Chapter Summaries

Qin Ze arrived in Snow City with Big Black, avoided a confrontation with Saber King by verifying his mission, and returned to the Circus base to investigate the outsider. As he prepared to reunite with his companions, a clone abruptly died, confirming his suspicion that something was seriously wrong in Snow City.

• Qin Ze reached Snow City with Big Black, but Saber King detected the mutated beast and threatened to kill them until Qin Ze showed his commission from the Grand Consul.
• Qin Ze brought Big Black to the Circus base and told him to stay inside while the clones searched Snow City for clues about the outsider.
• Thousand Faces entered the Snow City Inspection Team headquarters and told the others that something was suspicious.
• Qin Ze planned to stay in Snow City for up to three days before descending into the Abyss, while his companions arranged to meet at their usual bar.
• Miss Sword Case asked Qin Ze about finding the Land of Origin, and he told her to wait for fate to guide them.
• Qin Ze sensed that one of the old fellows had died suddenly and ordered nearby clones to bring back the body intact.

Qin Ze discovered that his supposedly dead clone was alive but had become a fanatical believer in an evil god. Miss Sword Case explained that a hidden preacher had mentally contaminated him, and Qin Ze found a black web covering the clone’s spiritual sea of consciousness.

• The corpse collection team found Qin Ze’s clone preaching to mercenaries, then lured him to the Circus hideout.
• Qin Ze and the others questioned the clone, who insisted that his unnamed lord could be anything.
• Miss Sword Case identified the clone as a fanatic and explained that evil-god preachers spread mental contamination while evading the World Will.
• Qin Ze examined the clone’s spiritual sea of consciousness and saw a black web rooted throughout it.

Qin Ze confirmed that the golden Source of God could cleanse the Preacher’s contamination, but he and Miss Sword Case had no way to locate the Preacher. Thousand Faces then revealed that a string of unexplained murders in Snow City might be connected to the threat.

• Qin Ze purified the believer clone’s sea of consciousness, destroying the Preacher’s black web and restoring the clone’s Local Area Network signal.
• Miss Sword Case realized Qin Ze’s war puppets were unusually lifelike, and Qin Ze persuaded her to keep secret how he made them.
• Qin Ze questioned Miss Sword Case about Preachers and learned that the gods had once dealt with them by killing all intelligent life and destroying the affected world.
• Thousand Faces reported that twenty martial artists had died in Snow City over the past week and that he had examined their bodies.
• Thousand Faces said the victims’ brains had exploded into mush, leading Qin Ze to suspect the deaths could help explain why the Preacher had remained difficult to find.

Qin Ze investigated the Preacher’s victims and set an infected man up as bait while arranging for Dharma King to watch him. He then met Slacking on the Sidelines in a bar, where Taoist, Passerby A, Scholar, and Brother Biao appeared, bringing Qin Ze face to face with his old friends after nearly three years.

• Qin Ze learned that the Preacher’s victims had been level two or three martial artists, while Snow City’s population had grown stronger over the past three years.
• Qin Ze told Dharma King to send the infected old man back to preach at the intersection as bait for the Preacher, and Dharma King followed him with a hidden team.
• Qin Ze set out for the bar with Miss Sword Case after leaving Big Black to watch the base.
• Qin Ze sat beside Slacking on the Sidelines, shared orange juice with him, and answered his probing questions while Taoist and Passerby A watched.
• Taoist, Scholar, and Brother Biao arrived, and Taoist asked Slacking on the Sidelines whether he had made a new friend.

Qin Ze secretly reunited with the Hunters in a Snow City bar, listening as they caught up after three years apart without revealing who he was. As he left to visit the old man who passed on the fire, Miss Sword Case sensed that a middle-aged man entering the bar smelled of a fanatic.

• Slacking on the Sidelines introduced Qin Ze to the Hunters, who gathered to reunite and catch up.
• Lu Tongtong arrived, and Qin Ze listened as the Hunters described their lives over the past three years and avoided mentioning three absent people.
• The bartender offered Qin Ze a security commission protecting a wealthy merchant's son, but Qin Ze declined.
• Qin Ze left the bar to visit the old fellow who passed on the fire, and Lu Tongtong noticed his sword case as he passed the Hunters.
• A middle-aged fat man nearly collided with Qin Ze at the door, and Miss Sword Case said he smelled of a fanatic.

Qin Ze accepted a bodyguard commission from a merchant whose ordinary son had begun acting like a fanatic after arriving in Snow City. When Qin Ze examined the sleeping boy, he detected a black egg inside his brain.

• The merchant explained that he needed a bodyguard for his son, and Qin Ze accepted the commission under the name Lin Zhiyuan.
• Qin Ze exchanged contact information with Slacking on the Sidelines, while Scholar concluded that Qin Ze was an advanced martial artist.
• The merchant brought Qin Ze to his villa and explained that his son had begun speaking of a lord descending after their journey to Snow City.
• Qin Ze entered the boy's room, scanned his mind with mental energy, and found a black egg inside his brain.

Qin Ze investigated the black egg contaminating the boy’s spiritual sea and used the boy’s memories to discover when the Preacher had targeted him. After a quiet night of surveillance, the egg hatched into the same black net as the old man’s contamination.

• Qin Ze questioned the wealthy merchant and learned that the boy had not gone anywhere unusual after arriving in Snow City.
• Qin Ze used Miss Sword Case’s Daydream Seed to review the boy’s memories and saw his contamination appear when he stumbled at the villa entrance.
• Qin Ze concluded that the Preacher had deliberately targeted the ordinary boy, then searched the area but found no sign of him.
• Qin Ze coordinated surveillance with Dharma King and the others while Thousand Faces reported that Little Deer and the others had arrived to examine the corpse.
• After the night passed without the Preacher appearing, the black egg cracked and hatched into a black net that covered the boy’s spiritual sea, matching the old man’s contamination.

Qin Ze discovered how Preacher’s contamination spread from ordinary people to martial artists, one level at a time. After purging the infected boy and a Level One Martial Artist, he decided to speak with Lao Dao about the danger brewing in Snow City.

• Qin Ze observed that the boy’s contamination was stable and quiet, and the boy denied remembering his talk of the Lord’s descent.
• Qin Ze saw the contamination probe the wealthy merchant, then asked Brother Devour to bring him a Level One Martial Artist for an experiment.
• Miss Sword Case used a Daydream Seed to put the boy to sleep, and Brother Devour placed the unconscious martial artist beside him.
• The boy’s contamination infected the Level One Martial Artist, and Brother Devour explained how it grew in hosts before targeting someone one level stronger.
• Qin Ze purged the contamination from both men with divine light, then left to speak with Lao Dao.

Qin Ze informed the Saber King about the fanatics and the Preacher, then took command of the Inspection Team and Hunters to lock down the Northern Territory and search for infected people. As Dharma King, the Mist Lord, and Big Black waited in the Fog of War, Big Black sensed that the Preacher had taken the bait.

• Qin Ze told the Saber King about the fanatics and proposed locking down the Northern Territory, tracking exposed Low-Level Martial Artists, and searching for the Preacher.
• The Saber King gave Qin Ze an authoritative law token and ordered the Inspection Team to cooperate with him.
• Qin Ze took command of the Inspection Team and sent the Hunters to join the citywide search, telling them to notify him if they found the Preacher.
• The Northern Territory was locked down as gray coats and law enforcers searched for suspicious people and tracked those who had visited Snow City.
• Dharma King, the Mist Lord, and Big Black waited in the Fog of War, and Big Black growled at the old man passing on the fire as Dharma King announced that the fish had taken the bait.

Dharma King’s group used the believer clone to draw out the Preacher and kept him occupied while Qin Ze made his way to the crossroads. The Preacher tried to take the clone away, but a streak of golden lightning struck as Qin Ze arrived.

• The believer clone preached to passersby while Dharma King and the others watched from hiding, and Big Black detected the Preacher approaching through the void.
• The Preacher appeared and found that the corruption he had planted in the clone’s spiritual sea of consciousness was gone.
• The clone pretended to be a devoted believer and preached to the Preacher, who grew impressed and decided to take him to meet the true Lord.
• The Preacher grabbed the clone’s arm as nearby gray coats searched the area, but Qin Ze told the clone to look up.
• The Preacher shielded the clone as golden lightning struck and bolts swept out around them.

Qin Ze battled the Preacher, whose cane let him block attacks and escape through folded space. When the Preacher tried to flee, Qin Ze summoned Lao Dao, and the Saber King’s attack stopped him.

• Qin Ze fought the Preacher, breaking his black shield and freeing Miss Sword Case from its restraints.
• Qin Ze empowered Miss Sword Case with Divine Markings, shattered the Preacher’s shield, and forced him to escape into a black swamp.
• The Preacher reappeared and tried to flee by folding space with his cane.
• Qin Ze raised the command token and called for Lao Dao to chop off the Preacher’s head.
• The Saber King’s battle saber stopped the folding space, struck at the Preacher, and was blocked by his cane.

Saber King fought Preacher on Snow City's outskirts, overwhelming him with relentless saber attacks while protecting the believer clone. As Hunters and gray coats arrived and recognized the Circus member inside the clone’s shield, Saber King split Preacher’s upper body open.

• Saber King attacked Preacher, who repelled his first strike and shielded the believer clone from the resulting destruction.
• Preacher protected the believer clone inside a black shield as Saber King charged in and began a fierce close-quarters battle.
• Saber King’s rising speed and power drove Preacher backward, while Preacher tried to recruit him to serve his lord.
• Hunters and gray coats arrived, and Lu Tongtong, Slacking on the Sidelines, and Wang Biao recognized the Circus member inside the shield.
• Saber King pierced Preacher’s shield and split his upper body open with an upward thrust.

Saber King fought Preacher, resisting the evil god’s corruption and seemingly destroying his body, but Preacher escaped through his cane. Afterward, Saber King revealed the immense limits of his physical strength and left Qin Ze to locate Preacher for a future hunt.

• Saber King was infected when Preacher’s blood seeped into him, but he resisted the divine whispers and cut Preacher apart with Heaven Slaying.
• Preacher’s cane and the eggshell clone sank into a black mire, while Saber King endured the corruption and forcibly purified it with his body.
• Saber King told Qin Ze that Preacher was the cane and had not truly been alive, and they agreed to plan a decisive hunt once Qin Ze found him.
• Saber King compared Qin Ze to the Human Race Sword Immortal, described his physical body as strong as the limit Qin Ze could imagine, and departed through a spatial ripple.
• Brother Shui asked whether Preacher was dead, and Qin Ze replied that this was only the beginning.

Qin Ze purified nearly a thousand fanatics in an abandoned stadium, but warned that finding the source of the corruption was still the priority. Meanwhile, the believer clone located Preacher’s hideout and learned how Preacher spread the Lord’s holiness.

• Qin Ze told the Hunters that Preacher could revive through his cane and that he could track him using a ward.
• Qin Ze used the Source of God to purify the fanatics gathered in the stadium, including many North Star City high school students.
• Qin Ze left exhausted and said the Hunters needed to find the source of the corruption rather than rely on his limited ability to purify people.
• The believer clone emerged in an abandoned factory and found a gray-fog image and an empty altar.
• Preacher revived from the cane, welcomed the clone as a loyal believer, and declared that the Source of God had to be eliminated.
• Preacher explained that spreading the Lord’s holiness worked best gradually through ordinary people and successive levels of Martial Artists.

Qin Ze used the believer clone’s clues to organize a search for the Preacher’s abandoned-factory hideout while investigating the evil god’s planned descent. Miss Sword Case recognized the Chronicle of Time, leaving Qin Ze convinced that she had a connection to the Desolate God despite her missing memories.

• The believer clone questioned the Preacher about the headquarters and learned the other believers would gather there the following night for the lord’s descent.
• The Preacher kept the clone trapped for his safety, so the clone told Qin Ze and Thousand Faces what he had learned about the abandoned factory.
• Thousand Faces identified four possible factory locations, and Qin Ze sent four groups to search them and rescue the clone.
• Qin Ze wondered why a Preacher had appeared in the human world and consulted the Chronicle of Time for clues about the evil god.
• Miss Sword Case recognized the diary as the Chronicle of Time but could not explain how she knew its name.
• Qin Ze concluded that Miss Sword Case’s recognition of the Chronicle of Time suggested a connection to the Desolate God.

Qin Ze investigated the Desolate God's unknown history and sent his clones to search Snow City for the Preacher, whose hidden location remained elusive. The Preacher began revealing the painting’s power to the believer clone, who heard demonic whispers as scarlet eyes appeared in the mist.

• Qin Ze considered whether the gods had erased the Desolate God and learned from Miss Sword Case that the Divine Tree in the Land of Origin might know his history.
• Qin Ze absorbed the Chronicle of Time into the Source of God and sent his clones to search the factories marked by Thousand Faces.
• Qin Ze learned the search had failed and realized the believer clone was still in darkness despite Snow City being sunny, suggesting the Preacher had hidden himself in a space within the city.
• Qin Ze ordered the clones to retrace their routes with Big Black and find the Preacher before nightfall, when the fanatic believers would gather.
• The Preacher used his cane to stir the gray mist in the painting, and scarlet eyes appeared as demonic whispers reached the believer clone.

The believer clone endured the Lord’s voice and learned that the Preacher planned to leave him in charge of preaching in Snow City. Meanwhile, corruption advanced covertly among the city’s gray coats, with an infected patrolman disappearing without attracting notice.

• The Preacher let the believer clone hear the Lord’s voice, but Qin Ze’s golden dragon calmed the clone’s Spiritual Sea and dispelled the shared effects on the Local Area Network.
• The Preacher identified the painting’s gray fog as the Divine Domain and said he would teach the clone to preach before leaving the remaining work to him.
• Qin Ze ordered the believer clone to question the Preacher for useful information and reminded the other clones to keep working toward S-rank Soul Orbs.
• The believer clone pledged loyalty to the Lord as Snow City remained under lockdown and gray coats patrolled its streets.
• A black-eyed gray coat’s cracked egg shattered, and black tentacles corrupted his two fellow patrolmen before he vanished into black mire, leaving them to continue their patrol unaware.

Qin Ze and the search teams tried to locate Preacher, while Preacher gathered hundreds of fanatics in an abandoned factory and prepared to address them. As Qin Ze guided the believer clone to look toward a window, golden divine light appeared there.

• Qin Ze told Saber King he would find Preacher before dark, then set out with Miss Sword Case to catch him.
• Dharma King and Thousand Faces searched the abandoned factories with Big Black, who sensed a hidden space but could not pinpoint it.
• Qin Ze told Dharma King and the others over the Local Area Network to wait for him.
• Preacher gathered nearly three hundred fanatics in the factory and told the believer clone to watch and learn before he addressed them.
• Qin Ze instructed the believer clone to look toward the window, where dazzling golden divine light streamed inside.

Qin Ze used repeated flashes of divine light to map the hidden factory while Preacher gathered fanatic believers for a ritual. As Preacher began to summon the Lord, Qin Ze pinpointed the hidden space’s location.

• Preacher noticed that many fanatic believers were missing but dismissed the believer clone’s loyalty as unquestionable.
• Qin Ze directed the believer clone to track the floor shadows as divine light repeatedly flashed through the factory windows.
• Preacher calmed the agitated believers and secretly told the clone that believers were nourishment for the Lord.
• Preacher began the ritual as gray fog surged through the floor-to-ceiling painting, chilling the believer clone.
• Qin Ze marked a fourth point outside the factory, found where his lines crossed, and declared that he had located the hidden space.

Qin Ze and Saber King found Preacher’s hidden factory and broke in as Preacher harvested the fanatics’ faith. The ritual killed the believers and unleashed Soul Breath, while a Wandering Corpse emerged from the painting to confront Saber King.

• Qin Ze used the intersecting lines of light to locate the hidden space and summoned Saber King to the factory district.
• Saber King shattered the hidden space with repeated saber strikes, exposing Preacher and more than a hundred kneeling fanatics.
• Preacher began harvesting the fanatics’ faith through the gray fog, which Miss Sword Case identified as Soul Breath formed from human and Strange Beast souls.
• Saber King charged at Preacher, but the Soul Breath burst out of the factory and engulfed him as Qin Ze retreated.
• The Soul Breath drained the fanatics until they became skeletons, and a rotting alien wielding a broken saber stepped out of the painting as a Wandering Corpse.