Chapter Summaries

After Wang Chongtian nearly attacked Lin Xuan, Luo Kedi took the blame for the damaged floor, and Lin Xuan suspected the organizers were allowing trainee conflicts. Over an hour later, Xing Yan was still waiting while Lin Xuan continued eating.

• Wang Chongtian tried to get past Luo Kedi, and his attack left a dent in the cafeteria floor.
• Luo Kedi claimed he had caused the damage by falling, then deliberately dropped to one knee to support his story.
• A blue-jacketed staff member took Luo Kedi to the infirmary, and Lin Xuan concluded that the base might be permitting conflicts between trainees.
• Lin Xuan walked away from Wang Chongtian, whose glare suggested he still intended to settle things later.
• Xing Yan waited for Lin Xuan after finishing his meal, stunned by the mountains of trays Lin Xuan had accumulated.

Lin Xuan ate an enormous amount at Taiyuan Base, drawing attention from trainees and the Spark Program’s senior officials as he filled his Nutrient Absorption progress. The talent met its advancement requirements, and Lin Xuan chose to advance it.

• Lin Xuan kept eating long after Xing Yan finished, while Xing Yan fetched more food and trainees gathered to watch.
• Wang Chongtian tried to match Lin Xuan’s appetite, ate more than twice his usual amount, and became so stuffed he nearly vomited.
• Vice Dean Pei, Hu Shan, Li Guosheng, and He Mengyao watched Lin Xuan through surveillance and agreed to let him eat until the cafeteria’s designated closing time.
• Lin Xuan enjoyed the meal while monitoring Nutrient Absorption’s progress toward advancement.
• Lin Xuan received a notification that Nutrient Absorption had met its advancement requirements and chose to advance it.

Lin Xuan chose Natural Absorption and spent two days testing how it absorbed and stored energy. When an all-person assembly notice arrived, he suspected the fourth assessment round had ended and hurried out with the other trainees.

• Lin Xuan rejected Life Force Plunder as unsuitable for his circumstances and advanced Nutrient Absorption into Natural Absorption.
• Xing Yan left the cafeteria with Lin Xuan after mealtime was announced to be ending, while feeling guilty that he had not helped Lin Xuan eat enough.
• Over the next two days, Lin Xuan tested Natural Absorption on flame, water, and electricity, discovering that it absorbed some dynamic energies and stored them for later use.
• Lin Xuan considered whether stored energy could replenish stamina or eventually be converted into martial arts true qi.
• Lin Xuan received an all-person assembly notice, guessed that the fourth round of assessments had ended, and hurried out after hearing the trainees mention Li Poker.

Lin Xuan and the other trainees gathered as Li Guosheng announced that special training would begin the next day and ordered each group to choose a leader. Lin Xuan noticed a woman who felt strangely familiar, then agreed to support Xie Yi’s bid to lead Group Three, where Chen Donghuang was expected to be the favorite.

• Lin Xuan saw a woman among the examiners who resembled Li Xin and Li Xue and gave him a strong sense of familiarity.
• Li Guosheng assembled the trainees and announced that special training would begin the next day, with groups choosing leaders for upcoming competitions.
• Xie Yi asked Lin Xuan and Xing Yan to support his bid for Group Three leader, and both agreed.
• Xing Yan doubted that Xie Yi could defeat Chen Donghuang, while Lin Xuan offered no opinion.
• The trainees gathered in their groups to discuss their choices rather than risk Li Guosheng selecting leaders at random.

The Starfire trainees selected leaders for their groups, and Xie Yi won Group Three’s vote after Chen Donghuang’s allies turned against him. The chapter ended with the other groups’ leaders also named: Xu Baxian, Qin Longxiang, and Chu Qiumei.

• Group One elected Xu Baxian as leader with eighteen votes, while Su A'lei received only one.
• Chen Donghuang expected to win Group Three’s election after his clique and several others voted for him.
• Xie An revealed that he was Xie Yi’s cousin and switched his vote to Xie Yi.
• Li Zhi also voted for Xie Yi, helping him defeat Chen Donghuang and win with thirteen votes.
• Group Two chose Qin Longxiang as leader, and Group Four chose Chu Qiumei.

Li Guosheng introduced He Mengyao and Li Qiao, then assigned the trainees to their mentors for a month of rotating special training. The next morning, all one hundred trainees assembled on time, and Lin Xuan noticed that Chen Donghuang and Xie Yi had made peace.

• Li Guosheng introduced He Mengyao as the Taiyuan Base station chief and Spark Program lead, and Li Qiao as a chief examiner who would participate in the training.
• Li Guosheng assigned the groups to their mentors for the first week and dismissed the trainees.
• Xie Yi thanked Lin Xuan for helping him become group leader, and he explained that Li Qiao was a senior figure at the Great Xia War Institute, also called the Great Xia Research Institute Affiliated Strategic Institute.
• Lin Xuan woke at seven the next morning and arrived at the plaza, where Li Guosheng ordered the group leaders to count their members.
• The group leaders reported that all one hundred trainees were present, while Lin Xuan noticed Chen Donghuang and Xie Yi greeting each other amicably.

At Taiyuan Base, Li Guosheng revealed that ancient people had visited the Old Earth World more than a thousand years ago, far earlier than the trainees believed. Lin Xuan questioned why that discovery had not transformed Earth Origin Star until modern times.

• Li Guosheng led Lin Xuan and the other trainees through checkpoints to a restricted structure in Taiyuan Base's central area.
• Li Guosheng asked when the Old Earth World was discovered, and Chen Donghuang answered that it was about one hundred and ten years ago.
• Li Guosheng rejected Chen Donghuang's answer and explained that one hundred and ten years ago marked the decision to formally explore the Old Earth World, while its true discovery had no definitive date.
• Li Guosheng revealed that evidence showed ancient people had visited the Old Earth World more than a thousand years ago.
• Lin Xuan wondered why the Old Earth World had not influenced Earth Origin Star until modern times if people had discovered it so long ago.

Li Guosheng explained how people on Earth Origin Star had discovered the Old Earth World over a thousand years ago, but only began exploring it systematically after the bridges became stable and more numerous. He led the trainees to the Great Abyss Bridge, where he promised them an unforgettable first lesson.

• Li Guosheng told the trainees that the Grand Historian Institute and other institutions had concluded that the Old Earth World was known over a thousand years ago.
• Li Guosheng explained that the early bridges were rare and unstable, making exploration dangerous and return journeys uncertain.
• Li Guosheng said that some ancient travelers returned with information, but many were executed and others preserved their experiences as myths and legends.
• Li Guosheng explained that the bridges gradually stabilized, and that Great Xia began official exploration after its bridge count exceeded ten over a hundred years ago.
• Lin Xuan suspected what lay inside the structure, and Li Guosheng led the trainees past the final checkpoint to the Great Abyss Bridge.

Lin Xuan and the trainees crossed the Great Abyss Bridge toward Old Soil, where a Dark Ruins Worm attacked them from the darkness beneath the bridge. After Vice Dean Pei and Hu Shan drove it back, Lin Xuan learned that such threats could endanger the bridge and that Taiyuan Base existed to confront them.

• Lin Xuan and the other trainees entered the Great Abyss Bridge, where he discovered that Natural Absorption could draw intermediate energy from it.
• The bridge shook as a Dark Ruins Worm’s immense evil intent surrounded the trainees, and two students began walking toward the edge.
• Vice Dean Pei pinned the two students down with his Martial Soul Domain while Hu Shan and Pei forced the Dark Ruins Worm to retreat.
• Lin Xuan and the others reached Old Soil, where Li Guosheng reunited with the one-armed officer Little Yang.
• Li Qiao joined the group and learned that a Dark Ruins Worm had attacked the bridge, while Lin Xuan realized the danger might threaten Earth Origin Star.

Lin Xuan and Group Three learned about the dangers and sacrifices tied to the Old Earth World before Vice Dean Pei left them to face a Two-Headed Ogre. As the group’s attacks barely hurt the monster, Lin Xuan heard it speak and received a system prompt that he was listening to Ogre Language.

• Vice Dean Pei led Group Three past crude gravestones and explained that many early explorers had died in the remote Forgotten Wasteland.
• Vice Dean Pei told the group that ogres and other legendary intelligent races lived nearby, then identified a Two-Headed Ogre watching them from behind a tree.
• Chen Donghuang charged the ogre and was struck down by its club, but he got back up with only minor injuries.
• Vice Dean Pei left the students to survive on their own for a week as the Two-Headed Ogre charged at them.
• Xing Yan trapped the ogre’s legs with stone hands, and the group’s attacks barely wounded it before it broke free and rushed them.
• The Two-Headed Ogre shouted in two voices, and Lin Xuan received a system prompt that he was listening to Ogre Language.

Lin Xuan used Gibberish Learning to understand and provoke the Two-Headed Ogre, while Chen Donghuang and Xie Yi killed it. The group discovered a horde of Ogres, and seven people stayed behind to cover the others’ retreat as the larger Ogres devoured their fallen companion.

• Lin Xuan learned the meanings of several Ogre phrases by provoking the Two-Headed Ogre and dodging its attacks.
• Chen Donghuang blasted apart one of the Ogre’s heads, and Xie Yi killed it with a coin through its remaining head.
• Lin Xuan spotted a horde of Ogres emerging from the trees, so Xie Yi ordered the others to retreat while seven people stayed behind.
• A massive Two-Headed Ogre began eating the fallen Ogre, and Lin Xuan suggested waiting until it nearly finished before withdrawing.

Sheng Naiqi used his hard-to-remember presence to approach the ogres and poison a corpse, while Lin Xuan used a ring from Lin Long to recover his memories of Sheng Naiqi and learned that he was a Mystic Scholar. As the ogres prepared to attack, an elderly Ogre Priest halted Xie Yi’s coins with a spell, and the Two-Headed Ogre leader rallied the group to charge.

• Sheng Naiqi revealed that people and ogres overlooked him and forgot information about him, then scattered Latuo No. 7 over a dead ogre before returning to Group Three.
• Chen Donghuang played a recording showing that Sheng Naiqi had already introduced himself as a Mystic Scholar, and Lin Xuan used Lin Long’s green ring to restore his memories of him.
• Lin Xuan realized the ogres’ hostility was growing as the towering Two-Headed Ogre finished eating, and Xie Yi ordered the group to attack.
• An elderly ogre chanted a spell that stopped Xie Yi’s two coins in midair, and Sheng Naiqi identified it as an Ogre Priest.
• The towering Two-Headed Ogre rose, ordered the ogres to eat the humans, and led them into a charge against Lin Xuan’s group.

Xie Yi wounded the ogres, giving Lin Xuan an opening to kill their Ogre Priest and claim his staff. As the group fled the enraged ogres, Vice Dean Pei watched from above and resolved to make Lin Xuan his personal disciple.

• Xie Yi used his Momentum Accumulation ability to blast the Ogre Priest and several Two-Headed Ogres with charged coins.
• Lin Xuan slipped behind the wounded Ogre Priest and killed him with Collapse Fist, advancing the True Meaning Five Elements Fist to Lv.3.
• Lin Xuan took the Ogre Priest’s wooden staff, provoking the ogres to charge, and the seven youths fled with Sheng Naiqi caught among their pursuers.
• Vice Dean Pei and Station Chief He discussed the dangerous training arrangement as Pei monitored the group from the treetops.
• Vice Dean Pei noticed that Sheng Naiqi’s ability had affected his memory and decided he would not let anyone else take Lin Xuan as a disciple.

After six months of introductory training at Taiyuan Base, Lin Xuan and Group Three learned that their assessment would take them through the dangerous Old Earth World to Tailong City. Hu Shan warned that he would not intervene except in an overwhelming crisis and offered anyone who wished to withdraw a final chance before they reached Nanmu Bridge.

• Hu Shan announced that the students' next six months would be a midterm assessment in the real Old Earth World.
• Lin Xuan and Group Three departed Taiyuan Base with Hu Shan and learned they were headed to Nanmu Base, where Nanmu Bridge connected to Baichuan Domain.
• Hu Shan explained that Old Soil was a cube megaworld made up of shifting domains, and that Baichuan Domain was one of four destinations bordering Half-Dragon Domain.
• Chen Donghuang connected Half-Dragon Domain to Tailong City, one of Great Xia's four Main Cities in Old Soil.
• Hu Shan revealed that Group Three had to travel from Baichuan Domain to Tailong City within six months, and warned that he would not rescue them except in an overwhelming crisis.
• Hu Shan offered students a final chance to withdraw before they reached Nanmu Bridge, while the group considered the risk of casualties.

Hu Shan led Group Three through Nanmu Bridge into Baichuan Domain for practical training after allowing students to withdraw. The group accepted a banquet hosted by Nanmu Town’s chief, Duanmu Ci, but Lin Xuan sensed powerful malice coming from every direction, especially from Duanmu Ci.

• Hu Shan warned Group Three that the Old Soil could be dangerous, and Jin Buhuan and three other students chose to withdraw.
• At Nanmu Base, the withdrawing students signed confidentiality agreements and were sent home.
• Lin Xuan considered whether Great Abyss Bridge’s instability was connected to its age as the group entered Nanmu Bridge.
• Hu Shan led the remaining students into Baichuan Domain, where Lin Xuan sensed an unusual atmosphere unlike the Forgotten Wasteland or Earth Origin Star.
• Town chief Duanmu Ci welcomed Hu Shan and Group Three and invited them to a banquet in Nanmu Town.
• As the students began eating, Lin Xuan sensed malice from all directions, strongest from Duanmu Ci.

After sensing intense malice from everyone in Nanmu Town, Lin Xuan warned Hu Shan and the other students through a private mental channel. Hu Shan ordered them to prepare to escape in separate groups toward the Half-Dragon Domain if the townspeople tried to stop them.

• Lin Xuan sensed that the people of Nanmu Town, especially Town Chief Duanmu Ci, harbored hostility toward the group.
• Lin Xuan signaled Lin Xinrui to establish a private mental channel and discreetly include Hu Shan and several students.
• Lin Xuan told the group that his ability let him sense malice and that the hostility in town rivaled that of the ogres they had fought.
• Xing Yan, Xie Yi, Chen Donghuang, Lin Xinrui, Li Zhi, and the other students supported taking Lin Xuan's warning seriously.
• Hu Shan told Lin Xinrui to prepare everyone to leave and warned that Nanmu Bridge might be blocked if the town turned against them.
• Hu Shan instructed the students to wait for his signal, escape in separate groups if stopped, and head for the Half-Dragon Domain.

Hu Shan tested Duanmu Ci by ordering the students to flee, exposing Nanmu Town’s hostile control and Duanmu’s ties to the Raven Council. As Crimson Flame reinforcements confronted the Raven Council, Lin Xuan and the students fought their way out of town in three groups.

• Hu Shan dropped his glass as a signal, and the students vanished from the reception hall; Duanmu Ci tried to stop them before Hu Shan restrained him.
• Qian Kui appeared in a raven mask, and Duanmu Ci revealed his allegiance to the Raven Council while Hu Shan questioned him about the Spark Program.
• Qian Kui reported that someone was contesting his control of the town’s human puppets, and Hu Shan revealed that Great Xia had prepared safeguards.
• Wang Chongzu arrived, announced that Bai Xue was gathering forces outside, and smashed Qian Kui into the ground when he tried to flee.
• Lin Xuan and the students split into three teams as Nanmu Town’s expressionless residents surrounded them; Xie Yi, Chen Donghuang, and Lin Xinrui led the teams.

Lin Xuan's squad escaped Nanmu Town after discovering its residents were being controlled, then set out for the Half-Dragon Domain in Tong Di's custom buggy. Along the way, they nearly left behind Sheng Naiqi, and Lin Xuan wondered why vehicles were so rare in the Old Soil despite reports of advanced civilizations there.

• Lin Xuan noticed a Public Security Bureau detective's pained eyes and warned his squad that Nanmu Town's residents were being controlled, urging them not to kill unless necessary.
• Xing Yan and Fang Jingjing knocked down the encircling townspeople, while Lin Xuan caught and absorbed a lightning attack from a controlled young man who had warned them first.
• The squad escaped Nanmu Town, and Lin Xinrui decided they should seek directions to the Half-Dragon Domain and report the incident if they found Teacher Hu's group.
• Tong Di produced a custom off-road buggy from a silver ball, and the squad set off, stopping when Sheng Naiqi called out after nearly being left behind.
• After Lin Xuan explained who Sheng Naiqi was, the group continued onward, and Lin Xuan asked why cars seemed rare in the Old Soil despite its advanced civilizations.

Lin Xuan learned that Old Soil’s rules made creations from other worlds unreliable, explaining Earth Origin Star’s reliance on Old Soil materials and the danger of displaying costly technology. As Team Three prepared to enter a nearby town in disguise, the wounded Duanmu Ci and Qian Kui argued over whether to seek revenge on Crimson Flame.

• Lin Xinrui explained that creations not originating from Old Soil could not operate normally there, and Tong Di and Li Zhi clarified how Old Soil materials enabled their machines and abilities.
• Lin Xuan understood why Earth Origin Star relied on Main Cities in Old Soil, why Mech-Energy Users were uncommon, and how Great Xia used its locally produced weapons to defend itself.
• Tong Di stopped the group three kilometers from a town, stored his off-road vehicle in a metal sphere, and prepared to continue on foot.
• Sheng Naiqi suggested disguising the group before they entered the town, and Tong Di and Li Zhi transformed their appearances while Sheng Naiqi offered to disguise the others.
• Duanmu Ci and the wounded Qian Kui regrouped in a valley, where Qian Kui vowed revenge on Crimson Flame and Duanmu Ci refused to help unless the Raven Council issued a bounty.

Duanmu Ci and Qian Kui escaped after Bai Xue confronted them, leaving the Raven Council’s efforts to plant members among the Spark Program trainees exposed. Meanwhile, Lin Xuan’s group disguised themselves as members of several Old Soil races and reached the gathering place Tong Di had found.

• Duanmu Ci realized the Raven Council had placed people in every Spark Program group, and Qian Kui understood they needed to warn the others.
• Bai Xue caught up with Duanmu Ci and Qian Kui, but Duanmu Ci grabbed Qian Kui and escaped before Wang Chongzu arrived.
• Bai Xue explained that she had followed the pair to ensure they would not return to threaten the trainees, and Wang Chongzu accepted that they could not safely pursue them.
• Sheng Naiqi disguised Xing Yan as a Six-Eyed Race member, Lin Xinrui and Fang Jingjing as Three-Eyed Race members, and Lin Xuan as a Night Elf.
• Lin Xuan’s group arrived at the gathering place Tong Di had discovered, with Tong Di and Li Zhi posing as ordinary followers.