Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution confronted Yi He True Monarch after he disparaged her Nirvana cultivation, then agreed to part ways after he apologized. While explaining the outside world, Qu Jianlei revealed details about the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion, prompting Yi He True Monarch to identify it as the abode of a fallen Out-of-Body True Venerable.

• Duo Gan and the others left in Small Ships, leaving Qu Jianlei and Nutrient Solution with Yi He True Monarch.
• Nutrient Solution challenged Yi He True Monarch after he dismissed her Nirvana cultivation, and Qu Jianlei struck with Falling Thunder Art while she drew the Soul Suppressing Bell.
• Yi He True Monarch apologized after recognizing Nutrient Solution showed signs of Nirvana, but Nutrient Solution demanded compensation and chose to part ways with him.
• Qu Jianlei offered Yi He True Monarch a smaller piece of Soul Nourishing Wood and explained the situation in the three nations and the Asura invasion.
• Qu Jianlei described the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion, and Yi He True Monarch recognized it as a trial abode belonging to a fallen Out-of-Body True Venerable.

Qu Jianlei questioned Yi He True Monarch about the Asura, the Cultivation World, and a cultivator who wielded stolen authority, while making clear his group had killed four Asura Nascent Souls. After Tian Yin found a large piece of Voidstone, Xiao Hu warned that the region was more dangerous than it seemed, and Qu Jianlei told the others to stay nearby.

• Yi He True Monarch dismissed the Asura as weak and said their bones might make weapons, their skin could be used for talismans, and their flesh was unsuitable for pill refining.
• Qu Jianlei released an Eight-Armed Asura corpse and told Yi He True Monarch that his group had killed four Asura Nascent Souls and brought back two.
• Qu Jianlei asked whether cultivators of the Incense Divinity Path had arrived, then told Yi He True Monarch that he had killed a Nascent Soul cultivator who stole the authority of heaven and earth.
• Yi He True Monarch said the matter was serious, then wondered whether any cultivators remained in the world; Qu Jianlei said they could likely be found only in places such as the Maiden Star Region.
• Tian Yin returned in a Small Ship with a large piece of Voidstone, and Xiao Hu warned Qu Jianlei that the region was dangerous and advised against traveling far.
• Qu Jianlei asked Xiao Hu to notify the others to stay nearby and explain the potential danger.

Qu Jianlei discussed the dangers and trustworthiness of Digital Lifeforms with Yi He True Monarch, who warned that they lacked reverence and might become uncontrollable. Qu Jianlei refused to let the Remnant Soul remain with his team, and Yi He True Monarch ended by asking whether Cultivators should band together against the Empire’s persecution.

• Yi He True Monarch recognized that Qu Jianlei was communicating with a Digital Lifeform and warned that such beings were unstable and shunned by heaven and earth.
• Qu Jianlei considered Yi He True Monarch’s claim that Digital Lifeforms lacked reverence, while Big Head Butterfly angrily defended itself before conceding that controllability mattered.
• Yi He True Monarch advised Qu Jianlei not to trust Digital Lifeforms and explained that independent will could foster reverence; Qu Jianlei thanked him and offered recompense.
• Qu Jianlei rejected Yi He True Monarch’s offer of a favor and agreed to reveal the Gathering Spirit Array’s secret, but said the Remnant Soul should leave because it could endanger his team.
• Qu Jianlei explained that Xiao Hu had sworn an Oath of the Heavenly Dao nine times and that the Heavenly Dao had responded; he also revealed that the ruler had escaped an Empire Research Institute.
• Yi He True Monarch asked whether the persecuted Cultivators should band together.

Qu Jianlei’s team agreed to cooperate with Yi He True Monarch and followed him to the Boundary Membrane, where Voidstone could be found. After reaching a calm area beside the energy channel, they saw Voidstone embedded in the membrane but learned that collecting it might require a long wait or breaking through the barrier.

• Qu Jianlei agreed to take Yi He True Monarch to a habitable planet while keeping a safe distance and allowing both sides to cooperate.
• Claire and the others returned with more Voidstone, including a locomotive-sized piece found by Fourth Boss, and the group set out to visit Yi He True Monarch’s location.
• Yi He True Monarch led the team through a dangerous energy channel to a calm area beside the Boundary Membrane.
• The team saw large pieces of Voidstone pressed against the Boundary Membrane and learned that ejected pieces were often shattered and could take weeks to appear.
• Claire suggested that Qu Jianlei try breaking through the Boundary Membrane to take the Voidstone directly.

Qu Jianlei's team tested attacks against the Boundary Membrane and learned that the damaged Black Colt Tower might be repaired by nurturing it there, a risk Qu Jianlei considered worthwhile. Before they could act on that plan, a sudden spatial disturbance opened several Space Rifts, and the team survived by activating defenses and heeding Yi He True Monarch's warning.

• Qu Jianlei refused to attack the Boundary Membrane recklessly, explaining that breaking it could unleash dangerous energy and leave them unable to escape.
• Qu Jianlei asked whether Voidstone formed behind the Boundary Membrane and whether nurturing the damaged Black Colt Tower there could repair it; Yi He True Monarch said repair was possible but dangerous.
• Old Lady Jia tried her Ice Seal against the Boundary Membrane, but it had no effect, and Qu Jianlei's Sword Pill only dented the membrane before being repelled.
• Qu Jianlei decided the team would wait for an eruption to produce Voidstone before leaving the Space Point.
• A sudden spatial fluctuation created several Space Rifts, and Big Head Butterfly activated the Battalion-Class Ship's defenses and evaded them.
• Yi He True Monarch warned the team not to probe the Space Rifts with spiritual sense, and they observed the danger with instruments instead.

After the Battalion-Class Ship escaped the Space Ripple, Qu Jianlei worried that the disturbance might weaken the Sealing Token and let Other Space break through. The team examined a strange black stone and learned it was solidified Demonized Nightmare Essence, a rare treasure that could house Yi He True Monarch’s soul.

• The team collected two pieces of Voidstone, one Magma Heart, and a strange black stone before Qu Jianlei ordered the ship to leave the dangerous region.
• Mu Guang opposed gathering more materials, and the Battalion-Class Ship fled until it reached a calmer area.
• Qu Jianlei worried the energy fluctuations could open a passage between Other Space and their world and weaken the Sealing Token’s suppression.
• Qu Jianlei brought the black stone to an isolation chamber so Yi He True Monarch could identify it.
• Yi He True Monarch identified the stone as solidified Demonized Nightmare Essence, a rare soul-nourishing treasure that could serve as a vessel for his soul.

Qu Jianlei and Yi He True Monarch investigated the unstable Heavenly Demon space node and found that its suppression array needed Flawless Crystals to keep holding. After they went searching for replacements and reunited with their other ship, they emerged from the Energy Mass to find the surrounding area transformed, leaving Qu Jianlei warning Yi He True Monarch that the shifting Energy Mass could be lost.

• Yi He True Monarch explained that a Heavenly Demon space could contain valuable treasures, while Qu Jianlei warned that rare Heavenly Demons might also threaten ordinary people and argued against using the Sealing Token lightly.
• Yi He True Monarch led the group to the array's central hub, where they found sixty-four High-Grade Spirit Stones and learned that the array needed Flawless Crystals to keep suppressing the space node.
• When Yi He True Monarch admitted he had wasted the Flawless Crystals he once collected, Qu Jianlei decided to search for more, and the Battalion-Class Ship fled as the energy fluctuations intensified.
• Qu Jianlei and the others met their waiting Battalion-Class Ship, and Yi He True Monarch continued adapting to the Demonized Nightmare Essence they had agreed to give him.
• After four more days, the two starships emerged from the Energy Mass, and Qu Jianlei warned Yi He True Monarch that its changing surroundings could cause them to lose it.

Qu Jianlei’s team searched a dangerous Energy Mass for the scattered Flawless Crystal, then detected an Imperial distress signal and decided to investigate. As Xiao Hu plotted a route toward the signal, Nutrient Solution returned in her original appearance.

• Yi He True Monarch used the Soul Nourishing Wood to choose a direction, and Qu Jianlei’s team traveled deeper into the Maiden Star Region for two months.
• The team entered an enormous, dangerous Energy Mass while leaving the Battalion-Class Ship outside, and Yi He True Monarch reported that the Flawless Crystal had been scattered into many fragments.
• Claire sensed a powerful threat, but Qu Jianlei told the team to avoid unnecessary risks and focus on finding the Flawless Crystal.
• Xiao Hu detected a distress signal matching the Empire’s identification sequence, and the team debated whether to approach before agreeing to investigate if conditions allowed.
• Xiao Hu began calculating a route to the signal, and Nutrient Solution returned in her original appearance wearing a palace gown.

Qu Jianlei’s group rescued Da Vinci’s expedition team from an energy-wrapped meteor after Duo Gan carried their Ecosystem Equipment to the Battalion-Class Ship. Nutrient Solution inspected the survivors’ possessions, claimed half their spirit stones and a magical artifact, and asked Da Vinci where he had found a mysterious stone.

• Qu Jianlei ordered the Battalion-Class Ship to bombard the meteor, but its energy currents deflected or absorbed the attacks and the stranded team could not escape on its own.
• Duo Gan, Palace-Attired Beauty, and Qu Jianlei crossed the turbulence and helped lift the expedition team’s Ecosystem Equipment to the ship.
• Nutrient Solution confined the nine survivors to the cargo hold and demanded that they surrender their Storage Equipment for inspection.
• Nutrient Solution found over a billion Energy Blocks, spirit stones, and a Stone Mill among Da Vinci’s possessions, and the group took half the spirit stones and claimed the magical artifact.
• Nutrient Solution examined a warm, lustrous stone and asked Da Vinci where he had found it.

Da Vinci’s team traded data and spirit stones for shelter aboard Qu Jianlei’s ship, while the crew studied a replica Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc and followed clues to Flawless Crystal. After a dangerous energy surge, Da Vinci learned that the team was Digital Phantom and that Jing Yuexin had risen to Above Supreme, but he still did not know which military department they served.

• Da Vinci agreed to provide records of the stones’ distribution and split half the spirit stones with Nutrient Solution, who judged his team’s other salvaged goods worthless.
• Da Vinci’s team moved to Ammunition Hold One to recover and cultivate, while Qu Jianlei kept their Ecosystem Equipment as a Trump Card and examined its data.
• Jiaotan identified the Grindstone as a Golden Core Realm replica of the Heaven and Earth Grinding Disc, and Fourth Boss chose to keep his Plantain Fan.
• Xiao Hu followed data about Flawless Crystal, and Yi He True Monarch guided the ship toward a promising route before Xiao Hu evaded a sudden energy turbulence.
• Da Vinci asked for a starship to help after the near-disaster, but Jing Yuexin offered only an Armed Merchant Ship with no further connection, so he declined.
• Jing Yuexin revealed her name and Digital Phantom’s identity; Da Vinci recognized her as a young Supreme who had become Above Supreme, then asked which military department her team belonged to.

Nutrient Solution explained her group’s connection to the military and reclaimed Gold Digger after it tried to steal a Supreme’s Fire Crystals. As Qu Jianlei’s crew searched the Maiden Star Region for Flawless Crystal, they fell short of their goal, and Qu Jianlei sensed an unexplained pull deeper into the region.

• Da Vinci asked whether Nutrient Solution’s group belonged to the military, and she explained that the military had provided their Battalion-Class Ship as part of a cooperative relationship.
• Gold Digger burst into the room and lunged at a Supreme, but Nutrient Solution ordered it back and explained that it wanted the Fire Crystals in his Item-Storing Talisman.
• Nutrient Solution described Gold Digger as a lifeform born in a place rich in Fire Element, and the Supreme offered it Fire Crystals as a meeting gift.
• Qu Jianlei’s crew found several pieces of Flawless Crystal in an Energy Equilibrium Zone, but after two months they had gathered only three pieces that met their requirements.
• Da Vinci’s group urged Nutrient Solution’s crew to turn back when the Battalion-Class Ship’s movements grew erratic, and Nutrient Solution said they would honor their planned limits.
• Qu Jianlei sensed a pull from a direction about seventy-five degrees above and to the right, but Yi He True Monarch and Xiao Hu could not confirm what lay there.

Qu Jianlei and his companions entered a dark Energy Equilibrium Zone filled with Flawless Crystals, then followed his sense of a distant summons to a broken stele. They left the Battalion-Class Ship behind and prepared for Qu Jianlei to try taking the stele with the Fourth Boss’s Plantain Fan.

• The starship entered an Energy Equilibrium Zone, where Xiao Hu detected abundant Flawless Crystals and Yi He True Monarch warned that a Flawless Mother Crystal might be among them.
• Qu Jianlei ordered Xiao Hu to mine the crystals, then went with the group toward a distant vortex while the Armed Merchant Ship stayed behind to continue mining.
• The group reached the vortex and found a light shield surrounding half of an ancient stele, which Ruler identified as bearing Grand Dao Script.
• Qu Jianlei sensed that the stele was calling to him, and Ruler advised him to take it despite being uncertain what would happen.
• The Fourth Boss handed Qu Jianlei the Plantain Fan, and Qu Jianlei agreed to use it to try taking the stele himself.

Qu Jianlei used the Plantain Fan’s strange wind and rain to break the barrier around a broken Dao Stele, then sealed it with Duo Gan’s King Kong Bracelet and Yi He True Monarch’s box. The ships rendezvoused outside the Energy Mass, where Nutrient Solution lent the Battalion-Class Ship to Qu Jianlei and told him to contact the garrison once he was out.

• Qu Jianlei’s second swing of the Plantain Fan sent an energy current into the barrier, and his third produced points of light that made it dissipate.
• Qu Jianlei approached the exposed stele but stopped when its aura and pressure prevented him from getting closer.
• Yi He True Monarch warned that the stele was difficult to handle and provided a box, while Jiaotan advised Qu Jianlei to use the bracelet Duo Gan had received.
• Duo Gan used the King Kong Bracelet to weaken the stele’s aura, and Qu Jianlei used Instant Flash to place it inside the box.
• The Battalion-Class Ship returned to the Flawless Crystal, rendezvoused with the Armed Merchant Ship, and exited the Energy Mass half a month later.
• Nutrient Solution lent Qu Jianlei the Battalion-Class Ship and asked him to contact the garrison after getting out.

After leaving the Maiden Star Region, Qu Jianlei’s team escorted Da Vinci’s group to Pan Rock Star and returned the Ecosystem Equipment. At the Sword Intent Stone, the Nutrient Solution confronted a group that had booked the entire viewing area and crushed their ship’s propulsion system.

• Da Vinci chose to remain aboard the Battalion-Class Ship until it left the Maiden Star Region, and Qu Jianlei’s team later escorted his group toward the Core Circle for five billion.
• Qu Jianlei’s team passed the garrison without inspection, then accepted Da Vinci’s offer and took both starships to Pan Rock Star.
• Shui Xisheng met the group in space, arranged for Da Vinci’s team to go down to Pan Rock, and received the returned Ecosystem Equipment.
• Qu Jianlei and his companions headed to the Sword Intent Stone, where they found many visitors and learned that a nearby group had booked the whole viewing area.
• The Nutrient Solution floated out in palace attire, seized the Small Ship with a phantom Big Hand, and crushed its propulsion system before returning to the starship.

Qu Jianlei and Shui Xisheng confronted a merchant ship that had disrupted access to the Sword Intent Meteor, then patrolled the area and arranged repairs for Digital Phantom’s damaged Battalion-Class Ship. The ship landed on Pan Rock Star, where inspectors found its damage manageable but warned of widespread metal fatigue.

• Qu Jianlei seized the offending merchant ship and demanded an apology, eventually telling its crew to provide an intact magical artifact within half a year.
• Shui Xisheng recognized the merchant ship’s crew, invoked Shui Corporation’s prior warnings, and set the deadline for delivering the artifact.
• Claire revealed she had reached A-rank and asked Shui Xisheng for information about a Light Attribute magical artifact; she explained that combining light and dark would ensure destructive power.
• Qu Jianlei and the others patrolled the Sword Intent Meteor, checked a Divine Script Society research group observing the meteor, and saw several Above Supremes thank them.
• Shui Xisheng arranged a discreet repair facility, and the Battalion-Class Ship landed on Pan Rock Star, where inspectors reported hidden metal-fatigue risks.

Qu Jianlei chose a full overhaul for the Battalion-Class Ship, while Nutrient Solution negotiated with the military over a replacement ship, footage, and the patterned stones. The military left with an agreement and new suspicions about Digital Phantom’s members, including Nutrient Solution’s identity as Jing Yuexin.

• Qu Jianlei chose a full overhaul of the Battalion-Class Ship despite the lengthy repairs and asked the repairers to see whether the schedule could be shortened safely.
• Da Vinci visited Digital Phantom and asked Nutrient Solution whether the team accepted members, but she explained that membership depended on mutual choice.
• Da Vinci told Nutrient Solution that the military would offer a new Battalion-Class Ship in exchange for information about the Maiden Star Region, and she agreed to negotiations.
• Nutrient Solution rejected the military’s request for all the ship’s footage but agreed to provide most of it after the military offered a new Battalion-Class Ship and a sturdy Experimental Platform.
• Nutrient Solution gave the military one cubic meter of patterned stones and declined to sell more, saying their use was not something she could disclose.
• The Lieutenant General asked whether Nutrient Solution was Jing Yuexin, and she confirmed it before the military officers left, unsettled by what her identity implied.

Qu Jianlei’s team returned to Celestial Hook Star, where Yi He True Monarch helped refine Paranoid’s cultivation method and then worked with Qu Jianlei and Sunset Glow on remedies for Duo Gan and Jing Yuexin. After months of calculations, Qu Jianlei and Yi He began observing the two women as they modified their cultivation.

• Jing Yuexin’s identity as a senior member of Digital Phantom made the two generals wary, and the team soon received a Battalion-Class Ship and an Experimental Platform before leaving Rock.
• Qu Jianlei’s group returned to Celestial Hook Star, where they learned that Paranoid had suppressed his cultivation to Supreme and refined his spiritual energy.
• Qu Jianlei asked Yi He True Monarch to assess Paranoid’s unusual condition, and Yi He agreed to review the proposed Nascent Soul cultivation method with Qu Jianlei and Sunset Glow.
• After more than a month, Yi He completed detailed revisions to the method, and Qu Jianlei paid him ten thousand High-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Yi He refused to revise cultivation methods beyond the Golden Core Realm but agreed to help address the hidden dangers affecting Duo Gan and Jing Yuexin.
• Qu Jianlei, Yi He, and Sunset Glow spent three months calculating the remedies, after which Qu Jianlei and Yi He began observing the women’s cultivation changes.

Qu Jianlei declined Yi He True Monarch’s offer to improve his own technique and returned to work on cultivation methods and other projects. When a force tied to Empire Mining Academy asked Digital Phantom to help in exchange for an artifact, he let them wait rather than accept their terms, leaving Shui Xisheng to deal with their repeated visits.

• Duo Gan and Nutrient Solution praised their customized cultivation techniques, and Qu Jianlei paid Yi He True Monarch for his help before declining an offer to improve his own technique.
• Qu Jianlei arranged a secluded estate for Yi He True Monarch, then returned home to work on his techniques, Nascent Soul talismans, artifact refining, and an imitation Black Colt Tower.
• Shui Xisheng relayed that the force which had reserved the venue would not hand over its artifact as compensation and instead wanted to meet Digital Phantom about a request for help.
• Qu Jianlei refused to send anyone to meet them and decided to leave them waiting, while Old Lady Jia agreed that they should not be rushed into responding.
• The force repeatedly pressed Shui Xisheng for a response, and he reminded them that Digital Phantom could insist on the artifact if they rejected the team’s terms.

After a year and a half of cultivation research and progress, Qu Jianlei took a group to a barren planet to test Xiao Hu’s new avatar and study the broken Dao Stele. Qu Jianlei began sensing the stele and relived his memories, while Bentley and Qinghu later withdrew rather than force themselves to continue.

• Qu Jianlei completed deductions for the cultivation techniques, reached the peak of the Golden Core Realm, and helped the team improve their cultivation prospects.
• Xiao Hu asked to test its newly built avatar, so Qu Jianlei invited Jia Shuiqing to join him in space; Duo Gan, Nutrient Solution, Qinghu, Bentley, Ruler, and others came along.
• The group traveled to a barren planet in the Blade Star Region and brought out the sealed Dao Stele, while Xiao Hu piloted an Attack Ship away to test its destructive capabilities.
• Jia Shuiqing opened the box in her armored shell and used Instant Flash to retreat from the Dao Stele’s overwhelming Coercive Pressure.
• Qu Jianlei sensed the Dao Stele and watched memories of his past life and present life unfold, recognizing that he was observing them under its influence.
• Bentley and Qinghu later withdrew from their attempts to sense the stele, with Bentley warning that they should not force themselves.

Qu Jianlei emerged from a long Sudden Enlightenment after observing the Dao Stele and gained a mysterious ability tied to foresight and fate. As new starships approached, his companions hid the stele and learned that the Blade's Edge Awakened Ones United Association had come to visit Digital Phantom.

• Nutrient Solution and Duo Gan left the Dao Stele after two days, while Jia Shuiqing continued observing and discussed its effects with the others.
• Qu Jianlei remained in Sudden Enlightenment for more than three months as his companions guarded him and turned away military vessels investigating the area.
• Qu Jianlei awoke, recovered his spiritual energy, and told Ruler that he had gained foresight, a mysterious sense of fate, and possibly a form of authority.
• When Big Head Butterfly detected three more starships, Qu Jianlei ordered Duo Gan to put away the Dao Stele before the newcomers arrived.
• The approaching fleet announced that the Blade's Edge Awakened Ones United Association had come to visit Digital Phantom.