Chapter Summaries

Aboard the Steamship, Bai Ze and the crew explored Yellow Sand World, destroyed a dangerous world-hunting creature, and set out by land toward an oasis. Meanwhile, negotiations between humans, Snake People, and Macrosteel People continued near Earth World, with humans assessing the value of Macrosteel technology.

• The Steamship surveyed Yellow Sand World, where Bai Ze sensed underground life and abundant sea creatures but found no plants on land.
• Bai Ze burned the captured world hunter, preserving a few spores, and Little White collected them for study.
• Pelican Big Sis returned from scouting and reported an oasis and dried-up river, warning that danger might be present.
• Little White fitted tires to the Steamship, and the crew drove upstream along the dry riverbed toward the oasis.
• Pelican Big Sis noticed Gourd might be moving and anticipated the crewmate’s return to life.
• Wang Fumin oversaw the three-way trade negotiations near Earth World as experts examined the Macrosteel People’s advanced flame-forging and rune technologies.

Wang Fumin weighed humanity’s bargaining position in negotiations with the Macrosteel People and learned about the Wanhai Alliance’s rankings of unique technologies. The discussion ended with Taduo explaining why the legendary reverse entropy technology was rare and could prevent civilizations from developing.

• Wang Fumin discussed the Macrosteel People’s forging machines and costly materials research with experts, noting that humanity’s snowflake-based ultra-low-temperature etching gave them bargaining power.
• Wang Fumin left the negotiations and joined Taduo, who invited humanity to send suitable young people to an upcoming Elite Arena.
• Taduo described the Wanhai Alliance’s system for valuing unique technologies and ranked reverse entropy technology first for its ability to slow aging and repair souls.
• Taduo explained that reverse entropy worlds were rare and harsh, and that immortals could hinder civilization’s growth; Wang Fumin grew increasingly alarmed as he considered the implications.

Wang Fumin learned about the remarkable technologies held by civilizations across the Demon God's Sea and recognized how far humanity still had to develop. Taduo proposed that humanity, the Macrosteel People, and the Snake People prepare a major technology trade with the Wanhai Civilization, leaving Wang to conceal his fear that Old Zhang might be dead.

• Taduo described the Wanhai Civilization's spatial technology, advanced transportation, and the high cost of buying a Pot in the Mountain with the Source of the World.
• Wang Fumin learned about other unique technologies, including faster-than-light communication, transcendent life cultivation, ultimate weapons, eternal energy, and space-time observation.
• Taduo said the Honggang Civilization wanted to arrange a major trade with the Wanhai Civilization and hoped Old Zhang would attend as a trusted Transcendent.
• Taduo explained that the neighboring world cluster's disaster might spread and suggested humanity, the Macrosteel People, and the Snake People join forces to negotiate for technologies.
• Wang Fumin hid his concern that Old Zhang might be dead and told Taduo that humanity could not contact him or determine where he had gone.

Taduo arranged to contact the Transcendent after negotiations, while Old Wang realized the Macrosteel People could recruit him privately. In the desert world, the crew reached a bloodred oasis where soul-luring flowers drove creatures into the lake, and the night ended with the Pelican Captain raging against its chains and Little White turning to stone.

• Taduo told Old Wang that the Macrosteel People could contact the Transcendent through the Furnace Communicator, and Old Wang agreed to delay contact until negotiations were complete.
• The Pelican Captain and its crew crossed the desert toward an oasis, then stopped when they found its lake had turned bloodred and its shoreline trees looked monstrous.
• After night fell, pink fog rose from the lake and uncanny flowers bloomed, tempting the crew and nearby creatures to jump into the water.
• Bai Ze chained the frenzied Pelican Captain, while Stone Mama restrained Little White as creatures fought and devoured one another in the lake.
• The night-long frenzy transformed the creatures, left the Pelican Captain struggling against its chains, and slowly turned Little White into stone.

Little White recognized the strange lake as a possible source of Reverse Entropy Technology and persuaded the others to investigate it, though they mistook its excitement for addiction and locked it in a cage. Three years later, the intercivilizational trade at Earth World’s edge concluded, and Wang Fumin toasted the departing visitors.

• At sunrise, the Red Spider Lily flowers withered, and nearly all the animals that had entered the lake were dead or merged with it.
• Little White identified the lake’s soul-altering effects as a possible prototype for Reverse Entropy Technology and urged the group to investigate the lost civilization.
• Stone Mama and Old Sheephead suspected Little White was addicted to the lake and had Captain Pelican lock it in a cage.
• Over the next three years, the boat stayed near the coast while the animals searched for ruins and waited for Zhang Ming to awaken.
• The humans, Snake People, and Macrosteel People completed their three-way trade after years of negotiations and academic exchange.
• Wang Fumin raised a farewell toast and wished the visitors a safe journey home.

Wang Fumin and Taduo contacted Zhang Ming’s communicator to confirm whether he was alive, but Stone Mama answered and claimed he was dead. Stone Mama then agreed to return and lead the exchange delegation, while revealing Little White’s view of a brutal world filled with battling monsters.

• Taduo called Zhang Ming’s Furnace Communicator twice, but neither attempt connected.
• On the third call, Little White answered before Stone Mama took over and said Zhang Ming was dead, leaving Wang Fumin shocked.
• Wang Fumin explained the planned exchange gathering and invited Zhang Ming to return and lead the delegation.
• Stone Mama agreed to return and help with the exchange, despite the others wanting Zhang Ming himself to be informed.
• Stone Mama had Little White move the communicator outside, where Taduo and the others saw monsters fighting in a lake until a bone-flower-like creature emerged victorious.

Zhang Ming awoke after defeating a terrifying monster and realized he had escaped the Demon God's clutches. The distant civilizations lost contact with Stone Mama and Little White after another monster attacked, leaving them uncertain about Zhang Ming's fate and preparing to continue their operation.

• The civilizations watched the Bone Flower grow and explode, and they speculated that it might be connected to a Hive Disaster or Reverse Entropy Technology.
• Stone Mama accepted an invitation to the Exchange Gathering while Little White remained unable to use or preserve the soul-luring Lake Water.
• A shadowy monster approached Stone Mama and Little White, attacked the communicator, and was seized and smashed by a glowing green arm before the connection cut off.
• Taduo and the other leaders lost contact with the group and debated Zhang Ming's fate, while Wang Fumin kept his Unreality Disorder secret.
• Zhang Ming awoke after defeating the monster, celebrated his escape, and readjusted his vocal cords so he could speak to Stone Mama and Little White.

Zhang Ming returned to the real world after escaping the Demon God and reunited with Little Gourd, Bai Ze, Stone Mama, Little White, and Captain Pelican. After thanking the rescue team, he headed for the coast to rest and cook, while the others began sorting through misunderstandings from the ordeal.

• Zhang Ming woke in the real world, thanked the rescue team, and assured Bai Ze that Little Gourd was trustworthy and he was not anchored by [Unfulfilled Wish].
• Little Gourd explained that she had covered Zhang Ming in Tree of Eden resin to keep him alive, and Zhang Ming found his ship battered before steering it toward the coast.
• Stone Mama told Zhang Ming that Human Civilization had called him home for an exchange conference, then explained to Little White why she had lowered expectations about his return and the research results.
• Zhang Ming reached the coast, bathed, and cooked fish soup while Little Gourd recounted how [Unfulfilled Wish] had manipulated events in the dream.
• Bai Ze apologized to Little Gourd for suspecting her, and she accepted his apology as Zhang Ming asked whether she could still turn into a girl.

Zhang Ming reunited with his companions and shared dinner as they discussed the dying world and their future goals. He promised to return to Earth, pursue his enemies, and keep Pelican as captain, then built her a sheltered place to rest aboard the ship.

• Zhang Ming served the crew fish soup, and Little White described the world's failing ecosystem, extinct civilization, and buried Stone Age ruins.
• Zhang Ming praised Little White for finding incomplete World Hunter spores and said he would gather salvage without obsessing over rare discoveries.
• Zhang Ming named returning to Earth, defeating [Dusk], and defeating [Unfulfilled Wish] among his life goals, while Gourd explained she needed to strengthen herself and fix flaws in her rules.
• Little White said it wanted to become a Black Tortoise, Stone Mama wanted to help it carry a civilization, and Old Bai Ze wanted to study the world's mysteries.
• Zhang Ming invited Pelican to remain captain and asked her to lead the crew back to Earth; he built her a large sheltered canopy, which she happily accepted.

Zhang Ming learned that the Space-Time Worm’s core ability was creating tunnels through space-time, which could connect or even relocate worlds, and prepared to fuse with its Eye Rule to see and sever the threads anchoring him. Meanwhile, Wang Fumin returned to Earth celebrated as a Pillar of Humanity, though his new prestige left him feeling intoxicated by power.

• Zhang Ming remembered Brother Hao at the World Little Tree and promised that he and his companions would always be there for him.
• Little Gourd warned Zhang Ming that he needed to see and sever the threads anchoring him before leaving the world, and he planned to fuse with the Space-Time Worm’s Eye Rule.
• Gourd Lady explained that the Space-Time Worm dug space-time tunnels that could connect distant civilizations and allow entire worlds to be moved.
• Zhang Ming agreed to rest and build up his mental energy before attempting the fusion, while Gourd Lady left to bask in the moonlight.
• Wang Fumin returned to Earth and received the honorary title Pillar of Humanity for his contributions.
• Wang Fumin attended celebrations and returned to his hotel feeling intoxicated by his prestige and power.

After learning that Li Xianfeng had died and that his estate might have been stolen, Wang Fumin recognized how the system had changed him and resolved to investigate despite the risks. He left Cloudsea City and returned to the New World Defense Line, where he prepared to act with the help of people he trusted.

• Wang Fumin learned that Li Xianfeng had died and that the official account claimed debts had consumed most of his estate.
• Wang Fumin asked his contacts to investigate Li Xianfeng's estate, then realized that comfort and influence had made him reluctant to challenge the system.
• Wang Fumin berated himself, left his high-rise, and walked through Cloudsea City, where he spoke with a delivery rider about the city's inequalities.
• Wang Fumin ran across the sea to the New World Defense Line and passed through customs as astonished soldiers asked what he needed.

Wang Fumin investigated who profited from Paul Kachakin’s estate and discovered that his own family had benefited from corrupt arrangements. After learning that his great-granddaughter’s heart came from a child killed for its transplant, he set out to punish those responsible, while Zhang Ming discussed with Gourd the limits of what resources could change.

• Wang Fumin ordered his adjutant to uncover who took Paul Kachakin’s estate and learned that his relatives may have received a large share of the transferred stock.
• Wang Fumin returned home and discovered that Wang Jingjing’s heart transplant had cured her congenital heart disease.
• Wang Fumin learned that the donor was a six-year-old child killed in a staged car accident, then found and interrogated the driver who confessed someone had paid him to make the child’s heart available.
• Wang Fumin told his family to stop relying on his influence, declared that he would resign, and mourned at Qin Yiwei’s cenotaph after dealing with the driver.
• Zhang Ming told Gourd that resources could not easily change society because distribution itself lay at the heart of human conflict.

Zhang Ming entered his mental world with Gourd Lady so she could inscribe the Youfeng Clan’s Eight Trigrams Seal onto the World Tree’s Leaf Seal and help him extract the Space-Time Worm’s Eye Rule. After five days of careful work, the seal shook as the immense power beyond it surged toward Zhang Ming, leaving his heart racing and his eyes burning.

• Zhang Ming fell asleep and followed Gourd Lady into the deepest reaches of his consciousness, where the World Tree’s Leaf Seal blocked the Space-Time Worm’s rules.
• Gourd Lady drew the Eight Trigrams Seal on the Leaf Seal using Space-Time Tidal Energy and some of her own resources.
• Gourd Lady marked the section containing the Space-Time Worm’s vision rule, and Zhang Ming concentrated on sensing and extracting only the Eye Rule.
• After three days, Gourd Lady finished the seal and left Zhang Ming’s mental world.
• On the fifth day, the seal shuddered as immense power surged from beyond it, causing Zhang Ming’s soul to be struck and his heart rate to climb rapidly.

Zhang Ming connected the Demon God's Eye Rule to his heart, then activated the new Eye of Space-Time ability. He discovered it could reveal spatial discontinuities and teleport him to distant places, but using it required Soul Burning or a cost in lifespan.

• Zhang Ming endured intense pain and linked the Demon God's Eye Rule to his heart after thousands of attempts, then passed out.
• Little Gourd examined Zhang Ming, found nothing wrong, and healed him while he slept.
• After waking, Zhang Ming found the Eye of Space-Time ability on his Attribute Panel and spent 4,645 Attribute Points to activate it, sacrificing 4,645 years of lifespan.
• Zhang Ming used Soul Burning to power the Eye of Space-Time without consuming his sanity and saw clusters of light marking discontinuities in space.
• Zhang Ming touched one of the clusters and teleported to an unknown desert.

Zhang Ming explored the Eye of Space-Time, returned to the Main Base, and used Soul Split to remove [Dusk]’s anchors from his soul. He shared his new ability and its limits with Bai Ze and Stone Mama, and Bai Ze gave him a feather from Kunpeng to help with spatial travel.

• Zhang Ming used the Eye of Space-Time to inspect and pull creatures from desert burrows, then realized his Space-Time Leap had left him lost far from the Main Base.
• Zhang Ming summoned the Gourd, who led him back and warned him that spying on dangerous beings could cause backlash.
• Zhang Ming saw the black threads of Demon God Anchoring around his soul and noticed his own soul shone far more brightly than ordinary souls.
• Zhang Ming returned to the Main Base and used Soul Split to remove [Dusk]’s anchors from his soul.
• Zhang Ming told Bai Ze and Stone Mama about his spatial ability and its limitations, and Bai Ze gave him a feather from Kunpeng.

Zhang Ming concealed the red light of his Heavenly Calamity by combining the Breath Concealment Technique with soul clones, then decided to leave the Yellow Sand World after failing to investigate its mysterious lake. The Gourd anchored the world for a possible return, and Zhang Ming set course for Earth before Pelican kicked him into the sea.

• Bai Ze taught Zhang Ming the Breath Concealment Technique, and Zhang Ming found thirteen versions that slightly weakened his soul light.
• Zhang Ming covered his body with soul sub-entities and used the technique to hide the red light from the Eye of Space-Time.
• After investigating the Yellow Sand World, Zhang Ming gave up on the lake and prepared to leave, unable to take its water or safely explore its depths.
• Little Gourd gave Zhang Ming an anchor to the world so he could return with others, then offered to erase her memories of the coordinates.
• Zhang Ming said he planned to visit Earth, see his old companions and family, and open a Big Rice Bucket Restaurant.
• Pelican kicked Zhang Ming off the boat and into the sea after he spoke sentimentally about his plans.

Zhang Ming and his crew continued their voyage toward Earth, training and growing stronger as the journey neared its end. He called Turtle Island to tell his old friends he would soon return home, and reunited with its turtles.

• Old Zhang and the Pelican Captain playfully fought aboard the boat as the crew left the Yellow Sand World.
• Gourd worked to develop avatars, the Pelican Captain trained, and Zhang Ming mastered Diamond as an Innate Ability while practicing Eye of Space-Time.
• Zhang Ming decided to call Old Wang and used the World Tree to contact Turtle Island.
• Zhang Ming, Little White, and Stone Mama greeted the turtles, and Zhang announced that he would soon return to his homeland.
• Little White caught up with Old White, while Stone Mama entertained the young turtles with stories about Lord Black Tortoise.

Zhang Ming reconnected with the turtles of Black Tortoise World, observed the changes on Earth, and contacted Wang Fumin, who told him about his disillusionment and a young man with Thought Reading. The chapter ended with Zhang Ming learning about Liu Ye’s ability and remaining unwilling to get involved.

• Zhang Ming argued with Lord Stone Mama that the turtles should rely on Black Tortoise’s Transcendent Remains, while Little White planned to forge its own path through study and education.
• Zhang Ming said he hoped to return to Black Tortoise World and warned that human greed could threaten the turtles and their world.
• Zhang Ming examined Earth’s Gaia Consciousness, noting the restored forests and prosperous island trade centers.
• Zhang Ming contacted Wang Fumin, who was astonished that Zhang Ming had survived Unreality Disorder and said he had resigned after becoming disillusioned with humanity.
• Zhang Ming advised Wang Fumin to accept that people were vulnerable to temptation and to hold to his own bottom line.
• Wang Fumin told Zhang Ming about Liu Ye, a talented young man with the Heaven Tier-level ability Thought Reading, and Zhang Ming declined to get involved.

After 151 years away, Zhang Ming neared Earth and reflected on the people and dangers he had left behind. Before returning, he explored Gourd Lady’s hidden form and discovered that eating one of her small gourds increased his lifespan.

• Zhang Ming and Wang Fumin discussed Liu Ye, Li Xianfeng’s death while researching Snowflake, and their own plans to step back from their former lives.
• Zhang Ming spent twenty-eight peaceful years traveling through the Demon God's Sea, avoiding danger and drawing closer to Earth as the World Tree’s resonance grew stronger.
• After eight years on Turtle Island and 151 years of travel, Zhang Ming realized his 159-year absence from Earth was ending and prepared for his return.
• In the Memory Library, Zhang Ming teased Gourd Lady about her nerves and asked to see what she had been preparing.
• Gourd Lady showed Zhang Ming a meadow and a tree bearing gourd avatars, then told him he could eat one of the smaller gourds.
• Zhang Ming ate the smallest gourd and gained twenty-five years of lifespan.

Zhang Ming prepared to return to Earth after gaining a lifespan-extending fruit and arranging a future home for Pelican Big Sis. As Earth came into view, he raced toward it while trying to evade detection, leaving the chapter with his infiltration still underway.

• Zhang Ming ate a Fruit of Eden that increased his Lifespan by 25 points and revealed the Perfect Body ability, while Miss Gourd explained the fruits’ value and scarcity.
• Zhang Ming learned that Pelican Big Sis wanted to find a mate, so he promised to take her to a nature reserve on the Western Continent; he also teased Little White and Lord Stone Mama about finding mates and leaving descendants.
• Zhang Ming sorted the ship’s supplies, coated the hull with Ruleless Coating, and stored the ship on the moon before announcing that Earth World was in sight.
• Zhang Ming declared that he would test Earth’s defenses against infiltration and used Short-Distance Spatial Jump to race toward Earth, but Pelican Big Sis’s cry carried to a hot-air balloon and he jumped into the water to avoid discovery.