Chapter Summaries

Xia Ping weighed whether to sell his Soul Stones to fund a superweapon, but Cat Immortal warned that doing so would expose his identity as Wu Taidou. Cat Immortal then told him that Universal Book Media Company wanted to collaborate on publishing a book about con artistry, and Xia Ping agreed to hear them out.

• Xia Ping decided to delay his breakthrough into the Divine Ability Realm until his cultivation was perfected and he could train somewhere safe.
• The system awarded Xia Ping one billion Hate Points, bringing his total to one billion and eighty million, and he reviewed the treasures and money he had gained.
• Xia Ping considered selling his four hundred thousand Soul Stones to raise money for a superweapon, but Cat Immortal warned that the sale would reveal his identity and attract enemies.
• Cat Immortal told Xia Ping that the Flowing Cloud Star Domain branch of Universal Book Media Company wanted to publish a book with him about con artistry.
• Xia Ping asked Cat Immortal to contact the company, and its general manager proposed a remote video call to discuss the collaboration.

Xia Ping negotiated a book deal with Jerma, the Flowing Cloud Star Domain branch manager of Universal Book Media Company, and they signed a contract. He left Jerma wondering what he planned to write.

• Xia Ping met Jerma in a virtual living room, where Jerma proposed publishing a book about the art of deception using Xia Ping's fame.
• Jerma offered Xia Ping thirty percent of the profits, but Xia Ping demanded a larger share and said he would write the book himself.
• Xia Ping settled on seventy percent of the profits if the book sold at least ten million copies, and Jerma accepted the wager.
• Cat Immortal reviewed the contract and found no problems, so Xia Ping and Jerma signed it.
• Jerma asked what Xia Ping planned to write, and Xia Ping said he would find out once the book was finished.

Xia Ping presented Jerma with his completed book, Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception, and Jerma was astonished by its detailed methods for exploiting human weaknesses. Jerma ended up admiring Xia Ping while fearing he might be the next target of a scam.

• Xia Ping contacted Jerma after finishing Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception.
• Jerma read the Honey Trap stratagem and learned how scammers exploited lust to extort or defraud victims.
• Jerma read the stratagems To Seize, First Release and The Self-Inflicted Wound, which described winning trust with small returns and using tragedy to solicit money.
• Jerma praised Xia Ping as a master after realizing the book's schemes targeted common human weaknesses.
• Xia Ping modestly credited the Thirty-Six Stratagems from his previous life for the book's ideas.
• Jerma nervously asked whether Xia Ping was trying to take shares in Universal Book Media Company and worried that Xia Ping could swindle him.

Xia Ping and Jerma planned a high-profile press conference to promote Xia Ping’s book on swindling, priced at one hundred Universal Coins per copy. News of the event enraged the people Xia Ping had swindled, while Ye Mengyao learned he had resurfaced and prepared to watch his next move.

• Xia Ping told Jerma to hold a press conference and set the book’s price at one hundred Universal Coins per copy.
• Jerma arranged the press conference and promotional campaigns, and news of the event spread across the Five Great Star Regions.
• Furious residents of Far East City vowed to disrupt the conference, though they feared the Virtual World’s rules would punish them.
• Some residents suspected Xia Ping was setting another trap, but they still planned to confront him at the event.
• Ye Mengyao learned that Xia Ping had resurfaced in Far East City and wondered what scheme he was planning.

Xia Ping promoted his new book, Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception, as an anti-fraud guide despite the crowd's anger over his earlier scams. He set the price at one hundred Universal Coins and used planted supporters to encourage purchases, directing buyers to a website.

• Reporters and victims gathered at the White Cloud Tavern to confront Wu Wudi at his book launch.
• Xia Ping introduced Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception and claimed it would expose scams and help protect people.
• Xia Ping priced each copy at one hundred Universal Coins, offering only a 1% discount for bulk purchases.
• Several planted supporters praised Xia Ping and loudly announced they would buy dozens or hundreds of copies.
• Xia Ping told the crowd they could buy physical books or e-books through a website.

After the book launch drew widespread outrage and a boycott campaign, Xia Ping used the backlash to generate more publicity for his book. He ordered sockpuppet accounts to defend Wu Wudi online, and the ensuing argument between supporters and the people of Far East City left the controversy raging.

• News reports about Xia Ping's book spread across the Five Great Star Regions, prompting many people to condemn him and call for a boycott.
• Jerma warned Xia Ping that the Anti-Wu Wudi Alliance's campaign threatened his goal of selling ten million copies.
• Xia Ping told Jerma that the boycott was useful publicity and ordered his subordinates to create sockpuppet accounts.
• Xia Ping's sockpuppets defended Wu Wudi as a repentant swindler, and readers across the Five Great Star Regions joined in supporting their claims.
• People of Far East City accused the defenders of being paid shills and demanded that Xia Ping repay the money he had scammed.
• Sockpuppets mocked the people of Far East City, and both sides traded insults until many accounts were banned for three months.

Jerma’s Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception became a bestseller after publicity from Far East City’s attempted boycott drew buyers across the Five Great Star Regions. The people of Far East City ended up praising the book and reading it repeatedly, enraging the man who had urged them to boycott it.

• Ordinary readers across the Five Great Star Regions heard about Wu Wudi’s book, and sales climbed as curious and wealthy buyers purchased copies.
• Jerma learned that sales had exceeded a million copies in one day and ordered his subordinates to expand the publicity and recruit celebrity reviewers.
• The people of Far East City despaired when they learned the book had become a bestseller, but some admitted they had bought and enjoyed it.
• Far East City readers discussed the book’s stratagems and shared stories of being conned, praising Wu Wudi’s insights into human nature.
• A furious man confronted the readers for buying the book, only to learn that some had read it more than a dozen times.

Literary scholars and readers praised Xia Ping’s Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception, driving more people to buy it, while victims in Far East City angrily accused the scholars of supporting a con artist. Con artists across the universe embraced the book as a sacred guide to their trade and began studying it.

• Puxifu praised the book as modernist literature and hailed Wu Wudi as a master of philosophy, human nature, and Buddhist studies.
• Lugantong recommended the book after reading it, saying only a master could have written it.
• Shabiya argued that the book ultimately taught readers to guard against scams and urged everyone to buy it.
• Literary figures’ endorsements drew new readers, while people in Far East City accused the scholars of taking money and disregarding scam victims.
• Con artists across the universe treated the book as a sacred guide and studied its stratagems, especially its advice to retreat when a scheme went wrong.

Ye Mengyao learned that Wu Wudi’s book was a bestseller and decided to catch him, while Jerma watched its sales make a fortune for the publisher. The chapter left Xia Ping in seclusion and unreachable as the book’s sales continued to climb.

• Ye Mengyao read Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception, feared Wu Wudi might target her, and vowed to find him and bring him to justice.
• Ye Mengyao’s sisters discussed Wu Wudi’s wealth and joked about trying to win his affection, while Ye Mengyao warned them to stay away from him.
• Thirty-Six Stratagems of Deception sold twenty million copies across the Five Great Star Regions, earning two billion Universal Coins in revenue.
• Jerma regretted giving Xia Ping seventy percent of the profits but hoped the book’s success would earn him a promotion to headquarters.
• Jerma tried to contact Xia Ping, but Cat Immortal told him Xia Ping had entered seclusion and could not take calls.

Xia Ping landed on a primitive planet to break through to the Divine Ability Realm without revealing his secrets to the Universe Sect. After spending Hate Points to extend the Calm-Spirit Flower’s enlightenment, he entered a profound state of comprehension, poised to grasp divine abilities.

• Xia Ping reached the peak of the As-You-Will Realm and landed on a nearby primordial planet to advance in seclusion.
• The system awarded Xia Ping 320 million Hate Points, bringing his total to 1.4 billion.
• Xia Ping used one billion Hate Points to extend the enlightenment granted by the Calm-Spirit Flower for one day.
• Xia Ping consumed the Calm-Spirit Flower and entered an intensely focused state with thoughts moving more than ten thousand times faster.
• The system’s mysterious power surged into Xia Ping’s mind, making the truths of the universe and the laws of heaven and earth seem clear to him.

Xia Ping used pills, the Calm-Spirit Flower, and the system’s help to advance from the peak of the As-You-Will Realm to the Divine Ability Realm. He transformed the Northern Underworld Body Protection Art and Kunpeng Step into divine ability sigils, emerging with powerful defenses and movement abilities.

• Xia Ping swallowed all his pills, and the Sun Furnace refined their medicinal power as he advanced to the Divine Ability Realm.
• Xia Ping’s breakthrough unleashed a vast field of energy that frightened the ferocious beasts across the surrounding forest, driving them to flee.
• Xia Ping entered a state of sudden enlightenment and comprehended the martial arts he had studied, beginning to fuse and transform them.
• Xia Ping transformed the Northern Underworld Body Protection Art into a divine ability sigil containing a Kunpeng, gaining a spatial barrier and powerful defenses.
• Xia Ping’s Kunpeng Step also formed a divine ability sigil, allowing him to slip through space and cover dozens of miles in one step.

Xia Ping’s martial arts transformed into Divine Ability Talismans, revealing new powers of cursing, hellish suppression, spiritual might, and communication with all things. He discovered that the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Art and Spear of Hell-Suppressing Demon might fuse, while the transformed Telepathic Resonance Technique let him sense hostility and understand other species.

• Xia Ping condensed the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Art into a Divine Ability Talisman and tested its black arrow, which pierced through dozens of mountains and corroded the rock.
• The Spear of Hell-Suppressing Demon transformed into a Divine Ability Talisman, drawing on Hell’s power as Xia Ping thrust the Spear of Hell through a mountain.
• Xia Ping sensed that the Nail-Head Seven Arrows Art and Spear of Hell-Suppressing Demon shared properties and might fuse.
• The Lion Vajra Seal transformed, and its spiritual force knocked nearby vicious beasts unconscious.
• The Telepathic Resonance Technique formed a green heart-shaped talisman, letting Xia Ping hear the world within a hundred miles, sense hostility, and understand other species.

During his enlightenment, Xia Ping condensed Divine Ability Talismans for several martial arts and discovered that their powers could temper his body and unleash devastating attacks. As his enlightenment neared its end, he turned his attention to comprehending Star-Drawing Technique.

• Xia Ping condensed a Divine Ability Talisman for Black Vortex Ripple Fist and used it to swallow rocks and blast a hole through a cliff.
• Xia Ping condensed a talisman for Heavenly Dragon Eight Sounds, whose dragonlike roar carried immense force and pierced the soul.
• Xia Ping transformed Great Yin-Yang Tablet-Shattering Hand into a Divine Ability Talisman, which crushed the ground and sent yin-and-yang energy through his body, tempering it and awakening his potential.
• Xia Ping condensed Yang God Fist into a crimson talisman, absorbed fiery energy into his acupoints, and unleashed flames that engulfed a mountain and formed a Hell Golden Crow vision.
• Xia Ping sensed that his enlightenment was nearly over and resolved to comprehend Star-Drawing Technique before it ended.

Xia Ping mastered the Star-Drawing Technique, gained the Star Body and a gravity ability, then awakened his Hell Golden Crow Heart after unlocking ten thousand Hell Golden Crow Cells. He ended the chapter floating above the ruins, with greatly increased vitality and power.

• Xia Ping condensed the Star-Drawing Technique into a Divine Ability Talisman and formed the Star Body, whose acupoints contained three hundred and sixty great stars.
• Xia Ping tested the technique's gravity ability, crushing the ground and nearby materials beneath its force.
• Xia Ping left his state of sudden enlightenment after a day and night, having cultivated eleven martial arts divine abilities and advanced to the Divine Ability Realm.
• Xia Ping unlocked ten thousand Hell Golden Crow Cells, awakening his Hell Golden Crow Heart and causing its vibrations to shatter the mountain.
• Xia Ping discovered that the Hell Golden Crow Heart greatly enhanced his vitality, regeneration, and strength, then created a vast crater with a light stamp.

Xia Ping survived a twenty-seven-strike Lightning Tribulation triggered by the awakening of his Hell Golden Crow Bloodline and the heart within him. As he began recovering, Cat Immortal detected a spaceship bearing a red scarf emblem approaching.

• Xia Ping faced a twenty-seven-fold Lightning Tribulation after his Hell Golden Crow Bloodline awakened.
• Xia Ping fought the lightning with his flames and Northern Underworld Body Protection Art as the tribulation battered him for three days and nights.
• Xia Ping survived the tribulation and absorbed lightning essence, considering learning a lightning-related martial arts divine ability.
• Cat Immortal spotted a black spaceship with a red scarf emblem approaching Xia Ping.

Xia Ping encountered a squad of Red Scarf Bandits who mistook his tribulation for a sign of a valuable treasure and attacked him. Despite his injuries, he killed one bandit with a single slap and prepared to face the rest.

• Xia Ping recognized the Red Scarf Bandits when their spaceship arrived above the primitive planet.
• Scarface and his men assumed Xia Ping had found a valuable treasure and demanded that he hand it over.
• Hu Laosan attacked Xia Ping with a saber, but Xia Ping’s spatial barrier stopped the strike.
• Xia Ping crushed Hu Laosan with a single slap, enraging the other Red Scarf Bandits.
• The remaining bandits charged Xia Ping, who warned them that they were courting death.

Xia Ping used his gravity ability to crush the Red Scarf Bandits who had attacked him, ignoring the threat of their spaceship’s Laser Cannons. After the ship fired at him, he used Kunpeng Step to evade every blast, leaving the Red Scarf Bandits to face his next move.

• Xia Ping summoned immense gravity that pinned the Red Scarf Bandits to the ground and left them unable to move.
• Scarface identified Xia Ping’s power as a gravity ability, while the spaceship crew threatened him with their Laser Cannons.
• Xia Ping increased the gravity and crushed Scarface and the other grounded bandits to death, creating a huge crater.
• The Red Scarf Bandits aboard the spaceship fired more than a dozen Laser Cannons at Xia Ping.
• Xia Ping used Kunpeng Step to move dozens of miles and dodge the blasts, which struck the ground instead.

Xia Ping survived the Red Scarf Bandits’ Laser Cannon barrage and destroyed their spaceship by punching through its hull and detonating its engine. He returned after the explosion and confirmed that the bandits aboard had all been killed.

• The Red Scarf Bandits believed their Laser Cannons had killed Xia Ping, but their sensors showed him hovering unharmed.
• The bandits fired dozens of energy beams, but Xia Ping evaded them with Kunpeng Step.
• Cat Immortal located the spaceship’s engine, and Xia Ping struck the hull with Yang God Fist, melting through its defenses.
• Xia Ping escaped as the flames destroyed the engine and blew up the spaceship, killing the Red Scarf Bandits aboard.
• Xia Ping returned to the wreckage, searched it with his divine sense, and found no survivors.

Xia Ping discovered that the Red Scarf Bandits’ wrecked ship had been carrying a fortune in Crystal Fragrant Rice, which could greatly increase magical power and improve martial arts aptitude. He and the Cat Immortal decided to search the ship’s surviving data for clues about where the rice came from.

• Xia Ping found silver containers made of Adamant Metal among the wreckage and dented one with a punch.
• Xia Ping summoned the Golden Slime, which devoured the containers and spat out their contents, including several Space Rings.
• Xia Ping discovered a ton of Crystal Fragrant Rice in the rings and learned from the Cat Immortal that it was worth three hundred million Universal Coins.
• The Cat Immortal explained that Crystal Fragrant Rice could increase magical power without side effects and improve martial arts aptitude.
• The Cat Immortal proposed searching the surviving Optical Brain chips and star map for clues about a possible Crystal Fragrant Rice production base.

After consolidating his Divine Ability Realm cultivation, Xia Ping tested his greatly increased physical and spiritual power, then left the primitive planet. Cat Immortal decoded the Red Scarf Bandits’ travel records and identified an unregistered planet that might be their Crystal Fragrant Rice production base.

• Xia Ping expanded and stabilized his Purple Mansion space, strengthening his divine abilities, physique, bloodline powers, and divine consciousness.
• Xia Ping demonstrated his power by collapsing a mountain, blasting craters into the surrounding terrain, and cutting a boulder apart with his divine consciousness.
• Xia Ping boarded a spacecraft and left the primitive planet after testing his strength.
• Xia Ping ate Crystal Fragrant Rice and found that it replenished his energy and satisfied his enormous appetite.
• Cat Immortal decoded the Red Scarf Bandits’ spacecraft records and showed Xia Ping a star map marking their headquarters and a likely Crystal Fragrant Rice production planet.
• Cat Immortal told Xia Ping that the suspected production planet was unregistered and might be undiscovered.