Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun’s swordsmanship mastery rises from 74% to 79%. He realizes that his growing grasp of “Echo” may let him improve how force moves through his body, overcome physical limitations, and eventually develop techniques of his own.
• Absorbing the Astral Spirit’s core grants him the perk Light Annihilation State, which gives him some traits of the Light Spirits:
  • He can restore Life Force naturally, and his maximum Life Force will grow slowly without limit.
  • He has strong resistance to Radiant Damage.
  • He can manipulate light to a limited degree.
• Xia Lun experiments with light control. He can draw light into flowing shapes and use it to strengthen his Stealth, but cannot yet turn it into an attack or achieve optical camouflage. He concludes that higher Intelligence and knowledge of optics will be needed to use the ability fully.
• He discovers the perk may unlock a special attribute under certain conditions, though he does not yet know what it is.
• White Line falls asleep while Xia Lun studies his new abilities. When she wakes, Xia Lun says they must rescue survivors, handle the aftermath, and prepare for questioning.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun becomes more ambitious about swordsmanship, viewing it as a path not only to combat skill but to deeper understanding and self-improvement. His new light-based power excites him, especially its potential for long-term growth.
• He remains practical, testing the limits of his abilities and recognizing his current shortcomings. He also decides to raise his Intelligence after improving his Constitution.
• Xia Lun is pleased that he has taken the rewards from the Foresight Club after their costly battle, seeing it as satisfying revenge. His triumph is tempered by the casualties caused by the Astral Spirit’s revival and the disaster in Whitewash City.
• White Line appears exhausted and sleeps despite the recent danger. Their brief exchange at the end shifts them from celebrating their gains to the urgent work ahead.

Significant themes

• Growth and potential: Xia Lun’s swordsmanship, Life Force, and light control all offer paths to future development, though some require patience or greater knowledge.
• Power and understanding: New abilities are not immediately mastered; effective use depends on insight, practice, and intellect.
• Victory’s cost: Xia Lun’s personal success contrasts with the suffering and destruction in Whitewash City, making the victory far from uncomplicated.

Key plot points and events

• After defeating the Astral Evil Spirit and the Cultists, Xia Lun devotes himself to disaster relief in Whitewash City. He restores communications, coordinates emergency services, clears major roads, and organizes medical searches and rescues.
• His leadership and resources help the city recover within a week. The damage is unexpectedly limited, partly because residents are experienced with disasters and many have shelters. The community also suppresses opportunistic criminals itself.
• Xia Lun becomes a celebrated hero, receiving public praise and a Grand Alliance medal. At the height of his influence, he shares credit and reconstruction opportunities rather than claiming everything, asking instead for resources to investigate the mysterious crystal vein.
• Researchers identify the crystals as Star Ore: unusually energy-dense, easy and safe to mine, and potentially valuable beyond current scientific understanding. A Unified Council member joins the effort and promises strong research support.
• Nearly nine days after killing Curse Death, Xia Lun visits the three companions who were driven mad during the disaster. He uses Phantom Flesh Refines Essence to treat his restrained bodyguard and driver, planning to help Jiavette the next day.
• He avoids the undamaged Whitewash Mental Sanatorium, suspecting its survival so near the Astral Spirit’s awakening signals a hidden danger. The chapter ends when an unfamiliar man arrives asking where Jiavette is.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun proves himself an effective, selfless crisis leader, but remains pragmatic about his newfound fame. The Astral Evil Spirit’s appearance changes his priorities: survival and gaining power now matter more to him than wealth.
• Whitewash City’s residents respond to Xia Lun’s example with unusual cooperation and fewer serious crimes, while also protecting relief efforts from profiteers.
• The Unified Council member shifts from collaborator to enthusiastic participant in the Star Ore venture, seeing it as a historic discovery.
• The Doctor and nurse are excited by Xia Lun’s visit and treat him as a local hero, though the Doctor cautions the nurse not to interrupt him.
• Xia Lun continues to feel responsible for Jiavette, his bodyguard, and his driver because they were harmed while accompanying him.

Significant themes

• Heroism as practical service: Xia Lun earns admiration through organizing recovery, not merely defeating an enemy.
• Fame and power used strategically: He shares the rewards of his popularity to secure cooperation for research.
• The fragile safety of the real world: The disaster convinces Xia Lun that ordinary peace may be an illusion and that greater strength is essential.
• Mystery beneath recovery: Star Ore’s properties—and the mental sanatorium’s unexplained survival—suggest that the crisis has revealed deeper, unresolved dangers.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun visits Jiavette in the temporary psychiatric shelter and meets the Chief of Security, Jiavette’s superior. They discuss the Astral Evil Spirit beneath Whitewash City and the Star Ore formed from its remains; Xia Lun omits his own investigation of the cavern and clash with the Foresight Club.
• The Chief questions Xia Lun’s recent generosity. Xia Lun explains that Whitewash City is chaotic and that he avoids accumulating too much wealth or trying to reform the city, since people who become too rich—or try to end its disorder—seem to meet misfortune.
• Jiavette unexpectedly wakes, asks for a cigarette, and appears mentally clear, despite Xia Lun not having used his treatment on him.
• In the following days, Xia Lun waits for factions to pursue Star Ore research, but everyone except his own team seems to ignore the discovery. He contacts a powerful Unified Council member, who initially has no memory of their mining agreement.
• As Xia Lun reminds him of their earlier conversation, the Council member repeatedly forgets what the call is about—even during the call itself. When the same question returns for a third time, Xia Lun realizes something is deeply wrong.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains outwardly composed and cautious, but his suspicions about Whitewash City’s uncanny influence grow. He is unsettled when a powerful, reliable official appears to lose his memory in real time.
• The Chief of Security is amiable and curious, and shares Jiavette’s interest in supernatural phenomena. He accepts Xia Lun’s warning about the city’s pattern of misfortune, though he seems distracted.
• Jiavette briefly appears to recover on his own, raising questions about his condition and what caused his improvement.
• The Unified Council member shifts from confusion to concern, then suffers an apparent memory loop. His failure to retain the conversation turns the Star Ore mystery into an immediate threat.

Significant themes

• Whitewash City’s supernatural influence: Its apparent patterns of forgetting and misfortune may be more than coincidence.
• The danger of knowledge and ambition: Investigating supernatural forces can bring both great rewards and severe risks.
• Unreliable memory and reality: The Council member’s repeated lapses suggest that the city may distort people’s perceptions or memories.
• Power and restraint: Xia Lun’s decision not to pursue wealth or reform recklessly reflects his belief that survival sometimes means knowing when to stop.

Key events

• Xia Lun tests why a powerful Unified Council member keeps repeating the same phone greeting. He finds that pointing out contradictions in the man’s understanding—such as the unexplained delay in developing star ore—causes him to freeze and then restart the conversation.
• He tests his butler and discovers that the effect is widespread: the butler’s memories now describe Xia Lun as a star-ore pioneer, even though this conflicts with Xia Lun’s recollection of his career.
• When questioned about a recent disaster, the butler identifies it as an earthquake. Xia Lun checks an old newspaper that records different events, including a newly emerged Crystal Ore Vein and a “maggot death curse.” Yet both the butler and assistant cook interpret the article as describing earthquake damage.
• Xia Lun concludes that the influence alters not only memories but also how people understand written information. He declines an invitation to lecture at Whitewash University, aware that his supposed expertise is part of the altered reality.
• He suspects a supernatural “counter-meme” or cognitive barrier is preventing people from recognizing the paranormal. Unsure why this barrier affects knowledge of Astral Evil Spirits but not the game, he decides not to pursue the mystery without more evidence. Instead, he plans to contact White Line, obtain supplies, and grow stronger.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun moves from alarm to methodical investigation, using the council member, his butler, and Her as test subjects. He hides his concern and carefully probes their reactions.
• His growing awareness that even the powerful cannot control their own thoughts intensifies his sense of vulnerability and his determination to gain strength.
• The butler remains dutiful but unknowingly reveals the altered memories; Her independently confirms the same distorted reading of the newspaper.

Significant themes

• Unreliable reality: Memories, reasoning, and the interpretation of written records can all be manipulated.
• Limits of worldly power: Wealth and political influence offer little protection against forces that control perception.
• Knowledge and supernatural danger: A mysterious barrier suppresses awareness of paranormal events, while the game remains an unresolved exception.
• Power as survival: Xia Lun concludes that becoming stronger—not status or wealth—is his best means of protection.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun contacts White Line using a paradox earpiece. After she accidentally broadcasts her sleepy, lunch-related thoughts, she switches to a phone call and arranges a paradox-item trade for noon the next day near Whitewash City.
• Xia Lun spends the afternoon organizing plans to mine star ore, then wonders whether Jiavette remembers the Astral Spirit incident despite the counter-meme and knowledge-view barrier.
• At the Public Security Bureau, Jiavette initially recalls only a car crash and doubts his former investigation of Xia Lun. When pushed, fragments of the truth return, including the maggot death curse and the feeling that something has tampered with his mind.
• Jiavette gives Xia Lun a red-covered book, Ornes’s Labyrinth, which the Chief of Security had asked him to deliver. Xia Lun’s information panel identifies it as a paradox item that slightly increases mental resistance.
• Xia Lun suspects the book helped Jiavette retain some memories, and wonders whether White Line’s “foolishness” specialty might likewise protect her. When White Line arrives the next day, she says her low intelligence prevents her from doing the accounts and offers to give Xia Lun everything she brought—leaving him stunned.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun balances practical plans for gaining strength and mining star ore with curiosity about the counter-meme. He tests Jiavette’s memory and begins forming a theory about mental resistance.
• White Line is comically forgetful and embarrassed when she realizes Xia Lun heard her private thoughts. Despite her low intelligence, she remains eager to trade and asks Xia Lun to teach her how to restore it.
• Jiavette appears physically and emotionally shaken. His memories are distorted, but questioning prompts him to recover fragments, and the book’s possible protective effect offers Xia Lun a lead.
• Xia Lun teases White Line, reassures Jiavette during his distress, and probes him for clues; the exchanges reveal both their familiarity and the uncertainty surrounding the supernatural interference.

Significant themes

• Memory and cognitive control: The counter-meme distorts or erases people’s recollections, making reality difficult to trust.
• Mental resistance and knowledge: The book suggests that resistance may help people preserve forbidden or traumatic memories.
• Strength and self-improvement: Xia Lun commits to making power a priority, while White Line seeks a way to recover her intelligence.
• Humor amid danger: White Line’s muddled thoughts provide comic relief against the unsettling mystery of altered memories.

Key plot points and events

• White Line brings Xia Lun three gifts: Exorcism Powder, which harms or repels weaker undead; an oversized Voidwood Chest; and Time Sand, which she says can upgrade his Stasis Hourglass.
• She warns that only one Voidwood Box-type item can be carried into a Scenario at a time. Xia Lun uses the Time Sand to upgrade the hourglass: it can now grant thirty extra minutes after an objective is completed or replace an objective with a survival-time goal.
• In return, Xia Lun gives White Line Ornes’s Labyrinth, a paradox item that improves mental resistance. He also offers her Manifestation Authority for two Evil Flesh Codices, but she declines because she lacks Memory Points and asks him to set a price so she can sell the authority for him.
• Xia Lun plans to help restore White Line’s intelligence and improve her self-defense through sword training. As they prepare, he notices she has physically shrunk. White Line believes the Astral Evil Spirit’s time-affecting attack made her younger; Xia Lun warns that, if it continues, her age could eventually reach zero.

Character developments and interactions

• White Line shows trust and generosity by offering Xia Lun the gifts without setting a price, while openly admitting she would rather risk a bad trade than lose the chance to build goodwill. She remains practical and business-minded, carefully recording the expected price for the authority she will sell.
• Xia Lun accepts her gifts but responds by supporting her development. He recognizes that her reduced intelligence has weakened her combat effectiveness and proposes both mental-resistance support and sword practice.
• Their exchange is warm but candid: White Line trusts Xia Lun to treat her fairly, while he teases her with a grim observation about the possible consequences of her apparent de-aging.
• White Line recounts the myth behind Ornes’s Labyrinth: Ornes rescues a princess but becomes trapped in the labyrinth forever. Xia Lun wonders whether the tale carries a hidden message from the Chief of Security, but cannot determine its meaning.

Significant themes

• Trust and reciprocity: White Line gives generously despite uncertainty, and Xia Lun responds with useful support rather than a simple equivalent payment.
• Adaptation and survival: The upgraded hourglass offers ways to avoid dangerous objectives, while training and new items help prepare White Line for future threats.
• The cost of supernatural powers: The Astral Evil Spirit’s attack may have altered White Line’s age, turning a seemingly positive change into a potentially catastrophic one.
• Knowledge and interpretation: The Evil Flesh Codices grant different knowledge to different readers, and the unexplained significance of Ornes’s story leaves Xia Lun searching for a deeper meaning.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun explains that the Evil Spirit’s attack has reset White Line’s age to zero. Neither knows what will happen, but Xia Lun fears she could disappear.
• White Line brushes off the danger and asks Xia Lun to train her. They spar: her swordsmanship is strong, but Xia Lun’s superior skill disarms her and breaks her practice sword.
• White Line reveals she has Swordsmanship at Proficiency 5%, while Xia Lun has reached Mastery 79%. He begins teaching her Force Dissipation, hoping it will help her survive and raise her Intelligence.
• The lesson continues until evening. Teaching also deepens Xia Lun’s understanding of swordsmanship and helps him approach a breakthrough in the connection between force and Echo.
• Xia Lun declines dinner preparations as White Line chooses to keep training. He then gathers equipment and special items for the next game round.
• Before entering the Game Pod, Xia Lun burns a Snail Statue and wishes for a complete, side-effect-free cure for his curse. He senses that the statue creates a strange “Echo of an Echo,” but it disappears when the statue burns out. He enters the new dungeon.

Character developments and interactions

• White Line remains unexpectedly cheerful despite the possible consequences of her age reset, trusting that she can find a solution in the game. Her confidence and willingness to train contrast with her limited combat experience.
• Xia Lun acts as a careful mentor, testing White Line before teaching her a defensive technique. He also learns from the process: explaining swordsmanship exposes gaps in his own understanding and advances his pursuit of mastery.
• Their sparring is respectful and direct. White Line is impressed—and unsettled—by Xia Lun’s skill, while he recognizes the strength of her fundamentals and encourages her progress.

Significant themes

• Resilience in the face of uncertainty: White Line responds to frightening news with optimism and action.
• Teaching as mutual learning: Xia Lun’s effort to instruct White Line improves his own command of swordsmanship.
• Preparation and survival: Both the training and Xia Lun’s careful packing reflect the dangers of the coming dungeon.
• The mysterious nature of Echo: Xia Lun’s observation of the Snail Statue’s unusual Echo hints at deeper rules behind the game and his curse.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun begins the scenario imprisoned in a decaying cell beneath a ruined kingdom. The scenario’s first objective is to reach Dunwodlin Tower.
• The background explains that the tower’s fall opened rifts, unleashing Evil Spirits and a corrupting darkness that destroyed society and turned the dead into horrors.
• Xia Lun tests the darkness with a glow stick. It can suppress light, and when the stick passes through the cell bars, a crimson lightning bolt destroys it and electrocutes a many-eyed prisoner who attacks from the neighboring cell.
• The disturbance triggers screams throughout the cell block—until a masked Evil Spirit carrying a light-absorbing lantern walks through. It silently approaches Xia Lun’s cell, studies him, then leaves without attacking.
• After the spirit departs, Xia Lun hears someone hiding in a ceiling ventilation shaft. He aims his revolver at a young woman, who raises her hands and says she wants to make a deal.

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains observant and cautious: he assesses his surroundings before acting, tests the limits of the darkness, and resists firing at the masked spirit despite his previous experience attacking an ally. His humor under pressure hints at a dry, composed temperament.
• The young woman is revealed as another survivor who has stayed hidden by keeping quiet. She is wary but quick to negotiate.
• The masked Evil Spirit is presented as powerful and controlled, able to silence the monstrous prisoners and extinguish the corridor’s light, yet it chooses not to attack Xia Lun.

Significant themes

• Survival amid collapse: With order and morality shattered, caution and practical judgment are essential.
• Darkness and corruption: The supernatural darkness suppresses light and threatens both bodies and minds.
• Uncertainty and trust: Xia Lun cannot tell who is hostile, human, or safe, and the woman’s proposed deal introduces the possibility of cooperation.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun’s glow stick provokes the neighboring prisoner, whose attack ends when the cell bars discharge lightning.
• Xia Lun and the masked spirit silently confront one another; mutual scrutiny ends without violence.
• The hidden woman reveals herself only after the spirit leaves. Xia Lun has the advantage of his revolver, while she tries to establish peaceful terms through a proposed bargain.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun holds a girl at gunpoint in Dusk Snow Prison. She offers him the Master Key, which opens every door in the prison, as proof she means him no harm.
• Impatient with her long explanations, Xia Lun demands a concise bargain: what she wants, what he gains, and what danger to expect. She asks him to open the Pressure Sluice so she and her protector can reach the prison’s lowest level. In return, she offers a safe Shelter and warns him that the Warden is a powerful Evil Spirit.
• Xia Lun isn’t interested in the Shelter; he wants to know the location of Dunwodlin Tower. The girl doesn’t know its location herself, though she says her protector does and that they are ultimately headed there too.
• Asked about Pilgrimages, she explains that they are trials involving specific deeds, objects, routes, and timing that grant power from departed Sacred Spirits. She offers Xia Lun a Pilgrimage Relic and describes the Swordbearer Pilgrimage.
• Xia Lun’s Symptom Reading Specialization advances after hearing her instruction, revealing that completing the Swordbearer Pilgrimage can raise Swordsmanship or let him sense “force,” though it may cost Mental Health.
• Convinced that she has told the truth, Xia Lun takes the key and opens his cell.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains wary and forceful, using threats to keep the girl focused, but his impression of her softens when she understands his dry joke and proves trustworthy. He prioritizes useful information over promised rewards.
• The girl is talkative and eager to explain, but also quick-witted and perceptive. Despite Xia Lun’s threats, she keeps negotiating and provides genuine help.
• Their interaction shifts from hostile standoff to cautious cooperation: Xia Lun accepts her key and information, while still withholding full trust.

Significant themes

• Trust and verification: The girl offers concrete proof—the Master Key—and Xia Lun relies on his own assessment before accepting it.
• Knowledge as power: Learning about Pilgrimages advances Xia Lun’s abilities and opens a potential path to greater strength.
• Caution amid danger: The Warden’s threat, the unknown power system, and the cost of Pilgrimage progress all make every choice uncertain.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun leaves his cell after Renee warns him to take Blood Wax, a ritual candle that resists the world’s supernatural darkness. He keeps it unlit at first and tests the darkness, finding that it causes only a slight decline in his mental state.
• The prisoners erupt against their bars, but the cell enchantments electrocute most of them. One survives until Xia Lun exposes it to Blood Wax, which burns and melts it; killing it earns him Memory Points.
• Renee guides Xia Lun through the prison toward the Pressure Sluice. She says opening it will let her protectors enter through the waterway and distract the Evil Spirits, allowing her to reach the Prison Watchtower and complete her Pilgrimage.
• Xia Lun glimpses the ruined city beyond the prison: two moons hang over it, and a blazing Tower illuminates only the decaying buildings within the city walls. Renee explains that the Watchtower once contained Evil Spirits and now also keeps outside threats from entering.
• A patrol of eye-covered prison guards is lured away by a floating light. Xia Lun realizes the Evil Spirits are dim-witted and drawn to unusual activity.
• The masked Warden and several White-Masked guards suddenly appear, trapping Xia Lun between them and the retreating patrol. Renee offers to distract them so he can reach the sluice. Instead, Xia Lun draws in nearby light and cloaks himself in a near-invisible state.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun shifts from impulsive aggression to cautious observation, testing the darkness, Blood Wax, and the Evil Spirits before acting. His calm confidence persists even in danger. His use of the Light Annihilation State reveals that he is a Veilwalker and has completed the Threefold Pilgrimage—something Renee had not suspected.
• Renee acts as Xia Lun’s guide and supplies essential information, though she is talkative, anxious, and repeatedly promises that her protectors will help him. She finally gives her name after Xia Lun asks.
• Xia Lun and Renee develop a tentative working relationship: she explains the prison’s dangers and route, while he questions her motives and keeps his own priorities—finding a human settlement—in view. His dry humor briefly eases her tension.

Significant themes

• Light and darkness: Light protects against darkness and weak Evil Spirits, while darkness strengthens Evil Spirits and threatens human reason.
• Knowledge and survival: Xia Lun’s habit of testing unfamiliar dangers helps him assess the prison rather than blindly trust explanations.
• Appearance versus capability: Xia Lun seems unremarkable to Renee, but his concealed abilities make him far more powerful than she realizes.
• Trust and uncertain motives: Renee and Xia Lun cooperate, but her repeated promises and his independent goals leave their alliance provisional.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun ambushes the Evil Spirit jailers in the dark corridor, but a second Veilwalker’s surprise attack briefly disrupts the plan. The Warden notices the intruder, not Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun kills more than a dozen jailers in seconds with his Short Sword and Revolver. His only remaining opponent among them—the Pilgrimage-tested soldier—is shot dead.
• The hooded Veilwalker defeats the Warden’s personal guards but is beheaded by the Warden’s Black Flame.
• With only Xia Lun and the Warden left standing, Xia Lun asks for directions to Dunwodlin Tower. The Warden refuses to answer and prepares to fight.
• The supposedly dead hooded figure revives, retrieves his severed head, and fires a signal flare through the breach. The flare stirs the prison into action.
• The Warden strikes at Xia Lun just as Xia Lun aims at the fleeing figure. Xia Lun activates Heightened Focus; the fight is unresolved.

Character developments

• Xia Lun demonstrates striking speed, precision, and composure in battle, moving through shadows to dispatch armed enemies with ease. His appetite for the challenge grows as he faces the Warden.
• The Warden proves intelligent and perceptive, recognizing that Xia Lun is not a prisoner. He remains hostile and chooses action over conversation.
• The hooded Veilwalker reveals unusual resilience: even after being decapitated, he revives, reattaches his head, and escapes.
• Renee watches from the ventilation duct, first warning Xia Lun about the other Veilwalker, then marveling at how effortlessly he defeats the jailers.

Significant themes

• Violence and power: Xia Lun’s rapid slaughter contrasts with the Warden’s formidable Black Flame and the surviving soldier’s Pilgrimage-enhanced strength.
• Secrecy and misdirection: Darkness and shadow conceal Xia Lun, while the hooded figure’s unexpected intervention changes the course of the ambush.
• The uncanny nature of the Evil Spirits and Veilwalkers: The Warden’s intelligence and the hooded figure’s ability to survive decapitation challenge ordinary expectations.

Character interactions

• Renee alerts Xia Lun that the hooded intruder is another Veilwalker.
• Xia Lun and the Warden exchange a brief challenge: Xia Lun asks for the route to Dunwodlin Tower, while the Warden answers with his drawn, flaming sword.
• The hooded figure’s flare draws attention across the prison, interrupting Xia Lun’s confrontation and prompting the Warden to attack.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun fights the Warden, whose sword and lantern unleash chilling Black Flame. He initially holds back, using the duel to gauge the combat ability of someone who has completed the Threefold Pilgrimage.
• Xia Lun judges the Warden dangerous to ordinary people but only a modest threat to himself. He begins building power with Force Dissipation, intending to end the fight in a single burst.
• Watching from a pipe, Renee fears Xia Lun is being overwhelmed. Though intervening could jeopardize her mission, she jumps down and urges him to open the Pressure Sluice while she distracts the Warden.
• Renee attacks with holy light, but the Warden’s lantern absorbs it, revealing that the relic is tied to the suppressed Deep and that the Warden has been corrupted.
• As the Warden prepares a powerful Black Flame strike, Xia Lun stays to fight. He breaks through the attack, pierces the Warden’s throat, and beheads them. He dismisses Renee’s intervention as “reckless.”

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains controlled throughout the apparent danger, using the Warden as a measure of the world’s strength before unleashing his true speed and power. His victory reveals how much stronger he is than Renee—and how ruthless he can be.
• Renee moves from anxious observer to decisive participant. She risks her mission to save Xia Lun, showing courage and a growing willingness to trust their partnership.

Significant themes

• Appearance versus reality: Xia Lun seems suppressed, but the fight is largely a deliberate test; the Warden’s impressive power proves insufficient against him.
• Risk and loyalty: Renee must choose between protecting her mission and protecting Xia Lun, and chooses to intervene.
• Corruption beneath authority: The Warden’s holy relic is connected to the Deep, suggesting that sacred power can conceal or enable corruption.

Character interactions

• Renee tries to coordinate an escape, telling Xia Lun to open the Pressure Sluice while she holds off the Warden. Xia Lun ignores the plan and kills the Warden himself, leaving their contrasting judgments of risk—Renee’s caution and Xia Lun’s confidence—sharply apparent.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee reach an armory after escaping the Deep Warden. The slaughter earns Xia Lun substantial Memory Points, and he recognizes that enemies once requiring careful planning are now within his reach.
• He discovers the Warden’s lantern is the Tombdeep Eye, an Evil Flesh Codex containing the relic of a betrayed saint. Reading it reveals an unknown Pilgrimage: carry the relic to the highest point of Serene Valley. Completing the Pilgrimage may grant control over the flame Final Ashes, fire immunity, and other enhancements. Xia Lun decides to pursue it before going to Dunwodlin Tower.
• Renee warns that the hooded man’s master, the Black Duke, will target Xia Lun because of his connection to her. She deduces that Xia Lun must have powerful backing from his Pilgrimage knowledge, apparent abilities, and combat skill.
• Renee reveals that she is Princess Renee Gewen, daughter of King Guewen, and is undertaking a Pilgrimage to save the world. Xia Lun remains unimpressed, focusing instead on their agreement: he will open the Pressure Sluice, and she will tell him how to reach Dunwodlin Tower.
• The prison’s Evil Spirits swarm the hall, trapping the pair. Renee uses holy light to burn and drive them back, then asks Xia Lun to get her to the Watchtower, where she believes she can strengthen its Holy Fire. Before she can explain further, Xia Lun carries her toward the stairs to escape the advancing horde.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun displays growing confidence and power, but remains pragmatic and dismissive of status or larger causes. His dry claim that he is from another world reflects his reluctance to explain himself. He is also attracted to the practical promise of the Tombdeep Eye’s Pilgrimage.
• Renee is anxious about the danger she has brought upon Xia Lun and speaks urgently, yet shows courage and useful magical ability. Her royal identity and world-saving mission do not impress him, creating a comic mismatch in their expectations.
• Their relationship remains transactional, but Renee tries to warn and persuade Xia Lun, while he keeps the focus on their deal. During the attack, he acts decisively to get them moving.

Significant themes

• Power and changing perspective: Xia Lun’s strength has grown enough to make formidable foes seem manageable, though overwhelming numbers remain dangerous.
• Pragmatism versus grand purpose: Renee frames events around saving the world and royal responsibility; Xia Lun prioritizes survival and his immediate objective.
• Knowledge and temptation: The Tombdeep Eye offers powerful abilities at the cost of Mental Health, presenting advancement as both opportunity and danger.
• Trust amid danger: Despite their differing priorities, Xia Lun and Renee must rely on each other to survive the prison’s escalating threat.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun uses Renee’s holy light to carve through the evil spirits in Dusk Snow Prison, carrying her down the spiral staircase. He kills three of the Warden’s guards with his revolver.
• At an underground river, Xia Lun finds the Pressure Sluice that Renee says will expose a route beneath the prison to the Watchtower and allow her protector to reach them.
• Renee’s light fails as her strength runs out. Evil spirits and armed jailers attack, but Xia Lun repels crossbow bolts, uses explosives and redirected light to clear a path, then kills two human assassins who ambush him.
• The assassins identify Renee as their target and appear to be agents of the Black Duke. Xia Lun breaks the sluice lock and closes the gate as they surround him.
• Just as the attackers close in, Guiweite bursts from the river and shields Xia Lun and Renee.
• In a separate scene, the Black Duke prepares his forces near the prison. He learns that Xia Lun has completed the Fourfold Pilgrimage and killed the Warden, and orders his people to ready themselves to kill the Princess once the ritual site is anchored and the evil spirits are banished.

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains resourceful and ruthless, using Renee as a source of holy light, then relying on weapons, explosives, and his Life Drain ability when her power fails. His Mass Murderer Specialty also frightens the lesser spirits.
• Renee is weakened by sustaining her light but stays alert, warning Xia Lun about the threats and identifying the assassins’ connection to the Black Duke.
• Guiweite returns at the crucial moment, confirming her role as Renee’s protector.
• The Black Duke shows uncertainty about whether his small force can succeed, but suppresses his subordinate’s doubts and commits to the plan.
• The hooded subordinate is shaken by the scale of their task, despite remaining obedient.

Significant themes

• Survival through improvisation: Xia Lun adapts quickly as each advantage—especially Renee’s light—runs out.
• Sacrifice and duty: Renee’s fading strength and the Black Duke’s willingness to send his people into danger both reflect the costs of their missions.
• Ambiguity of “saving the world”: The Black Duke’s faction believes killing the Princess is necessary, while Xia Lun and Renee are trying to protect her, setting opposing groups against one another.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun and Renee trade impatient, comic banter during their escape, though their cooperation is essential.
• Renee warns Xia Lun about the spirits and assassins, while Xia Lun brusquely tells her to stop explaining what he can already see.
• The assassins attack Xia Lun and Renee without negotiation; Xia Lun’s brief attempt to ask directions confirms they will not cooperate.
• Guiweite interposes herself between the pair and the assassins.
• The hooded subordinate questions the Black Duke’s plan, but the Duke answers with grim resolve and orders him back to his duties.

Key plot points and events

• Guiweite, a heavily armored knight wielding a massive greatsword, arrives just in time to save Xia Lun and Renee from the Black Duke’s assassins. She kills or disables most of them with astonishing speed and precision.
• Xia Lun spots a concealed Veilwalker and shoots him out of hiding. Guiweite crushes the assassin’s head, demonstrating that her quiet, courteous manner conceals immense brutality.
• Guiweite gives Xia Lun a map showing Dunwodlin Tower in the Kingdom’s southwest. Renee invites him to travel with her and Guiweite, but he refuses, preferring to pursue his own goal.
• Renee reveals that she knows Xia Lun is seeking Dunwodlin Tower to lift a Soul Curse. Before he can question her, the Veilwalker’s dropped Ritual Dagger disrupts the area’s protections: the Blood Wax flames go out, and the ancient evil Deathknell emerges from a passage beneath Dusk Snow Prison.
• Renee explains that completing her Pilgrimage—and invoking the Saint’s flames—is the only way to suppress Deathknell and the prison’s Corpse Wraiths. With the lesser Evil Spirits attacking, Xia Lun throws Renee into a drainage hole so she can proceed. He then stays behind to fight Deathknell, while Guiweite holds back the spirits.
• Aboveground, the Black Duke’s forces wait outside the prison. He realizes the underground explosion signals the awakening of the ancient evil, not Renee’s successful Pilgrimage, and can only hope it will kill her.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains guarded and independent, refusing to join Renee’s journey despite their shared destination. Still, he acts decisively to get her through the drainage passage and volunteers to face Deathknell.
• Guiweite is introduced as disciplined, efficient, and protective. She thanks Xia Lun for protecting Renee, but also positions herself between them, suggesting caution or suspicion. She follows Renee’s instructions even when she misunderstands them.
• Renee is talkative and knowledgeable, explaining the Veilwalkers and Deathknell, but she also shows courage and composure under pressure. Her knowledge of Xia Lun’s curse hints at secrets she has not yet explained.
• The Black Duke’s hopes reveal his hostility toward Renee and his willingness to rely on the prison’s ancient evil to destroy her.

Significant themes

• Trust versus independence: Xia Lun and Renee cooperate in emergencies but remain wary of sharing their larger purposes.
• Duty and sacrifice: Guiweite protects Renee, while Xia Lun chooses to face a dangerous foe so Renee can continue.
• Knowledge and hidden motives: Renee’s insight into Xia Lun’s curse and the prison’s lore suggests that important information—and personal agendas—remain concealed.
• Chaos and fragile protection: The extinguished Blood Wax exposes how quickly safeguards can fail in the ruined Kingdom.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun confronts the ancient horror of the Deep, whose mass of black hair pours from a passage in the riverbed. His swordsmanship surprises Knight Guiweite: he uses Force Dissipation and the advanced technique Release to blast apart part of the creature.
• The horror emits a lethal black-red Echo that causes nearby corpses—and nearly Xia Lun and Guiweite—to sprout black hairs. Both resist the transformation, and Guiweite explains that ordinary weapons cannot harm a being from the ancient Era of Flint Dragon and Saints.
• Xia Lun holds the creature off while Guiweite retrieves the Ritual Dagger. He uses Life Drain, Wind Whisperer, and Sword Technique—Flow to evade its attacks and endure their force. Night Plume’s soul-severing effect weakens the creature’s mind, while the dagger’s return restores a seal and exposes its weaknesses.
• Xia Lun charges the creature’s core and cuts it in two. A final attack follows: a huge skeletal hand swings a towering sacrificial sword. Guiweite steps in beside him, and together they use Force Dissipation to survive the blow. The horror then collapses.
• Xia Lun earns 5,000 Memory Points and two free attribute points, which he puts into Constitution. Reaching 21 Constitution grants him Supersonic Regeneration, which merges with his existing Transcendent Regeneration. He discovers he can now regenerate from a drop of blood or a strand of hair, up to three times.

Character developments

• Xia Lun proves able to fight an ancient horror through skill, adaptability, and sheer force rather than relying on Renee’s Pilgrimage. The battle also reveals the growing strength of his sword techniques and regenerative powers.
• Guiweite shows both formidable strength and quiet compassion. She trusts Xia Lun’s plan, retrieves the dagger under pressure, and risks herself to help him withstand the horror’s last attack.
• Xia Lun’s respect for Guiweite deepens: he recognizes the gentleness beneath her terse manner.

Significant themes

• Skill and perseverance against overwhelming odds: Xia Lun’s techniques, tactical choices, and endurance let him challenge a seemingly invulnerable foe.
• Cooperation and mutual trust: Xia Lun and Guiweite survive the final strike only by working together.
• Transformation and survival: The horror’s Echo threatens to reshape living bodies, while Xia Lun’s own regenerative ability turns near-fatal damage into a path toward greater power.
• Power through adaptation: The battle’s outcome depends not on conventional weapons but on exploiting the seal, the creature’s vulnerabilities, and the heroes’ distinct abilities.

Character interactions

• Guiweite watches Xia Lun use unfamiliar sword techniques and is astonished by his skill.
• Xia Lun directs her to retrieve the Ritual Dagger while he holds the horror back; she follows through without hesitation.
• When Xia Lun is trapped beneath the final attack, Guiweite steps in and tells him, “Together,” helping him bear the force.
• After the battle, Guiweite checks whether Xia Lun is in pain and offers him liquor; they share a brief moment of relief and recognition.

Summary

Plot points and events

• After defeating the Tombmarrow Remains, Xia Lun’s Constitution rises to 21. He gains Blood-Drop Rebirth, which lets him recover from severe injury, and decides to prioritize Intelligence when he next receives attribute points.
• The Corpse Wraiths begin reviving, but Renee’s completed Pilgrimage suddenly restores holy light to the sewer. The light destroys the Evil Spirits, restores Xia Lun’s Mental and Physical Health, and delays his Soul Curse’s countdown by a month.
• Guiweite offers to heal Xia Lun, but he declines. She recognizes his self-taught combat techniques, and he explains Flow, which builds on Force Dissipation. Her gratitude earns him 800 Memory Points.
• Guiweite warns Xia Lun not to join Renee’s mission. She explains that the Black Duke and his Annihilation Cult command formidable forces, and that Renee may not be human. Xia Lun refuses to get involved and instead asks about his Soul Curse. Guiweite advises him to seek the King in the New Royal Capital, where a cure may be possible.
• Renee returns, having rekindled the Watchtower’s light, but the effort has cost her voice. Xia Lun declines her hopeful appeal to travel with her.
• Outside the prison, the Black Duke orders his elite Warriors to attack, signaling that the danger is far from over.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun takes stock of his growth, becomes more interested in developing his Intelligence, and sees the New Royal Capital as a key stop on his own journey. Though grateful to Renee, he remains determined to pursue his own goals.
• Guiweite shows both formidable skill and unexpected openness: she offers healing, asks Xia Lun to teach her his technique, and formally thanks him. Her warning reveals deep distrust of Renee and concern for her safety.
• Renee succeeds in saving the area but pays a personal price by losing her voice. Her silent offer of Blood Wax and disappointed reaction show her desire for Xia Lun’s help.
• The contrast between Guiweite’s warning and Renee’s appeal leaves Xia Lun caught between two women who appear to have very different views of the mission.

Significant themes

• Power and its cost: Xia Lun’s growth brings new abilities, while Renee’s world-saving Pilgrimage exacts a painful personal sacrifice.
• Survival and exhaustion: Even as Xia Lun becomes stronger, repeated battles wear him down, and the threat of revival makes victory feel temporary.
• Trust and uncertainty: Guiweite questions Renee’s identity and motives, while Xia Lun refuses to commit without knowing more.
• Hope amid catastrophe: The restored light offers healing and safety, but the Black Duke’s assault immediately threatens that fragile reprieve.

Key plot points and events

• As the Black Duke’s army approaches Dusk Snow Prison, Guiweite leads Xia Lun and Renee toward a southern exit. She explains that the Duke’s followers are Cultists strengthened by light, while the Duke himself can distort space.
• Their pursuers track Renee with a mark placed by the Tombdeep Dagger. Guiweite removes her helmet, revealing a strange growth on her face, and Xia Lun realizes the dagger marked her as well.
• The escape route is blocked by warped space. With soldiers closing in, Guiweite offers to stay behind and send Xia Lun and Renee away using a Sacred Artifact.
• She asks Xia Lun to protect Renee and help her complete her Pilgrimage, in exchange for the King’s help lifting Xia Lun’s Soul Curse. They formalize a limited promise with the Oath Moon Ring: Xia Lun promises to do his best and not willingly abandon Renee, but does not guarantee her success.
• Guiweite teleports Xia Lun and Renee away, then is herself transported into the prison hall, where the Duke’s forces surround her. She refuses to surrender and charges them, declaring, “For the King!”

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains cautious and observant, but chooses to accept responsibility for Renee when faced with Guiweite’s sacrifice. He carefully limits his promise to what he can honestly guarantee.
• Guiweite reveals her loyalty, courage, and willingness to risk her life for Renee and the King. Though resolute, she shows grief and uncertainty as she sends the others away.
• Renee is frightened and largely silent, but her attempts to reach Guiweite—and her gift of the Red Crystal Necklace—show her attachment and concern. She is distressed by the separation.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun advises Guiweite to discard her helmet to avoid being tracked, and she follows his suggestion.
• Guiweite appeals to Xia Lun to protect Renee; he questions the sacrifice but ultimately agrees to the oath.
• Renee reaches for Guiweite twice, and though Guiweite initially rebuffs her, she accepts Renee’s necklace before sending her away.
• Guiweite faces the enemy alone after the teleportation, refusing the lead knight’s offer to surrender.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and loyalty: Guiweite knowingly stays behind to protect Renee and honor her allegiance.
• Promises and responsibility: The Oath Moon Ring makes commitments consequential, while Xia Lun’s carefully phrased vow balances duty with honesty.
• Separation and attachment: Renee’s gestures and Guiweite’s reluctant farewell convey their bond.
• Courage against overwhelming odds: Guiweite chooses to fight despite being surrounded by powerful enemies.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee successfully teleport out of Dusk Snow Prison, landing near a ruined church in a bleak, snowy wasteland. Behind them, the prison’s watchtower shines with the beacon produced by Renee completing the Pilgrimage.
• Renee is badly shaken and temporarily unresponsive. Xia Lun urges her to focus, warning that the Black Duke will continue hunting her outside the prison.
• Knowing their footprints could reveal their route, Xia Lun uses Force Dissipation as he walks, spreading the force of each step so they leave no tracks.
• Renee tries to alert him to something, and her healing magic restores Xia Lun’s physical and mental health and empowers his sword, Night Plume, with Radiant Damage.
• Xia Lun activates Text Sense and discovers he can understand Renee despite her lost voice. She explains that they need supplies Lady Guiweite left nearby—food, water, fuel, Blood Wax, and horses.
• Renee warns that the Black Duke has a mystically gifted Bloodhound who can track them. She says she can block the mystical connection, and directs Xia Lun toward the supplies.
• Following her directions, they approach a large rock and hear horses and unfamiliar people nearby.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains practical and alert, quickly shifting from escape to concealment and preparation. He initially misreads Renee’s attempts to communicate, but uses Text Sense to understand her and adapts.
• Renee begins the chapter in shock but gradually regains focus. Though unable to speak normally, she proves capable and resourceful: she heals and strengthens Xia Lun, identifies what they need, and offers a way to counter mystical tracking.
• Their relationship shows both friction and cooperation: Xia Lun handles immediate physical dangers, while Renee supplies crucial knowledge and magical support.

Significant themes

• Survival after escape: Freedom from the prison does not end the danger; the pair must prepare for a hostile journey.
• Communication and trust: Xia Lun’s ability to understand Renee transforms her from a seemingly incapacitated companion into an active partner.
• Practical ingenuity: Xia Lun combines learned technique and special abilities to conceal their trail and overcome obstacles.
• Persistent pursuit: The Black Duke’s reach extends beyond the prison through both ordinary trackers and mysticism.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee overhear three of the Black Duke’s soldiers discussing food and their mission. Renee identifies the group as dangerous, especially a knight who has completed the Threefold Pilgrimage.
• Xia Lun launches a surprise attack, killing all three elite warriors in seconds. Renee stays where he told her and then helps gather supplies from their horses.
• They take food, water, sleeping bags, and packs, but leave the horses unusable for themselves. To mislead pursuers, they drive the horses north and flee in another direction.
• Soon after, the Watchtower and prison explode and burn, apparently due to Guiweite’s actions. Xia Lun assumes she has died.
• They continue their escape. Trackers later find the blood at the ambush site and follow the horses’ tracks north.

Character developments

• Xia Lun proves capable and ruthlessly efficient in combat, while remaining wary and strategic. The danger surrounding him strengthens his resolve to gain power and master the Echo.
• Renee shows practical resourcefulness in preparing and packing supplies, and follows Xia Lun’s instructions. Her grief over Guiweite is visible, but Xia Lun remains suspicious of her because of Guiweite’s earlier warning.
• Guiweite is absent from the scene, but her presumed death and the destruction she causes shape Xia Lun’s grief and the group’s escape.

Significant themes

• Survival through preparation and deception: The pair take only what they can carry and use the horses to lay a false trail.
• Power and insecurity: Xia Lun sees greater strength as the only reliable protection in a dangerous world.
• Trust and suspicion: Renee appears trustworthy and vulnerable, yet Xia Lun continues to question her motives.
• Loss and endurance: The burning prison marks a devastating loss, but the fugitives must keep moving.

Character interactions

• Renee warns Xia Lun about the soldiers and offers to fight, but he orders her to stay back; she obeys.
• After the ambush, they cooperate in gathering supplies and executing their escape plan.
• Xia Lun notices Renee’s grief over Guiweite, offers brief comfort, and urges her not to look back, while privately resolving to keep watching her.