Recaps

Xu Le defeated the Guyinduo Offspring controlling the Mirage Dragon and wolf corpses, killed the transformed Mercenary Old Six, and obtained the Guyinduo Fate Fruit. He returned toward camp as Zion’s rescue team set out, with Wang Shu boarding its vehicle.

• The Mirage Dragon reassembled from corpses and attacked, forcing Xu Le and the others to fight while Li Weisi held back the wolf-corpse mass.
• Xu Le used Old Seven as bait to locate the controller, then joined Golden Toad in attacking the Guyinduo Oddity hiding beneath a tree.
• Xu Le shattered the frozen Mercenary Old Six and burned his body, revealing and killing the Level 3 Moth of Desire that controlled the corpses.
• After the Mirage Dragon and wolf-corpse mass collapsed, Xu Le collected the Guyinduo Fate Fruit and gave Golden Toad a Fear Fruit before it departed.
• Zion’s understaffed rescue team set out with recruited Mercenaries, and Wang Shu boarded its combat vehicle and moved toward the back.

Wang Shu joined a rescue mission in Zion and learned that Xu Le was among the people needing help, then reunited with him over noodles after the mission. Their conversation ended with Xu Le confirming that Wang Shu had truly come back to life without showing signs of Aberration.

• Wang Shu questioned Ge Sini about the rescue mission and discovered that Xu Le was among the ten people needing rescue in Area 5-13.
• Xu Le returned to Xu Lei, Xu Ting, and Li Qingcheng, claimed the pink fruit was a Guyinduo Fruit-Lust, and said he would visit his relatives after they returned.
• A rescue team arrived, and Xu Le noticed a familiar dark green cloak among the mercenaries accompanying them.
• After returning to Zion, Xu Le and Wang Shu met at a noodle shop, where Wang Shu explained that he had become a mercenary because he lacked a legitimate identity.
• Xu Le recalled finding Wang Shu as shredded flesh and concluded that the Light Potion had brought him back to life without causing Aberration.

Xu Le learned that Wang Shu could not have the Power of Light removed without dying and that investigating Lighthouse’s secret would get him killed. He returned to consider whether to give the Guyinduo Fate Fruit to Ai Li as Puppet had instructed, leaving his next move unresolved.

• Wang Shu told Xu Le he did not attract Oddities on ordinary days, and Xu Le explained that he had saved Wang Shu with Light Guide Potions and the Oddity Formula.
• Xu Le warned Wang Shu that the next Black Tide could kill him, then persuaded him to pursue revenge and agreed to seek a way to save him.
• Xu Le returned to the workshop, collected the Guyinduo Fate Fruit, and went to the Mother Tree Realm to ask Chi Xiao for advice.
• Chi Xiao said the Power of Light could not be expelled without killing Wang Shu and warned that learning Lighthouse’s secret would cause Xu Le’s death.
• Xu Le confirmed that a Guyinduo Person of Fate belonged to Guyinduo’s faction and could approach the Children of Guyinduo.
• Back in the real world, Xu Le questioned whether eating the Fate Fruit would make someone Puppet’s pawn and considered what would happen if he disobeyed Puppet’s order to give it to Ai Li.

Xu Le visited Night Fiend to tell her Life of Pi and gained her approval and permission to act as he wished about Puppet’s threat. He then went to meet Wang Shu, where he intimidated Ge Sini before Wang Shu stepped in to protect her.

• Xu Le reopened the portal to Night Fiend’s world and told Night Fiend the story of Life of Pi, which she preferred to his previous story.
• Night Fiend told Xu Le that he could do what he wanted about Puppet’s threat and asked him to bring another story next time.
• Xu Le left to find Wang Shu at the inn, but Ge Sini intercepted the attendant who came to alert Wang Shu and went downstairs to question Xu Le herself.
• Xu Le claimed that Wang Shu was a Lighthouse Night Watcher and said that he was one too, then used electricity and heart energy to frighten Ge Sini.
• Wang Shu arrived and pulled Ge Sini behind him, while he and Xu Le exchanged annoyed remarks.

Xu Le gave Wang Shu a Fruit of Fate to protect him during the Red Moon Calamity, but the fruit belonged to Puppet and left Wang Shu unable to sense Xu Le’s fate. After Puppet rewarded Xu Le for giving the fruit to a human, Xu Le returned to Wang Shu, explained the danger, and absorbed the energy from five Puppet offspring to earn Night Fiend’s approval.

• Xu Le gave Wang Shu the Fruit of Fate, but Wang Shu could not sense its power, and Xu Le vanished from the alley into Puppet’s secluded paradise.
• Puppet confronted Xu Le for giving her Fruit of Fate to Wang Shu, revealed that it was her fruit, and rewarded him with five little dolls.
• Xu Le returned to the alley and told Wang Shu about the Red Moon Calamity, the Mother Tree Realm, and the different origins of their Fruits of Fate.
• Xu Le warned Wang Shu to keep his Fate identity secret and asked him to spread word within the Mercenary Corps that they were Night Watchers.
• Xu Le identified the dolls as living Puppet offspring, killed all five with the Black Sword, and absorbed their energy, changing the Black Staff’s attributes to Night Fiend’s Approval.

Xu Le tested the Black Staff’s improved abilities, sacrificed the Red Moon Greatshield to nourish the Mother Tree, and began following a new cultivation method. Meanwhile, Wang Shu revealed his Night Watcher past to Ge Sini, and Xu Le sought work and information through his Law Enforcer relatives, ending with Xu Ting distracted during a sparring match.

• Xu Le tested the Black Staff’s enhanced energy attacks, then returned to the studio and found Ding Ke’s cultivation notes, including a crossed-out instruction to sacrifice a chicken drumstick.
• Xu Le nourished the Mother Tree with the Red Moon Greatshield and sensed its delight, but stopped thinking about the Golden Radiance Tree and the Illuminati after a sudden warning of danger.
• Xu Le tried releasing Ascended Heart Energy, saw a warning that the Night Demon might appear, and stopped to practice absorbing Red Moon Spirit instead.
• Wang Shu told Ge Sini that he and Xu Le had been Lighthouse Night Watchers, asked her to keep his identity secret, and rejected her attempt to seduce him.
• Xu Le and Li Weisi went to the Area 5 Enforcer Hall to look for Pioneer Missions and contact Xu Le’s Law Enforcer relatives.
• Xu Le found Xu Ting sparring with two Law Enforcers, and she was kicked when his arrival distracted her.

Xu Le visited Xu Ting’s family, met his uncle Xu Weiwen and young Nuomi, and established that he had returned to Zion without seeking family help. He then asked Xu Ting to take him to Zion’s Black Market, where his Heart Energy warnings predicted a Level 3 Succubus would emerge.

• Xu Ting defeated an opponent in training, and Xu Le asked her to take him to visit her family.
• Xu Le met Xu Weiwen and Nuomi, played a military board game with his uncle, and shared a meal with the family.
• Xu Le told Xu Weiwen he would find his own work and said he had severed ties with Li Qingcheng.
• Xu Ting drove Xu Le to a Black Market near Zone 5 after he asked to see one.
• Xu Le detected dangerously high desire Heart Energy in the area and received a warning that a Level 3 Succubus would emerge in under six minutes.

Xu Le and Xu Ting tracked a level 3 Succubus named Rose in Zion’s Red-Light District and fought her after she killed two people. Rose escaped, and Xu Le followed her trail deeper into the district while Xu Ting waited for backup.

• Xu Le warned Xu Ting that a level 3 Heart Energy Oddity would manifest in the Red-Light District, and she requested support from her colleagues.
• Xu Le found a Succubus draining a man in a dark alley and identified her as Rose, a level 3 Guyinduo Polluter.
• Xu Ting and Xu Le attacked Rose, but her mist ability let her evade their strikes and nearly kill Xu Ting.
• Xu Le used his Black Sheep Girl card to wound Rose, but held his fire near pedestrians as she escaped.
• Xu Le cautioned Xu Ting about attacking stronger Oddities recklessly, then followed Rose’s blood and scent deeper into the district while Xu Ting waited for backup.

Xu Le killed a Succubus in Zion’s Red-Light District and discovered that its Heart Energy could create a lust fruit. After the Law Enforcers released him, he went looking for a Black Market and tried to draw attention by loudly claiming Zion had none.

• Xu Le followed the Succubus’s aura into a nightclub, where he recognized the disguised girl from earlier and questioned her about how Succubi converted Heart Energy.
• The Succubus attacked Xu Le with a blue energy blast and tried to escape, but he used a Spider card to drag her from the void and killed her with the Black Gun.
• Xu Le absorbed the resulting lust Heart Energy and formed a lust fruit, while horrified nightclub patrons screamed and the Law Enforcers arrived to arrest him.
• Xu Ting and Li Qingcheng explained that the Law Enforcers avoided conflict with the Tianrui Lifeng Mercenaries in the Red-Light District, and Li Qingcheng identified their prohibited drug as Blue Light.
• Xu Le headed to a trading area with Xu Ting and Li Qingcheng, then loudly complained that Zion had no real Black Market to provoke the stallholders into responding.

Xu Le learned about a well-paid, confidential Ancient Ruins mission and a private trading venue, but rejected Li Qingcheng’s offers to avoid owing her a favor. Meanwhile, Ai Li investigated the Succubus’s death, clashed with Zhang Nuo'an over their relationship, and grew curious about Xu Le’s abilities as she headed to Rose Studio.

• Xu Le failed to find a black market in Zion, then heard from Li Qingcheng about a well-paid Ancient Ruins decipherment mission and anonymous trading venues.
• Li Qingcheng offered to recommend Xu Le for the mission and help him trade privately, but Xu Le declined both offers and asked Xu Ting to apply for his 500-dollar Good Citizen Award.
• Ai Li inspected Succubus blood and photographs of Li Qingcheng with Xu Le, then reported to Zhang Nuo'an that someone had killed the Succubus.
• Zhang Nuo'an urged Ai Li to cultivate Li Qingcheng’s connections, but Ai Li challenged him to make their relationship public and left after he refused.
• Ai Li burned photographs and Xu Le’s information, reconsidered after reading his background, and drove to Rose Studio to investigate him.

Xu Le learned to control sublimated fear, while Ai Li investigated him and then arranged an Ancient Ruins mission for him. After accepting the solo assignment and arriving at Office No. 9, Xu Le recognized Ai Li's name and wondered whether she was one of Puppet's lackeys.

• Xu Le controlled his sublimated Fear Aura during Muyue cultivation and discovered that absorbing it made his unripe Fear Fruit grow.
• Ai Li watched Xu Le from a rooftop, but Yi Xiaoya knocked her unconscious, stole her money, and destroyed her camera.
• Ai Li arranged for Xu Le to receive a high-paying exploration mission at the Ancient Ruins in Area 4; Xu Le used Guyinduo Divination to confirm that Li Qingcheng had not arranged it.
• Xu Le accepted the solo mission, while Wang Shu and Li Weisi agreed to take a Gobi Pioneer Mission together.
• Xu Le went to Office No. 9 to report for the mission, met Ai Li, and suspected she was one of Puppet's lackeys.

Xu Le joined Ai Li's assignment to study the Ancient Ruins, where the researchers had discovered a nearly thousand-year-old Guyinduo Tree. After Ai Li brought him to an unexplored area, Xu Le examined a stone tablet and sensed the ruins' master's will.

• Xu Le met Ai Li at the Enforcer Hall, and she took him to the ruins while suspecting he was a spy from the Red Moon Holy Temple.
• Ai Li told Xu Le the assignment concerned a Guyinduo Tree and warned him that project leader Zhang Nuo'an liked Li Qingcheng.
• Ai Li introduced Xu Le to Zhang Nuo'an and backed his request to skip a researchers' meeting and begin work independently.
• Ai Li led Xu Le into the Ancient Ruins and showed him an unresearched area with a broken stone tablet.
• Xu Le touched the tablet without gloves and said he could feel the ruins' master's will through it.

Xu Le touched the fallen Guyinduo Tree and learned that the ruins were Joshua’s tomb, then earned a reward by revealing the tablet’s inscription to Zhang Nuo'an. Back at the Studio, Xu Le activated the Black Staff’s Beacon ability and opened a door to another world.

• Xu Le stopped Ai Li from reporting his words on the stone tablet, then followed her to the hidden Guyinduo Tree.
• Xu Le touched the tree and saw Joshua’s final battle, learned the site was the Tomb of Joshua, and suspected Puppet had drawn him there through Ai Li.
• Xu Le told Ai Li and Zhang Nuo'an that he had deciphered Joshua’s epitaph, received payment, and left the ruins.
• Ai Li tested Xu Le for ties to the Red Moon Holy Temple, then brought him back to the Studio, where Yi Xiaoya greeted her.
• Xu Le examined the Black Staff’s Beacon ability and opened a door leading to the Lightforging World or the Puppet World.

Xu Le entered a colorful realm of the Gundo Mother Tree, where he met Gan and learned about the Land of Fate and its chosen visitors. He concealed what he knew from Gan and realized that, bearing Night Fiend’s power while entering Puppet’s domain, he appeared to be a mole to Wang Shu and Gan.

• Gu Beichen struggled with the Red Moon Holy Temple’s fierce competition, and Gan left him thirty dollars before departing for Zion.
• Xu Le entered a different Mother Tree Realm, found the Gundo Mother Tree, and sacrificed a withered Guyinduo Leaf to nourish his Thunder Fruit.
• The Bell of Fate rang, and Gan appeared, identifying the realm as the Land of Fate and explaining its rules to Xu Le.
• Xu Le questioned Gan about Fruits of Fate, Wang Shu, and people with different fates, while keeping his own knowledge hidden.
• Xu Le concluded that his presence in Puppet’s Land of Fate with Night Fiend’s power made him seem like a mole to Wang Shu and Gan.

Xu Le continued cultivating and researching while Ai Li uncovered Yi Xiaoya’s extraordinary age and family history. After Li Weisi completed a Heart Energy Concealment Device that could absorb Heart Energy and be switched off, Xu Le withheld it from the school and headed to Nevernight City to test it.

• Xu Le returned from the Land of Fate, bought cultivation materials, and caught Ding Ke eating the grilled fish from his ritual.
• Ai Li found records showing that Yi Xiaoya had been listed as Ji Fen’s great-great-great-grandmother and had kept the same appearance for seventy-nine years.
• Wang Shu returned from a profitable mission, and Xu Le told him to use his earnings to upgrade his equipment and prepare to lead a team.
• Xu Le and Li Weisi celebrated Yi Xiaoya’s birthday, then continued developing the Heart Energy Concealment Device.
• Li Weisi completed a working device that absorbed Heart Energy and could be switched off, but Xu Le persuaded him to delay submitting it to the school.
• Xu Le took the device and rode to Nevernight City to test its stability and effectiveness.

Xu Le accompanied Ai Li to investigate a Level 3 succubus outbreak in Zion's nightlife district and tested his Heart Energy Concealment Device during the fight. Ai Li's team killed the succubus, leaving Xu Le to wonder what had gone wrong with an earlier live capture.

• Xu Le promised Ai Li he would return to the Tomb of Joshua in five days, then realized her assignment at the nightlife district involved controlling Heart Energy and responding to succubi.
• After Xu Le received a warning that a Level 3 succubus would appear, he and Ai Li went to an alley, where the Pleasure Witch Rose emerged from a portal.
• Ai Li attacked Rose and, with help from her undercover colleagues, trapped and subdued her while Xu Le tested his Heart Energy Concealment Device.
• Ai Li's team killed Rose and harvested her remains, and Xu Le inferred that a previous attempt to capture a succubus alive had gone wrong.

Xu Le and Golden Toad performed a midnight offering that let Golden Toad advance to Level 4 and earned Xu Le two Water-Style powers from the Water Lord. Ai Li, who had followed Xu Le outside the city to investigate a suspected ritual, revealed herself as the Azure Dragon prepared to leave.

• Xu Le bought meat, liquor, and other offerings, then drove a steam tricycle outside Zion as Ai Li secretly followed him.
• Golden Toad drew an Incantation Seal Formation and summoned the Water Lord, who consumed the offerings and advanced Golden Toad to Level 4.
• The Water Lord asked Xu Le for a Guyinduo Fruit, and Xu Le offered a Lust Fruit in exchange for a blessing.
• The Water Lord granted Xu Le Water-Style Body Strengthening and Underwater Breathing, while explaining that Golden Toad's recognition had enabled the blessing.
• Ai Li's lamp reappeared behind the departing Azure Dragon as she stepped out of the darkness.

Xu Le confronted Ai Li after she witnessed his offering to the Water Lord Azure Dragon and worried she had recognized his Guyinduo Branch of Reality. After calming her and learning she tracked him by scent using a Moon Dog fruit ability, Xu Le reached Zion’s gates with her and began moon-bathing, only to discover Ai Li could absorb Moon Spirits too.

• Xu Le hid his alarm when Ai Li appeared at the offering site, and the Water Lord Azure Dragon departed while Golden Toad reminded Xu Le about promised offerings.
• Xu Le drove Ai Li away from the offering site and questioned what she had seen, especially whether she recognized the Guyinduo branch.
• Ai Li mistook the branch for Guyinduo Forbidden Power, urged Xu Le to stop using it, and agreed to keep his research secret from Zhang Nuo'an.
• Xu Le learned Ai Li had tracked him by scent after eating an Intermediate Creature-Moon Dog fruit, and Ai Li admitted she had sensed his intention to attack her.
• At Zion’s gates, Xu Le prepared a moon-bathing ritual while Ai Li transformed into a Moon Dog and absorbed Moon Spirits herself.

Xu Le assembled a team for a low-risk Pioneer Mission to test Li Weisi’s Heart Energy Concealment Device, while preparing Ai Li to keep his secrets. The chapter ended when Ai Li reacted sharply to Xu Le’s claim that the device could hide Heart Energy even above the warning threshold.

• Xu Le persuaded Ai Li to join a field mission and took Li Weisi’s completed Concealment Device from the studio.
• Gan visited Rose Studio looking for Xu Le, left an address for him, and stayed to talk with Yi Xiaoya.
• Xu Le recruited Wang Shu and Ge Sini for the mission, and Widow Wang Jing joined their team.
• Xu Le gathered Xu Ting and Ai Li at the Enforcer Hall, then set out with the assembled group on a low-risk mission.
• In Ai Li’s car, Xu Le described the device’s ability to conceal Heart Energy above the warning threshold, and Ai Li stopped the car in shock.

Xu Le and his group crossed the grasslands to test the Heart Energy Concealment Device, but found no oddities until they heard singing near a pond after dark. There, Xu Le identified three Ancient Gods and approached them peacefully, leaving him face-to-face with Niulang as Ai Li stood guard.

• Xu Le gave Heart Energy Concealment Devices to Xu Ting and Ai Li, and the group traveled across the grasslands without encountering any oddities.
• After the group camped for the night, Wang Jing used four Blessing Spell Formulas, and a distant song prompted Xu Le to lead everyone toward a pond.
• Xu Le divined that an oddity would appear at the pond, and Wang Shu illuminated its depths with his Golden Radiance Tree branches.
• Xu Le recognized the submerged figures as Niulang, Spirit Moo, and Rain Woman, all Ancient Gods, and stopped the mercenaries from attacking them.
• Niulang calmed Spirit Moo and emerged from the pond; Ai Li blocked Xu Le from approaching, but he introduced himself to Niulang, who said he had forgotten his former name.

Xu Le met Niulang, Rain Woman, and Spirit Moo, learned that Ancient Gods avoided darkness by shedding the Red Moon Spirit, and warned them that Zion’s plains policy would threaten their home. After discussing Rain Woman’s practical abilities and Zion’s treatment of Ancient Gods, Ai Li urged Xu Le to pursue political influence through Zion’s research-contribution system, revealing that Zhang Nuo'an would be one of his competitors.

• Xu Le learned from Niulang that Ancient Gods avoided darkness by stripping away the Red Moon Spirit, while Rain Woman demonstrated her rain-summoning Spell Formula.
• Xu Le warned Niulang that Zion would eventually develop the plains and advised the Ancient Gods to leave, but Niulang refused to abandon their home.
• After the group left the pond and made camp, Xu Le worried that Niulang, Rain Woman, and Spirit Moo would die when Zion’s forces arrived.
• Xu Le proposed that Ancient Gods such as Rain Woman could help humanity with farming, but Ai Li explained that their allegiance to Guyinduo made them impossible for human society to trust.
• Ai Li told Xu Le that Zion’s Progressors’ Conference could award its top research contributor a council seat and encouraged him to compete.
• When Xu Le asked who his competitors would be, Ai Li named Zhang Nuo'an, leaving Xu Le startled.

Xu Le returned to Zion after a successful mission, handed Ai Li the Heart Energy Concealment Device, and learned that Gan had arrived in the city. That night, Ding Ke acted strangely and asked Xu Le to hold him beneath the moon; the next morning, Ai Li called him.

• Xu Le tried to convince Ai Li that her feelings for Zhang Nuo'an were unrequited, while they cultivated together during the night.
• Ai Li led the Pioneer Mission through three safe days of exploration, and the group returned to Zion with moonstone and their reward.
• Xu Le handed his share of the mission money to Wang Shu, and Ai Li returned the Heart Energy Concealment Device to him after guessing his plan to occupy Zhang Nuo'an with research.
• Yi Xiaoya gave Xu Le a card from Gan, who had arrived in Zion to handle family affairs.
• Xu Le visited Li Weisi, learned that he had made another batch of Concealment Devices, then returned home and stayed beside the unwell Ding Ke.
• Ding Ke asked Xu Le to hold him under the moon and asked why he smelled like a dog; the next morning, Ai Li called Xu Le.

Xu Le deciphered Joshua’s account of monstrous angels who had corrupted the Guyinduo Tree, while the ruins continued undergoing strange changes. As Xu Le and Ai Li studied the fifth stele, two guards began transforming into grotesque creatures behind them.

• Ding Ke awoke with white hair, borrowed men’s clothes and money from Xu Le, and left to find meat.
• Ai Li drove Xu Le to the Tomb of Joshua, where he sensed that Guyinduo contamination was spreading and learned that researchers had disappeared after a bloody incident.
• Xu Le quickly deciphered four steles and discovered that their blue starlight gathered on each one after he touched it.
• Xu Le read the fifth stele, which described angels summoned by the Full Moon, Joshua’s battle against them, and the angels’ blood turning the Guyinduo Tree black.
• As Xu Le tried to decide how to report the stele’s contents, one guard ate his own hand and the other developed bulging eyes and a monstrous grin; Ai Li sensed their breathing and heartbeats had stopped.

Xu Le and Ai Li discovered signs of rising Ancient Yin Duo Energy in the tomb and found the Guyinduo Old Tree corrupted. As Xu Le reported his discoveries to Zhang Nuo'an, guards began transforming and attacking, leaving the group under threat.

• Ai Li sensed blood and danger from two guards, while Xu Le's Guyinduo Vision identified them as abnormal humans.
• After Xu Le and Ai Li left, one guard transformed and killed Luo Qiang and an elderly scholar before growing white wings covered in eyes and heading toward the Guyinduo Tree.
• Xu Le noticed blue dust falling from the tomb ceiling and told Ai Li that the Ancient Yin Duo Energy seemed to be spreading.
• Xu Le gave Zhang Nuo'an his reports on five stone tablets and began explaining the fifth tablet's account of ancient powers, Empress Aileen, and Sword's Edge Fortress.
• A guard attacked and killed an elderly Warlock with his tongue, and Zhang Nuo'an's bodyguard sounded the same strange gurgle Xu Le and Ai Li had heard earlier.

Xu Le and Ai Li fought their way toward the tomb’s exit, where the Dark Moon Angel Wang Leming blocked them and Zhang Nuo'an sealed the entrance behind them. Xu Le and Golden Toad defeated most of the Error Guards, then charged at the Angel to help Ai Li.

• Ai Li and Xu Le fought a Level 3 Error Guard as other guards mutated and attacked the survivors.
• Ai Li recognized the Dark Moon Angel as Wang Leming, who attacked her while healing with energy from the Guyinduo Power.
• Xu Le summoned Black Cicada and Living Corpses to help Ai Li hold off the Angel, while Zhang Nuo'an withdrew and sealed the tomb entrance with explosions.
• Xu Le called Golden Toad and combined his golden thunder with Toad’s torrent to destroy most of the Error Guards.
• After Black Cicada was killed by the Angel, Xu Le and Golden Toad charged toward her and began casting Spirit Binding and Sealing Evil.