Chapter Summaries

Zhang Ming learned about the Flame-Horned People’s fate cores and witnessed the Great Sage’s despair over his people’s coming trial. He found the hidden greatest Source of the World and later wrote to Brother Wang, explaining that his emotion-amplifying talent did not determine his fate.

• The Great Sage explained the tiers of fate cores, and Zhang Ming realized his [Lightning Control] was likely an Earth Tier ability.
• A commoner student asked whether fate cores existed above Heaven Tier, and the Great Sage said the Flamehorn Race had never possessed one powerful enough to surpass the Flame-Horn Breathing Technique and Eye of Truth.
• After the students left, the elderly Great Sage broke down, then spoke to the sickly little tree about the Flame-Horned People’s poor chance of surviving the trial and urged the turtles to flee.
• Zhang Ming found the second tile in the sixth row and uncovered the brilliant, longan-sized Source of the World the Great Sage had hidden.
• Zhang Ming returned to camp and wrote to Brother Wang, comparing his emotion-driven talent to the Flame-Horned ability Fury God and warning him not to let his emotions control him.

Zhang Ming wrote private and group letters to his friends and family, then sent them in a Drifting Bottle with a coral stone and gold for Lu Tuyu. On his twenty-eighth birthday, he realized he had spent four years on the island and now had a lifespan of 2,522 years, while his body showed no signs of aging.

• Zhang Ming advised Old Wang about the Lone Star of Calamity and urged him to focus on the Human Breathing Technique.
• Zhang Ming asked his friends for useful seeds, shared information about Li Xianfeng and the human limit, and wrote to his younger sister about their family.
• Zhang Ming added a coral stone and some gold to the Drifting Bottle to reimburse Lu Tuyu, then cast it into the sea.
• Zhang Ming realized he had turned twenty-eight after four years on the island and saw that his lifespan had reached 2,522 years.
• Zhang Ming observed that his body had not aged and that even his scars were gradually healing.

At twenty-eight, Zhang Ming recorded his monotonous year of shipbuilding, training the Black Tortoise Race, and improving his abilities as he prepared to cross the Demon God's Sea. He recognized that attribute gains were slowing and resolved to stop wasting points on abilities he could learn instead.

• Zhang Ming created a diary in his memory library to record the years he had spent in his repetitive routine.
• He wrote that he had tested woods for seawater resistance and chosen the dense, durable water pine for his ship.
• Zhang Ming established tiered training and a meat cellar for the Black Tortoise Race, whose giant turtles had grown substantially.
• He recorded his improved attributes and described finding Woodification and Concealment to help him cross the Demon God's Sea.
• Zhang Ming noted that eating familiar sea creatures yielded fewer attribute points and concluded that he should conserve points and stop activating ordinary abilities.

Zhang Ming recorded Earth’s worsening crises and his friends’ troubles, then celebrated his twenty-eighth birthday on the island with homemade liquor and the turtles. The chapter left him enjoying his secluded life as Stone Mama soaked in a bowl of alcohol.

• Zhang Ming wrote that Earth faced worsening wars, refugee displacement, accelerating Pangaea unification, and a growing number of people awakening weak abilities.
• Zhang Ming fumed that Lu Tuyu had begun dating his younger sister after joining the military, while worrying about Wang Fumin’s wife’s glioma and sending strange objects that might strengthen her physique.
• Zhang Ming finished his diary entry for his twenty-eighth birthday and went to the cellar to taste a batch of homemade liquor.
• Zhang Ming carried liquor past his flourishing fields to celebrate with Little White Turtle and the other turtles, who gathered eagerly around the vat.
• Zhang Ming tossed Stone Mama into a bowl of liquor after it repeated its lewd remarks about cucumbers.

Zhang Ming taught the Black Tortoise Race how to prepare and preserve food while bargaining with Old White for the Large Seashell in exchange for the liquor-brewing process. He told the turtles he planned to build a boat and leave in a few years, leaving the group distressed at his departure.

• The Giant Turtles returned from battle with a giant sea beast, and Zhang Ming praised their growth before preparing the meat for them.
• Zhang Ming showed the turtles how to clean organs, check for parasites, and preserve food by smoking, while most of them focused on eating.
• Old White tried Zhang Ming's liquor, enjoyed it, and hesitated when Zhang Ming offered to teach the complete brewing process in exchange for the Large Seashell.
• Zhang Ming said he would begin building a boat the next day and expected to leave in two or three years, though he promised to keep teaching the turtles regardless.
• Zhang Ming cooked monster meat with liquor, while the Turtle Group remained silent and distressed about his planned departure.

Zhang Ming prepared to cross the Mysterious Zone and asked whether any turtles would join him, while Old White struggled with Little White’s wish to go. Little White gained permission to travel with Zhang Ming, and Old White gave them the Black Tortoise Race’s accumulated treasures to aid the journey.

• Little White and Old White argued about the planned journey, while Zhang Ming invited Stone Mama to come along.
• Scarface Turtle volunteered to accompany Zhang Ming, but Zhang Ming refused because Scarface was too large and vital to the Turtle Group.
• At dawn, Little White presented Zhang Ming with a polished Large Seashell and showed that he understood the journey could cost him his life.
• Old White reluctantly supported Little White’s departure, and Zhang Ming carried the seashell into his room.
• Zhang Ming opened the Large Seashell and discovered that Old White had packed the Black Tortoise Race’s collected ores, spiritual materials, and other valuable strange objects inside.

Zhang Ming continued preparing to leave the island, building a ship while his attributes grew more slowly and the years passed. On his thirty-second birthday, he reflected on Earth’s upheaval, his sister’s marriage, and Wang Fumin’s loss, whose letter described the burdens of becoming Earth’s strongest person.

• Zhang Ming sorted the treasures Old White had given him, kept materials for study, and offered Little White lessons while agreeing to stay longer and prepare a larger ship.
• Zhang Ming spent four more years building a sailboat and turned 32 after eight years on the island, with 7,871 total attributes and declining gains.
• Zhang Ming recorded his progress in mastering Strength Burst and described wars, political tensions, and the approaching collision between Great Xia and the United States as Pangaea formed.
• Zhang Ming noted that his younger sister had married Lu Tuyu and that he had sent them a spirit-increasing pearl through the Drifting Bottle.
• Zhang Ming read Wang Fumin’s letter about his wife’s death and his own rise to Earth’s human limit, which had left him under scientific and military obligations.

After reflecting on Wang Fumin’s letter and the years that had passed, Zhang Ming prepared to leave the island aboard the sailing ship he had built. After inspecting the ship and settling in Little White and Stone Mama, he returned to pay his final respects to the dying Gaia Consciousness.

• Zhang Ming read Wang Fumin’s letter about how his curse and work had changed his life and relationship with his daughter, then preserved it in the Memory Library.
• Zhang Ming packed his tools, prepared for departure, and joined the sea turtles gathered around his completed sailing ship.
• Zhang Ming inspected the ship’s construction and supplies, raised its sails, and tested its ability to sail against the wind.
• Zhang Ming showed Little White and Stone Mama their quarters aboard the ship and arranged his own room and the ship’s stores.
• Zhang Ming sailed back to the island to pay his final respects to the withering Gaia Consciousness.

Zhang Ming said goodbye to the Black Tortoise Race and sailed away from Turtle Island, carrying the Source of the World and a World Tree leaf that could help him communicate with special individuals and guide him toward Earth. The turtles’ farewell song sent him into the wider world as his eight years on the island came to an end.

• Zhang Ming thanked the World Tree and accepted a leaf from it, learning that the leaf could guide him toward Earth and allow limited communication through the Source of the World.
• Stone Mama explained that the Source of the World came from a world's gifts or could be obtained by killing a world, but Zhang Ming chose not to seek more from the weakened Black Tortoise Continent.
• Zhang Ming reviewed the twenty-seven Spirit Language tablets and statue he had left to preserve knowledge for future generations of the Black Tortoise Race.
• The Turtle Group gave Zhang Ming a send-off with drums, infertile eggs, and a song as he boarded his sailboat and departed Turtle Island.
• Zhang Ming wept at the turtles’ chorus, then spread his arms and embraced the joyful farewell as his boat disappeared along the coastline.

Zhang Ming sailed toward the Demon God's Sea and stopped at the boundary when he saw a violent storm raging beyond the Black Tortoise World's protection. Stone Mama showed him the Flame-Horned People's warning that becoming Homeless could drive even the strongest person mad and into the sea.

• Zhang Ming passed the days at sea by studying, fishing, and playing board games with Little White while Stone Mama clung to the mast.
• As the boat neared the Demon God's Sea, Zhang Ming taught Little White about the ocean and made it do math homework.
• Zhang Ming spotted the storm beyond the boundary between the Black Tortoise World and the Mysterious Zone, then lowered the sail and chose to wait for it to pass.
• Zhang Ming asked Stone Mama about the dangers of becoming Homeless, and Stone Mama showed him Flame-Horned People discussing the madness and deadly loneliness that awaited those who lost the world's protection.

Zhang Ming and his companions entered the Demon God's Sea, where he suffered a severe mental shock and began facing the effects of homelessness. After saying goodbye to the Black Tortoise World, Zhang Ming discovered a giant pelican aboard his ship, and the newcomers spent their first day squawking at one another.

• Zhang Ming used the World Tree leaf to sense Earth and the Black Tortoise World, then planted it in soil aboard the ship and hoped it would protect their tiny world.
• After the storm cleared, Zhang Ming and Little White sailed into the Demon God's Sea, where a hallucination drained 330 points from Zhang Ming's mental value.
• Zhang Ming saw that the Black Tortoise World had vanished from sight and said goodbye to it as he and his companions sailed onward.
• Zhang Ming found a giant pelican on the ship and approached it with his Ice Spear, but the bird backed down when it sensed the weapon's power.
• Stone Mama and the Giant Pelican began trading insults in squawks, and their shouting match carried on through the newcomers' first day in the Mysterious Zone.

On his first day in the Mysterious Zone, Zhang Ming drove off an exhausted Giant Pelican but let it stay aboard, while Little White resented the bird’s insults. That evening, he learned an improved Human Breathing Technique from Earth’s broadcast and began studying a regenerative physique ability.

• Zhang Ming dodged the Giant Pelican’s attacks and struck its beak until it retreated, earning mental value from the confrontation.
• The Giant Pelican insulted Little White and settled on the deck, so Zhang Ming allowed it to stay until Little White became strong enough to challenge it.
• Zhang Ming watched the wary pelican and concluded that breaking through human bottlenecks was vital for surviving in the Mysterious Zone.
• Li Xianfeng announced an optimized Human Breathing Technique, and Zhang Ming found that its efficiency was about thirty percent higher than the old version.
• The broadcast introduced the blood-clotting regeneration physique, and Zhang Ming practiced it that night, estimating that it could raise the physique limit to around 1,900.

Zhang Ming discovered that the Giant Pelican had laid an unfertilized egg and cooked it for breakfast, gaining five attribute points. He decided to keep her for future eggs, while the hungry pelican demanded a share and Zhang Ming offered her a dried fish.

• Zhang Ming greeted the territorial Giant Pelican and lightly tapped her beak with his staff.
• The Giant Pelican laid an egg on Zhang Ming’s deck, and he took it to inspect it.
• After Zhang Ming found the egg was unfertilized and the pelican stopped defending it, he fried it and shared it with Little White Turtle.
• Zhang Ming gained five attribute points from the egg and decided to keep the Giant Pelican for future eggs.
• The Giant Pelican squawked for some of her egg, so Zhang Ming tossed her a dried fish.

Zhang Ming received a long-awaited Drifting Bottle containing letters from his family and Old Wang, learning about his new niece and worsening supernatural crises on Earth. He treasured the news and memories while the letters left him reflecting on how much had changed in eight years.

• Zhang Ming named the haughty pelican Pelican, watched it feud with Little White Turtle, and saw it swim away before its usual nighttime return.
• Zhang Ming retrieved the Drifting Bottle and read Lu Tuyu’s letter announcing that Zhang Ming’s sister had given birth to a daughter.
• Zhang Ming studied the family photograph, saved it and the letter in his memory library, and decided to make his niece a gold turtle pendant.
• Zhang Ming read Old Wang’s account of supernatural disasters, deadly outbreaks, missing investigators, and the difficulty of unifying the world as Pangaea formed.
• Old Wang told Zhang Ming that RNG had won a championship and disbanded, then confessed that he wished he could return to an ordinary life.

Zhang Ming sent Li Xianfeng detailed supernatural research and wrote messages and a small pendant for his family, feeling connected to Earth despite his isolation. After seeing how fast the Drifting Bottle traveled and realizing how far away he was, he noticed the Giant Pelican fleeing in alarm.

• Li Xianfeng warned Zhang Ming about spatial turbulence and asked him to avoid its dangerous whirlpools.
• Zhang Ming sent Li Xianfeng research on ability integration, physical limits, and the Black Tortoise Visualization Method.
• Zhang Ming took a feather from the Giant Pelican to make a quill and wrote letters to his friends and family, including a golden turtle pendant for his niece.
• Zhang Ming watched the Drifting Bottle race away and realized its speed showed that Earth was extremely far away.
• The Giant Pelican squawked in terror, called Zhang Ming's attention to danger, and flew off for good.

Zhang Ming spotted a giant MSC cargo ship approaching his boat and wondered whether it came from Earth, then waited until daylight to investigate. As the vessels drifted toward one another, he and Stone Mama talked about the danger and the unfinished story of the beautiful math teacher.

• Zhang Ming watched a black speck approach and prepared to face a monster, while Little White Turtle hid in the Ancestor Turtle Shell.
• Zhang Ming recognized the approaching vessel’s MSC letters and searched the Memory Library, recalling that an MSC cargo ship had appeared among Earth’s supernatural-disaster mirages.
• Zhang Ming considered whether Earth was nearby but decided not to approach the ship in the dark and waited for daylight.
• Zhang Ming concealed himself and asked Little White Turtle to recover his Ice Spear if it fell into the sea during a fight.
• Stone Mama teased Zhang Ming about being frightened, then eagerly asked about the unfinished story of the beautiful math teacher.

Zhang Ming fought off a humanoid creature that tried to possess him, destroying it with Heartfire Lightning. After learning that similar monsters might infest the nearby freighter, he sailed away and examined the creature’s corpse before returning it to the sea.

• Zhang Ming lured a shadowy intruder onto the deck and struck it with a lightning-wreathed Flying Knife, revealing a wounded man in a Crew Uniform.
• The creature lunged at Zhang Ming, stole his senses, and sent a white shadow out of its body to possess him, but Zhang Ming broke free with purple Heartfire Lightning.
• The white shadow failed to possess Little White Turtle, then possessed Zhang Ming again and was burned into salt-like ash by his lightning.
• Zhang Ming collected the ash, sailed away from the freighter, and heard Stone Mama explain that many kinds of monsters could possess bodies.
• At dawn, Zhang Ming found mutated organs and scales on the corpse, concluded it had swum aboard while catching fish, and threw it into the sea.

Zhang Ming discovered that the Strange Powder could strengthen his soul and increase the power of his lightning, though using it risked draining his lifespan. He decided to consume the rest from a safe distance before investigating the drifting freighter and the ghostlike creatures.

• Zhang Ming inhaled a tiny amount of Strange Powder, experienced his soul leaving his body, and used Heartfire Lightning to remove the black specks that caused it.
• Zhang Ming noticed a violet tint in his lightning and tested the powder again, confirming that it increased the violet current while risking backlash and lost lifespan.
• Zhang Ming vowed to hunt the ghosts, while Little White hid in its shell and pleaded to skip homework; Zhang Ming refused and made it study.
• Zhang Ming leaped high above the deck, spotted the powerless freighter in the distance, and considered how it might have reached the Demon God's Sea.
• Zhang Ming worried that the ghostlike creatures might threaten Earth and decided to investigate the freighter after consuming the remaining Strange Powder.

Zhang Ming tested his newly sentient lightning and approached the freighter, planning to lure its monsters out and kill them separately. After Stone Mama’s shouting drew the creatures out, Zhang Ming retreated by sail as a growing swarm of flying monsters pursued the boat.

• Zhang Ming used up the crystal powder, sacrificing nearly fifteen years of lifespan as a quarter of his electricity turned purple and gained a trace of sentience.
• Zhang Ming sailed toward the freighter, turned the boat around to prepare for retreat, and shouted across the water to draw out its occupants.
• When no one responded, Zhang Ming tied Stone Mama with a rope and launched it toward the freighter to serve as a loudspeaker.
• Stone Mama’s cries brought humanoid creatures into the sea and sent birds flying out from the freighter.
• A Six-Eyed Bird Demon and dozens more birds took to the air, and Zhang Ming raised the sail to flee as the swarm grew to about a hundred.

Zhang Ming fought off a flock of possessed birds and used the Source of the World's Sanctuary to hide his boat until the monsters left. He collected crystal powder and bird corpses, then discovered the meat was edible while Stone Mama remained carried away inside a bird.

• Zhang Ming killed the Six-Eyed Bird Demon with Stone Mama and destroyed the white shadow that emerged from its corpse.
• Zhang Ming fought the birds with Fishbone Spears and electrical currents until his Mental Value was more than half depleted.
• Zhang Ming activated the Source of the World's Sanctuary, concealing the boat from the searching monsters for more than four hours.
• A large-bellied bird swallowed Stone Mama and flew away while Stone Mama loudly recounted Zhang Ming's private affairs.
• After the monsters left, Zhang Ming gathered crystal powder and bird corpses, and Little White confirmed the bird meat was edible.