Recaps

Li Chen uncovered the Immortal Alliance’s probing of Guangyun, then launched a campaign against Chess Mountain using raids, infiltration, and political pressure. After seizing its living weapons and occupying Wufang City, he began turning Chess Mountain’s mortal population toward industrial production under Guangyun.

• Li Chen’s forces routed spies Li Qianyuan and Feng Wusheng, and memory-reading revealed the Immortal Alliance was gathering intelligence on Guangyun.
• Li Chen opened Jixia Academy, sought support for the Heavenly Hero Divine Crane, and declared war on Chess Mountain after its insult to his marketplace.
• Li Chen’s Thunderhawk Fighters bombed Chess Mountain’s infrastructure as he pressured its merchants and families, while learning that its Human Vessels contained captured cultivators’ souls.
• With help from the Ying Family, Li Chen infiltrated Hidden Sword Valley and fought Lin Yuetang, Lin Yue, and Dong Nü, ultimately taking the Frost Sword and Thunder Prison Sword.
• Li Chen learned Dong Nü’s tragic history and her attachment to Xue’er, while planning to make Chess Mountain and Elder Xu weaken each other.
• Chess Mountain declared war after its mounted crossbows shot down a Thunderhawk Fighter, and Li Chen’s Black Shark Flying Boats occupied cities under its rule.
• Li Chen took control of Wufang City, appointed Wu Yecheng to govern it, and gave him blueprints and workpieces to establish factories and train industrial workers.

Li Chen industrialized the mortal territories, developed new technologies, and defeated Chess Mountain before securing a peace that transferred land and people to Guangyun. He then began researching Yu Ling and artificial primordial spirits while demonstrating a low-cost path to enhance mortals and make cultivation accessible.

• Li Chen organized mortals to seize Chess Mountain’s cities and resources, arguing that their labor and intelligence could support a new cultivation civilization.
• Li Chen built factories and weapon production lines, trained mortal craftsmen, and worked with Hua Wucuo to investigate natural laws and develop the Guangyun School.
• Li Chen’s drones and legions harassed Chess Mountain as he expanded industry and researched rare earths, electrical systems, and new weapons.
• Li Chen’s forces took Hui City, and he used rumors and secret offers to weaken Chess Mountain before Meng Fuyun seized control amid an uprising that killed many elders.
• Li Chen and Meng Fuyun negotiated peace, transferring territory, mortals, techniques, Human Vessel Embryos, and Yu Ling to Guangyun.
• Li Chen tested Yu Ling’s sword against Xiao Die, Xiao Ying, and Steel-Feathered Cranes, then discussed studying Human Vessels and artificial primordial spirits with Hua Wucuo.
• Li Chen offered Dong Nü a flesh-and-blood body in exchange for helping his research, and she agreed to be studied.
• Li Chen modified Pang Siyuan with a Blood-Cleansing Organ and a Spirit-Particle Memory Meme, explaining plans to give mortals artificial abilities and make cultivation knowledge accessible.

Li Chen expanded Chess Mountain’s mortal reforms and industrial preparations while pursuing experiments in souls, artificial humans, and gene editing. He left the arc with a growing research network and a powerful Insect Queen Mother, as he prepared to mobilize his forces for the coming war.

• Li Chen promoted scientific methods and mortal industry, redirected resources toward war preparations, and expanded his plans to remake Chess Mountain as a prosperous society.
• Li Chen developed new battle puppets and weapons while weighing their military value against asymmetric threats and preparing defenses around Guangyun.
• Wang Dou’s studies revealed his exceptional talent, and Li Chen chose to support a system that could cultivate many people rather than personally favoring him.
• Li Chen launched broad reforms in Chess Mountain and explored whether Lin Yue’s soul could be restored in an artificial body, but his experiments left her with confused human, sword, and cat traits.
• Li Chen recruited foreign-race fighters and began research into bloodlines, gene editing, and artificial humans, but repeated attempts to create embryos failed.
• Li Chen organized researchers and Master Artisans through the Materialized Kingdom Network, inviting them to share knowledge and collaborate on projects including Alien Insect genetic engineering.
• After another month of experiments, Li Chen created an Insect Queen Mother that could adapt to harsh environments, splice other species’ genes, evolve rapidly, and share thought-sense with her subbodies.

Li Chen’s experiments produced the first Worker Bees as his knowledge network expanded, while Outer Dao cultivators launched raids across Chess Mountain. His mechanized forces defeated most of the attackers at immense cost, but the arc ended with the White Bone Dharma King attacking Golden Light City as a powerful righteous aura arrived.

• Li Chen used Heavenly Pivot to test the Mother Empress, which adapted to varied hazards and reproduced the first Worker Bees, while he began researching how traits and transcendent abilities were inherited.
• Li Chen established the Vast Knowledge Pavilion as the Myriad Heavens Alliance’s network grew, while Liu Rumeng and Bai Xu led their disciples into Chess Mountain to hunt for living souls and blood.
• Li Chen’s forces intercepted the Profound Yin Sect and White Bone Gate’s raids with Thunderhawk Fighters and mechanized units, then captured Bai Xu and Liu Rumeng before Outer Dao experts rescued them.
• Qi Hanxing led six Core Formation experts against Salt City, where Li Chen’s forces used a Puppet Sea assault and Blazing Sun Divine Thunder to kill Yu Rong, Pang Ruohe, Bai Xu, and Liu Ruomeng.
• Qi Hanxing escaped the blast and devastated Salt City, Coiled Serpent Mountain, and Daliang City, but Li Chen’s mutated beasts and puppet forces pursued and killed him.
• Li Chen reported Qi Hanxing’s death, then the White Bone Dharma King appeared over Golden Light City and pierced its protective barrier as a powerful righteous aura arrived.