Chapter Summaries

Xu Le interrogated and killed Mei Li'en, a Red Moon Holy Temple spy investigating the Lighthouse incident, while choosing to keep Duo Min alive as a source of misinformation. He later explained his rift with the Gundo Mother Tree to Yan Luo, who stayed loyal to him, and let Duo Min witness the Furnace processing Oddities.

• Wang Shu and the security guards took Mei Li'en to an underground warehouse, where Xu Le questioned him about the Red Moon Holy Temple's investigation into the Lighthouse incident and Duo Lei's disappearance.
• After Mei Li'en revealed that Mother of Life Meilis had sent him, Xu Le ordered Wang Shu to kill him and decided to keep the other spy, Duo Min, alive to send information back.
• At the Red Moon Holy Temple's border, Gu Beichen shared information with Duo Min, who praised his work as an informant and invited him to consider further training.
• Xu Le told Yan Luo that he had grown estranged from the Gundo Mother Tree, and Yan Luo chose to remain with him and protect the Soul Tree.
• Duo Min arrived at the Furnace, where Xu Le deliberately let her watch Oddities being broken down into blue Guyinduo light.

Xu Le let Duo Min photograph the Furnace while guarding its true secret, then told Li Wen that Sky City should eventually be large enough to hold all of Zion. He entered the Mother Tree Realm to ask Chi Xiao for help building it, but Death’s Nail attacked him before she heard his request.

• Duo Min visited the Furnace, questioned Xu Le about his research, and took photographs after he allowed her to look around.
• Xu Le and Li Wen discussed Zion’s Red Moon Holy Temple guardians and Sky City’s design, and Xu Le proposed leaving its framework expandable until it could hold Zion’s entire population.
• Xu Le instructed Ai Li to follow Duo Min, then entered the Mother Tree Realm with a Black Card-Black Sheep Girl and the Black Staff prepared for emergencies.
• Xu Le found Chi Xiao in the Mother Tree Realm, where Death’s Nail emerged and attacked him before Chi Xiao ordered it away.
• Xu Le asked Chi Xiao to help him build houses.

Xu Le persuaded Chi Xiao to build Sky City’s metal framework, then used the Calamity of the Sky to make it float. The framework rose slightly as Xu Le drained his Spirit Energy Pool to power it, leaving him badly strained.

• Xu Le asked Chi Xiao to build Sky City, and she agreed after he accepted her request to take care of Ding Ke and she called him a friend.
• Li Wen gathered resources while Ai Li, Wang Shu, and Toad carried out Xu Le’s Ancient God Species policy, and Xu Le and Gu Beichen fed Duo Min misleading intelligence.
• With only days remaining before the Black Tide, Chi Xiao used Forbidden Art-Tyranny and Draw to shape metal into Sky City’s framework.
• Xu Le activated the Calamity of the Sky and poured Spirit Energy into the framework, causing it to rise while leaving him exhausted and bleeding from the nose.

Xu Le made Sky City's metal framework float, and Li Wen mobilized Zion to turn it into a usable platform before the Black Tide. As the construction and weapons transfers continued, the chapter ended with Xu Le watching the Sun on the thirtieth, less than twelve hours before the Red Moon Calamity.

• Xu Le took control of Chi Xiao's metal framework and made it rise into the sky, impressing Xia Libo and Li Wen.
• Li Wen supported Xu Le's plan to build on the framework, and they decided to use concrete and repurpose cannons because Zion lacked enough steel.
• Li Wen ordered engineers and workers to build a platform and transfer weapons to Sky City, while Zion prepared for the Black Tide in six days.
• Zion's Progressives, engineers, migrant workers, Guards, and Law Enforcers worked outside the city as the Black Tide drew near.
• On the thirtieth, Xu Le watched the Sun as the Red Moon Calamity countdown showed less than twelve hours remaining.

Gu Beichen ambushed Duo Min to stop her from carrying Zion’s secrets back to the Red Moon Holy Temple, but she proved difficult to defeat and nearly escaped. Xu Le joined the fight with a dark-powered shot, leaving Duo Min wounded as the battle continued.

• Xu Le decided to help Gu Beichen deal with Duo Min before the Black Tide exposed Zion’s secrets.
• Gu Beichen stabbed Duo Min with a poisoned fruit knife, then used Chi Xiao’s Forbidden Art-Dragon’s Wrath to attack her and destroy the basement containing her gathered information.
• Duo Min tried to escape with her Teleportation Book, but spatial interference blocked it; she realized Xu Le might have taken Duo Lei’s book and prepared a countermeasure.
• Duo Min used Surging Waves to trap Gu Beichen in water and ice, but Xu Le shot her through the ribs with a bullet that unleashed dark power.
• Gu Beichen taunted the wounded Duo Min, and Xu Le fired a second shot.

Gu Beichen killed Duo Min and explained why he trusted Xu Le rather than the Red Moon Holy Temple or Zion. As the Black Tide approached, Sky City rose above Zion with ninety-six Orbital Cannons, and Xu Lei and Xu Ting joined the battle as the first Oddities appeared.

• Gu Beichen shot Duo Min until she could no longer move, then burned her body after explaining that he believed Xu Le could lead them toward the light.
• Xu Le gathered Zion's elite Enforcers on Sky City's platform and ordered them to provide armed support for the ground during the Black Tide.
• Sky City took flight and traveled above Zion as Ai Li briefed the Enforcers on their artillery sectors and plans to target large Oddities and herd smaller ones.
• Xu Lei became a spotter for Xu Ting at an Orbital Cannon, but several cannons fired at the first Level 5 Giant in their sector before he finished aiming.
• Xu Ting urged Xu Lei to hurry, and he rallied himself to help kill the approaching Oddities.

Zion unleashed its weapons against the Black Tide while Xu Le demonstrated his dark powers and won the loyalty of the soldiers and Law Enforcers. Yi Xiaoya stopped Xiao An from moving against him, while Lighthouse waited through a strangely quiet Black Tide as a bloody battle unfolded beyond its perimeter.

• Li Wen watched Zion’s Orbital Cannons devastate the Oddities and joked with Xu Le over the Communicator.
• Xu Le used his dark mist to drain a flock of Night Ravens, and the Law Enforcers accepted his power and pledged to serve him.
• Xu Le ordered Zion to unleash its full firepower and expanded the dark mist across the battlefield.
• Yi Xiaoya struck down Xiao An’s plan to arrest Xu Le, and Xiao An left to continue observing Zion.
• Jin Mingzhu and Zhou Bi waited in Lighthouse because no Black Tide Oddities had appeared, unaware that plants and animals were fighting bloodily beyond the city perimeter.

After the Black Tide, Zhou Bi and Jin Mingzhu investigated the outskirts of Lighthouse and found mountains of dead oddities, a severed plant root, and holes beneath a giant’s corpse. When they returned to Lighthouse, Xu Le emerged from a spatial gateway to meet them.

• Corrupted roots battled the Black Tide oddities outside Lighthouse, feeding the Rotting Tree and Soul Torch until dawn.
• Zhou Bi reassured the laborers that they would be paid, then joined Jin Mingzhu and the Night Watchers in investigating the outskirts.
• Jin Mingzhu and the team discovered a vast field of oddity corpses, including a giant, and found a severed Rotting Tree Branch inside its body.
• The team uncovered large holes beneath the giant’s corpse, and Zhou Bi decided to go to Zion to speak with Xu Le.
• On their return, Jin Mingzhu sensed someone nearby, and Xu Le stepped through a gateway of darkness and soul flames.

Xu Le met with Zhou Bi and Jin Mingzhu to discuss Lighthouse’s new Soul Tree and prepare for the Red Moon Holy Temple’s investigation. He urged them to tell the temple that he had learned the tree’s secret and that it could devour Oddities, while Red Moon Meilis mourned her latest children and sent a masked woman to Lighthouse.

• Xu Le emerged from the spatial gate, and Zhou Bi and Jin Mingzhu raised concerns about the city’s safety and the Soul Tree.
• Jin Mingzhu explained that the old Golden Radiance Tree had corrupted and drained living creatures, while Xu Le said the purified Soul Tree could protect Lighthouse.
• Xu Le advised Zhou Bi and Jin Mingzhu to maintain Lighthouse’s defenses but expect future Black Tides to pose little danger.
• Xu Le told them to answer the Red Moon Holy Temple’s questions honestly and reveal that he had learned the Soul Tree could devour Oddities.
• Red Moon Meilis grieved the deaths of Duo Min and Mei Li'en, said she had 196 children left, and ordered a masked woman to go to Lighthouse.

Zhou Bi told Duo Xi and Duo En what he knew about Xu Le and the Soul Tree, while Duo En and Jin Mingzhu fought in his office. Duo En stopped short of killing Jin Mingzhu after Zhou Bi warned that Lighthouse would revolt, then questioned him about what Xu Le had told him to hide.

• After arranging Lighthouse’s affairs, Zhou Bi met Duo Xi and Duo En, who demanded information about the Soul Tree in exchange for cooperation and protection.
• Zhou Bi recounted Xu Le’s discoveries about the Soul Tree and its role in defending Lighthouse, following Xu Le’s advice to tell the truth the first time.
• Duo Xi stayed behind as Duo En went to investigate the Soul Tree, and Jin Mingzhu burst into the office to attack Duo Xi.
• Duo En overwhelmed Jin Mingzhu, then raised her fist to strike her while Zhou Bi warned that killing them would provoke Lighthouse’s people and ruin the Red Moon Holy Temple’s plans.
• Duo En calmed down and asked Zhou Bi what Xu Le had told him to conceal, and Zhou Bi realized Xu Le had been scheming ahead.

Duo En and Duo Xi investigated the Soul Tree, but Andy captured Duo Xi and brought her to Xu Le. After questioning Duo Xi about Meilis and the Red Moon Holy Temple, Xu Le offered her soul energy in exchange for information about Meilis’s plans.

• Zhou Bi convinced Duo En and Duo Xi that he had revealed everything about his arrangement with Xu Le, and the two left him and Jin Mingzhu behind.
• At the Soul Tree, Duo Xi nearly gave in to the Soulfire’s temptation, and Duo En broke her neck to shock her back to her senses before they split up to investigate.
• Andy appeared beside Duo Xi, cut off her head, and carried it to Xu Le, who pulled out her tongue twice when she threatened him.
• Duo Xi explained that Meilis was the Red Moon Holy Temple’s deputy head and wanted Xu Le dead, then warned him that Meilis had sent Duo En and would keep trying to kill him.
• Xu Le offered Duo Xi access to soul energy in exchange for information about Meilis’s methods and intentions.

Xu Le recruited Duo Xi into an ongoing bargain for Soulfire in exchange for information and arranged for her to pursue her mission against him in Zion. Meanwhile, Duo En fought off a swarm of Night Demons outside Lighthouse, while an unseen observer decided to wait for her in Zion.

• Xu Le let Duo Xi experience the Soulfire and promised further relief from her soul craving in exchange for useful information or tasks.
• Duo Xi told Xu Le she was headed to Zion to assess the situation and kill him, and he asked her to follow her mission and notify him when she arrived.
• Andy gave Duo Xi a blue petal to use when her craving returned, and Xu Le left through a spatial gateway.
• Duo En investigated drained Black Tide Oddity corpses outside Lighthouse and sensed darkness gathering around her.
• Duo En fought and killed more than thirty Night Demons and a parasitic Ghost-Type Oddity before the remaining Night Demons retreated.
• An unseen observer watched Duo En through the Night Demons and said they would wait for her in Zion.

Xu Le arranged to face an assassination by Duo En and Duo Xi, sending his friends away before leading a convoy into the wilderness. Duo En attacked the convoy, killed a Red Moon Warlock, and left Xu Le’s fate unresolved.

• Xu Le told Toad that the Red Moon Holy Temple intended to kill him and refused to flee to the Ancient God Realm because his friends and lover were in Zion.
• Duo Xi and Duo En arrived in Zion, then read a report saying Xu Le would travel into the wilderness to recruit Mountain God.
• Xu Le persuaded Ai Li to stay behind with Wang Shu and set out with a convoy of elite Zion Enforcers, while Duo Xi and Duo En followed.
• Duo Xi and Duo En chose to ambush the convoy before it reached Mountain God's territory, and Duo En launched the attack.
• Duo En evaded the guards' fire and decapitated a Red Moon Warlock, after which the Law Enforcers opened fire.

Duo En attacked Xu Le’s convoy, but Xu Le and the Law Enforcers fought back with their weapons, familiars, and abilities. After surviving their heaviest attack, Duo En was revealed to be a puppet controlled by a dainty woman, leaving her true threat unresolved.

• Duo En endured the Law Enforcers’ concentrated energy fire, while Duo Xi attacked the convoy to draw their attention and was blasted apart.
• Duo En struck at the Law Enforcers and charged Xu Le, whose counterattack and allies’ intervention gave the squad an opening to attack her together.
• Duo En crushed the Black Sword Familiar’s head, broke Toad’s leg, and was injured when Toad stabbed out one of her eyes.
• Xu Le, the Law Enforcers, and their allies bombarded Duo En with lightning and Guyinduo dice, leaving her body badly damaged.
• The smoke cleared to reveal that Duo En was a puppet, and a dainty woman appeared on her shoulder.

Xu Le and the convoy’s Law Enforcers fought Duo En and Duo Xi, but their opponents overwhelmed the group. Xu Le used his strongest attack to destroy Duo En’s Puppet and send the wounded back to Zion, yet Duo En emerged stronger and left him facing a seemingly hopeless fight.

• Duo En revived her Puppet with a bloody mist while Xu Le and the Law Enforcers attacked, and Duo Xi returned to the battlefield.
• Duo Xi softened the ground as Duo En attacked, disrupting the Law Enforcers and letting the sisters overwhelm them.
• Xu Le summoned the Boundary-Crossing Gate and used Teleportation Scrolls to send wounded fighters back to Zion while fighting off Duo En and her Puppet.
• Xu Le unleashed the Night Demons to distract Duo En and Duo Xi, then helped the survivors escape before facing Duo En with Toad.
• Xu Le trapped Duo En with threads of fate and destroyed her Puppet with a powerful sword strike, but Duo En survived and revealed greater strength.

Duo En captured Xu Le and broke his Substitute Life Technique, but Xu Le arranged for Toad to kill him with the Steel Fork so the Red Moon Holy Temple could not take him alive. News of Xu Le’s death reached Zion, where Ai Li concealed her hope that he might return and Li Wen prepared to pressure the temple.

• Duo En defeated Xu Le, disabled his Substitute Life Technique, and decided to take him back to the Red Moon Holy Temple.
• Xu Le transformed into a vessel for the Soul Tree, summoned Toad, and had him pierce his heart with the Steel Fork.
• Duo En and Duo Xi confirmed Xu Le’s death and decided to report to Mother and prepare for Zion’s protests.
• A wounded soldier told Ai Li and Wang Shu that Xu Le had been ambushed, and Ai Li sent word to Minister Li Wen.
• Ai Li found the Tree mark still bright on her back, then put on a black suit and concealed her feelings.
• Secretary Liu informed Li Wen that Xu Le had been attacked, and Li Wen ordered preparations to pressure the Red Moon Holy Temple.

Xu Le awakened after using Light of Hope to revive and secretly traveled from Zion to Tianrui Lifeng, leaving Zion to develop without him. He reunited with Chi Xiao in the Mother Tree Realm, learned about her long-life reward, and arrived in the airship’s hold with Ding Ke as they prepared to begin new lives under new identities.

• Xu Le revived inside a cargo crate aboard an airship bound for Tianrui Lifeng and decided to stay hidden while Zion developed in his absence.
• Xu Le entered the Mother Tree Realm and told Chi Xiao that he could still identify her rewards despite the Gundo Mother Tree rejecting him.
• Xu Le explained the value of Chi Xiao’s Mystery-Longevity fruit and learned that eating too many Longevity Fruits could cause Guyinduo Power to accumulate and repel Red Moon Spirit Energy.
• Chi Xiao offered Xu Le help in Tianrui Lifeng through the Revolutionary Army Headquarters and White Monkey, and she accepted him as a friend.
• Xu Le returned to the airship’s hold, freed Ding Ke from another crate, and told it to act like a normal cat when they began their new lives in Tianrui Lifeng.

Xu Le arrived in Tianrui Lifeng hoping to start a new life as a mercenary, but discovered that gangs provided protection while the city’s government seemed corrupt. After skipping the Evil Wolf Gang’s fee, he was taken by Law Enforcers to a registration office, where he expressed interest in becoming a mercenary and adventurer.

• Xu Le disguised himself as a Tianrui Lifeng mercenary and boarded an airship with Ding Ke.
• Members of the Evil Wolf Gang demanded protection money, but let Xu Le go when he refused; he learned from a passenger that gangs provided protection in Tianrui Lifeng.
• After two days of travel, Xu Le arrived in the wall-less city, where Evil Wolf Gang members pointed him out for not paying and civilians treated him as suspicious.
• Two Law Enforcers took Xu Le to register as a newcomer, and Captain Zhang brought him to an old building.
• Xu Le told Captain Zhang that he had come as a tourist and dreamed of becoming a mercenary and adventurer, prompting Zhang to react with eager approval.

Xu Le used fear magic and lightning to punish the corrupt guards at an old-era headquarters in Tianrui Lifeng, then emerged in a new disguise. He introduced himself to the Evil Wolf Gang as Red Beard-Ding Ke.

• Xu Le heard Captain Zhang and another guard plot to extort him, then used Breath of Fear to incapacitate Xiao Liu.
• Xu Le crafted a bearded monocle disguise from junk and confronted Captain Zhang, who mistook him for someone sent by the Evil Wolf Gang.
• Captain Zhang shot at Xu Le, but Xu Le was unharmed, blasted Captain Zhang's thigh with coins, and killed a fleeing subordinate before finishing Captain Zhang.
• Xu Le attacked the guard headquarters, killing those who resisted and leaving the others with lasting fear as the building collapsed and burned.
• The Evil Wolf Gang cordoned off the scene and kept the public away before Xu Le emerged in a red suit and called himself Red Beard-Ding Ke.

Xu Le maintained his Redbeard Ding Ke disguise in Tianrui Lifeng, intimidated the Evil Wolf Gang, and found lodging while learning how the cities reacted to his reported death. He decided to become a mercenary, but an unexpected visitor knocked on his tavern room door that night.

• Xu Le acted like a crazed outsider, killed a Guard Hall guard despite the Evil Wolf Gang leader's warning, and then left the area with Ding Ke.
• Xu Le and Ding Ke explored the Harvest District, bought cat toys, and rented a room at the Wooden Door Little Tavern.
• Xu Le overheard that Zion was confronting the Red Moon Holy Temple over his reported death, while Lighthouse's protests had little influence and Tianrui Lifeng watched the dispute.
• Xu Le told Ding Ke he planned to become a mercenary in Tianrui Lifeng, though he had not decided whether to work independently or join a corps.
• After Xu Le and Ding Ke went to bed, someone knocked on their door and offered them service.