Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei’s team prepared to leave Fourth Star after learning that Fourth Boss’s friend was likely gone, and they recovered the tall and short men from a military camp. The men joined Digital Phantom’s ship, while the Young Master explained that Cosmos Mining’s operations on Zalifu Star had been handled by affiliated companies.

• After interrogating a Federation Supreme about the Star Beasts, Qu Jianlei refused to have him Beheaded and Skinned and sent him to a military base alive.
• Qinghu displayed the punished Federation members outside the Settlement, while the team spent more than ten days gathering information and coordinating with the other teams.
• When Big Head Butterfly relayed that Fourth Boss’s friend was probably gone, Qu Jianlei told everyone to gather and leave Fourth Star.
• Yuanyuan negotiated with military officers at a camp nearly thirteen hundred kilometers from the Settlement and demanded the release of the tall and short men.
• Qu Jianlei took the two men aboard a Small Attack Ship, and the Young Master said affiliated companies had used Cosmos Mining’s name for the operations on Zalifu Star.

Qu Jianlei’s group traveled to Kunhai to retrieve an artifact from the Nan Family and met Thirteenth Aunt, who reminded him of someone from his past. They stayed at the family’s Snow Cloud Peak estate and made clear that Nan Lio could not leave until they had seen the artifact.

• Qu Jianlei told the returning teams about the star-beast invasion, and Old Lady Jia agreed that they could not stand aside in a struggle between races.
• Nan Lio revealed that his name was Nan Lio and that his grandfather was Nandes, whose ancestors had followed the Primal Warriors.
• The group traveled aboard the 1314 Ship to Kunhai, where a business starship led them to a private port and Thirteenth Aunt greeted them.
• Qinghu used Gravity Art to stop two A-rank Awakened women from flying before Qu Jianlei, and Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution wondered whether Thirteenth Aunt’s familiar face came from his past.
• At Snow Cloud Peak, Yuanyuan forbade Nan Lio from leaving before they saw the artifact and warned that they would destroy the estate if communication failed.
• Thirteenth Aunt told her servants to send the group information about the artifact.

Ta Taer visited Digital Phantom to discuss the Nan Family’s offer of other treasures in place of the promised Ruler and to ask about their magical-artifact research. After Fourth Boss exchanged information with him, Thirteenth Aunt brought the Nan Family’s alternatives, but Yuanyuan declined the two additional magical artifacts.

• Ta Taer visited Snow Cloud Peak and asked Fourth Boss whether the Nan Family could offer other treasures instead of the promised magical artifact.
• Ta Taer asked whether Digital Phantom had found a way to use magical artifacts, and Qu Jianlei prompted Fourth Boss to say their research had not yet produced significant results.
• Fourth Boss told Ta Taer about the star-beast threat and Digital Phantom’s recent operation on Hope Fourth Star, including killing two Above Supremes and capturing five.
• Ta Taer tried to learn more about the Alliance, but Fourth Boss called out his one-sided questioning, and Ta Taer promised to ask around about the star beasts.
• Two days later, Thirteenth Aunt brought information about other treasures and two magical artifacts, but Yuanyuan declined to consider the artifacts for now.

Qu Jianlei negotiated with Thirteenth Aunt over a rare stone and the delayed delivery of magical artifacts while military headquarters investigated the Digital Phantom Team’s actions on Fourth Star. Seven days later, Old Lady Jia sensed an unexpectedly powerful presence beside Duo Gan near Snow Cloud Peak and warned the team.

• Yuanyuan indicated that she could be the next person to attempt a breakthrough to Above Supreme after refining her spiritual energy.
• Qu Jianlei offered Thirteenth Aunt three billion for a stone like the one used to build the Black Colt Tower, but she did not accept immediately.
• Thirteenth Aunt proposed delaying the magical artifacts for about a month or having the team collect them in the Core Circle, and Qu Jianlei warned her not to play tricks.
• A Battalion-Class Ship questioned the Fourth Star War Zone about the captured Above Supremes and Nan Lio, then left with two Armed Merchant Ships and spoke with Kefu.
• Seven days later, Duo Gan appeared near Snow Cloud Peak with a hidden companion whose Genuine Divine Sense surprised Old Lady Jia.
• Old Lady Jia spread her divine sense across the VIP courtyard and warned everyone to be careful.

Qu Jianlei and the Digital Phantom Team confronted Duo Gan and a powerful being that had tracked them to obtain their method for gathering spiritual energy. The being agreed to negotiate a fair trade, but its alarm at Qu Jianlei’s Three Powers Array left the meeting tense.

• Qu Jianlei assembled the Five Elements Battle Array after a powerful divine sense appeared, and identified the visitor as likely being Guodong, a Heaven and Earth Treasure.
• The being explained that it had come because spiritual energy was scarce and Digital Phantom had a solution; Qu Jianlei insisted it would need to pay for it.
• Qu Jianlei left the residence with Old Lady Jia, Nutrient Solution, and Duo Gan to meet the being, while the others stayed alert.
• Duo Gan explained that she had been forced to accompany the being and described how they tracked Digital Phantom to Hope Fourth Star.
• The being appeared as a small, chubby infant and agreed to a fair trade, then recognized Qu Jianlei’s Three Powers Array and questioned his negotiating attitude.

Qu Jianlei’s group negotiated with the chubby infant, who wanted to join them, while they insisted on keeping the initiative and demanded an Oath of the Heavenly Dao. The infant angrily rejected the demand, and Duo Gan suggested they begin with a simple transaction.

• The chubby infant arrived to negotiate with Qu Jianlei’s team, and Bentley revealed that he had secretly followed them.
• Qu Jianlei offered a Super Gathering Spirit Array and asked the infant what it could provide in exchange.
• The infant offered knowledge of two unmined Energy Stone Mines, then explained that it wanted to join the team and guide them in cultivation.
• Nutrient Solution tested the infant’s willingness to earn their trust, while Bentley identified Duo Gan as a pure Awakened One.
• Nutrient Solution raised the idea of a token of allegiance, but the infant asked them to give Duo Gan some face, and Jia Shuiqing said she followed Qu Jianlei’s decision.
• Qu Jianlei proposed an Oath of the Heavenly Dao, angering the infant, and Duo Gan suggested starting with a simple transaction.

Qu Jianlei and the others demanded an Oath of the Heavenly Dao before agreeing to cooperate with the chubby Nascent Soul, which attempted the oath but failed to convince them that heaven and earth had witnessed it. The chubby infant insisted it had performed the oath correctly, while the group remained skeptical.

• Duo Gan and Old Lady Jia urged Qu Jianlei to begin with a limited trade, but he insisted on an Oath of the Heavenly Dao rather than a Dao Heart Oath.
• The chubby infant agreed to make the oath only if the group acknowledged it as their First One, while Old Lady Jia refused and offered to fight it instead.
• The infant offered to guide Old Lady Jia and treat Nutrient Solution's backlash, but both declined to become its followers, and Nutrient Solution doubted it could cure her completely.
• The chubby infant recited an oath promising eternal sealing until the end of one Origin, but Bentley and Nutrient Solution said they sensed no will of heaven and earth.
• Mu Guang, Hua Xiezhi, and the others also questioned whether the oath had worked, while the chubby infant protested that it had performed the oath despite warning that the world's incomplete Heavenly Dao might not respond.

Qu Jianlei negotiated with the fat baby, who swore repeated Oaths of the Heavenly Dao in exchange for Spirit Stones. After the ninth oath triggered heaven and earth’s fury, the group paid him and Qu Jianlei turned to Duo Gan, saying that the senior knew too much.

• Qu Jianlei and the others pressured the fat baby to repeat his oath, but the first attempts produced no response.
• Qu Jianlei offered nine Low-Grade Spirit Stones, and the fat baby bargained for more before agreeing to swear additional oaths for ninety-nine stones.
• The fat baby completed nine oaths, provoking a furious aura from heaven and earth that frightened him and alarmed the others.
• Qu Jianlei gave the fat baby a box containing one hundred Spirit Stones, and the baby recognized it as a Cultivator's casket and asked for an Item-Storing Ring.
• Qu Jianlei declined to give him a ring immediately, then told Duo Gan that the senior knew too much.

Qu Jianlei and the others debated whether Duo Gan could join their group, then accepted her after she swore a Dao Heart Oath to protect their secrets. Back at Snow Cloud Peak, Qu Jianlei discussed his inheritance and the chubby infant’s origins, learning that it was a naturally evolved Mental Strength life-form.

• Duo Gan offered to join the team and share her body-tempering grounds, while the others worried about her loyal subordinates and the risk of secrets leaking.
• Qu Jianlei proposed a Dao Heart Oath, and Duo Gan swore not to disclose the team’s secrets without permission.
• The group returned to Snow Cloud Peak, where Qu Jianlei introduced Duo Gan as one of their own.
• The chubby infant asked Qu Jianlei about his inheritance, and Qu Jianlei said it was a mixture of knowledge he had mostly worked out himself.
• Qu Jianlei gave the chubby infant a Space Pouch and asked about its origin; it said it was a naturally evolved Mental Strength life-form and that its long sword had been destroyed fighting the Empire’s Awakened Ones.
• Big Head Butterfly teased the chubby infant by calling it an orphan, and the chubby infant insisted it was not a sword spirit.

Qu Jianlei questioned the chubby infant, learned more about its abilities and the Cultivation World, and gave it the name Sunset Glow. As the team waited for magical artifacts delayed by the Empire’s counter-infiltration preparations, Nan Lio offered his family’s abandoned Mineral Star as a place to test techniques.

• Qu Jianlei offered the chubby infant Soul Nourishing Wood, and it accepted a larger piece while explaining that borrowed objects improved its attack effectiveness and that using magical artifacts damaged them quickly.
• Qu Jianlei asked about the infant’s origins and its trip to Qingyuan Star, and it revealed that it had followed the team after discovering someone was undergoing a thunder tribulation there.
• The infant explained that the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion’s will of heaven and earth had been refined away after killing a Great Expert’s beloved disciple, then chose the name Sunset Glow.
• Sunset Glow told Qu Jianlei that its secret technique could temporarily suppress the incompatibility between Duo Gan’s soul and body, and said it could answer questions about Cultivation Arts despite lacking a complete cultivation technique.
• Duo Gan left at dawn to settle her people, and Nan Lio told Qu Jianlei that his family’s magical artifacts would be delayed because the Empire was preparing counter-infiltration operations.
• Nan Lio offered his family’s abandoned Mineral Star as a suitable location for the team to test new techniques.

Qu Jianlei’s group settled on the Nan Family’s abandoned mineral planet, where he built six Super Gathering Spirit Arrays and the team began cultivating. As Duo Gan learned the team’s techniques and Qu Jianlei improved his talisman-making, Sunset Glow recognized the remains of a creature killed by spatial power and warned that the newly connected world could bring a racial war.

• Qu Jianlei’s group landed on the mineral planet, and Nan Lio shut down its satellite surveillance while the team chose a large area and made an abandoned mine habitable.
• Qu Jianlei set up six Super Gathering Spirit Arrays, where Sunset Glow, Duo Gan, Yuanyuan, and You You began cultivating in different ways.
• Duo Gan asked Old Lady Jia about the arrays, then gradually increased her time inside them as she adapted to the spiritual energy.
• Qu Jianlei assigned Qinghu to guide Duo Gan, who quickly learned the essence of Instant Flash and discovered the team’s many other techniques and battle formations.
• Sunset Glow awakened after ten days of sleep and taught Qu Jianlei the basics of talisman crafting, helping him improve his talismans’ power and success rate.
• Sunset Glow examined Octopus Skin, identified its former owner as a powerful being likely killed by spatial power, and speculated that star beasts might signal a renewed connection with the Cultivation World.

Qu Jianlei and his team spent two months cultivating on the abandoned Mineral Star before the Nan Family delivered the promised magical artifact. After the delivery sparked a confrontation with military staff officer Vienna and Above Supreme Krupp, the team inspected the Ruler, which Sunset Glow claimed was fated for it.

• Qu Jianlei's team practiced spells and magical artifacts while Duo Gan improved her ability to stay in the Gathering Spirit Array.
• Nan Lio told Xiang Xue that the Nan Family's people had arrived with the magical artifact, and two Armed Merchant Ships landed on the Mineral Star.
• Vienna introduced himself and challenged Fourth Boss's refusal to discuss the Empire's future, while Krupp used Coercive Pressure against him.
• Nutrient Solution, Old Lady Jia, Duo Gan, Paranoid, and Sunset Glow revealed their auras, and Krupp withdrew after discovering the team's strength.
• Qu Jianlei and Paranoid inspected the Ruler, but Sunset Glow snatched it and claimed it was fated with it, prompting Qu Jianlei to reprimand it.

Sunset Glow claimed the disciplinary ruler as her magical artifact, revealing that her talent could awaken spirits and strengthen the ruler. After she settled into it, the team confronted Krupp over his attempt to pressure them, and he admitted the Nan Family had hired him.

• Sunset Glow explained that her Spirit Awakening talent let her grant the ruler new abilities, and she argued that it should belong to her.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to let Sunset Glow keep the ruler, and she revealed that she could refine it instantly and intended to avoid doing leadership work.
• The ruler’s pressure frightened Krupp, while Fourth Boss told him he could leave but would face consequences for offending Digital Phantom.
• Krupp admitted that the Nan Family had hired him to pressure the team after regretting its earlier decision to give up the magical artifact.
• Fourth Boss challenged Krupp over his confidence in confronting the team and asked how much the Nan Family had paid him.

Krupp tried to deny having Magical Artifacts, but Digital Phantom tested several weapons against him and forced him to surrender. Old Lady Jia then demanded compensation, ordering him to retrieve the Nan Family’s Treasure Stone and meet them in Kunhai in twenty days.

• Krupp insisted he had no Magical Artifacts as the Nan Family’s ships departed and Bentley challenged him to withstand an attack.
• Bentley struck Krupp with lightning, and Mu Guang’s Golden Flood Dragon Scissors barely broke through his defenses.
• A mountain-sized Great Seal chased Krupp after he tried to flee, and he surrendered before it crashed into the ground.
• Old Lady Jia collected the seal and confronted Krupp, who offered money instead of a Magical Artifact.
• Jia Shuiqing gave Krupp information about the Nan Family’s Treasure Stone and ordered him to retrieve it and meet Digital Phantom in Kunhai in twenty days.

Krupp sought a Voidstone for Digital Phantom, while Qu Jianlei’s team discussed the difficulty of copying the Black Colt Tower. After buying the stone from the Nan Family, Krupp delivered it to Old Lady Jia, who confronted him about owning a magical artifact.

• Krupp asked Old Lady Jia whether Digital Phantom would sell its method for operating magical artifacts, but she refused to reveal anything and told him to find his own way back to Kunhai.
• Sunset Glow recognized the material in the damaged Black Colt Tower as Voidstone and said it knew a place where more might be found.
• Qu Jianlei said he intended to replicate the Black Colt Tower, and Sunset Glow warned that forging a magical artifact involving the Time Rule would be extraordinarily difficult.
• Krupp traveled to Snow Cloud Peak and pressured the Nan Family for the stone, but Nan Wangyun’s question about his magical artifact forced him to pay two billion for it.
• Krupp delivered the stone to Old Lady Jia aboard the 1314 Ship, and she asked whether he had a magical artifact.

Krupp agreed to keep his dealings with Old Lady Jia's group confidential, and Qu Jianlei's team returned to Celestial Hook Star to rest, develop pills, and prepare for more experiments. After half a year, they decided to travel to the Core Circle for rare materials, while Yuanyuan had to abandon her plan to remain behind and cultivate alone.

• Old Lady Jia confronted Krupp about reading a storage device with his portable terminal, accepted his promise of compensation, and ordered him to keep their dealings secret.
• Qu Jianlei and his team returned to Celestial Hook Star by teleportation, where Duo Gan guessed their method came from the Divine Script System and Old Lady Jia warned her not to draw attention to it.
• Over the next half year, Qu Jianlei improved his talismans and refined Nourishing Spirit Pills, while Mending Spirit Pills remained difficult and cultivation-boosting pills proved challenging to develop.
• Zi Jiuxian began researching affordable medicines to raise Awakened One cultivation, and Old Lady Jia and Duo Gan offered support despite the vast calculations, costs, and shortage of rare materials.
• Qu Jianlei's team decided to go to the Core Circle for materials and experiments, rejecting Yuanyuan's request to stay behind alone because the team's fame made her vulnerable.

Qu Jianlei and the 1314 Ship finished testing spells on the Nan family's Mineral Star and traveled to Pan Rock Star to pursue a magical artifact deal. There, they rejected the military's offer of a long-term pass, settled into a Shui Corporation resort, and learned that someone from the Divine Script Society was desperately trying to contact Qu Jianlei.

• Yuanyuan agreed to slow her cultivation after Nutrient Solution advised her to stabilize her foundation, and the team dismantled their equipment before leaving Sky Hook Star.
• Hua Xiezhi rented the same Mineral Star testing area from its guards, then learned that the authorities had secretly investigated it; Qu Jianlei chose not to press their anonymous informant for their identity.
• The team completed its spell tests, left five million Energy Blocks as payment, and headed toward Pan Rock Star as security tightened across the Core Circle.
• Hua Xiezhi warned patrolling warships not to provoke the 1314 Ship, then refused a military offer of a long-term Core Circle pass after reaching Pan Rock Star.
• Shui Corporation arranged the team's landing and moved them into its resort, while Qu Jianlei refused a visit from the Shui family's Sect Master and said he only recognized Shui Xisheng.
• Shui Xisheng told Qu Jianlei that someone from the Divine Script Society had been trying to contact him and was nearly frantic with anxiety.

Qu Jianlei’s team learned why Galileo needed their help: the military had ordered him to conduct a dangerous Frontline mission, and his delay had left him scrambling to assemble a team. Qu Jianlei pushed for better compensation, leaving negotiations unresolved.

• Qu Jianlei told Shui Xisheng to ignore Galileo’s repeated requests for now and arrange travel permits and medicine-making materials.
• Sural contacted Shui Xisheng, and Qu Jianlei’s team said Galileo would need to bring a magical artifact before they would meet him.
• Galileo arrived with Sural and presented the Plantain Fan, then explained that the military had assigned him a Frontline reconnaissance and prisoner-capture mission.
• Galileo said the military wanted him to form his own team, and Xiang Xue and Qu Jianlei recognized how dangerous the assignment would be.
• Qu Jianlei argued that Galileo’s delay and need for a team meant the original terms and price could no longer stand.

Galileo paid nine billion in hardship compensation to secure the 1314 group’s cooperation with the military, and they traveled to an abandoned planet to prepare for a mission. After testing Fourth Boss’s newly refined Plantain Fan, they joined the military’s main force, where Bentley struck an Above Supreme who tried to assert authority over them.

• Galileo offered five billion in hardship compensation, and Xiang Xue bargained the amount up to nine billion before he completed the payment.
• The military assigned the group an abandoned planet for fifteen days of preparation, and they demanded guarantees that it had no surveillance equipment.
• Fourth Boss refined the Plantain Fan in two days, then sent Old Lady Jia flying into space when she asked him to test it on her.
• The 1314 group left the planet with two military officers and traveled to the military’s main force, passing several checkpoints with help from their escorts.
• An Above Supreme demanded identification from everyone aboard the 1314 Ship, and Hua Xiezhi challenged the inspection.
• Bentley struck the Above Supreme with a Thunder Dragon, while Mu Guang warned him that the group would not tolerate his attempt to intimidate them.

Qu Jianlei’s team followed two military guides to the Information Barrier Breach, where they planned to seize Federation Patrol Ships. Qu Jianlei sent the Ruler into the turbulent currents to trigger an Energy Storm, drawing Patrol Ships toward its edge.

• The Supreme backed down after Hua Xiezhi’s team threatened to report anyone who provoked them as killed in action.
• Two Wind Attribute B-ranks guided the team to the Frontline and arranged four Micro Starships after Qu Jianlei stored the 1314 Ship away.
• After five cramped days, the team reached the Federation defensive line and discussed whether capturing Patrol Ships could meet the mission objective.
• Qu Jianlei sent the Ruler into the turbulence, where it created disturbances that a Patrol Ship reported as a possible Energy Storm.
• A wide Energy Storm formed, and several Patrol Ships rushed to patrol its edge despite the danger.