Chapter Summaries

Lu Yao advised Dark Star Lord on reforming Dark Star Civilization and helped establish two trainee worlds for lower-level Dark Descendants. As recruitment exposed how reluctant most residents were to leave their assigned roles, Dark Star Lord accepted Lu Yao’s plan and gave him a Spirit Altar Machine.

• Lu Yao learned that Dark Star Civilization’s role system preserved order but stifled innovation, while distortion prevented lower-level Dark Descendants from safely living on Dark Star.
• Dark Star Lord explained that roles were its way of resisting chaos, and Lu Yao proposed a two-tier civilization with trainee worlds set apart from Dark Star.
• Lu Yao transformed two Grit Worlds into trainee worlds, connected them to Dark Star’s Ascension passages, and watched the new tier take shape.
• Pasha’s team recruited Dark Descendants for the Yao Clan Civilization, but only seven left; Pasha explained that most feared starting over and were accustomed to their roles.
• Pasha reported that Rait had joined the Yao Clan Civilization and become an athlete in the Mystic Arts Country, where it ran alongside Kuafu.
• Dark Star Lord accepted Lu Yao’s method and presented him with a Spirit Altar Machine from the Spirit Race.

Lu Yao activated the Spirit Shrine Machine, gaining psionic powers that let him rewrite thoughts and annihilate civilizations. After discovering that waypoints drastically reduced Annihilation’s cost, he destroyed Dark Star · Pawn 9 and learned that the Miracle’s power came from the Truth Side, leaving the Dark Star Lord questioning who he was.

• Lu Yao built the Spirit Shrine Machine in Yao City Temple, unlocking Psionic Survey and the Miracles Mind Rewrite and Annihilation.
• Lu Yao ordered the Lord of Tides to exchange mining proceeds for Psionic Energy, then tested Mind Rewrite on a villager.
• Lu Yao found that Annihilation initially cost 371,029 Psionic Energy to target Dark Star · Pawn 9, but waypoints reduced the cost to 427.
• Lu Yao used Annihilation to erase all life on Pawn 9, startling the Dark Star Lord.
• The Dark Star Lord identified Annihilation’s power as coming from the Truth Side and asked Lu Yao who he was; Lu Yao called himself a passing God.

Lu Yao learned that the Spirit Altar Machine granted high-level Spirit Race authority and could unleash the devastating Miracle Annihilation, then explored the Ruined Hill with the Dark Star Lord. After finding no easy way to capture reduced-dimensional worlds, he summoned Kali to examine the Hill’s resemblance to the Gray Vision’s Underworld Soil.

• Baroye explained that the Spirit Altar Machine linked Lu Yao to the Spirit Realm’s psionic energy and had once helped establish Spirit Race hegemony.
• Lu Yao ordered the Lord of Tides to keep all mining gains as psionic energy and continued his search for reduced-dimensional worlds.
• The Dark Star Lord sent Pawn 2 to guide Lu Yao past the Ruined Veins and down to the Ruined Hill, where it explained how ascending worlds might escape through a temporary vortex.
• Lu Yao asked the Dark Star Lord to watch for viable worlds in exchange for resources, then prepared to leave the Repulsion Zone.
• Lu Yao summoned Kali to inspect the Ruined Hill, and Kali said it resembled the Gray Vision’s Underworld Soil but was not the Gray Vision.

Kali tested the Ruined Hill and discovered that its active Underworld Soil could be used to grow Demon God Pillars and might be the soil’s original form. After explaining Hell’s war with the Black Angels and the soil’s potential uses, Kali asked Lu Yao to help study and obtain it.

• Kali used a Divine Persona Totem to approach the Ruined Hill, where the White Mud Sea swallowed it and grew it into a small Ruined Vein.
• Kali identified the material as active Underworld Soil and asked Lu Yao to cut its statue free; Lu Yao used the Immortal Slaying Sword to release Kali.
• Kali told Lu Yao that the soil could be transported to other worlds and asked him to help investigate it and provide Power of Faith.
• Kali explained that the Demon Gods were fighting the Black Angels in Hell and described their different combat methods and Chiyou’s efforts to forge weapons from Nether Soil.
• Kali revealed that smelting Nether Soil with Flame of Faith could produce Light Gold, which could store faith and increase destructive power, and Lu Yao recognized the Ruined Hill as a valuable mineral deposit.

Lu Yao approved the Yao Clan Civilization’s development of Light Gold and funded Kali’s fight against the Black Angels. After setting up the Breathing Soil mine, he considered whether the Void Eye could be studied.

• Kali smelted Forbidden Stone into Light Gold and explained its potential to absorb residual Power of Faith, leading Lu Yao to establish the Breathing Soil Project and appoint King Wuji to lead it.
• King Wuji built a concealed Breathing Soil mine with Kali’s guidance, and Lu Yao sent workers and portals to support its development.
• Kali requested fifty million in faith to repair her Demon God Pillar, but Lu Yao gave her five hundred million, prompting her to declare that she would attack Crosell.
• Lu Yao bought portals for the mine and arranged for King Wuji to connect it to Dark Yao Country for workers.
• The Dark Star Lord brooded over its inability to stop Annihilation, and Lu Yao wondered whether the Void Eye could be studied.

Lu Yao experimented with ways to capture or create a Void Eye, then authorized Ju to spend vast resources simulating one. He also opened Luofu Cave, where Sui Zhu and Bi encountered a flying rod and a group of Plague Ghosts.

• Lu Yao tested Grit Worlds, Crimson Void Bullets, Wasteland Bombs, Spirit Limits, and Annihilation against a Void Eye, but none could capture or affect it.
• Lu Yao proposed creating a Void Eye by accelerating a newborn Red Void and ordered Ju to run large-scale simulations, authorizing a budget of five billion Faith Points and other resources.
• Ju deployed sensor-equipped Grit Worlds near the Void Eye, sacrificing them one by one to collect data while Marshal of the Long Cavalry recorded their readings.
• Lu Yao noticed that Sui Zhu and Bi had discovered sealed Luofu Cave, spent 1.22 million Faith to unseal it, and sent Sui Zhu and Bi inside.
• Lu Yao found a rod-shaped object evading his cursor and sent Lucky Rat to catch it, then identified the cave's white inhabitants as Plague Ghosts, including Zhi Ding.

Lu Yao secured Luofu Cave’s Plague Ghosts and subdued the Wealth Gathering Whip, then learned that Zhao Gongming had fallen and the God of Wealth’s statues had collapsed. After Song Shiyi warned him of a spreading Black Tide and delivered a Luban Counter, Lu Yao saw a low danger reading and began considering a new Subordinate God.

• Lu Yao sent Isabelle to question the thirty-three Plague Ghosts, who explained their role as Dao Soldiers and recounted Zhao Gongming’s history and absence.
• Lu Yao inspected Luofu Cave and learned that it could nurture Plague Ghosts and turn Ghosts into soldiers.
• Lucky Rat subdued the Wealth Gathering Whip, and Lu Yao examined its ability to knock valuables from its targets before putting it away.
• Isabelle reported that Zhao Gongming had fallen and that the Divine Statues of the God of Wealth and four Subordinate Gods had collapsed.
• Song Shiyi warned Isabelle that a large Black Tide was spreading through the Leap Zone and gave her a Luban Counter to monitor Spatial Distortion.
• Lu Yao saw the Luban Counter’s reading of 2.07 and began considering promoting a new Subordinate God.

Yazdan celebrated his promotion to Apostle with Zhunan and Bulo, reflecting on Bamboo Gourd Country’s growing exports and the Ghost Realm’s education reforms. He then announced approval for local magic wells and crystal bottles, and both Apostles learned that their gods had become Lord Yao’s Subordinate Gods.

• Yazdan thanked Lord Yao, Myriad Incarnations, Zhunan, and Bulo as he celebrated becoming an Apostle.
• Zhunan recalled how he focused Bamboo Gourd Country’s exports on bamboo goods, helping raise sales and improve local lives.
• Bulo explained how the Ghost Realm corrected its education plans and built preparatory schools to help students enter higher academies.
• Yazdan announced that Bamboo Gourd Country and the Ghost Realm could develop Elemental Magic Wells and produce Crystal Structure Magic Bottles locally.
• Zhunan and Bulo received divine news that the Bamboo Gourd King and Ghost God had become Lord Yao’s Subordinate Gods.

Lu Yao assessed the Ghost God and Bamboo Gourd King’s development and appointed them Subordinate Gods, assigning them to Blood Hill and Crystal City. The chapter leaves him receiving promising news that the breathing soil contains abundant, stable Shen Element.

• Slaimod explained how the Ghost Realm and Bamboo Gourd Country struggled to keep pace with Yao Clan Civilization but gradually developed their own paths.
• Lu Yao observed the Ghost Realm’s education and cemetery industries and Bamboo Gourd Country’s bamboo economy and Purple Bamboo trade.
• Lu Yao invited the Ghost God and Bamboo Gourd King into Yao Clan Civilization’s divine sequence, bringing the number of Subordinate Gods to 15.
• Lu Yao assigned the Ghost God to govern Blood Hill with Yanjui’s help and sent Bamboo Gourd King to manage Crystal City’s glass industry.
• King Wuji reported that surveys of the breathing soil had confirmed a considerable, stable supply of Shen Element, which could increase production of the Crystal Structure Phase Dissolution Cannon.

Lu Yao learned that Light Gold could provide Shen Element and faith-collecting tools, then helped Kali respond to Crosell by sharing a hidden Light Gold blade-line defense. The chapter ended with a prompt asking whether Lu Yao would turn an exceptional believer into a Hero.

• Philes demonstrated the Crystal Structure Phase Dissolution Cannon and explained how Light Gold could yield Shen Element and be made into faith-charging weapons and faith-collecting tools.
• Mao Cao told Lu Yao that Kali had returned after Crosell defeated her by using geometry to find and attack weaknesses in her Demon God Pillar.
• Philes proposed concealed Light Gold cutting nets to counter Crosell, and Lu Yao approved sharing the technique with Kali.
• Kali thanked Philes and hurried away to manufacture and deploy the blade lines.
• After Lu Yao returned from a walk with Halo, the Simulator asked whether he wanted to transform an exceptional believer into a Hero.

Bayan grew from a determined warrior who protected his tribe on Degulin into a Dark Descendant serving in the dangerous Breathing Soil Project. As the Breathing Soil engulfed him in the mine, he prayed to God Yao to protect the people he was leaving behind.

• Bayan became a Dark Descendant after the Black Sun appeared and earned followers by protecting his tribe from monsters and natural disasters rather than dueling other warriors.
• At thirty-two, the Dark Sun took Bayan to Han 1, where he met Jieda and learned that Dark Descendants had to fulfill assigned roles.
• Bayan accepted a mining job after learning that his compensation could be sent to his tribe, while Jieda decided the work was too dangerous.
• In the Breathing Soil mine, Bayan rescued Skeleton Miners from the living, shape-shifting substance and devised a special shovel to save their skulls.
• The Breathing Soil caught Bayan as he tried to rescue another miner, and he prayed to God Yao to bless his companions with favorable winds and timely rain.

Bayan was trapped in the Sea of Breathing Soil, where an Epitaph Spirit recorded his impending death while refusing to save him. Just as the Breathing Soil overwhelmed him, Lord Yao rescued him, and Bayan awoke at the Sun Temple honored as a Hero.

• Bayan struggled to escape the Sea of Breathing Soil as an Epitaph Spirit identified him as a Giant Descendant among the Spirit Race and began recording his death.
• Bayan learned that the Epitaph Spirit could not help him and ordered it to wait until future victims died before consuming their corpses.
• As the Breathing Soil broke through Bayan's visor, he reflected on Lord Yao and the Dark Star's god, then fought desperately to stay alive.
• Lord Yao's power drove away the Breathing Soil and seized the Epitaph Spirit before it could bite Bayan.
• Bayan woke at the Sun Temple, where the Black Forge Prophet told him Lord Yao had saved him and the Daughter of the Sun had healed him.
• Bayan learned he had reached level 60 and earned the title of Hero, then resolved to keep fighting for life.

Lu Yao rescued Bayan and discovered that the mud cat on his head was Sixteen Lang, an Epitaph Spirit that carried the final records of hundreds of dead Spirit Race refugees. After learning about the refugees’ deaths and the Spirit Race’s forced descent into the Void Universe, Lu Yao made Sixteen Lang an apostle and sent it back into the Sea of Breathing Soil to search for corpses and aid the Yao Clan Civilization.

• Lu Yao rescued the unconscious Bayan from the Sea of Breathing Soil, healed him, and captured the mud cat that had been riding on his head.
• Lu Yao learned from Baroye that Sixteen Lang was an Epitaph Spirit, then examined its records of 500 deceased Spirit Race members.
• Lu Yao watched the recordings of Gagasi, Xinxintiaweina, and other refugees, discovering that they had died while fleeing the destruction of their home worlds.
• Lu Yao concluded that the Spirit Dukes had lowered the dimensions of connected worlds after the Spirit King died, leaving most of the Spirit Race unable to survive independently.
• Lu Yao restored Sixteen Lang’s health, made it an apostle, and sent it back into the Sea of Breathing Soil to search for corpses and report to him.

Lu Yao investigated mine accidents and gave Philes Evil Restraining Chains to use as safety lines. Bayan’s account suggested Breathing Soil was alive and desperately thirsty, while Sekhmet’s temple developed a new therapeutic fruit called “The Goddess is Smiling”; the chapter ended with Joseph’s delusions worsening and Sekhmet knocking him unconscious.

• Lu Yao learned from King Wuji and Philes that 39 miners had died in three years of Breathing Soil accidents, and he gave Philes ten Evil Restraining Chains to help protect miners and rescue them.
• Lu Yao sent Isabelle to speak with recovering miner Bayan, who said Breathing Soil treated Forbidden Stone armor like dead kin and had invaded his body while crying out for water.
• Isabelle relayed Bayan’s observations to Philes so he could investigate whether Breathing Soil needed water to grow.
• Lu Yao observed Joseph working as a self-appointed attendant in Sekhmet’s temple, where Yaopu and other Physicians cared for patients.
• Pinkman told Lu Yao that Sunshine Rose Fruit eased patients’ suffering and was popularly called “The Goddess is Smiling.”
• Joseph told Sekhmet he believed he had once been the Sun God and would regain divine power, so Sekhmet struck him unconscious and worried that his illness was worsening.

Lu Yao monitored the improved Breathing Soil mines, then accepted Kali’s Blood Eater title and assigned it to Atum. Kali brought the captured Black Angel Crosell to Lu Yao, who prepared to question him about the Black Angels.

• Lu Yao watched the miners work under improved safety measures and saw that the mine’s operations and living areas were running smoothly.
• Kali told Lu Yao she had captured Crosell and offered him the Blood Eater title, explaining that using it damaged the holder’s Wisdom and self-awareness.
• Lu Yao accepted Blood Eater and placed it on Atum, deciding the mindless Subordinate God could use it against dangerous Undead.
• Kali offered to send Crosell to Lu Yao, and Lu Yao agreed to receive him.
• Kali brought the weakened Black Angel through the Hell Gate, and Crosell recognized Lu Yao as Kali’s powerful backing before Kali beat him for his disrespect.
• Lu Yao saw that Crosell was willing to talk and prepared to ask him about the Black Angels.

Lu Yao questioned the captured Black Angel Crosell and learned that the Black Angels were fighting the Demon Gods to prevent them from controlling Hell’s airspace and severing its connection to the outside world. The chapter ended with Crosell asking for a dignified death while Lu Yao considered how to make use of its body.

• Lu Yao examined Crosell, whose injuries and restraints had left it weakened, and asked about the war in Hell.
• Crosell explained that the Black Angels held an advantage near the ground while the Demon Gods dominated the airspace, and that the Black Angels had begun attacking Demon God Pillars to avoid being trapped in Hell.
• Crosell described how the Demon Gods’ defensive structures and the Demon God Scythe had restricted Black Angels’ movement and helped the Demon Gods claim faith from the outside world.
• Crosell revealed that Chiyou, Ishtar, and Hephaestus had helped build the [Heavenly Zenith Gate], a vast Forbidden Stone fortress that controlled the airspace above the ground.
• Crosell said the Black Angels lacked production skills and workers, while their individualism had prevented them from organizing like the Demon Gods.
• Crosell asked Lu Yao to grant it a dignified death, and Lu Yao considered whether to keep its body as a tool.

Lu Yao recruited Crosell as a Yao Clan partner, arranged for him and Kali to keep fighting as cover, and received a Proof of Exile and a way to summon Crosell. After learning Gray Vision was once a prison for Demons, Lu Yao left to buy groceries and hurried past two arguing aunties.

• Lu Yao offered Crosell a partnership, and Crosell accepted after learning the Yao Clan sought allies and intelligence rather than influence over Hell's war.
• Lu Yao summoned Kali and told her and Crosell to continue their battle to conceal their partnership and secure their territory.
• Lu Yao transferred 500 million Flame of Faith to Crosell, who gave him a Proof of Exile that could turn someone into a Demon.
• Crosell explained that Gray Vision had once been a prison created by the Spirit King, where exiled individuals were bound as Demons.
• Lu Yao declared that the Yao Clan would protect its partners but stay out of Hell's internal conflicts, and Crosell left a feather Lu Yao could use to summon him.
• Lu Yao went out to buy groceries, then hurried away when an auntie tried to pull him into an argument over a broken egg.

Lu Yao used Purple Ore to obtain [Carefree Journey], a simulation that let him cultivate fish and earn Psionic Energy through their growth and reproduction. After two generations, the second fish discovered a new Spirit Foundation and evolved into a spiny black creature, leaving Lu Yao eager to name it and see what it could do.

• Lu Yao learned that the Lord of Tides had found Purple Ore, then ordered him to exchange all future Purple Ore for [Carefree Journey].
• The Lord of Tides obtained [Carefree Journey], and Lu Yao activated it and gave the Young Fish [Iron Stomach].
• The Young Fish grew into an Adult Fish, reproduced once, and was eaten by a larger fish; Lu Yao received 1,300 Psionic Energy.
• Lu Yao began a second journey and gave the Young Fish [Rapid Reproduction] to boost its numbers and rewards.
• The Adult Fish reproduced twice, triggered a Spirit Foundation reaction, and died at level 14, earning Lu Yao 500 Psionic Energy and another [Carefree Journey].
• A new Spirit Foundation appeared as a spiny black fish, and Lu Yao prepared to name it.

Lu Yao used Carefree Journey to evolve new fish Spirit Foundations, earning a vast amount of Psionic Energy and creating the rare Amphibious Fish. He then accepted a trade request from the Golden Elixir Nation and discovered that Zhang Cheng wanted Theology to find a God’s weaknesses.

• Lu Yao evolved Spiny Fish through several generations, learning how strength, hunting, and reproduction affected Carefree Journey’s rewards.
• Lu Yao tested different abilities and settled on Iron Stomach, Pack Tactics, and Insight before the fish developed into the medium-rarity Land-landing Fish.
• After nearly ten hours of evolution, Lu Yao created the high-rarity Amphibious Fish and gained 72,000 Psionic Energy.
• The Golden Elixir Nation offered to exchange Alchemy for Theology, and Lu Yao opened the trade’s location.
• Zhang Cheng asked Lu Yao for Theology, offering his Alchemy and soul because he wanted to discover the weaknesses of gods.

Zhang Cheng developed the Illusion-Breaking Pill to uncover the truth about the Evil God's curse and his mother's condition. After seeing that the residents of Elder Mountain were already dead and that the Mountain God’s protection hid the truth, he and Zhang Ye decided they had to escape and survive.

• As a boy, Zhang Cheng saw the Divine Guard capture an old man whose curse had erupted and vowed to protect his mother from the same fate.
• When Zhang Cheng's sick mother left for Elder Mountain, he resolved to become an alchemist so he could visit and help her.
• Zhang Cheng created the Illusion-Breaking Pill, concealing its full achievement behind the Calming Pill, and used it to examine his mother at Elder Mountain.
• Under the pill's effects, Zhang Cheng saw that his mother and the other residents were skeletons, while visitors and guards were deceived by a spell.
• Zhang Ye took the pills on a later visit and confirmed the horror, and he and Zhang Cheng decided to escape rather than confront the Mountain God.