Chapter Summaries

• Xia Lun identifies the threat: Using Flesh Sight, Xia Lun sees the banquet hall as a mass of living flesh. King Guewen and Renee remain unchanged, but several apparently human guests stand out among the monsters. Xia Lun realizes they are connected by identical smiles and, with Heightened Focus, traces invisible controlling threads to Chief Knight Guiweite. He concludes she is the secret Forgotten Saint and begins tracking her, intending to learn her weaknesses and prepare a trap.
• Renee and Xia Lun are honored: During the King’s speech, he names Xia Lun treasurer and Count of Longerias, then announces that Renee will marry him. Renee is overjoyed that she, Xia Lun, and her father are alive, but fears their happiness may not last. She resolves to help defeat the Forgotten Saint and protect their future.
• The King and Xia Lun keep their discovery quiet: As the celebration begins, the King tells Xia Lun that he has identified the Oracle Prophet—standing beside Guiweite—and has sent someone to follow him. Xia Lun reveals Guiweite’s identity. When Guiweite approaches, the King and Xia Lun speak cryptically about theatrical endings and revelations, while Renee struggles to understand their conversation.
• Guiweite reports an approaching force: Guiweite tells the King that an advance party of roughly five hundred Lightbearers is heading for the New Royal Capital. The King says they are coming to fight Evil Spirits and orders that they be left alone. Guiweite congratulates Renee and Xia Lun before departing, leaving Renee relieved.
• The plan and deadline: Xia Lun says the Planet will explode in five days. The King proposes holding the wedding in six days and hopes to gather enough forces the next day to defeat Guiweite and the Oracle Prophet. He also thanks Xia Lun for persuading him to abandon self-sacrifice. The King reminds Xia Lun that tradition forbids him from living with Renee before the wedding; Xia Lun and Renee insist defeating the Saint matters more.
  Character developments and interactions: Xia Lun shifts from suspicion to a concrete plan against Guiweite, while continuing to cooperate with the King. Renee’s joy at the engagement is tempered by fear and a renewed determination to fight. King Guewen appears composed and strategic, balancing the celebration with preparations for the looming crisis. Guiweite remains outwardly loyal and courteous even as Xia Lun recognizes her as the hidden enemy.
  Themes: The chapter contrasts celebration and impending catastrophe, explores the fragility of happiness, and highlights deception beneath appearances. It also frames the coming confrontation as a staged revelation, with the King’s theater metaphor suggesting that truth—and how it is revealed—matters to its witnesses.

Key plot points and events

• Five days before the planet’s predicted destruction, the “Silver-Robed Tailor” and his apprentices wait beside a road near the New Royal Capital as a column of Lightbearers approaches.
• Scout Buster greets them and politely refuses their offered bread, explaining that Lightbearers accept gifts only after helping someone defeat an Evil Spirit. He describes their creed: act fairly, help the weak, and dare to fight evil.
• An unnatural chill and sudden darkness announce a catastrophe. Scarlet, living tendrils rise from the earth and spread across the sky, while their influence begins to unravel people’s bodies and minds.
• Buster shelters the tailor and his apprentices beneath the Holy Flame Battle Standard. A colossal golden beam from the Royal Palace destroys the fleshy dome, but its strange threads drain people—including the tailor’s apprentice Jasmine—leaving her dead.
• Panic overwhelms the road and the Lightbearers. Buster draws his sword and declares the beam itself an Evil Spirit. His words and the banner’s holy light restore the group’s resolve.
• The Lightbearers, joined by the tailor and his surviving apprentice, prepare to advance against the distant beam.

Character developments

• Buster shifts from a friendly, principled scout to a frightened but resolute leader. Despite his fear, he rallies others and takes responsibility when familiar sources of protection may no longer be enough.
• The tailor begins distrustful of heroic reputations, but witnessing Buster’s courage changes his view. He moves from wary observer to participant.
• The male apprentice admires Buster and the Lightbearers, then is traumatized by Jasmine’s death; he nevertheless joins the tailor in seeking safety with Buster.
• The female apprentice, Jasmine, initially mocks heroic stories and tries to protect her teacher, but she is killed by the beam’s draining influence.

Significant themes

• Character is proven by choices: Buster insists that words and reputations matter less than what people do in a crisis.
• Courage amid despair: Heroism means acting justly even when hope, powerful protectors, and certainty have disappeared.
• Light versus corrupted power: The Holy Flame’s warm light protects and steadies people, while the golden beam appears magnificent but behaves like a predatory, mind-consuming force.
• Ordinary people face catastrophe: The apocalypse transforms a routine morning into mass death and panic, forcing civilians and soldiers alike to choose how they respond.

Character interactions

• The tailor’s caution contrasts with the male apprentice’s enthusiastic trust, while Jasmine instinctively steps between her teacher and danger.
• Buster answers suspicion without anger, earning growing trust through his conduct rather than his claims.
• After Jasmine’s death, the tailor supports his surviving apprentice and leads him toward Buster.
• Buster’s speech and example steady the Lightbearers and inspire the tailor and his apprentice to stand with them.

Key plot points and events

• An hour before the Beam erupts, Renee wakes and puts on the Blood Vial containing Xia Lun’s blood, then dresses and prepares to communicate by writing.
• King Guewen arrives in armor and says the plan has gone wrong. Xia Lun is keeping the Forgotten Saint occupied, and Renee must help elsewhere. His insistence on separating her from Xia Lun makes Renee suspicious.
• Renee notices the palace is eerily deserted and considers that her father himself may be the Forgotten Saint.
• To test her theory, she asks who wrote the Annihilation Cult’s scriptures. The King answers readily that the Black Duke’s ancestors did—an answer the Forgotten Saint would know, but the King should not. Renee recognizes that her suspicion is confirmed.
• Renee is devastated by the realization that her father is the figure behind the Dark Doomsday and that the Pilgrimage he proposed may have been a lie. She nevertheless steadies herself, resolves to warn Xia Lun and stop her father from destroying the planet, and smashes the Blood Vial to signal Xia Lun.

Character developments

• Renee moves from wary obedience to sharp investigation, then faces a profound crisis of faith. Though her lifelong purpose collapses, she chooses to act rather than surrender to despair.
• King Guewen appears calm and concerned, but his evasive instructions and revealing knowledge expose his true identity as the Forgotten Saint.
• Xia Lun, though absent, remains Renee’s priority: she risks breaking the vial so he can sense the warning.

Significant themes

• Truth versus comforting illusion: Renee chooses painful reality over preserving a beautiful but false dream.
• Faith and purpose under pressure: She questions whether her life’s mission and sacrifices have been manipulated.
• Resilience and chosen meaning: Even if the Pilgrimage was false, her experiences with Xia Lun were real, giving her a reason to keep fighting.
• Deception and authority: Guewen’s royal status masks the threat he poses.

Character interactions

• Renee communicates with her father through written notes; his efforts to direct her away from Xia Lun deepen her suspicion.
• Renee tests Guewen with a question about the Annihilation Cult, and his confident answer confirms her theory.
• Renee’s final action—the vial’s destruction—is an urgent, indirect attempt to alert Xia Lun while confronting her father’s plan.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun secretly tails Guiweite, convinced she is the Forgotten Saint. Using blood and hair as remote observation points, he keeps watch on Guiweite while also monitoring Renee and King Guewen.
• With King Guewen and Purple Robe, Xia Lun sets an ambush in a Watchtower. But when soldiers storm the tower, Guiweite has vanished—and so has Xia Lun’s tracking trail.
• Xia Lun discovers that the blood vial he gave Renee has been crushed. Through the remaining blood, he sees her confronting King Guewen, who reveals that he has multiple bodies and is the Forgotten Saint.
• Guewen destroys Xia Lun’s blood-based viewpoint with golden lightning. Back in the Watchtower, Xia Lun finds the soldiers unnaturally vacant and Guewen openly hostile. Guewen has also blocked Xia Lun’s attempt to teleport to Renee by trapping the blood on her hand in lightning.
• While Xia Lun slowly weakens the restraint, he and Renee ask Guewen the same questions in unison. Guewen explains that he plans to unite the authority of the three Saints, merge with the Planet, and replace its consciousness in order to gain power on a cosmic scale. He claims the Planet’s warning that it would explode was false.
• Guewen admits he staged events to make Xia Lun and Renee witnesses to his grand plan. He brought his scheme forward after Xia Lun recognized Guiweite’s true nature.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun shows caution and ingenuity, setting contingencies and using his new remote-sensing ability to protect allies. Though caught off guard by Guewen’s betrayal, he stays focused on reaching Renee and quietly works to free the blood needed to teleport.
• Renee remains defiant despite being restrained and isolated. Her synchronized questions with Xia Lun underscore their close understanding and trust.
• King Guewen is revealed as the true antagonist and Forgotten Saint. Beneath his gracious, sickly appearance, he is ambitious, theatrical, and convinced that replacing the Planet’s will is worth the risk.
• Guiweite disappears before the ambush can catch her, leaving her role unresolved.
• Guewen’s revelation turns Xia Lun’s supposed alliance with the King into a direct confrontation, while his attempt to separate Xia Lun and Renee contrasts with the pair’s evident bond.

Significant themes

• Trust and deception: Guewen’s kindness and promises conceal a long-prepared betrayal; Xia Lun’s faith in Renee proves harder to undermine.
• Ambition versus survival: Guewen sees planetary transformation as a route to greatness, while the danger and consequences remain contested.
• Sacrifice and agency: Renee’s past role in the Pilgrimage and her present resistance contrast with Guewen’s plan to use others as instruments.
• Performance and spectacle: Guewen treats the confrontation as a play, valuing witnesses as much as his victory.

Key plot points and events

• Shackled and drained of her Holy Flame, Renee questions King Guewen about the Tombdeep Crusaders’ invasion, partly to buy time and partly to learn why the war began.
• Guewen explains that after the Flint Dragon Expedition, he sought to strengthen his authority over Order by imposing a shared, hive-like consciousness. Tombdeep and Renee’s mother, First Bloom, opposed him; Tombdeep invaded the kingdom to stop him, and Guewen killed both Saints.
• Guewen dismisses Renee’s grief for her mother, arguing that she never knew her. Renee stays outwardly composed, still searching for a chance to escape and save Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun breaks free of the King’s restraint and tries to reach Renee through a drop of blood, but golden threads drawn from the city form a barrier around the palace and block him. He realizes the cocoon gathering there could produce a beam powerful enough to destroy the planet.
• Guewen taunts Xia Lun and reveals that he needs Renee as a sacrifice to reach the planet’s core. Xia Lun prepares to fight, using his power over flesh to reshape the landscape and cover the cocoon with a protective canopy.
• Xia Lun kills the soldiers and bishop, but Guewen restores them—and can manipulate flesh himself. Xia Lun attacks Guewen, yet the King subtly weakens the canopy, allowing the beam to burst through and shatter it.
• Guewen hints that the planet’s core entrance and his true body are beneath his throne. He continues speaking through multiple bodies, then sends Clockwork Court Guards and resurrected soldiers against Xia Lun. Xia Lun detonates the explosives he planted.

Character developments

• Renee remains defiant and resourceful despite being restrained. Her questions reveal both her desire to understand her family’s past and her determination to protect Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun keeps his anger in check long enough to plan, then commits to a desperate, large-scale counterattack when his rescue route is blocked. His concern for Renee remains central.
• King Guewen reveals himself as a calculating, megalomaniacal enemy who sees people as instruments for consolidating power. His calm, talkative manner masks his control over the city, the palace, and flesh itself.

Significant themes

• Control versus individual will: Guewen’s hive-consciousness scheme aims to erase independent thought, while his opponents resist being reduced to tools.
• Power and manipulation: Guewen turns people, the city’s energy, and even Xia Lun’s protective efforts to his advantage.
• Family, grief, and attachment: Guewen tries to deny Renee’s bond with her mother, but Renee’s questions show that the past still matters to her.
• Time and sacrifice: Renee’s danger and the planet-threatening beam force Xia Lun to choose between rescue and preventing catastrophe.

Character interactions

• Renee uses conversation with her father to delay him and gather information, while challenging his account of the war and his dismissal of her mother.
• Guewen taunts Xia Lun, tries to unsettle him with news of Renee’s danger, and boasts of his invincibility.
• Xia Lun answers Guewen’s manipulation with planning and violence, but Guewen counters by restoring his fighters and sabotaging Xia Lun’s defenses.
• The chapter ends with Guewen setting Xia Lun against a force of mechanical guards and revived soldiers as Xia Lun’s explosives begin to go off.

Key plot points and events

• Buster leads the Lightbearers toward a towering beam above the capital, where golden-threaded Light Puppets are attacking civilians. His group defeats the first attackers with crossbows and spears, and the Holy Flame Battle Standards keep the Puppets from reviving.
• Buster rallies fleeing citizens to fight rather than run. Their shared resolve strengthens the standards and the fighters, illustrating the power of Collective Unity.
• The group finds resistance scattered across the city. A red-cloaked palace knight directs them toward Xia Lun in a watchtower, but a giant Clockwork Court Guard kills the knight and threatens the group. More machines, Puppet soldiers, and corrupted knights approach, breaking morale.
• Buster charges the giant guard alone and is badly wounded. Xia Lun detonates explosives along King’s Road, destroying a large enemy force, then leaps down and smashes the guard in one blow.
• Xia Lun takes up a Holy Flame Battle Standard, whose light prevents King-controlled enemies from reviving. He orders Buster’s people to rescue civilians and destroy the Light Puppets.
• Xia Lun uses a Guilt Candle to summon the Ghost Holy Crusaders, formerly enemies of the Lightbearers. He asserts authority over their leader, Avdan, and orders the ghosts to support Buster’s rescue efforts.
• With the defenders organized and reinforced, Xia Lun heads for the Royal Palace to save Renee.

Character developments and interactions

• Buster grows from a determined but worried leader into a courageous rallying figure. Even when the standards dim and his followers panic, he charges the machine to protect them. Xia Lun restores his confidence and gives him command of the joint rescue effort.
• The citizens, tailor, and apprentice move from fear to participation, encouraged by the standards, Buster’s leadership, and the first victories. The tailor later kneels in awe of Xia Lun.
• Xia Lun shifts from urgent, focused concern for Renee to decisive battlefield command. He reveals formidable power, improvises with explosives and the Guilt Candle, and bluntly imposes order on Avdan—slapping him twice when he speaks in riddles or disregards instructions.
• Avdan initially treats Xia Lun as a heretic and begins to deliver a portentous warning. After seeing Xia Lun’s power, he accepts his authority and leads the ghosts to aid the living.
• Buster and Avdan, representatives of groups that once fought each other, agree to work together against the King.

Significant themes

• Collective Unity: Shared purpose makes individuals and their standards stronger; cooperation is presented as a source of real power.
• Courage amid despair: The defenders’ morale repeatedly rises and collapses, but Buster’s charge and Xia Lun’s arrival revive resistance.
• Former enemies becoming allies: The Lightbearers and Ghost Holy Crusaders unite against a greater threat.
• Hope and leadership: Buster inspires ordinary people, while Xia Lun turns a rout into an organized counterattack.
• Urgency and sacrifice: Xia Lun has little time and presses onward because Renee is in imminent danger.

Key plot points and events

• King Guewen watches Black Flame devastate the city and reveals that Renee’s prayers were never answered by an outside power: the authority he gave her had produced their effects.
• He begins transferring his Withering Curse to Renee, taunting her with the parallels between her fate and Xia Lun’s. Renee stays silent and appears resigned, though she is secretly waiting for the right moment to resist.
• Xia Lun races across the rooftops toward the palace, cutting through the King’s Light Puppets. At the palace wall, he faces knights, cannon fire, and supernatural attacks, but presses forward.
• King Guewen strikes Xia Lun with golden lightning. Xia Lun survives and rapidly regenerates, but discovers he can no longer control Final Ash.
• The King reveals that an Oath Moon Ring contract binds Xia Lun: Guewen cured his Soul Curse, while Xia Lun promised to help Renee complete her Pilgrimage. Because Xia Lun has not fulfilled his promise, Guewen has sealed the Pilgrimage power Xia Lun gained from Tombdeep.
• Guewen boasts that neither Xia Lun nor Renee can defeat him. When he mocks Renee’s suffering, Xia Lun’s anger overwhelms him.
• Xia Lun drives Night Plume into his own heart, activating its Curse Severance effect. The ability breaks mystical connections and curses, grants immunity to divine punishment, and sharply increases his attributes and resistance.

Character developments

• Renee remains outwardly submissive but is holding back a plan, using her silence to keep her father from anticipating her next move. Her memories of the people and sacrifices from her journey strengthen her resolve.
• Xia Lun reaches the palace badly outnumbered and is nearly crippled by Guewen’s attack, yet his regeneration lets him continue. The contract’s trap leaves him furious and strips him of a crucial power; his devotion to Renee finally pushes him to risk his life to break free.
• King Guewen is exposed as both a powerful manipulator and a self-satisfied tyrant. He treats the city’s destruction and the lives of others as props for his imagined “play,” and takes pleasure in controlling Renee and Xia Lun.

Significant themes

• Agency versus control: Guewen claims people either control their own fate or are controlled by others, while Renee and Xia Lun struggle to reclaim agency from his schemes.
• Promises and their costs: The Oath Moon Ring turns Xia Lun’s past agreement into a weapon against him.
• Faith, sacrifice, and solidarity: Renee’s prayers may not summon help, but her journey and the people she remembers give her reason to resist; Xia Lun’s drive to save her motivates his desperate choice.
• Defiance through self-sacrifice: Xia Lun uses his own body to sever the supernatural bonds controlling him, transforming vulnerability into a possible means of resistance.

Character interactions

• Guewen taunts Renee, dismisses her prayers, and threatens to transfer his curse to her; she refuses to give him a response.
• Xia Lun fights through Guewen’s forces to reach Renee, while Guewen confronts him personally and explains how their contract has deprived him of Final Ash.
• Guewen’s mockery of Renee is the final provocation that turns Xia Lun’s anger into action: he activates Curse Severance rather than submit to the King’s control.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun’s extraordinary Perception lets him see Echoes, intersections of information that guarantee a successful attack. He uses one to strike King Guewen across distance, decapitating more than a hundred copies and seriously wounding the King’s true body.
• He then tears through the palace defenses, destroying Light Puppet Knights and cannons with overwhelming speed and strength.
• In the palace, Renee frees herself by biting through her own wrist despite her father’s lightning restraints. She attacks him with Holy Flame, but finds that his power is largely committed to assaulting the Planet. Using authority over Collective Unity inherited from him, she begins blessing the city’s fighters to weaken his influence and bolster their resistance.
• Xia Lun fights through a vast horde of Light Puppets on the inner wall. His strength and inexhaustible stamina let him crush their attacks, even redirecting a cannonball back into the cannons.
• Meanwhile, Buster, Afdan, and a growing coalition of survivors and ghosts rally beneath the Holy Flame Battle Standard. Their resistance expands into a larger uprising, giving civilians courage to fight back.
• A Purple-Robed Bishop ambushes Xia Lun with a powerful beam, lightning, a meteor, and a flesh-made hand. Xia Lun cuts through the beam and kills the Bishop in one strike, then presses on toward the Royal Palace.

Character developments

• Xia Lun turns heightened Perception and raw attributes into decisive power. Though enraged, he remains focused on reaching Renee and recognizes that his attack has wounded—but not killed—Guewen.
• Renee moves from captivity and apparent defeat to determined action. Inspired by her own belief that a noble goal is worth pursuing even through pain, she frees herself, strikes her father, and takes an active role in organizing resistance.
• Buster and Afdan lead increasingly confident fighters as the resistance grows.
• The survivors become a united force despite their different backgrounds and reasons for fighting.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and conviction: Renee accepts terrible pain to pursue what she believes is a worthy goal.
• Collective resistance: The Holy Flame Battle Standard and Renee’s use of Collective Unity turn isolated survivors into a force capable of challenging the Light Puppets.
• Power through fundamentals: Xia Lun’s immense attributes, combined with precise perception and direct action, prove more effective than elaborate defenses.
• Self-determination and hope: The chapter contrasts the King’s coercive control with people choosing to fight for their own survival; a small spark of resistance grows into a wildfire.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun’s strike silences Guewen’s mocking copies and wounds the King, while Renee’s defiance shows that she is no longer merely someone to be rescued.
• Renee’s earlier words about the Little Mermaid help her reaffirm her resolve; she then uses her inherited authority to support the fighters across the city.
• Buster and Afdan coordinate with survivors and ghosts, whose shared banner helps them overcome divisions and fight together.
• Xia Lun confronts the Bishop’s ambush alone, defeats him, and continues toward the palace—while the wider resistance advances toward the same confrontation.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun finds Renee in the Royal Palace after she defeats King Guewen’s double. The King’s attempt to destroy the world has already destabilized the planet: gravity is weakening, the sky is distorting, and the world may become unlivable within six hours.
• Renee completes her final Pilgrimage, sending a message of hope through the Holy Flame Battle Standards. People across the world respond with their faith, whose combined light deflects the world-ending Beam and completes Xia Lun’s third scenario objective.
• Rather than leave, Xia Lun uses the enhanced Stasis Hourglass to gain a new objective: survive for 24 hours. He resolves to kill Guewen before the tyrant can return and threaten Renee and the others.
• Renee explains that Guewen’s true body is merged with the Planet and draws strength from the Light Puppets. They must all be destroyed before he can be killed; the entrance to the Planet’s core lies beneath the Divine Seat in the Grand Cathedral, not beneath the palace throne.
• Xia Lun gives Renee the Ashen Codex to burn, restoring five years free from the effects of her Soul Curse. They head for the cathedral, splitting their tasks: Renee will help clear the Light Puppets, while Xia Lun enters the passage to reach Guewen.
• On the way, Xia Lun kills Guiweite, who has become a Light Puppet but retained her will, as she fights Afdan. At the cathedral, Renee uses her newly gained power to remove the golden barriers and stabilize the warped passage.
• Renee asks Xia Lun to return alive. He says goodbye and jumps into the passage, beginning the final battle.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun shifts from relief at finding Renee to urgent resolve. He recognizes that the Lightbearers’ influence—and the hope they inspired—can save the world, but chooses to keep fighting rather than consider the scenario complete. He prioritizes Renee’s life over the valuable Ashen Codex.
• Renee accepts the cost of her final Pilgrimage, using its power to unite humanity’s faith and later guide Xia Lun to Guewen. Though weakened by her curse, she remains calm and determined. Her affectionate, trusting bond with Xia Lun is clear in their farewell.
• Guiweite demonstrates how far she has progressed: using Xia Lun’s Flow technique, she overpowers the opponent who once nearly defeated her. Her retained will makes her more than a mindless puppet, though Xia Lun kills her before the fight concludes.
• Xia Lun and Renee work closely under pressure. She supplies crucial intelligence and navigation; he supports her physically, gives up the Codex to help her, and takes on the dangerous task of confronting Guewen.

Significant themes

• Collective hope and agency: ordinary people’s faith combines into a force capable of resisting catastrophe.
• Sacrifice and its cost: Renee risks shortening her life to save the world, while Xia Lun commits to a perilous battle to protect her and others.
• Choices and responsibility: Renee’s appeal stresses that the world’s survival depends on what each person chooses to do.
• Farewell and determination: the chapter’s tender parting underscores the emotional cost of the impending final confrontation.

Plot and events

• Xia Lun falls deep inside the Flesh Planet, where Renee contacts him through the Holy Flame Banner. She has taken command of the Lightbearers and is clearing the Light Puppets from the city; Xia Lun, meanwhile, follows guidance from Renee and the Planet through the fleshy labyrinth.
• He reaches a vast chamber resembling a starfield, with a huge Portal beyond a wound in the Planet. A chained, nailed heart hangs before it, and King Guewen is fused partly with the heart, healing through golden threads.
• Guewen explains that the Portal may have been the route used by the Saint of Chaos—and by Xia Lun—to enter this world. Though he has gathered the Saints’ Authorities, his immense Replacement Mass now prevents him from using Alternate-Dimension Operation.
• Xia Lun refuses to entertain Guewen’s speculation and challenges him. Guewen accepts a formal sacred duel, detaches himself from the Planet’s heart, and arms himself with a lightning spear.
• The Flesh Planet attacks Guewen with spears of condensed flesh, while its Life Force floods Xia Lun and helps him recover from otherwise fatal injuries. Both fighters prove extraordinarily difficult to kill: Guewen has support from the Light Puppets, while Xia Lun is sustained by the Planet. Renee’s efforts to destroy the Puppets give Xia Lun a potential advantage over time.
• In their exchange, Xia Lun discovers that Guewen can attack his Echo, though Guewen only demonstrates this once. Guewen’s weapon and close-combat skills are superior, but Xia Lun’s other advantages let him hold his own. Guewen then summons a shadow Flint Dragon from his crown—revealed to be the Queen’s dragon form—and rides it into battle.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains pragmatic and determined, conserving his remaining abilities and adapting quickly when Guewen’s attacks reveal new dangers. He responds to a near-impossible-to-kill opponent by fighting aggressively rather than trying to avoid every injury.
• Renee supports Xia Lun remotely, coordinating the Lightbearers and guiding him toward the Planet’s core. Her campaign against the Light Puppets may weaken Guewen’s support.
• King Guewen shifts from contemplative discussion of the Portal to solemn acceptance of Xia Lun’s challenge, then fights with open exhilaration. His willingness to abandon his fusion with the Planet, and later summon the Flint Dragon, reveals the full scale of his power and his connection to the Queen.
• The duel is formally respectful at its outset, with both men exchanging salutes, but quickly becomes a savage contest of attacks, counters, and mutual regeneration.

Significant themes

• Conflict and spectacle: Guewen frames the duel as the definitive answer to their conflict, while the fight becomes a dramatic test of strength and resolve.
• Survival through opposing powers: The Planet’s Life Force sustains Xia Lun, while the Light Puppets support Guewen, creating a battle in which neither can easily be killed.
• Unexpected paths and fate: The Portal beneath the Planet overturns assumptions about how one leaves the world, reinforcing Guewen’s belief that reality can be more surprising than any planned drama.
• Hidden ties and revelations: The Queen’s Flint Dragon form, concealed in Guewen’s crown, introduces a personal and potentially consequential connection to Xia Lun and Renee’s past.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun duels King Guewen atop the shadowy Flint Dragon. His prolonged fight, combined with lessons from past battles and his Erudition talent, helps him break through a swordsmanship bottleneck and begin reading Guewen’s movements.
• Guewen unleashes a devastating barrage, but Xia Lun uses Sword Technique—Burst to pierce the Echo sustaining the dragon’s phantom and destroy it. Their duel continues as Guewen explains that Echo attacks strike an opponent’s information or future—and carry serious costs.
• Guewen prepares a catastrophic strike against the Planetary Heart. The heart summons the Evil Spirit Prime, but Guewen’s Beam destroys the heart and nearly kills Prime, cutting off the source of both combatants’ near-limitless regeneration. Meanwhile, Renee reports that the Light Puppets have been defeated.
• Xia Lun appears to kill Guewen by secretly regenerating from a blood drop inside his throat. Guewen then reveals his ability to reverse time locally, restoring himself and undoing the fight’s damage. He kills Xia Lun, who revives but has only one resurrection left.
• Renee and the survivors unleash the Holy Light Railgun, powered by the convictions of people across the world. The Beam suppresses Guewen’s time reversal and badly wounds him, though he briefly holds it back with his spear.
• Seeing the people’s united Echoes, Xia Lun realizes Echo is an exchange of information and discovers how to counter it. His swordsmanship reaches Master Level. He blocks Guewen’s final Echo attack, breaks his spear, and kills him in a brutal close-range assault.

Character developments

• Xia Lun advances from a skilled swordsman to a Master-level fighter, integrating experience, insight, and resolve. He also learns to defend against Echo and uses patience and a hidden resurrection tactic to survive Guewen’s seemingly unbeatable power.
• King Guewen remains convinced that strength makes him superior to ordinary morality. His confidence in his martial skill and time reversal gives way when the survivors’ combined power overwhelms him; he dies still resisting defeat.
• Renee helps coordinate the resistance and directs the Holy Light Railgun, turning the survivors’ hope into a decisive weapon.
• The survivors are shown to have changed through Xia Lun and Renee’s journey: people with varied beliefs unite in a shared determination to live and oppose Guewen.

Significant themes

• Individual strength versus collective solidarity: Guewen claims one strong person can defeat the world, but the united convictions of ordinary people ultimately bring him down.
• Growth through struggle: Xia Lun’s dangerous duel becomes a catalyst for breakthroughs in swordsmanship and understanding.
• Power and morality: Guewen argues that the strong define morality; his defeat challenges that belief.
• Hope forged through influence: The journey’s impact on others becomes tangible when their beliefs combine into the Holy Light Railgun.
• Drama and reversal: Guewen prizes dramatic conflict, but Xia Lun ultimately turns that idea against him with an unexpected victory.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun and Guewen trade thousands of blows while Guewen teaches him about Echo, even as they condemn each other’s beliefs.
• Renee stays in contact with Xia Lun and helps the wider resistance act at the crucial moment.
• The survivors’ individual convictions join through Renee’s sacrifice, giving Xia Lun the insight and support needed to defeat Guewen.

Key plot points

• In the aftermath of Guewen’s defeat, survivors celebrate as Xia Lun emerges from the planet’s core and reunites with Renee. Above them, the Record Keeper observes and records the outcome, then crosses out Guewen’s name, removing the Cognitive Filter over the Forgotten Saint.
• The Record Keeper assesses Guewen as a remarkable fighter whose death ended the chance to recruit him. He also notices Xia Lun’s extraordinary combat ability and decides to cultivate goodwill toward him.
• Recognizing that Renee has only months to live from Guewen’s Soul Curse and the strain of inheriting his authority, and that Xia Lun’s transformation into a Soul-Eating Echo burdens him, the Record Keeper takes a risk: he changes Xia Lun’s recorded species back to human. The effort is unusually difficult, but he chooses to proceed despite suspecting he may be caught in a larger scheme.
• Xia Lun kisses Renee and then disappears, leaving her devastated. The Record Keeper descends into the planet’s core, retrieves Guewen’s Knowledge and research, and discovers a vast portal and numerous Snail Statue Summoners—evidence that another Secret Art scholar has been involved in events.
• Concluding that resisting the unseen higher power behind the apparent scheme would be pointless, the Record Keeper plans to treat Renee’s curse, extend her life, strengthen her connection with Xia Lun, and try to free her from her inherited authority so she can travel between worlds. He also encounters Jiavette, the last Dragonkin of the Temple of Memories, meditating beside the ruined heart, and finds a Black Ribbon he calls “thorough.”
• Renee learns the fires are out and the survivors are organizing recovery, but the kingdom still faces dangers, including reviving Corpse Wraiths and political fractures. She resolves to stop grieving, rebuild the kingdom, and find a way to cross worlds and reunite with Xia Lun. The Record Keeper then introduces himself to her as the Oracle Prophet.

Character developments and interactions

• Record Keeper shifts from detached observer to active investor in Xia Lun and Renee. Though wary of being manipulated, he follows his teacher’s advice to build goodwill and accept uncertainty. His interest in powerful, world-bound fighters is reinforced by Guewen’s example.
• Renee moves from heartbreak toward purposeful leadership. She accepts that Xia Lun has left, but turns her longing into a goal: finding a way to reach him herself. Afdan urges her to focus on the kingdom’s urgent needs.
• Xia Lun shares a final moment with Renee before vanishing. His departure confirms their separation is real, while the Record Keeper’s intervention may have altered his condition.
• Afdan reminds Renee that victory has not ended the crisis: reconstruction, political stability, and future battles remain.
• Jiavette appears unexpectedly in the core, calmly meditating amid the devastation; his presence and the Black Ribbon hint at further secrets.

Significant themes

• Endings and uncertain futures: The heroes win, but their personal and political struggles are only beginning.
• Separation and hope: Renee’s grief becomes resolve to cross worlds and reunite with Xia Lun.
• Power, ambition, and humility: Guewen’s strength impresses the Record Keeper and teaches him caution toward those who seem confined to one world.
• Hidden schemes and limited knowledge: The portal and unknown scholar suggest a much larger plan, while the Record Keeper chooses pragmatic optimism over futile resistance.
• Responsibility after victory: Renee must balance private sorrow with the burden of rebuilding and governing.

First Volume Reflections — Summary

Key points

• The author confirms that this is the end of the first volume, “Recovery.” Its planned endpoint was for the protagonist’s debilitating conditions—Lung Disease, Soul Curse, and Soul-Eating Echo—to be resolved.
• Of the four scenarios, Sorrow Hill City departed most from the original plan, while Final Pilgrimage grew far longer than expected. The author describes the latter as a road story made up of six smaller scenarios.
• The volume broadly achieved its intended blend of death-game-style world-hopping, action and power-system elements, and unusual timelines with suspenseful reversals.
• The author apologizes for the slow, uneven updates and plans to improve daily output, establish a healthier routine, separate outlining from drafting and revision, and build a chapter reserve so major climaxes can be released more smoothly.
• After finishing Final Pilgrimage’s climax, the author reports severe fatigue and health problems and announces a day of rest.

Character development and relationships

• The author reflects on developing a more nuanced understanding of characters: introducing or returning a character, revealing a new side of them, and showing their relationships can each create an emotional shift in the story.
• Important characters can also generate plot through their connections to others, introduced through scenes, interactions with the protagonist, or changes in viewpoint.
• The author sees the fourth scenario’s journey with Renee as a central thread that links the people encountered along the way. Other scenario examples include surviving with a small group on the island and traveling with Gunner.
• These are chiefly reflections on the book’s cast and construction, rather than new in-story events.

Themes and craft lessons

• Recovery and change: the first volume is structured around the protagonist moving beyond reliance on negative traits and afflictions.
• Story structure: the author now sees character relationships and emotional turns as intertwined, while plot threads are conflicts that develop and intersect.
• Clarity and balance: too many disconnected characters and threads can make a scenario confusing; too few can leave it thin. Effective stories need clear central conflicts and purposeful intersections.
• Writing and reader experience: story pacing is not the same as update pacing. Long stretches of buildup can feel especially frustrating to readers following a serial release, even when the arc works as a whole.

Scenario assessments

• The first scenario had three interlocking threads: control of the crew, a mystery, and the sea-monster conflict; the monster connected the internal struggle with the external threat, while solving the mystery helped defeat it.
• Sorrow Hill City felt cluttered because its many characters and developments were isolated from one another. The author would now center the Man in the Flesh conflict, streamline the escape, and build the layered-dream mystery toward a more satisfying victory based on intelligence.
• The third scenario combined group survival, island exploration, and the Sacrificer’s identity mystery.
• Final Pilgrimage connected its journey, the Forgotten Saint mystery, and the Collective Unity mutual-aid thread. The author considers its story pacing acceptable, but its release schedule far too slow.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun returns to his Personal Space after completing the “Final Pilgrimage.” He exceeded every scenario objective, uncovered key mysteries, killed the Forgotten Saint Guewen, and saved the planet.
• The settlement gives him an unprecedented SSSS+ rating, the ultimate “Savior” designation, and 5,000 Memory Points, bringing his total to 103,300. His Memory Manifestation Authority rises to 400%, and his strong connection to the world may let him anchor its time to his own world.
• The results also record his founding of the Lightbearers and a promise with Renee: she will try to see him again. Xia Lun is saddened by the prospect of losing contact with her.
• Guewen’s final battle had transformed Xia Lun into a Soul-Eating Echo, apparently condemning him to consume ten human souls daily. But the Oracle Prophet’s blessing restores him to human form while preserving his extended lifespan. Excess life force becomes five free attribute points.
• Xia Lun’s abilities improve substantially: he becomes a sword master and learns to attack through Echoes, though doing so costs mental health, life force, and lifespan. His firearms and stealth skills also advance; his completed pilgrimage lets him summon Final Ashes, withstand fire, and turn his body into an element. His spear-dodging talent improves as well.
• With his new exchange authority, Xia Lun begins searching the exchange list. The first item he selects is Renee’s Notebook, which can let them communicate once the worlds’ time is anchored.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun is overwhelmed by both triumph and separation. His relief at regaining his humanity and his excitement over his new powers revive his spirits, while his determination to reconnect with Renee gives him a new goal.
• Renee remains deeply important to him. Their cross-world promise is recognized as a special achievement, and her notebook offers a possible way to keep their relationship alive.
• Guewen is remembered as a formidable enemy whose power forced Xia Lun to pay a severe price to win. Xia Lun recalls that Guewen never showed him the acknowledgment or acceptance he had hoped for.
• The Oracle Prophet unexpectedly intervenes, restoring Xia Lun’s humanity. Her motives remain unclear.

Significant themes

• Victory and loss: Saving an entire world brings immense recognition, but Xia Lun must leave behind the people and relationships he formed there.
• Sacrifice and consequence: Xia Lun’s victory over Guewen comes at a steep cost, and his powerful Echo-based attacks continue to consume his lifespan.
• Hope across separation: Renee’s promise and the possibility of communication between worlds offer Xia Lun a way to resist the finality of parting.
• The lasting impact of actions: Xia Lun’s deeds reshape the world’s people, faith, and future—changes reflected in both his achievements and his extraordinary reward.

Key plot points and events

• After completing his scenario, Xia Lun spends his Memory Points on three major upgrades:
  • He buys Renee; Guewen’s Notebook, whose time-anchoring function will connect the timelines of his scenario world and the real world.
  • He chooses Transitive, an enhancement that lets him add the force of legend to a weapon’s strikes. He rejects Legend, which would make travel between worlds impossible, and Humility, which offers less immediate benefit.
  • He buys King Guewen’s Master-level Polearm Specialization Memory, hoping to improve his weapon skills and Echo attacks.
• He uses the rest of his budget on powerful resources: a Faith Beam Bottle, Lore Collection, a Refresh Crystal Ball, a travel-notes fragment, and Guewen’s time-rewinding crown.
• A Fantasy Casket yields a Reversal Talisman. Xia Lun uses it to repair his Damaged Sextant, turning its harmful effect into protection against stray shots for people with low Intelligence. He stores it for White Line.
• He unlocks Friend Slots, which will allow him to invite two additional players into future scenarios.
• Xia Lun exits the game pod and returns to the real world. Though only five hours have passed there, he has experienced a year of hardship in the scenario. In the rain, he feels safe and relieved at last.
• He sees White Line practicing swordsmanship, watches her quietly, and then—overcome by exhaustion—goes to sleep.

Character developments

• Xia Lun prioritizes practical power and survival. He declines options that might trap him in one world, instead choosing a way to strengthen his attacks while keeping his ability to travel.
• His purchases reflect growing confidence: he believes his new items could let him defeat Guewen in a burst of power and protect him from dangers in the real world.
• After a year of danger, Xia Lun finally allows himself to rest. His reunion with the familiar world and sight of White Line ease his lingering detachment and anxiety.
• White Line appears to have advanced her sword practice. Her movements are still imperfect, but increasingly fluid and attuned to her surroundings.

Significant themes

• Power and its costs: Xia Lun weighs each enhancement not just by strength, but by its consequences for his mobility, lifespan, and future potential.
• Preparation as security: He turns accumulated rewards into tools for survival, seeking control over threats that once left him vulnerable.
• The strain of time and experience: A year of struggle has passed for Xia Lun while only hours passed at home, leaving him disoriented on his return.
• Safety, home, and recovery: The quiet rain and White Line’s presence restore Xia Lun’s sense of belonging and help him release the fear he carried.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun has no direct conversation with White Line in this chapter. Instead, he watches her train through the window and feels warmth and relief at seeing her again.
• He also plans to give White Line the repaired sextant, showing his concern for her safety.

Key plot points and events

• After recovering from the exhaustion of his recent trials, Xia Lun realizes he has 234 years of life remaining. With his abilities gradually extending his lifespan, he expects he may live for centuries.
• He spends an attribute point on Agility, raising it to 20 and gaining the Light Step perk, which greatly reduces damage from falls. The upgrade leaves him ravenously hungry.
• Dinner includes a dish inspired by Xia Lun’s improvised recipe from a past scenario—scrambled grouse eggs cooked in a coconut shell with honey. Though he expected a culinary disaster, he finds it delicious.
• Over dinner, Xia Lun organizes his priorities: strengthening his abilities, studying unusual texts and concepts, investigating The Labyrinth of Ornes and the Foresight Club, expanding his general knowledge, and socializing across worlds.
• He learns that White Line has practiced swordsmanship for thirteen hours and increased her specialization by an extraordinary 30%, reaching Proficient 35% after grasping Listening Force.
• Xia Lun tells her he has advanced from Expert 79% to Master 0%. Impressed, she agrees to wait until she can use Force Dissipation for protection before joining him in multiplayer mode.
• White Line gives Xia Lun a pass to a game-player trade meet in the Herno Strait, scheduled for twenty-one days later. He agrees to attend in her place.
• Xia Lun resumes training her, teaching her to use Listening Force to sense herself through an intermediary. They practice until White Line is exhausted. He then goes to his study to contact Renee through her notebook.

Character developments

• Xia Lun is calmer and more reflective after finally resting. His growing lifespan and newly transcendent Agility give him confidence, while his improved Intelligence helps him turn a wide range of ambitions into a deliberate plan. He also shows care for White Line by urging her to rest and setting a safety condition before they play together.
• White Line displays remarkable focus and talent, rapidly improving through practice. Her enthusiasm can override her awareness of her own limits: she trains for hours without noticing her fatigue, partly because she mistakenly assumes her Daywalker perk will help at night. Despite her dedication, she remains cheerful and eager to learn.
• The butler and chef help Xia Lun return to ordinary comforts: the chef turns his old joke recipe into a successful dish, while the butler carries out his requests efficiently.

Significant themes

• Longevity and the value of time: Xia Lun’s long lifespan shifts his attention toward plans that may take years or centuries.
• Growth through discipline and insight: Both Xia Lun’s rapid advancement and White Line’s breakthrough in Listening Force show how understanding can accelerate practice.
• Rest and enjoying life: Good food, sleep, and the rainy-evening setting contrast with the privations of the apocalypse and remind Xia Lun to appreciate peaceful moments.
• Knowledge, uncertainty, and investigation: Xia Lun’s plans reflect a desire to understand a world shaped by hidden forces, incomplete texts, and the Cognitive Filter.
• Mentorship and mutual support: Xia Lun guides White Line while respecting her enthusiasm, and White Line shares information and opportunities with him.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun’s exchange with the butler establishes his practical plans for books and study; the butler also explains how the coconut-shell dish was made.
• White Line excitedly credits Xia Lun’s teaching for her progress and asks him to teach her Force Dissipation. Xia Lun encourages her ambition but insists she rest and become capable of defending herself before joining him in multiplayer mode.
• Their training shifts into a patient teacher–student rhythm, with Xia Lun explaining how to use Listening Force to perceive one’s own body.
• White Line entrusts Xia Lun with her trade-meet pass, and he accepts both the errand and the responsibility.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun reconnects with Renee through Guewen’s Notebook, learning that the Record Keeper helped her remove her Soul Curse and become a Player. To reduce her Replacement Mass, Renee relinquished her authority over Collective Unity and much of her Pilgrimage power.
• Renee has not yet played her first scenario. Xia Lun warns her about the dangers and explains that completing four scenarios will eventually let them meet through Multiplayer Mode. Their notebook resets every 144 hours, limiting their messages.
• Xia Lun reviews his fourth scenario, the Doomsday Pilgrimage. He concludes he made few meaningful mistakes; the disastrous final battle stemmed chiefly from King Guewen’s overwhelming strength. He accepts that gaining comparable power will take time.
• Updating his Worldview notes, Xia Lun develops theories linking Replacement Mass to a person’s attachment to their world, and Attraction to that attachment and to time’s relation across worlds. He also records Guewen’s remarks about Event Life and ascension.
• Xia Lun discovers that The Old Daoist’s Reply at Wengxi recounts a debate between Saint Nameless and Daoist Huang. Its central revelation is that people with six points of Knowledge may cooperate to observe past, present, and future, briefly transcend the labyrinth, and attain Infinity.

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun is delighted and hopeful at being able to contact Renee again. He offers protective, practical advice, then turns to disciplined reflection and investigation, showing his growing commitment to understanding the worlds he inhabits.
• Renee has made a major sacrifice to pursue reunion with Xia Lun: she gave up her authority and much of her power to become a Player. Her quick, affectionate messages show how strongly she misses him, while her teasing reminder of his past violence adds warmth to their exchange.
• The Record Keeper remains mysterious. He has helped both Xia Lun and Renee, but Renee suspects he benefited from the world-saving events and left abruptly.
• The recorded debate reveals contrasting outlooks between Daoist Huang and Saint Nameless: Huang suspects freedom is an illusion within a vast repeating Event Life, while the Saint rejects resignation and argues that courage, wisdom, and sacrifice may defy inevitability.

Significant themes

• Connection across separation: The notebook gives Xia Lun and Renee a fragile but meaningful way to remain close across worlds.
• Growth through reflection: Xia Lun treats careful review and record-keeping as essential to improving, not merely surviving.
• Power, fear, and persistence: He recognizes the danger of vastly stronger opponents but believes patient growth can eventually close the gap.
• Freedom versus determinism: Daoist Huang’s theory that reality may be a repeating Event Life challenges the belief that people control their own choices; the Saint’s defiant response preserves the possibility of resistance.
• Knowledge and transcendence: The revelation about six points of Knowledge suggests that cooperation and a broader grasp of time may allow people to escape the “labyrinth” and reach Infinity.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun reviews the realm system described in The Old Daoist’s Reply at Wengxi: ordinary people lack Knowledge, Secret Art scholars possess it, and Achievers of Infinity have six points of Knowledge and have completed a special scheme. He resolves to pursue greater power and understanding.
• He checks off all the goals from his previous plan, then writes new ones: reach Infinity, address White Line’s mysterious rejuvenation, find Renee, investigate the Foresight Club, develop his combat skills, study, and attend a player gathering.
• White Line is already training again after recovering from exhaustion. Xia Lun looks forward to a peaceful day with her.
• Bird’s daughter, Geliide, discovers him preparing to leave. Bird warns her that her familiar father will return after he is gone, but she must not trust that man. Geliide is frightened and cannot bring herself to call Bird “Father.”
• In a car, Bird is confronted by an Internal Affairs officer posing as the driver, who reveals that his real project is investigating Bird, also known as Hei Mos of the Foresight Club. Bird admits the organization has advanced Jade Pharmaceuticals’ research to avoid ethical restrictions and pursue Knowledge.
• A staged crash and sniper attack kill the driver and apparently Bird. Bird regenerates, kills the attackers, and learns from the officer’s memories that Golden Sprout exposed his code name and that an Astral Spirit may offer a source of Knowledge. Though he has achieved his original goal and could leave, Bird decides to pursue the opportunity.
• That evening, Xia Lun and White Line read different editions of The Labyrinth of Ornes. All the versions he checks mention “the snow-white line” and “the Princess.” An appendix in the Chief of Security’s edition argues that escaping the labyrinth depends on madmen communicating with one another.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun moves from reflecting on what Knowledge means to setting a concrete plan for advancement. He balances ambitious goals with genuine enjoyment of his life and companionship with White Line.
• White Line appears resilient and disciplined, returning quickly to sword practice after a tiring day. She is comfortable enough with Xia Lun to read beside him, though she soon falls asleep.
• Bird is revealed as ruthless, extraordinarily difficult to kill, and willing to use violence when threatened. Yet his farewell to Geliide shows a complicated attachment to her, and his decision to pursue Knowledge suggests ambition outweighs his desire for a quiet departure.
• Geliide fears Bird even as he insists he will not hurt her; their exchange underscores the emotional distance caused by his replacement of her father.
• Bird and the driver shift from interrogation to mutual suspicion and open conflict. Bird’s revelations expose the Foresight Club’s motives, while the driver’s death and Bird’s reading of his memories reveal new leads.
• Xia Lun and White Line share a peaceful evening that contrasts with Bird’s violent storyline.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and power: Knowledge is both a marker of advancement and a contested resource, potentially tied to supernatural threats and the truth of the world.
• Ambition versus safety: Bird has a chance to leave but chooses to risk pursuing another point of Knowledge.
• Identity, trust, and family: Bird’s warning to Geliide complicates the idea of who her father is and whom she can trust.
• Reason, madness, and communication: The appendix treats madness and Knowledge as intertwined and suggests that people must communicate to escape the labyrinth; isolation may lead them further in.
• Ordinary happiness amid danger: Xia Lun’s plans for reading, training, and rest stand in sharp contrast to the violence and conspiracies surrounding Bird.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun studies the hidden appendix in The Labyrinth of Ornes. It echoes The Old Daoist’s Reply at Wengxi: Secret Art scholars may need to share knowledge and cooperate to reach “Infinity,” but contacting one another is dangerous because Knowledge can be stolen.
• White Line cannot see the appendix, confirming Xia Lun’s suspicion that only people with Knowledge can read it. He concludes that the Chief of Security may have distributed the book to find fellow scholars, though he decides to investigate before trusting him.
• Xia Lun asks his butler about the Chief of Security and learns that, under the Cognitive Filter, everyone seems to have forgotten the man ever existed. Xia Lun infers that the Chief has been killed by someone—or something—capable of manipulating the Filter.
• The discovery shakes Xia Lun’s confidence after his victory over King Guewen and renews his determination to grow stronger.
• In the three weeks before the Herno Strait player gathering, Xia Lun intensively enters Afdan’s Specialization Memory dreams, learning a wide range of weapon and armored-combat techniques. He begins to perceive new ways of applying force, though he has not yet mastered them.
• White Line rapidly improves under Xia Lun’s instruction, reaching proficient swordsmanship and mastering Force Dissipation. She also works out “Sword Technique: Clinging Force” and teaches it to Xia Lun. Four days remain before the gathering.

Character developments

• Xia Lun becomes more cautious about alliances and more aware of the real world’s hidden dangers. The Chief’s apparent death replaces his post-victory complacency with a renewed drive for strength. His training broadens his combat expertise and deepens his understanding of force.
• White Line proves a gifted and disciplined trainee, advancing quickly enough to match a formidable close-combat fighter even without relying on her unusual Player abilities or items. Her talent for Clinging Force even lets her teach Xia Lun.

Significant themes

• Trust and predation: Secret Art scholars may need one another, yet revealing Knowledge can make them targets in a dangerous “dark forest.”
• Hidden threats and erased history: The Cognitive Filter can make even an important person vanish from public memory, suggesting many deaths or disappearances may go unnoticed.
• Growth through practice and teaching: Xia Lun and White Line improve through sustained training, experimentation, and sharing techniques.
• The cost of vulnerability: The Chief’s disappearance warns that goodwill and openness may not be enough to survive in a hostile world.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun briefly considers asking White Line about the book but abandons the idea when she wakes confused; instead, he tests whether she can read the appendix.
• He questions his butler about the Chief of Security, only to find that the Cognitive Filter has erased the man from ordinary awareness.
• Xia Lun trains White Line in swordsmanship, and their roles reverse when she independently masters Clinging Force and teaches it to him.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun prepares to travel to the Player trade fair, learning from White Line that it will be held in a submarine beside the Sesame cruise ship. The fair is anonymous, but White Line reveals that the Internal Affairs Department secretly uses it to identify and capture anti–Grand Alliance fugitives.
• White Line gives Xia Lun a special mask that grants access to the fair, reminding him that he is now an appointed expert. Xia Lun also asks about the Foresight Club; White Line recalls that an investigator was killed by a sniper while looking into Bird.
• Before departing, Xia Lun places Blood Vials around his home as respawn points, packs his last Underwater Breathing Potion, and collects three Snail Statues. He plans to obtain more breathing potions, investigate Knowledge, and find a way to restore White Line’s Intelligence.
• At the estate gate, Xia Lun is told that Bird of Jade Pharmaceuticals has come to see him. Suspecting a trap, Xia Lun raises security and approaches cautiously, but Bird becomes visibly terrified when Xia Lun confronts him.
• Bird says he has come to report on research funded by Xia Lun and delivers three Underwater Breathing Potions. He claims to have recovered from the Foresight Club’s influence and says he wants no further involvement with it. Xia Lun doubts him but lets him leave.
• Bird’s visit also completes Xia Lun’s progress toward the Line-of-Sight Awareness Specialty: he becomes better at sensing when others are watching him.
• After driving away, Bird reveals why he was so afraid: a future-warning talisman crumbled when he considered challenging Xia Lun, signaling that doing so would mean certain death. Bird flees to an abandoned warehouse with the research materials.

Character developments

• Xia Lun remains wary and prepared for danger, but shows restraint by sparing Bird rather than escalating the encounter. He also gains useful potions and advances a perception ability.
• White Line displays her characteristic forgetfulness about the Foresight Club investigation, while proudly recalling her former cleverness. Her concern for Xia Lun is evident when she urges him to return safely.
• Bird shifts from an apparent potential threat to a frightened, deferential visitor. Though he claims to have left the Foresight Club, his continued secrecy and later flight suggest he remains entangled with it.

Character interactions

• White Line briefs Xia Lun about the trade fair and gives him the mask, mixing practical advice with humor about the department’s supposed “anonymous” trap.
• Xia Lun approaches Bird expecting hostility; Bird instead offers potions and praise. Their polite conversation turns tense when Xia Lun mentions the Foresight Club, but Bird denies seeking revenge and leaves.
• Xia Lun’s offer of a map and food briefly reassures Bird, though Bird departs in fear once he is away from Xia Lun.

Significant themes

• Appearances and hidden motives: The masked fair, Bird’s friendly performance, and the concealed trap behind “anonymity” all emphasize deception.
• Power and perception: Xia Lun’s understated presence proves far more threatening than Bird expected, and heightened awareness changes how others—and Xia Lun himself—interpret danger.
• Pragmatism and restraint: Xia Lun weighs the risks of acting against Bird and chooses not to provoke a wider conflict, accepting practical benefits instead.
• Uncertainty and survival: The characters rely on precautions, special abilities, and imperfect information to navigate a dangerous world.