Chapter Summaries

As the Red Moon dimmed and Zion’s defenses faced an unusually dark, freezing Black Tide, Xu Le prepared his group for threats while refusing to sound an alarm that might draw more Oddities. When Night Kin approached, Xu Le fired the first shot of the night battle.

• Xu Le suspected the weakening Moon Spirit meant the Red Moon had been hurt, while Wang Shu ordered the group to focus on staying safe.
• Zion sent Steam Airships to illuminate the dark battlefield with Moonstone lamps as Xu Le retrieved his pistol and handmade Heart Energy Bullets.
• The group noticed the temperature dropping sharply, and Xu Le declined to sound an alarm after two flying Level 4 Oddities passed overhead toward Zion’s interior.
• Ai Li sensed Night Kin nearby, so Xu Le had Wang Shu silently warn neighboring mercenary groups and help them form a coordinated defense.
• The Night Kin arrived, and Xu Le set up his sniper rifle and fired the first shot of the battle.

Xu Le and his allies fought off waves of Night Kin until Zion’s Enforcers arrived and began clearing the streets. As the convoy approached a battle against Lord Oddity Yan Luo, a ghostly boat carrying Mute Girl and Old Man Ge appeared before the group.

• Xu Le and the mercenaries killed Night Kin while Wang Shu, Ai Li, and Toad protected him, but other teams suffered casualties as the fighting continued.
• Zion’s Spiked Roller Steam War Chariots and autocannon vehicles arrived, crushed the Night Kin, and led the survivors through the streets.
• Xu Le followed the Enforcers’ convoy and reunited with Xu Ting, who was serving as an Autocannon Gunner, and Li Qingcheng, who was driving.
• The convoy announced that Lord Oddity Yan Luo had been sighted ahead and that elimination operations were underway.
• A ghostly boat appeared on the road, carrying the singing Mute Girl and the rowing Old Man Ge.

Mute Girl’s soul-seizing song threatened the people of Zion, and the Law Enforcers fought back while Xu Le used a puppet to join the battle. After Mute Girl was trapped and struck with bombs, Old Man Ge singled Xu Le out and warned him to face the Singer’s anger.

• Mute Girl sang to lure mercenaries toward the Ghost Ship and drag them into the river, while Xu Le and his allies resisted the song with Heart Energy Concealment Devices.
• The Law Enforcers disrupted Mute Girl’s song with concussion grenades and opened fire, forcing the Ghost Ship and Old Man Ge to vanish before they reappeared beside her in Zion’s residential district.
• Mute Girl killed a charging Law Enforcer, and Xu Le used the Black Card-Puppet and String-Puller to control a corpse as a human puppet.
• Ai Li threw Xu Le’s puppet onto the rooftop, where Xu Le froze Mute Girl and struck her with a Lightning Spear as the Law Enforcers followed with alchemical bombs.
• Old Man Ge rowed into the air after the explosions and warned Xu Le to savor the Singer’s anger.

Xu Le and the Law Enforcers fought Mute Girl, and White Cicada sacrificed herself to help him kill the Soul-Reaping Singer and recover her tongue. After Xu Le awoke amid a new Night Kin attack, Old Man Ge appeared and began pulling him into the ground.

• Mute Girl attacked the Law Enforcers, but the frost Warlock’s ice and Xu Le’s Golden Thunder restrained and weakened her.
• Xu Le summoned White Cicada, who helped him confront Mute Girl and absorbed spectral souls through her fangs.
• White Cicada died while holding Mute Girl, and Xu Le used Golden Thunder to cut a piece of Mute Girl’s tongue free before the Law Enforcers bombed them.
• Xu Le awoke among the survivors, retrieved the twitching tongue, and stabbed it with the Black Sword, then the Soul Ferryman appeared and invited him aboard.
• Ai Li attacked Old Man Ge, but he evaded her and caused Xu Le to sink into the concrete as his ghostly boat began to fade.

Xu Le was trapped in the River of Souls as Zion’s forces battled Yan Luo, a Level 5 Guyinduo Lord whose soul-fed regeneration enabled it to begin a second Aberration. Xu Le’s summoned Living Corpses disrupted the transformation with lust Heart Energy, but the Soul Ferryman dragged him into the river’s depths, where Xu Le realized the Soul Tree might be his fear-based Guyinduo Heart Energy Core and called on it to grow freely.

• Xu Le sank into the River of Souls, discovered that the Water Lord’s Underwater Breathing let him survive there, and searched for a way out while Ai Li and Wang Shu followed Ding Ke’s directions toward the battlefield.
• Xu Le saw Zion’s Law Enforcers, led by Luo Ning, fighting Yan Luo, and discovered that soul energy flowing through barbed threads was fueling the lord’s rapid regeneration.
• Yan Luo’s anger and Red Moon Spirit triggered a second Aberration, but the Living Corpses Xu Le summoned were shredded by the soul whirlpool and fed lust Heart Energy into Yan Luo, interrupting its transformation.
• The Soul Ferryman discovered Xu Le was alive, struck him back into the River of Souls, severed Yan Luo’s soul thread, and dragged Xu Le into the depths as Ai Li charged toward the battlefield.
• As soul fuzz-spikes pierced him and the Soul Tree absorbed his fear, Xu Le concluded that the Soul Tree itself was a fear-based Guyinduo Heart Energy Core and urged it to absorb souls and grow freely as a Guyinduo Branch of Reality.

Xu Le chose the Guyinduo path and learned the ascension ritual for Forbidden Warlock-LV3-Disguiser before returning from the River of Souls. He rescued Ai Li from Yan Luo and pulled Yan Luo into the river, where the furious Oddity accused him of stealing the Mother River's power.

• The Soul Tree devoured the Fish Monster and nearby spirits, helping Xu Le survive underwater and letting him tear apart the Soul Fuzz-Spike attached to his chest.
• Xu Le broke the Soul Fuzz-Spike, saw a Guyinduo-Thread of Fate, and used Fate Vision to reach the world beneath the Red Moon and choose the blue Guyinduo thread.
• Xu Le received the ascension ritual for Forbidden Warlock-LV3-Disguiser and decided to follow the path of his supposedly wrong choice.
• Yan Luo fled from Luo Ning's pursuing forces, and Ai Li caught up with it and fought to stop it, but Yan Luo overpowered her and seized her.
• Xu Le opened the ground beneath Yan Luo and Ai Li, caught Ai Li in the River of Souls, then used Guyinduo branches to carry her to the surface while Yan Luo struggled below.

Xu Le and the Law Enforcers killed Yan Luo, but its death activated a black Guyinduo Tree that began impaling people and absorbing corpses. As the Soul Ferryman watched, Xu Le summoned a powerful new Black Sword Familiar to face the spreading threat.

• Yan Luo used its red-flame-enchanted mace to kill Wang Shu temporarily, then rampaged through the Law Enforcers while Xu Le and Toad lured it into an open intersection.
• Xu Le summoned Black Cicada and White Cicada to attack Yan Luo, then pinned it with his Black Sword and lightning long enough for Luo Ning’s forces to bombard it.
• Yan Luo died, activating the Soul Ferryman’s Seed of Gundo and causing a towering black Guyinduo Tree to erupt from the ground and impale nearby people.
• Xu Le carried Ai Li away from the tree’s branches and saw the Soul Ferryman on a rising bough, where he announced that only two would be born.
• Xu Le used Slave of Fate, a Black Card, blood, and a Guyinduo Fruit of Fear to summon a Level 4 Black Sword Familiar called Night Fiend with the awakening Fated Death.

Xu Le and his allies defeated Soul Ferryman-Old Man Ge, but the explosion of the Sunny Day Power left Xu Le gravely injured. As dawn rose, Xu Le had Ai Li take him somewhere private so he could use the True Illusion ability while staying conscious.

• Xu Le summoned Black Sword, paid its price by grasping the weapon, and joined Toad in climbing the Guyinduo Tree while Black Sword fought Old Man Ge.
• Xu Le and Toad burned the tree and freed enslaved Law Enforcers, then climbed toward two strange flowers as Black Sword struck Old Man Ge down.
• The blue flower attacked Xu Le and Toad, forcing Xu Le to dismiss Toad and use Soul-Suppressing and Sunny Day Power against the flowers.
• The red flower swallowed Xu Le, and Black Sword cut him free before the summoned Sun exploded over the treetop, engulfing Black Sword, the flowers, and Xu Le.
• After the Red Moon Calamity passed, Law Enforcers found Xu Le alive but near death; he persuaded their captain to let him be alone with Ai Li.
• Ai Li carried Xu Le to abandoned houses, where he held the Puppet Card and prepared to activate True Illusion while remaining conscious.

Xu Le entered the Mother Tree Realm disguised as Xiong Nuo'an and used his ability to identify Guyinduo Fruits to earn Chi Xiao’s trust and request prosthetic limbs. The other people of fate began asking him to reveal their fruit choices.

• Xu Le asked Ai Li to pose as his lover while he pretended to be a gravely wounded Black Tide hero, and she carried him out for help.
• Secretary Liu sent Li Wen’s medical team, who treated Ai Li and brought them to the Zion Progressives building, where Xu Le saw the remains of a Meltfire Giant.
• Xu Le disguised himself as Xiong Nuo'an and entered the Mother Tree Realm, where Chi Xiao introduced him as its seventh person of fate.
• Xu Le warned Chi Xiao against taking the second Guyinduo Fruit and correctly identified all four fruits offered to her.
• Chi Xiao chose the Ice Age Giant Bear fruit and agreed to forge prosthetic limbs for Xu Le in exchange for his guidance.
• The bald man asked Xu Le to identify his fruits, and the others waited to hear his answer.

Xu Le traded fruit-selection guidance for rare materials and knowledge in the black Mother Tree Realm, then entered the multicolored Land of Fate as an eighth participant. He revealed that he could identify the fruits there and ended the chapter beginning a paid arrangement with Wang Shu.

• Xu Le set his price for fruit-selection guidance, accepted a Tear Pig Tailbone from Wu Di, and identified Wu Di’s three fruits; Wu Di chose the Longevity Fruit.
• Xu Le traded guidance to the others, received Guyinduo Sacrificial Remnants, a damaged Red Moon Book, and Luo Juya’s Shadow Warlock Manual, then chose a Hound Keeper fruit for Wang Shu.
• Xu Le left the black Mother Tree Realm and used a Puppet card to enter the multicolored Land of Fate, where Gan, Wang Shu, Wang Qing, and the other participants had gathered.
• Xu Le posed as a masked newcomer, argued with Wang Qing, and learned that the group gathered to choose fruits from the Guyinduo Tree.
• Xu Le identified the cold-faced man’s four fruits, enabling him to choose the Mystic-Teacup fruit and proving Xu Le could see fruit information others could not.
• Wang Shu offered to pay Xu Le for his guidance, and Xu Le introduced himself as Xiong Nuo'an.

Xu Le selected fruits for the People of Fate in the Multicolored Land, sacrificed powerful items to strengthen his Thunder Fruit, and obtained an Ice Bear Fruit from Chi Xiao by offering Heart Energy Fruits. A red Guyinduo Fruit appeared on his Soul Tree and repeatedly killed him before he escaped; afterward, he visited the injured Ai Li at the hospital.

• Xu Le set his payment terms for selecting fruits, and Wang Qing agreed while offering his Si-Month Thumb Ring as a Gundo Relic.
• Xu Le sacrificed Guyinduo fragments, the Tear Pig Tailbone, and the Red Moon Book, causing his Thunder Fruit to develop red lightning; the group then exchanged news about the Red Moon Calamity and traded items.
• Xu Le discovered red fluff around his Soul Tree, which gathered into a ball and became a hidden Guyinduo Fruit that transformed into a miniature Yan Luo and killed him twenty-six times.
• Chi Xiao gave Xu Le his liquid-metal prosthetics and agreed to trade him the Ice Bear Fruit for his Heart Energy Fruits, after reminding him of his unpaid debts.
• Xu Le found a dangerous red Yan Luo fruit on the Soul Tree, endured repeated deaths, and left his mental space before going to visit the hospitalized Ai Li.
• Xu Le arrived at Ai Li's hospital room in a cleaner's uniform and urged her to prepare to cultivate.

Xu Le warned Li Wen that the Guyinduo Fruits recovered after the Black Tide might pose a danger, then discussed Zion’s needs for energy and labor. Ai Li ate the Siquan Fruit and gained strength while recovering from her injuries; Xu Le reunited with his companions and went to tell Night Fiend a new story.

• Xu Le trained beside the injured Ai Li, comforted her, and held her hand while she transformed into a Moon Hound.
• Secretary Liu brought Xu Le to Li Wen, where Xu Le described the black-tree incident, warned about the six recovered Guyinduo Fruits, and proposed improving Zion’s energy supply and labor force.
• Ai Li found Xu Le’s card and hidden Siquan Fruit, ate it, and gained strength as her injuries healed.
• Xu Le returned to the Studio, gave Wang Shu an Ice Bear Fruit, and watched Yi Xiaoya send Wang Shu away to control his transformation.
• Xu Le entered the Night Fiend World and offered to tell Night Fiend a new story, “Princess Mononoke.”

After meeting Night Fiend and learning that Fate had begun to touch him, Xu Le returned to Zion and prepared a new life-saving Doll. He then went to Zion University of Technology to speak about Black Tide Night, where he confronted a group of bullying international students from Tianrui Lifeng before beginning his lecture.

• Xu Le told Night Fiend the story of Princess Mononoke twice, and she said that the Night Kin, Soul-Reaping Singer, and Soul Ferryman had nothing to do with her.
• Night Fiend warned Xu Le that Fate had begun to touch him, told him to be careful, and asked him to bring a new story next time.
• After sleeping for a day and night, Xu Le asked Li Weisi to make him a Doll using research funds.
• Xu Ting and Li Qingcheng invited Xu Le to Zion University of Technology as a guest lecturer and gave him his honors and invitation.
• Xu Le confronted Ding Chuyao and her Society of Shared Hardship group for bullying Zion students, then told them Zion students were equal regardless of their backgrounds.
• Xu Le began introducing himself to the students as their speaker on Black Tide Night.

Xu Le lectured Zion University of Technology students about the increasingly dangerous Black Tides and met Zion Progressives doctor Xia Libo, who read Li Qingcheng’s fate and then tested Xu Le in a brief duel. Xia Libo invited Xu Le to join his research group, and Xu Le agreed to visit after finishing his current work.

• Xu Le described the recent Black Tides to students, explaining that targeted attacks by Guyinduo Offspring and Night Kin had caused heavy casualties during the January 1 assault.
• Xia Libo met Li Qingcheng and Xu Ting, touched Li Qingcheng’s finger, and claimed her past and fate held extraordinary hardships before offering her his card.
• Xu Le confronted Xia Libo about the campus dressing-room incident and Zhang Nuo'an, then used Guyinduo Cards to read Xia Libo’s painful past and resilience.
• Xu Le and Xia Libo fought briefly on the sports field, using their unusual abilities before stopping to avoid attracting a crowd.
• Xia Libo invited Xu Le to join his Research and Development Group, and Xu Le agreed to visit Zion Progressives Headquarters after handling his current work.

Xu Le questioned Ding Chuyao about Tianrui Lifeng, then visited the recovering Ai Li and asked her to help him prepare for a dangerous fight in his mental world. After testing the Yan Luo fruit and surviving several deaths, he realized Yan Luo might be protecting the Soul Tree.

• Xu Le learned from Ding Chuyao that Tianrui Lifeng's king had fled, while Qi Yun and the Reformists had taken control and rebuilt order; he urged the exiles to study and return as contributors to a new era.
• Xu Ting told Xu Le that Xia Libo had read Li Qingcheng's past as full of suffering and referred to a blessing from My Lord, prompting Xu Le to decide to watch Li Qingcheng closely.
• Xu Le visited Ai Li, shared a meal with her, and asked for defensive training to help him face an enemy much stronger than himself.
• Xu Le entered his mental world and repeatedly provoked the Yan Luo fruit, discovering its activation boundary near the Spirit Energy Pool and that its attacks quickly incapacitated him.
• With Ai Li's advice, Xu Le tried luring Yan Luo into an attack, but Yan Luo hesitated when it saw the Spirit Energy Pool before throwing him aside and killing him; Xu Le wondered whether it was protecting the tree.

Xu Le repeatedly fought Yan Luo in his mental space until they reached a wary truce, and Yan Luo explained Guyinduo sha and how Xu Le could grant marks to others. Meanwhile, the purple fruit in Zion’s custody quietly influenced Song Xiaojia and Warlock Luo, who left the building carrying it.

• Xu Le used the Soul Tree’s branches to restrain Yan Luo, learned that Yan Luo served the Mother Tree, and finally established a conversation after dying dozens of times.
• Yan Luo revealed that the Soul Ferryman who summoned him served the Seven Children of Guyinduo, condemned them as traitors, and identified Night Fiend as Bai Ye, who had claimed Black Sha.
• Yan Luo explained that Guyinduo beings could cultivate sha and told Xu Le that he could grant Guyinduo Marks to his friends.
• Yan Luo returned to fruit form on the Soul Tree, then warned Xu Le that the Angel Fruit was unsafe and could be refined into sha, though eating it directly would transform him into a monster.
• Song Xiaojia became distracted by the purple fruit in the Zion laboratory, secretly ate it, and lured a Guard away with her.
• Warlock Luo found the purple fruit in his pocket despite the sealed fruit remaining in its case, then left the Zion building with the fruit as Song Xiaojia revealed rows of teeth.

Warlock Luo resisted eating an unknown Guyinduo Fruit but unknowingly shared its transformed fruit with his family, while Xu Le identified another mysterious fruit as a Hardstone offspring before his Branch of Reality consumed it. After waking, Xu Le taught Wang Shu about Sha and secretly studied the Puppet Marks Gan showed him, hoping to learn how to create a mark of his own.

• Luo chose to return the unknown fruit to Headquarters, but his wife unknowingly cut and ate a purple flower-shaped fruit with him.
• Ai Li found a purple fruit among Xu Le’s apples, contained its aura, and waited for Xu Le to wake before showing it to him.
• Xu Le identified the fruit as an Apple-Guyinduo Offspring-Hardstone, but his Branch of Reality absorbed it before they could report it.
• Xu Le returned to Rose Studio and found Wang Shu back from two days of freezing falls through the sky; after comforting him, Xu Le taught him Yan Luo’s method for cultivating Sha.
• When Wang Shu struggled to form Sha, Xu Le asked Gan to teach him about the Puppet Mark and secretly memorized the mark patterns and energy flow so he could try to create his own.

Xu Le and Ding Ke named their new organization Tree and began designing its mark. At the Zion Progressives building, Xu Le discovered that Luo and the woman with him were both Guyinduo Offspring, while Xia Libo and Luo each considered killing the other.

• Ding Ke showed Xu Le a drawing for the organization’s symbol, and Xu Le named the group Tree and its members Tree Guardians.
• Ai Li noticed that guard Luo smelled of blood and a scent resembling Song Xiaojia’s, but let him go after questioning him.
• Xia Libo realized that Luo was following him and sensed Guyinduo-Gangshi, then concealed his intent to kill Luo and left.
• Luo met his wife Na, who urged him to attack Xia Libo, but Luo said they had both sensed each other’s murderous intent.
• Luo and Na spotted Wang Man among the people arriving at the Zion Progressives building and considered him easier prey.
• Xu Le arrived with Ding Ke and identified Luo as a Level 3 Guyinduo Offspring and Na as a Level 3 aberration.

Xu Le identified the purple fruit at the Zion Progressives building as a Seed of Pollution and warned that it was contaminating people nearby. Warlock Luo attacked the laboratory and escaped, but Xu Le pursued him, leaving them facing each other with guns raised.

• Xu Le reported Luo’s mutated wife to the Enforcer Hall, then visited Ai Li and learned that Luo was a Level 3 Mystic Warlock working at the Zion Progressives building.
• Xu Le joined Xia Libo’s research department and proposed the Core Project to improve Zion’s energy supply and productivity by studying Guyinduo organisms and fruits.
• Xia Libo showed Xu Le a purple fruit guarded on the eighth floor, and Xu Le identified it as a Seed of Pollution that emitted Ancient Yin Duo Energy.
• Luo shot three people, used a Spell Formula to dissolve the fruit’s sealed case, and escaped by jumping from the eighth floor.
• Xu Le pursued Luo through the fall, blocked his shots, and landed opposite him as both men raised their guns and used Spell Formulas.

Xu Le fought Warlock Luo while the Zion Progressives building faced a crisis involving a Seed of Pollution, which later began burrowing into Xia Libo. Ai Li defeated Song Xiaojia after she attacked Wang Man and the others, and the chapter ended with Xia Libo asking Xu Le to take him to the Little Chapel.

• Xu Le battled Warlock Luo, who transformed attacks and summoned energy, then escaped after Xu Le warned him that Mrs. Luo had been arrested; Xu Le ordered the Law Enforcers to pursue him and called Brother Shu for support.
• Xia Libo ordered the purple fruit destroyed, shot a protesting researcher, and discovered that fire and bullets could not damage it; Guard Xiao Zhang attacked him and revealed that Xia Libo had been marked for death.
• The fruit grabbed Xia Libo as he leaped toward a window, and its explosion devastated the eighth floor; Ai Li investigated, suspected a link between the fruit and Song Xiaojia, and requested support and a search for her.
• Song Xiaojia incapacitated Wang Man and fought Xu Lei and Xu Ting, using crystallized limbs and poisonous gas until Ai Li arrived and broke all four of her limbs.
• Xu Le saw Xia Libo and the Seed of Pollution fall from above; after Xia Libo's Gangshi mark vanished on impact, the Seed pierced his skin, and he asked Xu Le to take him to the Little Chapel.