Chapter Summaries

Chi Xiao defeated and killed Jidu, took the remaining parts of his Lightforging Body, and left a tomb marker for him. In the wilderness, Ai Li and Toad waited for Xu Le to wake, discovered their new abilities, and heard an unknown voice confirm that they had advanced.

• Chi Xiao sealed Jidu, learned that he had served Guyinduo, and revealed that she also used its power while remaining on humanity’s side.
• Jidu offered Chi Xiao the remaining parts of the Lightforging Body, but she rejected him as a traitor and killed him, then absorbed the body parts and burned him to ashes.
• Chi Xiao left Jidu’s stone sculpture in place and carved a tomb marker naming him Red Cloud Walker-Jidu.
• Toad brought Ai Li and the unconscious Xu Le into the wilderness, where it used its new Power of Ashes to start a fire and talked with Ai Li about their enhanced abilities.
• Ai Li sensed someone in the darkness, and an unknown voice told her and Toad that they had both advanced, as had Xu Le.

Chi Xiao entered Xu Le’s Spiritual Space to investigate why he had not awakened, while Xu Le found himself in a strange cottage beside a tree bearing eight mysterious fruits. He identified the fruits as representations of the Children of Guyinduo and Fate before the tree spoke to him, startling him out of its branches.

• Chi Xiao examined Toad’s fused armor and discovered that he carried Ashes Power, then investigated Xu Le’s overwhelming mental world as Night Demons gathered nearby.
• Chi Xiao crossed Xu Le’s vast Spiritual Space and reached a frozen lake of turbulent Spirit Energy at the end of the Rainbow Bridge.
• Xu Le awoke in a flower-filled place near a dusty cottage, where he found dead fish that had not rotted and wondered whether time had stopped there.
• Xu Le picked up a glowing fruit that Guyinduo Vision identified as [Eye of Vision-Light], then read the titles of the seven other fruits on the tree.
• Xu Le concluded that Fate was a special Child of Guyinduo, but the tree spoke to him and startled him into falling.

Xu Le spoke with the Gundo Mother Tree in a projection of his Soul World and learned that the Children of Guyinduo planned to kill Red Moon, then the Mother Tree, before reshaping the world. The Mother Tree asked him to gather the Guyinduo Rules, but Xu Le refused to commit and searched for a way out; as he waited in a cold cabin, Ai Li came to the door.

• Xu Le learned that the Mother Tree wanted him to become a Guyinduo Proxy, but he refused and questioned its motives.
• The Mother Tree explained that the Children of Guyinduo would descend, kill Red Moon and the Mother Tree, then fight to establish a new Order.
• The Mother Tree revealed that the cabin was a projection of Xu Le's Soul World and urged him to gather the Guyinduo Rules, but it could not tell him how to leave.
• Xu Le found himself on an island surrounded by ice, returned to the cabin, and struggled with cold and hunger after losing his abilities.
• Ai Li knocked on the cabin door, and Xu Le recognized her gentle voice.

Xu Le was trapped in a projection of his Soul World, where he faced nightly corpses, lost his abilities, and struggled to find food. After discovering the cabin protected him from the corpses but food spoiled as soon as he carried it outside, he turned to the Gundo Mother Tree for answers.

• Xu Le discovered that a dried corpse had imitated Ai Li’s voice, and he blasted it apart with a chair before it revived using the Guyinduo Substitute Life Technique.
• Xu Le kept watch inside the cabin until morning, then found that the snow and corpses had vanished and confirmed that the island was surrounded by freezing wind, snow, and ice.
• Xu Le asked the Mother Tree what the corpses were, and it explained that the island was a projection of his Soul World shaped by his will.
• Xu Le spent another day in the cabin and survived a second night of corpse attacks, but grew dangerously hungry because he had no food.
• Xu Le carried three dead fish outside to clean them, but they rapidly withered into inedible husks, so he turned toward the Gundo Mother Tree.

Xu Le realized the Gundo Mother Tree was manipulating him inside his Soul World and attacked it, but learned it could survive through anyone who used Guyinduo Power. After contacting Chi Xiao through the cabin door, he took her hand and regained strength as he launched another attack on the Mother Tree.

• Xu Le discovered that Guyinduo Fruits changed when taken outside the cabin and suspected the Mother Tree was guiding him toward eating them.
• Xu Le read a warning carved into the cabin door, took an axe outside, and attacked the Gundo Mother Tree.
• Xu Le concluded the cabin was his Soul World's defense and that the Mother Tree had entered through a Beacon, but the Mother Tree revealed its Substitute Life Technique.
• Xu Le carved a message on the door, and Chi Xiao replied that he should imagine her beside him and hold her hand when approaching the force trapping him.
• Xu Le imagined Chi Xiao beside him, clasped her hand, regained power, and swung the axe at the Mother Tree with Flowing Blade Like Fire.

Xu Le destroyed the Gundo Mother Tree’s island and lost the Spiritual Space tied to it, then awakened his real Soul Tree on the icefield and cultivated new fruits. When he returned to his companions, a huge Night Demon army surrounded their camp, and Xu Le offered to handle it.

• Xu Le burned the Gundo Mother Tree, which warned that Guyinduo’s will would endure and that they would meet again before it was consumed.
• The island and Xu Le’s Spiritual Space disappeared, leaving him on the icefield, where Chi Xiao found him and his senses and Spirit Energy returned.
• After Chi Xiao left, Xu Le placed the Eye of Vision-Light on a newly awakened Soul Tree and cultivated a second fruit, Night Fiend’s Approval-Darkness.
• Chi Xiao returned to camp and learned from Ai Li that Night Demons had attacked repeatedly; as a much larger army gathered, she prepared to fight.
• Xu Le woke and, seeing the Night Demon army, told Chi Xiao and the others that he would handle it.

Xu Le returned to Tianrui Lifeng after the insect disaster and prepared to study his abilities, while Ai Li and Toad reported what they gained from advancing. His attempt to enter seclusion instead transported him to a gathering of the Children of Guyinduo.

• Xu Le used Black Curse - Command to make the wild Night Demons disperse, then told Chi Xiao he had absorbed the two portions of the Lightforging Body; Chi Xiao left without sharing the portions she held.
• Toad revealed that he had gained Ashes and could breathe fire, while Ai Li demonstrated her projected Elemental Thunder in the form of a lightning blade.
• Xu Le returned to Tianrui Lifeng, told Ai Li to monitor two people without disturbing them, and let her decide whether to guide Bai Jing toward their side.
• Xu Le activated his Lightforging Energy and Power of Darkness to enter secluded training, but the spatial passage carried him to pillars where Night Fiend and Puppet stood among the Children of Guyinduo.

Xu Le joined the Children of Guyinduo in a sealed gathering place as their representative of Light and learned that they were beginning the descent by undoing an ancient seal. Night Fiend told him to absorb the seven projections openly while the seal was being lifted.

• Xu Le identified the distant figures as Forest, Gangshi, Dragon, and a dangerously seductive woman, while Night Fiend warned him to stay silent.
• Xu Le realized the Eye of Vision—Light fruit had likely brought him to the gathering, where Fate gave him a White Card - Coin and recognized his sensitivity to fate.
• Gangshi announced that the new Light had appeared and all conditions for the descent were met, while Fate explained they would face the ninefold seal from the war of the old century.
• Night Fiend reassured Xu Le that he only needed to infuse his Rules to help undo the seal and promised to cover for him if he failed.
• Night Fiend told Xu Le to absorb the power of the seven projections during the unsealing, since they would not fight back while keeping the sealed place stable.

Xu Le joined the Children of Guyinduo in breaking a seal by directing light into Fate’s projection, while Fate’s provocations stirred suspicion among the assembled beings. After the other Children took their turns, Fate withheld the final aphorism and whispered to Xu Le that he had seen through his scheme with Night Fiend.

• Night Fiend told Xu Le to grow stronger by absorbing the Children of Guyinduo’s projected power, and Fate began the seal-breaking ritual with an image of a meteor striking Deep Blue.
• Night Fiend poured darkness into the projection, then Fate asked Xu Le to open the eye of the world; Dragon sent Xu Le a reassuring message that no one would attack him.
• Xu Le used Soul Devouring and Guyinduo Vision to channel light into the projection as Fate repeatedly needled him, until Puppet called out Fate for sowing discord.
• Fate recited aphorisms as Gangshi, Forest, Rose, and Dragon each added their power to the projection, completing the sequence except for Fate’s final turn.
• Fate withheld the last aphorism despite Dragon’s demand, prompting Night Fiend to warn Xu Le to flee into the Dark Realm if the ritual failed.
• Fate left the projection, leaned toward Xu Le, and whispered that he had seen through Xu Le and Night Fiend’s scheme before telling him to remember what he was about to say.

Fate and the Children of Guyinduo powered the light and shadow to break the seal, while Xu Le drained their projections to strengthen himself. As the Sealed Land shattered, the Guyinduo World began descending upon Deep Blue Star.

• Fate had the Children of Guyinduo channel their Rules and Spirit Energy into the light and shadow, and Xu Le used the Soul Devouring Tree and his Icefield Spirit Energy Pool to keep up with its demands.
• Xu Le noticed Rose's projection weakening and pierced it with a hidden Soul Devouring branch, drawing out her source power despite her anger.
• Xu Le explained that he needed to grow stronger before the Children of Guyinduo descended, then formed a lust fruit from Rose's power and absorbed the projections of Night Fiend and the other Children.
• Xu Le's Soul Devouring Tree produced fruits for darkness, lust, plants, stone, logic, giant, and fate, though he marked Taboo-Fate as dangerous and left it uneaten.
• Fate announced the moment of descent, and the Sealed Land began collapsing as the light and shadow opened a Spatial Gate.
• The Guyinduo World began appearing across Deep Blue Star, where Oddities prostrated themselves and rushed toward newly emerged lands of magma, forests, caves, and darkness.

Xu Le maintained the collapsing Sealed Land long enough to absorb energy from the Children of Guyinduo and secretly kept Fate’s final aphorism to himself. He transformed the Soul Devouring branches into living trees, crossed the void to devour Forest’s projection for its power of Rot, and prepared to absorb Night Fiend next.

• Xu Le used the Soul Devouring Tree to bind the seven pillars and absorb the energy of six Children of Guyinduo, while Fate’s power remained beyond his reach.
• Xu Le recalled Fate’s secret aphorism and decided not to tell anyone, then saw that the Sealed Land would collapse before he could absorb all the projections.
• Xu Le used the Life-Binding Technique to turn Soul Devouring branches into living trees that held the pillars and drew energy from the void rifts.
• Xu Le marked the Soul Devouring Tree, opened a Super Boundary-Crossing Gate, and crossed the void rifts to reach Forest’s projection.
• Xu Le pierced and devoured Forest’s projection, absorbing her information and Spirit Energy as the Soul Devouring Tree’s growth expanded his Icefield Spirit Lake.
• Xu Le chose Night Fiend as his next target, intending to combine darkness with Forest’s Rot.

Xu Le absorbed the powers of the Children of Guyinduo and reached Fate’s projection in the void, where he learned how his aphorism of fate had changed. Fate urged him to advance beyond the Children of Guyinduo before seemingly dissipating into Xu Le.

• Xu Le absorbed the projections of Night Fiend, Puppet, Gangshi, Dragon, and Rose, gaining powerful darkness and suffering from the strain of his growing power.
• Xu Le created a Substitute Doll and sent it into the void, then used its Soul Devouring Mark to teleport himself to Fate’s projection.
• Xu Le found Fate’s projection and began absorbing its power, while Fate explained that its aphorism had repeatedly changed since Xu Le arrived.
• Fate told Xu Le that his original destiny had been to become Lightforging, but his current fate was unclear and Fate itself had become meaningless to it.
• Fate urged Xu Le to advance beyond the Children of Guyinduo, and its projection dissipated as Xu Le absorbed it.

After Xu Le’s powers became unstable, he escaped to the Land of Darkness, where Night Fiend gave him the Fading Fire to restore his balance. Night Fiend chose to leave her endless solitude behind, and Xu Le awakened with his powers stabilized as she asked him for another story.

• Xu Le discovered that the Black Staff had merged with the Soul Devouring Tree, letting him open Dark Vortices without it, then fled the collapsing Sealed Land for the Land of Darkness.
• Night Fiend ordered the Night Demons to bring Xu Le to her bonfire, and their bodies faded away as they carried him into its light.
• Night Fiend told Black Sheep she wanted to leave the Land of Darkness and experience the journey ahead, then took the Fading Fire from the bonfire.
• Night Fiend passed the Fireseed to Xu Le, whose Soul Devouring Tree absorbed Icefield Spirit Energy and brought his chaotic powers into balance with the Fading Fire.
• Xu Le woke beside Night Fiend, and she asked him to call her boss and tell her another story.

Xu Le told Night Fiend the story of The Shawshank Redemption, and she decided to leave the Land of Darkness after reflecting on its message and her confinement. Back on the Icefield, Xu Le found the Soul Devouring Tree vastly enlarged and burning, while his powers began to dissipate as he climbed toward the canopy.

• Xu Le told Night Fiend the story of Andy's imprisonment and escape, and she admired his perseverance.
• Night Fiend warned Xu Le that his clashing powers were only suppressed and that he needed to find a way to control them; after he left, she revealed to Black Sheep that becoming one with her would preserve his consciousness while darkness consumed the world.
• Night Fiend told Black Sheep she would leave the Land of Darkness and see the outside world, then bid farewell to her cage.
• Xu Le returned to the Icefield and discovered that the Soul Devouring Tree had grown enormous, with flames at its crown and Spirit Energy ice falling around it.
• As Xu Le climbed the Soul Devouring Tree, his abilities began to dissipate, but he used its branches to reach the canopy and saw flames battling seven-colored light.

Xu Le used Night Fiend’s campfire to stabilize his powers and began consolidating them into Darkness, while Chi Xiao encountered Night Fiend in the Red Moon Holy Temple. Night Fiend calmly acknowledged that the Temple’s description of her as a scourge upon the world was not wrong.

• Xu Le realized Night Fiend’s campfire suppressed other powers and sat down by the Soul Devouring Tree to sort out his abilities without disturbing its balance.
• Xu Le ate the Darkness Fruit, absorbed its stable power, and merged thunder and Red Sha into darkness.
• After spending an unknown amount of time consolidating his energies, Xu Le turned to the Forest Fruit as his next power to absorb.
• Chi Xiao returned to the Red Moon Holy Temple and, while heading toward a restaurant, saw Night Fiend riding a black goat with a little girl dressed in white.
• Chi Xiao greeted Night Fiend respectfully and asked why she had come to the Temple, noting that its propaganda called her a scourge upon the world.
• Night Fiend replied that the description was not actually wrong.

Chi Xiao treated Night Fiend and Black Goat to a meal, helping the aimless Night Fiend rediscover the simple pleasure of food. As Night Fiend began drinking, Chi Xiao asked why she had come to the Red Moon Holy Temple.

• Night Fiend and Black Goat accepted Chi Xiao's invitation to eat at a nearby shop, whose assistant secretly worked as a spy.
• Chi Xiao encouraged Night Fiend to savor the food and explained that ordinary pleasures could bring happiness even to the powerful.
• Night Fiend reflected on her aimlessness after giving the Fading Flame to Xu Le and realized she could experience ordinary people's pleasures.
• Night Fiend tried the food slowly, enjoyed its sweet-and-sour flavor, and asked the assistant to bring alcohol.
• Night Fiend and Black Goat drank liquor, and Chi Xiao asked Night Fiend why she had come to the Red Moon Holy Temple.

Chi Xiao confronted Night Fiend to prevent a clash with the Red Moon Holy Temple, but Night Fiend pulled her into the Land of Darkness and left her in a stupor. As Night Fiend and Black Sheep discussed Xu Le and dealt with a suspicious waiter, Night Fiend decided she might simply kill everyone who caused trouble.

• Chi Xiao asked Night Fiend not to clash with the Red Moon Holy Temple before its members were ready, explaining that they could lose their spirit energy and die or become corrupted.
• Night Fiend dragged Chi Xiao's mind into the Land of Darkness, where Chi Xiao faced powerful Night Demons and unleashed Flame Emperor to destroy thousands of them.
• Night Fiend ignored Chi Xiao's stupor and ate with Black Sheep, which argued that Chi Xiao's connection to Xu Le was a reason to spare her.
• Night Fiend called for more wine and food, while the waiter grew suspicious of Chi Xiao and showed interest in her.
• Black Sheep warned Night Fiend that the waiter had bad intentions toward the weakest of them, and Night Fiend suggested killing everyone who came looking for trouble while leaving their money untouched.

Night Fiend spared Chi Xiao and sent Xu Le to the Land of Darkness to learn about its origins and about her. There, Xu Le rescued Chi Xiao and used the Fading Fire to witness Night Fiend’s past, including how she became Night Fiend and sought to suppress her uncontrollable Eternal Darkness.

• Night Fiend decided not to kill Chi Xiao and told Black Sheep to take food and wine as they left the eatery.
• Xu Le absorbed the powers from the Soul-Devouring Large Tree, examined the Fading Fire, and received Night Fiend’s instruction to go to the Land of Darkness.
• Xu Le arrived in the Land of Darkness, found Chi Xiao surrounded by Night Demons, and drove them back with a command.
• Xu Le carried the unconscious Chi Xiao to Night Fiend’s old campfire and lit it with the Fading Fire, revealing Night Fiend’s memories.
• The memories showed how Night Fiend’s Eternal Darkness grew beyond her control, how she killed Lightforging while searching for a way to stop it, and how she used the Fading Fire and branches of the Gundo Mother Tree to suppress it.

Xu Le learned how the Land of Darkness came to be and tested whether the Fading Fire could let Soul Devouring Trees grow there, then spent eight days cultivating beside Chi Xiao until she awoke. After hearing how Night Fiend had defeated Chi Xiao and why Chi Xiao had tried to delay a conflict at the Red Moon Holy Temple, Xu Le agreed to let her help him train.

• Xu Le learned that Night Fiend had turned the Abandoned Land into the Land of Darkness while using the Fading Fire to suppress her own darkness.
• Xu Le used the Fading Fire to keep a Soul Devouring Tree seed alive, but the sapling could grow only about one meter before the darkness stopped it.
• Xu Le spent eight days planting Soul Devouring Trees and cultivating beside Chi Xiao, whose condition gradually improved.
• Chi Xiao woke and told Xu Le that Night Fiend had defeated her with a single look after they met at the Red Moon Holy Temple.
• Chi Xiao explained that she had tried to prevent Night Fiend from clashing with the temple because many of their people there still could not neutralize their Spirit Energy.
• Xu Le agreed to stay in the Land of Darkness and let Chi Xiao help him train, hoping her flames might help him fuse his powers with the Fading Fire.

Xu Le taught Chi Xiao about the independent rules possessed by the Children of Guyinduo and explained why Night Fiend was uniquely beyond reach. He absorbed Chi Xiao’s flame spell formulas over several days, leaving her wondering whether flames could purify everything.

• Xu Le explained that rules let the Children of Guyinduo endure unless their rules were completely broken, while Night Fiend was uniquely powerful and continued to expand without limit.
• Chi Xiao decided to pursue strength rather than dwell on how to defeat Night Fiend, then asked Xu Le to begin teaching her flame calamity formulas.
• Xu Le absorbed Chi Xiao’s Level 1 fireball and successive flame formulas, transforming them into black flames through the Soul Devouring Tree.
• By the afternoon of the fifth day, Xu Le had mastered the first six levels of flame spell formulas and cast them without incantation seals.
• Xu Le explained that rules were powers belonging entirely to their wielder, prompting Chi Xiao to ask whether flames could purify everything.