Chapter Summaries

Li Chen asked Qi Maigu to help refine Blazing Sun Divine Thunder, but Qi Maigu said the rare nether-origin crystal was the main obstacle. Li Chen presented a survey suggesting that a cursed valley near Broad Cloud Peak contained stellar ash that might yield the crystal, leaving its potential deposits to be investigated.

• Qi Maigu agreed to consider making the weapon if Li Chen could afford the materials, noting that the Centipede Daoist lacked the backing to deter him.
• Li Chen explained that nether-origin crystal was the key material needed to refine Blazing Sun Divine Thunder.
• Qi Maigu said he could provide the other materials but could not proceed without nether-origin crystal.
• Li Chen showed Qi Maigu a survey of a cursed valley three hundred li southwest of Broad Cloud Peak.
• Li Chen said his flying discs and Worker Bee Puppets had led him to suspect the valley contained stellar ash from which nether-origin crystal could be extracted.

Li Chen brought Qi Maigu to investigate a barren valley, where Qi confirmed it was a Stardust Mine containing stellar ash and potentially valuable ores. A survey revealed a vast underground vein that could yield more than four thousand jin of nether-origin crystal, with an optimistic estimate exceeding ten thousand jin.

• Li Chen took Qi Maigu to the secluded valley to determine whether it contained a nether-origin crystal mine.
• Qi Maigu used a green sphere to detect stellar ash and confirmed that the valley was a Stardust Mine.
• Qi Maigu explained that the mine might contain nether-origin crystal, high-energy gemstones, and other valuable materials, though its composition would affect the crystal yield.
• Li Chen returned with Qi Maigu and had puppets conduct a comprehensive survey of the valley.
• Li Chen's survey estimated that the underground vein held 450 million to 480 million jun of stellar ash and could yield over four thousand jin of nether-origin crystal, possibly more than ten thousand jin.

Li Chen began secretly mining a vast treasure ore deposit to supply materials for miniaturized Blazing Sun Divine Thunder, while expanding production and putting the Shaman Folk to work. The chapter ended with Helm Master Qiu warning him that the Everflow Merchants' Association might invest in the Heavenly Dragon Gate.

• Li Chen discovered that the deposit held enormous reserves of refined gold and other minerals, and Qi Maigu agreed to refine Blazing Sun Divine Thunder once mining supplied the materials.
• Li Chen and Qi Maigu planned to make smaller thunder charges, which could threaten Foundation Establishment cultivators and would be more useful in the coming war.
• Li Chen sent Worker Bee Puppets to mine several deposits at once, using the refined gold mine as cover while transporting stellar ash ore to a processing plant.
• Li Chen mobilized the Shaman Folk for production and construction, and arranged training and Thought-Sensing Mecha to help them operate machinery.
• Helm Master Qiu told Li Chen that the Everflow Merchants' Association might inject capital into the Heavenly Dragon Gate.

Li Chen learned that the Everflow Merchants' Association was backing the Heavenly Dragon Gate and sending powerful reinforcements, prompting him to prepare for a larger war. The reinforcements arrived to support Centipede Daoist, who gained access to a mountain-guarding treasure and a plan to overwhelm Li Chen's Foundation Establishment forces.

• Helm Master Qiu told Li Chen that the Everflow Merchants' Association backed the Heavenly Dragon Gate and had recruited eight Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivators and over a hundred qi refining fighters.
• Li Chen considered expanding production of Battle Puppets because his available Foundation Establishment combat strength was limited.
• Centipede Daoist sent troops into Barren Mountain and searched for the Fifth Avatar, while Li Chen used reconnaissance to avoid battle.
• A Flying Boat brought Helm Master Lin, Miss Mei, other Everflow Merchants' Association experts, and eight Foundation Establishment Rogue Cultivators to Biyuan City.
• Miss Mei told Centipede Daoist that her grandfather had arranged a mountain-guarding treasure and that the reinforcements would hold off the enemy's strongest fighters.

Li Chen continued moving Mountain Folk toward Broad Cloud Ward while planning to destroy the Heavenly Dragon Gate with miniaturized Crimson Sun Divine Thunder. When four Foundation Establishment Cultivators ambushed the Fifth Avatar, Li Chen summoned reinforcements and a rocket platform as the Flying Harrier escaped with most of the refugees.

• The Fifth Avatar had helped set the Mountain Folk's migration in motion, while Li Chen watched events and considered how to draw the Heavenly Dragon Gate's experts together for a decisive strike.
• Li Chen sent the Flying Harrier to evacuate a scattered tribe of Mountain Folk to Broad Cloud Ward.
• An attacker hurled a blazing earth ball at the Fifth Avatar, who shattered it with Golden Wind Wave before ordering the Flying Harrier to take off.
• Four Foundation Establishment Cultivators emerged from the forest, declaring that they had come for Wushi Yan.
• Li Chen deployed a disguised mobile artillery platform with twenty-five Rockets and sent Xiao Die, Xiao Ying, and Jingang to the Fifth Avatar's location.

Li Chen’s Fifth Avatar was overwhelmed by four Heavenly Dragon Gate mercenaries while Centipede Daoist prepared an ambush for the reinforcements. When Xiao Die and Xiao Ying were intercepted, Li Chen deployed the Great Wilderness Giant and rushed to the battlefield.

• A powerful mechanical martial artist hurled Red Wolf aside and drove the Fifth Avatar back as three other cultivators killed or wounded the Shaman Folk warriors and battered the avatar.
• Centipede Daoist, Helm Master Lin, and Miss Mei watched the attack, then sent six experts and nearly a hundred demon centipedes to ambush the approaching reinforcements.
• Li Chen detected enemies blocking Xiao Die and Xiao Ying and realized the Fifth Avatar could not be abandoned because its disguise concealed important secrets.
• Li Chen ordered Young Master Dong and Old Gong to defend the Market District, boarded the Great Wilderness Giant, and set out for the battlefield.

Xiao Die, Xiao Ying, and Jingang were overwhelmed by attackers and Heavenly Treasure Centipedes in the Wild Forest. After Xiao Ying's body was destroyed, Li Chen canceled the support mission and ordered Xiao Die to retrieve her.

• Xiao Die and Jingang fought through swarms of Heavenly Treasure Centipedes while a Sword Cultivator's Flying Sword wounded Xiao Ying.
• The attackers unleashed powerful spells against the three Battle Puppets, leaving them gravely damaged and reducing their combat capability.
• Xiao Ying's body collapsed, and her main core requested permission to enter a Reserve Body, but Heavenly Jade denied retrieval under the battlefield conditions.
• The attackers believed Xiao Ying had been defeated and prepared to finish off Xiao Die and Jingang.
• Li Chen rejected Xiao Ying's requests to return in a Reserve Body, canceled the support mission, and ordered Xiao Die to retrieve her body.
• Xiao Die seized Xiao Ying's body and flew into the sky.

Xiao Die escaped while Li Chen used missiles to devastate the enemy ambush and reached the battlefield where the Fifth Avatar had died. He confronted the Four-Star Ancient Thunder Beast and destroyed it with a missile strike followed by a nine-shot barrage.

• Jingang shielded Xiao Die from her pursuers, allowing her to escape, while the attackers killed Jingang.
• Li Chen ignored Xiao Die’s pursuers and flew toward the Fifth Avatar’s battlefield, where missiles obliterated the ambush force and forced Centipede Daoist and the others to retreat.
• Miss Mei wondered whether Li Chen’s heavy losses and pursuit of Xiao Ying suggested a hidden motive.
• Li Chen encountered the Ancient Thunder Beast, attacked it with missiles, and then blasted it into a sieve with nine shots of Thunder Dragon Spits Its Core.

Li Chen exploited the enemy fighters’ concern for Miss Mei to expose the Ancient Thunder Beast’s cockpit and destroy it. The merchants' association lost its mecha controller, while Miss Mei and Helm Master Lin withdrew from the battlefield.

• Miss Mei persuaded the Centipede Daoist and the others to return and help the badly damaged Ancient Thunder Beast.
• Li Chen used the Earth Baleful Magnetic Pole and fired three shots at Miss Mei, but the Centipede Daoist’s Three-Excellence Heavenly Treasure Centipede took the blast and was nearly destroyed.
• The fighters broke free of the magnetic field and focused on protecting Miss Mei, allowing Li Chen to recognize their reluctance to risk harming her.
• The Centipede Daoist told Helm Master Lin to escort Miss Mei away, and Helm Master Lin led her in retreat.
• Li Chen feinted toward Miss Mei’s group, then doubled back and struck the Ancient Thunder Beast’s exposed wound, destroying its cockpit and killing its controller.

Li Chen used the Giant Puppet to overpower the Merchants' Association's forces while the Ancient Thunder Beast remained trapped in the mountainside. After Centipede Daoist transformed and wounded the puppet, Li Chen seized the battered Miss Mei as a hostage and froze the battlefield.

• Miss Mei urged Helm Master Lin to take control of the damaged mecha, but its power system could not free it from the solid rock.
• Li Chen fought off the attackers, destroyed two Three-Excellence Heavenly Treasure Centipedes, and buried the trapped Ancient Thunder Beast under a collapse of earth and stone.
• Li Chen drove the Giant Puppet through the crowd and sent Miss Mei flying with a blow, despite the silver radiance protecting her.
• Centipede Daoist transformed into a demon centipede, broke free of Li Chen's magnetic field, and carved a deep wound in the Giant Puppet.
• Li Chen knocked Centipede Daoist aside, seized Miss Mei, and threatened to crush her if anyone moved.

Li Chen defeated the Everflow Merchants' Association's forces, captured Mei Xuan, and took the ruined Ancient Thunder Beast back to Broad Cloud Ward. He planned to demand compensation for his losses and learned that Mei Xuan's grandfather, Elder Mei Yunhe, was a Core Formation expert, leaving him to consider how carefully he must treat his captive.

• Li Chen ignored the Centipede Daoist's threats, took Mei Xuan captive, and carried off the Ancient Thunder Beast's wreckage in exchange for promised compensation.
• Li Chen returned to Broad Cloud Ward, where Dong Pengfei and the others recognized Mei Xuan and discussed the risks of holding her.
• Li Chen arranged for Qi Maigu's disciples to repair the Giant Puppet and said he would handle the Centipede Daoist's deep wound himself.
• Li Chen considered how to deal with Mei Xuan and learned from Helm Master Qiu that her grandfather, Elder Mei Yunhe, was a Core Formation expert.

Li Chen interrogated Mei Xuan about her family’s dealings, then killed her and had her brain preserved in a glass vat. Mei Xuan discovered that her body was functioning again—and that another woman with her face was alive nearby.

• Mei Xuan cooperated when Li Chen confiscated her storage items and brought her into the Magic Cube Maze.
• Mei Xuan argued that her family would honor its wager but denied responsibility for exploiting the Shaman Tribe Remnants.
• Li Chen decided Mei Xuan could remain a threat and said he would destroy the Heavenly Dragon Gate despite the forces backing her.
• Mei Xuan tried to flee, but Li Chen stabbed her chest and beheaded her.
• Mei Xuan regained awareness through divine sense and saw her preserved brain in a glass vat.
• Li Chen and Xiao Ying discussed her repaired body, and Mei Xuan saw a naked woman with her own face on an operating table.

Li Chen revealed that he had removed Mei Xuan’s brain and replaced it with an artificial one, leaving her original body to act as her double. He planned to keep the secret as leverage against her lineage, while Mei Xuan was left horrified by his methods and his view of their conflict.

• Mei Xuan saw a woman who looked exactly like her and concluded that Li Chen had used Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting to create artificial people.
• Li Chen explained that the woman was Mei Xuan’s original body, while he had removed her brain and placed an artificial one in her skull.
• Li Chen described his research into replacing bodies and minds, and his plan to pursue a path combining artificial intelligence with virtual reality.
• Li Chen said he had spared Mei Xuan to prevent her family from discovering what happened, and intended to use her body as a convincing double.
• Mei Xuan called Li Chen a demon, and he argued that she and the Heavenly Dragon Gate could not escape the consequences of waging war.

Li Chen prepared to use Mei Xuan as a spy while secretly extracting her surface memories, then met representatives of the Heavenly Dragon Gate and the Merchants' Association to negotiate her release. He demanded one billion Talisman Coins in war reparations and admitted he was deliberately making an outrageous opening demand.

• Li Chen planned to send Mei Xuan into the enemy camp and secretly read her active brain waves and dreams for information.
• Heavenly Pivot told Li Chen that the Heavenly Dragon Gate's delegation had reached the restricted area's edge, and Li Chen agreed to meet them at the western riverbank.
• Li Chen met Helm Master Lin and Steward Mo Hong, who sought to ransom Mei Xuan.
• Li Chen demanded one billion Talisman Coins or equivalent materials as war reparations, angering Helm Master Lin.
• Li Chen told Steward Mo that he was deliberately demanding an outrageous sum to open negotiations.

Li Chen bought time by making his ransom demands negotiable, then salvaged valuable components from the Ancient Thunder Beast. Helm Master Lin and the others countered with forty million Talisman Coins and cultivation provisions, threatening an attack if Li Chen refused.

• Li Chen deliberately made excessive demands to delay the negotiations and conceal his plans while he prepared his forces.
• Li Chen went to his repair factory, where Heavenly Jade directed Worker Bee Puppets to dismantle the Ancient Thunder Beast.
• Li Chen destroyed the Mecha’s Puppet Core, secured its complex components, and sorted the remaining parts for repair or recasting.
• Li Chen discovered an undamaged device that could refine spirit essence into weapon-grade thunder and considered adapting it for a Thunder Dragon Cannon.
• Helm Master Lin and the others offered forty million Talisman Coins and cultivation provisions, warning that they would attack in force if Li Chen refused.

Li Chen negotiated Mei Xuan’s ransom with Helm Master Lin and the others, agreeing to one hundred million in compensation. They settled on a mixed payment of spirit crystals, spirit stones, talisman coins, spirit materials, cultivation methods, technical arts, and ordinary supplies, while excluding items that could quickly strengthen Li Chen’s forces.

• Helm Master Lin and the others pressured Li Chen into another negotiation and brought Mei Xuan to meet them.
• Mei Xuan, secretly controlled by Xiao Ying, urged them to ransom her quickly and suggested offering one hundred million.
• Helm Master Lin and the others proposed one hundred million, and Li Chen accepted.
• Li Chen offered to halve the amount for payment in spirit stones and spirit crystals, but Helm Master Lin refused because they lacked enough.
• The two sides settled on a mixed payment totaling one hundred million, excluding battle puppets, weapons, and other goods that could bolster fighting strength.
• Li Chen agreed to accept mid- and low-grade spirit materials, cultivation methods, technical arts, and ordinary supplies for the remaining payment.

Li Chen negotiated a ransom for Mei Xuan and used the Spell Contract’s loopholes to return a false Mei Xuan while keeping the real one trapped in a maid’s body. After the handover, he prepared for the expected attack and threatened to capture Mei Xuan again.

• Li Chen and Mei Xuan revised and signed a Spell Contract with Helm Master Lin and the others, then agreed to exchange Mei Xuan for supplies and a ceasefire.
• Dong Pengfei congratulated Li Chen, while Helm Master Qiu and the others warned that the ransom handover might trigger another war.
• The Everflow Merchants' Association delivered the ransom supplies, and Helm Master Lin and the Centipede Daoist received the false Mei Xuan at the handover.
• The real Mei Xuan watched from a maid's body as the others left without recognizing her, since Li Chen had kept her consciousness separate from the body.
• Li Chen warned his allies that the ceasefire would soon end and told Mei Xuan he could capture her again; she called him despicable and shameless.

Li Chen’s Avatar Six impersonated Mei Xuan and persuaded the Heavenly Dragon Gate camp that she intended to stay and avenge her humiliation. Helm Master Lin and the Centipede Daoist agreed to gather support and launch an all-out attack on Broad Cloud Peak.

• Avatar Six returned to the Heavenly Dragon Gate camp disguised as Mei Xuan and asked them to hide her decision to stay from her family while contacting her relatives and friends for Puppets and War Armor.
• Helm Master Lin and the Centipede Daoist failed to dissuade Mei Xuan when she insisted on seeking revenge, and she went to her room to contact Li Chen’s base.
• Helm Master Lin decided that the Flying Boat should return without Mei Xuan and that Steward Mo should relay her requests to her family and friends.
• Helm Master Lin promised the Centipede Daoist that his branch would support the campaign against Li Chen, while the Centipede Daoist urged the army to attack with all its might before Broad Cloud Peak could grow stronger.

Shan and the Mountain Folk fought off Human-Head Centipedes while Li Chen strengthened Broad Cloud Ward’s defenses and taught Golden Sun Gate disciples about Puppet Master craftsmanship. He unveiled a modified Wildman Mecha designed to give their forces greater combat power.

• Song froze when a Heavenly Treasure Centipede attacked, but a companion shoved him clear and Shan killed the beast.
• Song overcame his fear and slew a Human-Head Centipede, earning praise from the Shaman Folk.
• Shan reflected on his people’s alliance with Broad Cloud Ward and watched the enemy armies press across Spirit Peak’s Western Battlefield.
• Li Chen used the enemy’s compensation supplies and his craftsmen to build Mecha and Puppets while holding the Four-Star Puppet as a deterrent.
• Li Chen tested Yu Feng and the other Golden Sun Gate students on the difference between Puppet Master Craftsmen and Master Artisans.
• Li Chen introduced his modified Wildman Mecha, a combat exoskeleton that cost less than twice as much as a Keen Warrior Puppet but had far greater combat power.

Li Chen showed Yu Feng and the disciples how practical designs shaped his Wildman Mecha, then introduced his Yaksha production plans and the Thunder Eagle Ten fighter puppet. He believed the fighter could change how warfare was understood in a world dominated by cultivators and close combat.

• Li Chen explained that the Wildman Mecha used an alloy frame, a powerful Furnace, and body-motion controls suited to his Shaman Folk pilots.
• Li Chen defended adapting designs to available resources and circumstances, citing the Wildman series as a practical classic in the Complete Book of the Puppet Master Order.
• Li Chen led Yu Feng and the disciples past six unfinished Yaksha Mechas and kept his expanding Worker Bee production and plans for industrial output to himself.
• Li Chen showed the group a triangular, jet-like Thunder Eagle Ten and explained its speed, missile capacity, and combat radius.
• Li Chen reflected that the Thunder Eagle Ten might alter warfare, despite the world's preference for cultivator duels and close combat.