Chapter Summaries

The group disguised themselves as frail survivors and traveled toward Rift, hoping to slip in amid the chaos after a Fourteenth Tier Spokesperson’s death and investigate Ye Buyu’s possible connection to [Gestation]. They left the Withered Glory Theatre and began harvesting materials from Calamities that mistook them for easy prey.

• Su Wuwei and the others settled on disguises as old, sick, and disabled survivors, with Ye Buyu hidden in a cat shell, to avoid drawing the attention of powerful Calamities.
• Wan Lan explained that Ye Buyu might be connected to [Gestation], and the group asked Ku Rong to send them near Rift.
• Ku Rong opened a passage, dropping the group into Rift’s Star Domain, where they set off toward their destination.
• A group of Calamities approached and threatened the disguised travelers, so Lou Guanshan killed them while the others destroyed the evidence and collected their materials.
• The group dismissed the Level Eleven materials as meager and wished they could send the supplies to Horizon for the army.

Ye Buyu and her companions considered building teleportation arrays to send materials and reinforcements to the Present World, but a crashing spaceship drew them into a battle between Shu Ri and a Red-Haired Birdman. The birdman threatened the group and lowered cages of prisoners toward them, forcing them to confront his cruelty.

• Kou Ying said teleportation arrays might be possible, and the group discussed using them to send materials and reinforcements to the Present World.
• A spaceship crashed nearby, and the six tried to flee before a wounded man and a Red-Haired Birdman appeared in battle.
• The Red-Haired Birdman revealed humans trapped in feather cages and taunted Shu Ri for failing to protect them.
• The birdman offered to spare the six if they killed Shu Ri, and the companions privately agreed to fight him instead.
• The birdman surrounded the group with sculpted feathers and lowered the cages, challenging them to kill the prisoners rather than Shu Ri.

Ye Buyu and her companions killed the Red-Haired Birdman, rescued his captives, and healed several children tainted by Calamity Power. After reaching safety, Ye Buyu urged the survivors to seek shelter at the Primordial Beginning Tower, but their leader fell silent at its mention.

• Ye Buyu and the old, weak, sick, and disabled companions coordinated their attacks to bring down the Red-Haired Birdman and kill him.
• Ye Buyu questioned Shu Ri, who admitted that he was a Calamity and had absorbed Calamity Power from the children; he described himself and his people as deserters.
• The group found the captives, and Ye Buyu healed several children by patting them, restoring a girl's broken leg and removing the Calamity Power in her body.
• Wan Lan carried the survivors to a safer place after Kou Ying pointed out that the severely wounded could not walk.
• Shu Ri thanked his rescuers, and Ye Buyu explained why they had intervened before suggesting that the survivors go to the Primordial Beginning Tower.
• The woman leading the survivors stood up but fell silent when the Primordial Beginning Tower was mentioned.

Shu Cai explained how Lishu had been devastated by Calamities and asked the Six Hold Up the Heavens Members to help its last children reach the Primordial Beginning Tower. As the group prepared to escort them, a child revealed that the people who had directed them there belonged to something called End Times.

• Shu Cai asked the Six Hold Up the Heavens Members for the Primordial Beginning Tower's location and protection for Lishu's surviving children.
• Wan Lan offered a spaceship and Thousand-Wind Coins in exchange for information about Lishu and the people who had sent Shu Cai's group.
• Shu Cai described Lishu's subjugation by Calamities, the loss of its history, and the sacrifices made to save the children and preserve their civilization.
• Ye Buyu told Shu Cai to find Yan Yan and Xiang Mingyang at the Primordial Beginning Tower, while Wan Lan and Su Wuwei went to steal a spaceship and Lou Guanshan supplied recovery materials.
• Shu Cai said her guides had mentioned the Salvation Hall of Fame, and a child clarified that they had identified themselves as being from End Times.

Ye Buyu’s group learned that Lan Huaiyu and the others had been holding off Calamities, then captured a squad working for the red-feathered bird monster and used them to search for their friends. The Lishu survivors headed for the Primordial Beginning Tower with a fragment of [Life Sustenance], while Ye Buyu’s group learned the Lost Legion supplied the Calamities and kept Lishu’s humans as livestock.

• Mu Bingge recognized the Lishu survivors as people from the End of the World, and Kou Ying proved their identity by naming the Greenwood Spear.
• Shu Cai said Lan Huaiyu and the others had stayed behind to fight the Calamities, so Ye Buyu’s group set out to find them.
• Wan Lan and Su Wuwei returned with a captured spaceship and Calamities who worked for the red-feathered bird monster.
• Ye Buyu questioned the captives, forced the birdman to lead the way, and sent Shu Cai’s group to the Primordial Beginning Tower with a fragment of [Life Sustenance].
• The birdman revealed that the Lost Legion supplied his unit’s equipment and that the Legion kept Lishu’s humans as livestock.

Ye Buyu and Hold Up the Heavens used the Calamities’ ship to draw fire and create an opening in the Lost Legion’s encirclement, leaving the Calamities to face the legion’s attack. Amid the battle, Hold Up the Heavens charged into the warships while the Lishu people prepared to break out.

• Ye Buyu questioned the birdman about his past and gave him a script showing [Life Sustenance]’s pursuit of life and acceptance of death.
• Hold Up the Heavens left the Calamities’ ship as cannon fire struck the surrounding warships, and the birdman realized they had used his group to draw the Lost Legion’s fire.
• The birdman urged the Calamities to flee, but burning vines and the Lost Legion’s attacks overwhelmed them; he tore apart his core to strike back before dying as a human.
• Kou Ying, Su Wuwei, Wan Lan, Lou Guanshan, and Mu Bingge split into groups to attack the warships, Calamities, and their leaders.
• The Lishu people, Lan Huaiyu, and the others seized the opening in the encirclement and prepared to break out.

Slyder and the End of the World fought You Shi’s forces to open an escape route for the Lishu People when reinforcements arrived. The newcomers joined the battle, and Lou Guanshan confronted You Shi as the warships prepared to fire.

• Slyder sent a wrecked spaceship crashing into the other ships, creating an opening while the End of the World fought the Lost Legion.
• You Shi aimed his Specially Made Gun at Lan Huaiyu, but an elderly woman pulled her away and an elderly man shattered the attack with his Walking Stick.
• An attacker struck at You Shi, and Lou Guanshan charged him with his Mo Dao while Slyder and the others welcomed the reinforcements.
• Wan Lan kicked away an enemy ambushing Slyder, and Su Wuwei used flames to protect the fighters as the Lishu Resistance Fighters rallied.
• You Shi ordered more than a dozen warships to fire on the humans, but Lou Guanshan attacked him and questioned whether the cannons could fire.

Kou Ying disabled the warships’ weapons while Lou Guanshan drove You Shi to flee, and the group escaped the ships’ self-destruction. Afterward, Lan Huaiyu confronted Ye Buyu about still being in cat form, and she claimed her body had fallen apart.

• Kou Ying hacked the warship systems while he and Ye Buyu fought their way through the Calamities.
• Lou Guanshan weakened You Shi with the Mo Dao, and You Shi recognized Hold Up the Heavens and fled.
• Slyder hurled the self-destructing warships together, and Mu Bingge used a Water Mirror to get everyone to safety.
• The warships exploded, and Lan Huaiyu picked up Ye Buyu and questioned why she was still in cat form.
• Ye Buyu told Lan Huaiyu that her body had fallen apart.

After reuniting with Slyder and the others, Ye Buyu realized the Rift might target the Primordial Beginning Tower to restore its authority. She led Hold Up the Heavens toward the Rift to launch a raid while Lan Huaiyu and Slyder went to warn the Tower.

• Mu Bingge explained how Hold Up the Heavens had rescued Slyder and his companions, and Lan Huaiyu asked whether they could safely seek [Gestation] in the Rift.
• Lan Huaiyu reasoned that the Rift might attack the Primordial Beginning Tower to avenge its dead Spokesperson and stabilize its faction.
• Ye Buyu proposed raiding the Rift's base, while Lan Huaiyu warned that they could encounter a fourteenth-tier Calamity.
• Hold Up the Heavens chose to enter the Rift, and Lan Huaiyu and Slyder agreed to warn the Primordial Beginning Tower and guide the Lishu people there.
• The two groups departed in opposite directions, and Ye Buyu vowed that humans would not be trifled with.

Ye Buyu and her companions infiltrated the Rift by posing as captured Calamities, but the black sacrificial lake unleashed invisible children that attacked them. A mysterious presence saved the group and confronted Ye Buyu, calling her naughty.

• Su Wuwei pretended that the group had wandered into the Rift by accident, but their captors sent them to the sacrificial lake.
• Kou Ying and Mu Bingge sensed something wrong in the water, and Ye Buyu saw transparent children clinging to the group.
• Ye Buyu fled from hundreds of children while her companions, unable to see them, were caught in an attack that threatened to strip away their bodies.
• Kou Ying told the others to use their souls to drive the children away, and Ye Buyu fired bullets at them as her companions struggled.
• A mysterious presence touched Ye Buyu's head, restored her companions, and turned her face toward its terrifying eyes before calling her naughty.

Ye Buyu and the members of Hold Up the Heavens were pulled into the Soul Lake, where infant souls hid their bodies and spoke of knowing Ye Buyu when she was very young. The group learned that the children remembered a silent, timid Little Ye whom the grown-up Ye Buyu apparently did not remember.

• The infant souls surrounded Ye Buyu, called her Little Ye, and lulled her into a deep sleep as Wan Lan tried to reach her.
• The black water swept Wan Lan and the other members of Hold Up the Heavens down to the lakebed, leaving their bodies on shore before the children hid them beneath the lake.
• Wan Lan questioned the infant souls, who said they had hidden the group from bad guys and described themselves as souls gathered from around the world.
• Lou Guanshan arrived and rallied the children by pretending to be the Son of the Earth and their commander.
• When Lou Guanshan asked whether the children knew Ye Buyu, they wailed that Little Ye had forgotten them and recalled her as a silent, timid child who hid in the dark.

Mu Bingge and the others learned that the children were dead souls cared for by [Gestation] and that Ye Buyu needed a body to remain in the world. They found the children creating that body for her, as their songs and gathered light revealed the hope the Lost Civilization had left behind.

• The children told Mu Bingge and the others that Kou Ying’s soul carried the scent of Kou Cheqie'er, whom they remembered speaking with [Gestation].
• The children explained that Ye Buyu would disappear without a body and that [Gestation] had brought them into a home for lost souls.
• Wan Lan asked the children where Ye Buyu was, and they led the group to her while asking about her life and happiness.
• The five saw Ye Buyu curled up among transparent threads connected to the children’s souls as the children gave her a body.
• The children sang nursery songs as their souls shone like stars, revealing the last light and hopes of the Lost Civilization.

Ye Buyu passed through a darkness filled with the memories and grief of lost civilizations, where she witnessed the origins of the Man-Made Calamity [Gestation]. [Gestation] recalled meeting Kou Cheqie'er, who asked her to help him create a life from his own soul so it could carry his work into the future.

• Ye Buyu followed lights and voices through the darkness until she reached a glowing door and saw a woman's figure.
• Ye Buyu witnessed the suffering of mothers in destroyed civilizations and learned that their grief gave rise to [Gestation].
• [Gestation] searched for a way to give the children whose souls she carried a chance at life and placed a short red thread among them.
• [Gestation] met Kou Cheqie'er, who calmly explained his despair and anger at the fate of his civilization.
• Kou Cheqie'er asked [Gestation] to help him create a life using his own soul, knowledge, and blessings.

Ye Buyu learned that [Gestation] created her from a karmic thread and countless souls before sending her to the Present World, then reunited with her companions as they realized [Gestation] was gone. Wan Lan reminded the group that they still needed to find out who controlled the Rift and decide what to do next.

• Kou Cheqie'er told [Gestation] he intended to create life and leave hope for those who came after him.
• [Gestation] revealed that Ye Buyu had begun as a length of karmic thread, then shaped her from countless souls and sent her to the Present World before dying.
• Ye Buyu recognized that [Gestation] had brought her into being, and her companions comforted her as they discussed their own nonhuman origins and Kou Ying's continuing bad luck.
• Wan Lan reminded the group that they had come to find [Gestation] and demanded they figure out who controlled the Rift and what to do next.

Ye Buyu learned she had been formed from a severed karmic thread, a Man-Made Calamity, and countless pure souls, then organized a plan to bring the souls out of the Abyss. After she and Wan Lan and Lou Guanshan surfaced, Ye Buyu proposed disguising themselves as cucumbers again.

• Su Wuwei explained that Ye Buyu had been produced from a karmic thread, a Man-Made Calamity, and nourishment from pure souls, while Ye Buyu and the others reflected on their tangled time-traveling causality.
• Kou Ying urged the group to focus on escaping and locating whoever controlled the Rift, and Ye Buyu asked the souls whether they wanted to leave with them.
• Kou Ying proposed building a Little River of Forgetfulness to transport the souls, and Ye Buyu assigned Mu Bingge and Su Wuwei to help build it while she, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan searched for materials.
• Ye Buyu thanked the souls and promised to take them to the future once the group was ready.
• Ye Buyu, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan surfaced from the black pool, and Ye Buyu proposed disguising them as cucumbers again before Wan Lan walked away and Lou Guanshan blocked her.

Ye Buyu, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan infiltrated the Rift's headquarters disguised as Calamities and accidentally delivered Weier's message to its leaders. The Rift's forces debated whether to attack the Primordial Beginning Tower, while Weier secretly warned that sending troops would only turn them into cannon fodder.

• Ye Buyu, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan wore cucumber headpieces and walked into the Rift's headquarters without encountering trouble.
• The trio hid underground when someone approached, but emerged inside Weier's room and admitted they were lost.
• Weier gave Ye Buyu a box and asked them to deliver it, and more than a dozen Calamities surrounded them as they left.
• The leading Calamity opened Weier's note and angrily condemned her advice to recuperate instead of sending troops against the Primordial Beginning Tower.
• Weier secretly passed out another note warning that the Rift would survive by recuperating but that its troops would become cannon fodder if they attacked.
• The leading Calamity ordered his followers to drag Weier out and make her explain herself.

Ye Buyu, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan met Weier, who revealed she controlled the Rift and asked them to cooperate. Weier planned to tell the Primordial Beginning Tower that the Rift would attack one of the three Calamity factions, but she had not yet said which one.

• Ye Buyu explained that the Calamity factions wanted the Rift to attack the Primordial Beginning Tower so they could exploit the losses on both sides.
• Weier pulled the three into her room and asked them to help on behalf of Hold Up the Heavens.
• Weier revealed that she had recognized them at Calamity Castle and was now the one controlling the Rift.
• Wan Lan and Ye Buyu challenged Weier's offer, citing their lack of trust and Li Yong's attempt to kill Ye Buyu.
• Weier proposed that the three carry a message to the Primordial Beginning Tower, saying the Rift intended to attack one of the three Calamity factions.
• Lou Guanshan asked Weier which faction she planned to target.

Ye Buyu, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan agreed to help Weier mislead the other Calamity factions by posing as the Rift’s attackers and traveling to the Primordial Beginning Tower aboard its Flagship. Before their departure, they used Weier’s authority to loot the Rift until its Calamities finally stopped them.

• Weier offered the group the Rift’s Flagship and explained that the Rift would mobilize while they drew the other factions’ attention toward the Primordial Beginning Tower.
• Ye Buyu tested Weier by claiming they had seen [Gestation] perish, but Weier insisted she was [Gestation] and reacted with disbelief to the claim.
• Weier questioned the group about what they had seen in the Sacrificial Lake, then decided to seek information about [Gestation] through Hold Up the Heavens.
• The group became honored guests and prepared to depart in three days, while Lou Guanshan sent materials to Kou Ying and the others working below the lake.
• Ye Buyu, Wan Lan, and Lou Guanshan used Weier’s name to take Rift supplies, even stripping away door panels, until a Calamity accused them of greed and ordered them to stop.

Ye Buyu and the Six Hold Up the Heavens Members watched the Calamities embarrass themselves by wearing costume heads to imitate Evergreen’s style, while Weier prepared to leave with the Flagship. As the Rift’s expedition began, rival factions gathered near the Primordial Beginning Tower, where a major confrontation was brewing.

• The Calamities put on costume heads to impress Weier, but Wan Lan warned them that their disguises were making Weier retreat.
• The Calamities removed their costume heads, and Weier boarded the Flagship with the Six Hold Up the Heavens Members.
• Weier launched the Flagship toward the Primordial Beginning Tower and left unmanned escort ships behind for the Calamities.
• Spies reported the Rift’s movements, prompting factions to send observers and covert forces toward the Primordial Beginning Tower.
• Calamities gathered near the Tower to watch the impending battle or seek spoils, while the Tower remained outwardly calm.

The Primordial Beginning Tower prepared to defend itself as the Rift’s Flagship approached, while Lan Huaiyu and Slyder brought word that Hold Up the Heavens had infiltrated the Rift. The coming battle drew the attention of Calamity factions across the world.

• Yan Yan learned that Lan Huaiyu and Slyder had brought the rescued Lost Legion members and a genuine [Life Sustenance] fragment to the Primordial Beginning Tower.
• A messenger warned Yan Yan that the Rift’s Flagship would arrive by jump in half an hour, and Slyder showed him a message from Hold Up the Heavens saying their mission was handled.
• Yan Yan brought Lan Huaiyu and Slyder to the Primordial Beginning Tower’s Administrator and informed the elders that Hold Up the Heavens had penetrated deep into the Rift.
• The elders ordered the shields activated and the tower’s defenses prepared as the Flagship emerged from the Void with Calamities gathering around it.
• Images of the approaching Flagship spread across the world, drawing the attention of the Dark Abyss Calamity Dynasty, the Lost Legion, and the Black Plague Building.