Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei learned that someone had activated the long-dormant backdoor and suspected it was connected to the military’s past harassment. After receiving the first legitimate Energy Block profits, he decided the group should leave, but they had no trusted person available to stay behind and oversee their interests.

• Big Head Butterfly detected an abnormal fluctuation in the backdoor data, and Qu Jianlei suspected it was connected to the military’s actions against him.
• Big Head Butterfly offered to trace clues through the Relay Tower into other star regions, but Qu Jianlei refused to risk disrupting their development.
• Hua Xiezhi reported that the first permitted Energy Block shipment had earned over sixty million in gross profit, and Qu Jianlei warned against expecting more than two hundred million in annual net profit.
• Qu Jianlei decided the group should leave now that the mining operation’s links were established, and Jia Shuiqing agreed that waiting would invite trouble.
• Qinghu asked whether she should stay behind, but Qu Jianlei ruled out leaving her, Hua Xiezhi, or Tian Yin.
• Qu Jianlei asked whether anyone had a trusted person to recruit, but the group had no suitable contacts and remained short on manpower.

Qu Jianlei expanded the Ping An Merchant Group’s operations, deployed Xiao Moshan to Zi Hong Star, and prepared another expedition after moving resources and refining teleportation arrays. On Light Veil Star, Tian Yin visited Supreme Coning and came face-to-face with Supreme Hillary, whose past refusal to help Kong Sai had left Tian Yin distrustful of her.

• Duo Duo returned from a banquet to find Qu Jianlei’s group gone, and Jierte ordered the Energy Stone Mine’s development accelerated.
• Claire smoothly broke through to B-rank, while Qu Jianlei moved the Computer Group to Paradise Star and chose Xiao Moshan to operate the arrays on Zi Hong Star.
• After three months, Xiao Hu produced preliminary versions of the Super Qi Gathering Array and Gathering Spirit Array, and Qu Jianlei arranged more materials, ship maintenance, and teleportation plates.
• Qu Jianlei led an expedition to Light Veil Star, leaving Fourth Boss, You You, Lao Ben, Mu Yu, and Xiang Xue behind.
• At Supreme Coning’s residence, Tian Yin met Supreme Hillary and recalled how Hillary had refused to help Kong Sai unless she received the mine in advance.
• When Hillary told Tian Yin to leave, Tian Yin said she had come to see Supreme Coning and that the residence was not Hillary’s.

Hillary tried to intimidate Tian Yin in Coning's residence, but Paranoid and three other Supremes intervened. Qu Jianlei confronted Hillary over her greed and past treatment of Kong Sai, leaving her facing a demand to surrender a mine or die.

• Hillary unleashed Coercive Pressure on Tian Yin, and Coning weakened it while identifying Tian Yin as Kong Sai's niece.
• Paranoid rebuked Hillary for bullying Tian Yin, then stopped her from leaving as Qu Jianlei, Qinghu, and Hua Xiezhi entered the courtyard.
• Tian Yin told Paranoid that Hillary had watched her die and was now making trouble for her; Paranoid accused Hillary of coveting the gold mine.
• Qu Jianlei questioned Coning about why people were trying to seize their spoils, and Coning said their long absence had made others doubt his claim to their backing.
• Qu Jianlei demanded that Hillary hand over a mine as payment for her life, and Hillary argued that Kong Sai deserved death for killing indiscriminately.

Qu Jianlei pressured Hillary to compensate them for her actions and gave her a month, while Coning explained how she had obstructed the gold mine project. After leaving Coning’s residence, Tian Yin remembered a city guard who had once been helped by her uncle and might know more about him.

• Qu Jianlei demanded compensation from Hillary, gave her one month to decide, and warned her against further stalling.
• Coning explained that Hillary’s increasingly harsh demands had hindered the gold mine project, and agreed to help take her down and arrange materials for Qu Jianlei.
• Qu Jianlei warned Coning that the mine’s partners would be held accountable for malpractice and gave him a list of materials to purchase confidentially.
• Tian Yin told Qu Jianlei that her uncle had kept his grudges from her, but then recalled a city guard who had opened a tea house and secretly owed her uncle a favor.

Tian Yin reunited with Tan Guli and asked him for information on people who had exploited Kong Sai’s orphaned household. After he handed over his investigation, Qu Jianlei’s team began verifying the names and found that many were still obstructing Coning’s effort to reclaim the mine.

• Tan Guli recalled how Kong Sai had helped him and regretted that those responsible for Kong Sai’s downfall had escaped justice.
• Tian Yin revealed herself to Tan Guli, confirmed her role in the slaughter of the Thousand Layer Snow family, and asked who else had escaped punishment.
• Tan Guli gave Tian Yin the information he had secretly gathered and was asked to supervise the mine once the team finished its work.
• Qu Jianlei and the others verified Tan Guli’s information and found that many people had profited from Kong Sai’s fall or were obstructing the mine’s transfer.

Qu Jianlei’s group pursued Hillary after she fled Light Gauze Star, then tracked her to the residence of Supreme Cha Anping on Forward Star. As Qu Jianlei’s team approached, Cha Anping sensed danger but failed to detect an intruder who appeared beside him.

• After the massacres on Light Gauze Star, Hillary secretly left for Forward Star, and Qu Jianlei decided not to pursue her before his deadline expired.
• Rumors blamed Tian Yin for the killings, leaving her unable to appear openly under her original identity, while the team continued retrieving the Teleportation Array Plates.
• When Hillary remained missing and the minor shareholders would not commit, Qu Jianlei took the team to Forward Star to find her.
• Xiao Hu confirmed that Hillary was hiding at Supreme Cha Anping’s residence, near the Forward Military District headquarters.
• On a rainy night, Cha Anping sensed something was wrong as Hillary joined him, but neither noticed a shadowy intruder until it spoke and challenged Cha Anping.

Cha Anping tried to mediate the dispute between Hillary and Paranoid, but discovered that powerful strangers were backing Tian Yin. The confrontation ended with Tian Yin stating that her grudge with Hillary had nothing to do with the academy.

• Cha Anping asked Paranoid to accept mediation, but Paranoid refused and challenged him for protecting Hillary.
• Old Lady Jia appeared and revealed a Peak Supreme presence, leaving Cha Anping worried that the people backing Tian Yin were outside the academy system.
• Cha Anping insisted he could not ignore the matter because it involved a military Supreme, while Old Lady Jia and another voice dismissed his warning.
• Tian Yin arrived with a companion, and Cha Anping recognized her Blend with Light and Dust.
• Tian Yin greeted Cha Anping and said her grudge with Lady Hillary had nothing to do with the academy.

Cha Anping mediated a settlement between Tian Yin and Hillary over the mining range Hillary had seized, securing a reduced payment and temporary protection for his Senior Female Apprentice. Tian Yin agreed to the terms, and Cha Anping asked Qu Jianlei’s group to return the next day.

• Cha Anping asked what had happened to Roger, and Qu Jianlei told him to find out for himself.
• Cha Anping pressed Hillary to stop arguing and learned that Tian Yin’s group demanded compensation for the seized mining range.
• Tian Yin explained that Hillary had quoted a similar price when asked to save her uncle’s family, and Qu Jianlei told Tian Yin to decide what would bring her Mental Clarity.
• Cha Anping negotiated the payment down from four billion to two and a half billion, and Tian Yin agreed on the condition that Hillary publicly give up the mine.
• Tian Yin agreed to let Hillary stay at Cha Anping’s home for up to a year, and Cha Anping asked Qu Jianlei’s group to return around the same time the next day.

Hillary backed down from her claim to the mine and began paying the 2.5 billion Unregistered Silver Notes, while Qu Jianlei's group waited on Light Veil. Meanwhile, the Department of Anomalous Affairs investigated Space Ripples caused by Qu Jianlei's teleportations, and an unknown figure quietly smoothed out the latest ripple.

• Cha Anping persuaded Hillary to stay for one more day and warned her that the people demanding payment might have powerful connections.
• Tian Yin collected 500 million Unregistered Silver Notes from Cha Anping, who guaranteed Hillary's debt and her withdrawal from the mine claim.
• Qu Jianlei's group returned to Light Gauze Star, received a further 300 million from Hillary half a month later, and continued waiting as Coning recruited participants for the project.
• The Department of Anomalous Affairs sent two starships and two Supremes to Light Veil to investigate an abnormal Space Ripple and ordered the local authorities to keep the operation confidential.
• The Department's investigators suspected that multiple weak Space Ripples had caused a concentrated resonance, while Qu Jianlei's group activated their Teleportation Array and left the cave.
• An unknown figure appeared after Qu Jianlei's teleportation and smoothed out the surrounding Space Ripples, remarking that Qu Jianlei was still careless.

Qu Jianlei and his companions traveled to Snowfield Star to check on Qinghu’s family, whose standing had suffered after her escape from military house arrest. They found two factions preparing to fight over the Sigma Family’s ancestral mountains, and learned that a rival wanted to buy the land.

• Qu Jianlei chose to visit Blade first, while Old Lady Jia agreed to postpone her attempt to break through to Above Supreme after he offered to try to improve her chances.
• The Unlucky Starship arrived at Snowfield Star, and the group traveled to White Port, where Qinghu went alone to visit her family.
• Qu Jianlei sensed Qinghu was in trouble and led the others to the foot of the Sigma Family’s mountain, where two armed groups faced off.
• The group learned that the Sigma Family had lost influence after Qinghu’s escape and that its two ancestral mountains had become a target.
• Onlookers explained that the Sigma Family had once bought one mountain from a neighboring family after Qinghu became Supreme, but someone had now set their sights on both mountains.

The Sigma Family faced pressure from the Tata Family, and Qinghu decided to kill their Supreme, Adol, to deter them. Qu Jianlei and Qinghu infiltrated Adol’s heavily defended estate, where a growing spiritual chill suggested their target was not the only danger below.

• The City Garrison broke up the confrontation over the Sigma Family’s mountain, and Qinghu arrived without knowing why the Tata Family was targeting her clan.
• Qinghu decided to kill Adol under an ambiguous identity, while Old Lady Jia warned that the conflict might be a trap.
• Qu Jianlei’s group traveled to Central City and approached Adol’s estate; Big Head Butterfly located him five hundred meters underground.
• Qu Jianlei, Qinghu, and Paranoid entered the estate and descended by elevator after Qu Jianlei sensed something was wrong.
• Qinghu felt the elevator growing colder, and Paranoid identified the chill as spiritual and warned of minor trouble.

Qu Jianlei, Paranoid, and Qinghu confronted a bald old man underground who wielded a vast mass of stolen Mental Strength. Qu Jianlei recognized souls within it and identified the enemy as a Ghost Cultivator, while Paranoid wondered whether they could raise their own Soul Bodies.

• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid struck the bald old man with Thunder Dragons, weakening his Mental Strength but prompting him to unleash more than a thousand streams of it.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid formed Thunder Nets to hold back the attack, and Qu Jianlei sensed anger, despair, and other emotions within the Mental Strength.
• Qu Jianlei recognized the Mental Strength as containing souls and called the bald old man a Ghost Cultivator who might be devouring them.
• Qu Jianlei sent Qinghu to bring Tian Yin, whose Light Attribute might affect emotions, while he and Paranoid held off the enemy.
• The bald old man summoned four powerful streams of Mental Strength, and Paranoid speculated that they could raise a batch of thugs from Soul Bodies.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid fought Adolf, a bald Wood Attribute Supreme who commanded powerful souls, while Qinghu, Old Lady Jia, and Tian Yin joined them. After weakening Adolf’s soul forces and trapping him with layered techniques, the group tried to stop his Mental Strength from escaping, but it broke free and fled toward the wall.

• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid attacked the A-rank souls with Thunder Dragons while discussing the danger of Adolf’s soul collection.
• Adolf used Vine Binding Art, and Qu Jianlei countered with fireballs before Qinghu arrived with Tian Yin and Old Lady Jia.
• Tian Yin used Emotion Purification to dissolve the chaotic Mental Strength, then trapped Adolf in a Light Cage at Qu Jianlei’s direction.
• Qu Jianlei struck Adolf with his Electric Cone while Paranoid formed a Colorless Metal Cage and Old Lady Jia attempted to freeze him with Extreme Ice Seal.
• Adolf’s Mental Strength escaped the cages and raced toward the wall, and Qu Jianlei formed a Mental Strength spike to attack it.

Qu Jianlei and his companions escaped after a Soul Body devoured some of his Mental Strength, then tracked it to the Human Potential Research Institute. Qu Jianlei realized the creature was likely controlling Adol’s body and suspected the institute was secretly cultivating a ghost cultivator, leaving the group to prepare for pursuit near a teleportation array he had installed there.

• Qu Jianlei’s Mental Strength struck the Soul Body, which escaped after devouring part of his strength.
• Qu Jianlei tracked the creature through the Mental Strength it had failed to digest, and the group relocated fifty kilometers away to erase their traces.
• Qu Jianlei concluded that the creature was not Adol and might be controlling Adol’s body, so the group agreed they should kill it.
• Qu Jianlei discovered that the Soul Body had traveled more than three thousand kilometers and stopped near the Human Potential Research Institute.
• Qu Jianlei recalled that he had installed a secured Teleportation Array disk in the nearby mountains, leaving him unsure how to respond to the creature’s arrival there.

Qu Jianlei and Paranoid tracked a Soul Body to the Research Institute’s decommissioned Corpse Disposal Pool, where they confronted the white-haired guard Saitan and the corpse it was inhabiting. After Saitan self-destructed, Qu Jianlei attacked the Soul Body as it tried to escape.

• Qu Jianlei and his companions learned the Soul Body was at the Research Institute and went there, leaving Hua Xiezhi to guard the Array Plate.
• Xiao Hu found the Soul Body at the Corpse Disposal Pool and identified its guard, Saitan, as a C-rank man over a hundred years old.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid approached the duty room, broke through its Defense Array, and found Saitan beside a corpse containing Qu Jianlei’s lost Mental Strength.
• Qu Jianlei struck the corpse with a Thunder Dragon while Paranoid attacked Saitan, who summoned two black-mist dogs to fight them.
• Qu Jianlei used Falling Thunder Art against the corpse, and Saitan self-destructed after realizing the passage had been sealed.
• Qu Jianlei locked onto the remaining Soul Body and launched another Mental Attack as it tried to escape.

Qu Jianlei learned from Ke Zhe’s scattered memories that a Supreme had taught him ghost-cultivation methods and was likely on Snowfield Star. After several days of preparation, Qu Jianlei identified the unknown Supreme as Long De and asked whether anyone knew him.

• Qu Jianlei destroyed Saitan’s Soul Body while Paranoid searched the hideout, and the two escaped with an Item-Storing Talisman.
• Qu Jianlei explained that the Soul Body’s memories had flooded into his mind, revealing that the man was Ke Zhe, an A-rank who had taken Saitan’s identity and learned ghost-cultivation methods from a Supreme.
• Qu Jianlei found a Soul Container in the talisman and said the Supreme was probably on Snowfield Star, so the other Supremes agreed to continue their investigation.
• The group decided to rest for two days, and Qu Jianlei began deducing countermeasures against the unknown Supreme while Paranoid waited.
• After another five days, Qu Jianlei emerged from his preparations and named Long De as the other side’s Supreme.

Qu Jianlei identified the Supreme haunting Kongming Mountain as Long De and led Paranoid and Claire there to confront him. Long De attacked the pair with Yin Souls, but they held their ground inside a Defense Array as he prepared to escalate.

• Qu Jianlei matched the Supreme’s sightings and Xiao Hu’s satellite findings to Long De’s parents’ graves on Kongming Mountain.
• Qu Jianlei’s team agreed to investigate, and three days later Paranoid and Claire arrived at the houses beside the graves disguised as hikers.
• Long De watched the two newcomers, confirmed that no other living people were nearby, and decided to kill them when they stayed another day.
• Paranoid noticed Long De scouting the area and warned Claire to stay close to him while they continued acting like tourists.
• Long De sent waves of Yin Souls against the house’s Defense Array, while Paranoid and Claire pretended to panic as its Energy Blocks ran low.

A gaunt man attacked a house on Great Snow Mountain with thousands of yin souls, believing its defenders were a Rank A Fire Attribute user and an Earth Attribute Supreme. He discovered too late that the apparent pair were a trap backed by Light and two Electromagnetic Supremes, and a Thunder Dragon struck him as he tried to escape.

• Old Yun used Fire Rain and other fire arts to help the house's defenders hold off the gaunt man's yin souls as the Defense Array neared collapse.
• The gaunt man personally attacked, then recognized an Earth Attribute Supreme and froze the area around the house.
• The Earth Attribute Supreme pursued him while the gaunt man summoned the Eight Great Generals and two Supreme Black Shadows to attack the Defense Array.
• A Light Attribute user struck a Rank A Black Shadow with Cold Flame Bullet, while Thunder Dragons and more Cold Flame Bullets attacked the Supreme soul bodies.
• The gaunt man decided to flee, but a second Electromagnetic Supreme's Thunder Dragon struck him and left him rigid as he fell.

Qu Jianlei and his allies defeated Long De and most of his Yin souls, but Hua Xiezhi was hurt when Long De’s soul entered her mind after she beheaded him. As Qu Jianlei and Tian Yin used purification to stabilize her, Hua Xiezhi revealed that she wanted to absorb Long De’s memories, and Old Lady Jia questioned whether she was truly herself.

• Qu Jianlei, Old Lady Jia, and Hua Xiezhi attacked Long De, breaking his Ice Armor before Hua Xiezhi beheaded him.
• Long De’s Soul Body rushed into Hua Xiezhi’s mind, and Qu Jianlei destroyed it with a Thunder Dragon while Old Lady Jia went to help her.
• Qu Jianlei repeatedly used Emotion Purification to destroy the fleeing Yin souls as the others finished off the remaining spirits.
• Qu Jianlei asked Big Head Butterfly to examine Hua Xiezhi, but it said it could not enter her mind or assess her condition.
• Tian Yin used Emotion Purification at Qu Jianlei’s direction, and Hua Xiezhi began to relax before asking to retain Long De’s memories.
• Old Lady Jia demanded proof that Hua Xiezhi was herself, and Tian Yin cast Glow Art on her.

After Hua Xiezhi survived the mental attack and revealed how she had resisted it, Qu Jianlei’s group decided to rest in the Great Snow Mountain while she recovered and they searched Long De’s hideout. Their spoils included Soul Solidifying Powder that proved Qu Jianlei’s pills were remarkably effective, and the group began examining a mysterious cracked black stone.

• Hua Xiezhi admitted she had swallowed five pills from First One and revealed that powder hidden in her hairband had protected her from mental attacks.
• Paranoid questioned Hua Xiezhi about whom First One cared about most, and she said he still regretted not avenging Xiao Jing; Qu Jianlei ended the questioning and said she needed to rest.
• After satellite communications confirmed their battle had gone unnoticed, Qu Jianlei agreed to stay and regroup while Hua Xiezhi recovered and the group searched the area.
• The group dug out a large stone chamber in the Great Snow Mountain, where Tian Yin learned from Claire that First One had improved their cultivation arrays.
• Qu Jianlei and the three Supremes examined their spoils, including nine Item-Storing Talismans and Soul Solidifying Powder; the Supremes were astonished that his pills had nearly the same effect.
• Paranoid produced a cracked rectangular black stone from the loot, and the group wondered why it had been stored there.