Chapter Summaries

Dongyang cleared Hologram V after repeated defeats, then faced the Crownless phantom at Hologram VI and was instantly overwhelmed. He returned to the Norfall Barrens, where he spoke with General Jiyan about the easing Tacet Discord Tide and the new hologram challenge.

• Dongyang learned the Crownless phantom’s patterns and cleared Hologram IV, then chose to challenge Hologram V.
• After twenty-four deaths, Dongyang defeated the Crownless phantom on Hologram V and continued to Hologram VI.
• Dongyang discovered that Hologram VI’s Crownless phantom had a different presence and attack, and it defeated him before he could move.
• Dongyang told the recruits that ordinary people could not clear Hologram VI, shared training tips, and left the Training Camp.
• Dongyang returned to the Midnight Rangers’ frontline staging camp in the Norfall Barrens and spoke with General Jiyan, who warned that the eased Tacet Discord Tide might precede a storm.
• Dongyang asked General Jiyan whether he had heard about the new hologram challenge opened by Huaxu Academy.

Ling An used his evolved Miniature Terminal to absorb Tacet Discords into its Gourd, capturing an Arrowhead Bear and later rescuing Lianfeng from another one. The chapter left Ling An and Lianfeng introducing themselves after the second bear vanished.

• Jiyan told Dongyang that he had also failed to beat Hologram Six.
• Ling An left Jinzhou to collect Tacet Discords and absorbed a Lightwave Class Gulpuff into his Gourd.
• Ling An absorbed an Arrowhead Bear, which found itself trapped in the Gourd with the Glacio Rider and other Tacet Discords.
• Ling An spotted another Arrowhead Bear attacking a man and absorbed it, saving the man from the fight.
• The man introduced himself to Ling An as Lianfeng, a Tacet Discord hunter.

Ling An joined Lianfeng on a mission to retrieve a Bellheart Seed from the Bell-Ringing Tortoise, collecting the frenzied Tacet Discords along the way. At Bell-Ringing Ravine, Ling An sensed the tortoise’s sorrowful pain, and Lianfeng began explaining how Tacet Discords were formed.

• Lianfeng asked Ling An to help the Pioneer Squad and obtain a Bellheart Seed from the Bell-Ringing Tortoise, and Ling An agreed.
• Lianfeng led Ling An toward the tortoise’s habitat, explaining that his Frequency Perception could detect the conditions needed for Bellheart Seeds to grow.
• The Bell-Ringing Tortoise’s tolling bell heightened nearby Tacet Discords’ aggression, but Ling An easily captured them all in his Gourd.
• Ling An and Lianfeng reached Bell-Ringing Ravine and found an injured Pioneer Association member, who said the tortoise had effortlessly overwhelmed his squad.
• Ling An sensed that the frequency linked to Bellheart Seeds was the tortoise’s pain, and Lianfeng began telling him how Tacet Discords formed.

Lianfeng told Ling An how the Bell-Ringing Turtle had become bound to the ancient bell and left him to face it alone. Ling An awakened and battled the giant Tacet Discord, shattered the ice armor on its feet, but the turtle buried itself and began attacking from behind its shell.

• Lianfeng explained that the Bell-Ringing Turtle had once watched a Bell Ringer toll a bronze bell for the Huanglong army, then kept ringing it after the Bell Ringer died.
• Lianfeng left the wounded advance squad and entrusted the Bell-Ringing Turtle to Ling An, who revealed his true form and struck the ancient bell to awaken it.
• The Bell-Ringing Turtle emerged from the marsh and attacked Ling An with ice pillars, while Ling An fought back with Crimson Gold Flowing Flame.
• Ling An closed in and shattered the icy armor on all four of the turtle's feet, making it collapse.
• The Bell-Ringing Turtle buried itself in the marsh, exposed its shell, and unleashed waves of frost from its defensive position.

Ling An and the Glacio Rider battled the Bell-Ringing Turtle in Bell-Ringing Ravine until Ling An discovered its ancient bell was its weakness and killed it. He took a Bellheart Seed from its shell and left the ravine reflecting on the turtle’s lost past and the tolling that had once marked the end of war.

• Ling An’s attacks and the Glacio Rider’s blows failed to penetrate the Bell-Ringing Turtle’s defenses as frost spread across the marsh.
• The Glacio Rider smashed his Motorcycle into the turtle’s shell, and Ling An noticed the ancient bell trembling in the flames.
• Ling An broke the bell with his spear, paralyzing the Bell-Ringing Turtle and exposing it to Crimson Gold Flowing Flame.
• Ling An ended the turtle’s suffering, and it died as its final toll echoed through Bell-Ringing Ravine.
• Ling An collected a Bellheart Seed from the turtle’s shell and reflected on its memories and the past that could not be recovered.

Ling An delivered the Bellheart Seed to Shifang Pharmacy and learned about a possible Pioneer Association commission, then joined Chixia and Tide Sis to stop Grandpa Jingzhu from recklessly seeking Echoes. The group headed out to help him catch one, while Ling An and Tide Sis ended the chapter teasing each other.

• Ling An brought the Bellheart Seed to Shifang Pharmacy, where Koko and Lianfeng praised him and confirmed it could save Auntie Wang's child.
• Lianfeng told Ling An that a newly hired Pioneer Association recorder named Siran wanted his help, and he sent Ling An her Terminal contact.
• Chixia called Ling An to help persuade the injured Grandpa Jingzhu not to leave the city to catch Echoes, and Ling An met her with Tide Sis.
• Jingzhu dismissed Ling An as a cost 1 Echo, but Chixia persuaded the stubborn old man to go catch an Echo with them instead of venturing out alone.
• Chixia explained that Jingzhu wanted to impress an elderly woman who liked Echoes, and Ling An called him love-addled and beyond saving.
• Tide Sis teased Ling An, and he leaned close to her ear and asked her to put some muscle into it.

Jingzhu gathered an impressive Echo and tried to confess his feelings to Linghan, but she rejected his cheesy lines while he mistook her criticism for affection. He decided to stage an Echo tournament the next day to impress her, and Ling An considered the Echoes he could bring.

• Chixia, Tide Sis, and Jingzhu searched outside the city for Tacet Discords, but found that most had been cleared out.
• Tide Sis defeated a group of Judgment Warriors while carrying Ling An, and Jingzhu collected a Judgment Warrior Echo.
• Ling An suggested a tractor-themed pickup line for Jingzhu to use when confessing to Linghan.
• Jingzhu offered Linghan flowers and recited both pickup lines, but she called him lame and went inside.
• Jingzhu mistook Linghan's words as proof she liked him and announced plans to hold a Jinzhou Echo Training Masters Tournament the next day.

Jingzhu held a Jinzhou Echo tournament, where Ma Jia’s Gulpuff defeated a Chirpuff before facing Verina’s Wandering Butterfly. Verina’s Echo kept dodging Gulpuff’s spit, and the round remained undecided as Gulpuff tired.

• Jingzhu opened the tournament with a hundred-thousand-Shell-Credit prize, with Grandma Linghan, Chixia, Tide Sis, and Ling An serving as judges.
• Ma Jia entered the contest with his Gulpuff, and a bald man challenged him with a Chirpuff.
• Ma Jia’s Gulpuff defeated the Chirpuff by repeatedly spitting at it until it fell and returned to its Terminal.
• Verina entered the tournament, hoping to use the prize money to buy more potted plants for Grandma Lin.
• Verina’s Wandering Butterfly dodged Gulpuff’s repeated spit attacks but could not land an attack of its own, while Gulpuff grew exhausted.

Verina defended her place in the Echo Training Masters Tournament by defeating Encore’s Overlord Class Green Melt Lizard with her Solid Rock Warrior. As Encore spotted Ling An and rushed toward him, another challenger entered the ring.

• Ma Jia conceded to Verina after her Wandering Butterfly defeated his Gulpuff, and Chixia declared Verina the winner.
• Encore challenged Verina, wagering that Verina would have to eat her Mushroom Soup if she lost, and summoned her Overlord Class Green Melt Lizard, Big Dummy.
• Verina summoned her Solid Rock Warrior, which shielded against the Green Melt Lizard’s flames until the lizard ran out of strength and was pinned down.
• Aalto arrived in time to stop Encore from finishing a chant, and Encore left the ring before rushing toward Ling An.
• A familiar figure stepped into the ring and said, "Let me try."

Yinlin entered the competition and gained the upper hand against Verina until a contestant disrupted their match, prompting Jingzhu to change the rules to one-on-one challenges. After Verina was eliminated, the newcomer surprised everyone by challenging a judge.

• Yinlin faced Verina and used the Chorus Musician to bind the Solid Rock Warrior.
• A contestant entered the ongoing match with his Car-Blade Scythe, turning the fight into a chaotic three-way battle.
• Jingzhu changed the competition to fair, one-on-one challenges, and Verina chose to fight the Car-Blade Scythe.
• The Car-Blade Scythe defeated Verina's exhausted Solid Rock Warrior, and Verina left the competition with Granny Lin Su.
• The newcomer proposed raising the stakes and announced that he wanted to challenge a judge.

A challenger who came to face Tide Sis was forced to fight Ling An instead, and Ling An answered the man's Overlord Class Echoes with two Arrowhead Bears. After the man summoned two more powerful Echoes, Ling An warned him that his next fighter was a temperamental little bro.

• The challenger demanded a match with Tide Sis, and she agreed, but tossed Ling An onto the stage to face him first.
• The challenger sent his Car-Blade Scythe after Ling An, who summoned an Arrowhead Bear to block it.
• When the challenger released a Nether Abyss Guardian, Ling An summoned a second Arrowhead Bear to join the fight.
• The challenger brought out a Rocksteady Guard and a Thornrose Mushroom, then taunted Ling An for running out of Echoes.
• Ling An said he had only run out of Overlord Class Echoes and warned the challenger that his next fighter had a bad temper.

Ling An overwhelmed his opponent in the arena with the Glacio Rider, then revealed the man as a Fractsidus Artificer when he attacked. Ling An stopped him with the Bell-Ringing Turtle and left the crowd celebrating his victory.

• Ling An summoned the Overlord-Class Glacio Rider, which crushed the man's Thornrose Mushroom and overpowered his other echoes.
• The man summoned more echoes, but the Glacio Rider continued to defeat them as spectators cheered for Ling An.
• The man transformed into a four-armed Fractsidus Artificer and charged at Ling An while the Glacio Rider was occupied.
• Ling An revealed he had another echo and summoned the Bell-Ringing Turtle, which struck the Artificer and encased him in ice.
• Chixia announced Ling An's victory and exposed the attacker as a Fractsidus villain, prompting the crowd to applaud.

At the Jinzhou Echo Training Masters Tournament, Ling An withdrew and Yinlin and Jianxin tied for first place. The event helped Granny Linghan remember her husband Jingzhu, and afterward Aalto and Encore invited Ling An and Tide Sis to return to the Jiting Ruins.

• The Artificer was arrested after his challenge failed, and Yinlin declined to fight Ling An, who withdrew from the tournament and returned to Tide Sis's arms.
• Jianxin's echoes fought Yinlin's to a draw, and Chixia declared them co-winners who split the prize money.
• Granny Linghan remembered Jingzhu after the Bell-Ringing Turtle's chime stirred memories of their life together.
• Chixia explained that Linghan had repeatedly forgotten Jingzhu, who courted her anew each time until she remembered him.
• Aalto and Encore approached Ling An and Tide Sis, and Aalto invited Ling An to come with them to the Jiting Ruins.

Aalto led Ling An, Tide Sis, and Encore to the Jiting Ruins to retrieve a Data Beacon, where they discovered research into artificially manufactured retroflow rain. As the group searched for clues about the ruins’ experiments and Fractsidus connections, Ling An sensed a hungry frequency beneath them.

• Aalto explained that the vanished Jiting researchers were known for mechanical arts and strange experiments, and admitted he wanted help retrieving the Data Beacon because he needed free muscle.
• Ling An opened the ruins’ entrance mechanism, revealing a device that held suspended droplets inside a force field.
• Aalto explained that retroflow rain came from the Sky Sea and let people see phantoms of past events, and Tide Sis inferred that Jiting had hoped to recreate something from the past.
• Tide Sis, Aalto, and Encore began searching the sealed rooms while Ling An read notebooks describing a Jiting splinter group’s attempt to use retroflow rain to recreate a miracle and its dealings with Fractsidus.
• Ling An sensed an abnormal, hungry frequency beneath the ruins as Encore urged Black Baa and White Baa to keep searching.

As retroflow rain intensified at the Norfall Barrens camp, Jiyan confronted memories of the Huanglong-Crownless War and the ghost of Geshu Lin. He prepared the Midnight Rangers for the coming Tacet Discord Tide, uncertain whether Jué’s prophecy had foretold Geshu Lin’s victory.

• Jiyan received a report that five hundred combat-ready soldiers had taken the suppressant, then ordered them to wait for the rain to stop before advancing into the Norfall Barrens.
• Jiyan remembered the Huanglong-Crownless War, when he had served as a military doctor and Geshu Lin had vanished after confronting Dreamless.
• The retroflow rain made Jiyan see ghosts from the past, including his fallen comrades and Geshu Lin.
• Geshu Lin’s ghost declared he would clear a path and destroy Jinzhou’s long-standing shadow, while Jiyan chose not to argue with the illusion.
• Jiyan ordered all troops to prepare for the second stage of the retroflow rain and the Tacet Discord Tide.
• Jiyan wondered whether Jué’s prophecy had predicted Geshu Lin’s victory as an eerie full moon hung overhead.

Tide Sis, Ling An, Aalto, and Encore defeated the Mech Abomination in the Jiting Ruins and recovered the Data Beacon, while Aalto revealed that Tide Sis had awakened before at the Black Shores. As Retroflow Rain reached its suspended second stage and the Tacet Discord Tide began, Yangyang reported that Jinzhou was under attack and the Threnodian awakened.

• Encore activated the central elevator with the others, and they discovered a Mech Abomination beneath the Jiting Ruins.
• The Mech Abomination fell from its supports and awakened, so Tide Sis, Aalto, and Ling An fought it while Encore joined the battle.
• The group defeated the Mech Abomination, and Aalto retrieved the Data Beacon from its remains.
• Aalto told Tide Sis that she had awakened before at the Black Shores and invited her to join the Black Shores, but she declined.
• Aalto noticed that Retroflow Rain had reached its suspension stage and warned that the Tacet Discord Tide had begun.
• Yangyang called Ling An and Tide Sis to report that Jinzhou was under attack, as the Threnodian awakened beneath an eerie full moon.

Ling An returned to Jinzhou as Dreamless’s awakening sent a vast Tacet Discord Tide against the city. While Tide Sis and Yangyang headed to the Norfall Barrens to support General Jiyan, Ling An and Jinzhou’s defenders fought to hold the gates, until a colossal figure rose in the distance.

• A woman wielding an Otherworldly Flower summoned tens of millions of Tacet Discords and sent them toward Jinzhou.
• Ling An and Tide Sis reached Jinzhou, where Yangyang and Chixia were fighting the Tacet Discord Tide outside the city gates.
• Yangyang told Tide Sis that the Midnight Rangers were defending the Norfall Barrens under General Jiyan, and Tide Sis led Yangyang and Rover there to provide support.
• Ling An stayed to fight alongside Jinzhou’s soldiers and arriving Resonators, including Lingyang, Danjin, and Taoqi.
• Ling An began revealing more of his strength as a colossal figure rose from the Norfall Barrens and its presence pressed down on Jinzhou.

Dreamless intensified the Retroflow Rain, flooding Jinzhou’s battlefield with Tacet Discords and dangerous ghosts from the past. As the defenders struggled to protect the city, Ling An was drawn toward Dreamless’s call, while a growing golden light appeared where he had stood.

• Taoqi explained that Dreamless’s power had intensified the Retroflow Rain and revealed a colossal statue of Crownless, which began pulling at Ling An from within.
• The rain’s ghosts became real enough to attack, forcing Taoqi and the defenders to retreat toward Jinzhou’s protective barrier while still holding back the Tacet Discord Tide.
• A Rumbling Tide-Class Tacet Discord charged the gates, and Taoqi warned that Dreamless could create stronger enemies from the frequencies of the fallen.
• Ling An lost awareness of the battlefield as his crimson-gold flames flared and Dreamless called to his body for weapons.
• Chixia tried to rush into the tide to save Ling An, but Taoqi stopped her, and a golden light began expanding where Ling An had disappeared.

Ling An revealed his blazing form during the Tacet Discord Tide, and Chixia recognized and trusted him as he fought to protect Jinzhou. After rescuing her and releasing Glacio Rider and Bell-Ringing Turtle to hold back two Rumbling Tide-Class Tacet Discords, Ling An headed toward Dreamless in Norfall Barrens.

• Ling An erupted in Crimson Gold Flowing Flame and struggled against the Threnodian's control as Chixia recognized him and told the defenders he was Patroller Ling An.
• Chixia fought through the Tacet Discord Tide to reach Ling An, but a blade struck her back and she fell amid the attacking Tacet Discords.
• Ling An arrived on the Motorcycle, rescued Chixia, and carried her back toward the city gate.
• Ling An gave Chixia his Gourd, releasing Glacio Rider and Bell-Ringing Turtle to confront the two Rumbling Tide-Class Tacet Discords.
• Ling An looked toward Dreamless in Norfall Barrens and flew there, saying he would do as the Threnodian wished.

Tide Sis and Yangyang fought their way toward the Formation-Breaking Camp, where Jiyan organized an assault to destroy Dreamless and stop the Tacet Discord Tide. As the assault squad set out to reclaim Drill the Void, two battered Night Wardens prepared to defend its emplacement against another wave.

• Tide Sis and Yangyang encountered the dying soldier who warned them that Cloudflash Scales had revived, then Tide Sis fought the Tacet Discord as it attacked Yangyang.
• Jiyan arrived and helped Tide Sis destroy Cloudflash Scales, then led the group back to the Formation-Breaking Camp, where Jianxin joined them.
• Jiyan assigned Tide Sis, Yangyang, and Jianxin to the assault squad and explained that they had to reclaim Drill the Void to breach Dreamless's Groundwave Barrier.
• Mortefi told Jiyan that Drill the Void was operational but had enough remaining energy for only one shot, so Jiyan sent the assault squad to reclaim its emplacement.
• At the emplacement, Dongyang and a blinded young Night Warden prepared to face the incoming Tacet Discord Tide, with Dongyang giving the young man a Blackstone Gun.