lin Zizhen her subordinate and brought him back to Cloud City after he packed his things.
• Xu Zhi assigned Lin Zizhen to handle Federation matters under Zhong Lingfan’s guidance, then returned to her room to focus on advancing her strength and exploring Midnight.

Xu Zhi refined Attribute Cores and absorbed one, experiencing a vision of the far side of the moon as the Black Fog surged around her. Unable to absorb more energy until she advanced, she learned she would need to enter Midnight to find the remains required for a ritual, and planned to go at the darkest point of night.

• Xu Zhi learned that the Game Console could refine Attribute Cores and prepared cores for herself and her Familiars.
• Xu Zhi ate a refined Moth Attribute Core and saw gray moths circling a pale moon on what she sensed was its far side.
• The Black Fog around Xu Zhi surged and was absorbed as the Game Console flickered, and Xu Zhi woke feeling too full to absorb more energy.
• Xu Zhi realized she needed a higher-tier creature’s remains and a ritual array to advance within the second stage.
• The narrator told Xu Zhi that Midnight held suitable remains and warned her to enter through the city-center rift, leave immediately if discovered, and go when the night was darkest.

Xu Zhi prepared higher-level Lanterns while Zhong Lingfan reported on the Federation’s losses in Cloud City and proposed a guide-service partnership. Zhong Lingfan also warned that Cup-attribute believers were drawing connected arrays across the Federation, and Xu Zhi ordered the situation monitored.

• Xu Zhi forged Lantern cores and learned that adding her blood would link a Lantern’s effects to her abilities.
• Zhong Lingfan brought Xu Zhi missing materials and reported that Federation teams in Cloud City were suffering heavy losses.
• Zhong Lingfan proposed a Guide Program that would let Federation visitors pay Cloud City residents for help navigating the city.
• Zhong Lingfan reported that Cup-attribute believers were drawing connected arrays across the Federation, and Xu Zhi suspected the work served Him.
• Xu Zhi told Zhong Lingfan to monitor the arrays and said she could find more Federation contacts if Lin Zizhen died.

Xu Zhi entered Midnight with a newly forged Lantern, intending to investigate the Federation believers’ plans, while the Narrator warned her not to use the Eye of Secrets or lose herself. She encountered the original form of [Nightmare], which recognized a familiar scent on her.

• Xu Zhi forged a black-and-gold Lantern and discussed the Federation believers’ plans with the Narrator, who urged her to be careful and disrupt their schemes.
• The Narrator warned Xu Zhi to avoid using the Eye of Secrets in Midnight and to rely on herself without losing herself.
• Xu Zhi entered Midnight through Little Aberration’s roots and passed an enormous, cold presence without looking at it.
• When a voice followed her, Xu Zhi switched from [Cup]-attribute light to [Lamp]-attribute light, making the presence cry out in pain.
• The Black Cat appeared ahead of Xu Zhi, recognized her, and asked why she smelled like [Nightmare].

Xu Zhi encountered Black Cat in Midnight and bargained with it after it asked her to take its remains outside. She agreed to hear why Black Cat wanted to leave and what had changed in Midnight, while secretly planning to sacrifice its bones once they reached the exit.

• Black Cat followed Xu Zhi through the forest, chattering until she demanded that it be quiet.
• Black Cat asked Xu Zhi to take its remains outside Midnight, admitting it could not survive beyond the place without preparations.
• Xu Zhi refused Black Cat’s offer of treasure and demanded answers about its motives and Midnight instead.
• Black Cat resisted answering, but Xu Zhi proposed bringing it near the exit before it spoke and then taking it outside.
• Black Cat accepted Xu Zhi’s terms and led her toward its remains.

Xu Zhi followed the black cat to its grave in the forest and learned that each tree marked the tomb of a being in Midnight, a graveyard where gods were buried. She dug up the cat’s remains despite the forest’s violent reaction, gained a mark for desecrating Midnight, and learned that hostile beings had arrived.

• Xu Zhi followed the black cat through the forest to the tree it identified as its tombstone.
• The black cat revealed that every tree marked a grave in Midnight, the Land of the Fallen, and warned Xu Zhi to hurry before other beings arrived.
• Xu Zhi drove her saber into the ground, used a [Lamp] Attribute Core to steady the lantern’s light, and dug up a strange gray bone.
• When Xu Zhi lifted the bone, the forest stopped shaking and a burning mark appeared on her palm; she cut away the marked flesh, but the mark remained.
• The black cat said the mark was the consequence of desecrating Midnight and urged Xu Zhi to take the bone away because other beings had arrived.

Xu Zhi forced the Black Cat to explain why it wanted to leave Midnight, learning that a Rift had disrupted hidden arrangements and made the place dangerous to those who had regained consciousness. With the Black Cat concealed in her cloak, she evaded the Rift’s guard and reached the exit.

• Xu Zhi stopped near the Rift and demanded an answer from the Black Cat before leaving Midnight.
• Xu Zhi threatened to discard the Black Cat’s remains, making it explain that everyone there wanted to leave and that the Rift’s disruption had made Midnight dangerous.
• The Black Cat suffered backlash after revealing what it knew, then hid inside Xu Zhi’s cloak.
• Xu Zhi changed the Lantern’s light from [Lamp] to [Cup] and asked the Black Cat to conceal her from the guard.
• The Black Cat helped mask Xu Zhi as she slipped past the wandering guard and reached the Rift’s mouth.

Xu Zhi remained trapped in Midnight after passing through the Rift and used [Eye of Secrets] to discover that a [Cup]-attribute ability called Reversion blocked its exit. As the connection between her and Midnight grew stronger, she decided to switch to [Lamp] to break the ability, despite knowing it would reveal her.

• Xu Zhi emerged from the Rift only to find herself back in Midnight, where the figure guarding it sensed something was wrong.
• With the Black Cat concealing her, Xu Zhi activated [Eye of Secrets] and endured a flood of information and mounting pain as she examined the Rift.
• Xu Zhi realized Midnight's erosion was forming an ominous, tightening connection with her, then identified the Rift's barrier as a [Cup]-attribute ability that reverted anything touching it to its state ten seconds earlier.
• After repeated attempts to disrupt Reversion failed, Xu Zhi decided to switch her light to the [Lamp] attribute, knowing the change would expose her.

Xu Zhi used the Lantern’s light to transform her Supernatural Energy and cut a gap through Reversion, escaping the Rift despite being struck by the monster guarding it. She survived with severe injuries, while Black Cat collapsed from exhaustion, and Xu Zhi began recovering outside.

• Xu Zhi told Black Cat to divert one attack from the Rift guardian while she used her saber to cut through Reversion.
• Xu Zhi exposed herself and rushed to the Rift entrance, where Black Cat redirected an attack as she opened a gap.
• A third attack struck Xu Zhi and shattered her internal organs, but Little Aberration caught her as she fell out of the Rift and sealed it.
• Xu Zhi regained consciousness, stored Black Cat’s bones in her inventory, and placed the exhausted Black Cat on a branch.
• After her Self-Healing ability repaired much of her damage, Xu Zhi picked up the Game Console and noticed that the Lantern’s light seemed to ease her head pain.

Xu Zhi rested before using the remains of a Moth-attribute creature to begin her advancement ritual, while learning more about the Midnight mark and the Black Cat's danger. The ritual led her through a familiar white forest, where the path ended at a bottomless cliff.

• Xu Zhi asked the Narrator about the ritual, the Black Cat, and her Midnight mark, and learned the mark would not threaten her in the short term.
• The Narrator explained that Nightmare could devour the Black Cat, but the winner would become Nightmare and Xu Zhi's Familiar would cease to exist if the Black Cat won.
• After resting, Xu Zhi prepared the formation with Moth-attribute materials and placed the Black Cat's remains within it.
• Xu Zhi activated the formation and was drawn by a swarm of moths into the pure white forest.
• Xu Zhi followed the remains' guidance along a path that seemed unusually safe and reached the forest's end.
• Xu Zhi discovered that the path ended at a bottomless cliff.

Xu Zhi discovered that the ritual forest’s roads all ended at bottomless cliffs, and barely escaped after taking a wrong road. Back in the real world, she told the shocked Narrator what she had found.

• Xu Zhi followed the ritual-guided road through the forest but found it ended at a sheer, bottomless Cliff, so she returned to the starting point.
• Xu Zhi stepped onto a road without the Black Cat’s remains and ran as danger pursued her and the Supernatural Energy inside her grew chaotic.
• Xu Zhi reached another Cliff and was about to be pushed over by black hands when the ritual array’s energy ran dry and returned her to the real world.
• Xu Zhi rested on the ground as the Narrator asked whether she had taken the wrong road, and she explained that every road in the forest was cut off.
• The Narrator reacted with shock and asked Xu Zhi to confirm what she had found, and she assured it that she was telling the truth.

Xu Zhi learned that the world’s supernatural paths had been deliberately severed, leaving no way to advance or escape, and realized her [Authority] might offer a way to resist. After settling a fight between Nightmare and the Black Cat, she went to Zhong Lingfan to involve others in finding a solution to the coming crisis.

• The Narrator explained that the world’s Supernatural Level had been locked in place and that Xu Zhi was the first Transcendental to reach its limit, then suffered damage to the Game Console after revealing the secret.
• Xu Zhi sorted out her Supernatural Ability, gained a small increase in level, and sensed that her [Authority] could eventually reach powers connected to Cliff and Midnight.
• Xu Zhi put the Black Cat in Little Aberration’s tree cage with Nightmare and told Xiao Zhen to alert her when they finished fighting.
• Xu Zhi watched Zhong Lingfan test whether a girl’s ability to sever connections to supernatural forces could be extracted and stored as a weapon.
• Xu Zhi decided that everyone facing the crisis should help find a way to overcome the world’s deadlock, rather than leaving the task to her alone.

Xu Zhi warned Zhong Lingfan that humanity might not be able to resist a far greater Apocalypse and urged her to investigate the believers’ ritual formations. Xu Zhi analyzed the latest fragments and realized the ritual was sacrificial but not intended to increase its creator’s strength, while its true purpose remained unknown.

• Xu Zhi asked Zhong Lingfan whether humanity could resist an Apocalypse worse than Cloud City’s, and Zhong Lingfan said it probably could not.
• Xu Zhi asked Zhong Lingfan to send her new fragments of the Federation believers’ formation and hinted that its significance might relate to the coming danger.
• Xu Zhi asked whether Zhong Lingfan believed in gods and warned her that there was little time left to prepare.
• Xu Zhi used the Eye of Secrets to reconstruct the formation fragments and identified sacrifice as its First Ring, but could not determine its ultimate purpose.
• Xu Zhi resolved to prepare for resistance despite humanity’s apparent inability to stop the ritual, as a victor emerged from the Black Cats’ battle in Little Aberration’s cage.

Xu Zhi spent half a month recovering and trying to master [Authority], while her cat absorbed the energy from Midnight's cat's soul. The Narrator recovered enough to speak with her again, but when Xu Zhi asked who had cut off the path, it said revealing the secret would make it dissipate.

• Xu Zhi confirmed that her own cat had defeated Midnight's cat and watched it absorb the strange energy and cling to the relic bone.
• Xu Zhi rested, then continued studying [Authority] beneath Little Aberration's branches in Cloud City.
• After more than half a month, Xu Zhi sensed the Game Console rebooting and saw that the Narrator had partly recovered.
• Xu Zhi told the Narrator that she and Zhong Lingfan were seeking help from the Federation, while her own efforts to advance had reached a bottleneck.
• Xu Zhi asked who had cut off the path, and the Narrator refused to reveal the secret because the backlash would make it dissipate.

Xu Zhi learned that the Cup’s formation ritual was tied to secrets surrounding Midnight and the Severed Paths, while the Narrator warned her to bring a special cloak if she succeeded. As the Black Cat continued digesting its power, the Federation took Zhong Lingfan’s Apocalypse warning seriously and began supporting efforts to understand the spreading formation.

• The Narrator told Xu Zhi that the truth behind her Supernatural Level was an unspeakable secret and advised her to bring a special Human Skin cloak to shield herself from thunder if she succeeded.
• Xu Zhi asked whether she should stop the Cup’s formation, and the Narrator said survival mattered but stopping it would be difficult.
• Xu Zhi questioned why Midnight held so many Cup-aligned beings and why no other supreme existence intervened; the Narrator said the answers were bound up with the Severed Paths.
• Xu Zhi considered whether the Cup had been killed by other alignments and whether that explained the vanished supernatural beings, then set the speculation aside.
• Xu Zhi observed that the Black Cat had absorbed less than half the power it swallowed and estimated it needed another thirty or forty days to digest the rest.
• Zhong Lingfan delivered more formation Fragments as the Federation investigated the believers’ widespread carvings and supported her after both she and a Lamp-aligned Precognitive warned of an approaching Apocalypse.

While Zhong Lingfan prepared Cloud City’s residents for the approaching disaster, a secretive group of believers completed most of the formations their Lord had ordered and received an oracle about Cloud City. The Lord told them to proceed with preparations in the Federation as His consciousness neared full awakening, and their leader began the ritual.

• Zhong Lingfan warned Cloud City’s residents of the coming disaster and helped them prepare, while they grew stronger by trading cores with Federation Transcendents.
• Zhong Lingfan divided responsibilities between Shen Jinwen, who stayed in Cloud City, and Lin Zizhen, who handled Federation-related affairs.
• After another month, a group of believers emerged from an ancient tomb in a remote Federation mountain, reporting that they had completed ninety percent of their task but could not infiltrate Cloud City.
• The believers returned to the Federation and sacrificed a hundred low-ranking followers to contact their Lord.
• The high-ranking believer received an oracle that the Lord had arrangements in Cloud City and ordered the group to focus on preparations in the Federation.
• The leader declared that the Lord’s consciousness had nearly awakened and began the ritual.

High-ranking believers began activating a vast ritual array at a hidden site, sacrificing Transcendent hearts and themselves to ignite it. The Federation could not stop the first array, and its activation began spreading [Cup]-attribute energy and anomalies across the country.

• Nearly a hundred high-ranking believers brought more than a thousand Transcendent hearts to the tomb, one of thirteen planned activation points.
• The believers arranged the hearts, chanted to awaken the array, and cut their wrists to offer their blood and lives.
• Animals across the Federation grew agitated as a crimson beam rose from a remote mountain and alarms sounded.
• The Federation reached the site but found it enclosed by red light that consumed life and could not be penetrated or disrupted.
• After the array activated, temperatures fell, sunlight dimmed, nightmares spread, and [Cup]-attribute energy began replacing the extraordinary energy in the air.

Xu Zhi sensed the crimson beam and connected it to the offensive formation and the strange activity at Midnight’s sealed rift. The rift fell silent as she suspected a sacrifice had begun there too.

• Xu Zhi sensed the red light and saw a crimson pillar rising over the Federation through her [Eye of Secrets].
• Xu Zhi checked the black cat and found it had also become stuck at level 49, though its [Nightmare] ability had grown much stronger.
• Xu Zhi learned from Zhong Lingfan’s formation fragments that the formation was offensive and questioned who He intended to attack.
• Xu Zhi recalled the creatures testing Midnight’s sealed rift and suspected their attacks had been meant to keep her away.
• Xu Zhi noticed the rift’s attacks stop when the red beam appeared and suspected the sacrifice in Midnight had begun.

Xu Zhi stayed in Cloud City to stop the Fanatics from completing their plans, while the Narrator considered why she felt some responsibility for its residents. The Narrator decided to begin revealing the truth to Xu Zhi and asked whether she remembered how it had appeared.

• Xu Zhi remained in Cloud City because she suspected the danger was coming from within and wanted to disrupt His plan.
• Xu Zhi concluded that she wanted to protect Cloud City's residents because she considered them her property.
• The Narrator realized Xu Zhi might not understand her own lingering kindness and responsibility, which she had once tried to cut away.
• The Narrator decided to gradually tell Xu Zhi the truth and addressed her by name.
• Xu Zhi asked whether something terrible had happened, and the Narrator asked if she remembered how it had appeared.