Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei negotiated with Great Venerable Lata for five Guardian Rules and two Sources, while the cultivators refused to join future large-scale Mò Race wars. After a year of searching and Han Li and Min Ning killing an injured Insect Race Great Venerable, Latan arrived with a new request: help an old ally fight the Tree Race, offering only kill-count credit.

• Qu Jianlei used Broken Blade and Broken Axe to negotiate with Great Venerable Lata, obtaining five Guardian Rules and two Sources.
• Qu Jianlei insisted that the cultivators would not take part in large-scale wars again, and the Mò Race agreed to the condition.
• Han Li and Min Ning rested on Lazhan's mother star while Qu Jianlei, Jin Ge, and Wen Xian searched space for a year and found a spirit-stone mine.
• Han Li and Min Ning killed an injured Insect Race Out-of-Body Realm expert hiding near a Mò Race home planet and received ten Extreme Spirit Stones as payment.
• Three months after the Five-Person Group reunited, Latan asked them to help an old ally whose Star Tapir forces faced a strengthened Tree Race offensive, offering only kill-count credit.

Qu Jianlei accepted Guardian Rules from Lata in exchange for arranging trials in which immortal cultivators would help protect Mò Race worlds, while keeping their obligations limited. Over five years, the cultivators gained a formidable reputation, and the chapter ended with True Venerable Min Ning reporting that the Insect Race and Tree Race had begun fighting.

• Great Venerable Latan asked the Five-Person Group to help defend the Mò Race and then went with Lalu to aid the Star Tapir Great Venerable against the Tree Race.
• After the Tree Race battle, the Mò Race saw that Out-of-Body fighters were appearing together, and Lalu returned to his devastated homeworld with help from other tribes.
• Lata offered Qu Jianlei another Guardian Rule, and Qu Jianlei proposed trials that sent low-level immortal cultivators to inspect dangerous star regions without obligating them to fight.
• The immortal cultivators' presence deterred the Insect Race, while Dao Protectors and reinforcements protected them when enemies attacked.
• Over five years, the Five-Person Group completed three more Out of Body kill quotas, leaving four quotas and three years; True Venerable Min Ning returned from the Chaos Star Cluster and announced that the Insect Race and Tree Race had started fighting.

Qu Jianlei stayed behind as guardian while the four Great Venerables pursued an opportunity, then investigated a report of locusts among the Insect Race. He discovered that one Tree Race symbiotic locust had defected to the Incense Divinity Path and chose to keep watching its squad.

• True Venerable Han Li agreed to visit the fighting, and Qu Jianlei stayed behind to guard the area while the four Great Venerables left.
• Qu Jianlei traveled to the Insect Race Frontline and told his team to avoid reckless action while he served as their guardian.
• After two months, Wen Xian's team reported locusts among the Insect Race, and Qu Jianlei went to investigate.
• Qu Jianlei found a Nascent Soul Rhinoceros Beetle leading an elite squad that included a Golden Core Tree Race symbiotic locust.
• Qu Jianlei sensed that the locust carried incense aura and stayed to observe how the Rhinoceros Beetle treated it.

Qu Jianlei discovered that multiple Golden Core Realm Locusts carried Incense Fire auras and suspected a connection between the Insect Race and Tree Race. After divining repeatedly, he left the cultivator teams without their rotating guardian and traveled alone to investigate the Insect Race’s planets.

• Qu Jianlei spotted a second Golden Core Realm Locust, whose aura identified it as an orthodox Tree Race Locust, and shared his findings with the other teams.
• Han Li's team attacked a Nascent Soul Realm Rhinoceros Beetle's squad, then stopped pursuing when the Insect Race squads retreated toward reinforcements.
• Qu Jianlei divined several times, told the teams to stop discussing the Locusts and act carefully, then left to investigate alone.
• Qu Jianlei traveled for twelve days to an Insect Race star system and found many Locusts on both inhabited planets, especially the main planet.

Qu Jianlei infiltrated an Insect Race planet, captured nine locusts for investigation, and fled after sensing danger. He stopped in a debris belt on the Mò Race’s side to begin soul-searching the captives, with Wind Forgotten volunteering to start.

• Qu Jianlei observed more than two thousand incense-bearing locusts on a cold planet and captured five Foundation Establishment locusts, three Golden Core locusts, and one Nascent Soul locust.
• Qu Jianlei sensed danger as he considered capturing another Nascent Soul, then escaped with Evening Glow and cautiously traveled away from the planet.
• Qu Jianlei crossed behind Insect Race lines before circling back toward the Mò Race and stopping in a debris belt to investigate the captives safely.
• Qu Jianlei released a Foundation Establishment Locust, Wind Forgotten, and a Golden Core Tree Race member, and Wind Forgotten recognized the captive’s aura as resembling the Insect Race’s.
• Qu Jianlei asked about Wind Forgotten’s soul-searching ability, and Wind Forgotten eagerly offered to search the Foundation Establishment Locust’s soul.

Qu Jianlei let Wind Forgotten investigate the Locusts’ Incense Divinity Path, but its first attempt to question a Foundation Establishment Locust ended when the captive exploded. Wind Forgotten cautiously began examining another Locust, then prepared to soul-search a Golden Core Realm captive while Qu Jianlei meditated and trusted it to succeed.

• Wind Forgotten questioned a Foundation Establishment Locust under coercion, beat it when it failed to answer, and watched it explode before gathering its remains.
• Qu Jianlei scolded Wind Forgotten and gave it another Foundation Establishment Locust, warning that it would have few captives left to try.
• Wind Forgotten detected unusual stagnant energy near the locust’s heart and examined a Golden Core Realm Locust, suspecting a connection to the Incense Divinity Path.
• Wind Forgotten staged a conversation between a Golden Core Realm Tree Race member and the Foundation Establishment Locust, but the Locust identified itself without revealing further information.
• Wind Forgotten asked Qu Jianlei for a Golden Core Realm Locust to soul-search, estimated the process would take a day, and began carefully examining the captive while Qu Jianlei meditated.

Wind Forgotten was caught searching a locust’s soul by an Out of Body Insectoid and an Out of Body Mother Tree, who exposed their cooperation in converting locusts to the Incense Divinity Path. As the two great venerables turned against each other over Wind Forgotten, Qu Jianlei debated whether to call the Immortal Venerables for help.

• Wind Forgotten cautiously searched a Golden Core Locust’s soul until an Out of Body Insectoid discovered it and an Out of Body Mother Tree arrived.
• Wind Forgotten claimed it came from the destroyed Ruosheng Tribe while the two great venerables argued over whether it belonged to the Tree Race or the Insectoids.
• Wind Forgotten learned that the Mother Tree had supplied locusts to the Insectoids for conversion to the Incense Divinity Path in exchange for protection.
• The Mother Tree and Golden Scarab Great Venerable exposed Wind Forgotten’s lie, restrained it, and argued over who would search its soul.
• The Golden Scarab sensed that the soul-searching method might be a trap, while the Mother Tree kept Wind Forgotten bound and searched the surroundings.
• Qu Jianlei watched from inside the Abode as Sunset Glow urged him to seek help, but he hesitated because the two great venerables were only avatars.

Qu Jianlei prepared a plan to confront the two Out of Body beings while trying to protect his team, and Wind Forgotten’s hidden power began affecting the Out of Body Mother Tree. The Mother Tree’s attacks failed to reach Wind Forgotten, and it realized that its growing excitement might be part of the strange effect.

• Qu Jianlei asked Sunset Glow to help alert the four others if his divination revealed danger, then outlined a plan to face the two Out of Body beings.
• The Out of Body Mother Tree prepared to read Wind Forgotten’s memories while the Golden Scarab watched.
• As the Mother Tree began examining Wind Forgotten, a strange power from Wind Forgotten enveloped it and warped space and time.
• The Mother Tree attacked Wind Forgotten repeatedly, but its branches weakened near the target and could not injure it.
• The Golden Scarab warned that the Mother Tree seemed to be losing energy, prompting the Mother Tree to stop and realize its attacks had been influenced.
• The Mother Tree sensed no obvious harm, but discovered that it felt inexplicably excited.

Qu Jianlei arranged for an Asura to wield Broken Axe and ambush the Out-of-Body Golden Scarab, making the attack look like an illusion and prompting the Mother Tree to withdraw. The Golden Scarab chose to test the axe rather than flee, then recognized its true nature as a Causality Divine Weapon.

• Golden Scarab failed to notice the Space Ripple on Wind Forgotten as the Mother Tree probed it.
• An Eight-Armed Asura appeared with Broken Axe, which locked onto Golden Scarab and filled it with shock and doubt.
• Qu Jianlei had persuaded Violent Obsession to let the Asura briefly use the Ritual Artifact as a distraction.
• The Mother Tree suspected an illusion or trap, withdrew its projection, and warned Golden Scarab not to underestimate an opponent crossing ranks.
• Golden Scarab dodged the axe's pursuit and sent a wing carapace to probe it, but the attack vanished into the axe without effect.
• Golden Scarab's projection shook as it realized Broken Axe was a Causality Divine Weapon.

Qu Jianlei used Moment Eternal and Broken Axe to force the Out of Body Golden Scarab and the Out of Body Mother Tree to abandon their projections and flee. He remained wary as Broken Axe pursued the Golden Scarab, then Wind Forgotten urged him to leave.

• The Out of Body Golden Scarab recognized Broken Axe as a Causality Divine Weapon and shattered its projection to escape, while the Out of Body Mother Tree also destroyed its projection after mistaking the attack for an illusion.
• Qu Jianlei realized both Out of Body beings had fled and reflected that he had used Moment Eternal to drain the Mother Tree’s projected energy while Sunset Glow prepared to attack with the abode.
• Qu Jianlei understood that the Golden Scarab’s attempt to test Broken Axe had exposed it to a causal pursuit, and he saw the axe shadow still standing in space.
• Wind Forgotten, shaken and injured, urged Qu Jianlei to leave before new dangers appeared.

Qu Jianlei survived an unexpected assault by two Out-of-Body projections, then joined the Immortal Venerables to investigate the locust prisoners he had captured. Their memories revealed that a Mother Tree had secretly colluded with an Insect Race tribe to study the Incense Divinity Path, leaving the wider scope of the alliance uncertain.

• Qu Jianlei refused to leave the battlefield, suspecting a hidden third enemy, until True Venerable Han Li appeared and urged him to recover.
• True Venerable Min Ning and True Immortal Jin Ge arrived, and True Venerable Han Li took Qu Jianlei to a new location near Lazhan's homeworld.
• Qu Jianlei told the Immortal Venerables about the locust prisoners, and they soul-searched them after examining how the insects reported information.
• The Immortal Venerables learned that a Mother Tree had privately allied with an Insect Race tribe to protect its territory and investigate the Incense Divinity Path.

After learning that the Tree Race and Insect Race had been cooperating, Qu Jianlei and the Immortal Venerables decided to attack the Golden Scarab’s lair and make the races fear them. As Qu Jianlei withdrew to recover, the others learned he had mastered the Quasi-Years Divine Ability and wondered who he had used it against.

• True Immortal Jin Ge explained that the four Immortal Venerables had been delayed studying an unstable opportunity that could reach Medium-Low Fortune.
• True Venerable Wen Xian reported that the Mò Race Frontline was stable and proposed attacking the Golden Scarab’s lair, prompting Qu Jianlei and the others to adopt a more aggressive approach.
• Qu Jianlei asked for Space Stones to use with the Grindstone, and True Venerable Min Ning and True Immortal Jin Ge each offered half of theirs.
• The Immortal Venerables told Great Venerable Lajan that the Tree Race and Insect Race had joined forces and showed him a captured Locust that cultivated the Incense Divinity Path.
• Qu Jianlei entered the Abode to recover, while True Immortal Jin Ge revealed that he had the Quasi-Years Divine Ability and True Venerable Min Ning asked who he had used it against.

Qu Jianlei and the other cultivators convinced the Mò Race that the Tree Race and Insectoid had begun cooperating, prompting the Star Tapir Great Venerables to request a new offensive. The Five-Person Group departed with two observers and found the Out of Body Mother Tree guarded by Insectoid forces, where Qu Jianlei prepared to blow it up.

• Qu Jianlei recovered from his overexertion, and the Star Tapir Great Venerables arrived to investigate evidence that the Insectoid and Tree Race were cooperating.
• True Venerable Min Ning recreated the locust experiment, but refused to reveal the locusts’ tribes or let the Mò Race direct the cultivators’ targets.
• Great Venerable Lata proposed that the cultivators attack the cooperating alien races, and Min Ning agreed only that they could choose their own opponents; he barred the Mò observers from intervening.
• Three days later, the Five-Person Group departed with Great Venerable Latan and another Star Tapir observer, leaving the trial-takers behind to avoid arousing suspicion.
• The group found the Out of Body Mother Tree’s planet surrounded by Forest Seas and Insectoid forces, and Jin Ge decided they should destroy it rather than confront it directly.
• Qu Jianlei vanished from outer space with Sunset Glow, preparing to blow up the Mother Tree.

After Qu Jianlei’s group destroyed the Tree Race’s mother planet, they found Mò Race captives and incense-bearing locusts on the Golden Scarab’s world. They attacked the star system, and Broken Axe destroyed the temple and Golden Scarab’s remains, but a faint howl left Han Li sensing danger.

• Qu Jianlei detonated three Flawed Portable Abodes, wiping out most of the Tree Race and Insect Race forces and killing the Out of Body Mother Tree.
• Min Ning led the group to the Golden Scarab’s star system, where they discovered captive Mò Race and locusts cultivating the Incense Divinity Path.
• Latan and the Star Tapir Great Venerable abandoned their plan to rescue captives after Min Ning warned that a Half-Step Soul Division might be present.
• Qu Jianlei urged the group to attack despite the possibility of a stronger enemy, and Han Li set up three Stone Mill fans near the temple.
• Han Li’s attack cleared much of the star system, Wen Xian sealed the mother planet, and Broken Axe shattered the temple and the Golden Scarab’s remains.
• Han Li sensed danger when a faint howl followed the Golden Scarab’s destruction.

Qu Jianlei and the cultivators absorbed the Golden Scarab’s Faith Essence, then detonated seven Portable Abodes to destroy the Alien Race forces gathered in a nebula. After the explosion left a vast field of Space Rifts and drew the Heavenly Dao’s disfavor, the cultivators prepared to leave, but the Mò Race tried to persuade them to stay with a damaged Spirit Treasure.

• The Broken Axe absorbed the Faith Essence for a day, and Violent Obsession said it would need three to six months to refine the poisonous impurities.
• Han Li divined that seven Grindstones were needed, and the cultivators detonated seven Portable Abodes near the nebula occupied by two Insect Race experts and two Mother Trees.
• The blast created an expanding field of Space Rifts that killed the two Mother Trees and may have erased or incapacitated the Yin and Yang Butterflies; Han Li sensed the Heavenly Dao’s rejection.
• Jin Ge told the Star Tapirs that the cultivators had fulfilled their agreement and would leave without returning to Lazhan’s home planet, while Latan stayed nearby as they waited for the energy to subside.
• Lata arrived with four other Star Tapir Great Venerables and offered a damaged Black Flag Spirit Treasure in exchange for the cultivators sparing five Out-of-Body Realm beings, and Jin Ge dismissed the offer.

The cultivators rejected the Mò Race’s offer to trade an incomplete spiritual treasure and recovered their trial teams after Wen Xian confronted the Mò Race’s attempt to detain them. Negotiations then stalled, but Lazhan asked to travel to the Cultivation World, giving Great Venerable Lata hope that it might bring back reinforcements.

• True Venerable Han Li and True Venerable Min Ning refused to trade for the Mò Race’s incomplete spiritual treasure, and Wen Xian left to retrieve the cultivators undergoing trials.
• Great Venerable Lata tried to delay the cultivators and keep their trial teams, but Wen Xian returned a day later with everyone.
• Duo Gan told Qu Jianlei that the Mò Race had tried to stop them and that Wen Xian had nearly fought the Star Tapir Great Venerables.
• Qu Jianlei took his injured companions, including Duo Gan, Bentley, and Mu Guang, into the Portable Abode.
• Min Ning insisted the agreement with the Mò Race was over, while Great Venerable Lata argued against the cultivators’ terms.
• Lazhan asked to travel with the cultivators to the Cultivation World, and Great Venerable Lata hoped it could bring back reinforcements.

After a strange fluctuation struck Qu Jianlei, he learned it had given him an Out of Body opportunity connected to Creation and Destruction. He returned to the group, where Han Li recognized the opportunity, and Qu Jianlei asked Wen Xian to keep it secret as he prepared to suppress its dangerous aura.

• Lajan offered to accompany the cultivators on their search and give them the damaged Spirit Treasure flag if they killed enough alien Out-of-Body beings, and Min Ning accepted on the condition that the matter ended there.
• After the Space Rifts weakened, Han Li, Min Ning, and Jin Ge entered while Qu Jianlei and Wen Xian guarded the perimeter.
• A strange fluctuation struck Qu Jianlei's brow and left him unconscious; Jing Yuexin took him into the Abode, where Broken Axe said his soul had been shaken but was not in serious danger.
• Qu Jianlei woke two days later and learned from Violent Obsession that the fluctuation had given him an Out of Body opportunity, though he needed to suppress his aura to avoid qi deviation.
• Qu Jianlei returned to the group, and Han Li identified his opportunity as Creation and Destruction; Wen Xian connected it to Qu Jianlei's mastery of Time and said it could help him reach Out of Body.
• Qu Jianlei asked Wen Xian to protect him if he advanced and not to spread the news, while questioning how Creation and Destruction could fit with the Great Dao of Time.

The cultivators divided the opportunity’s rules and continued their campaign against Out of Body Alien Races, where Qu Jianlei gained a Broken Blade tip and the group found the remains of an ancient Grand Lord. After meeting their bargain with Lajan, the Five-Person Group left the Mò Race and decided to leave another emerging opportunity undisturbed for now.

• True Venerable Wen Xian explained that the destroyed opportunity had been a living thing whose foundation was Creation and Destruction, and True Venerable Han Li directed its nine rules to the public treasury while Qu Jianlei declined a share.
• After resting for three days, the Five-Person Group swept through five star systems, killing one Out of Body Mother Tree and four Out of Body Insectoids while using sixteen Flawed Portable Abodes.
• The group found a Broken Blade tip that fit Broken Blade, then recovered a large bone identified as the remains of an ancient Spirit Severing Grand Lord; both treasures went into the public treasury.
• After killing five Out of Body beings, the group told Lajan they were leaving and asked whether he would hand over the Spirit Treasure; Lajan accepted their answer that cultivators might return, and the group departed.
• The Five-Person Group found the three Mother Trees still guarding an opportunity, and True Venerable Han Li divined it would take another fifty years to appear, so they chose not to destroy it.

The Five-Person Group returned to the Asura World and privately divided the treasures they had gained during their thirty-year journey. Qu Jianlei concealed the true nature of his breakthrough and left with twelve Guardian Rules and the Hidden Pattern Yuan, while the Great Monarch Remains stayed in the public treasury.

• The Five-Person Group traveled back through the void using the Immortal Venerables’ Anchor Points, and Qu Jianlei learned how to bind himself to one.
• True Venerable Wen Xian and True Venerable Han Li noticed Qu Jianlei was suppressing a breakthrough, while Qu Jianlei kept secret that he had absorbed an Essence nearly equivalent to the Great Dao.
• The group began dividing their gains, with Han Li claiming the Primordial Purple Qi and the others disputing the remaining treasures.
• Qu Jianlei kept a low profile and received twelve Guardian Rules, the Hidden Pattern Yuan, and priority access to Top-Grade Spirit Stones.
• The group left the Great Monarch Remains in the public treasury, and True Immortal Jin Ge offered to hold it for fifty years before giving it to Lingyun Sect if no one bought it.

After returning from the uncharted world, Qu Jianlei prepared to enter seclusion and attempt a breakthrough to Out of Body, while the Immortal Venerables pressed to begin developing the worlds. Han Li visited Jiuyou Island to negotiate the timing and offer a divination about threats to Qu Jianlei’s share.

• True Venerable Han Li agreed to hold the Great Monarch Remains in trust at the agreed market price, and the group insisted that news of it remain secret.
• Qu Jianlei returned to Houde, checked Yanfeng Three and Red Leaf Ridge, gathered his team, and told them about the expedition and his planned breakthrough.
• Claire regretted that the team lacked enough people to develop the otherworlds, while Qu Jianlei and Duo Gan explained that development would take time and require a proper system.
• Qu Jianlei began preparing for seclusion on Jiuyou Island and asked Jin Ge to have Min Ning and Han Li watch for Tier 5 Spirit Veins.
• Han Li visited Qu Jianlei and urged him to delay seclusion so the Immortal Venerables could manage the otherworlds, but Qu Jianlei offered them authority to act on his behalf and said he could accept fewer protectors.
• Han Li warned that others might covet Qu Jianlei’s share in the otherworlds and offered to perform a divination for him.