Chapter Summaries

Saine left an ancient oceanic civilization relic with a damaged seashell containing an incomplete technique for controlling Sea Beasts, which he planned to give to Bai Xing. He then reached the Austia Civilization Relic, found it scarred by battles, and prepared to seize it for his future experiments.

• Saine studied the seashell’s fragments about the Hai... Yun civilization and found an incomplete cultivation technique that could inspire his Mental Strength research.
• Saine decided to bring the sea race cultivation method to Bai Xing, whose ability to command Sea Kings made it especially suited to her.
• After finding nothing else of value, Saine left the oceanic relic and continued toward the Austia Civilization Relic, which he intended to turn into his Mechanical City.
• Saine found the Austia relic heavily damaged and covered in battle scars, while Zi You denied that Abyss World creatures were responsible.
• Saine asked Zi You to help him seize control of the relic and promised to triple her Magic Potion supplies; Zi You demanded rare potions and the method Saine used to compress Gongsun Wudi’s power, and Saine agreed.

Feimuli prepared to fight for Saine at the Austia Civilization Relic, where Saine’s demands for territory and future spoils had been rejected. Saine launched an overwhelming assault with his fortress robot, while Gongsun Wudi and Zi You revealed their formidable powers.

• Feimuli recalled how Saine had helped him grow stronger and told Guyatuo he would soon understand why Saine was called the Mechanical God-Emperor.
• Saine summoned his hundred-thousand-meter Combined Fortress Robot and thirty Intelligent Robots, stunning Guyatuo before Feimuli urged him to prepare for battle.
• Saine’s negotiations with the Austia Settlement Area failed after its leaders rejected his demands for nearly half the mechanical territory and priority rights to future spoils.
• Saine attacked one of the two Peak Despairers with the fortress robot and unleashed a barrage of cannons and elemental energy beams.
• Gongsun Wudi removed her Self-Sealing Technique’s bandages and released an overwhelming aura, while Zi You activated half the power of her Star Ring.

Saine, Gongsun Wudi, and Zi You battled Peak Despairers and other opponents in the Austia Civilization Relic to secure control of the settlement area. Their coordination gave them the upper hand, and Saine gained new insight into the Power Law as the fight continued.

• Saine used his Combined Fortress Group to batter the Gleaming Golden Beetle while Gongsun Wudi fought a Black-Clad Despairer with her bare hands.
• Zi You used her Star Ring to suppress other enemies and tear open the Gleaming Golden Beetle's abdomen, helping Saine gain the advantage.
• Saine's and Gongsun Wudi's displays of strength caused most Level-4 and Level-5 Wanderers to stay out of the battle, while stronger creatures grew wary.
• Saine exchanged opponents with Zi You, fought the Gleaming Golden Beetle again, and gained insight into the Power Law by applying the Shockwave Law.

Saine and Zi You killed the wounded Gleaming Golden Beetle with a combined attack to intimidate the Wanderers at the Austia Civilization Relic. The blast devastated the battlefield, and Saine discovered that the beetle had survived.

• Saine chose the wounded Gleaming Golden Beetle as an example to deter the other Despairers and Wanderers.
• Saine charged the World-Extinguishing Impact Light while Zi You prepared an attack with her Star Ring.
• Saine and Zi You struck the Gleaming Golden Beetle from different directions, triggering a second explosion inside its body and blasting a huge crater into the ruins.
• The attack terrified nearby Wanderers, while its remaining force devastated other fighters and killed several Despairers.
• After the fighting weakened, Saine surveyed the battlefield and noticed that the Gleaming Golden Beetle was still alive.

Saine killed the wounded Gleaming Golden Beetle and seized control of the Austia Settlement Area through force. After the Double-Cannon Gorilla and the Dwarf Chicken pledged loyalty, Saine learned that a Tail of the Dominator had attacked the settlement five hundred years earlier, and he suspected the Sharu Test Subject had been responsible.

• Saine crushed the dying Gleaming Golden Beetle, intending to use its body and carapace as valuable materials.
• The Double-Cannon Gorilla, Gedau Morika, knelt before Saine, pledged its future gains, and asked him to protect them and avenge its brother.
• A wounded Dwarf Chicken also submitted to Saine, and the two showed him the dried remains of a leopard killed by having its flesh and blood drained.
• The Double-Cannon Gorilla told Saine that a Tail of the Dominator had attacked Austia five hundred years earlier and drained hundreds of Wanderers, including their third brother.
• Saine suspected the Sharu Test Subject had visited the settlement, but Zi You said she did not know; the signs suggested Austia might no longer be safe.

Saine secured control of the Austia Settlement Area and renamed it Mechanical City, using rewards and labor from its Wanderers to begin rebuilding the ruins. Mechanical City became the first step toward establishing Saine’s power in the Despair World.

• After Double-Cannon Gorilla and the Despairer Dwarf pledged allegiance, Saine offered protection from Sharu and promised rewards to win over the settlement’s Wanderers.
• Zi You said the Blood Mosquito Dominator probably would not threaten them again, though she was unsure.
• Gongsun Wudi defeated the Black-Clad Despairer, who agreed to give them half the settlement area’s output and returned to his residence.
• Saine renamed the Austia Settlement Area Mechanical City and ordered his Intelligent Robots to begin sweeping construction and reforms.
• Saine’s followers and recruited Wanderers helped build the city, drawn by Energy Crystal payments and rare potions, including a Life Potion made from the Gleaming Golden Beetle.

Ten thousand years after founding the Mechanical City, Saine had grown powerful enough to wield strength in the domain of a Dominator, though his realm had not advanced. He visited Gongsun Wudi and admitted that he missed home after nearly twenty thousand years in the Despair World.

• The Double-Cannon Gorilla and the Dwarf cooperated with Saine, driven by resentment toward the Sharu Test Subject for the Leopard's death.
• The Mechanical City expanded over thousands of years, attracting Wanderers with its stable life and Energy Crystals while Saine's supporters helped him maintain control.
• Saine crushed a Peak Despairer who challenged his rule, using an enormous mechanical giant, and the city remained peaceful afterward.
• Over ten thousand years, Saine's Intelligent Robots grew to 147, and their fusion power let him surpass the strength of a Peak Despairer and approach a Dominator's domain.
• Saine left his laboratory to find Gongsun Wudi and told her he missed home after spending nearly twenty thousand years in the Despair World.

Saine rested with Gongsun Wudi and reflected on his family, his longing to leave the Despair World, and the changes in his emotions caused by Destruction Power and his cultivation. Gongsun Wudi’s affection and trust in him remained clear as they discussed his growing danger and their bond.

• Saine fell asleep against Gongsun Wudi after years of exhaustion and oppression in the Despair World had weighed on him.
• Saine woke and told Gongsun Wudi he had dreamed of his daughter, then thought of his grandsons and his family as he considered returning home.
• Gongsun Wudi teased Saine about seeking comfort with female Wanderers, but he said he wanted emotional closeness rather than physical stimulation.
• Gongsun Wudi warned that Saine’s body tempering and Ashes of Fire cultivation could no longer be managed with simple medicinal regulation.
• Saine traced his emotional changes to the Destruction Power fused into Ashes of Fire and said the danger had worsened as he approached Half-Step Peak Despairer.
• Gongsun Wudi reflected on her affection for Saine and on how she had trusted and relied on him throughout their long life together.

Saine and Gongsun Wudi discussed her close cousin Ximen Yan'er and their hopes of returning to the Material Star Realm. As Saine resumed his research, he weighed the Azure Secret Realm against Zi You's offer and considered whether the Immortal Domain might provide another route home.

• Gongsun Wudi told Saine about her childhood bond with Ximen Yan'er, who was now guarding the Thunder Star Region.
• Saine told Gongsun Wudi that the Azure Secret Realm offered a one-in-three chance of returning home and that his coordinate-guidance research had advanced.
• Saine returned to his laboratory and continued experiments while reviewing the exploration records for the Azure Secret Realm.
• Saine considered that Zi You might be withholding a way home because she hoped he and Gongsun Wudi would join the Abyss World.
• Saine recalled that the Immortal Domain would fight the Evil Tide Civilization and wondered whether its civilization could help them return to the Material Star Realm.
• Saine concluded that the Abyss World behind Zi You was the Evil Tide Civilization.

Saine set out from Mechanical City with Gongsun Wudi, Ming, and others to investigate a Rule Dangerous Land discovered through Sword Intent. At the cave entrance, he recognized a familiar sharp Sword Qi and heard a Half-Step Peak Despairer fighting with a saber technique powerful enough to threaten a Peak Despairer.

• Saine concluded that his research into Dominator Power and the Material Star Realm had stalled, so he agreed to travel with Gongsun Wudi and explore a newly discovered Rule Dangerous Land.
• Gongsun Wudi explained that Ming had found the dangerous land a thousand years earlier after being drawn toward it by a strange force, and Saine agreed to go with him.
• Saine left Mechanical City with Gongsun Wudi, Minghua, Zi You, Ming, and others, traveling under the name Lord of Ashes or Ash God while carrying the Combined Fortress Group in his Magic Cube.
• After more than twenty years of travel, Gongsun Wudi sensed the land's pull, and Saine's group reached a narrow cave emitting sharp Sword Qi reminiscent of Duan Po's Immortal Trapping Sword.
• Saine's group descended into the cave and heard someone shout “Azure Dragon Slash”; they saw that a Half-Step Peak Despairer was wielding saber energy powerful enough to threaten a Peak Despairer.

Saine and his companions explored the Land of Immortal Severance, where they met a blade-wielding Despairer and learned about a Peerless Good Sword hidden in the dangerous land. They ventured deeper and found mysterious crystals that Gongsun Wudi said contained traces of sword intent.

• Saine observed a middle-aged man wielding an Azure Dragon Blade as he fought a sea-urchin-like creature that attacked with a hidden Ink Sword.
• The creature retreated into the darkness, and the middle-aged man recognized Ming as the Black-Clad Despairer who had visited before.
• Saine asked about the Land of Immortal Severance, and the man explained that an old Despairer had guarded it for seven thousand years while seeking a Peerless Good Sword.
• Saine gave the man a Blood Essence Potion for answering their questions, and the man left after saying the land was nearing its opening time.
• Saine and his companions traveled deeper underground, collected special crystals, and learned from Gongsun Wudi that they contained traces of sword intent.

Saine and his companions reached the grave mounds at the center of the underground space, where sword qi suppressed most of the gathered Despairers and a Peerless Good Sword lay hidden. After more than thirty powerful saber and sword wielders gathered, the space sealed into an isolated subspace, and a dazzling sword light emerged from the mounds.

• Saine found the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner and dozens of Despairers gathered around grave-like mounds, drawn by the sword qi and the rumored Peerless Good Sword.
• Saine recognized the sword qi as similar to the Immortal Trapping Sword, but its pressure stopped him and Minghua Phoenix from moving closer.
• Gongsun Wudi reached the innermost ring around the mounds, while Ming advanced to a position near the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner.
• More Despairers arrived until the gathering exceeded thirty, and their Saber Intent and Sword Intent rose to a peak.
• The final powerful being arrived, sealing the underground space into an isolated subspace as a brilliant sword light appeared from the grave mounds.

Sword light erupted from the grave mound and drove the Despairers forward as its suppressive force faded. Saine suspected the place was a trial seeking a worthy inheritor, while Zi You watched without interest as the others advanced toward the Peerless Good Sword.

• Sword light surged from the grave mound and attacked every Despairer, forcing the group to share the barrage.
• As the sword qi grew stronger and the restraints weakened, the Despairers nearest the grave mound began advancing into the Sword Tide.
• Zi You retreated to Saine’s side, and Saine observed that an ordinary Despairer in bone armor advanced faster than stronger fighters.
• Saine told Zi You the underground space seemed like a trial that might select an inheritor or let the Peerless Good Sword seek someone worthy.
• The Despairers advanced together, and a Half-Step Peak Despairer muttered about asking Strength, Heart, and the Sword before claiming the sword as its own.

Saine waited for the sword trial to weaken its challengers, then experimented with Duan Po’s blood and body tissues to prepare a way to claim the peerless sword for him. As the Slovenly Old Man neared his limit while pursuing the Immortal Decimating Sword, Saine decided it was time to act.

• Saine stayed at the edge of the Grave Mound’s Sword Tide, hoping to help Gongsun Wudi and claim its peerless sword for Duan Po.
• Saine asked Minghua and Zi You to shield him, then used Duan Po’s blood and bodily tissues in a series of experiments.
• As the Sword Tide intensified, Peak Despairer Ming gave up, while Gongsun Wudi advanced to third place among the remaining challengers.
• The Slovenly Old Man pushed deeper toward the Immortal Decimating Sword, lost an eye to the sword qi, and resolved to attract more creatures to share the trial’s pressure.
• Saine finished his experiment, emerged from Zi You’s shield, and prepared to act.

Saine disguised himself as Duan Po and advanced through the Grave Mound as the Immortal Decimating Sword drew him closer. After the sword qi drove off the Slovenly Old Man, Saine grasped the sword’s hilt, and dazzling white radiance filled the secret realm.

• Saine used potions, strange materials, the Faceless Mask, and the Ashes Robe to transform himself into a near-perfect likeness of Duan Po.
• The Immortal Decimating Sword’s qi parted around Saine, and its call drew him deeper into the Grave Mound past the other Despairers.
• The Slovenly Old Man attacked Saine with a golden sword light, but the sword qi annihilated his hand and arm before driving him away.
• Saine reached the Immortal Decimating Sword, grasped its hilt, and unleashed brilliant white radiance throughout the secret realm.

Saine took the Immortal Decimating Sword and realized its power, but the sword discovered he was not Duan Po and turned on him. As Saine’s life hung by a thread and Zi You and Gongsun Wudi rushed to save him, Duan Po awoke in the distant Blood-colored Space.

• Saine held the Immortal Decimating Sword and considered studying how it had been forged rather than relying on its power.
• The Immortal Decimating Sword cut Saine’s wrist, detected that his blood lacked Master Tongtian’s aura, and exposed his disguise as Duan Po.
• The sword unleashed a storm of sword light against Saine, while Zi You and Gongsun Wudi rushed toward him and Gongsun Wudi endured wounds to keep advancing.
• The Despairers, including the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner, retreated from the Underground Space as the Immortal Decimating Sword went berserk.
• With Saine close to death, Duan Po opened his eyes in the Blood-colored Space.

Duan Po sent a streak of blood light from the Blood-colored Space to save Saine, while continuing to battle the Fallen Ones with the Immortal Slaughtering Sword and Immortal Trapping Sword. Saine survived the Immortal Decimating Sword’s attack and saw memories revealing that the Daoist cultivator in its past was Duan Po.

• Duan Po, empowered by the Blood-colored Space and armed with the Immortal Slaughtering Sword, sent blood light toward Saine before the Fallen Ones surrounded him again.
• Mist and Haze Demon Ancestor and a Level-8 Late-Stage old man watched Saine face the Immortal Decimating Sword, and Mist and Haze Demon Ancestor caught the blood light before releasing it along its path.
• The blood light reached the Land of Immortal Severance, and the Immortal Decimating Sword accepted its master's command and returned to Saine's hand.
• The Immortal Decimating Sword enveloped Saine and the others in white radiance, showing them scenes from an ancient battle and the sword's journey to Despair World.
• Saine saw a Daoist cultivator wielding four immortal swords in the memories and wondered whether the cultivator had been Duan Po.

Saine escaped the Land of Immortal Severance with the Immortal Decimating Sword, claimed a ruined Broken Saber, and returned to Mechanical City with his companions. The sword’s life force helped Saine’s main body advance to the Half-Step Peak Despairer realm.

• Saine picked up the Broken Saber, which accepted him, and collected valuable specimens from the Grave Mounds.
• Saine, Gongsun Wudi, Zi You, Minghua, and the others were teleported out of the Land of Immortal Severance but remained in the Despair World.
• Saine used his Crystal Ball to find the route back to Mechanical City and set off with his companions on Minghua’s back.
• More than twenty years later, Saine and his group returned to Mechanical City, where he explained that the Immortal Decimating Sword’s life force had helped him break through to the Half-Step Peak Despairer realm.

After spending thousands of years researching in Mechanical City, Saine welcomed the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner, who sought a stable place to settle. Saine’s city had grown orderly and prosperous, but he had begun to tire of Despair World and its endless troves of ruins.

• Saine spent many years conducting experiments after reaching the Half-Step Peak Despairer realm, while Mechanical City's residents rarely saw him.
• Five thousand years after Saine returned, the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner arrived in Mechanical City, impressed by its technological structures.
• Ming, now a trusted subordinate who helped govern Mechanical City, recognized the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner and brought him to Saine.
• The Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner recognized Saine as the former Lord of Ashes and asked whether he had taken the Peerless Good Sword from the Land of Immortal Severance.
• Saine explained that Mechanical City was his and learned that the Azure Dragon Saber Practitioner wanted to settle there.
• Saine reflected on how Mechanical City's resources and technology came from Despair World's ruins, but admitted he had grown tired of the world.

After forty thousand years in Despair World, Saine reached a research bottleneck and realized he needed to return to the Wizard World to advance further. Zi You tried once more to recruit him to the Evil Tide Civilization, but he refused before completing her sealing, while Gongsun Wudi watched from elsewhere in Mechanical City.

• Dao Dali joined Saine's Mechanical City as a guest official, and Saine offered him resources and help improving his Azure Dragon Blade in exchange for studying it.
• Saine devoted himself to experiments for many years, but eventually concluded that he needed new ideas and the wider Wizard Civilization to continue exploring Truth Arcana.
• After forty thousand years in Despair World, Saine remained near the Peak Despairer threshold, while Zi You had become a Peak Despairer.
• Zi You asked Saine to seal the remaining parts of her body and offered him resources and advancement if he joined the Evil Tide Civilization, revealing that she was its Supreme's Daughter.
• Saine refused Zi You's offer, told her that purple had its own charm, and completed the sealing experiment as Gongsun Wudi watched from elsewhere in Mechanical City.