Chapter Summaries

After discovering that the Mountain God used the people of Golden Elixir Nation to raise awakened internal organs as human sacrifices, Zhang Cheng sought out the fugitive Blue Monk and asked to become his disciple. Zhang Ye earned his alchemist qualifications, but when the brothers met Blue Monk, he told them to return and keep lying low.

• Zhang Cheng used the Illusion-Breaking Pill to discover that the Divine Seal awakened people's internal organs into monsters that matured inside their bodies for the Mountain God.
• After hearing a rumor about Blue Monk, Zhang Cheng went into the mountains and found him walking through the Poison Rain.
• Zhang Cheng told Blue Monk what he had discovered and asked to become his disciple, and Blue Monk gave him a token and offered to remove the Mountain God's mark.
• Two months later, Zhang Ye qualified as an alchemist, and the brothers left their village to find Blue Monk.
• Blue Monk told Zhang Cheng and Zhang Ye to return and continue lying low.

Zhang Cheng and Zhang Ye became followers of Blue Monk while continuing to distrust both gods and rely on their own skills. After years of waiting and Zhang Ye was left gravely injured, Zhang Cheng contacted the buried statue and summoned a powerful being who called himself Wildman Huang Jia.

• Blue Monk initiated Zhang Cheng and Zhang Ye into the worship of Mui Ichibo, revealed their Heart-Eating Seals, and ordered them to gather information and recruit believers.
• Zhang Cheng warned Zhang Ye that the Mountain God and Mui Ichibo both treated people as resources, and he devoted himself to refining pills and perfecting the Illusion-Breaking Pill.
• Zhang Ye found a submerged stone statue containing Theology, Astrology, and Basic Semiotics, but Blue Monk identified it as an otherworldly Evil God's statue and buried it deeper in the marsh.
• Over a dozen years, Blue Monk repeatedly delayed helping the brothers escape, and Zhang Ye was left paralyzed after a Poisonous Beast attack while assisting Mui Ichibo's followers.
• After Blue Monk told him to keep waiting, Zhang Cheng dug up the statue and called to the otherworldly Evil God, receiving the power of Theology and summoning a formidable man.
• Zhang Cheng recognized the stranger's divine aura, but the man denied being an Evil God and introduced himself as Wildman Huang Jia.

Zhang Cheng asked Huang Jia about alchemy in the Golden Elixir Nation and accepted his offer to have Physician Sai treat Zhang Cheng’s brother, Zhang Ye. After Sai cured Zhang Ye, Zhang Cheng decided to use the power of multiple gods against the Mountain God and Mui Ichibo, and began telling Huang Jia about their influence.

• Zhang Cheng explained that the Golden Elixir Nation’s pills could extend life or briefly grant great strength, while Huang Jia questioned how much of their power came from gods.
• Zhang Cheng told Huang Jia about Zhang Ye’s poisoning and paralysis, and accepted his offer to bring a physician to help.
• Huang Jia introduced Miss Sai, who examined Zhang Ye and restored his ability to stand, speak, and move.
• Miss Sai warned Zhang Cheng that his own body was severely damaged, but Zhang Cheng accepted his condition and offered her his Illusion-Breaking Pill formula and pills.
• After seeing Zhang Ye healed, Zhang Cheng decided to engage with the Mountain God, Mui Ichibo, and Huang Jia’s god rather than serve only one deity.
• Zhang Cheng told Huang Jia that the Mountain God marked people in the city while Mui Ichibo secretly gathered believers outside it, and Huang Jia found the situation interesting.

Lu Yao entered the godless Golden Elixir Nation to learn Alchemy and discovered that its people suffered under two gods who controlled and exploited them. After Zhang Cheng asked him to execute the local gods, Lu Yao captured Blue Monk and learned that the monk was a projection of the demon god Aobozu, who had come seeking faith.

• Lu Yao examined Zhang Cheng's Alchemy and Heart-Eating Seal abilities, then traded for entry into the dangerous Golden Elixir Nation.
• Lu Yao cured Zhang Ye's poison and paralysis, and Zhang Cheng explained how the Mountain God and Mui Ichibo controlled the people.
• Zhang Cheng asked Lu Yao to execute the local gods, arguing that freedom from their rule would let people live longer and alchemists develop their craft.
• Lu Yao followed Zhang Cheng to Blue Monk and pinned the Shadow Demon to the ground with Brionac.
• Kali identified Blue Monk as a projection of Aobozu, and Blue Monk confessed that he had come to collect Flame of Faith while his main body fought the Black Angel in Hell.

Lu Yao learned that the Blue Monk had competed with the Mountain God for believers in Golden Elixir Nation and that Curse Worms visited the no-man’s-land. He followed the Brain Worm to investigate and discovered that Green Cloaks used the world as a place to excrete undigestible materials.

• Isabelle interrogated the Blue Monk, who revealed that he had gathered believers for eighty-two years and that the Mountain God was a monster rather than a true God.
• The Blue Monk explained that Curse Worms visited Golden Elixir Nation and buried unknown objects in its no-man’s-land.
• Lu Yao summoned the Brain Worm, which detected Curse Worms and led Lu Yao and the Blue Monk into the wilderness.
• Lu Yao saw Green Cloaks burying objects, and the Brain Worm questioned one of them.
• The Brain Worm told Lu Yao that Green Cloaks came through cracks from an insect nest and used Golden Elixir Nation as a place to excrete materials they could not digest.

Lu Yao learned that the Green Cloaks were a dwindling Curse Worm clan descended from Demeter, the Wandering Forgetter, and invited them to join the Yao Clan Civilization. After Green Arrow agreed, Lu Yao turned his attention to the Mountain God of Golden Elixir Nation.

• The Brain Worm explained that Green Cloaks treated the Golden Elixir Nation as a toilet world and maintained it, while their customs prohibited fighting there.
• Lu Yao summoned Xing Tian, whose appearance frightened the Green Cloaks and prompted Green Arrow, their Curse Clan leader, to come apologize.
• Green Arrow explained that the Green Cloaks were collectors who avoided conflict and revealed that their ancestor, Demeter, had shattered after finding her daughter Persephone had become a Death God.
• Green Arrow described the clan's declining numbers and their use of Golden Elixir Nation as a toilet world, where locals valued their waste as alchemy materials.
• Lu Yao invited the Green Cloak clan to join the Yao Clan Civilization, and Green Arrow eagerly accepted.
• Lu Yao looked toward Destiny Mountain and prepared to deal with the Mountain God.

Lu Yao learned how the Green Cloak clan had turned Golden Elixir Nation into a defecation world after an ancient divine war, then discovered that its Mountain God was a sacrificially raised God-Monster branded by Feng Danzi. He ordered Crane Taoist to capture the Blood Goat, and Crane Taoist killed Feng Danzi when the ruler tried to stop him.

• Green Arrow explained that [Dan Chengzi] and [Petrus] had fought a civilization-building contest in Golden Elixir Nation before the Green Cloak clan claimed the world as a place to relieve themselves.
• Lu Yao inspected Destiny Mountain and identified its Mountain God as a Lv99 Blood Goat, a God-Monster bearing Feng Danzi's [Brand] and growing stronger by consuming human vitality.
• Lu Yao ordered Crane Taoist to capture the Blood Goat, and Crane Taoist subdued it with the Dragon Binding Rope and [Puppet Technique].
• Feng Danzi arrived with his soldiers and attacked Crane Taoist, while some of his troops tried to free the Blood Goat.
• Crane Taoist deflected the attacks and killed Feng Danzi with the Dragon Tooth Sword when Feng Danzi refused to yield.

Zhang Ye returned to the Golden Elixir Nation after seven years of research, having helped the Yao Clan identify Formless Wind as the Dark Element and joined the Airship Ring Road project. He reunited with Zhang Cheng, who revealed that he had replaced most of his body with Mechanical Prosthetics to extend his life.

• Crane Taoist approved Zhang Ye to skip training and join official work on the Airship Ring Road after confirming he understood its dangers and responsibilities.
• Zhang Ye’s research into the loss of life salt led him to propose that it produced an invisible substance he called Formless Wind.
• The Yao Clan apostles verified Zhang Ye’s conjecture and identified Formless Wind as the Dark Element, opening a new direction for their research.
• Zhang Ye joined the Yao Clan’s research efforts, caught up on their basic knowledge, and later applied to work on the Airship Ring Road.
• Zhang Ye returned to the Golden Elixir Nation and reunited with Zhang Cheng, who revealed his mechanical body and declared himself the first Mechanical Alchemist.

Zhang Ye returned to the Golden Elixir Nation after seven years and learned from Zhang Cheng how the Yao Clan’s support had transformed their towns and people’s lives. As the brothers reunited, Zhang Cheng speculated that Lord Yao was letting other gods grow powerful so he could harvest them, and warned Zhang Ye to keep away from divine affairs.

• Zhang Ye rode into town with Zhang Cheng and saw Gentle Green Roses protecting the walls, while Zhang Cheng explained how Yao Clan technology had replaced the old Fire-Steam Furnace.
• Zhang Cheng told Zhang Ye that the Heart-Eating Seals had been removed and that Yao Clan support had improved sanitation, health care, and living conditions across the Golden Elixir Nation.
• Zhang Cheng credited the nation’s people for its transformation, explained why Fang Ping had become ruler, and described Mui Ichibo’s supervised preaching and the Green Cloak clan’s organized supply of materials.
• The brothers arrived at Zhang Cheng’s home, where Zhang Ye said he could not discuss his secret work and asked why Lord Yao permitted other gods’ faiths.
• Zhang Cheng suggested that Lord Yao was raising gods and demons to harvest them, and warned Zhang Ye not to meddle in divine affairs.

Lu Yao oversaw the Yao Clan’s settlement in the Golden Elixir Nation and learned that the Arcane Research Institute had developed a Dark Element Tunnel with help from Zhang Ye’s theories. He then continued evolving the Land-landing Fish in Carefree Journey, where a Black Whisker Monster captured it and appeared to try to communicate with it.

• Lu Yao established Green City, put Rock King in charge of local affairs with Green Arrow as deputy, and learned that the Green Cloaks preferred scavenging freely over scouting as an assigned mission.
• Crane Taoist reported that Zhang Ye’s research on dark elements had helped the Arcane Research Institute build a working Dark Element Tunnel.
• Lu Yao activated an Amphibious Fish, but after two generations of idling he switched back to evolving the Land-landing Fish.
• The Land-landing Fish grew claws and hunted insects, then survived as predators and vegetation died off in the increasingly hot, dry environment.
• A Black Whisker Monster seized the Land-landing Fish and placed it in a white room, where it fed on falling stone blocks and black symbols appeared on the walls as if to communicate.

Lu Yao watched a juvenile Shadow Demon raise and care for a Land-landing Fish while its volcanic world grew barren, then learned the creature died as it began thinking. The fish refused to eat the Shadow Demon’s corpse, died soon after, and its Spirit Foundation evolved into a form that Lu Yao could convert into a divine retainer or God-born.

• Lu Yao observed the Shadow Demon feed the Land-landing Fish World Stones and take it on outings, while Isabelle recognized its attempts to teach and communicate with the fish.
• The Shadow Demon used its tentacles to maintain and destroy volcanoes, making the world increasingly hot and barren, as Baroye identified it as a dangerous juvenile Shadow Demon.
• The Shadow Demon collapsed and died, and Baroye explained that many young Shadow Demons perish when thinking awakens and causes them agony.
• The Land-landing Fish repeatedly resisted eating the corpse, covered its remains with stones, and later died without the Shadow Demon’s World Stones to sustain it.
• Lu Yao named the evolved Spirit Foundation Righteous Lizardman, and a prompt offered to convert it into a divine retainer or a God-born.

Lu Yao created the God-born Righteous Lizardmen, who rapidly built a powerful civilization in the Border Zone and awakened abilities linked to his Queen Mother of the West title. After failing to reproduce their success with another species, he heard from Song Shiyi that Great Qin was auctioning valuable items and was invited to take part.

• Lu Yao made the Righteous Lizardmen God-born and chose Queen Mother of the West as their spiritual Totem.
• The Righteous Lizardmen reproduced rapidly, built Queen Mother City, and developed spells that reflected Lu Yao’s title abilities.
• Lu Yao learned that God-born could awaken a creator’s abilities, but their access depended on the chosen spiritual Totem.
• Lu Yao tried to evolve fish into flying creatures through Carefree Journey, but predators made it difficult to survive, much less create another God-born race.
• Song Shiyi told Lu Yao that Great Qin was selling controlled goods at favorable prices and invited him to join the bidding.

Song Shiyi explained Great Qin’s economic crisis and invited Lu Yao to join a bidding trip, while Lu Yao learned about the dangers and resources of the Border Zone. As the Righteous Lizardmen discovered a projection of Kunlun and set out on a pilgrimage, Lu Yao encouraged them before logging off for the night.

• Song Shiyi explained that Great Qin’s economic troubles had led it to invite outside investment, and said Lu Yao could join the committee’s upcoming bidding trip.
• Song Shiyi told Lu Yao that players could not remotely operate worlds in the Border Zone, and that Teacher Zao had experience there.
• Lu Yao watched the Righteous Lizardmen mine omnipotence stones and saw their clan punish Mu Mian for carrying a Queen Mother Platform before learning to cast spells.
• Baroye told Lu Yao that time passed far faster in the Border Zone, where rule conversions created abundant omnipotence stones and some rare world stone mines.
• Wang Jian awakened [Kunlun Projection], showing the lizardmen Kunlun and inspiring them to set out on a pilgrimage to the Queen Mother of the West.
• Lu Yao entered the Spirit Realm in Huang Jia’s body, welcomed the lizardmen with a gesture, and then went to sleep.

Hei Shen recounted how he was paired with the battered God-born Hisoka in the mines of Hao Shan, where both were forced to labor under King Hao Shan. Hisoka remained devoted to the Queen Mother of the West and determined to reach Kunlun, despite Hei Shen warning him that the mythical realm had fallen.

• Hei Shen described Hao Shan’s brutal mining regime and how Hisoka arrived carrying a wooden table he called the Queen Mother Platform.
• Hei Shen and Hisoka were chained together as mining partners, and Hisoka called Hei Shen a child before learning his true age.
• Hisoka swallowed Omnipotence Stone, was beaten by the foremen and mine soldiers, then returned to work while Hei Shen warned him not to touch his poisonous Ginseng Seeds.
• Hei Shen learned that Hisoka was a low-tier God-born whose head injury and supposedly useless ability had led to his being sent to the mine.
• Hisoka showed Hei Shen an image of Kunlun and said the Queen Mother of the West was guiding his clan there, while Hei Shen explained that Kunlun had fallen to extraterrestrial demons.
• Hei Shen asked what Hisoka expected to gain after reaching Kunlun, and Hisoka smiled and said that reaching it would be wonderful.

Hei Shen learned about Hisoka’s people and their devotion to the Queen Mother of the West while working in King Hao Shan’s dangerous, hunger-ridden mines. After nineteen years, Hisoka proposed escaping by flying to Kunlun or seeking help from a troll friend, but the chapter ended with the trolls arriving before they could act.

• Hisoka repeatedly proposed digging through Hao Shan World to escape, while miners and guards pointed out the plan’s obstacles and the lack of food in the warehouse.
• Hei Shen pieced together that the Righteous Lizardmen had fled an attack by the Nuogua and were wandering toward their God, the Queen Mother of the West.
• Hei Shen noticed Hisoka’s sincere worship of the Queen Mother of the West and continued mining alongside it, with both surviving two major rockbursts.
• Nineteen years later, Hisoka suggested breaking through the world from underground, flying to Kunlun, or seeking help from a troll friend.
• The trolls arrived at Hao Shan one year before Hei Shen and Hisoka could put Hisoka’s plan into action.

Hei Shen learned that Hisoka had secretly allied the Righteous Lizardmen with the Storm Tribe and seized Hao Shan World to find an entrance to Kunlun. Years later, Hisoka returned as an Apostle with Queen Mother of the West’s approval and announced that their allied forces would conquer the Nuogua.

• Thousands of trolls arrived at the mining area, drove off King Hao Shan, and claimed the world and its resources.
• Hisoka stopped the troll leader from killing Hei Shen, revealed his true identity, and invited Hei Shen into the alliance against the Nuogua.
• Hisoka led Hei Shen and the troll chief to a hidden projection of a gate to Kunlun beneath Hao Mountain and explained that he had taken the world to find it.
• The trolls took over the mines, and Hei Shen became a respected Troll Dipping Sauce flavorist while Hisoka prayed for the gate to open.
• Hisoka disappeared, then returned years later as an Apostle and announced Queen Mother of the West’s support for a campaign against the Nuogua.
• Longer knelt before the Queen Mother Platform and pledged the Storm Tribe to worship Queen Mother of the West and conquer the Nuogua.

Lu Yao and Isabelle arrived in Great Qin as guests of the Heavenly Court and met Song Shiyi before exploring Xianyang. After learning that Wei Qixiang had been missing for twelve years and his family was struggling, Lu Yao decided to visit and help them.

• Lu Yao used the Hui Jun Talisman with Isabelle and arrived in Great Qin, where a host welcomed them as guests from the Heavenly Court.
• Lu Yao met Han Xiaoyu and Song Shiyi at Cloud Stream Pavilion, and Song Shiyi told them the bidding meeting would begin that evening.
• Song Shiyi guided Lu Yao and Isabelle through Xianyang, describing its mix of ancient and modern life, its economic troubles, and Great Qin’s system of enfeoffing soldiers.
• Song Shiyi confirmed that the committee was also known as the Heavenly Court and explained that it operated under state appointment and support.
• Song Shiyi told Lu Yao that Wei Qixiang had gone missing twelve years earlier and that his sick wife and young child were living in hardship.
• Lu Yao decided to visit Wei Qixiang’s family and help them as best he could.

Lu Yao visited Wei Qixiang’s impoverished family in Yanbian District and gave Madam Yu a Kitchen God cured sausage. Wei Zhao repaid the kindness with a rare card that Lu Yao realized could add an interface to his devices, and Lu Yao began testing it.

• Song Shiyi explained how Great Qin’s unusual passage of time, long lifespans, and stalled expansion had contributed to its economic crisis.
• Lu Yao asked for Wei Qixiang’s address and traveled with Song Shiyi and Isabelle to his home in Yanbian District.
• Lu Yao gave Madam Yu a cured sausage intended for Wei Qixiang, and she accepted it after initially hesitating.
• Wei Zhao gave Lu Yao peanuts and a rare Psionic Encapsulation Card, explaining that his father never let people send things to their home.
• Lu Yao identified the card as a Basic Interface Card and began testing whether it could upgrade his Type I and Type II devices.

Lu Yao discovered that External Interfaces let the Spirit Shrine Machine use Psionic Valves to improve its abilities, so he sought more psionic devices while helping Yu Qiaoyan fund her son’s education. After spotting Wuyou Township’s renovation flyers, he contacted Mr. Smile and was escorted aboard a conspicuous airship, where he learned Mr. Smile was meeting with a Heavenly Court official.

• Lu Yao installed a Basic Interface Card on the Spirit Shrine Machine and connected an idle Psionic Valve, raising the machine’s psionic abilities to LV2.
• Lu Yao gave Isabelle one million Mystic Notes to lend Yu Qiaoyan, and she returned with Yu Qiaoyan’s signed IOU after persuading her to accept the money for Wei Zhao’s sake.
• Song Shiyi explained that Great Qin had many Psionic Encapsulation Cards, which the empire sold through lottery-like Psionic Card Notes.
• Lu Yao noticed that Wuyou Township’s Great Qin Xianyang Hall was behind Yanbian District’s renovation campaign and called Mr. Smile.
• Mr. Smile sent a goldfish airship to collect Lu Yao, Isabelle, and Song Shiyi, and the crowd watched them board.
• Lu Yao learned that Mr. Smile was meeting the Heavenly Court’s Heavenly Wealth Star Lord, whom Song Shiyi identified as Minister Fu from the Enforcement Bureau’s Procurement Department, and chose to wait.

Zhao Zhenzhu surveilled Song Shiyi and Huang Jia, uncovering Huang Jia’s dealings with Wei Qixiang and Madam Yu while learning that Wuyou Township was courting him. After the Imperial Guard Department classified Huang Jia as an upper Grade A danger, Zhao accepted orders to approach him and recruit him.

• Zhao Zhenzhu continued tracking Moon God Song Shiyi and observed her meeting Huang Jia, who discussed the demoted Wei Qixiang with her.
• Zhao Zhenzhu followed Huang Jia to Madam Yu’s home and recorded him giving Madam Yu Kitchen Food on Wei Qixiang’s behalf.
• Zhao Zhenzhu saw Wuyou Township welcome Huang Jia aboard the Flowing Feast Flying Fish, but a young man discovered her Bamboo Dragonfly and stopped her surveillance.
• Zhao Zhenzhu visited Madam Yu, who showed her the gifts and a million-value Mystic Note and denied receiving improper offers.
• Zhao Zhenzhu received orders to stop following Song Shiyi and establish a relationship with Huang Jia, whom the Imperial Guard Department rated as an upper Grade A danger.
• Zhao Zhenzhu accepted the risky mission to approach Huang Jia.