Chapter Summaries

Li Tianyang and He Zheng discovered the Heaven-Opening Road Ritual, which appeared to explain how to open the Immortal Gate, but Blue-Robed Ghosts invaded the Scripture Pavilion. Ye Lin, An Ke, and Huang Liang were trapped by a ghost that mimicked their movements, while more ghosts crowded behind Zhang Tie.

• He Zheng found a concealed booklet titled “Heaven-Opening Road Ritual,” and Li Tianyang recognized it as the Immortal Gate ritual and found its instructions.
• A ghost’s face appeared through a crack in the pavilion wall, and Li Tianyang saw Blue-Robed Ghosts bounding toward the third floor.
• Li Tianyang unleashed Ritual Thunder, grabbed He Zheng, and rushed downstairs while Zhang Tie flipped to the second floor to warn Ye Lin.
• Ye Lin warned Zhang Tie not to approach because a ghost was copying their movements and would see them if they ran.
• Zhang Tie saw Li Tianyang and He Zheng fleeing as a dense mass of ghosts filled the third floor behind them.

With a ghost trapping Ye Lin, An Ke, and Huang Liang on the second floor, Ye Lin searched for a way to use the mysterious book above it to escape. As ghosts broke into the pavilion, He Zheng and the others chose to fight for time while Huang Liang armed Zhang Tie.

• An Ke and Huang Liang urged Ye Lin to flee, but Ye Lin stayed still and considered how the ghost copied their movements.
• Ye Lin suspected the dark-gold book above the ghost held the key to surviving, but he had no time to test his ideas.
• Li Tianyang learned from Zhang Tie that Ye Lin and the others were trapped, while Blue-Robed Ghosts forced their way into the pavilion.
• He Zheng charged a Blue-Robed Ghost with his axes, discovered he could knock it back, and kept attacking to delay it.
• Huang Liang threw his gun loaded with modified Spirit-Piercing Bullets to Zhang Tie and rushed upstairs.

Li Tianyang chose to stay and risk his life rescuing Zhang Tie and He Zheng as the blue-robed ghosts overwhelmed the Scripture Pavilion. On the second floor, Ye Lin searched for a movement method that would lead the ghost away from a crucial book, while the others struggled to hold the line for a few more seconds.

• Zhang Tie shot a blue-robed ghost with a Spirit-Piercing Bullet, then used Bear Transformation and his Titan Gauntlets to fight off the ghosts breaking into the attic.
• A blue-robed ghost seized Zhang Tie and dragged him toward the wall, while other ghosts caught He Zheng and began crushing and pulling him through a gap.
• Li Tianyang considered fleeing but remembered Ye Lin's help and the meaning of co-op mode, then used his ritual sword and lightning arts to free Zhang Tie and He Zheng.
• He Zheng joined the defense, and Ye Lin called for at least ten seconds while explaining that the ghost turned in the direction it had been moving when it hit a wall.
• Ye Lin tried to work out a movement method that would lead the ghost away from the book, as Li Tianyang heard the roof tearing and trusted Ye Lin to find a way.

Huang Liang’s attempt to make the ghost retrieve and throw the Black-and-Gold Book revealed that the room was a trap, leaving An Ke and Ye Lin pinned beside the ghost as the Blue-Robed Ghosts overwhelmed the others. Li Tianyang realized the clues Ye Lin had left pointed to Bamboo and charged back toward the stairs, believing he had figured out how to escape.

• Ye Lin explained that Psychokinesis could not move the Black-and-Gold Book and that their relay plan would take too long.
• Huang Liang entered the room and made the ghost knock over the bookcase, pick up the book, and imitate throwing it.
• Huang Liang saw an eye in the ghost’s palm, then the ghost switched places with him and began draining his life force inside the room.
• An Ke and Ye Lin were trapped beside the ghost, while the Blue-Robed Ghosts forced Li Tianyang, He Zheng, and Zhang Tie to retreat from the third floor.
• Zhang Tie used his last bullet to cover Li Tianyang and He Zheng’s escape, but the ghosts caught him; Li Tianyang then inferred that Bamboo was the key and rushed back toward the stairs.

Li Tianyang sacrificed his last eye to identify and light a candle that repelled the ghosts in the Scripture Pavilion. The group survived the attack and obtained a sealed black-and-gold book, while Ye Lin asked Li Tianyang what the system notification had said.

• Li Tianyang broke free from He Zheng and rushed to the altar, realizing a candle might repel the ghosts.
• Li Tianyang tore out his remaining eye, invoked the Dharma Eye, and identified the candle of life among the altar candles.
• Li Tianyang lit the candle with his blood essence, driving back the blue-robed ghosts and carrying the flame upstairs.
• He Zheng took the candle to Ye Lin, and its light made the ghost on the second floor vanish.
• Ye Lin examined the black-and-gold book they had obtained and explained that it needed to be taken to system space and healed before it could be opened.
• Ye Lin asked Li Tianyang to reveal the system notification he had received about the candle.

Li Tianyang learned that the candle was called Non-Toxic and could repel evil entities, while the book revealed that lighting the Seven Candles would open the Immortal Gate. As the group prepared to search for the remaining candles, An Ke suspected Ye Lin had deliberately let Li Tianyang lose his eyes.

• Li Tianyang summoned the system in his mind and read out that the Non-Toxic candle could purify evil entities and expel demons and ghosts.
• Li Tianyang showed the group the book, and they read that lighting the Seven Candles would guide a True Immortal down and open the Immortal Gate.
• He Zheng urged the group to hurry and find the remaining candles before their candle burned out.
• An Ke questioned why the Black-and-Gold Book upstairs had not remained with Ye Lin after he came back to life.
• Huang Liang suggested that the setting's contents changed over time and that the ghost's sudden appearance had left Ye Lin no time to think.
• An Ke suspected Ye Lin had stood by while Li Tianyang gouged out his own eyes.

Ye Lin led the group back through the tunnel toward the Taoist Quarters, keeping everyone together around the candle and carrying the injured Li Tianyang. They reached the passage near the Hanged Ghost, where Ye Lin prepared his Sacrificial Dagger and warned the others to be careful.

• He Zheng worried that changing ghosts might make their old clues useless, but Ye Lin said the changes would be limited and ordered everyone to keep searching.
• Ye Lin had Zhang Tie carry the wounded Li Tianyang and arranged for him to stay in the middle with the candle.
• Ye Lin led the group through the tunnel to the Taoist Quarters, warning them to protect the candle and watch for the Hanged Ghost.
• Li Tianyang explained that using his vital blood strengthened him but cost him years of life and weakened his senses, then began connecting his seven uses of vital blood to the seven souls.
• Ye Lin stopped near the Hanged Ghost’s red light and deployed the Sacrificial Dagger, wary that the creature might have changed since he killed it.

The group searched a marked side hall for a candle and clues to the Immortal Gate, but found only a fragment of Yellow Paper. As heads began battering the door, the system announced that the examination would end in ten minutes, leaving the group with little time to open the gate.

• Ye Lin led the group out of the storage room with their eyes closed and holding hands, and they emerged safely despite the unseen Hanged Ghost.
• The group spotted a house-sized floating eyeball and hurried into a nearby side hall.
• Ye Lin found torn Yellow Paper bearing instructions to invite the Deity into the Statue and lock the Immortal Gate, but the group found no candle or other clues.
• An Ke suggested that the group investigate why the immortal had defied the divine edict, while He Zheng knelt before the Deity Statue.
• The group realized the pounding sounds came from heads ramming the door, and the system announced that the examination would end in ten minutes.

With time running short, Li Tianyang realized that the Blood Curses suppressed an immortal’s dismembered corpse hidden inside the hall’s pillars. The group exposed a hand in one pillar, causing the pressure in the hall to intensify as the Blood Curse burned faster.

• He Zheng and the others realized that time had passed during each rebirth and panicked about finding a way to open the Immortal Gate.
• Li Tianyang stopped the group from leaving, arguing that they might overlook a clue in the Main Hall.
• Ye Lin suggested that the various ghosts might be parts of a dismembered corpse, but he could not explain how it related to the Immortal Gate.
• Li Tianyang connected the seven souls, halls, and candles, then concluded that the immortal’s corpse was sealed inside the pillars and the Blood Curse was suppressing it.
• Li Tianyang and the others hacked at the pillars, revealing a hand inside a red pillar in the Southwest Corner as the supernatural pressure surged and the Blood Curse burned furiously.

Li Tianyang’s group burned the severed hands on a pillar, opening a path through the ghosts and confirming their method for opening the Immortal Gate. A powerful female ghost attacked the candle, forcing Ye Lin and An Ke to hold it off while the others raced toward the remaining side halls.

• Li Tianyang concluded that burning the corpse parts would open the Immortal Gate, and He Zheng set fire to the pillar bearing the hands.
• The flames drove back the ghosts, and Li Tianyang argued that the immortal was already dead and the group should continue to the other side halls.
• He Zheng kicked open the next doors, but an enormous female ghost with many hands appeared on the roof and tried to blow out the candle.
• Ye Lin and An Ke attacked the female ghost while Ye Lin held it back, and he ordered the others to move ahead.
• An Ke covered the retreat as Li Tianyang used the Golden Light Mantra to protect the candle, and the five remaining companions sprinted toward the other side halls.

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.