Chapter Summaries

Li Aoz returned to his body after merging implants, checked his strengthened attributes, and prepared for his next journey. He identified the sword he had found beneath the Tombs of the Felicia Heroes and began speaking with its wary consciousness.

• Li Aoz checked his newly increased attributes and decided to hold off on injecting another Arcane Energy Awakening Potion.
• Li Aoz prepared potions and equipment, then used the Eye of Truth to identify the plain longsword from the underground cavern.
• Li Aoz learned that the weapon was the Sword of Destiny's Awakening, a Mythical Creation once wielded by the Felicia God-Blessed One, Fang Peak Cario.
• Li Aoz connected with the sword through Soul-Inscribed Sword Saint, and its consciousness called him another grave robber.
• Li Aoz asked who had hidden the sword beneath the tomb complex, and the sword answered that it was an idiot.

Li Aoz questioned the divine sword about the Pharassian hero Li Deweidensi and asked it to help him hunt the Society. The sword introduced itself as Jannia, but it left Li Aoz with a quest to earn its recognition and a startling explanation of Pharassian gender classifications.

• Jannia condemned Li Deweidensi for hiding her instead of continuing Sharp Tooth Peak's fight against the Society.
• Li Aoz pieced together that the Society had destroyed the Pharassia Civilization thousands of years earlier, though Jannia did not know how much time had passed.
• Jannia praised her creator, Kario Smith, insulted Li Aoz's name, and refused to acknowledge him as her master until he settled things with Li Deweidensi.
• Li Aoz accepted the side quest to awaken the divine sword and asked whether he could call her the Fate Awakening Sword.
• Jannia rejected that name, introduced herself as Jannia, and told Li Aoz that she was an Alpha male who could pin him down and OO him.
• Jannia explained that Pharassians had three major and ninety-seven minor gender classifications, leaving Li Aoz bewildered.

Li Aoz visited Ya Wen at the ruins and found the sanctuary she had built, along with a custom coat she had made for him. After he left, Ya Wen watched from hiding, fearing he would see her transformed appearance as a monster.

• Jannia teased Li Aoz during their trip, so he sent the Fate Awakening Sword into an independent Demiplane.
• Li Aoz visited Ya Wen at Ruins No. 10-98-1 and saw that she had cleared the area, concealed the ruins, and made a garden.
• Li Aoz found Ya Wen's note and the custom-made LP-09 'Navigator' coat, which he tried on and liked.
• Li Aoz left Ya Wen a thank-you note and money before departing.
• Ya Wen watched Li Aoz leave through her web network and hid her monstrous appearance, afraid he would reject her.

Yawen Hesksin regretted the price Secrecy had taken from her and resolved to help Li Aoz before the Society found her. Li Aoz reached Valkyrie Fortress and requested political asylum and temporary residency.

• Yawen blamed Gaia and Secrecy for turning her into a monster and feared Li Aoz would learn she was a Citizen of the Hidden Society.
• Yawen decided to use the time she had left to help Li Aoz, then watched him depart through the Teleportation Node.
• Li Aoz traveled through space to Valkyrie Fortress, an independent free port secretly built and profited from by United Company.
• Li Aoz identified himself as Lioz of the Crystal Tower Civilization and applied for political asylum and temporary residency.
• Valkyrie Fortress directed Li Aoz to a docking bay for identity inspection and certification.

As Star Abyss began its open beta update, Jiao Ziniu reviewed the new features and caught up on messages from players and esports teams. A coach then told him that descending from the Stratum Abyss to the Realm Abyss could break the level cap and unlock level 200.

• The Star Abyss update announced new planets, identities, ranks, resurrection buildings, game modes, a store, bug fixes, and compensation for players.
• Jiao Ziniu left his Game Pod, read the update notice, and joked with his synthetic servant before browsing the forums.
• Jiao Ziniu received messages about his combat performance, including an offer to join youth training and invitations from esports teams.
• Garryton reminded Jiao Ziniu that he owed him for four meals and asked how four dishes had granted him the same Strength Enhancement buff.
• Lei Yunjing invited Jiao Ziniu to consider joining Huanfeng Team and revealed that reaching the Realm Abyss could unlock the level cap of 200.

Jiao Ziniu wrestled with whether joining Li Aoz in Star Abyss could help Huanfeng Province, then visited his historical martial arts club for its New Year gathering. There, Xia Yubing questioned the appeal of the game and told him that Li Si had died last year.

• Jiao Ziniu told his android servant he doubted he could help Huanfeng Province by following Li Aoz into the Star Abyss, and the servant confirmed the risks to his progress.
• Jiao Ziniu went to the Terra Historical Martial Arts Research Club and caught up with Xia Yubing about the members attending the New Year gathering.
• Xia Yubing said several club members had turned to Star Abyss, but she had no interest in the game despite finding Li Aoz handsome.
• Jiao Ziniu asked whether Li Si was missing from the gathering, and Xia Yubing said Li Si had died last year.

Jiao Ziniu and Xia Yubing reunited with their martial arts club friends, discussed Li Si’s suicide, and learned that several of them planned to enter Star Abyss. The chapter ended with Jenna explaining that she wanted to play because medical procedures left her unable to exercise in real life.

• Xia Yubing told Jiao Ziniu that Li Si had died by suicide, and Jiao Ziniu reacted with shock and disapproval.
• Jiao Ziniu and Xia Yubing arrived at the club dinner, where Wen Long, Director Qi Qian Lu, Jenna, and Wang Kanshan welcomed them.
• Jenna challenged Jiao Ziniu to spar, but he said he planned to leave after eating and catching up.
• Wen Long, Wang Kanshan, and Jenna said they planned to enter Star Abyss, while Xia Yubing dismissed the idea of seeking fulfillment in a virtual world.
• Jenna revealed that she wanted to play because her recent leg replacement and chest transplant meant she had to avoid intense exercise for half a year.

Xia Yubing reluctantly registered for Star Abyss after the minister promised a weekly meal allowance. She descended into the body of Qiu Yun, a government temp worker in Frostplate, and discovered the dead character’s wishes, including finding her missing elder sister, Qiu Ran.

• Sherise and Katie brought their gaming equipment to the club, and the minister announced that its sponsor would form a martial-artist guild in Star Abyss.
• Xia Yubing resisted playing until the minister promised her a weekly meal allowance, then registered and chose to descend.
• Xia Yubing awoke as Qiu Yun inside a heavily guarded government building preparing for a presidential event.
• A coworker told Qiu Yun to prepare tea for the Red Arrow prince and princess, while the system unlocked her identity and player functions.
• The system revealed Qiu Yun’s background and wishes: save 500,000 Derby, find her missing sister Qiu Ran, and help her family settle in the Frostplate capital.

Dai Weilin prepared to take office as Frostplate’s first male President while confronting the nation’s political and security crises. After honoring former President Medvey in his inaugural address, he faced the challenge of changing Frostplate as foreign representatives watched.

• Dai Weilin refused to spend soldiers searching for his missing daughter, Yawen Hesksin, and discussed Frostplate’s shortage of Gamma-ranks with Marshal Gerr Candice.
• Dai Weilin ordered Candice to gather Law Enforcement Division Two’s economic forces and prepare to seal the capital after the inauguration to prevent elites from fleeing.
• Dai Weilin entered Gemini Palace under heavy security, answered reporters evasively, and ordered guards to hand Medvi Faction radicals planning a plutonium bombing to Law Enforcement Division Three Agency.
• Dai Weilin began his inauguration by mourning Medvey Ostrovia and leading the hall in a minute of silence.
• Prince Hanbolin mourned Medvey’s death because her protection had benefited his business dealings, while Zhengxu’s representative and Jose Rediaz considered the consequences of her assassination.

Dai Weilin used President Medvi’s assassination to declare an emergency, assume Frostplate’s presidency, and launch a military purge of rival magnates and officials. After the fighting ended, he took control of Gemini Palace and settled into the presidential office.

• Dai Weilin declared that he would temporarily assume the presidency and invoked Frostplate’s emergency laws as military forces sealed the borders and began hunting Medvi Faction leaders.
• Dai Weilin swore the presidential oath while Law Enforcement Division agents and Frostplate soldiers attacked rival officials and magnates across the country.
• Dai Weilin established the Emergency Security Council and placed the capital under martial law as the Frostplate Army fought Annali Company’s mercenaries.
• Frostplate forces killed ninety-seven of the magnates and oligarchs who fled, detained the others, and seized their accounts and wealth.
• Dai Weilin appointed officials, entered Gemini Palace, and took his seat in the presidential office.

Dai Weilin explained that Frostplate’s survival depended on ending gender discrimination, dismantling gender-based privileges, and expanding its population and territory. He argued that Li Aoz’s journey into space had exposed the Four Nations’ failing order, and he prepared Frostplate to reform despite resistance from entrenched interests.

• Dai Weilin told Pulin that the arrested oligarchs had exploited Frostplate’s resources and that eliminating them would shift attention away from Medvi’s suspicious death.
• Dai Weilin argued that territory and population were essential to survival and that Li Aoz’s journey into space had changed his perspective.
• Dai Weilin announced a five-year plan to eliminate gender discrimination and said inciting conflict between men and women would be treated as undermining national unity.
• Dai Weilin ordered the abolition of gender-based privileges and the return of Law Enforcement Division Four Agency for restructuring.
• Dai Weilin told the bureaucrats that the Four Nations and GTB had concealed the dangers of extraordinary knowledge to preserve their power, but Li Aoz’s contact with space had made their old order unsustainable.

Dai Weilin laid out a radical plan to transform Frostplate into a civilization prepared for space, citing the coming threat of the Malefic Calamity. He ended by proposing that Frostplate use its Colonies’ resources to fund the project, framing it as compensation for past exploitation.

• Dai Weilin argued that Frostplate had to become a civilization capable of entering the universe and proposed turning Law Enforcement Division Four into a state supervisory and prosecutorial organization while lifting research restrictions.
• Dai Weilin called for artificial wombs, social fosterage centers, the abolition of traditional marriage and family relationships, equal access to jobs and education, and unrestricted use of cloning, genetic editing, and prosthetic technologies.
• Frostplate officials challenged Dai Weilin over the cost, employment, education, and social consequences, while representatives from science and the military supported technological advancement.
• Dai Weilin announced plans to build 2,500 Gravity Wave Antennas within seven years and said Li Aoz’s status as the first Frostplate Citizen in space could help promote the aerospace industry.
• Dai Weilin warned that the Malefic Calamity would descend below ten thousand meters within twenty years and eventually make Azure Planet unable to release heat, killing all humanity.
• Dai Weilin declared that Frostplate would eliminate gender relations and evolve toward a Cosmic Civilization, then proposed using the Colonies to fund the effort as compensation for their past exploitation.

A young mage entered Mintak'yko bar seeking political asylum and offered Olavier access to an unclaimed planet that could produce Radon Glutinous Rice. The chapter ended with Olavier urgently calling him back to confirm the planet was truly independent.

• Kavin Magnet, Crocodile Prophet, and Flana Nightwhisper argued about politics and the powers ruling the Star Abyss.
• A golden-haired young mage entered the bar and asked the bartender for several drinks.
• The mage explained that he had come because Mr. Olavier had once posted a bounty for Ling Mu Jin.
• Olavier initially dismissed the mage’s offer, doubting that he could provide valuable Radon Glutinous Rice materials.
• The mage clarified that he did not own a production planet but knew of an unclaimed world whose civilization still used stone tools and bones.
• Olavier called the mage back and asked whether the planet was truly independent and not under observation as a social experiment.

Li Aoz traded intelligence with Olavier to secure help finding Liu E and contacting an Annihilation Priest. Olavier agreed to arrange both, while Li Aoz prepared to ship something valuable through the Void Exchange and claimed the priests would soon need him.

• Li Aoz gave Olavier the location of a potential Radon Glutinous Rice Farm and earned his trust with the information and magic potions.
• Li Aoz asked Olavier to find out where Alde Midkash Ryue went after the Life Commune disbanded so he could consult Ms. Liu E, and Olavier agreed to arrange a meeting for the next day.
• Li Aoz asked Olavier to introduce him to an Annihilation Priest in exchange for 2.3% of the dividends, and Olavier agreed while warning him about the risks.
• Li Aoz asked Olavier to take him to the Void Exchange so he could ship goods immediately, then insisted the Annihilation Priests would soon come begging for his help.

Li Aoz met Priest Constan of the Temple of Annihilation and traded a Spirit Maggot for an offer of assets worth roughly 630 million Ammonium Gold. He then sought political asylum by presenting himself as a convert to Annihilation's End Path, leaving Constan with a favorable impression of him.

• Olavier connected Li Aoz to Priest Constan, whose distorted aura revealed that he had descended into the Star Abyss and reached Kappa-rank.
• Li Aoz offered Constan a Spirit Maggot and asked what he could pay, despite Olavier's alarm at his bluntness.
• Constan offered 50,000 Ammonium Gold upfront and promised other assets worth about 630 million in total.
• Li Aoz showed his knowledge of Annihilation's End Path, and Constan praised his understanding of the Temple.
• Li Aoz claimed persecution on White Candle Star and denounced the Crystal Tower Civilization and Night Butterfly Federation as he requested asylum and conversion.
• Constan's mood and impression of Li Aoz improved after hearing his story and receiving the strategic resource.

Li Aoz negotiated bloodline modification with Constan and chose the Elai Ling Race despite its limited strengths. The chapter then shifted to an author’s note responding to a reader’s plagiarism accusation.

• Constan explained the Temple of Annihilation’s lengthy bloodline and citizenship process, and Li Aoz pretended to be a devoted believer seeking help.
• Constan offered Li Aoz three mainstream Ling Race bloodlines, but Li Aoz asked about the seventeen branches mentioned in Thus Spoke Elai.
• Li Aoz claimed the Elai Ling Race had inspired him and insisted on choosing it, despite Constan warning that it was not especially powerful.
• The author discussed a reader who accused the novel of copying Super God Mechanic without subscribing to that series.

Li Aoz completed a trade with the Temple of Annihilation and gained Olavier’s respect and a way to contact him. After reminiscing at the Heroic Spirit Bar, Li Aoz prepared to leave Valkyrie Fortress despite a warning that Liu E was dangerous.

• Li Aoz traded Spirit Maggots to Constan through the Void Exchange, received fifty thousand Ammonium Gold and an Elai Ling Race bloodline modification serum, and shared dividends with Olavier.
• Olavier speculated that Li Aoz came from another Star Abyss, judged him a promising long-term contact, and gave him an information interface card.
• Li Aoz and the silicon bartender returned to the bar, where Li Aoz recalled old teammates and joked with the bartender about E. coli.
• The bartender told Li Aoz that Olavier had chartered a Private Plane for 6:07 the next morning and warned him that Liu E was dangerous.
• Li Aoz declined to hire a guard, and the bartender noted that someone would need to fly the Private Plane back safely.

Li Aoz accepted the “Life Echo” quest to find former Life Commune researcher Alde Midkash Ryue and recruit a Delta-rank companion for travel. At Olavier’s bar, he chose Flana Nightwhisper as his mercenary after her charm spell backfired and she undercut the other candidates.

• Li Aoz received the “Life Echo” quest, which required him to visit Alde Midkash Ryue and find a Delta-rank travel companion.
• Li Aoz searched the mercenary network and met Flana Nightwhisper, who offered to work for one thousand Ammonium Gold.
• Flana tried to charm Li Aoz, but his check countered her spell and left her affected by his charm instead.
• Kavin Magnet and the Crocodile Prophet offered lower prices, prompting Flana to cut her fee until she offered to work for free.
• Li Aoz chose Flana, while Kavin Magnet and the Crocodile Prophet celebrated their latest trick against her.

Li Aoz hired Flana for a mission, then used a bloodline modification agent to become an Elai Ling and unlock abilities suited to the Architect class. After testing his powers, he assessed his combat limits and planned to pursue citizenship in the Heroes Empire while keeping his ambitions for the Starcaller Path secret.

• Flana realized her friends had tricked her into taking Li Aoz’s mission, but agreed to follow through after he submitted the order and promised to cover her expenses.
• Li Aoz found a secluded inn and injected the Elai Ling bloodline modification agent, completing the first stage of his transformation.
• Li Aoz gained the Elai Ling traits and Element Architecture, which let him construct Elemental Swarms and improved his potential as an Architect.
• Li Aoz decided against fully joining the Temple of Annihilation and planned to seek citizenship in the Heroes Empire, while concealing that he hoped to become the Starcaller Path’s first Main God.
• Li Aoz tested Calamity and Element Architecture, finding that his Elemental Swarm was powerful but that his Beta-rank form struggled against Gamma-rank enemies.

Li Aoz realized that psychological suggestions had altered his thoughts and that his Mental Barrier had partly concealed the influence. He sought help from Granny Atamasha, whose reading suggested that his past involved losing everything, leaving him to question whether the failure belonged to his predecessor.

• Li Aoz reflected on his original thoughts after transmigrating and noticed that his sudden desire to make Starcallers prosper did not fit his usual motives.
• Li Aoz recognized that his mind had been altered and that his Mental Barrier had resisted some of the psychological suggestions.
• Li Aoz suspected the Spirit Wraith or the former owner of his body had guided him toward contacting Nethermark Humanity and the Outland.
• Li Aoz rushed through Valkyrie Fortress to Granny Atamasha’s Witchcraft Hall and asked for help.
• Granny Atamasha read Li Aoz’s chosen card as a sign that he had lost fate, life, and the entire world, and Li Aoz asked whether the failure belonged to his predecessor.