Chapter Summaries

Twenty-four years after the founding of Human 18th Civilization, Lu Yuan attended the first graduates’ ceremony at Green Field School, where Lu Tiantian hoped to uncover the truth about Lu Yuan and Seashell. The students’ gossip forced Lu Yuan to kiss Seashell before he fled, leaving the crowd cheering.

• Lu Tiantian reflected on graduating after completing doctoral studies in six fields and on his childhood memories of Lu Yuan and Seashell.
• Lu Tiantian’s sister dragged him to the school gates to see Lu Yuan, while he resolved to investigate whether Lu Yuan and Seashell were truly married.
• Lu Yuan arrived at the graduation ceremony and offered to answer the students’ questions, but they demanded gossip instead.
• Lu Tiantian asked when Lu Yuan and Seashell would have a child, then questioned whether they slept together or had divorced.
• Lu Yuan kissed Seashell on the cheek and escaped the cheering crowd, calling back that they were doing great.

Yunhai City assessed the enormous spoils from its battle and used the windfall to plan for greater self-sufficiency, while Green Field City surpassed its population target and graduated a new generation. Hai Zhiyun, a young researcher with the rare Mind Upload ability, left school with generous research funding and faced the promise and risks of his power.

• Professor Ma appraised the battle spoils, identifying valuable flesh, tendons, bones, and more than thirty spirit crystals before overusing God's Skill and bleeding from the nose.
• Li Chunhong announced that the spoils were worth 1,102.9 units of Spiritual Resonance and urged Yunhai City to strengthen its industry and prepare to fight.
• By the 207th year of the Ninth Era, Green Field City's population had reached 1.017 million, and another class of students graduated.
• Hai Zhiyun described how Mind Upload let him process data at extraordinary speed but could drain his emotions, and he recorded his thoughts before listening to an old Earth song.
• Hai Zhiyun reunited with his friend Hai Dafu and revealed that he had received 200,000 Extraordinary Points and ten million Green Field Coins in research funding from his father.

After Sky City emerged from the ghost fog, Human 18 Civilization began rebuilding while Lu Yuan struggled to understand his inspiration. The ratfolk’s advice about civilizational destiny gave him a breakthrough, and he rushed off to investigate a flower.

• The soldiers and Ratfolk Artisans cleaned Sky City and began restoring supplies and agriculture as hibernators awakened in small batches.
• Rat Gongye asked whether the aberrants were still hibernating, and a young soldier said Lu Tiantian was working to save them and vowed to live for those who could not.
• Lu Yuan told the ratfolk he had spent thirty-two days pursuing low-grade inspiration and was developing a weapon to cause pain to higher-level anomalies.
• The Ratfolk Artisans questioned Lu Yuan about his inspiration and argued over whether a Legendary mining robot lacked civilizational destiny.
• Rat Gongye advised Lu Yuan to combine personal emotions with civilizational destiny, and Lu Yuan realized destiny was what his inspiration lacked.
• Lu Yuan pointed out a flower and declared that it had been tainted by destiny before hurrying away, leaving the ratfolk bewildered.

Lu Yuan hatched and fed 1,500 Insectoid Warriors, then prepared Sky City’s defenses as a hostile force approached. After crow scouts attacked the city, more than a hundred thousand silent enemies charged below, and Lu Yuan realized something was flying toward them.

• Lu Yuan hatched 1,500 Insectoid Warriors, including Leviathan and Mammoth Giant Insects, and fed them monster corpses and stored supplies.
• Lu Yuan sent Fungus Blanket Insects to the oil depot to process petroleum into nutrients, calming the hungry swarm while the larger insects rapidly grew.
• A flock of crows attacked Sky City with Mental Roars, but Lu Yuan ordered the soldiers to use Opium Poppy Tree vines and fired a Fuel Bomb that set many birds ablaze.
• Sha Kaner apologized for the soldiers’ weakness against the crows’ mental attack, and Lu Yuan urged everyone to fight on.
• More than a hundred thousand people in Empire clothing gathered below Sky City and charged forward as its cannons bombarded them.
• Lu Yuan heard a series of crackling sounds, felt his sixth sense warn him, and shouted that the enemies were flying over.

Yao Drizzle launched a second assault on Yunhai City, overwhelming the Safe Zone’s defenses until the Chinese Parasol Tree produced a vast blue light curtain that wounded it and drove it away. The city survived the attack with a huge piece of Yao’s flesh as spoils, while officials wondered whether the tree had protected them.

• Zhang Hui suspected that Yao Drizzle had targeted Yunhai City because of its accumulated fortune or the Chinese Parasol Tree, while officials learned that Blood Rain had infected shelter residents and a soldier killed one transformed monster.
• Yao Drizzle attacked again, using its freezing power to weaken the Safe Zone’s light curtain until it began to collapse.
• Li Chunhong ordered missiles and other weapons fired, but Yao’s domain disrupted the missiles and the remaining weapons could not break through its frost.
• The Chinese Parasol Tree emitted the syllable “Guang” and formed a huge blue light curtain that cut off a chunk of Yao Drizzle’s flesh and forced it to retreat.
• Li Chunhong and the other officials watched Yao Drizzle disappear beyond the horizon and wondered whether the tree had protected Yunhai City.

Lu Yuan read Meida Civilization’s archives and discovered that it had stayed inside its Safe Zone for centuries despite repeated warnings to venture onto Pangu Continent. The records left him fearing that humanity could make the same mistake as disasters grew more frequent and even Sky Cities fell.

• Lu Yuan examined Meida Civilization’s government records and learned that scarce resources had forced Gou’er City to control supplies and recycle materials.
• Lu Yuan read papers warning that Meida Civilization’s Safe Zone would not protect it forever and that the civilization needed to enter Pangu Continent to access resources.
• Lu Yuan found that Meida Civilization had remained in its Safe Zone for three hundred years while experts repeatedly urged it to advance.
• Lu Yuan learned that the delay left Meida Civilization nearly thirty thousand years behind civilizations that had entered Pangu Continent earlier.
• Lu Yuan read that supernatural disasters were becoming more frequent, turning regions into wastelands and causing even powerful Sky Cities to fall.

Lu Yuan used a burst of inspiration to shape the Chaos Essence Stone into a growing Godly Body, combining the Life Tree, Painted Skin, and his soul. With the body’s framework nearly complete but one crucial piece still missing, he ran out of money and refused Seashell’s offer to sacrifice her Immortal Equipment.

• Seashell used the Opium Poppy Tree to obtain money from the Old Geezer, and Lu Yuan began modifying the Chaos Essence Stone with help from mental-power buffs.
• Lu Yuan fused the Life Tree and his soul into the stone, forming blood vessels, a stomach filled with magma power, a brain, and bones containing the power of steel.
• Lu Yuan added Painted Skin leather, allowing the Godly Body to grow its own transformable skin, then left room for future organs and abilities instead of forcing the design.
• After a month, the Godly Body had taken shape as a fetus within the stone, but Lu Yuan had spent nearly all his resources and still sensed a small missing piece.
• Seashell offered to sacrifice her Immortal Equipment for more spirit essence, but Lu Yuan refused because it could amplify her Spirit Speech Art.

After consuming high-level extraordinary food and drawing energy from a Fire Red Spirit Crystal, Lu Yuan broke through to Extraordinary Level 2. His attributes and senses improved greatly, leaving him excited but struggling to control his new strength.

• Lu Yuan returned home after eating, noticed the Vigorous State buff, and prepared to cultivate with the Fire Red Spirit Crystal.
• Lu Yuan absorbed Mind Energy from the crystal, strengthening his body as his Extraordinary Tinder grew over several hours.
• Lu Yuan shattered the barrier around his tinder and advanced to Extraordinary Level 2, raising all three attributes by more than two points.
• Lu Yuan tested his increased strength and senses, accidentally hurt Old Wolf with a pat, and gave the dog pomegranates while resolving to adapt to his strength.

Lu Yuan and humanity welcomed the Underground Alliance, whose representatives were impressed by humanity’s technology and diverse allies. As the visit continued, Lu Yuan revealed the enormous private wealth he had looted from the Insectoid Legion, while he and Old Cat discussed trade, security, and what to show their guests.

• Lu Yuan explained to Da Dao Gang that technology and powerful experts would remain essential in future wars, and the Underground Alliance became eager to acquire Puppet Mechas.
• Lu Yuan introduced Old Cat, Sea Snail, Undying Giant Turtle, Mirage Cloud Dragon, and the Ratfolk Artisans to the Underground Alliance, impressing them with humanity’s diverse allies and foundations.
• Lu Yuan secretly gave Maid Miss a beauty-enhancing potion, reunited with her, and promised Old Wolf mushrooms that increased reproductive ability.
• Old Cat reported that humanity had finalized a trade for six hundred mushrooms and was negotiating for four hundred more, then asked Lu Yuan how much he had embezzled.
• Lu Yuan said he had consumed more than twelve thousand Spiritual Rhyme, kept nearly six thousand functional mushrooms, and made a Legendary Puppet Mecha using his Insectoid Legion connections.
• Lu Yuan and Old Cat agreed to keep Green Field Mountain and the Opium Poppy Tree secret from the Underground Alliance while arranging for Master Lu Lun to teach humanity’s artisans.

Lu Yuan announced a fifty-year plan to develop Human 18th Civilization and Green Field City into a Level Three Civilization. The plan focused on standardizing industry, expanding the population and education system, researching Civilization Points and advanced technology, and leaves the city preparing for a new naming system for future generations.

• Lu Yuan said humanity would spend fifty years developing Green Field City into a Level Three Civilization, with the nearby rift and the Underground Alliance supporting that goal.
• Lu Yuan identified humanity’s mixed technologies and unstable industrial standards as major weaknesses, and called for a unified human industrial system.
• Lu Yuan announced plans to grow Green Field City’s population to one million, extend compulsory education to age twenty-four, create five universities and twelve research institutes, and establish two hundred enterprises.
• Lu Yuan explained that Level Three Civilizations began to understand and apply Civilization Points, citing the Source Fire Civilization’s volcano technology and the Green Field Civilization’s Harvest Command.
• Lu Yuan called for research into faster aircraft, mech puppets, and giant engines to improve Sky City and replace some human labor.
• Lu Yuan said future generations would use different surnames because the existing pool of names was too limited, while adults would remain free to change their names.

Lu Yuan tested the fishmen’s D-Omega Active Drug while Little Mirage Dragon secretly followed their fleet to South Island Civilization. There, Little Mirage Dragon witnessed the fishmen remove a dying elder’s brain chip and discovered that hospitals had been abandoned, leaving it convinced something was deeply wrong.

• Fishman experts calibrated the machine over thirty days, gave humanity D-Omega Active Drug, and returned to their fleet.
• Lu Yuan swallowed a pill, found that it seemed to extend lifespan, and went looking for Little Mirage Dragon.
• Little Mirage Dragon hid aboard a South Island Civilization warship, reached its coral reef port, and explored the fishmen’s society.
• Little Mirage Dragon watched fishmen kill a collapsed elder, remove a chip from his brain, recycle his soul, and throw his body into the sea.
• Little Mirage Dragon found that the hospitals were abandoned and saw a newborn fishman stop crying and lose the liveliness in its eyes after a chip was implanted.

Lu Yuan learned that the ghost beneath the seal could yield vast spiritual essence or help someone become a god, but he left without committing to the Mirror Demon's risky plan. He departed the Safe Zone with the Life Tree, leaving the Lizardmen to face an uncertain future after the immediate crisis was postponed.

• The Mirror Demon proposed using the Undying Giant Turtle and Legendary Level sealing items to reinforce the seal while leaving a few cracks for the ghost's pressure.
• The Mirror Demon revealed that the ghost could produce tens of thousands of spiritual essence yearly and might allow someone to become a god, but Lu Yuan chose to leave.
• Lu Yuan promised to send the Mirror Demon a book through the Yin Yang Bowl and exited the sealed space.
• Lu Yuan told the Lizardmen that the spaceship's head was in danger and said farewell, then gave them an Excellent-grade mirror for remote communication and small-item transport.
• The Life Tree carried the spaceship to the Safe Zone's edge, and Lu Yuan and the Life Tree departed as the Lizardmen and humans bid them goodbye.

Humanity established contact with the Aka Steel Civilization, demonstrated its military strength, and agreed to travel together toward the Advanced Civilization Ruins. At their first face-to-face meeting, Solomon claimed the ruins had been left by a former Level Five or even Level Six civilization, leaving Lu Yuan and the human delegation stunned.

• Lu Yuan ordered Green Field City to approach the unknown civilization cautiously and use a display of military strength to deter conflict.
• Humanity and the Aka Steel Civilization demonstrated their floating fortresses, fighters, and Hydrogen Bombs, then agreed to keep their cities ten thousand kilometers apart and head toward the Advanced Civilization Ruins.
• The Aka Steel Civilization explained that the ruins hosted many alien races and civilizations, and that visitors used Value Points to buy high-level items.
• Lu Yuan sent a diplomatic team led by Lu Yu to meet the Aka Steel Civilization on a coral reef, where they exchanged gifts and introduced themselves.
• Solomon told the human delegation that the Advanced Civilization Ruins had been left by a former Level Five Civilization, perhaps even a Level Six or Peak Civilization.

Lu Yuan led the Treasure Hunting Team to the South Island Civilization’s Coral Reef to search for its Advanced Ruins while humanity fought the fishmen at Sky City. The Opium Poppy Tree helped turn the battle, but the fishmen then bombarded it with powerful missiles, driving the fighting into its fiercest stage.

• Lu Yuan told the Treasure Hunting Team to search for the Advanced Ruins and survivors rather than waste time fighting, then brought the cloaked Sky Fortress to the Coral Reef.
• The fishmen spotted the Sky Fortress, and Lu Yuan ordered a crash landing as Leviathan and the other war bugs charged into battle.
• At Sky City, fishmen used halo weapons to incapacitate human fighters, while people across the shelter prepared to fight and the Ratfolk Artisans lent soldiers equipment.
• Sea Snail Miss merged with the Opium Poppy Tree, whose mental attack restored paralyzed human soldiers and incapacitated many fishmen.
• Human forces counterattacked, but the fishmen’s mastermind launched massive missiles at the Opium Poppy Tree, prompting officers to order attacks on the submarines.

Lu Yuan brought his family and Human Alliance leaders aboard the Green Field Knight, showing them Green Field City's advanced equipment and extraordinary insectoids while hinting at the city's overwhelming strength. He left the visitors stunned by the ship's vast interior, which was far larger than its exterior suggested.

• Lu Yuan invited Human Alliance leaders to tour the Green Field Knight and allowed soldiers from Yunhai City and New York City to bring experimental Powered Armor for a friendly display.
• Lu Yuan explained that Green Field City had outgrown wager battles because war with stronger civilizations carried greater risks than rewards, shocking the visitors with the implication that Green Field City was at least a Level Four Civilization.
• Lu Yuan showed the visitors Level A Powered Exoskeletons and a Level 15 Gold Devouring Worm, then summoned Scout Sickles and offered the cities Insect Eggs.
• Lu Yuan led the visitors into the Green Field Knight, where they realized its interior was far larger than its exterior.

Lu Yuan and the human delegation watched the Ancient Races gather at the Heavenly Pillar, where the Evil Dragon Emperor began a ceremony to awaken First Era ancestors despite warnings that it could hasten the Era Disaster. As the statues started to shed stone, Lu Yuan prepared the Giant God Soldier team for a possible battle while considering releasing the ghosts.

• Lu Yuan led the Giant God Soldier corps to the White Jade Plaza and told the Ancient Insect they would act as strangers in public.
• Lu Ying scanned the gathered civilizations as Old Cat joined Lu Yuan, and Taduo identified the five great races with Innate Mythicals and described the First Era statues’ supposed history.
• The Evil Dragon Emperor arrived, received worship from Converted Civilizations, and declared that the Ancient Races would lead the Ninth Era through the coming disaster.
• Seventeen statues bearing Infinite Qi were brought out, and Gui Wu warned Lu Yuan that signs of life had already appeared and an attack would only make them awaken sooner.
• An unseen speaker warned that awakening the First Era ancestors would shorten the era, but the Evil Dragon Emperor continued the ceremony and the statues began shedding stone.
• Lu Yuan invoked the Greedy Demon God, considered releasing the ghosts, and ordered the Giant God Soldier team to prepare for battle while allowing a retreat if necessary.

Lu Yuan and Seashell traveled north in the Greedy Demon God’s giant form, visiting settlements and observing the struggles of weak civilizations. The chapter ended with them at the Snow Sheep Clan’s cave settlement, where Lu Yuan saw that the clan’s wool specialty had not brought them prosperity.

• Lu Yuan grew to three hundred meters tall, used Pandora Crystals to reduce his weight, and traveled north with Seashell while discussing how humanity should deal with weaker civilizations.
• They passed the Mountain-Piercing Clan’s mining territory and encountered several civilization expeditions before leaving the geothermal zone.
• Lu Yuan and Seashell visited the Snow Sheep Clan, whose wary leader welcomed the two Level Seven travelers into the clan’s warm cave settlement.
• Lu Yuan observed the Snow Sheep Clan’s matrilineal society, its transition toward patrilineal customs, and a small school where elders taught children.
• They toured the clan’s wool textile workshop and saw that its extraordinary wool had not made the weak clan wealthy; Seashell gave food to the children, who eagerly gathered around her.

Lu Yuan and his companions explored Snake People City and found a fresh mural that appeared to be a demon asking them to bring it Mandala Fruit. Lu Yuan decided to follow the clue, confident he could handle the demon, while Gui remained a threat in the palace.

• Lu Yuan sent Guo Dafeng to guard the spacecraft and descended into Snake People City with Magmette and Old Cat in powered armor.
• The group found the site where Gui had killed a demon and learned the demon had likely possessed a Snake Person.
• Magmette discovered a recently carved mural showing a Mandala Fruit, a western tower, and a one-eyed Snake Person.
• Old Cat and the experts reasoned that an intelligent demon had carved the message and wanted them to feed it Mandala Fruit to restore its sanity.
• Lu Yuan chose to follow the mural's directions, believing he could deal with the demon if it attacked.

Lu Yuan studied as a tree for three months but worried that his body was making him emotionally detached and slowing his progress toward learning glyphs. The Undying Giant Turtle deliberately wounded himself with Willpower venom to reveal the Myriad Aspects Furnace glyph, leaving Lu Yuan poised to study it.

• Lu Yuan spent three months studying mathematics and glyph theory as a tree, finding that his increased Spirit Attribute helped him absorb knowledge quickly.
• Lu Yuan told Old Cat and the Undying Giant Turtle that being a tree was draining his emotions and slowing the growth of his Eternal Tinder, and he wanted to become human again.
• The Undying Giant Turtle explained that Da Lai Empire researchers had advanced their glyph knowledge by studying him while he was tortured, and Old Cat connected this to the turtle's Myriad Aspects Furnace glyph.
• The Undying Giant Turtle injected Willpower venom into his own eye, causing a grievous injury that triggered the Myriad Aspects Furnace glyph.
• Lu Yuan focused on observing the golden symbols as they appeared across the turtle's shell and heated the surrounding air.

Lu Yuan returned from the Northern Frontier with the Guai God Temple, while the aliens examined its corpse and theorized that Pangu Continent had cursed Guai Mythical to death. Back in Green Field City, he discussed humanity’s growing trade and industrial plans with Old Cat, then invited him to inspect the temple.

• Ancient Insect and the other aliens watched the Guai God Temple appear beside the Heavenly Court Treasure Hall and saw Guai Mythical’s corpse inside.
• The Crystal Person used the Kunlun mirror to inspect the corpse and proposed that Pangu Continent’s curse had withered Guai Mythical’s lifespan.
• Lu Yuan woke after moving the Guai God Temple, returned to his island, and set off for home with Sea Snail Miss after scanning materials from the Gold Bronze Civilization ruins.
• Old Cat told Lu Yuan that humanity’s Trading Market had earned thirty-nine Civilization Points in two months and was negotiating costly Sky City orders with three major races.
• Lu Yuan showed Old Cat footage of the Gold Bronze Civilization ruins and claimed he had brought back no significant gains, then revealed that he had moved the palace into the Immortal Palace.
• Old Cat grew suspicious of Lu Yuan’s haul and accepted his invitation to enter the Immortal Palace and see the Guai God Temple.