Chapter Summaries

The Eye of Destiny appeared after Yun Xiaoxi’s advancement, and eleven Venerables dragged it into the River of Destiny to begin the Imperial City Lords’ hunt. As the twelve Sky City lords joined the battle, Alberri descended to the lower level of the Sky City Battlefield to begin the main event.

• Yun Xiaoxi’s advancement drew forth the Eye of Destiny, which appeared above the upper level of the Sky City Battlefield.
• Hu Sisi recognized the Eye of Destiny as the Imperial City Lords’ target and reflected on Zhang Qing’s role in their scheme.
• Eleven Venerables dragged the Eye of Destiny into the River of Destiny, beginning the hunt and awakening the Specter Clan’s ancient ancestors, who chose not to interfere.
• Si Bei Li warned Hu Sisi that Zhang Qing was destined to be sacrificed and suggested the Sky City lords might act against him.
• The lords of all twelve Sky Cities entered the River of Fate to join the Imperial City Lord’s hunt.
• Alberri, the Seventh Enforcement Envoy of the Tenth City, revealed his true body and descended through a spatial passage to the lower level of the Sky City Battlefield.

Alberri, the Sequence Seven defector Ji Haocheng, entered Blue Star Fall with the backing of Sky City and twelve border army units, turning the battlefield into a killing ground. Zhang Qing faced Alberri and recognized that the gap between them made the fight unwinnable.

• Si Bei Li explained that the Imperial City Lord had accepted Alberri’s arrival in exchange for twelve Venerable-level fighters, leaving Zhang Qing as an extra cost.
• Alberri pushed the Imperial City Border Army away from Blue Star and gathered twelve Sky City Sequence units behind it.
• Hu Bai'e concluded that the Snow Tiger Border Army could not stop Alberri, while Yang Man feared her faction had abandoned her and Zhang Qing.
• Zhang Qing emerged from Blue Star on the Blood Dragon, saw Alberri’s forces, and realized he could not defeat a Sequence Seven.
• Yun Xiaoxi warned Zhang Qing that Alberri was Sequence Seven, leaving them facing an overwhelming opponent.

Alberri revealed its Sequence Seven power and tried to break Great Xia’s resolve by threatening Blue Star, while the authorities began evacuating children and protectors to preserve civilization. Zhang Qing seized control of Blue Star’s Mechanical Authority and summoned a colossal Mecha, leaving him ready to face Alberri.

• Alberri demonstrated its Mechanical Authority by destroying a distant planet and broadcast its confrontation with Zhang Qing to Great Xia.
• Alberri restored Blue Star’s power, then used the projection to make its people watch Zhang Qing’s impending defeat.
• Li Wannian ordered Xiao Qian to activate the Spark Plan, and Great Xia’s authorities and guilds began sending children and protectors away to preserve civilization.
• Zhang Qing rejected Alberri’s threats and took control of Blue Star’s Mechanical Authority, shielding the planet from destruction.
• Zhang Qing merged the Mechanical Heart into his armor and shouted “Armor Up,” summoning a thirty-thousand-meter-tall Mecha.

Zhang Qing used Ares’s armor to fight Alberri’s combined Mecha as both began advancing through the Pendulum of Fate. They locked Blue Star as the Theater for their advancements, barring others from intervening and making the final outcome depend on the conflict there.

• Zhang Qing used the Mechanical Heart to activate Ares’s armor and seize control of Blue Star’s Mechanical Authority.
• Alberri combined Sky City’s Twelve Border Legions into a Mecha, and the two fought at Great Venerable power in spatial turbulence.
• Hu Feiyun, Yang Man, Su Yue, and the others realized they could only wait as the battle’s outcome threatened to decide their fortunes.
• Alberri began advancing toward Sequence Eight, and Zhang Qing began advancing toward transcendence at the same time.
• Alberri and Zhang Qing both locked Blue Star as their Theater, preventing the others from participating in the deciding battle.

Great Xia unleashed its hidden technology and fought back the Ghoul Tide, but Transcendents emerged and threatened the cities. At Magic City, an unnamed young man used Ultimate Sublimation to kill a Transcendent, sacrificing himself so completely that everyone forgot he had existed.

• Li Wannian joined Great Xia's defense as the nation activated the South Heaven Gate Plan and used its technology to attack the Ghoul Tide.
• A Transcendent emerged from hiding, destroyed Great Xia's warships, and attacked Magic City's walls.
• Xi Fang's Blood Dragon Army struck the Transcendent with its pseudo-domain while Yun Yue and the Star Ring higher-ups defended Magic City.
• An unnamed young man asked Xie Yu to order Xi Fang to ram the Transcendent again, then advanced and unleashed Ultimate Sublimation to kill him.
• Ultimate Sublimation erased the young man's existence and memories of him, while Fan Adkin recognized the sacrifice as an act for civilization.

Fan Adkin escaped his pursuers by entering the River of Destiny, while Great Xia’s people lit fires across the darkness and rallied behind Zhang Qing as he fought Alberri. Their courage strengthened Zhang Qing’s resolve to complete his advancement, and he sensed the tide of destiny arriving.

• Fan Adkin and Ares vanished from the Dark Realm, but Jescos and the other Sky City elders intercepted them in deep space.
• Fan Adkin opened a rift to the River of Destiny, wrapped himself and Ares in shed snakeskin, and plunged into the river to evade pursuit.
• As the battle ravaged Great Xia, its people refused to retreat or abandon the weak, shocking the observers in the Sky City Battlefield.
• Zhang Qing struggled against Alberri’s Mental Storm and Echo of Nirvana while their advancements continued, and he declared that his people would stand atop the universe.
• An old man lit a torch so a child could find his way home, and people across Great Xia lit fires that spread into a blaze of light and courage.
• The crowds cried out for the Azure Venerable, Zhang Qing heard them, and he sensed the tide of destiny as his Transcendence neared.

Zhang Qing completed his Theater and awakened the Spark of Fire Authority, granting Great Xia’s people power to fight the Specters. He destroyed Alberri’s path to advancement and left him facing defeat as flame dragons swept across Great Xia.

• Zhang Qing completed his Theater as Great Xia’s soldiers burned themselves to defeat extraordinary foes, shocking Alberri.
• The Spark of Fire Authority was bestowed upon everyone in Great Xia, reversing the balance between the people and their enemies.
• Zhang Qing gained the Spark Authority and saw that Great Xia now had its own road among the world’s authorities.
• Zhang Qing enveloped Great Xia in his Authority, and sparks from torches became flame dragons that destroyed the Specters across the country.
• Zhang Qing told Alberri that Great Xia had undergone its own nirvana, while Alberri’s Theater collapsed and his path to advancement was cut off.

Zhang Qing battled Alberri after Alberri’s power began declining, while also trying to force out the Login System. Zhang Qing survived Alberri’s devastating attacks through Blood River Rebirth, leaving Alberri shocked by how difficult he was to kill.

• Alberri realized his strength was declining and charged at Zhang Qing before he lost the chance to kill him.
• Zhang Qing put away the Ares Armor and attacked Alberri with Blood Dragon Soaring and the Blood Fang Arrow.
• Alberri dodged the arrow and struck the Blood Dragon hard enough to crack nearly all its scales, while Yun Xiaoxi warned that her Waypoint might not affect him.
• Alberri blasted Zhang Qing backward, nearly destroying his body, but Zhang Qing exploded and was reborn in blood with his injuries healed.
• Alberri suspected Zhang Qing possessed the Consciousness Authority, while Zhang Qing reflected on his exceptional survival ability.

Zhang Qing fought Alberri while repeatedly reviving through the Blood Dragon, then caught and rebound the Login System using Predation and Evolution. With Alberri’s strength fading and his own power rising, Zhang Qing launched a serious attack that sent Alberri flying.

• Zhang Qing continued fighting Alberri as his strikes accumulated momentum and the Blood Dragon kept reviving him.
• Zhang Qing sacrificed an opening to catch the Login System, while Hu Feiyun warned him that it contained a fragment of the future and the aura of the Time Sequence.
• Zhang Qing used Predation and Evolution to transform the captured light and rebound the Login System, retaining its Universal Experience function.
• Zhang Qing turned back to Alberri and attacked in earnest as Alberri’s aura fell from Sequence Seven to Sequence Six.
• Zhang Qing sent Alberri flying, shattering its armor and leaving its body battered.

Zhang Qing killed Alberri in the Sky City Battlefield, and Blue Star celebrated while Yang Man and Hu Feiyun advanced amid the victory’s momentum. As the Imperial City’s leaders recognized that their plan had succeeded, Si Bei Li rejected the game and made Sky City crash through the barrier between the battlefield’s upper levels.

• Zhang Qing overwhelmed Alberri with a close-range assault, killed him with starlight, and reclaimed his Mechanical Heart.
• Blue Star celebrated Zhang Qing’s victory, and Yang Man advanced to Sequence Five and formed the Cooperation Authority.
• Hu Bai'e urged Hu Feiyun to seize the battlefield’s momentum; Hu Feiyun fought through the enemy forces and advanced to Sequence Three, awakening Tiger Might.
• Su Yue and other Imperial City Highnesses took their turns advancing as the Venerable Lords watched their plan reach its intended result.
• Si Bei Li refused to accept Sky City’s defeat and blasted through the barrier between the upper battlefield levels, briefly connecting them.

Si Bei Li declared war on Zhang Qing after he gained the taboo Consciousness Authority, while Zhang Qing strengthened himself and prepared to flee if necessary. The Imperial Cities chose to stand against Sky City, and their Highnesses gathered for a Kinship War as armies mobilized.

• Si Bei Li said Zhang Qing's Consciousness Authority threatened Sky City's fundamental interests and insisted that the battle begin, while the twelve Sky Cities descended.
• Zhang Qing spent Universal Experience to raise his Ghoul Body to level five, gaining the hidden Flesh Authority.
• Zhang Qing infused the Blood Dragon with flesh and blood, then used Spark Authority to create a vast flame dragon projection that shielded Blue Star.
• Hu Feiyun led Tiger Imperial City into the confrontation, summoning the Tiger Venerable Authority Artifact's projection.
• Yang Man joined Hu Feiyun, and the Imperial Cities' Highnesses took their thrones as Grand Venerables gathered behind them.
• The Dark Realm trembled as border armies assembled, ready to march to the Sky City Battlefield.

Zhang Qing and his allies forced Si Bei Li to abandon Sky City's threat of a Kinship War, then left the Sky City Battlefield with Blue Star. Zhang Qing brought the planet to the Dark Realm and watched it take its seat near Rat Emperor City.

• Hu Sisi reminded Si Bei Li that Imperial City now had nine Highnesses, making a Kinship War disastrous for Sky City, and Si Bei Li angrily withdrew.
• Hu Feiyun signaled Zhang Qing, who departed with Blue Star wrapped in a flaming dragon phantom as other Imperial City forces and observing lineages dispersed.
• Yun Xiaoxi explained that authority would strengthen Blue Star and that it could one day become the foundation of Zhang Qing's Imperial City.
• The three Martial Gods cleared the area around Blue Star's landing site while Mo Li, Guan Yutian, and Zhang Qing's other subordinates gathered to welcome him.
• Zhang Qing settled Blue Star near Rat Emperor City, where it formed a Star River from the displaced seawater.

After Blue Star settled in the Dark Realm, Zhang Qing and Great Xia began rebuilding and confronting the political and security challenges of their new era. The chapter ended with Zhang Qing insisting that Great Xia keep its existing government while he pursued his own goal of becoming a Sovereign Lord.

• Zhang Qing returned to Great Xia with Yun Xiaoxi, where people hailed him as the Azure Venerable after he had helped save Blue Star.
• Zhang Qing met the Crisis Response Team at Dongfeng Pavilion, put Zhang Zhengguo in the main seat, and said he was not suited to managing Great Xia.
• Great Xia's leaders discussed rebuilding damaged cities, restoring defenses, creating identity checks against Specter infiltration, and honoring the fallen.
• After the meeting, Li Wannian raised the question of Zhang Qing's status within Great Xia and how his authority should be handled.
• Zhang Qing said Great Xia should retain its existing systems and separate him from its government, like the Sovereign Lord and Elder Council of the Imperial City.
• The leaders accepted the arrangement, which let Zhang Qing pursue becoming a Sovereign Lord without disrupting Great Xia's existing power structure.

After Great Xia restructured the Crisis Response Team into the Great Xia Era Group, Zhang Qing welcomed Fan Adkin, who explained the Dark Side Conflict and how stolen authorities could accelerate advancement. Zhang Qing learned that the dark side might offer a path toward Sequence Six, while his own lack of Transcendent knowledge remained a concern.

• Great Xia made Zhang Qing Chief Action Consultant of the Great Xia Era Group, giving him authority to mobilize border armies.
• Fan Adkin visited Zhang Qing in Suzhou, and Zhang Qing asked him to explain the basics of Transcendents.
• Fan Adkin invited Zhang Qing and Yun Xiaoxi to the Sixth Floor to study its materials.
• Fan Adkin explained that aging Sequence Users went to the dark side to wash away their ranks using the aura of the First Generation Ancestors and fuse with Ghoulification Authority.
• Fan Adkin revealed that washed-out Sequence auras and authorities of Sequence Five and above became physical treasures that could strengthen matching authorities.
• Zhang Qing realized that collecting those authorities could speed his advancement and help him reach Sequence Six.

Zhang Qing learned that the Dark Side Conflict would pit Sequence Users against Ghouliers and was advised to prepare a campaign against the Abyssal Insect Ghoul Tribe. Meanwhile, the Imperial City Lords remained away, and a returning figure warned Hu Sisi that the Dark Realm was nearing chaos.

• Old Fan Deng explained that Sequence Spiritual Power could delay ghoulification and warned Zhang Qing that the Dark Side was dangerous while the Imperial City Lords were absent.
• Old Fan Deng advised Zhang Qing to target the Screaming Ghoul Tribe or the Abyssal Insect Ghoul Tribe rather than the distant Sky-Traveling Ghoul Tribe.
• Old Fan Deng left with Yun Xiaoxi, who went to inspect the hidden archive, while caravans began bringing gifts to Blue Star.
• A figure appeared before Hu Sisi and said Sky City had used a substitute, possibly to decipher destiny.
• The figure told Hu Sisi to help Their Highnesses grow quickly, saying the Imperial City Lords would consult the First Generation Ancestor before sending them into the Dark Side.

Great Xia rebuilt after the battle and erected a blank monument for the heroes whose existence had been erased, while Zhang Qing established defenses against Specters. Zhang Qing then headed to An City, where gathered lineages sought his favor and his former retainers waited anxiously for his return.

• At Zhang Qing's request, Li Wannian helped erect a towering blank monument to honor the forgotten heroes whose names and faces had been erased.
• Great Xia built high-speed routes and everlasting flames carrying Zhang Qing's Spark Authority to make Specter infiltration harder.
• Foreign survivors traveled toward Great Xia, while Zhang Qing considered the wilderness outside its borders a place where they could fend for themselves.
• Zhang Qing took the Dragon Scale Army to An City, where lineage factions gathered to visit the Martial God Tower and prepare gifts for him.
• Guan Yutian, Pusan, Niu Qi, and the other retainers discussed the arriving Heavenly Demons and decided to wait for Zhang Qing's return.
• Mo Li left to hide from the lineage factions that wanted to befriend her, while Guan Yutian teased her about rebelling.

Zhang Qing welcomed the Dao Lineage factions to An City and turned their visit into an opportunity for trade and cooperation. After declining Wind Venerable’s request to relocate, he joined Yang Man’s plan to travel to the Dark Side as the Dark Realm faced possible upheaval.

• Zhang Qing entered An City, greeted the visiting Dao Lineage factions, and accepted their gifts while establishing trade connections for Great Xia.
• After ten days of visits, Wind Venerable asked Zhang Qing to let the Hurricane Dao Lineage relocate to his territory, but Zhang Qing declined and proposed deeper cooperation instead.
• Yang Man told Zhang Qing that the Lord had plans of their own and that the Imperial City Lord had suffered a loss, warning that the Dark Realm might fall into chaos.
• Yang Man proposed that she and Zhang Qing cooperate and travel to the Dark Side, where Transcendents could grow quickly.
• Zhang Qing agreed to join Yang Man and suspected heirs from the other Imperial Cities would also go to the Dark Side.

Great Xia established its new government, education system, and Razor oversight agency while preparing to govern the many cities beyond Blue Star. Zhang Qing’s plan left powerful figures poised to lead those cities under strict checks as Great Xia guarded against corruption and future Imperial City rivals.

• Great Xia organized its leadership under the Era Council and six departments, while the Guardians took charge of the twelve giant cities.
• Great Xia strengthened welfare and introduced martial arts classes alongside cultural education, with access to Sequences reserved for exceptionally talented children under a proposal still being researched.
• Zhang Qing established Razor under Guan Yutian to root out corruption and prevent powerful officials from monopolizing authority.
• Zhang Qing’s plan assigned strong figures and Sequence Users to govern outside cities while Great Xia officials, Razor, and military forces checked their power.
• The powerful figures and guild leaders welcomed the chance to govern cities, then resolved to behave once they saw Razor members would supervise them.

After Great Xia began purging orthodox factions, Zhang Qing negotiated with Doka to use the Abyssal Insect Ghoul Tribe as training opponents for his border army. He then met Hu Feiyun in Tiger Imperial City and learned that the Lords might be preparing to unify the Dark Realm by targeting the First Generation Ancestors.

• Great Xia entered a new era as its armies purged orthodox factions and opened a route toward the Abyssal Insect Ghoul Tribe.
• Doka visited Zhang Qing to negotiate, and Zhang Qing demanded support to build up the border army.
• Doka agreed to seek authority from the Ghoul Mother's Lineage to create cannon fodder for Zhang Qing's forces.
• Zhang Qing took Yang Man to Tiger Imperial City and met Hu Feiyun to discuss the dark side.
• Hu Feiyun revealed that the Lords intended to push the Highnesses toward the dark side and target the First Generation Ancestors.
• Hu Feiyun proposed that the Lords were preparing to unify the Dark Realm, an idea Zhang Qing considered unrealistic.

Hu Feiyun and Yang Man learned that the Imperial Cities had split into rival factions preparing to target one another’s Sole Highnesses in the Dark Side. Zhang Qing realized he could not stay out of the Lords’ conflict and agreed to fight alongside them.

• Hu Feiyun learned that five Imperial Cities and several Specter Clans had joined forces to attack the Dark Side.
• Yang Man received word that five other Imperial Cities and their allied Specter Clans planned a rival sweep against the first coalition’s Highnesses and clans.
• Yang Man explained that conservative Lords opposed the reformists’ plans to make the Ultimate Leap, while reformists aimed to strike the First Generation Ancestors during a period of weakness.
• Zhang Qing realized the Highnesses were pawns in the Lords’ factional struggle and that the conservatives might oppose his rise even if he stayed neutral.
• Zhang Qing asked whether Yang Man and Hu Feiyun could become Lords soon, then agreed to fight alongside them when he learned their advancement would take decades or centuries.