Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei warned Hill that the Federation’s Authority technique carried dangers linked to the Divine Script System and could provoke judgment from its practitioners or the world itself. After four days crossing the passage, Qu Jianlei and his companions emerged on the Empire’s side and headed out in the 1314 Ship.

• Hill asked Qu Jianlei to transfer the Federation soldiers from the damaged Teres ship to the Battalion-Class Ship, and Qu Jianlei agreed.
• Qu Jianlei told Hill that the Federation’s unusual Above Supreme and its Authority technique posed a serious hidden danger.
• Hill explained how an Above Supreme had learned the technique from an evil entity sealed in a Divine Script relic, after which the Federation’s attempts to cultivate Authority caused deaths and loss of control.
• Qu Jianlei warned Hill that Divine Script practitioners or the world itself might judge the Federation for misusing Authority, and Hill’s hopeful reaction faded.
• The Battalion-Class Ship pulled the two merchant ships through the passage, and after four days Qu Jianlei released the 1314 Ship on the Empire’s side and departed with the Nutrient Solution and Hua Xiezhi.

Digital Phantom returned to Imperial space with captured warships and prisoners, then negotiated with the military over the spoils and an official Battalion-Class Ship. The military delivered the ship, advanced Calculation Units, and an unidentified magical artifact, while Qu Jianlei withheld details about the team’s Star Beast corpses and methods.

• The 1314 Ship emerged from the Energy Turbulence Zone, and Imperial forces escorted it and the captured ships to a Space Fortress for inspection.
• Qu Jianlei negotiated with a Lieutenant General, refusing military service but agreeing to exchange the captured ships for an official Battalion-Class Ship, rewards, and other supplies.
• Qu Jianlei offered information about Federation space beasts and one corpse in exchange for an artifact, while refusing to disclose the team’s artifact methods or surrender its other corpses.
• The military delivered a fully documented Battalion-Class Ship with six squads of small Attack Ships, followed by three military-grade Calculation Units.
• The Lieutenant General presented an unidentified gray-bead magical artifact, and Qu Jianlei said Digital Phantom would examine it before handing over a Star Beast carcass.

Qu Jianlei’s group tested the pearl artifact and discovered that it stabilized wind and energy turbulence, then returned to Celestial Hook Star before setting out for the Maiden Star Region. The chapter ends with military personnel searching the area where their Battalion-Class Ship had been spotted.

• Old Lady Jia and Nutrient Solution tested the pearl, revealing that it stabilized wind and energy turbulence, and Duo Gan decided to use it for now.
• Qu Jianlei traded the Golden Core Realm Asura corpse and two weapons to the Lieutenant General, refused to wait for an artifact exchange, and arranged coded advertisements as a contact method.
• Qu Jianlei’s group returned to Celestial Hook Star and spent more than three months cultivating before Xiao Hu reported that a Patrol Ship had spotted the cloaked Battalion-Class Ship.
• Qu Jianlei organized a trip to the Maiden Star Region, taking the three Above Supremes, Sunset Glow, Mu Guang, Fourth Boss, Claire, and Tian Yin while Paranoid and others stayed behind.
• Three days after the Battalion-Class Ship departed, three city guard Patrol Ships arrived, with more than half their crews wearing military uniforms.

Qu Jianlei and his companions entered the dangerous Maiden Star Region despite the military’s attempts to escort them, and encountered strange visions that suggested the region held a mystery of cosmic creation and destruction. The group emerged into a starry sky after losing more than a minute, and Qu Jianlei vowed to take the missing time back.

• The military identified the Battalion-Class Ship as Digital Phantom’s and sent warships to escort it, but the Fourth Boss refused their protection and led the ship toward the Maiden Star Region.
• A Military Intelligence Department officer asked whether Lord Duogan was aboard, but the Fourth Boss denied knowing anything and ordered the military ships to leave.
• The Battalion-Class Ship entered the Maiden Star Region, where Claire sensed a darkness that Duo Gan said might be ultimate darkness, while Ruler suspected an illusion.
• The group watched mottled light and darkness distort into a vast wheel, and Nutrient Solution sensed the universe’s Creation and Destruction and a cycle of rebirth.
• After the vision ended, Big Head Butterfly discovered that more than a minute had passed without any recorded data, and Qu Jianlei declared that they would take the lost time back.

Qu Jianlei and his companions explored a violent Energy Mass in the Maiden Star Region and discovered a meteor bearing the lingering sword intent of an Out-of-Body Realm Great Expert. After resting, they found that repeated exposure had reduced how long they could endure the sword intent, so Qu Jianlei called off further practice.

• Space Positioning worked again, but its distance readings remained wildly inconsistent as Qu Jianlei's group traveled through the Maiden Star Region.
• Ruler sensed something interesting inside an Energy Mass, and the Battalion-Class Ship raised its shields before entering.
• The group found a huge meteor with a smooth cut across one side, which Duo Gan and Ruler identified as the work of a powerful Divine Script cultivator and an Out-of-Body Realm sword expert.
• Qu Jianlei's companions sensed the lingering sword intent to temper their Mental Strength, while Mu Guang noticed old Laser Cannon marks on the meteor's surface.
• After two days of rest, the group tried sensing the sword intent again but could endure it for less time, so Qu Jianlei warned them against overexposure.

Qu Jianlei and his team discovered a hidden Space Sub-layer in the Maiden Star Region and sent their Battalion-Class Ship inside to test its dangers. The 1314 Ship evaded the violent energy waves as they waited to learn whether the Battalion-Class Ship would return.

• Qu Jianlei's team searched several Energy Masses, finding a durable creature bone before their later searches yielded little.
• Qu Jianlei sensed an invisible spatial anomaly, and Ruler identified it as a potentially fragile Space Sub-layer.
• The team chose to test the anomaly with their Battalion-Class Ship while they remained aboard the 1314 Ship.
• Qu Jianlei sent his protected avatar Silver Fir as a backup test subject, then the Battalion-Class Ship entered the Space Sub-layer and vanished.
• Xiao Hu piloted the 1314 Ship through dangerous energy waves while Qu Jianlei worried about the Battalion-Class Ship's fate.

Qu Jianlei’s group entered the Space Sub-layer and discovered Mystic Metal wreckage, then found a vast artificial continent with ancient ruins. They detected faint spiritual energy at a concealed, abandoned plantation, leaving them with a promising site to investigate.

• The Battalion-Class Ship returned from a dangerous five-hour passage through the Space Sub-layer, and Qu Jianlei’s group reviewed its journey before entering again.
• Xiao Hu retrieved a curved fragment that Sunset Glow identified as Mystic Metal, a rare material valuable in the Cultivation World.
• After the group found no spiritual energy in the region, Qu Jianlei had Xiao Hu collect debris while they searched for relics.
• The starship reached a continent nearly ten thousand kilometers wide, where Duo Gan and Sunset Glow identified ruined buildings and possible cultivation sites.
• Mu Guang found a barren plantation, and Qu Jianlei’s group discovered traces of formations and faint spiritual energy there.

Qu Jianlei's team discovered a hidden Cultivator's Abode and used the Battalion-Class Ship to break its Nascent Soul Realm Defense Array. As they entered, two figures attacked them, and Qu Jianlei and Jia Shuiqing moved to intercept.

• Mu Guang found ten-thousand-year Thunder-struck Wood while the team searched the area.
• Duo Gan detected a hidden Abode protected by a Defense Array, and Sunset Glow identified it as a Primal Chaos Qi Array.
• Qu Jianlei had the Battalion-Class Ship bombard three points on the array until the Stone Gates collapsed.
• Jia Shuiqing and Qu Jianlei rushed to confront two figures that flashed out of the hall.
• Qu Jianlei's blow was rebuffed and sent him flying, while Nutrient Solution advanced with her crimson-glowing dagger.

Qu Jianlei's group defeated two puppets guarding the cave and explored the chambers beyond, uncovering unusual sealed objects and a powerful bracelet artifact. They left the seed and its uncertain aura untouched while Duo Gan began testing the bracelet, which could both strike and trap enemies.

• Old Lady Jia and Duo Gan subdued the two attackers and discovered they were puppets powered by Spirit Stones.
• Qu Jianlei removed the puppets' cores, while the group found that their destroyed defense array had consumed three High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• The group searched four chambers and discovered a pink dome, a red sphere, a sealed seed, and a bracelet-like artifact.
• The Ruler cracked the box around the seed, releasing an aura that seemed both deathly and faintly alive, but no one recognized it.
• Duo Gan took the bracelet with Qu Jianlei's approval, and Old Lady Jia tested its ability to enlarge and smash opponents or tighten around them.

Mu Guang discovered a hidden chamber while investigating the mysterious seed, and the team found spirit stones and a trove of Divine Script notes inside. Qu Jianlei secured the materials and ordered everyone to keep the characters confidential, while Nutrient Solution wondered whether the chamber held anything that could help fix her cultivation path.

• Duo Gan tested the bracelet artifact, and Qu Jianlei named it the Cosmos Vajra Circle.
• Mu Guang asked Qu Jianlei about tree pets and promised to try reviving the seed, then went to search for a hidden chamber.
• Mu Guang found a strange spot in a room, and Sunset Glow identified Illusion God Sand concealing a likely hidden chamber.
• Qu Jianlei dissolved the wall and led the team into a chamber filled with spirit stones, Obsidian, and boxes of materials.
• Fourth Boss insisted that the spirit stones be centrally allocated, and the Ruler admitted that high-quality stones would be useful to it.
• Qu Jianlei recognized the Obsidian as extensive Divine Script notes and ordered the team not to reveal the characters; Nutrient Solution asked whether any cultivation techniques were among them.

Qu Jianlei studied the Stone Chamber owner’s Obsidian records, learning about the immature Fire Essence and finding a clear line of thought for deriving a technique. He decided to have Ruler awaken the Fire Essence, but the group faced uncertainty over the energy required and planned to return for more supplies.

• Nutrient Solution found Obsidian records about nurturing a Fire Essence, and Sunset Glow confirmed it was still gestating inside the damaged Soul Refining Furnace.
• Qu Jianlei learned that the Stone Chamber owner had interrupted the Fire Essence’s gestation and planned to turn it into the furnace’s Artifact Spirit, while Ruler and Sunset Glow argued that the Fire Essence could help Nutrient Solution and Duo Gan correct their cultivation deviations.
• Qu Jianlei found the owner’s notes on Fire Art, cultivation, and Nirvana techniques, then spent three days deriving a technique while the others set up the Gathering Spirit Array.
• Qu Jianlei told Nutrient Solution that he had a clear line of thought and asked Ruler to awaken the Fire Essence, agreeing to spend Energy Blocks on the process.
• Duo Gan offered to return for more Energy Blocks, and Qu Jianlei asked her to bring the Battalion-Class Ship and twenty billion Energy Blocks.

Qu Jianlei’s group returned to the Space Sub-layer with Energy Blocks after a long delay, while Sunset Glow waited anxiously for the Fire Essence to hatch. The group resumed exploring and researching cultivation methods, and their first expedition brought back Mystic Metal scraps and a Storage Bag of Nascent Soul Realm beast hides.

• Qu Jianlei left Sunset Glow, Silver Fir, and the 1314 Ship behind to tend the Fire Essence while he took the others back to obtain Energy Blocks.
• Sunset Glow waited for over three months, dismantling Gathering Spirit Arrays as its supplies dwindled and worrying that the 1314 Ship could not survive the passage.
• Qu Jianlei’s group returned with the Battalion-Class Ship and Energy Blocks after retrieving a meteor, arranging for it to become Pan Rock Star’s satellite, and struggling to relocate the moving Space Sub-layer entrance.
• Qu Jianlei told Sunset Glow they would wait only half a month for the Fire Essence, while the others resumed exploring and he began deducing improved cultivation methods for Duo Gan and Nutrient Solution.
• The Battalion-Class Ship returned from an expedition with Mystic Metal fragments, miscellaneous scraps, and a Storage Bag containing Nascent Soul Realm beast hides.

Qu Jianlei and the others watched the newborn Fire Essence eat, sleep, and grow while it bonded with Nutrient Solution and Duo Gan. Before the group prepared to leave, they named it Gold Digger, and it delightedly decided to remember Qu Jianlei for life.

• The Fire Essence hatched on the thirteenth day, ate Spirit Stones and flames, and repeatedly clung to Nutrient Solution after she fed it Cold Flame.
• Over the next two days, the group learned that the Fire Essence needed spiritual energy and Fire Elements, preferred Nutrient Solution's Extreme Flame, and spent most of its time eating or sleeping.
• Qu Jianlei advised Nutrient Solution not to spoil the Fire Essence, while Duo Gan fed it more casually and it alternated between clinging to the two women.
• After three more days, the Fire Essence's color began changing, and the group discussed leaving after confirming it was familiar with them and its flames were safe.
• Nutrient Solution asked Qu Jianlei to name the Fire Essence, and it accepted Gold Digger after Claire explained the name as a little girl who got to enjoy benefits everywhere.

After gathering more treasures in the Maiden Star Region, Qu Jianlei’s team continued toward its dangerous depths and found an anomalous Energy Mass containing a continent identical to one they had seen before. They stopped above its Stone Chamber, and Duo Gan prepared to test it with the King Kong Bracelet.

• The team collected a Gu Arts inheritance, Gu Seeds, and a Tian Lai tea tree while exploring powerful Energy Masses, then agreed to keep going deeper into the Maiden Star Region.
• Qu Jianlei and Sunset Glow sensed danger in one exceptionally powerful Energy Mass and ordered Xiao Hu to retreat, but later entered a weaker Energy Mass that Sunset Glow and the Gold Digger found unusual.
• After traveling for three days, the two starships encountered a continent resembling the one where they had found the Fire Essence; Qu Jianlei ordered attacks, but the continent showed no response.
• Qu Jianlei sensed no hostility from the continent, so the ships stopped attacking and moved above its Stone Chamber.
• At Qu Jianlei’s request, Duo Gan activated the King Kong Bracelet to strike the Stone Chamber.

Duo Gan’s King Kong Bracelet shattered the artificial continent, releasing a Sealing Token that chose Qu Jianlei and opened after he used a nine-syllable incantation with his blood. The token contained supplies, Obsidian, and a mission description, which Qu Jianlei began examining aboard the Battalion-Class Ship.

• Duo Gan struck the continent with the King Kong Bracelet, causing it to quake and crumble as a streak of gray light headed for Qu Jianlei.
• Qu Jianlei caught the Sealing Token after Duo Gan and Nutrient Solution failed to grab it, and the group learned it was a restricted spatial item.
• Qu Jianlei’s blood did not open the token until he spoke an incantation and sent another drop onto it, unlocking its exclusive storage space.
• Gold Digger grabbed a Fire Crystal from Qu Jianlei but recoiled in pain when it reached toward the token.
• Qu Jianlei found talismans, pills, a Sword Casket, Obsidian, and sealed boxes inside the token, then returned with the others to the Battalion-Class Ship.
• Qu Jianlei examined the Obsidian and found a description of the Sealing Token’s mission.

Qu Jianlei and his team learned that Yi He had vanished while investigating the spatial anomaly, then found five Talisman Treasures among his belongings. As the ships entered a dangerous energy vortex and encountered wreckage from an earlier Battalion-Class Ship, the Big Head Butterfly retrieved an object that left Qu Jianlei stunned.

• Qu Jianlei told the team that Yi He had left the Sealing Token behind and never returned from exploring the spatial anomaly, and the team decided to investigate despite the danger.
• Qu Jianlei found five Talisman Treasures in sealed boxes, including two Nascent Soul Realm arts, and considered creating a contribution system for the team.
• Sunset Glow and the ship's artificial intelligence warned of powerful energy turbulence, forcing the Battalion-Class Ship to retreat while the other ship continued forward.
• The Battalion-Class Ship was struck by wreckage identified as a previous-generation Battalion-Class Ship, and the team continued through worsening visibility and debris.
• The Big Head Butterfly captured a potentially useful object, and Qu Jianlei went to inspect it and froze in surprise.

Qu Jianlei and the others searched the turbulent Energy Tide for Voidstone after Xiao Hu retrieved a freshly fractured piece, while their shifts also collected several valuable objects. The Gold Digger then sensed something nearby and led Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution toward it, though they had not yet found the source.

• Xiao Hu brought back a fist-sized piece of Voidstone, and Sunset Glow explained that it might have leaked from an unstable spatial node within the Energy Tide.
• The group maximized the ship’s detection systems, arranged divine-sense search shifts, and had First One build a Defense Array on the landing platform.
• Duo Gan and Fourth Boss retrieved a powerful Nascent Soul Realm creature’s skullcap, while Sunset Glow collected Heavenly Star Copper and a damaged light-element magical artifact.
• Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution resumed their shift and followed the Gold Digger’s excited signal, but after flying hundreds of kilometers, they still found nothing.
• The Gold Digger’s tentacle changed direction and grew thicker, so Nutrient Solution intensified her divine sense while Qu Jianlei ordered Xiao Hu to change course.

Qu Jianlei and his companions found a hidden Item-Storing Ring containing Magma Heart, which they gave to Gold Digger as a reward. Their investigation revealed that a concealed Remnant Soul belonged to Yi He True Monarch, who had temporarily sealed the space but refused to discuss what lay beyond it; Qu Jianlei considered ending their encounter.

• Qu Jianlei’s group found an Item-Storing Ring embedded in a large brick and discovered that it contained supplies, including boxes with Fire Element auras.
• Nutrient Solution gave Gold Digger a Magma Heart after Sunset Glow explained that it was the Heaven and Earth Spirit’s most suitable food.
• Big Head Butterfly detected a life magnetic field in the brick, and Yi He True Monarch appeared from hiding as a Remnant Soul.
• Yi He True Monarch revealed that he had only temporarily established a Sealing Domain and admitted that greed had kept him from retrieving the Sealing Token.
• Qu Jianlei asked about stabilizing the Seal and the Other Space, but Yi He True Monarch declined to discuss it and questioned Qu Jianlei’s origins.
• Qu Jianlei suggested they part ways, while privately recognizing that the encounter might not end peacefully if Yi He True Monarch was not as frank as he seemed.

Qu Jianlei negotiated with Yi He True Monarch over the Fire Essence, the Sealing Token, and supplies, then traded Soul Nourishing Wood for information about Voidstone. Yi He accepted the wood but refused Qu Jianlei’s offer of Gu Cultivator techniques, leaving their discussion of his Remnant Soul unresolved.

• Yi He True Monarch demanded the Fire Essence and asked how Qu Jianlei had taken the Sealing Token, while Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution defended their claim to the Fire Essence.
• Sunset Glow refused to give up the Fire Essence, and Yi He True Monarch warned Qu Jianlei’s group about the dangers of the Other Space.
• Qu Jianlei asked Yi He True Monarch about Voidstone and the White Colt Tower, and Yi He offered Voidstone in exchange for Soul Nourishing Wood.
• Yi He accepted both pieces of Soul Nourishing Wood and asked whether Qu Jianlei had obtained Ghost Cultivator techniques.
• Qu Jianlei offered Gu Cultivator techniques and Gu Seeds, but Yi He True Monarch rejected them outright.

Qu Jianlei’s group followed Yi He True Monarch through increasingly dangerous space in search of Voidstone, while collecting a few other resources along the way. The Battalion-Class Ship reached a quiet energy equilibrium zone where Yi He True Monarch said Voidstone could be found and warned them not to leave it.

• Qu Jianlei agreed to let Yi He True Monarch guide the group to Voidstone, and Yi He True Monarch entered the Gathering Spirit Array inside the cabin.
• Duo Gan found a damaged Mobile Palace, which Qu Jianlei admitted he might not be able to repair.
• Yi He True Monarch warned Qu Jianlei that a Mobile Palace could not be sustained without spiritual energy, and Qu Jianlei said they had no intention of forcing him to travel with them.
• Duo Gan, Old Lady Jia, and Sunset Glow scavenged Heavenly Star Copper, a beast horn, and native gold as the surrounding energy grew increasingly chaotic.
• Qu Jianlei ordered the group to prepare to turn back within an hour, but the Battalion-Class Ship entered a calm energy equilibrium zone before they could withdraw.
• Yi He True Monarch identified the zone as a place where Voidstone could be found and warned the group not to leave it.