Chapter Summaries

Xu Ye faced the crippled Rock in the burning Clock Tower until Ye Qingnuo arrived and rescued him. Meanwhile, the wounded Spirit Mirror Knight returned to an underground altar, where his body continued mutating as he worshipped a veiled statue.

• Rock crawled after Xu Ye through the smoke and attacked him despite his catastrophic injuries and the bullets Xu Ye fired.
• Rock launched a powerful Wind Blade at Xu Ye, but Ye Qingnuo emerged from a White Paper Airplane and slammed him into the stairs.
• Ye Qingnuo dispersed the smoke, learned Rock had died with black venom in his mouth, and took the unconscious Xu Ye back toward his team.
• The Spirit Mirror Knight emerged from a mirror in an underground room, and his wounds and lower body mutated after Xu Ye had destroyed one of his souls.
• The Spirit Mirror Knight reached an altar, offered it a drop of blood, and knelt before a veiled statue, calling it his lord.

Shen Xinghai reviewed records to identify the young Awakened who had saved him, while Xu Ye returned home injured and examined the Fallen Knights’ attack and his own past. Xu Ye ended the night determined to grow stronger, but blood in the sink and a misting mirror left his home feeling unsettled.

• Shen Xinghai searched Sequence Talent records and wondered whether Xu Ye possessed a rare soul-related talent, then decided to ask Ye Qingnuo about him later.
• Xu Ye returned home after recovering at headquarters, checked that it was safe to enter, and found A Zhen and A Jing hiding in their usual places.
• Xu Ye put his weapons and supplies by the bedroom door, tended to his injuries, and wrote down questions about why the Fallen Knights had searched his memories.
• Xu Ye considered whether the fire that killed his family was connected to the attack and resolved to investigate it and become stronger.
• Xu Ye burned his notes, brushed his teeth, and spat blood into the sink as the bathroom light flickered and mist clouded the mirror.

Xu Ye trapped and drained the Mirror Spirit to recover from his injuries, then arrived late at Crimson Training Camp as the last recruit. He forced open the camp gates just before they closed, drawing the attention of the instructors and recruits.

• Xu Ye pretended to be badly injured so he could catch the Mirror Spirit and absorb its energy to heal and regain strength.
• Xu Ye considered killing the Mirror Spirit but spared him after absorbing enough energy, then decided to rest and recover for several days.
• At Crimson Training Camp, Shen Xinghai announced that the thousand recruits would face two tests and that anyone who failed would be eliminated.
• Lu Mingwang asked Shen Xinghai to wait because Xu Ye had not arrived, but Shen ordered the gates closed.
• Xu Ye jammed the closing gates with the Big Black Umbrella, forced them open, and entered as the last recruit.

Xu Ye arrived late at the Crimson Training Camp but was allowed to join the recruits after giving Shen Xinghai an absurd excuse. Shen Xinghai began the first assessment, a run that secretly hindered Awakened recruits, while warning them that they had to outrun ordinary soldiers to survive on the battlefield.

• Xu Ye entered the camp and recognized Shen Xinghai, who let him join the ranks after hearing his excuse about mapo tofu and Granny Ma.
• Shen Xinghai announced that recruits would be eliminated every ten minutes if they ran slower than the female soldiers, and started the assessment with a gunshot.
• Xu Ye jogged with the crowd and noticed that an unseen force was weighing down the Awakened recruits’ energy; Alice suspected a Taboo Object in the field.
• Shen Xinghai berated the slower runners and explained that ordinary female soldiers served as cannon fodder, so recruits had to outrun them to survive in battle.
• A female soldier noticed Xu Ye looking at her and playfully urged him to keep running.

Xu Ye and the other recruits endured a grueling first assessment at Crimson Training Camp, where Shen Xinghai eliminated those who fell behind or relied on their Second Personalities. After the run, the instructors disappeared beneath a crimson moon, and a wall of lightning-flashing membranes sealed the camp as the recruits sensed a terrible stench of corpses.

• Shen Xinghai warned Xu Ye that the female soldiers were battle-hardened and told him to excel in the assessment.
• Shen Xinghai eliminated recruits who failed to keep pace, while Xu Ye ran with the leading group and Li Yunyao pushed through the strain.
• A bespectacled Awakened recruit used his Second Personality to surge ahead, so Shen Xinghai knocked him out and declared him eliminated.
• After 200 recruits were eliminated, Shen Xinghai announced that only 36 ordinary people but 164 Awakened had failed the first test, then began the second test without a break.
• The female soldiers and instructors vanished, and a crimson moon appeared as lightning-flashing membranes sealed off the training camp.
• The recruits smelled rotting corpses, Xu Ye estimated that more than a hundred bodies had been left in cold, damp conditions for over seven days, and his heart began to writhe.

Xu Ye and the other recruits faced a Heartless released during their assessment, while the instructors watched and mocked them. After the Heartless knocked down several challengers, Xu Ye killed it with a single strike, leaving the field and instructors stunned.

• A girl identified the creature as a Heartless and explained its origins and danger to the recruits.
• The instructors revealed that they had released the Heartless to make the recruits confront fear, and offered an F-Class Forbidden Object to anyone who killed it alone.
• Zhou Ye and several other recruits charged the Heartless, but it knocked them aside as the exhausted recruits struggled to use their abilities.
• Xu Ye drew his dagger and beheaded the Heartless with one strike, silencing the recruits and instructors.

Xu Ye killed a Heartless and learned the recruits had to collect iron tags while surviving three hours of attacks, with the lowest three hundred eliminated. As Xu Ye set out to hunt for first place, his heart showed him a vision of the Heartless Mother Tree causing a catastrophe at the training camp, killing Li Yunyao and the others.

• Xu Ye killed a Heartless, absorbed a black stone that strengthened him, and picked up its iron tag worth 100 points.
• The instructors released dozens of Heartless onto the training field and announced the three-hour survival assessment, the iron-tag ranking, and the elimination of the bottom three hundred recruits.
• Li Yunyao and Zhou Ye chose to hunt alone, while Lu Mingwang joined Xu Ye.
• Xu Ye headed away from the field to hunt more Heartless and pursue first place as Alice warned him that Anderson, Andre's older brother, was following him.
• Xu Ye's heart showed him a vision of the Heartless Mother Tree going berserk, nearly seven hundred people dying or transforming, and Li Yunyao and the others dying at the training camp.

Xu Ye and Lu Mingwang hunted Heartless in the camp as Xu Ye made for the mountain where the Heartless Mother Tree was sealed. A black-robed boy ambushed them, and Xu Ye dodged his ice attack as the attacker revealed his sequence talent, [Ice Dirge].

• Anderson, Owen, Dusha, and two other Sky City nobles watched Xu Ye and agreed to wait until he had weakened himself before attacking.
• Xu Ye killed a Heartless and gave its iron tag to Lu Mingwang before heading toward the mountain behind the camp.
• A black-robed boy emerged from a tear in the night and threatened to kill Xu Ye.
• Lu Mingwang fired at the boy, and Xu Ye attacked with his transformed Big Black Umbrella blade.
• Xu Ye inferred that the attacker might be disrupting the Heartless Mother Tree's seal and dodged an ice spike that froze the bridge.
• The boy identified his elemental sequence talent as 9-055 [Ice Dirge].

Xu Ye fought and killed the black-robed boy with help from Lu Mingwang’s song, but the boy threw a ring into the river before he died. Alice examined the corpse and suddenly froze, leaving the reason unclear.

• Xu Ye dodged the black-robed boy’s icy attacks and wounded his ankle with the Black Blade.
• The black-robed boy formed ice armor and pressed Xu Ye with close-range attacks while gradually slowing him with [Ice Dirge].
• Lu Mingwang sang with [Bard], clouding the black-robed boy’s mind and giving Xu Ye an opening.
• Xu Ye bit his tongue to stay alert, struck the boy’s throat, and pierced his Adam’s apple with the Black Blade.
• The dying boy threw a ring into the river, and Alice examined his corpse before abruptly freezing.

Xu Ye discovered that the Black-Robed Boy had survived and learned that four members of the Shenchuan Family planned to place Taboo Objects on the Back Mountain to break the Heartless Mother Tree’s seal. After his simulations revealed the danger and suggested the four young nobles could help him, Xu Ye cautiously headed toward the Back Mountain.

• Xu Ye suspected the Black-Robed Boy had faked his death, sent Lu Mingwang away, and pretended to search the body before leaving the bridge.
• A middle-aged Shenchuan Family woman emerged from frost beneath the bridge and told her accomplice that four people had to place their Taboo Objects at the same time to break the seal.
• Xu Ye returned after hiding nearby, and Alice reported what she had overheard about the Shenchuan Family’s plan.
• Xu Ye used his heart’s simulations and learned that reporting the plot or confronting the woman alone could lead to his death, while the four young nobles might give him a chance to fight back.
• Xu Ye followed the middle-aged woman toward the Back Mountain, where the simulations showed him confronting her near the Heartless Mother Tree as the four nobles watched.

Four noble scions watched Xu Ye fight and decided to wait before attacking, while the Crimson Training Camp erupted into a battle with the Heartless. Chu You'an exposed and defeated a Heartless, but Zhou Ye turned down her attempt to charm him and left with neither her iron tag nor a reward.

• Anderson, Owen, Simon, and Dusha assessed Xu Ye's strength, and Anderson decided they should wait before attacking.
• As the camp descended into chaos, Chu You'an coaxed Zhu Dalong toward a Heartless, but he ran away and tried to steal from her.
• Zhu Dalong opened a box containing a Thunderblast Pearl, which Chu You'an had planted, and the explosion revealed his deception.
• Chu You'an killed a Heartless with her pink whip and took its iron tag.
• Chu You'an pretended to have twisted her ankle and asked Zhou Ye for help, but he carried her back to where she had been and left without taking the tag.

Li Yunyao killed a Heartless and encountered Chen Qiansui, a boastful boy from the Lost Abyss, while the instructors discussed promising recruits in the surveillance room. Shen Xinghai then realized Xu Ye had disappeared from the monitors.

• Li Yunyao killed a Heartless with a sword strike, removed her damaged fingernail after its saliva touched it, and took its Iron Token.
• Chen Qiansui introduced himself as a genius of the Lost Abyss and tried to recruit Li Yunyao, but she switched on the ceiling fan and sent him spinning to the floor.
• Chen Qiansui’s cloak fell away, revealing his small purple-haired form seated on a damaged skeleton.
• Jian Fang returned to the surveillance room after rescuing a girl, and Shen Xinghai pointed out promising recruits including Li Yunyao, Chen Qiansui, Chu You'an, and Zhu Dalong.
• Jian Fang asked whether the Dawn Blade had any Awakened recruits, and Shen Xinghai realized Xu Ye was missing from the monitors.

Xu Ye found a dead soldier near the Heartless Mother Tree and learned from Alice that his Heart Simulation showed only one possible future. He launched a surprise attack on the Shenchuan Family's Middle-Aged Woman to stop her from breaking the seal, but she escaped her apparent death and struck back with ice.

• Xu Ye found the body of the female soldier he had met earlier and struggled with guilt over failing to raise the alarm.
• Alice reassured Xu Ye that the Heart Simulation was limited and its future could change, then avoided his questions about what she knew.
• Xu Ye reached the Heartless Mother Tree, saw its white energy-block fruits and the corpses beneath it, and watched the Middle-Aged Woman prepare to break the seal.
• Xu Ye hurled himself at the Middle-Aged Woman, cut her neck, stabbed her abdomen, and shattered the energy gathering in the sculpture's palm.
• The Middle-Aged Woman emerged from the frozen body and attacked Xu Ye, who blocked her freezing air with the Black Blade.

Xu Ye ambushed Kikuko Shenchuan and fought to keep her from using her abilities, but she trapped him in a puppet state with a Taboo Object. As she prepared to kill him, Xu Ye unexpectedly moved and struck back.

• Alice identified Kikuko Shenchuan’s second Sequence Talent as 8-649 [Corpse Ghoul], which let her control and merge with a corpse.
• Xu Ye attacked Kikuko Shenchuan with the Black Blade and used its umbrella form to block her ice-infused strikes.
• Kikuko Shenchuan opened a pouch and activated a puppet Taboo Object, freezing Xu Ye in place.
• Anderson, Dusha, Owen, and Simon spotted the fight from a distance and decided to wait until they had recovered before confronting Xu Ye.
• Kikuko Shenchuan approached Xu Ye and explained that the puppet state would collapse only if more than five spiritually aware observers saw him, but Xu Ye moved and slashed at her.

Xu Ye killed Kikuko Shenchuan and concealed the evidence, then confronted Anderson and the other nobles. Anderson abandoned revenge by severing his bond with his brother and declaring he would settle the score in another life.

• Xu Ye blinded Kikuko Shenchuan with chili powder and razor blades, blocked her ice-spike counterattack, and killed her with a blow to the head.
• Xu Ye had Alice use [Soul-Seizing] on Kikuko Shenchuan and cleaned the scene to hide his involvement from the Shenchuan Family.
• Xu Ye left before the ten-minute mark, having ensured that Kikuko’s absence would prevent the group from combining their Taboo Objects to break the seal.
• Dusha, Simon, and Owen watched Xu Ye’s fight and considered reporting it to the instructors before he appeared in front of them.
• Anderson knelt before Xu Ye, pleaded for his life, cut off a lock of hair to sever his bond with his brother, and postponed his revenge until their next lives.

Xu Ye told Anderson, Dusha, Simon, and Owen about the Shenchuan Family’s plot and learned that this world’s history included the Great Xia Federation, which unsettled him. The four nobles agreed to take responsibility for the incident, and Xu Ye left after warning them that he had placed a curse on them.

• Xu Ye questioned the four nobles, who argued and blamed one another before he explained that the people he killed were Shenchuan Family spies planning to release the Heartless Mother Tree.
• Anderson and Simon explained that the Great Xia Federation had broken apart a hundred years earlier, prompting Xu Ye to recognize a connection to his former homeland.
• Anderson and Owen offered to take the blame for Xu Ye, reasoning that their noble status would make the Shenchuan Family hesitate to target them.
• Xu Ye asked about their sequence talents and learned that Anderson had [Repeated Leaping], Owen had [Bone Reinforcement], Simon had [Thorns], and Dusha had [Night-Blooming Jasmine].
• Xu Ye used a golden ripple to instill fear in the four nobles, warned that a curse would activate if they broke their promise, and disappeared into the night.

Xu Ye uncovered the Shenchuan Family’s plan to summon a god and tamper with the Heartless Mother Tree’s seal, while the instructors realized an unknown person had stopped the sabotage and saved the training camp. The instructors honored the unnamed savior, unaware that Xu Ye was responsible.

• After Xu Ye left, the four nobles agreed to follow him, discussed forming their own faction, and discovered their Iron Tokens were missing.
• Xu Ye killed another Heartless, reached 220 points, and counted the four nobles’ Iron Tokens toward a total of 500.
• Xu Ye rejected the Sequence 8 Kikuko Shenchuan’s [Corpse Ghoul] talent and used Soul-Seizing to examine her memories.
• Xu Ye learned that the Shenchuan Family planned a God-Summoning Ritual and expected its deity to grant them a cultivation method and lead them to a new world.
• Shen Xinghai and the instructors found the dead patrol soldiers and learned the Shenchuan Family had tried to tamper with the Heartless Mother Tree’s seal.
• The instructors concluded an unknown person had stopped the sabotage and saluted the savior who had protected Crimson.

After the assessment, Xu Ye settled into the Crimson Training Camp dormitory, where his roommates introduced themselves and shared painful stories from their pasts. The conversation ended with Zhou Ye recounting how he killed his suffering mother when he was five.

• Xu Ye went to bed after placing first in the second assessment, which only 223 people passed.
• Zhu Dalong and Lu Mingwang introduced themselves, and Chen Qiansui declared himself the young master of the Lost Abyss.
• Mo Bei revealed that he was the heir to his grandfather’s Divine Sequence and would have to kill him to inherit it.
• Zhu Dalong told the others how he awakened [Heaven-Stealing] after drinking an Awakening Potion and eventually met Shen Xinghai.
• Zhou Ye described his father’s death during the Great Famine and how he killed his dying mother as a child.

Chu You'an tried to impress Li Yunyao in the dormitory, but Li Yunyao outshone her. The next morning, instructor Zhao Haili showed the trainees the threat posed by Great Fiends and revealed how little of the world remained habitable, leaving one trainee protesting in terror.

• Chu You'an quieted the dorm matron with luxury gifts, then tried to impress Li Yunyao by showering with her, but Li Yunyao's figure left Chu You'an feeling defeated.
• Lu Mingwang woke Dormitory 404 at six and warned everyone that they had overslept and missed breakfast.
• Xu Ye greeted Li Yunyao in class, and Chu You'an introduced herself and praised him before Xu Ye admired his own reflection instead.
• Zhao Haili introduced herself as the academic instructor and explained that Crimson Training Camp was established because humanity had nowhere left to retreat.
• Zhao Haili showed footage of a giant mutated tiger destroying military forces and explained that Great Fiends came from Forbidden Zones and vastly outnumbered Aberrants.
• Zhao Haili showed a map marking the remaining habitable areas, and a trainee stood up and cried that it was impossible.

Zhao Haili briefed the Crimson Training Camp recruits on the shrinking habitable world, the threat of forbidden zones, and the Awakened’s role in delaying catastrophe. She revealed a rumor of a safe New World before turning to a recent breakthrough in understanding Sequence Talents.

• Zhao Haili showed the recruits a map where forbidden zones were spreading and explained that humanity’s remaining safe territory could be swallowed within a hundred years.
• Zhao Haili explained that Aberrants and Great Fiends grew stronger through mutations, and that creatures above level three could escape causal chains and required powerful Awakened to handle them.
• Zhao Haili said Awakened could slow forbidden zones’ expansion but could neither stop nor destroy them, while Xu Ye privately thought he might be able to eliminate their strange phenomena.
• Anderson asked what humanity could do if forbidden zones overwhelmed even the major powers, and Zhao Haili described an unverified rumor of a safe place called the New World.
• Zhao Haili began explaining Awakened abilities and Sequence Talents, announcing that Doctor Chen had recently made a breakthrough in deciphering the Heavenly Dao.