Chapter Summaries

Jiang Xiao examined the Black White Candle Bear's Dependence Form and tested its many Star Skills, discovering its immense Star Power and unusual abilities. Both the Black White Candle Bear and Black White Candle Fire later entered his Star Map, leaving Jiang Xiao convinced he could draw on their power.

• Jiang Xiao discovered that the Black White Candle Bear's Dependence Form had eleven Star Skills, including the exclusive Candle Bamboo skill.
• Jiang Xiao awakened the Black White Candle Bear with Icy Cool and tested its Round Bamboo attack, which spread freezing candle flames across the ground.
• Jiang Xiao tested Ancestor Body, Bear Clan Faith, and Iron-Eating Myth, and the last skill frightened Han Jiangxue enough to make the adult bamboo bear flee.
• Jiang Xiao found that Black White Candle Fire could move freely while the Black White Candle Bear was in its Dependence Form.
• The exhausted Black White Candle Bear and Black White Candle Fire entered Jiang Xiao's Star Map, and he realized their Star Power could help fuel his abilities.

Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue searched the Bamboo Forest for a small bamboo bear to bring back for Yuan Yuan, then returned to the Guardian Army supply point with one and Black White Candle Fire. After Han Jiangxue refused Fang Hui’s request to study Black White Candle Fire, the siblings rode with him to Rong City, where Jiang Xiao planned to treat her to hotpot.

• Jiang Xiao told Han Jiangxue he wanted to bring bamboo bears back for Yuan Yuan, and she agreed to help him find one despite his worries about transporting it.
• After three days of searching, Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue returned to Supply Point No. 2 with a growing bamboo bear hidden in Jiang Xiao’s Calamity Shadow Ruins and Black White Candle Fire with Han Jiangxue.
• Han Jiangxue demonstrated the long range of her Black Void Instant Guard teleportation while helping workers move bamboo bears, then refused Fang Hui’s request to keep Black White Candle Fire for research.
• Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue rode with Fang Hui to Rong City instead of teleporting, and Jiang Xiao invited Han Jiangxue to hotpot as a way to relax.
• Fang Hui recommended an extra-spicy red-oil hotpot and revealed that eating hotpot had persuaded him to settle in Rong City.

Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue spent a day sightseeing in Rong City while Lure Jiang Xiao explored the Upper Dimension and found a cabin inhabited by a missing Night Watcher. The chapter ended with Zhang Songfu challenging Lure Jiang Xiao after demanding his identity.

• Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue visited Du Fu Thatched Cottage and sampled food while exploring Jinli.
• Lure Jiang Xiao mapped the Snowfield and Snowy Forest as he searched the Upper Dimension for signs of people.
• Lure Jiang Xiao spotted a cabin and sensed someone inside, but a Ghost Shadow emerged and attacked him with repeated Flame Arcs.
• Lure Jiang Xiao landed and identified the Ghost Helmet-wearing man as Zhang Songfu, a Night Watcher missing since 2015.
• Zhang Songfu demanded Lure Jiang Xiao's Night Watch number, grew suspicious of his mask, and charged at him with his blade.
• Lure Jiang Xiao hurled his giant blade at Zhang Songfu as the two began fighting.

Jiang Xiao fought Zhang Songfu in the Upper Snowy Plains, then helped him advance by giving him Star Pearls and healing him. On Earth, Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue ordered hot pot while Jiang Xiao shared the meal through his connection with Zhang Songfu.

• Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue decided to eat at Sichuan Shu Grand Residence after Jiang Xiao said he had found another person in the Upper Snowy Plains.
• Lure Jiang Xiao battled Zhang Songfu with blade techniques, Explosive Arrows, and Shadow Crows, eventually blasting him into a tree.
• Zhang Songfu tried and failed to break through, so Jiang Xiao tossed him five Gold Quality Star Pearls and used his stars to supply Star Power and heal him.
• Zhang Songfu successfully advanced to a higher Star Power realm, and he and Lure Jiang Xiao began discussing what to order for hot pot.
• Jiang Xiao ordered extra dishes at the restaurant on Earth, explaining to Han Jiangxue that they had witnessed cross-dimensional ordering and Didi food delivery.

Jiang Xiao ate hotpot with Han Jiangxue while, in the Upper Dimension, his masked Lure confronted Zhang Songfu, who deduced that Jiang Xiao was searching for lost people and a way back to the Lower Dimension. The chapter ended with Jiang Xiao offering to share the locations of Zhang Songfu’s two comrades in exchange for his information.

• Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue ate a painfully spicy hotpot meal, and Han Jiangxue took an embarrassing selfie of him.
• Zhang Songfu told Lure Jiang Xiao that he had advanced to the Star Sea Stage and explained how deeper Star Map understanding could enable Transform Star into Weapon.
• Lure Jiang Xiao considered Three Tails’s departure to the Upper Dimension and wondered where she had gone.
• Zhang Songfu inferred that Jiang Xiao had entered the Upper Dimension more than once and was a summoned substitute rather than a real person.
• Zhang Songfu deduced that Jiang Xiao was looking for lost people and an exit to the Lower Dimension so he could take them home.
• Jiang Xiao asked Zhang Songfu to share what he had learned and offered to reveal the locations of Zhang Songfu’s two comrades.

Jiang Xiao learned that Zhang Songfu had met the missing Pioneering Senior He Yun and invited Zhang to join Hu Wei and Cang Lan. After asking Zhang to protect them, Jiang Xiao agreed to visit Zhang’s parents, and he and Han Jiangxue changed their plans to travel to Yali City.

• Zhang Songfu told Jiang Xiao that He Yun had briefly visited him and said other survivors were still struggling to survive in the Snowfield.
• Jiang Xiao recognized the old man as He Yun and considered why He Yun had not brought Zhang to the group living with Hu Wei and Cang Lan.
• Zhang Songfu inferred that Jiang Xiao had come from the east and agreed to search for Hu Wei and Cang Lan with Jiang Xiao’s help.
• Jiang Xiao asked Zhang to protect Hu Wei, Cang Lan, and Yuan Yuan, promising he would not return to the Upper Dimension if anything happened to them.
• Zhang Songfu asked Jiang Xiao to visit his parents, and Jiang Xiao agreed.
• Jiang Xiao asked Han Jiangxue to go with him to Yali City, and she changed their plane tickets.

Jiang Xiao visited Zhang Songfu’s parents in Yali and found them living comfortably, though still grieving their son. He left without telling them Zhang Songfu was alive, and returned to Han Jiangxue drunk with a secret photo of the elderly couple.

• Jiang Xiao disguised himself as an older man and waited hours outside Zhang Songfu’s parents’ apartment.
• Zhang's Father welcomed Jiang Xiao inside, and they talked while waiting for Zhang's Mother to return.
• Zhang's Mother came home, and the couple assured Jiang Xiao they were doing well and had enough support to live on.
• Jiang Xiao kept Zhang Songfu’s survival secret, remembering Two Tails’ warning not to give his parents hope.
• Jiang Xiao secretly photographed Zhang's Father and Zhang's Mother at dinner, then left drunk and returned to Han Jiangxue at the hotel.

Jiang Xiao settled into campus duty with his team while helping map the Upper Dimension and tending to their Star Pets. An urgent call brought him to the sports field, where he found Song Chunxi had punished two rival apprentices and ended the chapter by casting Blessing on them.

• Xia Yan doted on the Bamboo Bear cub while Jiang Xiao gave Black White Candle Fire lemon tea and continued drawing his terrain map.
• Gu Shi'an returned from a cigarette break and exercised as Han Jiangxue absorbed Star Power, until a student reported a fight at the sports field.
• Jiang Xiao teleported to the sports field, where Song Chunxi asked him to heal Zhao Zijian and Hu Xiankang after disciplining them with Black Flame.
• Zhao Zijian and Hu Xiankang pleaded for Bell Chime, but Jiang Xiao cast Blessing on them, causing Hu Xiankang to collapse and Zhao Zijian to panic.

Jiang Xiao accepted Qin Wangchuan’s mission to lead a Pioneer Apprentice squad to help Jin Country contain Other Dimension Spaces and Sacred Ruins along its border. He was allowed to choose his squad members, though he briefly reconsidered asking Qin Wangchuan to change the squad’s name.

• Jiang Xiao used Blessing to spur the running students to speed up, then told Zhao Zijian and Hu Xiankang that they would need to defeat him to claim his Fixed Team spot.
• Qin Wangchuan privately told Jiang Xiao that he had a difficult mission and asked him to represent the Pioneer Apprentice Army.
• Qin Wangchuan explained that Jin Country had requested help with Space Gates and Sacred Ruins opening near its border, where disguise abilities and illusion-causing creatures made the situation especially dangerous.
• Qin Wangchuan revealed that the mission would involve twenty squads from the Northern Pioneering Legion and Imperial Capital Pioneering Army, and that he had secured one slot for a Pioneer Apprentice squad led by Jiang Xiao.
• Jiang Xiao accepted the mission and asked Qin Wangchuan to let him choose any of the apprentices under his command.
• Jiang Xiao asked Qin Wangchuan to change the squad’s name, then decided that Pioneer Apprentice Army sounded stylish after all.

Jiang Xiao assembled Han Jiangxue, Xia Yan, and Gu Shi'an for a dangerous overseas mission involving the Fairy Flower Other Dimension Space, after getting Two Tails’s warning and approval. The team accepted the assignment, and Jiang Xiao asked Qin Wangchuan to help them secure medals and their associated points if they succeeded.

• Jiang Xiao confirmed to Qin Wangchuan that he would take on the mission and selected Han Jiangxue, Xia Yan, and Gu Shi'an for the team.
• Jiang Xiao reported the mission to Two Tails, who warned him about its dangers but did not stop him.
• Qin Wangchuan briefed Han Jiangxue, Xia Yan, and Gu Shi'an on the Fairy Flower Other Dimension Space and the complicated border operation.
• Han Jiangxue raised the need for Star Skills that could see through disguises, and Jiang Xiao explained that Gu Shi'an’s Double Pupil and Dark Ant Sense, alongside Xia Yan’s Domain Tear, covered the team’s reconnaissance needs.
• Gu Shi'an agreed to the mission, and Han Jiangxue nodded her approval after Jiang Xiao vouched for his preparations as a teammate.
• Jiang Xiao asked Qin Wangchuan to help the team apply for medals if they completed the mission, since the rewards would provide points.

Jiang Xiao and the other Pioneer Apprentices boarded a transport plane bound for the Fairy Flower Other Dimension Space, where they would join the fight against dangerous flower-like creatures. As the eight squads prepared to enter the battlefield, Jiang Xiao botched a password check by giving the wrong time.

• Qin Wangchuan introduced Officer Chen Qidao as the mission leader and identified Jiang Xiao as the team's captain.
• The Four-person Team boarded the plane and reviewed information about the Other Dimension Spaces near the 38th Parallel, including the deceptive Ground Hibiscus Beings and illusion-wielding Lily of the Valley Beings.
• Jiang Xiao told Gu Shi'an to acquire skills for detecting and breaking illusions, while Han Jiangxue reminded Jiang Xiao that his Silence could counter the creatures.
• Chen Qidao told all eight squads to prepare for battle and stressed that they must protect their Military IDs and armbands.
• Chen Qidao called for Jiang Xiao's password, and Jiang Xiao gave a time that did not match his watch before answering that he was present.

Jiang Xiao's team arrived at the chaotic Jin Country front and discovered that Space Gates had formed an unbroken boundary between the two sides. Determined to clear it, Jiang Xiao led his team into the buffer zone and challenged the sea-blue soldiers as they watched in tense silence.

• Jiang Xiao finalized his team's command structure, with Han Jiangxue in charge of tactics, and Chen Qidao assigned Team Seven a position near the Joint Security Zone.
• Jiang Xiao and his team met Chen Peng at the Jin Country camp, then headed toward the battlefield after settling into their prepared quarters.
• Jiang Xiao saw that Space Gates formed a vast line through the buffer zone, while soldiers on both sides cleared the flower creatures without destroying the gates.
• Jiang Xiao ordered his team to clear the line, and Han Jiangxue identified a nearby Space Gate for their first attack.
• Jiang Xiao's team advanced into the buffer zone, and Jiang Xiao pointed his great blade toward the sea-blue soldiers and challenged them to act.

Jiang Xiao’s squad entered the Fairy Flower Different Dimension Space and began fighting its hidden flower beasts while searching for the Sacred Ruins. They pushed deeper into the rainy flower field, with Xia Yan flying ahead and Jiang Xiao learning the abilities of a Lily of the Valley Being Star Pearl.

• Han Jiangxue sent the squad through the Space Gate after Jiang Xiao confronted the sea-blue camp by advancing toward the entrance.
• Han Jiangxue warned Jiang Xiao about interfering in the dispute between the two countries, but he insisted they needed to stand firm to complete their mission.
• Xia Yan spotted a moving flower beast, and Han Jiangxue blasted it with Ice Roar before Xia Yan used Domain Tear to reveal and attack hidden enemies.
• Xia Yan returned with Star Pearls, and Jiang Xiao received one whose Star Map revealed three Lily of the Valley Being Star Skills.
• Han Jiangxue ordered the squad to hurry toward the Sacred Ruins, and the four advanced through the flower field as Xia Yan flew above them.

After realizing they had taken the wrong route, Han Jiangxue split the team so they could search for the Sacred Ruins in two groups. Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan headed toward the mountains, where Jiang Xiao used the bamboo bear’s Star Power to trigger a Ground Hibiscus Being’s advancement and eagerly imagined the possibilities of stronger Star Skills.

• Han Jiangxue returned the team to the Space Gate and divided them into groups: she and Gu Shi'an went one way, while Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan went the other.
• Han Jiangxue ordered both groups to retreat immediately when the Sacred Ruins’ destruction caused the dimension to shake.
• Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan flew toward the distant mountains, bickering as Jiang Xiao grabbed Xia Yan’s ankle to hitch a ride.
• Jiang Xiao used the bamboo bear’s Star Power and Light of Reversal on a Ground Hibiscus Being, causing it to begin advancing.
• Jiang Xiao excitedly speculated about future Star Skill upgrades while Xia Yan watched him with concern.

Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan hunted through the Fairy Flower Different Dimension, advancing a Ground Hibiscus Being to Platinum before Jiang Xiao drained it and took its Star Pearl. After the Sacred Ruins were destroyed, they made their way back to the Space Gate, where Han Jiangxue and Gu Shi'an had also returned.

• Jiang Xiao cut off Light of Reversal at the right moment, allowing the Ground Hibiscus Being to advance to Platinum, then drained its Star Power and took its Star Pearl.
• Jiang Xiao absorbed the Platinum Star Pearl, improving Earth Light, Star Stealth, and Vice Minister to Platinum quality, while Xia Yan agreed to keep replenishing her Star Power from Ground Hibiscus Beings.
• The Fairy Flower Different Dimension trembled as the Sacred Ruins were destroyed, and Jiang Xiao teleported back with Xia Yan to their earlier location.
• Xia Yan used Desperate Blade to carry Jiang Xiao across the flower field, and he later teleported them to a mountaintop so he could heal her with Blessing.
• Jiang Xiao carried Xia Yan toward the Space Gate, where Han Jiangxue and Gu Shi'an emerged from a teleportation barrier.

The Four-person Team rapidly destroyed Fairy Flower Sacred Ruins, impressing the soldiers stationed at the border before continuing their mission. Jiang Xiao’s Earth Light, Star Stealth, and Vice Minister reached Diamond Quality, and he discovered that Earth Light could let him assume a new Star Chart.

• Han Jiangxue sent the Four-person Team through Space Gates repeatedly, and Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan efficiently destroyed several Sacred Ruins.
• The team’s rapid progress impressed the Jindalai and Blue Sea soldiers, and Jiang Xiao decided they would return to camp after their next mission because night could bring trouble.
• Gu Shi'an exposed a hidden Ground Hibiscus Being, and Jiang Xiao carried a tired Xia Yan as they flew toward the next Sacred Ruin.
• Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan replenished their Star Power by fighting a concealed Lily of the Valley Being, then Jiang Xiao absorbed its Star Pearl.
• Jiang Xiao’s Earth Light, Star Stealth, and Vice Minister reached Diamond Quality, and he learned that Earth Light could let him vibrate and assume a new Star Chart.

Jiang Xiao discovered that Diamond Earth Light might let him create one additional Star Map, though he had not decided what to make of it. After Squad Seven returned from destroying seven Immortal Flower Spaces, Chen Qidao reviewed their bold performance and the allied forces’ praise.

• Jiang Xiao studied Diamond Earth Light’s new description and realized he might create one new Star Map, while keeping his existing Star Skills and Star Slots.
• Xia Yan showed Jiang Xiao her greatsword Star Map and asked whether he could switch to a warrior’s Star Map, but he declined to choose before understanding the ability.
• Jiang Xiao imagined making a Star Map inspired by Nezha or Thousand-Hand Guanyin, then the Sacred Ruins trembled and he and Xia Yan decided to return to camp.
• Jiang Xiao tried to transform into a cheetah with Vice Minister, but the Star Skill still only allowed transformations into human-like creatures.
• Squad Seven returned to camp after destroying seven Immortal Flower Spaces, and the neighboring peninsula’s forces reported their deeds to Chen Qidao.
• Chen Qidao watched the footage and heard the allied commander’s praise, while reflecting that Squad Seven had ignored his caution and boldly challenged the Pickle Republic without provoking a fight.

Jiang Xiao’s team had been leading the campaign against Fairy Flower spaces when a fourteen-year-old Jin Country soldier named Shadow secretly entered their prefab house and warned that the military camp was an illusion controlled by Lily of the Valley Beings. The team found no clear evidence, leaving them uncertain whether Shadow’s warning—or their own surroundings—was real.

• Jiang Xiao failed to create genuine new Star Maps by reshaping his Diamond Star Technique, while Pioneering Team Seven continued destroying an average of nine Fairy Flower spaces a day.
• Gu Shi'an and Xia Yan caught a young Jin Country soldier picking the lock of their prefab house and brought him inside.
• Shadow introduced himself as a fourteen-year-old who had been forcibly infused with Star Power after other children in his group died.
• Shadow warned that the camp was filled with Lily of the Valley Beings and that everything there was fantasy, but Gu Shi'an detected no illusion or clear traces of them.
• Jiang Xiao and Han Jiangxue questioned Shadow, yet his claims left the team unsure how they could distinguish reality from illusion.

Jiang Xiao and his team reported the suspected Shadow to Chen Qidao, then continued their missions while quietly arranging to meet the youth. When sea-blue soldiers injured the team in the buffer zone and refused to apologize, Jiang Xiao attacked their soldier and sent him back to his comrades unconscious.

• Jiang Xiao contacted Chen Qidao and, with Han Jiangxue, told him about the suspected Shadow; Chen Qidao ordered them to keep the matter quiet and lure the youth into their tent that night.
• Jiang Xiao took cans of braised pork around the camp with Gu Ten'an, gave some to young soldiers, and passed Shadow a can marked with a time.
• The Four-person Team returned to the battlefield, where a blast shattered the rock beneath them and gravel injured Jiang Xiao and Xia Yan.
• A sea-blue soldier dismissed the attack as an accident and refused to apologize, so Jiang Xiao ordered Han Jiangxue and Xia Yan to restrain him.
• Han Jiangxue lifted the soldier with Barren Wind, Xia Yan slowed his comrades with Frost Wind, and Jiang Xiao knocked him unconscious before kicking him back into their formation.

Jiang Xiao was reprimanded by Chen Qidao for a clash in the buffer zone, but Team Seven stayed on the mission and continued clearing Fairy Flower Space Gates. While absorbing a Star Pearl, Jiang Xiao raised three Star Skills to Starry quality and discovered Earth Light could grant him new Star Charts.

• Chen Qidao reprimanded Jiang Xiao for dragging an opposing soldier into the buffer zone, then warned him to avoid further conflicts and keep completing the mission.
• Chen Qidao investigated Shadow’s claims about the military camp and learned that the awakening experiment had been voluntary, brief, and abandoned after poor results.
• Shadow repeated his warning about the Lily of the Valley Being, while Chen Qidao assured him he would stay at the camp and investigate any danger.
• Pioneering Team Seven cleared Space Gates without further clashes, destroying thirty-two over three days and pushing east through the border.
• Jiang Xiao absorbed a Star Pearl and upgraded Earth Light, Star Stealth, and Vice Minister to Starry quality.
• Jiang Xiao read Earth Light’s new description and learned that it could grant him up to three additional Star Charts.