Chapter Summaries

Qin Siyang and his companions held a simple cenotaph funeral for Hao Liang before Qin hurried to the United Merchants' Association to reunite with Wen Shu. Their reunion began warmly, but Wen Shu's reminder that Commander Zhao was gone brought Qin back to the losses surrounding them.

• Li Tianming, Qin Siyang, Wu Yu, and Chang Tianxiang agreed to bury Hao Liang with a cenotaph and leave his wife and child out of the arrangements.
• Wu Yu said he had warned Hao Liang's wife and child not to cause a public scene over the funeral.
• The group erected Hao Liang's headstone, then Li Tianming, Wu Yu, Chang Tianxiang, and Qin Siyang went their separate ways.
• Qin Siyang passed the United Merchants' Association's security and nervously knocked on Wen Shu's door.
• Qin Siyang reunited with Wen Shu, who offered to cook for him and reminded him that Commander Zhao was gone.

Qin Siyang arranged protection for Ma Shi’s research legacy and paid his respects to Yu Bianxiong before returning to rest. He left the Eighth Domain investigation ahead, with Gu Weirong set to share any information he uncovered.

• Qin Siyang discovered that Ma Shi had designed the room and decided to ensure Ma Shi’s son received his research legacy.
• Qin Siyang ordered Edward to send Wang Dezhong’s troops to secure Ma Shi’s laboratory and let only his family collect his personal effects.
• Qin Siyang called Yu Yongyou to offer condolences for Yu Bianxiong and said he would soon investigate the deaths Outside the Safe Zone before leaving the Eighth Domain.
• Qin Siyang visited the Yu Family, paid his respects to Yu Bianxiong, left Yu Yongyou some materials, and said Gu Weirong would share information from his exploration.
• Qin Siyang returned to the association’s building and rested while Wen Shu prepared food.

Wen Shu reunited with Qin Siyang over dinner and hinted that she had returned because he had grown strong enough. Their serious conversation turned into a teasing confession, leaving both of them admitting their feelings.

• Wen Shu and Qin Siyang shared a lavish dinner and cleared the table together.
• Qin Siyang asked Wen Shu where she had been, but she said there were things she could not tell him directly.
• Wen Shu said she had returned because Qin Siyang was strong enough, and told him he was more impressive than a Domain Master.
• Wen Shu teased Qin Siyang about why she might have helped him, prompting him to say she liked him.
• Wen Shu asked Qin Siyang whether he liked her and what he liked about her, and he admitted that being with her made him happy.
• Wen Shu said she liked Qin Siyang because he was different from everyone else, then praised him as extraordinarily impressive.

Qin Siyang told Wen Shu about his achievements and realized she had witnessed everything he had done. After he guessed that she was a God and questioned whether they could be together, Wen Shu left their future uncertain, and privately concluded that everything between them had to end.

• Qin Siyang told Wen Shu he was the Eighth Domain's Domain Master, had killed several Domain Masters and experts, reached domain sequence level four, and acquired an island domain.
• Qin Siyang noticed Wen Shu showed no surprise at his achievements and asked whether he was dating a God.
• Wen Shu's composure broke, and she did not answer when Qin Siyang asked whether an ordinary domain sequence user could have a future with a God.
• Wen Shu said she did not know whether they could be together and promised she would stay by Qin Siyang if they had to part again.
• Qin Siyang asked Wen Shu for advice about becoming a Star Lord, then left after arranging to have dinner with her the next day.
• Alone by the window, Wen Shu said Qin Siyang had figured things out quickly and resolved to cherish their remaining time together.

Qin Siyang reflected on Wen Shu’s mysterious favor and the deaths of Domain Sequence Ability Users, then began searching for a way to kill the Large God responsible. He concluded that a sacrifice might reveal how to overwhelm a Large God and considered coordinating a mass attack.

• Qin Siyang settled into a United Government residence and regretted that he could not stay longer with Wen Shu, whose godhood he had confirmed.
• Qin Siyang wondered what price Wen Shu’s help carried, then focused on the Safe Zone’s stalled progress and the deaths of Elder Uncle Zhao, Professor Hao, and Chief of Staff Zheng.
• Qin Siyang mapped the locations where Domain Sequence Ability Users had vanished and concluded that a Large God was killing them at extraordinary speed.
• Qin Siyang recalled that the Second Domain Master had sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives to kill a Large God and analyzed what the sacrifice could mean.
• Qin Siyang proposed that a hundred-odd thousand people might defeat a Large God by attacking together.

Qin Siyang discussed the possibility of hunting Large Gods with Li Tianming, Zhu Haifeng, and Olof, then hosted a small dinner to thank Zhao Sifang, Gu Yunxuan, and Gu Yunpeng for helping Wen Shu. The dinner ended with everyone sharing their plans, while Qin Siyang and Wen Shu remained together.

• Qin Siyang told Li Tianming, Zhu Haifeng, and Olof about his proposal to hunt Large Gods, and they reacted with astonishment after learning he had already killed one.
• Qin Siyang and Wen Shu prepared a family dinner for Zhao Sifang, Gu Yunxuan, and Gu Yunpeng to thank them for helping Wen Shu travel safely.
• Zhao Sifang gave Qin Siyang and Wen Shu a framed photograph from Nanrong University's Guesthouse, which Qin Siyang warmly appreciated.
• At dinner, Gu Yunpeng said he wanted to improve his combat strength, Gu Yunxuan planned to design clothes, and Zhao Sifang hoped to take a honeymoon with Gu Yunxuan.
• Wen Shu defended Zhao Sifang's wish to enjoy the present, and Zhao Sifang teased Qin Siyang for being too rigid.

At a Safe Zone meeting, Gu Yunzheng explained the world beyond the Eighth Domain, and Chu Zhongxiong concluded that the First Domain saw Qin Siyang and the Eighth Domain as its main obstacles to becoming Star Lord. Qin Siyang shared his recent victories and announced a plan to hunt the large god behind the disappearances.

• Gu Yunzheng briefed the Safe Zone officials on the domains, their rulers, and the requirements for advancing through domain ranks.
• Chu Zhongxiong reasoned that the First Domain was confident in winning the Succession Trial and saw Qin Siyang and the Eighth Domain as its primary enemies.
• Qin Siyang said he had killed the Second Domain Master Bedel and the Fourth Domain Master Alan, leaving Sima Ji as the only other powerful enemy outside the First Domain.
• Qin Siyang revealed that he had killed a large god before and planned to leave the Safe Zone with tens of thousands of troops to find and kill the large god behind the disappearances.

Qin Siyang secured the Safe Zone leaders’ support for an operation to kill a Large God, with elite troops and volunteers preparing to depart. After reassuring Wen Shu before leaving, he left her wondering whether she had already begun to forget.

• Gu Weirong and the other leaders approved Qin Siyang’s plan, offering participating soldiers a year’s pay in advance.
• Chu Baxing volunteered to command the Mobile Defense Fortress unit, and Wei Rulai agreed to let him lead.
• Zhao Sifang, Yu Yongyou, Hu Chan, Old Johnny, and Olof volunteered to support the operation with their abilities and skills.
• Wei Rulai gave Olof a Storage Box containing an item Olof had long searched for, and Qin Siyang set the departure for the next day.
• Qin Siyang told Wen Shu he was leaving to kill the Large God and promised to return, while Wen Shu watched him go and wondered if she had started forgetting.

Qin Siyang triggered a large god’s trial after finding patterned stones that transported him to Patterned Fox Village. A striped fox led him to the village ancestral hall, where the trial instructed him to touch the fox and take the Pattern Stone.

• Qin Siyang passed five known large god trials while searching for the large god targeting him.
• Qin Siyang fitted two patterned pebbles together, triggering a transformation that transported him to Patterned Fox Village.
• Qin Siyang discovered that the village’s eerie streets repeatedly led him back to a bluestone well and that he could not approach its apparent residents.
• A black-striped fox guided Qin Siyang to the village ancestral hall, where he found a striped stone and received instructions to touch the fox and take the Pattern Stone.

Qin Siyang resisted a fox’s invitation to touch it in Patterned Fox Village and learned from a villager that outsiders who find Patterned Fox die and become black lines. The villager revealed that he had also entered the trial long ago, when it was called the [Succession Examination], and had arrived wearing a queue.

• Qin Siyang refused to touch the little fox or the Pattern Stone, then discovered that the ancestral hall doors were immovable and that trying to leave brought him back to the well.
• A middle-aged man carrying a lantern approached Qin Siyang and explained that outsiders who die in Patterned Fox Village become the black lines surrounding it.
• The man told Qin Siyang that outsiders who believe they have found Patterned Fox never make it out, and that he survived the fox’s trap without touching it but still developed a black line on his neck.
• The man revealed that he too had come as an outsider to take the trial, which was then called the [Succession Examination].
• Qin Siyang learned that the man had arrived in the village when he still wore a queue.

Qin Siyang learned that the middle-aged villager came from a different Seventh Domain and that Patterned Fox Village trapped outsiders, whether they touched the Patterned Fox or not. The villager offered to guide Qin Siyang around the village and help him search for the missing outsiders.

• Qin Siyang used his Lie Detector to confirm that the middle-aged man was telling the truth about coming from a different [succession star competition].
• The middle-aged man explained that he had avoided touching the Patterned Fox and believed touching it was not the way to pass the [Succession Trial].
• Qin Siyang learned that the village residents had either become black markings or remained trapped as villagers, and that none had left during the middle-aged man's time there.
• Qin Siyang asked about a bald man whose scalp was covered in scars, but the middle-aged man could not say whether he had seen him.
• The middle-aged man offered to introduce Qin Siyang to the other villagers and guide him away from the well.

Qin Siyang met several strange villagers while searching for clues about the trial and learned that Zhao Longteng had turned into a marking after touching the Patterned Fox. Know-It-All recalled Zhao Longteng calling the trial site a ghost den, and the woman attacked him for repeating the profanity.

• Qin Siyang followed the middle-aged man from the bluestone well and met Tao Gong, who repeatedly counted his possessions and revived after Qin Siyang struck him with the Godslayer Spear.
• Qin Siyang met Commandant Jiang, who ordered him to guard the village entrance before resuming his attack on an imaginary enemy.
• Qin Siyang questioned a woman who cradled an empty bundle, and she said Zhao Longteng had touched the Patterned Fox and turned into a marking.
• Qin Siyang pressed the woman for details about Zhao Longteng, and Know-It-All recalled him calling the trial site a ghost den.
• The woman attacked Know-It-All with streams of fire for repeating Zhao Longteng's profanity, and Know-It-All dodged and left.

Qin Siyang discovered that a black marking was slowly encircling his neck and realized the trial had a time limit. After piecing together the clues, he decided on a course of action and waited for the lantern-bearing man beside the Bluestone Well.

• Qin Siyang suspected Zhao Longteng had discovered that the villagers were dead, but could not determine why Zhao had later sought the Patterned Fox.
• Qin Siyang realized the villagers’ warning about wasting time might point to a trial deadline and saw a black marking spreading around his neck.
• The lantern-bearing man admitted he repeatedly tried to help outsiders but forgot his purpose, then lost awareness and went searching for the Patterned Fox.
• Qin Siyang found himself unable to follow the man away from the Bluestone Well and, as his marking spread, worked out a possible way to pass the trial.
• Qin Siyang asked the Godslayer Spear about his choice, acknowledged he had to save the people in his Spatial Artifact himself, and told the returning man that he was waiting for him.

Qin Siyang explained to Zhou Maoyi that the villagers were dead remnants of people from earlier trials, each reduced to a single personality trait. Zhou Maoyi began to accept that he was dead as he led Qin Siyang toward the mountain, where Qin Siyang hoped to test a way to pass the trial.

• Qin Siyang asked Zhou Maoyi to lead him to the mountain so he could test his idea before the black pattern around his neck closed.
• Qin Siyang told Zhou Maoyi that the Patterned Fox had killed him after his pattern closed, and argued that the village had changed by pointing out its stone tablet used writing from Qin Siyang's era.
• Qin Siyang explained that the villagers each embodied one dominant trait, and that the black patterns forced them back into those traits when something interfered.
• Qin Siyang identified Zhou Maoyi's trait as helpfulness and told him he had been a good man in life.
• Zhou Maoyi gave Qin Siyang his name and continued guiding him toward the mountain, shaken by the realization that he might be dead.

Qin Siyang discovered that the mountain ridge was the real Patterned Fox and passed the [Succession Trial] by touching it. He summoned his hundred-thousand-strong army and launched an all-out attack on the fox, rejecting his trial rewards to kill him.

• Qin Siyang thanked Zhou Maoyi for guiding him and promised to tell his family that he had died.
• Qin Siyang explained that the mountain ridge was the real Patterned Fox and touched the ground beneath his feet.
• The Patterned Fox revealed himself as the village collapsed, and Zhou Maoyi realized that he and the other villagers had been markings all along.
• Qin Siyang opened his Spatial Artifact and brought more than a hundred thousand people onto the plain to attack the Patterned Fox.
• Hu Chan trapped the Patterned Fox, Olof filled the sky with reflected meteorites, and Zhao Sifang and Yu Yongyou's troops unleashed coordinated attacks.
• Qin Siyang charged with the Godslayer Spear and declared that he had entered the trial to kill the Patterned Fox, not claim its rewards.

Qin Siyang and an army of over a hundred thousand attacked the Patterned Fox, exploiting his weakness in the Eighth Domain and gradually wounding him. The Patterned Fox countered with phantoms of the dead and a sweeping assault on the army, leaving the battle unresolved and the soldiers facing the full power of a large god.

• Qin Siyang wounded the Patterned Fox's eyelid and realized that the god was weakened on the soil of the Eighth Domain.
• Chu Baxing led the army's assault as Yu Yongyou slowed the Patterned Fox and Zhao Sifang's flame sequence users scorched his body.
• The Patterned Fox struck the front line with his tail, causing heavy casualties, while Chu Baxing ordered the formations to regroup and Old Johnny sent medical teams to rescue the wounded.
• Hu Chan identified the Patterned Fox's real body beneath Qin Siyang, allowing Qin Siyang to keep attacking it after the fox's phantoms misdirected the river of fire.
• The Patterned Fox summoned figures of the dead, including Zhao Longteng, Zheng Mubian, and Hao Liang, to attack Qin Siyang, then split his tail to assault the army's formations across the battlefield.

Qin Siyang broke Patterned Fox’s attack by destroying the summoned figures and rallied the human army to fight back. The soldiers advanced despite heavy casualties, leaving Patterned Fox baffled by their sudden courage.

• Niu Douchong and the others realized Patterned Fox was fighting Qin Siyang inside a hidden trial space, though they could not explain how Qin Siyang matched his power.
• As Patterned Fox battered the army’s formations, Zhao Sifang and the other commanders struggled to defend their troops and coordinate their attacks.
• Qin Siyang used [Taste of Godhood] and [Tide-Listening Tide Song] to freeze five summoned figures, then destroyed them and cleared away the rest.
• Qin Siyang called on the soldiers to stop fearing the gods and fight alongside him, while the Lie Detector confirmed that he had killed a large god.
• Chu Baxing ordered headquarters forward and the army to concentrate its fire at close range, even as Patterned Fox’s tail caused over ten thousand casualties.
• The soldiers surged toward Patterned Fox without retreating, leaving him unable to understand why they no longer feared death.

Qin Siyang and Chu Baxing led over a hundred thousand soldiers in a relentless assault that killed the Patterned Fox, a Large God who had targeted the Eighth Domain. The troops celebrated their unprecedented victory, marking the first time ordinary sequence ability users had slain a Large God in the Eighth Domain.

• Qin Siyang and Chu Baxing’s troops overwhelmed the Patterned Fox with coordinated attacks while Qin Siyang struck his eyes with the Godslayer Spear.
• The Patterned Fox offered rewards, help, information, and resurrection in exchange for his life, but Qin Siyang rejected his pleas and accused him of trying to escape into the trial settlement area.
• Qin Siyang ordered Chu Baxing and the troops to keep attacking, and they battered the Patterned Fox until the black marking between his brows shattered and he died.
• Qin Siyang announced the victory, and the troops celebrated the first recorded killing of a Large God by ordinary sequence ability users in the Eighth Domain.

After the Patterned Fox’s death, Qin Siyang thanked Zhou Maoyi as the trial area vanished and reunited with the soldiers who had fought alongside him. He planned to parade the god’s corpse around the Eighth Domain and River Ridge to celebrate their victory and warn off other large gods.

• Zhou Maoyi praised Qin Siyang for helping mortals kill a god, then faded away as the trial area disappeared.
• Chu Baxing, Yu Yongyou, Zhao Sifang, and the soldiers thanked Qin Siyang for leading them to victory, and Qin Siyang credited their teamwork.
• Zheng Cong tried to kowtow to Qin Siyang for avenging his father, and Qin Siyang urged him to recover and serve the Chu Character Legion.
• Qin Siyang explained that a [Succession Trial] reward let him dismantle large gods’ corpses, then ordered the army to tend to the wounded and prepare to return in triumph.
• Hu Chan warned that other large gods might attack the Eighth Domain, and Qin Siyang said he would tour River Ridge with the Patterned Fox’s corpse to deter them.

Qin Siyang emerged from the Patterned Fox’s trial after killing him with the Eighth Domain’s forces, then publicly denounced his scheme and called on the other gods to conduct fair trials. The Large Gods recognized Qin Siyang as a [Miracle Worker] and considered how his victory could help him become the Star Lord.

• Qin Siyang appeared in the Eighth Domain atop the Patterned Fox’s corpse, astonishing the watching Large Gods.
• The Large Gods concluded that Qin Siyang and over a hundred thousand Origin Sequence Ability Users had defeated the Patterned Fox after the Eighth Domain’s Boundary Domain weakened him.
• Qin Siyang processed the Patterned Fox’s corpse, raised his hide, and announced that the Patterned Fox had exploited the [Succession Trial] to kill Eighth Domain Ability Users.
• Qin Siyang and his soldiers called for the Eighth Domain’s gods to conduct fair trials, while he displayed the Patterned Fox’s remains across River Ridge.
• The Large Gods discussed why the Patterned Fox had acted quickly and agreed that Qin Siyang’s victory would lead more creatures to recognize him as a [Miracle Worker].
• The Mechanical-Bone Ape said some creatures might cooperate and tell Qin Siyang what he needed to become the Star Lord.