Chapter Summaries

Chen Kong, Vivian, and Mi Yao revived the Golden Chrysanthemum by fighting off hordes of Rotten Vine Corpses at County Hospital, then searched the hospital for a way out of Chang Sheng County. At dawn, the hospital returned to normal, and the three left to investigate the county bank.

• Vivian and Mi Yao concluded that the Golden Chrysanthemum needed life as a catalyst, so the group went into the corridor to fight the Rotten Vine Corpses.
• Chen Kong, Vivian, and Mi Yao retreated to the operating room and then the rooftop, where Mi Yao used his Turret Matrix to help defeat the growing corpse tide.
• The Golden Chrysanthemum patterns on their hands filled with gold, and the Chrysanthemum bloomed; Chen Kong took it and found that its warmth restored his strength.
• The group searched County Hospital but found no passage out, while the Golden Chrysanthemum prevented more Rotten Vine Corpses from appearing.
• At dawn, sunlight restored County Hospital to a normal condition, and Mi Yao led Chen Kong and Vivian toward the county bank.

Vivian, Chen Kong, and Mi Yao fought the Rotvine Giant Serpent inside the county bank vault, but its regeneration overwhelmed their attacks. Just as Chen Kong was trapped in its coils, Enit and Tiandao struck the creature from above and saved him.

• Chen Kong used the golden chrysanthemum to open the vault, where a Rotvine Giant Serpent burst from the floor and attacked the group.
• Mi Yao, Vivian, and Chen Kong coordinated attacks on the serpent, but it regenerated its damaged flower using vitality from a jar on the scale.
• Mi Yao bound the serpent's core while Chen Kong and Vivian struck it with Bloodflame and an energy blast, but the creature recovered and wounded Mi Yao.
• Mi Yao gave Chen Kong his Slow-Sealing Talisman ultimate, allowing Chen Kong to slow the serpent and drive a Bloodflame blade into its core.
• The serpent coiled around Chen Kong as the slowing effect faded, but Enit and Tiandao blasted its pistil from above, destroying the core and freeing him.

After surviving the Rotvine Giant Serpent, Chen Kong, Mi Yao, and Vivian crossed a widened Space-time Rift into a dangerous jungle and followed the trail left by Tiandao’s group. They found Liu Ma and Isabelle fighting mutated monkeys, while Vivian realized the monsters’ vitality increased with their size.

• Chen Kong and Mi Yao concluded that energy from a battle in another Space-time Layer had crossed the rift and destroyed the giant serpent, and Vivian noted that Tiandao’s group was far ahead.
• Chen Kong, Mi Yao, and Vivian entered the rift, seeking an exit before the Raccoon Administrator’s seven-day deadline and the departing ship.
• The trio found a massive mutated boar and other monster corpses, which Vivian identified as evidence that Tiandao, Jing Liuli, and Caroline had passed through at least a day earlier.
• Chen Kong, Mi Yao, and Vivian followed a deliberately cleared path deeper into the jungle, hoping to meet Tiandao’s group.
• They encountered Liu Ma and Isabelle fighting a mutated gorilla and regenerating vine-covered monkeys, and Vivian observed that the monsters’ vitality was proportional to their size.

Chen Kong, Isabelle, Liu Ma, Mi Yao, and Vivian reunited in the jungle and uncovered a weakness in the mutated gorilla’s regeneration, but the creature surged in strength before they could finish it. Liu Ma lay injured as the gorilla prepared to attack him, while the others remained tied up by the monster and its vine monkeys.

• Liu Ma and Isabelle fought the regenerating mutated gorilla and vine monkeys, but the poison and a surprise attack left Isabelle severely injured.
• Mi Yao’s game-console shield saved Isabelle, and Chen Kong, Mi Yao, and Vivian arrived to join the fight.
• Chen Kong shot the purple flower cores on the vine monkeys’ foreheads, killing them, while Isabelle injected herself to halt the poison’s spread.
• Vivian identified a 3.7-second regeneration cycle, and the group attacked the gorilla’s chest wound and flower core to slow its healing.
• The gorilla burned core energy to double its regeneration and overpower the team, smashing Liu Ma into the ground as it prepared to bite him.

On Longevity Island, Liu Ma and his companions fought the mutant gorilla as it prepared to destroy itself, and Mi Yao shielded them from the resulting blast. The gorilla’s life signs remained in the crater but no longer threatened the group.

• Isabelle saved Liu Ma from the gorilla’s bite with an ice wall, while Chen Kong, Mi Yao, Vivian, and Liu Ma attacked the creature and grievously wounded it.
• The gorilla’s Life Core flared as it grew larger, and Vivian warned that it was preparing to burn its Life Energy and self-destruct.
• Vine monkeys formed a wall to trap the group, so Isabelle, Vivian, Mi Yao, and Chen Kong fought to clear a path while Liu Ma recovered.
• Mi Yao trapped the gorilla in a pixel cage, and Chen Kong fired a Spiral Soul-Piercing Bullet that disrupted the creature’s Life Energy.
• Mi Yao raised his riot shield as the gorilla exploded, protecting the group from the blast that created a vast crater.
• Vivian scanned the crater and reported that the gorilla’s remaining life signs were growing stronger but posed no threat to them.

After defeating the mutated gorilla, Chen Kong’s group discovered that Purple Roses parasitized the island’s creatures and continued toward the island’s center, following the trail left by Tiandao’s group. They found Tiandao fighting atop a pyramid, but the pyramid’s vines attacked them and drove them into a desperate retreat.

• Vivian identified the Purple Roses as parasites that gave their hosts extraordinary vitality, and Chen Kong’s group decided to rest before continuing toward the island’s center.
• The group found the corpses of powerful monsters killed along the way and realized Tiandao’s group had cleared the path ahead.
• They spotted Tiandao standing atop a pyramid surrounded by space-time rifts and battling waves of monsters.
• Three golden-patterned vines emerged from a rift and attacked Chen Kong’s group, piercing Liu Ma, breaking Mi Yao’s shields, and regenerating after absorbing Stellar Energy.
• Vivian urged everyone to retreat as the vines’ toxins and powers weakened them, while Tiandao continued fighting hundreds of vines and monsters with ease.

Mi Yao, Liu Ma, Chen Kong, and Isabelle struggled against dark-purple vines around the mysterious Pyramid, which drained their Star Energy and spread a debilitating toxin. Yagami Rin rescued them and explained that the Pyramid was ruled by Libra’s Law of Equivalent Exchange, revealing that Libra was the “Exchange” among the Twelve Miracle Stones.

• Mi Yao and his companions fought metallic-patterned vines that absorbed Star Energy, while the vines poisoned Liu Ma and pinned him down.
• Vivian identified the vines’ connection to the Golden Chrysanthemum and burned away Chen Kong’s life mark, ending the vines’ tracking of him.
• Isabelle slowed a vine with an ice spike, allowing Mi Yao to throw Liu Ma beyond the vines’ range, but the remaining vines overwhelmed the group and badly wounded Chen Kong.
• Yagami Rin appeared, severed the vines, drove them back into the Space-time Rifts, and gave Chen Kong an antidote.
• Yagami Rin explained that the vines manifested Libra Palace’s Law of Equivalent Exchange and revealed that Libra was the “Exchange” among the Twelve Miracle Stones.

Chen Kong and the others withdrew from the pyramid while Tiandao fought the monsters and exposed Wilfred as Libra Palace, a vessel of the Zodiac. Libra Palace revealed that Longevity Island was part of his domain and demanded Tiandao’s eyes; Tiandao refused, and their battle began.

• Yagami Rin advised Vivian, Chen Kong, and Isabelle to leave the pyramid alone, so they headed to the Safe Zone to check on Liu Ma while Rin remained behind to assist the trainees.
• Tiandao repelled waves of monsters with his Vector Field and challenged the unseen power controlling them to reveal itself.
• Wilfred appeared, and Tiandao explained that his story of being coerced by an Ancient God was a lie because he showed no reverence and held privileges beyond those of a mere believer.
• Tiandao identified Wilfred as Libra Palace, a god’s vessel, and Libra Palace transformed before the altar.
• Libra Palace said Longevity Island was part of his domain and offered power and information in exchange for Tiandao’s eyes, but Tiandao refused and attacked with a Vector Light Blade.

Tiandao fought Libra at the pyramid summit, using the Stellar Eclipse Heavenly Eye and Vector Control to counter Libra’s laws and attacks. Libra trapped Tiandao inside his domain and tried to take his eyes by force, but Tiandao learned the domain’s essence and regained his ability to move as the chapter ended.

• Tiandao pierced Libra’s vine armor with a Vector Light Blade, then reversed the direction of Libra’s Law Vines and explained how his vectors altered their targets.
• Libra summoned Death Judgment, but Tiandao blocked it with Myriad Repulsion - Matrix and absorbed some of its energy, arguing that Libra’s forced exchanges violated true equivalence.
• Libra invoked his domain, stopped Tiandao’s movement, and used the ancient tree’s roots to drain his star energy while accelerating Longevity Island’s Time Loop.
• At the pyramid’s outskirts, Chen Kong and the others found that the accelerated time was worsening Liu Ma’s toxin, but the acceleration suddenly returned to normal.
• Libra pierced Tiandao with a Death Qi Sword and attempted to forcibly take his eyes, but Tiandao gripped the blade, regained his movement, and said he had learned the essence of a domain.

Tiandao broke Libra Palace’s Equivalent Domain by reversing its star energy and briefly creating his own domain, reaching the level of a half-step Calamity. After Tiandao struck down Libra Palace’s ancient-tree body, Longevity Island began to collapse, leaving Chen Kong and the others unsure what had happened.

• Tiandao used his understanding of Libra Palace’s time-exchanging domain and his adaptive Tian Dao Cells to reverse the star energy controlling its timelines.
• Tiandao escaped Libra Palace’s time control, recovered from his injuries, and used Vector Lock to disrupt the energy patterns sustaining the domain.
• Tiandao simulated the Law of Exchange and unleashed Domain. Boundless Time and Space, briefly shattering Libra Palace’s Exchange Domain.
• Libra Palace suffered backlash as his domain collapsed, while Tiandao explained that he had reached the level of a half-step Calamity.
• Tiandao formed a Vector Light Blade and cleaved Libra Palace’s ancient tree in two, causing the pyramid and Longevity Island to shake and crack.
• Chen Kong and the others watched the island and pyramid collapse, realizing that the trial might be ending.

Tiandao defeated Libra Palace and learned that Longevity Island was built to preserve the past, as Libra Palace sought to understand death and the pain of change. After the island’s crisis ended, Tiandao held the restored Miracle Stone · Exchange, ready to begin pursuing his plans.

• Tiandao used Vector Control to destroy the Law Tree, shatter Libra Palace’s Law Core, and expose Longevity Island’s Energy Core.
• Libra Palace explained that he had fueled a time loop with the island’s living creatures and sought longevity and memories to hold on to those he valued.
• Libra Palace recalled that Wilfred had refused longevity and accepted death, and concluded that longevity could become a curse.
• Tiandao asked Libra Palace about Doctor and General President Enit, but the scene shifted before their conversation was revealed.
• Isabelle confirmed Liu Ma’s toxins had stopped spreading, and the Star Envoy Association lowered Longevity Island’s crisis level to High-Risk Zone.
• Chen Kong and the others reached the summit, where Tiandao held the restored Miracle Stone · Exchange and said his plans could now begin.

The Longevity Island trial ended, and the survivors learned that the trainees who had seemingly died had been transferred back to the ship. As the ship sailed away, Tiandao gave Caroline the Miracle Stone Exchange and hinted that she had little time left.

• Liu Ma confronted the Otter Administrator over the trainees who had died, but Mi Yao stopped him and pointed out that the supposedly dead trainees, including Mark, were alive aboard the ship.
• Vivian explained that Longevity Island’s Equivalent Exchange law had likely transferred the eliminated trainees back to the ship instead of killing them, and the Otter Administrator announced the trial’s successful conclusion.
• The Otter Administrator noticed Tiandao’s immense Star Energy and wondered how close he had come to the Calamity realm.
• On the returning ship, Tiandao watched Longevity Island fade away as the phantom of its Equivalent Exchange law disappeared, then Jing Liuli told him that Caroline wanted to speak with him.
• Caroline questioned whether Tiandao should give her the Miracle Stone Exchange, and Tiandao explained that he had already learned what he needed from it and urged her to claim the puzzle piece meant for her because she had little time left.

Enit sealed Tiandao’s file after reflecting on his mysterious origins and the possibility that he could fulfill an old vision of a united humanity. Later, Tiandao traveled to Moonlight Mountain City for a cleanup mission, where he discovered that the local Star Envoy Association Branch had been overtaken and rescued Mitchell from its transformed Deputy Captain.

• Enit read Tiandao’s Longevity Island report and said Tiandao had already received a gift he had left for him.
• Enit ordered Valentina to seal Tiandao’s file and privately called Tiandao his teacher’s grandson, saying he might create their envisioned perfect world.
• Half a month later, Tiandao tested his strengthened body at the Heavenly Martial Training Base, and Jing Liuli gave him a patrol mission in Moonlight Mountain City.
• Tiandao arrived above Moonlight Mountain City and sensed Star Beast energy concentrated at the local Star Envoy Association Branch.
• Mitchell faced the transformed Captain and Deputy Captain outside the Branch, and the Deputy Captain attacked him.
• Tiandao struck the Deputy Captain down and arrived to help Mitchell.

Tiandao arrived in Moonlight Mountain City and confronted Elijah, the former Third Squad Captain, whose symbiosis with a Parasitic Star Beast had made him a dangerous opponent. Tiandao overwhelmed Elijah and severed the connection between the parasite and his Star Source, leaving him incapacitated as he muttered about his master.

• Tiandao subdued the Deputy Captain and confirmed that Mitchell had sent the request for aid, then focused on Elijah’s monstrous transformation.
• Tiandao stopped Elijah’s acid attack, sent Mitchell away to seek reinforcements, and identified the flaw in Elijah’s symbiosis.
• Elijah attacked with his wings, claws, bone spikes, poison, and bone prison, but Tiandao evaded and dismantled each assault with his Vector Field.
• Tiandao struck Elijah’s wrist to disrupt his energy, then reached the connection between Elijah’s Star Source and the Parasitic Star Beast.
• Tiandao severed the energy connection, causing Elijah’s transformation to collapse and leaving him twitching on the ground.

Tiandao uncovered that the Moonlight Mountain City Branch had spread parasitic Star Beasts under the guise of a power-enhancing gift, then called Jing Liuli to help locate their hidden main body. As a horde of parasitized Star Envoys attacked, Tiandao effortlessly held them back while Mitchell and the others watched from safety.

• Tiandao searched Elijah’s memories and learned that the Branch President had introduced parasitic spores as a gift, drawing Branch members into accepting them.
• Elijah broke free briefly and lunged at Tiandao, but Tiandao sealed the connection between Elijah’s Star Source and the parasitic Star Beast’s Star Core.
• Tiandao called Jing Liuli and asked her to use her dream ability to find the hidden Parasitic Star Beast; she agreed to come within an hour.
• Mitchell arrived with several Star Envoys, but parasitized members burst from the Branch building and attacked the group.
• Tiandao shielded Mitchell and the others, told them to retreat, and flung the attacking parasitized Star Envoys aside with his Vector Field.

Tiandao and Jing Liuli tracked the Parasitic Star Beast to Moonlight Mountain City's abandoned observatory and fought the Calamity-class experimental creature hiding there. Jing Liuli reflected its mental attack back at it and declared herself the master of the mental domain.

• Tiandao defeated the parasitized Star Envoys outside the Star Envoy Association and discovered spores spreading through the city.
• Jing Liuli searched the city's residents' dreams and located the Parasitic Star Beast at the abandoned observatory.
• Tiandao and Jing Liuli flew to the observatory, where a gray mist formed a giant face and attacked them with bones.
• Tiandao cut through the bone walls while Jing Liuli dragged a grotesque mass of flesh from the mist with her Dreamlight cords.
• The creature struck Jing Liuli with a mental attack, but her barrier reflected it back, and she proclaimed herself the true master of the mental domain.

Tiandao and Jing Liuli defeated the Parasitic Star Beast and freed the Star Envoys it had consumed, then discovered evidence that it was one of many artificial experiments. With headquarters support arriving and Moonlight Mountain City recovering, they headed back to investigate the experiment’s origins.

• Jing Liuli restrained the Parasitic Star Beast with Dream Power and revealed the black crystalline body at its core, while Tiandao saw memories indicating that the creature was an artificial specimen.
• The Parasitic Star Beast broke free and attacked with skeletal puppets, corrosive mist, and mental rays, but Tiandao defended them and Jing Liuli bound its body and consciousness with Double Dream Chains.
• Jing Liuli awakened the consumed Star Envoys’ consciousness fragments, giving Tiandao the opening to combine Vector Control with her Dream Power and destroy the beast’s crystalline core.
• Jing Liuli guided the liberated consciousness fragments out of the ruins, and Tiandao found an emblem among the crystal fragments that he decided to investigate.
• Jing Liuli used Star Energy to reveal images of multiple experimental specimens, while Mitchell informed Tiandao that headquarters support had arrived and requested that he contact the General President.
• Tiandao and Jing Liuli saw Moonlight Mountain City being resettled after the crisis, then left for headquarters as the city’s warning signal marked the end of the emergency.

Caroline demonstrated how she had combined her Miracle Stone’s Law of Exchange with her Quantum Soul to gain quantization and quantum travel, while discussing the limits of restoring her soul from stored data. Jing Liuli then detected quantum-like light points in the mysterious black fragment, suggesting its creators had also reached quantum-level research.

• Caroline found no database record for the black fragment and explained that headquarters would take over the Moonlight Mountain City Branch after its impostor Branch President was exposed.
• Caroline revealed that she could switch between material and quantum forms, evading physical attacks except during a brief conversion interval, and could travel through active quantum signal carriers.
• Caroline explained that her memories and personality might be reconstructed from database records, but her soul’s emotional frequency could not yet be copied; Tiandao suggested using Exchange to bind it to quantum information.
• Caroline demonstrated quantizing objects to Jing Liuli, who excitedly imagined combining Caroline’s abilities with her own Dream Domain and Tiandao’s attacks.
• Jing Liuli sensed quantum-like light points in the black fragment’s residual energy, and Tiandao and Caroline recognized that the mysterious faction might also be researching quantum phenomena.

An Qin approached Chen Kong and Vivian with a proposal to explore the Desolate Bone Desert, a supposedly low-risk Fallen Zone with a substantial reward. Vivian agreed despite suspecting something was off, and the group prepared to assemble the next morning.

• Chen Kong reviewed footage of his Longevity Island battles while Vivian studied star energy theory, and Isabelle trained in close combat with Liu Ma.
• An Qin showed Chen Kong and Vivian her Star Envoy Association field-operations credentials and proposed teaming up to explore Desolate Bone Desert.
• An Qin presented the Fallen Zone map and Vanguard Team inspection report, explaining that the exploration could earn about two thousand Heavenly Martial Coins.
• Vivian questioned the report's timing and the absence of an earlier database entry, but An Qin explained the database delay and showed her liaison authorization.
• Vivian accepted the mission, and An Qin set the assembly for six the next morning aboard Explorer Seven.
• After An Qin left, Vivian told Chen Kong that she still found An Qin strange, but the group agreed to proceed with the exploration.

Chen Kong's team prepared for an expedition into the Desolate Bone Desert while Vivian remained uneasy about An Qin despite finding no evidence against her. At the Star Energy Ship, An Qin introduced two unplanned companions, and once she was alone with Lin Feng, she asked whether they could change targets; Lin Feng accused her of beginning to think of herself as a person.

• Chen Kong, Liu Ma, Vivian, and Isabelle tested their Tactical Suits and practiced teamwork in a simulated sandstorm.
• Chen Kong asked Tiandao whether An Qin's background seemed abnormal, and Tiandao advised him to prepare for the worst and trust his intuition.
• At the Star Energy Ship, An Qin introduced Lin Feng and Zhao Yu, who had joined the expedition despite the team's earlier agreement.
• Vivian questioned the new arrangement, but An Qin urged the group to board and said she would provide the exploration route map.
• An Qin left the rest cabin with Lin Feng, asked whether they could change targets, and heard him say she had started thinking of herself as a person.