Chapter Summaries

Chu Fei pushed Dawn City's Lord's Mansion and the Iron Blood Mercenary Group to divide the city and prepare for the coming Living Corpse Tide. Zhou Pengyue then invited him to join an outside trade venture and showed him unfamiliar currency backed by computing power.

• Chu Fei proposed splitting Dawn City between the Lord's Mansion and the Iron Blood Mercenary Group, and Chen Xing reluctantly agreed after Chu Fei warned that the coming Living Corpse Tide could destroy the city.
• The two factions announced the division, then Zhou Pengyue and Chen Xing marked their territories on a map and signed the agreement.
• Zhou Pengyue told Chu Fei about Chen Fei, Chen Xing's other grandson, who had left Dawn City to reach 10.0 and promised to return within ten years.
• Zhou Pengyue invited Flying Tiger City to join the Iron Blood Mercenary Group in establishing an outside trade caravan, and Chu Fei suggested discussing it after the Living Corpse Tide.
• Zhou Pengyue showed Chu Fei the group's exhibition hall and explained that the outside world's banknotes were printed chips backed by computing power.

Zhou Pengyue explained how The Inland used Computational Power-backed virtual currency, then evaluated Chu Fei’s server-module purchase and prized Energy Crystals. Chu Fei traded the crystals for equipment and aimed to accelerate his cultivation so he could reach 10.0 before turning eighteen.

• Zhou Pengyue explained that The Inland’s currency was backed by Computational Power and described its value and exchange rate with other cities’ currencies.
• Chu Fei examined a Computational Power Module, accepted one mainframe and its assembly plan as a gift, and arranged to buy nine more with equipment.
• Zhou Pengyue recognized the five Energy Crystals Chu Fei produced as valuable, pristine supplies and quoted their total value at 90.18 million in The Inland’s currency.
• Chu Fei traded the crystals for server modules and requested the servers’ Source Code so he could check for viruses or tampering.
• Zhou Pengyue said only three modules were in stock, and Chu Fei told him to prepare them while seeking more goods worth trading for additional Energy Crystals.
• Chu Fei decided to convert his wealth into cultivation resources and race to reach 10.0 before turning eighteen.

Chu Fei inspected computer Source Code, helped divide the Beast Tide spoils, and returned to Flying Tiger City, where he studied the defenses against living corpses. He decided to travel north to fight living corpses and gather data, after first building the third layer of the Perception of Wind, and left Wu Yong considering his plan.

• Chu Fei spent three days reading books and intelligence files from Zhou Pengyue, then found more than eight hundred suspicious lines in his new computers’ Source Code and suspected deliberate vulnerabilities.
• Chu Fei joined Li Shaorong and Zhou Pengyue to divide the Beast Tide spoils, secured transport vehicles with five recharged Energy Crystals as collateral, and led the convoy back to Flying Tiger City.
• Chu Fei examined Flying Tiger City’s ringed defenses and judged that they could withstand a Living Corpse Tide of three million ordinary living corpses, but might fail against advanced ones.
• Chu Fei decided to go north to fight living corpses and gather combat data, while planning to construct the third layer of the Perception of Wind before leaving.
• Chu Fei told Wu Yong how Dawn City should handle Flying Tiger City and revealed his plan to go north, leaving Wu Yong silent in thought.

Chu Fei learned that the Living Corpse Tide would force Flying Tiger City to evacuate within months, then implanted a control chip in a Feathered Serpent and trained it while advancing his spells and senses. After three days, he had named the subdued beast She Yu and considered heading north to seek rare cultivation data.

• Wu Yong told Chu Fei that living corpses had appeared north of Black Iron City and estimated that Flying Tiger City would need to evacuate within three to five months.
• Chu Fei implanted a control chip in a sedated Feathered Serpent and used pain and rewards to make it return to its cage and obey his commands.
• Chu Fei fed the Feathered Serpent potions and Spring of Life, then began training in the Virtual Space while monitoring it.
• Over three days, Chu Fei completed and practiced new spell frameworks and models for perception, infrared vision, smell, and taste.
• Chu Fei realized he still needed specialized shark-scale data and movement records, considered traveling north to find them, and named the Feathered Serpent She Yu.

Chu Fei examined the Feathered Serpent and concluded it was likely a scientist-replicated Starry Sky Behemoth cub, then trained and bound it to his service. After preparing Flying Tiger City for a possible retreat and settling the Feathered Serpent into his residence, he trained it for three days and set off with it toward Black Iron City.

• Chu Fei inspected the Feathered Serpent, found it had three hearts and no signs of mutation, and suspected it was a replicated Starry Sky Behemoth cub.
• Chu Fei trained the Feathered Serpent with potions and ordered Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue to prepare for a possible retreat as the Living Corpse Tide threatened.
• Chu Fei inspected Flying Tiger City, then found the Feathered Serpent wrecking his residence and dismissed four attendants while rewarding the two who had tried to help.
• Chu Fei offered the Feathered Serpent a yearly challenge for freedom or twenty years of service; it chose the service contract, and he named it She Yu.
• Chu Fei trained She Yu for three more days, then flew with it toward Black Iron City.

Chu Fei visited Black Iron City to coordinate preparations for the Living Corpse Tide and recruited Li Guangyu to accompany him north. After flying more than 150 kilometers, they spotted Hong City across a river, with refugees fleeing from living corpses below.

• Chu Fei flew openly into Black Iron City with She Yu and intimidated the city's patrols with the Feathered Serpent.
• Chu Fei met Hong Qingxin and proposed that they investigate the Living Corpse Tide together; Hong Qingxin assigned Li Guangyu to go with him.
• Chu Fei challenged Li Guangyu's strength, and the Feathered Serpent's aura frightened Li Guangyu's battle beast, Flying Tiger.
• Chu Fei showed Hong Qingxin his storage equipment and warned that the journey could be dangerous, but Li Guangyu set out with him anyway.
• Chu Fei and Li Guangyu flew north in stages, resting along the way until they reached a river near Hong City.
• Chu Fei and Li Guangyu saw refugees fleeing below as living corpses rampaged among them.

Chu Fei investigated how Living Corpses crossed the river and learned from the Feathered Serpent that the creatures had driven mutated beasts from their territories. He reached Hong City, saw its walls under siege by many evolved Living Corpses, and prepared to fight the Flying Living Corpses that attacked him.

• Chu Fei sent Li Guangyu ahead and patrolled the riverbank, observing Living Corpses mutate, commandeer boats, and build a bridge under an advanced creature’s command.
• Chu Fei shot the advanced Living Corpse and assessed the refugees’ lack of weapons, the creatures’ contagiousness, their rapid reorganization, and their resilience.
• The Feathered Serpent told Chu Fei that strange, deadly people and giant monsters had driven it and other mutated beasts from their territories after the previous winter.
• Chu Fei flew to Hong City and saw its walls besieged by ordinary and evolved Living Corpses, including Giant Corpses, crawlers, winged creatures, and multi-headed serpents.
• A Flying Living Corpse attacked Chu Fei with a shrill sound attack, but he scanned its body, discovered a crystal core, and cut off part of its wing.
• As more than thirty Flying Living Corpses swarmed toward him, Chu Fei ordered the Feathered Serpent to attack the wall-climbing Living Corpses and prepared to give Hong City a battle record as his meeting gift.

Chu Fei arrived at Hong City, fought off its attackers, and learned that the Living Corpse Tide had erupted after the death of a nearly mature Living Corpse Brood Queen. After studying Hong City's records, he judged that the city had a strong chance of containing the tide.

• Chu Fei killed thirty-four Flying Living Corpses and watched the Feathered Serpent kill a Crawler on Hong City's wall.
• Hong Yonggang welcomed Chu Fei and asked for help against the numerous Crawlers, while Chu Fei requested access to Hong City's records before deciding how to support the city.
• Chu Fei assured Hong Yonggang that Black Iron City could be trusted during the outbreak and demonstrated the Feathered Serpent's power.
• Zhao Liang told Chu Fei that the Thunderclap Land Carrier may have disturbed a northern brood nest, and that the death of its nearly mature Living Corpse Brood Queen had sent the living corpses competing for a successor.
• Zhao Liang explained that Hong City had held out for three months but faced shortages and civilian displacement, while Chu Fei studied the records on the tide and its contagion.
• Chu Fei concluded that Hong City had a strong chance of containing the Living Corpse Tide.

Chu Fei studied Hong City's defenses and learned how Living Corpses spread, fought, and could be killed, while weighing what support Flying Tiger City should provide. As darkness fell, the Living Corpse Tide surged into a full assault.

• Chu Fei examined a Living Corpse Crystal Core and Spring of Life, then considered trading munitions for crystal cores and recruiting Awakened volunteers to aid Hong City.
• Zhao Liang explained Hong City's shift rotations and the Living Corpses' greater strength at night as Chu Fei prepared to inspect the defenses.
• Chu Fei met Deputy City Lord Feng Yiming on the wall and asked to observe the Living Corpse Tide's combat capabilities.
• Feng Yiming fired several types of shells at approaching Giant Corpses, but they quickly recovered and used lesser Living Corpses as shields.
• Feng Yiming warned that Giant Corpses could throw Crawlers and other strong Living Corpses onto the wall after dark.
• After sunset, roars sounded from behind the horde and the Living Corpse Tide surged toward the city.

Chu Fei watched Hong City’s High Wall repel repeated Living Corpse attacks, then saw the tide shift into a coordinated assault that overwhelmed the defenders. He suspected the Living Corpses had besieged Hong City not merely to wear humanity down, but to hone their intelligence and evolve through battle.

• Japanese wastewater and consumer products came up in an author’s note that urged readers to avoid Japanese products responsibly and without vandalism.
• Chu Fei watched the Living Corpses organize and climb Hong City’s High Wall, where its guns destroyed successive waves while Feng Yiming remained calm.
• After seven assaults, Feng Yiming warned that the defenders’ ammunition was nearly exhausted and their weapons were overheating as the Living Corpses began a final attack.
• Flying Living Corpses descended on the wall, and Chu Fei and the defenders fought them off with blades after firearms proved ineffective at close range.
• Chu Fei realized the flying attackers had covered a Crawler assault that overran the wall, killing ordinary soldiers and threatening the defensive line.
• Chu Fei reasoned that the Living Corpses were using battle to wear humanity down while rapidly training and evolving, and he suspected their months-long siege of Hong City served that purpose.

Chu Fei investigated the Living Corpse Tide, helped discover a toxin mixture that harmed the rapidly evolving Octopus Living Corpse, and overcame his doubts about scientific cultivation. The insight removed the barrier to his 9.0 breakthrough, and he cleared thousands of Crawlers around Hong City's walls to prepare for cooperation.

• Chu Fei suspected a Living Corpse Brood Queen might still be directing the tide, so he chose to support Hong City indirectly while observing the battle.
• Chu Fei and the Feathered Serpent fought on the High Wall as Chu Fei studied an Octopus Living Corpse that rapidly grew by devouring poisoned corpses.
• Personnel tested toxin mixtures, and a pharmacist identified a three-poison combination that injured the Octopus Living Corpse and could be developed scientifically.
• Chu Fei reflected on his faith in science and Big Data Cultivation, recognized Mind Power had caused him to waver, and felt ready to break through to 9.0.
• Chu Fei flew around Hong City's walls and cut down at least eight thousand Crawlers before returning to bathe and prepare for cooperation.

Chu Fei fought through the night on Hong City's wall, using his impressive flight and combat skills to kill Living Corpses and gather Crystal Cores while studying unusual specimens. After Jin Haishan urged him to stay alive because hope depended on it, Chu Fei returned to a villa with seven captured Living Corpses and began wondering whether humans could consume Crystal Cores directly.

• Chu Fei resolved to keep fighting until the shift change, strengthen himself toward breaking through 9.0, and investigate Mind Power as a research topic.
• Chu Fei outperformed Feng Yiming in Living Corpse kills while defending a stretch of wall, and he continued fighting after the shift changed by drinking Dragon Blood Potions.
• Chu Fei captured unusual Living Corpses that survived decapitation, and Jin Haishan explained that they were caused by accidental activation of the nervous system in the abdomen.
• Chu Fei praised Jin Haishan for evacuating Jinsha City's people and resources, and Jin Haishan urged him to preserve his life because hope existed only while alive.
• At dawn, Chu Fei left the wall with the Feathered Serpent and 14,400 Crystal Cores, then had seven captured Living Corpses and research equipment delivered to his villa.
• The Feathered Serpent demanded its share of the Crystal Cores, prompting Chu Fei to wonder whether humans could consume them directly.

Chu Fei dissected headless living corpses and found mutations in their abdominal nerves and livers, leading him to suspect that the Living Corpse Brood Queen had survived by activating an accessory brain. He recorded a new research project on strengthening the liver as a second brain, then turned his attention back to reaching 9.0.

• Chu Fei studied the Feathered Serpent devouring crystal cores while dissecting headless and normal living corpses for comparison.
• Chu Fei found thickened abdominal membranes, enlarged nerve clusters, and cranial-nerve-like structures on the livers of the headless corpses.
• Feng Yiming visited Chu Fei, heard his theory that the Living Corpse Brood Queen had revived through its abdominal accessory brain, and later submitted Chu Fei's findings to Hong City's leaders.
• Chu Fei theorized that the liver could serve as the core of an Awakened's second brain and wrote the idea into his research notebook.
• Chu Fei decided that activating an accessory brain would require further research and that breaking through to 9.0 remained his priority.

Chu Fei studied living corpses and negotiated Flying Tiger City’s support for Hong City, using his research and Perception of Wind to secure favorable terms. The talks ended with Black Iron City offered recognition and trade links, while Chu Fei prepared to return and organize exchanges.

• Chu Fei completed his living-corpse research and gave Feng Yiming notes showing that destroying a living corpse’s liver could stop it from fighting after decapitation.
• At Hong City’s conference, Hong Yonggang revealed that the Living Corpse Brood Queen had likely revived, and Feng Yiming explained Chu Fei’s deduction about its severe injuries and Accessory Brain.
• Chu Fei offered Flying Tiger City’s supplies and limited personnel in exchange for research data, crystal cores, cultivation information, and access to Dimensional Spaces.
• Chu Fei negotiated a reduced crystal-core price and offered long-term support, shared research, and the Perception of Wind spell, leading Hong Yonggang to accept the terms.
• Li Guangyu negotiated Black Iron City’s deal with Hong City, securing recognition, commercial and academic exchanges, equipment access, and an introduction to The Inland in return for supplies and military support.
• Chu Fei left to organize the exchanges, and Hong Yonggang realized Chu Fei had learned the price Hong City charged outsiders through Perception of Wind.

Chu Fei returned to Dawn Academy, secured new computing modules, and uncovered dangerous backdoors that could interfere with Awakened Cosmic Brains. With the Living Corpse Tide approaching, he used the upgraded computers to rapidly derive a cultivation technique for breaking through to level 9.0.

• Chu Fei returned to Dawn Academy, reported his negotiations with Hong City, and found Zhao Hongyue preparing to become an Awakened.
• Chu Fei installed ten computing modules and tested their source code in Dawn Academy's Virtual Center, removing hidden backdoors and uncovering seven encryption keys that could disrupt Cosmic Brains.
• Chu Fei warned his senior brother that Hong City was near collapse but had at least four level 10.0 experts, and his senior brother departed to negotiate the detailed terms.
• Chu Fei finished setting up the modified computers, whose performance increased by around 1.5 percent after the backdoors were removed.
• Chu Fei used the new Virtual Space and a Wisdom Dewdrop to derive the cultivation technique for breaking through to level 9.0, completing months or years of preparation in one night.

Chu Fei studied Maxwell's Equations Variant and the execution capability needed for his breakthrough to 9.0, then learned from Zhao Hongyue's breakthrough how Mind Power could overcome bodily limits. Wu Yong explained how the Observer Effect converts thought into life signals, giving Chu Fei a clearer direction for his own cultivation.

• Chu Fei studied Maxwell's Equations Variant and its Big Data Model for two days, preparing to use them to overwrite the body's natural execution logic at 9.0.
• Chu Fei emerged from seclusion and congratulated Zhao Hongyue, who had broken through to 8.0 after cybernetic augmentation while Huang Gang remained in seclusion.
• Zhao Hongyue described the dramatic changes in her abilities, and Chu Fei questioned her about her breakthrough to investigate Mind Power.
• Chu Fei concluded that Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue had broken through through powerful, rationally directed confidence built from combat, learning, and his guidance.
• Chu Fei asked Wu Yong how the Cosmic Brain's commands connected to execution capability, and Wu Yong explained how thought, the Observer Effect, Maxwell's Equations Variant, and the body's energy systems formed that process.
• Chu Fei realized that the Observer Effect converted thought into life signals, providing the essential link for his path to 9.0.

Chu Fei tested his potential, learned that Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue had broken through, and gathered their breakthrough experiences before preparing his own advancement. After refining and personalizing his Cultivation Technique, he successfully broke through to 9.0.

• Chu Fei tested his Potential Index and other attributes, revealing a score of 8.986623 and processing power above one hundred thousand.
• Huang Gang told Chu Fei that he had broken through and awakened a regenerative ability that restored his eye and was regrowing his arm.
• Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue hosted Chu Fei for a feast and shared their breakthrough data and experiences with him.
• Chu Fei returned to his laboratory, analyzed and customized his Cultivation Technique, and prepared for his breakthrough while Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue stood guard.
• Chu Fei constructed the Maxwell's Equations Variant framework, integrated it with his existing systems, and built the 9.0 Cultivation Technique.
• After three days of preparation and cultivation, Chu Fei successfully broke through to 9.0.

After breaking through to 9.0, Chu Fei confirmed his plan to lead a new Motorcycle Team to Hong City and discovered that Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue had also broken through after prosthetic augmentation. He offered guidance on the potentially replicable method in exchange for joining the dangerous expedition, then concealed the full extent of his own test results.

• Chu Fei trained his new abilities in Virtual Space and reviewed his decision to travel to Hong City and lead forces there.
• Chu Fei told Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue that he had reached 9.0, and the three went to the medical center to test their Potential Indexes.
• The crowd flocked to Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue after learning they had broken through following prosthetic augmentation, and Chu Fei explained that their experience might be replicable but carried severe risks.
• Chu Fei announced that he would offer guidance to people who joined his new Motorcycle Team for the fight against the Living Corpse Tide in Hong City, while arranging paid guidance for others after his return.
• Chu Fei's public test results showed a 9.0 breakthrough, but he falsified parts of the data and privately estimated that his Cosmic Brain and physical stamina were far stronger.

Chu Fei decided to build a loyal core team from people who had overcome cybernetic augmentation and stagnation, then announced a fair selection for a motorcycle unit and a research group. After the crowd dispersed, he privately told Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue to choose trusted Dawn Team members for the core, intending to bring seventy to eighty people to support Hong City.

• Chu Fei concluded that people who broke through after cybernetic augmentation could become valuable late bloomers and decided to form his own core team.
• Chu Fei organized his research on Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue's breakthroughs and identified Living Corpse crystal cores as a possible substitute for Spirit Fruits.
• Chu Fei flew before more than a thousand people and explained the breakthrough method, the crystal-core substitute, and plans to process the cores into potions.
• Chu Fei announced a selection for sixty recruits, with eight competitions beginning the following morning, and invited researchers to join a separate research group.
• After the crowd dispersed, Chu Fei privately asked Huang Gang and Zhao Hongyue to select trusted Dawn Team members for the core team and ordered preparations for the competitions.

Chu Fei selected a reserve core team for the expedition north to Hong City, testing more than a thousand Motorcycle Riders before narrowing the candidates to sixty. As the team trained and prepared for the Living Corpse Tide, Wu Yong returned from seclusion, handed Flying Tiger City’s management to First Senior Brother, and Chu Fei set the expedition’s departure for three mornings later.

• Chu Fei put more than 1,300 Motorcycle Riders through shooting, motorcycle racing, combat, stealth, fieldwork, and survival tests, then chose sixty elites for the reserve core team.
• Chu Fei taught the candidates about confidence, Mind Power, cultivation, and preparing themselves for the dangerous journey north.
• Chu Fei rewarded the final 165 candidates with Supernatural Potions, and the sixty selected elites joined Huang Gang, Zhao Hongyue, and ten Dawn Team members for training and study.
• Chu Fei guided the group in cultivation and shared meals, while he continued his research and the Feathered Serpent enjoyed his supplies.
• First Senior Brother returned after ten days of negotiations, and Wu Yong emerged from seclusion, publicized the agreement, and temporarily entrusted Flying Tiger City’s management to First Senior Brother.
• Chu Fei told the reserve core team to reunite with their families and prepare to depart north three mornings later.