Chapter Summaries

Irelia reviewed Lin Yi’s newly earned milestones and decided to reserve the ship’s cultivation and rule-comprehension resources for him. Back at the East Vanguard Training Camp, Lin Yi reconsidered his plans after realizing his Metal Element Rule comprehension had reached 31%, placing him at the third stage of the Star Nebula Rank.

• Irelia saw that Lin Yi had earned the Light of Civilization and Heart of Rules milestones, bringing his score above four million and his personal point multiplier to 2.2.
• Irelia ordered Xingyu to seal away the ship’s resources that could improve cultivation or rule comprehension, intending to give them to Lin Yi instead.
• Lin Yi returned to the East Vanguard Training Camp with Nie Chang, Liu Qiying, and the others, and Liu Qiying reminded him he was due to teach an afternoon class on Source Energy theory.
• Lin Yi rested in his quarters while the Nine-Layer Source Origin Method replenished his energy and he reconsidered his plans.
• Lin Yi realized his insight at the opening ceremony had raised his Metal Element Rule comprehension from 12% to 31%, advancing his rule strength to the third stage of the Star Nebula Rank.

Lin Yi reflected on how his past-life caution had restrained his nature and resolved to balance boldness with the experience he had gained. He revealed his Star Vortex Rank Rule comprehension and arrived to teach the first class at the East Vanguard Training Camp.

• Lin Yi recognized that the burden of protecting Blue Star had made him cautious in his previous life, while the civilization’s prospects and his Spirit Enlightenment Qi now let him act more boldly.
• Lin Yi decided to reveal Star Vortex Rank comprehension while retaining some caution and valuing the lessons he had learned over thousands of years.
• Chen Yu felt stung by rumors that his connection to Lin Yi had secured his place, and Zhou Yuxuan encouraged him to focus on the lesson.
• Elizabeth, Adams, Andre, and the other foreign auditors settled into the lecture hall, each carrying hopes and concerns about learning Source Energy.
• Lin Yi entered the packed hall at two o’clock, took the podium, and announced that class was in session.

Lin Yi gave the new students an entrance exam by making them endure the pain of a Purple Lightning Spark, which simulated taking Source Energy into their bodies. As the students struggled to hold on, Lin Yi watched and considered how his soul power could help him use Source Energy more precisely and perhaps surprise an enemy.

• Lin Yi warned the students that taking Source Energy into their bodies caused severe pain and created a Purple Lightning Spark for each of them to test their endurance.
• Lin Yi explained that students who could not withstand the pain would have to leave, though he reassured them that most people could adapt after years in a high-concentration Source Energy environment.
• Chen Yu, Zhou Yuxuan, Elizabeth, Adams, Andre, and the other students touched their sparks and struggled against the pain without giving up.
• Lin Yi observed that no one had quit yet and reflected on using his Star Vortex Rank soul control and understanding of laws to control Source Energy and potentially catch an enemy off guard.

After the students endure their first Source Energy trial, Lin Yi offers Spirit Radiance Crystals as cultivation rewards and teaches them the Guidance Technique. A week later, seeing their rapid progress, he persuades Nie Chang to begin combat drills ahead of schedule.

• Lin Yi congratulates the students for enduring the Source Energy trial and announces Spirit Radiance Crystal rewards for those who advance fastest.
• Lin Yi teaches the Basic Source Energy Guidance Technique, then leaves the camp in his flying sphere to patrol for Abyss Beasts.
• The students discuss Lin Yi's strength and rewards as they begin intensive training, and most successfully guide Source Energy into their bodies within a week.
• Lin Yi tells Nie Chang that the students are progressing quickly and proposes moving their combat drills forward to the next day.
• Nie Chang agrees to Lin Yi's plan and says the Security Department and Logistics Department will coordinate safety measures.

Lin Yi prepared the trainees for the coming Abyss Tide by awarding those who mastered Source Energy and leading them into their first live-combat lesson. He monitored their battle against Abyss Beasts from above, ready to intervene if any Stardust Rank beast threatened them.

• Lin Yi planned to train successive groups of Source Energy Warriors before the first Abyss Tide and send them back to teach their settlements.
• Lin Yi distributed Spirit Radiance Crystals to the trainees who had completed Source Energy guidance, including Zhang Zhen, Elizabeth Windsor, Zhou Yuxuan, Andre, and Chen Yu.
• Lin Yi sent the trainees in five-person teams with infantry squads into a Small Nest’s territory for their first live-combat lesson.
• Lin Yi watched the scattered battles from a rooftop, tracking four Stardust Rank Abyss Beasts and preparing to kill any that endangered the teams.

Lin Yi watched the trainees encounter a Stardust Rank Purple Blade Leopard and killed it with a rule-empowered steel bead before it could strike Elizabeth. The survivors recognized the Chief Instructor as their rescuer, leaving Elizabeth awed by the power she hoped to attain.

• Lin Yi sensed that the trainees might soon encounter a Stardust Rank Abyss Beast and prepared his steel beads on a rooftop.
• Elizabeth, Adams, three Xia Kingdom trainees, and an infantry squad fought through Corrosive Abyssal Wolves together.
• A Purple Blade Leopard appeared, and the squad leader ordered everyone to retreat while the Xia Kingdom trainees moved to protect Elizabeth and Adams.
• Elizabeth urged the group to use a nearby shop for cover and stood ready to defend herself as the leopard lunged at her.
• Lin Yi fired a lightning-charged steel bead that pierced the leopard's head and annihilated it in a blast.
• The soldiers and trainees saw Lin Yi on a distant rooftop, and Elizabeth marveled at the power of rules.

After returning from the Abyss Beast Nest, Lin Yi agreed to join an airborne assault on the 738 Factory District to kill a Leader Rank Abyss Beast and recover equipment that could restore communications. The helicopter force departed with orders to prioritize Lin Yi’s safety, and he resolved to show the General Staff more of his strength.

• The exhausted trainees returned to camp and excitedly recounted their battles, while Elizabeth admitted that Lin Yi was too strong.
• Nie Chang informed Lin Yi that supplies at the 738 Factory site could help restore communications, and Lin Yi supported an airborne assault to retrieve them.
• Lin Yi told Nie Chang to revise the nearby Micro Nest operation plan using the field exercise data on cooperation between Source Energy Warriors and conventional forces.
• Two days later, Lin Yi boarded a helicopter and joined a force of fifteen Night Owl attack helicopters and six Kunpeng transport helicopters bound for the 738 Factory District.
• Liu Qiying explained that the General Staff had deployed overwhelming air support mainly to protect Lin Yi and cover his evacuation if the operation went wrong.
• Lin Yi understood the General Staff’s concern and decided to use more force than before to put their minds at ease.

Lin Yi explained to Liu Qiying how rule comprehension amplified a cultivator’s effective attack power, revealing that his own comprehension had reached about twelve percent. He left Liu Qiying stunned and hinted that surpassing ten percent had unlocked a level of power beyond the estimates he had just given.

• Lin Yi learned the details of the stadium target: a 54,900-Source-Energy lizard leader with four Elite Rank guards and many lesser Abyss Beasts.
• Lin Yi explained to Liu Qiying that rules acted like weapons that could let a cultivator overcome a large gap in Source Energy, while emphasizing that Source Energy remained the foundation.
• Lin Yi said that a cultivator just beginning to grasp rules could gain about a tenfold increase in attack power, explaining how he had killed the 17,900-level Black Flame Abyss Tiger.
• Lin Yi revealed that he had comprehended about twelve percent of the rule, giving him an estimated twenty-twofold attack increase and an effective power of 68,200.
• Lin Yi warned Liu Qiying that surpassing ten percent rule comprehension opened up a new level of power, so the estimate might no longer apply to him.

Lin Yi used the Abyss-Splitter Spear to annihilate the Leader Rank Abyss Beast, its stadium Nest, and the surrounding area in a single strike. After confirming the leader was dead, he told the stunned helicopter formation to begin transferring the equipment.

• Lin Yi ordered the helicopter formation to land on an office building ten kilometers from the stadium without alerting the Leader Rank Abyss Beast.
• Lin Yi descended onto the rooftop without using the fast-roping lines and prepared the Abyss-Splitter Spear with red, gold, and black lightning.
• Lin Yi threw the spear at the stadium, and its black energy erased the stadium, the Abyss Beast leader, its guards, and the surrounding terrain, leaving a massive crater.
• Liu Qiying reported that the target area and the leader's life signal had disappeared.
• Lin Yi recalled the crystal and shrunken Abyss-Splitter Spear, then told the formation to transfer the equipment.
• Liu Qiying ordered the helicopters to land and establish a perimeter as the crews began following the plan.

After seven days of intensive training, Lin Yi sent the first class of East Vanguard trainees toward their first real battlefield, declaring that their graduation ceremony would be held at the ruins of a Nest they destroyed. The convoy left the camp for the city ruins, where the trainees would prove themselves as soldiers.

• Liu Qiying returned to the General Staff's base with footage and an account of Lin Yi's devastating strike.
• Lin Yi spent the next seven days teaching the trainees advanced Source Energy control, footwork, and squad combat tactics.
• On the final morning, Lin Yi addressed the assembled trainees and said their graduation ceremony would take place atop the ruins of a Nest they brought down themselves.
• Lin Yi called the trainees real soldiers and ordered them to move out.
• More than eight hundred trainees boarded their assigned vehicles, and the convoy departed for the city ruins.

As a convoy carried Lin Yi and the trainees toward an operation to clear three miniature Abyss Nests, Lin Yi planned how to use the Source Energy Condensers they would obtain. He resolved to urge the Supreme Command to expand the East Vanguard Training Camp, preparing Blue Star not only for the Abyss Beast crisis but also for a possible future interstellar war.

• Lin Yi judged that the trainees and regular troops had a strong chance of clearing the three miniature Abyss Nests.
• Lin Yi decided to propose that the Supreme Command use the three Source Energy Condensers to expand the East Vanguard Training Camp and establish a comprehensive training system.
• Lin Yi recalled that the conflict between the Human Race and the Kunmo Race had spread, and anticipated that the Purple Gold Star Alliance could eventually be drawn into it.
• Lin Yi concluded that Blue Star might one day send Source Energy Warriors to dangerous low-Source-Energy battlefields as auxiliary forces.
• Lin Yi resolved that Blue Star should begin training recruits to become seasoned fighters capable of surviving and fighting in interstellar warfare.

Lin Yi began neutralizing the Abyss Nest while using Combat Recovery and a new technique to prepare for the approaching beast tide. As the battle began, he conserved energy for the Leader Rank Abyss Beast and watched the trainees fight, ready to intervene only if anyone faced imminent death.

• General Nie Chang deployed the troops around the abandoned industrial park and ordered the trainees to follow their assigned combat companies.
• Lin Yi walked to the Purple-Black Vortex and began neutralizing the nest with azure Source Energy.
• Lin Yi drew energy from a Source Energy Crystal while more than a dozen Little Steel Beads floated around him, ready to strike.
• The beast tide surged toward the troops, and Lin Yi used Combat Recovery to replenish the energy consumed by the neutralization field.
• Lin Yi set aside energy for the Leader Rank Abyss Beast and limited his battlefield support to rescuing those in mortal danger.
• A commotion at the left-flank defenses caught Lin Yi's attention.

Zhou Yuxuan led Chen Yu and their squad in harassing a charging Scythe Abyss Mantis to keep it from breaking through the defensive line. As the beast swung at Zhou Yuxuan, Lin Yi sent one of his Little Steel Beads into action.

• A wounded Stardust Rank Scythe Abyss Mantis broke through the long-range blockade and charged toward Chen Yu and Zhou Yuxuan's section of the line.
• Zhou Yuxuan recognized that the beast had separated from the others and led his squad out of the trench to distract it while the anti-tank missile team prepared to lock on.
• Chen Yu and the other squad members followed Zhou Yuxuan, attacking from the flanks with Source Energy and gunfire to draw the mantis away from the trench.
• Lin Yi recognized that Zhou Yuxuan had made the necessary tactical choice and feared his squad might be sacrificed without support.
• The Scythe Abyss Mantis targeted Zhou Yuxuan and swung at him, and Lin Yi made one of his orbiting Little Steel Beads vanish.

Lin Yi led the troops through the destruction of three Abyss Beast Nests in one day, protecting trainees while they gained combat experience. After the victory, he asked Nie Chang to recommend deploying all three Source Energy Condensers at the East Vanguard Training Camp and expanding it to train more cultivators.

• Lin Yi saved Zhang Zhen's squad from an elite speed-type Abyss Beast and destroyed a Leader Rank beast before it could support the enemy.
• After Nest No. 1 collapsed, Lin Yi handed Nie Chang its Seven-Colored Crystal and urged the troops to continue toward the remaining nests while resting in their vehicles.
• The troops destroyed Nest No. 2, and trainees fought approaching ordinary Abyss Beasts to improve their skills.
• At Nest No. 4, squads led by Elizabeth, Zhou Yuxuan, and Zhang Zhen killed elite beasts, and the nest was destroyed at 5:25 p.m.
• Lin Yi gave Nie Chang the third Source Energy Condenser and asked him to recommend deploying all three at the East Vanguard Training Camp and expanding it.

After Lin Yi proposed prioritizing the East Vanguard Training Camp for three Source Energy Condensers and expanding it, the General Staff presented a much broader plan to establish a Source Warrior academy and a new military force. The meeting was left weighing a sweeping change to the country’s military structure.

• Lin Yi asked Nie Chang to convey his proposal to Supreme Command through the frontline battle report, and Nie Chang agreed.
• Li Zhenguo announced that Nie Chang’s forces had destroyed three Micro Abyss Beast Nests in Helu City, and Zhou Donglai reported the operation’s results and the trainees’ performance.
• Zhou Donglai reported that each Nest had dropped a Vortex Type I Deep Space Source Energy Condenser and said the General Staff believed such devices might reliably drop from Micro Nests.
• Zhou Donglai relayed Lin Yi’s proposal to send all three Condensers to the East Vanguard Training Camp and expand it, prompting debate over research needs and distributing the equipment.
• Zhou Donglai called Lin Yi’s proposal too cautious and proposed turning the camp into the East Blade Source Martial Military Academy and forming an independent Source Martial Strategic Defense Force.

Zhou Donglai convinced officials to establish the East Blade Military Academy and the Source Martial Strategic Defense Force by showing Lin Yi’s devastating Star Core Level attack. The meeting approved Lin Yi as academy principal and interim commander of the new force.

• A conservative official questioned whether creating a strategic-level military branch was premature, given the small number of Source Energy Warriors and the lack of established systems.
• Zhou Donglai presented Liu Qiying’s video of Lin Yi destroying a stadium with the Abyss-Splitter Spear, changing the skeptics’ views.
• Zhou Donglai explained that Lin Yi could recover enough Source Energy to repeat the Star Core Level attack after a little over two hours, and that future Source Warriors might achieve similar power.
• Li Zhenguo endorsed the East Blade Military Academy and the Source Martial Strategic Defense Force, naming Lin Yi principal and interim commander.
• The officials raised no objections, and Zhou Donglai agreed to lead the General Staff’s implementation of the proposals.

After the cadets’ victory at Abyss Nest No. 4, Supreme Command transformed Lin Yi’s training camp proposal into a formal military academy and a new Source Martial Army, appointing Lin Yi to lead both. Lin Yi then addressed East Blade’s first class at their graduation ceremony, reminding them that graduation marked the start of a longer journey.

• Nie Chang told Lin Yi that Supreme Command had established East Blade Military Academy and the Source Martial Army, appointing Lin Yi as the academy’s first principal and the army’s first commander.
• Nie Chang said he would serve as deputy commander and executive vice principal, while Liu Qiying would become chief of staff and academy office director.
• Lin Yi urged Nie Chang to focus on cultivating Source Energy, and Nie Chang agreed to leave more military duties to Liu Qiying.
• Liu Qiying reported that the graduation ceremony venue and cadets were ready, and Lin Yi and Nie Chang went to the ceremony.
• Lin Yi told East Blade’s first class that they had proven themselves in battle and that graduation was the beginning of their journey.

Lin Yi announced that the East Vanguard Training Camp would become the East Blade Source Martial Military Academy and that its trainees would found the Source Martial Strategic Defense Force. He presented them with the East Blade equipment set and portable Source Energy Detectors as their graduation proof and gear.

• Lin Yi announced that the East Vanguard Training Camp had been upgraded to the East Blade Source Martial Military Academy and that a new Source Martial Strategic Defense Force had been established.
• Lin Yi told the trainees they would be the academy’s first graduating class and the new force’s first officers and core personnel.
• Lin Yi explained that their graduation proof would be their abilities and resolve rather than paper certificates.
• Lin Yi presented the trainees with the East Blade Emblem and a five-piece equipment set designed to offset the pieces’ drawbacks.
• Lin Yi arranged for each trainee to receive a portable Source Energy Detector with an encrypted communications module.

Lin Yi awarded East Blade equipment and personal advice to the Xia Kingdom cadets, then declared that the foreign exchange students belonged to East Blade too. Elizabeth and Andre received the same recognition, and the ceremony continued with Andre stepping forward.

• Lin Yi issued Zhou Yuxuan, Chen Yu, Zhang Zhen, and the other Xia Kingdom cadets equipment, offering each personal advice and encouragement.
• After the last Xia Kingdom cadet returned to formation, Lin Yi asked whether the foreign exchange students counted as people of East Blade, and the cadets answered that they did.
• Lin Yi called Elizabeth forward and gave her the same equipment and emblem as the other cadets; she thanked him and said she would never forget her time with East Blade.
• Lin Yi called Andre next, and Andre strode onto the stage to receive his equipment.

After graduating the first class of East Blade trainees, Lin Yi returned to the expanding military academy and learned that Jinling Settlement had requested help with a Large Abyss Beast Nest threatening its defenses. The chapter ended with Lin Yi considering Jinling’s dwindling resources and the dangers of evacuating its residents to Helu City.

• Lin Yi gave the graduating trainees his contact code and urged them to support one another after they returned home.
• Lin Yi returned to camp with more than a dozen trainees he had selected to stay on as instructors, as construction began to expand the academy and prepare for new classes.
• Nie Chang told Lin Yi that Jinling Settlement had asked for help because a nearby Large Abyss Beast Nest had expanded to its defensive perimeter.
• Nie Chang explained that Jinling’s attempts to clear the Nest had cost lives, depleted heavy-weapons ammunition, and failed to halt the encroaching territory.
• Nie Chang told Lin Yi that Jinling was considering abandoning its outer defenses and evacuating residents, but nearby settlements were overcrowded and the route to Helu City crossed a Medium Nest.
• Lin Yi fell silent as he weighed the threats to Jinling, its shortages, and the risks of a mass evacuation.