Chapter Summaries

Qu Jianlei struggled against an Out-of-Body Realm soul attempting to seize his body, using a sealed Dao Stele marked with “Luck” to weaken it. As the intruder transformed into a Flood Dragon, Qu Jianlei tried to warn his team to beware of Jiao Daoren.

• Qu Jianlei swallowed a Soul Nourishing Pill, but it nourished the invading soul as well and helped it grow more solid.
• Qu Jianlei considered destroying his supplies, then took out the sealed Dao Stele after a flash of inspiration cleared his mind.
• Qu Jianlei removed the Seal, and the Dao Stele’s ancient aura weakened the intruder, who began transforming into a Flood Dragon.
• Qu Jianlei endured the Dao Stele’s pressure and tried to warn his team, but could barely make himself heard.
• Qu Jianlei’s teammates noticed his lips moving, and he wanted them to beware of Jiao Daoren.

Qu Jianlei defeated the Flying Centipede inside his Sea of Consciousness but collapsed beside the Dao Stele, which prevented his companions from reaching him. As they debated whether he was still himself, he began taking a pill while unconscious, leaving them to wait for him to awaken.

• Qu Jianlei realized the enemy in his Sea of Consciousness was a Flying Centipede, whose venom rebounded and harmed it as his soul recovered.
• Qu Jianlei struck the frenzied Flying Centipede with a spike of spiritual sense, causing it to explode before he lost consciousness.
• Hua Xiezhi and the others tried to reach or move Qu Jianlei, but the Dao Stele's power stopped them and destroyed their attacks and equipment.
• Jing Yuexin urged everyone to wait, citing the Medium Auspicious divination, while Yi He suggested the enemy might have been a Heretical Cultivator.
• Qu Jianlei spat out blood, twitched, and took a pill from his Item-Storing Ring without waking.

As First One struggled against a Body Seizure, his companions could not safely intervene in the battle inside his Sea of Consciousness, so they tried cautious magic and medicine to support him. Tian Yin’s Light Therapy proved to be the only treatment that drew a response, and she kept casting it despite her exhaustion.

• First One crawled away from the Dao Stele, and Qinghu carried him eight hundred kilometers away while the others debated how to help.
• The Great Serpent explained that only a Spirit Division Stage expert could safely intervene in a Sea of Consciousness battle, so the group avoided using a Gathering Spirit Array and chose to try Bentley’s Thunder Method and Tian Yin’s Light Therapy.
• Bentley and Tian Yin treated Qu Jianlei while he periodically took Soul Nourishing Pills; Jing Yuexin found more pills but could not force them into his mouth.
• After a day of treatment, Qu Jianlei reacted soon after Tian Yin stopped casting, while Bentley’s magic produced no noticeable response.
• Over the next two days Tian Yin continued Light Therapy until she was nearly unable to absorb capsules, but Jing Yuexin urged her to rest because the treatment’s effect was limited.

Qu Jianlei recovered enough to confirm that the centipede had seized his body, then began repairing his damaged Sea of Consciousness. A voice from the Dao Stele drew him toward it, where Yuan Wu of the Taihao Sect introduced himself and claimed Qu Jianlei’s calamity had been ordained by fate.

• Qu Jianlei woke in a confused state, and after Bentley shocked him, he explained that a centipede had seized his body.
• Jing Yuexin had the team move Qu Jianlei into a Battalion-Class Ship and set up a Gathering Spirit Array so he could recover.
• After several days, Qu Jianlei asked Tian Yin to prepare Light Therapy spells and said he needed to deal with his damaged Sea of Consciousness.
• Qu Jianlei took Soul Nourishing Pills and began examining his Sea of Consciousness, but a weak strand of spiritual sense addressed him.
• Qu Jianlei walked toward the Dao Stele, and Yuan Wu of the Taihao Sect introduced himself and said Qu Jianlei’s suffering had been ordained by fate.

Qu Jianlei questioned Yuan Wu, who explained that the Flying Centipede had impersonated him and survived their apparent defeat. Yuan Wu revealed that the Centipede would revive inside Qu Jianlei’s Sea of Consciousness, leaving Qu Jianlei facing a threat he could not yet escape.

• Yuan Wu appeared as an emaciated Daoren and said his remaining Obsession would soon dissipate.
• Qu Jianlei asked why Yuan Wu had contacted him, and Yuan Wu said he wanted to resolve his remaining karma before disappearing.
• Yuan Wu explained that the Flying Centipede’s Remnant Soul had impersonated him and gained the upper hand while they fought.
• Qu Jianlei said he had suspected the impostor because it asked about the Federation Calendar despite thinking he came from the Cultivation World.
• Yuan Wu explained that Qu Jianlei’s Dao Stele had suppressed the Centipede’s unorthodox Incense Fire, but warned that the Centipede would revive in Qu Jianlei’s Sea of Consciousness.

Qu Jianlei spoke with Yuan Wu about the Flying Centipede hidden in his Sea of Consciousness, the Secret Treasure, and possible routes back to the Cultivation World. Yuan Wu cleared away many of the Centipede’s incarnations and departed, leaving Qu Jianlei’s mind clearer as he recovered aboard the Battalion-Class Ship.

• Yuan Wu revealed that the Flying Centipede had split into countless incarnations in Qu Jianlei’s Sea of Consciousness and warned that removing them all would take repeated use of the Dao Stele’s exorcism technique.
• Qu Jianlei and Yuan Wu discussed possible clues to returning to the Cultivation World, including the Alien Race’s worlds, the Empire’s Maiden Star Region, and the Traveler Nebula.
• Qu Jianlei told Yuan Wu that his companions had killed an Other Transformation Self-Mastery Heavenly Devil, prompting Yuan Wu to question whether he had passed on his cultivation lineage.
• Yuan Wu said he was preparing to break through to the Soul-Splitting Realm and asked Qu Jianlei to pass along that message if he returned to the Cultivation World.
• Yuan Wu drew countless micro-particles from Qu Jianlei’s Sea of Consciousness, improving its clarity, then departed after warning him to be cautious about the cultivation inheritance.
• Qu Jianlei returned his attention to the Battalion-Class Ship, where Tian Yin confirmed he was well, and he spent the following ten days recovering.

Qu Jianlei hid with his companions on Muxu 258 while recovering from severe damage to his Sea of Consciousness and grieving Xiao Hu’s loss. After learning that Yuan Wu was the famed Great Venerable Wu Xuan and discussing the nearby Insect Race, Qu Jianlei finally left the Secret Chamber to retrieve the evolving Abode.

• Qu Jianlei ordered the fleet hidden and a Secret Chamber built when Duo Gan reported an approaching fleet, then concealed the Abode box beneath rocks and took shelter with the others.
• Qu Jianlei explained that they could not safely teleport to the Link Nebula and revealed his grief over Xiao Hu’s disappearance, while the others listened as he recounted his encounter with the Flying Centipede.
• Yi He recognized Yuan Wu as Great Venerable Wu Xuan, and he and Jiao Daoren discussed the Incense Divinity Path, the Insect Race, and whether the centipede might revive.
• The small fleet passed Muxu 258, and Qu Jianlei spent more than half a month recovering while Jiao Daoren estimated that his Sea of Consciousness could take fifty years to repair.
• Qu Jianlei left the Secret Chamber to retrieve the Abode despite his lingering injuries.

Qu Jianlei activated Wu Xuan’s decaying Portable Abode and began restoring its spiritual qi, then joined his companions in exploring it. Jia Shuiqing discovered a hidden Secret Chamber, where Qu Jianlei opened the Stone Gate and found a collection of protected artifacts.

• Qu Jianlei turned the Space Ruyi Pearl into an abode and, after divining that it was safe, invited everyone to explore it three days later.
• Qu Jianlei and his companions found the abode depleted and near collapse, so he set up a Gathering Spirit Array powered by Energy Blocks.
• Spirit beasts gathered around the array, prompting Jiao Daoren to suggest concealing and protecting it; Qu Jianlei said he needed materials for a Defense Array.
• Jia Shuiqing discovered a hidden Secret Chamber beneath a pool and alerted Qu Jianlei rather than opening it herself.
• Qu Jianlei used his authority over the abode to open the Stone Gate and found twelve artifacts protected by Cyan Glow.

Qu Jianlei and his team discovered three sealed treasures in the Abode: a World Piercing Shuttle, a dangerous broken Divine Weapon, and the Space-Time Heart. The Space-Time Heart’s value stirred wariness between the team’s factions, but Duo Gan and Jiao Daoren affirmed that it belonged to Qu Jianlei, who then asked Yi He to examine it.

• Qu Jianlei opened a box containing a World Piercing Shuttle, and Jiao Daoren explained that it could break powerful formations and tear through space barriers.
• Qu Jianlei opened a second box and found a broken axe whose vicious aura made the others wary; he sensed it was too dangerous to touch and resealed it.
• Qu Jianlei opened a nested box and found a heart-shaped treasure identified by Wu Xuan’s Divine Script as the Space-Time Heart, which Wu Xuan had hidden after failing to refine it.
• Duo Gan declared that the Space-Time Heart belonged to Qu Jianlei, while Jiao Daoren said the treasure did not suit him or Yi He.
• Qu Jianlei resealed the Divine Weapon and asked Yi He to examine the Space-Time Heart.

Qu Jianlei recovered in the Portable Abode while the team chose artifacts and prepared to return to the Link Nebula, where Asura forces were probing their position. The team decided to defend the territory and left the question of how to use the unreliable artificial intelligence unresolved.

• Yi He examined the Space-Time Heart, and Qu Jianlei sealed it away before letting the team exchange for artifacts.
• Duo Gan chose a defensive bronze mirror, while Qinghu exchanged her Dragon Binding Rope for a Celestial Net; Jia Shuiqing saved her exchange for later.
• Qu Jianlei recuperated for three months on Mushu 258 as Qinghu, Claire, and Tian Yin cared for him and built cultivation facilities in the Abode.
• Fourth Boss reported that three Secondary Nests had appeared in the Link Nebula, and Jia Shuiqing and Duo Gan brought back three repaired Division Level Ships and two newly advanced Supremes.
• Qu Jianlei agreed to go to the Link Nebula and had the team charge the World Piercing Shuttle, while keeping the artificial intelligence’s workload limited to protect the hope of restoring Xiao Hu.
• The team agreed not to abandon its territory in the Link Nebula, and Xiang Xue asked how they should use the artificial intelligence.

While Qu Jianlei remained in seclusion, his team fought cautiously in the Link Nebula and the Empire sought Digital Phantom’s help against its rogue artificial intelligence. Xiang Xue revealed that the Empire’s demands were likely a pretext for the nearly completed renovation of the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion, but Qu Jianlei learned the Abode might lack enough energy for its conversion.

• Zi Jiuxian speculated that First One might be a Digital Lifeform, and the team agreed to conserve computational power and call Qinghu and Claire into action while Qu Jianlei recovered.
• Tian Yin guarded Qu Jianlei and managed the Abode’s restless spirit beasts as four months passed and the team lured Asura with staged signs of weakness.
• Jing Yuexin reported that the team had destroyed a Mother Nest with help from the Flawed Portable Abode, but Asura’s nests were decreasing rather than gathering for a siege.
• Xiang Xue told Qu Jianlei that her father, Mu Guang, had arrived with the Empire’s three demands for Digital Phantom to help counter the Alliance artificial intelligence.
• Xiang Xue explained that the Empire’s approach was mainly a pretext because Xiao Moshan reported that the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion’s renovation was nearly complete.
• Qu Jianlei learned that the Abode’s energy reserves might not suffice for the critical conversion.

Qu Jianlei learned that the Empire’s strict Energy Block controls complicated the team’s effort to supply the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion, while High-Fidelity Replica arrived at the Abode withdrawn and grieving. He let High-Fidelity Replica try taking control of the Portable Abode, though its progress was limited and it kept asking where Big Head Butterfly’s big brother had gone.

• Mu Guang explained that the Empire had tightened Energy Block controls in preparation for a prolonged war, and Qu Jianlei decided to have Jing Yuexin or Duo Gan explain the team’s needs.
• Qu Jianlei declined to meet High-Fidelity Replica at first, while Duo Gan volunteered to handle the Energy Block matter and Hua Xiezhi tried to comfort the withdrawn little fellow.
• More than two months later, Duo Gan reported that she had delivered seventy trillion Energy Blocks and materials for three thousand Spiritual Qi Conversion Arrays to the Celestial Hook Mystic Mansion.
• Qu Jianlei invited High-Fidelity Replica into the Abode after Duo Gan suggested it could help manage the place.
• High-Fidelity Replica appeared as a Big Head Butterfly with a Stick Figure body, and Qu Jianlei encouraged it to treat the Abode as a temporary home and learn its permissions.
• High-Fidelity Replica gained only a little control over the Abode and repeatedly asked Qu Jianlei where Big Head Butterfly’s big brother had gone.

After recovering enough to fight, Qu Jianlei led the team deeper into Asura territory, where they became trapped in a costly battle against waves of nests. He warned that the destruction of many Secondary Nests might signal nearby Mother Nests, and the team prepared for a larger engagement.

• Qu Jianlei left the Portable Abode with Tian Yin and ordered the team to resume its advance, leaving two Battalion-Class Ships behind with Hua Xiezhi, Xiao Moshan, and Xiao Qin.
• The team encountered increasing Asura resistance, and Paranoid deployed additional Battalion-Class Ships to limit losses while keeping the Division Level Ships concealed.
• As the battle dragged on and Asura nests continued arriving, Duo Gan used the Cloud Crown to draw in enemies and shattered nests, while Qu Jianlei warned that the fleet’s artificial intelligence could not handle too many warships at once.
• After five days, the fleet had lost nine Battalion-Class Ships and many other vessels, while the Asura had lost more than forty Secondary Nests.
• Qu Jianlei ordered an Alliance Division Level Ship deployed and warned that the number of destroyed Secondary Nests could mean many Mother Nests were nearby; Paranoid then released the ship.

The Digital Phantom Team routed an Asura force and advanced to the Asuras’ chosen main battlefield, where Qu Jianlei prepared to confront their enormous Mother Nest. He left the fleet with Sunset Glow to move closer to the fight, revealing that he had gained some insight into spatial invisibility.

• The Division Level Ship led the attack, and the fleet destroyed more than half of the Asura nests before the remaining nests fled, leaving rearguards behind.
• Hua Xiezhi noticed that Asura reinforcements were dwindling, and Qu Jianlei, Paranoid, and Fourth Boss suspected the Asuras were buying time to prepare defenses.
• The fleet collected Asura remains as it advanced, then spotted the Asuras’ main battlefield two days later, with a vast formation and an enormous Mother Nest ahead.
• Qu Jianlei ordered three Division Level Ships deployed and told Paranoid to fight at full strength, while choosing to approach the battlefield with Sunset Glow instead of remaining with the fleet.
• As Sunset Glow carried him forward, Qu Jianlei said he had gained some insight into spatial invisibility, prompting the Ruler to ask whether he had begun refining the Space-Time Heart.

Qu Jianlei’s fleet fought its way through the Asura encirclement while First One secretly positioned nine Flawed Portable Abodes around the Mother Nest Swarm. Their simultaneous detonation erased the seven Mother Nests and devastated the surrounding nests, but the five Battalion-Class Ships were destroyed and the four Division Level Ships were badly damaged.

• The fleet advanced toward the Mother Nest Swarm under heavy fire, and Jing Yuexin steadied herself while Jia Shuiqing took command.
• The Asuras sent Mother Nests into battle and trapped the fleet in a tightening net as its ships and equipment suffered damage.
• A Flawed Portable Abode detonated behind the fleet, clearing the pursuing Small Nests and badly damaging a Mother Nest.
• A newly arrived Mother Nest remained unresponsive near the swarm, and Qu Jianlei detonated nine Flawed Portable Abodes placed around the Mother Nests.
• The blasts erased all seven Mother Nests and swept away the surrounding nests, while the five Battalion-Class Ships were destroyed and the four Division Level Ships survived with heavy damage.

Qu Jianlei and the battered warships pursued the surviving Asura Mother Nests after a devastating spatial explosion, capturing several while one escaped. The team regrouped aboard a sound Division Level Ship, but teleportation remained impossible for days, and they still needed materials to Warm Nurture their growing collection of Mother Nests.

• Xiang Xue returned from the Battalion-Class Ship shaken by the violent explosion, while the others began pursuing the three surviving Mother Nests.
• The warships crippled one Mother Nest, and Qu Jianlei returned in his damaged Mother Nest and used the Cloud Crown to collect it.
• Two Mother Nests tried to flee, but one turned back to engage the warships while the other launched Small Nests and Outpost Nests as decoys.
• Paranoid abandoned the pursuit when the damaged warships could not safely catch the fleeing Mother Nest, and the team focused on destroying the last one.
• Qu Jianlei warned Jing Yuexin to watch for a Space Vortex, and she brought out a sound Division Level Ship for the team to use.
• The team collected the last Mother Nest over several days, but lacked enough materials to Warm Nurture both Mother Nests for normal use.

Qu Jianlei’s team advanced toward the Link Nebula while arranging paid repairs and accepting military supplies without surrendering its independence. After Jia Shuiqing showed the Empire edited footage of their battles, the military saw how far Digital Phantom had gone in fighting the Asuras, while Qu Jianlei kept the team’s most advanced methods concealed.

• Qu Jianlei ordered the damaged Division Level Ships repaired at the team’s expense and waited before teleporting; Jia Shuiqing and Qinghu later returned to Dawn Base.
• The team pursued fleeing Asura nests, fought only minor engagements, and continued deeper into the Link Nebula without facing another major battle.
• The military agreed to repair four damaged ships and provided Digital Phantom with a Division Level Ship, ammunition, and a Battalion-Class Ship in exchange for a large Item-Storing Ring.
• Jia Shuiqing told the military that Digital Phantom had fought major battles in the Link Nebula and was searching for a passage into the Asura World.
• Jia Shuiqing showed the military edited combat footage of four Division Level Ships charging Asura nests, then said their methods were too advanced to show.

Qu Jianlei’s fleet pushed deeper into the Core Area of the Link Nebula while using Flawed Portable Abodes to blast pursuing Asura Nests. The chapter ended as an Asura Secondary Nest approached with Outpost Nests arranged into a Taiji Yin-Yang Fish, apparently seeking to communicate or issue a challenge.

• Jia Shuiqing refused further military questioning and left, while Qu Jianlei inspected the new Division Level Ship and found no backdoors.
• As the fleet entered the Core Area, Asura Nests kept their distance and blocked the route behind them, prompting Qu Jianlei to use divination before advancing.
• Yi He sensed the Asura declaring the territory theirs, and Qu Jianlei deployed a Flawed Portable Abode behind the fleet and detonated it to clear the pursuing nests.
• Qu Jianlei set more Flawed Portable Abodes to explode near Asura Nests, destroying two Secondary Nests and driving the others farther away.
• After six days, a Secondary Nest approached the fleet with Outpost Nests arranged as a Taiji Yin-Yang Fish, which Yi He interpreted as an attempt to talk while Jiao Daoren considered it a challenge.

Qinghu met with an Eight-Armed Asura envoy after the Asuras saw the humans’ captured Mother Nest and recognized their strength. The Asuras sought negotiations to avoid a major conflict, while Qinghu demanded to know their purpose and left the talks unresolved.

• Paranoid used a projected Falling Thunder Art to signal the Asuras that they were unworthy of direct contact.
• Qinghu agreed to negotiate with a Mother Nest, and Yi He sent First One with her while Qu Jianlei offered support.
• Qinghu rode the humans’ captured Mother Nest toward the Asuras, whose Eight-Armed Asura envoy ordered its people to stay silent.
• Qinghu challenged the envoy over the Asuras’ invasion, and the envoy said its people believed everyone had the right to rule the world.
• The Eight-Armed Asura asked what the Cultivators were doing there and said the Asuras wanted to negotiate rather than start a major conflict.

Qinghu rejected the Eight-Armed Asura’s demand that her side stay out of the Asura World and challenged the Asuras instead. The Eight-Armed Asura tried to duel her, but Qinghu captured it with the Celestial Net and faced the Mother Nests.

• Qinghu refused to negotiate and told the Eight-Armed Asura that her group planned to enter the Asura World.
• The Eight-Armed Asura warned Qinghu that her group would face a brutal slaughter, but Qinghu dismissed the threat and insulted the Asuras.
• The Eight-Armed Asura challenged Qinghu to a duel and teleported between the two Mother Nests.
• Qinghu used the Celestial Net to bind the Eight-Armed Asura without leaving the Mother Nest.
• Qinghu drew back the captured Asura and stared coldly at the Mother Nests.