Chapter Summaries

After Qin Shi defeated Jiang Shijie with his tenfold amplification, officials discussed using the victory to support his nomination as an Eastern Xia Torch, despite concerns about his Fourfold Chosen identity. Qin Shi recovered from the strain of fighting as the Netherworld Rift widened, and Yu Weiwei entered the Netherworld to protect him from a swarm of pillar's minions.

• Qin Shi defeated Jiang Shijie in three punches, revealed his tenfold amplification, and accepted Jiang Shijie's concession.
• Wu Yong declined Qin Shi's invitation to spar, while reporters gathered outside Nanhuang Dojo to cover the victory.
• Chen Ruofu and Fang Putang discussed nominating Qin Shi as an Eastern Xia Torch and worried that his Fourfold Chosen identity could hinder the Tribunal's approval.
• Fang Putang suggested Qin Shi join the Fourth Legion to gain support from Tribunal factions that admired Marshal Qin, and Chen Ruofu noted Liang Zhengxiong's Fourth Legion service and past trial.
• Qin Shi collapsed from exhaustion, then cultivated at Nanhuang Dojo as dense Energy Factors rushed through the widening Netherworld Rift.
• Yu Weiwei entered the Netherworld, destroyed a swarm of pillar's minions, and declared that Qin Shi was under her protection.

The Netherworld Research Institute detected a rift opening near Nanhuang Dojo, where Yu Weiwei confronted the Great Demon Getu. When Getu attacked Qin Shi, the Four Pillars’ crests in his mind destroyed its spirit, leaving Yu Weiwei warning him that their emblems were not reliable protection.

• Section Chief Ma’s team detected a dangerous Netherworld surge at Old Factory Street but stayed calm because Nanhuang Dojo had reported a training exercise.
• Yu Weiwei held back Getu and its Servant Creatures while Getu taunted her with dark crystals showing the faces of people she cared about.
• Qin Shi entered the Netherworld through meditation and joined Yu Weiwei, despite her urging him to leave.
• Getu attacked Qin Shi to provoke Yu Weiwei, but the Four Pillars’ crests in Qin Shi’s mind overwhelmed and destroyed the demon’s spirit.
• Yu Weiwei’s witchlike transformation subsided, and she warned Qin Shi that the Four Pillars’ emblems were labels rather than protective charms.

Qin Shi and Yu Weiwei escaped the Netherworld after the Four Pillars’ power nearly destroyed Getu, then Yu Weiwei explained the Nine Great Powers of the Star Sea and Eastern Xia’s potential. As Hengzhou began its Great Expansion, Qin Shi received a conscription report sending him to the Western Front.

• Getu attacked Qin Shi and Yu Weiwei, but the Four Pillars’ power repeatedly shattered him until the [Mother Nest] shielded him with a wall of flesh.
• Yu Weiwei warned Qin Shi about the Chaos Pillars, and they escaped the Netherworld rift together.
• Back at Nanhuang Dojo, Yu Weiwei explained Getu’s origins and described the Nine Great Powers, including Eastern Xia and its exceptional potential.
• The Great Expansion began across Hengzhou, requiring eligible students and residents to serve with the military.
• On the seventh day of Hengzhou’s full wartime lockdown, Qin Shi received a conscription report ordering him to the Western Front.

Qin Shi prepared to join the Western Front and was registered by the Tribunal as a protected Stellar Cup contender. He met Ying Huang, who offered a partnership and evidence against Ying Xiao, leaving Qin Shi to weigh the offer.

• Secretary Huo told Qin Shi he would deploy to the Western Front in the third wave, receive a Tribunal mark for Stellar Cup scoring, and serve under a confidentiality protocol because Getu might have marked him.
• Qin Shi injected the golden liquid, and the Tribunal registered him as a protected target and directed its Main Brain to watch Hengzhou.
• Qin Shi met Ying Huang at a milk tea shop, where Ying Huang proposed a personal partnership and warned that powerful figures might suppress Qin Shi for resembling He Lanchán.
• Ying Huang offered evidence that Ying Xiao had smuggled military equipment as proof of his sincerity.

Qin Shi accepted Ying Huang’s offer of a logistics team and, after several days at home, left for the Western Front under a cover identity. He reached the recruitment center and discovered the support group Ying Huang had arranged was recruiting artillery specialists through a suspicious notice.

• Qin Shi pressed Ying Huang for better terms, and Ying Huang agreed to provide a dedicated logistics team in exchange for strong results in the Great Expansion Movement.
• Ying Huang told Old Li that Qin Shi resisted the Nine Clans and reminded him of He Lanchán, then decided to see whether Qin Shi could distinguish himself in battle.
• After noticing his family and friends worrying about the Great Expansion, Qin Shi called Chen Ruofu and chose to head to the Frontline.
• Holwen drove Qin Shi to the recruitment center, explained his cover identity and assignment to Wall City, and Qin Shi began enlistment under the name Qin Shi.
• Qin Shi joined Ying Huang’s group, Hard-Luck Workhorses: Daily Gigs, and found a recruitment notice seeking artillery specialists for the support squad.

Qin Shi joined a support squad, then traveled with newly conscripted recruits toward White Poplar Fortress City while keeping his identity and strength concealed. The convoy arrived at the Western Front fortress, where the recruits would be assigned to training camps.

• Qin Shi introduced himself to the support squad, sent them two hundred Void Coins, and told them not to embellish rumors about him.
• Qin Shi observed the recruits in his dormitory and met Gao Pao and Song Ping as they discussed the Western Front’s progress.
• The recruits boarded military trucks, and Qin Shi was assigned the passenger seat because of his family connections.
• During a roadside stop, a lieutenant described the three training camps and warned the recruits about the dangers of war.
• After two days on the road, Qin Shi’s convoy entered White Poplar Fortress City.

Qin Shi joined White Poplar Fortress City’s notorious Yellow Springs Training Camp, where instructor Fu Lei tested the recruits with a choice of training manuals and then a brutal early-morning muster. The recruits learned that anyone expelled from Yellow Springs would be abandoned as a Lone Ghost in the Fortress City.

• Qin Shi arrived at White Poplar Fortress City, where Old Fu warned the recruits that Yellow Springs Training Camp had a casualty rate above sixty percent and let volunteers choose to join Zheng Xuebin.
• Gao Pao and several recruits, including Qin Shi, volunteered for Yellow Springs, and Zheng Xuebin drove them to the camp, where Fu Lei welcomed them.
• Fu Lei introduced himself as the Butcher and gave recruits ten days to prove themselves, then let them select training manuals; Qin Shi chose Soldier's Decree Art, drawing Fu Lei's attention.
• On the third day, Fu Lei woke the recruits at four in the morning and demanded they assemble on the parade ground, praising Gao Pao, Qin Shi, and Zhao Su for arriving quickly.
• Fu Lei announced that recruits expelled from Yellow Springs would become Lone Ghosts in White Poplar unless they crossed more than a thousand kilometers of wilderness to return to the Metropolitan Area.

At Yellow Springs Training Camp, Qin Shi excelled under Fu Lei’s brutal drills while Fu Lei warned his adjutant that White Poplar Fortress City could face disaster as the Great Expansion became a war of attrition. On the recruits’ third day, Fu Lei escalated training by offering Black Medicine as a reward for exploring the Contaminated Zone.

• Fu Lei told the recruits that failing Yellow Springs’ assessment would cost them their recruit status and frontline opportunities, then pushed them through exhausting physical training.
• Qin Shi completed the drills without strain, used his Soldier's Decree Art to cultivate in White Poplar, and kept his true strength concealed by investing most of his Life Force in his field.
• Fu Lei learned Qin Shi was a young descendant of the pioneer Qin family and ordered extra drills and a dose of Black Medicine for him, despite his adjutant’s safety concerns.
• Fu Lei warned his adjutant that White Poplar had scant supplies and might fall as Servant Creatures escalated their attacks, while questioning the decision to open eastern and western fronts.
• By the third day, Qin Shi still led the recruits, twelve had been eliminated, and Fu Lei announced that recruits who completed Contaminated Zone exploration missions would receive Black Medicine.

Qin Shi volunteered for an exploration mission into the Contaminated Zone and absorbed Black Medicine with startling speed, concealing the extent of his strength. As he and his teammates set out, a hired squad began clearing Chaos Faction ambushers from the area.

• Fu Lei explained Black Medicine’s effects and dangers, then asked who would volunteer for a Contaminated Zone exploration mission.
• Qin Shi volunteered alongside Gao Pao and Zhao Su, received the field manual and supplies, and injected a dose of Black Medicine.
• Qin Shi absorbed the dose in under eight minutes and secretly raised his Life Force, impressing Fu Lei, who ordered a backup team to protect the recruits rather than cancel the mission.
• Qin Shi, Gao Pao, and Zhao Su prepared to leave White Poplar Fortress City for their exploration mission.
• A Chaos Faction group planned to ambush recruits, but a woman from the Ox-Horse Squad killed them and received orders to patrol the surrounding area.

Qin Shi led Gao Pao and Zhao Su into the Contaminated Zone to search for valuable items, despite the dangers of Black Moon Night. As Servant Creatures gathered and his backup team followed, Qin Shi confronted supernatural apparitions and entered a substation, where his Monument Panel activated a new achievement.

• Qin Shi accepted leadership of the exploration mission and assigned Gao Pao to watch and Zhao Su to provide support as they planned to search the power station, outpost, and government building.
• A backup team led by the Short-haired Woman monitored Qin Shi, then followed him into the Contaminated Zone despite the Black Moon Night and the risk of a beast tide.
• Qin Shi entered the abandoned town, found signs of a past shootout, and continued toward the Contaminated Zone after resting briefly.
• Qin Shi and his teammates pressed on under the Black Moon, and Qin Shi used the Void Meditation Method to reveal and eliminate pale apparitions for tiny crystal-like essences.
• Qin Shi told Gao Pao and Zhao Su to stay put, climbed into the substation, and triggered the Monument Panel achievement [Tianren's Gift], which began converting into [Basic Achievement—Insight].

Qin Shi used Tianren’s Insight blessing and his Electric Shock Saber to hunt the hidden Void Beasts in the substation. When the Ox-Horse Squad arrived during the Black Moon Tide, they watched him kill a fresh horde in seconds, then reported in to him.

• Tianren’s blessing gave Qin Shi the Insight talent and an 80% weapon mastery bonus as he entered the substation.
• Qin Shi used Insight to locate and slay nineteen hidden Void Beasts, leaving charred marks across the floor.
• The Short-haired Woman and Watermelon Head entered the substation and followed the marks, realizing Qin Shi had already cleared the first group.
• The Black Moon Tide opened a rift that released thirty Void Beasts, but Qin Shi cut them all down in less than ten seconds.
• The Short-haired Woman greeted Qin Shi and announced that the Ox-Horse Squad had reported in.

Qin Shi cleared the substation with help from the support team and broke through to the Fourth Dimension before leading everyone toward the forward base. There, Pomber, a Man-faced Spider Demonkin, ambushed the group and singled out the Short-haired Woman.

• The Short-haired Woman explained that she and A-Ma were Xuyang Heavy Industry specialists with battlefield permits, and Qin Shi put them to work carrying contaminated samples.
• At the Contaminated Zone’s administrative building, Pomber defied the elder’s warning and left to hunt humans before Black Moon Night’s nest hatched.
• Qin Shi finished clearing the substation, broke through the Third Dimension, and summoned Gao Pao and Zhao Su to collect samples.
• Qin Shi led the recovered group toward the forward base as A-Ma sensed the approaching second wave of the Black Moon Night tide.
• Pomber struck the group with black lightning at the forward base, and A-Ma identified the attacker as a Demonkin.
• Qin Shi planted his saber and asked Xiao Gao whether the field manual valued samples from this kind of Servant Creature more highly.

Qin Shi confronted Pomber, a Man-faced Spider Servant Creature drawn to Qin Shi’s perfect Life Force, while the Yellow Springs support team prepared to help. After a fierce battle in the Contaminated Zone, Qin Shi defeated Pomber with his unarmed strength and crushed his head.

• Pomber arrived during Black Moon Night and targeted the support team, but became fixated on Qin Shi after sensing his 3A-grade Life Force purity.
• The Short-haired Woman offered to cover the team's retreat, but Qin Shi refused and told Xiao Gao, Xiao Zhao, and the others to stay safe while he fought Pomber.
• Qin Shi charged Pomber and exchanged more than a hundred blows as Pomber absorbed the Black Moon's energy, regenerated his limbs, and pushed his Life Force toward the two-hundred-point threshold.
• Pomber broke Qin Shi's weaponless defenses with his powerful body, but Qin Shi used his Professional Level field and tenfold-amplified punches to overwhelm him.
• After three hundred and ninety-seven thunderous blows, Qin Shi knocked Pomber unconscious, then crushed his head and spine.

Qin Shi killed Pomber, absorbed the Man-faced Spider’s Super Digestion trait, and trained until he broke through the Fifth Limit. As he continued cultivating in the contaminated zone, the Man-faced Spider Chief Priest discovered that the Black Moon’s energy tide had weakened and wondered who had taken its power.

• Qin Shi defeated Pomber with his bare hands, and his Perfect Core absorbed the dead Servant’s Super Digestion trait while a Man-faced Spider curse marked him.
• Qin Shi kept the curse, ordered Gao Pao and the others to prepare for incoming Servant Creatures, and assigned Zhao Su to collect battlefield samples.
• Qin Shi meditated and cultivated with his four inheritance methods, drawing energy from the contaminated zone while the Short-haired Woman and Watermelon Head returned from fighting lesser servants.
• Qin Shi opened the Fifth Limit, transformed his body, and raised his energy-conversion efficiency to ninety-five percent before beginning another training cycle.
• The Man-faced Spider Chief Priest learned that Helius, Swor, and Debir had failed to complete the nest-hatching ceremony and found that the Black Moon’s energy tide had weakened.

The Man-faced Spider clan sent Tiya to capture Qin Shi, while White Poplar Fortress City's command watched scouts die as the Black Moon Tide empowered the Servant Creatures. As Qin Shi continued evolving near the forward base, Tiya arrived and a White Poplar reconnaissance unit intervened.

• The Chief Priest learned that a human had disrupted the clan's nests and ordered Tiya to bring Qin Shi back alive as an offering to the Great Demon.
• Yao Guodong argued with Lord Tai Sub-body over the cost of scouting missions, then saw the Man-faced Spider clan slaughter scouts under the Black Moon Tide.
• Qin Shi absorbed the Black Moon's energy as his companions worried about attracting more Servant Creatures, and Tiya sensed his powerful Life Force.
• The Monument Panel urged Qin Shi to mate with a fertile female, but he focused on completing his evolution and prepared to fight Tiya.
• A soldier from the First Reconnaissance Battalion of White Poplar Fortress City arrived and ordered the new recruits to fall back.

The White Poplar Fortress City scouting captain and his squad confronted Tiya, a twice-evolved Man-faced Spider, but Qin Shi completed his first evolution and revealed that he could absorb the black moon’s power. Qin Shi overwhelmed Tiya and proved her corrosion could barely affect him.

• The scouting captain attacked Tiya with his Godspeed strike, but her corrosive Life Field Domain stopped him and left him badly injured.
• The Short-haired Woman and Watermelon Head prepared to keep fighting, while Watermelon Head told A Niu to ready the squad’s final contingency plan.
• Qin Shi completed his first evolution and absorbed the black moon tide, stunning Tiya, the Short-haired Woman, Gao Pao, and Zhao Su.
• Qin Shi seized Tiya by the neck and hurled her through the outpost base into a wall, overpowering her despite her second evolution.
• Tiya praised Qin Shi’s strength and worried that her corrosion might hurt him, but Qin Shi brushed away her Life Force and said it only made him itch.

Qin Shi endured Tiya’s escalating corrosion, gained new traits, and killed it, while White Poplar Fortress City’s command staff investigated the anomaly. Governor Feng Wuyang reflected on the burden of wartime decisions and resolved to include his own life in the cost of the Great Expansion’s success.

• Qin Shi endured Tiya’s corrosion as his body resisted the damage, then provoked it into unleashing its full power.
• Tiya exhausted its Life Force with a devastating attack, but Qin Shi survived, gained several traits, and crushed it along with the outpost buildings.
• Yao Guodong and Lord Tai Sub-body identified the scouting team’s survival and the Elite Servant’s death as evidence of an unknown, potentially dangerous variable.
• Feng Wuyang ordered reinforcements and reconnaissance across the battlefronts, then discussed with Tai Jun how a past military exercise had taught him the cost of poor battlefield judgment.
• Feng Wuyang vowed not to waste the lives sacrificed in the Great Expansion and said including himself in the cost could raise their chance of success.

Qin Shi continued his exploration mission after defeating a Man-faced Spider, while the Scouting Team recognized his extraordinary strength and reported his name. As he headed toward a contaminated administrative building, he proposed a broader support arrangement to two Xuyang Heavy Industry employees.

• Lu Yao collected contamination samples as Jin Chuan examined the battlefield and marveled that Qin Shi had killed the Man-faced Spider with a single blow.
• Lu Yao gave Qin Shi a protective combat uniform, and he sent Gao Pao and Zhao Su back with Jin Chuan and Lu Yao while he continued toward the administrative building.
• Qin Shi identified himself to Jin Chuan, who recognized his surname and resolved to investigate the King of Soldiers-level recruit when reporting his merit.
• Qin Shi learned that the Short-haired Woman and Ah Ma had five supply loads in their Space Backpack and asked them to support him beyond Ying Huang's contract.
• Qin Shi proposed that he provide personnel while the Xuyang Heavy Industry employees supplied equipment, fire support, and battlefield coordination, leaving the Short-haired Woman to suspect he wanted to freeload off them.

Qin Shi secured a contract with Long Qiuyuan’s Beast of Burden Team to receive supplies and support during the coming Western Front battle, promising he could make a difference. Meanwhile, Jiang Shijie’s squad received orders to drive Rakshasa Ants toward a Man-faced Spider nest, leaving the reason for the operation unclear.

• Qin Shi persuaded Long Qiuyuan that supporting him could earn her team merits and help them escape corporate exploitation, and they forged a contract lasting until the Western Front fighting ended.
• Long Qiuyuan introduced herself and her teammate Ye Xiaotang, then gave Qin Shi Energy Liquid to replenish his strength.
• Qin Shi reflected on the limits of individual power and wondered whether the path beyond the Martial God realm required operating on a larger scale.
• Jiang Shijie admitted that Qin Shi had defeated him fairly with tenfold amplification, and he decided to seek combat experience in the Black Xie Starfield.
• Wu Yong received orders for the support battalion to drive Rakshasa Ants five hundred kilometers west toward a Man-faced Spider’s third-level nest.

Lin Xiong and the Seventh Legion prepared to drive the Rakshasa Ants from their nests, while Adjutant Zheng concealed his personal motives behind orders to support White Poplar Fortress City. Meanwhile, Qin Shi and his companions watched the Man-faced Spiders’ administrative-building nest, where he proposed an unusual infiltration plan.

• Lin Xiong, Wu Yong, and Jiang Shijie returned to camp and prepared to join the operation against the Rakshasa Ants.
• The soldiers equipped themselves with combat suits, Chainsaw Swords, and Heavenly Soldier Exoskeleton Armor before setting out.
• Haila warned Adjutant Zheng that destroying the Rakshasa Ants’ nests might provoke the Empress, but he ordered the operation to proceed.
• Adjutant Zheng considered Mo Zhenting’s interest in the new recruit Qin Shi as the Seventh Legion’s trucks headed for the Rakshasa Ants’ nest.
• Qin Shi assured Long Qiuyuan that he would not charge into the administrative building and said his infiltration plan was to eliminate every Servant Creature that saw him.