Chapter Summaries

Qin Ze and the Hunters reached Shelter No. 20, whose researchers had spent four centuries preparing a weapon against the pollution. The shelter’s manager agreed to show them the completed launcher just as the King was expected to reach the Northern Fortress at daybreak.

• Qin Ze explained that the Ring Mountains shelter had stolen some of the King’s power but had become contaminated, and Scholar warned that its residents might now be another race.
• The short, thin man said Shelter No. 20’s researchers had passed their work from one generation to the next over four centuries.
• The short, thin man led Qin Ze and the Hunters into Shelter No. 20, where they met its manager and saw its martial-artist residents.
• Qin Ze told the manager that the King would attack the Northern Fortress and urged the shelter to unite with them, but the manager doubted Qin Ze’s claim that they came from the past.
• An elderly researcher announced that the launcher was ready for testing, and the manager invited Qin Ze to see the results of their research.

The Hunters learned that Shelter No. 20 had spent four centuries preparing Apocalypse, its last chance to defeat the source of pollution, and that the shelter’s administrator hoped they would help in the coming battle. As the Hunters rested before the fight, a scavenger from the Ring Mountains arrived, and the administrator summoned them to discuss an urgent matter.

• The administrator showed the Hunters Apocalypse and explained that the shelter had barely enough reactor fuel for one launch.
• The short, thin man revealed that Shelter No. 20 was the last shelter, while its backup plan relied on incubating a hundred thousand fertilized eggs if Apocalypse failed.
• The administrator admitted he wanted the Hunters to stay and help defeat the king, then ordered the shelter residents to prepare for the final battle.
• The Hunters discussed whether they could defeat the king and whether the polluted people of the Ring Mountains were targets of their mission.
• A scavenger from the Ring Mountains approached the administrator’s office under escort, and the short, thin man summoned the Hunters to hear an important matter.

At Shelter No. 20, the administrator rejected Fang Liang’s offer to embrace pollution-fueled evolution but agreed to cooperate against the King. The King arrived at the Northern Fortress at dawn, just as Yao Yuan and the Hunters prepared to fight.

• Fang Liang revealed that he had transformed himself by using ancient technology to steal power from the source of pollution and urged the administrator to evolve.
• The administrator impaled Fang Liang and called him a heretic, but Fang Liang healed and proposed an alliance against the King.
• After Yao Yuan agreed, the administrator accepted Fang Liang’s offer and learned that the King would reach the Northern Fortress at dawn.
• The administrator told the Hunters that he knew Fang Liang intended to use them, while Yao Yuan said he could kill the King even at level nine.
• At dawn, the Northern Fortress tower fired a pillar of white light, spatial rifts spread across the sky, and the King arrived.

The king led his army toward Shelter No. 20, where the Hunters prepared to use Apocalypse to weaken him and the Ring Mountains leader before finishing them off. The Ring Mountains leader confronted the king as their armies clashed, and their battle began.

• The king descended on the fortress and led nearly ten thousand soldiers toward Shelter No. 20 after detecting the shelter’s signal.
• At Shelter No. 20, the administrator ordered Apocalypse to warm up and told the Hunters to prepare, while concealing the weapon’s short preparation time from the Ring Mountains leader.
• The king’s army entered the Ring Mountains Polluters’ ambush, where chains of earth crushed soldiers before the king shattered them and the scavengers attacked.
• The Ring Mountains leader appeared on a throne of rock and confronted the king, who mocked his agreement with the blue-skinned rats.
• The Ring Mountains leader attacked the king by gathering sand and rock into a thunderous assault.

The Ring Mountains leader attacked the king with black sand, but the king overpowered him and began absorbing him, revealing that the leader’s evolution and mental network had served the king’s plan. Shelter No. 20 launched Apocalypse to interrupt the absorption, leaving both enemies badly wounded as sword light closed in.

• The king neutralized the Ring Mountains leader’s earth waves and mocked him before the leader transformed into black sand and attacked with altered powers.
• The king caught the Ring Mountains leader, trapped him in dried mud, and revealed that he had bestowed the ancient technology and evolution on him as part of a plan to infiltrate the shelters.
• The king snapped his fingers, seized control of the combatants’ mental network, and began absorbing the Ring Mountains leader.
• Qin Ze ordered the shelter to launch Apocalypse, and the administrator mobilized the hunters and martial artists while the launch tower fired its blue arc at the king.
• The Apocalypse blast pierced both the king and the Ring Mountains leader, interrupting their fusion and weakening them before sword light surged up around them.

Yao Yuan and the Administrator fought the King, but the King reclaimed his full power, reached demigod strength, and proved difficult to weaken. At Shelter No. 20, Qin Ze learned the Polluters would attack in ten minutes and that Apocalypse needed an impossible amount of Source of Life to fire again.

• Yao Yuan and the Administrator attacked the King, but he swallowed the leader of the Ring Mountains, reclaimed his power, and broke through to demigod strength.
• The King recognized Yao Yuan as the Sword Immortal from four hundred years ago, while the Administrator realized Yao Yuan had returned from the past.
• The Administrator, Yao Yuan, and Fairy coordinated their attacks, but the King dodged and healed from his injuries; Yao Yuan warned that defeating him would be difficult unless he was weakened.
• At Shelter No. 20, Qin Ze learned that the Polluters would arrive in ten minutes and that the shelter lacked the energy to fire Apocalypse again.
• Qin Ze asked about other energy sources, but the short, skinny man said Apocalypse required the Source of Life of two hundred thousand Low-Level Martial Artists, leaving Qin Ze without enough to power it.

Qin Ze distracted the King by repeatedly entering his spiritual network while the Hunters defended the Apocalypse Launch Tower. As the King struggled against Qin Ze and the fighters on the battlefield, Qin Ze finally entered the King's spiritual sea of consciousness.

• Qin Ze ordered the Hunters and the shelter's martial artists to defend the Apocalypse Launch Tower while he prepared to make it fire again.
• Qin Ze possessed several Polluters, forced the King out of their spiritual links with the Source of God, and provoked the King into attacking his own spiritual sea of consciousness.
• Yao Yuan noticed the King had become distracted, then struck him with a transparent spiritual sword while the Administrator and Fairy attacked; the King lost an arm before it grew back.
• Qin Ze inferred that the King still believed the Apocalypse could fire, and Yao Yuan told the Administrator to keep the King occupied.
• The King stopped using his true body's spiritual power against Qin Ze, but Qin Ze kept pursuing him through the Polluters' links and entered his spiritual sea of consciousness.

Qin Ze seized control of the Polluters in Shelter No. 20, turning their Sources of Life into fuel for Apocalypse while fighting the Xiezhi General in his spiritual sea. The Xiezhi General withdrew from the sea and rushed back to confront Yao Yuan and the others, leaving Qin Ze’s overwrite underway.

• Qin Ze revealed that the king was the Xiezhi General, a subordinate of the God of the Underworld, and began overwriting the black threads that connected him to the Polluters.
• Qin Ze used his golden dragon to stop the Xiezhi General’s wave as the overwrite weakened the king’s spiritual power.
• Qin Ze told everyone in the chat group not to kill the Polluters who had stopped moving, and Scholar persuaded the shelter’s martial artists to stand down.
• Qin Ze converted nearly twenty thousand Polluters into blue streams of Source of Life that filled one charge segment of the Apocalypse Launch Tower.
• The Xiezhi General realized Qin Ze was using the Polluters as fuel, withdrew from the spiritual sea, and struck the Administrator while trying to get past Yao Yuan and the other two.

Qin Ze raced to finish activating the Apocalypse Tower while the King charged toward him and the Hunters fought to stall the Demigod. After the King broke through their defenses, Qin Ze awakened and fired the tower, piercing the King just before he could impale him.

• The King charged toward Qin Ze, and Yao Yuan, Fairy, and the Hunters tried to slow him down.
• Qin Ze urged the Source of God to spread its program while Scholar and the Hunters coordinated their defense.
• Slacking on the Sidelines, Taoist, Passerby A, and Brother Biao attacked the King, but he destroyed their assaults and continued forward.
• Scholar used Words Become Law to shield Qin Ze from the King's punch, then collapsed after suffering severe backlash.
• Yao Yuan arrived and put a curtain of sword light between the King and Qin Ze, but the King forced his way through it.
• Qin Ze awakened the Apocalypse Tower with the Source of Life and fired a blue beam that pierced the King's chest.

Qin Ze and the Hunters defeated the King, ending the shelter’s four-hundred-year war, then returned to the Ring Mountains after learning what little the administrator knew about Otherworld No. Zero. Yao Yuan sent the Hunters to rest while he investigated the Correction Mission, and Qin Ze gave Scholar Life Essence to recover.

• Brother Yuanzi planted a flying sword in the King’s wound, and Lu Tongtong used Deduction to locate him after he escaped into the void.
• Brother Yuanzi struck the King with Parting Clouds and blasted him out of the void, leaving Qin Ze to kill him with the Divine Markings bone sword and complete the hunting mission.
• The Hunters regrouped with the surviving shelter martial artists, and the administrator shared what he knew about Otherworld No. Zero before the Hunters teleported away.
• The administrator told the survivors that humanity had reclaimed the land, and the shelter martial artists cheered that humanity would never perish.
• The Hunters returned to the Ring Mountains, where Yao Yuan told them to rest while he investigated the Correction Mission, and Qin Ze gave Scholar Life Essence.

Qin Ze received a fifteen-day mission to kill Test Subject X in Otherworld No. Zero while the Hunters recovered in Snow City. After the company accused Law Enforcement of attacking its factories and threatened war, Yao Yuan reported that Test Subject X had been found.

• The Hunters parted at the lake, and Passerby A later woke up alone after the King’s attack had sent him out of the Otherworld.
• Qin Ze discovered his mission to kill Test Subject X and suspected the target was the King before his transformation.
• Beast Tamer explained that the trial’s difficulty depended on the group’s strength, and the Hunters discussed how Brother Biao might have faced a different mission alone.
• The Hunters rested in Snow City while waiting for Brother Yuanzi’s information, and Scholar recovered after drinking Qin Ze’s Life Essence.
• Qin Ze watched a company spokesperson blame Law Enforcement for three factory fires and declare that the company would not surrender Otherworld No. Zero.
• Yao Yuan messaged the group that Test Subject X had been found.

Qin Ze secretly traveled to Sea Capital, where he met a long-haired woman who had eaten hundreds of bowls of noodles and persuaded him to take her in. He brought her to a Circus hideout, and she looked out over Sea Capital, which she had not visited in a long time.

• Slacking on the Sidelines and the others planned to gather in Sea Capital, while Qin Ze stayed behind in Snow City—then secretly boarded the same train as them.
• Qin Ze arrived in Sea Capital and found a long-haired woman eating more than three hundred bowls of noodles at a shop.
• The woman claimed Qin Ze was her friend and used voice transmission to persuade him to pay her 6,650 for the meal.
• The woman insisted Qin Ze take her home, and he brought her to a small Circus hideout with a spare room.
• The woman thanked Qin Ze, asked when they would eat, and looked out at Sea Capital, saying she had not been back in a long time.

Qin Ze searched for Qin Yu while Black Mountain Biotechnology prepared to confront Law Enforcement and manage its dwindling funds. At lunch, the long-haired beauty demonstrated an eating cultivation technique, and Qin Ze quickly learned its basics and realized it could work exceptionally well with Brother Devour’s ability.

• Qin Ze called Qin Yu repeatedly, but she did not answer, so he decided they needed to speak face-to-face.
• Black Mountain Biotechnology’s middle-aged leader told his assistant to portray the company as a victim and dismissed concerns about employee resentment from repeated pay cuts.
• The leader discussed Law Enforcement’s deadline with an aged voice and secured the promise of help when the time came.
• The long-haired beauty took Qin Ze to a buffet restaurant and demonstrated how eating could be used to cultivate.
• Qin Ze copied her technique with help from his clones and realized Brother Devour’s ability could greatly improve its low conversion efficiency.
• The long-haired beauty was surprised that Qin Ze had learned the technique’s basics within minutes.

Qin Ze spent the day eating and shopping with the long-haired beauty, who teased him about knowing his sister but admitted she did not. That night, Qin Ze went with his clones to investigate a strong group from the company camped outside Sea Capital.

• Qin Ze ate sea beast meat with the long-haired beauty and reached minor mastery while she watched in disbelief.
• The long-haired beauty lured Qin Ze into spending the afternoon shopping by claiming she could tell him about his sister, then admitted she had been teasing him.
• Qin Ze received a message from his clones about a group from the company whose members were Intermediate Martial Artists and had killed two challengers with one move.
• Qin Ze slipped out of the residence at night to meet the clones, while the long-haired beauty noticed his spiritual power and followed him into the night.
• Qin Ze appeared behind three clones on a hillside overlooking the company's temporary camp.

Qin Ze discovered a secret trial involving an energy tower resembling the Apocalypse Launch Tower, but the tower fired at him and his clones as they watched from a hillside. The camp’s martial artists charged them while the tower remained active, and Qin Ze prepared his clones for battle.

• Qin Ze learned that two clones had died after approaching the guarded tower, which he recognized as resembling the Apocalypse Launch Tower.
• The burly man ordered the tower’s staff to begin a secret trial after receiving a signal from headquarters.
• The tower’s lights activated, and its operator reported that the energy transmission had met the trial’s requirements before beginning an energy release.
• The tower fired a beam that killed one of Qin Ze’s clones and revealed Qin Ze and the remaining clones on the hillside.
• The burly man ordered the martial artists to kill them, and Qin Ze summoned more clones to assemble for a team fight.

Qin Ze and his clones overwhelmed a camp’s defenders, then accidentally destroyed its energy-gathering tower. The burly leader surrendered to Qin Ze after the explosion.

• Qin Ze’s clones countercharged the camp’s martial artists and fought them with chaotic, coordinated attacks.
• The burly leader charged into the camp, but Qin Ze arrived and blocked his kick.
• Qin Ze sent the burly leader flying with a white tiger of qi and blood while the clones entered the camp.
• A clone wearing a hyena mask ripped out a cable from the energy-gathering tower, causing it to explode and kill him.
• The burly leader knelt and surrendered to Qin Ze.

Qin Ze drove off the company’s guards at the experimental site, while Fairy warned Cancer to stay away from the dangerous experimental subject. Cancer stayed in Qin Ze’s room and saw that his group planned to move on the subject the day after tomorrow.

• Qin Ze questioned the burly guard, learned the company had hired the martial artists to protect its experiment personnel, then let the guards flee.
• A disguised man joined the fleeing guards and winked at Qin Ze before the group disappeared.
• Fairy confronted Cancer, warned her that other Level Nine Martial Artists were pursuing the experimental subject, and ordered her to return.
• Cancer agreed to go back in the morning, but privately vowed to prove she could manage without Fairy.
• Cancer pretended to sleep as Qin Ze returned to his room, then saw Yao Yuan’s message announcing that the group would move on the experimental subject the day after tomorrow.

Qin Ze investigated the Energy Gathering Tower while Black Mountain Biotechnology prepared to continue its exposed experiment, and Thousand Faces struggled to uncover the project’s secrets. As the final battle approached, Lady Cancer hinted that she planned to do something big the next day.

• A Black Mountain Biotechnology executive learned that an unknown intruder had destroyed the old laboratory and that the Energy Gathering Tower camp had been attacked, but he ordered the company’s plan to continue.
• The executive sent the test data to Energy Gathering Tower control rooms and declared that the day after tomorrow would bring the final battle.
• Thousand Faces told Qin Ze that the Energy Gathering Tower project was tightly compartmentalized and that he had found no blueprints despite working through the night.
• Qin Ze gave Thousand Faces one more day to investigate because he suspected the tower was connected to the coming Correction Mission.
• Lady Cancer took Qin Ze to breakfast and said she was eating extra because she planned to do something big the next day and impress a certain nasty woman.

Qin Ze investigated the Energy Gathering Tower while preparing with the Hunters for the confrontation with Test Subject X. At the Canglan River, Sea Capital Law Enforcement arrived at the target villa, and Yao Yuan announced that the correction had begun.

• Qin Ze spent the day with Cancer, who left him to hunt sea beasts for her planned undertaking the next day.
• Qin Ze pressed Thousand Faces for information, learning that 113 Energy Gathering Towers existed and that even their management teams knew little about them.
• Qin Ze warned the Hunters in the key chat group about the secretive tower project and urged everyone to stay alert for the coming battle.
• Qin Ze arrived at the Canglan River the next day and joined the Hunters as they watched the target villa.
• Sea Capital Law Enforcement personnel descended from transport aircraft near the villa, and Yao Yuan said the correction had begun.

Qin Ze and the Hunters entered the company’s underground research institute to destroy Test Subject X while Yao Yuan confronted Elder Liu aboveground. They found signs of a massacre in the laboratories, and the large central laboratory doors opened by themselves, revealing a dazzling light.

• The villa exploded, and Yao Yuan fought Elder Liu, whose shattered sword qi destroyed the underground gate.
• Qin Ze and the Hunters rushed into the institute while Law Enforcement fought the company’s Mobile Team outside.
• The Hunters found the entrance hall deserted and used a map to head toward the large laboratory.
• Qin Ze broke into the work area, where the staff lay dead amid dried blood and signs of a disaster.
• Qin Ze approached the central laboratory, but its doors opened on their own and a dazzling light shone out.