Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei and the others examined Mu Guang’s Gathering Spirit Array and the Spiritual Qi Condensation Device his group had developed, weighing their limited usefulness against their technical value. After permitting moderate spiritual qi gathering, Qu Jianlei tested the array and discovered it had a self-destruct device, while concluding that Cultivators had made it using Imperial technology.

• Bentley supplied spiritual qi to the Gathering Spirit Array, and Mu Guang explained that it required a constant supply and a spiritual-qi-rich environment.
• Mu Guang demonstrated his group’s loud, energy-hungry Spiritual Qi Condensation Device, which began collecting spiritual qi into droplets.
• Qu Jianlei recognized the device’s extractor as its most valuable feature and permitted Mu Guang’s group to gather spiritual qi in moderation using their own Energy Blocks.
• Bentley challenged Mu Guang’s loyalty, and Mu Guang pointed out that Xiang Xue was still part of Qu Jianlei’s team.
• Qu Jianlei tested the Gathering Spirit Array, discovered its self-destruct device, and determined that a Cultivator had made it using Imperial technology.

Qu Jianlei studied Mu Guang’s extractor, built larger spiritual energy extractors, and finished stockpiling spiritual liquid before Bentley left to collect Space Wave Point data. Nutrient Solution then told him that Versailles’s wife had died in a laboratory explosion and that Versailles was offering a reward; they declined to investigate for now and wondered when Old Lady Jia would advance.

• Qu Jianlei examined Grave Robber’s extractor and realized he needed to study Imperial mechanical design more systematically.
• After two months, Qu Jianlei built a larger, quieter extractor and produced enough spiritual liquid for two intense battles.
• Bentley left with Xiang Xue aboard a Business Starship to collect data at the Space Wave Point after delaying the trip.
• Nutrient Solution told Qu Jianlei that Versailles’s wife had died in an explosion in his private laboratory and that Versailles suspected murder.
• Nutrient Solution proposed kidnapping Versailles or stealing his tower, but Qu Jianlei urged her to wait and see how events developed.
• Nutrient Solution looked toward Old Lady Jia’s place of seclusion and wondered when she would advance.

Qu Jianlei finished modifying and testing two Calculation Unit sets before Nutrient Solution told him Versailles had been assassinated and Black Colt Tower might be at risk. He agreed to travel with Nutrient Solution and Hua Xiezhi to Good Luck Star, where they would pursue the tower, and the chapter ended when Nutrient Solution appeared in palace attire that stunned Qu Jianlei.

• Qu Jianlei spent a month and a half modifying, replacing, and testing the two Calculation Unit sets while Jia Shuiqing continued preparing to break through.
• Nutrient Solution told Qu Jianlei that Versailles had been assassinated and that the Black Colt Tower in his collection might vanish amid the unrest on Good Luck Star.
• Qu Jianlei decided to go to Good Luck Star with Nutrient Solution, while Hua Xiezhi asked to join them.
• Three days later, Qu Jianlei, Nutrient Solution, and Hua Xiezhi set out aboard a Business Starship and transferred to the 6503 Ship.
• Qu Jianlei cooked a meal aboard the ship, and Nutrient Solution entered the hall in palace attire, leaving him stunned.

Nutrient Solution appeared aboard the starship in elaborate immortal-cultivation-style formal attire, revealing to Hua Xiezhi that she was Jing Yuexin, the child Hua Xiezhi had once believed dead. After the starship reached Good Luck Star, she changed back to her discreet appearance before the crew approached the planet.

• Nutrient Solution arrived dressed in formal attire, stunning Hua Xiezhi and Qu Jianlei.
• Nutrient Solution reminded Hua Xiezhi that she had once hunted Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution, and revealed that she was Jing Yuexin, whom Hua Xiezhi had thought dead.
• Nutrient Solution told Hua Xiezhi to keep her identity secret except from Lao Ben and said her cultivation method had made her Above Supreme.
• Nutrient Solution and Qu Jianlei ate and drank together, and she explained that she had based her outfit on records about the Divine Script System.
• After the jump ended, Nutrient Solution changed her clothes and appearance, and the 6503 Warship stopped thirty million kilometers from Good Luck Star for inspection.

Qu Jianlei, Nutrient Solution, and Hua Xiezhi arrived on Good Luck Star and investigated the conflict surrounding Versailles. After sorting through contradictory reports and identifying several suspects, they learned that Versailles’s descendants were deeply hostile toward one another.

• Nutrient Solution and her companions passed two inspections and met Darlene, an injured Above Supreme who had arranged their accommodations on Good Luck Star.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution spent two days reviewing information, but Xiao Hu could not make sense of the flood of conflicting online rumors.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution investigated with Aka’s help, then tasked Hua Xiezhi with monitoring several people.
• The investigators narrowed their suspects to several figures, including Mozart, Duke Descartes, and Radiant Sun Academy’s dean.
• On the ninth day, Xiao Hu found evidence that Versailles’s descendants were so divided that their disagreements amounted to hostility.

Nutrient Solution uncovered the Versailles Family’s inheritance dispute, and Qu Jianlei considered exploiting the turmoil to take Black Colt Tower. The story left off after the family’s acting head, Baroque, was attacked.

• Qu Jianlei asked Nutrient Solution to investigate who had ambushed Versailles, and she uncovered the family’s succession conflict within three days, though her investigators suffered casualties.
• Nutrient Solution learned that Versailles had chosen his great-grandson Baroque as the next family head, while Baroque’s plan to keep the family fortune united angered other branches.
• Versailles supported Baroque’s plan, but his wife’s death and his own ambush intensified the family dispute and stirred divisions among Radiant Sun graduates.
• Qu Jianlei proposed posing as people from River Stream Technology to seize Black Colt Tower, but Nutrient Solution warned that the family might use the theft to divert attention, so they decided to wait.
• Two days later, Baroque was attacked while handling family business.

After an attack on Baroque’s vehicles exposed a clash between the Versailles family and forces tied to Duke Descartes, Qu Jianlei discovered that the Rebel Organization had secretly orchestrated the incident. He and Nutrient Solution anonymously alerted several factions, setting off arrests and a wider crisis while leaving the informant’s motives uncertain.

• Baroque’s vehicles were attacked during a city guard inspection, leaving three Versailles family members dead and six injured, while Baroque escaped unharmed.
• Investigators traced the attackers to a subordinate force under Duke Descartes, escalating tensions between Descartes and the Versailles family.
• Qu Jianlei discovered that Rebel Organization members had infiltrated Descartes’s loose network and secretly arranged the attack on Baroque.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution agreed to expose the Rebels and investigate their higher ranks, then sent anonymous information to several groups on Good Luck Star.
• The military, city guards, the duke’s representative, the Versailles family, and Radiant Sun Academy moved against the Rebels; two low-level members were captured, but their superior remained at large.
• The captured Rebels’ testimony revealed plans to cause greater chaos, while the competing factions questioned who had anonymously informed them and why.

Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution infiltrated the Versailles Family’s Collection Hall after their anonymous warnings triggered widespread searches on Good Luck Star. They stole Black Colt Tower and decided to take a legendary Invisibility Cloak as well.

• Qu Jianlei’s second anonymous warning urged the factions to investigate their own ranks, prompting families to launch internal investigations and planet-wide searches.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution evaded patrols and Brainwave Sensors as they traveled to the Versailles Family’s manor after three in the morning.
• The pair crossed the manor wall and used Xiao Hu to infiltrate the Collection Hall’s defenses.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution slipped into the underground floor and located Black Colt Tower in a sealed room.
• Qu Jianlei stored Black Colt Tower in an Item-Storing Talisman and restored its warning devices.
• Nutrient Solution found a cloak in a nearby room, identified it as the legendary Invisibility Cloak, and agreed to take it.

Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution stole an Invisibility Cloak and a small tower from Versailles’s Collection Hall, then escaped as Versailles unleashed his Mental Strength to search for them. Back at the estate, Versailles’s family debated who had taken the items and how to report the loss, while Qu Jianlei sent an anonymous report naming three higher-ranking rebels.

• Xiao Jing took the Invisibility Cloak from the Collection Hall, and Qu Jianlei and Xiao Hu escaped after disabling its control system.
• Versailles’s aura and Mental Strength swept out from the estate, but Qu Jianlei judged that the search would not focus on them before they could get away.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution fled more than a hundred kilometers, then sent the Patrol an anonymous report listing three higher-ranking rebels.
• Versailles ordered his forces to find the intruders while his family and guest retainer reasoned that the small tower had likely been the thieves’ main target.
• Versailles rejected speculation that River Stream Technology or Green Water Academy was responsible and warned that Yaoyang Academy could not shield his family forever.
• Baroque asked how to report the stolen items, and Versailles realized that reporting the small tower missing could expose his possession of an exhibit from the Awakened One Museum.

Qu Jianlei and his companions left Good Luck Star after the Collection Hall theft and traveled to Light Gauze Star to check on the mine Nutrient Solution had handled. After replacing damaged Teleportation Array Plates, they returned to the 6503 Ship to investigate a Space Wave Point.

• Versailles concealed the Collection Hall theft while officials raised inspections after another Rebel Organization member was discovered, and Qu Jianlei's group learned about the theft through an inspector.
• Nutrient Solution told Qu Jianlei that Versailles wanted her help recovering the Invisibility Cloak and offered Black Colt Tower, but the group ignored the offer and left Good Luck Star three days later using a Teleportation Array Plate.
• Radiant Sun Academy searched for the three guests at Darlene's manor after they had departed, and its representatives argued with Darlene when she refused to reveal their whereabouts.
• Nutrient Solution told Qu Jianlei she had handled Consair Lord's mine on Light Gauze Star and had left some unresolved matters for Tian Yin; the group traveled there and found the tea house owner recovering from an injury.
• Qu Jianlei's group replaced the damaged Teleportation Array Plates on Light Gauze Star and returned to the 6503 Ship to observe the earlier Space Wave Point.
• Qu Jianlei asked Nutrient Solution how she had observed a Wave Point in space despite being a Nascent Soul Realm cultivator.

Qu Jianlei and his companions watched a Space Barrier shatter as a rapidly growing Vortex and black dot overwhelmed their ability to observe the region. They prepared to teleport away as the black dot began to break through the wall, but the anomaly blossomed before its danger became clear.

• Nutrient Solution warned Qu Jianlei that the Space Barrier ahead was about to shatter, and No. 6503 stopped while preparing to flee.
• The affected region expanded rapidly until their equipment could no longer observe the space beyond the Space Wave Point.
• Qu Jianlei loaded the Teleportation Array disk with Energy Blocks while Hua Xiezhi helped, and Nutrient Solution joined in preparing her own supply.
• Nutrient Solution recognized the expanding Vortex as a possible sign of the wall breaking, while Hua Xiezhi sensed an invisible energy fluctuation inside it.
• A tiny black dot appeared at the Vortex's center, and Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution sensed it growing hot as it neared a breakthrough.
• The black dot blossomed open in an instant.

Qu Jianlei and his team watched an energy beam erupt from the anomalous phenomenon and recovered an intact Other-dimensional Creature, then stayed close to observe despite the danger. As the beam’s expansion stabilized and a Light Gauze Star fleet approached, Qu Jianlei ordered a charge when its acceleration turned negative.

• Yuanyuan’s black dot transformed and erupted into a violent energy beam, which expelled an intact, apparently dead octopus-like Other-dimensional Creature.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution chose to remain nearby to study the expanding beam and secure the creature, despite Hua Xiezhi urging caution.
• The beam’s acceleration fluctuated before finally disappearing as its diameter reached about eighteen hundred kilometers, easing the team’s immediate concern.
• The Big Head Butterfly detected four approaching ships from Light Gauze Star, including two military vessels and a Battalion-Class Ship.
• Qu Jianlei saw that the beam’s acceleration had turned negative and ordered the team to charge.

Qu Jianlei and his crew drove the 6503 Warship into the violent energy beam to seize an Other-dimensional Creature, then raced to escape as the beam began contracting. Just as they reached its outer edge with time left on Overload Defense, the energy flow reversed and a powerful suction began pulling them back.

• Qu Jianlei ordered the 6503 Warship to sprint toward the energy beam as the Official Exploration Team accelerated toward it.
• When the beam began contracting, Nutrient Solution warned that its energy flow might reverse, and Qu Jianlei ordered the warship to charge inside at full speed.
• The 6503 Warship endured violent pressure and shaking while Big Head Butterfly retrieved the Other-dimensional Creature with its Mechanical Arm.
• Qu Jianlei refused to bring the creature into the cabin because the warship was overloaded and its Vacuum Doors could not safely be used.
• The warship reached the beam's outer edge with one minute and forty-two seconds left before the Overload Defense limit, but Big Head Butterfly detected rapidly strengthening suction behind them.
• Nutrient Solution noticed Qu Jianlei's troubled expression and asked what had happened.

Qu Jianlei and the others escaped the devouring force, then stealthily moved the damaged 6503 Warship away while towing the Other-dimensional Creature’s corpse. A Science Vessel’s observer noticed the warship’s unusual gravity signature and abnormal energy, putting their escape at risk.

• Qu Jianlei, Nutrient Solution, and Hua Xiezhi waited as the 6503 Warship fought free of the suction force, then Qu Jianlei warned that its overloaded systems required reduced strain.
• Nutrient Solution agreed to assess the Other-dimensional Creature’s corpse, but Qu Jianlei chose to tow it until they reached a safer location after sensing unfamiliar corrosive energy around it.
• The 6503 Warship activated stealth and slowly departed, hoping to avoid detection by the arriving Official Exploration Fleet.
• A Science Vessel’s observer detected abnormal gravity waves and, after looking more closely, reported that a Company-level Warship shrouded in abnormal energy might be moving away.

The Department of Anomalous Affairs and the military pursued Qu Jianlei’s Company-level Warship after it escaped the energy beam carrying an Other-dimensional Creature’s corpse. As Nutrient Solution prepared to retrieve the corpse, the pursuing Regiment-Class Ship discovered it and ordered Attack Ships to force the warship to stop.

• A Science Vessel’s supervisor diverted computational power after identifying a Company-level Warship carrying an object emitting Exotic Energy beyond the energy beam’s range.
• The military’s advance force was ordered to focus on exploration, while a faster second wave arrived with two Regiment-Class Ships and argued with the Department of Anomalous Affairs over who would pursue the fleeing warship.
• The Department of Anomalous Affairs’ Regiment-Class Ship overtook the military pursuit and identified the fleeing vessel as a standard-issue military warship, so it slowed down and prepared to deploy Attack Ships.
• Xiao Hu detected pursuers behind the Big Head Butterfly, and Qu Jianlei asked Nutrient Solution to retrieve the Other-dimensional Creature’s corpse despite the risk of backlash.
• The Regiment-Class Ship’s crew spotted the corpse held beneath the warship by a Mechanical Arm and ordered its Attack Ships to force the vessel to stop, authorizing warning attacks if necessary.

Qu Jianlei’s battered 6503 Warship was pursued by the Department of Anomalous Affairs and a military Battalion-Class Ship, whose officers ignored his warning and attacked. The battle turned sharply against the pursuers when 6503’s lone Attack Ship destroyed four enemy Attack Ships, including the lead vessel, prompting the Battalion-Class Ship to send in reinforcements.

• The Department of Anomalous Affairs sent six Attack Ships after 6503, and Xiao Hu detected them as Qu Jianlei prepared to fight.
• The pursuers saw 6503’s battered hull, fired a warning shot, and demanded the ship’s military designation over the public channel.
• Qu Jianlei ordered an attack after the pursuers rejected his warning, and both sides launched their Small Attack Ships.
• 6503’s lone Attack Ship precisely destroyed one enemy Attack Ship, while the lead pursuer announced that it would increase its firepower.
• 6503’s Attack Ship destroyed three more enemy Attack Ships, including the lead vessel, and the arriving Battalion-Class Ship commander ordered two additional squads deployed.

Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution escaped the doomed 6503 Warship in a risky teleport as the Department of Anomalous Affairs ordered a concentrated assault on the enemy vessels. The attackers believed the ships had self-destructed, then began joint search and rescue while demanding that all recovered spoils be made public.

• The Department of Anomalous Affairs and military reinforcements struggled to defeat the 6503 Warship and Small Ship, suffering heavy losses as the Small Ship destroyed another Attack Ship.
• The military Battalion-Class Ship refused to follow the Department of Anomalous Affairs' orders, and the Department then commanded all firepower units to concentrate fire on the Company-level Warship.
• The Small Ship moved into the fire coverage zone, while Qu Jianlei decided to abandon the ship and activated the Teleportation Array with Nutrient Solution and the Life Support Pod.
• The 6503 Warship and Small Attack Ship exploded under the bombardment after Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution vanished.
• The Battalion-Class Ship concluded that the enemy had self-destructed, and both forces agreed to search for survivors and make all recovered spoils public.

After escaping the battle through a flawed teleportation, Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution found themselves stranded in space but still within the star system. They hid from a passing military Patrol Ship and waited for it to move farther away before continuing toward the Unlucky Starship.

• The military detected a faint Space Ripple before the enemy warship exploded, prompting both the military and the Department of Anomalous Affairs to question whether the enemy had escaped.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution emerged from a faulty teleport more than forty million kilometers away, then located themselves and discovered the Unlucky Starship was a little over ten million kilometers away.
• Qu Jianlei used the Invisibility Cloak to conceal himself and the Life Support Pod after sensing a starship approaching.
• A military Patrol Ship searched the area near Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution but failed to find them, then moved away after nearly two hours.
• Nutrient Solution and Qu Jianlei waited for the Patrol Ship to get farther away before proceeding, and Nutrient Solution asked whether he still needed to hold her.

Qu Jianlei and his companions escaped aboard the Unlucky Starship, but a joint law-enforcement fleet tracked them as they prepared to jump. The pursuers believed the missing crew and advanced ships pointed to a powerful, possibly rebellious force, while Qu Jianlei chose to jump repeatedly toward Zi Hong Star.

• Qu Jianlei, Nutrient Solution, and Hua Xiezhi boarded the Unlucky Starship after evading nearby warships, then decided to return to Qingyuan Star before investigating the Other-dimensional Creature's corpse.
• Big Head Butterfly warned Qu Jianlei that a fleet was pursuing the Unlucky Starship, and Nutrient Solution suggested jumping to Zi Hong Star.
• The Department of Anomalous Affairs, military, and government formed a joint law-enforcement fleet after finding no human remains or spatial equipment at the battlefield and suspecting the ships' crews had survived.
• Search teams found many matching tiny detectors and relay units, traced them to suspicious ghost ships, and sent a sizable fleet after the Unlucky Starship.
• Qu Jianlei decided to make several jumps to escape, despite the damage they would cause the Unlucky Starship.

Qu Jianlei’s group escaped the Department of Anomalous Affairs and eventually returned to Qingyuan Star, where investigators repeatedly questioned the Gustin Family’s fief about the Five Elements Battle Array and Supreme Si Xi. Nutrient Solution uncovered that the investigation stemmed from a catastrophic event at the Space Wave Point on Light Gauze Star, though the investigators’ full purpose remained unclear.

• The Department of Anomalous Affairs threatened the Unlucky Starship with a space disturbance attack, but Qu Jianlei’s group jumped away as the pursuers watched.
• After three months of travel and repairs, Qu Jianlei’s group returned to Qingyuan Star aboard starship No. 3344 and learned that Jia Shuiqing remained in seclusion.
• Visitors bearing a joint warrant questioned Mu Yu about the Five Elements Battle Array and Supreme Si Xi, and she refused to cooperate.
• A powerful visitor confronted Paranoid, recognized him as the Metal Element, and left after the two proved evenly matched.
• Nutrient Solution investigated the visitors’ purpose and learned that four starships had been sucked into the repairing Space Wave Point on Light Gauze Star, while two others broke apart, including the military’s Battalion-Class Ship.