Chapter Summaries

Anar realized Sky City had hidden orders and began a major mobilization, while Hu Feiyun concluded that Sky City was trying to destroy Great Xia to eliminate Dragon Venerable. As Great Xia’s Starfire suppression began to falter, Sky City assembled a force led by Sequence Seven Olais for a direct assault.

• Anar recognized that Sky City’s mobilization was tied to orders left by the Supreme Decree and noted that six months remained.
• Hu Feiyun inferred that Dragon Venerable had put Sky City’s thirteenth Venerable to sleep and that Sky City was attacking Great Xia to make Dragon Venerable disappear.
• Hu Feiyun ordered the Sole Highnesses to send troops to defend Great Xia, and the Imperial City began disrupting Sky City’s deployments.
• Great Xia’s border armies harvested the intelligent machines crippled by Blue Star’s suppression and used their wreckage to build the Ring Star City Wall.
• Lin Tian noticed a Starfire flicker as the intelligent machines’ combat strength rose slightly, and Li Wannian ordered Li Keming to monitor the Starfires.
• Sky City gathered more than one hundred thousand Transcendence Sequence Users under Sequence Seven Olais for an assault on Great Xia.

Olais led Sky City Sequence Users in a probing attack on Great Xia, but the Star Ring and Jiao Ang's Hunter Corps overwhelmed them with a lethal ambush. Si Bei Li and the Sky City Grand Venerables learned of the losses and began to fear they could not conquer Great Xia before the deadline.

• Olais led the weakened Sky City force toward Great Xia's Alloy City Wall, hoping a successful attack would earn him promotion to Sequence Eight.
• The Star Ring engaged the attackers while Jiao Ang and the Hunter Corps merged into the ground under their Scorched Earth Authority.
• Zhu Yi, Yun Yue, and Kong Siming pinned Olais down as Great Xia's forces surrounded the Sky City Sequence Users.
• Jiao Ang and the Hunter Corps used scorch marks as coordinates to ambush and kill thousands of Sky City Sequence Users, including their True Spirits.
• Olais abandoned his Sequence Seven body and uploaded his consciousness to escape, then sent an account of the defeat to Si Bei Li.
• Si Bei Li forwarded the report to the Sky City Grand Venerables, who feared the Supreme Decree would doom them if they could not take Great Xia.

Sky City launched its all-out assault on Great Xia while the Imperial Cities struggled to send reinforcements. As the capital entered its most perilous hour, Li Wannian armed himself and rallied Great Xia’s people to fight, leaving the city united in a desperate stand.

• Si Bei Li sent Sky City’s army toward Great Xia after forcing Hu Sisi and the other Grand Venerables to retreat.
• Hu Sisi and Hu Feiyun called on the Imperial Cities to deploy troops and protect Great Xia, whose Imperial City Authority had not fully formed.
• Si Bei Li began the assault while Sky City kept its Sequence Eight users out of the battle to preserve its calculated advantage.
• Sky City’s forces overwhelmed Great Xia as intelligent machines delayed the Imperial Cities’ reinforcements.
• Li Wannian armored himself, took up his sword, and declared that Great Xia had to hold on.
• Great Xia’s officials, merchants, and citizens armed themselves and rushed to the front lines.

Sky City launched a massive assault on one section of the Ring Star City Wall while secretly sending an elite force toward Pangu Continent to attack the families of Great Xia’s Native Human soldiers. Li Liming warned Bai Yuan and ordered another evacuation, but Sky City’s attackers arrived before it was complete.

• Li Liming reinforced the main battlefield with the Blood Dragon and Revival border armies as Sky City’s intelligent machines and Sequence Users attacked the wall.
• Ouyang Lin warned Xi Fang that Sky City seemed to be concentrating its forces for a breakthrough, while Li Liming suspected the assault concealed another plan.
• Si Bei Li ordered Ter and ten thousand Sequence Six members to slip through the Alloy City Wall and target the families of Native Human border soldiers on Pangu Continent.
• Li Liming warned Bai Yuan that Sky City might attack the migrants, so Bai Yuan began organizing another move to the nearest Zhemin Megacity.
• Bai Yuan sensed mechanical energy approaching before the migration was complete, formed up the Judgment Border Army, and told Pusan to continue organizing the evacuation.

Bai Yuan led the Judgment Border Army against Sky City's Sequence Users, whose overwhelming numbers were offset by their reluctance to risk their lives. As Bai Yuan realized the enemy was trying to hold him in place, Li Liming prepared the Hunter Corps to ambush the arriving reinforcements and sent Dragon Flame to seal the city-wall breach.

• Bai Yuan ordered Pusan and the others to organize the migration, then led the assembled Judgment Border Army to meet Sky City's forces.
• Bai Yuan's army clashed with Ter's ten thousand Sequence Sixes, and the Blade of Sanction broke through the enemy formation.
• Ter called Si Bei Li for help, and she sent a ten-million-strong border army into Blue Star through underground tunnels.
• Bai Yuan realized Sky City's forces were trying to hold his army until reinforcements arrived, while Li Liming warned him and coordinated a Hunter Corps response.
• Li Liming sent Dragon Flame to seal the breach in the city walls as the Hunter Corps moved to intercept the enemy reinforcements.

Si Bei Li forced Sky City's Great Venerables to surrender the Format Source Codes of their subordinates, then used the Sky City Core to make every Sequence User attack Great Xia. With fifteen days until the Sovereign Lord's awakening, the countdown bombs left Sky City's forces one day to capture Great Xia's Alloy City Wall or be erased.

• The Battle of the Australian Grasslands became a stalemate after Judgment and the Hunter Corps arrived, while Sky City's Sequence Users refused to risk their lives.
• Si Bei Li stopped issuing orders, and the fighting dwindled into a month-long practical ceasefire as the Imperial City's Authority revived.
• When the Great Venerables demanded that Si Bei Li act before the Sovereign Lord awakened, she demanded the Format Source Code of every Sequence User under their command.
• With fifteen days remaining, the Great Venerables gave Si Bei Li the Format Source Codes, and she asked the Sky City Core to calculate the chances of success.
• Si Bei Li attached countdown bombs to the Format Source Codes and ordered all Sky City Sequence Users to capture Great Xia's Alloy City Wall within one day or be erased.

Sky City’s Core forced its Sequence Users into a desperate assault by threatening death and promising resurrection backups, intensifying the fighting across the front. As the Judgment Border Army and Hunter Corps struggled against the rampaging attackers, Pusan and Niu Qi tried to keep the evacuation moving, while Pusan sensed the crisis would worsen.

• The Sky City Core activated military merits and resurrection backups, driving its Sequence Users to storm the city walls.
• Bai Yuan and Jiao Ang returned to battle as Ter, under orders to destroy the Great Xia Border Army, fought Bai Yuan and his legion.
• The Judgment Border Army and Hunter Corps suffered growing casualties as Sky City’s Sequence Users fought with desperate intensity.
• Niu Qi nearly killed people delaying the migration, but Pusan stopped him and persuaded him to open another evacuation route.
• Pusan looked toward the Australia Plains and sensed that the coming wave of fighting would not end easily.

Great Xia’s armies struggled to hold the frontal battlefield and Australia Plains as Sky City’s Sequence Users resorted to Ultimate Sublimation. Yuan Fang died protecting Bai Yuan, and the chapter ended with Jiao Ang and the Hunting Corps confronting Plintak’s Ultimate Sublimation strike.

• Li Wannian joined Li Liming on the frontal battlefield and declared that he would carry the banner in Dragon Venerable’s absence.
• Yuan Fang shielded Bai Yuan from a Sky City Sequence User’s Ultimate Sublimation attack and died; Bai Yuan retaliated with Judgment’s transcendent skill, crushing the attackers.
• Jiao Ang kept Scorched Earth fighting despite exhaustion and a lack of reinforcements as Judgment’s losses mounted.
• With four hours remaining until the bombs detonated, Plintak announced his attack on Bai Yuan and began Ultimate Sublimation.
• Jiao Ang and the Hunting Corps launched Scorched Earth’s “Surround, Hunt, Kill!” against Plintak, and their attacks collided in a massive explosion.

Jiao Ang was gravely wounded as Sky City's forces breached the Alloy City Wall, but the invaders’ fighting spirit fell once their compulsory mission was complete. Si Bei Li issued a new order to seize Great Xia’s bunkers, while Bai Yuan’s forces reorganized and prepared to retreat as they fought.

• Plintak’s Ultimate Sublimation strike shattered Jiao Ang’s armor and longblade, but the hunting corps rescued him, and Ter refused to use the technique himself.
• Li Wannian ordered Great Xia’s troops to abandon the breached Alloy City Wall and defend the bunkers, after Li Keming explained that Sky City’s fighters would slack off once they crossed the wall.
• Sky City’s Sequence Users crossed the wall and relaxed after their Format Source Code bombs were disarmed, while Si Bei Li celebrated the reported victory and began preparing another bomb.
• Si Bei Li’s next compulsory order demanded that the Sequence Users capture Great Xia’s bunkers within a day, and one of them proposed negotiating with Great Xia.
• On the Australia Plains, the invaders’ strength fell after their bombs were disarmed, giving Bai Yuan time to reorganize his troops and coordinate with Pusan and the others about the migration convoy.
• Bai Yuan and Jiao Ang agreed to fight while retreating as the convoy neared Zhemin Megacity.

Si Bei Li realized Sky City's Sequence Users had used the bunker battle to preserve their forces while Great Xia reclaimed the Alloy City Wall, and she confronted the Grand Exalted Ones over their apparent collusion. She began uploading a record of their conduct to Sky City's core, forcing several dozen Sequence Eights to hand over their Format Source Code.

• Si Bei Li prepared a Sequence Seven Format Source Code Bomb as Sky City and Great Xia delayed their battle over the bunkers.
• Late at night, Sky City captured the bunkers, but Great Xia's ten border armies retook the Alloy City Wall and surrounded the Sequence Users.
• After disabling the bombs, Sky City's Sequence Users uploaded their consciousnesses and retreated, while Great Xia began reinforcing the Alloy City Wall.
• Si Bei Li accused the Grand Exalted Ones of coordinating with Great Xia and demanded their Format Source Code so she could exercise the Sovereign Lord's authority.
• When the Grand Exalted Ones refused her ten-second ultimatum, Si Bei Li began uploading a log to Sky City's core, and several dozen Sequence Eights surrendered their Format Source Code.

Si Bei Li used Sovereign authority to assign Sky City's Great Venerates to attack Great Xia's twelve giant cities, and the offensive resumed as a coordinated assault. Lan City was overwhelmed despite reinforcements from Rat Emperor City, and its governor died as the city prepared to evacuate.

• Si Bei Li created Format Source Code Bombs, uploaded the code to Sky City's core, and assigned Great Venerates to attack individual Great Xia cities, including the Imperial Capital.
• Sky City's forces withdrew briefly, then resumed their attack in twelve separate camps, prompting Hu Sisi and Yang Man to mobilize Great Xia's border armies.
• A Sky City Great Venerate broke through Lan City's walls and attacked, but a Ratfolk Great Venerate from Rat Emperor City intercepted it and dragged it into the Sky Dome.
• Sky City's Sequence Seven, Six, and Five fighters overwhelmed the Daybreak Border Army until reinforcements from Rat Emperor City temporarily stabilized the battle.
• Hong Tao ordered preparations to evacuate Lan City, but seven hours later he died in battle, the Daybreak Border Army suffered 43% casualties, and He Guangyue was severely wounded.

As the battle above Blue Star destabilized Starfire, Great Xia’s border armies faced attacks from intelligent machines and Sky City forces. Kunlun Megacity fell after Kezile stayed behind to cover the retreat, Rooftop Giant City continued fighting, and Magic City Megacity became the next threatened front.

• Hu Sisi sensed Great Xia’s Imperial City Authority dissipating and wondered whether the Dragon Venerable had fallen.
• Kezile ordered the Tak Border Army to withdraw from Kunlun Megacity, then stayed behind to cover its retreat and fell in battle as the city was lost.
• Zaxi and the Golden Pearl Border Army fought to hold Rooftop Giant City against intelligent machines and Sky City Sequence Users.
• The Grand Elder of Horse Imperial City struck Tanling during the battle and marveled at the defenders’ tenacity.
• Great Xia’s forces faced danger at Magic City Megacity, where Sky City had arrived despite seemingly being expected at Zhemin Megacity.

As Sky City’s assault pushed Great Xia toward collapse, Cheng Yu sacrificed herself to unleash miraculous luck, turning the battle and awakening Sheep Venerable. Hu Feiyun and Yang Man recovered memories of Zhang Qing’s plan and decided to keep playing along, believing he had arranged events and would survive.

• Hao lost an arm, Rooftop Giant City fell, and Zaxi died as Sky City intensified its attack on Great Xia.
• Cheng Yu used her luck to unleash a miracle across Great Xia, then died as the price of her sacrifice.
• Hu Sisi told Hu Feiyun that Sheep Venerable had awakened and that Yang Man would bring him memories erased by Ultimate Sublimation.
• Yang Man gave Hu Feiyun a rune restoring those memories, revealing Zhang Qing’s actions and prompting Hu Feiyun to believe he had planned the crisis as a theater.
• Hu Feiyun and Yang Man agreed to follow the established plot and keep up the act, trusting that Zhang Qing would not die.

On the seventh day of the countdown, Sky City began overwhelming Imperial City as Zhang Qing’s allies fought to hold Great Xia. In the Dark Realm, the awakened Progenitors debated whether Zhang Qing could survive Ultimate Sublimation while the return of the Imperial City and Sky City Lords drew near.

• Hu Feiyun and Yang Man strengthened Great Xia’s defenses by transferring more border troops and persuading other Imperial City Highnesses to do the same, while Sheep Venerable chose not to attack Sky City.
• Sky City pushed Imperial City back on the seventh day, and the pressure nearly drove Imperial City’s Great Venerable to despair as the bomb countdown continued.
• At Sichuan-Shu Giant City, Lin Tian repeatedly charged into battle, and Guan Huangsheng healed him with Revival until an unexplained blessing seemed to strengthen her Sequence.
• In the Dark Realm, Little Loli asked Little Lion to send his Flame Authority to Great Xia, while Little Lion and Sea Emperor questioned whether Zhang Qing could return after Ultimate Sublimation.
• Little Loli urged them to keep watching as Imperial City’s Authority flickered, White Jade City appeared in the future, and Sixth Floor began constructing a passage from the past to the present.

As the countdown reached its final day, Great Xia and the Imperial City endured devastating losses while Zhang Qing’s possible plan to become a Lord through the Incense Divine Path came into focus. Hao awakened, halted Sky City’s attack, and moved to the Dark Realm’s Sky Dome to stop Zhang Qing’s ascent.

• Sky City’s assaults devastated Great Xia’s border armies and giant cities, while Imperial City Highnesses including Su Yue and Yang Man survived ambushes.
• Yang Man suspected Zhang Qing had engineered the sacrifices to become a Lord, though Zhang Qing was actually cornered by the Sixth Floor and Sky City.
• Great Xia and the Imperial City contracted their forces and held the line as awakened authorities and Lords watched in silence.
• Hao awakened on the final day, and Sky City’s Sequence Users withdrew as its bombs were cleared from the Format Source Code.
• Hao inferred that Zhang Qing intended to use Great Xia’s reverence for the Dragon Venerable, offerings at Great Green Mountain, Lin Tian’s Flesh Authority, and the star array to rebuild his True Spirit as a Lord.
• Hao reached the Dark Realm’s Sky Dome and, fearing Zhang Qing would otherwise ascend, made his move.

Hao’s attack sent the Sky Dome crashing toward Great Xia, and Lin Tian and countless citizens tried to awaken Dragon Venerable but could not stop it. As the City Lords watched, Zhang Qing began advancing with Great Xia’s support, triggering laws that forbade Hao from interfering.

• Hao struck at Blue Star, and Tiger Venerable and the other City Lords shielded the rest of the Dark Realm while leaving Great Xia exposed.
• Lin Tian burned his Sequence Path to call for Dragon Venerable, but his Dawn Sequence collapsed and he fell into the descending Sky Dome.
• People across Great Xia launched themselves at the curtain of night, refusing to wait for their Civilization’s destruction.
• Sheep Venerable and Jie praised Great Xia’s resolve, while Hao insisted that their resistance could not change their fate.
• A sound like the Pendulum of Fate rang out, and Serpent Venerable realized that Zhang Qing was advancing with Great Xia’s support.
• Hao prepared to call off his attack, but divine laws descended and barred anyone from disturbing an Imperial City Sequence’s advancement.

Great Xia’s people and allies sacrificed themselves to ring the Pendulum of Fate and advance Zhang Qing toward Sovereign Lord, hoping to restore Dragon Venerable. Their efforts reached 539 rings, and Hu Feiyun launched himself toward the bell as the final strike needed.

• Li Wannian and the people of Great Xia understood that their lives and sequences could help pave the path, and they began striking the Pendulum of Fate with their Fate Stones.
• Little Loli preserved the fallen bodies with her Flesh Authority, while Little Lion warned that their damaged True Spirits could not be saved.
• Great Xia’s sacrifices brought the Pendulum of Fate to 540 rings’ required threshold, but the bell stopped at 534 because the Civilization lacked sufficient weight.
• Yang Man used her Nirvana Mark to strike the bell, raising the count to 535, then revived in Sheep Emperor City after losing the mark.
• Su Yue and the other Highnesses who held Nirvana Marks sacrificed themselves to ring the bell until only two strikes remained.
• Hu Feiyun charged toward the Sky Dome in his true tiger form, burning with undying flames to deliver another strike.

Hu Feiyun used the combined strength of Zhang Qing’s allies and Great Xia to break through the laws of heaven and attain Lordhood, allowing an Azure Dragon to emerge and restore Blue Star. Tiger Venerable realized the Dragon Venerable was not Zhang Qing, whose return had not been secured.

• Hu Feiyun summoned his true form and struck the Sky Dome, while Little Loli and Zhang Qing’s allies lent him their power through karma.
• Hu Feiyun broke through the divine-law chains and struck the canopy of heaven, making the Pendulum of Fate ring 540 times and announcing his Lordhood.
• A skeletal dragon emerged from Great Green Mountain, became an Azure Dragon, and used Flesh Authority to restore Blue Star’s cities, bodies, and structures.
• Hu Feiyun recognized that the Azure Dragon lacked Zhang Qing’s familiar aura, and Tiger Venerable confirmed that it was a genuine Dragon Venerable but not Zhang Qing.
• Tiger Venerable concluded that the Dragon Venerable had been artificially created through an unrepeatable convergence of sacrifices, Highnesses, Progenitors, and the star array, and said Zhang Qing had deceived them all.

Dragon Venerable emerged to protect Great Xia, while the Venerables believed Zhang Qing had vanished for good. A Nirvana Mark revived Yun Xiaoxi and preserved her memories of Zhang Qing, triggering a mechanism that led Dragon Venerable to try to restore Zhang Qing from the blankness.

• Dragon Venerable told the gathered Venerables that he would not join their disputes and had been born solely to protect Great Xia.
• Hao failed to persuade Dragon Venerable to join his camp, while Yang Man and Jie suspected Zhang Qing might still have a way to return.
• Jie asked whether Dragon Venerable had a Nirvana Mark, and Dragon Venerable said he did not.
• Dragon Venerable sensed a Nirvana Mark on the Blue Star Dragon Pearl and saw it revive Yun Xiaoxi with her memories of Zhang Qing intact.
• Jie realized he had triggered a mechanism Zhang Qing had left behind, and Dragon Venerable used his power to begin pulling Zhang Qing out of the blankness.

After Zhang Qing’s death, the Dragon Venerable used Yun Xiaoxi’s Love Sequence to retrieve his True Spirit from across time, sacrificing its own spirit in the process. The Dragon Venerable then pressed Zhang Qing’s True Spirit into its body and greeted everyone as Zhang Qing.

• Li Wannian and the others remembered Zhang Qing after the Dragon Venerable erased Ultimate Sublimation’s effects, and Yun Xiaoxi mourned his apparent death.
• Jie revealed that Yun Xiaoxi’s Love Sequence mark had been designed to interfere with Hao’s fusion with Zhang Qing, but Zhang Qing had turned it into part of his plan.
• The Dragon Venerable asked Yun Xiaoxi for her love and used its power to search the River of Destiny for Zhang Qing’s True Spirit.
• Hao tried to stop the Dragon Venerable, but 11 City Lords and 12 Progenitors protected it as it retrieved Zhang Qing’s True Spirit.
• Divine laws shattered the Dragon Venerable’s True Spirit, and its body placed Zhang Qing’s True Spirit against its brow.
• The Dragon Venerable opened its eyes and greeted everyone with, “Long time no see!”