Chapter Summaries

Li Chen reviewed recordings of the Outer Dao’s attacks on Chess Mountain and prepared his forces as Heavenly Pivot warned that the invasion could threaten the Seven Radiant Plains. A Creation Sect transmission then confirmed a major war was imminent and ordered Grand Artisans to prepare for the arrival of more than a hundred Core Formation cultivators.

• Li Chen watched recordings showing Bone Beasts and Bone Soldiers slaughtering people and defeating Puppeteers, while blood baleful energy poisoned another group of defenders.
• Heavenly Pivot identified the suspected attackers as members of the Profound Yin Sect and the White Bone Gate, and showed that their attacks were within Chess Mountain’s jurisdiction and could reach the Seven Radiant Plains.
• Li Chen ordered the Chess Mountain forces to prepare for battle and told Hua Wucuo and the other Master Artisans to stay cautious.
• Li Chen and Heavenly Pivot arranged for the Black Shark Flying Boat to remain in the Outer Domain of the Star Sea, ready to evacuate Jixia Academy’s people.
• Yun Yicheng, head of the Creation Sect’s Merit Court, announced that more than a hundred Core Formation cultivators might soon attack the Vast Sea and instructed Grand Artisans to prepare for war, answer the summons, and use temporary conscription orders.

Li Chen recognized the Chess Mountain attacks as an Outer Dao advance force gathering supplies through mass slaughter and ordered Heavenly Pivot to halt low-priority projects and search for the enemy. His Thunderhawk Fighters ambushed a bone-soldier army near Pass City, killing one of its commanders and pursuing the other.

• Li Chen judged that the enemy was using evil arts to strengthen its forces and ordered Heavenly Pivot to focus on production and hunt for them at Chess Mountain.
• Li Chen's mortalized Thunderhawk Fighters launched from a secret mountain base to intercept bone soldiers reported near Pass City.
• Two disciples serving Bai Xu and Liu Rumeng led millions of bone soldiers east, confident that Li Chen's local forces could not stop them.
• A Thunderhawk missile struck one disciple and his bone beast, killing them in an explosion.
• The surviving disciple fled into the nearby forest, but another missile dropped toward him.

Li Chen’s heavily armed unit in Pass City easily destroyed the uncontrolled bone soldiers with modernized weapons. Meanwhile, a White Bone Gate disciple learned that fellow disciples had died near Pass City but chose to keep raiding enemy territory.

• A Pass City unit of rogue cultivators and mortal controllers attacked the bone soldiers with experimental weapons and quickly overwhelmed them.
• The unit identified the bone soldiers as creatures summoned by the White Bone Gate’s Outer Dao spells and continued the cleanup with confidence.
• A White Bone Gate disciple near Chess Mountain learned that Junior Brother Lin and others’ Life Tablets had shattered and heard warnings about a powerful enemy in Pass City.
• The disciple decided to keep searching for unguarded cities and gathering living souls and bone essence despite the risks.

After studying a captured White Bone Gate bone soldier, Li Chen dismissed bone soldiers and insect armies as lesser branches of industrial production and proposed Cultivation Industrialization. The specimen died during Hua Wucuo’s experiments, leaving Li Chen to consider capturing an Outer Dao core formation elder for further research.

• Hua Wucuo showed Li Chen a captured Unrotting Bone and explained how yin baleful intent animated its bones.
• Li Chen rejected restarting bone-soldier research, arguing that industrial mass production surpassed both bone soldiers and the Insectoid Legion.
• Li Chen connected his earlier idea of mortalizing cultivation to a new goal, Cultivation Industrialization.
• Hua Wucuo dismantled the bone soldier for analysis, but it lost its yin baleful intent and fell apart before they could study transferring it to a new body.
• Li Chen suggested capturing an Outer Dao disciple and mused that Physical Soul Searching on a core formation elder might reveal the secret.

Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng tried to stay hidden while Li Chen used Chess Mountain’s surveillance network to track Outer Dao infiltrators. Li Chen ordered probing attacks on three suspected hideouts, and Bai Xu realized he had been found as the bombardment began.

• Bai Xu complained about the Thunderhawk Fighters patrolling overhead, while Liu Ruomeng warned him to keep his aura concealed.
• Li Chen and Mei Xuan discussed Outer Dao sympathizers and the danger of allowing them to recruit followers in the Chess Mountain Domain.
• Li Chen monitored activity gathered by Heavenly Pivot and the Intelligence Subunits, and the Probability Nebula identified three likely locations for the hidden experts.
• Li Chen ordered probing attacks, and nine Thunderhawk Fighters launched missile strikes against the three remote mountain sites.
• Bai Xu burst from the explosions and realized that Li Chen had discovered him.

Li Chen’s coordinated force tested Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng, who destroyed most of its advance puppets before Thunderhawk Fighters and the Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane struck back. The two opponents found themselves surrounded as Li Chen’s reinforcements converged from every direction.

• Li Chen’s four Asura Mechas, four Steel-Feathered Cranes, and Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane headed for the battlefield through his information-sharing command network.
• Bai Xu pierced an Asura Mecha with a Bone Spear and battered the Steel-Feathered Cranes with Bone Swords while Liu Ruomeng’s Blood Baleful Cloud corroded and destroyed one of them.
• Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng destroyed nearly all eight Three-Star Puppets in just over a hundred breaths.
• Twelve Thunderhawk Fighters attacked Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng with missiles, and the Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane followed with a Space-Cleaving Wave that forced both cultivators to evade.
• Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng saw mobile units converge from every direction as Flying Harrier transports deployed hundreds upon thousands of Wildman Mechas to the east.

Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng faced a vast force of Mechanism Puppets, and Liu Ruomeng summoned the Ten Thousand Demons Blood Banner to obscure the battlefield. In Salt City, Li Chen’s commanders treated the clash as a test of attrition warfare and ordered an artillery bombardment, leaving the battle poised to escalate.

• Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng saw thousands of Mechanism Puppets close in, and Bai Xu decided they would fight while retreating.
• Liu Ruomeng summoned the Ten Thousand Demons Blood Banner, filling the mountain forest with bloody mist and disrupting the puppets’ visibility.
• In Salt City’s Command Center, Old Lin and the other Controllers assessed the enemy’s Magical Treasure and received orders to fight boldly despite losses.
• The Rogue Cultivator leader considered how to use low-tier puppets to surround and eliminate Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng.
• The Rogue Cultivator leader ordered long-range firepower teams to deliver three rounds of air support before advancing.

Li Chen’s forces used repeated air raids, battle puppets, and formations to wear down Liu Ruomeng and Bai Xu, eventually forcing the Core Formation Experts to flee. The rogue cultivator leader revealed that their escape only moved them to another battlefield, as Grand Artisan Li had anticipated.

• Liu Ruomeng left the Ten Thousand Demons Blood Banner’s protection to confront the air force, but Thunderhawk Fighters evaded her attacks while the Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane pinned her down.
• Bai Xu joined the battle with Bone Soldiers, but Wildman Mechas and newly arrived Sword Crane Mechas held him back as the fighting dragged on.
• A second Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane arrived, and repeated bombardments and gunfire exhausted Bai Xu and eventually wounded him.
• Liu Ruomeng and Bai Xu broke through the battle formation and escaped, prompting the rogue cultivator leader to say that they had only moved to another battlefield.

Li Chen’s Heaven-Spanning Net coordinated surveillance devices, Mechanism Puppets, and weapons across Chess Mountain Domain to pursue Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng after they escaped the battlefield. The pair were driven into a valley and badly injured by a close-range Blazing Sun Divine Thunder attack.

• Li Chen mobilized the Mechanism Puppets and weapons connected to the Materialized Kingdom’s network throughout Chess Mountain Domain.
• Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng were attacked by missiles and divine-light beams soon after fleeing the battlefield.
• Bai Xu fought off the first attacks, but the two were surrounded again by Battle Puppets and reconnaissance machines.
• The Red-Feather Thundercloud Crane and a force of about a thousand machines joined the pursuit, forcing Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng to flee again.
• Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng endured repeated aerial attacks and bombardments as they tried to break through the encirclement.
• Launch vehicles ambushed the pair in a valley with a close-range Blazing Sun Divine Thunder blast, severely injuring them.

Li Chen celebrated the capture of Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng after the Blazing Sun Divine Thunder crippled them, and reviewed the battle’s costs and the Legion’s recoverable losses. As he ordered the prisoners brought to Guangyun for questioning, he learned that a group of Outer Dao experts had snatched them away.

• Old Xu’s forces captured Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng alive after the Blazing Sun Divine Thunder left them gravely injured.
• Heavenly Pivot informed Li Chen of the successful capture, and Li Chen ordered the combat records analyzed.
• Heavenly Pivot’s report showed that the battle had cost the Legion many Mechanism Puppets and three Blazing Sun Divine Thunders, though much of the damage could be repaired or recovered.
• Li Chen ordered Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng escorted to Guangyun so he could question them about the Outer Dao’s plans and Secret Arts.
• A messenger told Li Chen that a group of Outer Dao experts had snatched away both prisoners.

Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng recovered after their failed attempt to infiltrate Guangyun, while Yu Rong criticized their recklessness. A Swallow Reconnaissance Aircraft detected the cultivators despite their concealment, and Old Xu sent a Patrol Mountain Crane squad to search for them.

• Yu Rong blamed Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng for exposing the Immortal Alliance, while Qi Hanxing defended their rescue.
• Bai Xu took responsibility for persuading Liu Ruomeng to seek cultivation provisions in Chess Mountain.
• A Swallow Reconnaissance Aircraft passed over the stone forest, and Qi Hanxing concealed the group with a Magical Treasure.
• Old Xu used the aircraft's spirit wave heat map to pinpoint the concealed cultivators near the southern mountain forest.
• Old Xu rejected a Puppeteer's proposal to bomb the area and ordered a Patrol Mountain Crane squad to search at low altitude.

Qi Hanxing and the other Outer Dao experts abandoned their hiding places and advanced on Salt City, intending to strike at Li Chen’s industrial base. Li Chen mobilized his forces across the Communication Network, preparing to meet them with the full strength of his Puppet armies.

• Qi Hanxing’s group destroyed the Patrol Mountain Cranes, but Bai Xu warned that the Puppet forces had already detected them, so the group fled while Xu Zhikai’s forces pursued them.
• After days of pursuit, Qi Hanxing and Pang Ruohe urged the group to stop running and attack Salt City, where Li Chen’s Workshops and Puppet factories supported the Guangyun region.
• Li Chen learned that six Core Formation Experts had arrived and took command of the Chess Mountain units, while declining Hua Wucuo and the other volunteers so he could face the challenge himself.
• Xu Zhikai rallied the combat personnel and Controllers, urging them to defend the Chess Mountain Domain and prove they could defeat Core Formation cultivators.
• Li Chen’s forces gathered across multiple bases, with Shaman Folk entering Virtual Operation Pods as Warplanes, Puppets, and the Insectoid Legion poured through a Boundary Gate toward Chess Mountain.

Li Chen positioned his hidden reserves and prepared Salt City for an assault by the Outer Dao forces. The battle began with the city’s puppet artillery, and Pang Ruohe faced an incoming swarm of Flying Ya.

• Li Chen deployed his four Core Formation combatants and modified strange beasts, while the First Mutant Insect Legion landed in the Gobi Desert outside Chess Mountain.
• Salt City evacuated much of its population and deployed newly manufactured mobile artillery puppets.
• The Salt City Garrison opened the battle with a bombardment as Yu Rong struck at the artillery positions.
• Yu Rong recalled her sword after judging that pursuit would waste her magic power, while Pang Ruohe charged into the puppet ranks and cut them down.
• A swarm of Flying Ya descended over Pang Ruohe and the battlefield.

Pang Ruohe and the other cultivators entered Salt City to destroy its factories, but Xu Zhikai trapped them with the Guardian Array and unleashed waves of Hunting Insects and mechanized troops. Li Chen ordered Xu Zhikai to exhaust his forces to keep the Core Formation Experts pinned down in Chess Mountain, while preparing a devastating strike if they let their guard down.

• Pang Ruohe and Dong Long attacked the Puppet Legion and began destroying Salt City's workshop district and factories.
• Xu Zhikai activated Salt City's Guardian Array, trapping the cultivators before sending Hunting Insects and mechanized units against them.
• Pang Ruohe was wounded by Sniper Rounds and missiles, then struck back with Sword Qi that destroyed more than a thousand Hunting Insects.
• Li Chen ordered Xu Zhikai to expend his hundred-thousand-strong legion and three hundred thousand alien insects to keep the enemy occupied, while preparing a Massive Blazing Sun Divine Thunder strike.
• Li Chen told Heavenly Pivot to drip-feed reinforcements and keep the void Waymarker ready, and the Chess Mountain Trade Alliance watched the battle from the ramparts.

Li Chen’s automated Puppet Sea Legion overwhelmed the Core Formation attackers with endless low-star puppets, relentless gunfire, and costly waves of reinforcements. After hours of fighting left both sides strained, Qi Hanxing’s group gathered to avoid being picked off, only to face a massive explosion beneath them after dodging Blazing Sun Divine Thunder.

• Li Chen’s forces used networked automation, mass-produced Two-Star and One-Star Battle Puppets, and Gangstone Firearms to unleash a new kind of Puppet Sea assault.
• Xu Zhikai watched ammunition, energy, and puppet losses mount into the billions and feared Li Chen would hold him responsible.
• Qi Hanxing and the other Core Formation cultivators initially cut through the Salt City Legion, but fresh forces kept arriving and the endless attacks wore them down.
• Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng remained weakened from their earlier battle, so the group gathered together to prevent the enemy from isolating them.
• When three blasts of Blazing Sun Divine Thunder struck above Salt City, Qi Hanxing used a cloudlike Magical Treasure to transfer the group away, but a larger sun exploded beneath their feet.

Heavenly Pivot and Li Chen’s plan detonated a massive Divine Thunder bomb over Salt City, devastating both armies and killing several Core Formation Cultivators. Dong Long survived and was captured, but another Outer Dao Expert escaped and triggered alarms, leaving Xu Zhikai to rally the Chess Mountain Legion for another fight.

• Heavenly Pivot used Salt City’s magic array to trigger several Divine Thunder bombs before detonating a bomb exceeding a hundred megatons, annihilating much of the battlefield.
• The Chess Mountain Trade Alliance witnessed the distant mushroom cloud, while the army’s searches found Yu Rong and Pang Ruohe dead and confirmed Bai Xu and Liu Ruomeng had also perished.
• The search teams found Dong Long alive after he rebuilt his body, and Xu Zhikai ordered him captured inside a Giant Demon Insect.
• Alarms reported a high-energy reaction after another Outer Dao Expert escaped through Cosmic Dao methods.
• Xu Zhikai ordered the Chess Mountain Legion to form ranks and prepare to meet the enemy.

Qi Hanxing survived the Blazing Sun Divine Thunder and unleashed his Sword Pill against Li Chen’s forces. He intercepted another volley of Divine Thunder missiles, leaving the battle unresolved as Li Chen watched his army struggle to stop him.

• Qi Hanxing emerged from the void badly wounded but resolved to fight at full strength.
• Xu Zhikai ordered Li Chen’s forces to attack Qi Hanxing with guns, cannons, and other weapons.
• Qi Hanxing summoned his Sword Pill, which tore through Hunting Insects, Chang Clan Soldiers, vehicles, and two Thunderhawk Fighters.
• Xu Zhikai redirected the assault toward Qi Hanxing and ordered megaton-class Blazing Sun Divine Thunder missiles launched.
• Qi Hanxing’s Sword Pill intercepted the missiles before they reached him, and Li Chen recognized how formidable he was.

Li Chen used waves of expendable troops to keep Qi Hanxing under pressure while drawing him across the region, sacrificing cities and armies as part of a calculated trap. Just as Qi Hanxing rampaged through the Guangyun forces, the Strange Beast Legion and several Core Formation combatants descended from the Outer Domain.

• Li Chen ordered Heavenly Pivot to keep committing troops and maintain pressure on Qi Hanxing, who tried to escape the encirclement by moving toward the Seven Radiant Plains.
• Qi Hanxing reached the Seven Radiant Plains and destroyed buildings and districts without restraint before heading for Coiled Serpent Mountain.
• Qi Hanxing destroyed Coiled Serpent Mountain's mining and smelting facilities, then continued into the Jasmine Kingdom and devastated Daliang City.
• Xu Zhikai's forces and more than a million puppets and soldiers were nearly wiped out, while Li Chen judged the losses acceptable compared with the cost of his five-star battle puppets.
• The Strange Beast Legion and several Core Formation combatants descended from the void of the Outer Domain.

Li Chen’s elite mutated beasts and Puppet Legion cornered the exhausted Qi Hanxing and overwhelmed him. Qi Hanxing died after his vitality and primordial energy were depleted, leaving the battle at Chess Mountain won through attrition.

• Qi Hanxing decided to retreat after wreaking havoc on the Puppet Dao holdings, but Li Chen’s Great Demon Stone Octopus, Vajra Divine Ape, and other mutated beasts arrived and surrounded him.
• Heavenly Pivot ordered the Puppets to attack, and the beasts struck Qi Hanxing with fire, sound waves, a staff, and massive tentacles.
• Qi Hanxing tried to escape, but the Puppet Legion and Kun Blood Warriors disrupted his spatial transfers and repeatedly blocked his path.
• Qi Hanxing badly wounded or killed many of the mutated beasts, but the relentless attacks left him increasingly injured.
• A steel feather cut through Qi Hanxing, a Gangstone Bullet pierced his heart, and Flying Ya tore into him until he died from exhaustion.

After Li Chen’s puppet army killed Qi Hanxing, Golden Light City’s leaders discussed the Outer Dao attacks and the Puppet Dao’s defensive position. Their meeting was interrupted by the White Bone Dharma King’s assault, followed by the arrival of a powerful aura that seemed to belong to a great Confucian scholar.

• Li Chen confirmed that his puppet army had killed Qi Hanxing and sent reports to Golden Light City, Pagoda City, and Thousand Pearl City.
• Elder He and Golden Light City’s senior figures discussed the Outer Dao’s raids and the threat they posed to the Puppet Dao’s territories and foundations.
• An alarm sounded, and the city’s Grand Formation rose as the White Bone Dharma King appeared in the blood-red sky.
• The White Bone Dharma King pierced the protective barrier with an enormous bone spike.
• A vast, righteous aura arrived, and the city’s defenders suspected it belonged to a great Confucian scholar from the Righteous Qi Continent.