Chapter Summaries

After Huaxia accepted Ye Chen’s rule, he turned the Yanhuang Empire’s armies and its vassals against empires that had challenged him. The Qing Empire tried to appease him by sacrificing Aisin Gioro Fulin, while its borders came under attack and the vassal armies suffered heavy losses.

• Ye Chen rewarded Zhu Cilang with a marquisate, easing the officials’ and people’s resistance to Yanhuang rule.
• Rebel armies across Huaxia surrendered, and Ye Chen sent forces alongside his vassal states to conquer empires that had defied him.
• When the Qing Empire’s ministers blamed Aisin Gioro Fulin for provoking the war, Hong Taiji ordered him bound and sent to the front lines.
• The Russian Dynasty and Zunghar Khanate led the assault on Qing borders while Yanhuang forces supported them from behind.
• Yan Yun pretended to grieve over a few Yanhuang casualties, infuriating the allied generals whose armies had suffered devastating losses.

After the Qing Empire fell, Ye Chen dealt with the submitted rulers’ complaints and recognized the difficulty of governing a newly unified world from North America. He ordered the capital moved to Chang'an City in a year and preparations made for a unification ceremony.

• Chen Gaoming killed Crown Prince Aisin Gioro Fulin, then fled the city with stolen wealth as the Qing forces faced defeat.
• Yan Yun’s allied armies captured the city and stripped it of valuables before continuing their advance into the Qing Empire.
• Half a year later, the Qing Empire fell, and Ye Chen reviewed complaints from the rulers whose armies had borne the brunt of the campaign.
• Ye Chen offered compensation to the former emperors while planning to punish those who had withheld troops.
• After the world map showed only Yanhuang, Ye Chen ordered Yuan Lan to move the capital from Xuanhuang City to Chang'an City and prepare a unification ceremony.

Ye Chen moved the Yanhuang Empire’s capital to Chang'an and spent the following year strengthening the unified empire as he prepared for a grand celebration. Nearly one hundred million people gathered for the event, which began with Ye Chen and his officials processing toward a towering altar.

• Ye Chen ordered the imperial capital moved to Chang'an, while the three transportation routes helped the relocation proceed smoothly.
• A Zhui and Angel Yan said farewell to Ye Chen and left the Solar System; he resolved to expand the empire beyond Blue Star and confront the wider universe.
• Over the next year, Ye Chen established unified laws and measurement standards as Chang'an grew into the empire’s bustling capital.
• Nearly one hundred million people gathered outside Chang'an for the grand celebration, with more than sixty percent arriving from North America.
• In Yanhuang Calendar Year 240, Ye Chen wore his ceremonial robes and led his ministers from the Imperial Palace toward the altar.

Ye Chen climbed the altar amid spectacular portents, persuading the gathered people that he was the Human Emperor descended from Heaven. At the altar’s summit, he presented the Human King Seal and began the sacrifice, leaving the ritual underway.

• Ye Chen approached the altar as purple qi and golden celestial light appeared, followed by a vision of the Human Emperor.
• The portents erased the resistance of people newly joined to the Yanhuang Empire, while Dukao accused Ye Chen of staging them.
• Lian Feng analyzed the celestial light and found unknown substances that could improve longevity and physical condition, prompting her and Dukao to consider whether the portents were genuine or connected to the Pangu Civilization.
• Ye Chen reached the altar’s summit and reflected on the 250 years in which he had built the Yanhuang Empire and united the world.
• Ye Chen produced the Human King Seal and read the sacrificial text, asking Emperor Heaven and Empress Earth to bless Yanhuang.

During Ye Chen’s sacrifice to the Yanhuang Two Emperors, Emperor Xuanyuan noticed him and bestowed a blessing that transformed his Human King Body and bound his power to the people of the Yanhuang Empire. Ye Chen remained trapped within the Super God Universe, unable to reach Xuanyuan until he broke free of its constraints.

• Ye Chen pressed the Human King Seal against the sacrificial text, triggering a connection to the Yanhuang Inheritance Mother System and strange phenomena above Chang'an City.
• Emperor Xuanyuan detected the connection, entered the Super God Universe, and learned Ye Chen’s past before sending a spiritual light to Blue Star.
• A golden dragon appeared above Chang'an City, and its light entered Ye Chen and the jade seal as the system added the Human Emperor Trait and Heart of the People.
• The Yanhuang Empire’s subjects supported Ye Chen, empowering him to draw on their strength while making him vulnerable to backlash if they rejected him.
• Ye Chen’s Human King Body finished transforming, binding his fortunes to the empire, and he realized he had to escape the Super God Universe before he could reach Xuanyuan.

Ye Chen appointed officials to govern the unified Yanhuang Empire and used the Human King Seal to bind them to its national fortune. After the empire celebrated its founding, peaceful development and rapid modernization spread across Blue Star.

• Ye Chen appointed generals, including Li Mingfeng and Xiao Feng, to guard the empire's seven continents and rewarded other officials.
• Ye Chen stamped the appointments with the Human King Seal, granting officials protection from the empire's national fortune.
• Ye Chen examined the transformed Human King Seal, met its golden dragon spirit, and learned that the seal drew its greatest power from Yanhuang Empire territory.
• After the celebrations, the empire resumed large-scale construction as cities, railways, and roads rapidly expanded.
• Researchers adapted technology obtained from Dukao, helping the empire's technology and economy advance.

The Yanhuang Empire completed the Daylight Project and tested its nuclear weapon, prompting public debate over whether the empire needed such weapons. Five years later, the empire launched its first crewed spaceflight, with Zhao Yunlei aboard Tenglong-1 as it began its journey into space.

• Yuan Lan told Ye Chen that the Daylight Project was nearing completion, and a month later Ye Chen watched its successful test in the desert.
• The Imperial Daily reported on the test, and citizens split into opposing camps over the need for powerful weapons as the empire prepared to explore space.
• Ye Chen asked Yuan Lan to have the publicity department guide public opinion and turned his attention to developing the empire's aerospace sector.
• In Yanhuang Calendar Year 250, Xu Xin covered the first crewed spaceflight as Tenglong-1 launched from the Yanchen Aerospace Launch Center with Zhao Yunlei aboard.
• Zhao Yunlei listened to the launch procedures and relaxed as Tenglong-1 rose, separated from its escape tower and boosters, and continued its flight.

Zhao Yunlei endured a dangerous 33-second period of violent resonance during Tenglong-1’s ascent, then completed the spacecraft’s entry into orbit around Yanhuang Star. During his orbital mission, he heard unexplained knocking on the spacecraft and reported it to ground command, leaving the crew and specialists facing a possible mystery outside.

• Zhao Yunlei endured intense pain as Tenglong-1 vibrated during ascent, then regained his signal after 33 seconds and confirmed the fairing had opened normally.
• Zhao Yunlei admired Yanhuang Star from orbit and realized he could see only the broad outlines of continents and provinces.
• During the spacecraft’s eighth orbit, Zhao Yunlei heard knocking, saw nothing outside the porthole, and reported the sound to ground command.
• The ground commander asked Zhao Yunlei to describe the knocking while specialists recorded the report.

A mysterious knocking sound led the Yanhuang authorities to suspect an alien encounter, and Ye Chen discovered that a probe robot from the Qingyu Civilization had found Yanhuang Star. The robot self-destructed when Ye Chen seized it, and the blast hurled him toward the Moon.

• Zhao Yunlei could not reproduce the knocking sound, so Sun Longyu reported the suspected alien incident to his superiors.
• Yuan Lan brought the report to Ye Chen, who ordered the space center to follow up and went into space to investigate.
• Zhao Yunlei recorded a blurry dark object passing the spacecraft, then returned toward Yanhuang Star without identifying it.
• The probe robot Purple Rat recorded Yanhuang Civilization as a low-level civilization and flew away from Yanhuang Star.
• Ye Chen caught Purple Rat, triggering its self-destruct sequence, and threw it away before it exploded.
• The blast created a sunlike flash over Yanhuang Star and hurled Ye Chen toward the Moon.