Chapter Summaries

Su Mo learned that the Carp King needed a larger, more complex habitat and considered using a Disaster Reproduction Card to recreate the earthquake that formed the Long Dragon Immortal River. Meanwhile, the Expeditionary Force prepared to attack the research institute, and Su Deben learned that its Earth players would join the Ten Thousand Paths Competition.

• Su Mo appraised the Carp King and learned that it possessed three abilities, including water purification and the power to bless aquatic animals.
• Su Chan communicated with the Carp King and told Su Mo it wanted a larger, more complex body of water to support its growth.
• Su Mo considered using a Disaster Reproduction Card to recreate the three-year earthquake and create a suitable habitat for the Carp King.
• Su Mo reviewed the Expeditionary Force’s report and examined photographs of the research institute’s defenses.
• Su Deben questioned captured patrol guards, who confirmed that the Earth players at the research institute would enter the Ten Thousand Paths Competition.

Su Deben prepared the Expeditionary Force to attack the Jiu Zhou Great Rift Valley Base as Ten Thousand Paths Competition began, while Su Mo gathered Tian Yuan Territory’s leaders to monitor the assault. The chapter ended as the war began and live images from the front appeared on the screen.

• Su Deben learned that about three hundred people remained at the research institute and ordered the Expeditionary Force to launch its attack after four days.
• The prisoners agreed to help Su Deben, hoping to prove their worth and join his territory.
• Hope Village’s players gathered for Ten Thousand Paths Competition, while Wu You sold fish buns and Lin Cheng gained experience from their popularity.
• Su Mo told Su Chan she could enter the competition but warned her to put her safety first; Number Zero then reported that the Expeditionary Force would attack at eight.
• Su Mo summoned the territory’s leaders to the Sixth Floor monitoring room, where delayed footage of the assault began appearing on the screen.

Su Deben led the Volunteer Army in a surprise assault on the research base, while Feng Long coordinated with the Earth players inside. The attackers seized the outer gates and perimeter, but Braun ordered the base to prepare biological weapons and other defenses, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Su Deben rallied the veterans and organized the Volunteer Army to attack at eight o’clock, while Feng Long’s Tian Yuan Army prepared to protect the Earth players inside the base.
• Bao Jue and the defecting guards opened fire on the base guards, armed the other players, and helped the attackers seize control of the gate.
• Braun saw the advancing army on the surveillance feeds, activated the base’s automated weapons, and watched the attackers destroy its fire-control positions with rocket-propelled grenades.
• Braun ordered his forces to prepare biological poison gas, mutated Radiation Beasts, laser barriers, and ultrasonic weapons to defend the inner checkpoints.
• Su Deben’s troops captured the perimeter and secured the outer area, while Feng Long sent the player guards to safety and offered them food and warm tents.

Su Deben began the assault on the Great Rift Valley research base with the True World’s simulated soldiers, who survived the base’s shock-wave trap and disabled it. The attack left Braun determined to capture the intruders as research subjects, and the battle continued.

• Su Deben reprimanded his commanders for abandoning formation during the charge, then agreed to attack the base from the front after Feng Long reported that Su Mo had approved using the True World.
• Feng Long deployed thirty simulated bodies with replacement bodies and server equipment, and they entered the research base in formation.
• The squad blasted through the first isolation wall and advanced into the disinfection passage, where Ming Wujing’s warning sparked panic as hidden shock-wave devices activated.
• The shock waves battered the simulated bodies, but their durable bodies survived; Ming Wujing rallied them, and they ripped apart the plastic-cased generators and destroyed the surveillance equipment.
• Braun watched the attack fail and became convinced that the intruders were ideal research subjects, urging the control room to keep defending the base.

Feng Long’s team attacked the research base, and their True World bodies proved immune to its Biological Poison Gas while the defenders struggled to stop them. After the team suffered casualties from laser detectors and continued advancing, Braun surrendered and Paslon asked the attackers to honor their agreement.

• Braun ordered the base to release Biological Poison Gas when the attackers entered the second passage.
• Feng Long entered the passage, promised to spare ordinary researchers and guards if they captured the person responsible for human experimentation, and tried to divide the defenders.
• The team’s simulated bodies endured the poison gas, while Su Deben ordered everyone outside the base to retreat as the gas spread toward the outer gate.
• Su Mo confirmed that True World could resist the poison gas and urged the soldiers to push deeper into the research institute.
• Feng Long’s simulated body was sliced apart by laser detectors, but the team continued advancing and frightened the defenders.
• Braun surrendered, and Paslon announced that the guards had taken control of him and asked the attackers to honor their agreement.

Feng Long’s forces secured the Great Rift Valley Research Institute after its people surrendered, and Su Deben laid out terms for taking the prisoners and researchers to the Territory. Braun bargained for his life with millions of Academic Coins and revealed the institute still had about 1,200 Fuel Rods.

• Feng Long confirmed the surrender and ordered the Territory to send people to take over the research institute.
• Su Deben negotiated the prisoners’ transfer, assigning work and living arrangements to the researchers, guards, and ordinary people.
• Braun offered access to the institute’s depots and Professor Earnest’s two million Academic Coins in exchange for his life.
• Braun explained the uses of Academic Coins, and Katerina confirmed their value to Su Deben.
• Braun raised his offer to 4.4 million Academic Coins, which Su Deben accepted.
• Su Deben asked about the Energy Depot, and Braun said it held about 1,200 Fuel Rods.

Su Deben inspected the research institute’s Energy Room, confirmed it held over 1,200 Fuel Rods, and learned that Hulai City’s corporation had supplied some of them. The institute fell, its prisoners were freed, and Su Mo received the battle report, ending with concern about the resources and military capabilities of other Blue Star powers.

• Su Deben followed Braun to the Energy Room, where he found more than 1,200 Fuel Rods and learned that the institute had bought 500 from Hulai City’s corporation.
• Braun told Su Deben that Hulai City had sent an expedition team, supplied the research institute, and left behind a map showing the way to the city.
• Feng Long arrested Wu Pu and announced that Tian Yuan Territory had defeated the research institute and freed the captured players.
• Su Deben reported the expedition’s results, including zero casualties, 346 prisoners, and 1,679 rescued survivors.
• Su Mo read the report, noted the prisoners’ Rare Routes and the Fuel Rod stockpile, then worried about the resources and weapons other Blue Star powers might possess.

Su Mo entered the Ten Thousand Paths Competition and was paired with Zamuel Corrado for a culinary challenge. Outside the competition, spectator mode opened after strict participation milestones were met, and Jiang Yong saw that Su Mo’s match was available to watch.

• Su Mo wondered about unusual experience gains and suspected that energy obtained by players might come from external and internal sources.
• Su Mo entered the competition space and found himself facing the towering Minotaur Zamuel Corrado in a kitchen.
• Jiang Yong waited in Dragon Flag for his reward and reflected on the territory’s rapid growth and neglected infrastructure.
• The game announced that spectator mode had opened after the required player and lord participation milestones were reached.
• Jiang Yong saw Su Mo’s match listed for spectators and reacted with excitement.

Su Mo entered a Culinary Arts Competition in the Elimination Round, where three judges would set the requirements. The audience-selected judge Jiang Yong was chosen, and after the judges asked for fresh blood food, Noodle Soup, and a dish that could heal injuries, the contestants faced an unexpected challenge.

• The game announced Su Mo as the contestant in a Culinary Arts Competition, drawing a huge audience willing to spend ten Disaster Points to watch.
• Jiang Yong learned that spectators could become judges in a Big-Hit Elimination Round and discovered a red heart mark showing he had been selected.
• Su Mo prepared his kitchen and met the three judges: a Wolf Man, a dwarf, and the excited Jiang Yong.
• The game began the one-hour contest, with the winner set to gain one Route level.
• The Wolf Man requested fresh blood food, and Jiang Yong requested Noodle Soup with rich, non-greasy broth and springy noodles.
• The dwarf revealed his bruises and asked for food that could heal his injuries, leaving the contestants unsure how to meet the requirement with the available ingredients.

Su Mo defeated Corrado in the cooking contest by winning over the judge with fish soup, then fought back when Corrado attacked him. The game offered Su Mo the choice to end the match with both contestants advancing or continue for upgraded rewards.

• Corrado used flesh cut from his own thigh to prepare his dish, while Su Mo made fish soup with the arena's ingredients and seasonings.
• The game offered spectators the contestants' dishes for twenty Disaster Points, and Su Mo's fish soup sold more than two billion portions.
• Wolf Curl tasted Su Mo's fish soup first, gave it a ten, and then rated Corrado's raw meat a six, making Su Mo the winner.
• As Su Mo prepared Noodle Soup, Corrado charged at him; Su Mo dodged the attack and slashed Corrado with a cleaver before the game sealed Corrado behind a barrier.
• The game gave Su Mo the choice to end the round with both contestants advancing or continue for upgraded rewards, including a Route Level increase and a random Rare Route.

Su Mo chose to continue the cooking contest after Corrado destroyed his ingredients, then used the system to combine his routes into the rare Medicinal Cuisine Apprentice route and prepared medicinal braised beef ear. Corrado answered by offering his own heart blood, leaving the contest unresolved as Su Mo discovered his dish’s restorative effects were only Level Zero.

• Jiang Yong and the viewers protested the game’s protection of Corrado, but the game warned them to obey its rules.
• Su Mo rejected Corrado’s offer to stop and give them both a win, choosing to skip the noodle soup round and compete in the final round.
• Su Mo combined Chef Apprentice and Boxing Enthusiast into the rare Medicinal Cuisine Apprentice route, then added healing and replenishment effects to Corrado’s discarded ear.
• Corrado cut his chest to extract Red Bull Race heart blood, and viewers bought it for sixty Disaster Points as its effects became clear.
• Su Mo served cold beef ear to the dwarf judge and scanned it, finding that its healing and blood-replenishing effects were only Level Zero.

Su Mo upgraded his Cold Beef Ear and defeated Corrado after the game changed the judging conditions when Tie Ji gave Corrado a perfect score. The game awarded Su Mo a bye and five hundred Myriad Paths Points for a loophole, then Su Mo returned to his territory and discovered his five little players had watched the competition and bought his dish.

• Su Mo spent one hundred Item Survival Points upgrading the Cold Beef Ear's healing effect, which gained stronger healing abilities and a new Qi Regulation entry.
• Su Mo submitted the medicinal dish, and survivors bought more than one hundred million servings before the judges had tasted it.
• Corrado's judge Tie Ji gave Corrado's heart blood ten points, triggering the game to worsen the dwarf's injuries and change the competition model.
• Tie Ji ate Su Mo's Cold Beef Ear, felt its healing effect, and gave it ten points, securing Su Mo's victory.
• The game granted Su Mo a bye in the next round and five hundred Myriad Paths Points, refunded spectators, and returned Su Mo to his office.
• Su Mo found his five little players holding plates of Cold Beef Ear and learned they had watched the competition and bought the dish.

After learning that the Myriad Paths Competition had exposed his abilities to humans and foreign races, Su Mo examined its purpose and tested how route changes affected players. He concluded that the competition measured talent, effort, and inner-energy compatibility, and suspected its final prize, the World Stone, would determine the formation of a new gods’ kingdom.

• Su Mo learned that spectators nationwide, including foreign races, had watched him compete and could buy his Medicinal Cuisine Apprentice route.
• Qiao Yuansheng reported that 35,700 plates of ox ears had been purchased, and said foreign races had trusted Su Mo’s strength more readily than human survivors.
• Su Mo compared the Ten Thousand Paths Arena with the Disaster Livestream and questioned whether the competition aimed to cultivate a single strongest player or something broader.
• Su Mo tested route changes with five minor players and discovered that each player’s inner-energy compatibility affected experience gains and the questions they faced.
• Su Mo concluded that the competition tested compatibility and effort, and theorized that balanced development might be needed to reach its later stages.
• Su Mo suspected that the World Stone could establish a new gods’ kingdom, with the victors of different routes becoming gods and their followers forming its foundation.

Su Mo observed the second day of the Elimination Round, studied its new spectator rewards, and went to watch a high-ranked match. There, a crowd of human survivors gathered around him, and he gave would-be recruits a distant meeting point while keeping his territory’s location secret.

• Su Mo decided to skip the second day’s matches, while Tian Yuan Territory prepared contestants with lessons and route changes for the new three-victory advancement requirement.
• Su Mo discovered that spectators could earn Disaster Points and Myriad Paths Points based on audience size, with major matches also offering random rewards.
• Su Mo entered Zone A11 to watch a human match, but spectators recognized him and crowded around to ask about joining his territory.
• Su Mo refused to reveal his territory’s location and directed prospective recruits to the Giant Tree Root Sea Area, where he would send people every six months to select talented individuals.

Su Mo judged a construction contest between Fan Fuzheng and Lermontov, whose ladders were damaged by two unusually demanding judges. When their scores remained tied, the game offered Su Mo a special option to recruit a contestant by restoring their work.

• Su Mo accepted the game's judge qualification to avoid questions about Tian Yuan Territory and took his place at the contest.
• Fan Fuzheng and Lermontov each built a ladder to retrieve an apple, with Fan Fuzheng's ladder reaching 9.5 meters and Lermontov's reaching nine meters.
• A heavy Snake Elephant judge climbed both ladders, damaging them, and an Exploding Rabbit judge then bounced up Lermontov's ladder and broke it after retrieving the apple.
• Fan Fuzheng's ladder collapsed under the Exploding Rabbit judge, but the judge still grabbed the apple, leaving both contestants tied at twenty points.
• The game offered Su Mo a Lord Judge option to help either contestant repair their work in exchange for a contract to join his territory.

Su Mo accepted Fan Fuzheng’s contract request and had to rebuild a ladder from wreckage within half an hour to win the match and bring Fan to his territory. Su Mo constructed a spiral support ladder, retrieved the apple, and won, while Lermontov was eliminated.

• Su Mo discovered that a contestant who contracted with him could be transferred to his territory, and he asked Fan Fuzheng and Lermontov whether they would accept his help.
• Fan Fuzheng agreed to the contract, while Lermontov refused, leaving Su Mo to rebuild Fan’s ladder under a strict time limit or lose the match.
• Su Mo selected usable planks and assembled a seven-and-a-half-meter spiral ladder while Fan Fuzheng helped prepare the boards.
• Su Mo climbed the completed ladder, reached the apple ten meters above the ground, and won the match for the red side.
• The game eliminated Lermontov and offered the contestants’ ladders for purchase, while Su Mo’s ladder was not among the items for sale.

Su Mo won the Elimination Round match, recruited architect Fan Fuzheng and his family for Tian Yuan Territory, and learned that the Northern Territory Great Alliance had six million people and that Night Dew City lay nearby. After several more matches failed to produce recruits, Su Mo bought items to conceal his identity in the Ten Thousand Paths Arena and prepared to enter again unnoticed.

• Su Mo defeated Lermontov in the building contest, learned about the Northern Territory Great Alliance and Night Dew City, and revealed that his Sky-Scraping Pillar was his own design rather than a route ability.
• Su Mo offered Fan Fuzheng a place in Tian Yuan Territory and told him to bring his wife and children, giving him the Rescue Team's communication frequency for the teleportation.
• Su Mo judged six of eight matches, but none met the conditions for him to recruit another contestant through a contract.
• Su Mo bought a Sixth Man Cloak and an Animal Mask from the Ten Thousand Paths Mall, changed into a black bodysuit, and put on the items to hide his identity in the arena.

After losing the Elimination Round to Qin Chuan, Fan Fuzheng returned to Taihu Territory with a contract from Su Mo that allowed his family to join Su God's territory. The Fan family celebrated their chance at a safer new life and prepared to leave.

• Fan Fuzheng told Old Zhan that Qin Chuan had eliminated him, and Old Zhan accepted that Fan Fuzheng would leave Taihu Territory for Su Mo's territory.
• Fan Fuzheng told Zheng Yali and their children that he had been chosen by Su Mo and showed them the contract that let the whole family teleport.
• The Fan family wept with relief, celebrated with a rare feast, and discussed changing their Construction Apprentice routes after arriving.
• Fan Fuzheng arranged their supplies, traded for weapons and a radio, and gave provisions to people in need before the family packed for departure.

Fan Fuzheng and his family left Taihu Territory for Su Mo’s territory, but the teleportation sent them into a flooded, ruined Blue Star city. After Fan Fuzheng used Old Zhan’s pistol to drive off a swarm of Radiation Beasts, armed Blue Star humans appeared at the end of the street.

• Old Zhan gave Fan Fuzheng a pistol and fifteen handmade bullets before the Fan family departed Taihu Territory.
• Fan Fuzheng, Zheng Yali, Fan Han, and Fan Jing teleported away as Taihu Territory’s residents watched.
• The family arrived in a flooded city, where Fan Jing spotted unfamiliar writing and Fan Fuzheng recognized it as Blue Star script.
• More than a hundred Radiation Beasts surrounded the family, but Fan Fuzheng shot several of them and drove the rest away.
• Fan Fuzheng led his family toward a shop and prepared to seek help, then saw armed Blue Star humans approaching.

Yin Clan Shelter patrol captain Luo Man found Fan Fuzheng and his family in Qinggang City and recognized them as newcomers sought by Tian Yuan Shelter. The patrol escorted them through the dangerous ruins to a transfer point, where they boarded a pickup truck and continued toward Su God’s territory.

• Luo Man’s patrol squad heard gunshots, found Fan Fuzheng’s family surrounded by retreating Radiation Beasts, and realized they were newcomers wanted by Tian Yuan Shelter.
• Fan Fuzheng surrendered and cautiously asked to speak with the guards, then understood they were taking his family to Tian Yuan Territory.
• Fan Fuzheng reassured Zheng Yali and their children that Lord Su’s people had found them, and the family hurried away with the patrol.
• Luo Man’s squad led the family through several streets to an underground entrance, where they boarded an armed pickup truck.
• Fan Jing, Fan Han, and Zheng Yali watched the ruined city pass as the pickup drove toward Su God’s territory.