Chapter Summaries

Qiji and Liuli exploited Kamishiro Chiho’s unstable second-stage Armament and mind-reading ability to attack her, while Qiji used fabricated thoughts to mislead her. Their assault seemed to put Chiho on the defensive as Qiji nearly completed the circuit for [One Night's Moonfall], but Chiho still had the advantage and was furious about his killing Qingxian.

• Qiji realized Kamishiro Chiho’s earlier rampage came from losing control of her newly mastered second-stage Armament, and he and Liuli planned to exploit her mind-reading ability.
• After Chiho regained her senses, Liuli harried her from the air while Qiji rushed in and attacked through the silk-covered alley.
• Qiji broadcast fabricated thoughts to mislead Chiho’s [Mind Domain Net], landing eight [Instant Blooms] with Liuli’s interference helping him.
• Qiji’s attacks appeared to suppress Chiho, though her second-stage Armament absorbed most of the damage, and he nearly completed the circuit for [One Night's Moonfall].
• Chiho recognized that Qiji was doing little real damage but could not bear his taunting presence after he killed Qingxian.

Kamishiro Chiho rebuilt her defensive Armament into a giant scythe to kill Qiji, but Qiji escaped her trap with Blurring of Illusion and Reality and wounded her. Chiho then summoned fleeing civilians as human shields, forcing Liuli and Qiji to confront her manipulation.

• Kamishiro Chiho deactivated Mind Domain Net and used spider silk to bind Qiji after Mind Intimidation failed.
• Kamishiro Chiho activated Armament Reconstruction, turning most of her armor and spider spears into the Scythe of True Love.
• Qiji used Blurring of Illusion and Reality to pass through the spider silk and scythe, then struck Kamishiro Chiho four times in the same spot.
• Kamishiro Chiho snapped her fingers and drew panicked civilians into the alley as Liuli tried to stop her.

Qiji protected the civilians from Kamishiro Chiho’s scythe, taking a brutal blow that shattered his Person in the Mirror Armament. As he stalled for time, the system showed One Night’s Moonfall nearly complete, and Qiji abruptly regained his defiant swagger.

• Qiji blocked Kamishiro Chiho’s scythe strike and lost his sword as the impact shattered his mirror armor and hurled him into a wall.
• Liuli helped Qiji up and regretted hesitating to kill the civilians, while Qiji insisted he was fine and asked her to find his sword.
• Qiji saw that One Night’s Moonfall had reached 99.91% completion and decided to stall Kamishiro Chiho.
• Qiji pretended to surrender and tried to convince Kamishiro Chiho that Qingxian had refused to make peace, with Liuli playing along.
• Kamishiro Chiho questioned Qiji about resisting her mind control and escaping her webs, but Qiji dropped his act and began to stand straight.

Qiji revealed part of his face before using the Silver Wish to transform into a silver-haired form and activate One Night's Moonfall against Kamishiro Chiho. The world around him became night as he prepared to fight, while Kijika watched from the shadows.

• Kijika found Qiji facing fourth-tier Echoer Kamishiro Chiho in an alley, then held back after the darkness around Qiji reminded him of a familiar technique.
• Qiji removed the upper half of his mask, revealing Echo Erosion Syndrome crystals and a striking face that made Kamishiro Chiho demand to collect it.
• Qiji covered his eyes with the Silver Wish, unlocked its ceremonial attire form, and transformed his hair and clothes with silver-white frost.
• Qiji activated One Night's Moonfall, causing daylight to vanish and night to descend around him.

Qiji used [One Night's Moonfall] to match Kamishiro Chiho's attack, then joined forces with Liuli to prepare a stronger strike against her. As the chapter ended, Qiji drew the Sword of No Thought from the scabbard formed from Liuli's Heart Essence and imagery, with his [Annotation] still incomplete.

• Qiji completed [Nightfall] and [Moonrise], astonishing Kijika and Liuli with his use of [One Night's Moonfall].
• Qiji used [Annotation] to read Kamishiro Chiho's movements and found a weakness in her attack, forcing their weapons to a draw.
• Qiji withdrew into the darkness while Liuli used her Echo to move nearby civilians away from the alley.
• Liuli deconstructed her True Name into a [Tool] and formed a scabbard for Qiji, who told her she was his irreplaceable partner.
• Qiji attacked Kamishiro Chiho again, drawing the Sword of No Thought from Liuli's scabbard while his [Annotation] was only at 30%.

Qiji fought Kamishiro Chiho while building [Annotation] to its final stage, and Liuli helped by attacking Chiho. Qiji reached [Final Chapter] and saw hundreds of possible endings, but only one offered victory without Liuli dying or both fighters killing each other.

• Qiji shattered the sheath around the Sword of No Thought and used [Instant Bloom] to unleash his strongest strike against Kamishiro Chiho.
• Kamishiro Chiho lost her left arm to Qiji's [Final Form: One Sword], then reattached it with spider silk and continued attacking him.
• Qiji faked a failed Echo, blocked Chiho's giant scythe at the cost of a side wound, and retreated as [Annotation] reached 70%.
• Liuli threw a dagger at Kamishiro Chiho after she called Qiji darling, but Chiho knocked it aside.
• Qiji used his remaining [Instant Blooms] to reach 100% [Annotation] and activate the fourth stage, [Final Chapter].
• Qiji viewed hundreds of possible endings and found only one victory that did not cost Liuli her life or end with him and Kamishiro Chiho killing each other.

Qiji defeated Kamishiro Chiho by using Liuli’s True Name to restore his sword and removing his mask to distract her. After the battle, Liuli missed seeing his real face and asked why he had been at the audio store.

• Liuli used True Name to restore the Heart Essence and scabbard fragments, allowing Qiji to perform Final Form: One Sword again.
• Qiji removed his mask mid-strike, and Kamishiro Chiho became transfixed by his looks instead of dodging.
• Qiji beheaded Kamishiro Chiho, who confessed that she loved him as she died, and Liuli stomped on her mouth.
• The daylight returned, and Liuli turned to see Qiji had already put his mask back on.
• Liuli asked Qiji why he had been at the audio store, and he began explaining that he had heard each person could only claim eggs and enter the prize draw once with a ticket.

After saving Liuli, Qiji collapsed from the cost of the Silver Wish and woke in a hospital the next day. His friends had gathered around him, but he remained suspicious of Kijika, whose appearance had preceded his collapse.

• Liuli thanked Qiji for coming to save her, and he invited her to watch the meteor shower.
• Kijika emerged from the alley, and Qiji warned Liuli to run before suddenly vomiting blood and passing out.
• Qiji woke the next day in a hospital, weak from the Silver Wish's effects, with Liuli asleep beside him.
• Liuli, Huomu, Setsuna, and Bai Lili gathered at Qiji's bedside, and Bai Lili explained that Kijika had told them what happened.
• Qiji recalled Kijika's appearance before he collapsed and looked at Liuli with suspicion.

After waking in the hospital, Qiji learned that a day had passed and tried to go home, but his friends stopped him because of his severe weakness. He called his worried sister Xiao Xi, who learned he was hospitalized, while doctors remained unable to explain why he kept coughing up blood.

• Qiji asked whether Kijika had done anything while he was unconscious, and Huomu said Kijika had visited before two Echo Association members took him away.
• Qiji tried to leave the hospital, but Liuli, Huomu, Setsuna, and Bai Lili pushed him back into bed after he coughed up blood.
• Qiji used Bai Lili's mobile phone to call Xiao Xi, admitted he was hurt, and told her which hospital he was in.
• Qiji declined Bai Lili's offer to have someone bring Xiao Xi to the hospital, and Setsuna's attempt to give him a peeled apple ended when he coughed up more blood.
• A medical team examined Qiji, found no cause for his weakness and bleeding, and treated him with healing Echoes and nutritional supplements.

Qiji’s friends watched footage of his fight at White Harbor Beach and learned that his power might have cost him his life force. The chapter left Liuli crying as she realized how much Qiji may have sacrificed to save her.

• Liuli offered to cover Qiji’s medical bills, but Bai Lili explained that her family owned the hospital and Qiji would not have to pay.
• Kijika arrived with news that the Echo Association had awarded Qiji the title of “Hero” for saving civilians from a fourth-tier Echoer.
• Kijika showed the group footage of Qiji protecting civilians, suffering severe injuries, and later transforming as the alley went dark.
• Setsuna recognized Qiji’s sudden white hair as a sign of a secret technique that burned away life force.
• Kijika suspected Qiji had Echo Erosion Syndrome, and Liuli broke down in tears as she understood the possible cost of his victory over Kamishiro Chiho.

Qiji woke in the hospital after saving Liuli, and Setsuna and Kijika helped conceal that he had used a life-burning technique. The Echo Association offered him tuition and a home for his heroism, but Qiji asked to delay publicity until after the Academy Grand Tournament and insisted Liuli deserved credit too; he still intended to compete despite coughing up blood.

• Liuli broke down in tears over Qiji saving her, and Qiji insisted his silver hair was only a cosmetic effect, while Setsuna and Kijika backed up his claim.
• Huomu and Bai Lili were reassured that Qiji had not used a life-burning technique, while the others watching the footage suspected the truth.
• Bai Lili recalled Qiji removing his mask to save her, and Kijika offered Qiji free school fees and a home in recognition of his heroism.
• Qiji asked Kijika to postpone publicity until after the Academy Grand Tournament and credited Liuli with helping defeat Kamishiro Chiho.
• Qiji confirmed he would compete despite his condition, then coughed up blood as Kijika agreed to delay publicity and left him to rest.

After reassuring Liuli that he needed her by his side, Qiji entered the Sea of Consciousness to grow stronger. Three curses triggered three temporary speed blessings, and he discovered that his time before expulsion had become infinite.

• Setsuna took Huomu outside so Liuli and Qiji could be alone together.
• Qiji told Liuli to live well and be there for him when he needed her, easing her guilt.
• Qiji entered the Sea of Consciousness after finding that the weakened Thousand Faces card had restored his access.
• The system granted Qiji three temporary speed blessings because he entered with three curses.
• Qiji noticed that his map's expulsion timer showed positive infinity.

The City of Kindling’s leaders discussed the approaching Academy Grand Tournament and learned that Kalentia had sent ten exchange students to compete for the city’s ten Sea of Consciousness spots. With Qiji seriously injured and Suyo shaken after losing to him, the city’s prospects looked grim.

• Qingye accused Zhuyin and the Echo Association of mishandling the White Harbor incident, but Zhuyin blamed the World Purification Society and redirected the meeting toward the tournament.
• The leaders reacted with alarm when they learned Kalentia had sent ten exchange students, including Wuma Ling, a former student of their academy.
• Xia Ming explained that the freshmen tournament selected students for limited secret-realm spots, which the Sea of Consciousness awarded directly to the victors.
• The meeting learned that Qiji was hospitalized after saving civilians from a fourth-tier Echoer, while Suyo had been acting strangely since Qiji defeated him.
• The director of military affairs angrily lamented the City of Kindling’s lack of promising students and left the meeting.

Qiji struggled to open treasure chests while fighting Remnants alone, then spotted a Kalentian squad and decided to use them to draw the enemies away. Charles led Dorothy and the others toward the island’s core, and the squad finally approached Qiji’s treasure chest area.

• Qiji realized that opening treasure chests required time-consuming Heart Essence adjustments while Remnants attacked him.
• Qiji recalled Kalentia’s Spirit Resonance Synchronization Array and recognized the five Echoers on the island as a party he could exploit.
• Charles promised Dorothy first pick of the Fragments, while Rina agreed, Yate stayed silent, and Wuma Ling remained detached.
• Charles urged the group onward after Dorothy asked him to hurry, and the five Echoers advanced toward the core area.
• Qiji watched the squad fight the Remnants and complain that their slow progress was holding him back.
• The five Echoers finally neared Qiji’s treasure chest area.

Qiji recognized Charles Isolde as the ruthless figure who had nearly wiped out Liuli, Huomu, and Bai Lili in the original story, and changed his plan to let Charles’s team withdraw safely. The chapter ended with Qiji preparing to act against Charles.

• Qiji opened a chest and found a purple Circuit Book and a blue Echo Fragment, then left a map to another chest for Charles’s team.
• Charles’s team followed the map, found Qiji’s notes and passwords in successive chests, and believed they were following a chain of increasingly valuable treasure chests.
• At the fifth chest, Charles found a note promising two Mythic Fragments and decided to continue despite Dorothy warning that their time in the Sea of Consciousness was nearly up.
• Qiji recognized Charles and abandoned his plan to end their cooperation peacefully after remembering Charles’s role in nearly wiping out Liuli, Huomu, and Bai Lili.

Qiji decided to keep Charles and his party occupied in the Sea of Consciousness to weaken them before the tournament. Charles opened the fifth treasure chest and discovered that the fox-masked figure had tricked him with fake clues, leaving him furious and puzzled about how the deception worked.

• Qiji chose to use the Sea of Consciousness’s time limit to stall Charles and his party, hoping to weaken them before the tournament.
• Charles and his party rushed through the Remnants and reached the fifth treasure chest with half an hour remaining.
• Charles stopped Dorothy from opening the chest and found another note promising three mythic fragments and five legendary fragments.
• Wuma Ling reconstructed the scene from five minutes earlier and revealed that the fox-masked figure had taken three blue fragments and left the fake note.
• Charles confronted Wuma Ling for not using her Echo sooner, then struggled to understand how the fox-masked figure had deceived them.

Charles realized the fox-mask schemer had targeted his mythic fragment and led his group toward an evacuation point, unaware that Qiji had arranged for it to disappear. Charles promised to compensate his companions after they found the spot empty, while Qiji waited nearby for them to lose their fragments.

• Charles recognized that the fox-mask schemer wanted his mythic fragment and decided to leave the Sea of Consciousness with his group.
• Qiji saw the five red dots head for the evacuation point and recalled that he had sent a paper map to an acquaintance, activating the temporary exit on island 4399.
• Charles and his companions reached island 4399 and hurried toward their marked evacuation point, dismissing Dorothy's worry that it might be gone.
• The group found the evacuation point had vanished, and Dorothy feared losing her unbound legendary fragment.
• Charles promised to compensate his companions for any fragments they lost, while Qiji watched their red dots from his boat.

Qiji looted the fading spirit bodies of five opponents in the Sea of Consciousness and unlocked a mythic fragment from Charles. In the hospital, Qiji continued sleeping and laughing, reassuring Xiwang and the others as they left him to rest.

• Qiji disguised himself with a plastic bag and approached five spirit bodies that were being erased by the Sea of Consciousness.
• Qiji used the system to loot Charles's spirit body and unlocked Charles's mythic fragment.
• Liuli apologized to Xiwang for Qiji's injuries, and Xiwang reassured her that Qiji had chosen to save her.
• Huomu heard Qiji laughing in his sleep, and Xiwang listened before deciding he was resting peacefully.
• At Xiwang's request, everyone left the bedroom quietly, and the others gathered around her in the hospital room.

Xiwang met Qiji’s classmates at the hospital and tried to work out which of the girls she could trust. In the Sea of Consciousness, Qiji took a mythic fragment from Charles, but its alarm drew Echoers from across the region as he raced toward an evacuation point.

• Xiwang thanked Bai Lili for arranging Qiji’s hospital care, and Bai Lili and the others bowed back in gratitude for what Qiji had done.
• Xiwang concealed her Echo Erosion Syndrome with makeup and quietly assessed Setsuna and the other girls while chatting with them.
• Qiji took a mythic Vector Lineage Fragment from Charles and gathered more fragments before fleeing the area.
• The Sea of Consciousness alerted Echoers across its surface layer to the mythic fragment’s location, and a mass of third-, fourth-, and fifth-tier Echoers converged on Qiji.
• Qiji tried to weaken the fragment’s attention-grabbing aura by taking two other fragments into his spirit body, but he began glowing red and became even easier to spot.
• Qiji headed for his boat, relying on three Speed Blessings to outrun the approaching Echoers.

Qiji’s theft of the Isolde Family’s Myth Fragment sparked a mass pursuit in the Sea of Consciousness, drawing Echoers into a chaotic spectacle. Back in reality, Charles and Suyo could not join the hunt, while Qiji’s friends learned that the doctors were busy responding to the commotion.

• Charles returned from the Sea of Consciousness severely injured, and Vivian ordered the Isolde Family’s third- to fifth-tier Echoers to log in and hunt Qiji.
• Echoers converged on Qiji in the shallow Sea of Consciousness, where clashes spread as people rushed to witness the hunt for the Myth Fragment.
• Xiwang questioned Bai Lili about her relationship with Qiji, and Setsuna revealed that Bai Lili had a fiancé.
• Bai Lili reported that many Echoer doctors had logged in after hearing that Echoers across the Sea of Consciousness were hunting one person for a Myth Fragment.
• Liuli chose to stay beside Qiji rather than enter the Sea of Consciousness, while Suyo regretted that her Frequency Mark would keep her from joining the chaos for another day.