Chapter Summaries

As the Human Race prepared its Four Great Passes for war, the Light Group tightened control over the home front. Ink Academy then announced a special training class for people under twenty-five, offering free cultivation resources in exchange for one year defending a pass after graduation.

• Yu Mo left the strange man's room smiling, while the Confucian Scholar excitedly talked with him on the way.
• Kong Hongfang reported that Dome Pass was ready for battle, and the Chief Pavilion Master of the Dark Pavilion ordered Ghost Gate's defenses strengthened.
• The Ink Pavilion mobilized reserve soldiers, while Lin Siyuan's Light Group imposed harsh wartime rules and arrested people for spreading negative news or criticizing its deputy leader.
• Ink Academy announced a special training class for applicants under twenty-five, with graduation at the fifth awakening, free resources, a sixty percent mortality rate, and one year of pass defense as the price.

Ink Academy’s free high-risk program drew hundreds of thousands of applicants, prompting universities and the public to unite behind expanded training for the Human Race. As Sun Yingxiong reflected on Ink Pavilion’s purpose, Ji Hong finally agreed to kill, with Old White Ape urging him to accept the sacrifice as part of his mission.

• Ink Academy received 340,000 applications before closing its portal and began screening candidates with help from education officials and Ink Pavilion personnel.
• Spirit Mind, Spirit Martial, the Military Academy, and other universities announced special training classes with lowered talent requirements and significant mortality risks.
• People and businesses donated heavily to the universities, and Ink Academy revised its admissions criteria and began screening applicants again.
• Sun Yingxiong watched the rising figures and declared that Ink Pavilion existed to help people protect one another, then looked toward the Demon Domain and vowed that the Human Race would endure.
• Old White Ape asked Ji Hong whether he had decided, and Ji Hong finally said they should kill.
• Old White Ape reassured Ji Hong that the people targeted were Human Race soldiers whose fate was sealed when they entered Demon-Suppressing Pass, and that the sacrifice would serve the Human Race.

Ji Hong rejected Old White Ape’s proposed path to power in Skyvault Ravine and left him behind. In Sin City, Yu Mo announced a contest for limited slots to leave the city, leaving a waiting crowd unsure when it would take place.

• Ji Hong described how Old White Ape could win Eight-Tailed Fox’s favor by turning himself in and offering to use Ji Hong against the Human Race, but warned that he might later be killed.
• Old White Ape insisted that they remained reliable allies, and Ji Hong corrected his quotation of a Human Race text before leaving.
• Yu Mo returned to his residence and asked the Confucian Scholar to protect him from the crowd gathered outside.
• Yu Mo identified himself as a descendant of Yu Yongyan, and the crowd believed he could grant them a chance to leave Sin City.
• Yu Mo announced a contest for a few exit slots the next day, explaining that winners would owe him a favor and that the contest could be deadly.
• The crowd waited outside because Yu Sheng had not told them when the contest would begin, and Yu Mo went inside without answering.

Yu Sheng and Shi Guang finished notifying Sin City’s residents before preparing to leave, then talked about their past and what kind of lives they wanted to lead. Yu Sheng urged Shi Guang to choose her own path, but she said that being with him already made her life fulfilling as they lay watching the night sky.

• Yu Sheng and Shi Guang reported their work to the young man, who praised them despite having mistaken their identity and feared they would cheat him.
• Yu Sheng and Shi Guang realized they had forgotten to notify their employer, but decided not to warn the Outer City and to leave a few survivors in Sin City.
• Yu Sheng and Shi Guang sat on a rooftop and acknowledged that they probably would not return to Sin City after leaving.
• Shi Guang asked about Yu Sheng’s teacher Liu Qingfeng, and Yu Sheng said he was a good person who died along with many others but had lived a fulfilling life.
• Yu Sheng told Shi Guang to make her own judgments and choose her own path rather than simply follow him.
• Shi Guang said she felt her life with Yu Sheng was already fulfilling, and they lay back to gaze at the night sky.

Sin City’s powerful gathered outside Yu Mo’s room to await his contest for the departure slots, while Yu Mo struggled to get Shi Guang’s attention so he could use the bathroom. Inside, he tried to revive the hopeless Zong Ren, but left him confused as his wheelchair rolled away backward.

• Chu Huai and the other powerful figures gathered outside Yu Mo’s door, keeping their distance and watching one another warily.
• Yu Mo waited for Shi Guang to respond, then asked to use the bathroom and to be steered to the door afterward.
• After relieving himself, Yu Mo glared at the withdrawn Zong Ren, who remained preoccupied with the prospect of dying after his final mission.
• Yu Mo urged Zong Ren to keep fighting for survival and prove his worth, but his wheelchair rolled backward while he faced him.

Yu Mo tried to persuade Zong Ren to keep living and pursue his hopes, but Shi Guang’s faulty remote-controlled wheelchair repeatedly interrupted him and humiliated him in front of others. He left the room to introduce himself to the gathered crowd, only for the wheelchair to spin again and make them question his sanity.

• Yu Mo’s wheelchair reversed away from Zong Ren before stopping when its battery died, ruining Yu Mo’s dramatic speech.
• Yu Mo resumed urging Zong Ren not to give up, but the wheelchair carried him away again as Zong Ren began to answer.
• Shi Guang replaced the battery while Yu Sheng stood by, and Yu Mo regained his composure and went outside.
• Yu Mo introduced himself to the crowd as a descendant of Yu Yongyan, but Shi Guang’s delayed controls made his wheelchair spin in place.
• The crowd watched Yu Mo’s repeated spinning and began to suspect that something was wrong with him.

Yu Mo announced a competition called Sin City Strange Tales, offering five slots to leave Sin City to the first five people who completed its deadly rules-based challenge. He also promised an immediate slot to anyone who killed Zong Ren without breaking the rules, leaving the crowd to weigh the challenge and its added temptation.

• A burly man questioned whether Yu Mo was truly a descendant of Yu Yongyan, while Chu Huai vouched for him and stirred suspicion among the crowd.
• Yu Mo announced that five people could earn a chance to leave Sin City, making the competitors more tense and wary of one another.
• Yu Mo introduced Sin City Strange Tales, a challenge involving five hidden dolls and complicated rules that contestants had to follow to survive and qualify.
• Yu Mo pointed out Zong Ren in the room and offered an immediate departure slot to anyone who killed him without breaking the rules.

Yu Mo began a hide-and-seek strange tale in which Zong Ren had an hour to escape while Sin City's powerful residents hunted him. Once the game started, Yu Mo sent Confucian Scholar to work and instructed Yu Sheng and Shi Guang to watch for Zong Ren and kill him if he escaped the hunt.

• Yu Mo announced that Zong Ren would hide, had an hour to prepare, and could earn a chance to leave Sin City if he survived until the five stuffed dolls were found.
• Yu Mo warned the crowd that a chain-covered man would roam the streets and that making eye contact with him would bring dire consequences.
• The group changed locations repeatedly during the hour to avoid staying in one place too long, then scattered as the game began.
• Yu Mo told Confucian Scholar to get to work, and Confucian Scholar stood and vanished.
• Yu Mo instructed Yu Sheng to watch Zong Ren and kill him if he survived the hunt, so Yu Sheng and Shi Guang armed themselves and set out into the streets.

Yu Mo convinced the old man that the competition was a bluff and that he intended to keep its promising participants alive, then used the old man’s favor to demand five exit slots. The old man learned Yu Mo had no such slots and had deliberately planned around his hidden identity, leaving their negotiation unresolved.

• The old man confronted Yu Mo over Sin City’s rules, and Yu Mo argued that the city’s survival depended on facing threats beyond its walls.
• Yu Mo revealed that the Outer City had been excluded from the competition and explained that the apparent deaths were fake, though he still wanted Zong Ren killed over a personal grudge.
• The old man lowered his cane after Yu Mo assured him the other participants would live and that he planned to send people out of Sin City each year.
• Yu Mo asked the old man to repay his favor by granting five exit slots, claiming he would supply Sin City with thousands of people over time.
• Yu Mo admitted he had no exit slots and said he had begun planning around the old man’s hidden identity after meeting him in Sin City.

Yu Mo confronted Old Man and negotiated five Exit-the-City Quotas in exchange for sending 2,000 people into Sin City each year. Old Man agreed, but warned that Confucian Scholar was the more dangerous figure to release, leaving Yu Mo with five Red Threads and unanswered questions about Sin City’s past.

• Yu Mo deduced that Old Man held a quota and controlled Sin City, then offered to send 2,000 people into the city annually.
• Old Man agreed to the arrangement but warned Yu Mo that Confucian Scholar was more dangerous and harder to control than Big Fool.
• Yu Mo questioned Old Man about the three Ninth Awakening individuals, their lost memories, and whether Sin City had a City Lord, but Old Man refused to answer.
• Yu Mo proposed that Confucian Scholar take part in the Exit-the-City Battle to earn a quota, and Old Man accepted a deal for five quotas and 2,000 arrivals each year.
• Old Man vanished from the street, leaving five Red Threads in Yu Mo’s hand.

Yu Mo examined the red threads and, after a startling realization, sketched the blind old man and resolved to keep playing his part on the enormous chessboard. The Confucian Scholar punished a man for breaking the rules but secretly healed him, while Zong Ren remained hidden in the ruins, waiting out the deadly game.

• Yu Mo studied the red threads, reflected on Sin City and amnesia, then drew the blind old man's likeness after reaching a shocking conclusion.
• Yu Mo recovered his resolve and declared that he could still place his pieces, no matter how large the chessboard was.
• The Confucian Scholar stabbed a middle-aged man for breaking the rules, then healed his injuries and left him a note explaining that he never killed anyone.
• The Confucian Scholar hoped his kindness would earn him more Incense and bring him closer to returning to his own world.
• Zong Ren stayed concealed in the ruins where Yu Sheng had thrown bombs, blackening his skin with charcoal and remaining still as footsteps passed nearby.

Chu Huai escaped players trying to steal his doll, while Lu Xiao secured his advancement out of Sin City. Zong Ren used the chance Yu Mo had left him to head for the gates as Yu Mo set out there himself, bringing their plans toward a confrontation.

• Chu Huai refused to surrender his doll, and the Confucian Scholar struck down a youth who broke the rule against answering questions; Chu Huai then fled the other players.
• News spread that Chu Huai carried a doll, while Lu Xiao handed his doll to the Confucian Scholar and was cleared to advance, leaving his underlings behind.
• Zong Ren revealed that his injured leg had healed and began moving toward Sin City's gates, aiming to arrive when they opened at five.
• Yu Mo reflected that Zong Ren was doomed for offending Yu Sheng and held up a note asking to be taken to Sin City's gates.
• Yu Mo's wheelchair carried him through the deserted streets toward the Outer City as he smiled at the bodies lying along the road.

Zong Ren reduced the danger he faced in Sin City after four people obtained dolls, while the lone-wolf woman continued searching for him. Outside the city, Yu Mo used five red threads to activate Sin City’s plaque and send a beam of light onto the burly man.

• Chu Huai found the fourth doll, and the lone-wolf woman found the fifth before searching Sin City for Zong Ren.
• Sun Wen stayed beside the Ink Pavilion Branch Master in Er City, openly keeping watch because he suspected the old man might be involved in a plot against him.
• Yu Mo met the burly man at Sin City’s gates, and the man said he feared being imprisoned in the city for life.
• Yu Mo raised five red threads onto Sin City’s plaque, which brightened and cast a beam of red light onto the burly man.

Yu Mo secured two men’s loyalty as they gained the chance to leave Sin City, while Zong Ren fought through his pursuers and crossed the city gate. He stopped in the wilderness, surrounded by the danger he had deliberately drawn to himself.

• The burly man realized Yu Mo had told the truth about the Exit-the-City Quota, and a ponytailed young man arrived to pledge his life to Yu Mo.
• Zong Ren shot the middle-aged man pursuing him, then escaped as three others identified him and resumed their search.
• Zong Ren prepared for the dangerous crossing between the Inner and Outer Cities, where he expected pursuers to ambush him.
• Zong Ren counted eight hidden opponents, then sprinted for the gate, firing at one pursuer and narrowly evading the others.
• Zong Ren shouted to draw more pursuers toward him, crossed the city gate, and stopped in the open wilderness.

Zong Ren escaped the pursuers by relying on Big Fool and then slipped through the Outer City blockade during a diversion by two Believers. A woman carrying the Fifth Doll continued after him while many other contestants gave up, leaving the final pursuit unresolved.

• Big Fool appeared at Zong Ren’s request and killed the pursuers with one punch, allowing Zong Ren to cross the Life-and-Death Line.
• Yu Sheng and Shi Guang waited near the Outer City gate and prepared to kill Zong Ren once he came within range.
• Two Believers opened fire on the Inner City people guarding the Outer City, creating a gap that Zong Ren used to escape.
• The Believers charged the crowd and detonated explosives, stopping most of the pursuers as Zong Ren disappeared farther into the city.
• A woman carrying a doll resumed the chase, while many others abandoned the contest or followed at a distance.

As Zong Ren raced toward the city wall, Yu Mo confronted the Confucian Scholar about hiding their bargain. The Confucian Scholar broke down, called Yu Mo his brother, and promised never to lie to him again, but remained unable to remember his own name.

• Zong Ren sprinted toward the city wall while the woman chasing him steadily closed the distance.
• Yu Mo asked the Confucian Scholar whether he had made a deal with Zong Ren, and the Confucian Scholar admitted Zong Ren had promised gratitude if his legs were healed.
• Yu Mo accused the Confucian Scholar of hiding the deal and declared that he would part ways with him, insisting he would follow his own convictions.
• The Confucian Scholar recalled being mocked for his own belief in another world and collapsed in pain as fragmented images flashed through his mind.
• The Confucian Scholar apologized, struggled to remember his name, called Yu Mo his brother, and promised never to lie to him again.

The Confucian Scholar raved about immortals while Yu Mo wondered what world he had seen. Near the gates of Sin City, Zong Ren fought the woman competing for the final Exit-the-City Quota and let her dagger pierce the place where his heart was.

• The Confucian Scholar laughed and muttered that he was an immortal, leaving the burly man and the young man to edge away.
• Yu Mo pondered the Confucian Scholar’s strange words, then set aside his misgivings as Zong Ren neared Sin City’s gates.
• The woman caught up with Zong Ren, and they exchanged brutal attacks, each sustaining wounds as they fought for the final Exit-the-City Quota.
• Onlookers from the Inner City noted Zong Ren’s strength but thought his lack of experience put him at a disadvantage.
• Zong Ren said he would fight for the time he needed, then barely moved as the woman’s dagger pierced his chest where his heart was.

Zong Ren defeated the woman but suffered a fatal chest wound, then struggled toward Sin City's gate while Yu Sheng refused to stop him. As the gate opened, Zong Ren still had seventy meters to go, and a motionless woman sat outside.

• Zong Ren let the woman stab him, then shot her at close range and survived the fight with a dagger lodged near his heart.
• Yu Mo warned the onlookers not to kill the gravely wounded Zong Ren to claim his place, and Zong Ren continued toward the gate.
• At two hundred meters, Yu Sheng stepped aside instead of fighting Zong Ren, who panicked and insisted Yu Sheng stop him.
• Zong Ren crawled toward the gate as Yu Mo asked what he would do about civilians and demons; Zong Ren instinctively said he would use the civilians to build a road across the cliff.
• Sin City's gate opened with Zong Ren still seventy meters away, while a woman sat motionless outside.

As Zong Ren crawled toward An An at the city gate, he defended his crimes and accused the world of injustice. Yu Mo acknowledged that Zong Ren had suffered but insisted that his victims had also wanted to live, while Zong Ren continued crawling, clinging to his ambitions as his strength failed.

• Zong Ren recognized An An outside the city gate and crawled toward her, accusing Yu Mo and the Human Race of hypocrisy.
• An An called for her father as her caregiver held her back from entering Sin City.
• Zong Ren softened when he heard An An and promised to reach her, dragging himself forward despite his severe blood loss.
• Yu Mo said that Zong Ren's victims had wanted to live too and that anyone who raised a blade had to accept the same danger in return.
• Zong Ren lost the ability to hear Yu Mo and kept crawling, muttering that he could reach the pinnacle of the world if he had been given talent.

Zong Ren crawled out of Sin City and died after telling An An to live on and insisting that he had not lost. Yu Mo let the others leave, and Chu Huai gave the last doll to a woman so she could reunite with her child.

• Zong Ren reached the edge of Sin City, crawled beyond its gate, and used his last moments to tell An An to do her best to live.
• Zong Ren shouted to Yu Mo that An An was innocent and declared that he had not lost before dying.
• An An asked Yu Mo for her father's surname, and Yu Mo told her his name was Zong Ren.
• Yu Mo ordered everyone to leave Sin City, and the burly man and the young man stepped outside.
• Chu Huai gave a doll to the scarred woman, urging her to leave for the sake of her child.
• The woman thanked Chu Huai, stepped beyond Sin City, and Yu Mo complained that Chu Huai had taken his slot.