Chapter Summaries

Zhuang Hong camped beside the treasure stone pillar to hunt Void Spirits while studying the Source Unleashing Art and Clone Technique. After ten days, he captured a Locust Beast to learn the techniques, but the creature flew into a rage when Zhuang Hong smashed its legs.

• Zhuang Hong decided to guard the treasure stone pillar for a month and studied two techniques in the Sea of Consciousness World between hunting Void Spirits.
• Over ten days, Zhuang Hong learned the basic principles of the Source Unleashing Art and Clone Technique but struggled with their details and cultivation materials.
• Zhuang Hong decided to capture a Void Spirit and make it teach him the techniques, threatening to kill it if it deceived him.
• A Core Combination Level Nine Locust Beast arrived, challenged Zhuang Hong, and tried to escape by leaping away.
• Zhuang Hong transformed into Agile Form, caught the Locust Beast, and smashed its legs beneath his foot.
• The Locust Beast raged about its broken legs, and Zhuang Hong warned it that he would cut off its head if it did not calm down.

Zhuang Hong killed a Locust Beast and captured the stronger Human-Beast Race member Yin Guan, deciding to use him as a knowledgeable guide. He prepared to brand Yin Guan with a Beast Taming Steel Seal, first rendering him unconscious with the Brain Hibernation Technique.

• Xiao Bai warned Zhuang Hong that another Void Spirit had arrived, so Zhuang Hong killed the Locust Beast and approached the long-browed middle-aged man.
• The man fled and attacked Zhuang Hong, but Zhuang Hong defeated him and forced him to surrender.
• Zhuang Hong bound the man with Fine Silk and tested his knowledge of reading, writing, arithmetic, and materials.
• The man introduced himself as Yin Guan, and Zhuang Hong said he would keep him alive if he helped identify writing and materials.
• Zhuang Hong used the Brain Hibernation Technique on Yin Guan before preparing to brand him with a Beast Taming Steel Seal.

Zhuang Hong spent weeks studying Yin Guan's brain and creating a highly compatible Beast Taming Steel Seal so he could control and question him. After imprinting it and waking Yin Guan, he tested the seal and revealed that Yin Guan could no longer control his own body.

• Zhuang Hong took unconscious Yin Guan to a remote Solution Cave and recorded his brain in the Sea of Consciousness World.
• Zhuang Hong compared Yin Guan's brain with Steel Seal Templates and spent weeks testing and adjusting the best match to achieve compatibility above ninety-eight percent.
• After completing the Beast Taming Steel Seal, Zhuang Hong imprinted it on Yin Guan and dispelled the Brain Hibernation Technique.
• Yin Guan woke, inspected himself, and followed Zhuang Hong's instructions to walk around the cave.
• Zhuang Hong told Yin Guan to walk forward, and Yin Guan discovered in horror that his body moved backward without his control.

Zhuang Hong tested his control over Yin Guan, who responded by swearing loyalty and obeying him. Yin Guan explained how his Storage Bag worked and identified its contents, including Blue Crystal and seven Jade Slips.

• Zhuang Hong released his control over Yin Guan, who nervously knelt and declared himself loyal to his young master.
• Zhuang Hong warned Yin Guan that his life depended on his obedience, settled on being called “young master,” and introduced Xiao Bai as his pet beast.
• Zhuang Hong examined Yin Guan’s Storage Bag, and Yin Guan demonstrated how to open it and explained that it held folded space.
• Yin Guan told Zhuang Hong that he had received the Storage Bag from his former boss, Jiang De, after reaching the Spirit Ascension Level.
• Zhuang Hong inspected the bag’s contents as Yin Guan identified Blue Crystal and explained that the seven Jade Slips contained scriptures, medicine-refining methods, a Protective Art, and a saber technique.

Zhuang Hong learned Yin Guan’s Traceless Steps and tested it in his different forms, then practiced Armor of Protection. After seeing how much his speed and defense had improved, he prepared to learn the Source Unleashing Art.

• Zhuang Hong questioned Yin Guan, studied the seven Jade Slips, and learned about the Heart Cleansing Scriptures, Armor of Protection, and Knife in Water.
• Yin Guan demonstrated Traceless Steps and offered to teach it, and Zhuang Hong asked him to write it down.
• A month later, Zhuang Hong tested Traceless Steps and found it increased his speed in Normal Form, Agile Form, and Meat Shield Form.
• Zhuang Hong tested Armor of Protection by having his flying blades strike its barrier, which lasted through ten hits before breaking.
• Zhuang Hong decided to learn the Source Unleashing Art, believing it could greatly transform his strength.

Zhuang Hong experimented with the Source Unleashing Art, then tried using its explosive Double Helix source energy to build Ejection Cylinders for powered flight. As he kept refining the idea, Yin Guan quietly served him and worried that he would become disposable once Zhuang Hong no longer needed him.

• Zhuang Hong used the Source Unleashing Art to strike a boulder, destroying both it and his Iron Carapace blade while recognizing that his uncontrolled technique wasted power and hurt him too.
• Zhuang Hong formed Iron Carapace Ejection Cylinders beside his legs and used Double Helix source energy to launch himself into the air, crashing headfirst into the ground.
• Zhuang Hong armored himself and tried again, landing safely after adjusting his balance, then continued experimenting with the cylinders and their explosive force.
• Yin Guan watched Zhuang Hong’s attempts, wondering whether he was trying to fly, while Xiao Bai alerted him to a nearby Void Spirit.
• Yin Guan killed a Green Clear Pattern Beast for Zhuang Hong, then worried that he would be killed once he was no longer useful and went to prepare clean clothes for him.

Zhuang Hong tested his newly enhanced armor and achieved extremely fast flight before deciding to return to Oasis World and try to help save it. There, Yin Guan explained that Subordinate Mutant Worms form through merged consciousness, revealing that transmigrators like Xu Kaidong were such beings.

• Zhuang Hong used eight Ejection Cylinders and a conical helmet to fly at great speed, then demonstrated how he could steer and accelerate.
• After returning, Zhuang Hong drained a Clear Pattern Beast and told Yin Guan to pack so they could leave for Oasis World.
• Zhuang Hong chose to return because the Rotting Ground still threatened Oasis World, despite the source having been cleared.
• Four days later, Zhuang Hong arrived in Oasis World and asked Yin Guan whether he knew how to clear the Rotting Ground.
• Yin Guan described Subordinate Mutant Worms, which formed when the consciousnesses of mayflies from different spaces merged, and said some places called them transmigrators.
• Zhuang Hong realized that Xu Kaidong, whom he had met in an ancient world, had been a transmigrator whose consciousness crossed into another space's Other Self.

Zhuang Hong questioned Yin Guan about transmigrators, Spirit Fluid, and the legends surrounding Mutant Worms and the Great Universe God Race. He learned that Void Spirits supposedly hunt Mutant Worms for the God Race, while some secretly breed them for profit, and ended by asking Yin Guan to explain the threat awaiting Mutant Worms who reach the True Spirit Level.

• Yin Guan explained that mental fusion between Other Selves could create transmigrators, whose special abilities might let them erode the Rotting Ground, and Zhuang Hong said he could locate one.
• Yin Guan told Zhuang Hong that his Mutant Worm aura came from Spirit Fluid, which attracted Void Spirits, and suggested its scent might disappear when he became a True Spirit.
• Yin Guan shared a legend that the Great Universe God Race controlled the universe's rules, forbade Mutant Worms, and raised Void Spirits to eliminate them in exchange for rewards.
• Yin Guan described how Void Spirits avoided slaughtering too many Mayflies after mass killers mysteriously died, yet some still bred and hunted Mutant Worms for profit.
• Zhuang Hong realized that Void Spirits' Mayfly breeding schemes might explain how he became a Mutant Worm, then asked Yin Guan to explain the God Race and the danger of advancing to the True Spirit Level.

Zhuang Hong learned that advancing to the True Spirit Level might trigger a Four-Dimensional Being’s immune system, then traveled through Oasis World and encountered a group of Void Spirit hunters. He defeated the hunters and began devouring their nutrients.

• Zhuang Hong considered his dilemma after Yin Guan explained that becoming a True Spirit might bring a deadly attack from a Four-Dimensional Being, and wondered whether Chen Yuanfei’s cancer could offer a clue.
• Zhuang Hong found that ashes were still spreading around Red Stone City, and Lan Linzhong told him the Beast Tamers planned to evacuate to an uncontaminated continent by ship.
• Zhuang Hong declined to attend the ceremony for his statue, collected ash samples, and left Oasis World to visit Xu Kaidong’s world.
• Yin Guan explained that Zhishi was a notorious Void Spirit with powerful clones, and Zhuang Hong said he had recently driven Zhishi off.
• Thirteen Half-Beast Race hunters surrounded Zhuang Hong and Yin Guan, but Zhuang Hong transformed into Agile Form and killed them in one minute.
• Zhuang Hong returned to Normal Form and began devouring the hunters’ nutrients.

Zhuang Hong defeated nine Rising Spirit Beasts, gathered their spoils, and left the increasingly dangerous space with Yin Guan and Xiao Bai. After more than half a month of travel, he returned to Xu Kaidong’s world and visited him, where Xu Kaidong greeted him tearfully.

• Zhuang Hong devoured the defeated Half-Beast Race members while Yin Guan explained how different Void Spirit races were born.
• Yin Guan sorted the spoils, and Zhuang Hong kept a long saber called the Reflecting Eyes Blade and stored the other items.
• Zhuang Hong left the space with Yin Guan and Xiao Bai because Zhishi’s news would draw more Void Spirits, including possibly a True Spirit.
• After traveling for more than half a month, Zhuang Hong reached Xu Kaidong’s world and went to his estate.
• Butler Liu welcomed Zhuang Hong, arranged refreshments, and sent for Xu Kaidong.
• Xu Kaidong rushed home and tearfully told Zhuang Hong how much he had missed him.

Zhuang Hong learned that Xu Kaidong’s world-traveling may have resulted from the synchronized terror of both versions of him falling from mountains. He recruited Xu Kaidong to awaken his Mental Strength talent and help erase spatial ash, then began testing whether Xu could erode the ash.

• Xu Kaidong reunited with Zhuang Hong and recalled that he had traveled through worlds after falling down a mountain.
• Zhuang Hong theorized that the two Xu Kaidongs’ minds had synchronized during their falls, merging their Mental Strength.
• Zhuang Hong offered Xu a chance to awaken his rare talent and promised to teach him cultivation even if the attempt failed.
• Zhuang Hong explained that he wanted Xu to use his talent to erode spatial ash and warned that he would force Xu to help if he broke their agreement.
• Xu accepted despite learning about the dangers of becoming a Space Traveler and asked to begin cultivation.
• Zhuang Hong handed Xu a box of ash and told him to try eroding it, but Xu did not know how.

Zhuang Hong returned to Earth after leaving Xu Kaidong to train, intending to study and record Earthly knowledge before visiting Rainbow Home. After reconnecting with the children and learning A Fei was traveling to find life’s meaning, Zhuang Hong headed to the city library to build a library in his Sea of Consciousness World.

• Zhuang Hong took back the ashes and ordered Xu Kaidong to run, lose weight, and memorize a scripture before he returned in a month to assess his readiness for cultivation.
• Xu Kaidong resolved to keep training and decided to root out the emperor’s spies in his estate.
• Zhuang Hong returned to Earth with Yin Guan and Xiao Bai, showed Yin Guan the city, and taught him how to use the bathroom before taking Xiao Bai to a pet shop for a bath.
• Zhuang Hong visited Rainbow Home, where Hua Wanying told him that A Fei had taken his parents traveling to experience the world and find meaning in his life.
• Zhuang Hong gave money to Hua Wanying and Dean Nong, then went to the city library to gather knowledge for his Sea of Consciousness World.

Zhuang Hong gave up on aimless study and spent time training, browsing books, and teaching Xu Kaidong a modified Mental Strength cultivation method. After two months, he decided Xu Kaidong was ready to open the Secret Sea and began the procedure, which succeeded.

• Zhuang Hong recorded books on math, physics, and chemistry in his Sea of Consciousness World, then discovered that studying without guidance was inefficient.
• Zhuang Hong left Earth after bidding farewell to Dean Nong and the others, then traveled to Xu Kaidong's estate to begin teaching him cultivation.
• Zhuang Hong taught Xu Kaidong a modified Mental Strength cultivation method while he trained in neighboring worlds and browsed books.
• Yin Guan learned to serve Zhuang Hong from Butler Liu, while Xiao Bai and Yin Guan helped protect Zhuang Hong from monsters.
• After two months, Zhuang Hong found that Xu Kaidong could divide his Mental Strength into three branches and decided to help him open the Secret Sea.
• Zhuang Hong used ten mental tendrils to locate and open Xu Kaidong's ten Heaven Locks, successfully opening the Secret Sea.

Zhuang Hong helped Xu Kaidong open his Secret Awareness, and Xu awakened a charisma-related Mental Characteristic. When Xu could not erode the Rotting Ground, Yin Guan suggested seeking information from Qi Xiu in Zheng Ting District, and Zhuang Hong considered sending Yin Guan.

• Xu Kaidong gained control of his qi, and Zhuang Hong opened his Secret Awareness by unlocking the twenty-eight Heaven Locks in his head.
• Xu Kaidong lit a Divine Lamp, recovered the original owner's memories, and awakened a characteristic that made him more attractive and trustworthy to others.
• Zhuang Hong asked Xu Kaidong to erode ashes, but Xu failed despite trying for ten days.
• Yin Guan admitted he was unsure how transmigrators eroded the Rotting Ground and suggested they might need a specific spell.
• Yin Guan told Zhuang Hong that Qi Xiu, an intelligence chief in Zheng Ting District, might know the method and offered to obtain the information.

Zhuang Hong agreed to let Yin Guan return to Zheng Ting District to seek information and cultivation materials, while secretly following him. As Yin Guan explained the Dragon Court Mixed Domain and the long lives of its strongest beings, Zhuang Hong learned that advancing to True Spirit could grant a lifespan of thousands of years.

• Zhuang Hong judged that Yin Guan sincerely wanted to help and sent him to Zheng Ting District to buy information on clearing the Rotting Ground and materials, warning him that he would follow secretly.
• Yin Guan described the Dragon Court Mixed Domain and its four districts, which were controlled by the Half-Beast, Parasitic Beast, Human-Beast, and Magic Beast races.
• Yin Guan explained that the districts had once been a chaotic battlefield and still fought wars every few decades to control their populations and resources.
• Yin Guan told Zhuang Hong that Human-Beast Race members could live around three thousand years, though most died much younger, and that the other races had shorter lifespans.
• Yin Guan said True Spirits had transformed life essences, might count as the weakest members of the God Race, and had existed for at least five thousand years, leaving Zhuang Hong excited by the prospect of immortality.

Zhuang Hong decided to rob the Void Spirits hunting him to gather Blue Crystals, materials, and nutrients before heading to Zheng Ting District. After leaving Xu Kaidong and setting out with Yin Guan and Xiao Bai, he slaughtered a Half-Beast Race squad and obtained thirteen Blue Crystals and a small bottle of Hong Yan Liquid.

• Zhuang Hong decided that his group needed more Blue Crystals and materials, so he planned to hunt the Void Spirits searching for him.
• After waiting three more days for the box of Ashes to change, Zhuang Hong left Xu Kaidong with cultivation instructions and accepted ten gold bars from him.
• Zhuang Hong traveled with Yin Guan and Xiao Bai toward Oasis World to gather funds before going to Zheng Ting District.
• A squad of ten Half-Beast Race members found Zhuang Hong, but he killed them all in less than a minute.
• Yin Guan found thirteen Blue Crystals, weapons, materials, a communication stone, and a small bottle of Hong Yan Liquid, and Zhuang Hong said they would keep hunting for more.

Zhuang Hong hunted the Void Spirit squads around Oasis World until Brave Sea Closure confronted him with twenty Spirit Ascension Level Half-Beast Race warriors. Zhuang Hong slaughtered and crippled most of the fighters, and Sea Closure finally entered the battle himself.

• Zhuang Hong spent two months killing scattered Void Spirit squads until twenty-one Spirit Ascension Level Half-Beast Race warriors, including Brave Sea Closure, blocked his path.
• Yin Guan identified Sea Closure as the powerful deputy leader of the Dragon Spine Headhunting Group, but Zhuang Hong refused to flee and sent Yin Guan away with Xiao Bai.
• Sea Closure declined Zhuang Hong’s challenge to fight one-on-one and ordered twenty subordinates to attack while he watched from higher ground.
• Zhuang Hong used his speed, strength, and defenses to kill five Half-Beast Race warriors and severely wound seven, driving the remaining fighters into a retreat.
• Sea Closure leaped into the battle, declaring that he would show his subordinates how to defeat Zhuang Hong.

Zhuang Hong defeated Brave Sea Closure and the other Rising Spirit Beasts, then began feeding on their bodies while Yin Guan looted them. The battle left Zhuang Hong injured but with twenty-one corpses to harvest.

• Zhuang Hong sent Sea Closure flying twice while killing the other Rising Spirit Beasts, and Sea Closure decided to use his hidden trump card.
• Sea Closure trapped Zhuang Hong with his blades, pincers, and venomous tail, but Zhuang Hong caught the tail in fine threads and disarmed him.
• Zhuang Hong shattered Sea Closure’s shield, killed him, and finished off the fleeing, wounded Rising Spirit Beasts.
• Zhuang Hong began feeding on Sea Closure’s body and told Yin Guan to loot the corpses, while Yin Guan realized that Zhuang Hong had truly won.

Zhuang Hong claimed Brave Sea Closure’s valuables and continued toward Zheng Ting District while strengthening his body. A month later, Commander Gong Cheng blamed Zhuang Hong for his brother’s death and ordered a bounty and a hunt, unaware that Zhuang Hong was near Zheng Ting District preparing to send Yin Guan for information.

• Zhuang Hong took Brave Sea Closure’s Blue Crystals, Dual Blades, Scorpion Tablet, poisoned barb, and other supplies, then assessed his cultivation and physical growth.
• Zhuang Hong decided to head to Zheng Ting District and avoid confronting the Dragon Spine Headhunting Group or a True Spirit until he grew stronger.
• A squad of Half-Beast Race Rising Spirit Beasts found Brave Sea Closure’s remains and reported the one-sided slaughter to Commander Gong Cheng.
• Commander Gong Cheng ordered a bounty on Remnant Zhishi, sought help from the other thirty-five groups, and vowed to kill the Spirit Ascension Worm he blamed for his brother’s death.
• Near Zheng Ting District, Zhuang Hong sent Yin Guan to gather information about the Divine Race, True Spirit Level, and how an alien insect could conceal its aura.

Zhuang Hong secretly followed Yin Guan to the Zheng Ting District, where he surveyed the vast settlement of the Human-Beast Race. Seeing the enormous number of Void Spirits, he concluded that he needed to become much stronger to survive among them.

• Zhuang Hong sent Yin Guan ahead to gather information, then used the Beast Taming Steel Seal to track him while staying alert for betrayal.
• Zhuang Hong transformed his body with Iron Carapace, carried Xiao Bai in his backpack, and flew after Yin Guan while invisible.
• Zhuang Hong followed Yin Guan for five days without being detected and arrived above the Zheng Ting District.
• Zhuang Hong surveyed the district’s vast basin platforms and the society of Void Spirits living and trading there.
• Zhuang Hong realized he could not defeat the immense population of Void Spirits through strength alone and resolved that his lack of power was the source of his danger.