Chapter Summaries

Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili shared a meal after their encounter, leaving him blissfully convinced he had discovered what being in love felt like. Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoxia and the others planned mirrored academy sites around the world before receiving the Monkey King's request to investigate a faint trace of his magic in eastern Huaguo.

• Zhou Zhigang collected the takeout and brought it to the bedroom, where Duobaili fed him pork belly with chopsticks.
• Qin Xiaoxia, Red Banshee, Su Su, Huang Jiutian, and Gou Junbao discussed the blueprint for mirrored academies and their spell formation arrays.
• Gou Junbao teased Huang Jiutian about finding a partner, prompting Qin Xiaoxia to redirect the conversation toward the project.
• Qin Xiaoxia continued drawing the academy plans while Huang Jiutian explained the need to coordinate with local governments and plan roads.
• Su Su received a message from the Monkey King, who had sensed a faint trace of his magic in eastern Huaguo and asked her to divine whether it posed a serious problem.
• Qin Xiaoxia asked Su Su to perform the divination when they returned, and she agreed.

Qin Xiaoxia decided to investigate a wounded succubus and the human helping her, while Duobaili spotted another demon near Zhou Zhigang’s apartment. After Zhou Zhigang showed that he understood how intimacy helped her heal, Duobaili insisted they leave for somewhere safer.

• Su Su told Qin Xiaoxia that divination had revealed a badly injured succubus and an ordinary human caring for her, and Qin Xiaoxia decided to handle the matter himself.
• Zhou Zhigang woke beside Duobaili, shared breakfast with her, and noticed that she was recovering from her injuries.
• Duobaili spotted a demon watching their apartment from across the street and trembled with fear after he left.
• Zhou Zhigang admitted that he knew intimacy helped Duobaili heal and offered to endure it for her.
• Duobaili told Zhou Zhigang they had to leave because the apartment was no longer safe.

Duobaili tried to flee with Zhou Zhigang, but a demon found them before they could leave. He offered her a place in his Cult and warned her about powerful devils, especially those wielding solar radiance.

• Duobaili urged Zhou Zhigang to leave immediately, then changed clothes and packed a backpack while he booked a taxi.
• A man in dark blue knocked and identified Duobaili as a succubus, then entered their apartment.
• When the man reached toward Zhou Zhigang, Duobaili called him her prey and threatened the demon with her remaining magic.
• The man revealed that he had hidden in the Abyss for years and invited Duobaili to join his Cult, warning that refusing would mean death.
• The man left a business card and told Duobaili to beware of devils who wielded solar radiance.

Duobaili and Zhou Zhigang fled after a demon threatened them, while Qin Xiaoxia tracked their trail to Zhou Zhigang’s home. He found the couple gone and a demon’s business card left behind.

• After the demon left, Duobaili recovered from the pain of using her magic and warned Zhou Zhigang that staying with her put him in danger.
• Zhou Zhigang refused to abandon Duobaili, and they waited before leaving in a ride-hailing car.
• Qin Xiaoxia followed traces of magic power from a department store to Zhou Zhigang’s workplace and learned that Zhou had called in sick.
• Qin Xiaoxia reached Zhou Zhigang’s empty home, found the demon’s business card, and wondered who had arrived before him.

Qin Xiaoxia called the number on a business card and discovered that the Demon was using the Underworld Cult to turn kidnapped homeless people into sacrifices and grant his followers transcendent power. The Demon ended the call after Qin Xiaoxia mistook him for a customer interested in retail property.

• Qin Xiaoxia noticed the business card’s faint scent of Hell and called the number printed on it.
• The Demon arrived at a villa in Shencheng, where six Underworld Cult followers had captured two homeless men as sacrifices.
• The Demon devoured the two men and distributed power drawn from the underworld to the six followers, transforming them into Demonkin.
• The Demon urged the followers to recruit more members and bring him future sacrifices while he planned to advance Demonkin and Demons within Devil society.
• Qin Xiaoxia answered the Demon’s call with a sales pitch for retail units, and the Demon replied that he was not interested before hanging up.

Qin Xiaoxia asked Su Su to use divination on a business card bearing a faint trace of hell aura. As Su Su investigated it at the Dawn Association’s Relative Tranquility café, the atmosphere darkened and thunder rolled, leaving the card’s owner and connection to demons unresolved.

• Qin Xiaoxia called Su Su and asked her to bring Doudou to meet him for a divination.
• Qin Xiaoxia reached the Relative Tranquility café and waited with the business card he had received from Zhou Zhigang.
• Su Su arrived with Doudou, and the café’s floor manager recognized that the pair had unusual auras.
• Qin Xiaoxia asked Su Su to investigate the card’s owner and any links to demons, noting its faint hell aura.
• Su Su began divining with her crystal ball, and the café grew oppressive as dark clouds gathered and thunder sounded.

Qin Xiaoxia ordered an investigation into the Underworld Cult after Su Su’s divination revealed its global reach, while Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili fled north to evade a Demon. Authorities began a coordinated international operation, and investigators uncovered a cautious cult network spanning several countries and regions.

• Qin Xiaoxia ordered the World Anti-Dark Tide Convention Alliance and the Dawn Association to investigate the Underworld Cult, then decided to meet the owner of the business card.
• Zhou Zhigang drove Duobaili north, telling her he had reported the business card to the police and a special department.
• Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili reached the quiet county town of Dongxin and checked into its only open hotel.
• Tao Xingzhi issued orders that sent police and Special Security Team branches across the country into an overtime investigation.
• The Dawn Association’s warning and Zhou Zhigang’s email prompted international investigations that began exposing the Underworld Cult’s organized network.

Luke Feng and his fellow officers joined a covert operation in Puhui District, believing it was a crackdown on crime until they learned they were targeting cult members and possible Mutants. The military and other forces prepared to take over the operation’s decisive stage while most police remained unaware of its true scale.

• At the Police Bureau, Luke Feng asked Brother Li why only a few dozen officers had assembled, and Brother Li said reinforcements were expected and the operation’s details were restricted.
• The officers equipped themselves and departed in a silent convoy, which was joined by dark-blue vehicles traveling without headlights.
• Their superiors told them the targets were cult members, authorized them to shoot to kill, and warned that Mutants might be among them.
• At the upscale residential complex, Luke Feng and Brother Li saw heavily armored soldiers whose insignia recorded kills against Anomalous Lifeforms.
• The police commander ordered his team to focus on their duties as the military, Agents, and other forces prepared to close the net, with Dawn Association members concealed among them.

Luke Feng and the police helped the military identify a villa used by cultists, and the troops captured its occupants in a coordinated nighttime raid. The chapter then follows another operation against three demons in Shencheng, which ends with soldiers opening fire as one demon is blasted to the ground.

• Luke Feng, Brother Li, and the police questioned residents of an upscale complex while secretly scanning for demon activity.
• The Special Case Group detected a high-heat reading at Building 26 and ordered the teams to execute Plan Two.
• After more than twenty people left the villa in small groups, soldiers shot and captured them, finding several Half-Demons among them.
• In Shencheng, three demons noticed the streets had gone unnaturally quiet just before soldiers threw flashbangs through their window.
• Snipers wounded the three demons as they escaped through the windows, and an army-green soldier struck one down while troops poured bullets toward it.

The military fought a group of demons in Shencheng, while High Demon Duo'er'an unleashed a blood-mist attack and tried to escape. Colonel Yan Tong revealed a powerful cold-based ability, and Qin Xiaoxia decided he might have to help Duo'er'an escape so the demon could settle the score with a Succubus.

• A burly soldier struck a demon with his cannon-like weapon, breaking the demon’s wounded arm and hurling him toward the ground.
• Duo'er'an abandoned his companions, released a cloud of concentrated magic-power blood mist, and roared as he tried to escape.
• The soldiers withdrew from the complex, and Colonel Yan Tong prepared to confront the High Demon despite the danger.
• Yan Tong transformed as his cold power spread through the air toward the complex and the blood mist.
• Qin Xiaoxia watched with Su Su and explained that Yan Tong was burning his mental power, soul, and body to amplify his ability.
• Qin Xiaoxia decided to help the High Demon escape because Yan Tong’s strength might otherwise prevent him from confronting a Succubus.

Yan Tong’s ability reversed Duo'er'an’s fiery domain into a sudden zone of extreme cold, freezing Yan Tong and nearly killing the Demon. Yan Tong survived and was rescued, while Duo'er'an escaped the blast and hid in a garbage disposal site outside Shencheng.

• Duo'er'an unleashed his Hell domain in an attempt to escape, while Yan Tong prepared his unknown ability outside the residential complex.
• Yan Tong converted the domain’s outward blast into an inward surge of extreme cold, and Qin Xiaoxia rushed to protect the others.
• Rescuers melted the ice encasing Yan Tong, confirmed he was alive, and watched him faint after he complained of the cold.
• Duo'er'an awoke several kilometers away with severe injuries and a crystallized wing, and realized the blast had thrown him clear of the domain.
• Duo'er'an hid in a heap of warm garbage at an incineration site outside Shencheng, relieved that he had survived.

After Qin Xiaoxia used a Dream Worm to give Duo'er'an a nightmare, the demon escaped an incinerator explosion and set out to kill Qin Xiaoxia and Duobaili. Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili hid in Sweet Jujube County, but Duo'er'an found them and attacked their home.

• Qin Xiaoxia used the Dream Worm to make the sleeping Duo'er'an dream that Hell was collapsing around him.
• Duo'er'an woke from the nightmare as garbage in an incinerator exploded, then fled the station and vowed to kill Qin Xiaoxia and Duobaili.
• Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili moved to a remote house in Sweet Jujube County and found no news about whether the demon had been caught.
• Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili spoke affectionately in bed before Duo'er'an burst through their bedroom window and attacked them.

Qin Xiaoxia repeatedly rewound the battlefield as Zhou Zhigang was killed by Duo'er'an, forcing Zhou to endure each death and Duobaili’s despair. The chapter ended with Zhou dead once more and Duobaili unleashing her magic in grief and rage.

• Duobaili tackled Zhou Zhigang clear of the collapsing house, then rose despite her wounds to face Duo'er'an.
• Qin Xiaoxia used a Dream Drifter to reverse the events after Duo'er'an killed Zhou Zhigang.
• Zhou Zhigang relived his death again and again, growing mentally exhausted as he watched Duobaili try to protect him.
• On the final reversal, Zhou Zhigang accepted his fate and smiled at Duobaili before Duo'er'an struck him down.
• Duobaili knelt amid Zhou Zhigang's blood and recklessly unleashed all her magic power.

As Duobaili lay near death after Duo'er'an's attack, Zhou Zhigang's soul chose to risk vanishing to help her fight on. His sacrifice reached her, and she recognized the warmth as proof that he was still there.

• Duo'er'an struck Duobaili into the ruins and approached her, intending to eat her.
• Zhou Zhigang's soul begged Duobaili to get up, but he could not touch her without pain.
• Qin Xiaoxia and Su Su appeared and questioned Zhou Zhigang's love for the Succubus.
• Qin Xiaoxia warned Zhou Zhigang that helping Duobaili could make his soul disappear forever.
• Zhou Zhigang chose to save Duobaili, and Qin Xiaoxia sent his soul toward her.
• Purple and gold patterns spread across Duobaili, easing her pain as she realized Zhou Zhigang was still protecting her.

Duobaili fled Duo'er'an through the ruins, but Qin Xiaoxia intervened and restrained them both. He killed the exhausted High Demon, leaving Duobaili alive and shaken by his reproach.

• Duo'er'an attacked Duobaili, but she dodged and endured his magically enhanced barrage before escaping across the rooftops.
• Duo'er'an pursued Duobaili through houses, injuring residents as she struggled to flee.
• Qin Xiaoxia slowed both demons with his power and appeared between them, criticizing Duobaili for abandoning Zhou Zhigang's sacrifice and endangering bystanders.
• Duo'er'an recognized Qin Xiaoxia as a great devil of the Abyss and pleaded for his life, offering information about the Underworld Cult.
• Qin Xiaoxia killed Duo'er'an with illusory flames and left Duobaili alive, pale and trembling.

Qin Xiaoxia questioned Duobaili about her plans with Zhou Zhigang, then used his power and authority in the Abyss to bring Zhou back to life. The Dawn Association promised the couple they could live in peace, and Qin Xiaoxia left them together.

• Qin Xiaoxia freed Duobaili from the pressure and asked how she and Zhou Zhigang had planned to build an ordinary life together.
• Duobaili described their hopes of settling down, exploring, keeping pets, and raising children, then accepted that her fate was in Qin Xiaoxia's hands.
• Qin Xiaoxia gathered wind and threads of light to form a figure, explaining that he could sometimes intervene in the Abyss to restore someone.
• Zhou Zhigang returned alive, rushed to Duobaili, and sobbed as they embraced.
• Qin Xiaoxia promised that the couple would not be hunted, revealed the Dawn Association's purpose, and told Zhou to treat Duobaili well.

After Qin Xiaoxia killed the demon, Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili survived the aftermath and received help from the Dawn Association. Duobaili considered joining them, while Qin Xiaoxia celebrated winning a bet at the Qing Town Sanctuary.

• Chief Li led police into the damaged residential district, then learned from his superior that the Dawn Sage had killed the demon and no demons had escaped.
• Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili hid until police found them and took them to the hospital; Duobaili received identity documents and they later learned they had insurance coverage.
• Duobaili told Zhou Zhigang she wanted to find the Dawn Association and make a contribution, and Zhou agreed that they could trust its people.
• Qin Xiaoxia declared his bet with Doudou settled, while Doudou accused him of cheating and Su Su and the Red Banshee laughed.

The Underworld Cult’s demons hid in an underground Mexican hideout as the Dawn Association and its allies moved against the cult. The hideout was struck by bunker-buster missiles, leaving the fate of the demons and cultists unclear.

• Zhou Zhigang and Duobaili established contact with Cui Ying and joined the Dawn Association.
• Balor lost patience in the hideout and revealed his demonic form while the other demons worried about their lost contacts and the missing Lord Dikso.
• American Evolvers confronted Sal City mayor’s chief secretary Mr. Qiao after his reaction to an Underworld Cult pendant exposed his connection to the cult.
• Two F-type fighters received authorization to attack the central Mexican hideout and launched four bunker-buster missiles.
• The missiles struck the hideout, lighting up the underground chambers and causing the forest floor to bulge amid powerful tremors.

The U.S. military destroyed the Underworld Cult’s underground stronghold, while Greater Demon Guman escaped to a chaotic region in south-central Asia. Hilbert and two companions tracked him to a dance hall and confronted the armed guards outside.

• The U.S. military bombed the Underworld Cult’s underground base and confirmed that no targets had survived.
• Guman fled France with several human cultists and took refuge with a local warlord in the Happy Wine and Dance Hall.
• Guman used drugs and liquor while the warlord promised to protect the group in exchange for help eliminating rivals.
• Hilbert and two gray-robed companions approached the dance hall after locating Guman inside.
• The armed guards ordered Hilbert and his companions to stop, but Hilbert prayed to the lion pendant and unleashed a tremendous roar.

Hilbert attacked the Underworld Cult’s Dance Hall and fought the Greater Demon Guman with the Lionheart King Sword. After declaring that he would renew Charkus’s glory and make his ancestor proud, Hilbert landed a decisive blow that left Guman bleeding and off balance.

• Hilbert charged the Dance Hall, swept its upper half away with the Lionheart King Sword, and confronted Guman.
• Hilbert and Guman exchanged rapid attacks as the Association members blocked escape routes and captured or killed fleeing Half-Demons.
• Hilbert declared that he would wipe out Guman and restore the Lionheart Family’s glory, while Guman grew increasingly uneasy under his attacks.
• Hilbert’s swordplay overwhelmed Guman’s defenses, and a final strike sent dark blood spraying as the demon lost his balance.