Chapter Summaries

Cup used flesh proliferation to make Mansus attack Moth, forcing Moth to tear away the flesh at the cost of severe damage. As Cup waited for another god to act, withered branches erupted from Moth’s head and began to take control.

• Cup transferred part of her prepared flesh into Moth, causing Mansus to target Moth with lethal lightning.
• Moth could not remove the spreading flesh or escape Mansus’s attack, so Moth threatened Blade and Winter into protecting Moth.
• Moth stripped away the flesh and fused rules before another bolt struck, leaving Moth gravely weakened.
• The lightning destroyed the discarded flesh, and Cup urged an unseen presence to seize its chance.
• Withered branches burst through Moth’s skull, overwhelming Moth’s control and forming a deadly crown.

Xu Zhi tricked [Moth] into tearing out its own talent circuit and devoured it, killing the god. With Mansus’s lightning gone, the remaining gods prepared to attack her.

• [Moth] struggled to pull the branches from its head, mistaking its own talent circuit for roots draining its vitality.
• Xu Zhi appeared behind [Moth] and devoured the circuit it had torn from itself.
• [Moth] chose not to fight back and spoke to Xu Zhi as its circuit dwindled.
• Xu Zhi rejected [Moth]’s suggestion that they could have been friends and devoured the last trace of its circuit.
• [Moth] vanished as gray moths, Mansus’s lightning stopped, and the other gods prepared to attack Xu Zhi.

Xu Zhi devoured Moth’s circuitry and used its abilities to control the other gods, while Cup secretly turned Heart and Forge against Opening. As the gods weakened one another, Lamp stepped forward to fulfill its agreement with Xu Zhi, knowing what its appearance meant.

• Xu Zhi absorbed Moth’s circuitry without suffering backlash, and used its abilities to command Blade and Opening.
• Heart and Forge attacked Xu Zhi, but Cup used red threads to redirect their assault against Opening.
• Xu Zhi and Cup let the gods fight among themselves, leaving Blade and Opening struggling against Heart and Forge.
• Xu Zhi called on Lamp to fulfill their agreement, and Lamp acknowledged that it had long been prepared for its fate.

Lamp chose to help Xu Zhi defeat the weakened gods, hoping to prevent the catastrophe in its prophecy. When the gods attacked Xu Zhi instead, she evaded them and Lamp immobilized their reason, but Xu Zhi stood by as Cup prepared to strike Lamp.

• Lamp agreed to help Xu Zhi devour the weakened gods because it believed she might prevent the world’s destruction foretold in its prophecy.
• Blade and the other three gods secretly joined forces and attacked Xu Zhi, hoping to kill her and free Opening and Blade from Cup’s control.
• Xu Zhi dissolved into moths to evade the attack, and Lamp locked onto the four gods with golden threads that suppressed their reason.
• The four gods resisted Lamp through instinct and their supernatural circuits, while Cup moved to attack Lamp and Xu Zhi watched without intervening.

[Cup] turned [Heart] and [Forge] into puppets to overwhelm [Lamp], while [Severing] attacked Xu Zhi with a final, self-destructive blow. Xu Zhi braced herself and sent a Gyrfalcon toward [Severing] as the axe strike descended.

• [Cup] used her blood-based power to control [Heart] and [Forge], then fought [Lamp] with them despite [Lamp]'s precognition.
• [Severing] abandoned the battle against [Cup] and confronted Xu Zhi, swinging a giant axe at her.
• Xu Zhi evaded [Severing]'s initial attack and recognized that Their circuit was too damaged to yield much if she devoured it.
• [Severing] shattered Their circuit and launched an unavoidable final strike at Xu Zhi.
• Xu Zhi summoned Familiars back into her body, activated multiple abilities, and sent a Gyrfalcon at [Severing] as the axe came down.

Xu Zhi survived [Blade]'s unstoppable final attack, though it badly injured her and prevented her from absorbing its circuit. As she began to recover, she realized she needed to reach [Lamp] before [Cup] could kill it.

• Xu Zhi sent Xiao Zhen to strike [Blade], and its [Instant Death] ability made [Blade]'s body, consciousness, and circuit begin to dissipate.
• Even after [Blade] vanished, its attack continued toward Xu Zhi, who used her [Opening] and [Forge] powers to briefly halt the giant axe with a formation.
• The formation shattered, and [Blade]'s blow drove Xu Zhi into a vast crater, leaving her body reduced to a battered skeleton protected by rule patterns.
• Xu Zhi repaired the Little Aberration with rule symbols, then began regrowing her own flesh while [Lamp] held [Cup] back.
• Xu Zhi determined that [Cup] was the only remaining threat and prepared to recover quickly so she could find [Lamp].

Xu Zhi raced toward Radiance while Cup pursued her, leaving Lamp and the Game Console behind. Lamp asked whether the real world would recover from the gods’ battle, and the Game Console said she believed Xu Zhi would make it happen.

• Xu Zhi emerged from the pit and saw Cup using Heart and Forge to corner Lamp.
• The Game Console appeared before Lamp, and Cup prepared to attack her, but Xu Zhi ran toward Radiance instead.
• Cup recognized Xu Zhi’s plan, absorbed Heart and Forge’s energy, and chased her to the entrance leading toward Radiance.
• Xu Zhi entered the dangerous path toward Radiance despite her injuries, and Cup followed her.
• Lamp asked the Game Console whether the real world would recover, and the Game Console said she had always believed Xu Zhi could accomplish anything she wanted.

Game Console absorbed [Lamp]'s energy and learned that Xu Zhi had blocked their connection to keep her away from danger. Near the Gate, Xu Zhi fought [Cup], whose domain revealed where Xu Zhi had vanished.

• [Lamp] bestowed her energy upon Game Console and dissolved back into origin energy.
• Xu Zhi warned Game Console not to return, then blocked their connection; Game Console resolved to reach her anyway.
• [Cup] caught up with Xu Zhi near the Gate and attacked her flesh, while Xu Zhi used Familiars to fend off the ropes.
• Xu Zhi vanished and used [Opening] and [Moth] abilities to disrupt [Cup]'s senses and control.
• [Cup] activated her domain, restored her perception, and discovered where Xu Zhi was hiding, reacting with surprise.

Xu Zhi defeated [Cup] by using [Radiance], but nearly lost herself in the process. With the Game Console’s help, she recovered her memories, crossed the Gate of Ascension, and settled into a peaceful life as the world began to heal.

• [Cup] unleashed a black sun formed from the lives and sins of countless beings, targeting Xu Zhi as she tried to ascend.
• Xu Zhi used her Fragment of [Radiance] to resist the black sun, survived its destruction, and struck back at [Cup] as both were weakened.
• Xu Zhi crushed [Cup]’s circuit, and [Cup] briefly became Qi Yanxin before vanishing as her consciousness returned to Radiance.
• The Game Console entered the white space and helped Xu Zhi recover her memories, then protected her soul as she approached the Gate of Ascension.
• Xu Zhi crossed the Gate, and rain began restoring the ravaged world while its shattered order started to recover.
• Xu Zhi lived peacefully with the Game Console in Radiance’s dwelling, sharing the story of her hardships and choices.