Chapter Summaries

Lin Lin assessed Great Xia’s prosperity and planned to use Divine Power to study the origin of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi while preparing for future expansion into the Southern Domain Kingdoms. He ended the chapter by joining his family for the New Year and holding his infant sister, Lin Sixue.

• Great Xia’s rising prosperity, tax revenue, population, and public welfare convinced Lin Lin that the realm had excellent prospects.
• Lin Lin considered using his accumulated Divine Power to understand how Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was formed and potentially produce it artificially.
• Lin Lin planned to begin unifying the world in about five years, targeting the Southern Domain Kingdoms and preparing the army, fleet, and Red Dust Heaven for the campaign.
• Lin Lin outlined later expansion toward the Qixia Dynasty, the Jinhe Alliance, Golden Continent, and Guixu Continent.
• Lin Lin visited Taiji Palace for the New Year, took his baby sister Lin Sixue into his arms, and said it was time to eat.

Lin Lin used ten drops of Divine Power to perceive all of Aqua Blue Star and investigate the origins of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi. The information overwhelmed his mind, and after three months unconscious, he awoke in outer space.

• Lin Lin assessed his cultivation and concluded that his Mental Strength was steadily catching up, though reaching Qi Refinement Mastery would take years.
• Lin Lin arranged for others to handle government affairs and entered seclusion with ten drops of Divine Power.
• Lin Lin used the Divine Power to expand his perception across Aqua Blue Star, seeing its atmosphere, surface, underground depths, and core.
• Lin Lin tried to analyze the planet’s structure and the flow of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, but the flood of information overwhelmed his brain and threatened to shatter his Sword Heart.
• Lin Lin shut down his brain to protect himself and remained unconscious in outer space until his body recovered; he awoke three months later.

After recovering from three months adrift in space, Lin Lin repaired his Sword Heart and concluded that studying how Heaven and Earth Essence Qi formed would cost more Divine Power than he could ever gather. He chose to devote future Divine Power to research that could advance Da Xia Dynasty, leaving the possibility of seeking Essence Qi among distant planets for another time.

• Lin Lin replenished his Inner Breath and True Yuan, and the shattered Sword Heart healed with greater sharpness.
• Lin Lin realized that his Sword Heart’s restoration had advanced his cultivation and revealed future transformations at higher Spirit Refinement levels.
• Lin Lin calculated that fully studying Aqua Blue Star’s mechanisms would take over two hundred years of simulation and more than one trillion drops of Divine Power.
• Lin Lin considered finding other life-bearing planets that produced Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, but recognized that such a search was beyond his current means.
• Lin Lin decided to use accumulated Divine Power to research the human body and natural sciences rather than for cultivation, while cultivating independently and accelerating Da Xia Dynasty’s development.

The Da Xia Dynasty launched a campaign to conquer the Southern Domain Kingdoms and incorporate their lands into its territory. After three years of warfare, the kingdoms were annihilated and placed under Da Xia rule.

• The Southern Sea Navy landed in South Sea Kingdom and swiftly defeated its forces, with Cui Hao killing the kingdom's ruler.
• Da Xia officials took control of South Sea Kingdom, punished abusive local elites, distributed land, and offered favorable taxes to the people.
• Settlers from Da Xia arrived as the navy moved on to conquer more small nations, while the remaining kingdoms tried to unite or surrender.
• The East Province Navy and additional troops reinforced the campaign as Da Xia continued its advance across the region.
• Three years later, the Southern Domain Kingdoms were annihilated, their former rulers executed, and a puppet king sent to Zhong Province with a letter of surrender.

Bei Gongxiao and twenty other newly appointed rulers from the Southern Domain kingdoms arrived in Great Xia and saw its wealth, technology, and prosperity on their journey toward Divine Capital City. They became eager to live in the Celestial Empire and devoutly thanked Emperor Lin Lin for the life they expected to receive.

• Great Xia officials inventoried riches brought back from the Southern Seas while Bei Gongxiao and twenty other rulers arrived at Pearl Harbor.
• Zhang Ting explained how the soldiers' spoils were tallied and exchanged for Silver Notes, and Bei Gongxiao admired the convenience.
• The rulers traveled from Pearl Harbor to Pearl East Station, where Zhang Ting explained concrete, boiled water, and Steam Trains.
• During the train journey toward Divine Capital City, the rulers saw fertile fields, healthy people, and railway construction throughout the countryside.
• The rulers grew eager to settle in Great Xia and prayed gratefully to Emperor Lin Lin, while Zhang Ting watched with pride.

The twenty-one puppet rulers formally submitted to the Da Xia Dynasty and received honorary titles and generous benefits, while Lin Lin reviewed the Southern Domain’s resources and Great Xia’s growing technological and productive strength. With the region’s integration promising greater prosperity and Divine Power, Lin Lin realized he had accumulated enough to break through to Qi Refinement Mastery.

• Bei Gongxiao and the other twenty puppet rulers presented their surrender to the Da Xia emperor at the grand court assembly.
• The emperor granted the rulers honorary official titles, residences, assets, and the opportunity to study at the Da Xia Royal Academy.
• Lin Lin reflected on the Investigation of Things Academy’s scientific advances and Great Xia’s preparations to expand beyond the Southern Domain.
• Lin Lin reviewed the Southern Domain’s population and farmland, estimating that its development could support more than one billion people and greatly increase his Divine Power.
• Lin Lin realized his cultivation had reached the point where he could break through to Qi Refinement Mastery.

After years of strengthening his body and accumulating Mental Strength, Lin Lin began breaking through from Marrow Cleansing to Qi Refinement Mastery on a secluded meteorite above Aqua Blue Star. As his Essence, Qi, and Spirit merged, he drew in so much Heaven and Earth Essence Qi that martial artists across the world sensed it and the world's reserves began to decline.

• Lin Lin's physique, meridians, acupoints, and Sword Heart grew stronger through more than eleven years of cultivation, while he accumulated the Mental Strength needed to advance.
• Lin Lin prepared his affairs, flew alone to a meteorite orbiting Aqua Blue Star, and began his breakthrough in seclusion.
• Lin Lin's Sword Heart melted into his Inner Breath, turning it golden and forming a majestic Sword Qi that completed the union of qi and spirit.
• Lin Lin's Inner Breath began dissipating into his body, merging with his Essence and Qi Blood as his vitality and physical strength rose.
• Martial artists above the True Qi Condensation Realm sensed Heaven and Earth Essence Qi gathering in the high heavens, while the world's overall reserves began to fall.

During his Rebirth and Transformation, Lin Lin absorbed vast amounts of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi and gained unprecedented insight into his body. He discovered more than 128,000 Human Body Divine Treasure Potential Gates, opening a new path to strengthen his physique.

• Lin Lin’s Inner Breath merged into his body as his blood, flesh, and bones transformed under the essence of Golden Jade Imperishable.
• Lin Lin’s body repeatedly shattered and healed while absorbing Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, eventually encasing him in a multicolored crystal.
• Lin Lin remained conscious through the transformation, and his Mental Strength and control over his body continued to grow.
• Lin Lin discovered hidden Potential Doors within his cells beyond the meridians and acupoints.
• The Attribute Panel added a Human Body Divine Treasure panel, and Lin Lin found that roughly 129,600 gates could be nurtured to raise his physique’s potential.

Lin Lin completed his second Rebirth and Transformation, gaining a Golden Flesh Jade Bones body and opening all his Potential Doors. He then began the Qi Refinement Mastery realm by condensing astral qi, leaving him ready to build it up for his next transformation.

• Lin Lin completed his second Rebirth and Transformation as the world's Heaven and Earth Essence Qi fell by nearly one-eighth.
• Lin Lin's body became Golden Flesh Jade Bones, his Potential Doors all opened, and his lifespan increased by three hundred years.
• Lin Lin completed the unification of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, crossing into the threshold of the second Spirit Refinement level.
• Lin Lin circulated his cultivation method and condensed his first wisp of astral qi, which registered as 100/100 on his panel.
• Lin Lin concluded that he needed to accumulate astral qi throughout his empty meridians and acupoints before his next Rebirth and Transformation.

After completing his breakthrough, Lin Lin discovered that it had consumed a huge amount of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi and weakened the world’s supply, while his expanded strength made his future resource needs even greater. He calculated that People’s Aspirations and a larger population could sustain him, and decided to pursue ways for humans to draw energy directly from nature.

• Lin Lin saw that his breakthrough had added more than four hundred years to his lifespan despite taking over a year to complete.
• Lin Lin descended from the starry sky and realized his breakthrough had reduced Aqua Blue Star’s Heaven and Earth Essence Qi by one-eighth, indirectly weakening Heavenly Being Experts.
• Lin Lin calculated that his future cultivation and bodily needs could exhaust the world’s remaining Essence Qi and leave him at risk of starving.
• Lin Lin concluded that People’s Aspirations from a greatly expanded Da Xia Dynasty could sustain his body and eventually support his cultivation.
• Lin Lin decided to put genetic and bloodline editing on the agenda so humans could use energy such as sunlight and electricity to power their bodies.

Lin Lin planned to alter human bloodlines so people could draw energy from light, heat, and electricity, and ordered the establishment of a Biological Laboratory to begin the research. While waiting for the laboratory, he prepared to study the Human Body Divine Treasure Potential Gates and revise the Martial Codex.

• Lin Lin concluded that his Golden Flesh Jade Bones form consumed too much Heaven and Earth Essence Qi and that he needed new energy sources to sustain his body.
• Lin Lin decided to pursue bloodline research that could let humans use light, heat, and electricity as energy.
• Lin Lin ordered his subordinates to prepare a Biological Laboratory with electricity, microscopes, computers, instruments, research materials, and assistants.
• Lin Lin planned to conduct the research himself because it involved his own biological information and weaknesses.
• While waiting for the laboratory, Lin Lin continued cultivating and prepared to study the Human Body Divine Treasure Potential Gates to improve the Martial Codex.

Lin Lin studied the Potential Doors and developed the Divine Hidden Treasures Method to strengthen them by nourishing them with his Essence, Qi, and Spirit. He began using it to improve his weaknesses and revise the Martial Codex, leaving the unified cultivation method still unfinished.

• Lin Lin concluded that cultivation required nourishing and expanding Potential Doors before opening them, and he resolved to revise the Martial Codex around that principle.
• Lin Lin categorized the Potential Doors into Strength, Stamina, Inner Breath, Agility, and Constitution Divine Treasures and described their effects.
• Lin Lin developed the Divine Hidden Treasures Method, which directly used his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to strengthen the Potential Doors.
• Lin Lin began using the method to repair weaker Potential Doors, and his physique grew much faster as Heaven and Earth Essence Qi flowed through his body.
• Lin Lin set a goal of cultivating every Potential Door to level 4 and began revising the Martial Codex, though unifying the doors and his Essence, Qi, and Spirit remained a long-term challenge.

As Lin Lin’s cultivation consumed more Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, the world’s martial artists faced the coming Era of Dharma Decline. In the sixteenth year of Great Xia, Empress Su Minghua indirectly pleaded with him to stop draining the essence qi and preserve other martial artists’ path of cultivation.

• Lin Lin’s rapid cultivation increased his need for food, medicine, and Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, and the world’s supply continued to decline.
• Lin Lin believed he could continue cultivating through People's Aspirations, food, medicine, and eventually energy absorbed from light and heat, while other martial artists risked losing their path forward.
• In the sixteenth year of Great Xia, Lin Lin reviewed the dynasty’s peaceful consolidation, expanding steamship trade, population growth, and preparations for a Biological Laboratory.
• After Lin Lin ate an enormous meal, Su Minghua remarked that his growing appetite might leave him no time for her.
• Su Minghua used her warning to voice the martial artists’ plea for Lin Lin to curb his consumption of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi.

Lin Lin realized that the decline of cultivation threatened not only martial artists' hopes but also the future of those close to him, so he created a new Longevity Method. As Heaven and Earth Essence Qi dwindled, the method appeared in Great Xia's Royal Hidden Scripture Pavilion and revived martial artists' interest in cultivation, as Lin Lin's next plan began.

• Su Minghua expressed concern that the decline of cultivation would threaten her future and provoke martial artists to turn against Lin Lin.
• Lin Lin reflected on his neglect of his loved ones and realized that he needed a civilization able to grow alongside him.
• Lin Lin created a new Longevity Method by combining techniques from his Divine Hidden Treasures Method and Soaring Sky City's Longevity Secret Record.
• As Heaven and Earth Essence Qi declined, martial artists found it harder to cultivate and fight, and many began losing hope.
• The Royal Hidden Scripture Pavilion introduced the Longevity Secret Record, prompting martial artists across Great Xia to renew their interest in cultivation.
• Lin Lin began the second step of his plan.

Lin Lin developed and released a series of cultivation-aiding pills that let martial artists progress even as Heaven and Earth Essence Qi dwindled. The pills and the Longevity Secret Record renewed enthusiasm for cultivation, while new registration rules aimed to improve public safety and martial artists turned toward overseas plunder to fund their training.

• Lin Lin led physicians in creating pills for every major cultivation realm, using refined medicinal components to make them powerful and affordable to mass-produce.
• Lin Lin released the pills through the Royal Pharmaceutical Department, requiring martial artists to register their identity and realm to buy all but the Foundation Establishment Pill.
• Su Minghua used the Change Heaven Pill to meet her daily cultivation needs without Heaven and Earth Essence Qi, while Cui Ximing and other Heaven and Human Realm martial artists received similar benefits from the Heaven and Human Pill.
• The Longevity Secret Record and cultivation pills eased martial artists' fears about the coming depletion of Heaven and Earth Essence Qi and spurred greater enthusiasm for cultivation.
• Martial artists intensified their efforts to plunder wealth overseas so they could buy medicines and qualify to select martial arts from the Royal Hidden Scripture Pavilion.

Lin Lin established rules for Great Xia’s overseas expansion, rewarding martial artists for protecting compatriots, bringing foreign populations into the empire, and avoiding massacres. By Great Xia’s twentieth year, overseas acquisitions and domestic development had driven population, prosperity, and revenue to new heights.

• Lin Lin set three rules for overseas martial artists: they could not attack compatriots, had to help them in danger, and could trade or bring foreign peoples into Great Xia without massacring them.
• Lin Lin expanded the Da Xia Royal Navy and offered rewards to enforce the rules and encourage rescues, peaceful annexations, and the return of foreign populations for education and assimilation.
• In Great Xia’s seventeenth year, Zhao Xing conquered an isolated island of thirty thousand people, named it Azure Blue Country, and requested its annexation; Lin Lin rewarded him with an honorary fourth-rank post and valuable cultivation resources.
• Martial artists pursued overseas wealth and territory, while the Da Xia Royal Academy purchased transported foreigners and educated them toward eventual Great Xia citizenship.
• By Great Xia’s twentieth year, the population had surpassed three hundred million, annual tax revenue exceeded five hundred million taels, and Lin Lin’s businesses earned over eight hundred million taels.
• Improved agriculture, transport, industry, and education raised ordinary people’s living standards and expanded opportunities for schooling, work, and military service.

Lin Lin perfected the Eternal Life Art and used it to cultivate until every Potential Door in his body reached level 2. His vitality increased twelvefold, his lifespan grew by 180 years, and his recovery speed rose by 1,200%.

• Lin Lin noted that his rising standing among the people had increased his annual Divine Power income to more than fifty drops, which he stored away.
• Lin Lin completed and named his new cultivation technique the Eternal Life Art, combining the Martial Codex, the Divine Hidden Treasures Method, and principles from Dugu Zhihan’s Hunyuan Induction Chapter.
• Lin Lin circulated the technique and found it greatly accelerated his cultivation by drawing in external energy and nourishing his Potential Doors.
• Lin Lin considered whether further breakthroughs might let him discover the soul and improve his technique, then returned his focus to cultivation.
• Lin Lin remedied the final flaw in his Potential Doors, bringing them all to level 2 and increasing his vitality to twelve times its former vigor.
• The Quest Log recorded that Lin Lin gained 180 years of lifespan and a 1,200% increase in injury and Essence and Qi Blood recovery speed.

Lin Lin cultivated every Potential Door to Level 2, gaining the ability to regenerate destroyed limbs, then left seclusion and returned to state affairs. He traveled to his Biological Laboratory to begin bloodline research, where an academician reported that the study of materials in environments without Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was complete.

• Lin Lin's vitality surged twelvefold as he cultivated every Potential Door to Level 2, and he concluded that his body could regenerate all but his brain.
• Lin Lin ended his seclusion and found Lin Sixue handling state affairs; he urged her to continue as executive vice emperor.
• Lin Lin told Lin Sixue that he had already written an abdication decree, but she refused the idea of taking the throne.
• Lin Lin traveled to the Eternal Life Palace to work at his Biological Laboratory and begin researching his bloodline.
• An academician told Lin Lin that the study of divine metals, minerals, medicinal materials, and Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures without Heaven and Earth Essence Qi was complete.

Lin Lin learned how Heaven and Earth Essence Qi depletion would affect treasures and ordered research into cultivating and mass-producing them. He then began biological cloning research and successfully produced a living cloned sheep, opening the way to further experiments.

• Su He explained that plant-based Heavenly Materials and Earthly Treasures could survive without Heaven and Earth Essence Qi if they received other nutrients, while treasures formed directly from it would eventually wither.
• Su He said Divine Metal and Divine Iron would remain unchanged but could no longer be produced once Heaven and Earth Essence Qi disappeared.
• Lin Lin ordered Su He to research expanding cultivation, mass production, grafting, and improving the yield of medicinal herbs.
• Lin Lin began researching cloning and bloodlines in his Biological Laboratory, using animal experiments to develop the necessary technology.
• After repeated failures and improvements to his tools, Lin Lin successfully produced a cloned sheep that survived for some time.

As the Great Xia Dynasty expanded overseas and drew people away from their homelands, the Qixia Dynasty and Jinhe Alliance saw their power and wealth threatened. Their leaders met on Chasing Sun Island to form an alliance and discuss demands to make of Great Xia, but they had yet to decide how to enforce them.

• Great Xia’s overseas expansion weakened the Qixia Dynasty and Jinhe Alliance, while people from both powers fled to the Nine Provinces for better treatment.
• The Jinhe Alliance and Qixia Dynasty set aside more than a thousand years of hostility and agreed to discuss resisting Great Xia.
• At a meeting on Chasing Sun Island, Jin Yuan opened talks about their next steps.
• Feng Wu demanded that Great Xia stop taking their people, Jin Mo called for an agreement over overseas hunting grounds, and Ximen Wu Ye demanded the return of captives, an apology, and compensation.
• Jin Zhao offered to propose a way to make Great Xia meet their demands.