Chapter Summaries

Meng De told Lu Mingyu and Jun Lin how the Large Connector worked, and they agreed to help him set it up. Lu Mingyu then revealed that the Virtual World could become a second world where early occupants would profit from selling territory and services, and he invited Jiang Shan, Wang Zhigao, and Jun Lin to enter the Game as individuals.

• Meng De explained how he had triggered the hidden quest and described the Large Connector’s functions to Lu Mingyu and Jun Lin.
• Lu Mingyu promised that Yin Emperor could provide territory for the Large Connector and said he and Jun Lin would guide Meng De after their true bodies returned; Jun Lin gave Meng De a token to travel freely through the Great Shang Dynasty.
• Lu Mingyu proposed an alliance with Jiang Shan, Wang Zhigao, and Jun Lin to open up a new world, and each agreed to enter the Game as an individual or representative.
• Lu Mingyu explained that the Virtual World could rival the real world and that holders of Large Connectors could claim one-thousandth of the space they opened.
• Lu Mingyu and Wang Zhigao reasoned that territory, shops, and paid services in the Virtual World could draw enormous demand and generate vast wealth.

Lu Mingyu explained the Virtual World’s vast commercial potential and proposed forming an independent alliance to claim its lesser shares. Meanwhile, the Three Religions Sages discussed Chen Changsheng’s plans and their dwindling time, leaving them weighing whether to confront the Madmen or kill him.

• Lu Mingyu explained that the Virtual World’s currency and expansion would generate enormous wealth, while excluding powerful factions from its benefits could make them enemies.
• Lu Mingyu, Wang Zhigao, Jun Lin, and Jiang Shan agreed to establish their own force and discussed recruiting Senior Bain Ren, Jun Lin’s elder brother’s family, and Jiang Shan’s people from the Greenwood Epoch.
• Lu Mingyu said he would recruit First Senior Brother and Chen Feng to protect the alliance from coercion.
• The Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist Sages observed that Lu Mingyu’s group had found the shares Chen Changsheng left behind.
• The Daoist Sage warned that killing Chen Changsheng would provoke the Forbidden Ground, Desolate Heaven Emperor Wu Li, and others, but the Buddhist Sage argued that they had little time left and had to choose between killing Chen Changsheng and confronting the Madmen.

Chen Changsheng upgraded the Virtual World with livestreaming and intelligent analysis, letting the world watch Long Aotian’s mission inside the Cosmic Black Hole. Dream paid lavishly to urge Long Aotian to fight a dangerous puppet, but Long Aotian refused despite earning a huge livestream payout.

• The Daoist Sage and the other Sages decided to keep watching Chen Changsheng’s plan rather than confront his group directly.
• Cultivators in the Chang Sheng Epoch and the Pill Epoch received the Five Spirits mission footage, and Chen Changsheng revealed that he had prepared new Virtual World functions.
• Long Aotian accepted a Virtual World upgrade and activated the livestream and intelligent analysis functions while lying in ambush near the Cosmic Black Hole.
• Dream watched Long Aotian’s livestream, topped up Divine Source at the God of Wealth Hall, and used bullet comments to urge him to attack a dangerous puppet.
• Long Aotian received 250,000 Divine Source in livestream income and a 10,000,000 Divine Source reward, but declined Dream’s request because the mission concerned life and death.

Long Aotian received a warning that the formation’s apparent Life Gate was a deadly trap, while Li Changsheng and Feng Ran set out toward different parts of the Cosmic Black Hole. Lin Yao struggled against a fast puppet until Yun Ya Zi sent him a movement technique, and Dugu decided to pass sword arts to Mo Bai.

• A stranger warned Long Aotian that the formation had been inverted and that entering through the conventional Life Gate would trap him, and Ancestral Dragon urged him to trust the warning.
• Li family Ancestor berated Li Changsheng for staying back, so Li Changsheng decided to move ahead while Feng Ran set off for the eastern side after receiving a tip about suppressing the Netherworld Ghost Fire.
• Lin Yao struggled to keep up with a mantis-type puppet, and Yun Ya Zi sent him the incantations for a movement technique to help him fight it.
• Yun Ya Zi told Dugu that he was willing to pass down his self-created movement technique, and Dugu decided to borrow money to send sword arts to Mo Bai.

At Bai Ze Garrison, Wang Hao explained to Bai Ze's Clan Leader how powerful figures were using livestreams to observe trials, test cultivation ideas, and explore new ways to recruit talent. Wang Hao then used the livestream to guide Feng Ran toward a dangerous experiment with the Netherworld Ghost Fire, while predicting that paid Intelligent Detection would encourage the trapped cultivators to stream more.

• Powerful figures arrived at Bai Ze Garrison to top up their accounts, and Wang Hao collected the money as the Divine Source increased.
• Bai Ze's Clan Leader questioned the livestream trial's popularity, and Wang Hao argued that it was a profitable new form of testing the younger generation.
• Wang Hao explained that livestreams could help sects discover talent across entire worlds and eras more efficiently than conventional trials.
• Wang Hao sent Feng Ran a suggestion to use the Life Lamp Fire against the Netherworld Ghost Fire, and Feng Ran tried it on-screen.
• Wang Hao said livestreams let powerful cultivators test dangerous theories through others, then predicted that paid Intelligent Detection would drive the trapped cultivators to stream more.

Wang Hao explained to the Bai Ze Clan Leader how the Virtual World could control factions through influence, trade, and isolation rather than force. The Clan Leader grasped the Virtual World's power and learned that the powerful figures were joining it to claim a share of its profits.

• Wang Hao argued that the Bai Ze Clan had to abandon the Old Era's style of authority and adapt to a world where resources mattered more than mystery and prestige.
• Wang Hao warned that the Virtual World could turn the world against the Bai Ze Clan, isolate it from cultivation arts and trade, and make its goods and treasures tempting targets.
• The Bai Ze Clan Leader erupted with divine power, but Wang Hao calmed him and reminded him that the clan had been offered a share in the Virtual World.
• Wang Hao explained that Chen Changsheng had distributed shares to powerful figures to prevent them from opposing the Virtual World, and the Bai Ze Clan Leader realized they had joined to claim profits.

Wang Hao entertained himself by advising Feng Ran, who was trapped by the Netherworld Ghost Fire, on how Spirit Fire worked. The chapter left Feng Ran facing a deadly choice: trust a risky escape method or let Wang Hao test his theory on Feng Ran’s burning body.

• Wang Hao read that Feng Ran had run into trouble and began sending him advice through the Qilin Communicator.
• Wang Hao explained the differences between Mortal Fire, Divine Fire, and Spirit Fire as the Netherworld Ghost Fire closed in on Feng Ran.
• Wang Hao told Feng Ran that the Netherworld Ghost Fire clung to living beings through their obsessions and could not be broken unless those obsessions were abandoned.
• Wang Hao said Feng Ran could store his life in the Life Lamp to survive being burned, but warned that he had never tried it.
• Wang Hao suggested Feng Ran wrap himself in Life Lamp Fire and charge through the Netherworld Ghost Fire so he could test whether Spirit Fire was restrained by the Five Elements.

Chen Changsheng resolved to help the Netherworld Forest despite the danger posed by its returning master, while warning Bai Ze that his Path to Longevity might end if he failed. At the edge of the Cosmic Black Hole, Chen Xiao worked to free himself from the Gold Devouring Insects and told Yin Jie that the younger generation would have to bear the future themselves.

• Chen Changsheng explained that he was watching Feng Ran and Wang Hao because Wang Hao's research into the Netherworld Ghost Fire could threaten the Forbidden Grounds.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that he would keep his promise to help the Netherworld Forest because it was an old friend, even though its master might kill him.
• Chen Changsheng said the Virtual World was his route to survival, but admitted that failure would likely end his Path to Longevity.
• Chen Xiao crushed Gold Devouring Insects and digested their eggs as he tried to break free from their entanglement.
• Chen Xiao told Yin Jie that the elders could no longer protect the younger generation and that Yin Jie and his peers would have to bear the future of the Great Shang Dynasty and its people.

At the Cosmic Black Hole, Mo Bai mastered Dugu’s sword technique at a glance but chose to keep tempering his body, while Long Aotian pushed himself to the brink against a giant metal ant. Long Aotian’s struggle drew a surge of viewers, and Chen Changsheng explained that people admired his breakthrough beyond his limits.

• Dugu sent Mo Bai a sword technique, which Mo Bai memorized and used to damage a mantis-shaped puppet before returning to hand-to-hand combat.
• Mo Bai told Dugu that tempering his body for the Sage Emperor’s assessment mattered more to him than learning other Great Daos, and Dugu agreed.
• Long Aotian asked Dream whether Mo Bai was considered stronger, then chose to face the metal ant rather than follow Dream’s suggested route.
• Long Aotian refused to retreat, endured severe injuries, and drew on his Divine Sense Realm power to recover and drive the metal ant backward.
• Long Aotian’s broadcast audience surged, and Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that viewers admired Long Aotian for breaking through his limits.

Chen Changsheng explained to Bai Ze why steady progress was wiser than reckless attempts to break through one's limits, while still arguing that people should adapt when they hit obstacles. Meanwhile, Feng Zhi struggled against a Black Tortoise Puppet, and Hua Feng sought Divine Sources to support her.

• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze that most people were smart to avoid torturing themselves through reckless training, citing Long Aotian's injuries and Meng De's steady progress.
• Chen Changsheng explained that people should adapt when they hit obstacles, going around or digging through the wall instead of blindly crashing into it.
• Feng Zhi struggled to break the Black Tortoise Puppet's defenses and resolved to keep fighting despite Hua Feng's sparse guidance.
• Wang Hao urged Hua Feng to support Feng Zhi, but Hua Feng refused and later asked Qian Ya to lend him Divine Sources.
• Qian Ya said she had no Divine Sources to lend Hua Feng, but offered Feng Zhi a red packet containing Eight Billion Divine Sources as a congratulatory gift, which Hua Feng accepted.

Chen Changsheng promised Hua Feng he would spare Feng Zhi, but told Bai Ze he would keep the trial’s difficulty unchanged and gamble that Hua Feng would accept Feng Zhi’s possible death. Meanwhile, Zhang Ling risked his life to try to rescue Feng Ran, while Wang Hao watched and predicted that Zhang Ling’s strongest talismans could draw every puppet in the area.

• Hua Feng asked Chen Changsheng to spare Feng Zhi if she reached a critical moment, and Chen Changsheng agreed before advising Hua Feng that she saw her younger self in Feng Zhi.
• Chen Changsheng told Bai Ze to leave Feng Zhi’s trial difficulty unchanged, explaining that he was gambling on whether Hua Feng would blame him if Feng Zhi died.
• Three puppets blocked Zhang Ling as he tried to reach Feng Ran, whose Life Lamp was all that remained after the Netherworld Ghost Fire consumed him.
• Zhang Ling ignored Good Person and the Talisman Emperor’s advice to retreat, then used the Daoist Breathing Method to fight the three puppets to a standstill.
• Wang Hao said Zhang Ling’s talismans could alert every puppet in the area and doubted Zhang Ling could survive using them.

As Zhang Ling battled the Metal Puppets inside the cosmic black hole, Chen Changsheng explained that the environment drained qi and blood and tested a cultivator’s willpower. Zhang Ling unleashed the Three Dooms Talisman to destroy the puppets and free the emerald-green life lamp, then Ruan Su Xian took his Virtual World and withdrew from the contest as another Metal Puppet appeared.

• A Durian explained in Zhang Ling's Live Stream Room that fighting in the black hole rapidly depleted qi and blood, and Chen Changsheng described how its pain tested willpower.
• Zhang Ling, exhausted and badly wounded by the three Metal Puppets, used divine power and began forming the Three Dooms Talisman.
• Mo Bai transformed into an Ink Kirin and charged deeper into the black hole to reach the array core before its hidden measures awakened.
• Zhang Ling summoned the Three Dooms Talisman, which reduced the Metal Puppets to scrap and extinguished the netherworld ghost fire, allowing the emerald-green life lamp to escape.
• Zhang Ling collapsed and celebrated drawing the talisman before Ruan Su Xian appeared, took his Virtual World, and withdrew from the contest.
• A special Metal Puppet appeared thirty meters from Ruan Su Xian.

Ruan Su Xian entered the Cosmic Black Hole arena to challenge the Metal Puppet and show Zhang Ling that he was not invincible under heaven. Feng Ran explained that Zhang Ling’s fixation on his master’s supposed supremacy had pressured Ruan Su Xian and warped Zhang Ling’s pursuit of the Heaven-Piercing Talisman, but Zhang Ling still refused to change his faith.

• Ruan Su Xian told Zhang Ling to watch as he approached the Metal Puppet, and the two prepared to fight in the arena.
• Feng Ran appeared as an emerald-green Life Lamp Realm and told Zhang Ling that he might die if he could not condense a body within an hour.
• Feng Ran challenged Zhang Ling’s belief that Ruan Su Xian was Number One Under Heaven, listing other powerful figures and asking whether Ruan Su Xian could defeat the previous Yin Emperor and Sage Emperor.
• Feng Ran explained that Zhang Ling’s obsession had made Ruan Su Xian reluctant to teach him the Heaven-Piercing Talisman, since Zhang Ling might only follow his master’s path rather than surpass him.
• Zhang Ling insisted that he would continue believing in Ruan Su Xian, while Feng Ran said the Metal Puppet’s victory would show Zhang Ling the truth.

Feng Ran warned Zhang Ling that his reckless use of divine power and the Heaven-Piercing Talisman had endangered everyone’s chance to claim the Imperial Tutor’s treasure, while Ruan Su Xian’s Metal Puppet survived the Thunder Sea. In the Cosmic Black Hole’s western region, Li Changsheng and Long Aotian struggled against powerful puppets, and their ancestors offered advice too difficult or slow to help.

• Feng Ran told Zhang Ling that his actions had endangered the Five Spirits mission and that the others might demand an explanation from the Talisman Emperor.
• Ruan Su Xian trapped the Metal Puppet with a purple talisman, but it survived Zhang Ling’s Thunder Sea unharmed.
• Li Changsheng destroyed a mantis-shaped puppet with the Yellow Springs Seal, but its Ground Shrinking Golden Light attacks gravely wounded him.
• Li Changsheng’s ancestor advised him to master the sixth or fifth form of the Undying Seal Art, so Li Changsheng burned his Essence Blood and fled as the puppet battered him.
• Long Aotian was badly wounded by an iron-whip puppet, and his senior said he needed two more body-cultivation stages or time to devise another method.

Feng Zhi defeated a special puppet by burning it with Phoenix True Fire and Ten Thousand Year Earth Core Fire, but it began to reform from Memory Metal. She negotiated with Good Person for help and agreed to fight the puppets in exchange for a chance to survive.

• Long Aotian agreed to hold off his attacker for half the time it took to brew a cup of tea, then fled while Li Changsheng and he faced unprecedented attacks.
• Feng Zhi used her two flames to melt the puppet, but the struggle burned her body to charcoal as well.
• Feng Zhi rose again as a fiery-red phoenix, drawing cheers and rewards from the cultivators watching her live stream.
• Good Person warned Feng Zhi that the puppet was made of Memory Metal and would reform, then admitted he could help only if she fought the puppets for him to study.
• Feng Zhi initially refused to capture the puppets, but stopped fleeing after Good Person offered to let her fight them without any fixed target number.

Feng Zhi used the Intelligent Analysis Function to learn about the special puppet, but the Virtual World demanded enormous fees for advice on defeating it. After “Good Person” suggested a cheaper approach, Feng Zhi asked about Memory Metal and learned that the information cost one billion Divine Sources.

• “Good Person” urged Feng Zhi to try the Intelligent Analysis Function to deal with the puppet.
• Feng Zhi activated the function, and the Virtual World identified the enemy as a Heavenly Character No. 38 Puppet made of Memory Metal.
• Qilin explained that the puppet could mimic techniques, regenerate, and be countered by restraining its singular attack method.
• Feng Zhi asked Qilin how to counter the puppet’s fist technique, but the Virtual World demanded twenty billion Divine Sources.
• Qilin quoted another eight billion Divine Sources to explain how Feng Zhi could defeat the puppet before her, citing its dangerous strength.
• “Good Person” advised Feng Zhi to ask for knowledge about Memory Metal instead, and Qilin offered it for one billion Divine Sources.

Feng Zhi discovered that Memory Metal could be weakened by extreme temperature changes, and the God of Wealth donated enough Divine Source for her to obtain the information. As the puppets went berserk across the Cosmic Black Hole, Ruan Su Xian fought a newly combined puppet while Feng Zhi rescued the other geniuses and saw the puppets withdraw toward different areas.

• Feng Zhi learned that she needed one billion Divine Source to analyze Memory Metal, and the God of Wealth donated ten billion across the Live Stream Rooms.
• Feng Zhi studied the Memory Metal information and discovered that rapidly changing its temperature could make it lose its ability to remember.
• Ruan Su Xian destroyed the first special puppet, but Feng Ran warned that it had only been a scouting vanguard.
• Three puppets combined into one, revived the Netherworld Ghost Fire, and attacked Ruan Su Xian as they fought from the Cosmic Black Hole into the void.
• Feng Zhi used Phoenix True Fire to rescue Long Aotian and other trapped geniuses while the puppets attacked indiscriminately.
• Li Changsheng noticed that the pursuing puppets were retreating, with Quasi-Emperor puppets leaving the Cosmic Black Hole and weaker ones heading toward its center.

Mo Bai activated an Array Core and reached Nine-Headed Xiang Liu after fighting through the puppets, while Feng Zhi and the others collapsed from their injuries and exhaustion. Nine-Headed Xiang Liu acknowledged Mo Bai’s strength and led him to a cavern where the Imperial Tutor’s relics awaited.

• Mo Bai’s reopened live stream showed him badly wounded after activating an Array Core and telling the others that activating the central Array Core would stop the puppets from attacking them.
• Zhang Ling, Feng Ran, Feng Zhi, and Lin Yao collapsed, while Long Aotian tried to continue toward the remaining Array Cores and Li Changsheng carried Feng Zhi east.
• Mo Bai reached the cave at the Cosmic Black Hole’s core and challenged Nine-Headed Xiang Liu for the Imperial Tutor’s relics.
• Nine-Headed Xiang Liu said Mo Bai had already proven his strength, transformed into a middle-aged man, and led him to an underground cavern.
• Nine-Headed Xiang Liu showed Mo Bai an Immortal Medicine that could heal any injury, then summoned a box containing Mo Bai’s spoils of war.

Mo Bai learned that hope, rather than finding the Imperial Tutor, had brought him and others to Nine-Headed Xiang Liu’s cave. He received a new set of gear, a divine sword, and a half-finished God-Slaying Weapon bow, whose enormous power came with a steep cost.

• Mo Bai asked whether the Imperial Tutor was truly dead, and Nine-Headed Xiang Liu explained that the reason people sought him mattered more than whether they found him.
• Mo Bai reflected on the Imperial Tutor as a symbol of hope and opened the chest.
• Nine-Headed Xiang Liu placed the prepared clothes and weapons on Mo Bai, healing his injuries in the process.
• Mo Bai examined the Shattered Moon sword and learned its origin and name from Nine-Headed Xiang Liu.
• Mo Bai tested the carved bow, but Nine-Headed Xiang Liu stopped him from firing it inside the cave dwelling.
• Nine-Headed Xiang Liu explained that the bow gathered energy from the world to form powerful Light Arrows, but warned that its escalating divine power cost made repeated shots dangerous.

Mo Bai questioned Nine-Headed Xiang Liu about the Imperial Tutor’s Relic and the array, then left the cave. In the void, Chen Xiao took over from the wounded Ruan Su Xian, defeated Chen Changsheng’s puppet, and left Chen Changsheng complaining after the puppet withdrew.

• Mo Bai learned that five Imperial Tutor’s Relics could revive the Imperial Tutor, while refining one would grant his wisdom, and asked Nine-Headed Xiang Liu what would happen if all six Array Cores were activated.
• Nine-Headed Xiang Liu said he would seal his cultivation and fight Mo Bai at around First Grade Immortal King, and claimed he had killed and eaten Heavenly Emperors before Mo Bai left the cave.
• Ruan Su Xian fought Chen Changsheng’s Metal Puppet until Chen Xiao arrived and urged him to withdraw and recover from his wounds.
• Chen Xiao endured the puppet’s sword strike, healed his wound, and destroyed the puppet with a gale before an identical puppet collected the remaining treasures and retreated.
• Chen Changsheng used the puppet to warn Chen Xiao not to damage the area, then complained to Bai Ze that Chen Xiao had smashed one of his valuable puppets.