Recaps

Zhang Yu refused to surrender his organs for 300 Spirit Coins, holding to the boundary he had set despite the pressure from Feng Yuhan and Magnetic Extremes True Lord. He returned to artifact forging and advanced toward the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God as tensions rose ahead of the Top Ten League and a financial crisis struck University City.

• Zhang Yu contacted Zhang Pianpian through the Taiqing Realm, and she warned him not to reveal the channel or alert Magnetic Extremes True Lord.
• Feng Yuhan offered Zhang Yu 300 Spirit Coins for the rights to his organs and threatened his project loan when he refused without his master's consent.
• Gao Chongguang intervened with Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power, breaking Feng Yuhan's restraints and forcing him to withdraw.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord also asked to keep Zhang Yu's organs for 300 Spirit Coins, but Zhang Yu declined and offered to provide something better after advancing his cultivation.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord took Zhang Yu back to the laboratory, where he continued forging artifacts and she advanced the Yang Artifact Dharma Skeleton to level 30.
• By early September, Zhang Yu had mastered nearly half the prerequisite Dharma Treasure blueprints, while tensions over the approaching Top Ten League grew and a financial crisis struck University City.

Su Yun Ni remained first in her class despite Zhang Yu matching her exam score, while the new academic year and Top Ten League brought rising costs, financial strain, and increasingly brutal military competitions. Zhang Yu watched Bai Zhenzhen win her Sword Combat and saw her later clash fiercely with a Nascent Soul disciple from White Bone University.

• Su Yun Ni saw that she had retained first place, but Zhang Yu had earned the same exam points while leaving early, prompting her to prepare for the Design Competition.
• Zhang Yu read the Songyang Fellow Villagers Group, learned about graduate job difficulties and the Top Ten League, and invited Zi Yun Zhen to join a future project as his assistant.
• Zi Yun Zhen learned that her neighbor had died by suicide after losing money in stocks, then turned her attention to the Ten-Schools Sword Duel.
• Bai Zhenzhen complained about the increased insurance costs, then became excited while messaging Zhang Yu and released dangerous Sword Qi around her teammates.
• After learning project funds were delayed, Zhang Yu used his savings to pay some employees and watched Bai Zhenzhen defeat her opponent in the Sword Combat.
• Zhang Yu saw casualties rise across the Top Ten League and watched Bai Zhenzhen enter an especially fierce battle against a Nascent Soul disciple of White Bone University.

Bai Zhenzhen killed a Spirit Transformation disciple after winning their match, sparking clashes between Divine Lords that spread into a major financial crisis. Fu Ji explained how the conflict could trigger the Four Disasters of Wind, Water, Earth, and Fire, while Zhang Yu tried to protect his remaining income and Spirit Coins.

• Bai Zhenzhen broke through the White Bone University disciple's defenses, then killed him after the match was declared over, prompting a dispute and a clash between the Seven Emotions Divine Lord and the White Lotus Divine Lord.
• Further Divine Lord conflicts during the Top Ten League deepened the financial crisis, while Ye Xingli filmed videos to offset her shrinking assets and exchanged worried messages with Zhang Yu.
• Wen Wuya, Zhang Pianpian, Magnetic Extremes True Lord, and Director Gao suspended payments to Zhang Yu, leaving his 40 Spirit Coins from the Spirit Transformation Laboratory as his main income.
• Fu Ji explained that Spirit Transformation conflicts could trigger disasters of wind, water, earth, and fire through financial collapse, unemployment, shortages of Spiritual Energy, and social disorder.
• Xiao Qingxuan saw graduates competing for temporary construction work, while Ji Yuan Shu and Li Xiao joined a long queue at Huilong Garden to seek access to its Spirit Vein.
• Fu Ji advised Zhang Yu to hold onto his Spirit Coins, avoid unnecessary actions, and wait out the crisis.

As the Deity Transformation conflict and economic crisis worsened, Zhang Yu took in Xiao Qingxuan and Shi Huaiyu while continuing to refine Dharma Treasures in the Taiqing Realm. He then discovered that Magnetic Extremes True Lord's Tiangong Kaiwu Dao Seed had appeared in his Dao Seed Compendium, suggesting his master had advanced their jointly crafted treasure to Level 31.

• Zhang Yu kept honing his artifact-crafting skills and watched reports of the Deity Transformations fighting as unemployment and medicine shortages spread.
• Zhang Yu agreed to let Xiao Qingxuan stay in his dormitory and offered him a token job so his résumé would not be blank.
• Zhang Yu found Shi Huaiyu among people sheltering outside the Cemetery and brought her back to the dormitory without charging rent.
• Zhang Yu refined Self-Transformation Soul Rings to learn Spirit Realm technologies for remotely controlling Heavenly Sun Brilliant God.
• Zhang Yu discovered that he had copied Magnetic Extremes True Lord's Tiangong Kaiwu Dao Seed and suspected his master had raised their Dharma Treasure to Level 31.

Zhang Yu discovered that Tiangong Kaiwu could combine his knowledge with Magnetic Extremes True Lord’s accumulated expertise to redesign Dharma Treasures, but using it reduced his Dao Heart. Hoping to help his master advance toward Deity Transformation, Zhang Yu investigated the next upgrade requirements and then restored order at a chaotic construction site, where he saw Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang struggling.

• Zhang Yu used Tiangong Kaiwu to redesign an outdated Karma Relic, producing a blueprint with manufacturing costs reduced by roughly 32%, but the effort lowered his Dao Heart from Level 20 to level 19, 86%.
• While studying the blueprint, Zhang Yu realized Tiangong Kaiwu had drawn on Magnetic Extremes True Lord’s accumulated foundations, making him eager for his master to study and copy more Dharma Treasures.
• Zhang Yu visited Magnetic Extremes True Lord’s laboratory and learned that upgrading Tiangong Kaiwu to Level 2 required jointly refining artifact products above level 30; his master advised him to keep a low profile during the economic crisis.
• Director Gao asked Zhang Yu to restore order at the chaotic construction site on the 670th Layer, where unemployed graduates were obstructing work and causing losses.
• Zhang Yu used Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power to complete construction work and cow the workers into line, then spotted Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang waiting outside, both visibly worn down and struggling.

As the economic crisis worsened, Zhang Yu helped Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang by restoring Ying Xin’s Dharma Skeleton, arranging free lodging for them in his dorm, and having Xiao Qingxuan treat Shi Yunxiang. Meanwhile, the Top Ten League and clashes between Deity Transformations intensified, leaving the universities divided into two opposing camps as the crisis deepened.

• Zhang Yu found Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang struggling to survive, then gave them magical power and told Shi Yunxiang to keep his meat rather than sell it.
• After learning that Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang had nowhere to live, Zhang Yu invited them to stay in his dorm for free despite Fu Ji’s objections.
• Zhang Yu repaired part of Ying Xin’s Dharma Skeleton, and Xiao Qingxuan offered to treat Shi Yunxiang without charging him.
• Zhang Yu and his roommates watched the Top Ten League and analyzed a clash between Tian Yan Shenjun and Spiritual Insight Divine Lord.
• As more Deity Transformations joined the fighting, Zhang Yu sensed two opposing university alliances forming while the Financial Storm worsened and jobs and Spiritual Energy became scarce.
• Zhang Yu continued studying Dharma Treasure blueprints in the Taiqing Realm.

As the crisis at Ten Thousand Laws University worsened, Zhang Yu struggled to secure medicine for himself and those around him while continuing his studies. After a Deity Transformation battle killed Ji Yuan Shu through its aftershock, a sudden Spirit Realm outage and earthquake left Zhang Yu fearing the disaster had spread across the university.

• Jin Jun stayed in his laboratory to advance the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God, while Su Yanyang, Xiao Yunjin, Li Xiao, and Ji Yuan Shu sought help or food from Zhang Yu.
• As supplies and services became restricted, Li Xiao sought a Finance Department card, and Zhang Yu borrowed money for Su Yanyang before searching for medicine through Li Xuelian and Yin Jiurao.
• Yin Jiurao supplied Zhang Yu with medicine in exchange for precious material, and Zhang Yu shared the medicine with his roommates, Li Xiao, and Ji Yuan Shu.
• A Deity Transformation battle caused disasters across a thousand-mile radius, and its aftershock dismantled Ji Yuan Shu's body and swept his soul into the Spirit Realm.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord, Director Gao, and Zhang Pianpian warned Zhang Yu to stay in the dormitory as the crisis escalated.
• While Zhang Yu and the others watched Dao Qiankun battle Kuang Tianqing, Spirit Realm services suddenly froze, their devices lost access to the Spirit Realm, and the dormitory began shaking violently.

Zhang Yu and the other students witnessed the Feather Transformation Cult and Unemployed Cult seize control of the Spirit Realm and announce a one-hour looting spree across University City. Zhang Yu resisted Unemployed Elder’s words, but feared the city’s students and residents would be tempted to join the plunder.

• University City shook with powerful booms from below, and Yu Xinghan announced that the Spirit Realm had reconnected, though it was almost unusable.
• Feather Transformation Boy appeared in the students’ Eye Remains, claimed to be a Deity Transformation Divine Lord, and distributed the Feather Transformation Cult’s doctrines.
• Fu Ji suspected that the demonic cults had exploited the conflict among the Top Ten and might have powerful backing.
• Unemployed Elder appeared, condemned the Heavenly Court and the Top Ten, and promised that the Spirit Realm would collapse for an hour while his followers plundered University City.
• Zhang Yu deleted the Unemployed Cult’s material and suppressed the urge to join the plunder, then saw that the others had also struggled against the temptation.

As University City descended into chaos, Li Xiao and Shadowless tracked down Zhang Yu and tried to force him into the Unemployed Cult. Shadowless revealed his Golden Core strength and badly wounded Zhang Yu, who faced a choice between exposing his hidden Divine Spiritual Root and being captured.

• Zhang Yu and Mo Shang Jin knocked out a wave of cultists, but Golden Core combat between Tu Lishan and a black-smoke figure scattered their group, leaving Zhang Yu with Yu Xinghan, Le Mulan, Xiao Qingxuan, Shi Huaiyu, and Shi Yunxiang.
• Li Xiao led Shadowless to Zhang Yu's dormitory and gave him information about Zhang Yu; Shadowless used surveillance footage to find Mo Shang Jin and abducted him after defeating him.
• Li Xiao revealed his resentment toward Zhang Yu and joined Shadowless in pursuing him, while blaming Zhang Yu for not helping him and Ji Yuan Shu more.
• Shadowless sealed off the streets and invited Zhang Yu and his companions to join the Unemployed Cult, offering access to cultivation techniques, including Military Grade techniques.
• Zhang Yu rejected the offer and attacked Shadowless with his full strength, but Shadowless revealed his Golden Core power, broke Zhang Yu's armor, and wounded him severely.
• As Shadowless continued attacking, Zhang Yu considered using his hidden Divine Spiritual Root to escape, knowing it would reveal his secret to his companions.

Zhang Yu and the others fought Shadowless, a Golden Core Demon Cultist, while the Spirit Realm remained disconnected. As Zhang Yu vanished into the smoke, Xiao Qingxuan swallowed a Golden Core and revealed that he could match Shadowless's realm.

• Zhang Yu realized he could not defeat Shadowless through direct combat and planned to use dust, terrain, and the Divine Spiritual Root to create an escape opportunity.
• Yu Xinghan, inspired by Zhang Yu, activated Small Three Harmonies and urged the others to fight rather than surrender to the Demon Cult.
• Shi Huaiyu joined Yu Xinghan and unleashed Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power against Shadowless.
• Zhang Yu combined his strength with theirs to strike Shadowless, but Shadowless broke free and injured Zhang Yu's right arm.
• Zhang Yu disappeared into the smoke as Xiao Qingxuan swallowed a golden pellet and revealed his Golden Core pressure to Shadowless.

Xiao Qingxuan, Zhang Yu, and their allies joined forces to kill Shadowless and Li Xiao, though Zhang Yu was badly injured and needed treatment. After discovering an unscathed black bead in Shadowless’s remains, Zhang Yu touched it and was drawn with Fu Ji into an unknown space before three enormous evil figures.

• Xiao Qingxuan, Yu Xinghan, Shi Huaiyu, Ying Xin, and Shi Yunxiang drove Shadowless into a pit and used the building’s Magical Power Circuit to trap and attack him.
• Zhang Yu replaced his injured arm with Mo Shang Jin’s Hand Skeleton and struck Shadowless with Heaven Kunlun Mountain Moving Divine Power, helping the group destroy Shadowless with electromagnetic power.
• Le Mulan and Xiao Qingxuan treated Zhang Yu, and his life force stabilized as he switched back to the Civil Engineering Sacred Body.
• Shi Huaiyu killed Li Xiao and pulverized Shadowless’s charred corpse, finding an intact black bead among the remains.
• Zhang Yu took the bead and, with Fu Ji, entered an unknown space in the Spirit Realm, where three enormous evil figures turned to face them.

After Zhang Yu and Fu Ji entered the Dark Spirit Realm through Shadowless’s pearl, Fu Ji posed as one of its founders while meeting three Evil Gods who were discussing Ten Thousand Laws University. She left the Evil Gods reconsidering their targets and implied Feng Yuhan was the best person to approach at the university’s laboratory.

• Fu Ji identified the pearl as a means of entering the Dark Spirit Realm and told Zhang Yu she could use it to contact Evil Gods.
• Fu Ji brought Zhang Yu into the Dark Spirit Realm, where they met three Evil Gods gathered around a round table.
• Fu Ji claimed to be the Fortune God, a founding god of the Dark Spirit Realm, and learned the Evil Gods were discussing Ten Thousand Laws University.
• Fu Ji revealed that the university’s 666th Layer held Physical Bodies belonging to the Myriad Transformations Divine Lord and that the Nectar Divine Lord’s Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton was being studied at the university.
• When the Evil Gods discussed targeting an experiment subject, Magnetic Pole, or Tian Zhang, Fu Ji dismissed those choices and suggested Feng Yuhan as the best target at the laboratory.

Fu Ji forced the three Evil Gods to leave Ten Thousand Laws University after offering them Feng Yuhan as a target, then secretly planned to use their new Dark Spirit Realm channel for future exchanges. After Zhang Yu united his companions to hide evidence of their battle, a giant hand abruptly restored order across University City and eliminated the retreating Demon Cult members.

• Fu Ji threatened to expose the Evil Gods to the Orthodox Gods unless they left Ten Thousand Laws University, and Xi Shen agreed to proceed with their plans while accounting for her.
• Fu Ji privately told Zhang Yu that she had ended the meeting before the Evil Gods uncovered her identity and that their encrypted Dark Spirit Realm channel could enable future intelligence and supply trades.
• Zhang Yu reassured his six companions that they would share the risks, then assigned them to clean the battlefield, check the bodies, and tend to Old Mo and his injured arm.
• Zhang Yu's companions worked together to conceal evidence, feeling a new sense of trust and belonging as Fu Ji recognized Zhang Yu's ability to build a close-knit group.
• Feather Transformation Boy and Unemployed Elder helped lead the Demon Cult's forces away from University City as its Spirit Realm and Research Department conflicts wound down.
• A giant hand restored the Spirit Realm Network and the Orthodox Gods, erased the city's chaos, and separated the bodies and souls of outside Demon Cult members as University City returned to order.

After the Spirit Realm was restored, Zhang Yu passed an Orthodox Gods inspection and answered questions about the demon-cult disaster, while Magnetic Extremes True Lord warned him that he would also face scrutiny. Zhang Yu and his companions cleared questioning, but the investigation continued across University City, leaving Mo Shang Jin under surveillance and Su Yanyang sent for anti-demon-cult training.

• Orthodox Gods began inspecting University City residents, and Zhang Yu and his companions passed the initial scan after preparing for it.
• Zhang Yu visited Magnetic Extremes True Lord, who tested his willingness to join the Unemployed Cult and then warned him about the coming investigation.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord told Zhang Yu that Feng Yuhan had fought off demon cultists at the Research Department, while he and Director Gao suspected an insider had helped the cults hijack the Spirit Realm.
• The Orthodox Gods questioned Zhang Yu, and he and six companions corroborated one another's account and were released without incident.
• Mo Shang Jin became a surveillance target, while Su Yanyang was suspected of demon-cult influence and sent to the Disciplinary Leave Class for anti-demon-cult training.
• Zhang Yu's departmental rank rose to thirty-eighth, and the Top Ten League reached its final conclusion.

Zhang Pianpian killed a Heavenly Devil University student, while Bai Zhenzhen fought a White Bone University student as the Top Ten League’s conflicts escalated. The Deity Transformation cultivators eventually stopped fighting and the crisis eased, but the next League would let winners choose their own Immortal Sect Technique, promising fiercer competition.

• Zhang Pianpian defeated and killed a Heavenly Devil University student in the Spirit Realm, stirring unrest.
• Bai Zhenzhen, worried about Zhang Yu after Ten Thousand Laws University City was attacked, fought a White Bone University student and overwhelmed him with crimson Sword Qi.
• Seven Emotions Divine Lord attacked after someone intervened to protect Bai Zhenzhen’s defeated opponent, and White Lotus Divine Lord fought back.
• Dao Qiankun reflected on his Golden Core breakthrough and resolved to train so he could match Kuang Tianqing next year, while Jiu Tianliu foresaw that higher powers would soon suppress the growing conflict.
• The Deity Transformation cultivators withdrew, the financial crisis and land disaster eased, and Orthodox Gods began suppressing cultists.
• Yan Qianji and Ye Xingli learned that the next Top Ten League would let winners choose an Immortal Sect Technique from the Daoist Canon Catalog.

Zhang Yu reunited with Bai Zhenzhen and learned that next year’s Top Ten League would combine the military competitions and offer a chance to select an Immortal Sect Technique. He resolved to compete, then prepared to forge the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine, despite lacking the funds to complete it.

• Zhang Yu congratulated Bai Zhenzhen and Ye Xingli on their Top Ten League results, then met Bai Zhenzhen in the Spirit Realm and heard about next year’s harsher, combined competition.
• Seven Emotions Divine Lord warned Zhang Yu that competing could get him killed and put Bai Zhenzhen at risk, while Bai Zhenzhen warned him to avoid off-campus projects as the wilderness grew more dangerous.
• Zhang Yu and Bai Zhenzhen agreed to train hard and fight for next year’s Self-selected Immortal Sect Technique reward.
• Zhang Yu raised the required Artifact Forging techniques to Level 20 and decided to document each step as he forged and refined the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine in reality.
• Zhang Yu calculated that he had less than 120 Spirit Coins but would need roughly 400 to 500, and resolved to earn money while beginning the forging.

After the Demon Cult’s attack devastated University City’s infrastructure, Zhang Yu expanded his construction company to meet the rebuilding boom. He recruited several Civil Engineering Department students and other workers, increasing the company’s monthly income enough to begin refining the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine.

• Tu Lishan celebrated the flood of reconstruction projects while Ying Xin and Shi Yunxiang wondered how the city’s Magnetic Channels had been destroyed.
• Zhang Yu took on Artifact Crafting Department infrastructure projects and expanded his company as workers became scarce.
• Ying Xin, Shi Yunxiang, and Xiao Qingxuan left Tu Lishan’s company to join Zhang Yu’s.
• Shi Huaiyu also transferred to Zhang Yu’s company despite Tu Lishan’s attempts to dissuade her, and she willingly took Tiger-Wolf Medicine at work.
• Zhang Yu recruited bankrupt talent from the Songyang Fellow Villagers Group, raising the company’s monthly income to nearly thirty Spirit Coins and leaving him time to start refining the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine.

Zhang Yu refined the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God's skeleton in Ye Xingli's laboratory and asked about entering next year's Top Ten League. He decided to hire Zi Yun Zhen as an assistant, while Zi Yun Zhen doubted his project would succeed.

• Zhang Yu worked on the Prototype Machine's skeleton, and Ye Xingli recognized his talent for artifact crafting.
• Zhang Yu asked Ye Xingli how to enter next year's Top Ten League, and she explained the registration process and past selection requirements.
• Ye Xingli advised Zhang Yu to hire an assistant for repetitive preparation work, and he chose Zi Yun Zhen at her recommendation.
• Zi Yun Zhen envied Su Yun Ni's opportunities in Jin Jun's laboratory, then received Zhang Yu's invitation to join his project.
• Zi Yun Zhen considered Zhang Yu inexperienced and suspected his Prototype Machine project would fail.

Zi Yun Zhen joined Zhang Yu’s Prototype Machine project intending to leave after getting her Dharma Treasures repaired, but his astonishing crafting speed convinced her to stay and help him compete with Jin Jun. As the first assembly neared completion, Feng Yuhan ordered Zhang Yu to put his project aside and cooperate with the school’s Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton inspection.

• Zi Yun Zhen accepted Zhang Yu’s offer of a one-week trial as his assistant, hoping to get free repairs for her Dharma Treasures.
• Zi Yun Zhen prepared materials while Zhang Yu crafted the Prototype Machine’s bones at a speed that soon surpassed the pace she had heard about from Jin Jun’s project.
• After watching the bones pass their quality tests, Zi Yun Zhen abandoned her plan to leave and resolved to stay and learn from Zhang Yu.
• Over the following month, Zhang Yu and Zi Yun Zhen advanced the Prototype Machine until its first assembly was nearly complete, while Zi Yun Zhen worked increasingly long hours.
• Feng Yuhan summoned Zhang Yu and ordered him to set aside his current project to cooperate with the school’s Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton inspection, dismissing Zhang Yu’s suspicion that he was being targeted.

Feng Yuhan maneuvered to place five Artifact Crafting Department project teams on Magnetic Extremes True Lord's Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton research, increasing Zhang Yu's workload. Magnetic Extremes True Lord explained that the move served a larger effort to hinder her Spirit Transformation advancement, while Zhang Yu began looking for another way to counter Feng Yuhan.

• Feng Yuhan coordinated with True Lord Xian Yin and arranged for five Nascent Soul True Lords to join the Spirit Transformation Magic Skeleton experiment, intending to limit Magnetic Extremes True Lord's control and claim part of her research results.
• Zhang Yu weighed the added work against his deadlines for the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine, the Design Competition, and the Top Ten League, then went to consult Magnetic Extremes True Lord.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord told Zhang Yu that a hidden faction was directing Feng Yuhan and that Myriad Transformations Divine Lord might oppose her advancement because it would threaten his resources and influence.
• Magnetic Extremes True Lord asked Zhang Yu to cooperate with the new teams for now and promised to compensate him for the lost time.
• Zhang Yu discussed using his connections and Fu Ji's advice to make Feng Yuhan help him rather than confronting him directly.
• Zhang Yu asked Zhang Pianpian to investigate Feng Yuhan, but she warned that his actions followed procedure and might reflect the school's high-level intentions.

Zhang Yu’s suspicion of Feng Yuhan prompted Zhang Pianpian to investigate, drawing the attention of Xi Shen and Fu Ji. Feng Yuhan was forced to apologize and ease the conflict, and Zhang Yu completed the Level 1 Prototype Machine before asking Fu Ji about the Divine Path.

• Zhang Pianpian investigated Feng Yuhan after Zhang Yu raised concerns, and found that the records of his battle with Demon Cultists were suspiciously clean.
• Fu Ji warned Xi Shen that Feng Yuhan had attracted the Patrol Team’s attention and urged him to find out why.
• Xi Shen learned that Zhang Yu had prompted Zhang Pianpian’s investigation, while Fu Ji warned him that Zhang Pianpian’s Divine Path and hidden background made her dangerous to antagonize.
• Xi Shen ordered Feng Yuhan to resolve his conflict with Zhang Yu, so Feng Yuhan apologized to Magnetic Extremes True Lord and gave him and Zhang Yu Spirit Coins.
• Zhang Yu finished the Level 1 Prototype Machine and asked Fu Ji what the Divine Path was.

Li Xiao discovered that reincarnation on Kunxu was controlled and priced according to a person’s assets, and he entered another life in despair. Back in Ye Xingli’s laboratory, Fu Ji explained that Zhang Pianpian might be competing with other incarnations to inherit a high-ranking Orthodox God’s power and memories.

• Li Xiao awoke in the Underworld after Shi Huaiyu killed him and celebrated the chance to be reborn.
• Li Xiao found that his debts left him with negative assets and merit, forcing him to choose a poor rebirth on Kunxu Layer 1 with no affordable improvements.
• Li Xiao watched other souls get forced into reincarnation and, terrified of a future of worsening poverty, shot into the sky to begin a new life.
• In Ye Xingli’s laboratory on Kunxu Second Layer, Fu Ji told Zhang Yu that the Divine Path involved cultivation and could lead to serving as an Orthodox God’s vessel in the Material World.
• Fu Ji explained that Zhang Pianpian might be an incarnation of a high-ranking Orthodox God, competing with other incarnations to survive and inherit the god’s authority and memories.

Zhang Yu and Fu Ji discussed the dangerous, unequal system of human reincarnation and the Five Taxes of Heaven and Man, then warned one another to stay clear of the Evil Gods’ plans. Meanwhile, Zhang Yu and Zi Yun Zhen completed a Level 1 Prototype Machine, and Jin Jun learned that their project had reached a major milestone.

• Fu Ji explained that human reincarnation depended on wealth and involved steep taxes, while the Feather Transformation Cult promoted a false version to preserve hope.
• Zhang Yu and Fu Ji suspected the Evil Gods wanted to draw them into a scheme involving Nectar Divine Lord and agreed to keep their distance while gathering information.
• Zi Yun Zhen filmed the completed Level 1 Prototype Machine as Zhang Yu ended the session and told her to prepare for improvements the next day.
• Zhang Yu posted footage of the finished machine, prompting Su Yun Ni to confirm with Zi Yun Zhen that it met Level 1 standards.
• Su Yun Ni secretly sent Jin Jun the footage and details, and Jin Jun’s expression darkened as he reviewed the evidence.

Jin Jun dismissed Zhang Yu’s rapid forging progress as the work of hired assistants, then borrowed heavily and hired better equipment and a Golden Core instructor to strengthen his own project. Zhang Yu continued rushing the Prototype Machine’s upgrades while training Zi Yun Zhen, but Gui Yuanzi forced him to make up missed history classes, and Zhang Yu began investigating who was behind the interference.

• Jin Jun doubted Zhang Yu’s achievement and decided his Prototype Machine would outperform Zhang Yu’s once assembled, so he mortgaged his assets, took out more loans, hired advanced equipment and a Golden Core instructor, and messaged a senior brother for help slowing Zhang Yu down.
• Zhang Yu rapidly forged restrictions onto the Prototype Machine while aiming to raise its blueprint level and install a fire-control module; Zi Yun Zhen warned him about the pace, but he pressured her to keep up and continue preparing materials.
• Zhang Yu entered the Taiqing Realm to practice artifact-production techniques through simulation and estimated he could raise the Prototype Machine to Foundation Establishment Level 11 within a month or two.
• Gui Yuanzi confronted Zhang Yu over missing History of Artifact Crafting Technology classes and assigned an artifact spirit to make him attend the missed lessons; Zhang Yu’s leave request was rejected.
• After Zi Yun Zhen asked when he would return to the laboratory, Zhang Yu questioned Feng Tingting, Ye Xingli, and Zhang Pianpian about Gui Yuanzi’s actions, then focused on Feng Yuhan.

Gui Yuanzi tried to pressure Zhang Yu into attending make-up classes, but Feng Yuhan intervened and secured Zhang Yu’s research loan while forcing Gui Yuanzi to redo his funding application. Zhang Yu returned to building his Prototype Machine, while Jin Jun completed a Level 5 machine and grew confident in his progress; by mid-January, Zhang Yu had raised his Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine to Level 11.

• Gui Yuanzi arranged for Zhang Yu to take online classes, then became furious when Zhang Yu left the class, but Feng Yuhan’s funding message drew him away.
• Feng Yuhan repeatedly rejected Gui Yuanzi’s funding application and made him rewrite it in the office while Zhang Yu received approval for his experimental loan.
• Zhang Yu declined Gui Yuanzi’s offer of full marks and asked him to follow normal leave and grading procedures before returning to work on his Prototype Machine.
• Jin Jun completed a Level 5 Prototype Machine, discovered Gui Yuanzi had deleted him as a friend, and spent the next month improving his machine and confidence.
• By mid-January, Zhang Yu had raised the Heavenly Sun Brilliant God Prototype Machine in Ye Xingli’s laboratory to Level 11.