Chapter Summaries

Li Chen used reconnaissance machines to survey the grotto-heaven and identified ancient Sea Folk ruins on a distant island as a likely source of clues to the Blue Sea Water Realm. After finding the island crowded with powerful demons, he prepared to clear it himself.

• Li Chen told Ye'e Di Luosha he intended to find the Blue Sea Water Realm and eventually seize the local Dragon Vein, then ordered her subordinates to help search the grotto-heaven.
• Li Chen supplied Flying Discs that let Ye'e Di Luosha's troops control fleets of reconnaissance craft, which mapped the water sphere and located an archipelago in the west.
• Li Chen studied the survey results and identified a lone island in the eastern sea, where a volcano and extensive ruins might hold clues to the Blue Sea Water Realm.
• Li Chen and Ye'e Di Luosha flew to the island, where reconnaissance craft detected many demons and ten True Demons across the island, along with more than ten True Demons in the surrounding waters.
• Li Chen told Ye'e Di Luosha to stay close while he went to clear the area.

Li Chen cleared Rainbow Shell Island of its demons and investigated the ruins of an ancient sea-folk city. He found a last testament claiming the Sea Emperor had gone mad and sought eternal life by destroying the Water Realm.

• Ye'e Di Luosha watched as Li Chen lured ten true demons over the sea and destroyed them with the Sun Divine Thunder.
• Li Chen used the Six-Star Thunder Dragon Cannon to kill a Flame Demon Lizard, then summoned bone soldiers with Xiao Die's White Bone Umbrella to slaughter the island's demons.
• Ye'e Di Luosha collected materials from the demon corpses while Li Chen explored the ruins and deduced that the ancient city had been destroyed by a sudden calamity.
• Li Chen found jade slips in a preserved bookcase and learned that the city, Rainbow Shell City, had faced a man-made disaster during a battle against an unknown enemy.
• Li Chen read a last testament declaring that the Sea Emperor had gone mad and intended to destroy the Water Realm for eternal life.

Li Chen uncovered records suggesting that a Sea Emperor had ruled Rainbow Shell City before its destruction and that the Water Realm had turned against him. When a visual record unleashed tentacled monsters and black mist into the present, Li Chen destroyed them with Sun Divine Thunder and ordered Ye'e Di Luosha to prepare to withdraw.

• Li Chen studied Jade Slips and concluded that Rainbow Shell City had been ruled by a Sea Emperor from after the Third-Generation Sea Emperor, though the records described the people both revering and fighting him.
• Li Chen decoded a visual record of Rainbow Shell City's destruction and saw its residents and soldiers descend into madness beneath a sky full of fleshy tentacles.
• Tentacles and black mist emerged from the Jade Slip and attacked Li Chen, Xiao Die, and Xiao Ying, while Li Chen's weapons and cannons failed to stop their advance.
• Li Chen used Sun Divine Thunder to incinerate the tentacles, eyes, and black mist, then confirmed through the Auxiliary Brain that the attack had been real.
• Li Chen asked Ye'e Di Luosha to recall her subordinates and prepare to withdraw from the dangerous area.

After a mysterious attack in the triangular Flying Shuttle, Li Chen concluded that a Primordial Spirit Great Power had used a Root Dao Art by wielding the power of law. He left the investigation site with Ye'e Di Luosha, warned her not to return to the island, and planned to investigate alone.

• Li Chen ordered Ye'e Di Luosha and the others to leave after the strange attack, then discussed what had happened offshore.
• Li Chen reasoned that the attack had involved a Root Dao Art and explained to Ye'e Di Luosha how Primordial Spirit Great Powers could command laws and turn illusion into reality.
• Li Chen concluded that law-based power had likely caused Rainbow Shell City's destruction and admitted he had underestimated the ancient Great Powers.
• Li Chen told Ye'e Di Luosha not to land on the island again and revealed that he had altered his memories to protect himself from meme infection.
• Li Chen said he would investigate alone and explained that laws had limits, priorities, and spheres of influence that could be targeted.

Li Chen returned to the island and used Supreme Detachment from Emotion to investigate its anomalous ruins, but realized Qina Luo and her followers might be exposed. He found them transformed into a tentacled monster, and as he attacked it, the anomaly began corrupting even his Auxiliary Brain Chip.

• Li Chen searched the island under the Auxiliary Brain Chip’s control and concluded that the anomaly depended on belief and perception.
• Li Chen sent Ye'e Di Luosha and her subordinates away, then searched for Qina Luo after sensing she might be in danger.
• Li Chen found Qina Luo’s group near a small island, but a surge of demonic qi erupted before he could reach them.
• Li Chen attacked the tentacled monster formed from Qina Luo and her Royal Retainers with his Thunder Dragon Cannon and Sun Divine Thunder, but barely damaged it.
• Qina Luo’s strange eyes flooded Li Chen with negative emotions, and the anomaly caused errors in the Auxiliary Brain Chip’s operation.

Li Chen defeated the mutated monster and discovered that the eyeballs it left behind were a dangerous derivative entity carrying infectious and regenerative properties. He absorbed them into his eyes to study their laws, then set off to have Heavenly Pivot analyze his findings and locate more ruins.

• Li Chen dissolved his brain, shielded his Auxiliary Brain Chip, and removed his head before burning the mutated monster to nothing except its eyes.
• Li Chen searched the island ruins and traced Qina Luo and the others’ mutations to a Jade Slip whose images had drawn them into contact with the disaster.
• Li Chen realized the eyeballs were intangible derivative entities that threatened anyone who encountered them, then merged them into his own eyes to study their laws.
• Li Chen found only a few scattered Foundation Establishment-grade magical treasures in other ruins and began his return journey.
• Li Chen planned to have Heavenly Pivot analyze his discoveries and use the Sea Emperor Token’s waymarkers to find more ruins and search for the Water Realm.

Li Chen investigated the Demon Eyes, discovering how their infectious mutation spread through the brain and into the mind, body, and spirit. He then began explaining to Mei Xuan how cognition formed the foundation of the Root Dao Art.

• Li Chen traded magical artifacts and Demon Cores to Ye'e Di Luosha for the Sea Emperor Token and told her that Qina Luo and the others had mutated into demons, so he had killed them.
• Li Chen returned to Heavenly Dragon Peak, recounted his trip to Mei Xuan, and kept the Demon Eyes hidden from her because seeing them risked mutation.
• Li Chen tested the Demon Eyes on Servant Demons and ordered his craftsmen to study their physical, genetic, and mental mutations.
• Li Chen concluded that the Demon Eyes spread a meme virus from brain lesions through the mind, flesh, divine soul, magic power, and true spirit, and reasoned that timely removal of infected brain cells could stop it.
• Li Chen told Mei Xuan that the Root Dao Art rested on root information theory and explained that cognitive ability determined intelligence.

Li Chen explained how cognition could influence matter and used the Demon Eyes to develop a Secret Art. He tested the Primordial Spirit Virus on Mei Xuan, whose mind became trapped in endless calculations.

• Li Chen explained to Mei Xuan how information, cognition, and imagination could affect the material world.
• Mei Xuan realized the Demon Eyes could reveal the Great Dao, while warning Li Chen about the danger of comprehending it.
• After nearly half a year of study, Li Chen mastered the Demon Eyes’ abilities, and they vanished as he obtained their Dao Fruit.
• Li Chen identified his new Secret Art as Law Synchronization, a power resembling a pseudo-Root Dao Art.
• Li Chen named his technique the Primordial Spirit Virus and used it on Mei Xuan, forcing her mind into an endless calculation loop.

Li Chen developed a Logical Deadlock technique and oversaw research into a Soul-Shaking Divine Thunder that could disrupt enemies’ minds. After Heavenly Pivot traced ten Grotto-Heavens linked to Rainbow Shell City to the Blue Sea Water Realm, Li Chen ordered it to keep analyzing the Sea Emperor Token.

• Li Chen explained how his Logical Deadlock attacked Mei Xuan’s Divine Sense and Divine Soul, then stopped the calculation to free her.
• Li Chen considered applying his technique to physical objects and inspected Base No. 1’s progress on the Soul-Shaking Divine Thunder.
• Li Chen assessed how Enhancement Modification and shared research could strengthen Puppet Masters and his faction.
• Heavenly Pivot reported that ten Grotto-Heavens linked to Rainbow Shell City likely came from the same region and may have been partitioned from the Blue Sea Water Realm.
• Li Chen ordered Heavenly Pivot to decipher the Sea Emperor Token completely and determine the Last Sea Emperor’s intent.

Li Chen performed a full enhancement on Wang Tong, replacing his organs and mechanical body components while reconstructing his primordial spirit so he could meet Core Formation standards. He continued modifying his subordinates and used the work to improve his methods for strengthening the primordial spirit and soul body.

• Li Chen discovered that Wang Tong’s indulgence in food had left him obese and with several serious illnesses, and decided to overhaul his body.
• Wang Tong supplied an artificial pancreas and a demon stomach from Dang Kang for the modifications, while Li Chen arranged the other components.
• Yi Cheng and Jia'er assembled Wang Tong’s new body as Li Chen reconstructed his primordial spirit over six hours.
• Li Chen restored Wang Tong’s divine soul, awakened him, and kept him under observation for possible complications.
• Li Chen enhanced several more subordinates and refined his modification methods through his growing understanding of the primordial spirit.

Li Chen modified Chess Mountain’s outstanding mortals and discussed how brain development might lead to Nascent Soul cultivation. He explained to Mei Xuan his vision of a “Cultivation Race” that would combine individual cultivation with civilization’s ability to preserve and pass on knowledge.

• Li Chen began modifying the Chess Mountain delegation’s scientists and engineers, and gave Wang Dou a Five-Star Auxiliary Brain Chip and deeper Brain-Domain development.
• Mei Xuan questioned whether Wang Dou could withstand ninety-percent Brain-Domain development, and Li Chen explained that Wang Dou had already exceeded sixty percent.
• Li Chen told Mei Xuan that he was investigating whether complete Brain-Domain development could help someone reach the Nascent Soul Realm, while cautioning that his own advancement had involved other factors.
• Li Chen argued that Spiritual Root aptitude was not essential to cultivation and said he hoped to study Heavenly Demons, wraiths, and remnant souls from the Outer Dao.
• Li Chen described his vision of a Cultivation Race whose dao fruits and knowledge could be inherited and developed across generations, and Mei Xuan connected it to his Perfect Person Project.

Li Chen oversaw the empirical certification of the Soul-Shaking Divine Thunder, confirming that it could incapacitate and kill living targets and that its production obstacles had been overcome. He ordered the findings sent to the Creation Sect’s Observatory Court and began considering a weapon that could affect both Divine Souls and mechanical cores.

• Li Chen began the certification in Heavenly Dragon Peak’s Inner Valley, where teams tested the grenade-type Soul-Shaking Divine Thunder on demons and beasts and confirmed its intended effects.
• Li Chen ordered combat testing on volunteer Rogue Cultivators, and most fainted from the mental shock waves while two volunteers with powerful Divine Sense resisted but remained dazed.
• Li Chen’s team tested the weapon on five Sea Folk criminals, killing them and nearby creatures with its intense impact.
• Li Chen received the successful results from Heavenly Pivot and learned that charging effects of Magic Power and Spirit Essence could generate the information-heavy shock wave.
• Li Chen ordered the principles and verification process compiled for the Creation Sect’s Observatory Court and said he would set an example by publishing research in the proposed journals.

Li Chen decoded the Sea Emperor Token’s map of 116 grotto-heaven worlds and learned they formed a spatial seal around the hidden Water Realm. After preparing Guangyun for his absence, he began dismantling a likely formation nexus to break the seal and search for the Water Realm and the Ancient Immortal Mountain.

• Li Chen told his researchers to pursue better energy-storage materials for divine thunder and promised to devote half of any Heavenly Will rewards to their work.
• Heavenly Pivot finished decoding the Sea Emperor Token, revealing 116 grotto-heaven worlds arranged around a black vortex that might conceal the Water Realm.
• Heavenly Pivot’s analysis suggested the grotto-heavens formed a spatial formation sealing the Water Realm, and Li Chen considered breaking the formation rather than searching for its key.
• Li Chen prepared for a long journey, arranged matters for his subordinates, and left Guangyun’s affairs in Heavenly Pivot’s and Mei Xuan’s hands.
• At the end of the year, Li Chen entered a likely formation nexus and began using Technical Demolition on its spirit veins to trigger the formation’s collapse.

Li Chen destroyed the Boundary Gate in the Sea Emperor's Puzzle Palace, triggering the collapse of the Minor Grotto-Heaven and uncovering a Sea Demon General guarding an ancient mausoleum. The general refused to let Li Chen claim the Blue Sea Water Realm's legacy, and Li Chen attacked him and his guards.

• Li Chen used Reconnaissance Flying Discs to survey the Minor Grotto-Heaven, then planted more than a hundred Sun Divine Thunder bombs around the valley's Boundary Gate.
• Li Chen detonated the bombs and his Sun Divine Thunder, damaging the Boundary Gate and causing the World Barrier and the Minor Grotto-Heaven to collapse.
• A Sea Demon General and dozens of Sea Demon guards emerged from underground, and the general said he had guarded Emperor Lin's mausoleum through a long slumber.
• Li Chen told the general he was a human Puppet Master seeking the Blue Sea Water Realm, while the general insisted only the Sea Folk could inherit its legacy.
• Li Chen attacked first, unleashing cannons and Battle Armor from his Minor Grotto-Heaven as Xiao Die and Xiao Ying joined the assault.

Li Chen defeated the Sea Demon General’s guards and forced the general to reveal that the Blue Sea Water Realm held the sealed, mad Sea Emperor rather than a legacy treasure. Despite learning that the Sea Emperor had become a terrifying being who threatened the Water Realm, Li Chen remained determined to enter and investigate.

• Li Chen used his Divine Ability Mechanism Devices to destroy the guards while Xiao Die and Xiao Ying fought the Sea Demon General without killing him.
• The Sea Demon General warned Li Chen that the collapsing Void Gate concealed the Sea Emperor, who had been sealed by the Water Realm Remnants.
• The Sea Demon General explained that the Underground Palace guarded a node of the sealing formation and could be opened only by true remnants bearing Emperor Lin’s Sea Emperor Token.
• After Li Chen revealed that a million years had passed, the Sea Demon General admitted that the Sea Emperor had gone mad and tried to devour the Water Realm.
• The Sea Demon General showed Li Chen memories of monstrous aberrations and the destruction of Rainbow Shell City, but Li Chen declared that he would enter the Water Realm and investigate the Sea Emperor himself.

Li Chen and his puppets subdued the Sea Demon General, whom Li Chen intended to study for the secret of his longevity. Examining the unconscious general, Li Chen deduced that immortal nature had fused his soul with his body, preserving his consciousness while leaving him unable to reincarnate or recover from severe bodily damage.

• The Sea Demon General vowed to stop Li Chen and attacked him and his puppets with waterspouts.
• Li Chen used Primordial Spirit Poison to overwhelm the general's mind while Xiao Die and Xiao Ying pinned him down without killing him.
• The Sea Demon General passed out after his thoughts and consciousness were overwhelmed by the growing numerical sequence.
• Li Chen used Heavenly Eye and his analytical tools to examine the general's body as the Void Gate continued collapsing.
• Li Chen concluded that immortal nature had fused the general's soul and body, sustaining his consciousness but making his immortality dependent on his physical form.

Li Chen learned that the Sea Demon General survived through a flawed life-sealing technique, then realized that true immortality required mastering the Dao. As he prepared to leave, ancient guardians awakened and attacked him, and he declared that the Last Sea Emperor’s precautions would fail.

• Li Chen built a Creation Sect altar and exchanged information about the Sea Demon General with Heavenly Will for cultivation knowledge.
• Li Chen examined the Life Origin Sealing Art and concluded that it preserved life only by consuming an irreplaceable reserve of life origin.
• Li Chen considered how immortality depended on mastering the laws of lifespan and surmised that transcendence defied the Great Dao.
• In other Grotto-Heaven worlds, the Last Sea Emperor’s sealed mausoleums erupted with light as guardians were released through primordial-energy vortices.
• Li Chen raised the White Bone Umbrella to block icicles fired by a group of ancient guardians, then accused the Last Sea Emperor of miscalculating.

Li Chen fought more than fifty ancient guardians with his Bone Soldiers, puppet arts, and Minor Grotto-Heaven weapons, defeating them as he advanced toward the Void Gate. As the gate expanded and he sensed a vortex beyond it, a terrifying giant eye appeared through the Boundary Gate.

• Li Chen summoned Bone Soldiers and prepared his Minor Grotto-Heaven’s cannons to face the ancient guardians.
• The Bone Soldiers charged as Li Chen’s barrage pinned down the guardians, while Xiao Die and Xiao Ying blocked attacks that reached him.
• Li Chen used Silk-Threading Art to seize nearby guardians and make a Sea-Tower Clan expert attack his companions before blasting him down.
• Li Chen killed the remaining guardians and floated toward the expanding Void Gate.
• Li Chen sensed a vortex in the void and saw a terrifying giant eye staring through the Boundary Gate.

Li Chen crossed the Boundary Gate and lost access to his divine sense and magic power, drifting through darkness among brain-and-spine creatures. He followed them to a glowing nebula and regained a body, only to discover that he had become a many-eyed, thirty-six-tentacled creature and recoiled from the thought of his former human appearance.

• Li Chen passed through the Boundary Gate, where the enormous eye vanished and his divine sense and magic power disappeared.
• Li Chen encountered floating brains connected to spinal columns and understood their signals urging him to follow.
• Li Chen followed the strange creatures through the darkness toward a vast, faintly glowing nebula.
• Li Chen's body returned, and he saw that he had become an enormous octopus-like creature covered in eyes, tentacles, and strange markings.
• Li Chen remembered his human form and recoiled in terror at the thought that he had once looked like that.

Li Chen’s body transformed into a gigantic monster, and Heavenly Pivot forced his Primordial Spirit Projection free before the contamination could reach his true spirit. Xiao Die and Xiao Ying rescued him from the monster’s pull, and he escaped by possessing Xiao Ying, leaving his body behind as he tried to understand what had caused its transformation.

• Li Chen’s body melted and reformed into a monster that grew to over nine thousand zhang tall.
• Heavenly Pivot activated an emergency protocol and forced Li Chen’s Primordial Spirit Projection out of his body, saving him from contamination of his mind and consciousness.
• The monster’s suction began dragging Li Chen’s Primordial Spirit toward it, so he called on Xiao Die and Xiao Ying to rescue him.
• Li Chen possessed Xiao Ying and ordered them to leave, deciding that he could replace his lost combat body later.
• Li Chen speculated that the power of law had rewritten his body’s state and considered why Xiao Die and Xiao Ying had not been affected.