Chapter Summaries

Zhang Zhi planned a mission to investigate Gene Collapse and develop a safe Gene Lock Cultivation Path, then attended class and joined Liu Wanwan, Zixia, and Liu Xiaoxiao to inspect cooks. The chapter ended with Liu Wanwan asking the agency to deliver its workers to a location they chose, for an additional fee.

• Zhang Zhi concluded that he could use the Mission System to recruit powerful beings and Gene Lock cultivators to research the cause of Gene Collapse.
• Zhang Zhi returned to the library hall, met Liu Wanwan, Zixia, and Liu Xiaoxiao, and went with them to afternoon class.
• Zhang Zhi attended a professor's lesson on constructing a Small World from the perspective of Karma and reflected on why the professors' broad instruction benefited other students.
• Zhang Zhi and the three girls visited an agency whose staff had found workers for them, and Zhang Zhi sampled the cooking of three candidates.
• Liu Wanwan asked the agency manager whether it could deliver the workers to a location they designated, and the manager agreed for an extra fee.

Liu Wanwan used an employment agency to spread word that the Liu Family was entering Fengjing, while Zhang Zhi helped bring their selected personnel into Fengjing University. In the Trial Tower, Zhang Zhi realized the humans of the Demon Lord World Region sought official access and hoped to use the tower as an escape route if their Demon Lord became unstoppable.

• Liu Wanwan told the employment agency’s manager that the Liu Family might establish properties in Fengjing and recruit workers, prompting him to promise help.
• Liu Wanwan explained to Zhang Zhi that the agency would spread news of the Liu Family’s ties to Fengjing University, and Liu Xiaoxiao asked Zhang Zhi why he had not formed his own force.
• Zhang Zhi and Liu Wanwan received their selected personnel at the university gates and submitted them to the Logistics Department for inspection.
• Zhang Zhi entered the Small World, visited the Material Acquisition Center, and heard that the person who sold the Jade Gate wanted the same points and rights as the humans of the Ten Thousand Races Region.
• Zhang Zhi concluded that the humans of the Demon Lord World Region wanted recognition as Trial Tower visitors and were preparing to use the tower to flee if their Demon Lord threatened their survival.
• Zhang Zhi realized that higher-ranking Key Cards would be needed for powerful cultivators from the Demon Lord World Region to escape through the Trial Tower.

Zhang Zhi considered how far he would need to advance the Trial Tower to admit cultivators from the Demon Lord World Region, then set limits on their trade terms and launched a race-wide task about human bloodlines. When he entered the Trial Battlefield, he found the plaza swallowed in darkness and suspected he might have reached a New World Region.

• Zhang Zhi concluded that he could not provide the Demon Lord World Region with higher-ranked Key Cards yet, and told the Trading Center representative to offer them the same prices as humans in the Ten Thousand Races Region for now.
• Zhang Zhi worked with the Task Center representative to post a Race Task asking humans to investigate why activating their bloodlines repeatedly caused Bloodline Collapse, with Trial Tower Permanent Link Authority among the rewards.
• Humans in the Mission Hall reacted to the task, and several tore up their Key Cards to leave the Trial Tower and return to their regions.
• Zhang Zhi went to the Secret Realm Battlefield and found the Trial Tower Plaza shrouded in darkness, leading him to wonder whether he had entered a New World Region.

Zhang Zhi arrived at a Trial Tower plaza in a sunless world and questioned the pale locals, Qian Bao and Qian Hu, about their surroundings. He learned that the sun had vanished from every world, and discovered that the brothers could not see the Trial Tower, mistaking it for mushrooms.

• Zhang Zhi lit the dark plaza with Light Talismans and noticed mushrooms surrounding the plaza and Trial Tower.
• Zhang Zhi gave Light Talismans to Qian Bao and Qian Hu and asked them about the endless darkness.
• Qian Hu said that an evil existence had devoured the sun, leaving all worlds without one.
• Zhang Zhi learned that other people had been teleported to the plaza but that the brothers did not know where they went.
• Qian Bao and Qian Hu said they could see only giant mushrooms where Zhang Zhi pointed, though Qian Bao had sometimes glimpsed a strange tower among them.

Zhang Zhi questioned Qian Bao and Qian Hu about their mushroom-growing village and learned that the sun had vanished from their world, where darkness caused mutations and monstrous transformations. Their evasive reaction to his questions led him to suspect that something protecting their village had caused them to be judged as no longer human.

• Zhang Zhi reasoned that Qian Bao and Qian Hu could no longer see the Trial Tower because the Trial Tower had judged them nonhuman, and he suspected the mushrooms were connected to their condition.
• Qian Hu explained that mushrooms were the only edible plants growing in the darkness and that the villagers used Zhang Zhi's Light Spheres to improve their harvest.
• Zhang Zhi revealed that the sun still shone in his world, shocking Qian Bao, Qian Hu, and the nearby villagers; Qian Hu said an evil existence had devoured the suns of other worlds.
• Qian Bao explained that people in darkness could be assimilated into monsters, while sufficient light could reduce their mutations, and showed Zhang Zhi the tentacles on his chest.
• Qian Hu said their village held a little over three hundred people and that a powerful human faction lived in a distant city, but the brothers could not survive the dangers of the darkness outside their village's protection.
• After noticing the brothers' unease, Zhang Zhi asked whether something in their village protected them and whether it was why they were no longer human.

Zhang Zhi learned that Qian Bao and Qian Hu had contracted with an unknown being that would claim their bodies and souls after death, and the being used Qian Bao to speak with him. It explained that a Celestial Dog Race ancestor once devoured the Sun Law across every world, while Zhang Zhi wondered how his world had escaped that catastrophe.

• Zhang Zhi told Qian Bao and Qian Hu that the Trial Tower had judged them no longer human, and they insisted their convictions remained their own despite their mutations.
• Qian Bao and Qian Hu revealed that a being had promised to protect them in human form until death in exchange for their bodies and souls, and that they had signed its contract.
• Qian Bao and Qian Hu suddenly became motionless as the being borrowed Qian Bao's body to speak with Zhang Zhi.
• The being asked how Zhang Zhi's world had retained its sun, then explained how the Celestial Dog Race devised the Yin-Yang Deficiency Replenishing Great Array to overcome its weakness to the Sun Law.
• A Celestial Dog Race ancestor used the array to devour the Sun Law from every world, causing the sun's disappearance, but his fate afterward remained unknown.
• Zhang Zhi realized he had encountered another existence connected to the realm above the Main God Realm and wondered what was happening.

Zhang Zhi questioned the Old Mushroom about the history of the Celestial Dog Main Deity and why it sought human bodies, then learned how it used mushroom seeds to expand its race. He revealed that he came from another World Region and claimed humanity had found three World Regions, leaving the Old Mushroom astonished.

• Zhang Zhi asked how the Old Mushroom learned about the Celestial Dog Main Deity, and it explained that beings across the worlds had learned of the deity’s plan to devour the Sun Law.
• Zhang Zhi challenged the Old Mushroom about its interest in human souls and bodies, and the Old Mushroom admitted it was a deity that had become a mushroom.
• The Old Mushroom explained that it implanted divine seeds in willing lifeforms so the seeds could grow, take over their bodies after death, and spread mushroom colonies that served as its clones.
• Zhang Zhi asked what the Old Mushroom knew about its World Cluster and the chaos beyond it, then confirmed that he came from another world in that chaos.
• Zhang Zhi claimed he came from the Human Race Master of the World Region, described humanity’s six cultivation paths and its Trial Tower contacts, and said this was the third World Region he had found.

Zhang Zhi explained his mission and the Human Race network to Old Mushroom, who offered to help him find humans able to pass the Trial Tower assessment. Old Mushroom then described the monsters and escalating Darkness Pollution that threaten their world, possibly linked to the missing Celestial Dog Deity Realm being.

• Zhang Zhi convinced Old Mushroom that he came from a vast Human Race network and carried protection against a Half-Step Main Deity's strike.
• Zhang Zhi explained that he sought humans who could pass the Trial Tower's racial assessment and would give them Key Cards to connect with other worlds.
• Old Mushroom offered to obtain humans from an acquaintance who sheltered several races, but Zhang Zhi questioned whether they could pass the assessment if they followed the Faith Path.
• Old Mushroom explained that the acquaintance had once been human but now considered himself part of the Divine Race after the world entered the Dark Epoch.
• Old Mushroom described Spirit Devourers, their evolved monsters, and Darkness Pollution, which distorted living beings until they vanished.
• Old Mushroom said the Darkness Pollution had grown stronger and that other Deities suspected it was connected to the missing Celestial Dog Deity Realm being.

Old Mushroom explained that the Celestial Dog’s pollution came from its growing power and discussed bringing humans to the region. When a human deity arrived and attacked Zhang Zhi, his Small Broken Bell nullified the strike, and Zhang Zhi prepared to retaliate.

• Old Mushroom said the Celestial Dog had assimilated the vanished lifeforms and might soon threaten even Deity Realm beings with its pollution.
• Zhang Zhi considered whether a complete Cultivation Path could allow a safer ascent to Beyond Main Deity than the extreme methods used by the Demon Lord and Celestial Dog.
• Zhang Zhi urged Old Mushroom to contact the human deity and shelter as many humans as possible, while Old Mushroom’s control over Qian Bao and the plaza crowd ended with them fainting.
• Old Mushroom invited the human deity, who arrived about three hours later and dismissed Zhang Zhi’s claims before attacking him with a giant palm.
• The Small Broken Bell dispersed the attack, and Zhang Zhi confronted the human deity and summoned a Sword Talisman.

Zhang Zhi used a Sword Talisman to kill the Human Race Deity’s clone after the deity attacked him, then rejected Old Mushroom’s claim that the attack had been a misunderstanding. As Zhang Zhi headed for the Trial Tower, Old Mushroom pleaded for another chance, and Zhang Zhi demanded that he prove his sincerity.

• Zhang Zhi activated a Sword Talisman containing Sword One’s sword intent, which pierced the Human Race Deity’s clone and reduced it to ash.
• Old Mushroom realized the attack had ruined his relationship with Zhang Zhi and resolved to earn the cultivator’s trust so he could escape his dying World Region.
• Zhang Zhi spared Qian Bao but warned Old Mushroom that he would have attacked his true body if he could locate it, then started toward the Trial Tower.
• Old Mushroom followed Zhang Zhi and insisted that the Human Race Deity had attacked without his knowledge, explaining that the deity had distrusted him because he had tricked him before.
• Zhang Zhi dismissed Old Mushroom’s explanation and said he would believe him only if he did something to demonstrate his sincerity.

Zhang Zhi persuaded Old Mushroom to remove the seeds controlling humans and demanded that the former Human Race Deity stay away unless he proved his sincerity. After returning from the Celestial Dog World Region, Zhang Zhi concluded that its people would need light-producing supplies until he could deal with the Celestial Dog himself.

• Zhang Zhi demanded that Old Mushroom remove the seeds from Qian Bao and the other humans, and Old Mushroom agreed after weighing his options.
• Old Mushroom stripped the seeds from the humans nearby, causing them to writhe and then collapse unconscious as the green creatures crawled from their mouths.
• Old Mushroom proposed that the former Human Race Deity bring tens of thousands of humans as proof of sincerity, and Zhang Zhi agreed on the condition that they not be fanatical believers.
• Zhang Zhi told Old Mushroom that he would not trust the former Human Race Deity again and did not want to see him, though Old Mushroom could cooperate with him.
• Two days later, Zhang Zhi returned to the Trial Battlefield and decided that the Celestial Dog World Region needed light-producing artifacts, talismans, or technology until he could defeat the Celestial Dog.

Zhang Zhi reviewed progress on Gene Lock research, population registration, and the Underworld’s governing framework before checking Fang Long’s Qi Medicine research. He left encouraged by the number of Gene Lock cultivators and Fang Long’s progress, while the Underworld’s proposed administration still needed revision.

• Zhang Zhi found that nearly three hundred thousand people had accepted Gene Lock missions and that ninety-three verified cultivators had unlocked the Gene Lock, most of them from the Ten Thousand Races Region.
• Zhang Zhi checked the Jade Gate mission and learned that Fang Yun and Fang Long had received more than a hundred and forty submissions for plants containing spiritual qi.
• Zhang Zhi reviewed the completed Small World census, which recorded 43,976,321 people, and confirmed that the people initially thought missing had died in accidents.
• Zhang Zhi examined the proposed Underworld governing framework, identified conflicts with the Underworld’s needs, and instructed the Twelve Dynasties to revise it.
• Zhang Zhi visited Fang Long’s Medicine City and saw that she had begun cultivating Qi Medicine after making progress in understanding how it formed.

Zhang Zhi arranged the new shop, negotiated with the Human Race in the Demon Lord World Region, and discovered that Spirit Devourer Powder from the Celestial Dog World might be tied to a being approaching Beyond Main Deity. He acquired some powder and planned to test it on Zixia.

• Zhang Zhi visited the Underworld, found the Six Paths of Reincarnation Law still seeping slowly into the jade gate, and returned to the Main World.
• Zhang Zhi and Liu Wanwan signed the shop-transfer contract, and he retrieved supplies and Sword One's powerful Sword Intent Rune to display as the shop's treasure.
• Zhang Zhi agreed to grant the Demon Lord World Region access to Gold Rank Key Cards if its Human Race solved bloodline collapse, and instructed them to help the weaker Human Race in a third World Region.
• Zhang Zhi discovered that the Celestial Dog World Region offered Spirit Devourer Powder in exchange for wood and flint, and realized it might be linked to the Celestial Dog's attempt to break through to Beyond Main Deity.
• Zhang Zhi had the exchange mission pinned to the top, obtained some Spirit Devourer Powder, and planned to see whether it could help Zixia.

Zhang Zhi supported the struggling humans of the Celestial Dog Region by offering a high price for Spirit Devourer Powder, while they built connections with humans from the other regions. After the Human Race Deity entered the Trial Tower and became more committed to the human race, Zhang Zhi found the number and strength of Celestial Dog cultivators in the Tower had sharply increased.

• Zhang Zhi saw that the Celestial Dog Region's humans had contacted people from the Ten Thousand Races and Demon Lord Regions, so he abandoned his plan to aid them through missions.
• Zhang Zhi recognized several Celestial Dog cultivators in the Trading Market and posted a notice offering fifty Points per tael for the lowest-grade Spirit Devourer Powder.
• Zhang Zhi entered the Trial Battlefield, returned to the Twelve Dynasties to review the Underworld's management framework, and continued his usual inspections and routines.
• The Human Race Deity entered the Trial Tower and, after seeing its wonders and speaking with other humans, strengthened his commitment to the human race.
• Zhang Zhi discovered that more than two hundred Celestial Dog cultivators had entered the Trial Tower, including several Extraordinary cultivators and one Legendary cultivator.

Zhang Zhi learned that a surviving Human Race force in the Celestial Dog Region had sent hundreds of cultivators to the Trial Tower, revealing a far larger and healthier population than he had expected. When a deity bearing a Flower of Merit entered, he recognized the likely leader of that force and realized the Trial Tower was honoring a figure whose contributions might allow him to achieve the Main God Realm through Three Flowers Converging on the Crown.

• A Human Race deity contacted an old friend who led a major Human Race force in the Celestial Dog Region and gave him a Trial Tower Key Card.
• The old friend sent cultivators into the Trial Tower, where their numbers eventually approached seven hundred and included many Mortal Transformation and Extraordinary Realm cultivators.
• Zhang Zhi inferred that the Celestial Dog Region still had a large Human Race population supported by a complete Cultivation System.
• The Trial Tower trembled as a deity with a shining Flower of Merit entered, and Zhang Zhi recognized the flower and its power.
• Zhang Zhi concluded that the newcomer was likely the force's leader, whose work protecting and gathering Human Race members had earned the people's recognition.

Zhang Zhi, who introduced himself as Pangu, met Yan Bo and explained that the flower above his head was a Flower of Merit earned through service to humanity. The revelation left Yan Bo stunned when Pangu told him that gathering three such flowers could raise him to the Main God Realm without cultivation.

• Zhang Zhi approached Yan Bo in the Trading Market after noticing the Flower of Merit above his head.
• Yan Bo realized Zhang Zhi was the Trial Tower Master and cautiously asked why he had been called a distinguished guest.
• Zhang Zhi introduced himself as Pangu and identified Yan Bo's lotus as a Flower of Merit that recognized his contributions to humanity.
• Pangu explained that Yan Bo's deeds had earned him humanity's recognition, moving Yan Bo deeply.
• Pangu said that three Flowers of Merit could let Yan Bo reach the Main God Realm without cultivation, and Yan Bo cried out in shock.

Zhang Zhi explained how Flowers of Merit worked and why Yan Bo’s actions had earned one, while Yan Bo said he would keep helping people regardless of further rewards. After Yan Bo left, Zhang Zhi pieced together how Yan Bo had rescued and gathered humans across the Celestial Dog Region during the Dark Epoch.

• Zhang Zhi told Yan Bo that three Flowers of Merit could grant advancement to the Main God Realm and described their other effects.
• Zhang Zhi explained that Flowers of Merit depended on exceptional circumstances and the strength of the recognizing race, while Yan Bo reflected that helping his people mattered more than earning further merit.
• Yan Bo said he would treat his Flower of Merit as both an honor and a reminder to keep working, and Zhang Zhi praised his righteousness.
• Zhang Zhi spent nearly three hours explaining the Trial Tower and connected regions to Yan Bo, who then left the tower.
• After learning that Yan Bo’s Middle Thousand World had rebuilt its population and established Teleportation Arrays, Zhang Zhi concluded Yan Bo had personally gathered humans and restored hope during the Dark Epoch.

Zhang Zhi considered restarting the Small World's exploration of nearby World Wreckage, then attended Fengjing University's first Combat Simulation Class. The class began with the professor exempting Zhang Zhi and his Dao Protector from the opening Arena Match.

• Zhang Zhi noticed that humans in the Ten Thousand Races Region had entered many foreign-race Trial Battlefields and resolved to watch the situation more closely.
• Zhang Zhi checked the progress of the Bloodline Activation and Yumen tasks, visited Fang Long, and confirmed that the Underworld's new administration was proceeding smoothly.
• After checking the Small World for problems and signs of the insect race, Zhang Zhi decided to resume exploring nearby large pieces of World Wreckage before their laws dissipated.
• Chefs and servants passed inspection and arrived at Zhang Zhi's courtyard, allowing Zhang Zhi and his companions to eat before heading to class.
• At Fengjing University's Combat Simulation Class, the professor told Zhang Zhi and his Dao Protector to sit out the initial Arena Match.

Zhang Zhi watched his classmates fight and learned how Fengjing University’s generous spoils system rapidly strengthened its students. The professor explained an upcoming battle against a Spirit Race world and urged the class to treat Lesser Thousand World promotion slots as a last resort.

• Zhang Zhi declined the professor’s offer to sit out the arena simulation, then watched older students display strength far beyond that of most newcomers.
• Zhang Zhi realized Fengjing University students gained power quickly because combat spoils, including shares from Weak Deity Realm positions, were distributed generously among the class.
• The professor announced that the next class would target a Spirit Race Lesser Thousand World containing seven Weak Divine Power Existences, with the class competing for two positions alongside another school.
• The professor explained that students had priority purchasing rights to the positions and that accompanying students could buy only after Official Students.
• The professor said Fengjing University obtained tens of thousands of Weak Divine Power positions daily and advised students to use another Lesser Thousand World for advancement only as a last resort.

After dinner, Zhang Zhi entered the Small World and discovered that foreign races were attacking human regions across the Ten Thousand Races Region. A coordinator traced the attacks to the Metal Race and warned that its real target was the Jade Gate Region, leaving humanity facing a possible major move there.

• Liu Wanwan and Liu Xiaoxiao discussed choosing a candidate for Liu Wanwan’s second companion student slot, while Zhang Zhi said he would first offer it to Li Qianjun an Excellency.
• Zhang Zhi entered the Trial Tower and found its population had surged as hundreds of emergency missions reported attacks on human forces.
• He reviewed the Coordination Missions and learned that seven human regions were under attack by seven different foreign races.
• A skilled coordinator traced the attacks to the Metal Race, which had persuaded the other races to invade in exchange for Water Gold, a substance produced by the Metal Race.
• The coordinator deduced that the Metal Race was using the attacks to divert humanity’s attention before making a major move in the Jade Gate Region.