Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei, Sheriff, and Paranoid dealt with an insurance company that came to investigate their battered starship, then continued toward Tianbing Star. After the 8384 Ship passed an Anti-Smuggling inspection, Paranoid realized he had slept for only two hundred years, not four hundred.

• An insurance company representative confronted Qu Jianlei about the seized starship, and Paranoid knocked him down after Qu Jianlei called out his disrespect.
• The insurance company learned that Sheriff and two other Supremes were present and that the starship had been taken from wanted criminals, then settled the matter for one hundred million.
• Three days later, Qu Jianlei and Paranoid piloted the battered 8384 Ship toward Tianbing Star and argued with Big Head Butterfly about money and dignity.
• An Anti-Smuggling Warship inspected the 8384 Ship, verified its pass arranged by Sheriff, and let it proceed.
• Paranoid checked the time and realized he had slept for two hundred years rather than four hundred.

Qu Jianlei’s 8384 Ship landed at Tianbing Star’s spaceport, where military forces confronted him over an alleged attack on an Imperial knight’s family. As Qu Jianlei stalled for time and let Liu Yongming’s delegation board, Paranoid revealed himself as a second Supreme.

• Qu Jianlei questioned Paranoid about his distorted sense of time, but Paranoid insisted he had perceived four hundred years.
• The Tianbing spaceport verified Qu Jianlei’s Anti-Smuggling Department pass and allowed 8384 Ship to land, where soldiers and warships surrounded it.
• Qu Jianlei told Paranoid that he had killed Jabbar, then learned the military accused him of attacking an Imperial knight’s family.
• Qu Jianlei refused to leave the ship, demanded evidence, and let Liu Yongming and three others board while Xiao Hu calculated the chances of escape.
• Paranoid released a Supreme’s Coercive Pressure and demanded that Liu Yongming salute him, revealing that Qu Jianlei was not the only Supreme aboard.

Liu Yongming and Zayir confronted Qu Jianlei’s group over the attacks on the Norton Family, but could produce no solid evidence and backed down after discovering two Supremes were aboard. Paranoid revealed that he knew Liu Yongming’s grandfather, Liu Qingyu, but refused to meet him as Liu Yongming departed to report what had happened.

• Liu Yongming learned that Paranoid remembered his grandfather, Liu Qingyu, and became more respectful, while Paranoid showed a special pass as proof of his classified mission.
• Qu Jianlei demanded evidence that he had attacked the Norton Family, and Liu Yongming deferred to Zayir, saying the military lacked the relevant evidence.
• Zayir accused Qu Jianlei based on an Earth Attribute attack on a Norton factory and his alleged conflict with the family, but Qu Jianlei rejected the accusation as unsupported.
• Zayir admitted the deadly attack on the Norton Family involved a Metal Attribute Supreme, not an Earth Attribute one, and fled after Paranoid suggested killing him.
• Liu Yongming offered to tell Liu Qingyu about Paranoid, but Paranoid said he had no interest in seeing him, and Liu Yongming left to report the encounter.

Qu Jianlei returned to his companions with Paranoid and learned that Bentley was about to advance to A-rank. Rhine visited the next morning, and after hearing about the Norton Family dispute, Qu Jianlei asked her to help transfer a land deed, but she recognized the location and looked troubled.

• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid waited out the surveillance, revisited the overgrown site of Paranoid’s old restaurant, and then returned to the guesthouse where Bentley and the others were staying.
• Paranoid noticed Bentley was nearing advancement, so Qu Jianlei prepared to take the group to Blue Elf; Xiang Xue said the Haiyin Family had offered them a place to stay.
• Rhine arrived the next morning, apologized for Renado, and asked how Qu Jianlei had come into conflict with the Norton Family.
• Qu Jianlei explained the dispute, and Rhine recognized that it resembled the incident in which a starship had nearly killed her; she sent a man to investigate the Norton Family’s young master.
• Qu Jianlei asked Rhine to help transfer a land deed into his name, but she recognized the property and reacted with concern.

Qu Jianlei and his companions moved into a manor provided by Rhine, where he set up protective and cultivation formations. When Paranoid produced only half of the Gathering Spirit Array, Qu Jianlei confronted him and learned that the other half was with Pierre, Paranoid’s former assistant, who had taken it during Paranoid’s attempt to reach Above Supreme.

• Rhine explained that the manor land had a troubled history and gave it to the Haiyin Family without asking Qu Jianlei to pay the difference.
• The group moved into the hilltop manor, and Claire received its ownership under her false identity.
• Qu Jianlei set up defensive and Qi Gathering Arrays, and the group began cultivating.
• Paranoid gave Qu Jianlei half of the Gathering Spirit Array, prompting Qu Jianlei to attack him for withholding the rest.
• Paranoid revealed that Pierre had taken the other half while Paranoid was attempting to reach Above Supreme.
• Paranoid recalled that Pierre had initially cared for him during his three-year breakthrough attempt, but later removed half the formation after Paranoid stopped responding.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid set up a hidden Gathering Spirit Array while the group rested at the estate. Rhine took over the Hongjingtian Team’s grudge with the Norton Family, and the chapter ended with Liu Yongming arriving on Liu Qingyu’s behalf and Qu Jianlei accusing him of monitoring them.

• Paranoid explained that Pierre had stolen half of the array, and he agreed to retrieve it after Pierre advanced to A-rank.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid excavated a cavern and installed the Gathering Spirit Array so Paranoid could improve his compatibility.
• Rhine learned that the Norton Family’s young talent had fought her in the Asteroid Belt and declared that she would take over the grudge.
• Qu Jianlei told Rhine that his group planned to rest for at least another month.
• Liu Yongming arrived with Liu Qingyu’s invitation to meet Qu Jianlei, who accused him of monitoring the group.

Qu Jianlei handled Liu Yongming’s military apology while Paranoid questioned the Gathering Spirit Array’s limits. Rhine later punished two Haiyin Family members who had exposed the team’s location and offered to help Qu Jianlei obtain a Qi Gathering Array, though taking one away would be difficult.

• Liu Yongming visited Qu Jianlei to explain the military’s position and ask whether Paranoid would meet Liu Qingyu, but Qu Jianlei deferred the meeting and rejected the military’s vague apology.
• Paranoid refused to meet Liu Qingyu and told Qu Jianlei that the Gathering Spirit Array would not support a future breakthrough to Above Supreme.
• Rhine brought two Haiyin Family members who had leaked the team’s whereabouts, and ordered them to serve ten years of starship watch duty.
• Qu Jianlei asked Rhine for a Super Qi Gathering Array, and she offered to help coordinate one when he reached the required stage.
• Qu Jianlei asked whether he could obtain and take away an ordinary Qi Gathering Array, and Rhine considered the request.

Qu Jianlei showed Rhine his modified Qi Gathering and Defense Arrays, hoping to obtain a regular Qi Gathering Array through a research arrangement. Rhine agreed to seek one and sent part of his array materials to Nelson for confidential analysis, only to learn that Supreme Qinghu had recently brought him a similar design.

• Rhine asked Qu Jianlei why he wanted a regular Qi Gathering Array, and he said he intended to use it and would pay for it.
• Rhine proposed arranging access through another route if Qu Jianlei disclosed the users, organization, and location, and Qu Jianlei suggested presenting it as research.
• Qu Jianlei took Rhine to see his modified Qi Gathering Array and Defense Array, then offered a schematic with key information withheld.
• Rhine agreed to seek a regular Qi Gathering Array and Qu Jianlei insisted on paying rather than accepting it for free.
• Rhine sent half of Qu Jianlei's array materials to Nelson, who recognized a simplified Qi Gathering Array similar to one Supreme Qinghu had shown him.

Nelson studied the improved Qi Gathering Array and warned Rhine that the military would suppress anyone who sold it widely. Half a month later, Rhine arranged to lend Qu Jianlei’s team an array under strict terms, and Qu Jianlei began planning how to acquire enough computing power to analyze it.

• Nelson examined Rhine’s array information, judged it highly promising, and asked to exchange for limited use of the technology.
• Nelson warned Rhine that the military would tolerate private use but ruthlessly suppress commercial distribution.
• Half a month later, Rhine brought an ordinary Qi Gathering Array to Birdsong Stream Manor and offered it under a one-year loan with rent and confidentiality conditions.
• Qu Jianlei accepted the loan and agreed to provide phased research results, while noting that his team’s available Calculation Units were insufficient.
• Qu Jianlei asked Rhine about buying Calculation Units, and the information prompted a certain Butterfly to urge him to purchase the two-hundred-forty-million unit.

Qu Jianlei refused to buy an oversized Calculation Unit set and instead purchased a discounted 80-million-unit set, while he and Paranoid waited for Bentley to advance and continued studying Arrays. Rhine later apologized for information about the Qi Gathering Array leaking to Qinghu, and Qu Jianlei learned that Qinghu had recently faced an attempt to seize something from her by force.

• Qu Jianlei persuaded Xiao Hu to buy an 80-million Calculation Unit set, which Sihai Creation delivered after eighteen days for 64 million.
• After three months, Qu Jianlei put away the Gathering Spirit Array and refused to search for the other half of the Teleportation Array until Lao Ben advanced to A-grade.
• Paranoid offered his research insights, then agreed to study Qu Jianlei's improved Qi Gathering Array instead of leaving to find the other half.
• After another half month passed without Bentley advancing, Rhine visited Qu Jianlei and returned ten million in rent as an apology for information about the Qi Gathering Array leaking.
• Rhine revealed that the information had reached Qinghu, a Peak Supreme, and told Qu Jianlei that Qinghu had recently faced people trying to seize things from her by force.
• Qu Jianlei told Rhine to keep the money as payment for the next year's rent.

Qu Jianlei arranged for Qinghu to receive Qi Gathering Array schematics while avoiding a direct meeting, but she eventually visited Hongjingtian and recognized something familiar in his aura. Their reunion was interrupted by news that Supreme Qingyu had arrived.

• Qu Jianlei told Rhine to give Qinghu the array schematics and ask whether she had encountered trouble, while insisting he would help if needed.
• Qinghu accepted the schematics in exchange for her Divine Script research notes, and Qu Jianlei later wondered whether Yuanyuan had attempted to reach Supreme rank.
• Bentley showed signs of breaking through to A-rank, then Qinghu visited Hongjingtian and asked Qu Jianlei whether they had met before.
• Qu Jianlei directed Qinghu's array questions to Paranoid, who teased him for being lazy.
• Xiang Xue announced over the Handheld Transceiver that Supreme Qingyu had come to visit.

Liu Qingyu visited Qu Jianlei and Paranoid, who proved their old connection by recalling private details from his youth. He agreed to arrange paid military passes for their starships and openly explained how he could deny responsibility if trouble arose.

• Liu Qingyu arrived at the reception room and was offended that Qu Jianlei and Paranoid did not greet him warmly.
• Paranoid recalled Liu Qingyu’s financial help from A Zhen and asked about people from his youth, convincing Liu Qingyu that he was no impostor.
• Paranoid asked Liu Qingyu to arrange military passes that would let starships pass inspection-free, and Liu Qingyu agreed to charge twenty thousand per pass.
• Qinghu offered to buy five passes, and Qu Jianlei asked Liu Qingyu for a hundred, but Liu Qingyu said he could not provide that many.
• Liu Qingyu said the passes would be valid and he would support them, while leaving himself room to claim he had been misled if circumstances became unfavorable.
• Liu Qingyu explained that he had once taken blame for others and now considered letting others take blame for him the price of growth.

Qu Jianlei arranged five-year travel permits and learned that the Department of Anomalous Affairs and Divine Script Society had intensified their search for Ran Bingluan after Luo Hanshuang gained something in the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion. Qinghu gave him information to pass to Ran Bingluan, and the chapter ended with her wondering about Qu Jianlei.

• Qu Jianlei bought ten travel permits from Liu Qingyu, who agreed to five-year validity, and Liu left with Xiang Xue to handle the paperwork.
• Qinghu asked about Ran Bingluan, and Qu Jianlei said they had dealt with each other before and discussed formations with her.
• Qinghu warned that the Department of Anomalous Affairs and the Divine Script Society were searching harder for Ran Bingluan because Luo Hanshuang had gained something in the Mystic Mansion.
• Qinghu told Qu Jianlei that someone was pressuring her to become a Guardian Supreme, but she had found a way to resolve it.
• Qu Jianlei asked about the people pursuing Ran Bingluan, and Qinghu gave him a storage device containing relevant information to pass along.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid searched Celestial Hook Star for the missing half of the Teleportation Array, but found no trace of it and moved on toward Tianrui Star. Their trip ended with an unexpected inspection party entering the starship’s Cargo Hold.

• Qu Jianlei learned that six Above Supremes were searching for Ran Bingluan, and Paranoid said he would help only if Qu Jianlei was in the right.
• Bentley broke through to A-rank, and Qu Jianlei and Paranoid left the manor to find the missing half of the Teleportation Array.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid secretly crossed into Celestial Hook Star and opened one of Pierre’s bank safety deposit boxes, but found money and valuables instead of the array.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid searched Pierre’s other Celestial Hook hideouts for two nights without finding any clues, then decided to investigate his family on Tianrui Star.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid stowed away in a starship’s Cargo Hold bound for Tianrui Star, but an inspection party entered the hold.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid reached Tianrui Star, learned about the troubled Luo Family and Pierre’s unusually gifted but unlucky Laifaier Family, then captured the family’s leaders to investigate Pierre’s disappearance. Their first captive knew little, so Paranoid proposed using the Soul Searching Art.

• Paranoid and Qu Jianlei used their identification documents to get past a military inspection aboard the starship, then traveled to Tianrui Star.
• Xiao Hu found that the Luo Family was facing trouble, and Qu Jianlei decided not to intervene in its affairs.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid learned that the Laifaier Family had many Awakened Ones but suffered bizarre deaths, and Paranoid concluded that Pierre had never returned home.
• Paranoid investigated the Laifaier Family, waited for a Rank A member to return, then joined Qu Jianlei in capturing five senior members, including the patriarch.
• The first Rank B captive said he knew only that Pierre had vanished, and Paranoid asked Qu Jianlei whether he had heard of the Soul Searching Art.

Paranoid extracted Pierre’s final message from the Laifaier Family’s patriarch, then slaughtered the family and looted its vaults. He and Qu Jianlei left for Tianrui Star, while the massacre sparked outrage across the planet and the surviving Laifaier members vowed revenge.

• Paranoid’s Soul Searching Art and Truth Serum revealed that Pierre had left to face an unspeakable problem and would not return until he became Above Supreme.
• The Laifaier patriarch revealed Pierre’s secret message: he planned to spend the rest of his life on Tianrui Star and had sworn this on the family’s survival.
• Paranoid killed the patriarch and the other captives, then returned to destroy the Laifaier Family’s homes and loot its major vaults.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid headed toward Tianrui Star after Paranoid admitted that Pierre had never gone far from Blue Elf.
• The City Garrison discovered that the Laifaier Family had been wiped out, and its surviving members swore revenge.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid traced a likely secret hideout on Tianrui Star to a half-formation that may have passed to Guardian Supreme Chiyang, then traveled to Celestial Hook to investigate. There, Chiyang hosted Arc Light, who was seeking help finding the missing Ran Bingluan.

• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid had Xiao Hu search Tianrui Star and uncovered a suspicious courtyard once maintained under a likely false identity.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid found that a renovator had died after discovering the courtyard, then an unknown high-level Awakened One demolished and rebuilt it.
• Xiao Hu identified Nalisha, Chiyang’s wife, as a suspicious visitor who had come to Tianrui with powerful Awakened Ones around the time of the demolition.
• Qu Jianlei decided to go to Celestial Hook to investigate Chiyang, and Paranoid accompanied him so they could keep watch on each other.
• Chiyang hosted Arc Light at his estate on Celestial Hook, where Arc Light sought help locating Ran Bingluan.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid confronted Chiyang and Arc Light over an item Nalisha had taken, overpowering both Supremes with Mental Attacks. Chiyang recognized the connection to an incident on Tianrui Star fifty years earlier but insisted the item was his late wife's keepsake.

• Arc Light offered Chiyang any condition he wanted if he would help find Ran Bingluan, but an uninvited Qu Jianlei interrupted them.
• Qu Jianlei revealed that he and Paranoid were Supremes, and Paranoid knocked Arc Light unconscious and sealed her cultivation.
• Chiyang tried to question Qu Jianlei, but Paranoid knocked him unconscious too, and Qu Jianlei demanded the return of what Nalisha had taken.
• Paranoid threatened to cut off Chiyang's arm, and Qu Jianlei reminded him of Tianrui Star fifty years earlier.
• Chiyang recognized the old incident but challenged Qu Jianlei to prove the item belonged to them, then said it was a significant keepsake from his late wife.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid forced Guardian Supreme Chiyang to reveal where he had hidden the treasure, then Paranoid retrieved it from Chiyang’s residence. Chiyang was left alive but distressed after they took two hundred million in banknotes, and Qu Jianlei killed the injured Arc Light.

• Chiyang refused to surrender the treasure, so Qu Jianlei and Paranoid threatened his family and warned that he would be killed after seeing their proof.
• Qu Jianlei broke Arc Light’s leg to pressure Chiyang, who recognized Paranoid as a peak Supreme and revealed the treasure was in a secret chamber at his residence.
• Paranoid went to Chiyang’s residence, navigated its defenses, and returned with half of a shield-shaped stone slab.
• Paranoid said they had taken two hundred million in banknotes as payment, and Chiyang protested that he needed the money for his many children.
• Qu Jianlei dismissed Chiyang’s complaint and smashed Arc Light’s head apart.

Qu Jianlei killed Arc Light, a Supreme from the Department of Anomalous Affairs, and escaped with Paranoid to Sky Handle, where they resumed cultivating and studying the Teleportation Array. Their quiet routine ended when Claire arrived with a bruised cheek and reported that visitors had struck her.

• Qu Jianlei killed Arc Light despite Chiyang's protests, then left Chiyang immobilized and fretting over how to explain her death to the Department of Anomalous Affairs.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid returned to Sky Handle, where they heard that Celestial Hook Star had begun another severe crackdown on stowaways.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid lay low; Paranoid cultivated while Qu Jianlei and Big Head Butterfly focused on deciphering the Teleportation Array.
• Qu Jianlei noticed Hua Xiezhi was cultivating impatiently and told her to rest for five days, but she declined to go out and relax.
• Claire arrived with a bruised cheek and said a visitor had hit her, while Xiang Xue identified the group as the Divine Script Society.