Chapter Summaries

Lu Yang recognized that Tai Yu was using the Service Demon Scroll to summon the Death Announcer Bird, while an unstable mass of contaminated material and strange forces gathered around them. The summoning began to pull on Lu Yang’s War Domain, and he was left realizing that Tai Yu’s undertaking might require far more power and resources than he had imagined.

• Tai Yu explained that the rust-covered mass contained sterilized pollutants collected from the Military Hospital and warned Lu Yang to keep them contained within his War Domain.
• Lu Yang noticed that the rumbling and resonance around them came from a Space-Time Ability unlike Tai Yu’s usual Spacetime Bubble.
• Lu Yang recognized the sounds of Myriad Transformations Deep Blue and the Death Announcer Bird in the machinery-like rumble.
• Lu Yang doubted that the Military Hospital’s patients could supply enough material for the Service Demon Scroll, which seemed to be drawing power from his War Domain.
• An almost intangible shadow swept past Lu Yang’s cheek as his warning about the summoning cut off.

Tai Yu used the Death Announcer Bird and the War Domain to reconcile the mutation elements with the Abyssal Spirit Net, allowing the anomalous system to operate within it. The elements formed roughly 320 categories, a number close to the 324 Nation-Founding Gods, while signals from the underground Grease Ball began spreading again.

• Lu Yang, Officer Ping, and the others were swept through the sky inside the War Domain as the Death Announcer Bird appeared and its hum drew their attention.
• Tai Yu's white flames spread through the smoke ball, purifying its foreign elements and raising the War Domain's operational level.
• Tai Yu identified a conflict between the Death Announcer Bird and the Abyssal Spirit Net, then used his authority from Great Lord Luande to let the flames dissolve some of the system's boundaries.
• The mutation elements entered the Abyssal Spirit Net's underlying grid framework, where Tai Yu counted roughly 320 categories and noted their closeness to the 324 Nation-Founding Gods.
• Tai Yu and Lu Yang's group continued flying through the void within the Death Announcer Bird as it controlled the enslaved foreign elements.
• Signals from the underground Grease Ball began seeping through and spreading outward again.

Tai Yu led the pursuit of Stone Soul’s traces and proposed using the behavior of Outer Domain Species and Void-Gnawing Fungus to guide the search. As the teams continued tracking underground, he began outlining how the fungus’s need for energy could reveal Stone Soul’s location.

• Yuan Ju and Badar pursued Tai Yu after he transformed into a Death Announcer Bird and sped across the sky.
• Yan Chen ordered all teams to move their information exchanges to the mission public channel as the search entered its tracking stage.
• The Specialized Military Force teams continued searching deep underground, where the harsh conditions limited their sensory range and progress.
• Tai Yu told the mission participants to build on the discovery of Stone Soul’s traces and focus their investigation on Outer Domain Species.
• Tai Yu explained that Void-Gnawing Fungus relied on Outer Domain Species hosts and was driven to seek the boundaries between different Spacetime structures.

Tai Yu explained how the Stone Soul’s parasitic relationship with the Void-Gnawing Fungus could lead it toward the Dessen Mantle Plume, and the priests began planning an operation there. He then sent Gong Zhicheng to investigate unconfirmed coordinates, saying they could still commune with a spirit.

• Tai Yu reasoned that the Stone Soul and Void-Gnawing Fungus would seek an underground area where their needs did not conflict, and Priest Farul and Gong Zhicheng recognized the logic.
• Priest Yan Chen linked the Stone Soul’s traces to the Dessen Mantle Plume, while Priest Kui Rong proposed using its research data to identify areas of Rule Environment conflict.
• Priest Farul prepared to depart with his Acolyte Priests as the task force shaped a plan to investigate the mantle plume.
• Tai Yu broadcast coordinates and ordered nearby Team Leader Gong Zhicheng to scout the location, though the coordinates and the Stone Soul’s presence there were unconfirmed.
• Tai Yu said the team could still commune with a spirit, prompting the priests to react uneasily.

Tai Yu used animated “Grease Balls” to scout Stone Soul’s possible mantle plume while the Specialized Military Force teams waited under pressure. Priest Farul arrived in his flame-transformation state and entered the War Domain without difficulty, ready to descend into the strata.

• Tai Yu ordered Gong Zhicheng’s team to gather environmental samples while he left his Spirit-Channeling Diagram unfinished.
• Gong Zhicheng’s team deployed “Grease Balls” to investigate the area, and Tai Yu activated them through preset sensory responses and weak information interaction.
• The “Grease Balls” changed shape and spread out into a coordinated reconnaissance squad, easing the pressure on the Specialized Military Force teams.
• Priest Farul arrived at the front line in his flame-transformation state and greeted Tai Yu.
• Priest Farul charged into the War Domain’s range and found that he could enter it easily.

Tai Yu and Farul led the search for Stone Soul, uncovering evidence of its Celestial-level strength, Void-Gnawing Fungus, and an ancient Demi-Plane fragment. The discovery of recently melted artificial armor suggested that someone had recently encountered Stone Soul or sought it out, so Tai Yu called the task force to the site for a closer examination.

• Tai Yu briefed Farul on the traces around Stone Soul's location, and Farul led the search teams into the ground.
• The teams found Stone Soul's shed rock-like shell and living Void-Gnawing Fungus, confirming its Celestial level and revealing a long-decayed Demi-Plane fragment in the area.
• Farul and the priests discussed why Stone Soul and the fungus had not continued developing the resource-rich site, while Tai Yu waited for further findings.
• A Specialized Military Force team discovered a recently melted fragment of artificial protective armor that did not match their equipment.
• Yan Chen suggested that someone might have come specifically to contact Stone Soul, and Tai Yu ordered the priests to examine the site and its Rule Environment, especially Kui Rong.

Tai Yu briefed Sheng Wu on evidence that Vajello had taken the Stone Soul five to six weeks earlier, using several Rule Environments to conceal and convert its power. The task force believed Vajello might still be hiding on You Chong Star, though his location remained unknown.

• Zhe Rong installed underground communications equipment and went to find Tai Yu, who was calling Sheng Wu at the Military Hospital.
• Tai Yu told Sheng Wu that the Stone Soul had likely been taken without a struggle and that Priest Kui Rong had found traces of several overlapping Rule Environments.
• Tai Yu linked the traces to the Fate Trackers, the Nightfall Crowd, and possibly the Initial Awakening Society, concluding that Vajello had used the Spine World Scape to take the Stone Soul weeks earlier.
• Tai Yu explained that Vajello and the Stone Soul might have gained greater freedom from the Void-Gnawing Fungus and could be hiding on You Chong Star or have fled far away.
• Tai Yu suggested Vajello was unlikely to have left because the Initial Awakening Society might keep such a crucial carrier node, then asked Sheng Wu about Celestial-level interfering Active Nodes and the society’s experience with Sin-Poison Environments.

Zhe Rong connected Vajello, Azar, and Piton through Tai Yu’s Spirit-Channeling Diagrams and suggested that the Azar Escape Incident might implicate Great Lord Luande. The chapter left Tai Yu considering Zhe Rong’s suspicion.

• Tai Yu discussed the remaining Demi-Plane structural fragments and the Service Demon Scroll with Field Officer Sheng Wu before ending their call.
• Zhe Rong approached Tai Yu to discuss Spirit-Channeling Diagrams he had organized around the Initial Awakening Society.
• Zhe Rong compared the Phantom Bodies of Azar and Piton and found that they nearly overlapped.
• Zhe Rong aligned Tai Yu’s drawing of Vajello with a figure in the internal database and argued that Vajello was an important Initial Awakening Society node.
• Zhe Rong suggested that Azar and Piton might have been Vajello’s operational links and raised the possibility that Great Lord Luande was also involved.

Tai Yu questioned Zhe Rong about the authorities’ investigation of Bifur and their failure to account for the Initial Awakening Society, warning that the mission could endanger operatives kept in the dark. He then introduced the Constellation Plan, which would use Grease Balls to scan You Chong Star’s underground, and left Zhe Rong responsible for supplying more units.

• Tai Yu challenged Zhe Rong’s assumptions about the Initial Awakening Society and asked why the authorities focused on Bifur instead of Shi Wo.
• Tai Yu warned Zhe Rong that intelligence about the Initial Awakening Society should be shared with operatives and used to reassess the mission.
• Huai An reported that the second batch of Grease Balls had been deployed but that more were needed for the Underground Satellite Detection Network.
• Tai Yu told Zhe Rong that the special task force had approved the Constellation Plan to deploy Grease Balls across You Chong Star and scan its underground environment.

Tai Yu assigned Zhe Rong to scale up Grease Ball production and Huai An to oversee the Underground Constellation deployment. Zhe Rong then reported his concerns to Ming Fan, who revealed that Zhongkai could appear anywhere in the Red Silicon Star System within the next twenty hours.

• Tai Yu stressed the urgency of expanding Grease Ball production to maintain the Underground Constellation and prevent Vajello and Stone Soul from escaping.
• Zhe Rong proposed involving Ran Ming and manufacturers with the resources and influence to support production, and Tai Yu agreed to contact Ran Ming and put existing production lines to full capacity.
• Tai Yu placed Huai An in charge of the Constellation deployment and told him to coordinate equipment with Zhe Rong and use local resources to address his manpower shortage.
• During the trip back to the surface, Zhe Rong told Ming Fan that Tai Yu's growing control over You Chong Star concerned him and warned that the planet might begin moving to Tai Yu's rhythm.
• Ming Fan explained that Vajello had joined Stone Soul as a target and revealed that Zhongkai had canceled his plans for twenty hours, leaving him able to appear anywhere in the Red Silicon Star System.

Zhongkai reviewed Shi Wo’s records on Tai Yu and assessed his unusual curiosity, technical interests, and possible past as a Hanguang Old Guard. He left the possibility of identifying Tai Yu’s former life unresolved, noting that Tai Yu’s choices in the Red Silicon Star System mattered more than any match to his past.

• Zhongkai took over Shi Wo’s office chair and examined the dossier on Tai Yu.
• Zhongkai praised Shi Wo’s use of backend records to track Tai Yu’s reading habits and noted his particular interest in Li Wei’s papers.
• Zhongkai judged Tai Yu to be unusually curious and willing to experiment, while distinguishing his curiosity from reckless defiance.
• Zhongkai speculated that Tai Yu might have been a young Hanguang Old Guard genius who died early, but said any such identification would have limited significance.
• Zhongkai said Tai Yu’s environment could change him and that his present choices mattered more than repeating a supposed past fate.

Zhongkai monitored Tai Yu’s unusual techniques on You Chong Star and concluded that Tai Yu was probably not a Great Monarch, even in the previous era. Shi Wo then announced that Tai Yu had arrived to meet Zhongkai.

• Zhongkai reflected on his patient approach to investigating Tai Yu and weaving his planar domain in the Red Silicon Star System.
• Zhongkai used the Abyssal Spirit Net to observe Tai Yu’s activities on You Chong Star, including his experiments with the Mist Cloak, Grease Ball Underground Constellation, Great Comprehension, and Death Announcer Bird.
• Zhongkai concluded that Tai Yu was likely not a Great Monarch in either the current or previous era, based on the unusual and experimental way he was weaving the void.
• Shi Wo arrived at Zhongkai’s office and told him that Mr. Tai Yu was there.

Tai Yu used a Water Vapor Clone to meet Great Lord Zhong Kai and established himself as the Great Monarch’s equal through their exchange of perceptions. He offered to cooperate while reserving the right to reassess his position, and proposed further exchanges while Zhong Kai continued adapting to the local Spacetime and Rule Environment.

• Shi Wo tried to get water, but the vapor formed a Water Vapor Clone of Tai Yu beside Great Lord Zhong Kai.
• Tai Yu greeted Great Lord Zhong Kai and explained how he had concealed his mental perception and used the Abyssal Spirit Net and Luande’s Power Framework.
• Great Lord Zhong Kai assessed Tai Yu’s methods and invited him to stand together at the window overlooking Star Ring City.
• Shi Wo realized that Great Lord Zhong Kai treated Tai Yu as an equal and left, unsettled by Tai Yu’s ability to perceive those around him.
• Tai Yu told Great Lord Zhong Kai he would cooperate with the investigation and accept support, but might change his position later.
• Tai Yu noted that Zhong Kai still needed time to adapt before taking action and suggested they exchange information in the meantime.

Tai Yu urged Great Lord Zhong Kai to help with the Stone Soul crisis and explore the local Open Permission Zone, while Zhong Kai weighed the risks of cooperating with him. Zhong Kai dissolved Tai Yu’s clone after warning that an investigator and the subject of an investigation had to keep their distance, leaving their mutual assessment unresolved.

• Tai Yu explained that Stone Soul had joined forces with a traitorous Auxiliary and the Initial Awakening Society, and warned that it could threaten the Red Silicon Star System’s only habitable planet if it remained beneath the crust.
• Tai Yu invited Zhong Kai to You Chong Star to adapt to the Open Permission Zone and use his arrival to stimulate the local Abyssal Spirit Net.
• Zhong Kai and Tai Yu discussed the Architect Faction, Priest Yan Chen, and the principles of Divine-Human Interaction.
• Zhong Kai warned Tai Yu that the investigator and the investigation’s subject should maintain their distance, then dissolved Tai Yu’s Water Vapor Clone.
• Tai Yu reassembled his clone outside the window, waved to Zhong Kai, and left while Zhong Kai considered how Tai Yu’s growing freedom might affect his understanding with Chief Priest Seo.

Tai Yu used his backers and contacts to investigate Great Lord Zhong Kai’s motives and the Deep Blue World’s shifting interests. The chapter ended with priests on You Chong Star learning that Tai Yu’s Water Vapor Clone had reached River Valley Manor and was questioning priests about Vajello.

• Tai Yu asked Ming Fan how long Great Lord Zhong Kai would stay and suggested that Zhong Kai’s steady conduct might conflict with the Deep Blue World’s interests.
• Tai Yu asked Ming Fan to share intelligence from the Boundary Curtain and urge her superiors to adjust their support and compensation as the situation changed.
• Tai Yu said he planned to question people connected to Vajello and the Myriad Gods Hall about Vajello’s return and the Rule Domain found at the scene.
• Kui Rong received a report that Tai Yu had met Great Lord Zhong Kai in Star Ring City as a Water Vapor Clone while also attending a meeting on You Chong Star.
• Kui Rong told the priests that Tai Yu’s clone was at River Valley Manor, where it had already spoken with Priest Maiani and was asking Priest Carbone about the situation.

Tai Yu explained how he planned to use the task force’s firsthand impressions of Vajello to identify his Original Body, while his growing influence unsettled the priests. He then revealed that he had briefly mixed the meeting with a conversation about Instructor Yu’s child wanting to travel across star systems.

• Tai Yu met Great Lord Zhong Kai in an avatar but failed to persuade him to let Tai Yu use his opportunity to access the Red Silicon Star System’s spacetime and rules.
• Tai Yu sought information about Vajello from Priests Carbone and Maiani, then gathered the task force to share their firsthand impressions of Vajello.
• Tai Yu proposed using the Abyssal Spirit Net and the task force’s impressions to map Vajello’s characteristics back to his Original Body.
• The priests worried that Tai Yu’s expanding knowledge and influence might let him shape You Chong Star’s development.
• Tai Yu briefly confused the meeting with his conversation about Instructor Yu’s child wanting to travel across star systems, and Gong Zhicheng explained how the child might qualify for a study-tour slot.

Tai Yu led the task force in analyzing Vajello and Stone Soul, while their discussion touched on the historical link between Lingbi and You Chong and Tai Yu’s need for a Spirit Core. The meeting ended with Tai Yu presenting a provisional fused model of Vajello and Stone Soul that left room for the Void-Gnawing Fungus.

• Tai Yu and Gong Zhicheng discussed parents’ worries about the First Academy’s field trip to Lingbi Star, and Farul explained Lingbi’s historical connection to Great Lord Luande’s surrender.
• Tai Yu connected the nearby Gu-85 Star Gate to Great Monarch Wei Che’s campaign during the Calamity Era and remarked that a Spirit Core could help with his Constellation plan.
• Tai Yu asked Lu Yang where he could commission a Spirit Core, and Lu Yang explained that Great Lord Luande’s forces lacked the resources and instructors to produce them reliably.
• Tai Yu questioned the priests and Specialized Military Force members about Vajello’s appearance, abilities, and how they would fight him in extreme conditions.
• Tai Yu combined projected images of Vajello and Stone Soul into a provisional conjoined model, explaining that it represented their fused traits and would later incorporate the Void-Gnawing Fungus.

Tai Yu created a Phantom Body model of Vajello and released it into the lava to test whether it could imitate the Stone Soul in a real environment. As its energy level rose and it shifted position, the special task force watched to see whether the simulation could reveal anything useful.

• Tai Yu added Phantom Body characteristics to the Vajello model and copied it from the Projection Zone.
• Tai Yu released the model into the lava, where it formed a glowing mass and caused abnormal fluctuations.
• Huai An suggested an energy level of 5,000, but Gong Zhicheng argued Vajello warranted a higher estimate.
• Tai Yu set the model’s starting energy level at 10,000 and had the operator monitor its growth.
• The model imitated the Stone Soul’s energy-harvesting environment, its internal energy level rose past 5,700, and it shifted position as the surrounding pressure fell.

Tai Yu arranged combat tests for a Conjoined Model built with Fantasy School techniques, then recruited Yuan Ju and Yan Chen for his Deformation Correction Experiment. Yuan Ju and Yan Chen began studying the materials and connected Tai Yu’s research to the Fantasy School’s far-reaching work.

• Tai Yu assigned Si Nuowan to fight the Conjoined Model in repeated live combat drills and explained that it contained a Quasi-paradigm of Fantasy Configuration.
• Kui Rong recognized the links between the Conjoined Model, Fantasy Mimicry, and the Fantasy School’s influence on the Abyssal Spirit Net.
• Tai Yu reminded Yuan Ju that he and Yan Chen had agreed to participate in the Deformation Correction Experiment, which would begin after they returned to Star Ring City.
• Yuan Ju forwarded the experiment materials to Yan Chen, who said he would send them to the High Priest and began drafting an email about the Fantasy School.
• Yan Chen explained that the Fantasy School and Creation School had studied fields comparable to those of Architecture Priests, but used configuration to analyze and simulate everything with fewer restraints.

Priest Yan Chen and Yuan Ju discussed Officer Tai Yu’s widening strategy and whether he should be invited to address the danger beyond the You-1337 Star Gate. Yan Chen planned to recommend Tai Yu to the High Priest while warning that his connection to the Initial Awakening Society deserved scrutiny.

• Priest Yan Chen explained how the Fantasy School’s methods and Tai Yu’s broader approach could help counter threats such as the Yin Lord Evil God and the Initial Awakening Society.
• Yuan Ju suggested inviting Tai Yu to investigate the problem beyond the You-1337 Star Gate, and Yan Chen agreed to recommend him to the High Priest.
• Yan Chen wondered whether Tai Yu’s suitability for handling Hanguang Star System’s Calamity Era legacy had been deliberately arranged by another faction.
• Yan Chen said Tai Yu’s campaign against the Initial Awakening Society would help reassure others, then urged Yuan Ju to learn from Tai Yu and seek guidance when needed.