Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Tina races after Abby through First Bloom Cathedral, trying to stop her from running ahead. Abby ignores her, sets curtains on fire to block her, and continues toward the Meditation Room.
• Tina risks climbing the atrium to reach Abby. She arrives in time to save her from a powerful Corpse Wraith, killing it by throwing it into the atrium.
• Abby uses Renee’s stolen Royal Crest to enter the Meditation Room, a cathedral safe house. Inside, she discovers a statue resembling the queen and encounters a blindfolded archbishop, who mistakes her for Princess Renee.
• The archbishop’s attempt to summon a lord triggers a supernatural transformation that fatally corrupts Abby. As she dies, Abby realizes that Awu was Renee and that Renee had let her take the crest as a substitute for herself.
• Abby emerges in a grotesquely altered state and tries to draw the Blind Light toward everyone. Xia Lun fires at her, but Tina deflects the bullet. When Abby attacks, Tina kills her with a knife to the forehead.
• Tina’s despair triggers Heightened Focus, through which she understands Renee’s role in Abby’s fate and recognizes that Renee’s concern is genuine. The emotional strain proves fatal: Tina suffers heart failure and dies.

Character developments and interactions

• Tina begins determined to protect Abby, despite feeling guilty about leaving Xia Lun and Renee. Abby’s betrayal devastates her, but Tina still saves her from the knight and later pleads with her to stop. Forced to kill Abby, Tina confronts the collapse of her idealized view of their relationship and of the people around her. Her brief clarity also reveals her exceptional combat ability and ends in her death.
• Abby reveals herself as selfish and delighted by having deceived the others. Her greed leads her to claim the crest and enter the room, where she is mistaken for Renee and becomes the victim of the ritual. Her final terror turns to rage, and she tries to take the others down with her.
• Renee is revealed to be Awu and the intended princess sought by the archbishop. Tina concludes that Renee had steered Abby into taking the crest and scouting ahead, potentially placing Abby in danger in her own stead. Renee’s visible guilt and concern complicate Tina’s anger.
• Xia Lun responds pragmatically to Abby’s threat, attempting to shoot her, then offers Tina comfort after she kills Abby. Tina’s heightened perception sees both his anger and his concern.
• Tina and Abby’s relationship shifts from Tina’s trust and protectiveness to betrayal, confrontation, and a final, painful act of violence. Xia Lun’s reassurance cannot undo Tina’s grief or physical collapse.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and misplaced trust: Abby exploits Tina’s loyalty, while Renee’s actions raise questions about sacrifice and responsibility.
• Illusion versus reality: Tina realizes she had projected goodness and special meaning onto Abby, mistaking her own hopes for evidence of Abby’s character.
• Moral cost of survival: Tina’s choices—to rescue Abby and then kill her—leave her emotionally shattered.
• Despair and transformation: Tina’s deepest despair produces extraordinary focus, while Abby’s corruption turns fear into destructive rage.
• Guilt and compassion: Even after Abby betrays her, Tina tries to save and reach her; Renee’s guilt and Xia Lun’s concern show that sincere feeling still exists amid cruelty and horror.

Plot points and events

• Tina dies despite Renee’s attempt to heal her. Xia Lun closes Tina’s eyes and suspects that her mental collapse caused her heart to fail.
• Renee is haunted by Tina’s cryptic last remark—“the one who died was the dog”—and regrets that her own decision helped bring about Tina’s death. She forces herself to accept the consequences and resolve to make wiser choices.
• Xia Lun and Renee reach the Meditation Room, which contains provisions, a statue-less shrine, and the corpse of a high-ranking cleric who appears to have died by suicide for a ritual. Xia Lun concludes that Renee’s plan succeeded: Abby died in Renee’s place.
• Renee freely chooses to begin the Pilgrimage. As she prays, the ritual causes severe bodily harm, but unleashes holy light across Longeryasi City and beyond. The light destroys the city’s Phantom Lights and Blind Tendrils, disables the Clockwork Court Guards, and pushes back the surrounding darkness.
• The Pilgrimage leaves Renee blind and without her lower legs. Though Xia Lun warns that continuing may kill her, she insists they must reach Dunwodlin Tower and free the world from darkness.
• Before they can leave, a powerful Echo-made Ghostly Shadow appears. Xia Lun recognizes it as the entity he encountered after touching the dragon bone and believes it has come for Renee. Renee’s new Consecration greatly strengthens Xia Lun and his weapons, and lets him recover and survive otherwise fatal injury. He readies himself to fight as the entity begins to speak.

Character developments and interactions

• Renee turns grief and guilt into resolve, treating responsibility as something she must accept rather than avoid. Her determination remains firm even after the Pilgrimage’s devastating cost, and she asks Xia Lun to guide and carry her.
• Xia Lun mourns Tina but suppresses his feelings to protect Renee and continue their mission. He respects her right to choose, despite fearing the ritual will eventually kill her, and prepares to defend her from the new threat.
• Tina dies before her cryptic final words can be explained, leaving Renee with an unresolved question and lasting guilt.
• Renee’s Pilgrimage directly empowers Xia Lun, reinforcing their reliance on one another: she accepts the ritual’s cost, while he becomes her protector.

Significant themes

• Choice and consequence: Renee believes decisions must be owned, even when they lead to loss.
• Faith and sacrifice: The Pilgrimage saves the city from supernatural darkness but exacts a horrifying physical price.
• Grief and endurance: Both Renee and Xia Lun suppress their pain to keep moving toward their goal.
• Protection and agency: Xia Lun wants to spare Renee further harm, but ultimately respects her freely chosen responsibility.

Plot and events

• A Ghostly Shadow made of Echo confronts Xia Lun and demands that he surrender Renee, offering to let him leave. Xia Lun uses Tracking Focus to perceive that the Echo fills the Meditation Room, then prepares his weapon while stalling.
• Renee, fearing she has become a burden, tells Xia Lun to leave her behind. The Shadow repeats its offer, but Xia Lun refuses and attacks with a broad blast of Final Ash Black Flame. The attack disrupts the Shadow, confirming it can be harmed.
• The Shadow appears behind Xia Lun, but does not strike. In the skylight, it transforms into the Queen, who embraces Renee and restores her legs and right eye at the cost of her own life.
• Renee recognizes the Queen as her mother and grieves. Xia Lun concludes that the Queen was the Echo Shadow and was never their enemy; someone else must have created the trap. He remains uncertain about the voice Renee had heard urging her through the Pilgrimage.
• Xia Lun gives Renee a bandage for her remaining blind eye. She sobs in his arms, then insists they gather supplies and continue to Dunwodlin Tower despite the severe pain in her newly restored legs.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun stays controlled under pressure, tests the Shadow’s abilities, and acts decisively when it threatens Renee. After realizing the truth, he comforts her rather than demanding explanations.
• Renee moves from fearful self-doubt to a firm choice to keep going. She mourns her mother, but refuses to let her pain or grief stop her.
• The Queen reveals her maternal love through her final sacrifice, giving Renee back her legs and eye instead of taking over her body.
• Xia Lun and Renee’s bond is reinforced: Renee trusts him enough to reveal her fear of abandonment, and he responds by protecting and comforting her.

Significant themes

• Sacrificial love: The Queen’s final act shows a mother’s love overcoming even apparent death and emotional emptiness.
• Trust and loyalty: Xia Lun’s refusal to abandon Renee contrasts with her fear that she is merely a burden.
• Grief and perseverance: Renee openly mourns her mother yet chooses to continue the journey through pain.
• Appearance and misjudgment: The frightening Echo Shadow proves not to be the enemy, leaving the true source of the trap—and Renee’s guiding voice—unresolved.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee leave the Meditation Room and find that Abby’s body has vanished in the sunlight, while Tina’s remains. They decide to bury Tina in the public cemetery.
• As they move her, a silver ring falls from Tina’s pocket. Xia Lun’s inspection reveals it was once part of a pair belonging to an Annihilation Cult member and was passed to someone who saved the owner’s younger sister. Xia Lun keeps the ring, noting that it may serve as a token.
• Renee and Xia Lun bury Tina. Renee wonders whether Tina saw Abby as her daughter rather than simply acting foolishly, and breaks down in tears. Xia Lun silently places Tina’s wilted white flower on the grave.
• The flower’s seeds blow north and settle near new grass. The returning light brings the first signs of regrowth, suggesting that Renee has completed another Pilgrimage and that the old balance has been disrupted.
• Feilier and the Black Duke discuss these developments. Feilier reports that Xia Lun is extraordinarily powerful and may wield the Tombdeep Cult’s lost Final Ash ability. The Black Duke speculates that Xia Lun could be an ancient Evil Spirit from the planet’s core.
• They discuss the forgotten fourth Saint, who may still be alive and concealed by a force that made people forget him. The Black Duke also plans to perform a sacrifice at Dunwodlin Tower to summon a powerful Evil Spirit, then withdraw if Renee and Xia Lun prevail.
• Feilier reports the rise of the Lightbearers, a growing religious faction founded by people once taken to Longeryasi City. They worship Tombdeep and a mysterious messenger called Awu, preach shared responsibility for saving the world, and possess a Radiant Flame War Banner that pushes back darkness and can apparently produce copies. Feilier suggests using them against rivals in the cult; the Black Duke approves.

Character developments and interactions

• Renee grieves openly for Tina and begins to reinterpret her actions with compassion, imagining that Tina may have thought of Abby as her daughter.
• Xia Lun shows quiet respect for Tina by helping bury her and placing her flower on the grave. His interest in the ring hints that he is attentive to useful clues.
• Feilier and the Black Duke exchange intelligence and speculate about the world’s deeper mysteries. Feilier is curious and pragmatic, while the Black Duke remains guarded but increasingly considers abandoning the cult’s current course if Renee and Xia Lun continue succeeding.

Significant themes

• Life after devastation: Light and new growth suggest that the wasteland’s apparent permanence may be ending.
• Grief and compassion: Renee’s burial of Tina gives emotional weight to their strained history and leaves her reconsidering Tina’s motives.
• Uncertainty and hidden forces: Xia Lun’s origin, the forgotten Saint, and the nature of Evil Spirits remain unresolved.
• Choice and collective responsibility: The Lightbearers’ beliefs introduce the possibility that the world’s fate depends not only on exceptional figures but on ordinary people’s decisions.

Key plot points and events

• A month after the Longeryasi City Pilgrimage, Xia Lun and Renee travel through an eerily empty, post-apocalyptic world. Evil Spirits and survivors are scarce, and supplies are plentiful.
• Renee cooks a meal while Xia Lun sets alarm traps. Their routines show how capable they have become during the journey.
• Xia Lun has raised his Sleight of Hand skill through practice and collected 73 Final Ash stacks, though the Black Flame’s improvement remains modest. He has also learned several practical trades and accumulated 980 Memory Points.
• He studies the corrected map and estimates they will reach Dunwodlin Tower in about two weeks, sooner than the original map suggested. Using feng shui principles, he judges the Pilgrimage Site even more ominous than the Sacrifice Cave.
• Over dinner, Xia Lun tells Renee The Little Mermaid, subtly emphasizing its heroine’s sacrifices and suffering. Renee rejects the ending as unfair and argues that someone with a noble purpose would persist even if the goal proved illusory.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun has grown more skilled and self-sufficient, but remains concerned about the dangers ahead and Renee’s determination to sacrifice herself. He uses the fairy tale to test her feelings indirectly, then asks her outright what she would do in the mermaid’s place.
• Renee has adapted to her new leg, become a confident cook, and remains cheerful and attentive to Xia Lun. Her response reveals a firm belief that noble sacrifice is worthwhile even when its reward may be false.
• Their isolation has brought them closer and made them more attuned to one another. Renee’s affection for stories gives Xia Lun a way to approach a difficult subject, though his attempt does not change her resolve.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and purpose: Renee distinguishes self-centered dreams from noble causes and is prepared to endure suffering for the latter.
• Illusion and disillusionment: The mermaid’s story prompts a debate over whether pursuing a goal is meaningful if it turns out to be false.
• Isolation and companionship: The deserted world intensifies the pair’s loneliness while strengthening their bond.
• Foreboding and survival: Xia Lun’s ominous reading of Dunwodlin Tower’s landscape foreshadows a dangerous Pilgrimage ahead.

Key events

• At Dunwodlin Tower, the Black Duke and Feilier complete a Calling Ritual using 132 human sacrifices, intending to summon an Evil Spirit powerful enough to defeat Renee and Xia Lun.
• The ritual’s countermeasures fail. The priests become trapped repeating themselves, and the summoned being’s psychic pressure drives them into madness and kills them.
• The being introduces itself as Prime. It tests Feilier with a coin toss, then offers a bargain: three Ashen Pact Records in exchange for answers and advice. Since the cult has none, Prime asks them to find the remains of Daoist Huang and summon it again.
• Prime reveals that Feilier’s sister and the woman who rescued her are dead, but promises it can restore her sister if Feilier completes the task. It also explains that it perceives past and future rather than the present.
• Prime tells the Black Duke the apocalypse will end, the world will survive, and his position will last at least a century. It refuses to fight his enemies, warning that he cannot pay the price, but leaves a one-use creature made from the priests’ corpses to attack them when the time comes.
• After Prime vanishes, the Black Duke and Feilier survive. They decide to keep their original focus on dealing with Renee rather than immediately pursuing Daoist Huang’s remains.

Character developments and interactions

• Feilier shifts from bored detachment to terror, then cautious hope. She chooses “heads” promptly, showing nerve, and her sister’s fate exposes lingering guilt and grief. Prime’s promise gives her a powerful reason to cooperate.
• The Black Duke remains strategic and composed, but is humbled by Prime’s overwhelming power. He tries to extract useful information and consider asking for help against Renee and Xia Lun; Prime rebukes him and sets firm limits.
• Prime is both terrifying and unexpectedly conversational: it praises Feilier, bargains with the survivors, offers cryptic insight, and provides limited aid while refusing direct intervention.

Significant themes

• The limits of power: Even formidable cult leaders cannot control what they summon.
• Knowledge, time, and perspective: Prime’s ability to perceive past and future challenges ordinary assumptions about time and foresight.
• Guilt and the possibility of redemption: Feilier’s choice to pursue Prime’s task may be driven as much by her sister’s fate as by the cult’s aims.
• Survival through compromise: The survivors accept a dangerous obligation and a mysterious weapon, while continuing their own campaign.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee travel toward Dunwodlin Tower, the site where the Great Cataclysm began. As they approach, the darkness and hostile landscape grow more oppressive.
• At a crossroads, they pass a rusted cage containing three corpses. Renee is frightened by the sight and clings to Xia Lun, though he reminds her that she is better equipped to deal with ghosts.
• They plan to stop at a nearby inn, leave their horse Delis behind, and continue on foot toward the Pilgrimage Site.
• While preparing camp in the inn’s cellar, Xia Lun explains that Dunwodlin Tower is the Temple of Memories’ headquarters, surrounded by a city built over water. He gives Renee an Underwater Breathing Potion for the journey.
• Xia Lun detects three people approaching and goes to investigate alone. He overhears them discussing the Duke’s orders: Xia Lun and Renee are nearby, and the Duke intends to use Spatial Division to trap them if they are found.

Character developments and interactions

• Renee remains playful and affectionate, teasing Xia Lun with ghost stories and seeking comfort when she sees the corpses. But she becomes quiet when Xia Lun says he plans to collect his payment, cure his Soul Curse, and return to his own world. She hides her sadness behind the thought that she may not survive the Pilgrimage.
• Xia Lun is practical and vigilant, planning their route and supplies while keeping Renee safe. His careful response to the approaching strangers shows how seriously he takes the threat.
• The pair’s familiar camp routine and Renee’s easy dependence on Xia Lun show growing closeness. She trusts his judgment, immediately taking a defensive position when he warns her of danger.

Significant themes

• Parting and attachment: Xia Lun’s expected return home weighs on Renee, even as she tries to suppress her feelings.
• Approaching danger: The increasingly oppressive surroundings and the Duke’s men signal that the journey toward the Pilgrimage Site will be perilous.
• The unknown: Ghostly legends, supernatural potions, and the strange city around Dunwodlin Tower reinforce the chapter’s eerie atmosphere.

Key events

• Xia Lun waits in ambush at the inn as three Annihilation Cultists enter. Before he can attack, three ghosts—lost souls drawn to the inn by the crossroads curse—arrive. The Cultists cannot see them.
• The ghosts possess Ron, one of the Cultists, gradually freezing and transforming him into a Half-Evil Spirit. His companions refuse to spend precious Blood Wax to save him and prepare to kill him.
• Xia Lun strikes from Stealth, killing the other two Cultists and Ron, then sweeps down the three ghosts. The kills improve his Stealth and earn him Memory Points.
• A previously undetected stranger speaks from outside, praises Xia Lun, and warns that the Cult’s leaders have used blood sacrifice to summon a creature that can track Xia Lun and Renee. They have roughly four hours before it locates them; entering Dunwodlin Tower will reveal their presence.
• Renee emerges from the cellar armed with her crossbow. The stranger identifies himself as Big Hat Jiavette, a former sage of the Temple of Memories training to become a Flint Dragon. He says he wants to prove he is “more dragon” than Renee, a true half-dragon.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun demonstrates how much his Stealth has improved: he remains hidden from both the Cultists and a highly perceptive newcomer, then dispatches his enemies in a rapid, decisive attack. He remains wary of Jiavette and immediately trains his weapons on him.
• Ron pleads for help as the ghosts corrupt him, but his teammates treat him as expendable. His question—whether the useless deserve to be abandoned—highlights the cruelty of the Cult.
• The other Cultists reveal their callousness by refusing Ron Blood Wax and choosing to kill him rather than risk helping him.
• Renee joins Xia Lun at the door, armed and alert, sharing his suspicion of the stranger.
• Jiavette enters the story as an enigmatic potential ally—or distraction—whose warning creates a strict deadline, while his rivalry with Renee gives the encounter a comic edge.

Significant themes

• Survival and sacrifice: The Cultists prioritize resources and usefulness over loyalty or compassion.
• Power and vulnerability: Xia Lun’s Stealth gives him overwhelming control in combat, while Ron’s transformation shows how quickly anyone can become helpless.
• Urgency and uncertainty: The tracking creature’s four-hour countdown raises the stakes for completing the Pilgrimage.
• Ambition and identity: The Cultists debate ambition’s risks, while Jiavette’s desire to prove his dragon nature introduces a more personal, competitive form of ambition.

Plot points and events

• Renee refuses Jiavette’s proposed contest but agrees to acknowledge that he is more dragonlike. Xia Lun lets Jiavette into the inn rather than forcing him to cooperate.
• Jiavette proposes a contest in Meditation: whoever better imitates the Flint Dragon—“unseeing, unfeeling, and mindless”—has advanced further along its path.
• Jiavette’s meditation makes him almost imperceptible, giving Xia Lun insight into how advanced Stealth may involve abstract forces such as Echo, not just sensory details.
• Renee quickly learns the technique, demonstrating the extraordinary learning ability granted by Higher Wisdom. Xia Lun realizes he can learn skills indirectly through her and then acquire them through her dreams.
• Jiavette wins the contest. He demonstrates a tiny burst of Blind Light, which Renee cannot reproduce; she concedes that he is more dragonlike.
• In return, Jiavette agrees to take them to a secret teleportation point that will let them bypass the city and reach Dunwodlin Tower. He leads them to a stream and says the entrance lies in an underwater cave.
• Along the way, Jiavette explains that he pursues the Flint Dragon Path to survive the apocalypse without eating people or relying on scarce Blood Wax. He says man-eating can help people withstand the darkness, and recounts how his former companions abandoned him after an Evil Spirit injured him.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun balances caution with Renee’s preference for cooperation. He observes Jiavette’s technique, challenges his authority to define the Flint Dragon Path, and recognizes a way to turn Renee’s learning talent into a resource.
• Renee shows quick learning and a willingness to admit defeat. Her attempt to prove herself by eating floorboard exposes her mistaken understanding of the path, while her awkward cry fails to match Jiavette’s dragonfire.
• Jiavette appears both formidable and vulnerable: he has mastered unusual abilities, but his choice of the Flint Dragon Path grew from desperation after his companions abandoned him. He remains calm when describing that betrayal.
• Renee instinctively clutches Xia Lun’s coat when Jiavette mentions being abandoned, hinting at her sensitivity to betrayal and loss.

Significant themes

• Survival and moral compromise: Characters must choose between scarce resources, predation, and radical transformation to endure the apocalypse.
• Learning and exploitation: Renee’s gift is impressive, but Xia Lun immediately considers how to use it for his own advancement.
• The meaning of identity: Jiavette’s path seeks survival by becoming less human, raising the question of whether survival is worth losing feeling and awareness.
• Trust and abandonment: Jiavette’s history contrasts with Renee and Xia Lun’s fragile cooperation.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and Renee follow Dragonkin Jiavette’s directions to an underwater chapel. Protected by Underwater Breathing Potions, they swim through a river and enter the dry chapel through a strange membrane.
• The chapel contains a statue of Nameless, the Saint of Chaos, whom Xia Lun recognizes as one of the Saints he has encountered. Jiavette explains that Nameless governs water, journeys, and memories, and that the Temple of Memories’ sages learn to swim as part of their service.
• Jiavette shows them the chapel’s Teleportation Point, an enchanted silver sphere, and provides a map of Dunwodlin Tower. The point will take them to the tower’s fifty-third floor; they must reach the Pilgrimage Site above, then use a hidden point on the fifty-ninth floor to escape to the Golden Horse Inn.
• Jiavette warns that the Annihilation Cult controls the tower and gives Xia Lun and Renee white Sage Robes as disguises. They have about forty-six hours before the cult can locate them.
• Xia Lun questions Jiavette’s motives. Jiavette says he wants to help save the world, but also asks them to find the Temple of Memories’ high priestess, Elisa, and ask whether she regrets abandoning him. Xia Lun jokingly interprets this as a reason to kill her; Jiavette clarifies that he only wants an answer.
• Before using the Teleportation Point, Xia Lun checks it with Daoist Huang’s Eyeball. The divination confirms it is not a trap, and he decides Jiavette is probably trustworthy.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains wary and practical: he evaluates Jiavette’s information, plans to avoid combat, and verifies the Teleportation Point before trusting it. He reflects that, despite growing stronger, he is not yet powerful enough to fight his way through overwhelming enemies. His memory of swimming also hints at a painful connection to his Soul Curse.
• Renee shows trust and solidarity with Xia Lun. She shares his suspicion of betrayal and supports his joking threat toward Elisa; she also adopts the Sage Robe disguise.
• Jiavette proves helpful while revealing a personal wound: he was abandoned by Elisa and wants to know whether she regrets it. His openness and practical aid make him seem more trustworthy, though Xia Lun remains cautious.
• Their exchanges mix tactical planning with humor, especially Xia Lun’s deadpan claim that they can swim for a month and his overzealous promise to avenge Jiavette.

Significant themes

• Trust and caution: Xia Lun must decide whether to rely on an unfamiliar ally, balancing Jiavette’s assistance against the danger of being deceived.
• Betrayal and abandonment: Jiavette’s request—and Renee’s strong reaction to betrayal—makes personal loyalties a recurring concern.
• Preparation and limits: Disguise, maps, timing, and careful verification matter because Xia Lun cannot yet defeat every threat directly.
• Memory and pilgrimage: Nameless’s domains connect swimming and near-drowning with recollection, while the journey through Dunwodlin Tower is tied to a religious pilgrimage and the restoration of light.

Chapter summary

• Preparing to enter the tower: Renee asks Xia Lun to explain his Single-Action Revolver. He shows her how its cylinder and hammer work, but refuses to let her handle it. Their conversation turns to a deadly chance-based game: Xia Lun says that sensing the gun’s balance could reveal where the live round is, and insists that cheating is justified when survival is at stake. Renee takes his advice to heart, learning to treat every tactical advantage as necessary in a fight for life.
• Entering Dunwodlin Tower: Xia Lun and Renee teleport to the tower’s fifty-third floor. Though he has met the first objective, Xia Lun declines to leave the script, choosing to stay until he completes the Pilgrimage and lifts his Soul Curse. His new objective—help or prevent Renee from completing the Final Pilgrimage—is so broad that he sees little real constraint in it.
• Climbing toward the Pilgrimage Site: The pair cross the tower’s maze-like floors while avoiding notice. They overhear Annihilation Cult guards discussing the Black Duke’s departure, the Merchant’s authority, and the Temple of Memories’ use of human blood to make Blood Wax. Alarmed that the sages may be capturing people, Xia Lun and Renee extinguish their candle and continue under Stealth. They reach the fifty-ninth floor and locate an Evacuation Teleport Point, securing a possible escape route.
• Doubts about Jiavette and preparations: Xia Lun suspects their progress has been suspiciously easy and questions Jiavette’s sudden change in outlook and his pressure on them to act quickly. Renee acknowledges that Jiavette may have his own agenda, but argues that she has no choice but to continue: completing the Pilgrimage is her duty. After three ominous bell tolls, Xia Lun prepares a drastic backup plan, planting plastic explosives along their route and against the tower’s outer shell. Renee is unsettled by his apparent enthusiasm for destruction, but dismisses her concern and eagerly learns from him.
• A new threat: The pair resume climbing in Stealth. On the sixty-first floor, a familiar voice suddenly screams for help, interrupting their progress.

Character developments and interactions

Xia Lun remains cautious and resourceful, distrustful of how smoothly events are unfolding and intent on preserving an escape option. Renee grows more trusting of his judgment and absorbs his pragmatic lessons, even when his behavior unsettles her. Their partnership is marked by Xia Lun’s protective refusal to lend her his weapon, Renee’s commitment to her duty, and their shared decision to continue despite their suspicions.

Significant themes

The chapter emphasizes survival through pragmatism, including deception and cheating when lives are at stake; duty versus uncertainty, as Renee presses forward despite the possibility of a trap; and trust and interpretation, as Renee repeatedly gives Xia Lun the benefit of the doubt while he questions others’ motives. The planted explosives also hint at how easily preparation and survival instinct can verge on destructive obsession.

Plot points

• Xia Lun and Renee sneak through the Temple of Memories’ ritual chamber, where Sages are draining the First Mate’s blood to make Blood Wax. The First Mate learns that his sister, Elisa, ordered his execution; devastated, he stops resisting.
• They reach the tower’s sixty-second floor and find a luminous, rotating sphere that appears to be a Pilgrimage Site. A giant named Broker guards it.
• Xia Lun and Renee approach openly after deciding they cannot safely kill Broker outright. Broker destroys an Obsidian Scepter, claiming it was the space-sealing device and that they are free to negotiate.
• Broker proposes a political bargain: he wants a personal fief if the world survives. In exchange, the Black Duke would cooperate with Xia Lun and Renee to eliminate the Oracle Prophet, switch to the Pilgrimage Faction, and help them oppose the Fusion Faction’s hardliners.
• Xia Lun insists Renee complete the Pilgrimage at the tower. Broker reveals that the apparent Pilgrimage Site is an illusion concealing a superweapon—and that there is no real Pilgrimage Site in Dunwodlin Tower.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun shows pragmatism and confidence as a negotiator, reading Broker’s coded intentions and protecting Renee by answering on her behalf. He is curious about the First Mate’s repeated appearances across worlds but feels no sympathy for him.
• Renee is disturbed by the First Mate’s torture but obeys Xia Lun’s instruction not to intervene. She is also out of her depth during the negotiations, relying on Xia Lun to represent her.
• Broker presents himself as a cautious, ambitious dealmaker. He reassures the pair by destroying the supposed sealing device, then uses the negotiation to reveal the Black Duke’s conditional offer.
• The First Mate’s anguish at Elisa’s betrayal marks a sharp emotional reversal: he goes from frantic resistance to silent surrender.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and abandonment: The First Mate is broken by learning that his sister ordered his death.
• Trust and calculated risk: Xia Lun and Renee must decide whether Broker is bargaining honestly or luring them into a trap.
• Political opportunism: Broker seeks personal power, while the Black Duke’s proposed alliance is conditional and strategically useful.
• Appearance versus reality: The sphere that seems to be the Pilgrimage Site is only a disguise for a weapon, overturning the pair’s assumptions about their mission.

Key events

• Xia Lun and Renee meet the giant Broker, who says the Black Duke has abandoned his plan to fuse with Evil Spirits and instead intends to escape the world with help from a being from the Other Dimension.
• The Broker reveals that this being is searching for Daoist Huang’s Remains—which Xia Lun secretly possesses. Alarmed, Xia Lun hides his reaction and worries the nearby Spinning Orb may detect the remains.
• The Broker explains that prophecies made with the orb confirm there is no Pilgrimage Site for Nameless, the Saint of Chaos. Xia Lun prevents him from using it, fearing it could expose him.
• Renee asks whether Nameless might still be alive, since Saints normally leave Pilgrimage Sites behind. The Broker takes the idea seriously and speculates that Nameless may be the Forgotten Saint worshipped by the Annihilation Cult, and perhaps responsible for the approaching apocalypse.
• Xia Lun considers that the Forgotten Saint may actually be a separate, fourth Saint and that the locations of Renee’s Pilgrimage Sites could help identify him.
• With the orb seemingly about to search for targets, Xia Lun is eager to leave. Renee stops elaborating, and the Broker offers her an Oath Moon Ring to formalize the secret agreement.
• Just as Renee reaches for the ring, Grand Sage Elisa arrives and recognizes both Renee and Xia Lun.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun stays composed despite learning that a powerful Other-Dimensional being is looking for the remains he carries. He uses cautious questioning and misdirection to avoid exposing his secret, while growing increasingly determined to escape before the orb can detect him.
• Renee contributes a sharp deduction about Nameless potentially being alive, but also notices Xia Lun’s anxiety and chooses not to prolong the discussion. She appears willing to decide for herself whether to accept the agreement.
• The Broker is revealed as a pragmatic, information-seeking negotiator. Though he represents the Black Duke’s new plan, he is intrigued by Renee’s reasoning and willing to exchange theories as well as negotiate.
• The Black Duke, absent from the meeting, has shifted from trying to save the world through fusion to seeking escape—an apparent betrayal that alarms Renee and Xia Lun.
• Elisa’s sudden arrival interrupts the contract and threatens to expose the secret meeting.

Significant themes

• Self-preservation versus responsibility: the Duke’s escape plan contrasts with Renee’s effort to complete the Pilgrimage and save the world.
• Knowledge as power: the Broker treats information as a source of leverage and profit, while Xia Lun uses investigation to avoid combat.
• Uncertainty and hidden history: the missing Pilgrimage Site raises questions about Nameless’s fate and the identity of the Forgotten Saint.
• Secrecy and trust: Xia Lun conceals his possession of the remains, while the proposed contract depends on keeping the alliance undisclosed.

Key plot points and events

• Elisa confronts the Broker, accusing him of conspiring with Renee to take the Light Spiral. Xia Lun insists their group has no interest in it, easing the immediate standoff.
• Elisa explains that the Light Spiral supports the reconstructed Dunwodlin Tower; if it breaks, the tower could collapse into spatial and temporal chaos. Xia Lun recognizes a troubling mismatch between this tower and the ruined one described in his scenario briefing.
• Elisa moves to inspect the Spiral. Xia Lun stops her by invoking Jiavette and her younger brother, whom she apparently abandoned and turned into Blood Wax. Elisa denies regret, arguing that sacrificing “useless” people can serve the greater good.
• The Broker says the group cannot leave because his Oath-Moon Ring works only in the tower, and their deal must remain secret from Elisa. Xia Lun is left choosing between risking Elisa’s inspection or attacking her and the Broker.
• The Light Spiral suddenly activates. Xia Lun and Renee brace for an attack, but the light and vibration subside. The Broker claims it periodically targets them and will not lock on again for roughly forty hours.
• When the Spiral’s glow goes out, Xia Lun sees its true form: a mass of human eyes staring at him. A voice declares, “You were far away, but I found you.” The sphere explodes, the floor blows apart, and an Echo strikes Xia Lun.

Character developments

• Xia Lun stays composed under pressure and tries to manage the standoff through negotiation and threats, but is forced to confront the Spiral’s apparent ability to find him.
• Elisa shifts from hostility to wary cooperation once she believes the group will not threaten the Spiral. Her callous admission about abandoning Jiavette and her brother reveals a ruthless, utilitarian outlook.
• Renee remains close to Xia Lun and instinctively shields him when the Spiral flares.
• The Broker uses reassurance and promises of profit to calm Elisa, while keeping the terms of his proposed deal secret.

Significant themes

• Betrayal and uneasy alliances: The characters’ cooperation is conditional, shaped by conflicting loyalties and hidden plans.
• Sacrifice and moral cost: Elisa treats abandoned people as acceptable losses for a greater cause, prompting Xia Lun to challenge her justification.
• Uncertainty and concealed danger: The tower’s history and the Spiral’s behavior do not match what the characters expect; apparent relief quickly turns into an attack.
• Protection and loyalty: Renee’s instinctive defense of Xia Lun contrasts with Elisa’s willingness to discard people she considers useless.

Character interactions

• Elisa and the Broker argue over betrayal and the Light Spiral, then briefly negotiate once their immediate interests appear aligned.
• Xia Lun challenges Elisa over Jiavette and her brother, exposing her emotional defenses and provoking a tense exchange.
• The Broker tries to prevent conflict and control who knows about his deal.
• Renee physically protects Xia Lun during the Spiral’s apparent activation, before the real attack begins.

Plot and key events

• Dunwodlin Tower suddenly collapses, sending Xia Lun, Renee, the Cultists, and the tower’s burning wreckage plunging from over ten thousand meters.
• During the fall, Xia Lun follows a mysterious connection to Prime, a vast being in the Other Dimension. Prime attacks him with a curse, but Xia Lun deflects it with Curse-Reversal Strike. The reflected curse wounds Prime, though Xia Lun’s arm is destroyed in the process and then regenerates.
• Xia Lun learns that the connection carries knowledge between them. Using Night Plume’s Soul Siphon effect, he severs the connection, temporarily ending Prime’s threat.
• Xia Lun realizes Renee cannot survive the fall. Renee catches up to him, conjures a radiant umbrella that slows their descent, and raises a Holy Shield to protect them from the burning debris.
• They spot Elisa near the Light Spiral. Fearing that her touch could reconnect them to Prime, Xia Lun aims his gun at her.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains resourceful under extreme danger: he identifies Prime’s curse, counters it, and uses Night Plume to cut their connection. His focus shifts from his own survival to saving Renee, and he is relieved when her powers give them a chance.
• Renee proves stronger after completing her Pilgrimage. She refuses to abandon Xia Lun and demonstrates that her abilities can protect them both.
• Prime is revealed as an immensely powerful, otherworldly entity that attacks through curses and appears unaffected by ordinary distance. Xia Lun’s counterattack surprises it and briefly weakens their link.
• Elisa appears to be approaching the Light Spiral, creating an immediate new danger for the falling pair.

Significant themes

• Survival through ingenuity: Xia Lun and Renee rely on quick thinking and complementary abilities amid catastrophe.
• Connection as both danger and knowledge: Xia Lun’s link to Prime exposes him to its attack but also conveys information—and can be severed with the right weapon.
• Trust and loyalty: Renee’s declaration that she will not leave Xia Lun behind turns a desperate fall into a shared effort.
• Power has limits: Xia Lun can injure Prime but is still vastly outmatched, while even their escape depends on Renee’s strength and timing.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun waits for Elisa to cross the Light Umbrella before shooting. With Renee’s support, he wounds her, but her real form—a mass of tentacles—survives and reaches the Light Spiral.
• The Giant Broker intervenes, shielding Elisa and arguing that she can restore Dunwodlin Tower. Elisa touches the Spiral, and Prime’s weapon rewinds the disaster: the Tower reappears, though its interior is warped and jumbled.
• Xia Lun realizes he must destroy the Light Spiral to break Prime’s connection to him. As survivors regroup below it, Prime demands twelve sacrifices so it can project more power.
• The Giant Broker tries to approach Elisa, but she kills him, then orders the Cultists to make sacrifices. Xia Lun detonates explosives he had planted, while Renee raises a Holy Shield to protect those nearby.
• Xia Lun turns the blast into Final Ash Fire, sweeping it through the Cultists and freezing many into brittle, shattered bodies. He then sends the Black Flame toward the Light Spiral.
• In the darkness beyond the scene, Prime studies Xia Lun, recognizes a possible opportunity through Elisa, and makes a risky move: it causes the Light Spiral to explode.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun acts decisively and strategically, using explosives and his fire power together to counter Prime’s dependence on sacrifices. His goal remains to sever Prime’s link to him.
• Renee demonstrates complete trust in Xia Lun: she follows his orders without hesitation, first blessing him and later shielding the group. She joins him at his side after the attack.
• Elisa is revealed as an Evil Spirit whose human appearance is only a covering for her tentacled body. She chooses Prime’s cause over her former allies and kills the Giant Broker.
• The Giant Broker prioritizes survival and tries to preserve the agreement with Xia Lun, but Elisa’s betrayal ends his life. His death highlights the gap in strength between members of the Fourfold Pilgrimage.
• Prime is powerful but constrained in how much force it can project. It adapts by seeking sacrifices and then gambles on exploiting Elisa and Xia Lun’s unusual nature.

Significant themes

• Trust and betrayal: Renee’s loyalty contrasts with Elisa’s betrayal of her colleagues and the Giant Broker.
• Power and its limits: Prime can reshape reality, yet its ability to act directly is restricted; Xia Lun exploits that weakness.
• Sacrifice and survival: Prime demands human lives to regain influence, while Xia Lun turns its plan against the Cultists.
• Calculated risk: Both Xia Lun and Prime make dangerous moves in a struggle where hesitation could be fatal.

Key events

• Xia Lun destroys the Light Spiral, cutting Prime’s connection to the world, but the blast’s Echo overwhelms him. Curse-Reversal Strike fails because the Echo is not a curse.
• Prime’s final attack distorts Xia Lun’s perception and intensifies his connection to the Planet. He sees the world as living flesh, briefly regains his ordinary sight, then witnesses the land rise as a vast tide of fleshly Evil Spirits.
• As Dunwodlin Tower collapses, Xia Lun uses Final Ash to create a devastating fire tornado, killing many Annihilation Cultists and severely damaging the tower. His power grows stronger, and it gains the ability to inflict Fragility.
• Facing the approaching, seemingly unstoppable Evil Spirits, Xia Lun sends Renee away with his blood vial, weapons, and supplies. He then stops resisting the supernatural pull and lets his viewpoint rise beyond the city and into space.
• Xia Lun discovers that the Planet is itself a living being made of flesh: humans are its “rebellious flesh,” while Evil Spirits represent humanity’s natural state. The Pilgrimage System imitates the Planet’s vast Evil Flesh Codex.
• This revelation earns him the perk Unveil the Veil, increasing his Perception while permanently worsening his mental state. He also glimpses the Pilgrimage Sites arranged in a vast ritual pattern and senses that the Planet’s enormous heart is wounded.
• He realizes Prime engineered the revelation to trap him: while he is bound to the Planet’s viewpoint, Elisa is attacking his physical body.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains resourceful under pressure, destroying the Cultists and searching for a way to stop the approaching threat. His decision to surrender resistance is a calculated gamble that uncovers the world’s truth, but leaves him dangerously vulnerable.
• Renee protects Xia Lun with her Holy Shield and urges him to escape the collapsing tower. She is shaken by the catastrophe and refuses to abandon him, despite his insistence that she flee.
• Elisa, previously thought to be alive, becomes Prime’s weapon against Xia Lun, attacking him while he is trapped in his expanded perception.
• Xia Lun and Renee’s bond is emphasized through their mutual concern: Renee stays at his side, while he gives her his equipment and a chance to survive.

Significant themes

• Perception and truth: The flesh-filled visions are not hallucinations; ordinary reality is the illusion.
• Humanity and monstrosity: The chapter overturns the distinction between humans and Evil Spirits, presenting humans as aberrant growths on a living Planet.
• Power and cost: Xia Lun’s growing abilities bring increased perception but lasting mental deterioration.
• Sacrifice and trust: Xia Lun risks himself to protect Renee, while she struggles to leave him behind.
• Cosmic danger: The Planet itself is alive, wounded, and bound up in the Pilgrimage System—and Prime exploits Xia Lun’s discovery to attack him.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun breaks free of Flesh Perspective just as Renee is carrying him down the tower stairs. Elisa ambushes them, but Xia Lun shoots her with the Revolver, interrupts her attack, and drives his sword toward her heart.
• Elisa uses the Temple of Memories’ Death Prophecy to avoid the thrust and impales Xia Lun, draining his vitality. Renee strikes Elisa with a holy spear, giving Xia Lun the opening to drain her in turn. Elisa dies, severing Prime’s connection to the world and earning Xia Lun Memory Points and a free attribute point.
• The danger remains: a vast horde of transformed Cultists blocks their escape, the tower is collapsing, and mountain-sized flesh Evil Spirits are closing in. Renee fights the horde with a dramatically empowered holy weapon, while Xia Lun tries to buy her time.
• Refusing to let Renee face the danger alone, Xia Lun deliberately enters Flesh Perspective and uses Symptomology to reach the flesh Planet. He sees a vision of its future: the Planet, its moons, and a star align; a beam strikes the star, triggering the Planet’s catastrophic rupture and eventual explosion.
• The vision unlocks Knowledge, identifies Xia Lun as a true Secret Art scholar, and raises all his standard attributes by one. He also discovers that he has formed an Attraction with the flesh Planet.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun acts decisively despite his injuries, defeating Elisa through a combination of gunfire, swordsmanship, and Life Drain. He then risks a deeper encounter with the Planet to find a way to stop the advancing threat.
• Renee proves far stronger than Xia Lun realized and takes the lead against the horde. She insists she will not abandon him, revealing how deeply her earlier flight still weighs on her.
• Xia Lun and Renee argue over whether she should escape without him. He tells her he can return to life, but she refuses to leave, choosing to stay at his side.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and courage: Renee’s refusal to run contrasts with her past and shows her commitment to Xia Lun.
• Sacrifice and survival: Both characters face overwhelming danger and risk themselves to protect one another.
• Knowledge and transformation: Xia Lun’s vision expands his understanding of reality and marks his transition into a Secret Art scholar.
• Cosmic horror and fate: The Planet’s immense scale and seemingly destined destruction dwarf the immediate catastrophe in the tower.

Key plot points and events

• Renee fights her way through the Evil Spirits—former Sages of the Temple of Memories—while dragging the unconscious Xia Lun toward the stairs. Though badly hurt and exhausted, she keeps advancing, trading injuries for kills.
• Xia Lun awakens briefly in a mental state called Flesh Perspective. He reasons that Knowledge is scarce and can be taken by killing, meaning Secret Art Scholars may hunt one another. He decides to keep his own Knowledge secret and plans to return to help Renee.
• In battle, Renee reaches a focused, meditative state, instinctively mastering the weapon techniques Guiweite taught her. She kills every Sage-turned-Evil Spirit in the tower and finds the space ahead empty.
• Renee discovers that the Annihilation Cult’s remaining fighters have regrouped downstairs and are preparing defenses. Too weak to break through, she considers escaping through a hole with the Light Umbrella.
• Before she can act, a wall disappears, revealing another floor. Juke, the giant who had called himself Juke, appears beside a Teleportation Point and offers her a way through.

Character developments

• Renee proves her extraordinary growth under pressure, turning taught techniques into instinct and defeating overwhelming odds. Her concern remains focused on Xia Lun’s safety, and she takes pride in having kept his trust. Despite her victory, she is physically at her limit.
• Xia Lun gains a more cautious understanding of Knowledge and the possible rivalry among those who possess it. He resolves to conceal his advantage, while still intending to come to Renee’s aid.
• Juke reappears unexpectedly as a potential rescuer, though his motives and the nature of the passage remain unclear.

Significant themes

• Endurance and sacrifice: Renee accepts wounds and pain to protect Xia Lun and keep moving.
• Mastery through focus: Her breakthrough comes when combat becomes as inward and disciplined as meditation.
• Power, scarcity, and secrecy: Xia Lun’s discovery that Knowledge can be seized suggests a dangerous competition among its holders.
• Trust and loyalty: Renee’s determination not to betray Xia Lun’s faith drives her through the battle.

Character interactions

• Renee protects the unconscious Xia Lun throughout the fight and checks on him immediately after clearing the tower.
• Unable to ask him directly for guidance, Renee imagines how Xia Lun would decide what to do next.
• The cultists discuss Renee’s terrifying reputation as “the butcher of Dunwodlin,” while arguing over whether to fight or flee.
• Juke addresses Renee as “Your Highness” and opens a route to the Teleportation Point, startling her.

Key plot points

• As Dunwodlin Tower begins collapsing, the Broker urges Renee to escape through a Teleportation Point. Renee distrusts him and questions his motives, but follows after he enters first, carrying the unconscious Xia Lun.
• The point leads to the ruined Golden Horse Inn, the evacuation site Jiavette had designated. The Mountain of Flesh has overwhelmed the inn but is dormant, and Jiavette says it will eventually settle back into hills and mounds.
• Jiavette asks about Elisa. Renee relays Elisa’s words and hesitation; the Broker explains that a meteor killed her. Grieving, Jiavette withdraws into meditation.
• Renee suspects the Broker’s original bargain would help the otherworldly entity Prime, Xia Lun’s enemy, and prepares to attack him. Instead, the Broker abruptly declares Prime the true enemy and offers to turn the Annihilation Cult against the Fusion Faction’s plan. In return, he asks to become the Black Duke’s successor after the apocalypse. Renee accepts and tells him to get to work.
• The Broker also says Feilier may have a Panacea capable of healing Xia Lun, and suggests it could be obtained with the help of survivors there.
• Before leaving, Jiavette suddenly declares Xia Lun a “True Dragon,” believing his breathing makes the surrounding flesh, wind, and earth move in rhythm. Renee dismisses his theory as madness but sees no immediate danger to Xia Lun.
• Renee carries Xia Lun back to the Crossroads inn and finds their horse, Delis, safe in the basement.

Character developments and interactions

• Renee remains fiercely protective of Xia Lun and cautious of the Broker, testing his claims before accepting his revised offer. Her willingness to trust him is conditional on his new opposition to Prime.
• The Broker shifts sides pragmatically, seeking both protection from Prime and political advantage after the apocalypse. He tries to win Renee’s trust through promises, information, and flattery.
• Jiavette reveals a personal connection to Elisa and quietly grieves her death. His devotion to Xia Lun intensifies into a fervent belief that Xia Lun embodies the highest state of the Flint Dragon Path.
• Xia Lun remains unconscious and unable to participate, but his breathing becomes the focus of Jiavette’s mystical interpretation.
• Renee and the Broker briefly unite over survival, while Renee and Jiavette share the task of protecting and caring for Xia Lun.

Significant themes

• Survival and uncertainty: Renee must make risky choices without knowing whom or what she can trust.
• Loyalty and betrayal: Renee refuses to endanger Xia Lun for a bargain, while the Broker’s loyalties shift with his interests.
• Grief and meaning: Jiavette’s response to Elisa’s death and his interpretation of Xia Lun show how people seek purpose amid catastrophe.
• Power and belief: The chapter leaves open whether Xia Lun’s influence is truly supernatural or whether Jiavette’s conviction shapes what he sees.