Chapter Summaries

Black Star’s broadcast invited civilizations to travel to his coordinates and join the Immortal Dao Civilization, drawing the attention of hidden powers and the Martial Arts Continent. The Son of Heaven and his companions set out for the Greater Thousand World, while Wales and another Above God Level controller rushed to strengthen their forces.

• Black Star broadcast his recruitment pitch across the universe, and more than a dozen civilizations abandoned by history began traveling toward his coordinates.
• Wales and another Above God Level controller decided to speed up their salvage operations and nurture three more Above God Level combatants each.
• The Son of Heaven concluded that Black Star’s location was in the Greater Thousand World and decided to go there with Minis and other companions.
• The Son of Heaven left Ning Guochang, Saint Dragon, and several others behind to manage the era, while Aurora joined the expedition hoping to find Sylvie.
• The Son of Heaven and his companions set off toward the Greater Thousand World, expecting to encounter new civilizations and a long-awaited acquaintance.

Minis and his companions encountered several ancient technological civilizations traveling through subspace toward Li Qing’s Greater Thousand World, and exchanged knowledge with them. After demonstrating transformation into the wizard race, Minis opened the Witch Library to the visitors, where their journey ended in awe of its extraordinary books and inhabitants.

• Minis and his companions met travelers from the Lagertu Interstellar Civilization and the Kadi Sacred Galaxy, who invited themselves aboard to exchange information.
• The travelers explained that their civilizations had been isolated in subspace for hundreds of millions of years, while Minis described the Crystal Wall universe and their journey toward the Greater Thousand World.
• Minis agreed to exchange information and demonstrated his power by transforming the volunteer Visgi into a member of the wizard race.
• Minis opened the first four floors of the Witch Library to the visitors, explaining that only Visgi could cultivate its witchcraft.
• The visitors entered the library, removed their mecha, and marveled at its books, castle architecture, and scholarly wizards.

Minis and the traveling scientists exchanged knowledge and tested the strength of their systems as their group continued toward the Crystal Wall System Universe. When they arrived, the Technology Side rulers realized the cramped world would undermine their armies, and a receptionist announced that the imperial examination would begin in three years.

• Minis exchanged wizard knowledge with the scientists and suspected that an Above God Level existence was watching them.
• After another civilization joined the travelers, Aurora defeated fifty-six mechas in a friendly combat exchange.
• Hidden Technology Side rulers concluded that their forces could overwhelm the Extraordinary System in large-scale warfare.
• The travelers reached the Crystal Wall System Universe and discovered its confined corridors would leave their armies at a disadvantage.
• A receptionist in the Thorn World told the arrivals to prepare for the imperial examination, which would begin in three years.

Black Star and Tuoluo watched extraterrestrial True Gods arrive at the Black Star Empire, while the visitors entered the Thorn World and learned how dangerous the Chaos Fog beyond it was. The examinees established a camp by the Crystal Wall and discovered signs that Nokron had once passed through the abandoned prison outside.

• The arriving civilizations docked at the Black Star Empire and marveled at the Thorn World, while Black Star explained that distrust among Above God Level beings kept them from crossing the Crystal Wall together.
• Haska and the other True Gods entered the Thorn World, and Minis led them through its vast Xianxia worlds as they questioned the locals’ reckless behavior.
• At the Crystal Wall, Minis showed the examinees an image of a True God being killed by an enormous hand in the Chaos Fog, prompting them to prepare for the imperial examination instead of venturing outside.
• The examinees released their people and set up camp, while wizards used probing waves to investigate the corridor and transit hall beyond the Crystal Wall.
• Wizards specializing in Nokron’s domain recognized his style in the prison’s oil painting and handwriting and wondered whether he had traveled through it in the past.

Black Star and several outsiders eavesdropped as Elven God King Minis explained the ancient Primordial Overlord known as “Fist” and his connection to the prison region. Black Star learned that the Old Man had lived through countless epochs, leaving him determined to uncover more of the Old Man’s secrets.

• Haska asked Minis whether he knew the prison region, while Black Star and Tuoluo secretly listened through the Crystal Wall.
• An Above God Level outsider and Professor Wales also pressed against the wall to hear Minis’s account.
• Minis said that the ancient being codenamed “Fist” had founded the Martial Arts World and might once have stood half a step from the universe’s pinnacle.
• Minis described how short the Technology Side’s lifespans were compared with true gods and a dragon that had lived for tens of millions of years.
• Black Star realized the Old Man had concealed an extraordinary lifespan and vowed to pry out all his secrets.

While the civilizations gathered in the Thorn World learned about Creator Gods from Minis, Black Star secretly used his lecture to prepare for the imperial examination. After more than two years, Tuoluo began the exam in an artificial Virtual Universe, and the candidates found that Minis had correctly predicted its subject.

• Professor Wales and Black Star overheard Minis explain the ancient gods and the authority of Creator Gods.
• Minis demonstrated creating life and taught the gathered civilizations about designing worlds and guiding their eras.
• Black Star ordered Tuoluo to use Minis's lecture to prepare the Immortal Dao Civilization's examination.
• After more than two years of waiting, Tuoluo announced the examination and led everyone into an artificial Virtual Universe.
• The candidates received a task to create a serpentine, scaly giant beast with at least 30 Rings of potential.

Black Star and Professor Wales discussed how to supply rewards for the imperial examination and conceal Black Star’s lie. Wales concluded that Ancient Gods had relied on protective campfires when revealing their true forms, and urged Black Star to build one to keep them safe in the corridor.

• Black Star worried that he could not provide the grand rewards he had promised the civilizations taking his imperial examination.
• Professor Wales proposed that he, Black Star, and a third party join forces and recruit the examination’s talented candidates.
• Wales offered to hunt newly born Creator Gods and use their Creation Cells as temporary rewards for the candidates.
• Wales questioned how Ancient Gods had dared reveal their true forms outside the Crystal Wall without being ambushed.
• Wales reasoned that Ancient Gods had used campfires to protect their temporary camps and urged Black Star to build one for their safety.

Professor Wales persuaded Black Star to build bonfires as warning systems and safe camps in the chaotic corridors, while Black Star began studying how to create one. Li Qing watched their plans take shape and anticipated that future conflicts would become struggles over illuminated streets and corridors.

• Professor Wales explained that bonfires could warn of invisible intruders and provide safe zones for travelers, convincing Black Star of their value.
• Professor Wales proposed that divine kingdoms were regions of the corridors illuminated by torches, and Black Star grew ambitious about creating such realms.
• Professor Wales told Black Star to study the bonfire while he went to obtain Creator Gods' brains for the imperial examination, and he planned to lure a third person into the bonfire's light.
• Professor Wales planned to use torches to detect the mysterious female natives patrolling the prison and avoid confronting them directly.
• Li Qing observed that the bonfire system and its warfare model had been deduced, then imagined future factions fighting over lit streets, plazas, and corridors.

Li Qing extended the imperial examination to harvest the talents of the visiting civilizations while Black Star continued developing the campfire species. Outside the Crystal Wall, the Son of Heaven broke through to the Above God Level and emerged into the void, startling the examinees and Black Star.

• Li Qing watched Wales and Black Star draw others into their reckless plans and decided to let their supposed Ancient Gods develop freely.
• Li Qing assessed tens of thousands of examinees as exceptional talents and prolonged the examination with new research questions, including creating a divine tree species.
• The Son of Heaven studied technological civilizations instead of joining the examination and approached a breakthrough to the Above God Level.
• The Son of Heaven tore through the Crystal Wall and stepped outside the world, where he broke through to just over one hundred rings.
• Minis dismissed the Son of Heaven's breakthrough as unremarkable, while Black Star wondered what had escaped into the void.

Black Star confronted the Son of Heaven after sensing his breakthrough and tried to stop him from leaving the Crystal Wall, but struggled to land a hit on the nimble newcomer. The examination candidates watched the close-quarters battle in amazement as Black Star resorted to swallowing combat stimulants to keep up.

• Black Star used his crude bonfire system to reveal himself and the Son of Heaven outside the Crystal Wall, then identified himself as Tuoluo, the imperial examination inspector.
• The Son of Heaven said he had no intention of becoming Black Star’s enemy and would leave, but Black Star declared him a sinner and attacked.
• The candidates paused their examinations to watch the fight, while Haska and a scientist marveled at the fighters’ precise, tightly contained combat.
• Minis recalled a similar battle from ancient wars in the chaos, and the spectators compared the fight to overlapping historical myths.
• Black Star realized he could not hit the Son of Heaven despite his superior power, then frantically swallowed combat stimulants to boost his attributes.

Professor Wales plundered more small worlds and prepared to build his civilization with the resources and Creator God abilities he had gathered. When he returned, he found Black Star fighting the Son of Heaven, who fled after seeing Wales.

• Professor Wales sent his Artificial True God army into a mechanical small world and watched it slaughter the inhabitants.
• Wales told Magina that cooperation with Black Star was necessary, while his group planned to adapt their technology toward powerful individual machines.
• Wales and his companions plundered more small worlds and experimented with creation abilities gained from Creator God brains.
• Magina asked why the mysterious woman who had ambushed them carried no bonfire, and Wales reasoned that she had traveled invisibly and merely passed through.
• Wales heard fighting and hurried to Black Star, where the Son of Heaven saw him appear by the torch and fled in fear.

Wales and Black Star restored order during the imperial examination, then established and decorated a bonfire camp in the Chaos as their divine kingdom. After the examination ended, the successful examinees were brought beyond their world, where Walton recognized Professor Wales and wondered whether he came from Earth.

• Wales claimed that Inspector Tuoluo had failed to control a minor disturbance and ordered the imperial examination to continue for three years.
• Wales examined Black Star’s research, then chose a three-way intersection to establish a bonfire camp with torches guarding its paths.
• Black Star and Wales named themselves the Immortal Dao Ancient God and the Mechanical Ancient God, and decorated their Chaos Immortal Court with red lanterns and furnishings.
• Minis earned a middling rank, and the examinees who passed were brought through the Crystal Wall to the Immortal Dynasty’s divine kingdom.
• Walton livestreamed the sight beyond the world and speculated that Professor Wales might be from Earth, planning to contact him.

Li Qing assessed Professor Wales as a dangerous, cautious opponent while considering how to exploit his confinement in the Mental Hospital. He then strolled through the thriving Crystal Wall Worlds and saw that powerful patients could rise to become nurses overseeing others.

• Li Qing activated his Fiery Golden Eyes and found that their light exposed him just as much as it revealed others.
• Li Qing suspected Professor Wales had a formidable hidden trump card and possibly surpassed the Unobservable Level, so he planned to scheme against him rather than fight directly.
• Li Qing decided to stroll through the Crystal Wall Worlds while Wales worked on establishing a divine kingdom.
• Li Qing observed wild civilizations and Creators developing in the hospital's rooms, including worlds where two powerful patients fought destructively.
• Li Qing passed rooms in which powerful patients had left their rooms and become nurses who managed other patients.

Li Qing inspected the Crystal Wall worlds devastated by the Old Man and listened as Sylvie and Sylvie planned to turn their accumulated Lost Souls into a God of Vengeance. He added a new setting to the universe, causing the Heavenly Daos to appear in a Primal Heavenly Palace atop an Ancient Tree.

• Li Qing admired how the Crystal Wall civilizations had grown and pondered how to make his universe more convincing to future adventurers.
• Sylvie and Sylvie examined worlds the Old Man had plundered and explained how their Crystal Walls could restore them over time.
• Sylvie offered to gather the worlds’ Lost Souls into a graveyard and help them form a God of Vengeance.
• Li Qing overheard the sisters speculate about Lost Souls, ancient calamities, and his cryptic teachings, then left satisfied with their plans.
• Li Qing declared that the universe had laws of causality, retribution, favor, and resentment, and a Group Chat brought the Heavenly Daos into the Primal Heavenly Palace on an Ancient Tree.

The Thorn Heavenly Dao and other young Heavenly Daos appeared as leaves on the Progenitor Ancient Tree, where they discovered a way to communicate across worlds. Li Qing used their new chat group to build shared rules and make worlds reject exploitative Ancient Gods, but the Thorn Heavenly Dao openly sided with the Immortal Dao Civilization and provoked the others.

• The Thorn Heavenly Dao arrived at the Primal Heavenly Palace and found itself among other Heavenly Dao leaves on the Progenitor Ancient Tree.
• The Thorn Heavenly Dao explained that the Crystal Walls were worlds born from the ancient tree, and the Heavenly Daos realized they could communicate because their worlds shared a region.
• Li Qing established a shared space for the Heavenly Daos, intending to make reputation and collective refusal restrain Ancient Gods who harmed their worlds.
• The Dou Qi Heavenly Dao and Burning Heaven Dao described an Old Man invading and plundering their worlds, prompting the other Heavenly Daos to condemn him.
• The Thorn Heavenly Dao admitted that it supported the Old Man and wanted him to loot other worlds for its benefit, so the other Heavenly Daos vowed to reject the Immortal Dao Civilization.

Li Qing discovered that Sylvie’s palace-drama broadcasts had shaped the Thorn Heavenly Dao, which now provoked the other worlds while scheming to monopolize the Immortal Dao Civilization’s support. Professor Wales tried to bring nearby Crystal Wall Worlds under his control, but the Thorn Heavenly Dao told him they rejected his civilization as low-level.

• The Thorn Heavenly Dao taunted the other young Heavenly Daos, leaving them crying and bewildered as Li Qing watched.
• Li Qing traced the Thorn Heavenly Dao’s behavior to Sylvie projecting palace dramas onto the Crystal Wall and realized it was provoking rivals to secure the Immortal Dao Civilization’s favor.
• Professor Wales established the first Immortal Dao Divine Realm and received intercepted letters showing that infiltrators had become loyal after taking Life-Contending Pills.
• Professor Wales set out to recruit nearby Crystal Wall Worlds, assuming their Heavenly Daos would accept cooperation, but every attempt failed.
• Professor Wales asked the Thorn Heavenly Dao why the other worlds rejected him, and it claimed they looked down on his civilization.

Professor Wales continued managing the Immortal Dao Divine Kingdom while investigating the trouble with the Thorn World, then reunited with Walton, an old acquaintance from Earth, after eight billion years. Walton recounted his civilization’s history, and Wales concluded that their worlds belonged to parallel universes, leaving Walton with a chilling explanation for how such universes could be built.

• Professor Wales helped coordinate the Immortal Dao Divine Kingdom’s growth as Black Star researched spirit plants and medicine to prepare for revenge on the Son of Heaven.
• Walton and his identical-looking companion found Wales and claimed to be his long-lost brothers from Earth.
• Wales recognized Walton from his archived memories and learned that eight billion years had passed since they were together.
• Wales recounted escaping a zombie apocalypse with Earth’s surviving scientists, later reaching the Above God Level, and becoming trapped in a subspace.
• Walton revealed that his Earth had remained peaceful, and Wales reasoned that he had transmigrated to a parallel universe.
• Wales explained that salvaged civilizations and accumulated land could be used to create small-scale parallel universes.

Waldon told Professor Wales about the God of Dream Robe and the Doomsday World, leading Wales to recognize a version of himself from his lost past. Wales learned that Nokron had also appeared in that world's history, leaving him intrigued by the unexpected connections to his old homeland.

• Professor Wales explained that the Parallel Universe was an Artificial Universe whose environment could resemble the Main Universe, and he said he had escaped one before entering the Main Universe.
• Waldon asked whether Wales knew the God of Dream Robe, and Wales asked him to explain who she was.
• Waldon recounted Dream Robe’s role in the apocalypse, and Wales requested records of the Doomsday World version of himself.
• Waldon showed Wales the records, and Wales recognized the other Professor Wales as a recreation of his own youth and believed Dream Robe had been an old acquaintance.
• Wales watched the other version’s experiences and learned that Nokron had broken the cycles and rescued Waldon and the others.

Professor Wales watched the Doomsday World films and took Walton and his companions under his protection, while Li Qing used their presence to draw Wales into more work. As the Earthlings’ antics frustrated Wales’s attempts to gain allies, Walton proposed using Black Star’s new medicine to create an army that would plunder the Secret Realm Worlds.

• Professor Wales watched the Doomsday World films, admired Dream Robe’s effort to preserve humanity, and promised Walton and his companions that he would help their civilization become powerful.
• Walton’s group prospered under Wales’s protection, while Li Qing was pleased that their demands and troubles forced Wales to keep working for him.
• A hundred years after the imperial examinations, Black Star researched new medicines as Walton’s group consumed resources, and the Thorn Heavenly Dao’s provocations made other worlds reject Wales’s negotiations.
• Wales considered invading the worlds that refused to submit but hesitated over the consequences.
• Walton suggested giving Black Star’s new permanent medicine to Earthlings, then using enhanced Sylph Dark Elf Academy members to plunder resources from the Secret Realm Worlds.

Warden partnered with Professor Wales to expand the Sylph Dark Elf Academy’s pill-fueled expeditions into other worlds, while the Son of Heaven and Duolong stole torches to build rival divine kingdoms. After Wales was repeatedly outmaneuvered by guerrilla raids and the worlds’ surveillance, he ordered his forces to invade the small worlds directly.

• Professor Wales agreed to back Warden, who announced new pill exchanges and secret-realm expeditions at the Sylph Dark Elf Academy.
• Warden led tens of thousands of students into the Martial Arts Continent to travel toward the newly discovered worlds.
• The Son of Heaven stole a border torch, and Duolong later stole one too, hoping to use torches to establish their own divine kingdoms.
• Over the following decades, the Martial Arts Divine Kingdom and Duolong’s forces waged guerrilla warfare, repeatedly stealing torches and evading Wales.
• The Crystal Walls in Wales’s headquarters relayed his movements to his enemies, thwarting his attempts to pursue them.
• Wales summoned the Magic Academy’s experts and ordered them to begin invading and plundering the small worlds by force.