Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren arranged a hidden research facility aboard the Giant Turtle Rock Platform and watched Hesperis recover while trying to teach Doudou to speak. He received his newly assigned vehicle, only to discover it was a conspicuous three-wheeler banned from the city roads.

• Hao Ren sent Raven 12345 a report about the Athens Sanctuary and arranged to study the Origin Holy Artifact aboard the ship in the Kuiper Belt.
• Hao Ren used his new teleportation gate to send the Origin Holy Artifact and other samples to the ship's research cabin.
• Hao Ren learned that Hesperis had recovered from the Demon Hunter's curse but needed several days to regain her strength.
• Hao Ren tried to teach Doudou to say "Daddy," then rescued her from chewing through a power strip as Vivian measured her for new clothes.
• The Data Terminal announced that Hao Ren's vehicle had arrived, and Hao Ren complained when he saw that it was a three-wheeler banned on the city's roads.

Hao Ren rejected the Time-Space Administration Bureau’s tricycle and changed it into a Bei Dou Xing before learning that its mimicry function could disassemble anything left inside. He then took Vivian, Hesperis, and Doudou to the newly prepared laboratory to study the Origin Holy Artifact, where Vivian pointed out that his teleportation station looked like a toilet.

• Hao Ren disliked the tricycle Raven had supplied, and the Data Terminal showed him how to choose a different mimicry form.
• Hao Ren selected the Bei Dou Xing form, and the vehicle reshaped itself while the Data Terminal warned that anything left inside could be disassembled and sent into the void.
• The Data Terminal reported that the research compartment was ready for analysis of the Origin Holy Artifact, so Hao Ren asked Vivian and Hesperis to help.
• Vivian brought Doudou along, and she left a note for Lily and the others before the group went to the basement.
• Vivian recognized that Hao Ren’s teleportation station cover looked like a toilet, leaving Hao Ren speechless.

Hao Ren and his companions examined the Origin Holy Artifact aboard the Giant Turtle Rock Platform and discovered that it was likely a machine for synthesizing humanoid creatures. Hesperis’s observation about Bethmos naming it the “Origin” Holy Artifact left Hao Ren questioning whether Earth’s Otherworlders had been manufactured by devices like it.

• Hao Ren brought Vivian, Hesperis, and Dumbo to the Giant Turtle Rock Platform’s research compartment to examine the Origin Holy Artifact.
• The Data Terminal explained that the artifact’s engraved metal plates and crystals functioned as components of a magical technology system.
• The Data Terminal determined that the artifact was probably a cultivation device designed to synthesize and grow humanoid creatures.
• The analysis unit activated the artifact, revealing interface options for accelerated growth, emergency deactivation, writing innate memories, and injecting thoughts.
• Hesperis noted that Bethmos had named the device the “Origin” Holy Artifact, prompting Hao Ren to wonder whether the Otherworlders had been mass-produced.

Hao Ren and his companions examined the Origin Holy Artifact and Demon Hunter equipment, uncovering clues about the artifact’s history and the blood-based nature of Demon Hunter magic. The Data Terminal found that a genetic disease was weakening the Demon Hunters’ magic and fertility, and the chapter ended with the discovery that the race had likely not noticed it.

• Hesperis recalled Athena’s cryptic remarks and the strange disappearances on Mount Olympus, which Hao Ren and Vivian connected to the Origin Holy Artifact and the Dream Plane disaster.
• The Data Terminal began producing and testing copies of the Origin Holy Artifact to investigate its missing core and the substances it processed.
• Doudou tried to eat rune cards during their analysis, and Hao Ren stopped her after learning that Demon Hunter equipment was made using its owner’s blood.
• The Data Terminal reported that young Demon Hunters carried mutations that reduced the magic in their blood and their fertility, suggesting a genetic disease spreading through the race.

Hao Ren and his companions investigated Demon Hunter weapons after the Data Terminal speculated that the race was suffering genetic deterioration. Back home, Lily worried that the scorched tip of her tail would not grow back, and Vivian prepared a folk remedy to treat it.

• The Data Terminal speculated that the Demon Hunters' genetic deterioration could worsen over generations, and Hao Ren decided their decline needed more investigation.
• Hao Ren, Vivian, and Hesperis studied Demon Hunter weapons and returned home through the basement Space Gate.
• Hao Ren noticed Lily was unusually gloomy, and she explained that the burned fur on her tail had not regrown.
• Vivian prepared a ginger-and-herb ointment with her own blood, then pinned Lily down while Hao Ren held her tail so they could apply it.

Hao Ren and Vivian treated Lily’s shedding tail with Vivian’s hair-growth remedy, which seemed to work until Lily used the entire supply. The Data Terminal then announced that the wrecked spaceship’s owners had been found and would arrive at Kuiper Station within a couple of days.

• Vivian persuaded Lily to let her and Hao Ren apply her hair-growth remedy to Lily’s tail and wrap it in gauze.
• Lily spent the afternoon brooding over her wrapped tail, then discovered the dried ointment had made it look worse.
• After washing off the ointment, Lily spotted a small patch of new fur and excitedly used the rest of Vivian’s remedy on her tail.
• Lily’s tail swelled under the layers of gauze, but she happily went to her room to write while Vivian advised her to unwrap it if it became too hot.
• The Data Terminal informed Hao Ren that the owners of the wrecked spaceship had been identified and their delegation would reach Kuiper Station within a day or two.

Hao Ren learned that the Kabala United Kingdom had claimed the wrecked spaceship and began planning its recovery from the Dream Plane. He then told Becky that she could no longer live there long-term and would have to make Earth her home, leaving her to process the news alone.

• Hao Ren learned that the Kabala United Kingdom was a federation of pioneering merchant consortia and had provided documents proving its claim to the wrecked spaceship.
• Hao Ren, Izax, and the Data Terminal discussed how to bring the ship and its engineering team out of the Dream Plane safely.
• Lily joked that she was having a beauty treatment for her bandaged tail, then pounced on Hao Ren after he teased her.
• Becky asked whether she could go home, prompting Hao Ren to tell her that she had become an Earthling and could not stay in the Dream Plane long-term.
• Becky listened to Hao Ren's explanation, then asked to be left alone for a while.

Becky adjusted to the limits on her trips home, and the household returned to its usual chaotic routine. The morning ended with Lily discovering that Vivian’s hair-growth potion had left her with an enormous tail that was still growing.

• Hao Ren explained the hibernation pod’s time limits, and Becky accepted that she would have to spend most of her time on Earth.
• Vivian and Becky prepared fish while the household tried to keep Doudou from seeing it.
• Hao Ren noticed Lily had not gotten up and found her with a huge, fluffy tail caused by Vivian’s hair-growth potion.
• Vivian warned that Lily’s tail might grow two or three more times and asked Hao Ren whether he wanted a scarf.

Hao Ren went to Kuiper Station to meet representatives of the Kabala United Kingdom and discuss an engineering rescue project. On the way, Lulu explained the Campbell explorers’ customs, including their unusual farewell blessing: “I hope you die as far away as possible.”

• Hao Ren and Vivian trimmed Lily’s overgrown tail, and Lily considered saving her fur to make a pillow.
• Nangong May asked why Lily’s fur was white, and Hao Ren’s joke about her mother running out of ink provoked Lily to bite him.
• Lily’s tail began growing wildly again, but she happily fetched tools to have it trimmed once more.
• The Data Terminal received word that representatives of the Kabala United Kingdom had arrived at Kuiper Station, so Hao Ren went there alone.
• Lulu told Hao Ren that the Campbell explorers prized distant exploration and used “I hope you die as far away as possible” as a sincere farewell blessing.

Hao Ren met with Kabala and the other little green people to plan a safe recovery of their crashed spaceship from the Dream Plane. As the meeting ended, he realized that four ascetics had appeared in one of the little green people's territories and were protecting a sacred pearl.

• Hao Ren arrived at Kuiper Station's central tower and met Kabala and the delegation from the Kabala United Kingdom.
• Kabala confirmed that the wreck shown in Hao Ren's information disks was their missing spaceship, Star of Heaven No. 4 Ship.
• Hao Ren explained a restricted salvage plan for retrieving the ship from the unstable Dream Plane, and the Data Terminal warned the delegation not to explore further.
• Kabala and his Chief Minister discussed the plan while the other delegates talked about four strange humans who had appeared in a crater and guarded a sacred pearl.
• Hao Ren recognized the four humans as ascetics after overhearing the delegates' conversation.

Hao Ren learned that the Holy Church Orb and four ascetics had arrived safely on a planet in the Kabala United Kingdom, and arranged to retrieve them. He returned home and told Becky to accompany him to the Space Station the next day.

• Hao Ren learned that four humans and the Holy Church Orb had appeared near a mine after a spatial teleportation accident and were staying at an accommodation center.
• Hao Ren told the Campbell representatives that the matter involved classified information and asked to meet the humans and take them away.
• Hao Ren delayed the Dream Plane trip, arranged to meet Kabala and the others the next day, and explained that he needed to recover the orb and rescue the ascetics first.
• The Data Terminal speculated that a mapping deviation or the orb’s properties had sent the group to a planet near the Campbell Civilization Circle.
• Hao Ren returned home, found Lily recovered from her illness, and told Becky to come with him to the Space Station the next day.

Hao Ren told Becky that he had found the Holy Church Orb on the Campbell people's planet, and he brought his companions to retrieve it. The group arrived in the Campbell Nebula, where Taram proudly introduced their home galaxy and its explorers’ custom of dying throughout it.

• Hao Ren told Becky that the Holy Church Orb and the four surviving ascetics were on the little green people's planet, and Becky mourned that she could not enjoy the title and house she hoped to earn.
• Hao Ren agreed to take Becky and the others to retrieve the orb, and the group prepared for the trip while Hesperis stayed behind to help with Athens Refuge’s reconstruction.
• Hao Ren and his companions traveled to Kuiper Station, met with Kabala and Taram, then boarded the Giant Turtle Rock Platform with Taram and his attendants.
• Hao Ren sent the Giant Turtle Rock Platform at full speed to the Campbell Nebula, two million light-years from the Milky Way.
• Taram introduced the Campbell Nebula as his homeland and said its explorers had died throughout the galaxy.

Hao Ren and his delegation reached a planet in the Kabala United Kingdom, where the Campbell people welcomed them and guided them toward the Observation Facility. They arrived at the facility that housed the Holy Church Orb and the four ascetics.

• Taram showed Hao Ren the Campbell Nebula’s immense light clusters and explained that the Campbell people had failed to study their interiors.
• The Giant Turtle Rock Platform traveled through the nebula and received a hostile welcome message from the Kabala United Kingdom.
• Hao Ren and the others landed on the vassal-state planet, where Lily eagerly greeted the crowd of Campbell people.
• Taram introduced Hao Ren to the planet’s officials and the person in charge of the Observation Facility.
• Izax could not fit inside the Campbell vehicle, so Hao Ren brought out the Bei Dou Xing and drove the delegation to the Observation Facility.

Hao Ren visited the four ascetic monks held at the Campbell Observation Facility and explained that they had been transported to another world. The monks began to trust him, but one questioned who he really was, and Hao Ren called himself a “traffic cop.”

• Hao Ren, Becky, and Taram went to the Observation Facility, where Taram explained that the four monks had repeatedly tried to escape.
• Hao Ren and his companions found the four ascetic monks meditating in the ecological garden and asked Taram to wait outside.
• The monks mistook Hao Ren and Becky for fellow believers from the Kingdom of Horleta and asked where they had come from.
• Hao Ren told the monks they had been transported from their church and described the Dream Plane, the Outer World, and the distance between worlds.
• One monk questioned Hao Ren’s identity, and Hao Ren answered that he was a “traffic cop.”

Hao Ren explained the two worlds and their fragile connection to the four ascetics, who accepted that their Goddess’s authority might not extend beyond their own land. After learning they could only remain in the Outer World for ten days, they agreed to return the orb to the Goddess’s Shelter, while Hao Ren asked to inspect it.

• Hao Ren explained the Wall of Reality, the Dream Plane, and his role in regulating passages between worlds to the four ascetics.
• The bearded ascetic accepted that the Goddess’s glory ended in their land and agreed to help retrieve the dead from the Blood Lake.
• The older female ascetic asked Becky how she had arrived, and Becky explained that a failed spell had brought her to this world.
• Hao Ren warned the ascetics that people could travel between the worlds only one way and could stay in the Outer World for about ten days.
• The bearded ascetic agreed that returning the Holy Church Orb to the Goddess’s Shelter mattered more than remaining in the Outer World.
• Hao Ren asked to examine the Holy Church Orb, and the bearded ascetic reacted warily.

Hao Ren examined the Holy Church Orb and discovered that its patterns and size matched a missing component of the Origin Holy Artifact. He arranged for a copy of the artifact to be made and took the four ascetics aboard his ship, which left the planet for the Trans-dimensional State.

• Big Beard reluctantly let Hao Ren examine the Holy Church Orb while insisting that it remain in his sight.
• Vivian recognized that the orb matched a hole in the Origin Holy Artifact, and the Data Terminal confirmed a complete exterior match.
• Hao Ren told Big Beard that the orb might fit a device found in a desert, and Big Beard agreed to study it with him while keeping the orb close.
• Hao Ren asked the Data Terminal to make a copy of the Origin Holy Artifact as the group left the ecological park and said goodbye to Taram and the little green people.
• The group boarded the spaceship, and Hao Ren activated automatic navigation and entered the Trans-dimensional State.

Hao Ren tested a replica of the Origin Holy Artifact with the Holy Church Orb, and the artifact began operating as a synthesis device. As the machine processed its first batch of materials, Doudou sneaked into a loading port.

• The four ascetics meditated aboard the ship, and Big Beard explained that they had no names and identified one another through a secret network.
• Vivian knitted with yarn made from Lily’s fur, while Lily panicked at the prospect of growing more fur.
• At Kuiper Station, Hao Ren revealed a replica of the Origin Holy Artifact and Big Beard placed the Holy Church Orb into its cavity.
• The artifact powered up, passed its self-check, and began processing raw materials while the Data Terminal checked its database.
• Doudou sniffed an open loading port, decided its contents looked delicious, and jumped inside.

Hao Ren and the others activated the Origin Holy Artifact, only to discover Doudou had entered its synthesis tank and emerged with a new ability. The artifact’s final records revealed that its intended creation was a Demon Hunter, leaving them to wonder how Doudou’s transformation was connected.

• The ascetics decided to cooperate with Hao Ren’s group because they believed the Goddess approved of their work.
• The Data Terminal discovered Doudou inside the Origin Holy Artifact’s synthesis tank, and Hao Ren shut the device down as the others waited for the reaction to stop.
• Doudou emerged unharmed, but her burps caused her to teleport around the room and crash into Hao Ren and Izax.
• The Data Terminal retrieved the artifact’s final records, and Vivian recognized the intended synthesized creature as a Demon Hunter.

Hao Ren and his companions discovered that the Origin Holy Artifact created the first Demon Hunters in the Dream Plane, giving them a clearer account of how the Demon Hunters and Others reached Earth. With many questions still unresolved, Hao Ren decided to set out for the Dream Plane immediately.

• The Data Terminal identified the Origin Holy Artifact’s product as a Sixth Generation Enhanced Lifeform—the first-generation Demon Hunter.
• Hao Ren, Vivian, and Nangong May considered whether the Others or Sirens had built the artifact before Hao Ren realized it came from the Dream Plane.
• Izax pieced together that Dream Plane inhabitants created the artifact and Demon Hunters, and that an apocalypse later scattered them and other inhabitants onto Earth.
• Lily suggested that the Demon Hunters might have rebelled against their creators, while the four ascetics warned Hao Ren not to insult their god.
• Hao Ren ordered the Origin Holy Artifact and Holy Church Orb packed for the ascetics, then decided to leave for the Dream Plane; Nangong May urged the group to check on the burping child.

Hao Ren and his companions examined Doudou after the Origin Holy Artifact gave her Demon Hunter abilities, discovering that hiccups triggered her teleportation but that she was otherwise healthy. They stopped the hiccups for now, and Hao Ren prepared to leave for the Dream Plane.

• Hao Ren brought Doudou to the medical ward, where the group found that her hiccups triggered teleportation and obstacles prevented her from passing through solid objects.
• The Data Terminal examined Doudou and found that she was healthy, though the Origin Holy Artifact had caused benign mutations and granted her a Demon Hunter teleportation ability.
• The Data Terminal predicted that Doudou might develop other Demon Hunter traits, but Hao Ren realized no one present could teach her to control them.
• Nangong May said her brother, Nangong Sanba, could not be reached until he settled somewhere, so the Data Terminal proposed startling Doudou to stop her hiccups.
• The Data Terminal played the Dance of Fate, startling Doudou until she stopped hiccupping, and Hao Ren lectured her to hiccup only somewhere safe.
• With Doudou out of danger, Hao Ren set out for the Dream Plane.