Chapter Summaries

Tai Yu studied the River of Time and connected his understanding to the structure within the Spacetime ruins, approaching the Lighthouse and its frozen divine domain. He chose to remain in the exhibition area to cultivate, while his reconstructed doubles continued to extend his power.

• Tai Yu reviewed the information shared by the Great Existence and concluded that a broad framework for understanding the River of Time could let an observer stand apart from it.
• Tai Yu connected his framework to the River of Time in the Spacetime ruins and sensed that he was nearing Myriad Transformations Deep Blue and the Lighthouse.
• Tai Yu asked whether the time-freezing domain came from Great Lord Bing Ming or the Abyssal Sea True God, then guessed correctly that it came from the Abyssal Sea True God.
• Chao Yongdao assured Tai Yu that the exhibition area was safe, though Tai Yu understood that Deities might be watching it.
• Tai Yu decided to stay in the exhibition area to cultivate, while his Great Comprehension and See the Self—Datong power continued rebuilding his doubles.

The Illusory Nightmare Clone delivered Void-Head tobacco to the Format Theory Clone, whose interaction with Fire Seeds from Plane Six and Grand Duke Zhiping transformed the smoke into a contained Abyssal Human-Faced Spider. Meanwhile, Grand Duke Zhiping attended a Ruin and Fall System meeting about Chang Yi Zhen and the Spirit Roaming Project, leaving him convinced that he was either being used to take the blame or hiding a deeper purpose.

• The Illusory Nightmare Clone carried Void-Head tobacco from Tai Yu to the Format Theory Clone on Plane Six.
• The Format Theory Clone combined the tobacco’s Abyss laws with its Fire Seed experiences, while the Extra Self above the Polar Domain resonated with the same power through Grand Duke Zhiping’s Fire Seed.
• The smoke became a Human-Faced Spider that the Dark Black Chains contained and that Grand Duke Zhiping’s Fake Muscle layer shielded without his knowledge.
• Grand Duke Zhiping joined High Priest Yuanhou, Keating, and Great Monarch Ma Ge in a meeting at the Myriad Gods Hall to discuss Chang Yi Zhen and the Spirit Roaming Project.
• Grand Duke Zhiping dismissed the others’ speculation and suspected that Chang Yi Zhen was either concealing his intentions or destined to take the blame.

Grand Duke Zhiping proposed bringing Tai Yu into contact with Chang Yi Zhen to gather intelligence and stir tensions around the Spirit Roaming project. High Priest Yuanhou decided to summon the Old People of Tianyuan to Plane Six under the pretext of demanding an explanation, drawing Tai Yu, Chang Yi Zhen, and Luande into a public controversy.

• Grand Duke Zhiping and the others concluded that he should keep gathering intelligence before deciding how to approach the Great Thoroughfare System.
• High Priest Yuanhou called on Grand Duke Zhiping to give his opinion, and Zhiping proposed arranging a meeting between Tai Yu and Chang Yi Zhen.
• Priest Jiting and Great Monarch Ma Ge agreed to the meeting and proposed making the Spirit Roaming project a source of tension between Tai Yu and Chang Yi Zhen.
• High Priest Yuanhou said he would summon the Old People of Tianyuan to Plane Six to answer for trouble caused there since Pressure Relief, with Grand Duke Zhiping acting as messenger.
• Grand Duke Zhiping realized the summons could unite the Spirit Roaming project, Chang Yi Zhen's project ownership, Tai Yu's experiment, and Luande Retirement into one public controversy.

Grand Duke Zhiping agreed to contact the relevant parties after High Priest Yuanhou delayed action until Tai Yu finished a week of study at Abyssal Regulation No. 11. Tai Yu explored the three rivers and learned that a pure tool might better preserve his detached perspective, leaving him considering suitable beings or objects for that role.

• Grand Duke Zhiping wondered why the Ruin and Fall System was pursuing Luande so urgently, then agreed to make contact when High Priest Yuanhou ordered it.
• High Priest Yuanhou said Tai Yu was studying at Abyssal Regulation No. 11 and would need a week before the next step.
• Tai Yu stood on the shore beside the Rivers of Concepts, Models, and Time and practiced projecting his Self into the River of Models.
• Tai Yu used the Lighthouse to examine its frozen divine ability domain and found that it was an empty tool shell with no Outer Domain Demon God or consciousness attached.
• Tai Yu compared the Lighthouse's observer perspective with the more immersive perspective of his clones and concluded that clones weakened his detached sense of Self.
• Tai Yu inferred that a pure tool unlike his Original Body might preserve that sense better, and considered using suitable species or anomalous variants.

Tai Yu used Stone Soul to test how projecting his Self onto an Outer Domain Species let him observe its history and the River of Time, but he glimpsed only a limited stretch. He then turned to his next experiment: cultivating Magnetic Light Mica, which had become a basic lifeform but still needed to ascend further.

• Tai Yu projected his Self onto Stone Soul and saw its passage into the Local Universe, its arrival on You Chong Star, and its capture by Vajello and Tai Yu.
• Tai Yu compared his vision of Stone Soul's history with the Detection Disc data and concluded that his view was incomplete and limited by his cultivation and the faintness of his projected Self.
• Tai Yu observed how the River of Time's past gave rise to a torrent of possible futures, though he could not predict which possibility would return to reality.
• Tai Yu stopped using Stone Soul because it was borrowed for a mission and prepared to experiment with Magnetic Light Mica in a culture dish in Screen Eight District-8995.
• Tai Yu recognized that Magnetic Light Mica had already risen from the Material Layer to the Life Layer, but it needed further ascension to become a successful Fantasy Species.

Tai Yu prepared to use the ascending magnetic light mica as a vessel for an experiment in extracting himself from the River of Time and projecting himself back into it. As he contemplated how ancient gods and deities might differ from genetic species in their attempts at transcendence, he was left questioning whether their methods and results were the same.

• Tai Yu gathered the clones’ faith power and fulfilled the four conditions needed for magnetic light mica to ascend into a fantasy species.
• Tai Yu planned to use the magnetic light mica as a vessel to project himself back into the River of Time after extracting himself to its bank.
• Tai Yu wondered whether the Abyssal Sky Overlord’s presence could be diluted and whether the ancient god could reach the bank without being pulled back into the river.
• Tai Yu considered how genetic species might find it easier than ancient or new gods to weaken their presence and extract themselves from the River of Time.
• Tai Yu questioned whether deities and genetic species faced the same difficulty, and achieved the same results, when using other paths toward transcendence.

Tai Yu considered whether Deities used Genetic Species to explore transcendence, then recorded insights about the River of Time in Ritual Ancient Script. After meeting Qiao Mian, he acknowledged unresolved questions about the Two Star Gate Campaign and let Mirror Appraisal absorb his notes for deeper embedding.

• Tai Yu speculated that Deities might use Genetic Species to explore paths toward transcendence and wondered whether such experiments were permitted.
• Tai Yu recorded his insights in Ritual Ancient Script while exploring the Yuan Gui-11 Testing Ground.
• Qiao Mian approached Tai Yu and remarked on the many Deity-related exclusive terms in his notes.
• Tai Yu agreed that some matters from the Two Star Gate Campaign still puzzled him.
• Tai Yu let Mirror Appraisal collect his notes, which he intended to embed rather than use for calculations in Myriad Transformations Deep Blue.

Tai Yu discussed the historical framework of the Two Star Gate Campaign and the unfinished Model River in the Abyssal Regulations No. 11 testing ground with Great Monarch Qiao Mian. Qiao Mian pointed him toward Myriad Gods Hall allies for restricted historical knowledge, then asked whether he had already belonged to the Initial Awakening Society during the campaign.

• Tai Yu explained how his Mirror Appraisal contained a now-real Starry Sky Remnant Game built from historical fragments and power imprints.
• Tai Yu suggested extending the testing ground’s Model River beyond its historical break, but Qiao Mian said his practical approach sounded more like engineering than history.
• Tai Yu compared the fall of the Abyssal Sky Overlord and the Lord of Zhanhe to a sharp bend in the River of Time, and the Han Guang Star System’s Calamity Era to a reef.
• Tai Yu asked whether the Myriad Heavens Divine Kingdoms and the Six Heavens God Calamity had exerted force behind the scenes during the Two Star Gate Campaign, then sought recommendations for learning more.
• Qiao Mian said restricted histories circulated only within the Myriad Gods Hall and asked whether Tai Yu had been in the Initial Awakening Society during the campaign.

Tai Yu explained his interest in the Initial Awakening Society and the Two Star Gate Campaign to Qiao Mian, then discussed the dangers of using historical research to affect the present. He kept the true scale of his plans secret and asked Qiao which target would be easiest to get approved.

• Tai Yu told Qiao Mian that he remembered little about the Initial Awakening Society but considered its activity during the Two Star Gate Campaign worth investigating.
• Qiao Mian recognized that Tai Yu was considering a Fish Trap and Historical Projection, and Tai Yu admitted the idea was part of his plans.
• Tai Yu explained that manifesting a historical projection could invite deadly backlash from differences in power, rules, and the reactions of present-day rulers.
• Tai Yu privately recognized that his research into the Starry Sky Remnant Game was far broader and riskier than a projection of any individual, but he concealed this from Qiao Mian.
• Qiao Mian advised Tai Yu to notify the Myriad Gods Hall and seek an assessment before proceeding, and Tai Yu asked which target would be easiest to get approved.

Qiao Mian proposed summoning the Gatekeeper Lord’s historical projection to investigate how the Illusory Nightmare Domain’s authority had split and converged. Tai Yu was tempted by the plan, but asked Qiao Mian to explain its specific purpose, which she tied to the ruin that had nearly trapped Great Monarch Banna.

• Tai Yu and Qiao Mian discussed which historical figure would be a suitable target for a projection, and Qiao Mian suggested the Gatekeeper Lord.
• Qiao Mian explained that the Gatekeeper Lord had been selected from among the guards of Mirror Spacetime’s testing grounds, laboratories, and exhibition halls.
• Tai Yu connected the Gatekeeper Lord’s background to his conflict with the Dream God Abomination and the Dream Net.
• Qiao Mian proposed tracing the Gatekeeper Lord’s life to study the movement of the Illusory Nightmare Domain’s authority across the Boundary Curtain and Han Guang Star System.
• Tai Yu saw the plan as a chance to learn about the Two Star Gate Campaign and support his work on the Starry Sky Remnant Game, but asked Qiao Mian for its purpose.
• Qiao Mian said her explanation involved the ruin that had nearly trapped Great Monarch Banna.

Qiao Mian explained to Tai Yu that the search for Mirror Spacetime’s ruins could uncover the hidden foundation sustaining it and enable the Phantom Nightmare Divine Kingdom to be established or revived. She revealed that this could create eighty Enfeoffed Great Monarch positions, while leaving her own role—and who might ascend to godhood—unsettled.

• Qiao Mian told Tai Yu that Mirror Spacetime held many ruins and that the Gatekeeper Lord’s Historical Projection might improve their chances of exploring them.
• Tai Yu questioned why Qiao Mian and the others cared about excavating ruins, and Qiao Mian explained how a god’s ascension could open positions for Great Monarchs and their supporters.
• Qiao Mian suggested that Mirror Spacetime contained a hidden foundation supporting the Boundary Curtain and said they needed to find it to complete the relevant authority.
• Qiao Mian said that establishing or reviving the Phantom Nightmare Divine Kingdom could create eighty additional Enfeoffed Great Monarch positions.
• Tai Yu asked whether Qiao Mian intended to ascend to godhood or nominate a Nation-Founding God, and Qiao Mian said she hoped the gods would guide events toward an ideal outcome.

Tai Yu considered the conflicts between the Myriad Heavens Divine Kingdoms and ambitious Great Monarchs, then discussed with Qiao Mian whether authority over the Illusory Nightmare Domain could be part of a bargain. Their deeper partnership depended on the progress of the Historical Projection of the Gatekeeper Lord, while Tai Yu suspected Qiao Mian might be drawing his attention away from the sensitive Screen Eight Zone-8995 star system.

• Tai Yu reasoned that Qiao Mian and other secular powerholders wanted the right to advance their followers, creating pressure on the Myriad Heavens Divine Kingdoms.
• Tai Yu reflected on the shortage of Enfeoffed Great Monarch positions after the Han Guang God War and the Abyssal Sea System's collapse, and wondered whether the Tian Yuan Empire had been an experiment to ease the resulting tensions.
• Tai Yu concluded that divine and human interests had grown increasingly intertwined, though he could not explain why the Myriad Heavens Divine Kingdoms limited enfeoffment or delayed filling vacant positions.
• Qiao Mian asked Tai Yu whether consolidating authority over the Illusory Nightmare Domain would affect him, and Tai Yu said he wanted a long-term partnership rather than merely serving another system.
• Tai Yu and Qiao Mian agreed that the Historical Projection of the Gatekeeper Lord would test the depth of their partnership, while Tai Yu wondered whether the project would divert him from the Screen Eight Zone-8995 star system.

Ronan prepared to leave the Qiankong Star System aboard the Fang Piercer, which took a detour toward the Han Guang Star System to drop off Lan Su. As the ship departed, Ronan questioned Lan Su about her home system, where he suspected a crucial connection to Earth Spacetime lay.

• Ronan finished praying at the Myriad Gods Hall and asked Wei Su Yi to pick him up.
• Ronan considered the hidden undercurrent in the River of Time and suspected the Central Star Zone's crucial connection to Earth Spacetime lay near the Han Guang Star System.
• Lan Su arranged to travel aboard the Fang Piercer so she could return to the Han Guang Star System after her identity was exposed and her health worsened.
• Wei Su Yi persuaded Mashben to take Lan Su toward a pickup point near the Styx, delaying the Fang Piercer's departure until conditions improved.
• Ronan met Wei Su Yi, Lan Su, and Hametz's team at the ship, then questioned Lan Su about the Han Guang Star System.

Ronan questioned Lan Su and Wei Su Yi about the Two Star Gate Campaign and learned of an out-of-print simulator training card that recreated it. He connected the card and his own reconstruction project in the Dreamscape Cloud Top World to his past work, leaving open the possibility of revisiting the campaign in a new form.

• Lan Su explained that he planned to wait at a distant rendezvous point for a ride back to the Han Guang Star System, and Ronan asked him about the system's history and the Two Star Gate Campaign.
• Wei Su Yi joined Ronan and Lan Su, recalled visiting the Boiling Sea with Netherworld Highness before the war, and described watching her review the battle afterward.
• Wei Su Yi suggested Ronan seek internal records at the Myriad Gods Hall and told him about out-of-print Inner Universe Simulator training cards based on the campaign.
• Lan Su identified the cards as an early work by Master Fan Zhan Yong and offered to search for one in the secondhand markets.
• Ronan recognized the connection to his past work and reflected on the Fuzzy Starry Sky he was constructing in the Karmic Poison Sea using the Starry Sky Remnant Game as a template.

As the Open Week event neared its end, Tai Yu joined the advisors in the lounge and discussed the Two Star Gate Campaign with them. He then used historical information to refine a cautious reconstruction of the campaign in his Starry Sky Remnant Game and Fictional Spacetime.

• With thirty hours left in Open Week, Tai Yu visited the lounge, prompting the other Great Monarchs to join a historical discussion with the advisors.
• The scholars discussed the Calamity Era of the Han Guang Star System, focusing on the Two Star Gate Campaign and acknowledging that its history remained uncertain.
• Tai Yu considered how information from a reconstructed Fuzzy Starry Sky in a Remote Spacetime could support the Gatekeeper Lord Historical Projection project.
• Tai Yu mapped a selected stretch of the River of Time into his Starry Sky Remnant Game and Fictional Spacetime, keeping the historical figures and events indistinct for safety.
• As his understanding of the River of Time deepened, Tai Yu recognized that the imprints of Great Monarchs and Deity within his models were becoming clearer and resolved to proceed with greater caution.

After Open Week, Tai Yu learned that High Priest Yuanhou of Plane Six wanted to meet him and returned to the Gray Blue Eye Demi-Plane, where he received the invitation. He questioned Grand Duke Zhiping about Great Monarch Ma Ge’s connection to the Nightmare Attendants, leaving Zhiping caught off guard.

• Chao Yongdao told Tai Yu that a powerful figure from Plane Six wanted to speak with him and named Great Monarch Chang Yi Zhen as another possible invitee.
• Tai Yu declined Qiao Mian’s invitation to visit her manor after Open Week and headed to the Gray Blue Eye Demi-Plane.
• Tai Yu sensed Shi Fan’s distant inquiry but chose not to meet her, instead considering the Great Monarchs near Gouchen Star.
• Grand Duke Zhiping contacted Tai Yu and invited him to Plane Six to meet High Priest Yuanhou.
• Tai Yu asked whether Great Monarch Ma Ge was one of the Nightmare Attendants, then remarked that the Nightmare Servant King had two Great Monarchs under his command, surprising Grand Duke Zhiping.

Tai Yu notified Grand Duke Zhiping that he would cultivate near the Boundary Curtain, then used Mirror Appraisal to prepare a Historical Projection of a dead Great Monarch-level Magnetic Light Mica. He left the Magnetic Light Mica baby as a carrier for reaching into the River of Time, with the Boundary Curtain providing a way to connect them.

• Tai Yu told Grand Duke Zhiping to inform Great Monarch Ma Ge that his cultivation might affect the Boundary Curtain, and said he had already notified the Dawn System and Great Thoroughfare System.
• Tai Yu examined the aggregation zone and chose it as a place to cultivate because its Rule Environment differed from the Boundary Curtain region.
• Tai Yu used Mirror Appraisal to select the Magnetic Light Mica's self-destruction during the Two Star Gate Campaign as a spacetime origin point and a Historical Projection target.
• Tai Yu planned to use a newly ascended Magnetic Light Mica baby as a carrier to strengthen his interference with the River of Time, while screening out the Evil Poison and the habit of self-destruction.
• Tai Yu decided to use the Boundary Curtain to reach the distant carrier.

Tai Yu merged the newly ascended Magnetic Light Mica with its reality, illusion, and historical projections, drawing the attention of powerful observers. He then entered the Misty Jungle to use the Magnetic Light Mica to expose a ferocious beast tied to the Initial Awakening Society and an old grudge.

• Tai Yu reconnected the Main Star System and the Screen Eight District-8995 Star System through the Boundary Curtain, accepting that the Myriad Gods Hall would notice.
• Tai Yu merged the Magnetic Light Mica's framework, real body, phantom, and Historical Projection, while the Spirit-Channeling Demon Eye revealed watchers observing him through the Abyssal Spirit Net.
• Tai Yu decided to draw attention toward the Initial Awakening Society to ease the pressure on him from three Dominator Systems.
• Tai Yu entered the Misty Jungle by guiding the primordial Faith of hundreds of millions of Clones through the Mixed Version Magnetic Light Mica.
• Tai Yu targeted a ferocious beast in the Misty Jungle with whom he held a grudge, intending to use the Magnetic Light Mica to make it reveal itself.

Tai Yu used the hybrid Magnetic Light Mica to expose and disrupt Great Monarch Wyatt, a powerful figure hidden in the Misty Jungle, while demonstrating his current abilities to the forces watching the Boundary Curtain district. He left Wyatt largely unharmed and treated their clash as a display for the district’s Big Shots.

• Tai Yu channeled Faith Power toward the Curtain of Primordiality, causing Magneto-Light sparks to spread across Mirror Spacetime and Gouchen Star.
• The Magnetic Light Mica’s power set the Misty Jungle ablaze and disrupted a hidden ferocious beast, forcing it out of its Phantom Nightmare state and away from the jungle.
• Tai Yu identified the beast as Great Monarch Wyatt and addressed him, but Wyatt could not respond while struggling to recover from the Magnetic Light Mica’s effects.
• Tai Yu judged that his brief opportunity in the Boundary Curtain district was too limited to act against Wyatt, whose family remained a powerful force serving the Ruin and Fall System.
• Tai Yu used the confrontation as a display of his present abilities and progress for the district’s influential observers.

Tai Yu drew Great Monarch Wyatt into a public confrontation to complicate High Priest Yuanhou’s plans and demonstrate that pressure tactics might not work on him. Wyatt retaliated by attacking the Gray Blue Eye Demi-Plane, and Tai Yu began stabilizing it to protect those inside.

• Tai Yu reasoned that he needed to demonstrate strength to deter the Ruin and Fall System from imposing its will on him.
• Tai Yu examined Great Monarch Wyatt through the Illusory Nightmare Domain and sensed that Wyatt’s rule core was deeply intertwined with the Shadow Domain.
• Great Monarch Wyatt, angered at being dragged into the open, struck the Gray Blue Eye Demi-Plane with his Rule Domain.
• Wyatt’s attack damaged the demi-plane and sent force through the Boundary Curtain’s Leak Point, while endangering its adventurers, merchants, and staff.
• Tai Yu injected power into the Gray Blue Eye Demi-Plane to stabilize it and temporarily protect the people inside.