Chapter Summaries

Qing Zhixun’s squad trained aboard the Starship and learned that Haian Fortress faced an increasingly dangerous threat from the Hanhai Star System. As they continued toward the fortress, Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting discussed the freshmen’s abilities and the challenges awaiting them.

• Qing Zhixun took the team to the training room, where they practiced their assigned combat positions and coordination through six rounds.
• Qing Zhixun treated the team to Nutrient Paste, while Su Jinbao and Flora talked about missing Hong Xixiu’s cooking.
• A Xian contacted Wu Jingya, who told her that Wu Jingxi had recovered and had made her own arrangements.
• While the girls watched a Star Net drama, Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting reviewed Haian Fortress’s defenses and learned that Hanhai forces could command mutated Level 3 Beasts and teleport small groups of soldiers there.
• Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting discussed Wu Jingxian’s strength and Hong Xixiu’s concealed Mental Power, then Qing Zhixun promised to ask Qing Shihao to compensate Li Yuanting.

Xi Xiu and the students arrived at Haian Fortress and received a mission to destroy spatial tunnels used by the Hanhai Star System. Qing Shihao was assigned to lead Xi Xiu’s group, and his greeting to Qing Zhixun revealed that they were brothers, leaving A Xian alarmed about Qing Shihao’s connection to her family.

• After ten days of faster-than-light travel, Xi Xiu and the students arrived at Haian Fortress, where General Muwen welcomed them and they settled into their assigned camp.
• A Xian noticed Hai Suomiao’s anger toward the leader of a neighboring team and exchanged a knowing look with her.
• General Muwen explained that the students would help locate and destroy spatial tunnels through which Level 3 Beasts and the Hanhai Star System could reach the fortress.
• Xi Xiu’s group received its mission assignment and learned that Qing Shihao would lead them.
• Qing Shihao greeted Qing Zhixun as his younger brother, prompting A Xian to suspect that the Qing Family had concealed something about Qing Shihao’s relationship with Wu Jingxi.

Qing Zhixun’s team prepared to leave Haian Fortress for the mission on A78 while Qing Shihao explained that Ye Zhenwei’s arrival had reignited pressure for her to marry him. Qing Shihao avoided Ye Zhenwei and submitted a marriage application, leaving Xilo to tell her she had no chance with him.

• Qing Shihao told Xi Xiu and the other students that they would depart for A78 at six the next morning and urged them to follow orders and stay with the team.
• Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting assured Qing Shihao that the six junior students were reliable and worked well together.
• Qing Shihao told Qing Zhixun that Alliance elders had pressured him to marry Ye Zhenwei, but he had refused and submitted a marriage application to the Central Brain.
• Qing Zhixun avoided Ye Zhenwei on his way back to the dormitory, and Qing Shihao escaped through his office window when she came to see him.
• Qing Shihao warned Xilo to take Ye Zhenwei away, and Xilo told her that Qing Shihao’s marriage application left her no hope with him.
• Ye Zhenwei protested that she was worthy of Qing Shihao and that their children would benefit the Alliance, while Xilo urged her to stop hurting Chris.

Hai Suomiao told Xi Xiu and Wu Jingxian that she wanted Yan Lanxi to end their arranged engagement, and Wu Jingxian offered to help her confront him. Back at the dormitory, the group prepared for their A78 mission, while Qing Zhixun noticed that Hong Xixiu was unusually perceptive.

• Hai Suomiao said Yan Lanxi was her enemy and revealed that her family had arranged their engagement without her consent.
• Wu Jingxian and Xi Xiu discussed helping Hai Suomiao, but Xi Xiu warned that fighting could cost them Contribution Points.
• Su Jinbao told Xi Xiu and Wu Jingxian that a woman who had pursued Qing Shihao had arrived at Haian Fortress.
• Qing Zhixun sent Group 626 the A78 mission schedule, procedures, coordinates, and Star Chart.
• Qing Zhixun noticed Hong Xixiu detect his lingering gaze and suspected her Mental Power was stronger than it seemed.

Xi Xiu and Qing Zhixun’s team reached Sixth Port, where Ye Zhenwei had secured permission to join Qing Shihao’s mission to A78. After Ye Zhenwei boarded despite Qing Shihao’s objections, Su Jinbao told Xi Xiu and A Xian about her arrogant behavior at the military academy and her history with Qing Shihao and Chris.

• Xi Xiu and the others woke early, packed their gear, and traveled with Qing Zhixun’s team to Sixth Port.
• Ye Zhenwei blocked the starship entrance and insisted on joining Qing Shihao’s mission, claiming General Fleming had approved it.
• Qing Shihao confronted Chris by video call and warned that he would no longer tolerate Ye Zhenwei’s interference.
• Qing Shihao told Ye Zhenwei to protect herself on A78 and bring Xilo, while Ye Zhenwei mistook his warning for concern.
• A Xian asked Xi Xiu why Ye Zhenwei behaved strangely, and Su Jinbao described her rise at First Military Academy and her pursuit of Qing Shihao.

Group 626 arrived on barren planet A78, set up camp, and sent a scouting party into the surrounding area. Xi Xiu displayed exceptional combat power against a swarm of Level 3 Beasts, but one surviving beast suddenly leaped toward her from behind.

• Qing Shihao decided to let Xilo deal with Ye Zhenwei, while Qing Zhixun offered to intervene if she went too far.
• Group 626 landed on barren planet A78, established a campsite, and received weapons and short-range signal devices from Li Yuanting.
• Qing Zhixun led Xi Xiu, Enweit, Tarasha, Xiquan Long, and Gerhe out to scout the area.
• The scouting party encountered hundreds of unusually small, fast Level 3 Beasts and prepared to fight.
• Xi Xiu fought with her saber and used Silver Beads to attack the beasts, impressing Qing Zhixun and her senior companions with her strength.
• A Level 3 Beast that Xiquan Long had not fully killed sprang toward Xi Xiu from behind.

Xi Xiu was badly wounded by a Level 3 Beast, but Wu Yuan and A Xian treated her while Qing Zhixun’s team returned to camp. Qing Zhixun later found the beasts resembled those in the Star Beast Illustrated Guide, leaving him wondering why they were so small.

• A Level 3 Beast tore open Xi Xiu’s back, and she beheaded it before Qing Zhixun reached her.
• Wu Yuan stitched Xi Xiu’s wound and applied Healing Medicine, then A Xian used her people’s healing method to speed her recovery.
• Qing Zhixun ordered the group to verify that every Star Beast was dead and gave Xi Xiu two tubes of healing agent.
• Xi Xiu told Qing Zhixun and A Xian not to blame anyone for her injury, while Qing Zhixun felt an unusual affinity toward her.
• Li Yuanting told Qing Zhixun that Hai’an advised them to stand by or investigate, and Qing Zhixun wondered why the Level 3 Beasts resembled guidebook entries but were much smaller.

Qing Zhixun and Qing Shihao discovered that A78's Underground City was packed with Level 3 Beasts and prepared their teams to attack before the beasts reached the surface. The chapter ended with the students assembling for the next day's battle.

• Lu Zong'an analyzed Qing Shihao's data and warned that Level 3 Beasts were mutating to become stronger.
• Qing Zhixun and Qing Shihao shared warnings about the beasts' vitality and ordered their teams to stay alert and kill them completely.
• Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting found that A78's Underground City was filled with Star Beasts, including tens of thousands of Level 3 Beasts in the southeast.
• Qing Shihao informed the other groups, Haian Fortress, and Gaia Headquarters, then planned to locate and destroy the passage and the beasts.
• The next morning, Xi Xiu, A Xian, and the others from 626 trained before Qing Zhixun ordered the team to assemble.

Team 626 joined Qing Zhixun and Qing Shihao to investigate tens of thousands of Level 3 Beasts hidden beneath the Underground City, and Tarasha suspected that people had raised them there. After the first swarm emerged and the Combat Robots killed it, a terrifying change suddenly occurred.

• Qing Zhixun briefed the teams on the increased mission difficulty and the Level 3 Beasts concealed beneath the Underground City.
• Tarasha questioned how the Beasts had reached the underground, and Xi Xiu suggested someone might have put them there.
• At the enormous pit, Tarasha observed that the Beasts acted like domesticated animals waiting for an exit, prompting Qing Shihao to order an investigation of all ships that had visited A78 in the past three years.
• Qing Shihao deployed Combat Robots and ordered the teams to use Luring Agent, drawing out several hundred Level 3 Beasts.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian fought alongside the Combat Robots until the first wave was killed, when a terrifying change suddenly occurred.

Level 3 Beasts broke through to the surface, and Xi Xiu, A Xian, and the others fought for three hours to drive them back underground. After a brief rest, the team regrouped to prepare for the next deployment.

• Level 3 Beasts broke through 500 meters of earth, and Qing Shihao sent footage of the emergence to Haian Fortress and the northern and western teams.
• Qing Zhixun urged Team 626 to use their mechs if needed, but Tarasha said they wanted to fight without them for now.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian used their Silver Beads to wound the beasts as Team 626, Qing Zhixun's team, and the Combat Robots fought together.
• Qing Shihao and Qing Zhixun divided their forces into six squads, which drove the beasts back toward the opening after three hours of battle.
• Qing Shihao left the Combat Robots guarding the opening and ordered everyone to clean up and rest for an hour.
• Xi Xiu, A Xian, and Flora slept, then woke and followed Tarasha's team to Qing Shihao's designated meeting point.

Qing Shihao’s team cleared the northern battlefield and uncovered suspicious gaps in A78’s visitation records, while a crisis in the west left Ye Zhenwei seriously injured and Xilo’s team trapped. Back at camp, Qing Shihao learned about his assigned marriage match as the team awaited rescue updates and final orders.

• Qing Shihao reviewed the latest underground data, found seven star-months of visitation records missing, and sent the suspicious details to his father for investigation.
• Qing Shihao rushed north with reinforcements after Van Haige reported a Star Beast ambush, and his team cleared the area within two hours.
• Qing Shihao arranged for the captured female Star Beasts to be sent to Haian and replied to Anvile’s request for a Level 3 Beast for research.
• Xilo told Qing Shihao that Ye Zhenwei was seriously injured and their team was trapped on a mountain, so Qing Shihao dispatched Van Haige to rescue them.
• Qing Zhixun discussed the Anvile People and the family investigation with Qing Shihao, who revealed that his assigned match was Li Wangshu.

After Ye Zhenwei’s decisions during a Level 3 Beast attack led to two soldiers’ deaths and left Xilo gravely injured, Qing Shihao submitted the footage to General Fleming and the camp turned against her. Ye Zhenwei blamed others and vowed to make them pay, while Xi Xiu and her companions mourned the dead.

• Qing Zhixun considered telling Qing Shihao he did not intend to marry, then thought of someone from his past and saw an uncanny resemblance in Hong Xixiu.
• A Xian told Xi Xiu that her sister had recovered and would arrive from Anvile before they returned to Gaia, and Xi Xiu welcomed the news.
• The rescue team found Xilo badly wounded beside an unharmed Ye Zhenwei, and Qing Shihao ordered the battle footage sent to General Fleming.
• The footage revealed that Ye Zhenwei had withdrawn her defense and delayed treating the wounded soldiers, who died from their injuries and infection, while Xilo had been hurt shielding her.
• Ye Zhenwei sat alone in her tent, insisted she had done nothing wrong, and vowed to make everyone who criticized her pay.
• Xi Xiu, A Xian, Flora, and Su Jinbao discussed the soldiers’ deaths and condemned Ye Zhenwei’s selfish behavior.

After returning from A78, Team 626 and Hai Suomiao’s team compared lessons from the battle while Ye Zhenwei faced growing disapproval from the soldiers. Xi Xiu learned that the passage threat was nearly resolved and heard why Hai Suomiao wanted to break off her engagement to Yan Lanxi.

• Qing Shihao received the Physics Department’s coordinates, and Haian Fortress ordered A78 searched and destroyed after evacuation.
• The teams returned to Haian, where Fleming saw Xilo recovering and Ye Zhenwei left without greeting him or visiting Xilo.
• Soldiers at Haian grew dissatisfied with Ye Zhenwei after learning that her actions had caused two deaths and Xilo’s severe injury.
• Xi Xiu learned that the passage problem was about ninety percent resolved and told Hai Suomiao she hoped to visit Zhen during vacation.
• Hai Suomiao explained that Yan Lanxi’s choice at coming of age had prevented her from choosing to be male, and she remained determined to end their engagement.
• The twelve soldiers shared combat lessons, and Xi Xiu urged them to keep small objects nearby to help defend against unexpected attacks.

After returning to Gaia, Xi Xiu learned more about Ye Zhenwei’s past, rested with Ebony, and agreed to accompany A Xian to the Forest Hotel. Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting noticed Xi Xiu’s vehicle and discussed the Anvile people’s protectiveness.

• Nan Hejia and Liang Jingxian told Xi Xiu how Ye Zhenwei pursued Qing Shihao, accepted an engagement to Chris, and later awakened after her Blocker stopped working.
• Mei Zhenyue brought the students back to Gaia, where Xi Xiu and her squadmates received credits and excellent evaluations.
• Ebony showed Xi Xiu that it had leveled up, and Xi Xiu spent her two days off resting before going out with A Xian.
• A Xian invited Xi Xiu to the Forest Hotel the next day, and Xi Xiu agreed to bring Ebony.
• Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting spotted Xi Xiu’s vehicle and discussed the Anvile people’s protectiveness.

Qing Zhixun prepared for his future posting to Yuanri, trading for intelligence about the system’s growing mechanization and dangers. Meanwhile, Xi Xiu and A Xian met with Wu Jingxi, Wu Jingyang, and Wu Jingya, where A Xian complained about Qing Zhixun’s failure to protect Xi Xiu.

• Qing Zhixun and Li Yuanting agreed to apply for service postings at Yuanri, with Li Yuanting planning to bring Lin Changchang along.
• Qing Zhixun reviewed reports of increasing full-body mechanization and possible black-market activity on Yuanri, then exchanged the Qing Family’s latest combat armor for intelligence from Fang Jinyu.
• Qing Heming sent Qing Zhixun a message that left him without much joy as he reflected on family members he had lost.
• Xi Xiu and A Xian traveled to the forest hotel, where Wu Jingyang offered to encrypt A Xian’s terminal and Wu Jingxi welcomed them.
• A Xian told Wu Jingxi that Qing Zhixun had failed to notice Xi Xiu’s danger in Hai'an and had not come to her rescue.

Wu Jingxi and the Wu sisters met Xi Xiu and A Xian on Gaia, strengthened their communications security, and discussed their abilities and the threat surrounding the Alliance. Jing Xi planned to meet Qing Heming and a child the next day before returning to Anvile without revealing herself.

• Wu Jingya gave Xi Xiu and A Xian Space Lockets, while Wu Jingyang encrypted their terminals and set up a secure Anvile communication channel.
• Wu Jingxi urged Xi Xiu to keep improving her strength, and A Xian revealed that she had reached 3S Mental Power while Xi Xiu estimated hers was one or two levels higher.
• A Xian described Ye Zhenwei's pursuit of Qing Shihao, leading Jing Xi to wonder if the child was hers; she said she would confirm it by meeting Qing Heming the next day.
• Jing Xi said she would meet Qing Heming and the child but return to Anvile without revealing her identity.
• After Xi Xiu and A Xian left with Ebony, A Xian explained that Yuanri had spent a century seeking ways to surpass the Central Brain and recounted the Alliance's ban on mechanized people returning to their original star systems.

Xi Xiu focused on studying and training as the group prepared for the holiday and their final assessments. She remained confident in most subjects but struggled with Star Chart drawing, leaving her determined to memorize the charts and improve.

• Xi Xiu and A Xian trained Enweit, Su Jinbao, Tarasha, Flora, and the others, and Enweit learned to control more than a hundred metal balls under twenty times gravity.
• Enweit planned to return to Aura and challenge all his siblings, while Tarasha, Flora, and Su Jinbao planned to stay at school and train during the holiday.
• Xi Xiu planned to visit Zhen on Jinghui Star with Fan Hui, and A Xian advised her to take an official Starship for safety.
• The group discussed their upcoming assessments, and Xi Xiu worried most about Star Chart drawing despite feeling confident in her other subjects.
• Xi Xiu began memorizing Star Charts late into the night, determined to overcome her difficulty recognizing objects from pictures.

After finals, Xi Xiu earned top marks and traveled with Xue Fanhui to Jinghui Star to reunite with Zhen. The three friends caught up over dinner and shared how they had grown during their two years apart.

• Xi Xiu and her Group 626 classmates finished their finals, and Xi Xiu earned top marks while everyone passed.
• Group 626 agreed to meet again in a month, while Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui boarded a Starship for Jinghui Star.
• Zhen met Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui at the Third Starport and brought them to a hotel near her school.
• Zhen served the two visitors a feast of Jinghui Star specialties, and the three friends ate together before talking late into the night.
• Zhen urged Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui to stay safe during training, and they reassured her that they had grown stronger.

Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui visited Zhen on Jinghui Star, toured her school, and learned more about her life and an unfriendly classmate. As they arrived at the Underground City, Xi Xiu also told them about recognizing a senior opponent by his unchanged fighting moves.

• Zhen sent Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui an itinerary, and the three agreed to spend their time exploring Jinghui Star together.
• Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui visited Zhen's school and dormitory, where Zhen described her daily life and her roommate, Nie Xien.
• Zhen ran into Jiang Zhaoqing, and Xi Xiu warned Zhen to be cautious after sensing jealousy and hatred in Jiang Zhaoqing's gaze.
• Zhen explained that she had distanced herself from Jiang Zhaoqing because she spread gossip, while Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui discussed ways to help Zhen defend herself.
• Xi Xiu told Zhen and Xue Fanhui that she had recognized a senior opponent in the Battle Room by his unchanged moves.
• The three friends reached the Underground City entrance, and Zhen entered her student code to activate the lift.

Xi Xiu, Xue Fanhui, and Zhen explored Jinghui Star’s Underground City, where Xiao Wenjiu unexpectedly approached them and insisted on escorting them back to their hotel. Xiao Wenjiu had secretly become interested in Xi Xiu’s unexplained combat strength, leaving Xue Fanhui wondering whether Xi Xiu had met him before.

• Zhen took Xi Xiu and Xue Fanhui to the Underground City, where they browsed shops and visited the amusement area; Xue Fanhui bought weapon models and a prototype mech design.
• At a beverage shop, Xi Xiu described her demanding military academy courses, and Zhen said she hoped to visit Gaia before graduation.
• The three encountered a crowd watching a fight, and Xiao Wenjiu called out to Xue Fanhui.
• Xiao Wenjiu offered to treat the group and escort them, while privately planning to investigate Xi Xiu’s apparent hidden strength.
• Xue Fanhui, Xi Xiu, and Zhen followed Xiao Wenjiu to their hotel, where he stayed briefly before leaving; Xue Fanhui asked Xi Xiu whether she had met him before.