Chapter Summaries

One year after the New Dynasty Empire was founded, students Wang Xiaohu and Zhao Dali saw the Empire’s advanced military forces in Kyoto and decided to enlist. Their decision came as the Empire prepared to send troops abroad.

• Wang Xiaohu and Zhao Dali discussed rumors that the Empire planned to send troops against the Barbarians in all four directions, and Zhao Dali urged Wang Xiaohu to enlist.
• A Rune Airship and Rune Fighter Jets flew over Kyoto, thrilling the crowd and convincing Wang Xiaohu that the Empire was mobilizing for war.
• A formation of Rune Mechs marched through the city, and Zhao Dali praised the Empire’s military strength and the Emperor.
• Wang Xiaohu and Zhao Dali each decided to enlist and serve the Empire.

Zhang Ming’s Empire conquered and unified the Central Continent, while Zhang Ming mapped the wider world and concluded that the Fortune Realm was a small world affected by a higher-dimensional realm. He left the observatory wondering what lay beyond the Four Realms and whether the Martial Arts World belonged to a greater level of existence.

• The New Dynasty launched its campaign against the Barbarians, and six months later the Empire had conquered them and expanded across the Central Continent.
• Zhang Ming named the continent the Central Continent, and Empire citizens became curious about what lay beyond its surrounding seas.
• At the West Mountain Observatory, Zhang Ming recalled that he had met a barrier about three thousand kilometers above the ground.
• Zhang Ming mapped the world and found five separate continents, naming the four beyond the Central Continent the Eastern Continent of Victory, the Western Continent of Bulls, the Southern Continent of Faith, and the Northern Continent of Togetherness.
• Zhang Ming speculated that a powerful higher-dimensional world had influenced the Fortune Realm and wondered whether the Martial Arts World and other realms occupied higher levels.

After a century and a half in the Fortune Realm, Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) returned to the Martial Arts World and reunited with Zhang Ming (No.). The two toured the Otherworld Explorer and No. 89 Starbase, where Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) saw how far the world had advanced.

• Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) returned through a World Gate to a core chamber inside the Otherworld Explorer, which was still under construction 123 light-years from the Ancestral Star.
• Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) explained that he had spent a hundred years raising the Fortune Realm's national fortune and controlling its Heavenly Dao, making it his exclusive small world.
• Zhang Ming (No.) declined to synchronize memories and instead offered to show Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) the Martial Arts World as it was 150 years after he left.
• Zhang Ming (No.) explained that the Otherworld Explorer had been built far from the Ancestral Star based on a message purportedly sent from the future.
• The two Zhang Mings toured No. 89 Starbase, where Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) found a technological society whose residents were all at least Innate Martial Artists, with the strongest far exceeding Martial Saints.

Zhang Ming (No.) showed Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) how humanity had transformed into a vast star-faring civilization over the past 150 years. He revealed that an experiment with the Gathering Yin Zombie Array had opened a passage to the Abyss, leading to an 80-year war that ended just over 20 years ago.

• Zhang Ming (No.) told Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) that humanity had colonized more than 300 planets across nine star systems and grown to roughly three trillion people.
• Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) learned that humanity had modified itself for life in the starry sky, including adopting communication methods that rarely relied on mouths.
• Zhang Ming (No.) explained that an experiment on a distant meteorite caused the Gathering Yin Zombie Array to open a spatial passage humanity named the Abyss.
• Zhang Ming (No.) revealed that the passage led to a bloody war with the Abyss that lasted 80 years and ended a little over 20 years earlier.
• Zhang Ming (No.) told Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) that the Otherworld Explorer had begun construction after the war, then invited him to return to the Ancestral Star and share what he had gained in the Fortune Realm.

Zhang Ming (Number) explained the expanded martial arts levels and the uncertainty surrounding the path to Level Nine. Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) returned to the Ancestral Star and met the main body, who planned to synchronize their memories and investigate whether the Fortune Realm Fortune Method could help him reach the Cosmic Realm.

• Zhang Ming (Number) described Levels Seven through Nine and said the main body had reached only the Half-Step Cosmic Realm, with Level Ten still unknown.
• Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) judged that he was Planetary Level outside the Fortune Realm and Stellar Level while empowered as its Heavenly Dao.
• Zhang Ming (Number) used spatial power to take Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) back to the Ancestral Star.
• Zhang Ming (Fortune Realm) met the main body in a golden hall on the Ancestral Star.
• The main body proposed synchronizing their memories and testing whether the Fortune Realm Fortune Method could help him reach Level Nine.

After merging with his Fortune Realm counterpart, Zhang Ming discovered that his Human Dao Law comprehension was weakened to 0.01% in the Martial Arts World, but found a way to improve it with his Golden Finger. He concluded that mastering the laws of the universe was the path beyond Cosmic Realm Level 9 and toward Level 10, the Lord of the Universe.

• Zhang Ming discovered that the Human Dao Law he had fully comprehended in the Fortune Realm was weakened to 0.01% in the Martial Arts World.
• Zhang Ming realized that entering the threshold of law comprehension set him apart from those who had never comprehended laws.
• Zhang Ming used his long-abandoned [Ignite Comprehension] Golden Finger and found that it strengthened his affinity for laws as well as his comprehension.
• Zhang Ming realized he could combine the Golden Finger with the Fortune Realm's Heavenly Dao and the New Dynasty Empire's national fortune to accelerate his study of laws.
• Zhang Ming identified mastering every universal law as the path to Cosmic Realm Level 10 and becoming the Lord of the Universe.

Zhang Ming connected humanity’s territories through a Human Dao Law network and used the Fortune Realm to rapidly comprehend its laws, bringing him to half-step Level Ten. He returned to the Martial Arts World and prepared to continue his advancement while considering a journey to the Immortal Cultivation World and what Golden Finger to give his avatar.

• Zhang Ming abandoned rapid comprehension of the Martial Arts World’s Human Dao Law and built Human Dao Law Connection Giant Towers across human settlements within a hundred light-years.
• Zhang Ming activated the Human Dao Law, linking the towers and gathering the fortune of three trillion people into a vast dragon above the Ancestral Star.
• Zhang Ming returned to the Fortune Realm and used its Heavenly Dao, Human Dao fortune, [Ignite Comprehension], and his techniques to raise his understanding of its laws to 100%.
• After a year, Zhang Ming emerged with the Fortune Realm’s myriad laws compressed to 0.01% in the Martial Arts World and sensed the universe’s favor.
• Zhang Ming considered the Abyssal Demons, the Immortal Cultivation World, and how to equip his avatar, then began devising a Golden Finger.

After transmigrating into a Menial Disciple of the Flowing Light Sword Sect, Zhang Ming realized that Ye Tian was a true Destined Protagonist surrounded by an inexplicable stream of challengers. He watched Ye Tian’s rivals dismiss his strength and hand over spirit stones in repeated defeats, leaving Zhang Ming convinced that something was deeply wrong.

• Two Menial Disciples mocked Ye Tian’s first-place finish and set out to challenge him for his Ranked Elixir in a Gambling Duel.
• Zhang Ming emerged from hiding and recalled that Ye Tian had won the competition through his high-grade Gold Spiritual Root and exceptional Flowing Light Basic Swordplay.
• Zhang Ming connected Ye Tian’s repeated persecutions, lucky escapes, and victory over powerful opponents to his status as a true Destined Protagonist.
• Zhang Ming recalled how rumors recast Ye Tian’s victories as luck and loophole exploitation, provoking Menial Disciples to challenge him for spirit stones.
• Zhang Ming noted that dozens of challengers had watched Ye Tian defeat a Qi Cultivation Layer Three opponent, then still lined up to challenge him and lose their stakes.

Zhang Ming watched Ye Tian repeatedly defeat challengers, then returned to his room to discover a roulette wheel packed with powerful Golden Fingers. After drawing, he saw the needle slow toward a blank sector and cursed as it stopped.

• Zhang Ming watched Ye Tian defeat a series of menial disciples amid the same reactions and taunts, then left the crowd before his turn came.
• Zhang Ming returned to his room and found a colorful roulette wheel containing more than a hundred Golden Fingers.
• Zhang Ming reasoned that his powerful main body no longer needed him to be cautious, since his main task was to leave a locator in the Immortal Cultivation World.
• Zhang Ming considered killing Ye Tian to test whether the protagonist would survive through sudden breakthroughs or other coincidences.
• Zhang Ming spun the roulette wheel, watched the needle slow near its blank sector, and cursed when it stopped.

Zhang Ming was assigned to the Spiritual Plant Institute while Ye Tian was sent to the Miscellaneous Institute, despite his talent and strength. The chapter ended with Liu Ningmeng entering the Sword Institute and disciples taunting Ye Tian over the difference in their postings.

• Zhang Ming told Ye Tian that he wanted to join the Talisman Institute, then learned he would be assigned to the Spiritual Plant Institute.
• Ye Tian said he would accept whatever assignment the sect gave him.
• The elder assigned Zhang Ming to the Spiritual Plant Institute and Ye Tian to the Miscellaneous Institute.
• Liu Ningmeng was assigned to the Sword Institute, drawing an uproar from the menials.
• Menials mocked Ye Tian for being assigned to the Miscellaneous Institute while Liu Ningmeng entered the Sword Institute.

Zhang Ming settled into his new role cultivating Spiritual Fields at Branch 13 and studied the basic Spiritual Plant Techniques Steward Niu had assigned him. He quickly brought four techniques to Proficient, then stopped when his weak body and limited Mana gave him a headache.

• Steward Niu assigned Zhang Ming and Chen Dayong two mu of low-grade Spiritual Fields and gave them manuals for tending Spiritual Plants.
• Chen Dayong worried that Steward Niu would leave them without guidance, but Zhang Ming reassured him that the steward's hands-off approach suited him.
• Zhang Ming reviewed the Spiritual Rain, Enrich Soil, Insect Repelling, and Golden Blade Techniques in his courtyard and found them simple to learn.
• Zhang Ming invented a handwritten Attribute Panel and recorded his four Spiritual Plant Techniques as Proficient.
• After several hours of practice, Zhang Ming developed a headache and realized his body and limited Mana constrained his learning.

Zhang Ming settled into a peaceful routine tending his Spiritual Fields while learning that Ye Tian had advanced to Qi Cultivation Layer Four and was preparing for the Outer Disciple examination. When he heard the examination would take place in a Secret Realm amid rising tensions with the Demonic Path, Zhang Ming dismissed his unease and resolved to keep lying low.

• Zhang Ming planted Sword Spirit Rice across his two mu of Spiritual Fields and prepared to wait for the harvest.
• Chen Dayong told Zhang Ming that Ye Tian had used Gambling Duels to avoid Miscellaneous Institute work and advanced from Qi Cultivation Layer Three to Layer Four in a month.
• Ye Tian gained a reputation throughout the Flowing Light Sword Sect and prepared to take the triennial Outer Disciple examination.
• Chen Dayong told Zhang Ming that the examination would be held in a small Secret Realm and projected for disciples to watch because tensions with the Demonic Path had grown.
• Zhang Ming felt a brief foreboding but decided the examination had nothing to do with him and focused on tending his fields and finding ways to slack off.

Ye Tian entered the Flowing Light Sword Sect’s outer sect assessment with confidence, while Zhang Ming watched the live broadcast from the Spiritual Plant Headquarters. When Blood Mist Cave cultivators invaded the sealed Secret Realm and the broadcast cut out, Zhang Ming left, convinced Ye Tian would survive and reflecting on the disaster’s likely toll on the sect.

• Ye Tian entered the assessment’s minor Secret Realm, confident that his amplified spells would secure first place.
• Zhang Ming and other cultivators watched the assessment on a projected screen, where Ye Tian quickly rose among the top scorers.
• Blood-red patterns and static disrupted the broadcast as voices revealed that Blood Mist Cave cultivators had entered the Secret Realm and its gate was sealed by an array.
• The elders learned they could not reopen the Secret Realm for at least two days, and the broadcast vanished, alarming the crowd.
• Zhang Ming left the plaza and returned home, reasoning that Ye Tian would survive and that the incident could devastate the outer and menial disciples.

After the Secret Realm disaster, Ye Tian was imprisoned in the Eternal Cold Ice Cave while Zhang Ming celebrated his new technique integration and considered ways to automate his farming. His experiments led him to wonder whether he could strengthen his cultivation by skipping levels altogether.

• Zhang Ming learned that Ye Tian had been accused of helping Blood Mist Cave and sent to the Eternal Cold Ice Cave, where Zhang Ming expected him to find an opportunity.
• Zhang Ming successfully combined four techniques into an Integrated Planting and Harvesting Technique that watered, enriched, and protected a flower bed while harvesting it.
• Zhang Ming postponed making a puppet because he could not explain how he had learned the Puppet Technique, and he planned to look for one at the black market or Cultivation Method Pavilion.
• Zhang Ming explored ways to modify Spiritual Rain, Soil Moistening, Insect Repelling, and Golden Blade techniques, then stopped himself from focusing only on combat applications.
• Zhang Ming rejected ordinary meditation and considered using knowledge from other worlds to skip cultivation levels and jump directly to Golden Core or Nascent Soul.

Six months after Ye Tian’s release, Zhang Ming struggled to afford the records he needed for his intelligent puppet farming plan and decided to seek Ye Tian’s help. He planned to offer something in trade, then reviewed his skills, leaving his potential bargaining chip unclear.

• Zhang Ming heard that Ye Tian had been released from the Eternal Cold Ice Cave, reinstated, and promoted to Outer Disciple.
• Zhang Ming calculated that his two mu of Spiritual Fields earned too little to buy even basic Puppetry records without saving for years.
• Zhang Ming weighed the danger of contacting Ye Tian against spending ten more years farming and decided to visit him the next day.
• Zhang Ming wondered what he could trade and dismissed the wheat in his courtyard as unappealing.
• Zhang Ming summoned his Attribute Panel and saw that his cultivation remained at Qi Cultivation Layer One while six skills had reached Mastery.

Zhang Ming met with Ye Tian to trade a technique for knowledge of the Puppet Path, presenting a weakened technique derived from his own advanced work. Ye Tian discovered that the technique had been amplified into a potent recovery skill, and Zhang Ming was left puzzled by his excitement.

• Zhang Ming reviewed the powerful techniques he had developed over six months and decided to seek Ye Tian’s help obtaining Puppet Path knowledge.
• After waiting several days for Ye Tian to return, Zhang Ming met him at his cultivation cave abode and used flattery to smooth their conversation.
• Zhang Ming explained that Puppet Path knowledge would help his studies in the Spiritual Plant Institute and offered Ye Tian a self-created technique in exchange.
• Ye Tian read the booklet and discovered that the Two Forms Profound Water Technique could store Profound Water to rapidly heal severe injuries.
• Zhang Ming noticed Ye Tian’s unusually delighted reaction and wondered why he valued a technique Zhang Ming believed was weakened and limited.

Zhang Ming traded the weakened [Two Forms Profound Water Technique] to Ye Tian and arranged to receive foundational knowledge of the Puppet Path and techniques in return. Back at Branch 13, Zhang Ming planned to improve the technique through successive upgrades and began investigating how Qi cultivation worked, but ended the day with only vague ideas.

• Ye Tian agreed to find Zhang Ming basic records of the Path of Puppetry and foundational knowledge of the path of techniques.
• Zhang Ming wondered why Ye Tian had been so pleased with the ordinary [Two Forms Profound Water Technique] and considered giving him improved versions over time.
• Zhang Ming reflected that Ye Tian had taken the bait, though his rapid growth might soon make the techniques irrelevant to him.
• Zhang Ming used his precise inner perception while cultivating the [Flowing Light Qi Cultivation Art] to investigate how spiritual energy became Mana and how Qi Cultivation layers were defined.
• After his investigation left him with an aching head and only vague plans, Zhang Ming wished he could obtain ancient explanations of Qi cultivation and decided to rest.

Ye Tian gave Zhang Ming Jade Slips on puppetcraft and magic arts, then invited him to join the Alliance Society. Zhang Ming refused but offered Ye Tian an improved Two Forms Profound Water Technique, prompting Ye Tian to offer further help and leaving Zhang Ming’s plan to fleece the protagonist on track.

• Ye Tian visited Zhang Ming and gave him Jade Slips containing foundational puppet knowledge and True Person Crimson Brow’s explanations of first-rank magic arts.
• Ye Tian invited Zhang Ming to join the Alliance Society and promised him resources, but Zhang Ming declined because he disliked restraints.
• When Ye Tian seemed ready to sever ties, Zhang Ming claimed that meeting him had inspired another improvement to the Two Forms Profound Water Technique.
• Zhang Ming showed Ye Tian the upgraded technique, which could store 20 drops of Profound Water and restore increasingly severe injuries.
• Delighted by the improvement, Ye Tian offered to help Zhang Ming obtain whatever resources he needed.

Zhang Ming speculated that Ye Tian’s Golden Finger enhanced techniques, explaining his unusual interest in the [Two Forms Profound Water Technique]. He decided to create passive and automatic techniques to profit from Ye Tian, then began studying puppet-making methods so he could build an automatic farming puppet.

• Zhang Ming wondered why Ye Tian had been delighted by the [Two Forms Profound Water Technique] and considered whether Ye Tian was a reincarnator.
• Zhang Ming guessed that Ye Tian had a Golden Finger that enhanced techniques, making the ordinary, automatically activated [Two Forms Profound Water Technique] especially useful to him.
• Zhang Ming concluded that passive, automatic, and support-type techniques would suit Ye Tian, though he could not create powerful techniques yet.
• The next day, Zhang Ming took out the two valuable Jade Slips he had traded from Ye Tian and chose to study the basics of the Puppet Path first.
• Zhang Ming connected his spiritual power to the Puppet Path Jade Slip and examined its methods for making wooden snakes, wooden men, and wooden spiders.

Zhang Ming studied Ye Tian’s Puppet Path Jade Slip and used its teachings to refine his Farming Puppet, which he then tested in his fields. As Zhang Ming relaxed beside the working puppet, Steward Niu arrived, leaving his purpose unclear.

• Zhang Ming recognized that Ye Tian’s Jade Slip contained unusually complete Puppet Path teachings and used them to improve his Farming Puppet.
• An Outer Disciple learned that Zhang Ming was Ye Tian’s close friend and planned to pressure Steward Niu by offering to obtain an Ice Vein Pill for Niu’s afflicted Dao companion.
• Several days later, Zhang Ming’s Farming Puppet plowed his Sword Spirit Rice fields while Zhang Ming rested nearby.
• Zhang Ming spotted Steward Niu approaching and wondered why he had come.