Chapter Summaries

The Expeditionary Force infiltrated the Spirit Heart Race’s Great Hall and forced the clan to choose between extermination and surrender. The Spirit Heart Race signed contracts pledging loyalty to the Great Flame Empire, while Chief Bone Spike and the Black Tiger Race experts watched the Demon Race gain control of the clan.

• Chief Bone Spike and over a thousand Expeditionary Force powerhouses appeared in the Great Hall, surrounding the Spirit Heart Race leaders.
• Chief Bone Spike demanded that the Spirit Heart Race surrender as a whole or face extermination, and Milton and other Spirit Heart Race members urged the Clan Leader to accept.
• After Chief Bone Spike gave the clan three minutes, the Spirit Heart Race Clan Leader agreed to surrender.
• Swamp Crocodile and Demon Race powerhouses presented contracts that limited control over the Spirit Heart Race to a hundred years and made its seven Life Planets part of the Great Flame Empire.
• The Spirit Heart Race Clan Leader and higher-ups signed the contracts, unaware of the true decision-makers behind the Expeditionary Force’s campaign.

After the Spirit Heart Race surrendered as an entire clan, the Human and Demon armies celebrated a victory without further casualties. The Black Tiger soldiers realized their internal conflict had cost them Contribution Points and future influence, and they turned against their own upper ranks instead of the Great Flame Empire.

• The Spirit Heart Race surrendered after its First Defense Line was broken, ending the war without a major battle.
• The Black Tiger soldiers lamented that they had missed out on Contribution Points while the Demon Race gained influence and could receive Spirit Heart Race powerhouses.
• The Black Tiger soldiers recognized that their internal conflict and resistance to the Great Flame Empire had harmed their race's future gains.
• The Black Tiger soldiers accepted the Great Flame Empire's rule and blamed their upper ranks and experts for the losses.

The Spirit Heart Race accepted surrender after learning the Great Flame Empire’s contract offered favorable terms, though they remained uneasy about losing their territory. At a meeting, Gu Li revealed that the Black Tiger Race was merely a vassal and that the Great Flame Empire was founded by her own race, but withheld further details.

• The Spirit Heart Race’s soldiers and clansmen protested surrender until the contract’s terms were made public and eased their anger.
• After pacifying the Spirit Heart Race on Colin Planet, the Expeditionary Force held a high-level meeting attended by the Spirit Heart Race Clan Leader and higher-ups.
• Gu Li asked Milton to explain that she was the Expeditionary Force’s true commander and that Chief Bone Spike had handled negotiations to project greater strength.
• Milton revealed that the Black Tiger Race was a vassal of the Great Flame Empire, whose Great Emperor’s power had driven its rise.
• The Spirit Heart Race Clan Leader asked about Gu Li’s race, but Gu Li refused to disclose details before beginning the meeting’s discussion of the Second Phase Plan.

Gu Li organized the Spirit Heart Race and Black Tiger Race for the Great Flame Empire’s coming campaign against the Swiftfoot Race. The leaders began planning the attack on the Swiftfoot homeworld and the consolidation of the Black Tiger Race’s territories.

• Gu Li gave the Spirit Heart Race three months to prepare a hundred-million-strong elite army, and its Clan Leader agreed after learning that transport would take less than half a day.
• Gu Li outlined a plan to kill the Swiftfoot Great Emperor, seize the Swiftfoot homeworld, and use controlled Swiftfoot powerhouses to take over the race’s eleven planets.
• Gu Li said the alliance contract between the Spirit Heart Race and Swiftfoot Race would be stolen and destroyed to prevent Heavenly Dao punishment.
• Chief Nika and the Black Tiger Race leaders agreed to integrate their forces and offered to subdue the tribes on their thirty-plus planets, but Gu Li assigned powerhouses from multiple races to join them.
• The Swamp Crocodile approved Gu Li’s decision that Spirit Heart Race contributions would benefit the Spirit Heart Race, and the Expeditionary Force leaders began discussing the Swiftfoot campaign’s details.

After the Spirit Heart Race surrendered and its seven life planets joined Yi Chen’s territory, his cultivation accelerated and he broke through to the True Immortal Stage. He stabilized his new realm and prepared to strengthen his techniques and artifacts while Morris’s tracking expert was still on the way.

• The Spirit Heart Race surrendered, bringing its seven life planets into Yi Chen’s sphere of influence and greatly increasing his cultivation speed.
• Yi Chen returned to the Crimson Planet and broke through to the True Immortal Stage amid a sky-wide display of seven-colored light.
• The Great Flame Empire celebrated Yi Chen’s breakthrough and the expansion of its territory, while the Shadow Race praised the Shadow Emperor’s decision to ally with him and the Black Tiger Race grew more subdued.
• Yi Chen found that his Divine Sense and comprehension of the Great Dao had greatly improved, giving him confidence that he could evade or withstand the Local Galaxy Cluster’s Supreme Experts.
• Yi Chen chose to stabilize his realm, create the True Immortal Stage portion of the Chaos Art, study the Laws of Fate and Karma, and improve his artifacts while Morris’s invited expert traveled toward him.

The Swiftfoot Race’s leaders confirmed that the Spirit Heart Race had surrendered to the Nika Tribe, leaving the Swiftfoot Race facing a growing threat from the Nika Tribe and the Black Tiger Race. They chose to prepare for war while secretly moving their forces to life planets as a fallback and a chance to strike the Black Tiger Race army from within and without.

• Swiftfoot Race officials questioned the report that the Spirit Heart Race had surrendered, but the Swiftfoot Great Emperor confirmed that their informants had independently verified it.
• The Swiftfoot Great Emperor explained that the Nika Tribe had appeared suddenly at the Spirit Heart Race Old Nest and swiftly broken through its First Defense Line.
• The Swiftfoot Race leaders recognized that the Nika Tribe’s gains and the Black Tiger Race Pirate Group’s growing strength made the Swiftfoot Race increasingly difficult to defend.
• A Swiftfoot Race Prince proposed seeking peace, but the leaders rejected surrender and agreed to prepare for war while arranging a fallback route.
• Swiftfoot Great Emperor ordered the secret transfer of experts and Elite Armies from the life planets, both to prepare for retreat and to attack the Black Tiger Race army from within and without.

Chief Manuo Te learned that the Nika Tribe had forced the Spirit Heart Race to surrender and feared the Nika Tribe would soon conquer the Black Tiger Race. He struggled to choose between resisting and giving up his ambition to rule Bolo Planet.

• Swiftfoot Great Emperor ordered his people to gather resources and secretly assemble their geniuses in preparation for retreat.
• The Great Flame Empire sent three teams of powerhouses to Black Tiger Race planets, with Zhan Cheng commanding the operation to unify the race.
• Chief Manuo Te learned from a friend about the Spirit Heart Race’s surrender and marveled at Chief Nika’s achievements.
• Chief Manuo Te realized the Manuo Te Tribe could not withstand the Nika Tribe, but he found it difficult to accept surrendering and becoming its subordinate.

Chief Bone Spike and Zhan Cheng confronted Chief Manuo Te in his secret chamber and offered him three contracts that would bring his tribe under the Nika Tribe’s control. Manuo Te learned that the Nika Tribe planned to conquer the Swiftfoot Race and ultimately unify the Heavenly Spirit Star System.

• Zhan Cheng, Milton, and hundreds of Nika Tribe experts secretly surrounded Chief Manuo Te’s cultivation chamber.
• Chief Bone Spike told Manuo Te that the Nika Tribe had forced the Spirit Heart Race to surrender and was preparing to conquer the Swiftfoot Race.
• Chief Bone Spike proposed a hundred-year Life-Death Contract that would place Manuo Te’s life and death under the Nika Tribe’s control.
• Chief Bone Spike described a second contract to merge the Manuo Te Tribe into the Nika Tribe and a third to campaign against tribes that refused to join.
• Chief Bone Spike explained that the Nika Tribe aimed to unite the Black Tiger Race and prepare to defeat the Undying Race, eventually unifying the Heavenly Spirit Star System.

Chief Bone Spike secured Chief Manuo Te’s surrender and led the Manuo Te Tribe into the Nika Tribe, then used Manuo Te to help persuade other Black Tiger Race tribes to follow. The Nika Tribe’s unification campaign continued across the Heavenly Spirit Star System as its teams made smooth progress on other Life Planets.

• Chief Bone Spike told Chief Manuo Te that refusing to merge would mean death and that the Nika Tribe would instead offer Tai Nuo leadership of the Manuo Te Tribe.
• Chief Manuo Te signed three contracts with the Nika Tribe, accepting its terms and becoming its subordinate.
• Chief Manuo Te summoned the Manuo Te Tribe’s experts, who agreed to join the Nika Tribe, and the tribe’s people cheered the merger.
• The Manuo Te Tribe’s experts visited smaller tribes in their territory and demanded that they surrender or be wiped out.
• Chief Bone Spike’s team brought Chief Manuo Te to successive large tribes, whose chiefs agreed to surrender, while teams on two other Life Planets also made progress.

After the Nika Tribe forced the Spirit Heart Race to surrender, the Heavenly Spirit Star System’s races feared the Undying Race would suppress it and focused on strengthening themselves. Duke Falla saw the Nika Tribe’s rise as a way to delay choosing sides in the coming Undying civil war, and arranged covert assassinations to curb its growth without destroying it.

• The major races discussed the Spirit Heart Race’s surrender and concluded that the Undying Race would likely attack the Nika Tribe, so they avoided seeking an alliance and focused on developing their strength.
• Duke Falla learned that the Nika Tribe had forced the Spirit Heart Race to surrender and wondered whether its migrant ally was more powerful than he had believed.
• Duke Falla decided to use the Nika Tribe’s rise as an excuse to delay choosing between the Undying Monarch and Grand Duke Bo Lai while the civil war remained undecided.
• Duke Falla ordered an expert to assassinate the Nika Tribe’s upper ranks on Crimson Planet or Colin Planet, while sparing its Chieftain and avoiding killings frequent enough to cause the tribe to fracture.

Yi Chen learned that Duke Falla’s experts were delaying their assassination mission, then focused on expanding the Great Flame Empire and testing his upgraded Flying Magic Treasure. After reaching the Cosmic Storm Zone, he tested its concealment against Shadow Emperor and prepared to improve it further as the Earth Tree Race threat approached.

• Yi Chen learned that Duke Falla’s subordinates were stalling rather than moving against the Great Flame Empire’s officials, so he set the matter aside.
• The large tribes across more than thirty Black Tiger Race Life Planets surrendered to the Nika Tribe, bringing nearly all Black Tiger Race territory into the Great Flame Empire’s sphere of influence.
• Yi Chen’s talent bonus surged, and he upgraded his techniques and treasures before advancing to the True Immortal Stage Second Level.
• Shadow Emperor told Yi Chen that the Large Warship carrying the Earth Tree Race Expert would reach the Milky Way in about a day, and Yi Chen traveled toward Shadow Emperor’s location.
• Yi Chen tested his upgraded Flying Magic Treasure and learned that Shadow Emperor sensed it only when it was about halfway within his perception range.

Yi Chen and the Shadow Emperor waited for Earth Tree Race Expert Marys to arrive, while Morris anxiously prepared to welcome him. Marys’s request to rest immediately unsettled Morris, suggesting he already knew Morris had deceived him.

• Yi Chen learned that the Shadow Race had not discovered the abilities of the Earth Tree Race Expert and went with the Shadow Emperor to the Large Warship’s jump point.
• Morris and Human Federation leaders waited for Marys, while Morris worried that Marys might discover he had deceived him into accepting the mission.
• The Large Warship arrived, and Marys greeted Morris and the Human Federation leaders.
• Morris offered Marys a place to rest, and Marys agreed, prompting Morris to suspect that Marys already knew about the deception.
• Yi Chen and the Shadow Emperor were surprised by Marys’s response, and Yi Chen realized that a conflict between Marys and Morris might benefit him.

Morris and Marys argued over the contract after Marys revealed that an injury would keep him from tracking Yi Chen and Shadow Emperor for another month or two. Marys left to recover, while Morris and the Federation Executives returned to the Life Planet, each unaware of the other's true intentions and circumstances.

• Morris urged Marys to search for Yi Chen and Shadow Emperor quickly, but Marys said he had been injured and needed another month or two to recover.
• Morris accepted the delay, believing Marys would eventually want to finish the mission and leave the Local Galaxy Cluster.
• Marys left to heal, furious that Morris refused to offer more compensation, while planning to fulfill the contract and later use his connections against Morris.
• Morris reassured Lu Qingxian and the Federation Executives that Marys could not leave without completing the contract.
• Morris returned to the Large Warship, and the ship and its escorts headed back to the Life Planet where the Federal Parliament Headquarters Building was located.

Yi Chen and the Shadow Emperor tracked Marys and began draining his luck, discovering that a rare treasure slowed the process. The treasure could not stop Yi Chen’s Luck Incantation, so he continued extracting luck while the Shadow Emperor watched Marys for signs of suspicion.

• After Marys left, Yi Chen decided to wait a day, then track him and drain most of his luck while keeping some in reserve.
• The Shadow Emperor found Marys cultivating outside a star, and Yi Chen activated the Improved Luck Incantation against him.
• Yi Chen noticed the extraction was far slower than expected and asked the Shadow Emperor about treasures that could protect someone’s luck.
• The Shadow Emperor explained that such treasures existed, and Yi Chen suspected Marys carried one that might alert him to the draining.
• Marys’s borrowed treasure slowed luck loss and could release stored luck in a crisis, but Yi Chen’s Luck Incantation still drained it faster than the treasure could prevent.

Yi Chen drained nearly all of Marys’s luck without being discovered, then arranged continued surveillance while pursuing his cultivation and awaiting the Undying Race’s Assassination Team. The Expeditionary Force’s conquests advanced, and the assassins finally prepared to head to the Crimson Planet, unaware of what awaited them.

• Yi Chen drained Marys’s luck over five days, returned a little luck when Marys’s treasure reacted, and left with Shadow Emperor before Marys discovered what had happened.
• Yi Chen ordered a Shadow Venerable to monitor Marys and investigate him through a contact in the Earth Tree Race External Affairs Department, while Shadow Emperor continued watching Morris.
• Yi Chen returned to the Crimson Planet, cultivated, and broke through to the True Immortal Stage Third Level within two days.
• The Spirit Heart Race’s integration neared completion, while nearly all the Black Tiger Race’s large tribes and most small and medium-sized tribes surrendered to the Nika Tribe.
• Under Duke Falla’s pressure, the Undying Race’s Assassination Team finally prepared to travel to the Crimson Planet, planning to keep delaying their mission after arriving.

Yi Chen ordered Marquis Moses to intercept the Undying Race's Assassination Team while continuing to cultivate on the Crimson Planet. As Marquis Hibo led a reluctant force toward the planet, his marquises and counts complained about Duke Falla's refusal to back Grand Duke Bo Lai, and Yi Chen awaited their arrival.

• Yi Chen told Marquis Moses that the Undying Race's Assassination Team would arrive in about a day and ordered him to intercept them.
• Marquis Moses obeyed and kept his questions about Yi Chen's knowledge and rapid cultivation progress to himself.
• Yi Chen continued cultivating and broke through to True Immortal Stage Fourth Level as his ruled territory and talent bonus grew.
• Marquis Hibo approached the Crimson Planet in a slow, enormous palace, deliberately using it to pressure Duke Falla and delay the operation.
• The six marquises and thirty-five counts traveling with Marquis Hibo complained that Duke Falla would not support Grand Duke Bo Lai and lamented losing the chance to gain territory and resources.

Marquis Hibo and five other Marquises discussed pressuring Duke Falla as they approached the Crimson Planet, where the Nika Tribe had grown powerful. Yi Chen emerged from Marquis Moses’s Flying Magic Treasure and attacked their palace, intending to capture the Marquises and Counts and have them sign Life-Death Contracts.

• Marquis Hibo ordered the group to remain near the Crimson Planet and carefully scout the Nika Tribe’s situation.
• The Marquises questioned why Marquis Moses had arrived, recalling that his earlier investigation had badly underestimated the Nika Tribe.
• Yi Chen told Marquis Moses that he would capture everyone and instructed him to persuade them to surrender and sign Life-Death Contracts.
• Yi Chen left the Flying Magic Treasure, shocking Marquis Hibo and the others, who had not sensed it or expected a human to survive in space without a spacesuit.
• Yi Chen drew the Immortal Sword and slashed at the Giant Palace, revealing an aura and energy that the Marquises judged to be at level one hundred and thirty-plus.

Yi Chen attacked Marquis Hibo and the other Undying Race nobles, demonstrating the power of the Heaven Severing Art while searching for a way to preserve its strength over long distances. His strikes split the Giant Palace and severely injured the counts, while Marquis Moses waited to capture anyone who faltered.

• Marquis Hibo and the five marquises recognized Yi Chen as the Supreme Expert of the Human Race and considered the rewards for capturing him.
• Marquis Hibo tried to move the Giant Palace, but Yi Chen's Sword Qi split it in half before it could escape.
• Yi Chen considered improving the Heaven Severing Art by making its Sword Qi absorb Spiritual Energy during long-range attacks.
• Yi Chen ignored the marquises' questions and sent repeated Sword Qi attacks at them as he studied changes in Spiritual Energy.
• The six marquises dodged the attacks, while the thirty-five counts were injured or cut in half and began using Essence Blood to regenerate.
• Marquis Moses waited to imprison and control any injured opponents.

Yi Chen kept the six marquises at bay while refining the Heaven Severing Art and practicing the Cloud Stepping Art, as Marquis Moses captured the counts. The marquises struggled to catch Yi Chen and grew alarmed as his Sword Qi strengthened, while Moses watched without intervening.

• The six marquises ignored the counts’ pleas as Yi Chen’s Sword Qi forced them to dodge, and Marquis Moses began imprisoning the exhausted counts.
• Marquis Hibo ordered the six marquises to attack Yi Chen together, hoping to defeat him before Moses finished capturing the counts.
• Yi Chen used the Cloud Stepping Art to keep his distance while continuing to test the Heaven Severing Art, and the marquises could neither catch him nor seriously threaten him.
• Marquis Moses captured all thirty-five counts but stayed back, knowing that Yi Chen did not need his help and that intervening might disrupt his practice.
• Yi Chen’s Sword Qi grew stronger and faster as the marquises worried about losing their chance to capture him.

Marquis Hibo and the five other marquises agreed to use their strongest abilities and treasures to capture Yi Chen before he escaped or drew unwanted attention. Yi Chen halted his Heaven Severing Art improvements and struck at the fastest marquis with Fire Element Laws, which engulfed him.

• Marquis Hibo proposed seeking help, but the other five marquises opposed it to keep the opportunity and its rewards to themselves.
• Marquis Hibo urged the group to act quickly, warning that Yi Chen might flee and that Marquis Moses or the Nika Tribe could complicate matters.
• The marquises revealed their strongest methods and treasures, and Marquis Hibo adjusted their plan to pursue Yi Chen.
• Yi Chen sensed their preparations, stopped improving the Heaven Severing Art, and chose to attack the fastest marquis first.
• Yi Chen unleashed a Fire Sea that swallowed the marquis, exploiting the Fire Element Laws' advantage against the Undying Race.