Recaps

The Great Wall Watch Instance ended with 5.25 million Challengers erased, and the Dahe Settlement was left on the brink of collapse. Lin Ye reflected on the battle and the Nantianmen Project before the Firmament began calculating his reward as Dungeon Designer.

• The Firmament tallied 5.25 million Challengers for erasure, including 1.95 million from Park Seong-man’s Burundi Settlement and 1.3 million from Myanmar.
• The Firmament reported the Instance’s final statistics, including a 0% clear rate and 50% completion, then closed the livestream.
• The surviving Challengers were teleported out as The Great Wall Watch Instance ended.
• Lin Ye reviewed the five-day battle and considered the Nantianmen Project’s importance to his future challenge against the Firmament.
• The Firmament announced that all three runs of Lin Ye’s Instance had ended without a clear and began calculating his Dungeon Designer reward.

Lin Ye became the top-ranked Dungeon Designer on Azure Star after The Great Wall Watch earned him enough points, and the Firmament granted him privileges reserved for the strongest. The Instance entered a three-day review and restriction process, while Lin Ye celebrated his achievement in a quiet moment of rest.

• The Firmament tallied the points from The Great Wall Watch’s missions, weapon sales, and VIP Spawn Points, then quadrupled Lin Ye’s earnings with his Super Doubling Card.
• The Firmament announced that Lin Ye had reached first place in the Hero Ranking with 54.28 million points and declared him the strongest on Azure Star.
• The Firmament granted Instance Exemption Authority to all residents of Lin Ye’s Settlement and upgraded his Creation Space.
• The Firmament announced a three-day review of The Great Wall Watch because its elimination count broke Azure Star’s record and its difficulty was deemed insurmountable.
• Lin Ye accepted the review and restriction process, then went to his villa courtyard to drink beer and admire his place at the top of the rankings.

After The Great Wall Watch reshaped Azure Star’s power balance, Lin Ye remained focused on challenging the Firmament and earning the points he needed, while considering the cost of mass erasures. He then hurried to the Deep Forest Sanatorium to see the dying Ding Chang, who had lived long enough to witness Lin Ye reach the top.

• Lin Ye resolved to pursue 100 million points and challenge the Firmament, hoping to uncover the truth behind its world.
• Lin Ye watched reports describing the Dragon-Slaying Alliance’s dissolution, the Great Xia Settlement’s rise, and the collapse of several rival settlements.
• Lin Ye considered protests against his mass erasures and the difficulty of earning the remaining 50 million points under the Firmament’s limits.
• Bai Tianhao told Lin Ye that Ding Chang’s condition had worsened and that he wanted to see him, so Lin Ye drove to the Deep Forest Sanatorium.
• Lin Ye found Great Xia leaders gathered outside Ding Chang’s room, then entered and promised to fulfill any wishes the old man still had.
• Ding Chang praised Lin Ye for reaching the top of the Great Xia Settlement as he lay gravely ill.

Lin Ye agreed to give the dying Ding Chang a dignified farewell inside a custom Instance where Ding Chang could experience the Dragon Country at its peak. He designed the Instance and confirmed with the Firmament that he could enter as its commander and observer.

• Ding Chang asked Lin Ye to accept his remaining points and let him be erased inside an Instance rather than die from illness; the Great Xia leaders supported his request.
• Lin Ye refused to use The Great Wall Watch and promised to create a safer, milder Instance for Ding Chang, while coordinating participation with Long Yuan.
• Long Yuan pledged to organize the challengers and join Ding Chang’s farewell, and Li Yunlong and the other leaders promised their support.
• Lin Ye designed a three-day Instance with the Dragon Country as the Spawn Point and the impossible objective of destroying Earth Online, setting one million Great Xia participants and a 100-point reward or penalty.
• The Firmament approved Lin Ye’s entry for data gathering and said he would become the Instance’s supreme commander, receive no points, and face no penalties.

Lin Ye created a million-person farewell Instance for Ding Chang, titled "Earth Online: The Last Road (Special Edition)," and submitted it for review while planning to open it himself later. The Firmament warned that its Dragon Country spawn point and advanced technology could make the Instance dangerously easy to complete, while Azure Star panicked over the announcement and pleaded not to be chosen.

• Lin Ye finished designing Ding Chang’s farewell journey and submitted "Earth Online: The Last Road (Special Edition)" for review, asking the Firmament not to open it yet.
• The Firmament flagged Dragon Country’s Nantianmen Project as a safety concern but confirmed that the design did not violate Instance rules; Lin Ye confirmed the submission anyway.
• The Firmament announced that Lin Ye’s million-person Instance had entered review, and the news spread across Azure Star.
• News outlets reported that settlements were disbanding, offering payment, or praising Lin Ye in hopes of avoiding the Instance.
• People across Azure Star speculated online that Lin Ye’s new Instance would bring mass death, while Lin Ye realized they had mistaken his farewell project for another act of revenge.

Lin Ye’s new Instance, “Earth Online: The Last Road,” passed review with an Endless-level rating, and he arranged a voluntary Settlement selection before its opening. The announcement terrified Azure Star’s Settlements, while Lin Ye planned to use the registration stage to expose troublemakers and direct attention toward Great Xia.

• The Firmament approved Lin Ye’s Instance as Endless-level, and Lin Ye told Long Yuan he would open Settlement registration before challenger registration.
• Long Yuan assured Lin Ye that Great Xia could provide a million challengers and thanked him for making an Instance for Dean Ding.
• Lin Ye announced the Instance’s preliminary selection stage, including random selection if no Settlement volunteered and a general amnesty when it opened.
• Azure Star’s media and residents panicked at the possibility that any Settlement could be selected for the Endless-level Instance.
• Lin Ye privately intended to frighten lingering troublemakers, see which Settlements would volunteer, and ultimately choose Great Xia.

Lin Ye chose the Great Xia Settlement to participate in his Instance, then registered as a Challenger himself. After selecting one million Great Xia Challengers, he entered the Instance as the countdown ended.

• Lin Ye selected the Great Xia Settlement, prompting widespread speculation about his reasons for choosing his own settlement.
• Lin Ye registered as a Challenger for his Instance, Earth Online: The Last Road.
• More than two million Great Xia people applied, and Lin Ye selected the first million by level and points, excluding all Level 1 applicants.
• The Firmament began the Instance countdown with one million participants and opened the livestream.
• Lin Ye and the selected Challengers were transported into Earth Online.

A million Challengers arrived in the Forbidden City, where the Firmament made Dragon Country their Spawn Point and appointed Lin Ye supreme commander for a mission to destroy the world and eliminate all humans. Lin Ye led them outside to a military parade he had arranged to reassure Ding Chang, and the parade began at his command.

• The Firmament teleported the Challengers to the Forbidden City and declared Dragon Country their Spawn Point and domain.
• The Firmament assigned the Challengers the mission of destroying the world and eliminating every human within 72 hours, and placed Lin Ye in command of Dragon Country.
• Lin Ye reassured the Challengers that Earth Online was peaceful unless they attacked, then told Ding Chang that a farewell ceremony awaited him.
• Lin Ye led Ding Chang and the million Challengers outside the Forbidden City, where Dragon Country soldiers stood assembled for a military parade.
• Lin Ye took Ding Chang, Long Yuan, and the others onto Chengtian Gate and ordered the parade to begin.

Lin Ye staged a vast military parade to display Dragon Country’s armed forces and inspire the Great Xia Challengers. After the parade ended, he reassured Ding Chang that Great Xia’s years of humiliation were over and that even stronger Instances would come.

• Lin Ye began the parade with drones forming Dragon Country’s banners and the words “Dragon Country shall live forever!” above Chang'an Avenue.
• Dragon Country’s military branches marched past, ending with the elite War Wolf formation, while Li Yunlong and Deng Xian discussed how the display could inspire Instance design research.
• Armored formations displayed more than a hundred kinds of weapons, and Lin Ye explained how Dragon Country’s forces were designed to coordinate across land, sea, and air.
• Aircraft swept over the Forbidden City before the Nantianmen formation appeared, with aerospace fighters forming a message in the sky and Chengying Mecha saluting Lin Ye.
• After the parade, Lin Ye told Ding Chang that The Great Wall Watch was only one of his Instances and promised that stronger ones would follow.

After a military parade, Lin Ye took Ding Chang and Long Yuan aboard the Dragon God for a final cruise along Dragon Country’s coast. As they discussed the Firmament and Ding Chang’s advice, Lin Ye was left considering the cost of earning points by killing other humans.

• Lin Ye ended the parade and invited Ding Chang to cruise at sea aboard a ship, giving the former naval commander a chance to see the ocean again.
• Lin Ye assembled Dragon Country’s Three Fleets, and the Challengers sailed along the coast while Lin Ye, Ding Chang, and Long Yuan talked privately aboard the Dragon God.
• Ding Chang asked whether Lin Ye would soon challenge the Firmament, and Long Yuan explained that Azure Star’s LV4 Challengers had researched it and hoped to advance to LV5.
• Ding Chang advised Lin Ye to stop killing large numbers of people for points, warning that the shrinking human population could leave Azure Star a dead planet.
• Lin Ye agreed that he had considered the consequences and said he would seek a better way to earn points if he could.

Ding Chang advised Lin Ye to rely on others and keep himself safe, then asked for one last naval battle in the Instance. Lin Ye gave him command of Dragon Country’s fleets to attack Eastern Ocean Island, leaving them to press on despite a Firmament warning about possible intervention by Eagle Sauce Country.

• Ding Chang told Lin Ye to seek help from Long Yuan and the Great Xia people, and warned him not to challenge the Firmament without preparation.
• Ding Chang said he wanted to end his life with a naval battle, and Lin Ye let him choose Eastern Ocean Island as their target.
• Lin Ye ordered Dragon Country’s fleets and the Challengers to advance, then handed full command of the navy to Ding Chang.
• Ding Chang ordered Dragon Country’s three fleets to surround Eastern Ocean Island and bombard it, while the island’s warships were destroyed by missiles.
• The Firmament warned that Eastern Ocean Island would resist and that Eagle Sauce Country might intervene, but Lin Ye reassured Ding Chang and told him to enjoy the battle.

Lin Ye and the Great Xia Challengers escorted Ding Chang through his final days in the Instance, which ended in failure when the time limit ran out. After Ding Chang sacrificed himself to transfer more points to Lin Ye, spectators and Settlement Commanders reflected on the compassion and solidarity he had shown.

• The Challengers gathered around Ding Chang as the Instance countdown began, and he thanked Lin Ye and his compatriots for accompanying him.
• Ding Chang gave Lin Ye his remaining points, then drowned himself before the Instance ended so the Firmament would deduct more points from him.
• The Firmament declared the mission a failure, deducted 100 points from each Challenger, and teleported them back to the real world.
• Azure Star's spectators praised the Challengers for seeing Ding Chang off, and many reconsidered their view of Lin Ye.
• Xi'er ordered the Nirmaner Settlement to close its Instances for a day, while Fulangche reflected on Lin Ye and wondered whether his own people would see him off.

Lin Ye returned from The Last Road Instance and received 3.46 million points from his Instances, bringing his reserves to 58 million. After the Firmament revised and approved Winter Is Coming, Lin Ye resolved to design a stronger Instance and entered Creation Space to pursue 100 million points sooner.

• Lin Ye returned from The Last Road after three days, and the Firmament awarded him 2.02 million points from its missions.
• The Firmament settled Lin Ye's earnings from Raging Waves and Winter Is Coming, bringing his total reserves to 58 million points.
• The Firmament approved The Great Wall Watch after reducing its Challenger count and penalties, removing its settlement participation mode, weapon sales, and VIP Spawn Points.
• Lin Ye recognized that the Firmament's changes seemed designed to prevent certain outcomes rather than improve Challengers' abilities.
• Lin Ye decided not to wait for his Instances to earn enough points and entered Creation Space to design a stronger Instance.

Lin Ye planned to complete Earth Online and expand it into an interstellar setting, beginning with the moon and future technology for the Five Permanent Members. He left Creation Space generating the moon and the two unfinished countries while preparing to develop their interstellar technology trees.

• Lin Ye sent maps, weapons, population, and other data for Rotten Cow Country and Rooster Country to Creation Space so it could complete the Five Permanent Members.
• Lin Ye began expanding Earth Online toward a Solar System Online map, starting by entering detailed information about the moon.
• Creation Space began generating the moon and simulating its surface environment.
• Lin Ye planned distinct interstellar technology trees for the Five Permanent Members, drawing on advanced research and science fiction for ideas.

Lin Ye assigned advanced technology projects to the Five Permanent Members to gradually move Earth Online toward the interstellar age. Creation Space began researching Controlled Nuclear Fusion and generating a Moon Base as he laid out plans for future planetary and space forces.

• Lin Ye decided to develop Earth Online incrementally, expanding interstellar technology beyond the Five Permanent Members while keeping Dragon Country in the lead.
• Lin Ye assigned Dragon Country the Penglai, Classic of Mountains and Seas, and Houyi projects, covering naval forces, infantry upgrades, Divine Beast Mechas, space missiles, and stellar-level nuclear bombs.
• Lin Ye submitted his Controlled Nuclear Fusion research to Creation Space, which accepted the data and began simulation research.
• Lin Ye planned Mental Seals and Gene Serum for Bear Country to enhance Yuri and create specialized troop types.
• Lin Ye tasked Eagle Sauce Country with lunar bases, space stations, orbital cities, and an Earth-Moon Elevator, then began generating a Moon Base in Creation Space.
• Creation Space verified the lunar military base's design logic and began generating it, estimating completion in two hours.

Lin Ye planned quantum weapons, a quantum ghost legion, a supercomputer, and a robot army for Earth Online, then made Ding Chang an NPC in his Instance. After Creation Space began simulations, Lin Ye learned that Katerina had completed the Lin Ye Settlement’s Central City and promised she could join him in an Instance later.

• Lin Ye ordered a quantum laboratory and Ball Lightning launcher in Rotten Cow Country to develop weapons and a Quantum Ghost Legion.
• Lin Ye planned a super quantum computer beneath the Louvre and a robot factory in Rooster Country, and Creation Space began simulating the designs.
• Lin Ye transferred Ding Chang’s data into his Instance, making him an NPC who served as Dragon Country’s chairman and Earth Alliance’s supreme commander.
• Lin Ye left Creation Space after starting the technology simulations and received a report from Katerina that the Lin Ye Settlement’s Central City could support at least one hundred million residents.
• Katerina asked Lin Ye to take her along to conquer an Instance, and Lin Ye told her to wait for a future opportunity.

Lin Ye accepted Prince Singh’s migration application and explored the prosperous Great Xia Settlement, reflecting on the Firmament’s mysteries. After Long Yuan invited him to discuss those questions, Lin Ye drove to a strange observatory-like building in the desert and went inside.

• Lin Ye approved Prince Singh’s application to join his Settlement in exchange for reserve points and asked him to abandon his royal identity and bring more points.
• Lin Ye drove through Central City, where residents recognized and praised him, but he refused their offers of points.
• Long Yuan called Lin Ye and invited him to meet in person to discuss the Firmament.
• Lin Ye drove three hours to a white, domed building in the desert and entered to investigate it.

Lin Ye visited Long Yuan’s visualization space and learned that Long Yuan had spent ten years investigating the Firmament. Long Yuan showed him a hidden chamber containing a mysterious computer connected to a girl in a cultivation pod, leaving Lin Ye stunned.

• Lin Ye entered Long Yuan’s visualization space and saw a vast astronomical instrument that appeared to track the world beyond the Firmament.
• Long Yuan explained that he had questioned why people designed and cleared Instances instead of using their advanced technology in the real world.
• Lin Ye proposed that the Firmament might be an alien artificial intelligence or a mechanism governing an enormous Instance.
• Long Yuan praised Lin Ye’s theories and said his research had reached similar conclusions, then led him through the instrument’s base to a hidden stone gate.
• Long Yuan opened the gate and revealed a computer-like device connected by wires to a girl immersed in a cultivation pod.

Lin Ye learned that Zhao Jianxin, Zhao Jianyu’s twin sister, had been kept alive in a cultivation chamber because she could visualize the world beyond Azure Star. Long Yuan explained that her visions supported his theory that the Firmament was an advanced system imposed on their world, and he urged Lin Ye to defeat it.

• Lin Ye examined the strange apparatus and recognized Zhao Jianxin’s face from the message thanking him for avenging her sister.
• Long Yuan explained that Zhao Jianxin was Zhao Jianyu’s twin sister, and that Ding Chang had preserved her after discovering her unusual ability to see things others could not.
• Long Yuan showed Lin Ye Zhao Jianxin’s visualization of Azure Star as a planet hidden beneath a dome of fog.
• Long Yuan said he believed the Firmament was an advanced system imposed by another civilization and that defeating it could restore their world.
• Zhao Jianxin sent Lin Ye a message encouraging him to defeat the Firmament.

Lin Ye accepted ten million points from Long Yuan on behalf of Great Xia, bringing him closer to the hundred million needed to challenge the Firmament. He returned to Creation Space and found that several technology projects had advanced rapidly, though others had encountered errors.

• Long Yuan gave Lin Ye a card containing ten million points donated by Great Xia's Level 3 and higher Challengers.
• Long Yuan warned Lin Ye that revealing too many Instances could help the Firmament understand his abilities, and urged him not to shoulder everything alone.
• Lin Ye accepted the points, which together with Singh's ten million left him twenty million short of the challenge requirement.
• Lin Ye returned to his Cliffside Villa and entered Creation Space, hoping to challenge the Firmament as soon as he reached a hundred million points.
• Creation Space reported that Dragon Country's controlled nuclear fusion and Eagle Sauce Country's lunar military base were complete, while several other projects had stalled or failed.
• Lin Ye judged that the technology projects could mostly be completed within a week if he kept reviewing Creation Space's feedback.

Lin Ye finished transforming Earth Online into a technologically advanced world with formidable military forces, while Azure Star grew more violent as people copied his Instances and competition intensified. With 108 million points and his creation complete, Lin Ye prepared to challenge the Firmament.

• Lin Ye spent a week designing Earth Online and watched Azure Star Settlements imitate his military technology as Instance wars became increasingly brutal.
• News reports described mass migration to Lin Ye's Settlement, the dissolution of Dahe Settlement, and other Settlements racing to develop powerful Instances and military forces.
• Lin Ye completed Earth Online, transforming its cities, energy systems, transportation, and armies with advanced technologies and enormous military projects.
• Lin Ye received 3.56 million points from his three Instances and saw his total rise to 108 million.
• Lin Ye concluded that his completed Instance and points were sufficient, and the time had come to challenge the Firmament.

Lin Ye confirmed that he would challenge the Firmament, triggering a planetwide preparation phase and widespread backlash across Azure Star. As the Firmament began showing everyone an Instance of its own design, Lin Ye remained determined to proceed.

• Lin Ye confirmed his challenge to the Firmament despite its warning that failure would erase him and harm Azure Star’s Challengers and Settlements.
• The Firmament suspended all Instances, announced the challenge’s risks to Azure Star, and displayed Lin Ye’s challenge across the Dome.
• People across Azure Star reacted with shock and divided opinions, while Xi'er and Fulangche voiced support for Lin Ye.
• Katerina and Prince Singh celebrated Lin Ye’s challenge in Lin Ye Settlement, and Singh credited his contributions to Lin Ye’s rise.
• Lin Ye demanded that the procedure continue, and the Firmament began a planetwide presentation of its Instance, "Heart of the Swarm."

The Firmament demonstrated Heart of the Swarm, an Endless-level Instance on Insect Star, to Lin Ye and Azure Star. After seeing the Queen, the Zerg swarm, and the Instance’s overwhelming abilities, the frightened spectators pleaded with Lin Ye not to challenge the Firmament.

• Lin Ye recognized the Firmament’s preview as a deterrent but welcomed the chance to study its Instance.
• The Firmament introduced Insect Star, a toxic planet whose terrain was covered in slime, spores, and living growths.
• The Firmament revealed the Queen and explained how Drones and specialized Zerg units served and protected her.
• The Firmament described the Zerg’s rapid reproduction, consumption, infection, underground tunnels, wormhole travel, and powerful defenses.
• The Firmament stated that challengers had to destroy the true Queen among thousands of plague-spreading decoys.
• Azure Star spectators panicked at the Zerg’s strength and urged Lin Ye to abandon his challenge.

Lin Ye learned that the Firmament challenge would merge Earth Online and Heart of the Swarm, forcing their forces into a war to the death, and he decided to proceed. After judging Heart of the Swarm’s technology and weapons far inferior to Earth Online’s, he told Long Yuan he was certain to win, while Long Yuan pledged Great Xia’s support.

• The Firmament explained that the challenge would connect the two Instances through dimensional gates, with victory going to the side that wiped out the other’s forces.
• The Firmament warned Lin Ye that failure would destroy him and cost Azure Star half its infrastructure and population, then gave him one day to decide whether to continue.
• Lin Ye concluded that Heart of the Swarm’s bugs could not match Earth Online’s interstellar forces and resolved to take the challenge.
• Long Yuan called Lin Ye, condemned Azure Star’s doubters, and offered Great Xia’s support and resources.
• Lin Ye assured Long Yuan that his chance of victory was one hundred percent, and Long Yuan celebrated the chance to break free of the Firmament.

Lin Ye equipped Earth Online with weapons designed to destroy the insect swarm, then confirmed his challenge to the Firmament. The Firmament fused his Instance with Heart of the Swarm, reset Azure Star’s infrastructure, and began the duel with everyone watching.

• Lin Ye added Chainswords, Incendiary Breakers, and other powerful weapons to Earth Online to prepare for the insect race.
• Lin Ye dismissed public protests and slept before the battle, while major Settlements publicly supported his challenge.
• The Creation Space finished Lin Ye’s upgrades, and he named his Instance Earth Online: Blue Star Empire.
• Lin Ye confirmed that he would challenge the Firmament, which fused Heart of the Swarm with his Instance.
• The Firmament froze Azure Star’s infrastructure and reset the planet, leaving its people stranded in the wilderness.
• The Firmament opened the fused Instance Heart of the Swarm VS Earth Online: Interstellar Age and began Lin Ye’s challenge.