Chapter Summaries

Hao Ren and Vivian returned to Raven 12345 to find a way for her to communicate with Lia, who could not leave the Dream Plane. Raven quickly produced a device that could project Lia into the Outer World, though Hao Ren discovered she had taken it from the warehouse rather than inventing it.

• Raven 12345 confirmed that Doudou had suffered no effects from stopping the apocalypse, while Hao Ren worried about facing the Destruction Goddess and Lord of Madness again.
• Raven explained that Lia could not leave the Dream Plane, and she proposed creating a remote device to establish contact with her instead.
• Raven vanished to prepare a prototype, so Hao Ren and Vivian went home, where Cat Girl was playing with Hao Ren’s treasured console.
• Heiserana, visiting the house, worried that Vivian would be angry with her, while Nangong May and Nangong Sanba reassured her.
• Raven teleported Hao Ren, Vivian, and Doudou back to the divine kingdom and presented them with two silver-white projection rings.
• Hao Ren spotted a warehouse label on the rings and realized Raven had not made them herself.

Hao Ren returned home with Vivian after receiving rings that could let Lia project herself into the Outer World, where they found Roll behaving strangely and Heiserana visiting Vivian. The household welcomed Heiserana, while Lily described their recent expedition as a victory over a true god.

• Raven 12345 explained that the rings could create a Quality Projection for Lia, with limits on its range and duration and a warning that using it could feel like splitting her mind.
• Hao Ren and Vivian teleported home and found Roll bowing to a photograph of Hao Ren with his game console and shrimp crackers arranged before it.
• Heiserana greeted Vivian, explained that she had come to visit after the Shadow Council stabilized, and Vivian agreed to let her stay.
• Vivian invited Heiserana to celebrate the expedition's success with flatbread, and Heiserana eagerly asked for sesame after recalling her earlier fear that eating it would make Vivian disappear.
• Lily told Heiserana that the group had fought and driven off a true god, leaving the little Bat Spirit stunned.

After a warm reunion with Heiserana, Hao Ren visited Lia in the World Tree Temple and gave her a device that connected their universes. Lia’s enthusiasm for studying—and the news that the living bomb had exploded in the Dark Abyss—left him with a new reason for optimism.

• Vivian reassured Heiserana that her accomplishments mattered, while Hao Ren explained that Dodo had delivered the finishing blow against the god and rewarded her with red sandalwood.
• Heiserana enjoyed a peaceful dinner with Vivian and the others, while Hao Ren resolved to visit Lia the next morning.
• Hao Ren found Lia studying creation science at the World Tree Temple and noticed that she had become unusually confident and motivated.
• Hao Ren gave Lia a pair of rings that could connect her to his universe, and Lia immediately created a Quality Projection of herself to explore how it worked.
• Lia told Hao Ren that Asuman had detected an energy burst in the Dark Abyss, likely caused by the living bomb exploding.

Hao Ren learned that the Abyss Relay Station had detected surviving Starfolk sentinels, while Lia nearly completed a portal to the Dark Domain. They discovered that the Destruction Goddess had likely stolen nine golden discs from the Creation Engine, leaving them to wonder what she planned to do with them.

• Asuman reported that the Destruction Goddess’s energy outburst had injured Lord of Madness and that the Relay Station had detected surviving Starfolk sentinels inside the Abyss cage.
• Lia showed Hao Ren the nearly usable portal to the Dark Domain, and he explained his suspicions that Lord of Madness had destroyed Planet La Rian before moving on to the Dream Plane.
• Hao Ren asked Lia about the nine missing golden discs, and she said she had installed them in the Creation Engine core from Sulun's Gate.
• Hao Ren and Lia concluded that the Destruction Goddess had probably stolen the discs while asleep, and Lia warned that they could power most of the Creation Engine.
• Lia pointed to herself when Hao Ren asked what the Destruction Goddess planned to do with the discs.

Hao Ren and Lia discussed the Destruction Goddess’s plan to rebuild the Creation Engine and agreed to seek Raven 12345’s advice. Lia reunited with the two swords she had forged, but told Hao Ren to keep wielding them as she planned to create new weapons.

• Lia explained that the Destruction Goddess could use the power of Madness to build the Creation Engine, which would threaten all three goddesses.
• Lia said the engine would take months to complete and offered Hao Ren its technical data so they could study how to stop it.
• Lia asked Hao Ren to arrange a meeting with Raven 12345, and he agreed to take her there after her schoolwork.
• Hao Ren returned the Godslaying Sword and World-Breaking Blade to Lia, who reassured the Godslaying Sword about its role in the ancient war.
• Lia told Hao Ren to keep the swords and said she would forge new weapons to fight the Lord of Madness.

Hao Ren arranged a meeting between Raven 12345 and Lia, who discussed the missing golden discs and the Destruction Goddess’s plan to build a smaller Creation Engine. Raven 12345 responded by asking Lia whether she would register as a resident of the Xiling Pantheon.

• Hao Ren told Raven 12345 that Lia and the Quality Projection Generator were ready, then connected Lia’s projection when it arrived.
• Raven 12345 welcomed Lia, and the two goddesses chatted warmly while Hao Ren watched in surprise.
• Raven 12345 explained that the Xiling Pantheon was young, though its members inherited vast experience through the Mind Network.
• Lia said she had come to learn about the Three Pantheons and divine magic, and to discuss a troublesome problem.
• Hao Ren and Lia explained that the Destruction Goddess had taken the nine golden discs and might use the Lord of Madness’s power to build a smaller Creation Engine.
• Raven 12345 asked Lia whether she would register as a resident of the Xiling Pantheon.

Raven 12345 proposed changing Lia’s divine registry so the Creation Engine would no longer recognize her, and brought her to a divine administrative hub to begin the procedure. When the application reached Divine Registry Affairs, the Angel operator learned Lia was Mistress Icedis’s daughter and reacted with a wing cramp.

• Raven 12345 explained that changing Lia’s divine characteristic code through a registry transfer could protect her from the Creation Engine.
• Raven 12345 said Lia’s Quality Projection could undergo the procedure and required Hao Ren to act as her introducer and guarantor.
• Raven 12345 transported Hao Ren and Lia to a divine administrative hub and submitted their registry-change application.
• The application was routed to operator EK3154T16, an Angel who identified Hao Ren and Lia and asked Raven 12345 to state the reason for the change.
• Raven 12345 told the Angel that Lia was Mistress Icedis’s daughter, and the Angel sprang from her chair with a cramp in her left wing.

Hao Ren witnessed Lia’s divine-registry conversion into the Xiling Pantheon, which Raven 12345 said would protect her from the Creation Engine’s god-killing effect. With most of the engine complete but its missing computational disks still a major obstacle, Lia hinted that her studies might help her build them faster, then agreed to visit Vivian.

• Angel Sister completed Lia’s divine-registry conversion, and Hao Ren signed as Lia’s witness.
• Raven 12345 explained that Lia was now a Xiling Pantheon member and would be protected from the Creation Engine’s fatal threat, though the device remained powerful.
• Hao Ren revealed that he had only three of the Creation Engine’s twelve disks, while Lia said making replacements would take years—unless her recent studies gave her a new solution.
• Raven 12345 invited Lia to visit Vivian, and Lia teased Hao Ren about living with her daughter before agreeing to go.

Hao Ren brought Lia’s Quality Projection to his home, where Vivian’s family welcomed her with confusion and jokes about their tangled relationships. The visit ended with Lia surrounded by the lively household, giving her a chance to share in their warmth after losing her own home and people.

• Hao Ren brought Lia to his old house and explained that he had stayed there because home was wherever his family lived.
• Lily welcomed Lia inside, where Izax, Elizabeth, and Nangong May were startled by the Creation Goddess’s unexpected visit.
• Heiserana mistook Lia’s connection to Vivian, then learned Lia had created Vivian and eagerly called her Grandma.
• Lia rejected the title Grandma and tried to settle on what Heiserana should call her, eventually suggesting Aunt.
• Hao Ren gathered the household and Nangong’s parents around Lia, while he and Nangong Sanba quietly chose not to explain the meaning of “Aunt Flo.”

The Night Watchers faced escalating attacks from the Lord of Madness as the Abyss cage’s defenses weakened, and their Jailer ordered them to contact the outside world. Asuman received their greeting and told them the Creation Goddess had returned and a counterattack was coming, while Lia was still finishing her homework.

• The Lord of Madness intensified its attacks, destroying outposts and pushing the Night Watchers’ defenses toward collapse.
• The Jailer ordered the Night Watchers to prepare for battle and establish contact with the facilities outside the Abyss cage.
• A Night Watcher sent a greeting through the drone relay network to the Crystal Core Research Station.
• Asuman and Ancient Giant Gordon received the signal, and Gordon alerted the listening group and Salamander.
• Asuman replied to the Night Watcher, told it that the Creation Goddess had returned, and urged it to conserve its strength for the coming counterattack.
• Gordon reported that Lia was finishing her homework, so Asuman told him not to hurry her.

Hao Ren and his allies coordinated their preparations for the coming battle after Asuman contacted the Night Watchers guarding the Abyss cage. With the Creation Engine nearing completion and Lia recovered, they turned their attention to a stable portal to the Dark Domain and La Rian’s next mission.

• Hao Ren rushed to the Crystal Core Research Station after learning that Asuman had contacted the Night Watchers, who were still fighting Lord of Madness inside the Abyss cage.
• Lia explained that the Night Watchers’ defenses were faltering, and Hao Ren ordered them to delay the enemy while preserving their strength and withdraw if necessary.
• Hao Ren, Salamander, and Lemendusa reported that the drone legion, Guardian Legion, and Creation Engine were progressing toward readiness for battle.
• Hao Ren proposed replacing the Creation Engine’s missing golden discs with the Crystal Core Research Station’s main computer, Crystal Peak Mountain, and Lily accepted the tradeoff after he explained it.
• Lia said her recovery and increased power came from studying divine-power application, while she explained that aiding the Night Watchers directly would weaken the Abyss seal.
• Lia revealed that the stable portal to the Dark Domain was ready and said it was time for La Rian to go there, prompting Hao Ren to welcome the news.

Hao Ren, Vivian, Lily, and Lia arrived at the restored La Rian to investigate whether it held clues about the Lord of Madness. They intervened in a pirate attack on a passenger airship, leaving the locals’ understanding of the newcomers—and the truth of their world—still to be revealed.

• Hao Ren and his companions entered La Rian through Lia’s divine barrier after it briefly resisted their ship.
• The group spotted three pirate airships attacking a damaged passenger ship above the clouds.
• Nolan determined the white airship would be destroyed soon, so Vivian urged the group to go down and rescue its occupants.
• Pirate captain Kand worried that the raid was part of a dangerous scheme and considered escape routes as his ships battered the passenger vessel.
• The silver-white ship burst through the clouds and crashed into Kand’s pirate ship, killing Kand and ending his headache.

Charlemagne ordered the White Pearl’s passengers evacuated as the crippled ship faced destruction, but the Giant Turtle Rock Platform appeared and destroyed all three pirate ships by ramming them. The White Pearl remained powerless, while Nolan, Vivian, and Hao Ren celebrated the rescue.

• Charlemagne survived a cannon blast and ordered the guards to gather the passengers, restore what power they could, and prepare the dining hall escape formation.
• A guard spotted the Giant Turtle Rock Platform, which smashed the lead pirate ship and turned toward the remaining attackers.
• The two pirate ships fired on the Giant Turtle Rock Platform, but their cannonballs failed to damage it.
• The Giant Turtle Rock Platform rammed and destroyed the second pirate ship, then pursued and destroyed the third.
• Nolan said she had rammed the pirate ships because the cannons could not be used and she wanted to try it.

Hao Ren rescued the White Pearl after its battle with the pirates and contacted its crew. As the damaged vessel faced imminent destruction, Captain Boken ordered an evacuation onto Hao Ren’s ship.

• Nolan cautiously approached the White Pearl, and Hao Ren used the Giant Turtle Rock Platform’s loudspeaker to reassure its frightened crew.
• Charlemagne kept the passengers calm as Hao Ren, Lia, and two other women arrived on the White Pearl’s deck.
• Hao Ren asked Captain Boken whether the White Pearl could be repaired, and Boken confirmed it could not be saved.
• Hao Ren told the crew to abandon ship, and Captain Boken ordered an orderly evacuation.
• Aivena emerged from below deck and reunited with her brother, Charlemagne, before joining the evacuation.

Hao Ren’s crew rescued hundreds of survivors from the White Pearl and brought them aboard the Giant Turtle Rock Platform, where they began scanning and sheltering the La Rian people. Prince Charlemagne and Princess Aivena remained wary of their rescuers and suspected the ship might be linked to the attack, leaving them planning to speak with its owner.

• Hao Ren had Nolan install an inspection gate that scanned the refugees as they boarded, while the crew arranged temporary dormitories for them.
• Charlemagne inspected his assigned room and worried that the unfamiliar ship might be part of the scheme behind the White Pearl’s destruction.
• Aivena searched the room for surveillance and sensed powerful energy and complex information flows throughout the ship, but could not identify its origins.
• Charlemagne explained that the attackers had been hired pirates whose tactics suggested someone had arranged the White Pearl’s destruction and might have planned to silence them afterward.
• Aivena suggested speaking with the ship’s owner, and Charlemagne considered how they should approach the conversation.

Hao Ren and his companions gathered intelligence about La Rian’s reshaped history and considered contacting the Dragon Empire’s ruler. Nolan then revealed that rescued passengers Charlemagne and Aivena were hiding something, and Hao Ren confronted them about their covert conversation.

• Hao Ren and Vivian judged Captain Boken’s friendliness suspicious but reviewed his account of La Rian’s World Rift, its nations, and the airship routes.
• Hao Ren concluded that La Rian’s history had been rewritten after its destruction, while Vivian suggested the Dragon Empire’s supposedly immortal ruler might know what happened.
• Nolan told Hao Ren that rescued siblings Charlemagne and Aivena had said interesting things in private, so Hao Ren summoned them.
• Charlemagne and Aivena examined the ship’s impossible interior as they were escorted to Hao Ren.
• Charlemagne asked when they could return to the ground, and Hao Ren revealed that his crew had monitored their conversation and demanded they speak openly.

Hao Ren and his companions learned that Charlemagne and Aivena were Issu’s secret envoys, traveling to the Dragon Empire after pirates attacked their ship. After introducing themselves as members of the World Tree Temple, Hao Ren proposed that they travel together because both groups were headed to the Dragon Empire.

• Aivena revealed that she and Charlemagne were Prince and Princess of the Issu Royal Family, and Charlemagne explained they were secret envoys bound for the Dragon Empire.
• Vivian suspected the pirates were not ordinary pirates, and Charlemagne confirmed that they were not pure pirates and had attacked the mission after it was exposed.
• Charlemagne refused to disclose the mission’s purpose, while Hao Ren asked whether the envoys were going to meet the Emperor of the Dragon Soul.
• Hao Ren introduced his group as members of the World Tree Temple and said they also intended to visit the Dragon Empire.
• Aivena asked why Hao Ren’s group was going there, and Hao Ren proposed that both groups travel together.

Hao Ren and his companions invited Charlemagne and Aivena to travel with them to the Dragon Empire, and the siblings agreed in exchange for a cautious route through the empire. Their journey was ready to begin as soon as possible.

• Hao Ren and Vivian gave Charlemagne and Aivena time to discuss the invitation, while Hao Ren explained that their ship could help him reach the Dragon Empire and investigate La Rian.
• Charlemagne and Aivena weighed the risks of trusting strangers against their need for help and decided to accept the invitation.
• Aivena asked for a map, and Charlemagne selected a route that would land them away from the imperial capital so they could assess the danger first.
• Charlemagne warned that the White Pearl's route had been exposed and that conspirators might also be inside the Dragon Empire.
• Hao Ren agreed to their route and offered disguise equipment, and Charlemagne asked when they could depart.

Hao Ren’s group traveled undercover through the Dragon Empire with Charlemagne and Aivena after the attack on the White Pearl, while learning about the empire’s history, power, and magical technology. They reached a prosperous southern town without trouble, leaving their pursuers to search elsewhere.

• The chapter described the Dragon Empire’s ancient history, its conquests under the immortal emperor, and the Black Sword Knights’ Order’s reputation across the world.
• The aftermath of a battle showed a ruined village, a broken blue banner bearing crossed black swords, and a bloodied mechanical blade.
• Charlemagne and Aivena disguised themselves and joined Hao Ren’s group in a fabricated merchant caravan traveling through the empire.
• Hao Ren sent the other White Pearl survivors toward the Issu embassy to spread news of their attack and safe return, while the main group took a separate route.
• Aivena explained that the empire’s emperor and Black Sword Knights maintained order despite relatively lax administration, and the caravan passed routine inspections because its activities were otherwise legal.

Hao Ren learned about the Dragon Empire’s Black Sword Knights and its secretive Broken Sword Knights while settling into a town post station. Aivena revealed that the empire’s princess, Constance Dragon, had appeared as a baby after a mountain vanished near the capital, leaving her origins unknown.

• Hao Ren surveyed the orderly town from his room and saw Black Sword Knights galloping through the streets.
• Aivena and Charlemagne visited Hao Ren, who asked them about the knights he had seen.
• Aivena explained that the Black Sword Knights were the empire’s elite regular army, while Charlemagne described how they could rapidly assemble despite being stationed across the country.
• Aivena told Hao Ren that Princess Constance Dragon led the far more formidable Broken Sword Knights, the empire’s secretive elite force.
• Aivena explained that Blundin Dragon had found Constance as a baby after a mountain vanished near the capital two hundred and twenty years earlier, and that no one knew her true origins.