Chapter Summaries

Tao Yu told Liu Yi about the Blood Orchid and learned that sharing its information with Starlight Recycling Station likely kept him safe after the Li family's destruction. He stayed at Myriad Flow Dojo and heard Smith explain the five signature styles, beginning his training options.

• Liu Yi offered Tao Yu free tuition for the rest of his studies in exchange for details about the wishforce herbs.
• Tao Yu revealed the Blood Orchid's properties and location, explaining that Li Le had also known about it.
• Liu Yi reasoned that a faction had likely destroyed the Li family to seize its gains, and said Tao Yu was probably safe because he had shared the information with Starlight Recycling Station.
• Tao Yu asked to stay at the dojo, and Liu Yi agreed while Smith let him sleep on the floor.
• Smith described Crane Form and demonstrated the Tiger, Bear, Python, and Ape Forms to Tao Yu and the other students.

Tao Yu continued training at the Myriad Flow Dojo while the Security Team let the Li family massacre case fade, and he received support from the Sun family’s allies in the Floating City. After mastering all five forms, Tao Yu unlocked Five Forms Unification and used willing power to Deify it.

• Tao Hu told Tao Yu that the Li family had likely been betrayed by its allies and that the Security Team considered the dispute settled after Tao Yu sold the Blood Orchid information.
• Tao Hu gave Tao Yu a smart watch from the Sun family's young lady and a card containing three thousand points of willing power from the Floating City leaders.
• Tao Hu revealed that he was acting in a higher position on the South City District Security Team, while the Li family massacre gradually stopped drawing attention.
• Tao Yu mastered all five forms, raised Myriad Flow Ape Form—Modified to level 2, and unlocked Five Forms Unification at level 1.
• Tao Yu spent 1,200 points of willing power to Deify Five Forms Unification.

Tao Yu tested the new abilities he gained from deifying the Myriad Flow Five Forms and Saliva Swallowing Technique, then considered how to keep improving despite dwindling Wish Power. He told Smith he was heading to the Abyss and left to prepare, declining Zhang Wei’s offer to travel together.

• Tao Yu discovered that Five Forms Unification - Modified let him circulate force through his qi and blood, strengthening his body and raising its limits.
• Tao Yu assessed the specialized benefits of the five modified boxing forms and found that Saliva Swallowing Technique - Modified improved digestion, energy storage, and poison resistance.
• Tao Yu worried that his remaining Wish Power was insufficient for further rapid growth and considered eventually deifying Basic Breathing Technique - Modified a second time.
• Tao Yu told Smith he was heading to the Abyss, and Smith suggested he apply to become an assistant instructor at the dojo.
• Tao Yu declined Zhang Wei’s invitation to team up, agreed to bring Qi Replenishing Pills, and left to prepare for his trip.

Tao Yu visited the mission hall and reviewed open-ended New Frontier missions, focusing on the safer Zombie 01 fragment. He registered to explore it as a place to build strength and earn rewards before risking a hunt among the aliens.

• A young attendant uploaded mission information to Tao Yu’s W4 bracelet and showed him missions involving alien breeding and extermination, Black Water, and Zombie 01.
• Tao Yu studied the Zombie 01 mission and learned that its zombies yielded very little Wish Power, but the fragment offered rewards for mapping, discoveries, and locating a radio signal.
• Tao Yu reasoned that Zombie 01’s World Barrier made it safer than the rainforest or alien territory and could serve as a base while he improved his skills.
• Tao Yu registered for the Zombie 01 exploration mission and left the hall with the mission details on his bracelet.

Tao Yu crossed the grassland to reach a new world fragment, a barren wasteland filled with zombies and abandoned vehicles. He tuned his watch to a radio broadcast and learned that the virus outbreak had begun seven months earlier.

• Tao Yu equipped himself with gear taken from the Li family and set out north in search of the fragment described in his intel.
• Tao Yu followed the rainforest’s edge for three days while listening to the Floating City siblings’ broadcast about their explorations.
• Tao Yu spotted rooftops, crossed the fragment barrier, and descended into the Gobi-like wasteland below.
• Tao Yu scanned the radio frequency and heard a survivor describe dwindling food supplies and the dangers of searching for more.

Tao Yu rode an abandoned motorcycle toward a zombie-filled city, and upgraded Motorcycle Riding into the much broader skill Riding. He skirted the horde and headed into the city to seek information, leaving its scale and any watchers inside unresolved.

• Tao Yu killed several withered zombies on the road and collected only scraps of Wish Power from their teeth.
• Tao Yu found an abandoned Kawasaki motorcycle, got it running, and gained Motorcycle Riding lv1 while riding toward the city.
• Tao Yu spent one hundred Wish Power to upgrade the skill, gaining intuitive control over mounts and renaming it Riding.
• Tao Yu practiced stunts on the motorcycle and considered finding a horse or taming a xenomorph, but decided against risking a fight.
• Tao Yu saw a vast zombie horde gathering near the city and spotted someone watching from behind a curtain.
• Tao Yu left the motorcycle on a pickup and went around the horde toward the city, hoping to find a newspaper or ask a local about the outbreak.

Tao Yu searched for the person watching from a hotel and met a group of armed survivors led by a man who looked exactly like Uncle Long. The encounter left him suspecting the fragment’s world was more than a simple zombie apocalypse, and he began asking the survivors what was happening.

• Tao Yu crossed rooftops and knocked aside zombies as he headed for the hotel where someone had been watching from a window.
• A bald, tattooed man and two armed companions joined Tao Yu on the roof, and he recognized their Asian leader as Uncle Long from the furniture store.
• The group fired a rope across the road, and Tao Yu secured it to a water tank before crossing hand over hand while staying alert for an ambush.
• The leader introduced himself as Jack and asked where Tao Yu got his gear, and Tao Yu replied that he had come from the south and asked what was going on.

Tao Yu joined Jack’s hotel settlement and learned that the zombie outbreak began with a virus deliberately spread through contaminated water. After recognizing Cao Shaolin among the survivors, Tao Yu sensed that the seemingly ordinary man was dangerous and restrained himself from attacking.

• Tao Yu met Jack, Tommy, and Senke, warned them about the monsters and giant python to the south, and said he planned to investigate the zombies.
• Jack explained that the virus had spread through contaminated water and revealed that he grew stronger as they traveled, apparently by killing zombies.
• Tao Yu followed the group to the hotel lobby, where Jack stopped the residents from pressuring him for supplies.
• Cao Shaolin reported that three captured attackers had disappeared, and Jack told Tao Yu that Cao had helped the settlement fight them.
• Tao Yu recognized Cao Shaolin, sensed his malice and the danger behind him, and suppressed his urge to strike first.

Tao Yu learned that a meteorite was stored at a military base northwest of Las Vegas and persuaded Jack to guide him there. That night, Tao Yu ambushed Cao Shaolin, survived a fierce fight, and killed him, discovering a golden pistol carrying over a thousand units of Willpower.

• Tao Yu inspected Jack's settlement and questioned Cao Shaolin about the vanished prisoners, learning they had left behind no clear signs of escape.
• Tao Yu told Jack that his company planned to build a settlement, and Jack revealed that the meteorite was at a military base about a hundred kilometers northwest of Las Vegas.
• Jack agreed to guide Tao Yu to the meteorite, and Tao Yu supplied food to the settlement before preparing to leave.
• At three in the morning, Tao Yu used Shadow Meld to enter Cao Shaolin's room, but Cao Shaolin sensed him and attacked.
• Tao Yu fought Cao Shaolin with his kukri and pistol, then killed him with repeated shots as Cao Shaolin tried to escape through the boarded window.
• Tao Yu found that Cao Shaolin's golden pistol held over a thousand units of Willpower, then returned to his room as the settlement woke to the commotion.

After Cao Shaolin was killed, Jack decided to leave with Tao Yu to seek the promised settlement, while ordering the others to stay alert. Before they departed, they discovered that Cao Shaolin’s corpse had resisted the zombies’ bites and even stopped bullets, leaving Jack shaken by how strong he had been.

• Tommy and Jack inspected Tao Yu’s room after Cao Shaolin was found dead below the window, then Jack told the settlement to stay together at night.
• Jack agreed to leave the next morning with Tao Yu to look for a new settlement, while Tommy and Senke remained behind.
• Senke reported that zombies had not eaten Cao Shaolin’s body, and Jack found it covered in bites but still unusually intact.
• Jack cut into Cao Shaolin’s corpse and discovered that its flesh was extremely tough and bullet fragments had not pierced the skull.
• Jack told the others to stay on alert and set out with Tao Yu in a modified vehicle.

Tao Yu told Jack that he had killed Cao Shaolin, and Jack believed him, strengthening their trust as they traveled to find food. Tao Yu then explained wish power and the other worlds to Jack, who struggled to take in the revelation before they prepared to search for supplies.

• Tao Yu and Jack drove out in the pickup to search for food, planning to avoid the gas station and eventually travel around the Gobi Desert to a military base.
• Tao Yu admitted that he had killed Cao Shaolin, and Jack believed his account after considering Cao Shaolin’s corpse and power.
• Tao Yu considered the Warlord’s Sidearm’s abilities and used its Spiritual Sense to confirm Jack was sincere.
• Tao Yu told Jack about wish power, pioneers, Children of Destiny, and the other worlds, explaining that Cao Shaolin was likely a pioneer like the three who had disappeared.
• Jack stopped the truck in a park, processed Tao Yu’s revelations, then got out and killed the approaching zombies with an entrenching tool before they went to find food.

Tao Yu and Jack raided a zombie-filled school for supplies, and Tao Yu taught Jack the Basic Breathing Technique as they traveled toward Area 51. Near the military base, Tao Yu spotted a spike trap and armed strangers, then tried to approach them by claiming he was local.

• Tao Yu and Jack silently cleared the school's convenience store of zombies and packed food and drinks.
• Tao Yu considered sharing his training methods with Jack, then agreed to teach him in exchange for Jack's help and trust.
• Jack learned the basics of the Basic Breathing Technique during their journey, and Tao Yu warned him about the risks of practicing incorrectly.
• Tao Yu and Jack drove toward the military base beside Area 51, where the meteorite was believed to be studied.
• Tao Yu noticed spikes across the road and armed people hiding nearby, so he warned Jack and approached them, claiming he was local.

Tao Yu and Jack encountered Xilin, an Inner City pioneer who tried to force them into serving her, but Tao Yu used information about a local Chosen One to distract her and killed her and her companions. He explained the pioneers’ situation to Jack and left them with Wish Power and weapons to loot.

• Xilin confronted Tao Yu and Jack, demanded they either become her cannon fodder or lover, and revealed she was from the Dragon Lizard Family in the Inner City.
• Tao Yu told Xilin about a person who could grow stronger by killing zombies, and Xilin explained the roles of Chosen Ones and Luck Stealers before giving Tao Yu Wish Power.
• Tao Yu pointed out Jack as the Chosen One, then used Bullet Time and the Warlord’s Sidearm to kill Xilin and the other pioneers.
• Tao Yu fired into Xilin’s corpse, explained what had happened to Jack, and began telling him about the pioneers.

Tao Yu looted valuable equipment and potions from the Lizardwoman's corpse, then burned the bodies with Jack before traveling toward a zombie-infested military base. They stopped for the night near the damaged base, where Tao Yu planned to train Jack before they attempted to enter.

• Tao Yu searched the Lizardwoman's poisoned corpse and recovered a fang dagger, scale armor, protective guards, and several drugs.
• Tao Yu absorbed Wish Power from six poisonous drugs and kept three Stamina Recovery Potions.
• Tao Yu and Jack burned the corpses and drove toward the military base, discussing the danger of its zombie-filled perimeter.
• Tao Yu and Jack stopped near the base for the night, and Tao Yu offered to teach Jack stance work.

Tao Yu and Jack reached the military base to investigate the underground meteorite research site, finding its barracks overrun with zombies. They discovered a working security camera and learned that someone—or something—was watching them from inside.

• Tao Yu trained at dawn and reflected on the limits of his combat skills and firearms.
• Tao Yu and Jack entered the base through a cut section of perimeter fence and saw the barracks and airstrip swarming with zombies.
• Jack explained that the meteorite research site lay underground and that they needed an ID card to enter.
• Tao Yu spotted a moving security camera and sensed that something inside was watching them.
• Jack used a classified signal in front of the camera, and someone inside responded by nodding it.
• Tao Yu questioned how the base's water supply had remained safe while the rest of the world fell to infection.

Tao Yu and Jack reached the warehouse entrance of the underground laboratory and quietly fought the zombies blocking it. The people watching from the control room saw them clear the horde, leaving the entrance accessible.

• The people in the laboratory's control room noticed Tao Yu and Jack approaching and debated how to contact them.
• Tao Yu and Jack climbed across the roofs and zombie-packed ground to reach the buffer zone outside the warehouse entrance.
• Tao Yu rejected using a Molotov cocktail because the noise and fire could draw more zombies or cause an explosion.
• Tao Yu and Jack split up and began killing the roughly fifty zombies surrounding the entrance while trying to keep quiet.
• The two men methodically cleared the horde, and the people watching the surveillance monitors stared in disbelief.

Tao Yu learned that a Corpse King was held behind the lab’s third security door and chose to investigate it in pursuit of a special meteorite. He slipped through a ventilation duct and found that the supposed test subject was a blood-fed jiangshi, which had not yet detected him.

• James welcomed Tao Yu and Jack into the factory and said seven survivors remained, while the others had become zombies outside.
• In the underground lab, a researcher explained that a Corpse King was one of the sources of the Apocalypse and had escaped control after the power failed.
• Tao Yu learned that the meteorite was stored behind the same security door as the Corpse King and decided to inspect the creature himself.
• The researcher warned Tao Yu that the Corpse King had steel-strong bones, a tough body, and might only be vulnerable through its eyes.
• Tao Yu Melded into the Shadows, traveled through a ventilation duct, and emerged near a Qing Dynasty-robed jiangshi among the lab workers’ corpses.

Tao Yu fought the Corpse King zombie, discovered bullets and mental attacks could not stop it, and defeated it by decapitating it with a shadow-enhanced strike. He called for the others to bring Molotov cocktails, and they began burning the rampaging headless body.

• Tao Yu lured the zombie to a corridor junction and shot it, but the bullets and their mental impact failed to affect it.
• Tao Yu dodged the zombie's charge as it punched through metal and concrete, then hid in the shadows to build up his strength and shadow power.
• Tao Yu unleashed a Tiger Form strike with the Giant Lizard's Fang, severed the zombie's head, and retreated from its wild swings.
• Tao Yu realized the headless zombie could no longer track targets and called for the others to open the door and bring Molotov cocktails.
• Jack made the others open the door and brought the Molotov cocktails, which Tao Yu and the group threw at the zombie's body.

After killing the jiangshi, Tao Yu absorbed its claw and Deified the Corpse Refining Technique, gaining a way to hide a jiangshi in his shadow. He found the meteorite, only to discover that its container held a Shattered World Heart that could improve or awaken a talent.

• Tao Yu burned the jiangshi to death, snapped off its claw, and absorbed it for wish power and the Corpse Refining Technique.
• Tao Yu Deified the technique, allowing a jiangshi to blend into his shadow and become more agile by transforming parts of its body into Shadow Power.
• Tao Yu suspected the jiangshi's creator was a powerful Luck Stealer and decided to recover and leave before calling for help.
• A researcher led Tao Yu to the meteorite, which was secured inside a transparent container filled with mercury-like liquid.
• Tao Yu touched the container and identified its contents as a Shattered World Heart that could improve a talent or awaken a new one.

Tao Yu absorbed a fragment of the Shattered World Heart and learned it could strengthen a talent or help create one. He gained and Deified Firm Body into Fist Intent, then renamed the transformed talent.

• Tao Yu decided to keep the Shattered World Heart fragment and absorb it rather than risk drawing attention by asking about it.
• Tao Yu explained his plan to Jack, who agreed to guard him and asked Tao Yu to teach him Myriad Flow Five Forms later.
• Tao Yu absorbed the meteorite in an experimental room and discovered the fragment could strengthen talents or open a new one by anchoring a skill.
• Tao Yu tried to strengthen his divinity but was repelled, then anchored Five Forms Unification - Modified and gained Firm Body C-.
• Tao Yu Deified Firm Body into Firm Body??, which improved physical and mental skill training, and renamed it Fist Intent S-.