Chapter Summaries

Yang Yu and Professor Li’s archaeological team discovered a house-sized ancient book and murals they believed were over a hundred thousand years old. When a cavern collapse left Yang Yu badly injured and his companions missing, the book absorbed his blood, opened a black hole, and swallowed him along with itself and its stone supports.

• Yang Yu reached the cavern floor and discovered a house-sized ancient book, then Professor Li and the others joined him to examine the ruins.
• Professor Li judged the strange murals and writing to be more than a hundred thousand years old, leaving the team stunned by the discovery.
• The cavern began to shake, and Yang Yu dodged a massive falling boulder that landed where Professor Li, Bai Xiaohe, and Li Qiang had taken shelter.
• Yang Yu found himself badly injured, with a broken right leg, and saw no sign that Professor Li, Bai Xiaohe, or Li Qiang had survived.
• As Yang Yu lay beneath the ancient book, it drew in his blood, opened by itself, and produced a black hole that swallowed Yang Yu, the book, and its stone supports.

After surviving a mysterious cavern, Yang Yu unsealed the first page of the Insect Codex using rare medicinal ingredients. The page’s illustrated Insect Beast came alive, and red light burst from its back and engulfed Yang Yu and his study.

• Yang Yu woke from a recurring nightmare and retrieved the sealed Insect Codex from a hidden compartment in his study.
• He prepared to unseal the Codex with rare, aged medicinal ingredients and accepted the risks in hopes of gaining power.
• After the Codex absorbed the ingredients for a day, Yang Yu opened it and found that only its first page had been unsealed.
• The Insect Beast pictured on the first page moved, revealing a four-cornered array on its back.
• Red light erupted from the array and engulfed Yang Yu and the entire study.

Yang Yu absorbed the blood-red mist from the Insect Codex’s Well of Power, enduring a painful transformation that strengthened his body and produced life energy. After absorbing it all, he learned more about the Insectoid Civilization and resolved to test his evolved body before considering travel through the universe.

• Yang Yu was engulfed by blood-red mist that invaded his body, repeatedly destroying and healing his tissues as his genes began to evolve.
• Yang Yu endured the transformation for three hours, gradually adapting to the pain as the mist thinned around him.
• Yang Yu absorbed the final traces of mist and discovered that his eyes had turned entirely black and his body had grown far stronger than an ordinary person’s.
• Yang Yu recalled inherited information about the Insectoid Civilization, life energy, and cosmic force, while learning that the mist came from a sealed Well of Power.
• Yang Yu decided he needed to unlock at least five pages of the Insect Codex before venturing into the universe and turned his attention to testing his evolved body.

After unsealing the first page of the Insect Codex, Yang Yu tested his dramatically enhanced abilities on Tianjing Mountain and resolved to grow stronger. He concluded that he needed at least fifty million to obtain the resources required to unseal the second page.

• Yang Yu sprinted to Tianjing Mountain at speeds exceeding 370 kilometers per hour and reflected on how far he still had to go compared with the Insectoid Civilization.
• Yang Yu lifted a boulder weighing several hundred pounds and hurled it nearly twenty meters, then tested himself with even heavier rocks.
• Yang Yu assessed his enhanced strength, speed, toughness, reflexes, senses, and jumping ability while resting beneath the night sky.
• Yang Yu vowed to unseal more pages of the Insect Codex and decided he needed at least fifty million to buy the resources required for the second page.

Yang Yu decided to make money by raiding tombs, hoping to find valuable antiques and perhaps another source of power. While contemplating his plans, he sensed a change in his heart and discovered that the Insect Codex’s life energy had awakened within him.

• Yang Yu rejected several ways to make money and chose tomb raiding, relying on his archaeological expertise and enhanced strength.
• Yang Yu hoped tombs might yield not only antiques but also discoveries like the legacy of the Insectoid Civilization.
• Yang Yu felt heat and pain around his heart, then used inner vision to examine the change inside his body.
• Yang Yu found an ice-blue sphere embedded in the fiery region of his heart, which released a powerful surge of vitality.
• Yang Yu recognized the sphere’s power as life energy, the Insectoid Civilization’s foundation and the greatest benefit of the Insect Codex.

Yang Yu returned home after testing his strength on Tianjing Mountain, where the damage he left behind sparked rumors among tourists. He began experimenting with life energy on a black beetle, which grew to the size of a millstone before resisting further modification.

• Yang Yu left Tianjing Mountain before dawn, and tourists later discovered displaced boulders and other damage that baffled them and security staff.
• Yang Yu returned home and prepared the common insects and animals he had collected to test life energy.
• Yang Yu sent life energy into a black beetle, causing it to grow rapidly and shed layers of its shell.
• Yang Yu concluded that his basic life energy could enlarge and strengthen creatures but could not change their fundamental traits.
• Yang Yu tried to feed the millstone-sized beetle more life energy and encountered overwhelming resistance.

Yang Yu tested life energy on captured animals, nearly suffering a corrosive explosion before refining three giant mantis Insect Beasts. He ended the day satisfied with his new creatures but realized his weak Fate Soul limited him to controlling only three.

• Yang Yu pulled life energy from an unstable black beetle, but it exploded and sprayed corrosive blood and flesh across his study.
• Yang Yu blocked the debris with a stainless steel basin and protected himself and most of the animals nearby.
• Yang Yu continued testing life energy on a venomous snake and other creatures throughout the day, buying more animals and supplies along the way.
• Yang Yu produced three giant mantis Insect Beasts that obeyed him and were stronger in a one-on-one fight than he was.
• Yang Yu ate while considering that his weak Fate Soul limited him to controlling three Giant Mantis Beasts at once.

Yang Yu realized that strengthening his fate soul was essential to commanding more Giant Mantis Beasts, then used the Insect Codex to locate a way to retrieve fate soul cultivation knowledge. He found the search seals and formulas, but had not yet begun cultivation.

• Yang Yu considered cultivating his fate soul so he could control more Giant Mantis Beasts and reflected on his urgent need to earn money for food.
• Yang Yu finished an enormous meal, cleaned his study, and concluded that his strengthened body could function for a week without sleep.
• Yang Yu summoned the Insect Codex from his life-soul space, where his three Giant Mantis Beasts rested.
• Yang Yu opened the Codex and found the hand seals and formulas for searching his inherited memories for fate soul cultivation methods.

Yang Yu used the Insect Codex to uncover inherited fate soul cultivation methods and examined them to find the strongest foundation for his cultivation. After reviewing all 18,950 methods, he chose a brilliantly shining seven-colored memory fragment, though its contents were not yet revealed.

• Yang Yu performed hand seals to connect to the Insect Codex and retrieve memories of fate soul cultivation methods.
• He examined the Origin Water Soul Cultivation Art but rejected it as too mediocre.
• He examined the Thick Earth Soul-Nurturing Art and rejected it for its risks, demanding resource requirements, and limited improvement.
• Yang Yu studied the Codex's many methods and learned that fate soul cultivation foundations could not be changed later.
• After reviewing all 18,950 methods, Yang Yu chose a brilliant seven-colored memory fragment.

Yang Yu learned that the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score was an exceptionally powerful but painful Fate Soul cultivation method and decided to test whether he could practice it. The test began as he touched the score with his spiritual energy.

• A black-and-red light emerged from the memory fragment and unfurled into the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score before Yang Yu.
• Yang Yu learned that Ka'er'es had adapted an ordinary musical score into a five-volume method for tempering Fate Souls.
• Yang Yu concluded that the method suited him because it required no natural treasures, though its painful cultivation demanded great resilience.
• Yang Yu worried that failure would force him to choose a weaker method that required fewer resources.
• Yang Yu touched the score with his spiritual energy, beginning its test of his Fate Soul.

Yang Yu endured the first movement of the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score and learned how its demonic music and dark force strengthened his fate soul. He concluded that he needed to complete forty-one repetitions and reach the peak of the acquired human rank before unlocking the second page of the Insect Codex to advance his body.

• Yang Yu withstood the first movement's agonizing notes as his fate soul power slowly grew.
• After half a night, Yang Yu survived the final note, collapsed, and found his fate soul power had increased by at least thirty percent.
• Yang Yu realized the increased fate soul strength let him control at least one more Giant Mantis Beast.
• Yang Yu reviewed how dark force and the score's five movements forged the fate soul, with each movement requiring a stronger body to endure its pain.
• Yang Yu determined he needed forty-one repetitions of the first movement to reach the acquired human rank's limit and control twenty Giant Mantis Beasts.
• Yang Yu concluded he would need to unlock the second page of the Insect Codex and advance to the postnatal earth rank before practicing the second movement.

Yang Yu perfected his Fate Soul's strength through weeks of painful cultivation, then went to Shangjing City's Antique and Bird Market to earn money, acquire more mantises, and search for valuable antiques. He had reached the peak of the acquired human rank but still needed to control his leaking aura and grow stronger before attempting the second volume of his cultivation method.

• Yang Yu stored the Insect Codex in his Life-Soul Space and resumed cultivating the Hundredfold Soul-Tempering Score after washing and eating.
• Yang Yu cultivated for nineteen days and spent two more days consolidating his progress, completing the first volume's forty-one cycles and reaching the peak of the acquired human rank.
• Yang Yu found that the second volume's first note nearly overwhelmed his body, so he decided to earn money and buy rare materials to unseal the Insect Codex's second page.
• Yang Yu traveled into the city and drew unwanted attention because his powerful aura leaked out, prompting him to resolve to control it.
• Yang Yu arrived at Shangjing City's Antique and Bird Market to buy black-patterned giant mantises and search for overlooked treasures.

Yang Yu returned to Five Poisons Complete to buy more Black-Spotted Tiger-Stripe Mantises for his plans to form a squad of Giant Mantis Beasts. He left with the shop’s ten remaining mantises and asked whether any were female, hinting that he intended to breed them.

• Yang Yu entered Five Poisons Complete and asked the old shopkeeper for more Black-Spotted Tiger-Stripe Mantises.
• The old shopkeeper said he had only ten mantises available and no other Shangjing City shop sold them.
• Yang Yu bought all ten for fifteen thousand yuan and received a breeding enclosure with them.
• The old shopkeeper offered to arrange delivery, but Yang Yu carried the heavy enclosure out himself, startling him.
• Yang Yu asked whether any of his mantises were female, and the old shopkeeper warned that captive breeding would fail because the females ate their young.

Yang Yu used his fate soul power to search Shangjing City's antique market and found the Ink Fragrance Pavilion full of convincing fakes and a few overpriced genuine antiques. After leaving without buying anything, he sensed the unusual antique again and realized it was in the narrow alley beside the pavilion.

• Yang Yu tested his fate soul power on pedestrians, subtly influencing them to move aside while recognizing the limits of his control over ordinary people.
• Yang Yu searched dozens of antique shops and found nothing genuine until he sensed an unusual object near the Ink Fragrance Pavilion.
• Yang Yu explored the pavilion's three floors, identified more than ten genuine antiques, and rejected them as too expensive.
• Yang Yu left the pavilion, sensed the unusual aura again, and traced it to a narrow alley beside the shop.

Yang Yu followed the strange alley to the Yinwood Gate and entered the ruined Immortal Spirit Ghost Market, where he found evidence that Immortal Civilization descendants had once lived on Earth. The memory jade slip left him troubled by the possibility that their forces still remained hidden somewhere on the planet.

• Yang Yu sensed that the antique’s aura carried cosmic force and suspected it was a Mortal Shedding Treasure, so he continued into the alley.
• Yang Yu summoned three Giant Mantis Beasts and ordered them to scout ahead.
• Yang Yu reached the vermilion demon-head gate, identified it as the Yinwood Gate of the Immortal Spirit Ghost Market, and opened it.
• Yang Yu explored the ruined, self-contained market and found a memory jade slip that recorded its history.
• Yang Yu learned that the Yinwood Gate had been a secluded sect of Immortal Civilization descendants and worried that their forces might still be dormant on Earth.

Yang Yu feared that the Immortal Civilization on Earth would discover his insect civilization inheritance, so he hurried to loot the Yinwood Sect’s Immortal Spirit Ghost Market. After gathering a large haul, he returned to the alley and concealed his Giant Mantis Beasts when he heard someone approaching.

• Yang Yu worried that the Immortal Civilization’s presence on Earth could force him into a deadly clash and ordered the Giant Mantis Beasts to search the ruins quickly.
• Yang Yu and three Giant Mantis Beasts dug up antiques and a top-quality Mortal Shedding Treasure while he used Life Energy to evolve five Black-Spotted Tiger-Stripe Mantises.
• After an hour of searching, Yang Yu collected thirty-seven antiques and seven Mortal Shedding Treasures and bundled them for transport.
• Yang Yu and his eight Giant Mantis Beasts raced out of the ruins and entered the dark alley.
• Yang Yu heard someone entering the alley and concealed the Giant Mantis Beasts within his Life-Soul Space.

Zhao Zixuan fled from four Ghost Infant Sect disciples after discovering their crimes, and the terror awakened his latent potential. Yang Yu hid his spoils and waited in the strange alley rather than intervene, until Zhao Zixuan ran toward his silhouette with the pursuers closing in.

• Zhao Zixuan ran through the alleys as four men in black chased him for uncovering the Ghost Infant Sect's activities.
• Zhao Zixuan's desperate fight to survive awakened his latent potential, strengthening his life soul and blood energy.
• Yang Yu buried his canvas-wrapped spoils and chose to wait quietly instead of answering Zhao Zixuan's cries for help.
• The four Ghost Infant Sect disciples noticed the alleys' spatial distortion and grew wary of the place.
• The leader ordered the others to use their full strength, and three disciples accelerated toward Zhao Zixuan as Yang Yu's figure appeared ahead of him.

Yang Yu rescued Zhao Zixuan from four Ghost Infant Sect disciples and killed Tie San with a single strike. After interrogating the survivors, he learned that two major powers operated in Shangjing City, including a mysterious organization that the Ghost Infant Sect feared.

• Zhao Zixuan fled from Tie San and the other men in black as they tried to capture her.
• Yang Yu intervened, killed Tie San with one palm strike, and carried Zhao Zixuan away from the remaining men.
• Li Dahai, Wang Mang, and Zeng Jiulin recognized Yang Yu's strength and bowed to him, identifying themselves as Ghost Infant Sect disciples.
• Yang Yu questioned the three men, who revealed that the Ghost Infant Sect and a powerful mysterious organization operated in Shangjing City.
• Li Dahai invited Yang Yu to visit the Ghost Infant Sect, hoping to recruit him and make up for Tie San's death.

Yang Yu killed the Ghost Infant Sect men who had invited him to visit, then left the alley with Zhao Zixuan and his recovered treasures. The Giant Mantis Beasts devoured the bodies before returning to the Life-Soul Space.

• Yang Yu rejected Li Dahai's invitation to the Ghost Infant Sect and decided to kill him and his two men to prevent trouble.
• Yang Yu killed one black-clad man with a single palm strike as Li Dahai and the other man fled in opposite directions.
• Yang Yu summoned eight Giant Mantis Beasts, which caught and killed the two fleeing Ghost Infant Sect disciples.
• The Giant Mantis Beasts devoured the bodies while Yang Yu recovered his buried bundle of antiques and treasures.
• Yang Yu grabbed the dazed Zhao Zixuan and left the alley as the Giant Mantis Beasts returned to the Life-Soul Space.

Yang Yu forced Zhao Zixuan to agree to a transformation in exchange for his life. Meanwhile, Steward Ning's investigators found an abandoned Immortal Spirit Ghost Market Entrance at the site where Li Dahai and the others had died.

• Yang Yu threatened Zhao Zixuan with death unless he pledged loyalty and agreed to be transformed into a Blade Queen.
• Zhao Zixuan chose to live and accepted the transformation, and Yang Yu led him to the study.
• Steward Ning and a group of Ghost Infant Sect cultivators arrived at the alley where Li Dahai and the others had died.
• The scar-faced young man reported that the killers had left no trace of blood but that the alley contained an abandoned Immortal Spirit Ghost Market Entrance.
• Steward Ning reacted with excitement when he heard about the Immortal Spirit Ghost Market.