Chapter Summaries

Xu Le learned from Chi Xiao that killing Luo Juya had entangled him in her fate and left him responsible for fulfilling her wish, while Chi Xiao offered to help Ding Ke. The next day, Xu Le and his companions discussed Lighthouse’s poverty and his plans to improve it before revisiting the Night Watchers’ dormitory, where his old belongings and drawing of Ding Ke remained.

• Chi Xiao teased Ding Ke, learned she could no longer transform, and told her to come see her in the Upper City through Jasmine of the Lighthouse Twelve Night Watchers.
• Chi Xiao told Xu Le that Luo Juya’s fate had passed to him and could keep influencing him until he fulfilled her long-held wish, which Xu Le connected to her husband, Xiong Zemo.
• Xu Le and his companions ate breakfast in District B and discussed low wages, social inequality, and his plans to attract people to Lighthouse by lowering energy prices and improving policies.
• After breakfast, Xu Le and his companions visited the Night Watchers’ dormitory, where Ding Ke pointed out the old drawing Xu Le had left on the wall.

Xu Le found Gu Jianuo’s hidden records on Xiong Zemo and sent Ai Li, Wang Shu, and Gu Beichen to investigate the district chief’s true identity. While heading toward the Upper City, Xu Le accidentally pushed wheelchair user Mo Chen across the Suspension Bridge and, after it broke down, accompanied him to his home near Lighthouse University, where Mo Chen invited him inside.

• Xu Le uncovered Gu Jianuo’s records on Xiong Zemo and explained that the group needed to identify and assassinate his real body before using the evidence against him.
• Xu Le assigned Ai Li, Wang Shu, and Gu Beichen to investigate Xiong Zemo separately while posing as tourists from Zion.
• Xu Le took Ding Ke toward the Upper City and pushed Mo Chen across the Suspension Bridge, mistakenly assuming Mo Chen wanted to cross.
• After the bridge was raised and then declared out of service, Xu Le stayed with Mo Chen and learned that he worked in community services and researched biology.
• Xu Le pushed Mo Chen to the Laboratory Building dormitories, discovered Mo Chen lived in Building B, and accepted his invitation to come upstairs.

Xu Le visited Mo Chen’s laboratory, where Mo Chen showed him his artificial-organ research and entrusted him with seeds that could grow into Golden Radiance Trees. Their conversation about improving Lighthouse and seeking the light left Xu Le wary of Mo Chen’s motives as he departed.

• Xu Le noticed a Doll in Mo Chen’s laboratory and secretly approached the bathroom with his weapon ready, but put it away after reconsidering Mo Chen’s behavior.
• Mo Chen showed Xu Le his artificial organs and explained that the technology could transform medicine but was too costly and immature to reveal.
• Mo Chen gave Xu Le seeds that Xu Le identified as Golden Tree Seeds infused with Lightforging power.
• Mo Chen asked Xu Le about Time-Space Traversal and spoke of working to improve himself and Lighthouse.
• Xu Le said farewell to Mo Chen, took the stairs down, and saw Mo Chen wave from the laboratory window.

Xu Le and his companions analyzed Xiong Zemo’s suspiciously flawless history and concluded that Mo Chen was likely an aging puppet master who had left Xu Le a legacy while preparing to kill them. They decided to draw him into a trap in Lower City, settling on Black Alley in District C and Zhou Tianming as their opportunity.

• Ai Li and Wang Shu presented detailed records of Xiong Zemo’s life and promotions, but the group found no major disruptions in his documented past.
• Gu Beichen suggested Xiong Zemo had sought human puppet technology through Gu Jianuo and that Luo Juya had arranged Shunliu’s attack to thwart him.
• Xu Le described meeting Mo Chen, and the group reasoned that Mo Chen might be near death and had been settling his affairs because of his ideals.
• The group assessed Mo Chen as a level 4 puppet master with at least two powerful puppets and agreed that he would attack them despite Jin Mingzhu trying to stop him.
• Xu Le proposed choosing a battlefield that favored them and identified Black Alley in District C, along with Zhou Tianming, as the way to lure Xiong Zemo into a trap.

Xu Le brought Ai Li, Gu Beichen, and Wang Shu to Black Alley to lure Xiong Zemo’s tracker into an ambush, then asked Zhou Tianming for help securing the venue. Zhou Tianming agreed after learning Xu Le was now a Zion councilor, and Xu Le began explaining his plans.

• Puppet No. 2 watched Xu Le and his companions leave the hotel, then followed them toward the Lower City.
• Xu Le confirmed that a Human Puppet was tracking them and said Black Alley would provide an opportunity for Xiong Zemo to attack.
• Xu Le’s group entered Black Alley and, with Ai Li’s help, reached Sister Sha, who recognized Xu Le and contacted Zhou Tianming.
• Xu Le reunited with Zhou Tianming and asked to use Black Alley to prepare against someone trying to kill him.
• Zhou Tianming read news identifying Xu Le as a Zion councilor and agreed to help after Xu Le explained the threat’s political implications.
• Xu Le began outlining how they would use the venue.

Xiong Zemo sent his Puppets to attack Xu Le in Black Alley, where Xu Le’s group had prepared an ambush. They destroyed Puppet No. 1, but Puppet No. 2 and Puppet No. 3 joined the fight, leaving Ai Li under threat as another fighter intervened.

• Xiong Zemo disguised herself as Luo Juya and entered Black Alley, where she insulted a bunny girl before continuing her reconnaissance.
• Xu Le recognized Luo Juya in the surveillance photographs and prepared the Trading District as a battlefield for Xiong Zemo’s attack.
• Xiong Zemo’s Puppets entered Black Alley, and Xu Le lured Puppet No. 1 into the Trading District, where a die explosion and Gu Beichen’s Volcanic Ash Spell Formula destroyed it.
• Puppet No. 2 attacked Xu Le with the Golden Blade, but Xu Le evaded him and Ai Li engaged him in combat.
• Puppet No. 3, Luo Juya, emerged from Ai Li’s shadow, but a huge claw slammed her into the ground.

Wang Shu and Xu Le fought Xiong Zemo’s coordinated Puppets, who trapped Wang Shu and dragged Xu Le into a massacre at the Flower and Bird Market. Xu Le and Toad killed Gu Jianuo, but Bai Kui pierced Xu Le’s chest, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Wang Shu failed to ambush Luo Juya, who trapped him in shadow bubbles, while Ai Li fought Driver No. 2.
• Luo Juya’s tail hook pierced Xu Le’s spine and dragged him to the Flower and Bird Market, where Xiong Zemo had killed the civilians.
• Toad pulled the hook from Xu Le, and Xu Le and Toad fought Gu Jianuo and Bai Kui as the fifth Puppet joined the battle.
• Xu Le and Toad evaded Bai Kui’s beams and Gu Jianuo’s traps, then used water and thunder to strike Bai Kui and draw Gu Jianuo into a trap.
• Xu Le froze Gu Jianuo with Disaster Strike and used Purgatory Volcano to bury her in lava, but Bai Kui pierced Xu Le’s chest with a Lightforging attack.

Xu Le and Toad defeated Puppets Gu Jianuo and Bai Kui, but Xu Le was left exhausted and surrounded by a strange field of mushrooms. A small golden tree appeared before him, and Mo Chen’s next move remained unclear.

• Xu Le crushed Gu Jianuo with spatial pressure and destroyed her Puppet runes with lightning while Toad held Bai Kui off.
• Xu Le and Toad fought Bai Kui together, and Xu Le used black Divine Punishment to overwhelm him before finishing him with a water-and-lightning attack.
• Xu Le sent the badly injured Toad back to recover and went to check on Ai Li and the others, but mushrooms began growing from the lava and on his body.
• The spores overcame Xu Le’s Elementalization and drained his Spirit Energy, covering him in mushrooms until he fell to the ground.
• A small golden tree grew from the Mushroom Thicket, and an unseen speaker asked Xu Le whether it was beautiful.

Xu Le escaped Mo Chen’s secret laboratory and turned the tables, but Mo Chen fled down a deep passage. Xu Le pursued him into the darkness, where strange red growths suggested a new danger ahead.

• Mo Chen had Xu Le taken to a hidden laboratory, where he revealed his true identity and tried to bind Xu Le with a sealing Spell Formula.
• Xu Le escaped through the Darkness Gate, returned to the laboratory, and stabbed Mo Chen from behind.
• Mo Chen summoned a Man-Eating Flower whose light motes triggered explosions, forcing Xu Le and Mo Chen to flee as the secret room collapsed.
• Xu Le struck Mo Chen with a Thunder Sword, severing one of his arms, and chased him down a long staircase.
• Xu Le followed Mo Chen’s blood trail into a gloomy passage, where a branch resembling a human tongue protruded from the wall.

Xu Le defeated Mo Chen after unleashing Guyinduo’s power to pollute the Golden Radiance Tree, then searched the underground chamber and found Mo Chen’s notebook. Its descriptions and photographs reminded Xu Le of Wang Man, leaving him to reconsider what he had found.

• Xu Le descended through the secret chambers, where he encountered living experiments and followed Mo Chen’s bloodstains to a mire beneath the Lighthouse.
• Mo Chen emerged fused with a Golden Radiance Tree, wounded Xu Le, and overpowered his Living Corpses and Witch Cicadas.
• Xu Le unleashed Guyinduo’s polluting darkness, which spawned Night Demons that consumed the Tree Demon and Mo Chen before Xu Le drew them back through the Darkness Gate.
• Xu Le examined the chamber’s records and found a notebook containing descriptions of a man and a girl, along with a photograph of stockings and high heels.
• Xu Le recalled his friends’ conversation about Wang Man wearing stockings and reopened the bag to inspect the notebook.

Xu Le escaped the sealed chamber with Toad, exposing its passage and the Rotting Oddities inside, then reunited with Ai Li and the others to investigate Mo Chen and Wang Man. He realized Xiong Zemo had arranged events to obtain a new body and had escaped only after Xu Le broke the passage seal, leaving Xu Le to understand that he had unknowingly helped him flee.

• Xu Le failed to open a Boundary-Crossing Gate inside the sealed chamber, then rode Toad up the passage while they fought through Red Moon Oddities.
• Xu Le and Toad broke through the chamber entrance; Xu Le escaped the Night Watchers through a Boundary-Crossing Gate, while the guards discovered the Rotting Oddities spilling from the passage.
• Xu Le reunited with Ai Li, Wang Shu, and Gu Beichen, examined photographs and a notebook, and suspected the apparently dead Mo Chen might be connected to Xiong Zemo and Wang Man.
• Ai Li recalled Luo Juya's strange words about a woman, and Xu Le directed the group toward the Illuminati Church after learning Wang Man had gone to seek entry to High Tower.
• Gu Beichen suggested Mo Chen had been hiding something important, prompting Xu Le to conclude that Xiong Zemo had staged events to secure a new body and survive.
• Xu Le realized the Illuminati had been guarding against Xiong Zemo, who had remained inside the chamber and escaped after Xu Le broke the passage's seal.

Xu Le deduced that Xiong Zemo had pursued a new life by using Mo Chen’s identity as a sacrifice, while Duo Lei investigated the transformed corpses and planned to enter the High Tower with Chi Xiao. At the Illuminati Church, the High Priest captured Wang Man and revealed that he had chosen Xu Le as a more powerful sacrifice, leaving Wang Man trapped as Xu Le approached.

• Xu Le explained that Xiong Zemo’s sincere actions had concealed his selfish goal of abandoning Mo Chen’s identity and gaining a new body.
• Duo Lei examined a corpse made with Golden Tree branches and told Chi Xiao she wanted to investigate the High Tower; Chi Xiao agreed to go with her.
• Wang Man prayed at the Illuminati Church while hiding her contempt for its worship, and the High Priest questioned her about her ideals and love for Xu Le.
• The High Priest told Wang Man to wait for Xu Le, then restrained her with Golden Tree branches when she tried to escape.
• The High Priest said he had replaced Wang Man as his intended sacrifice because Xu Le’s fused Warrior and Warlock power made him more appealing.

Mo Chen used Wang Shu’s Golden Radiance Tree power to trap Xu Le and his allies inside Prayer Room No. 3, revealing a ritual meant to secure himself a new body. As Xu Le’s Polluter darkness clashed with the tree’s golden radiance, Mo Chen began the LV5-Reincarnation Puppet ritual.

• Mo Chen told Wang Man that he intended to take Xu Le’s body, while she secretly tried to warn Lightforging.
• Xu Le’s group reached the Illuminati Church and learned Wang Man was in Prayer Room No. 3; after suspecting a trap, they approached from separate directions.
• Xu Le shot Mo Chen from the doorway, but Wang Shu’s Golden Tree branches touched Mo Chen’s corpse and exposed memories of years of experiments.
• Wang Shu revealed that Mo Chen had taken control of his body and linked it to the Golden Radiance Tree, then attacked Xu Le, Ai Li, and their allies with branches.
• Xu Le’s summons were drained by the tree, and he and Ai Li were wounded as Mo Chen used the tree’s power to overwhelm them.
• Xu Le released his Polluter darkness, but Mo Chen blocked it with golden radiance and began the Survival’s Gift Ritual, LV5-Reincarnation Puppet.

Mo Chen entered Xu Le’s soul world to possess him as part of his advancement ritual, but Xu Le used the Soul Tree and Spirit Energy Pool to manipulate Mo Chen’s emotions and draw him in. Mo Chen remembered his true mission before sinking into the pool, while Ai Li awoke outside and found Xu Le standing atop the tree.

• Mo Chen left Wang Shu’s body and approached Xu Le in soul form as the branches grew and darkness corroded them.
• Mo Chen entered Xu Le’s soul world, found the blue Soul Tree and Spirit Energy Pool, and searched for Xu Le.
• Xu Le spoke to Mo Chen through his reflection in the pool, calmed his emotions, and led him to eat fruits representing anger, greed, and other feelings.
• Mo Chen’s soul began merging into the pool as Xu Le guided his emotions and questioned the conditions of the advancement ritual.
• Ai Li awoke as her wooden body returned to normal and called to Xu Le, who stood silently atop the tree.
• Mo Chen remembered that he was the First-Generation Seed of the Sacred Tree Plan and the Red Moon’s Emissary, then sank into the Spirit Energy Pool and did not rise again.

Xu Le overcame Mo Chen in the Spirit Pool and returned to reality, where he disguised himself and led Ai Li and Wang Man out of the Illuminati prayer room while Wang Shu remained transformed into a tree. At their temporary inn, Xu Le used the Black Staff and the Yellow Springs Reincarnation spell to try to save Wang Shu, and the two were dragged into darkness.

• Xu Le absorbed Mo Chen’s gold into his Spirit Energy Pool, gained a Golden Radiance Tree Fruit-Red Moon, and woke beside Ai Li.
• Xu Le found Wang Shu dangerously decayed in tree form and decided to rescue Wang Man before escaping with him.
• Xu Le dressed as a chief priest, Ai Li disguised herself as a nun, and Wang Man posed as a praying believer while Xu Le opened the blocked doorway and displayed a Golden Radiance Tree sprout.
• Xu Le used the believers’ attention to cover the group’s escape, while Gu Beichen distracted the Illuminati clergy by posing as an Owl from the Red Moon Holy Temple.
• Xu Le brought Wang Shu to a Lower City inn, pierced him with the Black Staff, and cast Spell Formula-Yellow Springs Reincarnation.
• A rotting black root wrapped around Xu Le and Wang Shu and dragged them into darkness.

Xu Le brought Wang Shu to Yellow Springs Land, where the Mother Tree healed him and revealed a Red Moon path for Xu Le’s advancement that required him to abandon darkness. Distrusting the advice, Xu Le sought Night Fiend, who offered him a different Level 4 path focused on darkness.

• Xu Le took the dying Wang Shu to the Mother Tree, which healed him and absorbed the Golden Radiance Tree rules he had brought.
• The Mother Tree gave Xu Le Level 4 advancement requirements that called for abandoning darkness, and explained that the Golden Radiance Tree replicated the Guyinduo Tree while decay resulted from errors in combining light with Red Moon rules.
• Xu Le noticed the Mother Tree’s unusual behavior, returned Wang Shu to the real world, and chose to trust Night Fiend over the Mother Tree’s advice.
• Xu Le embraced the darkness and traveled to the Land of Darkness, where he saw Black Sheep and then found Night Fiend.
• Night Fiend wrote out an alternative Level 4 path, the Darkness Spreader, which required mastering darkness, finding light within it, and completing a night ritual.

Xu Le asked Night Fiend about advancing and learned that he needed to make the path his own, then went to Chi Xiao’s Little Red Building with his group for training and renovation. There, he asked Ding Ke how to advance as a Level 4 Forbidden Warlock, but her answer was a cryptic rhyme.

• Night Fiend told Xu Le that advancement routes mattered less than making them his own, and she urged him to claim the Soul River as his own.
• Xu Le returned to reality, saw Wang Shu recovering, and later found a note saying Ding Ke was at Chi Xiao’s home on Donghua Road.
• Xu Le found Ding Ke eating a pile of food at the Little Red Building, where Chi Xiao explained that she was renovating her childhood home and invited Xu Le’s group to train there.
• Two afternoons later, Xu Le brought his group to the Little Red Building, where Gu Beichen called Chi Xiao the Red Devil and was struck with a steel bucket.
• Xu Le took Ding Ke upstairs and asked how to advance to Level 4 as a Forbidden Warlock, and she scratched out a cryptic rhyme about the Red Moon and her disciples.

Xu Le considered his Level 4 advancement and learned more about Ding Ke’s past with Chi Xiao, then asked Chi Xiao to help him reach the High Tower. Chi Xiao refused to lead an assault but hinted that those who possessed light could ascend more easily, and Xu Le showed her his Golden Radiance Tree sapling.

• Ding Ke wrote out the conditions for her Forbidden Red Moon advancement path and warned Xu Le that the Red Moon Holy Temple had influenced her choices.
• Xu Le chose to pursue the path of darkness and asked Ding Ke how to lift her Whisperer state; Ding Ke asked for Happy Water and chicken drumsticks and said she wanted to see the High Tower.
• Chi Xiao recalled how Ding Ke had protected her as a girl at the Red Moon Holy Temple, and Xu Le learned that the two had once been close friends.
• Xu Le asked Chi Xiao to help him reach the High Tower, but she refused and warned that he would fail if he tried to fight his way to the top.
• Chi Xiao told Xu Le that possessing light would make ascending the High Tower easier, and Xu Le showed her the Golden Radiance Tree sapling on his finger.

Xu Le grew a full-sized Golden Radiance Tree to persuade Chi Xiao to let him enter the High Tower, then used his knowledge of the tree’s decay to impress Duo Lei. Duo Lei invited him to join her trip to the High Tower to investigate the Golden Radiance Tree, securing Xu Le a chance to reach its forbidden heights.

• Xu Le combined lightforging power and spirit energy to grow a large Golden Radiance Tree, and Chi Xiao acknowledged that he qualified to visit the High Tower.
• Chi Xiao warned Xu Le that Duo Lei would arrive soon and suggested he send Wang Shu away if he had not regained human form; a few days later, Wang Shu returned to normal.
• Duo Lei visited Chi Xiao’s renovated home, recognized Xu Le as Zion’s Councilor, and asked him about the Golden Radiance Tree.
• Xu Le described the tree’s attraction to Guyinduo oddities and its decay, drawing on Mo Chen’s research report and leading Duo Lei to suspect the decay’s source lay atop the High Tower.
• Xu Le and Chi Xiao pretended that taking him to the High Tower would be troublesome, but Duo Lei offered to bring him along, and Xu Le accepted.

Xu Le joined Duo Lei and Chi Xiao on an ascent to the High Tower to investigate the Golden Radiance Tree, bringing Wang Man and Ding Ke with him. At the tower, Yu Long recognized Xu Le and revealed her hostility toward Chi Xiao before leading the group upward with a Black Sheep Girl card.

• Duo Lei invited Xu Le to the High Tower, and he chose Wang Man as his sole assistant and brought Ding Ke along.
• Ai Li, Wang Shu, and their companion left separately as Zhou Bi and Jin Mingzhu discussed the Lighthouse Council’s plans and the High Tower’s hidden situation.
• Xu Le recognized Yu Long as the old woman who had once taught him about light and darkness, and learned that she had tried to kill Chi Xiao in the past.
• Yu Long dismissed Duo Lei as too weak to understand the world, then remarked that Xu Le had fewer Threads of Fate entangling him.
• Yu Long drew a Black Card-Black Sheep Girl card and led Xu Le, Duo Lei, Chi Xiao, and Wang Man toward the High Tower.