Chapter Summaries

In a plague-stricken town abandoned by the city, Xiao Ge lost his mother as the survivors’ faith in their former deities collapsed. Desperate people began praying to plague and disease itself, and an invisible force gathered from their prayers.

• Xiao Ge brought his mother pale yellow medicine, but she hid her worsening plague infection and let him drink it instead.
• The city had cut off the remote town, leaving its plague victims to die among the uncollected corpses.
• Survivors brought food to the church and found that Xiao Ge’s mother and five others had died.
• The townspeople began praying to plague and disease rather than the deities they had worshipped before.
• People in other towns joined the prayers, and an invisible force slowly gathered.

As the plague empowered Nurgle and his cult, infected believers transformed into monstrous Nurgle's Chosen. Leaders and cult representatives met in Arkham to discuss the threat and agreed to pursue unconventional ways to stop the plague.

• Plague sufferers and desperate survivors began worshipping Nurgle, strengthening his power and forming the Cult of Nurgle.
• Some infected believers became Nurgle's Chosen, monstrous followers who gained strength and longevity from the diseases consuming them.
• The growing cult and plague drew the attention of city leaders and churches, who gathered in Arkham to assess the crisis.
• The representatives agreed that the plague threatened the established order and that stopping its spread was urgent.
• The leaders planned to continue communicating with Pestilence Doctor and, if necessary, release him under agreed restrictions.
• The group also planned to contact the ratmen, whose plague-associated clan might offer a way to combat the outbreak.

Humanity’s organizations and cults began investigating the plague, while Shen Hui believed it would become part of the Death World’s civilization. After waking, he learned Qingxue would leave that night with the Tarot Club and agreed to help her prepare.

• Humanity’s organizations and cults agreed to investigate the plague, seek help from the powers they worshipped, and cooperate if their efforts failed.
• Shen Hui concluded that the plague and Cult of Nurgle would likely become part of the Death World, which had grown close to becoming a level-eight Creation World.
• Shen Hui woke to find Qingxue at home and learned that Zhang Rou, The High Priestess, had come to visit her.
• Qingxue told Shen Hui that the Tarot Club would gather that night and set out under The Fool’s leadership for the Chaos Forbidden Domain.
• Shen Hui warned Qingxue about the danger, but she insisted on going, and he agreed to contact trusted Tarot Club members for advice before setting out with her.

Shen Hui and Huang Lingheng discussed the Tarot Club’s plans for the Chaos Forbidden Domain and awaited Zhiyue, who arrived with an unexpectedly elderly Tarot Club member. The group gathered at the park, leaving Shen Hui and Huang Lingheng to question who the old man was and whether he could handle the expedition.

• Huang Lingheng told Shen Hui he planned to leave for the Chaos Forbidden Domain with Leng Zimeng without telling the World Association or the Night Organization.
• Huang Lingheng admitted he was worried about Leng Zimeng’s safety and planned to ask The Fool about the Tarot Club’s arrangements at their gathering.
• Huang Lingheng explained that Tarot Club card positions had only one member at a time and that finding replacements would be difficult if a member died.
• Zhiyue arrived with a short, elderly man she said was another Tarot Club member, surprising Shen Hui and Huang Lingheng.
• Qingxue and Leng Zimeng joined the group, and Huang Lingheng asked the old man if he was seeking protection from them.

Zhang Qingfeng, the Tarot Club’s Strength member, met Shen Hui and the other newcomers, teased Huang Lingheng by making him call him great-grandpa, and revealed he was an old acquaintance and sworn enemy of Huang Lingheng’s grandfather. He then told Shen Hui, the Death God candidate, that he could attend the meeting before they left that night.

• Zhang Qingfeng introduced himself as a Tarot Club member and told the newcomers they could ask him questions.
• Zhiyue identified the old man as the Tarot Club’s eighth member, representing Strength.
• Zhang Qingfeng insisted Huang Lingheng call him great-grandpa, then revealed he was an old acquaintance and sworn enemy of Huang Lingheng’s grandfather and had tricked him into the title.
• Zhang Qingfeng introduced himself by name and told Shen Hui he could attend the meeting before they left that night.

Shen Hui and his companions learned more about Zhang Qingfeng’s long-ago membership in the Tarot Club and welcomed his help before entering the Chaos Forbidden Domain. Zhang Qingfeng revealed that he had obtained the Strength seat by killing its previous holder.

• Zhang Qingfeng said he had nearly forgotten being a Tarot Club member and offered to help Shen Hui’s group, explaining that he had declined Huang Luoshan’s invitations to join his organization.
• Shen Hui warned Zhang Qingfeng that powerful Creation Worlds might attract greater calamities in the Chaos Forbidden Domain, but Zhang Qingfeng said his Strength seat meant he had no need to worry.
• Zhang Qingfeng teased Huang Lingheng by calling himself his great-grandfather, and Leng Zimeng led the group to a teahouse while Huang Lingheng complained that the old man was tormenting him.
• At the teahouse, Qingxue asked Zhang Qingfeng about the Tarot Club’s history, and he said he had joined decades earlier as part of a later batch after inheriting the Strength seat.
• Zhang Qingfeng told Shen Hui that he had killed the previous holder of the Strength seat to claim it.

Shen Hui and the others questioned Zhang Qingfeng about the Tarot Club and The Fool, but learned little about their origins. Zhang Qingfeng invited Shen Hui to discuss the Creation World after the matter ahead was settled, and Huang Lingheng secured the same opportunity by calling him Great-Grandpa.

• Zhiyue explained that Zhang Qingfeng's strange remark concerned the inheritance ritual for his Strength Position.
• Zhang Qingfeng said the Tarot Club had no founder he knew of, described The Fool as the one who brought in each generation's members, and admitted he did not know The Fool's identity.
• Zhang Qingfeng told Qingxue that he was not unburdened so much as bereft of people and interests, and that the Tarot Club's goal remained his only concern.
• Shen Hui asked to discuss the Creation World with Zhang Qingfeng later, and Zhang Qingfeng agreed.
• Huang Lingheng asked to join the discussion, and Zhang Qingfeng made him call him Great-Grandpa before agreeing.

Shen Hui and the others followed Zhang Qingfeng to the wilderness ruins, where they learned that spatial rifts pulled at anyone using the power of a Creation World. After safely descending the barrier wall, the group prepared to venture deeper into the ruins.

• Zhang Qingfeng led Shen Hui and the others out of the city toward the wilderness ruins, where the Tarot Club gathering was headed.
• The group reached the barrier wall at night and admired the ruined city and its many spatial rifts.
• Zhang Qingfeng jumped down from the wall in his Creator Form and warned the others to avoid the rifts.
• Huang Lingheng's Creator Form was pulled toward a spatial rift until Zhang Qingfeng grabbed him and told him to leave the form.
• The group descended carefully, leaving their Creator Forms after landing, and Zhang Qingfeng warned that the rifts grew more numerous farther inside.

Shen Hui and his companions reached the Tarot Club’s gathering place in the Wilderness Ruins, where Zhang Qingfeng warned that some members might dislike Shen Hui. The newcomers met the assembled members and began introductions, but the Fool’s whereabouts remained unclear.

• Shen Hui’s group detoured around dense spatial rifts on their way to the Tarot Club’s meeting place.
• Zhang Qingfeng warned Shen Hui that some Tarot Club members might be unhappy with him, though he did not explain why.
• Shen Hui and his companions climbed to the repaired rooftop, where eleven Tarot Club members turned to watch them arrive.
• The Hanged Man began introducing the gathering’s members and identified himself as number twelve, the middle-aged man as number four, the Emperor, and another member as number one, the Magician.

At a Tarot Club gathering, Shen Hui and his companions met the other members, but The Devil questioned whether Shen Hui belonged to the organization. Shen Hui admitted that he was not a member, leaving the room tense as he continued to speak.

• The Hanged introduced the Tarot Club members present, including The Hierophant and The Devil, while several members were absent.
• The Hierophant invited others to join Divine Guidance, and Huang Lingheng recognized the faction from an underground auction.
• Zhang Qingfeng refused to introduce Shen Hui's group, so Zhiyue introduced herself as Justice and named Huang Lingheng as The World, Leng Zimeng as The Tower, and Qingxue as The Lovers.
• The Devil remarked that The Lovers' authority could enhance a lover's Creation World, and Shen Hui challenged her to explain how her own authority would help the team.
• The Devil recognized Shen Hui and questioned whether he was a Tarot Club member, prompting hostile attention from the others.
• Shen Hui admitted he was not a Tarot Club member, freezing the atmosphere, then continued speaking calmly.

Shen Hui explained that he was only a candidate for the Death God position, then faced hostility from the Chariot and provocation from the Devil over whether he could join the group heading to the Chaos Forbidden Domain. The Chariot threatened him, and their Creation World powers began to stir as the others watched to see what Shen Hui would do.

• Shen Hui said he held the Death God position as a candidate and was not yet a full Tarot Club member.
• The Chariot mocked Shen Hui and ordered him to leave, while the Devil questioned whether he meant to join the group going to the Chaos Forbidden Domain.
• Qingxue defended Shen Hui and insulted the Devil, but Shen Hui stopped her from escalating the argument.
• Shen Hui challenged the Chariot, who rose and threatened to show him no mercy if he refused to leave.
• The Devil warned them not to fight while emphasizing that the formation allowed them to use their Creation World powers.
• Zhiyue stopped Qingxue and Huang Lingheng from intervening after spotting Zhang Qingfeng watching, and the Chariot's Creation World aura began to emerge as Shen Hui's gaze turned cold.

The Chariot and Shen Hui drew on their creation worlds and entered creator forms for a showdown. The Chariot revealed a rare dual-system perfect creator form, but Shen Hui emerged from the darkness as a terrifying unknown creature.

• The Chariot warned Shen Hui to leave, then transformed into a golden-armored creator form wielding a spear.
• The Chariot summoned two enormous lion beasts formed from the power of a second creation-world system.
• The Emperor identified The Chariot's power as a rare dual-system creator form, and the onlookers discussed his strength and background.
• Qingxue worried about Shen Hui, while Huang Lingheng doubted whether Shen Hui could rely on his creator form alone.
• Shen Hui emerged from the black fog in a changed, bizarre form that made everyone regard him with trembling dread.

Shen Hui confronted The Chariot on a rooftop as their Creation World powers manifested in the Real World. Shen Hui opened a dark window into his world, leaving the onlookers overwhelmed by fear of what they glimpsed within.

• Shen Hui’s Creator Form spread black liquid across the rooftop, spawning strange plants that unsettled the crowd and affected their sanity.
• The Chariot summoned Heroic Spirits and Orcs from his Creation World, displaying the power of his combined systems as he faced Shen Hui.
• The Chariot pointed his golden spear at Shen Hui, but Shen Hui asked whether he liked looking at him and engulfed the area in darkness.
• Huang Lingheng and Qingxue warned Leng Zimeng and Zhiyue not to look into Shen Hui’s darkness, and the two turned away.
• A lightning flash revealed Shen Hui’s vast world of eye-covered plants and dark figures, leaving the onlookers terrified by what they had seen.

Shen Hui destroyed The Chariot’s army of heroic spirits and turned his power against The Chariot. The Chariot became trapped in Shen Hui’s darkness, and as his golden armor began to fade, someone opened the rooftop door.

• Shen Hui’s darkness shattered The Chariot’s heroic spirits, releasing black mist that contaminated the space.
• The Chariot sent his lion beasts to devour Shen Hui, but Shen Hui reformed from black mist and counterattacked.
• Shen Hui enveloped The Chariot in darkness, where The Chariot saw a setting sun and felt compelled to worship what lay behind it.
• In the Real World, The Chariot stood vacant and shocked as the light of his golden armor faded.
• Someone pushed open the rooftop door, and a familiar voice rang out.

The Fool stopped Shen Hui and The Chariot’s fight, explaining that The Chariot blamed Shen Hui for harming his sister during an earlier incident. He then revealed that the Tarot Club was being watched and asked Shen Hui to open a passage to the Chaos Forbidden Domain.

• The Fool arrived and warned Shen Hui and The Chariot to stop fighting, so Shen Hui withdrew the power of his Creation World and freed The Chariot from his mental abyss.
• The Fool told The Chariot that he had lost and that his sister’s situation had been handled, then explained to Shen Hui that the earlier citywide commotion had affected her.
• Shen Hui returned to Qingxue and the others, while The Fool confirmed that he had invited Shen Hui as a candidate and dismissed The Chariot’s objection.
• The Fool announced that the Tarot Club planned to travel to the Chaos Forbidden Domain to seek answers about the world, but that someone was watching them.
• The Fool introduced Shen Hui as the Death God candidate and said he would help open a passage to the Chaos Forbidden Domain.

Shen Hui negotiated with The Fool over helping open a passage to the Chaos Forbidden Domain, accepting in exchange for coordinates hidden in a mysterious message. The Fool began the ritual, and the space around the formation started to surge, though no passage had opened yet.

• The Fool asked Shen Hui for help, and Shen Hui demanded to know why he should agree.
• The Devil offered herself as an additional reward, but Shen Hui ignored her and pressed The Fool for better terms.
• The Fool offered coordinates within the Chaos Forbidden Domain and explained that Shen Hui only needed to guide and maintain the spatial passage.
• The Fool sent Shen Hui mysterious, incomplete coordinates, and Shen Hui agreed to help if the task proved as simple as described.
• The Fool entered the formation and began channeling world power into it, making the surrounding space fluctuate violently without forming any cracks.

The Fool opened a spatial passage while using the surrounding rifts to conceal its power, but an ancient red world attacked as Shen Hui struggled to keep the passage stable. A second ancient blue world and a familiar, illusory planet appeared, leaving the confrontation poised to escalate.

• The Fool used the spatial rifts to absorb the formation’s outward-spreading power and sent his world into it to open a passage.
• A massive ancient red planet appeared and sent a meteor toward them, but The Fool blocked its attack with power from the bundle on his staff.
• Zhang Qingfeng reminded Shen Hui to take over as the passage began closing, and Shen Hui stabilized it by feeding the formation his Creation World power and mental strength.
• The red world sent another surge of power as the passage widened, and The Fool raised an illusory world to protect them.
• An ancient blue planet appeared, then The Fool called out hidden arrivals and a familiar illusory planet emerged.

Shen Hui sensed that one of three mysterious worlds might be the Negative World, while The Fool used three Creation Worlds to block them. As Shen Hui opened a spatial rift, he saw a planet that appeared to be Earth, the world he had lived on before transmigrating.

• Shen Hui sensed the third gray world carried the aura of the Fallen Gods and suspected it was the Negative World.
• The Fool summoned two spheres from the bundle on his cane, expanded them into Creation World projections, and blocked the three mysterious worlds.
• Shen Hui and the others realized the three Creation Worlds seemed connected to The Fool's authority and the bundle on his cane.
• Shen Hui opened the spatial rift to its apparent limit and saw a universe of stars and planets beyond it.
• Shen Hui glimpsed a planet whose pattern resembled Earth before it vanished from view.

Shen Hui wondered whether a planet he saw through the spatial rift was Earth and tried to question The Fool, who departed before explaining anything. Left alone in the wasteland, Shen Hui erased the formation’s traces and summoned Raven as lights approached from the city.

• Shen Hui recalled The Fool’s earlier promise and suspected he knew something about the planet that might have been Earth.
• The Fool ordered everyone to enter the spatial passage, and Qingxue, Huang Lingheng, Zhiyue, Leng Zimeng, Zhang Qingfeng, and the others went through.
• The Fool told Shen Hui that holding off the three worlds had exhausted him and that they would vanish when the passage closed.
• The Fool pointed Shen Hui toward something, slipped into the passage, and left before Shen Hui could stop him; the rift then closed and the three creation worlds disappeared.
• Shen Hui questioned the planets’ aims and noticed lights spreading from the city toward the wasteland.
• Shen Hui corroded away the formation’s markings, summoned Raven, and left the wasteland in the night.

The World Association and other groups reacted to a massive disturbance spreading from the wilderness ruins, while the Mutual Aid Society recruited frightened residents. Shen Hui set out for the city and discovered that pollution from his Death World had once again affected the Real World.

• The World Association traced the disturbance to the wilderness ruins and ordered regional branches to investigate cautiously.
• The Lord of Night and other elderly creators gathered to discuss the disturbance and wondered whether Zhang Qingfeng might be involved.
• Mutual Aid Society members urged residents on an old city street to join for protection, and Qingxue's parents signed up.
• Shen Hui traveled toward the city with Raven watching in concealment and found pollution from his Death World on the ground.