Chapter Summaries

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun returns to his Personal Space after escaping Winden City and reviews the Scenario settlement. He completed both objectives and uncovered several mysteries, including the time loop, the charred corpses, Mavis’s return to the past, and the Fog of Lostness.
• His many kills—including Heronman and numerous Echo Nightmares—plus his exploration of Numien’s Dream and the mountain village raise his final rating to S+, earning him the title Legendary Explorer and 1,200 Memory Points. He also learns that Prime hates him.
• Xia Lun’s abilities improve: swordsmanship, firearms, and stealth all advance, and killing Echo creatures reduces the lifespan cost of an Echo sword strike from 36 to 30 months. His broader status and specialties are updated.
• Before spending his accumulated points on other items, he redeems a Fantasy Casket for a random draw. Its cryptic note now seems meaningful to him in light of what he has learned about the world’s structure.
• The casket produces a plain-looking iron pot that the Information Panel identifies as a Legend-grade item—an unexpectedly valuable prize.

Character developments

• Xia Lun reflects that he has relied on intelligence and problem-solving as much as brute force during the Scenario, though he jokes about his identity as a puzzle-solving Player.
• He is pleased by his rewards but remains cautious: he recognizes that the dangerous Nightmare kills were a rare opportunity, not something he can safely depend on.
• He considers the Deception Master specialty but rejects deception for its own sake, preferring cooperation that benefits both sides.
• His growing knowledge changes how he interprets the Fantasy Casket’s note: what once seemed like nonsense now reads as coded information.

Character interactions

• The settlement records Xia Lun’s impact on Winden’s residents and key figures: residents are grateful, Nielder admires him, Heronman feared him, and Prime hates him.
• Xia Lun wonders whether Prime had some connection to Heronman, speculating that Heronman may have been reserved as a resource.
• He interacts with Revolver briefly, handling and admiring the weapon while reflecting that firearms are becoming less decisive against stronger enemies.

Significant themes

• Knowledge changes perception: Xia Lun’s expanded understanding transforms an apparently nonsensical message into a possible clue.
• Power and cost: His abilities strengthen, but the reduction in the lifespan cost of Echo attacks underscores the sacrifices attached to power.
• Caution amid success: Despite an exceptional rating and major rewards, Xia Lun recognizes the danger of relying on luck.
• Moral boundaries: He values practical cooperation over manipulation pursued merely for amusement.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun reviews his newly acquired Jade Wolf Pot, a Legendary cooking utensil with the potential to produce food that grants powerful benefits, and stores it away.
• With 27,290 Memory Points, he shops in his Personal Space. A Tactical Nuclear Bomb is too expensive, so he spends 12,000 points on On the Colors in the Silver Mirror and 10,000 on the Prayerbook of the Drowned. He also buys Beginner Cooking, an Investigator ID, and a history book.
• He exchanges 3,000 points for Condensation, which converts Legendary Influence into Ashen Pact Records—and thus lifespan—at a rate of ten years per point. He also buys lubricant for the Greedy Broker’s Tongue and uses Retention Right to preserve access to the Nuclear Bomb and the extraordinarily costly Numien’s Sigh for three Scenarios.
• Reading the Prayerbook of the Drowned again, Xia Lun captures its fleeing text. The book dissolves, granting him Wound Reorganization, which merges with his Transcendent Regeneration. He can now relocate and reassemble his injuries without spending a Blood-Drop Rebirth use.
• On the Colors in the Silver Mirror translates itself after recognizing Xia Lun’s puzzle-solving ability. This advances Symptomology from Basic to Proficient. The book teaches him to perceive emotions as colors, granting the Emotion skill.
• Xia Lun leaves his Personal Space to speak with White Line and check on Renee. His Scenario cooldown is 30 days.

Character development and interactions

• Xia Lun remains practical and acquisitive, prioritizing lasting survival tools and future access to powerful items over immediate gratification. He is intrigued by the Jade Wolf Pot and considers developing his Cooking Specialty.
• His growing competence is evident in how he handles the Evil Flesh Codices: he subdues the Prayerbook’s escaping text and recognizes that the silver mirror’s apparent gibberish is an encrypted script.
• The two books behave almost like living beings: the Prayerbook resists Xia Lun before surrendering, while the silver mirror trembles, translates its own text, and rolls away after he praises it.
• Xia Lun’s planned conversations with White Line and Renee point toward ongoing concern for allies and their progress.

Significant themes

• Survival as a resource: Lifespan is treated as both a precious commodity and combat ammunition for Secret Art users.
• Knowledge and mastery: Xia Lun’s growing intelligence and experience make dangerous texts easier to understand and improve his abilities.
• The boundary between body and perception: Wounds can be moved rather than simply healed, while emotions become visible colors.
• Preparation and deferred power: Retention Right lets Xia Lun reserve access to items he cannot yet afford, reflecting his long-term planning.

Plot points and events

• After completing the short but intense Beneath the Clock Scenario, Xia Lun wakes in the basement at 2 a.m. He reflects that its timeline differed sharply from other Scenarios set in the same world, suggesting that worlds’ timelines are not fixed unless time is anchored.
• He meets White Line in the courtyard. They review the Scenario: Xia Lun credits her support for their success and his haul of nearly 30,000 Memory Points and valuable Knowledge.
• White Line questions Mavis’s claim that Players possess counterparts in parallel worlds. She and Xia Lun usually lack inherited relationships, and Xia Lun recalls other unexplained evidence that seems inconsistent with the counterpart theory. They agree to revisit the question when Cripple brings him the Evil Flesh Codex.
• Xia Lun notices White Line has grown younger again, likely because of the Astral Spirit Curse. She accepts the change matter-of-factly, explaining that her reduced intelligence makes it hard to worry. He urges her to strengthen herself and seek a cure; she proposes a plan to build her skills before lighting the Snail Statue.
• White Line then wonders whether Xia Lun’s copy of The Labyrinth of Ornes might reveal a way to break her curse. Xia Lun checks the book and discovers that its appendix has gained substantial new material, including summaries of the benefits of Knowledge 2 and Knowledge 3 choices and some combinations.

Character developments

• Xia Lun is pleased by how well he and White Line work together, but recognizes that relying on her can make him lazy. He remains analytical and becomes more concerned about White Line’s steadily worsening curse.
• White Line shows curiosity about the rules governing Players and their counterparts. Though increasingly childlike in appearance and affected by reduced fluid intelligence, she remains practical, optimistic, and capable of generating a promising idea.

Significant themes

• Uncertainty about identity and reality: The counterpart explanation does not fit Xia Lun and White Line’s experiences, leaving the nature of Players’ connections to Scenario worlds unresolved.
• The cost of power and time: White Line’s gains come alongside the physical and cognitive effects of her curse, making the need to find a cure increasingly urgent.
• Knowledge and discovery: New insights can change how existing resources work; Xia Lun’s rereading of the Paradox Item reveals previously unavailable information.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun gently teases White Line about her preferred, more violent approach to Scenarios, then lets her change the subject when she becomes embarrassed.
• They compare evidence about counterparts and agree to wait for Cripple’s information before drawing conclusions.
• Xia Lun warns White Line about her declining age and mobility; she responds calmly, outlines her training plans, and offers the idea that The Labyrinth of Ornes may hold a solution.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun reads a newly revealed appendix in The Labyrinth of Ornes, which explains advancement through Knowledge:
  • Reaching Knowledge 1 makes someone a Secret Art Scholar, greatly improving mind and body and reducing the cost of Secret Arts. Their counterparts in other worlds begin to wither.
  • At Knowledge 2, a Scholar chooses a perception of the past, present, or future, each with distinct strengths and risks.
  • At Knowledge 3, they gain supernatural influence over one of those temporal directions. Some combinations can reverse time or impose a possible future on the present.
• The appendix proposes that two Scholars with matching Knowledge 2 choices but different Knowledge 3 influences could form a closed loop and attain Infinity.
• Xia Lun is startled by the suggestion that someone with both “Present” choices might be an Otherworldly Soul. Since he is one, he suspects he may eventually gain conceptual Negation.
• He revises his assumptions about the Chief of Security, realizing the man may have been hiding from powerful enemies rather than being dead or absent. Xia Lun concludes the Real World is dangerous and resolves to stay cautious.
• Unable to contact Renee because their communication notebook is still on cooldown, Xia Lun writes a review and adds theories about the Foresight Club: its emblem mirrors that of the Anomalous Phenomena Prevention and Control Committee, and the Club may somehow be that organization’s future.
• After breakfast, he enters Afdan’s Specialization Memory to continue developing his Melee Weapons Specialization. The dream opens with a Trial by Combat rather than routine training.

Character developments

• Xia Lun becomes more informed about the advancement system and its dangers, while recognizing that his own Otherworldly nature may give him an unusual path.
• His confidence is tempered by caution: he wants to grow strong enough to confront the Foresight Club but accepts that he is not yet capable of challenging its strongest members.
• His lingering resentment toward the Foresight Club is reinforced by its blood sacrifices and its role as an otherworldly invader.
• Xia Lun shows a lighter, restrained side when he avoids another corny joke after recalling how one led to a disliked breakfast dish.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun gives the butler instructions to bring breakfast early and asks for a lighter meal, specifically reserving Coconut-Shell Fried Grouse Eggs for White Line.
• His thoughts return to Renee, whom he cannot contact, and to Heronman, whose final words may have hinted at the Foresight Club’s connection to the Committee.
• The chapter ends with Xia Lun entering Afdan’s dream memories, where he faces a decisive combat trial.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and power: Greater understanding unlocks extraordinary abilities but also makes Scholars more vulnerable to detection and conflict.
• Time, identity, and reality: The text questions whether worlds and counterparts are truly separate, and links temporal perception to profound changes in existence.
• Secrecy and survival: At high levels, power is so dangerous that concealing information becomes a primary form of defense.
• Ambition balanced by prudence: Xia Lun is driven to pursue strength and revenge, but understands that acting before he is ready could be fatal.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun enters an unusually vivid dream as Afdan, a young squire. He suspects the dream may be a Special Memory, but must discover and prevent Afdan’s regret; in this dream, he cannot use his normal skills or abilities.
• At a tournament, Afdan’s drunken mentor, Bran, talks up the knights and urges him to seek a noble patron. A green-haired girl questions Bran about the vows of his order, which he dodges.
• During a foot melee, a skilled knight wearing a flower crown defeats Sir Huno but tries to strike him while he is down. When Sir Tarn intervenes, the flower-crowned knight uses a mysterious power to knock him out and is disqualified.
• Xia Lun follows the green-haired girl to the market. She buys a mango and approaches the disgraced knight, apparently hoping to comfort him. The knight instead strikes and brutally injures her.
• Bran steps in to stop the assault, but falters when the knight claims to be the Grand Inquisitor’s daughter. Xia Lun then challenges the attacker to a duel.

Character developments

• Xia Lun/Afdan stays alert and cautious, using observation and judgment in place of his unavailable abilities. His interest shifts from winning the tournament to investigating the girl’s apparent connection to Afdan’s regret.
• Bran appears to be a shameless, hard-drinking mentor, but reveals a generous side: he has donated his money to an orphanage. Despite his courage and ideals, the Grand Inquisitor’s influence makes him hesitate.
• The green-haired girl seems lively, bold, and romantically hopeful; her kindness toward the defeated knight is met with cruelty.
• The flower-crowned knight proves technically skilled but dishonorable and violent, reacting to defeat by attacking others.

Significant themes

• Honor versus ambition: Bran warns that dishonorable tactics may offer short-term gains but bring serious consequences.
• Privilege and injustice: Knights can attack commoners with little fear of punishment, while the Grand Inquisitor’s power intimidates even a principled veteran.
• Courage and responsibility: Bran tries to protect the girl, and Xia Lun steps forward when authority and fear leave her vulnerable.
• Appearances and character: The flower-crowned knight’s impressive skill contrasts sharply with his cruelty.

Character interactions

• Bran mentors and teases Xia Lun, while Xia Lun quietly assesses both the old knight’s character and the situation around him.
• The green-haired girl challenges Bran’s hypocrisy about his order’s vows; he avoids answering.
• The girl approaches the flower-crowned knight with a gift, but he humiliates and assaults her.
• Bran confronts the attacker, then hesitates at the mention of the Grand Inquisitor; Xia Lun takes over by issuing a duel challenge.

Chapter summary

• Afdan’s memory places Xia Lun in a tournament town, where the knight Loni Vika is about to kill a frightened green-haired girl. Xia Lun steps in, confident that his own Master Swordsmanship remains available even though his usual overpowered abilities do not.
• The old knight tries to prevent a fight by reminding Loni that she has already won honorably and should show compassion. She dismisses him, boasts of her status, and continues tormenting the girl. Xia Lun suspects that, in Afdan’s original past, the old knight challenged Loni and died.
• The old knight offers to fight in Afdan’s place, but Xia Lun takes his position. Before the duel can begin, the Grand Inquisitor arrives and publicly calls Loni Afdan’s fiancée, reframing the confrontation as a lovers’ quarrel. Loni accepts the story, and the immediate conflict is defused.
• The Grand Inquisitor then rules that the girl’s alleged offense merits death. The crowd, including respected knights, stays silent, and the old knight gives up any thought of intervening. Xia Lun realizes that saving the old knight is not enough: Afdan’s later marriage to Loni may also be a source of his regret.
• Xia Lun challenges the judgment, insisting the girl is innocent and requesting a Trial by Combat. The Grand Inquisitor says procedure prevents it because judgment has already been passed, unless Tombdeep issues an oracle. A meteor of Black Flame strikes a church, and the divine message “Grant the duel” appears in the sky.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun moves from quietly studying the memory to openly resisting its injustice. He protects Afdan’s old knight, recognizes that the marriage arrangement may have shaped Afdan’s regrets, and risks confronting the Grand Inquisitor to save the girl.
• The old knight shows loyalty by offering to fight in Afdan’s place, but ultimately submits when the girl is condemned. His hesitation reveals both his fear of authority and the limits of his courage.
• Loni Vika is arrogant and eager to use her rank and strength against the vulnerable. She initially embraces the fiancé story, but remains a threat, later asking permission to execute the girl herself.
• The Grand Inquisitor demonstrates political skill by calming the crowd with the fabricated engagement, then reinforces his authority through an unjust ruling. His composure is challenged when Xia Lun invokes the Trial by Combat.
• The green-haired girl remains powerless and terrified until Xia Lun speaks for her; the crowd’s silence underscores her isolation.

Significant themes

• Justice versus authority: The official judgment is unjust, while the crowd’s fear prevents opposition; Xia Lun appeals to divine law when human authority fails.
• Power and social hierarchy: Rank protects Loni and silences witnesses, while the Grand Inquisitor can manipulate events to preserve his family’s interests.
• Courage and moral responsibility: Xia Lun acts where others—including the old knight—cannot, accepting personal danger to defend someone vulnerable.
• Regret and altered history: Xia Lun believes Afdan’s regret encompasses both the old knight’s fate and his own forced marriage, suggesting that changing the past requires addressing more than one outcome.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun uses Final Ash Flame to deliver an apparent oracle supporting the Trial by Combat. The crowd’s prayers give him a slight physical boost, but his attempt to issue a second oracle draws the attention of Saint Tombdeep.
• First Bloom of the Craftsman, another Saint and Renee’s mother, appears to intervene. After the two Saints confer, Tombdeep extinguishes the flame, and the Grand Inquisitor agrees to hold the trial.
• The contest is set as a three-on-three duel. Loni Vika chooses her uncle Henton, leader of the Heresy Tribunal, and Sir Tarn. Xia Lun chooses himself and the old knight; a cleric sent by First Bloom of the Craftsman volunteers as the final defender. To prevent deaths, the cleric proposes blunted swords and no Pilgrimage abilities.
• The next morning, the cleric and Henton stage a dramatic but controlled fight, while the old knight struggles against Sir Tarn. Xia Lun confronts Loni, initially dodging without drawing his sword.
• Xia Lun disables Loni’s attack, then draws his sword and unleashes the overwhelming Might of the Sword Saint. The display makes Henton retreat, Tarn surrender, and the spectators—including the Grand Inquisitor—realize they underestimated him.
• Loni refuses to yield. Xia Lun beats and disarms her, demanding that she withdraw her accusation, but she remains defiant—and appears to enjoy the punishment. The dream then breaks apart, announcing that Xia Lun has resolved Afdan’s regret and unlocked a memory fragment for the special sword technique “Tough It Out.” Before the dream fully ends, Tombdeep cries out that it has caught him, and a meteor of Final Ash descends.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun discovers that prayer can empower him and that his swordsmanship can project the terrifying presence of a Sword Saint. He stays composed under pressure and uses timing and technique rather than relying on a prolonged fight.
• Loni Vika shifts from confident aggressor to overwhelmed opponent, but her stubborn pride keeps her fighting even after defeat seems certain. Her disturbing excitement at being beaten complicates Xia Lun’s attempt to make her surrender.
• The old knight supports Xia Lun despite fearing Henton, though he is badly pressured by Sir Tarn.
• Henton intimidates potential volunteers but ultimately withdraws when Xia Lun displays his power.
• The purple-robed cleric and Henton appear to coordinate a safe, theatrical duel, allowing the trial to proceed without lethal consequences.
• Sir Tarn, once Huno’s ally, joins Loni’s side without explanation, then surrenders when faced with Xia Lun’s power. The Grand Inquisitor presents himself as impartial, while quietly seeking a way to protect his daughter.

Significant themes

• Faith and power: The crowd’s devotion strengthens Xia Lun, while the Saints’ intervention shows the risks of invoking divine authority.
• Justice versus intimidation: The Trial by Combat is shaped by threats and political maneuvering, yet outside intervention and the rules offer a path away from bloodshed.
• Appearance versus reality: The cleric and Henton’s fierce-looking fight is largely a performance, while Xia Lun’s seemingly restrained sword draw reveals genuine power.
• Honor, pride, and humiliation: Loni’s refusal to surrender and her fixation on honor drive the duel toward a brutal, unsettling conclusion.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun wakes after a five-hour Special Dream Entry and discovers he has unlocked the memory needed for Loni Vika’s Tough It Out sword skill. The technique converts force from damage into a temporary protective shield, explaining Loni’s unusual ability to endure punishment.
• Hoping to improve White Line’s chances in an upcoming solo Scenario, Xia Lun decides to learn the skill and teach it to her before she enters.
• Over the next week, he continues Afdan’s Specialization Memory. After the old knight disappears from the dreams, Loni becomes Afdan’s brutal, erratic trainer. Xia Lun learns to use armor and shields by enduring her attacks and applying lessons from his earlier weapons training.
• He realizes that armor can be incorporated into the body’s flow of force, allowing impacts to be gathered into a shield. Drawing on his Master Swordsmanship and Erudition, he improves Tough It Out so it can build protection through Force Dissipation, without requiring him to take a hit. He renames the enhanced technique Force Shield, and his Swordsmanship Specialization rises slightly.
• In the final memory, Xia Lun can only watch Afdan’s past unfold. Afdan and Loni die fighting Guiweite: Loni sacrifices herself to trap Guiweite’s sword, but Afdan cannot use the opening. Afdan dies feeling relief at being free of Loni, unaware that both will later return as Wraiths and remain bound together.
• When the Interworld Notebook’s cooldown ends, Xia Lun prepares to contact Renee. Before doing so, he learns that the mysterious psychologist who wants to visit is Cripple, a man from a previous Scenario who promised to repay Xia Lun with a copy of the Evil Flesh Codex.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun turns a painful week of dream training into a practical breakthrough, combining prior swordsmanship with shield and armor techniques. He also remains focused on White Line’s safety and seeks her company to recover from the oppressive dreams.
• White Line continues diligent sword practice and studies the Mirror of Numien’s Mastery-level Feng Shui Art through dreams. Her increased mental resistance now makes this kind of learning possible.
• Loni Vika is revealed as both the creator of Tough It Out and a deeply disturbing, sadistic figure. In Afdan’s memories, her tormenting mentorship leaves him—and Xia Lun—mentally exhausted.
• Afdan and Loni share a mutually tormenting bond that ends only in apparent death; Loni’s final sacrifice shows her loyalty even within their grotesque relationship. Xia Lun understands why Afdan became so disturbed.
• Xia Lun’s everyday relationships offer contrast: he trains and shares lunch with White Line, relies on his butler for routine news, and looks forward to reconnecting with Renee.

Significant themes

• Growth through suffering: Xia Lun turns repeated pain and adversity into mastery rather than simply enduring them.
• Skill and adaptation: Knowledge transfers across disciplines; swordsmanship helps him understand shields, armor, and the flow of force.
• The cost of entanglement: Afdan and Loni’s connection is both intimate and destructive, and even death cannot ultimately free them.
• Madness and recovery: Loni’s presence nearly overwhelms Xia Lun, while ordinary warmth and conversation—especially with White Line—help restore his balance.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun receives word that the Psychologist has sent two letters. Though staff hesitated to inspect the second because of the first letter’s warning, Xia Lun assures the butler it is safe and asks to see the letters later.
• After the butler leaves, Xia Lun retrieves Renee’s notebook and discovers that his new Emotion Reading skill lets him perceive the emotional coloring of written messages.
• Renee reports that she completed her first Scenario with her companions, though she has lost the Fivefold Pilgrimage’s blessing and is now mute. Writing is difficult in her new world, and she misses Xia Lun.
• She reveals that the Black Duke is secretly working with Evil Spirits and may rebel. Renee intends to kill him, support the Lightbearers’ campaign, and divide the remaining Annihilation Cult. Xia Lun leaves the political decision to her but suggests considering the Ghost Holy Crusaders as a fighting force.
• Renee shares that Afdan, a ghost, has become depressed since the final battle. Xia Lun teases her by guessing the cause: Loni Vika. Renee realizes he already knows because he entered Afdan’s Specialization Memory. Their exchange ends when they reach the notebook’s weekly character limit.
• Renee writes that she loves Xia Lun and hopes to see him soon. Soon afterward, the butler announces that Mr. Hornard has an urgent report about the live-cattle supply.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun is affectionate toward Renee and delighted by their written exchange. Emotion Reading lets him sense her changing moods, and he playfully tests how much she knows about his knowledge of Afdan.
• Renee is resilient and capable: despite losing some power and being unable to speak, she has completed a difficult Scenario and is taking charge of a political crisis. Her messages shift from cheerful pride to loneliness, then to calm resolve and playful confidence.
• Their conversation shows a close, loving bond, balanced by teasing and mutual understanding. Renee is perceptive enough to see through Xia Lun’s guessing game.
• The Black Duke appears politically opportunistic, while Afdan’s unexpected depression is linked to Loni Vika’s past treatment of him.

Significant themes

• Communication across distance: The notebook connects Xia Lun and Renee, but its weekly limit and Renee’s muteness underscore the obstacles separating them.
• Emotion beneath written words: Xia Lun’s new skill reveals feelings beyond literal messages.
• Resilience and responsibility: Renee acts decisively despite diminished abilities and political danger.
• Affection and humor: Their teasing offers warmth amid serious threats and separation.

• Cattle prices and suspicion: Hornard tells Xia Lun that live cattle prices near Whitewash have surged dramatically, with Jade Pharmaceuticals offering an even higher price for the Ranch’s cattle. Horn’s observation that prices rise most sharply near Whitewash helps Xia Lun infer that people suspect cattle are connected to his unexpected recovery from a terminal illness.
• Xia Lun’s response: Worried that investigators may escalate their efforts—and attract dangerous attention from Secret Art Scholars—Xia Lun chooses to turn their theory to his advantage. He orders Hornard to sell one sickly cow, only to Jade Pharmaceuticals, at an exceptionally high price, and to make the transaction public. He frames the sale as a way to encourage belief in the cattle theory, create suspicion around Jade, and learn more about those pursuing him. Hornard remains doubtful, but agrees to follow Xia Lun’s instructions.
• Lunch and character interactions: Hornard is visibly frightened when White Line appears, suggesting her past actions during the Ranch incident left him traumatized. Horn reassures his father by recalling that Xia Lun and White Line saved his life. White Line cheerfully joins the meal, then stubbornly eats a sour lemon slice. Xia Lun makes a deadpan claim that sea cucumber and fine cooking improve Intelligence.
• A new crisis: In a secret chamber in the Far Mountain Region, a group hopes to escape with help from the Daoist Learning Society. They are told they cannot end their Alternate-Dimension Operation because an evil entity brought back by Hei Mos is still active and growing stronger. The Society offers evacuation if they complete one of several tasks; the first is to investigate whether Xia Lun exists in their world.
• Character development and themes: Xia Lun shows strategic restraint, preferring to conceal his recovery and manage suspicion rather than confront it openly. His plan turns uncertainty into leverage, though it risks drawing further scrutiny. The chapter highlights secrecy, fear of discovery, manipulation of belief, and the dangers of power, while the final task links the hidden group’s crisis directly to Xia Lun.

Xia Lun and Hornard finalize their plan, but their conversation turns comic when Hornard warns Xia Lun that White Line—the Internal Affairs official whose Intelligence has declined—is secretly cunning and dangerous. White Line overhears them, first pretending to have forgotten how she arrived, then indignantly embracing the “bad woman” label. Xia Lun breaks up the exchange and sends the Hornards home.
During sword practice, White Line admits that her reduced Intelligence has left her feeling weak and unable to support Xia Lun as she once did. She is also anxious about the curse worsening until she becomes a child. Xia Lun encourages her to address the curse and trains her to seize openings rather than only defend herself. White Line then proposes that reality may itself be an “Event Life,” and that her sword and the Daoist Geomantic Secret Art could point toward a future in which she becomes the Foolishness Daoist. She believes restoring her Intelligence might let her change that future, making it more urgent than reversing her physical transformation. Xia Lun finds her theory compelling and shares ideas from The Old Daoist’s Reply at Wengxi, though White Line struggles to follow them.
Back in his study, Xia Lun deciphers a letter from Bing Zi using a Shift Cipher. Bing Zi explains that the Foresight Club is abducting people and performing blood sacrifices across the usually peaceful Far Mountain Region. One sacrificed town held the Evil Flesh Codex he had planned to send, so its delivery is delayed. He also notes that the cult’s emblem resembles a mirrored version of the Anomalous Phenomena Prevention and Control Committee’s symbol, possibly linking the cult to the Nuo-Mask Plague’s dream. Xia Lun destroys the letter after reading it.
With three weeks remaining before the next Scenario, Xia Lun decides to use his time for preparations. Since ordinary explosives and bullets are becoming less effective, he asks about Star Ore Explosives and learns that they are ready for a live test at Whitewash Mountain the next day.

Character developments and themes

• White Line moves from distress over her diminished abilities toward a broader concern: whether she can resist a predetermined future. Her flashes of clearer thought suggest her condition may not have erased her insight entirely.
• Xia Lun balances practical preparation with care for White Line, while taking her ideas about fate seriously.
• Hornard provides comic relief through his blunt suspicion of White Line, despite her ability to hear him.
• The chapter foregrounds fate versus free will, declining abilities and adaptation, and the growing cult threat and possible connection between the Foresight Club and the Committee.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun watches a test of Star Ore Explosives, which can demolish a reinforced-concrete building. He obtains a sample and asks the researchers to investigate both hair regrowth and stronger bullet propellant.
• On the drive home, he reflects that Whitewash City was built atop the Astral Spirit’s body. Its death reshaped the terrain, leaving three sites where yin and yang converge: his estate, Whitewash University, and Whitewash Mental Sanatorium.
• A roadside shooting turns supernatural: the shooter is attacked by plants growing from his own body, then appears to recover and walk away. Xia Lun also senses more than a hundred hidden watchers in the bushes. He avoids intervening because of the nearby sanatorium.
• Recognizing that threats are accumulating, Xia Lun commits to becoming stronger. He trains in King Guewen’s dream, fighting Flint Dragons and developing Master-Level Spearmanship by targeting the creatures’ vulnerable reversed scales.
• During the three-week Scenario cooldown, Xia Lun trains, teaches White Line Force Shield, and speaks with Renee, whose plan against the Black Duke advances. Once prepared, Xia Lun and White Line enter a new Scenario.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun becomes more urgency-driven as dangers from the Foresight Club, Jade Pharmaceuticals, and Whitewash City’s supernatural forces mount. His spearmanship improves through repeated, punishing dream battles.
• The researcher reveals a possible hair-regrowth effect in the explosive and secures Xia Lun’s support for further research.
• White Line makes rapid progress in geomancy and swordsmanship under Xia Lun’s guidance.
• Renee completes her second Scenario and refines her strategy against the Black Duke.
• Xia Lun’s driver and bodyguard remain composed around ordinary violence, but flee when the roadside incident turns uncanny.

Significant themes

• Escalating danger and the need to adapt: Conventional weapons and ordinary skills may no longer suffice, pushing Xia Lun toward stronger tools and abilities.
• Violence as routine: Whitewash City’s residents have become numb to gunfire, while its supernatural horrors make that violence seem almost mundane.
• Hidden realities beneath familiar places: The city’s geography and apparent stability conceal the Astral Spirit’s legacy and deeper supernatural forces.
• Growth through struggle: Xia Lun’s repeated defeats against the Flint Dragons turn extreme pressure into rapid mastery.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun enters Investigator, a multiplayer desert scenario with his companion, White Line. Their objective is to earn at least 4,000 Perth Coins or equivalent goods within 40 days.
• The setting is the dangerous Black Desert, where storms, undead, and other deadly creatures threaten travelers. Xia Lun realizes they have little water, while White Line has packed enough for about two days.
• Each receives a mysterious identity plate: Xia Lun is initially labeled an uninformed otherworldly visitor, while White Line is described as having limited intelligence.
• Seeing a sandstorm approach, White Line uses her compass to guide them east. Xia Lun cautions her not to rely on shifting dunes and gives her his sextant for safekeeping.
• Xia Lun spots a fleeing camel caravan and uses his tracking ability to follow it. Though they cannot catch up, they discover a buried city and take shelter in a domed building as the storm closes in.
• Upon entering the ruins, their identity plates change: White Line becomes a Guide, and Xia Lun a Transcendent Tracker. His wilderness-survival specialty also receives a temporary boost.

Character developments

• Xia Lun is observant and cautious, assessing the scenario’s risks and trying to navigate by the sun. Under pressure, he adapts quickly, spots the caravan, and uses his tracking skill to find shelter.
• White Line demonstrates practical survival knowledge, recognizing the storm’s danger and protecting herself from the sun. Though initially unsure where to go, she acts decisively with her compass and successfully leads them east.
• Their identity changes suggest that the scenario assigns or updates roles based on their actions and abilities.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun and White Line coordinate closely: she supplies water and navigational direction, while he advises her about landmarks and gives her the sextant.
• Their exchange about their improvised sun coverings adds a brief moment of humor amid the danger.
• Xia Lun takes the lead when he identifies the caravan and pulls White Line after it; together they reach the ruins.

Significant themes

• Survival through preparation and cooperation: Water, navigation, and quick decisions are essential in the hostile desert.
• Adaptability under pressure: The characters adjust their plans as the storm approaches, and Xia Lun’s tracking talent proves more useful than careful celestial navigation.
• Identity and transformation: The changing plates hint that the scenario’s roles and self-descriptions can shift in response to events.
• Civilization amid danger: The buried city offers refuge, but the setting’s treasures and settlements exist alongside lethal natural and supernatural threats.

Plot points and events

• Xia Lun suspects that his Wilderness Survival Specialty has temporarily reached Mastery, but initially notices no physical or mental change. He realizes the effect is instead access to information through the Information Panel, which supplies practical survival guidance.
• Using its instructions, he has White Line seal holes in their shelter. She uses an expanding-foam gadget, successfully protecting them from the worsening Black Sandstorm.
• Xia Lun’s Tracker identity gains progress after he uses survival knowledge to guide the repairs. His badge now shows an experience gauge and “Rank 1.” White Line’s badge changes her identity to Repairer.
• As the storm brings sudden cold, White Line suggests a fire and cleaning themselves with sand. The Panel warns about sand and skin damage; Xia Lun rejects the fire, citing oxygen depletion and the risk of attracting the Undead.
• Xia Lun lays out their priorities: find drinking water, gather information about Golden City and the world, collect valuable Urn Burial Vessels, and develop their identities and temporary Specialties. White Line reassures him that missing the forty-day goal will not erase them; the deadline simply rolls over.
• While exploring, they discover an ancient mural. Xia Lun interprets its imagery—including thirteen strange suns, a sacred White Deer, a masked ruler, a Red Serpent, and a scene underground—as clues to the city’s history and beliefs. White Line proposes excavating the mural to sell it. As they prepare, a nearby gunshot reveals that others are present.

Character developments

• Xia Lun becomes more strategic and curious, treating the Panel as a tool for learning and seeing identity advancement as a potential route to lasting power. He also shows practical caution about survival risks.
• White Line remains resourceful and playful, relying on specialized gadgets and proposing the mural’s value as a source of income. Her identity shifts to Repairer after helping fix the shelter.

Themes

• Learning and adaptation: temporary Mastery provides access to knowledge that Xia Lun can study and apply.
• Survival versus comfort: Xia Lun prioritizes water and safety over a fire or other conveniences.
• Progress through action: identity rank appears to advance when characters act in ways that fit their roles.
• Exploration and value: the ruins are both a source of historical clues and potential wealth, though excavating them may carry risks.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun directs White Line’s repair work, and her foam device proves more effective than the improvised fix he first imagined.
• White Line questions his refusal to build a fire and worries that disturbing the Undead could endanger them; he explains his reasoning and outlines their shared objectives.
• They interpret the mural differently—White Line jokes about its style and sees a saleable artifact, while Xia Lun reads it as symbolic history—then join forces to consider extracting it. Their plans are interrupted by the gunshot.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun and White Line locate an iron door bearing a protective Ritual called Forbidden Entry. Xia Lun breaks it with Black Flame, whose Fragility effect counters the Ritual.
• A sandstorm is pouring through the adjoining chamber’s collapsed ceiling. White Line seals the breach with her foam-like ability while Xia Lun searches the room.
• They uncover twelve mummified caravan members and several dead camels. The corpses have been drained and their bones are brittle; Xia Lun recognizes a camel bell from the caravan he had followed earlier, raising the possibility that he had been tracking ghosts.
• A map reveals their position in the Plague Desert, near the River of Oblivion and about half a day from crossing into inhabited territory. It also marks the scenario’s objective as completed and points toward the route to the City of Gold.
• They find food spoiled with mold and a bottle containing Sand Leeches, parasites capable of sucking victims dry and laying eggs in their blood vessels. Xia Lun’s survival sense confirms no leeches are in the sand nearby.
• As they prepare to wait out the storm and leave, they hear something moving outside. They try to retreat unseen, but two enormous, leech-infested Zombie Red Serpents burst through opposite walls.
• A masked stranger breaks through the mural wall and urgently calls them over.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun remains practical and alert: he uses Black Flame rather than explosives, searches the bodies for clues, reads the map with Text Sense, and avoids a fight when the unknown creature first approaches.
• White Line supports him by sealing the ceiling breach and sharing her knowledge of Sand Leeches. She is disgusted by the rotting supplies but stays cooperative.
• Their teamwork is efficient: they exchange looks and signals, cover one another, and retreat together when danger approaches.
• The masked man’s sudden appearance offers a possible escape, though his identity and intentions are unknown.

Significant themes

• Survival through knowledge and cooperation: recognizing Rituals, reading the map, and sharing expertise are as important as combat.
• The uncanny and unreliable: the dead caravan, possible ghostly pursuit, and living-seeming threats blur the boundary between life and death.
• Decay and hidden danger: spoiled food, brittle mummies, and parasites reveal that even seemingly useful resources may be lethal.
• Escalating peril: a moment of apparent progress toward the City of Gold turns abruptly into a two-sided attack.

Chapter summary

Key plot points and events

• Iron Mask’s sudden appearance agitates the Sand Leeches inside the zombie Red Serpent, triggering it to lunge at Xia Lun and White Line. Xia Lun fires a Black Flame bullet with Gun Parry, bursting the serpent’s remaining muscle and sending a swarm of leeches flying at them.
• Xia Lun shields himself with Black Flame, burning the leeches while using Force Dissipation to withstand their impact. The storm makes his power harder to use, and a new threat soon emerges: venomous red snakes that can keep their footing in the gale.
• Iron Mask throws a sulfur-smelling flask that drives the snakes back, giving the group time to escape through an opening in a mural. He seals it with a stone, but the snakes begin corroding their way through.
• In the tunnel beyond, Iron Mask explains that he and the veiled, red-haired dancer are survivors of a scout team. Their companions were killed after Wraith servants poisoned their water, and they need the group’s map to return to Golden City.
• Xia Lun remains cautious, using Emotion Reading to assess the strangers. Their emotions and Iron Mask’s account seem credible, so he apologizes and agrees to move with them.
• When the snakes break through and the storm surges into the tunnel, Xia Lun reveals he prepared an explosive trap. He detonates it, collapsing the tunnel ceiling and sealing the passage behind them.

Character developments

• Xia Lun is resourceful and controlled under pressure. He balances caution toward the strangers with practical cooperation, while using his knowledge of the tunnel’s structure to create an escape route.
• White Line stays close to Xia Lun and responds quickly to danger, catching the dancer when the wind nearly sweeps her away.
• Iron Mask is pragmatic and impatient, but provides help and a plausible account of his group’s predicament. His calm emotional state makes Xia Lun wary, though it does not ultimately convince him that Iron Mask is hostile.
• The dancer remains silent; Iron Mask says she is mute. Her expressions and changing emotional responses reveal her reactions, and she is briefly startled by Xia Lun’s explosive solution.

Significant themes

• Trust under pressure: Xia Lun must decide whether to trust new allies while threats leave little time for certainty.
• Adaptability and preparation: Xia Lun survives by changing tactics, exploiting the environment, and preparing for danger before it arrives.
• Identity and assigned roles: Iron Mask’s comment that people have “assigned roles” prompts Xia Lun to connect the idea to the Identity Badge he carries.
• Dangerous environments: The storm, snakes, Sand Leeches, and unstable passageways make the setting itself a constant antagonist.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun and White Line coordinate their defense and retreat, with White Line warning him about the leeches and later helping save the dancer.
• Xia Lun questions Iron Mask about his intentions, his companion, and the scout team’s history; Iron Mask answers while urging the group to move.
• Iron Mask’s sulfur flask helps create an opening for the group to escape, while Xia Lun’s trap ultimately seals the tunnel and surprises both newcomers.

Chapter Summary

• After sealing the tunnel behind them during a sandstorm, Xia Lun, White Line, and the masked man regain their composure. The masked man apologizes for his earlier hostility and introduces himself as Putara La Sobek Delmonen, a fighter and priest. Xia Lun accepts the apology without dwelling on it.
• Putara explains that the Black Sandstorm is being controlled by an Undead priest through its followers; it will not stop while the group remains alive. Their best escape route is the Serpent Temple at the city’s center, where ancient ruins may hinder the Red Serpent and a Snake Passage leads out of the city.
• The group learns that this is a city from the Fourteenth Dynasty, whose people worshipped Philos Arne, Goddess of Serpents, Scorpions, and Dance. Putara and Ossis, a shy, mute dancer, previously found a tunnel leading directly to the temple, but a Magic-Suppression Ritual blocked their way out.
• As they travel deeper underground, a warning reveals that a Decay Aura is draining their life force. Putara identifies the approaching Withered Dead and notes that his protective silver seal is heating up. At the tunnel’s ladder, he warns that the well above opens into the temple courtyard, likely guarded by Undead.
• With the Withered Dead liable to discover the tunnel if they wait, Xia Lun decides to scout the courtyard himself. Using Clairvoyance, he sees only a few corpses above. He climbs toward the well cover and uses a drop of his blood as a distraction, then activates Blood-Drop Rebirth.

Character Developments and Interactions

• Xia Lun shows tactical confidence and leadership, accepting Putara’s apology and taking the risk of scouting ahead rather than leaving the group exposed. His use of Clairvoyance and blood-based abilities demonstrates his growing command of unusual powers.
• Putara shifts from fearful hostility to cooperation. He proves knowledgeable and talkative, offering crucial history and practical guidance while openly acknowledging past mistakes.
• White Line remains vigilant and practical, suggesting they wait and drawing her sword when danger approaches. Putara looks to Xia Lun for the final decision.
• Ossis stays quiet and shy around the newcomers, communicating mainly through gestures. She shows nervousness around Xia Lun but remains composed as the group prepares for danger.

Significant Themes

• Cooperation after mistrust: Putara’s apology and Xia Lun’s restraint allow the group to work together despite their earlier conflict.
• Knowledge as survival: Historical details about the city, temple, and passages shape the escape plan.
• Risk and initiative: Waiting is dangerous, so Xia Lun chooses a calculated solo move.
• Life under threat: The Decay Aura and Black Sandstorm make survival an immediate, steadily worsening struggle.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun ambushes and kills all three Withered Dead guarding the well. His attacks combine stealth, close combat, and Black Flame, which proves more effective than brute force against their unusually tough bodies and glowing tattoos.
• The Information Panel raises his Stealth specialization progress from 74% to 75% and offers him a new identity card, “Arsonist Shadow Dancer.” He declines, choosing to focus on mastering Wilderness Survival first.
• Xia Lun memorizes a partially drawn Ritual before the group leaves the well. He has sustained enough harm to be at “minor injury.”
• The group reaches the Serpent Temple through a concealed gap. Inside, Iron Mask explains that a Ritual seals the main entrance and the Snake Passage, the group’s apparent route out of the city.
• Xia Lun suspects the intelligent Withered Dead may be waiting to ambush them at the passage. Despite Iron Mask’s objections and concern about offending the goddess Philos Arne, the group prepares the hall with explosives, tripwires, and Rituals.
• Iron Mask identifies a mural concealing the Snake Passage. Xia Lun shatters its reinforced wall in one blow, triggering a piercing hiss from beyond.

Character developments

• Xia Lun demonstrates ruthless efficiency and adaptability, recognizes the danger of underestimating the Undead, and takes charge of the group’s preparations. He remains disciplined about his long-term specialization goals.
• Iron Mask, usually composed, becomes defensive and angry when Xia Lun questions the safety of his plan. He nevertheless contributes by drawing Rituals.
• White Line shows dry humor, puncturing Iron Mask’s concern about blasphemy with a quiet joke.
• The dancer is frightened by the possibility of an ambush but later laughs at White Line’s remark.
• Zi Xian enthusiastically helps rig the temple with tripwires.

Significant themes

• Survival through adaptation: Xia Lun abandons brute force when it fails and uses Black Flame; later, he treats a possible ambush as something to prepare for rather than simply avoid.
• Caution versus desperation: Iron Mask wants to use the Snake Passage because there may be no other escape, while Xia Lun urges the group to anticipate the enemy’s strategy.
• Life amid desolation: The stubborn poplar surviving the sandstorm and dead city shakes Xia Lun’s assumption that the world is wholly lifeless.
• The persistence of knowledge: Xia Lun memorizes Rituals because their methods may work across different worlds.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun reports that the guards are dead and yields the lead to Iron Mask, surprising the others with how quickly he handled them.
• Iron Mask argues that the temple may be protected by divine power; Xia Lun counters that the repaired ceiling suggests someone—or something—has been active there.
• White Line’s joke eases the tension, and the group then cooperates in preparing the hall for danger.
• Iron Mask points out the concealed passage, but Xia Lun acts before he can finish explaining and breaks through the wall, setting off the hiss.

Key plot points and events

• A wall breaks open, releasing a swarm of red, crest-headed snakes. Xia Lun shields the group with Black Flame and burns the snakes, while Iron Mask is bitten and poisoned.
• Iron Mask survives the bite with help from his ritual protections and the dancer, who binds his wound. He identifies the narrow passage ahead as the Snake Passage and warns that the snakes act as the Withered Dead’s eyes.
• The group hears approaching footsteps and Xia Lun’s lifespan begins draining rapidly under the Withered Dead’s Decay Aura. He abandons the idea of fighting them in the open and hurries toward the passage.
• At the vine-covered door, Iron Mask proposes ignoring the puzzle and touching it. Xia Lun’s sudden vision reveals Echo threads connecting the door to a powerful, distant Secret Art Scholar. He warns Iron Mask, but Iron Mask touches the door and is struck by a curse.
• Iron Mask transforms into a mass of snakes, which form a warning: “Desecrate the gods and die an untimely death. Solve the puzzle, and you may pass.” Xia Lun burns the remains, shaken by Iron Mask’s death, and decides not to attack the unseen scholar through the Echo connection.
• White Line recognizes the floor’s Ritual as resembling a diagram from the Geomantic Secret Art she has been studying. With the Withered Dead closing in, Xia Lun orders her to work out the mechanism while he holds them back.
• A threatening voice announces that the group has walked into a trap. As undead troops charge into the passage, Xia Lun detonates explosives he planted with his Black Flame.

Character developments and interactions

• Xia Lun acts quickly to protect the group, but learns that his lifespan drains too quickly for a direct fight against the Withered Dead. He also shows caution in resisting the temptation to challenge the distant Secret Art Scholar, recognizing that his strengths lie in close combat.
• Iron Mask is revealed to be poisoned and protected by ritual inscriptions, but his impatience—or disregard for Xia Lun’s warning—leads him to touch the cursed door and die horribly. Xia Lun’s reaction shows that, despite their limited acquaintance, he feels the loss of a comrade.
• White Line is frightened of snakes, a fear she tries to hide behind practical warnings. She also demonstrates growing expertise by identifying the Ritual mechanism from her studies.
• The dancer helps treat Iron Mask’s wound and witnesses his death, but says little afterward.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and danger: Understanding rituals can offer a path forward, while ignorance—or violating taboos—can be fatal.
• The cost of survival: Xia Lun must weigh combat against the rapid loss of his lifespan.
• Power and vulnerability: Even seasoned companions can be helpless before forces controlled by powerful Secret Art Scholars.
• Trust and teamwork: The group’s survival depends on Xia Lun holding off the undead while White Line solves the mechanism.

Key plot points and events

• Xia Lun’s explosives devastate the Serpent Temple, but a group of intelligent, scale-armored Withered Dead reaches the passage. He kills their captain with two shots, causing the others to retreat.
• While White Line works to break a Ritual, Xia Lun discovers a tower shield whose powerful Rituals weaken and reverse attacks and repair the shield. He identifies its drawbacks, but sees it as valuable enough to steal.
• The undead advance behind the shield. Xia Lun’s Black Flame is scattered by the Black Sandstorm, and he learns the Withered Dead believe they are cursed and hope the Blessed One can win them eternal rest.
• Using the Jade Wolf Pot as a shield, Xia Lun charges the formation. The mute dancer helps by throwing a knife to stop a masked swordsman’s ambush. Xia Lun kills the shield-bearer; his Legend-grade sword bypasses the mummies’ protections, and his regeneration absorbs the venomous snakes attacking him.
• The Blessed One begins a ritual to summon the powerful Philos Arne. Xia Lun shoots its dagger hand, grabs the tower shield, and escapes rather than risk fighting Philos Arne at range.
• The Blessed One orders the undead not to pursue. Though its Priest suspects Xia Lun came for the Immortal Shield, the Blessed One dismisses the idea. Xia Lun, meanwhile, celebrates his new “seed money.”

Character developments

• Xia Lun combines combat skill, tactical judgment, and opportunism. He considers negotiating with the undead, but prioritizes survival when the Blessed One threatens to summon a greater enemy.
• White Line stays focused on breaking the Ritual and shares Xia Lun’s sharp, practical sense of humor.
• The Blessed One appears disciplined and authoritative, but also fanatical in its willingness to sacrifice itself for Philos Arne.
• The dancer remains silent but actively assists Xia Lun, showing that she is more than a bystander.

Significant themes

• Pragmatism and greed: Xia Lun frames looting as business and values the shield as both a powerful tool and financial backing.
• Power and survival: Superior equipment and clever tactics let Xia Lun overcome enemies with formidable Rituals.
• Faith, curses, and fate: The undead fight in hope of ending their curse, while the Blessed One invokes sacrifice, rebirth, and divine power.
• Misjudgment: The Blessed One interprets Xia Lun as a world-shaping figure with profound motives, while his actual goal is simply to steal the shield.

Character interactions

• Xia Lun and White Line trade jokes while coordinating under pressure.
• Xia Lun’s offer to reason or do business with the undead is cut short by their attack and the Blessed One’s threat.
• The dancer supports Xia Lun with a timely knife throw.
• The Withered Dead follow the Blessed One’s orders, both advancing against Xia Lun and later withdrawing when commanded.