Recaps

Ye Lin weighed the risks and rewards of the available Makeup Examinations and chose Fengdu to seek the dead Examinee’s belongings and information. Before entering, he went to collect his dead companions’ possessions and encountered a lifelike copy of Yang Qiao in He Zheng’s room.

• Ye Lin inspected the Cataclysm Orb but decided not to use it, then ruled out the Transcendence and Mysterious and Subtle Instances.
• Ye Lin considered Origin of the Godkind and Fengdu, deciding Fengdu offered better chances to gain strength and obtain the dead Examinee’s letters and equipment.
• Ye Lin realized he needed to collect the belongings in He Zheng, the others’, and Yang Qiao’s rooms before the system erased them.
• Ye Lin opened He Zheng’s Room 8 and found a bustling residential neighborhood that resembled reality.
• Yang Qiao recognized Ye Lin and asked whether he and He Zheng had returned from a business trip, leaving Ye Lin unable to answer.

Ye Lin went to He Zheng’s home, where Yang Qiao gave him the key to a safe and he found He Zheng’s letter. After reading He Zheng’s final words and leaving Yang Qiao with medicine, Ye Lin returned to the Death Exam Space carrying the question of whether He Zheng had died bravely for him.

• Yang Qiao gave Ye Lin the key He Zheng had left for him and pointed him toward the locked room.
• Ye Lin opened the safe and found gold bars and a letter He Zheng had written for him.
• He Zheng’s letter joked about his death before confessing his fear, regret, and wish to return home with Yang Qiao.
• Ye Lin put the letter and the safe’s contents into the Necklace, then gave Yang Qiao the pills he had exchanged through the system.
• Ye Lin left He Zheng’s home and returned to the Death Exam Space, where he read He Zheng’s last question about whether he had died bravely for him.

Ye Lin entered Huang Liang’s room and discovered a collection of detailed examination notes, including Huang Liang’s theory that each death exam followed a theme and concealed a larger secret. As Ye Lin began to suspect his own training had prepared him for the exams, a hidden voice recorder activated beneath the desk.

• Ye Lin left An Ke’s room untouched and entered Huang Liang’s room to see what he had left behind.
• Ye Lin found Huang Liang’s manuals documenting examination hazards, system traps, and possible solutions.
• Ye Lin read Huang Liang’s theory that the first three examinations centered on breaking habitual thinking, pursuing the optimal solution, and deception.
• Ye Lin considered whether identifying an examination’s theme could reveal its traps and wondered if the organization had deliberately prepared him for the exams.
• A hidden box opened beneath the desk, and a voice recorder began playing: “Ye Lin, I’m dead, aren’t I?”

Ye Lin listened to Huang Liang’s recordings, which revealed that the Military had hidden a more powerful weapon from him and urgently needed him to send information about the Death Exam back to the real world. The third recording began to disclose a startling secret: the Military had found many versions of Ye Lin.

• Huang Liang’s recording apologized for swapping out the Specialized Pistol prepared for Ye Lin and giving him a Type 77 instead.
• Huang Liang explained that the Military had learned entrants could bring weapons into the Death Exam but had withheld powerful weapons because earlier armed soldiers had died inside.
• Huang Liang urged Ye Lin to send back information that could help the Military prepare entrants and prevent further human experiments and deaths.
• Ye Lin considered his lack of trust in humanity but chose to listen to the third part of the recording.
• Huang Liang told Ye Lin that the Military had found many versions of him, leaving Ye Lin stunned.

Ye Lin learned from Huang Liang's recording that people resembling him had appeared across different eras, and that the Military suspected supernatural forces linked the clues. Huang Liang urged Ye Lin to contact the real world using a code from the final recording, and Ye Lin pressed play to hear it.

• Ye Lin reeled as Huang Liang revealed that many versions of him existed.
• Huang Liang described classified photographs of Ye Lin in ancient and modern eras, including corpses found in places humans could not survive, and a genetic match to extraterrestrial beings.
• Huang Liang said the AG Organization had not copied Ye Lin and had killed themselves before Ye Lin entered the tomb.
• Huang Liang explained that the Military connected the era-spanning records, a 2021 classified project, and the 2026 tomb incident because they all pointed to Ye Lin.
• Huang Liang said the AG Organization had left a message about the world's deepest secret and provided a code that would make the Military trust Ye Lin.
• Ye Lin silently pressed play on the Voice Recorder's final segment.

Ye Lin listened to Huang Liang’s final recording, which revealed that Huang Liang had received signals from Earth and urged Ye Lin to contact the military for humanity’s sake. The recording ended with Huang Liang’s secret code and a message declaring that he had completed his mission.

• Huang Liang said his transmitters had received electromagnetic signals, suggesting the Death Exam Space was near the Solar System.
• Huang Liang warned Ye Lin that the exams might threaten all of humanity and urged him to seek support from the military and share his gathered information.
• Huang Liang revealed that the military had secretly trained elite soldiers who could become Ye Lin’s teammates.
• Huang Liang gave Ye Lin the military contact code HL03257 and told him where to find the transmitters.
• He Zheng called Huang Liang to the next exam, and Huang Liang’s final message asked Ye Lin to tell the real world that Cadet No. 3257 had completed his mission.

Ye Lin investigated Huang Liang’s rooftop transmitter and, just as he was about to leave for the Fengdu Instance, received calls from military forces around the world asking him to respond. Meanwhile, Minister Zhang faced global panic over the Death Exam and asked whether the source of the signal had been located.

• Ye Lin considered Huang Liang’s revelations about the Military, the organization’s suicides, and its plan to send him into the Tomb.
• Ye Lin examined Huang Liang’s Signal Transmission System but initially heard only silence through the monitoring headphones.
• Ye Lin decided to leave the rooftop to prepare for the Fengdu Instance, then froze when the transmitter began broadcasting pleas for contact from military forces worldwide.
• Minister Zhang and Zhang Hong discussed the panic, mass flight from cities, and rising death toll caused by the Death Exam’s changed rules.
• Minister Zhang asked whether the Military had made progress tracing the signal that had appeared two days earlier.

Zhang Hong opposed the Fireseed Plan to send people away from Earth, arguing that it would abandon the public and leave the examinees without a home if they returned. A new signal from source [626] triggered a worldwide emergency response, and Zhang Hong rushed to the communications base.

• Zhang Hong learned that the latest vote for the Fireseed Plan was nearing fifty percent, with some military committee members supporting it.
• Zhang Hong condemned the plan as an impossible escape that would deceive the public and risk collapsing civilization.
• Zhang Hong ordered Secretary Tang to contact Chairman Fang and declare his opposition, then hurried to confront the committee.
• A highest-priority alert reported that signal source [626] had been detected again and ordered senior officials to prepare for contact.
• Zhang Hong called to Tang Yuan to leave for the site as fighter jets and helicopters raced toward communications bases.

As panic over the ongoing disappearances sparked riots in Zhongjing City, Seoul, and cities around the world, governments sent senior officials and military aircraft to bases that had received a mysterious signal. At a communications base in China’s Southern War Zone, operators waited tensely for the signal to be decoded.

• A crowd tried to force its way out of Zhongjing City after a father accused the authorities of lying about his missing daughter, and a riot broke out at the highway checkpoint.
• A fighter jet and helicopters flew toward the military district, prompting the injured traffic police captain to realize that something major had happened.
• In Seoul, cultists and rioters attacked the presidential residence as fighter jets departed a US military base for the country’s largest astronomical observatory.
• Governments around the world sent senior leaders aboard military aircraft to bases that had received the same signal.
• At the South Sea Fleet base in China’s Southern War Zone, communications personnel watched as signals were decoded and waited for a message.

Deputy Chief Zhang Haiping and the command center waited anxiously for a message from the missing national cadets, but the first decoded block appeared to be meaningless. A military officer recognized the code HL03257 as one of their assigned identifiers, and familiar Chinese text began appearing on the screen.

• Deputy Chief Zhang Haiping arrived at the command center and ordered the technicians to decode the signal and maintain strict confidentiality.
• Military representatives reported that experts were gathering, the fleets were on level-one combat readiness, and they could not stop other countries from sharing a message they decoded first.
• A technician announced that the first message had been recovered, but the block of characters looked like gibberish and plunged the command hall into despair.
• A military officer with a Great Wall Military Insignia recognized HL03257 as one of the identifiers assigned to the 3,600 national cadets and declared that the sender was one of their own.
• Two lines of familiar Chinese text appeared on the screen.

After Hua Country received a message from Ye Lin in the Death Exam Space, Zhang Haiping ordered an immediate response and prepared for contact. He decided that their first question should be how they could help the people trapped there, and ordered preparations for a global broadcast.

• Ye Lin sent Chinese messages identifying himself and confirming that someone in the Death Exam Space was alive, prompting celebrations in the Command Hall.
• Zhang Haiping ordered military units and research stations to respond at full power and prepare to establish contact.
• When foreign governments quickly asked about the messages, Zhang Haiping suspected a leak and said Hua Country would share the information later, while warning other nations not to exploit the situation.
• Experts debated whether to ask Ye Lin for information about the Death Exam Space, a way to escape, or simply offer support.
• Zhang Haiping said their one essential question was what they could do for the people inside and ordered preparations for a global live broadcast.

Ye Lin sent the outside world a vast trove of Death Exam intelligence and asked for help with several mysteries, including what had happened to him and what they found in the grave. As Zhang Haiping prepared to respond, a national security official called for an emergency meeting to reveal something.

• Ye Lin sent the Command Hall information about Death Exam rules, supernatural threats, survival strategies, and advanced technologies.
• The officials and experts were shocked by the intelligence and debated whether to share its valuable technologies with other countries.
• Zhang Haiping set aside the question of international sharing and asked what Ye Lin and the others needed from the country.
• The analysis team reported requests for more elite examinees and investigations into the Mysterious and Subtle, the Nineteenth Layer of Hell, the Immortal Gate, and the Fengdu Instance.
• The team said Ye Lin also asked what had happened to him and what they had found in the grave.
• A national security official wearing a Great Wall Medal urged Zhang Haiping to convene an emergency meeting so he could report something.

Sun Zhenghong warned the officials that Ye Lin might be a monstrous criminal using stolen military codes to lure humanity into the Death Exam, and urged them not to answer his questions. A gray-haired committee member pointed out that Ye Lin had also recorded the names and personal concerns of the dead, leaving the officials to reconsider whether he still had human feelings.

• Sun Zhenghong revealed that Ye Lin was a convicted felon and questioned whether the intelligence he sent was trustworthy.
• Sun Zhenghong warned that Ye Lin might be taking revenge and showed the officials classified photographs of monstrous beings resembling him.
• Zhang Haiping asked whether the Ye Lin in the file was the same person communicating from the Death Exam, and Sun Zhenghong confirmed it.
• Sun Zhenghong urged the officials to distrust Ye Lin’s requests and avoid answering his questions, while Zhang Haiping considered the danger of following false instructions.
• A gray-haired committee member read out messages Ye Lin had recorded about the families and wishes of deceased participants, prompting the officials to reconsider Sun Zhenghong’s warning.

Senior officials debated whether to trust Ye Lin’s information about the Death Exam, with Sun Zhenghong warning it could be a deception and Fang Guoting and Huang Yun arguing that the trainees had earned their trust. Army Commander Zhang Haiping chose to act on the information and ordered officials to support the families of the dead and cooperate with Ye Lin.

• Sun Zhenghong argued that Ye Lin might have fabricated the information or coerced the trainees, and urged the officials not to trust him.
• Fang Guoting recalled how the battlefield had changed him and said he believed Ye Lin still had humanity and wanted to fulfill the dead trainees’ wishes.
• Huang Yun vouched for the code and the trainees, arguing that further delay would cost lives and that their information could help those entering next.
• Zhang Haiping ended the debate, choosing to trust Ye Lin because the authorities had no other way to learn what was happening inside.
• Zhang Haiping ordered regional agencies to find and protect the listed families, reward them, send Ye Lin the information the authorities possessed, and offer him recognition or other assistance.

Sun Zhenghong learned that Huang Yun had sent his own son, Huang Liang, into the Death Exam, while preparations for a worldwide announcement about the Death Exam and humanity’s future began across the globe. The chapter ended with media outlets awaiting Hua Country’s broadcast.

• Commissioner Liang told Sun Zhenghong that Huang Liang had volunteered for the Death Exam and that Huang Yun had personally sent him in.
• Huang Yun mourned Huang Liang, accepted his sacrifice, and boarded a helicopter bound for the global press conference.
• In London, a colleague woke Hans and told him to prepare to present a worldwide broadcast about the missing people.
• Armed soldiers entered the British broadcasting building as officials and reporters gathered, and Hans began to suspect the news was real.
• Media outlets around the world announced that Hua Country would broadcast major news about the Death Exam and humanity’s future in ten minutes.

Zhao Hongbin repaired a city screen just as Ye Lin's broadcast from the Death Exam Space reached the world, prompting 137 nations to declare a state of war and Hua Country to launch Operation Rescue. Ye Lin then studied the Military's analyses of the Nineteenth Layer of Hell and Fengdu, gaining clues about possible threats and survival strategies for future examinations.

• Zhao Hongbin refused to leave Linjiang City and defended the hope that his missing son was still alive as he repaired the television station's outdoor screen.
• Ye Lin's message, broadcast across 193 countries in 110 languages, confirmed that he and the other examinees were still alive, and the world erupted in response.
• Hua Country launched Operation Rescue as 137 major nations declared a state of war, while Ye Lin ended his communication with Earth and noted the growing delay.
• Ye Lin read the Military's analysis that the Nineteenth Layer of Hell might be Chen Tuan's nightmare and considered how The Mysterious and Subtle, its eyes, and the layers of hell might be connected.
• Ye Lin studied the Military's three possible Fengdu scenarios and its warnings about the Great Emperor of Fengdu and his envoys, along with suggested ways to exploit the realm's rules.

Ye Lin studied the Military’s analysis of the Fengdu Instance and its exchange-value calculations, which suggested prioritizing abilities and attributes over bloodlines. He turned to the Military’s final findings on equipment, where an unexpected option had been highlighted.

• Ye Lin reviewed the Military’s uncertain information about the Fengdu Instance and memorized its possible dangers.
• Ye Lin read the Military’s calculations, which rated abilities and attributes as better point investments than most bloodlines.
• Ye Lin compared the calculations with his experience and concluded that early bloodline exchanges had still helped him, while later ability exchanges had proved useful.
• Ye Lin turned to the Military’s conclusions about weapons and equipment and saw that they highlighted something he had never considered.

Ye Lin learned that healing items were among the best ways to spend points, then received a Military message warning that information about the secret surrounding him was infectious and could not be transmitted. As he tried to understand the warning, examinee Li Tianyang initiated a communication request.

• Ye Lin read the Military's advice to spend at least a quarter of his points on healing supplies and realized he had underestimated their value.
• Ye Lin reflected on the alien civilizations' accumulated knowledge and felt overwhelmed by the gap between them and himself, but resolved to keep fighting and pursue a risky experiment.
• The Signal Station decrypted a Military message explaining that information concerning Ye Lin could not be transmitted because contact with it had driven the First Contact Group mad and killed them.
• Ye Lin read that the Military had sent personnel into the Death Exam with a sealed file and urged him to avoid the information if he had not already encountered it.
• Ye Lin struggled to make sense of the warning when the system announced that examinee Li Tianyang, ID [18712], was requesting communication.

Ye Lin and Li Tianyang discovered that their experiences in The Mysterious and Subtle had unfolded at different times, and Li Tianyang could not remember what had happened to him. When Ye Lin noticed Li Tianyang’s system ID had lost its letter, both feared that the caller might not be human.

• Li Tianyang called Ye Lin after emerging from The Mysterious and Subtle, and they realized they had come out at different times.
• Ye Lin learned that Li Tianyang had just finished the fifth examination, while Ye Lin and the others had already completed the next one.
• Li Tianyang said he had lost his memory, had not seen Zhang Tie, and wanted to leave the dark Death Exam Space to meet Ye Lin.
• Ye Lin hesitated when Li Tianyang asked to come over and pointed out that his system ID was missing its letter.
• Li Tianyang checked his ID, panicked, and suspected that he had died.
• Ye Lin questioned whether the caller was really Li Tianyang or a ghost imitating him.

Li Tianyang returned from The Mysterious and Subtle after losing his memories and undergoing unknown changes, so Ye Lin tested whether he was still human and recognized by the system. After the tests cleared him of other problems, Ye Lin asked what he remembered from entering the Immortal Gate and warned that he might have spent many years inside.

• Li Tianyang contacted Ye Lin, insisting he was not a ghost and explaining that he had returned alone with missing memories and a sense that something was wrong.
• Ye Lin reconsidered his suspicion, invited Li Tianyang to the Soul Peace Team’s space, and prepared to test him.
• Li Tianyang severed his right hand and transferred ten points to Ye Lin, demonstrating that the system still recognized him.
• Li Tianyang’s Perfect Repair scan detected only limb damage, and Ye Lin used his Level One Privilege to arrange a free Simple Repair.
• Ye Lin asked what Li Tianyang remembered after entering the Immortal Gate and told him that he might have spent many years in The Mysterious and Subtle.

Ye Lin and Li Tianyang compared their memories and discovered that Li Tianyang had completed an unfamiliar special round after being left behind the Immortal Gate. They found that Li Tianyang’s Death Exam Space had not received an update, and Li Tianyang glimpsed a hazy memory of walking among countless immortal corpses beneath a bloodied sky.

• Li Tianyang recounted events up to entering the Immortal Gate, and Ye Lin found that their memories diverged after that point.
• Ye Lin questioned why Li Tianyang had thought they were still inside the exam despite hearing the return notification.
• Li Tianyang explained that he woke in the Death Exam Space with no memory of an extra round and showed Ye Lin the reward notification for completing the special round [Cleansing].
• Li Tianyang told Ye Lin that his space felt as if it would disappear and that only his room would open.
• Ye Lin and Li Tianyang noticed that their Death Exam Spaces looked different, and Ye Lin realized Li Tianyang’s space had not received the update.
• Li Tianyang recalled a hazy image of walking among immense heaps of immortals’ corpses beneath a dim sky as blood and thunder filled the ruined world.

Ye Lin examined Li Tianyang’s unexplained ankle mark and proposed that a ghost or another team might have used him and erased his memories after the Examination. He then revealed that he had contacted the real world, leaving Li Tianyang stunned by the news.

• Ye Lin questioned Li Tianyang about changes to his body after returning, and Li Tianyang showed him a ghostly handprint on his ankle.
• Ye Lin concluded that the mark was not from a ghost at the Taoist Temple and suggested that a ghost might have clung to Li Tianyang as he flew into the Immortal Gate.
• Li Tianyang wondered whether the Little Child Ghost had used them to reach the Immortal Gate, and Ye Lin outlined three possible explanations involving ghosts and other teams.
• Ye Lin said the Military believed the Macrocosmic The Mysterious and Subtle beneath them might be an eye and the nightmare of Chen Tuan, the Sleeping Immortal.
• Li Tianyang froze when Ye Lin said he had contacted the real world and demanded to know what he meant.

Ye Lin told Li Tianyang that An Ke and the others had died and warned him about the aliens hunting promising examinees. Though Ye Lin expected Li Tianyang to leave for his own safety, Li Tianyang joined the Soul Peace Team, giving Ye Lin a new companion before the next exam.

• Li Tianyang excitedly asked Ye Lin about contacting reality, but Ye Lin told him An Ke and the others were dead and that aliens had killed his team in the last exam.
• Ye Lin warned Li Tianyang to hide his personal information and explained that powerful aliens were targeting him, making the upcoming exams extremely dangerous.
• Li Tianyang insisted on staying with Ye Lin despite the danger, saying he did not want to lose another person he cared about.
• Ye Lin accepted Li Tianyang into the Soul Peace Team.

Ye Lin and Li Tianyang considered whether to improve their bloodlines or spend their points on attributes, abilities, and potions before entering the Fengdu Instance. Ye Lin revealed he still had over five hundred points and began considering a path built around powerful S-Rank abilities.

• Li Tianyang hesitated over advancing his celestial master bloodline to Grade A, and Ye Lin advised him that abilities and potions would offer more flexibility against third-tier threats.
• Ye Lin decided to improve his attributes and seek abilities first, postponing upgrades to Interferer and Tyrant until bloodline costs fell.
• Li Tianyang gave up on the bloodline route and offered Ye Lin some of his points, worried that Ye Lin had lost resources when An Ke and the others died.
• Ye Lin showed that he still had over five hundred points, leaving Li Tianyang stunned and wondering if he had killed a fourth tier.
• Ye Lin browsed S-Rank abilities, including Heavenly Demon Disintegration, Power of Destruction, Heavenly Tribulation, and Immortal Sin, as a path of bloodshed began to take shape in his mind.

Ye Lin weighed whether to build his abilities around desperate bursts of power or calculated escape, then reconsidered after Li Tianyang chose a dangerous power to help him face the coming Fengdu Instance. Inspired by Li Tianyang’s willingness to stake his life, Ye Lin headed for the redemption vortex ready to do the same.

• Ye Lin analyzed his advantages and considered choosing either near-death burst abilities or escape abilities supported by the Eternal Page.
• Li Tianyang showed Ye Lin his plans to redeem Spirit Coffin and Yin-Yang Reversal for the paranormal Fengdu Instance.
• Ye Lin warned that Spirit Coffin could drain Li Tianyang’s life force and let a ghost possess him, but Li Tianyang insisted on becoming strong enough to be a useful teammate.
• Li Tianyang redeemed the abilities, explaining that he would treat the next exam as his last and accept the risks.
• Ye Lin reconsidered his cautious approach, decided that escaping could only delay defeat against overwhelming enemies, and walked toward the redemption vortex.