Recaps

As the Lord of Rot’s forces overwhelmed the Pale Continent, the Godguard Organization and the Against the Tide Legion unleashed Hun Zhan’s remains and joined their wills to battle the Demon God’s projection. Their formation began to fail as warriors sacrificed themselves, but the chapter ended with Hun Zhan awakening within his remains.

• The Godguard Members broke free of the Immortal Grand Formation’s restraints and used Hun Zhan’s remains as the core of a million-warrior formation to march into battle.
• The Godguard warriors formed a crimson sun, and Against the Tide Warriors joined it as starfire to complete the Against the Tide Slaughter Formation.
• Hun Zhan’s remains confronted the Lord of Rot’s phantom and traded powerful blows with him, drawing strength from the warriors’ battle intent.
• Players livestreamed the battle as the formation’s warriors died, the Unity Will fractured, and Hun Zhan’s remains began to lose control.
• A faint pulse stirred within Hun Zhan’s remains, then crimson flames spread through his bones as his war origin revived and he awakened.

Hun Zhan awakened and pursued the Lord of Rot into the Dark Star Sea, where he fought the Demon God’s true form with the power of war and the sacrifice of the Against the Tide Warriors. His Remains shattered after a final strike, but a familiar scarlet hand appeared and struck the Lord of Rot as he tried to seize the lingering souls.

• Hun Zhan’s true self awareness revived, and he battered the Lord of Rot’s phantom until it fled into the Dark Star Sea.
• Hun Zhan tore open a spatial rift and confronted the Lord of Rot’s true form, resisting its attempts to erase war and his identity.
• As the Lord of Rot’s annihilating power pushed back Hun Zhan’s attacks, Hun Zhan fully awakened and charged into the darkness despite his bones cracking.
• The Godguard Members and Against the Tide Warriors sacrificed their souls to empower Hun Zhan, who landed a Demon-Slaying Heavy Punch that shattered the Lord of Rot’s dark domain.
• Hun Zhan’s Remains crumbled, and the Against the Tide Warriors perished with him after bidding their god farewell.
• A massive scarlet hand tore through the void and struck the Lord of Rot as he reached for Hun Zhan’s lingering souls.

The Four Gods returned and revealed that Qi Sheng had inherited the Emperor Zhao Origin, then helped him restore Hun Zhan and his War God Seal. Qi Sheng later prepared a new recruitment round for fallen Against the Tide soldiers, setting quotas and a Legion Points Tournament to rank the reborn players.

• Hun Zhan discovered that Guide, Nine Yin, Ultra-Dimensional, and Yan Ming had returned and protected his remnant soul.
• Qi Sheng appeared as the successor to the Emperor Zhao Origin, and Hun Zhan accepted him as Emperor Zhao and pledged to fight the Dark Tide again.
• Qi Sheng used sacrificial power to rebuild Hun Zhan's divine body and fuse the War God Seal into it.
• Hun Zhan awakened in his restored body and released a battle roar across the sea of stars.
• Qi Sheng planned a recruitment round with ten billion initial resurrection slots, paid slots for later recruits, and a Legion Points Tournament for the reborn Sub-Warbands.

Qi Sheng recruited ten billion Against the Tide players into the peaceful Heaven-Lock Domain and launched a competition for individuals and legions. Emperor Knight awakened among them, learned of Emperor Zhao and the Player Faction, chose his life souls, and began exploring his new abilities.

• Qi Sheng sent ten billion newly reborn Against the Tide players to the Heaven-Lock Domain and announced a 30-day individual ranking and a 365-day legion competition.
• Emperor Knight awakened in a containment facility, learned the Player Faction's history and systems, and vowed to fight the Dark Tide under Emperor Zhao.
• Emperor Knight chose the player ID Mount No. 18 Beneath Lord Emperor Zhao and selected Scattershot and the Qi Eater Life Soul as his starting life souls.
• Emperor Knight arrived on the crowded plain, established a breathing and recovery cycle, and used Scattershot to divide his divine sense into hundreds of Clones.
• Emperor Knight sent the silver divine-sense Clones flying outward in every direction.

Emperor Knight used 927 divine sense clones to hunt across four regions, while the forum celebrated the many powerful Against the Tide newcomers and debated the leaderboard. As he planned a fifth battle group, an old Steal guide inspired him to consider using expendable clones to steal buffs from powerful targets.

• Emperor Knight divided his 927 divine sense clones into four battle groups, each using different tactics to hunt monsters across the Cage Realm.
• Emperor Knight checked the leaderboard and saw Qiao Ci in first place, Jin Feng in second, and Qian Chou in third, each with a distinct Momentum Dao and hunting style.
• Against the Tide players on the forum discussed the newcomers’ varied builds, while Qian Chou’s spirit-plant livestream earned him the nickname Old Farmer.
• Emperor Knight began planning a fifth battle group and chose a warrior-focused composition to strengthen his existing clones rather than create a mage group.
• Emperor Knight read an old guide about the Steal life soul and realized his divine sense clones could serve as expendable helpers in a dedicated buff-stealing group.

Emperor Knight added the Steal life soul and formed a group of divine-sense clones to collect buffs, laying the groundwork for a major power increase. As he gathered strength and observed other players, veterans on the forum debated an exceptionally unpredictable newbie tournament.

• Emperor Knight studied Steal and a catalog of powerful targets, then bought the Steal life soul and installed it in his sixth star meridian slot.
• Emperor Knight created the Steal Group and sent its three hundred clones to nearby monsters, stealing buffs that flowed back to him and his other clones.
• Emperor Knight’s clones encountered Steel Sword, Han Xu, and Du'e hunting with their distinctive abilities, and Emperor Knight arranged for Steel Sword to leave some rock beasts alive as targets.
• Veteran players discussed the newcomers’ widespread might, unusual builds, and rapidly shifting rankings, concluding that the championship outcome was impossible to predict.

Emperor Knight used his 30,000 divine-sense clones to form a United Battle Formation colossus and destroy an alien foothold, demonstrating his build to players watching the livestream. After realizing his legion still had weaknesses in sustaining and commanding large-scale combat, he found a post about Myriad Forms Life Soul and wondered if it could give his clones independent minds.

• Emperor Knight advanced to twelfth place on the newcomer leaderboard while Heifeng Luoqi held first place with his bone army.
• Emperor Knight gathered 30,000 divine-sense clones into a United Battle Formation colossus and led its assault on a fortified foothold of a descent civilization.
• The colossus overcame the aliens' attacks and guardian statues, then slaughtered the foothold's inhabitants while Emperor Knight explained his formation techniques to the livestream audience.
• After the two-hour battle, Emperor Knight's ranking rose to eleventh, surpassing Anwai, and he considered the limits of his Steal-based build and his lack of legion-command experience.
• Emperor Knight studied Divine King's war-command instruction on Myriad Forms Life Soul and wondered whether it could give his divine-sense clones independent minds and personalities.

Emperor Knight learned from Guide how the myriad forms, scattershot, and reflection life souls could create autonomous commanders for his divine sense legion, but postponed developing the system until after the rookie solo event. He won the solo competition, and the legion competition began with the Against the Tide legions preparing to compete for collective glory.

• Emperor Knight asked Guide whether life souls could give his divine sense clones independent personalities, and Guide explained how three life souls could make the system feasible.
• Emperor Knight resumed hunting with his thirty-thousand-strong clone legion while Ghost Eye struggled outside the top hundred million and grew angry after Long Gen revealed he had made the rankings.
• Emperor Knight, Qian Chou, and E Du pushed themselves through the final hours of the solo event, with Emperor Knight securing first place and Qian Chou taking second.
• Guide announced the start of the legion competition, grouping players by their original legions and ranking them by total points.
• Against the Tide Warriors turned their attention to winning the legion rankings, with commanders considering the Pale Continent as a source of Dark Tide Evil Spirits to hunt.

Lian Shang found the retired commander Bei Jiang at Snow Lake and persuaded him to return to the First Against the Tide Legion. On the Pale Continent, Bei Jiang took command of five million soldiers and used his black-and-white chessboard method to turn a collapsing battle around, though his ruthless calculations revealed why he had once stepped down.

• Lian Shang asked the retired Bei Jiang to return and restore the declining First Against the Tide Legion, and Bei Jiang agreed to observe its current tactics before deciding whether to resume command.
• Bei Jiang recalled how vengeance drove him to sacrifice soldiers for victory until he recognized the cost and relinquished command to protect Against the Tide's future.
• On the Pale Continent, Lian Shang explained that Bei Jiang had lost his eyes to a curse, and Bei Jiang described how blindness led him to perceive the battlefield as a chessboard.
• Lian Shang transferred command of the five million First Legion soldiers to Bei Jiang as their battle line buckled under the Evil Spirits Army's assault.
• Bei Jiang manifested a black-and-white chessboard and directed troops by moving their corresponding stars, sealing breaches and encircling the enemy with ruthless precision.

Bei Jiang used his Chess Battle dao to defeat the Dark Tide and astonished the Player Faction with his command of the First Legion. After the battle, Lian Shang invited him to reclaim command, and Bei Jiang agreed to return to the battlefield.

• Bei Jiang shifted the First Legion between linked contracts and battle formations, turning the battle against the Dark Tide and drawing a huge audience to the legion's livestream.
• Bei Jiang used his Chess Battle might to reshape the battlefield, rally the First Legion, and counter the Dark Tide Apostle's attempt to disrupt his domain.
• The First Legion destroyed the Dark Tide's forces and surrounded and wiped out the Apostle team.
• Bei Jiang told Lian Shang that his rusty blade still had use, and Lian Shang offered to step down so Bei Jiang could reclaim command of the First Legion.
• Bei Jiang accepted Lian Shang's invitation and resolved to lead the First Legion into battle again.

As Di Nian Evil Spirit began his century-awaited breakthrough to Monarch, Evil Eye warned that the Players and Insect Race would remain his enemies wherever he went. Players gathered to celebrate his ascension, but a golden force attacked at the critical moment, and they rushed to defend him.

• After reviewing the Players’ tournament and the First Against the Tide Legion’s victory, Qi Sheng turned his attention to Di Nian Bully’s breakthrough.
• Evil Eye reminded Di Nian Evil Spirit that the Players and Insect Race had remained his opponents through every stage of his growth, but Di Nian began his Monarch ascension anyway.
• Di Nian Evil Spirit transformed as the Great Evil Moon’s power fused the High Tower into his body, while Evil Eye completed his mental trial for him.
• Players gathered across the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range to watch and celebrate Di Nian Bully’s ascension, sharing messages and images from their long history with him.
• As Di Nian’s final runes neared fusion, a golden force poured from a rift in the sky and attacked the High Tower, prompting the Players to form a defensive line around him.

The players and Insect Race defended Di Nian Bully from the invading Tianji Race, allowing him to complete his ascension to the Monarch realm. As Bully celebrated his freedom, a wisp of a Demon God's will appeared in his consciousness and left him fearing the consequences of his past actions.

• The Insect Race descended to reinforce the players, and both factions formed defensive lines against the Tianji Race's attack on Di Nian Bully's ascension.
• Evil Eye explained that the Tianji Race could predict opportunities and sever unfinished ones, while the players vowed to target the race in the future.
• The players and Insect Race abandoned their usual restraints and repelled the Tianji Race's attacks, preventing it from reaching the High Tower.
• Di Nian Bully completed his transformation into an Evil Spirit Monarch and reflected on the hardships that had led him there.
• A terrifying projection appeared in Di Nian Bully's consciousness, and he realized that a wisp of a Demon God's will had noticed him.

Di Nian Evil Spirit and Evil Eye endured the Demon God's punishment as their bodies and consciousness dissolved, believing they had reached the end. The Demon God then restored them with transformed life structures and revealed that Di Nian's choice to resist the Dark Tide was a path the Demon God had once walked, leaving their ultimate choice for the day Di Nian became a Demon God.

• Di Nian Evil Spirit accepted that the Demon God would kill him, and Evil Eye stayed beside him as they reflected on their long partnership and the battles unfolding around them.
• The Demon God's will inflicted unbearable pain on Di Nian and Evil Eye, dissolving their bodies and scattering their consciousnesses.
• As they faded away, Di Nian and Evil Eye exchanged final words about their friendship and the possibility of meeting again beyond nothingness.
• The Demon God gathered their scattered remains and rebuilt them with new life structures, making Evil Eye's bond with Di Nian symbiotic rather than subordinate.
• The Demon God told Di Nian that both those who followed the Dark Tide and those who resisted it had a place within it, and that Di Nian would face a final choice if he became a Demon God.
• Di Nian regained consciousness and asked Evil Eye what had happened.

After being revived and reforged as a Monarch, Di Nian Evil Spirit and Evil Eye theorized that a fallen Demon God had arranged his reincarnation to finish an unconventional path to ascension. Di Nian then led the allied forces to defeat the Tianji Race and sought to establish a Dark Tide Independent Sub-Warband.

• Evil Eye explained that a Supreme Demon God had likely intervened in Di Nian's resurrection and reforged his Monarch body, possibly because Di Nian had once used the Demon God's privilege to exceed authority.
• Di Nian concluded that the fallen Demon God may have reincarnated through him and Evil Eye to escape the Dark Tide's prescribed path, though neither had proof of the theory.
• Di Nian and Evil Eye activated Fusion Form, and Di Nian used his Monarch power to summon new Evil Spirit forces and coordinate them through his fused High Tower.
• Di Nian's forces joined the Players and Insect Race to overwhelm the Tianji Race legion, which withdrew through a cross-world passage.
• After the battle, Di Nian told Evil Eye to inform the First Monarch that he wanted to establish a Dark Tide Independent Sub-Warband.

Di Nian underwent the three Divine Eye trials to win permission to establish an independent Sub-Warband, proving his conviction, foundation, and potential by passing each assessment. When asked to name his new force, he struggled to contain himself after Evil Eye proposed calling it the Bully Alliance.

• Evil Eye submitted Di Nian’s application to establish a Monarch Sub-Warband, and the three Divine Eyes summoned his consciousness for assessment.
• Di Nian defended his plan to shelter orphaned Evil Spirits and build collective power, passing the First Trial.
• The Divine Eyes tested Di Nian’s foundation under crushing pressure, then passed him early after detecting his authority-exceeding mark.
• Stripped of his memories and enhancements in the Third Trial, Di Nian rebuilt a powerful Dark Tide force through his innate conviction and passed the assessment.
• The Thirteenth Divine Eye granted Di Nian full autonomy and asked him to name his Independent Legion, but Evil Eye proposed the Bully Alliance before Di Nian could answer.

Di Nian named his independent Sub-Warband the Bully Legion and gained authority to establish its own base. He chose to build it in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, then prepared to seek the First Legion’s approval to recruit his Evil Spirit Alliance brothers.

• Evil Eye persuaded Di Nian to name his independent Sub-Warband the Bully Legion, and the Divine Eyes approved it as an autonomous force under his sole rule.
• The Divine Eyes invested Di Nian with Dark Tide Origin and instructed him to establish a legion base, where he could eventually work with the Dark Tide Abyssforge.
• Evil Eye explained the base’s functions and argued that Di Nian should build it in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range despite the Players’ and Insect Race’s constant resource demands.
• Di Nian decided to root the Bully Legion in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range, accepting that relocating it freely would require reaching the Demon God Realm.
• Di Nian resolved to recruit his Evil Spirit Alliance brothers, but doing so would require the First Legion’s approval because the Pale Continent fell under its Monarch’s authority.

Di Nian negotiated with the First Monarch, Li Du, to let his former Evil Spirit Alliance members leave the Pale Continent and join the Bully Legion. After most of them chose to follow him, Di Nian established the Legion’s Station in the Emperor Tomb Mountain Range and began planning its facilities and connections with the Players.

• Di Nian asked Li Du for permission to relocate his former followers, and Li Du required that the Alliance’s strongholds and resources remain on the Pale Continent.
• Di Nian proposed that followers who migrated could take half their resources, while those who stayed would keep everything; Li Du accepted and set a three-Dark-Hour deadline for their choice.
• Gui Ya, Iron Spine, Blood Vein, and nearly all Alliance members who had belonged for more than half a year chose to join Di Nian, and Li Du transferred their permissions to Evil Eye.
• Di Nian severed his connection with Li Du, celebrated with the Bully Legion members, and ordered Evil Eye to begin work on the Station.
• Evil Eye used the Independent Sub-Warband authority to establish the Station above the former High Tower site, and Di Nian renamed its modules and approved plans for a Quest Market Platform to connect with the Players.

Di Nian Evil Spirit completed Bully City and opened its Quest Market to players, adding a consultation service that used his extensive records to recommend builds and improve combat skills. The market quickly filled with players seeking his advice, despite his abrasive manner and steep prices.

• Di Nian Evil Spirit established six core areas in Bully City, including Legion facilities and an external Quest Market.
• Players learned through the Forum that Di Nian had begun offering consultations on their development paths and combat abilities.
• Di Nian's projection used battle records to tell a mage player to switch to a warrior build and advised other players to abandon builds poorly suited to them.
• Di Nian demonstrated and coached an Assassin player through a smoother attack combo, identifying specific timing and positioning errors.
• More players crowded the consultation stations, and Evil Eye began recording appointments as the market's reputation for useful advice spread.

Di Nian launched a paid, tiered growth consultation service for players and devised a plan to sell the Zerg Master Brain records of conquered alien civilizations. After the Zerg Master Brain used the data to evolve new counter-units, it thanked Di Nian instead of paying him.

• Di Nian and Evil Eye replaced free consultations with an affordable manual and a premium one-on-one guidance service, prompting players to complain.
• Evil Eye suggested selling Dark Tide troop information to the Zerg Master Brain, but Di Nian rejected that and chose to trade records about previously conquered civilizations instead.
• Evil Eye assured Di Nian that selling old war records would not violate Dark Tide rules, and Di Nian ordered him to keep all Dark Tide troop secrets out of the trade.
• Di Nian delivered data on a hundred civilizations to the Zerg Master Brain in exchange for resources, and the Zerg Master Brain rapidly evolved a counter-unit for each civilization.
• When Di Nian demanded payment, the Zerg Master Brain only thanked him, leaving Di Nian furious.

Di Nian Evil Spirit abandoned his attempt to profit from the Insect Race and devised a player-funded investment system to address the Bully Legion’s resource shortage. He built a transparent campaign-viewing platform in Bully City’s Quest Market and named the new system the Battle-Chip Bazaar.

• Evil Eye explained that the Zerg Master Brain saw Di Nian’s information as free material, not a trade, so the Insect Race could not provide a reliable income source.
• Di Nian reviewed the Bully Legion’s campaigns and found that its members had left the Pale Continent, profits were falling, and the shared resource pool was empty.
• Di Nian concluded that the Quest Market’s players could fund the legion if they were offered investment stakes and dividends tied to campaign outcomes and risk.
• Evil Eye warned that players would suspect the legion of withholding loot unless they could verify battlefield progress and profits in real time.
• Di Nian built a giant Light Screen in Bully City’s Quest Market and ordered Auxiliary Eyes on otherworldly battlefields to upload campaign information and expenses.
• Di Nian named the transparent investment system the Battle-Chip Bazaar, where players could stake resources on conquest campaigns and bear their own profits and losses.

Di Nian Evil Spirit launched the Battle-Chip Bazaar, using player investments to fund the Bully legion’s conquests. After players began investing, he devised a system for them to submit and vote on battle plans while leaving final control with the participating Evil Spirits.

• Players found the Battle-Chip Bazaar listings and debated whether Di Nian Bully could be trusted with their resources.
• Supergod Little Chick argued that public battlefield observation and long-term incentives made the Bazaar worthwhile, and advised players to judge campaigns by their expected duration.
• Within a day, more than ten million players had invested, easing the Bully legion’s resource shortage and accelerating its expansion.
• Evil Eye suggested improving battlefield observation access, but Di Nian Evil Spirit proposed letting investors submit tactical plans and vote on screened options.
• Di Nian Evil Spirit set rules giving votes weight according to investment while preserving each participating Evil Spirit’s authority to reject plans and make final decisions.
• Evil Eye praised the arrangement and joked that Di Nian Evil Spirit’s hundred-plus years of tuition had paid off, prompting him to tell Evil Eye to be quiet.

Three months after the Battle-Chip Bazaar took off, players and Evil Spirits built a thriving war-funding market, and top players began guiding front-line campaigns through a mental-link Plugin. Divine King used his battlefield expertise to reverse a losing battle, leaving the Evil Spirit he advised astonished by his command of Dark Tide forces.

• Players turned the Battle-Chip Bazaar into a popular war-funding market, where they invested in Evil Spirit campaigns and followed battles through the Mental Network.
• The Forum established the War Fund Circle and named Iron Spine, Blood Vein, Gui Ya, and Rotting Heart its four most trusted fundraisers.
• Divine King subscribed to the Stock Market Plugin and bought the full funding allocation of a New Generation Evil Spirit’s campaign.
• After the Evil Spirit gave him control of its deployments, Divine King used an Array Talisman and battlefield data to issue detailed grid-based tactics.
• The Evil Spirit’s forces trapped the enemy in a valley and destroyed its main force, reversing the battle.
• The Evil Spirit asked Divine King whether he was the Evil Spirit or the player, and Divine King replied that he was simply excited to command Dark Tide Evil Spirits himself.

Divine King used a funded campaign to begin developing an Evil Spirit Warrior personality, while Di Nian established penalties for Evil Spirits who surrendered command to players. Di Nian then recalled Hei Hai from battle and gave him a red card for letting a player command the campaign while he charged into combat.

• Divine King commanded an Evil Spirits Legion to conquer Sandland and decided to use further campaigns to build an Evil Spirit personality that could predict Di Nian Bully.
• Three months later, Di Nian reviewed the War Funding Market and ordered rules requiring Evil Spirits to retain campaign command, with escalating black, white, and red card penalties.
• Evil Eye showed Di Nian a coastal battle where a player issued the legion's orders while Hei Hai charged enemies with his twin blades.
• Di Nian gave Hei Hai a red card and had him forcibly recalled to the throne hall for trials.
• Hei Hai protested that he had promised the player command of the campaign, and Di Nian scolded him for neglecting command to fight on the front lines.

Qi Sheng considered how the Quest Market and Battle-Chip Bazaar benefited players and the Di Nian Evil Spirit before watching the Lord of Rot absorb three ancient demon gods’ powers in Monster World. The Lord of Rot became far stronger but was told he was not qualified to challenge the unseen observer until he forged a destruction path of his own.

• Qi Sheng recognized that the Quest Market’s battle-chip investments and Five-Dimensional Assessment could help players grow while also benefiting the Di Nian Evil Spirit.
• The Lord of Rot entered Eroding Candle Heaven and absorbed the fallen demon god’s origin, then annihilated a civilization whose leader tried to investigate him.
• The Lord of Rot took in the purgatory demon god’s power while rejecting its belief that destruction led to rebirth.
• The Lord of Rot absorbed the annihilation demon’s origin and sealed the three ancient demons’ conflicting philosophies outside his Dao heart.
• The Lord of Rot challenged the unseen observer, who refused to fight and declared him unqualified until he developed a destruction path of his own.
• The Lord of Rot withdrew his step toward the observer and remained beneath the bone-strewn sky as the ancient wills continued to surge within him.

Little Mage reflected on his lonely duty to protect the Spirit Breath Race and planned to secure its future through partnerships with powerful player guilds. Before he could act, the Dark Tide shattered the defenses of Spirit Breath Space, bringing the crisis he feared.

• Qi Sheng watched the Lord of Rot grow stronger and considered him a future challenge, while remaining wary of the Lord of the Dark Tide.
• Little Mage received confirmation that the Bestiary Grounds were complete and reflected on the Spirit Breath Race's prosperity and his eternal responsibility to protect it.
• Little Mage resolved to secure the Spirit Breath Race's survival by supplying rare spirit materials to major warbands and guilds in exchange for their protection.
• A thunderous crack shook Spirit Breath Space as spatial fissures spread across the sky and darkness seeped through, revealing that the Dark Tide had breached its defenses.