Chapter Summaries

Su Shijie stabilized after reaching the Transformation Tier and discovered how his Spirit Caller abilities could use Virtual Organs to turn contamination into strength. He left his room to find Nan Mingxi at his home, where his family had been waiting and guarding him.

• Dawn explained that Su Shijie could access the Star Domain Network for games but needed interstellar currency for most other services, so he chose to cultivate quietly before using the training room.
• Su Shijie explored his Transformation Tier changes and learned that his two Virtual Organs absorbed contamination's side effects while passing some of its benefits to him.
• Su Shijie implanted tentacles into his Virtual Organs, pushing his Spirit Caller enhancements to their limits and reflecting on the risks that had brought down the Spirit Wind Knights.
• Su Shijie left his room to reassure his family and was surprised to find Nan Mingxi chatting with Bai Xinxin at his home.
• Bai Xinxin asked whether Su Shijie had completed his breakthrough, while Su Ren explained that Nan Mingxi had offered to stand guard and that he could not stop her.

Nan Mingxi declared that Su Shijie was her future husband and tried to pin him down, but he struck her and fled. Ma Chao watched Su Shijie leave and wondered why he seemed to be running from such good fortune.

• Nan Mingxi told Bai Xinxin that she was interested in Su Shijie because her ancestor had chosen him as her future husband.
• Nan Mingxi proposed marrying Su Shijie immediately, and Su Ren encouraged his son to get to know her.
• Nan Mingxi explained that she had agreed to her ancestor’s proposal because she wanted to choose her own future rather than accept her father’s plans for Ma Chao.
• Nan Mingxi pinned Su Shijie against a wall, but he punched her in the stomach and fled in a Hovercar.
• Ma Chao saw Su Shijie speed away and wondered whether he was overwhelmed or embarrassed by Nan Mingxi’s proposal.

Su Shijie vented to Theodora about a woman pursuing him, then checked Hu Zhi’s progress and learned the Spirit Wind Knights had appeared in Binhai City. He ordered the Evil God Cultists to keep a low profile and proposed that they sincerely take up charity work as a disguise.

• Su Shijie told Theodora that a woman had set her sights on him, and she encouraged him to be cautious while hiding her own jealousy.
• Su Shijie visited Hu Zhi and learned that the cult had expanded its Soul Power supply by persuading a neighboring diocese to share its Contamination Source.
• Hu Zhi reported that Spirit Wind Knights had been sighted in Binhai City’s Inner City District and that two fellow believers had been killed.
• Su Shijie ordered the cultists to lie low and make their activities less conspicuous.
• Su Shijie urged the cultists to devote themselves sincerely to charity, and Hu Zhi praised the idea.

Su Shijie discovered that Nan Mingxi had won over his family and moved into their home, then set out to find a Spirit Wind Knights knight. He found the knight shunned and humiliated by ordinary citizens, and watched her make a meal alone beneath the Yellow River Bridge.

• Su Shijie returned home and found Nan Mingxi chatting warmly with his family despite her hospital gown and IV drip.
• Nan Mingxi told Su Shijie she had started following him after he hit her, while his family encouraged them to be friends.
• Su Shijie blocked his bedroom door, slipped into warped curvature, and went searching for the Spirit Wind Knights knight.
• Su Shijie learned that citizens had thrown vegetables at the knight and driven her away from a supermarket, despite her having defeated Evil God Cultists.
• Su Shijie spotted the cloaked woman collecting discarded vegetables and discounted food, then followed her beneath the Yellow River Bridge as she cooked alone.

Su Shijie met Yan Ni, a Spirit Wind Knight from Shelter P-314, and learned that her family had spent generations atoning for the disgrace caused by a fallen ancestor. After Yan Ni left, Su Shijie vowed that she and her siblings would be the last group forced to carry that burden.

• Su Shijie approached Yan Ni at her camp and told her about the devastation Evil God Cultists had brought to his life.
• Yan Ni introduced herself as a Spirit Wind Knight and revealed that Yan Fen and Yan Yongkang were her older sister and brother.
• Yan Ni explained that she had inherited her ancestor's bloodline and sought to become strong enough to wash away her family's sin.
• After Yan Ni departed, Dawn told Su Shijie that deputy commander Yan Fei had fallen and the Yan family had made atonement its generations-long precept.
• Su Shijie declared that Yan Ni and her siblings would be the last group to bear that burden.

After surviving an ambush by nine Transformation Tier assassins, Su Shijie learned they had been hired through the Assassin's Guild but did not know who their employer was. Dawn destroyed the Guild's temporary base in Binhai to erase evidence linking Su Shijie to the failed assassination, leaving the employer unaware of what had happened.

• Su Shijie was ambushed near the Yellow River by seven Transformation Tier attackers and two snipers, but he killed the attackers and crippled one sniper for questioning.
• The surviving sniper revealed that his team had accepted a highly paid assassination contract and planned to make Su Shijie disappear without a trace, but he did not know who had hired them.
• Su Shijie drained the sniper and learned the location of the Assassin's Guild's temporary base in the Dock District.
• After communications were restored, Dawn contacted Su Shijie about the gunshots, and he told her the assassination attempt had been dangerous.
• Dawn fired an optical weapon at the Guild's temporary base, saying she wanted to erase Su Shijie's information and prevent anyone from connecting him to the assassins' deaths.

Su Shijie used the destruction of the Dock District Assassin's Guild base to disguise himself as killer Abyss and pursue the client who had ordered the hit. After waiting at another guild base, he watched the client arrive to register the job again.

• Dawn explained that she could occasionally intervene without exposing herself, and Su Shijie realized the client might hire another killer.
• People at an Inner City District bar discussed Dawn's destruction of the Dock District base and the Assassin's Guild's cautious, offline procedures.
• Disguised as Abyss, Su Shijie gave the bartender the job code and claimed the destroyed base had interrupted his attempt to carry out the assignment.
• Su Shijie waited at the bar, acting like an ordinary customer, until the following evening.
• The client arrived to register the job again and entered a sealed room to explain its details, giving Su Shijie a chance to identify him.

Su Shijie tracked the assassination plot to the Sun Family, which wanted him gone because of his connection to the Binhai Interstellar Trade and Transportation Company. Unable to confront the Sun Family’s Evolutionary Tier experts directly, he decided to destroy the company first and avoid provoking a wider conflict.

• Su Shijie tracked the mission issuer from the Assassin's Guild to a basement hideout and uncovered evidence pointing to the Sun Family.
• Su Shijie and Dawn concluded that the Sun Family had ordered his assassination to eliminate a threat tied to the Binhai Interstellar Trade and Transportation Company.
• Dawn said the Sun Family had three Evolutionary Tier experts on Earth and raised the possibility of destroying their Floating City.
• Su Shijie told Dawn not to alert the Sun Family and decided to wipe out the Binhai Interstellar Trade and Transportation Company instead.

Su Shijie assassinated Wang Tiangai and the executives of the Binhai Interstellar Trade and Transportation Company, then escaped before nearby Evolutionary Tier experts could catch him. The Sun Family’s leader blamed Federal Heavy Industry for the attack and resolved to deal with the exposed plot later.

• Wang Tiangai told Wang Shuang to restrain the company’s recruitment and worried that the Sun Family would bring trouble upon them.
• Su Shijie shot Wang Tiangai three times, killing him in his secret chamber.
• Su Shijie killed the company’s remaining executives with precise shots, then escaped by entering curvature as Evolutionary Tier experts approached.
• The experts found that every executive had been killed, but they could not identify the attacker or the motive.
• On Yi Yuan City, the Sun Family’s leader learned of the massacre, blamed Federal Heavy Industry, and decided to settle the matter later.

Su Shijie told his family he had a work assignment and left Binhai to hunt Contamination Sources and seek a meeting with Taotie. Before departing, he asked Hu Zhi and his brothers to continue working toward his goal and received contacts among Destruction worshippers in the Shattered Islands.

• Su Shijie returned home, teased Nan Mingxi about her staying with him, and discussed the Sand Tribe, the Beast Tribe, and the Prometheus Civilization with Bai Xinxin.
• Su Shijie claimed he had a weapons calibration assignment and hurriedly left after eating, while Nan Mingxi flirted with him through telekinesis.
• Su Shijie messaged Theodora and Wang Lang to say goodbye, then asked Hu Zhi's brothers for Taotie's contact information.
• Hu Zhi worried about Su Shijie going to sea alone, but Su Shijie said traveling alone would make him a smaller target.
• Hu Zhi offered contacts for Destruction worshippers in the Shattered Islands, and Su Shijie planned to try persuading them to join Dawn.

Su Shijie boarded the Prosperity under Abyss’s identity, beginning a two-year voyage aboard a massive ocean hunting vessel. He hired a sailor to guide him around the ship.

• Su Shijie used Abyss’s registered details and booked passage aboard the Prosperity for two years.
• Su Shijie arrived in Binhai City’s Dock District and reflected on how different it felt from the Inner City.
• Su Shijie boarded the Prosperity, a vast vessel equipped to support hundreds of thousands of people at sea.
• A sailor approached Su Shijie and offered to guide him around the ship during the day for 300 Credit Points.
• Su Shijie accepted the sailor’s offer.

Su Shijie hired Qian Cheng to guide him aboard the Prosperity, bought underwater equipment, and learned the dangers and routines of hunting at sea. With a suspected Contamination Source and a recent Spirit Crystal Meteorite site marked as his first target, Su Shijie prepared for the voyage ahead.

• Qian Cheng offered to rent Su Shijie his crew quarters, but Su Shijie booked an ordinary room instead.
• Qian Cheng explained that Su Shijie's assault rifle was unsuitable underwater and took him to dockside shops, where Su Shijie spent four hundred thousand Credit Points on equipment.
• Qian Cheng warned Su Shijie about disappearances aboard the ship, dangerous teammates, scams, and the risks of revealing valuable finds at sea.
• Qian Cheng showed Su Shijie the Prosperity's route toward the Abyssal Trench and explained how passengers could hunt and catch up to the moving ship.
• Su Shijie identified a nearby Contamination Zone with a recent Spirit Crystal Meteorite impact as his first target.

Su Shijie tested diving gear near the harbor while Qian Cheng explained the dangers and equipment used in underwater hunts. When they returned to the platform, an apparently friendly stranger approached Su Shijie, whose senses detected intense malice.

• The Prosperity began its slow departure as Su Shijie watched crews gather on the diving platform to practice entering the water.
• Qian Cheng warned Su Shijie about underwater combat, depth limits, and the risks posed by pressure and sea creatures.
• Su Shijie agreed to practice with Qian Cheng and said he would keep him safe in the calm waters near the harbor.
• Qian Cheng explained boarding rights, tether lines, and the risk of people secretly disconnecting equipment ports.
• Qian Cheng demonstrated diving equipment, and Su Shijie decided to test it more thoroughly at the first stop.
• A square-faced man approached Su Shijie and asked if he was alone, while Su Shijie sensed intense malice from him.

Su Shijie refused Iron Bull’s invitation to join a team but agreed to dive alongside him, while keeping his strength concealed. At the Prosperity’s first stop in a shallow Contamination Zone, Su Shijie sensed Iron Bull’s team had maliciously targeted him, leaving him to decide how to deal with them.

• Su Shijie rejected Iron Bull’s offer to join his team and returned to his room with Qian Cheng.
• Su Shijie spotted women sunbathing on deck, and Iron Bull approached him again to propose diving together without forming a team.
• Su Shijie reassured Qian Cheng that he was strong enough to handle Iron Bull.
• The Prosperity stopped at a meteor impact zone, and large numbers of hunters entered the water.
• Su Shijie sensed that Iron Bull’s team, including three Late Awakened Rank 9s, intended to attack him.

Su Shijie killed Iron Bull’s crew underwater and brought their equipment back to the Prosperity, where rumors soon spread about a vicious hunter attacking people. After hearing the description of the suspected attacker, a diver realized it matched Su Shijie.

• Iron Bull and his crew pursued Su Shijie underwater, planning to kill him and steal his equipment.
• Su Shijie used his flying knives to kill the crew, then returned to the Prosperity with their mobile propulsion devices.
• Qian Cheng assessed the recovered equipment and offered to handle its sale while Su Shijie went back underwater.
• Su Shijie stopped a diver returning to the platform and heard that people were fleeing a vicious hunter attacking hunters.
• The diver recognized that the attacker’s reported appearance and equipment matched Su Shijie and began to cry.

Su Shijie searched the seabed for a Contamination Source and Spirit Crystal Ore, then fought a Transformation Tier Contaminated Beast octopus that had ambushed him. He killed it and found Spirit Crystal Ore, but the Contamination Source remained undiscovered.

• Su Shijie entered the water alone after the hunting squads descended and searched the seabed for signs of a Contamination Source and Spirit Crystal Ore.
• Su Shijie followed traces of contamination to a barren stretch of seabed but could not sense the beast that had left them.
• A Transformation Tier Contaminated Beast octopus erupted from the sand and attacked Su Shijie with eight tentacles.
• Su Shijie evaded the ambush, blocked the octopus’s poisonous blood, and tracked it through its ink before killing it with his Psionic Energy Longsword and flying knives.
• Su Shijie found several pieces of Spirit Crystal Ore beneath the octopus and realized that such creatures could make Contamination Sources difficult to find.

Su Shijie worked underwater near the Prosperity, where hunters mistook his octopus hunt for a berserk Black Demon attack. Unable to locate the nearby Contamination Source, he used Dark Light techniques to alter his aura and lure out the creature carrying it, and an Evolutionary Tier presence approached.

• A Transformation Tier hunting squad spotted black ink spreading underwater and warned everyone that a contaminated Black Demon was on a killing spree.
• Su Shijie realized the octopus he had killed might have caused the panic, then returned underwater while the others stayed on the diving platform.
• Over three days, Su Shijie killed seven Transformation Tier octopuses, including three Contaminated Beasts, and collected twenty-one pieces of Spirit Crystal Ore, but he did not find the Contamination Source.
• As the Prosperity prepared to leave, Su Shijie altered his aura with techniques from Dark Light to attract the intelligent Contaminated Beast he suspected was carrying the source.
• The seafloor began to bulge toward Su Shijie as a powerful wave of worshipful emotion converged on him, revealing that an Evolutionary Tier creature was approaching.

Su Shijie stole the Contamination Source from a massive Evolutionary Tier Bobbit Worm, then used its Soul Power to gain the vibration trait and strengthen his abilities. He returned to the tangled worm and killed it, proving he could threaten Evolutionary Tier enemies if he could land a hit.

• Su Shijie dodged the Bobbit Worm’s attacks until it tangled itself into a knot, then warped into its body and took the Contamination Source.
• Su Shijie siphoned Soul Power from the Contamination Source and gained the vibration trait, enhancing his other traits as well.
• Su Shijie combined vibration with Telekinesis and his other abilities to unleash powerful ranged attacks across the sea.
• Su Shijie returned to the tangled Bobbit Worm and used his spiritual energy flying knives to sever and shred its body.
• Su Shijie concluded that his attacks could kill Evolutionary Tier enemies, but he still needed a way to lock onto them.

Su Shijie returned from killing the underwater Contaminated Beast to find the Prosperity fleeing at 120 knots. He caught up with the ship and went to his room, while the hunters aboard continued to fear an attack.

• Su Shijie used his underwater marker to locate the Prosperity, but found that it had sped away at 120 knots.
• The Prosperity's crew and hunters fled after its captain warned that an Evolutionary Tier Contaminated Beast had appeared beneath the sea.
• Su Shijie accelerated across the water with his propulsion unit and caught up to the Prosperity.
• Hunters in the casino mistook Su Shijie's knocks on the alloy door for an attack by the Spirit Beast.
• Su Shijie entered the casino, told Qian Cheng to make himself comfortable, and headed to his room to train.

Su Shijie used Spirit Crystals to accelerate his gene imbuement and rose from early Level 1 to mid-stage Level 3 of the Transformation Tier in less than a month. With his supply exhausted, Dawn offered him Spirit Crystals in exchange for sex, but he refused and faced a choice between slowing down and finding another way to cultivate.

• Su Shijie used a Spirit Crystal to complete over half the Gene Imbuement for his newly compiled genes in one night, far faster than training in an advanced training ground.
• After using his gathered Spirit Crystal Ore, Su Shijie reached the mid-stage of Level 3 of the Transformation Tier and believed his combat power could match low-level Evolutionary Tier opponents.
• Su Shijie reflected that his combat strength had risen through bloodline and trait bonuses, but he had not undergone the Evolutionary Tier transformation of will into tangible force.
• Su Shijie told Dawn that he was stuck without Spirit Crystal Ore, and she offered him one standard unit for a mating session with a woman aboard the Prosperity.
• Su Shijie rejected Dawn's offer, while recognizing that she was worried about the dangers of his rapid gene compilation and wanted him to slow down.