Chapter Summaries

Sha Duoman retrieved a strange gem from beneath the old statue and believed it was connected to the voice he had heard, which he took as a call from the celestial realm. At a Church deliberation over Neil Luo and Leit’s proposal, a bishop’s demand for a sign from God made Sha Duoman question whether the gem was that sign.

• Sha Duoman cleared debris from beneath the statue and used two chime mallets to draw out a dusky gem.
• He recalled his wavering faith and concluded that the voice he had heard was a call from the celestial realm.
• A Divine Attendant found Sha Duoman, who hid the gem before going to the Central Grand Cathedral.
• Sha Duoman joined more than three hundred clergy, Neil Luo, Leit, and Sword Saint Degoni for a deliberation on Neil Luo and Leit’s proposal.
• Several clergy opposed the proposal, and a bishop asked why God had given no sign of danger.
• Sha Duoman touched the gem in his pocket and looked toward Neil Luo and the others, meeting a calm, impassive gaze.

Archbishop Sha Duoman retrieved a strange gemstone from beneath the statue and became convinced that it carried a voice from the Celestial Realm. At a Church meeting, he heard clergy argue that God had given no sign and quietly looked toward Neil Luo’s group, meeting a calm, indifferent gaze.

• Sha Duoman used two chime mallets to retrieve a dull gemstone from beneath the statue’s pedestal.
• He recalled his wavering faith and decided the voice he had heard was a summons from the Celestial Realm.
• A senior Divine Attendant found Sha Duoman and summoned him to join Bishop Neil Luo and the Hand of Succession.
• Sha Duoman entered the cathedral, where more than three hundred clergy and Sword Saint Degoni’s party had gathered for deliberations.
• Several clergy opposed Neil Luo and Leit’s proposal, including a Bishop who argued that God had given no sign.
• Sha Duoman touched the gemstone in his pocket and looked toward Neil Luo’s group, meeting a calm, indifferent gaze.

Sword Saint Degoni exposed Archbishop Sha Duoman’s possession of a mysterious crystal, leading Neil Luo, Leit, and their companions to realize the Holy Mountain had known the truth all along. Degoni led them out of the cathedral despite the guards, while the crystal shattered in Sha Duoman’s hand.

• The clergy condemned Neil Luo, Leit, and their companions’ proposal, and Archbishop Sha Duoman invited them to defend themselves.
• Sword Saint Degoni asked Sha Duoman to reveal what he had hidden, and the Archbishop pulled a crystal from his pocket as it grew painfully hot.
• Neil Luo and Leit recognized the crystal, and Degoni concluded that the Holy Mountain’s leaders had known about it all along.
• Degoni led the group toward the exit, while Leit discarded his Holy Knight Metal Badge and Neil Luo and the others followed in anger and disbelief.
• The Templar Captain ordered the guards to stop them, but Degoni’s overwhelming presence froze the guards and let the group leave.
• Archbishop Sha Duoman collapsed into his chair, and the crystal in his hand shattered.

After the Church leadership rejected Leit and his companions, Neil Luo concluded that the Church had concealed the truth about the Otherworld crystals and its own origins to protect its power. The group left the Holy Mountain, knowing the Church might have planned to attack them but that Sword Saint Degoni’s presence had deterred it.

• After Leit and his companions departed, Archbishop Sha Duoman claimed the shattered gemstone was a Church treasure and accused them of abandoning their faith.
• Holy Knights and Demon Hunters privately questioned the Archbishop’s story and discussed the Bishops’ coordinated behavior and Sword Saint Degoni’s overwhelming power.
• At the rest area, Neil Luo and Leit explained that the Holy Mountain’s leaders had known about the Otherworld crystals and likely concealed the Church’s origins and the approaching crisis.
• Neil Luo suggested the Church had begun with aid from the Otherworld’s forces of light, then transformed into a religion to preserve its leaders’ authority after the crisis passed.
• Leit and Qin Xiaoxia speculated that the Church’s leaders were protecting their interests and refusing to face the disaster, while a Demon Hunter said they had likely planned an attack.
• Leit urged the group to leave the rest area, since the Church would not help them.

Neil Luo left the Holy Mountain with the Sword Saint and his companions after rejecting the Archbishop’s offer of forgiveness, while Qin Xiaoxia concluded that the Church’s leadership was too arrogant to cooperate with. In the ruined city of Yaxiaze, a powerful red monster fed on a Ridge-Crowned person and watched other monsters fight over the remains.

• Neil Luo told Hagen that his faith was stronger than ever, refused to seek the Archbishop’s forgiveness, and departed with the Sword Saint’s group.
• Hagen reported Neil Luo’s departure to the Archbishop, who wondered whether he had missed an important opportunity.
• Qin Xiaoxia explained that the Archbishop had rejected a chance to share the crystal and that the Sword Saint had therefore challenged him.
• A towering red monster in Yaxiaze ate a Ridge-Crowned person, dismissed the other monsters fighting over the corpse, and turned its gaze toward surviving thugs and thieves.

Qin Xiaoxia recognized the hailstorm as a sign that the world’s power was growing restless, not a natural weather event. After the party took shelter in the mountains, he left them considering whether their large gathering might be connected to the disturbance.

• A sudden downpour and enormous hailstones struck the traveling party, injuring several people and nearly knocking a Divine Official from his horse.
• Neil Luo caught the falling Divine Official and helped organize the party as they dismounted and made a makeshift camp.
• Qin Xiaoxia observed that the storm was unusually severe and began studying the world’s response.
• Qin Xiaoxia asked Leit about nearby settlements, and Leit said he knew the mountain terrain but remembered no villages nearby.
• Qin Xiaoxia told Leit that the storm reflected the world’s restless power and noted that their party was likely the largest gathering in the mountains.

Qin Xiaoxia warned that strange weather could herald fiends, then let Leit and the soldiers defeat three stranded fish-like monsters before announcing special training. In Fanite City-State, Brantai and Night Hawk found reports of spreading demons, invasions, abnormal weather, and monsters fueling fear across the nations.

• Qin Xiaoxia sensed fiends nearby as a storm triggered landslides, revealing three enormous fish-like monsters stranded in the mud.
• Qin Xiaoxia told Leit and the soldiers to handle the fiends, and they fought for about an hour before killing them.
• Qin Xiaoxia warned the victors that other fiends could have killed them and offered special training, saying he would personally teach the awakened.
• Brantai and Night Hawk brought the Crystal Ornament to Fanite City-State and learned that reports from across the world showed worsening disasters.
• The Qinggelie Empire advanced on neighboring countries and seized resources while demons and monsters spread, and some powerful nations began conquering smaller neighbors.

Brantai and Sword Saint Degoni helped Qin Xiaoxia establish a Summoning Spell Formation in the Fanite City-State, allowing the people there to contact the forces of light, called Dawn, and receive aid and knowledge. More than a month later, Degoni and Leit worried that the endless fire in Yaxiaze and other strange forces threatened their fragile world as they awaited Dawn’s arrival.

• Brantai returned to the Fanite City-State with the Crystal Ornament, and Sword Saint Degoni used it to contact the forces of light.
• Qin Xiaoxia guided the Summoning Spell Formation, which brought Vermilion Fruits and Flowers of Life and opened a channel for knowledge about fighting fiends.
• Dawn revealed that Yaxiaze was still burning after Ashen Rain, and its power could not explain the phenomenon.
• Degoni told Leit that Wogevde had summoned more than the dark power of the Abyss and feared the world might not survive until Dawn arrived.
• An uncanny wind swept through the courtyard, and Qin Xiaoxia sensed that the world’s consciousness viewed the Great Salvation Alliance as a lifeline.

Liu Yue visited Huaguo’s First Institute of Paranormal Biology as a new shipment of thunder beasts arrived for the Thunder Beast Project. After one demon was restrained and drugged, Academician Jin showed it the device that researchers planned to implant in its body.

• More than twenty helicopters delivered four sealed containers to the institute, and Liu Yue learned that four successful specimens would bring its total to thirty-six.
• Academician Jin explained that the institute had lost specimens when savage and corrupted demons made suicidal attacks on their handlers.
• Liu Yue and Academician Jin watched researchers open a container holding a restrained, seven-to-eight-meter demon that was shocked when it roared.
• A researcher injected the knight-class demon with a relaxant, leaving it too weak to stand.
• Academician Jin showed the terrified demon a device called the Death Scorpion and explained that it would be surgically implanted in its body.

Academician Jin showed a Demon how the Death Scorpion controlled, monitored, and could destroy implanted Thunder Beasts before beginning an implantation experiment on live specimen No. 61. Qin Xiaoxia observed the experiment and considered using Thunder Beasts to investigate Asiya Ze City.

• A recording showed technicians implanting a Death Scorpion in a Demon and demonstrated how it could control the host and explode after its death.
• The Demon watching the recording became terrified as Academician Jin prepared to implant a Death Scorpion in live specimen No. 61.
• Qin Xiaoxia watched the experiment and considered sending Thunder Beasts to probe Asiya Ze City.

Claw Number 16 endured a week of experiments without rejecting its implant, and the researchers released it after administering the Dispelling Agent. As the Thunder Beasts prepared to fight in Colosseum No. 2, Qin Xiaoxia sensed their thoughts and noticed how deeply the researchers’ talk of devils had affected them.

• The researchers subjected Claw Number 16 to extreme tests and found that it showed no rejection of its implant.
• On July 24, technicians removed its needles and feeding tube, injected it with the 100% Dispelling Agent, and released its restraints.
• Claw Number 16 regained its strength and spoke to Academician Jin with assistance from the Death Scorpion’s upgraded neural control software.
• Academician Jin announced that the Thunder Beasts would enter Colosseum No. 2 and fight without killing one another outright.
• Qin Xiaoxia observed the Thunder Beasts through a thoughtform and sensed their reactions to the researchers’ repeated use of the word “devils.”

Liu Yue secured Academician Jin’s agreement to send Thunder Beasts to the Otherworld, and thirty of them descended during a Divine Sacrifice in the Qinggelie Empire. Claw Number 16 led the monsters toward Yaxiaze, leaving the city near the altar untouched.

• Claw Number 16 defeated the other eight Thunder Beasts in the arena and passed its training evaluation.
• Liu Yue told Academician Jin that the alliance needed Thunder Beasts to investigate new developments in the Otherworld, and promised support from the Dawn Association.
• Academician Jin agreed to send Claw Number 16 and other Thunder Beasts on the mission after learning that the Dawn Sage had approved it.
• A Divine Sacrifice in the Qinggelie Empire summoned thirty Thunder Beasts before court priests and soldiers.
• Claw Number 16 activated Digital Map Navigation Mode and led the Thunder Beasts north toward Yaxiaze, taking only a few livestock carcasses from the altar.

The Thunder Beasts reached a city under attack by Demons and devoured the monsters while sparing its people. On Earth, scientists celebrated the first clear video transmission from the Otherworld, while military leaders focused on the herd’s destination, Asiya Ze City, and the evil force gathering there.

• The Thunder Beasts abandoned their route to hunt the Demons attacking a city of Ridge-Crowned People.
• The Thunder Beasts leaped over the fleeing civilians and city walls, then left with the Demons in their jaws.
• Scientists on Earth celebrated the successful cross-world quantum transmission and discussed the Otherworld on the SS forum.
• Chu Jianfeng and other generals watched footage of the Thunder Beasts heading toward Asiya Ze City and discussed the evil force brewing there.

Qin Xiaoxia and others watched the Thunder Beasts approach Asiya Ze City, where an enormous crowd of unidentified red monsters awaited them. The Thunder Beasts broke into the city and fought back an ambush, while Claw Number 1 captured a winged monster and demanded to know its identity and origin.

• Qin Xiaoxia watched the Thunder Beasts with Doudou, Su Su, Red Banshee, and the others, while Doudou secretly asked him for a pair of Thunder Beasts and a controller.
• Claw Number 16 withdrew into the middle of the pack as the Thunder Beasts neared Asiya Ze City and sensed that its dangers surpassed anything they had faced before.
• A winged red monster alerted the towering red humanoid in the ruined City Lord's Residence that visitors were approaching.
• Claw Number 1 smashed through the city wall with the Thunder Beasts and ordered them to investigate the red monsters and capture prisoners.
• Claw Number 1 caught a winged monster, bit off its tail, and asked what it was and which world it came from.

The Thunder Beasts attacked a red-skinned humanoid monster after researchers identified it as a high-threat Chariot Class target. The monster asked about Niliersawana, and Claw Number 7 challenged it about coming from Hell.

• Researchers finished analyzing the red-skinned monsters and ordered every Thunder Beast to designate the approaching Chariot Class creature as the primary target.
• The red-skinned humanoid monster leaped onto two Thunder Beasts, but they survived its flames and fought back as the Thunder Beasts attacked its forces.
• The humanoid monster praised whoever had trained the Thunder Beasts and asked where Niliersawana was.
• Humanity's observers recognized Niliersawana as the Flame Demon, while Qin Xiaoxia wondered whether the monsters were genuine demons from Hell.
• Claw Number 7 looked at the ashen sky and asked the red-skinned humanoid monster if it had come straight from Hell.

Thirty Thunder Beasts fled across demon-infested Asiya Ze City while a Greater Demon pursued them and discovered their uncanny ability to learn from every fight. After the demon trapped Claw Number 7 in flames, the dying beast asked about a beep, and a massive explosion engulfed the area.

• The Greater Demon questioned the Thunder Beasts about their origins and taunted them about Niliersawana and Magma Hell.
• The Thunder Beasts fled with captured demons, but the city’s barrier blocked their escape and demons swarmed after them.
• The Thunder Beasts fought their way along the city’s edge, adapting rapidly to demon attacks and killing familiar foes with devastating efficiency.
• The Greater Demon set Claw Number 7 ablaze, and the other Thunder Beasts abandoned it as it screamed that someone had lied to it.
• Claw Number 7 asked whether the demon had heard a beep, and its body detonated in a blinding explosion.

After a massive polynitrogen anion salt blast, the surviving Thunder Beasts gathered demon specimens and checked the crater for an escape route. A badly wounded greater demon tried to flee toward the Ashen Ark, but six Thunder Beasts revealed their concealed wings and pursued it.

• The twenty-nine surviving Thunder Beasts emerged from shelter after the blast, and Claw Number 1 swallowed the specimen it had accidentally crushed.
• The Thunder Beasts captured stunned demons and cautiously approached the vitrified crater to check whether it had opened a way out.
• The wounded greater demon burst out of the ground and flew toward Asiya Ze City, hoping to reach the Ashen Ark before its enemies caught it.
• Claw Number 8 ordered the pack to catch the demon, and six Thunder Beasts revealed wings concealed through the Hidden Soldiers surgery.
• The six winged Thunder Beasts launched after the greater demon as it exhausted its remaining magic power to escape.

As Qin Xiaoxia and the others watched the battle from Earth, they discussed the demons and the awakened Otherworld’s importance to humanity’s plans. In the sky over Asiya Ze City, the Thunder Beasts sacrificed one of their own to catch the fleeing greater demon, ending in a blinding explosion.

• Doudou and Gou Dandan laughed as six Thunder Beasts chased the greater demon while the other demons watched from afar.
• Gou Junbao worried about the demons’ danger and their possible role in Earth’s dark tide, while Qin Xiaoxia warned that humanity would pursue the Otherworld regardless.
• Qin Xiaoxia said the demons were associated with destruction and plunder, as human elites watched the greater demon flee beneath falling ash.
• Academician Jin saw that the Thunder Beasts could not keep pace, so five of them seized the smallest and tore off its wings.
• The five Thunder Beasts hurled their wingless companion toward the greater demon, and it exploded in a flash of white light.

The Thunder Beasts secured the specimens in Asiya Ze City while Qin Xiaoxia explained how the promise of soldier privilege kept them cooperative. In Fanite City-State, the Holy Spirit appeared in the Summoning Temple and warned that demons from Hell threatened the world.

• The Thunder Beasts caught the dead Greater Demon, and Academician Jin told them they could earn soldier privilege by meeting their mission targets.
• Qin Xiaoxia explained that soldier privilege eased the Thunder Beasts’ fear of being sacrificed, though most would likely die before qualifying for it.
• The Thunder Beasts gathered the specimens in Asiya Ze City but remained trapped, prompting Qin Xiaoxia to decide that the Otherworld’s world power had to help.
• The Summoning Spell Formation in Fanite City-State’s Central Grand Cathedral activated, and Bishop Neil Luo and Sword Saint Degoni arrived with the others.
• The Holy Spirit emerged, said it was not their god, recognized Degoni, and warned that demons from Hell had set their sights on the world.

The Holy Spirit revealed that modified Thunder Beasts had entered Hell-corrupted Asiya Ze City and were trapped there, then asked Sword Saint Degoni and the others to seek help from this world's consciousness. As the people failed to understand how to reach it, the world power began gathering a violent storm over the city, apparently excited to intervene.

• The Holy Spirit used magic power to show the assembled people terrifying visions of demons, then apologized for overwhelming them.
• The Holy Spirit told Sword Saint Degoni that the Thunder Beasts had gone to Asiya Ze City, where Hell had already corrupted the area, and explained their mission to recover a crystal and stop the world from being dragged into the Abyss.
• The Holy Spirit asked whether this world's consciousness had awakened and urged the group to pray for its power to free the trapped Thunder Beasts, but everyone looked baffled.
• Qin Xiaoxia noticed the plants and wind shifting as dark clouds, lightning, and hurricane-force winds gathered over Asiya Ze City.
• Someone at the Qing Town Sanctuary wondered whether the excited world consciousness could tear open Hell's confinement around the city.