Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhi defeated the Archbishop by severing the foundation of its supernatural existence, then ordered Little Aberration to devour it. Little Aberration carried the unconscious Xu Zhi through the collapsing rift into the real world, where she crossed the gate as the last survivor of the fallen world.

• The Archbishop struck Xu Zhi with a mental attack and impaled her, but she counterattacked with golden blades and nearly split its head open.
• Little Aberration grew through the Archbishop's body, pierced its heart, and restrained it while Xu Zhi prepared her final strike.
• Xu Zhi used the souls sacrificed to the formation and her Instant Death ability to cut apart the Archbishop's identity foundation.
• Xu Zhi ordered Little Aberration to devour the Archbishop, and it consumed the shattered foundation as the rift began to shrink.
• Little Aberration carried Xu Zhi through the storm and into the real world, enduring lightning that burned its body to ash.
• An invisible mark entered Xu Zhi as the fallen world's final gift, and gray Moths carried loyal souls through the gate before Xu Zhi lost consciousness.

Xu Zhi woke injured and near death in the rain at the Third Garbage Dump, where a scavenger woman found her and carried her home. The woman prepared a hot bath for Xu Zhi, but froze when she saw the bloody wounds beneath her cloak.

• Xu Zhi briefly opened her eyes and saw a woman approaching before she lost consciousness again.
• The woman tied Xu Zhi to her back and carried her out of the Third Garbage Dump, avoiding the searchlights and other scavengers.
• The woman brought Xu Zhi to her small, carefully kept home in the slum outside the industrial district.
• The woman prepared hot water and carried Xu Zhi to the bathroom, then froze when she saw Xu Zhi's bloody wounds.

Qi Yanxin rescued the badly injured Xu Zhi from the garbage mountain and used her precious supplies to treat her, deciding to spend her savings on further care. When Xu Zhi unexpectedly woke, Qi Yanxin was still determined to save her.

• Qi Yanxin treated Xu Zhi's wounds, cooled her fever, and gave her water.
• Qi Yanxin took out the money she had saved to pay for Xu Zhi's care.
• Ye Ran visited, and Qi Yanxin told her Xu Zhi was her younger sister so she could explain her absence from work.
• After Ye Ran left, Qi Yanxin remembered that her real younger sister had died on a garbage mountain and reaffirmed her decision to save Xu Zhi.
• Qi Yanxin returned to the bedside with water and found Xu Zhi awake.

Xu Zhi awoke severely injured in the slums of the Plain Industrial District, unable to see clearly, use extraordinary energy, or contact her Familiars. Qi Yanxin told her she had found her in a landfill and offered her a place to stay, leaving Xu Zhi to decide whether to trust her.

• Xu Zhi woke and realized her body and mind had suffered severe backlash, leaving her unable to move or absorb extraordinary energy.
• Xu Zhi sensed that her Familiars were alive but separated from her, while Little Aberration seemed close to death.
• Qi Yanxin entered and answered Xu Zhi's questions, introducing herself and explaining that they were in the slums of the Plain Industrial District.
• Xu Zhi claimed she could not remember where she came from.
• Qi Yanxin said she had found Xu Zhi unconscious in a landfill on September 13th, 3184, and offered to let her stay as her younger sister or leave without further involvement.

Xu Zhi woke in the home of a patient scavenger woman, agreed to stay, and discovered that Little Aberration had been reduced to a nearly lifeless seed. As Xu Zhi rested and planned how to recover, the woman decided to sell her remaining valuable parts to pay for Xu Zhi’s treatment.

• The woman offered Xu Zhi shelter and promised to take her to a clinic when the rain eased, and Xu Zhi agreed to stay.
• The woman gave Xu Zhi a black-gold seed she had found while washing her, and Xu Zhi sensed that it was Little Aberration, barely alive.
• Xu Zhi confirmed that she remembered her name and could read, while the woman planned for her to find easier work after recovering.
• Xu Zhi fell asleep from exhaustion while holding Little Aberration’s seed and resolved to learn about the world as she recovered.
• The woman decided to sell the mechanical fragments she had saved and buy a clinic number tag for Xu Zhi.

Qi Yanxin took the feverish Xu Zhi to a clinic after arranging a ride with Ye Cheng. During the journey, Xu Zhi learned that the unexpected sunny weather recalled the Light Institute’s withdrawal from the lower levels eight years earlier.

• Qi Yanxin sold stored items to pay for a clinic appointment and arranged for Ye Cheng to drive her and Xu Zhi.
• Qi Yanxin woke Xu Zhi, helped wash her face, and carried her from the house because she was too weak to walk.
• Xu Zhi struggled with her blurry vision and the loss of her Game Console as Qi Yanxin cared for her.
• Ye Cheng and Ye Ran discussed the unexpected sunny weather while driving Xu Zhi and Qi Yanxin to the clinic.
• Qi Yanxin said the last inaccurate weather forecast had been eight years earlier, and Ye Cheng linked it to the Light Institute’s withdrawal from the lower levels.

Xu Zhi and Qi Yanxin took Xu Zhi to an underground clinic for treatment, where the doctor and nurse examined her severe injuries. The nurse’s supernatural ability revealed that Xu Zhi was in a seemingly impossible condition, and she declared that a corpse was still alive.

• Ye Ran complimented Xu Zhi’s eyes during the ride to the clinic, reminding Qi Yanxin to buy clothes that would conceal Xu Zhi’s appearance.
• Qi Yanxin carried Xu Zhi into an underground clinic and registered her with a number tag.
• Doctor Zhuang examined Xu Zhi and learned that her vision was blurred and she had many injuries and a high fever.
• Xiao Man used her supernatural ability to check Xu Zhi’s injuries, then exclaimed that the corpse was still alive.

Xu Zhi was examined by Doctor Zhuang and Xiao Man, who were astonished that she had survived her catastrophic injuries. After Qi Yanxin paid for treatment and accepted the risks of experimental methods, Doctor Zhuang began testing Xu Zhi’s supernatural aptitude.

• Xiao Man described Xu Zhi’s extensive injuries, and Doctor Zhuang questioned how she had survived and whether she was supernatural.
• Xu Zhi said she could not remember her past, while Doctor Zhuang weighed the danger and curiosity of treating her.
• Qi Yanxin handed Doctor Zhuang her money, and he warned that treatment might involve experimental methods and could fail.
• Xu Zhi agreed to the treatment, and Doctor Zhuang asked Xiao Man to print her injury report before preparing an aptitude test.
• Doctor Zhuang explained that a reagent mixed with Xu Zhi’s blood would reveal her supernatural affinity and attribute through a color change.

Xu Zhi underwent a supernatural affinity test at Doctor Zhuang’s clinic, where her severe injuries and blood loss required him to give her a rare healing pill. The test identified her as a Lamp, and Doctor Zhuang agreed to treat her in exchange for her cooperation with future experiments.

• When the doctor pricked Xu Zhi’s finger, her blood gushed out, so Doctor Zhuang used coagulant and gave her a supernatural pill to stabilize her.
• Doctor Zhuang tested Xu Zhi’s blood, and the reagent changed immediately into the shape of a pale golden moth.
• Doctor Zhuang recognized Xu Zhi as a rare Lamp and asked whether she could afford the higher cost of supernatural treatment.
• Xu Zhi agreed to cooperate with Doctor Zhuang’s experiments in exchange for a partial waiver of the treatment costs.
• After Xiao Man brought the injury report, Doctor Zhuang decided to treat Xu Zhi’s frail body and external injuries before investigating her lost supernatural energy.

Zhuang Xu treated Xu Zhi’s severe injuries and prescribed extensive medicine, while warning that supernatural damage to her eyes might leave lasting effects. He gave her a life-saving pill connected to the Heavenly Heart Society, leaving Xu Zhi curious about the organization and why he had its experimental subject.

• Zhuang Xu prescribed Xu Zhi medicines, wound care, dietary restrictions, and a wheelchair while warning her not to strain her healing bones.
• Zhuang Xu discovered that Xiao Man’s special glasses improved Xu Zhi’s vision and explained that supernatural eye injuries were difficult and expensive to treat.
• Qi Yanxin asked about the glasses’ cost, but learned they cost twenty thousand, far beyond her savings.
• Xu Zhi resolved to recover and earn money so she would not have to rely on Qi Yanxin.
• Zhuang Xu gave Xu Zhi one life-saving pill and said it came from the Heavenly Heart Society, but refused to explain the organization further.

After returning from the clinic, Xu Zhi learned about the Bottom Layer’s customs and the Light Institute’s withdrawal while recovering under Qi Yanxin’s care. She discovered that the Bottom Layer was the seventh and lowest level beneath six sky cities, and that the sky above was actually the foundation of the city overhead.

• Qi Yanxin bought Xu Zhi clothes and a baseball cap, brought her home from the clinic, and arranged her medication and weekly follow-ups.
• Qi Yanxin explained that prosthetics were common in the Bottom Layer and asked Xu Zhi to stay with Ranran while she worked.
• Xu Zhi asked about the Light Institute, and Qi Yanxin said it was a powerful superhuman academy that had stopped recruiting from places like the Bottom Layer.
• Qi Yanxin explained that seasonal fog appeared around changes of season, forced people to stay indoors, and might be connected to the scarcity of superhumans in the Bottom Layer.
• Qi Yanxin told Xu Zhi that wealthy people lived in six sky cities above them and that the Bottom Layer was the seventh and lowest level.

Xu Zhi recovered at Qi Yanxin’s home and learned about the harsh conditions and work rules in the slums. Qi Yanxin worried that a coworker’s unexplained absence meant something had happened to her, and planned to look for her at work the next day.

• Xu Zhi noticed the slums’ primitive living conditions contrasted with the advanced technology and wondered what life was like in the city above.
• Qi Yanxin cooked Xu Zhi porridge, gave her medicine, and replaced the medicated patch on her forehead before Xu Zhi fell asleep.
• Xu Zhi woke after dark and saw Qi Yanxin working by candlelight on small mechanical items, apparently to earn money.
• Qi Yanxin told Xu Zhi that an absent worker would lose half a month’s wages, and a second absence would mean dismissal and withheld pay.
• Qi Yanxin said the coworker had never skipped work before and planned to check on her the next day, though absent workers from the lower levels often disappeared for good.

Xu Zhi learned that scavengers and factory workers were disappearing across the slums while she recovered under Qi Yanxin’s care. At her follow-up visit, she heard that troops would soon search the Plain District on orders from the upper levels.

• Xu Zhi warned Qi Yanxin to stop scavenging at night after Qi described coworkers suddenly skipping work and vanishing.
• Qi Yanxin agreed to stay in at night, and more scavengers disappeared as fear spread through the slums.
• Qi Yanxin took leave to bring Xu Zhi to Doctor Zhuang’s clinic for a follow-up examination.
• A visitor told Doctor Zhuang that troops would soon arrive in the Plain District to search for something on orders from the upper levels.

Xu Zhi avoided a test that could reveal her connection to [Cup] while learning that her inability to absorb extraordinary energy might mean her extraordinary circuits had been destroyed. The chapter left her awaiting further tests once she recovered.

• A guest told Zhuang Xu that a search party would reach the Plain District in at least half a month and search the lower levels.
• Zhuang Xu examined Xu Zhi and found that her bones and tendons were healing, though she needed more rest.
• Zhuang Xu proposed testing Xu Zhi’s blood to identify the extraordinary energy responsible for her injuries, but Xu Zhi persuaded him to postpone the test until the following week.
• Zhuang Xu explained that Xu Zhi could not absorb extraordinary energy and that her extraordinary circuits might have been destroyed.
• Xu Zhi asked what extraordinary circuits were, and Zhuang Xu explained that they carried and supported extraordinary energy and said he would test hers when she had recovered more.

Xu Zhi soaked in Zhuang Xu’s harsh medicinal treatment while learning from Xiao Man about the districts above and the companies that sponsored education there. The treatment began healing Xu Zhi, but Xiao Man warned it could leave lasting damage, and Xu Zhi questioned the companies’ promises of free schooling.

• Zhuang Xu prescribed Xu Zhi a two-hour medicinal soak and a ten-day course of medicine, then asked Xiao Man to help her.
• Xiao Man carried Xu Zhi to the clinic’s back room and lowered her into a barrel of medicine that quickly made her injuries itch as they healed.
• Xiao Man explained that the potent treatment could cause future aches, bone deformities, or paralysis, but said Xu Zhi’s injuries could not be cured gently.
• Xu Zhi asked about Zhuang Xu, and Xiao Man said he was more capable than other underground doctors and had not always worked at the bottom.
• Xiao Man told Xu Zhi that the six districts above were divided into lower, middle, and upper districts, and that companies sponsored basic education and recruited students.
• Xu Zhi feigned admiration for the company benefits but privately questioned whether the companies’ educational sponsorship was a way to monopolize talent.

Xu Zhi learned from Xiao Man about the upper levels, Gods Heavy Industries, city rankings, and the Lost Land. Her body began recovering faster, and she sensed that Cursed Speech had survived inside her, though she still lacked the supernatural energy to use it.

• Xiao Man told Xu Zhi that the upper levels were largely unaffected by seasonal shifts and described their schools, including Gods Heavy Industries, where Zhuang Xu had once studied.
• Xiao Man explained that cities were ranked every five years, with higher-ranked cities gaining control of more Lost Land entrances and access to scarce supernatural resources.
• Xiao Man recalled that an important person from their city had died in the Lost Land about twenty years earlier, though people in the lower levels were not told who it was.
• After their conversation ended, Xu Zhi realized the medicine had eased her itching and accelerated the repair of her body and damaged meridians.
• Xu Zhi sensed Cursed Speech inside her but could not use it without supernatural energy, so she planned to ask Zhuang Xu for coagulant and try feeding blood to Little Aberration.

After Xu Zhi’s injuries began to recover, an early seasonal-change warning announced that dangerous fog was about to descend. She stayed indoors with Qi Yanxin, learned how the fog disrupted the lower districts, and wondered whether extraordinary beings could resist it.

• Xu Zhi tested her recovering hand after returning home with Xiao Man and learned that her left hand remained weak despite regaining sensation.
• A series of sirens warned that fog season was coming, so Qi Yanxin abandoned her plans to go to the factory and went out to buy food.
• Xu Zhi watched scavengers stock up and factories slow down as people prepared to stay indoors.
• Qi Yanxin explained that seasonal fog could cause unpredictable illness or mental changes, sometimes lasting for months.
• Xu Zhi asked whether extraordinary beings were affected, and Qi Yanxin recalled that one had once delivered supplies through the fog.

After recovering enough to move, Xu Zhi waited until Qi Yanxin fell asleep, then opened the door to test whether the white mist could restore her extraordinary abilities. The mist immediately surged into her body, leaving her to discover what it would do.

• Xu Zhi moved herself from the bed into her wheelchair, and Qi Yanxin praised her improvement while urging her to call for help next time.
• Xu Zhi asked about the mist, and Qi Yanxin said it had begun to gather outside and would settle completely in a few hours.
• Xu Zhi let Qi Yanxin go to sleep, then wheeled herself to the door after midnight to seek a way to regain her extraordinary abilities.
• Xu Zhi opened the door and exposed herself to the white mist, which poured into her body through her skin.

Xu Zhi used the white mist and the fragments’ patterns to build a new [Lamp]-attribute circuit, recovering her extraordinary abilities. She closed the door before the mist could freeze her, then resolved to try rebuilding her [Moth] circuit once she was stronger.

• Xu Zhi kept the door open as white mist entered her body, cooling her fever and easing her pain.
• Xu Zhi sensed that extraordinary energy could not remain in her body because she no longer had an extraordinary circuit.
• Remembering patterns she had seen in fragments absorbed through [Authority], Xu Zhi controlled the energy and traced one inside herself.
• The pattern became a [Lamp]-attribute circuit, which began growing as it absorbed extraordinary energy and restored Xu Zhi’s abilities.
• Xu Zhi shut the door to stop the mist, then decided she would try to rebuild her [Moth]-attribute circuit after recovering her strength.

Xu Zhi began cultivating her newly formed [Lamp] circuit and discovered she could sense Little Aberration’s critical condition. She fed it her blood, strengthening its life aura, though she stopped when she began to feel unwell.

• Xu Zhi struggled to regulate the extraordinary energy flowing into her young circuit and found that it was growing on its own as it absorbed energy.
• Xu Zhi’s circuit accelerated her healing and restored her connection to Cursed Speech.
• Xu Zhi sensed a new link to Little Aberration and realized it was close to death.
• Xu Zhi pricked her finger and fed Little Aberration drops of her blood until she became dizzy.
• Xu Zhi sensed that Little Aberration’s aura had grown much stronger after it absorbed her blood.