Chapter Summaries

Li Chen explained to Mei Xuan how civilization’s endless desires could produce exploitation, and how shaping people’s deepest motivations could redirect an entire Dao Path. He left his own original purpose unanswered, privately recognizing that he had to destroy the powers threatening the freedom he once sought.

• Li Chen told Mei Xuan that humanity’s unrestrained desires and alienated labor gave rise to exploitation, and admitted that his own rule over ordinary people relied on force.
• Li Chen said he used that coercive model pragmatically to grow stronger, but hoped to change people by influencing their minds through material conditions.
• Li Chen proposed turning pleasures, education, inheritance, and other pursuits into Dao Paths that could draw the Outer Dao away from its original purpose.
• Mei Xuan understood that Li Chen wanted his people to concentrate on their own course while confusing and weakening their enemies, though he said his plan was still only an outline.
• Mei Xuan asked Li Chen what his original purpose was, but he did not answer aloud and reflected that he sought freedom for rogue cultivators by destroying tyrannical powers.

Li Chen prepared a spirit-crystal chip to move Lin Yue’s remnant soul into a new dwelling, hoping to study the origins of the divine soul and the Primordial Spirit Way. He outlined his theory of Equality of Things, which made an artificial primordial spirit seem possible, but he still had to proceed through practical research.

• Li Chen inspected a precision chip intended to house Lin Yue’s soul and explained to Mei Xuan that he hoped to study how a soul changed with its dwelling.
• Li Chen connected ideas about memes, genes, reincarnation, and the true spirit, and considered whether restoring Lin Yue’s soul and memories might let her return from the dead.
• Mei Xuan questioned how Li Chen’s theories related to the traditional Primordial Spirit Way, and Li Chen explained that his approach also considered the body and external things.
• Li Chen proposed that Equality of Things could mean souls, consciousness, and matter were transformations of the Great Dao, making an artificial primordial spirit possible.
• Li Chen concluded that his theory did not make the work easier, and he still needed to proceed step by step.

Li Chen transferred Lin Yue’s soul into a highly realistic Simulated Human Puppet, using his knowledge of Puppet Dao techniques and the Creation-Promotion Secret Art. The puppet awakened with Lin Yue’s memories apparently intact, but she panicked at Li Chen’s gaze.

• Li Chen captured part of his spirituality and used magic power to restore Lin Yue’s soul before forcing it into a ring-shaped jade pendant.
• Li Chen implanted the pendant into an artificial body refined from Lin Household bloodline samples and told Mei Xuan stories about Simulated Human Puppets and a past Creation Sect scandal.
• Li Chen used Soul Transference and Unite Spirit and Flesh to spread Lin Yue’s spirit body throughout the Simulated Human Puppet.
• The puppet opened her eyes and asked why she was there.
• Li Chen asked whether she remembered herself, and Lin Yue recognized her situation, covered her chest, and ordered him to leave.

Li Chen tested whether his Soul Transference could restore Lin Yue’s memories, but she remembered nothing, and technical problems forced him to seal her in a Nutrient Pod. In the Materialized Kingdom, he discovered her soul appeared as a sword, leaving him to investigate how Divine Souls and True Spirits could be transformed.

• Li Chen dressed Simulated Human Lin Yue in an alloy Princess Dress and asked whether she remembered her past, but she could not.
• Mei Xuan suggested Li Chen read Lin Yue’s mind, and he explained that her data was already linked to the Dao Expounder.
• After problems arose during the Great Soul Transference, Li Chen sealed Lin Yue in a Nutrient Pod and logged into the Materialized Kingdom.
• Li Chen found Lin Yue’s presence in the virtual world as a lightning-wreathed longsword, resembling the Artifact Spirit of Thunder-Prison Sword Lin Yue.
• Li Chen considered how a human Divine Soul could become an Artifact Spirit and concluded that he needed to study Divine Soul transformations and spirit-particle conversion.
• Li Chen logged out and began studying the Complete Book of the Puppet Master Order.

Li Chen explained his soul-transfer experiments to Mei Xuan after she found Lin Yue transformed into a cat-eared girl. His tests showed that the Thunder Prison Sword’s powers had moved with its spirit into Lin Yue, and he left her unchanged while reconsidering his research.

• Mei Xuan visited Li Chen’s laboratory and found Lin Yue dozing as a cat-eared girl while Li Chen stroked her head.
• Li Chen explained that transferring a cat’s soul into Lin Yue had created conflicting human, sword, and cat traits, leaving Lin Yue’s mind mostly catlike.
• Li Chen showed Mei Xuan recordings in which Lin Yue attacked a wooden figure, failed to use the Thunder Prison Sword’s powers, and was identified by Dong Nü as carrying the sword’s spirit.
• Li Chen’s tests showed that descendants of the Lin Household could no longer inherit the Thunder Prison Sword’s powers from the sword itself.
• Li Chen decided to suspend the experiments and leave Lin Yue as she was, while wondering whether a stronger soul could survive fusion; Mei Xuan left without discussing her own body.

Li Chen studied sea demon blood essence for his new Blood-Merging Secret Art project while Ye'e Di Luosha sought his help advancing to core formation. He offered to fund her ambitions in exchange for soldiers from the Yan Pond Sea Kingdom, revealing that he expected to fight a war in the coming years.

• Li Chen examined his kun blood sea demon puppets and reflected on the need for reliable methods to study souls and other hidden phenomena.
• Ye'e Di Luosha presented blood essence collected from powerful sea folk, and Mei Xuan privately complained about her obsequiousness and exploitation of her subjects.
• Li Chen began researching blood essence fusion to create stronger sea folk and second-generation kun blood warriors.
• Li Chen told Ye'e Di Luosha that a core-formation enhancement would require at least ten billion in funds and precious materials.
• Li Chen offered to pay for soldiers recruited into Guangyun's foreign-race legion and said he expected to use them in a war within a few years.

Li Chen explained that his requests for foreign-race subjects supported his bloodline research, then began mass-producing Simulated Human Puppets as a safer, cheaper substitute for using people as materials. He argued that technology and widely shared research could transform the Puppet Masters’ craft, leaving Mei Xuan convinced of his potential.

• Li Chen gave Ye'e Di Luosha detailed specifications for female Sea Demons, Merfolk, and Sharkmen, and she promised to fulfill them.
• Mei Xuan questioned Li Chen about selecting beautiful women, and he said he wanted to study bloodline traits and the creation of Lin Yue, whom he hoped to give a true soul and personality.
• Li Chen ordered the workshops and factories to mass-produce Simulated Human Puppets under the Guangyun Simulated Humans brand.
• Li Chen told Mei Xuan he meant to change the Puppet Masters’ craft by distributing Instructional Materials and offering simulated bodies as alternatives to using humans as materials.
• Mei Xuan understood Li Chen’s plan and concluded that he could become a Puppet Master Grandmaster.

Li Chen explained to Mei Xuan that he hoped technology could break the cycles of injustice by creating perfect beings, then welcomed foreign-race cultivators from the Yan Pond Sea Kingdom to Guangyun. He assigned Heavenly Pivot three research programs to investigate artificial primordial spirits, spiritual roots, and the conversion between divine souls and artificial intelligence.

• Li Chen told Mei Xuan that technology and a future “perfect person project” could help beings transcend the conflicts and flaws of their races.
• Mei Xuan challenged Li Chen to define a true hero and asked whether he was perfect, and Li Chen replied that the great figures of the present age deserved consideration.
• Two months later, foreign-race demon cultivators from the Yan Pond Sea Kingdom arrived, and Li Chen assigned them to closed training on Guangyun’s western side peak.
• Li Chen instructed Heavenly Pivot to study the relationship between primordial spirits and fleshly bodies, create perfect simulated humans and investigate spiritual roots, and convert primordial spirits into data to compare divine souls with virtual personalities.

Li Chen used Heavenly Pivot and vast population genetic data to study how spiritual-root aptitudes and inherited traits worked. He successfully created artificial bloodlines through Gene Editing, beginning with an underwater-breathing trait transplanted into shaman folk volunteers.

• Li Chen assigned Heavenly Rose to speed up research into biology and spiritual-root aptitude using Heavenly Pivot's computational resources.
• Li Chen gathered genetic data from populations across the Chess Mountain Domain, the Inkstone Continent, and other regions.
• Li Chen analyzed genetic inheritance, regression to the mean, and mutation to predict how traits and cultivation potential appeared across populations.
• Li Chen combined blood essence data with the Blood-Merging Secret Art and experimented with induced mutation and controlled aberration.
• Li Chen created artificial bloodlines through Gene Editing and transplanted the underwater-breathing trait into shaman folk volunteers.

Li Chen tested whether bloodline injection and the Blood-Merging Secret Art let ordinary Shaman Folk remain underwater and used the results to refine his gene-editing work. He made progress identifying the traits behind underwater breathing, but the experiments also caused unwanted mutations, leaving him with more mechanisms to investigate.

• A Shaman Folk warrior surfaced after holding his breath for one thousand and eighty-three breaths, far longer than earlier subjects had managed.
• Li Chen observed that several Shaman Folk remained underwater for hours without equipment, while the Merfolk surfaced for air and one Shaman Folk subject emerged after inhaling water.
• Heavenly Pivot reported increased heart rates and circulation among the submerged subjects and mild lung edema in subject four.
• Li Chen explained that changing one trait through gene editing required coordinated supporting mechanisms, recalling that attempts to improve vision had instead caused impairments.
• Over the next few days, Li Chen eliminated ineffective genes and identified useful traits, but some subjects grew fish fins and scales.

Li Chen pursued gene editing as a new route to improve Kun Blood Warriors and investigate spiritual root aptitude. He then explained to Mei Xuan his plan to create a new people carrying his bloodline and use them to advance the Perfect Person Project.

• Li Chen resumed research into biological modification after his attempt to perform Soul Transference through Lin Yue failed.
• Li Chen developed a gene-editing approach to Blood-Merging Secret Arts and considered applying it to the Kun Blood Warriors, Chess Mountain, and the Shaman Folk.
• Mei Xuan learned that Li Chen was building a Sea Demon Race Gene Bank from the talents and spiritually gifted women arriving from the Inkstone Continent.
• Li Chen revealed that he was adding his own blood essence factors to the experiments so he could create a new people carrying his bloodline.
• Li Chen described his plan to create generations of people with strong physiques and high intelligence, then study how spiritual root aptitude arose.
• Mei Xuan was stunned by Li Chen's ambitious plan but recognized it as consistent with the bold nature of high-level Puppet Masters.

Li Chen struggled to create perfect simulated humans through Gene Editing, as repeated attempts produced malformed flesh instead of embryos. After questioning whether he was overreaching, he thought of trying insects and the Insectoid Legion instead.

• Li Chen reasoned that artificial flesh puppets could be modified without violating the moral status of beings possessing souls, and considered artificial life the Puppet Dao’s proper path.
• Li Chen’s experiments failed to combine gene chains into embryos, producing a malformed mass of flesh for the tenth time.
• Li Chen tried genes from sea demon races and common folk, but high bloodline compatibility issues and severe genetic collapse thwarted his attempts.
• Li Chen rejected experimenting with other sexes and species, then decided to investigate the Insectoid Legion as an alternative.

Li Chen consulted Yuan Xiye about breeding and taming Alien Insects through the Myriad Realms network, then outlined plans to develop the Myriad Heavens Alliance into a forum for scientific exchange. He left the Master Artisans with rules for virtual discussions and sharing knowledge.

• Li Chen met Yuan Xiye online and asked her specialized questions about breeding and taming Alien Insects.
• Yuan Xiye praised the convenience of the materialized kingdom network, and Li Chen explained how real-time communication and collaboration could advance research and production.
• Li Chen summoned researchers from other quarters and continued exploring ways to develop his research.
• Li Chen told the Master Artisans that he planned to create categorized scientific sections in the Myriad Heavens Alliance forum and invited volunteers to moderate them.
• Li Chen explained science as the analysis of things and described the forum’s rules: members would use virtual identities, discuss matters rather than people, and share publicly established knowledge for free.

Li Chen explained his plan to build an open, regulated network for Puppet Masters, combining shared knowledge with protections suited to the cultivation world. He began testing the network by collecting insect data for his Alien Insect Genetic Engineering project.

• Li Chen outlined how open-source Rune Script Dao projects and contracts or oaths could encourage collaboration while protecting Puppet Masters' work.
• Wen Xun and the others praised Li Chen's vision of connecting Sky Cities, Spirit Peaks, and Market Districts across the Vast Sea and beyond.
• Li Chen recognized that his influence as a Grand Artisan was still limited, but his Electronic Chip work could spread through a supplementary edition of the Complete Book of the Puppet Master Order.
• Jing Tianxing, Dongfang Mao, and other Grandmaster Artisan-level figures considered pilot network projects, while Li Chen moved ahead with an experiment among his own forces and nearby regions.
• Li Chen requested insect data through the Materialized Kingdom Network and used Heavenly Pivot and Heavenly Rose to process submissions and train them.
• Network users contributed information that advanced the Alien Insect Genetic Engineering project and expanded the artificial intelligences' knowledge.

Li Chen explained that his Materialized Kingdom Network still needed to expand and involve more cultivators before it could fully accelerate research. After more than a month of experiments, he created a new Insect Queen Mother with gene-plundering and shared thought-sense abilities.

• Li Chen told Mei Xuan that the Materialized Kingdom Network had improved access to resources and knowledge but remained limited in reach and depth.
• Li Chen said he wanted the network to mobilize Puppet Masters and Outer Dao cultivators, while Mei Xuan reminded him that his research had already advanced far faster than traditional methods.
• Mei Xuan reflected that Li Chen's ideal of equality was difficult to realize among humans, though he had partly applied it to his Insect Race legion.
• Li Chen spent another month experimenting with gene editing and transcription, unlocking new secrets and creating secret arts.
• Li Chen showed Mei Xuan a beetle-like Insect Queen Mother whose modified genes let her adapt to harsh environments, acquire and splice other species' genes, evolve rapidly, and share thought-sense with her subbodies.

Li Chen tested Queen Bee No. 6, a fourth-generation artificial Insect Queen Mother, and confirmed that it could rapidly adapt and evolve. It produced the first Worker Bees of a true artificial Insectoid Legion, though Li Chen acknowledged that creating artificial humans—and self-reproducing Mother Empresses—remained beyond reach.

• Li Chen ordered Heavenly Pivot to test Queen Bee No. 6 with lightning, fire, frost, poison, and other hazards, and the Mother Empress rapidly adapted to the attacks.
• Li Chen explained that the Mother Empress was a flesh-and-blood biological puppet whose advanced Biological Computer and shared-consciousness research gave it the ability to reproduce.
• Li Chen instructed Heavenly Pivot to induce the Mother Empress to produce Worker Bees, and it successfully created the Insectoid Legion’s first members.
• Lu Chen celebrated the breakthrough and asked whether Li Chen could create humans, but Li Chen said artificial human creation was still far off.
• Heavenly Pivot confirmed that the Worker Bees could not reproduce, and Li Chen said the next research would focus on genetic information, trait expression, and the limits separating the mundane from the transcendent.

Li Chen used his insect experiments to explore whether evolution could awaken spiritual roots and improve cultivators' aptitude, while the Myriad Heavens Alliance expanded into a knowledge-sharing network. Its new information platform disrupted the Earthly Sha Sect's business, prompting the sect's leaders to seek Li Chen's attention.

• Li Chen confirmed that different insect subbodies could manifest traits such as resistance to fire, electricity, cold, frost, and poison, and he had Heavenly Pivot record the results.
• Li Chen predicted that evolution might let mortals grow spiritual roots and cultivators attain innate Dao bodies.
• Over another month, the Myriad Heavens Alliance's network attracted Puppet Masters and cultivators who valued its ability to connect them with people and places across the world.
• Li Chen established the Vast Knowledge Pavilion and a knowledge-exchange platform that rewarded network members and meaningful contributors.
• The Earthly Sha Sect discovered that its business had declined because of Broad Cloud Peak's platform, and its leaders sought to contact Li Chen as the Heavenly Gang Sect also began making moves.

Li Chen and Lu Chen examined the reproducing alien insect race at a hidden mountain base while Li Chen studied the limits of life and spiritual energy. Elsewhere, an elite Outer Dao team led by Qi Hanxing arrived in the Vast Sea Domain and prepared to rendezvous with allies before probing a Puppet Master Grand Artisan’s territory.

• Li Chen showed Lu Chen the hidden base where optimized alien insects and a daughter Mother Empress were reproducing.
• Li Chen explained that powerful insects required greater reserves of spiritual essence and primordial energy, and that their offspring inherited traits according to adaptation.
• A teleportation gate opened over the Vast Sea Domain, and four Outer Dao Sword Cultivators emerged under orders from an esteemed Sword Immortal.
• Yu Rong and Pang Ruohe questioned whether the team needed to meet with the Profound Yin Sect and White Bone Gate, while Dong Long deferred to the others.
• Qi Hanxing insisted that the team rendezvous with their allies before advancing because a Puppet Master Grand Artisan could rally forces against them.

Qi Hanxing sought to unite the Immortal Alliance cultivators with the Profound Yin Sect and Corpse Soul Sect, but Liu Rumeng and Bai Xu refused and headed for Chess Mountain to hunt. They entered Li Chen’s territory undetected and sent their disciples to gather blood and souls.

• Qi Hanxing used a conch-shaped Magical Treasure to summon the Profound Yin Sect and Corpse Soul Sect cultivators, then advised Yu Rong and Pang Ruohe to conceal their cultivation.
• Bai Xu received Qi Hanxing’s signal, but Liu Rumeng refused to meet the righteous-path cultivators because she wanted to gather corpses, bones, and living souls.
• Liu Rumeng and Bai Xu flew to Chess Mountain, where they learned that their target was the newly risen Puppet Dao Grand Artisan, Li Chen.
• Liu Rumeng and Bai Xu entered Chess Mountain Territory undetected and summoned their disciples from their respective Magical Treasures and grotto-heaven world.
• Liu Rumeng ordered the disciples to infiltrate the districts and hunt blood prey, promising a fierce spirit and an essence soul to whoever gathered ten-thousand-soul spirit blood fastest.

A secret agent reported that villages and towns in Chess Mountain's territory were disappearing and their mortal residents were being slaughtered. Meng Fuyun and the clan elders blamed rogue cultivators and ordered an investigation, unaware that attacks were spreading and enormous Bone Beasts were appearing in major towns.

• A clan agent rushed toward Chess Mountain's Mountain Gate on a Mechanism Leopard, but patrol disciples knocked him off before Senior Brother Fu recognized his sealed Jade Slip and escorted him onward.
• Meng Fuyun gathered clan elders and senior figures to discuss reports of entire villages and towns disappearing and mortals being killed.
• The elders suspected Li Chen of abducting mortals for his experiments, but Meng Fuyun argued that rogue cultivators were more likely responsible.
• Meng Fuyun and the elders ordered an investigation into the attacks.
• The attacks spread to major towns, where enormous Bone Beasts appeared openly.