Chapter Summaries

Tony learned that two fighter jets carrying nuclear warheads were heading toward the city and flew to stop them, while the others fought the Chitauri. He told Coulson to ask Loki how to close the portal so Tony could send the nukes through it and seal it.

• Tony learned from Nick Fury that politicians had ordered two nuclear-armed fighter jets to attack, and he set out to deal with the nukes.
• Tony rejected Loki's offer of help, invoked Li Ge, and flew through the city, destroying Chitauri soldiers and Leviathans.
• Coulson, Natasha, Barton, Steve, Hulk, and Bruce fought the Chitauri and protected civilians in their own ways.
• Tony arrived beside Coulson and explained that he planned to send the nukes through the portal, then have Coulson close it after asking Loki how.
• Coulson agreed to follow Tony's plan.

Li Ge revealed that he had steered the timeline toward the Chitauri invasion for his own purposes, provoking Tony’s anger. He then rose into the sky and manifested as a colossal golden deity before the world, bringing the New York battlefield to a stunned silence.

• Li Ge appeared beside Tony and said he felt no guilt because the Chitauri invasion had been inevitable in the original timeline.
• Li Ge told Tony and Coulson that he had guided Loki and restored the timeline to its expected course, and Tony angrily accused him of manipulating events for his own goals.
• Tony demanded that Li Ge act while the Chitauri continued attacking and politicians prepared to launch a nuclear missile.
• Li Ge said he would compensate the world by revealing his Nine Heavens, then rose into the sky and transformed into a gigantic golden manifestation.
• The people and fighters across New York, including Tony, Coulson, Natasha, and the others, stared silently at Li Ge’s enormous golden face.

As Li Ge’s immense face appeared over Earth, the Avengers, S.H.I.E.L.D., and people around the world watched in awe while the Chitauri invasion remained frozen. Li Ge sensed Li Chuang and Alice thinking of him, found them in a pavilion atop a pyramid, and softened at the sight of them.

• Bruce, Hulk, Natasha, Coulson, Tony, Steve, and Barton reacted to Li Ge’s overwhelming power, while Tony decided to watch him handle the invasion.
• Nick Fury shifted his attention from the nuke to the full opening of the Nine Heavens.
• Satellites, surveillance cameras, and hackers broadcast the invasion and Li Ge’s appearance to the world.
• Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Harry watched Li Ge from Queens amid the bodies of Chitauri soldiers.
• Li Chuang and Alice watched Li Ge from a pavilion atop a pyramid and discussed visiting the Nine Heavens.
• Li Ge sensed Li Chuang and Alice thinking of him, located them using his ability from Heimdall, and looked at them with a softened expression.

Li Ge revealed his overwhelming power to the world and began drawing humanity’s consciousness into the Samsara Realm. As he prepared to reshape the world, he also secured the Ancient One’s approval and took control of the nuclear missile above New York.

• Li Ge watched Thor and Sif walking together in the park, where they stared in shock at his enormous face and felt his pressure exceed Odin’s.
• Li Ge looked toward Kamar-Taj, and the Ancient One smiled and nodded to signal her approval.
• Li Ge turned his attention back to New York and sent two beams of golden light toward the city as people worldwide focused on him.
• Li Ge opened his golden eyes and sent crystalline rays across the Earth, carrying blessings into people’s souls.
• Li Ge brought the Nine Heavens and the Samsara Realm together in his hand and drew the frozen nuclear missile into his palm.
• The Samsara Realm connected to the crystalline rays and pulled people’s consciousness out of their bodies and into its domain.

Li Ge drew the consciousnesses of everyone on Earth into the Samsara Realm, where Apocalypse sorted them into private rooms and they learned about the realm and its powers. Li Ge gathered the consciousness ocean into the realm while the Ancient One watched, and he ignored the frightened Inhumans on Attilan.

• Apocalypse used his Samsara Realm permissions and the Tesseract to sort the arriving consciousnesses into separate rooms, where Li Ge’s rules restored their appearances and ability to think.
• New arrivals reacted in different ways, while Tony, Nick Fury, and others learned about the Samsara Realm and its rules through their bracelets and personal spaces.
• Ordinary people embraced the promise of transcendent power, while government officials, wealthy elites, and fanatical zealots feared losing their advantage over others.
• Li Ge’s actions alarmed the Inhumans on Attilan, and Black Bolt ordered the city’s energy barrier activated; Li Ge noticed them but chose to ignore them.
• Li Ge drew the ocean of consciousness into the Samsara Realm beneath the gaze of the Ancient One.

Li Ge invited the Ancient One into the Samsara Realm, then worked with Apocalypse to prepare and deploy instances across the virtual Earth. They reshaped the virtual world into a vast, altered landscape, leaving it ready for people to experience the new instances.

• Li Ge offered the Ancient One entry to the Samsara Realm, and she agreed after asking whether it contained magic-related instances.
• Li Ge sent the Ancient One into the realm and connected his consciousness to it.
• Apocalypse gathered the Ancient One, Li Ge, Tony, Steve, and Doc Green Bruce into rooms near the Tesseract.
• Apocalypse showed Li Ge his prepared instances, and Li Ge approved them for deployment across the virtual Earth.
• Li Ge and Apocalypse reshaped the virtual Earth, altering its terrain, cities, wildlife, and other features before forming its continent into a circle.

Li Ge established Samsara Continent and watched as consciousnesses arrived across the world, teleporting familiar people to his island. There, the visitors reunited and the trio from another timeline realized they were in a parallel world and agreed to explain everything.

• Apocalypse complained about the name of the instance continent, and Li Ge renamed it Samsara Continent.
• Li Ge descended to Heaven-Reaching Mountain and settled on the island surrounding the King Fruit Tree.
• Consciousnesses appeared across Samsara Continent, and Li Ge teleported familiar people to his island.
• Alice greeted Li Ge affectionately while the other visitors explored the island and reacted to their reunions.
• The trio from another timeline concluded they were in a parallel world and decided to tell Li Ge and the others everything.

Older Tony recounted his timeline’s major battles and the Avengers’ defeat of Thanos, while the others compared their lives with their counterparts. The chapter left Li Ge’s role in obtaining Loki’s Scepter under suspicion and Steve and Bruce learning how different their worlds had become.

• Older Tony described the Battle of New York, the Avengers’ conflicts, and the war against Thanos that ended in a Snap and time travel.
• Tony realized Li Ge had known the scepter’s Stone mattered and accused him of scheming to obtain it, while Nick Fury regretted trading the Tesseract for use of the Shadow Ring.
• Peter, Gwen Stacy, and Harry joined the gathering, and older Tony approached his counterpart as Li Ge stayed silent and smiled.
• Doc Green Bruce asked Bruce how he and Hulk could separate, and Hulk greeted him as another Hulk before Bruce began explaining Li Ge’s role.
• America’s-ass Steve asked Steve whether his world felt unfamiliar, and Steve described the powers and events that had changed it.

Li Ge explained that the Samsara Realm was a game world and a haven for the souls of the strong, prompting people across the world to pour mental energy into it. He purified that energy into a gem that empowered the King Fruit Tree, which began producing fruits throughout Heaven-Reaching Mountain.

• Li Ge told the group that the Samsara Continent offered fighting, building, points, and events, while the Nine Heavens and Samsara Realm offered paths to power and survival after death.
• People across the world reacted with excitement to Li Ge’s announcement, and their emotional fluctuations gathered as streams of mental energy headed toward Heaven-Reaching Mountain.
• Li Ge separated the collected energy into a purified multicolored gem and a murky gem, then explained to the Ancient One that the energy was payment for using the Samsara Realm.
• Li Ge told Tony that the purified gem was meant for the King Fruit Tree and described Heaven-Reaching Mountain’s layers of mental energy, where island owners could absorb King Fruits.
• Li Ge fed the multicolored gem to the King Fruit Tree, causing its roots to spread across the islands and colorful buds and fruits to appear as mental energy flowed toward it.
• Li Ge invited everyone to enter the Samsara Continent.

On the eve of the Battle of New York, Strange asked Wong about Li Ge’s power and learned that the Ancient One expected Li Ge to act soon. Li Ge appeared across the sky and drew Strange and countless others toward the vortices in his eyes, leaving them plunging into an unknown destination.

• Strange asked Wong whether Li Ge could rival the Ancient One, and Wong recited the Ancient One’s prophecy about Li Ge becoming the source of supernatural power and the creator of the Path to Godhood.
• Strange pressed Wong to reveal Li Ge’s location, but Wong said the Ancient One had told them to wait for Li Ge to make his move.
• Golden light filled the world, and Strange and Wong saw Li Ge’s enormous face in the sky before hurrying to the training grounds.
• The Ancient One calmly watched Li Ge as golden threads shot from the vortices in his eyes and struck the gathered sorcerers.
• Strange was pulled away with golden cocoons forming around the others, and he saw hundreds of thousands of figures plunging toward Li Ge’s eye-vortices.

Strange woke in a studio apartment and learned that he had entered the Path to Godhood and the Samsara Realm. After finding a blue orb hidden in a hollow tree, he entered an instance and discovered that he had become a crude stick figure.

• Strange woke in a studio apartment, saw a blue planet outside, and put on a floating white wristband.
• The wristband gave Strange information about the Nine Heavens, the Path to Godhood, the Samsara Realm, instances, and points.
• Strange found himself in a forest and suspected that a hollow dead tree concealed an instance.
• Strange reached for a blue orb inside the tree and was transported to a strange street scene.
• Strange saw a writhing black-headed stick figure and realized that he had become a white stick figure himself.

Strange discovered that he had become a white stickman in an instance where black stickmen hunted him, and used his elastic body to kill one. He earned a point, then found nine more black stickmen hanging from the building and staring at him.

• Strange checked the Samsara Bracelet and learned that he had to kill ten black stickmen and survive because he was a white stickman.
• Strange tested his elastic arms and learned to swing between nearby objects and use them to attack.
• When the countdown ended, a black stickman ambushed Strange, but Strange dodged and fought back.
• Strange battered the black stickman until he killed him and earned one point from the Samsara Bracelet.
• Strange looked up and saw nine black stickmen hanging from the building's windowsills, watching him.

Strange completed the Stickmen's Discrimination instance, claimed its orb, and spent his points on game equipment before the bracelet revealed information about Heaven-Reaching Mountain. The chapter ended with Strange stunned by the mountain's power to strengthen mental energy and provide a resting place for souls.

• Strange completed the Stickmen's Discrimination instance after dying and fighting through more than a dozen attempts, earning 47 points and an instance orb.
• Strange absorbed the orb into his Samsara Bracelet and checked the newly unlocked shop.
• Strange exchanged his points for a wooden sword, wooden armor, and a torch, then tested the sword against the dead tree.
• The bracelet vibrated and displayed information about Heaven-Reaching Mountain, a resting place for souls where mental power could be strengthened.

Strange followed the rivers of collected mental power toward Heaven-Reaching Mountain and cautiously made his way through the forest. After mistaking Frank for a monster and attacking him, Strange apologized, and the two agreed to travel together.

• Strange saw streams of colored light flowing toward Heaven-Reaching Mountain and set off in that direction.
• Strange cautiously walked through the gloomy forest, alert for the mobs he had heard about.
• After hearing twigs snap nearby, Strange attacked the figure emerging into his torchlight, but the figure blocked his wooden sword.
• Strange realized the newcomer was Frank, apologized, and learned Frank had snapped twigs to warn him of his approach.
• Strange invited Frank to join him, and they continued toward Heaven-Reaching Mountain together.

Li Ge entered an instance populated by stick figures and fought a group of stick-figure ninjas, enjoying the chance to practice his combat skills. He left the defeated ninjas scattered across the rooftops and concluded that the instance was an excellent training ground.

• Li Ge made stick figures a fixed feature of Samsara Realm instances and used copied information from the Days of Future Past world's timeline to create their characters.
• Li Ge entered an instance as a black-clad stick-figure ninja and fought ninjas across the rooftops of a dilapidated village.
• Li Ge used his blade, movement skills, and shuriken to defeat the ninjas, including the final three who attacked together.
• Li Ge returned to his own appearance and praised the instance as a good place to train combat skills.

After clearing his first instance, Li Ge flew across the world, watched people search for hidden instance orbs, and returned to Heaven-Reaching Mountain to check on the players. He discovered the Ancient One had entered a magical-girl instance and gathered the ripe King Fruits from the tree.

• Li Ge left the ruined village where he cleared his first instance and flew toward Heaven-Reaching Mountain.
• As he traveled, Li Ge watched people across the world search forests, caves, fields, and buildings for hidden instance orbs.
• Li Ge returned to Heaven-Reaching Island and checked on Tony and the other players, finding that they were still working through their instances.
• Li Ge saw that the Ancient One had been sent into a magical-girl instance and quickly stopped observing her.
• Li Ge counted the ripe King Fruits and half-open buds, then detached more than a dozen ripe fruits from the tree.

Li Ge renamed the King Fruits Spirit Fruits and revised the Spirit Trees so they would condense fewer, more potent fruits from greater amounts of mental power. After tasting a Spirit Fruit and feeling his soul strengthen, he eagerly turned to the rest on the table.

• Li Ge renamed the King Fruits Spirit Fruits and changed the crystalline tree into a Spirit Tree.
• Seeing the Spirit Tree rapidly produce more fruit, Li Ge realized the fruits contained far less mental power than he had intended.
• Li Ge rewrote how the Spirit Trees condensed fruit, assigning different mental-power thresholds to trees on different island levels and reserving the hundred-million-person threshold for his own tree.
• Li Ge ate a Spirit Fruit and felt its mental power nourish and strengthen his soul.
• Li Ge judged that a Spirit Fruit condensed from the mental power of a hundred thousand people had strengthened his soul by a whole layer, then eagerly began eating the rest.

Li Ge strengthened his soul with the spirit fruits, then returned to the Samsara Realm and watched people explore its instances. He told the exhausted Apocalypse that he would return to Li Ge’s consciousness and would probably not need to appear again.

• Li Ge ate the spirit fruits and roughly doubled his soul’s strength.
• Li Ge returned to the floating island above the Samsara Continent and observed people browsing their rewards and exploring instances.
• The Ancient One cleared two magic-themed instances, including one featuring stick-figure enemies and another built around an exploding fireball.
• Li Ge called for Apocalypse, who complained that he was exhausted from creating the instance library.
• Li Ge told Apocalypse it was time to return to his consciousness, and Apocalypse eagerly accepted.

Li Ge reclaimed Apocalypse’s consciousness and power, then moved his residence to Heaven-Reaching Mountain and ended the Samsara Realm trial. The billions of participants prepared to return to reality, while Li Ge reflected that many would seek the power he controlled.

• Li Ge took back the consciousness and power he had placed in Apocalypse, reabsorbing the clone’s memories and humanity.
• Li Ge decided to use the original Apocalypse’s consciousness form as high-grade material for the Samsara Realm and stored Apocalypse’s body as a figurine of himself.
• Li Ge transformed the Tesseract into a small crystal and moved his platform and wooden house to the summit of Heaven-Reaching Mountain.
• Li Ge surveyed the Samsara Continent and its billions of adventuring consciousness forms before announcing that the trial was over and everyone should return to reality.
• The participants reacted with relief, frustration, ambition, and suspicion as Li Ge considered how addictive the promise of power would be.

Li Ge returned the consciousness forms from the Samsara Realm to their bodies, and Strange discovered that his equipment was gone but the white bracelet remained. Back at Kamar-Taj, Strange asked the Ancient One whether they could return, and she called Li Ge their guide.

• Li Ge used the Samsara Realm to draw all the consciousness forms out of the realm and send them back toward their bodies.
• Strange searched for his missing armor and weapons, then noticed the white bracelet on his wrist.
• Li Ge connected the Samsara Realm to the crystal Tesseract and sent golden threads toward targets on Earth.
• Strange returned to his body at Kamar-Taj as the golden membrane around him dissolved, and the mages began discussing their experiences.
• Strange asked the Ancient One whether they could visit the Samsara Realm and Nine Heavens again, and she said Li Ge was now their guide.