Chapter Summaries

Xu Zhi saw Little Aberration reach level 30, awaken its intelligence, and gain innate traits and the Seed of Greed ability. She used its branches to craft the Midnight Ghost cloak, which could conceal her from observation and suppress her presence and sounds.

• Xu Zhi checked Little Aberration’s level-30 stats and learned that its mind had reached 100, its traits had become innate, and it had gained the Seed of Greed ability.
• The Game Console warned Xu Zhi that Little Aberration was in a special growth period and that its future form depended on what it encountered.
• Xu Zhi paid Little Aberration with high-tier Cup cores, and it gave her branches for the cloak.
• Xu Zhi crafted the Midnight Ghost cloak, which hid its wearer from malicious observation and reduced their presence and sounds, especially in fog or at night.
• The Game Console explained that the cloak could evade observers up to one major rank above Xu Zhi, including Fanatics but not Archbishops.

Xu Zhi traveled toward Cloud City's city center to investigate [Cup], using Doggie to carry her until the black fog became too dangerous. She crossed Chengming Bridge alone and found an Aberration cautiously eating another Aberration, seemingly wary of something nearby.

• Xu Zhi confirmed the city center was unchanged, finished her preparations, informed Zhong Lingfan, and set out with Doggie.
• As the black fog thickened, Little Aberration warned Xu Zhi of danger, so she sent Doggie home and continued on foot in her cloak.
• Xu Zhi reached Chengming Bridge and checked that Xiao Zhen could still see well enough to watch over her before crossing.
• Halfway across the bridge, Xu Zhi spotted an Aberration quietly eating another Aberration’s remains and wondered what it feared.

Xu Zhi used the Ghost Cloak to slip into Cloud City's city center, where aberrations waited in silence around something they coveted. As the Black Fog grew denser, her mind cleared and she felt supernatural energy begin to increase for the first time.

• Xu Zhi tested the Ghost Cloak by approaching a feeding aberration, which failed to notice her.
• Xu Zhi crossed into the city center and saw aberrations gathered in silence, watching toward the deeper center among the remains of their kind.
• Xu Zhi found that Xiao Zhen's vision had narrowed in the fog, so she ordered it to wait on the outskirts.
• Xu Zhi observed that stronger aberrations held positions closer to the center while weaker ones stayed in hopes of claiming a share.
• Xu Zhi felt her Midnight Aftereffect fade and, for the first time, sensed supernatural energy from the dense Black Fog entering her body.

Xu Zhi sensed that the City Center’s fog contained an unknown energy that soothed her [Cup] restlessness, and she suspected it came from a treasure the Aberrations awaited. After reaching the crowded plaza where it might appear, she hid from Midnight and discovered that the Game Console had unexpectedly gone into maintenance, leaving her without the Narrator’s help.

• Xu Zhi reasoned that an unknown energy mixed into the City Center’s fog had eased her [Cup] restlessness and might come from a treasure she could use to suppress the attribute path.
• Xu Zhi reached People’s Park and found Aberrations gathered around an empty plaza, with powerful creatures—including a huge two-headed, centipede-like Aberration—waiting nearby.
• Xu Zhi sensed the energy more strongly at the plaza and observed that the Aberrations remained quiet and rational, apparently affected by it too.
• Xu Zhi hid in a building as Midnight approached and found that the Game Console had entered maintenance without giving an estimated end time.
• Xu Zhi realized she could no longer rely on the game or Narrator for help, though her Familiar continued to function normally.

With the Game Console in maintenance, Xu Zhi chose to stay in the city center and investigate the strange moon that appeared at Midnight. After watching it sink closer to the ground over several days, she moved into the front ranks of Aberrations, preparing to approach it.

• Xu Zhi decided to remain in the city center and confirmed that both the Game Console and her inventory were unavailable.
• At Midnight, a bright, dreamlike full moon appeared above the plaza, and Xu Zhi realized that Midnight itself had not descended there.
• Xu Zhi opened her door and absorbed supernatural energy from the moonlight while the Aberrations watched the moon without approaching it.
• The moon’s projection vanished after about half an hour, and Xu Zhi found that a brief exposure had given her energy comparable to nearly thirty high-level [Moth] Attribute Cores.
• Over several days, Xu Zhi observed the moon sinking toward the ground and its energy growing stronger.
• As the moon neared the ground, Xu Zhi slipped into the foremost circle of Aberrations before the next Midnight.

Xu Zhi witnessed a rift open in the City Center, revealing a full moon surrounded by Midnight’s malicious presence. As Aberrations died trying to reach it, the strongest ones began fighting over it, and Xu Zhi watched for a chance to take the moon herself.

• Xu Zhi infiltrated the Aberration horde and felt Midnight’s presence pass through the square without fully descending.
• A rift opened above the square, revealing a full moon as malicious presences seeped through the gap.
• Aberrations charged toward the rift and were sliced apart, while Xu Zhi escaped the surging crowd by climbing onto a wall.
• After the Aberration corpses piled up, the slaughter stopped just as one creature nearly reached the moon.
• The strongest Aberrations attacked the creature and began competing for the moon, while Xu Zhi considered how to approach without being noticed.

Xu Zhi used Little One and Little Aberration to distract the powerful aberrations and reach the moon at the crack. When the aberrations attacked her, she plunged into the moon’s light, hoping to escape and find whatever treasure it held.

• Xu Zhi watched the aberrations fight and waited for their battle to weaken before sending in her Familiars.
• Xu Zhi released Little One to draw the aberrations’ attention, then approached the crack under cover of its body.
• Xu Zhi sent Little Aberration to attack the aberrations that spotted her, allowing her to reach the crack’s opening.
• Xu Zhi heard the beings inside react with panic and anger when they sensed her, strengthening her resolve to take the moon.
• Xu Zhi stepped into the moon’s radiance after the aberrations noticed her and lunged to attack.

Xu Zhi resisted the light’s alluring influence and found the fragment drawing aberrations to the moon. Unable to take it or find a way out, she swallowed the fragment, leaving its consequences unknown.

• Xu Zhi nearly merged with the light but broke free when strange static and an electric buzz jolted her back to awareness.
• Xu Zhi followed the light’s pull to the center of the space and found a tiny fragment that seemed to be the source of the strange energy.
• Xu Zhi touched and held the fragment, but it had no tangible substance and slipped through her fingers.
• Xu Zhi realized she could not take the fragment away or find an exit, and her moths had no effect on it.
• Xu Zhi pinched the fragment, tossed it into her mouth, and swallowed it.

Xu Zhi sacrificed her [Cup] attribute to the moon fragment, turning it into a tiny red fragment that drew the Aberrations into a frenzy. She seized it and ordered Little Aberration to eat it.

• Xu Zhi consumed the moon fragment, causing the white space to collapse as the Aberrations attacked her and the voices beyond the rift grew agitated.
• The [Cup] attribute inside Xu Zhi clashed with her [Moth] attribute, and the Game Console emerged from her pocket before its screen went black.
• A familiar voice urged Xu Zhi to sacrifice [Cup], and she let the blazing presence consume the attribute and pull a crimson fragment from her mind.
• The crimson fragment drew the Aberrations into a desperate scramble while voices from beyond the rift complained that Xu Zhi had disrupted their plans.
• Xu Zhi grabbed the fragment, called Little Aberration over, and ordered it to eat.

Xu Zhi fed Little Aberration a scrap of the red fragment while the fragment inside her body settled after joining with a faint glow. Little Aberration sealed the rift and grew into a towering tree as Xu Zhi fell unconscious, later waking trapped inside a cocoon.

• Xu Zhi let Little Aberration swallow the scrap from the red fragment, then struggled as the fragment inside her body burned and moved restlessly.
• A familiar voice told Xu Zhi not to rush, and a faint glow touched the fragment, calming it as it merged with her body.
• Little Aberration transformed into a black-and-gold tree and drove its roots into the rift at Xu Zhi's command, sealing it as the voices inside argued in panic.
• Little Aberration absorbed the surrounding Black Fog and grew to a hundred meters tall while the city's Aberrations bowed toward it and Xu Zhi floated in pale gray light.
• Xu Zhi woke after an unknown span of time, found herself bound inside a warm cocoon, and tried unsuccessfully to tear her way out.

Xu Zhi awakened after absorbing the light cocoons and discovered she could stand in midair, had become far stronger, and had gained vast new knowledge. She found Little Aberration transformed into a gigantic tree suppressing the rift, and the Narrator identified it as an Archbishop of Wrath.

• Xu Zhi absorbed the light cocoons, regained her memories, and emerged to find herself standing in the air above the City Center.
• Xu Zhi recognized the enormous black tree as Little Aberration, and a black snake brought her a fruit from its branches.
• Xu Zhi discovered her body had become healthier, stronger, and far more durable, while the Aberrations nearby lay subdued.
• Little Aberration took credit for suppressing the Aberrations, and Xu Zhi realized it could no longer move.
• Xu Zhi asked the Narrator about Little Aberration and learned it was now the Cup Attribute's Archbishop of Wrath.

After Xu Zhi gave the Road of Wrath to the Little Aberration, the Narrator warned that the Cup and the things in Midnight would now target them. Xu Zhi learned she had reached Evolution Level Lv8 and that she and the Little Aberration had entered a new stage of power, though she still had much to understand.

• The Narrator told Xu Zhi that the Little Aberration’s transformation had cost the Cup a fixed road, making Xu Zhi and the Little Aberration targets of Cup believers.
• The Narrator warned Xu Zhi that the Cup had noticed her and that the things in Midnight had also set their sights on her.
• Xu Zhi asked about the Rift, Midnight, and the Fragment, but the Narrator explained only that the Rift connected the present world to Midnight and that the Fragment had raised her Evolution Level to Lv8.
• Xu Zhi inspected the Little Aberration’s data and saw that it had become a level 40 Cup Archbishop with a Body score of 40,000 and abilities including Sealing.
• The Narrator explained that Xu Zhi had entered the second major stage of Transcendental evolution, where she could eventually affect a small portion of the rules.

Xu Zhi learned that the Narrator had helped her absorb a Fragment because they shared a fate, and that the Fragment had raised her Life Level with pure power. She was left with knowledge of her new abilities to understand, though the Narrator did not know how it had appeared in her mind.

• Xu Zhi learned that Little Aberration had Sealed the Rift by following the Rules, while the things in Midnight were trying to break them.
• The Narrator admitted it had helped Xu Zhi absorb the Fragment because it was bound to her and would be finished if she died, and Xu Zhi chose to trust it.
• Xu Zhi learned the Fragment was torn from an untouchable thing and was warned not to dwell on consuming that source herself.
• The Narrator explained that the Fragment gave Xu Zhi pure power without side effects, but she lacked the knowledge to use her abilities properly.
• Xu Zhi discovered that knowledge of her powers was already in her mind, and the Narrator could not explain where it came from.

Xu Zhi examined how her abilities had changed after the Fragment acknowledged her and waited for a newly gained Supernatural Ability to unlock. After half a month of studying the knowledge in her mind, she saw moths turn away from the distant candle and fly toward her.

• Xu Zhi learned that Little Aberration's Black Fruits carried their auras but could not extract Aberration traits.
• Xu Zhi tested her new ability to walk on air and found that her [Eye of Secrets], [Moth], and physical and mental traits had grown stronger.
• Xu Zhi realized she had gained an unknown Supernatural Ability that would take about half a month to unlock, so she stayed with Little Aberration instead of returning to the Residential Area.
• Xu Zhi used Little Aberration to disperse the Aberrations from the City Center, allowing them to roam Cloud City so long as they stayed away from the Residential Area.
• After half a month of studying the supernatural knowledge in her mind, Xu Zhi saw hundreds or thousands of moths turn from the distant candle and fly toward her.

After Xu Zhi gained enough understanding to begin standing out among powerful beings, the Narrator warned that her true competitors posed a danger and then abruptly lost contact. At the same moment, darkness covered the Federation, the Seer died, and a blood moon appeared, empowering hidden believers and other people.

• Xu Zhi learned that her faint glow marked her as a competitor who could now attract danger from powerful beings beyond human Transcendents.
• The Narrator cried out, and the Game Console screen went black as the entire Federation's sky suddenly darkened.
• The Seer in Kyoto tried to foresee what was happening, bled from his eyes, and died.
• The darkness receded after about ten minutes, revealing a blood moon that poured bloody filth over the Federation.
• Believers emerged openly to worship the blood moon, while a chained boy gained power and a woman performing a sacrificial rite rose into the air amid red mist.

After the blood moon passed, the Narrator warned Xu Zhi that Cup had noticed her and that Archbishops would hunt her if she left Cloud City. Xu Zhi unlocked [Authority], gaining control over the Black Fog and the ability to open a small door into Cloud City, and began planning to lure the Archbishops there.

• The Narrator told Xu Zhi that Cup had discovered her after she took Wrath and sealed the rift, and that two Archbishops had appeared in the Federation to hunt her.
• The Narrator warned that Xu Zhi and her Spirit Vessel would be detected if they left Cloud City, and urged her to gather extraordinary energy resources and find a way to kill the Archbishops.
• Xu Zhi unlocked [Authority], allowing her to control the Black Fog, sense events in Cloud City, and open a small door that let a few living beings enter.
• The Narrator advised Xu Zhi to use Yu Shenwei and the appeal of an unfinished path to lure the Archbishops into Cloud City, where she had the advantage.
• Xu Zhi said she had a plan, though it depended partly on luck, and agreed to begin as soon as possible.

Xu Zhi forged a blood-drinking Tang saber from Little Aberration and arranged to move the residential area into the city center, where the creature would protect it. She used [Moth] to alter Zhong Lingfan and Yu Shenwei’s perceptions, then warned Yu Shenwei not to level up too quickly.

• Xu Zhi forged a Tang saber from Little Aberration’s limbs and claw, creating a blade that absorbed opponents’ blood and inflicted severe wounds and pain.
• Little Aberration clung to Xu Zhi before she left it in the city center, then tied a thin twig around a lock of her hair.
• Xu Zhi filled the residential area with [Moths] and told Zhong Lingfan that the towering tree was her pet; Zhong Lingfan agreed to move the base to the city center.
• Xu Zhi planned to wait until the Archbishop caused a crisis for the Federation, then demand a reward and formal recognition of Cloud City’s ownership for solving it.
• Xu Zhi found Yu Shenwei confused and conflicted, used [Moth] to clear her struggle, and learned that Yu Shenwei’s eyes and most of her organs had recovered as she grew stronger.
• Xu Zhi advised Yu Shenwei to slow her leveling, while privately worrying that Yu Shenwei might become an uncontrollable Archbishop.

After relocating her survivor base to Cloud City, Xu Zhi devised a plan to lure the Federation's Archbishops inside by offering to help defeat them in exchange for Attribute Cores. She sent Xiao Zhen with the bait letter and prepared to face the Archbishops herself, hoping to gain combat experience.

• Xu Zhi finished moving the survivor base into Cloud City's city center and decided the Federation was desperate enough to approach.
• Xu Zhi planned to use Xiao Zhen to deliver a letter promising to handle the Archbishop problem for Attribute Cores, while hinting that she was close to reaching a higher level.
• Xu Zhi intended to expose her and Yu Shenwei's auras during Xiao Zhen's delivery to tempt the Archbishops into entering Cloud City disguised as Federation supernaturals.
• Xu Zhi sent Xiao Zhen out with the letter after the Narrator predicted the Archbishops would take the bait.
• Xu Zhi dismissed the Narrator's warnings and resolved to fight the Archbishops herself, relying on Cloud City's terrain and her Familiars if needed.

Xu Zhi sent Xiao Zhen to the Federation with a letter proposing a deal in exchange for access to Cloud City and a way to handle the Archbishops. Lin Zizhen received the offer, which could cost the Federation more than half its Attribute Core reserves.

• Xiao Zhen reached level 30, gained the Divine Wind ability, and raised Instant Death to level 5.
• Xu Zhi had Xiao Zhen fly out of Cloud City in plain sight, then directed it to the Special Investigations Office in Brocade City.
• Xiao Zhen reached Lin Zizhen's office and delivered Xu Zhi's letter while Xu Zhi watched through its perspective.
• Lin Zizhen returned to the office with Wan Luo and read Xu Zhi's proposed deal, which offered a way into Cloud City and a solution to the Archbishops.

The Federation accepted Xu Zhi’s offer to send supernaturals into Cloud City, hoping the deal would help them survive the Archbishops’ attacks. The [Cup] followers planned to exploit the transaction by sending three Archbishops after Xu Zhi, while she scheduled the entrance to open the next evening.

• Federation officials debated Xu Zhi’s proposal and agreed to form a ten-person team after learning another Archbishop had appeared.
• Lin Zizhen copied the Federation’s acceptance letter by hand and gave it to Xiao Zhen to deliver.
• The two [Cup] Archbishops forced another follower to advance and decided that all three Archbishops would enter Cloud City to kill Xu Zhi.
• Xu Zhi learned that the incoming Archbishops had concealed their abilities, then set the entrance to open the next evening and sent the time to the Federation.
• The Federation began choosing its candidates, with Lin Zizhen selected first because he was familiar with Xu Zhi.