Chapter Summaries

Plot points and events

• Qian Jue explains how Hell was destroyed: the trusted Executioner rebelled with Hades’s backing, became Demon King, and turned the ghosts into weapons. After an attempted assassination failed, Hades spared Extinction Demon Emperor, purged Hell, killed the Demon Clan and Executioner, and dispersed or claimed the surviving ghosts. Qian Jue still cannot understand why Hades never asked for cooperation, but releases three enslaved ghosts and sends them back to Hell under Chen Fan’s authority.
• After the Strange Entity Clan’s latest ambush is wiped out, commanders Qi An and Yun Du face Hades’s punishment. Hades’s clone orders them to sever their limbs for their failures, then leaves them bleeding in a guarded room.
• Qi An refuses to give up. He retrieves healing medicine and reveals a recording that could expose corruption at the Rear Headquarters. He persuades Yun Du to pursue a desperate plan: escape, reach the Mortal Domain, and publicly defect.
• Sky Patrol arrives to extract them, fearing the recording will expose his role in Qi An’s promotion. Qi An manipulates him into taking them to the rear base, then arranges a diversion: fake images and a public announcement claim that he and Yun Du have escaped and surrendered to the Human Race. This leaves Sky Patrol implicated while Qi An and Yun Du remain with him.
• The Human Faction learns of the alleged defection and suspects a trap, though the two former commanders’ surrender could greatly boost human prestige. Meanwhile, Chen Fan, unaware of the uproar, rests aboard the returning Eternal Night Continent.

Character developments and interactions

• Qian Jue remains devoted to the lost Hell and hopes to ask Hades why it was destroyed. Though confused and grieving, Qian Jue acts decisively by freeing the three ghosts and placing them in the Mortal Domain’s care.
• Qi An proves extraordinarily resourceful, loyal, and optimistic even after losing all four limbs. His relentless ingenuity and confidence contrast with the bleak situation and gradually earn Yun Du’s admiration.
• Yun Du moves from despair and self-reproach toward cautious hope. He doubts Qi An’s schemes but recognizes Qi An’s courage and helps him survive.
• Hades punishes the commanders harshly but does not personally kill them; his intent remains ambiguous. Qi An reads this as a chance for redemption, while Yun Du believes they have simply been left to die.
• Sky Patrol is caught between protecting himself from exposure and obeying Hades. Qi An exploits that conflict, and Sky Patrol’s anger grows as he realizes he has been manipulated.
• Chen Fan remains removed from the developing crisis, unaware that the supposed defectors have set off a major political commotion.

Significant themes

• Loyalty and betrayal: Qi An’s professed loyalty to Hades coexists with a plan to defect, while Qian Jue’s loyalty to Hell endures despite not understanding its destruction.
• Hope amid defeat: Qi An’s refusal to surrender emotionally sustains Yun Du when their circumstances appear hopeless.
• Power, punishment, and responsibility: Hades’s demands, the commanders’ self-mutilation, and Sky Patrol’s corruption reveal a brutal hierarchy where failure can mean death.
• Appearances and deception: Qi An’s elaborate staging makes the apparent defection itself a weapon, leaving allies and enemies uncertain about what has truly happened.

Plot points and events

• Qian Jue explains how Hell was destroyed: his trusted aide Executioner rebelled and took power, while Hades later purged the Demon Clan, scattered ghosts into the Boundary Battlefield, and transferred Hell’s strongest spirits into his own forces. Qian Jue still hopes to ask Hades why he destroyed the realm he had devoted himself to protecting.
• Qian Jue releases three abused ghosts from their collars and sends them back to Hell, instructing them to obey the Mortal Domain.
• After the Strange Entity Clan’s ambush fails, its commanders Qi An and Yun Du face Hades. His clone condemns their repeated failures and orders them to mutilate themselves. Though he leaves them alive, guards surround their command post, and the two believe they are meant to bleed to death.
• Qi An finds healing medicine and keeps Yun Du alive. Despite Yun Du’s despair, Qi An proposes a bold plan: escape, appear to defect to the Mortal Domain, and eventually use the enemy’s trust to undermine them. He also reveals evidence that Rear Headquarters’ leader Sky Patrol accepted bribes.
• Sky Patrol arrives to dispose of them but agrees to take them to Qi An’s hometown in exchange for the evidence. Qi An then reveals that the apparent defectors who publicly fled were decoys. Their dramatic announcement throws both armies into confusion while he and Yun Du remain with Sky Patrol.
• Meanwhile, the Eternal Night Continent clears the Strange Tide and resumes its journey. Chen Fan, unaware of the emerging crisis, rests after hearing that Floating Cloud Continent has resolved an anomaly.
• The Human Faction learns that Qi An and Yun Du have supposedly defected. Officials suspect a trap but are intrigued by the report that Hades ordered the commanders’ limbs severed.

Character developments

• Qian Jue remains devoted to Hell despite his loss of power. He releases the ghosts and holds onto the hope that he may one day confront Hades for an explanation.
• Qi An shows relentless optimism and ingenuity, turning even mutilation and apparent execution into opportunities. His schemes are audacious, though their risks and true endgame remain uncertain.
• Yun Du moves from defeat and self-blame toward a reluctant willingness to follow Qi An. He recognizes Qi An’s spirit even while doubting his plans.
• Sky Patrol is trapped by his own corruption: he fears exposure for taking a bribe and becomes entangled in Qi An’s escape plot.
• Hades appears stern and merciless through his clone, leaving the commanders’ fate ambiguous.

Themes

• Loyalty and betrayal: Qi An claims unwavering loyalty even as he stages a public defection, blurring the line between treason and sacrifice.
• Hope amid despair: Qi An’s determination contrasts with Yun Du’s resignation and gives the two a chance—however precarious—to survive.
• Power and accountability: The commanders’ failures, Hades’s punishments, and Sky Patrol’s corruption expose the costs of ambition and poor leadership.
• Uncertainty and deception: Decoys, hidden evidence, and competing interpretations make it unclear who is truly acting in whose interests.

Character interactions

• Qian Jue explains Hell’s history to Chen Fan, then entrusts the freed ghosts to the Mortal Domain.
• Qi An repeatedly encourages Yun Du, who alternates between disbelief, dark humor, and cautious cooperation.
• Hades’s clone punishes both commanders but leaves them to face their wounds and the guards outside.
• Qi An pressures Sky Patrol by invoking the evidence of his bribery, persuading him to provide a route out while concealing the full scheme.
• The Human Faction’s commanders debate whether the announced defection is genuine or a trap, setting up the next confrontation.

Key events

• The Human Faction learns that former Strange Entity commanders Yun Du and Qi An have fled to Human territory and declared their surrender to the Mortal Domain. Their defection is publicized in a formal ceremony to boost Human morale.
• Yun Du and Qi An arrive limbless, claiming their schemes against the Mortal Domain were secretly intended to help it. Their dossier, titled “Mortal Domain Cheese,” lists five operations—including using the Mortal Domain to destroy enemy forces and testing whether it could protect them.
• Chen Fan suspects their motives but sees potential value in the information they offer: the location of a cache of sixty-three level-90 ghosts and details about Hades’s hidden reserves. He orders them observed for seven days rather than immediately acting on their intelligence.
• Jiu Wu restores their limbs, and they are housed with the Retirement Clan. Both appear delighted by their peaceful new life, though each secretly intends to use the other—and the Mortal Domain—for a hidden final stratagem.
• The Strange Entity Clan appoints Fei Yu as its new commander. He discovers that soldiers have begun writing poems about the clan’s defeats and Yun Du’s failed plans. He first threatens to ban them, then considers composing morale-boosting verses himself, but gives up and returns to military planning.
• Human commanders anticipate that Fei Yu will want to prove himself and order heightened vigilance along the front, especially at the flanks.
• Chen Fan prepares to inspect a shipment of captured Strange Entity supplies that has now been partly allocated to the Mortal Domain.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains pragmatic and cautious: he accepts the defectors’ apparent surrender and intelligence, but insists on monitoring them before trusting them. He also exchanges cordial greetings with Zhong Yi and Zhong Yi’s master, while showing an unexpected fondness for the master’s decorative badge.
• Yun Du and Qi An present themselves as grateful defectors, yet privately remain manipulative and each believes he has a secret plan. Their comfortable quarters tempt them to enjoy retirement even as their schemes continue.
• Jiu Wu has grown into a formidable leader, far removed from the weak, dependent child Yun Du remembers. He restores the defectors’ limbs and assigns them to supervised housing.
• Fei Yu is portrayed as cautious and methodical. Though disturbed by the troops’ defeatist poetry, he recognizes the need to study Yun Du’s failures before launching an attack.
• The Human command staff treats the surrender as both a political opportunity and a security concern, coordinating publicity while keeping watch on the newcomers and the front.

Significant themes

• Trust and deception: Yun Du and Qi An’s surrender may be genuine, strategic, or both; Chen Fan’s surveillance reflects the danger of taking their claims at face value.
• Propaganda and morale: The surrender ceremony, faction-wide messaging, and the Strange Entity soldiers’ poems show how narratives can affect confidence and military cohesion.
• Changing fortunes: The Mortal Domain’s repeated successes contrast with the Strange Entity Clan’s growing disillusionment and loss of momentum.
• Rest, survival, and ambition: The defectors savor the peace of retirement, even while clinging to schemes that could undermine it.

Plot points and events

• Chen Fan reviews a shipment worth over 8,482 trillion eerie stones and questions why such a valuable resource was sent to the front. Yun Du explains that the stones were used as ballast to keep supply-carrying continents stable in powerful air currents.
• After a period of rebuilding and relative quiet, Chen Fan receives a warning that the Strange Entity Faction is massing for a full-scale assault. On the way to the front, he sees a colossal Ghost Gate beginning to materialize.
• Yun Du identifies it as Hell’s main entrance and explains that the first force to enter receives a major enhancement. He knows filth can stop it from forming, but Qi An reveals a more consequential secret: the faction that activated the Gate cannot enter for one day after it solidifies. During the dark upheaval, the first force through can also claim the Gate and access Hades’s hidden reserves.
• Qi An proposes that the Mortal Domain charge through the Strange Entity defenses and enter the Gate during the one-day window. Though Yun Du warns that the plan is extremely dangerous and points out Qi An’s record of failed schemes, Chen Fan approves it.
• Chen Fan informs Command Post No. 002 and requests support from ninth-level Human continents to clear a path. The command post confirms that the Human Race intends to keep advancing its front, but refuses to disclose why.
• At the Strategist Pavilion, Chen Fan orders a precise timing simulation so the Mortal Domain reaches the Gate just as it opens. He weighs possible rewards against the risks and prioritizes preparing contingencies. Meanwhile, Qi An privately imagines that he is secretly gathering intelligence for Hades and names this proposed operation his fifth stratagem.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains cautious despite approving a high-risk offensive. He evaluates the danger, seeks accurate timing, and thinks first about what could go wrong rather than the possible gains.
• Yun Du is a reluctant but useful source of information. Though he still feels loyalty to the Strange Entity Clan and dislikes the prospect of destroying its forces, he confirms Qi An’s claims. His past experience makes him wary of Qi An’s persuasiveness.
• Qi An shifts from prisoner and informant to active adviser, passionately urging Chen Fan to trust his plan. He wants to earn influence in the Mortal Domain, but his private thoughts reveal that he still imagines himself serving Hades and intends to use the Mortal Domain’s strategy for a future betrayal.
• Chen Jiutian voices the group’s disbelief at Qi An’s boldness: as a prisoner brought in for information, he has gone so far as to devise and name a plan. Chen Fan, however, considers the proposal seriously.

Significant themes

• Strategic risk and responsibility: Chen Fan accepts danger only after considering failure and preparing safeguards.
• Trust and divided loyalty: Yun Du and Qi An both provide valuable intelligence, but their motives remain complicated; Qi An’s apparent cooperation conceals a continuing allegiance to Hades.
• The cost of war: The command post’s plans to advance the front—and its willingness to use other continents as spearheads—suggest that victory may demand heavy human losses.
• Ambition and reputation: Qi An sees the plan as a chance to gain status and earn trust, while Chen Fan is more concerned with its practical consequences than its glory.

Chapter Summary

Key plot points and events

• Chen Fan’s Eternal Night Continent prepares to race toward the Ghost Gate, a gateway the Strange Entity Clan is about to use to launch a major assault. He requests Human Faction support.
• Command Post No. 002 initially debates the danger of sending the Mortal Domain on such a risky mission. But orders arrive from the supreme Command Post No. 001: the Heavenly Punishment Continent may fall within four months, and humanity must reach the Strange Entity Clan’s Rear Headquarters, choose a New King, and act quickly. The Mortal Domain is approved, with the ninth-level Skyward Song Continent assigned to provide maximum covering fire.
• Hades, meanwhile, continues pursuing the Heavenly Punishment Continent. He realizes it has a hidden weapon capable of threatening him, but the continent’s commander refuses to reveal its capabilities.
• As the Ghost Gate nears completion, the Eternal Night Continent launches its charge. Skyward Song clears a path with overwhelming firepower, allowing the Mortal Domain to race deep into enemy territory. Once that support weakens, Chen Fan uses the Neon Halo and the continent’s speed and durability to smash through the Strange Tide.
• The Strange Entity commander, Fei Yu, concentrates his defenses at the Ghost Gate rather than pursuing the Mortal Domain. He blocks the entrance with enemy continents and prepares a trap: Sky Spider Wraiths to restrain the Mortal Domain if it flies, and a Level 90 Falling Star Wraith to destroy it.
• Qi An recognizes the trap and urgently warns Chen Fan not to take flight. Chen Fan’s line, “Fly high,” has a different meaning: the Eternal Night Continent stays at sea level and rams through the blocking enemy continents, sending them flying instead.
• Sky Spider Wraiths then ensnare the Mortal Domain, while the Falling Star Wraith prepares to fire. Chen Fan’s three Level 90 ghosts intercept its blasts and attack it, freeing the Eternal Night Continent. The continent reaches the Ghost Gate, and Chen Fan orders the army to prepare for a counterattack.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains composed and decisive under pressure. He trusts his continent’s capabilities and turns Fei Yu’s apparent trap into an opportunity through a clever interpretation of “fly high.”
• Qi An is eager to prove the value of his plans and regain confidence, but he spots Fei Yu’s aerial ambush at the last moment. His alarm contrasts with Chen Fan’s calm, and his warning reveals how closely he is learning to read the enemy’s strategy.
• Zhong Yi wrestles with the risks of the mission but follows the higher command’s order and arranges support. He recognizes that the operation could also strengthen Qi An’s standing and Chen Fan’s prospects in the coming choice of a New King.
• Fei Yu, the new Strange Entity commander, avoids Yun Du’s mistake of committing the entire front to chasing the Mortal Domain. Instead, he sets a calculated trap at the gate—but underestimates the Eternal Night Continent’s ability to break through by force.
• Yun Du watches the operation and reflects on the apparent reversal of fortune: the Mortal Domain survived when he opposed it, yet now seems endangered despite his joining it.
• Chen Fan’s Level 90 ghost allies reveal their fury toward the Strange Entities when they savagely attack the Falling Star Wraith.

Significant themes

• Strategic adaptation: Both sides devise plans, but success depends on recognizing how the enemy will respond and adapting quickly.
• Trust and reputation: The mission is not only militarily important; Qi An’s contribution and the Mortal Domain’s success could raise their prestige and influence the Human Race’s choice of a New King.
• Urgency and sacrifice: Humanity has only four months before the Heavenly Punishment Continent may fall, forcing risky operations and rapid advances.
• Expectation versus reality: Fei Yu assumes the Mortal Domain must take to the air; Chen Fan turns the phrase “fly high” into a literal defeat of the enemy’s blockade instead.

Plot and events

• After receiving confirmation that the Mortal Domain has entered the Ghost Gate, Command Post No. 002 orders the Human Race’s long-prepared counterattack. Hundreds of thousands of continents advance along the defense line.
• The Eternal Night Continent receives a day of powerful “Primordial Beginning Chaos” empowerment. It turns gold-red, gains enormous increases to its defenses, range, speed, and other abilities, and officially takes ownership of the Ghost Gate.
• The Ghost Gate opens above the continent, pouring out a seemingly endless supply of dark energy. Chen Fan uses that energy to power the Mortal Domain’s vast arsenal: 1.18 million Falling Star Cannons, 220,000 Core Energy Cannons, 3.28 million Heavenly Thunder Towers, Godslayer Cannons, and more.
• The continent rises into the air and tears through the Strange Tide, wiping out everything in its path while also collecting resources. The Mortal Domain’s overwhelming barrage makes it a mobile front line in its own right.
• Long Qi and the Era Continent’s lord have pushed deep into enemy territory under the command’s “Free Charge” order. When the empowered Mortal Domain bears down on them, they fear an attack—but its weapons deliberately spare their continents, and Chen Fan signals them with a giant thumbs-up.
• The Mortal Domain’s advance becomes a spectacle witnessed across the battlefield. For the first time, it demonstrates that it can shape the battle on a massive scale, not merely conduct small spearhead operations.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan is confident and exhilarated by the chance to fight without conserving resources. He takes pride in showing the Human Race what the Mortal Domain can do, while his playful humor surfaces in his thoughts about Green Edge and the oversized thumbs-up.
• Qi An is ecstatic that his plan has succeeded, celebrating as if his long string of failures has finally ended. Yun Du, who genuinely wants to surrender, privately notes the contrast between Qi An’s apparent sincerity and his own.
• Jiu Wu is stunned by the Mortal Domain’s hidden firepower and wonders whether his Azure Dragon Corps will get any chance to fight.
• Long Qi initially urges the allied continents onward, then trusts the command post’s urgent retreat order. He and the Era Continent’s lord are left awed by the Mortal Domain’s strength.
• Other allies react with pride, surprise, or excitement: the Water-Rising Continent’s hooded man celebrates the achievement; the Publicity Pavilion records it; Crippled Monkey cheers; and the Mortal Domain’s painter captures Chen Fan’s image.

Themes

• A dramatic rise to power: The Mortal Domain moves from underestimated newcomer to a force capable of commanding the battlefield.
• Preparation meeting opportunity: The command post’s advance planning and Chen Fan’s construction of defenses pay off when the Ghost Gate’s empowerment removes the usual limits on energy use.
• Collective morale and recognition: The Human Race sees a successor capable of carrying its fight forward, turning the day into a symbol of renewed hope.
• Power tempered by control: Though the Mortal Domain’s firepower terrifies allies, its attacks spare Long Qi and the Era Continent, showing that its strength is deliberate rather than indiscriminate.

Chapter Summary: “A Great Victory!”

Key plot points and events

• The Mortal Domain, empowered by the Ghost Gate, unleashes overwhelming firepower and routs the Strange Entity Clan at the Fifth Defense Line. The defeat is unusually severe: the clan suffers heavy losses and must retreat, while the Human Race advances in pursuit.
• Fei Yu recognizes that this is a genuine battlefield defeat, not a strategic withdrawal, and resolves to recover his standing by earning merit before Hades returns.
• The Ghost Gate’s temporary empowerment ends after a day. Exhausted from the battle and his nonstop work, Chen Fan delegates oversight to Crippled Monkey and sleeps for three days.
• News of the victory spreads through the faction. Other leaders and allies marvel at the Mortal Domain’s immense arsenal, while the Human Race celebrates the victory and the resources captured.
• After waking, Chen Fan answers the Command Post’s questions: the Mortal Domain built its large structures in advance, though it cannot normally power them all at once. He also explains that the Ghost Gate’s energy helped make their extraordinary battlefield output possible.
• The Human Race promotes Qi An as a “Jiu Returnee”—a deliberately framed title that presents defectors as returning to a new king, Jiu Wu. The Command Post hopes this will encourage more strange entities to defect and weaken the enemy’s resolve.
• Fei Yu blames Qi An for revealing the Ghost Gate’s capabilities and vows to kill the Jiu Returnees.
• Qi An remains outwardly loyal to Hades, using solemn gestures to signal to Yun Du that his surrender is a ruse. Yun Du, however, is privately questioned by Wang Kui and is urged to join the Human Race sincerely. He then reveals that Hades’s hidden reserves are intended for the “heaven gate fated war.”
• Chen Fan learns the captured Ghost Gate is shrinking and should return to its normal size in about seven days. It can then serve as a one-way portal to a random place—or be returned to Hell, where it can help restore Hell and unlock further effects. Chen Fan asks Yun Du to explain everything he knows about the coming war.

Character developments

• Chen Fan remains capable and pragmatic, but the chapter emphasizes his exhaustion and willingness to rest once the crisis has passed. He also thinks ahead, planning to build more weapons despite lacking the resources to use them all routinely.
• Fei Yu moves from shock and resentment to determination, seeking to redeem himself and retaliate against Qi An.
• Qi An is revealed to be pretending to defect. He stays committed to Hades and the Strange Entity Clan, signaling this privately to Yun Du.
• Yun Du appears to be genuinely adapting to life in the Mortal Domain. Under pressure from Wang Kui, he offers valuable intelligence about Hades’s plans, suggesting a possible shift toward sincere cooperation.
• Wang Kui shows both care and strategic caution, assessing Yun Du’s motives while creating an opening for him to help the Human Race.
• Ming San is overwhelmed by his new role relaying messages and begins considering choosing a successor, while also confronting the uneasy reality that he belongs to the Strange Entity side.
• The Extinction Demon Emperor admires Chen Fan’s growing accomplishments but is reluctant to visit him, fearing the loss of pride or status.
• Hu Wan reconsiders his plan to join the fighting after hearing how powerful the Mortal Domain has become.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan entrusts Crippled Monkey with responsibility, and Crippled Monkey protects his request to sleep rather than waking him.
• Allies and leaders exchange reports and reactions, showing how the victory affects the wider faction beyond the battlefield.
• Liu Ying teases the Extinction Demon Emperor about visiting the Mortal Domain; their exchange reveals his pride and his belief that submission is a consequence of strength, not inherent inferiority.
• Wang Kui gently probes Yun Du’s loyalty, contrasting his apparent sincerity with Qi An’s deliberate deception.
• Qi An’s solemn posture silently communicates his true allegiance to Yun Du, who understands the signal but remains troubled by their continued deception.
• Chen Fan ends by asking Yun Du directly for details about the heaven gate fated war.

Significant themes

• Victory and its cost: The Mortal Domain’s triumph is decisive, but it follows exhausting effort and comes with heavy losses for the Strange Entity Clan.
• Power, preparation, and resource limits: The Mortal Domain’s vast arsenal impresses observers, while Chen Fan’s plans reveal the importance of preparing even when weapons cannot yet be fully powered.
• Loyalty, betrayal, and survival: Qi An’s feigned defection contrasts with Yun Du’s uncertain but increasingly genuine cooperation.
• Narrative and psychological warfare: The “Jiu Returnee” label reframes defection as allegiance to a new king, using identity and morale as weapons.
• Rest and resilience: Chen Fan’s choice to sleep underscores that endurance requires recovery, not just relentless effort.
• Uncertainty about the future: Despite the victory, Hades’s hidden reserves and the coming “heaven gate fated war” suggest a larger conflict is still ahead.

Summary

Key plot points and events

• Yun Du reveals that the Strange Entity Clan has long prepared for a mysterious conflict called the Heaven Gate Fated War—a battle Hades considers more important than the current war with humanity. The clan believes Hades’s Innate Dark Sacred Physique improves its chances, but Chen Fan suspects the conflict may not be against the being who created Hades, since the timeline does not fit.
• After the victory at the Ghost Gate, Chen Fan reviews the Mortal Domain’s enormous gains: 100,000 level-11 Hades stones, vast quantities of eerie stones and treasures, 34.46 million merit points, and a rise to 99th place on the faction leaderboard.
• The campaign has also produced 9.8 million sets of level-80 Sky-Piercing Pillars. Concerned they might be unstable, Chen Fan orders safety checks. Qian Xiaoping confirms that dark energy is a fundamental force and cannot be corrupted or made to explode; the pillars are safe.
• Hades learns that members of his inner circle have died but, unable to leave the Heavenly Punishment Continent, resolves to kill its forces first.
• Fei Yu recognizes that humanity’s advance has stretched its supply lines and plans to raid them, hoping even the threat of attacks will force humans to divert troops.
• Qi An warns Chen Fan about the vulnerability of the human supply routes. Chen Fan agrees the risk is obvious but says protecting them is the command post’s responsibility, not the Mortal Domain’s.
• Chen Fan considers expanding his defenses with a second wall ring, though ammunition and resources remain limiting factors.
• The Sky Toad Clan formally joins the Human Faction and asks to hold its ceremony on the Eternal Night Continent. Its leader, Tianfei, reveals that the clan’s allegiance is specifically to Chen Fan: she believes his past declaration that wherever the Mortal Domain travels becomes its territory makes the Sky Toads his subjects. Chen Fan is startled, while Zhong Yi realizes the clan’s decision was not chiefly due to human publicity efforts.

Character developments

• Chen Fan grows increasingly powerful and wealthy, but remains cautious about sudden windfalls. He checks the Sky-Piercing Pillars for hidden danger, then turns his attention to improving the Mortal Domain’s defenses and acquiring more resources.
• Yun Du presents himself as a sincere survivor who wants to live. Though he believes Qi An may eventually rebel, he refuses to betray his companion when questioned.
• Qi An shows concern for the wider human war effort by warning Chen Fan about supply-line raids, even though Chen Fan considers the issue outside his authority.
• Hades is shown as focused on a larger, still-mysterious objective beyond the current war. The deaths of his inner circle anger or concern him, but he prioritizes confronting the Heavenly Punishment Continent.
• Tianfei demonstrates deep loyalty to Chen Fan and interprets his past words as a binding claim over her people.
• Wang Kui is impressed—and unsettled—by the Mortal Domain’s extraordinary stockpile, reflecting how far its military resources exceed ordinary expectations.

Significant themes

• Power and responsibility: The Mortal Domain’s vast weapons stockpile creates both confidence and anxiety; great strength requires careful testing and management.
• War’s strategic costs: Human advances bring victories but also expose longer supply lines, creating opportunities for the Strange Entity Clan.
• Loyalty and allegiance: Yun Du protects Qi An, while the Sky Toad Clan pledges itself to Chen Fan based on its own interpretation of his words.
• Uncertainty and hidden agendas: The Heaven Gate Fated War remains unexplained, and Hades’s priorities suggest a conflict larger than the ongoing human–Strange Entity war.
• Scale and perspective: What seems like an overwhelming military advantage to ordinary commanders still feels potentially insufficient to Chen Fan, who is already planning for a final battle.

Character interactions

• Chen Fan questions Yun Du about the Heaven Gate Fated War; Yun Du shares limited information and later defends Qi An’s sincerity to Wang Kui.
• Wang Kui reports the campaign’s spoils and expresses concern about the unprecedented pillar reserves; Chen Fan orders testing before deciding how to use them.
• Qi An raises the supply-line danger, but Chen Fan distinguishes the Mortal Domain’s role from that of the human command center.
• Zhong Yi and Chen Fan meet Tianfei for the Sky Toad Clan’s accession ceremony. Tianfei’s unexpected title for Chen Fan and her declaration of allegiance leave both men surprised, though Zhong Yi ultimately suggests proceeding with the ceremony.

Key plot points and events

• The Sky Toad Clan formally joins the Human Race under Chen Fan’s leadership. Chen asks to be called Domain Lord, not Mortal King, reaffirming his ideal of a world without kings.
• Life in the Mortal Domain is peaceful despite the wider war: children attend school, newspapers circulate, and retired continent lords enjoy city life.
• Hao Mao accidentally triggers the Bridge’s extremely rare One Step to Heaven effect, instantly rising to level 80. His advancement prompts Zhou Mo to reconsider the War Pavilion’s role: perhaps it could make individual strength useful by organizing fighters as a group.
• A Strange Entity force attacks a Human logistics Transit Continent, expecting an easy target. Hidden defenses annihilate the attackers, and the convoy continues without disruption.
• Chen returns the shrunken Ghost Gate to Hell. It restores Hell’s connection to the Boundary Battlefield and gives him convenient, energy-free access near the Mortal Domain. He plans to use Hell as a storage base, moving 9.8 million Level-80 Sky-Piercing Pillars there.
• The Mortal Domain begins rebuilding Hell, repairing buildings and adding greenery. Chen reflects that its people bring comfort and beauty even to a place called Hell.
• A crimson signal announces that the Wraith King Tian Xing has fallen to the Eternal Calamity Strange Entity Clan. Chen wonders whether Hades and the Heavenly Punishment Continent may be involved in locating and eliminating Wraith Kings.
• Crippled Monkey offers Chen dumplings rather than discussing the death. Chen accepts food and wine, then falls asleep; being gently awakened recalls their earlier days during the Jiangbei Rainy Season.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan remains committed to rejecting kingship, while steadily expanding his influence and making Hell useful to the Mortal Domain. His practical plans coexist with a playful appreciation for the Ghost Gate’s dramatic, “elegant” entrances.
• Hao Mao goes from carefree retirement to an unexpected level-80 powerhouse. His friend, the Sahara Continent Lord, teases him about his rule-bending approach to board games.
• Zhou Mo shifts from sulking over losing his status as the Mortal Domain’s strongest fighter to thinking ambitiously about coordinated mass advancement. Qi Yue initially dismisses the idea as unrealistic.
• Crippled Monkey shows his familiar, attentive care for Chen, prioritizing his comfort and appetite even amid major battlefield developments.

Significant themes

• Peace and ordinary life amid war: The Mortal Domain preserves schools, commerce, leisure, and community while conflict rages elsewhere.
• Collective strength over individual power: Zhou Mo questions whether organized fighters can overcome the limits of personal strength.
• Practicality balanced with beauty: The Mortal Domain restores greenery and livability even in Hell, resisting the idea that wartime necessity should erase aesthetics.
• Power, mortality, and remembrance: Tian Xing’s fall leaves only a name, prompting Chen to reflect on how quickly even formidable figures may be forgotten.
• Care and continuity: Crippled Monkey’s everyday kindness—and Chen’s memory of the past—connect the present to earlier hardships.

Plot points and events

• After dozing outdoors, Chen Fan shares a meal and drinks with Crippled Monkey. He describes recurring nightmares, poor sleep, and a persistent sense of dread as the final battle approaches.
• Chen Fan tells Crippled Monkey that he trusts him most and wants him to take responsibility for the Mortal Domain if Chen dies. He admits he is frightened that losing the coming battle could make all their years of struggle seem meaningless.
• Crippled Monkey counters that their shared experiences and loyalty have meaning regardless of victory: death is not the worst loss; abandoning one another is. Chen Fan accepts the comfort, then falls asleep outside rather than return indoors.
• On the West Pass Plains, Jiu Wu helps the Sky Toad Clan settle into its new home after a week of promotional appearances. He then returns by the oversized Mortal Domain High-Speed Rail to his own courtyard.
• At home, Jiu Wu finds Xiangyang training Meatworm Wraiths with a newly discovered Legion Technique, One Begets All, which fuses them into increasingly powerful explosive units. Jiu Wu encourages him but warns him not to sacrifice himself.
• Jiu Wu leads the Strange Entity Clan in a morning run, with Black Tortoises playfully chasing the stragglers. During the run, Qi An and Yun Du discuss Jiu Wu’s gentler nature compared with Hades and wonder whether traits like weakness and caution are truly worthless.
• Later, Chen Fan has dim sum with Mr. Na. Though he has considered whether Mr. Na might secretly be That One and whether he should kill him, Chen Fan cannot act on suspicion alone. He sets aside the thought and enjoys talking about food and places to visit with Mr. Na’s two Yellow Springs Wraith companions.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan reveals vulnerability rarely seen before: anxiety, fear of failure, and concern about what will happen to the Mortal Domain if he dies. His trust in Crippled Monkey is especially clear. He also chooses restraint toward Mr. Na, despite lingering suspicion.
• Crippled Monkey offers a heartfelt perspective on meaning, loyalty, and loss, showing emotional insight beneath his usually deferential manner.
• Jiu Wu appears as a modest, approachable leader who supports his people and values ordinary routines. Xiangyang’s determination to help in the coming war reflects the wider community’s commitment.
• Xiangyang develops a potentially useful combat technique and persists despite its unusual, dangerous nature.
• Qi An and Yun Du weigh the differences between Jiu Wu and Hades. Their conversation suggests that Jiu Wu’s appealing traits may be connected to the qualities Hades shed, while also recognizing that power and responsibility can change a person.
• Mr. Na remains a source of uncertainty for Chen Fan, but their warm, everyday interaction reinforces Chen Fan’s reluctance to harm someone who has long been part of the Mortal Domain.

Significant themes

• Meaning beyond victory: Loyalty, shared struggle, and refusing to abandon one another can matter even if the final battle is lost.
• Fear beneath leadership: Chen Fan’s confidence and authority coexist with exhaustion, nightmares, and genuine fear.
• Responsibility and succession: His request that Crippled Monkey prepare to lead exposes the danger of the Mortal Domain lacking a clear heir.
• The value of “weakness”: Caution, vulnerability, and other supposedly negative traits may hold emotional or moral value rather than being useless.
• Trust versus suspicion: Chen Fan must decide whether fear justifies acting against Mr. Na; ultimately, he chooses restraint.
• Preparation and solidarity: Training, routine, and even small contributions reflect the characters’ shared resolve ahead of an imminent war.

Key plot points and events

• Wan Gu recovers memories about Eternal Cast, the Angler Clan’s unique fishing technique. It secretly restarted the world millions of times after the Second Dark Turmoil, searching for an iteration in which the war could be ended. He recalls that the Angler Clan guarded the meeting point of the River of Space and River of Time, but not the full details of his former duties or how to reach that source.
• Chen Fan receives an unusually formal deployment order from Command Post No. 002. As the Eternal Night Continent approaches the frontline, the command post activates three powerful, army-wide auras, sends enormous war reserves forward, and orders every human continent to charge directly at the Strange Entity Main Camp.
• The Human Faction commits its entire force to the assault. Thousands of heavily armed Transit Continents spearhead the advance, while hundreds of thousands of continents follow. The sudden attack overwhelms the Strange Entity frontline before it can respond.
• The Strange Entity commander Fei Yu orders the clan’s sealed reserves released. Forbidden lands, hidden stores, and long-prepared forces are opened, making clear that both sides are now fighting the decisive battle of the Third Dark Turmoil.
• Command Post No. 002’s commander, Zhong Yi, reveals the urgency behind the attack: the Heavenly Punishment Continent may fall within three months. The Human Faction’s secret Heavenly Chasm Plan depends on breaking through to the Strange Entity Main Camp and activating the Heavenly Chasm.
• The assault has no resupply route or fallback. Civilians and reserves have been brought forward, and the Human Faction is committed to pushing through.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan learns that Wan Gu’s past power was far greater than he imagined. Though unsettled by the sudden attack and aware that he has not met his own preparations or goals, he quickly sets aside his doubts and orders the Eternal Night Continent to charge.
• Wan Gu regains fragments of his forgotten identity and shares them with Chen Fan, including the startling scale and purpose of Eternal Cast. He still cannot recall how to locate the rivers’ source.
• Jiu Wu and the others are caught off guard by the assault, especially since it begins earlier than Chen Fan’s expected timetable. Chen Fan tells them the command posts must have a plan.
• Qi An is dismayed when the attack interrupts a strategy he has spent seven days preparing. He worries that, still lacking the Mortal Domain’s full trust, he will be unable to contribute meaningfully.
• Zhong Yi accepts that there is no time to wait or refine the plan and commits to the perilous charge. Fei Yu, learning that the human offensive has begun, urgently mobilizes the Strange Entity Clan’s own reserves.

Significant themes

• Commitment under uncertainty: The Human Faction launches before it is ready, accepting that retreat and resupply are impossible.
• The cost of time: The Heavenly Punishment Continent’s rapidly worsening condition forces the command posts to act sooner than planned.
• Escalation and total war: Both factions unleash reserves accumulated over tens of thousands of years, making this a struggle over who will inherit the world.
• Fate, repetition, and possibility: Wan Gu’s revelation that the world was restarted millions of times introduces the possibility that the present conflict is the result of countless attempts to find a solution.

Key plot points and events

• After three days of fighting, the Human Race crushes the Strange Entity Clan’s Sixth Defense Line and begins its first full counteroffensive in tens of thousands of years. Hundreds of thousands of human continents charge forward, carrying the race’s last hope.
• The Strange Entity Clan sends vast numbers of Shield Mountain Wraiths to delay the advance. Their linked defenses withstand an initial barrage of 50,000 Sky-Piercing Pillars and the Eternal Night Continent’s collision.
• Chen Fan commits the Mortal Domain to the vanguard. With the Human Race’s support—especially Hundred Flowers Pavilion’s war drums—he leads the Eternal Night Continent through the enemy formation. Delayed explosions from another 120,000 Sky-Piercing Pillars open a gap, and the human army quickly overruns the Wraiths without losing momentum.
• The Human Race’s charge draws attention across the Boundary Battlefield. Sky Toad Clan leader Tianfei reflects on why the Human Race must fight, while Strange Entity commander Fei Yu orders his forces to activate their reserves and plans to exhaust the advancing army rather than retreat.
• Chen Fan receives a newly developed “Return to Ruin Bomb,” built from void matter found in a destroyed world. Though untested, he orders it mounted on a Sky-Piercing Pillar, anticipating further clashes.
• The chapter closes with Chen Fan returning to the familiar Mortal Domain cave and settling down to review reports as the march continues.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan accepts the risks of leading the charge, using the Mortal Domain’s resources and his own example to bolster the army’s morale. He remains focused and composed even as the counteroffensive escalates.
• The human Continent Lords show renewed unity and spirit. Their banter in the exchange zone—including praise for Chen Fan and jokes about claiming future credit—reveals a rare relaxation of military formality.
• Tianfei shifts from seeing an all-or-nothing war as foolish to understanding the Human Race’s lack of alternatives: it cannot surrender and must fight for survival.
• The Extinction Demon Emperor (“Baboon”) struggles with whether to join the battle. Chen Fan’s letter, which returns his old saber, explains that Hell has been rebuilt and promises future weddings and celebrations. Baboon interprets the gesture as proof that Chen Fan cares for him—and, if sent knowingly before the war, as a sign that Chen Fan needs him. Liu Ying fears for him but ultimately accepts his plan to wait until the armies clash, then help Chen Fan and others escape if possible.
• Fei Yu remains confident in his command, dismissing the failed interception as a minor setback and planning to wear down the human force. Sky Patrol suspects the humans are racing against Hades’s return but withholds his doubts about Fei Yu’s strategy.

Significant themes

• Desperation and resolve: The Human Race has no path to surrender; its choice is victory or extinction.
• Unity and sacrifice: The counteroffensive depends on accumulated reserves, shared courage, and individuals willing to lead from the front.
• Hope and morale: The drums, messages, gifts, and camaraderie sustain people facing a seemingly hopeless war.
• Loyalty and human connection: Chen Fan’s thoughtful letter and Baboon’s response show how personal bonds endure amid immense military stakes.
• Strategic urgency: The human army’s nonstop advance reflects a race against time, while both sides prepare to commit their deepest reserves.

Plot and events

• As the Human Race launches its first major counteroffensive against the Strange Entity Clan, most of the Boundary Battlefield gathers to follow news from the front.
• Green Edge and Qian Jue are trapped in the River of Time after entering it by accident. The river is not water but an immense current of yellow sand, each grain recording a year in the life of a person, place, or object. Inside, they have been reduced to mortals, and the current carries them backward through time faster than they can travel. They believe reaching the river’s latest point could take them home, but they cannot keep pace with the sand.
• Green Edge proposes heading upstream instead, toward the world’s earliest history, in hopes of finding another way out—or perhaps changing the conflict at its source. Qian Jue agrees, and they begin the long journey.
• Green Edge discovers a grain of sand containing only black-and-white static, evidence that a powerful being has hidden their past from the River of Time. The person investigating that past is later revealed to have triggered Chen Fan’s protective “Chain of the Time Ruins.”
• Chen Fan wakes when the bracelet activates. He suspects Hades tried to investigate his past to find weaknesses in the Mortal Domain, but the bracelet blocked the attempt.

Character developments and interactions

• Qian Jue begins furious at Green Edge for bringing him into the river, but gradually shifts from anger to cooperation. He shares the Demon Clan’s history: it is tasked with eliminating whichever race wins a great war, and he now intends to turn against his own master, who caused his people’s destruction. He admits the Mortal Domain cannot defeat that master yet, but may have potential.
• Green Edge remains calm and practical, steering their efforts toward a new plan. His conversation with Qian Jue also reveals his sharp insight: he questions the idea that Qian Jue’s master stages wars merely for entertainment.
• Their discussion of human stories leads Green Edge to suggest a darker motive: the master may be testing races to identify the strongest, like an audience watching a cricket fight, while the “Sweepers” clean up afterward. Qian Jue is unsettled by this interpretation and considers changing his title.
• Chen Fan responds to the threat with wary amusement rather than panic, imagining Hades as a snoop who tried to inspect a private past and was turned away.

Significant themes

• History and time: The river renders countless individual histories as grains in a vast, impersonal flow, making a single life seem almost insignificant.
• Power, control, and hidden motives: The wars may not be spontaneous or entertaining spectacles, but tests manipulated by a superior being for an unknown purpose.
• Loyalty and resistance: Qian Jue’s allegiance shifts from serving the Demon Clan’s role to seeking revenge on the master who destroyed his people.
• Cooperation amid conflict: Green Edge and Qian Jue are from opposing sides, yet their shared predicament and candid exchanges bring them together.
• Perspective and interpretation: Green Edge’s storybook analogy challenges Qian Jue’s assumptions and reframes the wars as a possible search for a “strongest” race.

Chapter Summary

Plot points and events

• Chen Fan questions Wan Gu about Reverse Fishing. Wan Gu explains that the Angler Clan’s second technique reaches into the River of Time, but using it erases the user’s memory of the act—and everyone else’s memory that the user knew or used the technique. Only the item retrieved retains the memory. Reverse Fishing can retrieve items that no longer exist, but retrieving a past item that still has a present counterpart could cause a catastrophic collision. Living beings cannot be killed through this method, and the future cannot be observed because events continually change it.
• Chen Fan reinterprets the Vermilion Bird Clan’s history. He realizes that Canghai Yue likely used Reverse Fishing to recover the clan’s souls and memories, despite later denying it. Baobao remembers because he was the “item” brought back. The cryptic couplet at the Vermilion Bird Palace was probably left by the Anglers as a marker to remind themselves of what they had done.
• The human counteroffensive continues. On the fourth day, Chen Fan expects the Strange Entity Clan to delay the advance rather than waste forces in repeated attacks. He plans to return to infrastructure work during the march.
• The chapter reveals the Human Faction’s last great military asset. The Heavenly Punishment Continent is a heavily fortified, fully automated level-nine war machine, built over tens of thousands of years to confront Hades. Its AI, Yaoguang, estimates the Human Race has only a 32.68% chance of victory and approximately 117 days of survival remaining.
• The truth about the Human King emerges. An elderly veteran confronts Zhong Yi, realizing that Zhao Tianfa—the King and the Human Race’s greatest builder—is gone. The King’s apparent meetings with Zhong Yi in the Peach Blossom World were staged; Zhong Yi had been speaking to an empty room. His sacrifice was part of the Heavenly Chasm Plan, also called the Army-Breaking Plan, and was intended not to damage morale. The King’s final belief was: “The Human Race needs no King. If it does, every human is a King.”
• On the eleventh day, the Strange Entity Clan sends Frost Wraiths to slow the army. The creatures are deployed in enormous numbers, not to defeat the advancing continents but to delay them through their freezing effects and explosive deaths. Human Transit Continents counter with modified Calamity-Cleansing Arrays that rain fire over a vast area, turning the sea and sky red.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan gains a clearer understanding of Reverse Fishing and the Anglers’ hidden role in the Vermilion Bird Clan’s restoration. He also shows practical strategic thinking as he weighs ways to counter the Frost Wraiths.
• Wan Gu provides crucial lore about the River of Time and then returns to recovering his memories.
• Zhong Yi quietly bears the burden of concealing the King’s death. His exchange with the elderly veteran reveals both his grief and his loyalty to the King’s plan.
• The elderly veteran mourns Zhao Tianfa, his close companion, but accepts that the King’s sacrifice was necessary and refocuses on the battle.
• The King’s legacy shifts from a single ruler’s leadership to a collective ideal: every person of the Human Race must take responsibility.

Significant themes

• Sacrifice and remembrance: Reverse Fishing restores what was lost, but its cost erases the rescuers’ memories; the King likewise sacrifices himself without public recognition.
• Collective responsibility: The King’s words reject dependence on one ruler and make leadership a shared duty.
• The limits of time: The past can be traced but not safely rewritten, while the future remains uncertain.
• Preparation and endurance: The Heavenly Punishment Continent, the counteroffensive, and the fire-array response all reflect long-term preparation against overwhelming odds.
• Hope amid low odds: Despite Yaoguang’s grim forecast, the Human Race continues its advance and adapts to each obstacle.

Plot and events

• The human army’s advance is halted by a massive tide of Frost Wraiths, but a sweeping wave of fire destroys them completely. Chen Fan reflects that he had underestimated the Human Race’s ability to overcome the threat and recognizes how much responsibility he feels as its Hidden King.
• At the Strange Entity Clan’s headquarters, Fei Yu learns the Frost Wraiths failed. Rather than waste troops on delaying actions, he decides to let the humans advance and use the remaining two months to prepare for a direct, decisive battle.
• A messenger’s parable about three equally valid paths persuades Fei Yu that hesitation over too many options is costly: unlike the humans, who have no choice but to commit fully, the Strange Entity Clan must choose a course and follow it.
• Fei Yu rallies the clan kings with a plan to kill Jiu Wu using a special weapon coated in ancient Giant Race black powder, which can prevent its target from resurrecting. He claims Jiu Wu’s death would restore Hades to full strength, and tells the kings they can be resurrected by Hades if they die in battle. He deliberately conceals that human structures may prevent resurrection, calling the deception a “well-intentioned omission.”
• At the Eternal Night Continent, Yun Du learns that the Sky Toad Clan—an all-female race—plans to fight for the Human Faction. He also hears Qi An’s proposal for the Strange Entity Clan to withdraw and stall until Hades is freed, which could doom the humans. Though Yun Du promises to pass it on, he privately urges Qi An to stay silent, fearing the Domain Lord might kill him.
• Jiu Wu gives Chen Fan intelligence Yun Du supplied about strange entities, hidden reserves, and enemy tactics. Chen Fan orders it copied and sent to Human Command as useful but not necessarily reliable.
• Elsewhere, Qian Jue and Green Edge travel along the River of Time, examining memories held in grains of sand. Their conversation reveals Qian Jue’s curiosity about ordinary life and his wish to own a dog, as well as details about Hell and the power of Hell’s Gate.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan shows growing humility and a strong sense of responsibility, while remaining focused on preparing for the long campaign.
• Fei Yu shifts from weighing possible strategies to committing to a direct confrontation. His confidence in the plan also depends on manipulating the clan kings’ morale.
• Sky Patrol privately doubts the Strange Entity Clan’s prospects after repeated setbacks and wonders whether defectors Qi An and Yun Du chose correctly. Fei Yu rebukes Sky Patrol for appearing discouraged; Sky Patrol chooses not to challenge him.
• Yun Du increasingly identifies with the Human Faction and values his safety and companionship with Jiu Wu. He tries to protect Qi An, even as Qi An remains loyal to Hades and seeks to aid the Strange Entity Clan.
• Qian Jue and Green Edge share playful, revealing banter. Qian Jue’s fascination with small human memories contrasts with his formidable demonic nature; Green Edge’s teasing exposes Qian Jue’s evasiveness and sense of humor.
• Ao Tian, Dragon Clan Chief, privately loses faith in the Strange Entity commanders and favors straightforward action over elaborate schemes.

Significant themes

• Commitment versus hesitation: Fei Yu’s lesson is that choosing and pursuing a path can be wiser than endlessly weighing alternatives.
• War, morale, and deception: Both sides face pressure, while Fei Yu uses selective truth and promised resurrection to make his forces fight without fear.
• Loyalty and belonging: Yun Du’s and Qi An’s opposing loyalties reveal how former allegiance can persist—or change—under new circumstances.
• The human cost and breadth of war: Characters glimpse the diverse cultures and ordinary lives beyond military usefulness, prompting Yun Du and Qian Jue to imagine a life after the conflict.

Plot points and events

• After thirty-three days of marching, the human army is more than halfway to the Strange Entity Clan’s main camp. Chen Fan calculates that the Mortal Domain can spend up to five days in the nearby Demon Abyss and still rejoin the army before the decisive battle.
• Seeking any advantage before the war, Chen Fan orders the Eternal Night Continent to break away from the army and enter the Demon Abyss. Hundreds of thousands of Azure Dragon Corps troops and representatives of the four great races accompany the expedition.
• They find a vast, ruined palace. When an Azure Dragon enters, a dormant defense releases countless silver needles of light across the entire region—including the Mortal Domain. The attack pierces every defense but causes no deaths or visible injuries, leaving everyone afraid that it may have altered their minds or bodies.
• Chen Fan uses the Demon Child Bamboo Flute to view the palace’s past. The vision reveals a catastrophic war between the demons and the Seraphim Clan. After the demons’ forces are depleted, a dying Seraphim king unleashes the silver needles and a white orb against the city. The attack kills the remaining demons, but the king also dies from a wound inflicted by the last returning demon.
• The vision establishes that the Demon Clan was once a Victory Clan, and that the silver needles were a weapon specifically designed to kill demons. Their ancient attack had lain dormant in the palace until the Azure Dragon triggered it.
• A surviving demon infant resembles Qian Jue, suggesting a connection between him and the city’s last survivors. Chen Fan plans to ask Qian Jue about the final, untranslated demon-language message shown after the war.
• Chen Fan orders the Azure Dragons to dig for the Seraphim king’s Pure White Spear, which he saw fall near the city wall. Despite the revelations, he keeps his focus on strengthening the Mortal Domain and preparing for the coming war.

Character developments and interactions

• Chen Fan weighs the risks of entering the Demon Abyss, then chooses to pursue the potential gains. He remains composed during the mysterious attack, uses the flute to uncover its cause, and acts decisively to recover the spear.
• Crippled Monkey protects Chen Fan by tackling him and shielding him during the attack, later privately asking whether they should continue exploring.
• Chen Jiutian voices the group’s fears that the attack may have caused hidden changes, such as possession, poisoning, or transformation. The vision later gives the survivors a clearer explanation.
• Jiu Wu leads the Azure Dragon Corps’ large-scale exploration and follows Chen Fan’s orders, including the search for the spear.
• Qi Yue and the White Tiger Clan initially imagine the expedition as a romantic adventure, but the immense army makes it feel more like a villain’s military campaign.
• Xiaowen admits she cannot objectively calculate the odds of victory, but expresses faith in Chen Fan and hopes the Human Race wins.
• The vision reframes Qian Jue’s heritage: his clan was once a victorious people, though he apparently never knew this and believed his role was to serve as a Sweeper.

Significant themes

• Risk and opportunity: Chen Fan recognizes that caution can become its own danger; he chooses to take a calculated chance before the decisive battle.
• The fear of the unknown: The attack is terrifying precisely because nobody can initially tell what it has done, despite the lack of injuries.
• History and inherited ignorance: The vision uncovers a forgotten chapter of demon history that even Qian Jue may not know.
• War’s cost and survival: The demons win only after nearly their entire population is lost, leaving infants as the city’s sole survivors.
• Resolve and collective survival: Chen Fan’s priority remains the continued survival of the Mortal Domain and the Human Race, whatever revelations the past may bring.

Chen Fan recovered two ancient Seven-Colored spears in the Demon Abyss and later discovered that the Eternal Night Continent could advance to ninth level only by uniting every race under the Human Faction. The Yellow Springs Wraith suggested that Chen Fan appeal to the Boundary Battlefield’s races with a speech, but the Mortal Domain lacked an Exotic Treasure capable of broadcasting his voice across the entire battlefield.

• Jiu Wu recovered the Seraphim Spear and Demon Spear, and Chen Fan gave them to Wang Kui to store for Qian Jue.
• Chen Fan left the Demon Abyss with the Eternal Night Continent and learned that testing the spears against the mysterious paper had produced no reaction.
• Hu Wan contacted Chen Fan about the failed advancement of the Gods and Devils Continent, and Chen Fan suggested the other continents grow their populations and raise chickens.
• Chen Fan examined the Eternal Night Continent’s ninth-level advancement requirements and realized its Grand Perfection status meant it had to complete the seemingly impossible Coexistence of the Myriad Races path.
• The Yellow Springs Wraith urged Chen Fan to win the other races’ trust with a speech promising peace, and Chen Fan decided to pursue the idea.
• Command Post 003 reported that it had no Exotic Treasure capable of carrying Chen Fan’s voice across the Boundary Battlefield, so Chen Fan ordered Wang Kui to search the Mortal Domain’s reserves.

As the Human Race prepared for its final assault on the Strange Entity Clan, Chen Fan reassured Zhong Yi that the enemy had not retreated, while both armies made their final deployments. The chapter ended with the Mortal Domain preparing to charge from the center and Hades pursuing the failing Heavenly Punishment Continent as the battle drew near.

• Chen Fan received the Human Faction's gathered popular will for Lights of Ten Thousand Homes: At Lanterns' End, and told Zhong Yi that the Strange Entity Clan had not fled.
• Zhong Yi deployed the Human Race's hundreds of thousands of continents to encircle the Strange Entity Clan, while Fei Yu completed the enemy's preparations under Sky Patrol's watch.
• The Extinction Demon Emperor listened to reports of the approaching battle as Liu Ying sat beside him, and he recalled once challenging a demon to a duel.
• Yaoguang reported the Heavenly Punishment Continent's damage and dwindling survival time while Hades pursued it and spoke of the coming Heaven Gate Fated War.
• The Medicine King Valley Master encouraged Shao Qiu to contribute through his own strengths rather than seek a futile death, and Shao Qiu accepted the advice.
• Chen Fan waited on the Northbank Defense Line as the Mortal Domain prepared to charge head-on from the center of the Human Race's formation.

Zhong Yi revealed that Zhao Tianfa had died centuries earlier, then humanity began its final battle against the Strange Entity Clan with a plan to encircle its army. The human vanguards pushed into the Strange Tide while Chen Fan’s forces helped break the enemy’s shield, and the chapter ended as Fei Yu pointed out the vanguards’ movements to Sky Patrol.

• Zhong Yi told the Continent Lords that Zhao Tianfa had died long ago after preparing the Heavenly Punishment Continent to resist Hades, then ordered the vanguards to join up at any cost.
• Lin Chong and the Hundred Flowers Pavilion Members beat the war drums as hundreds of thousands of human continents fired Sky-Piercing Pillars at the Strange Entity Clan’s forces.
• Fei Yu committed the Strange Entity Clan’s reserves to battle, while Sky Patrol learned that Hades would return in one or two months and forbade the use of the reserves for the Heaven Gate Fated War.
• Chen Fan used the Mortal Domain’s Return to Ruin Bombs to help shatter the Heaven-Shrouding Strange Entities, after which the Strange Tide reached the human army and close combat began.
• Skyward Song Continent and Mocking Heaven Continent led the two human vanguards into the Strange Tide to begin encircling the enemy, while Zhong Yi watched the battle and noted that humanity had fifty-eight days before Hades arrived.
• Sky Patrol asked Fei Yu how the battle was going, and Fei Yu pointed to the movements of the human vanguards on the Sand Table.

The Strange Entity Clan charged toward the Human Race while Mr. Na sought approval for the Return to Ruin Bomb and learned its void material could not be certified. As the central army endured the third day of battle, Chen Fan’s Mortal Domain repelled Shiqi’s elite squad, and Chen Fan learned that Hades could not resurrect Strange Entities killed by Human Race structures.

• Fei Yu ordered the Strange Entity Clan to charge through the human forces before they could complete their encirclement.
• Mr. Na asked White Elder to certify the Return to Ruin Bomb, but White Elder explained that its void material could not exist in Heaven and Earth unless the Boundary Battlefield were nearly destroyed.
• The Skyward Song Continent continued leading the human vanguard through the Strange Tide as its Continent Lord and an elderly companion discussed Zhao Tianfa’s death.
• Qian Jue and Green Edge learned that the black cat was Po of the Asura Clan, who revealed his identity while they traveled through the River of Time.
• On the third day of battle, Shiqi led an elite squad against the Mortal Domain, but Chen Fan’s Heaven-Deriving Sky-Piercing Pillars destroyed the squad and wounded Shiqi.
• Shiqi identified the Mortal Domain and killed himself rather than be killed by its structures; Chen Fan learned from Jiu Wu that Hades could not resurrect Strange Entities killed by Human Race structures, and Wan Gu gave him Shiqi’s black Great Knife.