Chapter Summaries

Jiang Xiao, Han Jiangxue, Xia Yan, and Song Chunxi entered the Desperate Cave in Pearl City for a dangerous training mission and Xia Yan’s assessment, with Qin Wangchuan and Instructor Jiang Hong escorting them. Han Jiangxue organized the team’s formation as they prepared to explore the tunnels.

• Qin Wangchuan and Instructor Jiang Hong led the four students to Pearl City, where they observed a monument honoring those who had died securing the Desperate Cave.
• The local Guardian Army objected to the young Star River-stage team entering, but the Pioneering Army secured permission for them to proceed.
• The six-person group entered the Desperate Cave and saw the Guardian Army’s fortified camp and the marked tunnels leading underground.
• Han Jiangxue assigned Song Chunxi and Jiang Xiao to lead, placed Xia Yan in the middle, and had the team follow a two-by-two formation while Qin Wangchuan and Instructor Jiang Hong stayed behind them.

Han Jiangxue’s team fought a Desperate Ghost in the tunnel, using Silence and coordinated attacks to stop its extreme speed. Jiang Xiao destroyed the creature and recovered its Star Pearl.

• Song Chunxi spotted a Desperate Ghost, but it attacked too quickly for the team’s first counterattack to land.
• Han Jiangxue ordered the team to use Silence, and Jiang Xiao silenced the ghost’s blade during its next attack as Song Chunxi blocked it.
• The Desperate Ghost forced Song Chunxi back, but Han Jiangxue’s Barren Wind and Xia Yan’s Flame Arcs drove it into a wall.
• Han Jiangxue used Chain Lightning while the Flame Puppets distracted the ghost, and Song Chunxi confirmed that it had stopped moving.
• Jiang Xiao entered the hole, shattered the Desperate Ghost, and found its Star Pearl inside its skull.

Jiang Xiao’s team continued training in Desperate Cave, where Xia Yan tried to absorb a Desperate Ghost Star Pearl and sensed an unusually strong connection to it. Meanwhile, Lure Jiang Xiao found a tree house in the snowfield and discovered tally marks covering its interior.

• Jiang Xiao gave Xia Yan the Desperate Ghost Star Pearl, and she sensed it trying to embed itself in her Star Map but did not absorb it.
• Han Jiangxue led the team onward through Desperate Cave, where the four fighters defeated a Platinum Rank Desperate Ghost with coordinated attacks.
• Lure Jiang Xiao searched the vast snowfield for the wooden house by the cliff and found a small tree house built high in a giant tree.
• Lure Jiang Xiao opened the unoccupied tree house and saw tally marks carved across its walls, ceiling, and floor.

Jiang Xiao discovered that someone else had once lived in the Tree House, then used smoke to draw a survivor to him. The survivor proved to be missing Guardian Legion soldier Hu Wei, but Jiang Xiao could only recognize him and could not promise to take him home.

• Jiang Xiao found blood and tally marks in the Tree House, including marks that suggested two people had shared it.
• Jiang Xiao made a fire on the cliff, sending green smoke into the sky as a signal.
• Hu Wei saw the smoke, told Cang Lan he was going hunting, and climbed the cliff toward it.
• Hu Wei found Jiang Xiao fighting White Ghosts and recognized the Night Watcher uniform.
• Jiang Xiao identified Hu Wei as a missing Guardian Legion soldier, and Hu Wei tearfully asked whether anyone still remembered him.

In Desperate Cave, Jiang Xiao narrowly survived a Desperate Walker’s explosive attack and was reprimanded by Han Jiangxue for breaking team strategy. Meanwhile, Lure Jiang Xiao learned that Hu Wei and Cang Lan had been trapped in the Snowfield for years with their child, and Cang Lan argued that the world was an illusion made of repeating scenes.

• Jiang Xiao charged into a Desperate Walker’s explosion, survived, and collected its Star Pearl before Han Jiangxue warned him to follow the team’s strategy.
• Jiang Xiao recalled meeting Hu Wei’s wife, Cang Lan, and their young child in the Snowfield.
• Hu Wei and Cang Lan told Jiang Xiao that they had searched for an exit for years and lost track of time as they watched their child grow.
• Hu Wei said he believed they had been walking in circles, but Cang Lan insisted the world was assembled from identical scenes and was an illusion.

Jiang Xiao learned that the Upper Dimension had an Air Wall boundary and questioned whether Hu Wei and Cang Lan had truly explored far enough to find it. He stayed with the couple, learned how the Upper Dimension had strengthened them while limiting their Star Skills, and ended the chapter meeting their child.

• In the Desperate Cave, Jiang Xiao asked Qin Wangchuan whether Other Dimension Space had an end, and Qin Wangchuan said it did, beyond an Air Wall.
• Jiang Xiao questioned whether Hu Wei and Cang Lan had mistaken the familiar scenery or failed to reach the boundary during their years of exploration.
• Hu Wei told Jiang Xiao that he and Cang Lan had reached the Star Sea but could not fill their remaining Star Slots, and explained that the Upper Dimension accelerated their cultivation.
• Jiang Xiao offered to help as a Medical Star Warrior, and Hu Wei showed him the couple’s rough topographic map before Jiang Xiao decided to stay for a few days.
• Hu Wei picked up his child, who imitated a White Ghost and then hid in his arms after Jiang Xiao’s mask startled the child.

Xia Yan absorbed the Desperate Lineage Star Skill and discovered that her Desperate Great Blade could carry her at tremendous speed, though her first attempt sent her crashing into a wall. After she mastered the technique in battle, Jiang Xiao recognized the potential of her new fighting style and sent her to protect Han Jiangxue.

• Xia Yan prayed to Jiang Xiao before absorbing a Star Pearl, and her sixteenth Star Slot lit up with the Desperate Weapon skill.
• Xia Yan summoned a platinum Desperate Great Blade, but her first attempt to use it launched her into a stone wall.
• Jiang Xiao healed Xia Yan, and she tested the skill again by charging into a Desperate Ghost and knocking it backward.
• Xia Yan repeatedly clashed with the Desperate Ghost, then shattered her blade to slow herself and stop safely near the others.
• Han Jiangxue told Xia Yan to protect her, and Jiang Xiao encouraged Xia Yan to explore combinations with Berserk and Star Power Body.

After returning from Desperate Cave, Jiang Xiao resumed his duties at Emperor Capital Star Warrior until Two Tails summoned him back to the northwest for an assessment. He arrived at the military camp and found Hou Mingming under hypnosis, then stopped her from attacking Fu Hei.

• The Four-person Team left Desperate Cave with their Star Pearls, and Song Chunxi began working as an Assistant Instructor while Jiang Xiao and the others returned to school and duty shifts.
• A secretly taken photo of Jiang Xiao at the Administration Building sparked rumors that he had joined the Pioneering Army as a permanent employee.
• Two Tails summoned Jiang Xiao to the northwest for an assessment, and he received leave before flying to Ka City to meet her.
• Two Tails told Jiang Xiao she had recovered his Black White Candle Fire and led him to a conference room where Fu Hei was hypnotizing Hou Mingming.
• Two Tails kicked Fu Hei away and snapped Hou Mingming out of the hypnosis, but Hou Mingming drew her bow at him until Jiang Xiao used his own hypnosis to make her put it down.

Jiang Xiao watched Two Tails recruit Sun Da Sheng and assess Hou Mingming for an elite assault team, while Fu Hei tried to join as well. The chapter ended with Two Tails noticing Jiang Xiao’s fondness for Hou Mingming and asking if he was jealous.

• Fu Hei tried to join Two Tails’s team, but she confronted him about his battlefield disobedience and his inability to follow orders.
• Sun Da Sheng arrived and said he needed three teammates who could keep up with his rhythm to break through any defensive line.
• Two Tails tapped out a rhythm that affected Hou Mingming and Jiang Xiao, then asked Sun Da Sheng what kind of teammate he needed.
• Sun Da Sheng pointed to Jiang Xiao as someone who could keep up, and Jiang Xiao jokingly warned him not to target the examiner.
• Two Tails told Hou Mingming she needed an assault team capable of breaking any defensive line, and Hou Mingming calmly declared that she belonged on it.
• Two Tails noticed Jiang Xiao’s pleased reaction to Hou Mingming and asked if he liked her, prompting him to ask whether she was jealous.

Two Tails told Jiang Xiao to prepare for an assessment mission while Jiang Xiao revealed he had found a stranded family in the Upper Dimension and vowed to bring them home. The chapter ended with Jiang Xiao discovering that Black White Candle Fire had a rare fusion Star Skill and considering whether to tame it as a pet.

• Two Tails assigned Jiang Xiao and Hou Mingming an assessment mission to destroy sacred ruins, with the team assembling at nine that evening.
• Jiang Xiao reviewed Sun Da Sheng's Star Skills and judged that Hou Mingming might outperform him at destroying the ruins.
• Jiang Xiao told Two Tails he had found Hu Wei, Cang Lan, and their young son, Hu Snowfield, in the endless snowfield of the Upper Dimension.
• Jiang Xiao vowed to find an exit and bring the family home, while Two Tails warned him not to give them false hope or lose himself in the effort.
• Two Tails urged Jiang Xiao to keep living his life, then let him hold Black White Candle Fire.
• Jiang Xiao discovered that Black White Candle Fire possessed the exclusive Dependence Star Skill, which could fuse it with another Other Dimension Star Beast at the risk of killing both.

Jiang Xiao absorbed Black White Candle Fire as a Star Pet and discovered that his Inner Star Map could display and upgrade its Star Skills with Skill Points. The Big Dipper Nine Stars Chart filled its final Star Slot, and Jiang Xiao tested Black White Candle Fire’s improved Icy Cool skill.

• Jiang Xiao learned that Black White Candle Fire’s Icy Cool skill refreshed its target and planned to keep the creature away from other Star Beasts until he could control its Dependence ability.
• Jiang Xiao played with Black White Candle Fire by balancing it on his head, then absorbed it as a Star Pet in the temporary lounge.
• Jiang Xiao’s final Star Slot lit, and his Inner Star Map gained a fourth section displaying Black White Candle Fire and its Star Skills.
• Jiang Xiao learned that he could use Skill Points to upgrade Black White Candle Fire’s skills, then raised Icy Cool from Bronze Quality Lv.1 to Silver Quality Lv.0.
• Jiang Xiao summoned Black White Candle Fire and commanded it to use Icy Cool, feeling his head turn intensely cold.

Jiang Xiao tested the Black White Candle Fire’s upgraded skills and realized that its star skills consumed skill points individually. He then joined Two Tails, Sun Da Sheng, and Hou Mingming for an assessment mission in Konkkinder, where he hoped to collect Shadow Crow Star Beads.

• Jiang Xiao upgraded the Black White Candle Fire’s rank and skills, then tested its Impact and Brightness abilities.
• Jiang Xiao realized the Black White Candle Fire’s skills did not share upgrades within a Star Slot and worried about the cost of improving future star pets.
• Two Tails briefed Jiang Xiao, Sun Da Sheng, and Hou Mingming on the Light Chasing Group’s missions and urged the two recruits to prove themselves.
• Two Tails appointed Sun Da Sheng squad leader, and Sun Da Sheng began asking about the mission during the flight.
• Two Tails named Konkkinder as their destination and said the squad would destroy Other Dimension Spaces and Sacred Ruins that had opened on Earth.
• Jiang Xiao recalled his previous mission in Konkkinder and planned to gather as many Shadow Crow Star Beads as possible.

Lure Jiang Xiao prepared to leave the cave family and search the Upper Snowy Plains for an exit, while Hu Wei and Cang Lan recognized that he was not an ordinary human. He revealed his real name to Cang Lan before setting out with Hu Wei to create a landmark.

• Yuan Yuan asked Lure Jiang Xiao to become a crow, and Lure Jiang Xiao transformed to play with him.
• Lure Jiang Xiao told Hu Wei and Cang Lan that he had to set out to search for an exit, and they agreed he would build a Beacon Tower and burn a forest as a landmark.
• Cang Lan gave Lure Jiang Xiao a chest of White Ghost Star Pearls and Star Beads to replenish his Star Power during the journey.
• Cang Lan asked Lure Jiang Xiao to tell her his real name, and he revealed that he was Jiang Xiao, Jiang as in the Yangtze River and Xiao as in dawn.
• Lure Jiang Xiao and Hu Wei set out to burn a mountain and begin the search.

Seven days later, Jiang Xiao and Hu Wei worked to build a Beacon Tower near their home in the Snowfield while a fire they had started ravaged the forest. Meanwhile, Two Tails’ squad destroyed Saint Ruins in Konkkinder, and after Hou Mingming and Sun Da Sheng proved their strength in battle, the squad appeared to have passed its assessment.

• Jiang Xiao and Hu Wei continued their mission by building a Beacon Tower near the burning Snowy Forest.
• In Konkkinder, Sun Da Sheng, Jiang Xiao, and Two Tails cleared a path through Shadow Crows so Hou Mingming could fire an Explosive Arrow Rain at the Saint Ruins Gate.
• Hou Mingming led the squad’s retreat, and Jiang Xiao collected twenty-seven Shadow Crow Star Beads along the way.
• The squad escaped through the Space Gate as the Dark Hall Other Dimension Space began to shake, while Hou Mingming left a bombardment arrow behind.
• Two Tails and Little Little secured the Space Gate until it vanished, and Two Tails showed approval of Sun Da Sheng and Hou Mingming, suggesting the squad had passed.

Jiang Xiao’s assessment mission in Konkkinder ended after Two Tails formed a strong team, and he returned to the Imperial Capital with hundreds of Shadow Crow Star Pearls. Back at the university, he reunited with Gu Shi'an, who said he had trained in Hell and watched Jiang Xiao win the World Cup.

• Two Tails recruited Hou Yanhuan and Fu Hei, and her team destroyed Dark Palace spaces so efficiently that Jiang Xiao collected more than five hundred Shadow Crow Star Pearls.
• After the team completed its first mission together, Two Tails released Jiang Xiao from the assessment, and he asked her to keep gathering Shadow Crow Star Pearls for him.
• Jiang Xiao said goodbye to his comrades, received a letter from Hou Mingming for her mother Ye Hua, and left Konkkinder for home.
• Jiang Xiao was recognized on his train ride and hid in a restroom to avoid the crowd seeking autographs.
• After returning to the Imperial Capital, Jiang Xiao found Gu Shi'an in his dormitory and learned that Gu Shi'an had trained in Hell and watched the World Cup.

Jiang Xiao reunited with Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan, introduced them to the Black White Candle Fire, and explained his plan to conceal its fusion ability. The chapter ended with the Candle Fire bonding with Han Jiangxue after Jiang Xiao demonstrated its cooling Star Skill on Xia Yan.

• Gu Shi'an told Jiang Xiao he had been assigned to his team and that Zhao Zijian might take Jiang Xiao's place as its Medical Support student.
• Jiang Xiao visited Xia Yan and transformed into her appearance, then wrestled her with his combat skills until Han Jiangxue stopped them.
• Jiang Xiao summoned the Black White Candle Fire and told Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan he had absorbed it and planned to use its fusion Star Skill with a Bamboo Bear.
• Jiang Xiao explained that Han Jiangxue should secretly bring the Black White Candle Fire into the Other Dimension Space while he pretended to absorb a Star Beast.
• Jiang Xiao demonstrated the Candle Fire's cooling skill on Xia Yan, and the little creature sought comfort from Han Jiangxue afterward.

Jiang Xiao returned to class, joked with his classmates, and slipped away after Han Jiangxue told him they had permission to visit the Bamboo Forest Other Dimension Space near Rong City. He chose Han Jiangxue to accompany him and left to prepare for the trip.

• Jiang Xiao returned to class and earned the nickname Rare Guest Pi from Cai Yao.
• Teacher Shao tested Jiang Xiao by asking his name, and Jiang Xiao guessed correctly with help from Sun Xiaosheng's notes.
• Jiang Xiao used his teleportation ability to fetch Snow-Top Coffee and gave it to Sun Xiaosheng.
• Han Jiangxue told Jiang Xiao that Principal Yang had secured permission for them to enter the Bamboo Forest Other Dimension Space and observe a Bamboo Bear.
• Jiang Xiao chose Han Jiangxue to accompany him, then left class with her to pack and book tickets for Rong City.
• Teacher Shao returned to class and called Jiang Xiao's name, only for Cai Yao to explain that he had left on a mission.

Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue traveled to Rong City and met Fang Hui, who escorted them toward the Bamboo Forest Other Dimension Space. They left the inn for the guarded site, with Jiang Xiao learning that the usually peaceful forest was monitored mainly from outside.

• Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue flew to Chuanshu Province and took a taxi to an inn arranged by Principal Yang.
• At the inn, Xie Jinyan called her husband and gave the siblings a room while they waited for him to arrive.
• Fang Hui arrived and recognized Black White Candle Fire as the mutated form of Golden Red Candle Fire described in a research institute database.
• Fang Hui drove the siblings from the inn and explained that he worked for the Southwest Star Beast Research Institute.
• Fang Hui described the Bamboo Forest as a peaceful Other Dimension Space guarded heavily on Earth, then led the siblings toward it.

Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue entered a bamboo-filled Other Dimension Space with Fang Hui, where they encountered a group of extremely lazy bamboo bears. After Jiang Xiao stopped one from rolling toward the lake, researchers recruited him and Han Jiangxue to help move the bears.

• Fang Hui escorted Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue through the guarded research institute and into the Other Dimension Space.
• Fang Hui led the siblings through a vast Moso bamboo forest to a mountaintop overlooking a lake.
• Han Jiangxue urged Jiang Xiao to stop a bamboo bear rolling down the opposite hillside, and Jiang Xiao flashed over and caught it.
• Jiang Xiao discovered a pit full of bamboo bears that researchers were carrying back into the forest to keep them from piling up near the lake.
• A researcher asked Jiang Xiao to use his Flash Star Skill to move the bears, and Jiang Xiao called Han Jiangxue over to help.

Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue found a Bamboo Bear cub and used Black White Candle Fire’s Dependence Star Skill on it. The fusion succeeded, creating the first Dependence Form, Black White Candle Bear, and leaving Jiang Xiao wondering what the “(1/2)” meant.

• Han Jiangxue and Jiang Xiao searched the Bamboo Forest for a Bamboo Bear cub while Fang Hui gathered environmental samples at an outpost.
• Han Jiangxue fed a sleeping adult Bamboo Bear bamboo shoots and asked it where the cubs were.
• Jiang Xiao had Black White Candle Fire use Dependence on the adult Bamboo Bear, which swatted it away and sent it flying through the forest.
• An adult Bamboo Bear appeared carrying a cub, and Han Jiangxue picked up the baby after its mother ignored it for bamboo shoots.
• Jiang Xiao persuaded Han Jiangxue to let Black White Candle Fire use Dependence on the cub, and the fusion succeeded as Black White Candle Bear, the first Dependence Form.