Chapter Summaries

Li Chen mastered the techniques to build a Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane and began preparing to research the Heavenly Hero Divine Crane. His work was interrupted when Heavenly Pivot reported that someone might be directing demons to attack Guangyun.

• Li Chen rejected Heavenly Pivot's suggestion to obtain components from Golden Light City and chose to develop his own puppet-refining skills.
• Li Chen and Heavenly Pivot completed a Guangyun-style Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane, which proved combat-capable in tests against the Yu Xiao Tiger.
• Li Chen reflected on the difficulty of acquiring classified puppet techniques and decided he was ready to study the Heavenly Hero Divine Crane schematics.
• Heavenly Pivot reported that demons had caused repeated casualties near Broad Cloud Peak and that someone might be directing them.
• Li Chen asked whether someone was deliberately directing demons to attack Guangyun.

Fan Cheng agreed to help two visiting cultivators lure demons into Broad Cloud Ward, provided they focused on drawing out Guangyun's armed forces rather than slaughtering civilians. The demons appeared inside the city, and Shaking Light detected and tracked the conspirators as the City Guard Army deployed.

• Li Chen learned that demons had invaded areas around Guangyun and left Heavenly Pivot to investigate while the ward's bounty missions brought cultivators out to hunt them.
• At the Fan Residence, Cultivator Li and Cultivator Feng persuaded Fan Cheng to help bring demons into the Market District despite his concern for civilian casualties.
• Fan Cheng agreed on the condition that they use the attack to probe Guangyun's forces rather than target civilians.
• The next day, demonic clouds and numerous demons appeared inside Broad Cloud Ward, prompting the City Guard Army to deploy.
• Shaking Light used the city's data and reconnaissance systems to identify the two observers and ordered the Ding Character Battalion to deploy.

Two concealed cultivators watched the Guangyun City Guard Army annihilate Demons with disciplined formations and abundant Mecha weapons while recording its tactics and supplies. After witnessing a battalion leader defeat a True Demon, they discovered they were surrounded and chose to fight their way out.

• Two hidden cultivators observed the City Guard Army use coordinated formations, ranged weapons, and Wildman Mecha to destroy more than a hundred high-level Demons with almost no losses.
• The cultivators recorded the army’s tactics, weapons, and apparent ammunition storage, noting that its commander-ranked Mecha carried a Space Pouch.
• They watched a Qi Refining battalion leader and his soldiers defeat a True Demon through coordinated attacks and supporting fire.
• City Guard Army soldiers surrounded the two spies, and a commander in a Yaksha Mecha demanded their surrender.
• The two cultivators laughed and chose to fight their way out.

Li Qianyuan and Feng Wusheng revealed their Foundation Establishment cultivation and broke through the Ding Character Battalion’s attack, but Heavenly Authority sent two Battle Puppets to intercept and defeat them. After learning the spies had been captured, Li Chen ordered that they be brought in for questioning.

• Li Qianyuan and Feng Wusheng revealed their true strength, identified themselves as members of the Divine Sword Gate and Spirit Firmament Gate, and fled using escape techniques.
• The Ding Character Battalion pursued the cultivators until Heavenly Authority ordered it to stop and dispatched the Yu Xiao Tiger and the Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane.
• The Yu Xiao Tiger hit Li Qianyuan with Solar Divine Light, while the Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane pierced Feng Wusheng with its steel beak.
• The Yu Xiao Tiger captured the badly burned Li Qianyuan as news of both spies’ defeat reached Li Chen.
• Li Chen told Heavenly Pivot Dao that he would return at once and ordered preparations to bring the prisoners in for questioning.

Li Chen interrogated the captured Outer Dao agents and suspected their attack had been a test of Guangyun’s defenses. His ominous premonition that the Outer Dao might be preparing a large-scale invasion led him to order Heavenly Pivot to bring out the Mind-Reading Device.

• Li Chen reviewed the records and identified Fan Cheng as a likely Outer Dao contact, but ordered Heavenly Pivot to leave him in place and watch what happened.
• Li Chen visited the City Guard Army camp and reprimanded his subordinates for imprisoning Li Qianyuan and Feng Wuxuan together.
• Li Chen questioned the two agents about their affiliations and purpose, then pointed out that they had recorded the City Guard Army fighting demons.
• Li Chen suspected the Outer Dao was probing Guangyun’s strength ahead of an invasion and ordered Heavenly Pivot to bring out the Mind-Reading Device.

After uncovering that two captured spies were gathering intelligence on Guangyun for the Immortal Alliance, Li Chen learned that espionage was spreading through the Vast Sea Domain and that war might be approaching. He resolved to defend Guangyun against Core Formation attackers and began considering whether he had time to build a Six-Star Puppet.

• Li Chen had Heavenly Pivot read the memories of two captured spies and discovered they belonged to the Divine Sword Gate and the Spirit Firmament Gate, which served the Immortal Alliance.
• Li Chen worried that the Martial Emperor's earlier attack and the Immortal Alliance's probing might signal cooperation between Outer Dao factions, but stopped the memory search before it became soul plundering.
• Li Chen contacted He Changnian, who confirmed that allies across the Vast Sea Domain had reported many Immortal Alliance spies and warned that war was a recurring part of the struggle between Dao paths.
• He Changnian told Li Chen that the sect and Grandmaster Artisans would aid Guangyun against powerful enemies, while Li Chen and his fellow practitioners would need to resist Core Formation and Foundation Establishment attackers.
• Li Chen promised to defend Guangyun against Core Formation enemies and concluded that the enemy was still gathering intelligence, leaving him some time to prepare.
• Li Chen decided to put building a Six-Star Puppet on his agenda, though he was unsure whether time remained.

Li Chen reconsidered whether Guangyun needed to pursue Six-Star Battle Puppets, and Heavenly Pivot recommended building a large, tiered puppet force that made full use of mass production and logistics. He began to see how specialized Divine Ability Mechanism Devices could counter powerful opponents, leaving Guangyun’s future strategy focused on extracting and replicating the essence of their abilities.

• Li Chen reflected on the difficulty of acquiring a Six-Star Battle Puppet and felt less pressure to match Elder He's strength immediately.
• Mei Xuan joined Li Chen as he looked over the Market District, and they discussed the Lei Family's Thunder God Giant Elephant and the Mei Family's lack of a Six-Star Puppet.
• Li Chen questioned whether Six-Star Puppets were necessary as strategic assets and considered strengthening his Intelligent Puppet Legion instead.
• Heavenly Pivot advised Li Chen to prioritize large numbers of one-star, three-star, and five-star units to exploit Guangyun's weapons, logistics, and production capacity.
• Li Chen connected Yan Shi's philosophy of capturing only a form's essence to specialized Divine Ability Mechanism Devices, including devices for defense as well as offense.

Li Chen opened Jixia Academy, recruited prominent practitioners as teachers, and arranged new alliances and loans to fund the Heavenly Hero Divine Crane project. After spotting the Chess Mountain Trade Alliance’s gift sent in the name of the Myriad Heavens Marketplace, he declared that he would raise an army against Chess Mountain.

• Li Chen welcomed numerous guests to Jixia Academy’s opening and described its broad curriculum, faculty ranks, and ambition to gather many schools of Dao.
• Li Chen invited visiting experts to teach at the academy and hired Tu Hongshan to develop firearms Magical Treasures and Mechanism Devices.
• Li Chen secured cooperation agreements and nearly a hundred billion in loans from the Golden Sun Gate and Sea Eye City for the Heavenly Hero Divine Crane project, but still faced a shortfall exceeding five hundred billion.
• Li Chen considered seeking investment from the Chess Mountain Trade Alliance after reviewing its gift list and contacted powerful allies, including Yu Hao, Elder He, and Grandmaster Dongfang.
• Li Chen told Yu Youxian that Chess Mountain had insulted his Myriad Realms Marketplace by sending its gift in the name of the Myriad Heavens Marketplace, then announced he would raise an army to punish Chess Mountain.

Li Chen told Yu Youxian he would wage war on Chess Mountain for high treason, using its copying of the Myriad Realms Marketplace as a pretext to demand money. After Chess Mountain received his declaration, Grand Artisan Meng advised the Trade Alliance to concede and offer compensation and an apology.

• Li Chen told Yu Youxian that he would send troops against Chess Mountain and have Broad Cloud Ward support the campaign with supplies and cultivation provisions.
• Li Chen publicly announced the war and sent a declaration to Chess Mountain through Ultrawave Communication, alarming the Chess Mountain Trade Alliance.
• The Commercial Alliance's Association Head went to Spirit Peak Blessed Land to ask Grand Artisan Meng how to respond.
• Grand Artisan Meng said Chess Mountain should concede, apologize, and offer compensation, even if that meant negotiating an acquisition of the Trade City.
• The Commercial Alliance's Association Head returned to deliver Grand Artisan Meng's reply.

Li Chen rejected the merchants’ attempts to negotiate over Chess Mountain and prepared to make an example of it while offering the Mei Family a place in the Myriad Realms Marketplace. Mei Xuan chose to remain with Li Chen rather than return to her former life.

• Li Chen told Heavenly Pivot Dao to ignore the merchants’ letters and fight the war against Chess Mountain on his own terms.
• As rumors of war spread, merchants withdrew from Chess Mountain and several trade powers sought talks with Li Chen.
• Li Chen offered the Mei Family’s Exquisite Treasures Pavilion a local-channel affiliation, requiring clear accounts and timely channel fees instead of shares or a takeover.
• After the Mei Family’s envoy left, Li Chen offered Mei Xuan the choice to return to her true body and former life, but she said the Mei Xuan of the past had long since died and went back inside.

Chess Mountain suffered an attack by Li Chen’s forces after months of economic pressure, and Grand Artisan Meng prepared to send Sword Slave Yu Ling into battle. The chapter left her deployment interrupted by a Merchants’ Association member’s urgent objection.

• Chess Mountain’s trade declined under Li Chen’s threat, and a warehouse steward dismissed the laborers because the warehouse was closing.
• Two Guangyun Human Puppets crashed through Chess Mountain’s defenses, prompting the guards to sound the alarm and attack.
• Li Chen deployed Thunderhawk Fighters from his modified Flying Boat, and they bombed Chess Mountain’s military infrastructure and Spirit Peaks.
• Grand Artisan Meng watched the battle footage as his senior leaders urged him to respond to Li Chen’s attack.
• Grand Artisan Meng summoned Sword Slave Yu Ling, but a Merchants’ Association member cried out and warned him not to proceed.

Grand Artisan Meng nearly unleashed his Five-Star Battle Puppets against Li Chen, but Chess Mountain’s merchants persuaded him to hold back and seek peace. Li Chen dismissed their claim that restraining Meng proved their sincerity, while the fighting ended with his puppets withdrawing after orders not to pursue a cornered enemy.

• Chess Mountain’s merchants urged Grand Artisan Meng to avoid escalating the conflict with Li Chen and preserve the possibility of peace talks.
• Grand Artisan Meng reluctantly recalled Sword Slave Yu Ling, and the merchants later congratulated themselves for preventing a disastrous fight.
• Li Chen’s two Human Puppets failed to break through the Spirit Peak’s defenses, then withdrew into the Silver Pearls when ordered not to pursue a cornered enemy.
• The Controllers aboard the Black Shark Flying Boat recovered the puppets and discussed how Chess Mountain’s forces had offered little resistance.
• Heavenly Pivot told Li Chen that Chess Mountain’s Merchants' Association had contacted him and claimed credit for stopping Meng from deploying Five-Star Battle Puppets.
• Li Chen read the merchants’ letters, mocked their claim of sincerity, and thanked them sarcastically.

Li Chen explained why Chess Mountain’s formidable military reputation concealed weaknesses and examined its advanced artisan economy and vast mortal population. He saw the region’s people and industry as a resource that could fuel his intelligence-based Dao Path.

• Li Chen reflected on how Chess Mountain’s founding families had joined forces over generations and how Grand Artisan Meng’s lineage had become part of its aristocratic clans.
• Heavenly Pivot warned Li Chen that his forces at Chess Mountain were outmatched by its battle puppets and recommended deploying the main legions and powerful puppets for a decisive battle.
• Li Chen argued that Chess Mountain’s accumulated military strength was largely outdated and that his broader support gave him the advantage.
• Li Chen reviewed Chess Mountain’s handicraft workshops, industrial cities, financial practices, and population of nearly ten billion mortals.
• Li Chen concluded that Chess Mountain’s large mortal population could enable rapid growth for his intelligence-based Dao Path.

Li Chen sent Chess Mountain's Lineages and Meng Fuyun manipulative secret letters while his forces continued raids against Chess Mountain's infrastructure. Chess Mountain's leaders rejected outside help and chose to keep seeking mediation rather than risk escalating the war.

• Li Chen ordered Heavenly Pivot to warn Chess Mountain's Lineages to identify the Myriad Heavens Marketplace's instigators, then sent Meng Fuyun a letter urging him to resist his exploitation.
• Meng Fuyun dismissed Li Chen's letter as deceitful and learned that the Golden Sun Gate and Creation Sect offered only condemnation, sympathy, and calls for Chess Mountain to apologize and pay compensation.
• Thunderhawk Fighters attacked Chess Mountain's relay-station towers with Flame Fang missiles, while local Mecha Controllers were ordered not to sortie unless Chess Mountain's territory was attacked.
• Chess Mountain's Merchants' Association leaders concluded that Li Chen's raids were destroying their infrastructure and driving merchants away, but refused to deploy Four-Star Battle Puppets and continued seeking mediation.

Li Chen considered the strengths and weaknesses of his Thunderhawk Fighters and Guangyun Legion as they tested Chess Mountain’s defenses. After Elder Ying offered confidential information as proof of surrender, Li Chen learned that Chess Mountain’s memory units were human vessels made from captured cultivators’ souls.

• Li Chen assessed the Thunderhawk Fighters’ effectiveness against Chess Mountain and worried about the Guangyun Legion’s vulnerability to mobile cultivators.
• Li Chen received Elder Ying’s offer to provide Chess Mountain’s confidential defense plans as proof of surrender.
• Li Chen grew wary of the offer but reconsidered after Heavenly Pivot sent him a secret document about Chess Mountain’s Creation-Promotion Secret Art.
• Li Chen recognized the secret as the ancient Human Vessel method, which bound remnant souls into living weapons that retained memories and could feel pain.
• Li Chen learned that Chess Mountain’s memory units included five Treasure Weapon-grade human vessels, several of them made from captured Core Formation sword cultivators.

Li Chen used the Heavenly Demon Hide to perfect a near-seamless disguise as Chess Mountain’s bombing campaign drove the Ying Family to betray its defenses and the Commercial Alliance to plan a counterattack. He prepared to lead an expedition against Chess Mountain, intent on striking before its forces could respond.

• Li Chen told Heavenly Pivot to investigate Chess Mountain’s defenses and consider a surprise attack on its two Human-Weapon Living Soldiers.
• After months of bombings and blockades, the Ying Family agreed to give Li Chen more secrets about Chess Mountain and its Human Puppets.
• The Commercial Alliance’s leaders shifted toward war and planned to lure in and shoot down the Thunderhawk Fighters, but Li Chen learned of their scheme from insiders.
• Li Chen refined the Heavenly Demon Hide and used it with Shape-Stealing Skin-Painting to transform himself into an elderly cultivator.
• Li Chen took the Earth-Covering Cloud-Banishing Banner and headed for a teleportation array to lead an expedition against Chess Mountain.

Li Chen infiltrated Chess Mountain's Secluded Valley to investigate its living weapons and found Frostblade Dong Nü, whose terrifying power came from accumulated resentment. While he waited in the shadows for a chance to locate Thunder-Prison Sword Lin Yue, a child’s voice called out to Dong Nü.

• Li Chen entered Chess Mountain's guardian legion base with help from the Ying Family, then concealed himself and slipped into Secluded Valley alone.
• Using a prepared commander identity and the Heavenly Demon Hide, Li Chen passed the defenses and entered the Refined Abode.
• Li Chen saw Frostblade Dong Nü and sensed that her resentment had given her magic power comparable to a late-stage Core Formation expert.
• Li Chen concluded that the living weapons were effectively under house arrest and waited in the yin-heavy courtyard for a chance to find Thunder-Prison Sword Lin Yue.
• A child’s voice called, “Big sister, big sister, come play with me.”

Li Chen revealed his knowledge of Chess Mountain’s Weapon-Bearing Envoys, sealed off the courtyard, and summoned a powerful force to confront Lin Yuetang and his companions. Lin Yuetang ordered Lin Yue to transform into a sword, while Li Chen observed the weapon’s combat forms.

• Xiao Xue made string figures with Dong Nü, and two men identified her as a potential successor to the Weapon-Bearing Envoy.
• Lin Yue spotted Li Chen hiding near the courtyard, and he sealed the area inside a grotto-heaven barrier to prevent anyone from escaping or calling for help.
• Li Chen explained the histories and risks of Dong Nü and Lin Yue, exposing secrets that angered and alarmed Lin Yuetang.
• When Lin Yuetang ordered Dong Nü to seize Li Chen, she resisted, so Li Chen summoned his soldiers, warriors, demons, and personal guards.
• Lin Yuetang ordered Lin Yue to transform into a sword, and Li Chen recognized the weapon’s sword-transformation form.

Li Chen and his forces battled Lin Yuetang and his attendants inside the sealed Grotto-Heaven, steadily overwhelming them. When Lin Yuetang discovered that Dong Nü possessed intelligence, he struck Xiao Xue with lightning, prompting Dong Nü to unleash a catastrophic wave of ice.

• Lin Yuetang used the sword to unleash powerful lightning attacks, but Li Chen and his personal guard legion counterattacked and wounded him.
• Li Chen's forces attacked Dong Nü while the Stone Octopus Great Demon destroyed the courtyard, and Lin Yuetang's companion could neither escape nor send a message through the sealed Grotto-Heaven.
• Li Chen focused his assault on Lin Yuetang and the other attendants, leaving Lin Yuetang grievously wounded as several guards fell.
• Girl-shaped puppets seized Xiao Xue, and she called to Dong Nü for help; Dong Nü spoke and revealed her intelligence.
• Lin Yuetang attacked Xiao Xue and the Demon Blade Princess with lightning, and Dong Nü unleashed a freezing force that engulfed the Grotto-Heaven.

Lin Yuetang tried to drive Dong Nü berserk so he could escape, but she killed him and unleashed her fury on Li Chen’s forces. Li Chen used Xiao Xue’s appearance to make Dong Nü hesitate, allowing the Legion to defeat her and seal her back into her sword; Xiao Xue survived, leaving Li Chen suspicious of her nature.

• Lin Yuetang attacked Xiao Xue to make Dong Nü lose control, then fled into the Chang Clan Soldiers’ Battle Formation with Dong Nü in pursuit.
• Li Chen struck Lin Yuetang with Thunder Soldier Tribulation Finger, and Xiao Die and Xiao Ying severed his head while Lin Yue transformed into a demonlike form.
• Dong Nü froze and shattered Lin Yue and Lin Yuetang, then turned toward Li Chen and his forces.
• Li Chen transformed into Xiao Xue, causing Dong Nü to hesitate, but a Kun Blood Warrior’s cannon blast let the Legion bombard and wound her.
• Dong Nü dispersed into her ice-like sword, and Xiao Die sheathed it while Li Chen’s Puppets retrieved Lin Yue and Lin Yuetang’s remains.
• The Demon Blade Princess brought the surviving Xiao Xue to Li Chen, who suspected the little girl was not ordinary.