Chapter Summaries

The Void God Cult Leader Tu Qianliu planned to lure Li Qingshan into the Divine Kingdom, where his Dharma Aspect could not follow. Li Qingshan set out to meet the Cult, while Xia Cunzhen discovered the plan and led the Action Three Departments to intervene.

• Tu Qianliu rejected his Elders’ warnings and decided Li Qingshan would come to meet him, where the Divine Kingdom could neutralize his Dharma Aspect.
• Li Qingshan received Tu Qianliu’s invitation and coordinates, then got a call from Xia Cunzhen, who questioned him about leaving.
• Li Qingshan suspected Xia Cunzhen was trying to steal his prey and raced toward the coordinates in Xina Three.
• Kang Han told Xia Cunzhen that Li Qingshan appeared to be heading to the Void God Cult, an Evil God Cult.
• Xia Cunzhen ordered Kang Han to investigate the source of the intelligence and mobilized the Action Three Departments to go after Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan met with Qu Jie of the Void God Cult and accepted meeting gifts, while videos of his earlier contacts with Qu Jie spread across the Evil Slaying Department forum. As officials and rivals watched a livestream from the Shattered Meteor Belt, Li Wenbo warned Ye Lei that Li Qingshan’s true colors would soon be revealed.

• Li Qingshan accepted two Star Fragments from Qu Jie, then agreed to board the starship where the Void God Cult’s Cult Leader was waiting.
• Videos showed Ni Mochuan accepting a Star Fragment from Qu Jie during three meetings about Director Li, prompting accusations across Jiao Xiu District that Li Qingshan had colluded with the Void God Cult.
• Su Yuan told Xing Yang that Li Qingshan’s greed and decision to arrange a meeting with Tu Qianliu had brought him trouble, though he lamented the loss of a human prodigy.
• Ye Lei celebrated the posts exposing Li Qingshan, while Li Wenbo said an unknown Black Gold VIP had set the trap and warned her not to celebrate yet.
• A livestream under Xia Cunzhen’s account replaced the forum posts, drawing the attention of the entire Jiao Xiu District to the Shattered Meteor Belt.

Li Qingshan confronted the Void God Cult Elders aboard the Silver Starship, ridiculed their cultivation, and demanded to meet their Cult Leader. He entered the Cult’s hidden Divine Kingdom, where Jiang Yaozong believed the Cult Leader would bring him to heel.

• Qu Jie escorted Li Qingshan onto the bridge, where Jiang Yaozong and the Void God Cult Elders greeted him.
• Li Qingshan insulted the Elders’ Rank Seven cultivation and condemned their Evil God, Evil Fall, provoking their anger.
• Li Qingshan threatened to use the Elders’ heads to fulfill his performance quota unless the Cult Leader appeared.
• Jiang Yaozong revealed the Divine Kingdom and explained that the Cult wanted Li Qingshan’s help expanding it through the Mine business.
• Li Qingshan rushed through the alloy doors and grasped the Green Data Stream that carried him into the Divine Kingdom.
• Jiang Yaozong uploaded the bridge encounter and smiled, convinced the Cult Leader would tame Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan appeared to destroy his starship and kill three members of the Void God Cult during Xia Cunzhen’s livestreamed capture operation. As the witnesses watched, he declared Zone Three calm and peaceful.

• Tu Qianliu watched Li Qingshan’s actions on a Projection Screen in his Divine Kingdom and anticipated their meeting.
• Li Qingshan’s True Spirit appeared above the Divine Kingdom and crushed Tu Qianliu despite his pleas.
• Su Yuan questioned why Xia Cunzhen had livestreamed the operation, while Ming Shuang explained that Gu Feng had urged her to do so and Gu Feng said he would handle the succession himself.
• The Evil Slaying Department’s livestream showed Xia Cunzhen and hundreds of Action Department members waiting as Li Qingshan’s silver starship emerged from the Hyperspace Channel.
• The starship exploded, and three figures accused Li Qingshan of betrayal and bribery before he seized and crushed them.
• Li Qingshan faced Xia Cunzhen and the livestream camera and declared Zone Three calm and peaceful.

Li Qingshan’s slaughter of the Void God Cult sparked accusations that he had killed witnesses, but the department publicly rewarded him and punished Su Yuan for letting the cult escape. The chapter ended as Su Yuan received a call from Li Qingshan.

• Officials and observers accused Li Qingshan of killing the Void God Cultists to silence them, while Li Wenbo warned Ye Lei that he was ruthless and insatiable.
• Ming Shuang regretted that Li Qingshan’s livestream had worsened public outrage and cut the broadcast.
• Su Yuan told Xing Yang that Li Qingshan had exploited his official position to justify killing the cultists and dismiss their dying words as slander.
• The department issued a [Reward and Punishment Order] awarding Li Qingshan 30,000 contribution points and docking Su Yuan’s salary for one hundred years.
• Su Yuan called the order a warning and a threat, then received a call from Li Qingshan.

Li Qingshan destroyed the Void God Cult and left the Action Department with its confiscated assets, while Su Yuan struggled to understand Li Qingshan’s sincere thanks. As Li Qingshan traveled home, he reviewed the five Star Fragments and the enormous experience gains from the battle.

• Li Qingshan thanked Su Yuan for pursuing the Evil Fall believers and offered to clear his name, while Xing Yang explained why he had left for the Starry Sky and Li Qingshan told him to contact Senior Brother Qiao.
• Li Qingshan thanked Xia Cunzhen for his support, then distributed Black Gold Cards taken from the Void God Cult to the Action Department members.
• Zhuang Chenxing arrived, praised Li Qingshan, and left without addressing the Black Gold Cards.
• Li Qingshan boarded the Xina Three and examined five Star Fragments and his accumulated Martial Arts Space experience.

Li Qingshan returned from destroying the Void God Cult with a huge haul of experience, Star Fragments, and Contribution, then learned that a livestream had made his ruthless reputation scare off potential targets. Director Gu Feng revealed that he had arranged the livestream and asked Li Qingshan whether he wanted to make progress.

• Li Qingshan collected nearly 14 million experience from the Void God Cult elders and 13 million from Tu Qianliu, whose Divine Kingdom had greatly increased the reward.
• Li Qingshan checked his 30,100 Contribution and decided to save it for cultivation arts, noting that he had gathered ten Star Fragments in total.
• Ten days later, Li Qingshan returned to Dongsheng Star and distributed Black Gold Cards to the Three Departments' Section Chiefs.
• Bao Hetong told Li Qingshan that a livestream had spread rumors calling him greedy and ruthless, and Li Qingshan ordered Bao Hetong to hand-copy a dictionary as punishment.
• Li Qingshan found Director Gu Feng waiting in his office, learned Gu Feng had arranged Xia Cunzhen's livestream, and heard him ask whether Li Qingshan wanted to make progress.

Li Qingshan agreed to take over as Director of the Investigation Office after Gu Feng announced his resignation, while the Ministers discussed the succession. When Zhuang Chenxing began to speak against the appointment, Li Qingshan interrupted him and launched into a long account of his achievements.

• Li Qingshan eagerly agreed when Gu Feng offered to step down and make way for him.
• Gu Feng told Li Qingshan that Su Yuan had no known connection to Panlong Auction House, while Li Qingshan privately suspected the Ling Tian Sect's remnants were behind the trap.
• Gu Feng and Li Qingshan joined a virtual meeting with the department's Ministers and Directors, where Gu Feng formally requested approval for his resignation.
• Gu Feng named Li Qingshan as his preferred successor, and Ming Shuang and Chi Yiyu supported his decision.
• Zhuang Chenxing praised Li Qingshan as the most suitable candidate, then began to object, but Li Qingshan cut him off and recited his past accomplishments.

Li Qingshan gave the leaders a three-hour account of his achievements, then faced Zhuang Chenxing’s attempt to delay his appointment as director. Gu Feng ended the debate by declaring the decision settled and leaving with Li Qingshan.

• Li Qingshan finished his lengthy speech, and Xia Cunzhen stopped him from repeating it.
• Zhuang Chenxing struggled to object to Li Qingshan’s appointment after hearing about his achievements.
• Zhuang Chenxing argued that taking the director position could keep Li Qingshan from advancing and proposed waiting until he completed Void Transformation.
• Li Qingshan agreed that martial artists should prioritize martial arts and said he gained insight quickly.
• Gu Feng stood up, declared the matter settled, and left with the stunned Li Qingshan.

Gu Feng explained that he had spent fifty thousand years opposing Zhuang Chenxing and was willing to sacrifice his chance at a breakthrough to help Li Qingshan take over. As Zhuang Chenxing discovered the scheme and destroyed a Life Planet in rage, Gu Feng offered Li Qingshan the time he needed, leaving Li Qingshan unsure what he meant.

• Gu Feng told Li Qingshan that Zhuang Chenxing had opposed his appointment and that Li Qingshan had become Zhuang Chenxing’s new target.
• Gu Feng explained that Li Qingshan’s 108 Zhang Dharma Aspect would require at least five hundred years to gather its Star Fragments, while calls from Ming Shuang and other officials went unanswered.
• Ming Shuang, Xia Cunzhen, and Su Yuan each reflected on Gu Feng’s decision to give up martial cultivation and help Li Qingshan take over.
• Zhuang Chenxing realized Gu Feng had outmaneuvered him and destroyed a Life Planet in anger.
• Gu Feng told Li Qingshan he could give him time, and Li Qingshan asked uncertainly what he meant.

Gu Feng offered Li Qingshan a thousand grains of Time Sand for his future cultivation, but Li Qingshan urged him to save it for his own breakthrough and asked to borrow contribution points instead. Meanwhile, Zhuang Chenxing’s attempt to starve Li Qingshan of common Star Fragments was met by the exchange of thirty rare fragments, and the records showed Gu Feng’s name.

• Gu Feng showed Li Qingshan his thousand grains of Time Sand, explaining their cost and how he had obtained them from confiscated funds and the Panlong Auction House.
• Gu Feng offered all the Time Sand to Li Qingshan for his future Body Transforms into Celestial Body, but Li Qingshan returned it and urged Gu Feng to focus on breaking through.
• Li Qingshan borrowed one grain of Time Sand to inspect and asked Gu Feng to lend him three hundred thousand contribution points.
• Director Ying ordered an investigation into Panlong Auction House’s purchase of Star Fragments at a thirty percent premium, while the Qiong Qi Auction House welcomed the chance to profit and the Black Scale Auction House chose to wait.
• Li Wenbo told Zhuang Chenxing that Panlong had halted sales of common Star Fragments, and Zhuang Chenxing gloated that Li Qingshan would run out of resources.
• Zhuang Chenxing saw thirty rare Star Fragments exchanged in succession, checked the backend records, and discovered the name Gu Feng.

Li Qingshan prepared to enter seclusion after securing thirty new Star Fragments, while Zhuang Chenxing plotted to force Gu Feng into early retirement. Li Qingshan calculated that perfecting the techniques for all thirty-six fragments would require 14,400 years of cultivation, then began working out how long the seclusion would take.

• Zhuang Chenxing told Li Wenbo to build momentum against Gu Feng and force him to retire so Zhuang could take his position.
• Li Qingshan overheard Kong Yin criticizing him, but she immediately praised his leadership when he appeared, and he told Kong Yang to manage departmental affairs during his seclusion.
• Li Qingshan said thirty Star Fragments would arrive in a month and instructed Kong Yang to send them to his training room.
• In his training room, Li Qingshan arranged six Star Fragments and noted that the incoming thirty would complete the forty needed for Void Transformation.
• Li Qingshan used his Status Panel to calculate that perfecting all thirty-six distinct absorption techniques would take 14,400 years, then began calculating the actual duration of his seclusion.

Li Qingshan tested whether Time Sand could stack with the Status Panel’s acceleration, then fielded offers from rival auction houses seeking his favor. A Star Dome Observatory report exposed his use of Gu Feng’s Time Sand, and the news began spreading across the district.

• Li Qingshan found that Time Sand’s effect stopped when he activated the Status Panel, confirming the two forms of time acceleration could not stack.
• Ying Shilan of Bai Ze offered Star Fragments at market price, but Li Qingshan asked whether the auction house smuggled Evil God Alien Races, and she ended the call.
• Shi Yan of Black Scale offered Star Fragments at half price and admitted Panlong had monopolized the smuggling business; Li Qingshan suggested they speak again after his seclusion.
• Shi Yan told his secretary he was betting on Li Qingshan’s rise, while Ying Shilan waited for Li Qingshan to call back.
• Star Dome Observatory published a report claiming Li Qingshan had used a thousand grains of Time Sand bought with Gu Feng’s savings, and people across a commercial planet began reading it.

A Star Dome Observatory exposé stirred public outrage against Li Qingshan, claiming he had wasted Gu Feng’s Time Sands and delayed the aging director’s retirement. As the story spread, people across the Starry Sky reacted to it while pursuing their own paths; Zhou Yunze continued testing a more accessible form of The Stars Are Calling to fulfill an old agreement.

• Star Dome Observatory published a sensational report accusing Li Qingshan of using Gu Feng’s thousand Time Sands for insight and making the old director wait Four Hundred Years to retire, prompting a crowd to denounce him.
• Dai Lan asked Wan Keshan whether he was worried about the report, and Wan Keshan dismissed it while emphasizing that Four Hundred Years was far too long.
• The story spread across the Horn Mansion District and beyond, and Ren Han recalled Li Qingshan’s earlier talk of insight while Xina envied his ability to make money.
• At Horn Mansion Academy, Ye Hao criticized the supposed waste of the Time Sands, then urged Kong Xun to pursue his connection to The Stars Are Calling.
• Zhou Yunze told Niu Tianyou that he was trying to lower the difficulty of The Stars Are Calling for ordinary practitioners, and said he wanted to fulfill an old agreement and find his own path.

Li Qingshan’s four-year seclusion fueled public pressure on Gu Feng to hand over his position, while Zhuang Chenxing and Ye Lei tried to make that handover permanent. Just as Gu Feng faced a livestreamed announcement, Li Qingshan emerged and interrupted them.

• Star Dome Observatory apologized for its false claims about Li Qingshan, but public anger shifted to his use of the Time Sand and the four hundred years he would spend in seclusion.
• Zhuang Chenxing praised Gu Feng’s public support, then told Li Wenbo and Ye Lei that the pressure would force Gu Feng to step down before Li Qingshan returned.
• Ying Shilan learned Li Qingshan had entered seclusion, while Shi Yan vowed to keep investigating Panlong and wait for him, even if it took four hundred years.
• Over the next four years, public pressure on Gu Feng intensified, and Zhuang Chenxing arranged a livestream announcing Gu Feng’s supposed handover to Ye Lei.
• As Zhuang Chenxing urged Gu Feng to step down, Li Qingshan emerged from a rift in the void and apologized for keeping everyone waiting.

Li Qingshan revealed that he had completed Void Transformation in four years, provoking disbelief and exposing the rare time-based resources that might have enabled his breakthrough. As Zhuang Chenxing backed away from confronting him during the livestream, Minister Ming Shuang appeared.

• Viewers and figures across several planets reacted to Li Qingshan's appearance and his completed Void Transformation, while Wan Keshan called four years too slow and Zhou Yunze said Li Qingshan should be capable of it.
• Shi Yan celebrated Black Scale Auction House's bet on Li Qingshan, while Ying Shilan and Zhuang Chenxing struggled to believe the speed of his breakthrough.
• Zhuang Chenxing calculated that even ideal training would take 409 years, or 41 years with Time Sand, and demanded that Li Qingshan explain how he had advanced in four.
• Li Qingshan claimed he had gained insight and challenged Zhuang Chenxing to interrogate him, but the livestream and the public's attention kept Zhuang from acting against him.
• Li Qingshan taunted Zhuang Chenxing about his competitors and said it was a pity he had not made a move; Minister Ming Shuang then appeared out of thin air.

Li Qingshan used the livestream to show that his four-year cultivation breakthrough came from extraordinary insight rather than Hundredfold Time, convincing Ming Shuang and deterring those who might try to seize it. Gu Feng retired and named Li Qingshan the new director of the Investigation Office.

• Ming Shuang arrived as Gu Feng prepared to hand over the director’s position, while Zhuang Chenxing tried to present himself as concerned about the dangers of revealing Hundredfold Time.
• Ming Shuang defended Li Qingshan by pointing to his Child of Stars talent, and Gu Feng revealed that Li Qingshan had returned all one thousand grains of Time Sand.
• Li Qingshan showed his exchange records and demonstrated a fourth-layer absorption technique by rapidly draining energy from a Blazing Sun Fragment.
• Ming Shuang warned that she would show no mercy to anyone who tried to target Li Qingshan, and Gu Feng passed him the director’s seal.
• Gu Feng announced Li Qingshan as the new director of the Investigation Office, and viewers across the Jiao Xiu District congratulated them.

After Li Qingshan took over as director, the Jiao Xiu District’s auction houses reacted to his appointment and Bai Ze’s Ying Shilan sought to contact headquarters about him. Gu Feng guided Li to Evil Slaying Headquarters, where Li learned that its crowded celestial bodies were the remains of seniors who had failed to awaken during breakthroughs.

• News of Gu Feng’s retirement and Li Qingshan’s appointment spread, prompting companies and auction houses to discuss congratulating the new director.
• At Qiong Qi Auction House, Tie Shan decided to visit Li with a gift, while managers warned him about Qiong Qi’s past sale of a Star Fragment to Panlong.
• At Black Scale Auction House, Shi Yan ordered a renewed investigation of Panlong and said he would visit Li.
• At Bai Ze Auction House, Ying Shilan replayed Li’s absorption of the Blazing Sun Fragment and called headquarters, with the signal traveling through increasingly distant networks.
• Li Qingshan emerged late from a Hyperspace Channel after getting lost, and Gu Feng advised him to travel by starship until he reached the seventh rank.
• Gu Feng showed Li the crowded Star System around headquarters and explained that its celestial bodies were seniors who had failed to awaken and died during breakthroughs.

Li Qingshan returned to headquarters with Gu Feng and learned about the Investigation Office’s work and the cost of advancing his cultivation. The chapter ended with him discovering that the million-point methods for the Dharma Aspect’s Third Step were research papers.

• At Panlong Auction House, Yuan Zong told Li Wenbo to send Li Qingshan a generous gift and let Zhuang Chenxing fight for control of the Investigation Office himself.
• Gu Feng brought Li Qingshan to Investigation Star to complete the handover and explained how the office processed reports across Jiao Xiu District.
• Gu Feng warned Li Qingshan not to neglect martial cultivation and transferred him one million contribution points.
• Li Qingshan accepted the points and learned they could help him cross the Dharma Aspect Third Step, but that cultivation methods were expensive.
• Li Qingshan opened the internal methods library and found that its entries were research papers about Dharma Aspect collapse.

Gu Feng explained the dangers and preparation involved in the Dharma Aspect Third Step, Collapse into Body, and urged Li Qingshan to study previous papers. After leaving, Li Qingshan exchanged for Gu Feng’s highly rated paper, unaware of its contents until the paper opened.

• Gu Feng explained that Collapse into Body was a perilous instant in which the Dharma Aspect’s torrent engraved Dao Principles into the body, and failure could mean Death and Dao Dissolution.
• Gu Feng showed Li Qingshan papers left by earlier cultivators and recommended a highly rated study on Astral Energy and physical body tempering.
• Li Qingshan closed the light screen and told Gu Feng he would read the recommended paper later in a quiet environment.
• Li Qingshan returned to his villa, opened his Communicator, and exchanged 10,000 contribution points for the paper.
• Li Qingshan saw that Gu Feng was the paper’s author.