Recaps

The group split up to ignite the remaining pillars while ghosts swarmed the Taoist temple, and He Zheng lost an arm escaping a Ghost Eye. Once all six pillars burned, the Immortal Gate opened above the mountain, with four minutes remaining in the examination.

• He Zheng split the pillar in the southwest side hall, causing another blaze of white fire as the ghosts surged toward the group.
• An Ke urged everyone to split up, and Huang Liang gave He Zheng the bell while Li Tianyang used his last dose of adrenaline.
• He Zheng raced toward another side hall, but wet hair trapped his arm and the Ghost Eye spotted him, so he cut off his arm and fled inside.
• Zhang Tie, Huang Liang, and Li Tianyang fought through the ghosts with the candle and ignited their side hall's pillar.
• All six pillars burned, the ghosts retreated, and a golden Immortal Gate appeared above the mountaintop with four minutes left.

He Zheng, An Ke, Ye Lin, Zhang Tie, Li Tianyang, and Huang Liang escaped a ghost’s attempt to extinguish their candle and raced toward the Immortal Gate. As they neared the exit, Ye Lin questioned whether finding the clues really meant they could escape, suggesting he had uncovered a flaw in the examination.

• A disguised ghost grabbed Zhang Tie and tried to blow out the candle, but Zhang Tie dodged it with Protection and Li Tianyang drove it away by spitting blood onto the flame.
• The six reunited and ran toward the Immortal Gate as the ghosts pursued them and only three minutes remained in the examination.
• He Zheng invited Li Tianyang to join his team, and Li Tianyang exchanged contact details with him while they ran.
• The group reached the wall and saw the Immortal Gate ahead, with the pursuing ghosts only seconds behind them.
• Ye Lin asked whether there had been ten people in the examination and whether discovering the clues meant they could escape, then studied the Immortal Gate, blood moon, and barrier-like dome as his reasoning fell into place.

Ye Lin realized the clues and system messages had been fabricated by the ghost, which was trying to reunite its three souls and seven spirits outside the Taoist Temple. He killed himself to escape, and the others followed; Li Tianyang was the last to act, after finally trusting Ye Lin.

• Ye Lin warned the group that the ghost had forged the clues and was using them to carry its sealed spirits outside, then urged everyone to kill themselves with the dagger.
• Ye Lin stabbed himself in the head, and the others noticed that the system displayed no countdown and that the ghost had delivered its messages.
• He Zheng trusted Ye Lin and killed himself, and Zhang Tie followed without understanding the explanation.
• An Ke realized why Ye Lin had blinded Li Tianyang and killed herself as the ghosts closed in; Huang Liang also chose to die rather than distrust Ye Lin.
• Li Tianyang remembered Ye Lin's pleas to trust one another, stabbed himself, and the ghosts possessing him vanished.

Ye Lin explained that the group had died three times to become Xi, a state the ghosts and the Immortal could not see, and revealed how the Immortal had manipulated them with false clues and a fake mountaintop gate. As they hurried toward the village to find the real Immortal Gate, Ye Lin warned that Macrocosmic The Mysterious and Subtle was an overwhelming danger and asked why there was a Blood Moon inside the Taoist Temple.

• Ye Lin revived with the others and led them to die three times, turning them into Xi so the ghosts and the Immortal could no longer see them.
• Ye Lin explained that the candles could let the Immortal track them because they attracted the Little Child Ghost, and Huang Liang reasoned that the mountaintop Immortal Gate was an illusion while the real gate was elsewhere.
• Ye Lin described how the Immortal had fabricated scars and other clues to keep them from suspecting the ghosts riding on their backs and to make them trust the candles.
• Li Tianyang asked what Macrocosmic The Mysterious and Subtle meant, and Ye Lin called it the Examination’s greatest challenge and asked why a Blood Moon was inside the Taoist Temple.

Ye Lin concluded that the planet itself was the macroscopic Mysterious and Subtle, rocking between the sun and the Blood Moon and hiding its movements from the group. He believed the world had been destroyed and the survivors were dead, leaving them to ask how they could find the Immortal Gate before time ran out.

• Ye Lin rejected Li Tianyang’s theory that the Blood Moon was an illusion and connected the ghost’s attacks and false system messages to its efforts to limit the group’s time outside.
• Ye Lin explained that Zhang Xiao Peng’s healing ability shortened their stay in the Three Pure Ones Hall, while the ghost’s false messages rushed them into their rooms and the Taoist Temple.
• Ye Lin pointed out that daylight had become a Blood Moon in about ten minutes and concluded that the planet had shifted from facing the sun toward the moon.
• Ye Lin identified the planet beneath them as the macroscopic Mysterious and Subtle and said that even the group was dead.
• Li Tianyang reasoned that the village had been abandoned for years and that the world had been destroyed, while He Zheng asked how they would find the Immortal Gate before time ran out.

Ye Lin explained that the real Immortal Gate was hidden above the village, locked by a depleted formation, and led the group there before time ran out. Li Tianyang revealed the immense gate with his Dharma Eye and exposed the chains binding it, leaving the group ready to break the seal.

• Ye Lin explained that daylight lasted only briefly because the Mysterious and Subtle moved, and that dying had reset their time so they could leave the Taoist Temple in daylight.
• Ye Lin said the Immortal Gate was in the village, where the Celestial Masters had left a formation to lock it, and ordered the group to head for the Life Gate and break the seal.
• Two minutes later, Ye Lin led the six through the village toward the Southwest Corner, where they sensed the real Immortal Gate overhead.
• Li Tianyang tore out his eye and used the Dharma Eye incantation to reveal the kilometer-tall Immortal Gate and the blood chains holding it.
• Li Tianyang spat blood essence onto the chains, making them visible to the others.

Ye Lin and the others severed the chains, activated the evacuation tokens, and began ascending toward the Immortal Gate. The Little Child Ghost reversed the gate’s pull and trapped them in a deadly collision course with the Red-Eyed Female Ghost, leaving Ye Lin searching for a way to escape.

• Ye Lin and He Zheng cut the chains binding the seal, causing the Immortal Gate to appear and the system to announce the evacuation point.
• The six examinees picked up their evacuation tokens and were carried toward the Immortal Gate in pillars of light.
• He Zheng joked with Li Tianyang about joining their team, but Huang Liang sensed a terrifying presence and warned everyone.
• The Little Child Ghost reversed the force pulling them toward the gate while the Red-Eyed Female Ghost teleported beneath them.
• An Ke suggested leaving the pillars of light, but Ye Lin realized they would fall without the guiding force and tried to find a way to break the Little Child Ghost’s rule.

Zhang Tie sacrificed himself to destroy the Little Child Ghost and let the others escape, but Ye Lin and the team discovered a horrific secret inside the Immortal Gate before returning. The system unlocked the hidden examination scenario [Nineteenth Layer of Hell], while a new survival examination was announced and forces gathered near Earth and the sun.

• Zhang Tie entered the Taoist Temple and used Protection to pull the Little Child Ghost into the barrier, where the barrier's final burst of power destroyed it and the Red-Eyed Female Ghost.
• As the others were pulled toward the Immortal Gate, Zhang Tie urged them to leave and sent Ye Lin a final message saying he had paid him back with his life.
• The five survivors entered the Immortal Gate and found ruined halls, six enormous Immortal Corpses, and the corpse of a Dao Ancestor across the heavens.
• Ye Lin realized that the ruler of the ten thousand immortals was dead, and he ordered the group to return immediately.
• The system unlocked the hidden examination scenario [Nineteenth Layer of Hell], while protective domes appeared on the moon and space battleships emerged near the sun.
• The system announced a new survival examination, [Nine-Eyed The Mysterious and Subtle], with 113 teams preparing to begin.

After returning from the Examination without Zhang Tie, Ye Lin and the others found the Death Exam Space shrouded in darkness while the system updated. Their reward settlement appeared, revealing their points and ratings, and they waited for the disabled functions to return.

• He Zheng called for repairs after teleporting back with Ye Lin, An Ke, and Huang Liang, but Zhang Tie did not return.
• The group discovered that the Death Exam Space was dark and their watches were unusable, then saw a system notice that the space was updating.
• The system displayed detailed rewards, including Ye Lin's Grade A rating and the group's points and ratings from the Examination.
• Huang Liang celebrated earning a Grade B rating but held off on exchanging it for a communication item while the system functions were disabled.
• An Ke explained that the group had earned fewer points because many people died and reminded He Zheng that improving physical attributes could reduce Bloodline upgrade costs.
• An Ke realized Ye Lin might already have saved enough points to reach Grade A.

Ye Lin and his companions discussed the last examination, the mysterious book, and the possibility that they could have avoided every death by choosing a faster cooperative solution. Before Ye Lin could pursue his many unanswered questions, the system launched the Earth War Zone and revealed enormous screens above the continents, triggering global panic.

• An Ke and He Zheng noticed that the dark gold book accounted for nearly a third of Ye Lin's reward points, and Ye Lin wondered whether an immortal had placed it in the examination.
• An Ke questioned why the last examination had offered a Grade D difficulty, and Ye Lin explained that using the teams' abilities during the safety period could have let them open the Immortal Gate and escape without encountering ghosts.
• Ye Lin blamed himself for failing to recognize the cooperative solution, while An Ke urged him to rest and stop putting so much pressure on himself.
• The system announced that the Death Exam Space update was complete and that the Earth War Zone was online, with the examination network connected to the Milky Way-Orion Arm.
• Seven enormous screens appeared above Earth's continents, drawing billions of observers as emergency broadcasts spread, countdowns began, and military aircraft took to the skies.

At Binhai International Airport, a zombie-like monster appeared beneath the mysterious examination screen, prompting a military lockdown and emergency containment. Minister Huang Yun revealed that disappearances had spread beyond schools and warned that humanity faced extinction if officials could not uncover what was happening inside the examination.

• Soldiers cordoned off Binhai International Airport after flights were canceled and terrified passengers reported a monster attacking people.
• Special forces found the decomposed, bullet-riddled monster beside two passengers it had bitten, and the infected victims rose again before the military killed them.
• Minister Huang Yun ordered the airport news suppressed, exposed personnel quarantined, and the monster sealed for study.
• Huang Yun told the colonel that the government had received almost no communication from inside the examination and might soon declare a nationwide wartime footing.
• Huang Yun revealed that eligible people across the country had begun disappearing regardless of their proximity to schools, putting humanity on a countdown to extinction.

Huang Yun faced the apparent impossibility of rescuing the Death Exam participants while hoping his son Huang Liang could send back information. In the Death Exam Space, Ye Lin and the others discovered that the Exam encompassed countless civilizations, then learned that multiple battle zones were querying his information.

• Huang Yun's subordinates demanded to know why the leadership was abandoning those trapped in the Death Exam, and the guard revealed that Huang Yun had sent his own son, Huang Liang, inside.
• Huang Yun said he would accept Huang Liang's death if his son could send back information, and watched the countdown while fearing humanity would collapse into despair without hope.
• In Hanseong, a man declared the coming end of the world and urged people to die, while crowds jumped from a skyscraper and fires spread across Earth.
• He Zheng, An Ke, and Ye Lin examined the new rankings and learned that their team was first in the Earth Battle Zone, with Ye Lin marked by three asterisks.
• Ye Lin realized the Death Exam might involve thousands of civilizations and far more participants than he had imagined.
• System notifications announced that numerous battle zones were viewing Ye Lin's information, and he sensed that something was wrong.

Ye Lin hid the Soul Peace Team’s leaderboard information after suspecting that the queries came from teams with a dangerous motive, though the others wondered if his three perfect scores had drawn attention. As Ye Lin reviewed their points and the global rankings, he spotted something wrong with the leaderboard and turned sharply to An Ke.

• Ye Lin ordered the system to hide the Soul Peace Team’s information after nineteen queries, and he warned that the unknown teams might have a reason for spending points to find them.
• Ye Lin explained that teams from other combat zones might be much stronger, but he was not worried about their learning the team’s current abilities because he planned to enhance himself before the next round.
• He Zheng counted the leaderboard’s perfect-score stars and found that Ye Lin was the only person with three, while at least twenty-three teams had two.
• An Ke said the global spread of perfect scores was unsurprising, and Huang Liang reacted oddly when she mentioned the Green Mountain Team but did not explain why.
• Ye Lin reviewed how luck and his teammates had helped him earn perfect scores, noted that the team had 219 points, and then noticed that the leaderboard seemed to be missing people.

Ye Lin, An Ke, and He Zheng discovered that the region-wide leaderboard showed no teams beyond Grade B, leading them to fear that earlier examinees had died. Ye Lin encouraged He Zheng and went to unlock a book, while He Zheng asked An Ke why his invitation to Li Tianyang had been delayed until the next round.

• An Ke and the others searched the leaderboard and found none of the teams from earlier batches, including teams that had survived seven or eight rounds.
• Huang Liang pointed out that Li Tianyang's team was listed at around rank eight hundred with a Grade B rating, despite Li having survived five rounds.
• An Ke argued that earlier teams would have appeared on the region-wide leaderboard unless they had died, and the group fell silent at the possibility that all earlier examinees were dead.
• Ye Lin considered two possible explanations for the missing teams but kept his theories to himself because there was too little information.
• Ye Lin reassured He Zheng that they could survive, then picked up a book to unlock it after the system's functions were restored.
• He Zheng regained his confidence, followed Ye Lin, and asked An Ke why the system had told him to wait until the next round before inviting Li Tianyang.

Ye Lin unsealed the first layer of the dark gold book and discovered it was the Grade A special item Eternal Page, bound to his soul. The page revealed a Light and Shadow ability, while its remaining seals required more points, rounds, and strength to unlock.

• An Ke explained to He Zheng why the team had to wait for the next examination round before inviting Li Tianyang.
• Ye Lin pushed the dark gold book into the vortex and paid 10 points to break its first seal.
• The unsealing showed the group a vision of black-robed priests receiving the book in a temple after it crossed the stars.
• Ye Lin opened the book and learned it was the Grade A Eternal Page, with one of four seals broken and Light and Shadow unlocked.

Ye Lin tested the Eternal Page’s ability to simulate opponents and repeatedly fought He Zheng, An Ke, and Huang Liang, but could not defeat all three together. He returned to the Death Exam Space and discussed the results with He Zheng, who wondered how the ability would simulate the Immortals’ corpses.

• Ye Lin used the Eternal Page to simulate He Zheng, An Ke, and Huang Liang and fought them in repeated battles.
• Ye Lin killed He Zheng and An Ke in one fight but was fatally shot before he could escape.
• Ye Lin awoke in the Death Exam Space after four simulated deaths and told He Zheng he could defeat two opponents but not all three.
• He Zheng praised Ye Lin’s performance and asked whether he had tried simulating anything else, including the Immortals’ corpses.

Ye Lin and the others discussed the Eternal Page’s limits and how they could use its simulations to master their abilities before the next examination. After returning to the system space, Ye Lin wondered why the page had been left in the Scripture Pavilion and concluded that no immortal had put it there.

• Ye Lin said simulating immortals or Little Child Ghost would drain nearly all his mental energy, while he could currently simulate at most a Grade A target once.
• An Ke suggested using the Eternal Page to test ability combinations, learn their limits, and gain combat experience through repeated simulations.
• Ye Lin decided the group should train in the page before the next examination, even if they used system points to restore their mental energy.
• He Zheng wondered whether the page’s locked second ability, Projection, might eventually let them summon simulated targets.
• After the exhausted group returned to their rooms, Ye Lin stayed awake and reasoned that the Sacrificial Dagger and Eternal Page did not belong to The Mysterious and Subtle scenario, so no immortal had placed the page in the Scripture Pavilion.

Ye Lin theorized that the examination scenarios might be real disasters and that his team was only one part of a larger process, leaving him troubled by the system’s unknown purpose. He reviewed his combat weaknesses and limited upgrade points before He Zheng woke him and urged him to find An Ke.

• Ye Lin reasoned that another team had entered the examination first, and their deaths could explain the ghost’s knowledge and the extra candle in the Ancestral Hall.
• Ye Lin considered that the examinations might use real disasters rather than scenarios controlled by the system, but he had no evidence to confirm his suspicions.
• Ye Lin decided to stay alive and look for clues in the examinee’s letters, understanding why An Ke cared about them.
• Ye Lin assessed his combat shortcomings, including limited range and area attacks, and weighed upgrading his bloodline, redeeming abilities, or buying equipment with his 219 points.
• Ye Lin fell asleep at the table, then woke when He Zheng pounded on the door and called him to go find An Ke.

An Ke brought Ye Lin, He Zheng, and Huang Liang to her lavish vacation world to relax after surviving, but Ye Lin declined her invitation to surf. Huang Liang then told Ye Lin he had uncovered the Death Exam Space's secret and knew where they were.

• He Zheng, Ye Lin, and Huang Liang stepped out of An Ke's villa and discovered her world recreated a beach, snowy mountains, and horse-racing grounds.
• An Ke provided clean beachwear, and the group changed before relaxing by the shore with food and drinks.
• He Zheng teased Huang Liang for being stiff and complained that an expensive Macallan tasted worse than erguotou.
• An Ke invited Ye Lin to surf, but he refused because he disliked the ocean and its unpredictability.
• He Zheng went to fish, while Huang Liang stayed behind and told Ye Lin they might have to redeem the communication item.
• Huang Liang told Ye Lin he had uncovered the Death Exam Space's secret and knew where they were.

Huang Liang explained that the Death Exam Space was likely within the Solar System and that distance caused communication attempts to fail. He argued that its movements and the timing of exam rests proved it remained in their own reality, and Ye Lin considered whether it might eventually approach Earth closely enough for contact.

• Huang Liang told Ye Lin that the stars visible when the rankings appeared matched constellations seen from Earth, suggesting the Death Exam Space was inside the Solar System.
• Huang Liang reasoned that communication signals could take too long to travel across the distance, causing the call to time out before anyone on Earth could reply.
• Ye Lin pointed out that they could not leave the Death Exam Space and questioned whether the similar stars and timing might belong to another world.
• Huang Liang used the dates of An Ke's and He Zheng's exam entries and their rest periods to argue that exam instances passed quickly while the Death Exam Space returned them to reality.
• Ye Lin asked whether the Death Exam Space's movement could bring it within communication range of Earth and allow the Military to locate it.

Huang Liang warned Ye Lin that the Death Exam might be approaching reality and that they had only twenty days before a possible tenth examination. Ye Lin challenged parts of his theory and decided their immediate priority was surviving the next examination.

• Huang Liang argued that the Death Exam was drawing closer to reality and urged Ye Lin to contact the Military before the tenth examination.
• Huang Liang told Ye Lin that only twenty days remained and feared that disaster and social collapse were unfolding in the real world.
• Ye Lin questioned Huang Liang's theory using Hu Jia, Zhang Tie, Little Chubby, and He Zheng as examples, suggesting the Death Exam's rules were changing.
• Huang Liang proposed that age requirements might explain when some Examinees entered the examinations.
• Ye Lin acknowledged the uncertainties but told Huang Liang that they had to survive the next examination before pursuing the truth.

After a night of drinking and music, Ye Lin examined the mysterious Nineteenth Layer of Hell and questioned what had happened at the Immortal Gate. He Zheng revealed that Yang Qiao had died in the real world and said that bringing her back was now his reason for living.

• Huang Liang drank himself unconscious while He Zheng and the others learned that he had long wanted his family's approval.
• An Ke sang for the group while Ye Lin studied the System Exchange and the hidden Nineteenth Layer of Hell exam.
• Ye Lin suspected that the corpse in the Seventh Heaven might not have been one of the Three Pure Ones and that the scene had been staged as a warning.
• He Zheng told Ye Lin that the Death Exam had given him experiences and connections he would never have had in his old life.
• He Zheng revealed that Yang Qiao had died after being hit by a car while bringing him food, and said he wanted to bring her back.

He Zheng told Ye Lin he wanted to resurrect Yang Qiao and asked him to take her out of the Death Exam if he ever escaped. After a brief respite, the four returned to training ahead of the fourth exam, whose question was due that afternoon.

• He Zheng told Ye Lin that people could be resurrected in the Death Exam and asked him to help Yang Qiao escape if he survived.
• Ye Lin kept He Zheng's confession from An Ke and deflected her questions about his feelings by saying she was useful to him.
• An Ke concluded that Ye Lin considered them teammates, not merely a transaction, and relaxed beside the sea.
• After dinner, the four returned to the Eternal Page's simulation space at two in the morning to train for the coming exam.

During the sixth simulation, He Zheng demonstrated how he used Leaping Slash to launch and throw his axes at plasma Mutants, then recalled them to attack again. The group learned that his axes responded differently depending on whether he intended to attack or discard them, and He Zheng considered new ways to exploit their return path.

• He Zheng summoned five plasma Mutants and launched himself from a rooftop, throwing his axes to kill two of them midair.
• He Zheng called the axes back; they struck another Mutant on the return flight, and he threw them again to kill the remaining enemies.
• Ye Lin praised He Zheng's move, while An Ke questioned how he could throw and recall axes he had previously been unable to discard.
• He Zheng explained that the axes returned instantly if he meant to discard them but flew back if he intended to keep fighting.
• An Ke asked whether He Zheng could modify his axes, such as by attaching a hook.

After He Zheng's returning axe sparked ideas for modifying their abilities, Ye Lin realized the Death Exam punished examinees who failed to master their enhancements as its difficulty rose. He began considering how to exploit the tyrant gene and telekinesis before the next examination.

• Ye Lin noticed that a special rule recalled He Zheng's axe, and He Zheng, Huang Liang, and the others discussed adding hooks, explosives, and an electrified chain to it.
• Ye Lin concluded that the Death Exam tested how examinees used their abilities, and that their growing enhancements could become liabilities if they did not learn to control them.
• Ye Lin reasoned that He Zheng had survived by maximizing a few enhancements, while An Ke's strategy of keeping her rating low could become dangerous when their power surged.
• Ye Lin considered ways to address the tyrant gene's need for flesh and blood and the vitality cost of Blood Shadow Impact.
• Ye Lin turned to the Sacrificial Dagger and considered using psychokinesis to control bombs, weapons, or poison.