Chapter Summaries

Lin Yuan searched the hidden realm for relics and found none, then discovered Lilia had been living there after eating its supplies. Lilia had grown stronger and changed in appearance, and the two prepared to leave after she explained how easily she had reached the realm.

• Lin Yuan searched the hidden realm for the founder's relics but found no treasures.
• Lin Yuan found Lilia beside the drained blood pool, where she had changed from a wooden puppet in appearance.
• Lilia accused Lin Yuan of stealing her bathwater, and he admitted the Life Tree Sapling had drained the pool.
• Lilia said she had eaten the hidden realm's food, grown stronger, and spent her time eating, sleeping, and bathing.
• Lin Yuan learned Lilia had been teleported straight into the hidden realm, while he had endured trials to reach it.

Lin Yuan discovered that Lilia had absorbed the Dragon’s Blood and produced a Dragon Blood Jade, then entered the ordinary Legacy chamber to collect the Sanctum Knights’ records. The chapter ended as he found Wayne Drake’s research notes on Crawler organization and hierarchy.

• Lin Yuan learned that Lilia grew stronger by consuming relic-grade treasures and had absorbed the Dragon’s Blood from the pool.
• Lilia gave Lin Yuan a Dragon Blood Jade that she said had formed from substances her body expelled while bathing.
• Lin Yuan and Lilia entered the ordinary Legacy chamber, where Lin Yuan explained its War authority formula and the distinction between ordinary and Lost Sanctum Legacies.
• Lin Yuan copied the predecessors’ records and combat insights into his Badge for later study.
• Lin Yuan reached the newest volume, Wayne Drake’s research notes on Crawler organization and power hierarchy.

Lin Yuan learned from the Oathbreaker's research that Crawlers had a hierarchy and that Wayne Drake ranked among their upper ranks. With only one day left before Paradise closed, Lin Yuan and Lilia were teleported toward the Gate of Departure, but the system redirected them to the Last Instance on the Route.

• Lin Yuan skimmed the Oathbreaker's book, learned about Crawler ranks, and suspected the powerful Crawler he had met was an Elder candidate.
• Lin Yuan chose a teleport destination after discovering that only one day remained before Paradise closed.
• Boss noticed a contingency had activated and realized that a trace of its power in the Land of Legacy had caused a temporal disturbance.
• The game system failed to teleport Lin Yuan to the Gate of Departure and sent him and Lilia to the Last Instance on the Route instead.

Lin Yuan was carried to the northern edge of Paradise, where he found the Gate of Departure shrouded in mist and an enormous citylike island. He discovered it was the Artisan Academy, a remnant that might once have belonged to an organization led by an Artisan Authority Holder, and resolved to keep his authority formulas secret until he was strong enough.

• Lin Yuan reflected on the Lost Sanctum Legacy and concluded that its oldest land was a drifting bank of mist, while later Legacy Halls had fixed locations and had likely been destroyed by the Oathbreakers.
• The white light carried Lin Yuan and Lilia north to the Gate of Departure, which was surrounded by mottled mist and unavailable for teleportation.
• Lin Yuan descended toward a vast steel city on an island and saw metal puppets moving through its streets along rigid, repetitive routes.
• Lin Yuan read the sign identifying the city as the Artisan Academy and suspected it was a remnant of an organization founded by an Artisan Authority Holder.
• Lin Yuan recognized that his three authority formulas could be valuable to powerful Artisans, but decided not to reveal that he possessed them until he was strong enough.

Lin Yuan entered the Artisan Academy Instance with Lilia, but soon ran aground and had to lie in the Coffin while she explored. Lilia found a classroom full of players, and when they questioned her, she claimed to be a transfer student.

• Lin Yuan and Lilia entered the Artisan Academy Instance through a vortex in its boundary.
• Lin Yuan realized he had run aground and asked Lilia to explore while he lay in the Coffin.
• Lin Yuan wondered why the players were not rushing to clear the Instance despite Paradise closing in one day.
• Lilia entered a lecture hall where players gathered in groups while a Metal Golem took attendance and handed out copper plates.
• When a player asked Lilia what she was doing in their class, she said she was a new transfer student.

Lilia dodged a player who tried to grope her, then knocked him across the classroom with one punch after Lin Yuan advised her to stop merely avoiding him. When the player’s captain confronted her, Lilia introduced herself and began questioning him.

• A mohawked player mocked Lilia’s claim that she was a transfer student and tried to grope her, while Lin Yuan warned her not to let him touch her.
• Lilia repeatedly dodged the mohawked player, even after he used a nose ring to enhance his strength and speed.
• Lin Yuan told Lilia she could stop him by beating him, and she punched him into the classroom wall without killing him.
• The mohawked player’s teammates rose to challenge Lilia, and their captain accused her of causing trouble while ignoring his teammate’s behavior.
• Lilia told the captain the mohawked player was weak and urged him to help his crew improve, then announced that it was her turn to ask questions.

Lilia fought Stubble Captain and his crew while Lin Yuan tried to keep their questions from exposing his secret entry into the Instance. The fight reached a stalemate as Lin Yuan noticed the players handing copper tokens to one of Stubble Captain’s men, and someone outside the Coffin prepared to open it.

• Stubble Captain opened a Bottle of Intimidation to test Lilia, but Lin Yuan stopped her from asking what the players were doing.
• Stubble Captain mistook Lilia’s pause for weakness and attacked her with his crew, while Lilia knocked two crew members away and dodged the rest.
• Stubble Captain decided Lilia was a glass cannon and told his men to attack carefully so they would not kill her.
• Lin Yuan noticed the Ghost Armor continued taking attendance and that players gave their copper tokens to a crew member after collecting them.
• A crew member told Stubble Captain that the Coffin seemed suspicious and offered to open it.

Lin Yuan and Lilia defeated Stubble Captain’s crew in the classroom and collected the Artisan Academy Copper Cards they had taken from other players. Lilia then demanded the remaining players’ cards as the teacher puppet finished calling names.

• Lin Yuan dragged two of Stubble Captain’s crew members into the Coffin and knocked them unconscious while Lilia fought the rest.
• Lilia used the Coffin as a shield and defeated Stubble Captain and his crew, then helped stop a crew member from escaping.
• Lin Yuan identified the scattered copper pieces as Artisan Academy Copper Cards, and Lilia collected them despite another player asking for them back.
• Lilia demanded copper cards from the remaining players as the teacher puppet finished calling names.

After Lilia collected the players’ copper cards and observed the crowds leaving roll call, she sensed someone watching her. Lin Yuan exposed the watchers and met Research Institute 3154 and I Quit Farming, then asked how 3154 had recognized him.

• Lilia collected the copper cards the other players had received, and Lin Yuan sent her to follow them out of the classroom.
• Lilia observed thousands of players leaving the Sports Ground but found no useful information.
• Lilia sensed someone watching her, so Lin Yuan used Fear Intimidation and revealed I Quit Farming.
• Research Institute 3154 appeared beside I Quit Farming and said they meant no harm.
• Lin Yuan recognized 3154 and learned that he was escorting I Quit Farming through the Instance; Lin Yuan then asked how 3154 had recognized him.

Lin Yuan learned from 3154 that time flowed at different rates across the sea and that the Game System synchronized most Time Zones, while isolated areas retained their unusual flow. He also learned that the Instance would end in seven days with the Artisan Academy’s final assessment, and 3154 later cautioned I Quit Farming to stay out of Lin Yuan’s affairs.

• 3154 explained how he had deduced that Lin Yuan entered the Instance late and identified him as Zero.
• 3154 revealed that the sea contained different Time Zones and that the Instance had seven days remaining while Paradise had twelve hours before closing.
• Lin Yuan learned that the Instance objective was to obtain a Badge for passing the Artisan Academy’s final assessment.
• After Lin Yuan left, 3154 told I Quit Farming that Lilia probably was not a player and that her Coffin had resisted detection.
• 3154 warned that the research institute’s neutrality with the Crawlers was fragile, told I Quit Farming to avoid further involvement, and ordered him to gather the institute members.

Lin Yuan searched the Artisan Academy for signs of a Crawler but found none, then went to the Gacha Tower on Commercial Street. A golden prize drew a crowd, and the lucky player emerged as Research Institute 3154.

• Lin Yuan considered whether 3154’s questions had been an indirect warning that a Crawler was inside the Instance.
• Lin Yuan and Lilia searched the academy, but his Templar Badge never reacted, leaving him unsure whether his suspicion was correct.
• Lin Yuan decided to visit Commercial Street and try the Gacha Tower with the Copper Cards he had obtained.
• A golden glow from the Gacha Tower drew players into a chaotic crowd, but they quieted and made way for a group in lab coats.
• 3154 emerged holding the golden prize and placed it in a metal box.

Lin Yuan watched a Research Institute team led by 3154 leave with a top-quality gacha prize, then tried the Gacha Tower himself and received only worthless items. Lilia used a lost Copper Card for one final pull, which produced a golden light.

• Lin Yuan realized that 3154 was an officer in an elite Research Institute team and wondered whether his code-based name had a connection to the Crawlers.
• Another team’s treasure was stolen, triggering a fight in the street, and the players left the Gacha Tower and terminal unharmed.
• After the crowd thinned, Lin Yuan sent Lilia to a secluded terminal and spent 120 Copper Cards on twelve pulls, receiving only junk.
• Lin Yuan declared the gacha a scam, gave Lilia his remaining nine Copper Cards, and returned to the Coffin.
• Lilia found a lost Copper Card, used it to make another pull, and triggered a golden light.

Lin Yuan and Lilia drew a valuable Metal Contract, and Lin Yuan considered whether to use or sell it before preparing to explore Paradise. When Lilia spotted Stubble Captain’s gang sneaking through Commercial Street, Lin Yuan ordered her to follow them.

• Lilia drew a rare Metal Contract that could recruit a willing crew member and strengthen their loyalty, willpower, and rationality.
• Lin Yuan considered recruiting another crew member with the contract but decided to keep his options open and leave Commercial Street to explore Paradise’s special areas.
• Lilia spotted Stubble Captain and his gang quietly passing through Commercial Street late at night.
• Lin Yuan found their behavior suspicious and ordered Lilia to follow them and discover where they were going.

Lin Yuan and Lilia followed Stubble Captain through a hidden shadow passage to a bar connected to the Crawlers. Lilia entered to scout the bar, where a bartender asked who had referred her, leaving Lin Yuan to investigate what lay beyond its closed door.

• Stubble Captain led his crew through a shadowy gap into a hidden building while Lin Yuan and Lilia followed under cover of Mirage Mist.
• Lin Yuan used the Holy Hall Light Blade to open the passage, then hid inside Lilia's Coffin and sent her ahead to scout.
• Lilia reached the building and found an open bar called the Diving Club, where players gathered in two distinct groups.
• The bartender welcomed Lilia and asked who had referred her.

Lin Yuan sent Lilia to infiltrate the Diving Club and learn about its plans, but she discovered that its members were preparing ritual sites for Lord Crawler. The club learned that Lilia was the coffin-carrying stranger they had been ordered to eliminate, leaving her surrounded by hostile divers.

• Lin Yuan had Lilia claim that Hook brought her to the bar, and the bartender tested her before accepting her story.
• The divers explained that they served Lord Crawler for power, survival, or a chance to wreak havoc, while Lin Yuan judged them dangerous traitors.
• A worried group revealed that they had prepared ritual sites at a factory, dormitory, and maze but had not yet received orders to proceed.
• Lin Yuan prompted Lilia to ask about the ritual, but Stubble Captain entered and announced that Lord Crawler had ordered the divers to eliminate the strange woman carrying a coffin.
• The divers recognized Lilia as the target, and she asked whether anyone would still tell her what the ritual was for.

Lilia fought through the divers in the bar while Lin Yuan stayed hidden inside the Coffin, waiting to see whether the Crawlers would appear. After Hook unleashed his Bottle of Intimidation, Lilia revealed that she was unaffected and continued defeating the divers, while Hook warned that the Crawlers' plan had already succeeded.

• Hook drew his pistol on Lilia, but she slapped the bartender and another diver into a wall, frightening the others.
• The divers surrounded Lilia, and Lin Yuan told her she could stop dodging and fight them openly.
• Lilia took a blade through her abdomen, pulled it out without concern, and kept attacking, exposing Hook's mistaken claim that her body was fragile.
• A sour-faced diver touched Lin Yuan's Coffin, but nothing happened, while Hook's warning about it made the others suspect him of betrayal.
• Hook shattered his Bottle of Intimidation to immobilize the divers, but Lilia remained unaffected and knocked them down one by one.
• Hook warned Lilia that the Crawlers' plan had succeeded, and she slapped him into a wall before asking Lin Yuan whether he thought she was clever.

Lin Yuan and Lilia uncovered the Diving Club’s role as a Crawler espionage network before Retainer 9527 appeared and attacked them. Lilia was cut in half, and 9527 recognized Lin Yuan as the man he had been searching for.

• Lilia defeated the divers in the bar, and Lin Yuan had her spare the glum-faced diver for questioning.
• The diver revealed that Wayne Drake founded the Diving Club to recruit humans as spies and saboteurs for the Crawlers.
• The diver explained that Retainer 9527 had made him arrange ritual sites, but he began bleeding and his flesh transformed into 9527 before he could explain the ritual’s purpose.
• Retainer 9527 questioned Lilia, who attacked him with her scythe, but his body proved too hard to cut.
• 9527 lashed out with a tentacle and sliced Lilia in half, prompting Lin Yuan to emerge from the Coffin.
• 9527 recognized Lin Yuan and said he had finally found him.

Lin Yuan fought Retainer 9527’s Crawler avatar and discovered that the Grim-faced Diver’s undamaged skeleton was protecting the avatar. The Crawler seized Lilia as a hostage, but Lin Yuan ignored the threat and struck the skeleton.

• Retainer 9527 attacked Lin Yuan with tentacles, and Lin Yuan fought back with the Holy Hall Light Blade while his Dragon Armor absorbed most of the damage.
• Lin Yuan used Dragon Armor’s Reverse Scale skill to rush the Crawler and pierce his avatar’s chest, but the Crawler split into tentacled pieces and evaded him.
• Lilia urged Lin Yuan to attack the Grim-faced Diver’s bones, and Lin Yuan noticed that the skeleton had remained unharmed throughout the battle.
• The skeleton raised a gray barrier against Lin Yuan’s Light Blade, so he transformed it into a club and prepared to smash through.
• The Crawler gathered into a humanoid form, grabbed Lilia by the throat, and threatened to kill her, but Lin Yuan ignored him and struck the skeleton.

Lin Yuan defeated the Crawlers' double and discovered that the Divers' Bar had been a projection controlled by the true Retainer 9527. He headed to the academy Sports Ground to warn Number Three and the other organizations, but Research Institute 3154 never appeared.

• Lin Yuan destroyed the Crawlers' double, which killed Lilia before she resurrected from the Coffin.
• Lin Yuan found that the double's counterfeit Retainer's Bone could be absorbed by his genuine Retainer's Bone, and realized the glum-faced diver had been turned into a vessel for the double.
• Lin Yuan opened the surviving door and discovered a crystal projecting the Divers' Bar; through it, he saw the true Retainer 9527 threaten him before the crystal vanished.
• The bar and its corpses disappeared as the projection collapsed, and Lin Yuan decided to investigate the ritual sites and inform Number Three and the other organizations.
• Lilia took Lin Yuan in the Coffin to the academy Sports Ground, where she waited for Research Institute 3154, but 3154 did not appear.

Lin Yuan found that the major organizations had vanished from the Sports Ground and decided to head for the Factory to gather materials and investigate the divers’ ritual sites. Before Lilia could leave, Yang Duoduo approached her, praised her strength, and left her unimpressed by his flattery.

• Lin Yuan noticed that the Institute and the other major organizations were absent from the Sports Ground, and concluded he would have to act alone.
• Lin Yuan directed Lilia to the Factory to search for ritual sites and materials to craft Explore the Sea.
• Yang Duoduo stopped Lilia and introduced himself, explaining that the Press Club had publicized her defeat of Hook’s gang.
• Yang Duoduo showered Lilia with praise, and she bluntly called him a weakling, leaving him stunned.