Chapter Summaries

Qin Feng used the Ancient God Slate to enhance his armor’s Blackflame effect, then headed out to level before planning to kill Qian Shishi. In Magic City, Qian Shishi and the Spade Squad ambushed Great Xia players, unaware that Qin Feng was coming for her.

• Qin Feng kept Utos's Curse on his armor, raising Blackflame’s maximum stacks to 15 while reducing the equipment’s base attributes by 31%.
• Qin Feng collected the loot, told An Yu he was leaving to level, and planned to reach level 15 before nightfall and ride to Magic City to kill Qian Shishi.
• An Yu alerted six official players, who found that all seven Gold Tier bosses in the valley had vanished and were astonished by Dark Shadow’s strength.
• In the Magic City Ruins, Qian Shishi watched Great Xia players fight a Gold Tier boss with five foreign men, including Tony, while keeping her identity concealed.
• Qian Shishi and the Spade Squad attacked the weakened Great Xia players, killed many of them, and discussed leaving for North America to form a guild targeting Great Xia players.

After reaching level 15, Qin Feng prepared to challenge the Divine Authority Tower with an all-male group so he could obtain Divine Books at favorable prices. He equipped Faisal's Heart and began evolving a new stealth skill while waiting for the others to arrive.

• Qin Feng left the River-Sea City Ruins and decided to get Divine Books from the Divine Authority Tower before heading to Magic City.
• Qin Feng explained that the tower's NPC, Six-Fingered Warlock Vickly, made challenges harder and Divine Books more expensive when women participated, so he arranged a group of male players.
• Qin Feng asked Wang Meng to bring four other male players to the ruined northern gate, and Wang Meng agreed to recruit two people through Director Dai.
• While waiting for the group, Qin Feng equipped Faisal's Heart and replaced the stealth level he had lost by removing the Trickster Pendant with the Darkness Within skill.
• Qin Feng began evolving Darkness Within using his remaining Evolution Points.

Qin Feng evolved Darkness Within to Legendary Tier, boosting his stealth and Unstealth Attack, then joined Wang Meng’s group at the Divine Authority Tower to challenge a Gold Tier boss. He explained how to handle the fight and left the group ready to enter the tower.

• Qin Feng evolved Darkness Within to Legendary Tier, gaining up to five Stealth Levels and 200 Unstealth Attack per level.
• Wang Meng led four players from the authorities through the thorn forest, where they found piles of high-level Demon corpses but no living Demons.
• Qin Feng joined Wang Meng’s party and warned that he would hide his strength because the NPC charged more when he seemed powerful.
• Qin Feng explained the Gold Tier boss’s attacks and how the party should handle them, addressing Steady as an Old Dog’s concerns.
• Wang Meng’s group reached the Divine Authority Tower and saw Qin Feng waiting in stealth at its entrance.

Qin Feng and Wang Meng’s group fought the level 20 Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet in the Divine Authority Tower while Qin Feng concealed most of his strength. Meanwhile, Qin Xiaoyou was bullied by guild members and sought help from Wang Meng, who blocked her; the chapter ended with a cloaked old man appearing after the puppet’s defeat.

• Qin Feng used Wolf Howl to strengthen Wang Meng and their companions before they entered the Divine Authority Tower and faced the Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet.
• Qin Xiaoyou was slapped and threatened by three female members of Knight's Sanctuary, then regretted cutting ties with Qin Feng and messaged Wang Meng for help.
• Wang Meng received Qin Xiaoyou’s messages during the boss fight and blocked Xiaoyou Ya before returning his attention to the battle.
• Qin Feng deliberately held back and acted as though he was trapped while still dealing 40% of the party’s damage to the puppet.
• Wang Meng and the group defeated the Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet, and a gaunt old man in a cloak appeared before them.

Qin Feng and his party bought Divine Books from Six-Fingered Warlock Vickly after Steady as an Old Dog was killed for violating Vickly’s taboo. Qin Feng then chose to attempt the Divine Authority Tower’s highest-difficulty solo challenge, leaving his companions worried about the empowered boss.

• Steady as an Old Dog mentioned Vickly’s six fingers and was blasted apart, leaving tradable and non-tradable lifespan behind.
• Qin Feng used a Cursed Flower to absorb Steady as an Old Dog’s non-tradable lifespan, then bought all nine Divine Books on offer.
• Wang Meng and the others bought twelve Divine Books and learned they would have to clear the challenge again to purchase more later.
• Qin Feng asked Vickly to attempt the highest difficulty, where the Gold Tier Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet had its attack, health, defense, and cooldown speed increased by 500%.
• Wang Meng and the others worried that Qin Feng would struggle against the boss’s sixfold stats and faster skills.

Qin Feng challenged Six-Fingered Warlock Vickly’s highest-difficulty Divine Authority Tower trial and unleashed a devastating combo on the Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet. After dealing roughly 200,000 damage in an instant, he left Vickly, Wang Meng, and the others stunned as Coup de Grace’s Throat Slit effect triggered.

• Six-Fingered Warlock Vickly warned Qin Feng that dying in the challenge would cost him his lifespan, but Qin Feng accepted anyway.
• Vickly summoned the Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet and boosted its stats and cooldown speed by 500%, while Wang Meng and his companions watched from outside the arena.
• Qin Feng vanished, then struck the puppet with Deadly Poison Dart, Silent Concealment, Coup de Grace, and a multi-hit Instant Shadow Slash combo.
• Qin Feng’s combo dealt about 200,000 damage and removed roughly one-fifth of the puppet’s health, astonishing Wang Meng, his companions, and Vickly.
• One second after Qin Feng attacked, Coup de Grace’s Throat Slit effect triggered.

Qin Feng defeated the Divine Authority Tower’s Gold Tier boss, claimed the world-first rewards, and returned to the Soul-Cleansing Grounds. Just as he prepared to log off, the system revealed that two armed men had trapped his real-world body in an iron cage to rob him, unaware that he was Dark Shadow.

• Qin Feng killed the Obsidian Skull-Splitting Puppet with Throat Slit and earned the Divine Authority Tower’s difficulty and solo world-first rewards.
• Qin Feng left the tower invisibly as Vickly regretted underestimating him, while players worldwide received the first-clear announcement.
• Wang Meng told An Yu about the tower challenge and Qin Feng’s victory, astonishing her and the other authorities.
• Qin Feng returned to the Soul-Cleansing Grounds, asked An Yu about the Church Sanctuary Hideout negotiations, and prepared to extract abilities before logging off.
• The system warned Qin Feng of danger in reality and showed that two machete-wielding men had caged his body and planned to rob him, not knowing he was Dark Shadow.

After extracting several powerful skills and a Gold Tier Mount Bell, Qin Feng logged out with almost no tradable lifespan left. He escaped a trap by cutting apart his captors and their guesthouse, then rode east as River-Sea City descended into chaos.

• Qin Feng raised his real-world level to 13 and extracted Coup de Grace, Assassin's Intuition, Dark Night Ring Blade, and Silent Concealment at great cost.
• Qin Feng spent most of his remaining tradable lifespan extracting the Gold Tier Mount Bell, then planned to seek out the unclaimed Hideouts in the Magic City Ruins.
• Qin Feng logged out and found two tattooed men waiting to rob him in an iron cage.
• Qin Feng used Dark Night Ring Blade to kill the two men and slice through the cage and guesthouse; he then killed the proprietress with Deadly Poison Dart.
• Qin Feng fled east on his invisible Ghost Night-Walking Wolf while Death Flowers consumed four corpses and chaos spread across River-Sea City.

Qin Feng traveled to Magic City and secretly entered its game ruins, where he contacted Qian Shishi through the assassin Dark Shadow identity. Qian Shishi learned that Dark Shadow wanted to meet her in person to show her Qin Feng’s head, and she began arranging a way to test whether he was on her side.

• Qin Feng rode the Ghost Night-Walking Wolf to Magic City, bought food through the Divine Book, and considered how to locate Qian Shishi.
• Qin Feng used Silent Concealment to enter the game unnoticed, teleported to the Magic City Ruins, and messaged the triangular-eyed young man who had contacted him earlier.
• Qian Shishi, hiding in the Evil Spirit Academy with five foreign men, heard that Dark Shadow claimed he had killed Qin Feng.
• Qian Shishi questioned Dark Shadow’s request to show her Qin Feng’s head in person and offered to accept a photo instead, but Dark Shadow said he had no phone.
• Qian Shishi decided she might meet Dark Shadow if she could confirm he was on her side, then contacted Heaven’s Way Is Strong.

Qin Feng went to meet Qian Shishi at the Evil Spirit Academy and discovered she had lured him into a standoff with Magic City's authorities to test his loyalty. He killed the officials and then, after feigning suspicion that Qian Shishi's foreign companions were insulting him, killed all five of them too, leaving Qian Shishi stunned.

• Qin Feng rode to the coordinates Qian Shishi sent him and found her facing two official squads led by Qiu Haonan, a future notorious mole.
• Qin Feng realized Qian Shishi had arranged the confrontation to force him to choose whether to side with her against the authorities.
• Qin Feng attacked from invisibility and killed all twelve official players, including Qiu Haonan, then absorbed the lifespan orbs beneath Qiu Haonan's corpse.
• Qin Feng greeted Qian Shishi and complained that the authorities' players had carried little lifespan, while she welcomed him to Magic City.
• When Qian Shishi's five foreign companions approached to greet him, Qin Feng pretended he could not understand them and killed all five with Instant Shadow Slash, leaving Qian Shishi dumbfounded.

Qin Feng killed the government players who interrupted his meeting with Qian Shishi, then accepted her invitation to discuss another assassination in person. The government team respawned and began investigating Dark Shadow, while their captain secretly welcomed the prospect of working with Qian Shishi.

• Qian Shishi paid Qin Feng ten years of lifespan and invited him to a party, hoping to hire him for another assassination.
• Qin Feng agreed to meet Qian Shishi, intending to kill her when they met in person.
• After Qian Shishi logged off, Qin Feng farmed Demons in the Evil Spirit Academy using his Dark Element damage.
• Qiu Haonan and the other government players respawned in their Hideout and recognized Dark Shadow as the player who had killed them.
• Qiu Haonan told Late Night, Light Rain to lead the team to collect lifespan while he contacted River-Sea City about Dark Shadow.

Qin Feng followed Qian Shishi’s invitation to a yacht, using a decoy guest and his Ghost Wolf to bypass her precautions. He attacked Qian Shishi aboard the yacht, but her shield stopped his strike, and she recognized Dark Shadow as Qin Feng.

• Late Night, Light Rain worried that Dark Shadow might be allied with Ace of Spades after he killed Magic City’s official players.
• Wang Meng privately asked Qin Feng about the incident, but Qin Feng told him to wait and see.
• Qian Shishi sent Qin Feng an address at the harbor, where she arranged for a speedboat to bring him to her yacht.
• Qin Feng paid a desperate young man to pose as his guest, followed the speedboat on his Ghost Wolf, and disabled its propeller with a Deadly Poison Dart.
• Qin Feng reached the yacht and used Dark Night Ring Blade to kill Qian Shishi’s maid, but Qian Shishi’s shield blocked the attack.
• Qian Shishi saw Qin Feng and realized that Dark Shadow was actually Qin Feng.

Qin Feng killed Qian Shishi and everyone else aboard her yacht, then the government forces arrived to investigate. As Qiu Haonan prepared to search for the killer, Qin Feng struck again and killed him in one hit.

• Qian Shishi begged Qin Feng for mercy, but he killed her and took her Protective Crystal Pendant.
• Qin Feng killed the bodyguards and models aboard the yacht, then called the police using a phone he unlocked with a corpse's finger.
• Qiu Haonan briefed the arriving government personnel and said they would use his search skill to locate Dark Shadow.
• Late Night, Light Rain reacted to a Deadly Poison Dart aimed at Qiu Haonan, but he was killed before she could hit the attacker.

Dark Shadow killed Qiu Haonan aboard the yacht and erased the corpses with crimson Death Flowers. After discovering Qiu Haonan’s ties to the wanted criminal Ace of Spades, Late Night, Light Rain realized Dark Shadow had helped the authorities and stood down their forces, then apologized by shooting herself in the thigh five times.

• Qiu Haonan died and dropped more than three years of tradable lifespan as crimson flowers consumed the bodies aboard the yacht.
• Late Night, Light Rain and the other officials found three phones on Qiu Haonan and discovered his secret dealings with Qian Shishi, also known as Ace of Spades.
• Late Night, Light Rain pieced together how Dark Shadow had killed Ace of Spades and Qiu Haonan while avoiding a conflict with the authorities.
• Late Night, Light Rain radioed the authorities to stand down their special forces, snipers, and missiles.
• Late Night, Light Rain thanked Dark Shadow and shot herself in the thigh five times to repay him for the shots she had fired earlier.

After leaving Magic City’s port, Qin Feng synchronized his levels and skills with reality and negotiated a deal to sell the Soul-Cleansing Grounds Hideout to River-Sea City’s officials. Meanwhile, Dongfang Yue learned that the authorities would not pursue Dark Shadow and heard her son propose a plan to kill him.

• Late Night, Light Rain shot her own injured leg to avoid making an enemy of Dark Shadow, and Qin Feng left the port with 659 years of tradable lifespan.
• Qin Feng spent lifespan to synchronize his level and skills in reality and extract a Lightweight Ring, then returned to the game.
• An Yu offered Qin Feng two thousand years for the Hideout, and he accepted on the condition that the authorities cover six years of round-trip travel expenses.
• Dongfang Yue became enraged when she learned the authorities had not opened fire on Dark Shadow, and her son said he had a plan to kill him.

Chu Nantian and Dongfang Yue plotted to kill Dark Shadow and abused a captive for her lifespan. Meanwhile, Qin Feng returned to Magic City and extracted the Soul-Cleansing Grounds into reality, then began creating mechanical maids.

• Chu Nantian proposed luring Dark Shadow to a fireworks factory and blowing it up, and Dongfang Yue approved the plan.
• Dongfang Yue ordered her poodle Arthur to attack a captive who had surrendered only a hundred days of lifespan.
• Qin Feng returned to the River-Sea City Ruins, traded with An Yu, and obtained two thousand years of lifespan.
• Qin Feng extracted the Soul-Cleansing Grounds beneath a beach in eastern Magic City and entered the hideout.
• Qin Feng opened a Divine Book and began manufacturing two basic mechanical maids.

Qin Feng outfitted the Soul-Cleansing Grounds with Mechanical Maids and household goods, then entered the game to claim unoccupied Hideouts. When he learned a Platinum Tier Headless Assassin Xialuo was hunting players in the River-Sea City Ruins, he went to fight it and found Qin Xiaoyou in danger.

• Qin Feng spent lifespan to make five Mechanical Maids fully equipped for household work and ordered them to install furniture and appliances.
• Qin Feng chose to pursue unclaimed Hideouts in the Magic City Ruins before searching for the level 20 Spirit Devourer.
• Wang Meng warned Qin Feng that the Platinum Tier Headless Assassin Xialuo was killing players near the River-Sea City Ruins' respawn point.
• Qin Feng arrived at the Central Statue and used his level 5 stealth detection to spot five Xialuo clones among the ruins.
• Qin Feng struck one Xialuo with Coup de Grace and Instant Shadow Slash, then saw Qin Xiaoyou being chased by another and calling for his help.

Qin Feng fought Headless Assassin Xialuo’s clones in the River-Sea City Ruins, killing them while the boss tried to flee. He identified the last remaining clone as the real Xialuo and caught up with it at the city’s outskirts.

• Headless Assassin Xialuo’s clone killed Qin Xiaoyou, then died from Qin Feng’s Throat Slit.
• Qin Feng used Coup de Grace and Instant Shadow Slash to destroy two clones while evading their area attacks.
• The remaining two clones fled, and Qin Feng reasoned that one had to be the real boss because it had absorbed the lifespan orbs.
• Qin Feng chased one fleeing clone on his Ghost Wolf and killed it, then returned to search for the last one.
• Qin Feng spotted the invisible Xialuo fleeing west, caught up with it, and used Instant Shadow Slash.

Qin Feng killed Headless Assassin Xialuo, safely burned the parasites on its corpse, and collected its loot before Gray Rose’s team could claim anything. He then headed for the Magic City Ruins and evolved Shadow Blade to Legendary Tier, gaining a nearly cooldown-free attack that could dispel powerful buffs.

• Qin Feng ordered the Devout Believer to burn the parasites on Headless Assassin Xialuo’s corpse before using Greedy Hand to collect its loot.
• Gray Rose’s team found the corpse already looted and realized Dark Shadow had beaten them to it.
• Qin Feng headed toward the Magic City Ruins, planning to claim the Evil Spirit Academy Hideout in a guild’s name.
• Qin Feng equipped the Jadeite Tier Bone-White Blade and learned the Platinum Tier Shadow Blade skill from his loot.
• Qin Feng spent evolution points to raise Shadow Blade to Legendary Tier, granting it the ability to dispel Legendary Tier buffs and refund cooldown when it hit a weak point.

After killing the Headless Assassin, Qin Feng returned to Evil Spirit Academy, created the Shadow guild, and went deeper into its underground floors to claim a Hideout. There, he overheard players hunting a girl and realized she was the feared Blade of the Yellow Springs, who was connected to both the Chu Family and the Dongfang Family.

• River-Sea City players emerged from hiding and marveled at Dark Shadow's defeat of the Headless Assassin, while Wang Meng admitted he had lost hope of catching up to him.
• Qin Xiaoyou told Chen Wuming she had died again and needed ten more days of lifespan, leaving her guild leader exasperated.
• Qin Feng spent 2.74 years of lifespan to create the Shadow guild, then rode to Evil Spirit Academy to seek another Hideout.
• Qin Feng found the academy's first two underground floors cleared and descended to the lava-filled third floor, where players were fighting the Flaming Mummy.
• Qin Feng overheard the players discussing a girl with soul-damaging attacks and a reward of thirty years of lifespan, then recognized her as the future Blade of the Yellow Springs and connected her to the Chu and Dongfang families.