Chapter Summaries

Qingmu explored the desert he believed was the Awakening Sacred Land, but found no clues beyond the Alliance's emblem and several possible explanations for the stable dreamlike space. He returned through the Dream Corridor to Crow and the white cat, whose home had disappeared, and learned Crow had named her Ruxue.

• Qingmu examined the Alliance's emblem and considered whether the desert was a real-scene dream, a space between worlds, or both.
• Qingmu decided he needed to find the desert's location in reality and left through the Dream Corridor.
• Qingmu returned to Crow and the white cat after the space where he had met Cuan Yifang collapsed.
• Crow comforted the grieving white cat and announced that he had named her Ruxue.
• Qingmu praised Crow's naming and joked about letting him name things at their studio, while the cat rolled her eyes at Crow's explanation.

Qingmu discovered that Xue'er was a powerful consciousness trapped in Mama Yao’s dream, and he took her into the Dream Corridor so he could find her a physical body. He revealed that Hanran would provide that body, leaving Crow horrified.

• Qingmu explained that Xue'er had no memories and that her consciousness would dissipate when they left Mama Yao’s dream.
• Qingmu recreated Old Madam Cuan’s image, and Crow helped comfort Xue'er with the old woman’s message to stay with Qingmu.
• Qingmu opened the Dream Corridor and sent Xue'er inside, where time would synchronize with their world.
• Qingmu told Crow that he planned to give Xue'er a body they already had at home: Hanran.

Qingmu transferred the dying orange cat’s memories and dream space to Ruxue, who returned to life in the orange cat’s body. He then visited the laboratory’s newly secured top floor, where Mei Ziqing explained the nearly completed Dream Guide game and introduced the Genesis names Kronos and Situ; Qingmu saw Bian Ziyuan and an unfamiliar woman beside the professor.

• Qingmu entered the orange cat’s dream and brought Ruxue into it while Crow helped keep the dream space stable.
• Qingmu guided Ruxue as she acquired the orange cat’s memories, and the orange cat faded away after Crow comforted it.
• Ruxue returned to the orange cat’s body and began eating, while Crow wondered whether to call her Hanran or Xue’er.
• Mei Ziqing took Qingmu to the laboratory’s heavily guarded top floor and explained that Dream Guide would record and distinguish people’s consciousnesses.
• Mei Ziqing told Qingmu that the professor’s Genesis named Qingmu, Kronos, and Situ, and Qingmu recognized Bian Ziyuan beside the professor while wondering who the woman was.

Qingmu met Professor Su Huilan at Mei Yiqiu’s laboratory and learned how the Space Box could create virtual environments by stimulating the brain directly. He left intrigued by the technology and Mei Yiqiu’s plans for future devices, including a chip like the one Qingmu had helped him find.

• Mei Yiqiu introduced Qingmu to Su Huilan, a Columbia University professor and member of the Third Space Foundation.
• Mei Yiqiu explained that Su Huilan would serve as the first dream mentor for Dream Guide and praised Bian Ziyuan’s contributions to the game.
• Su Huilan invited Qingmu to try the Space Box, and Mei Yiqiu described how it used quantum droplets and high-frequency lasers to stimulate the brain.
• Su Huilan and Mei Yiqiu compared the Space Box with neural suits and neural-fluid approaches to virtual reality.
• Mei Yiqiu told Qingmu that the first-generation Space Boxes cost over twenty million US dollars each and that later versions might eventually shrink to the size of a chip.

Qingmu entered the Genesis game world through a Space Box and learned how its dreamlike world and consciousness-detection system worked. Su Huilan told him he was one of Genesis’s three gods, and they quietly tested each other’s mental power outside the training building.

• Su Huilan and Qingmu lay in Space Boxes, and Qingmu entered a realistic, sunlit world with an enormous pyramid-shaped building.
• Qingmu approached the building and met Su Huilan, who explained that the Space Box used memories to help players create worlds governed by deliberately contradictory rules.
• Su Huilan described how the team hoped to distinguish invading consciousnesses from humans by observing their traits during a brief separation of consciousness from the brain.
• Su Huilan identified the area as Prehistoric Town, a lobby before Genesis begins, and said every player had to enter the pyramid for training.
• Su Huilan told Qingmu that he was one of Genesis’s three gods alongside Kronos and Situ, and the two cautiously tested each other’s mental power.

Qingmu entered the pyramid in Prehistoric Town with Su Huilan and learned that its unfinished reliefs were meant to record changes made to the game world. As they reached a maze of mirrors, Qingmu wondered what it could reveal about his dreams and memories, while Su Huilan urged him to explore without a guide.

• Qingmu asked Su Huilan about the pyramid’s design, and she revealed that she had designed it after suspecting Qingmu might have been responsible.
• Su Huilan explained that the wall reliefs could be changed through psychic power and were intended to record the contents of Genesis.
• Qingmu followed Su Huilan through the hall, failed to remember where he had gotten his familiar clothes, and wondered whether the Space Box could help him recover memories.
• Qingmu asked Su Huilan about Situ Xingzhi and the mirrors, and she encouraged him to explore the maze himself to discover possible bugs.

Su Huilan explained that the mirrors guided players into worlds shaped by their consciousness, but Qingmu's reflection never appeared in them. After Su Huilan entered a mirror and challenged him to find her, Qingmu tried to follow and was reflected back into the hall.

• Su Huilan discovered that Qingmu had no reflection in the mirror and explained that the mirrors revealed a person's subconscious and opened paths to personal worlds.
• Qingmu realized the seemingly endless mirrors were all manifestations of his consciousness, while Su Huilan wondered how a dreamless person could create a world.
• Su Huilan stepped through a mirror, told Qingmu to see if he could find her, and disappeared.
• Qingmu tested the mirror with his hand, saw a matching hand emerge at an angle, and then tried to enter it himself.
• Qingmu's body passed through and emerged back into the hall, leaving him unable to enter the mirror.

Qingmu reached Su Huilan’s dream space and learned how Dream Guide constrained dreams and why some people did not dream. Su Huilan said she had encountered three kinds of people without dreams, but Qingmu belonged to none of them.

• Qingmu failed to enter the mirror, sensed Su Huilan nearby, and entered her dream space through the Space Box’s barrier.
• Qingmu found Su Huilan practicing yoga beside a lake, and she explained how dream yoga could strengthen mental energy.
• Su Huilan explained that Dream Guide limited imagination by imposing fixed rules and warned that breaking them could lead to an account ban or deletion.
• Qingmu told Su Huilan he could not enter the mirror, and she described three kinds of people who did not dream.
• Su Huilan concluded that Qingmu did not belong to any of the three kinds she had encountered.

Qingmu and Su Huilan left her dream and explored the Dream Guide game while waiting for the Space Box’s timed shutdown. Their discussion of the artificial town’s nature left Qingmu suspecting it might be more than a simple hallucination.

• Qingmu recalled arriving in Liuying Lane with no memories of his past and a bird perched on his head.
• Qingmu and Su Huilan left her dream and returned to the hall, where they learned the unfinished game had no save or exit option and would shut down on a timer.
• While waiting for the shutdown, Qingmu and Su Huilan walked through the empty Prehistoric Town and discussed the game’s purpose.
• Su Huilan explained that the computer-generated environment was a hallucination because it did not rely on a person’s memories or mental power.
• Qingmu wondered whether the town and pyramid hall might be a different kind of dream, such as a computer’s, and thought of Ghost again.

Qingmu and Su Huilan tested the Dream Guide game, then questioned its safeguards and the role of the AI Kronos. Mei Yiqiu explained the game’s connection to the Mirror Pyramid research and revealed that the missing research vessel had been found wrecked, with no survivors.

• Qingmu and Su Huilan emerged from the Space Boxes after testing the game, and Qingmu questioned what would happen if a player could not exit.
• Bian Ziyuan explained that Kronos could recognize a player’s intention to leave, while Su Huilan and Mei Yiqiu raised concerns about the AI’s power and safeguards.
• Mei Yiqiu said that Prehistoric Town’s pyramids reflected research into the Mirror Pyramid and multidimensional spaces.
• Bian Ziyuan speculated that the missing scientists might return with discoveries, but Mei Yiqiu revealed that wreckage had been found near the Tubuai Islands and the crew had not survived.

Mei Yiqiu described the wreck of the research vessel and the strange signal it sent months after it disappeared. He suspected someone had deliberately prevented the scientists from reaching the seabed ruins and concluded that the Parasites had infiltrated powerful institutions.

• Mei Yiqiu said investigators found wreckage from a Former Soviet Union submarine near the research vessel, though they could not confirm who attacked it.
• Su Huilan noted that a third party must have been involved because both the research vessel and the submarine were wrecked.
• Mei Yiqiu explained that the vessel had sent a repeated destination message months after it vanished, then stopped responding when investigators tried to contact it.
• Mei Yiqiu conjectured that someone had used mysterious spatial forces to keep the vessel from uncovering the seabed secret and later destroyed it with weapons.
• Mei Yiqiu identified the Parasites as the likely force behind the sabotage and insisted they had already infiltrated or taken control of powerful institutions.

Su Huilan and Qingmu agreed to join the investigation of the research vessel incident, while Mei Yiqiu urged them to return once the second-generation Space Box was ready. After assigning Qingmu to guide Su Huilan around Wuzhong, Mei Yiqiu revealed that Captain Church’s water-damaged diary had vanished during restoration.

• Mei Yiqiu encouraged the group to confront the Alliance and said promoting the Dream Guide game would help humanity gain the initiative.
• Su Huilan asked to join the investigation team, and Qingmu volunteered to go with her; Mei Yiqiu agreed to seek approval from the committee.
• Bian Ziyuan had Su Huilan and Qingmu fill out test reports, but he found no record of Qingmu creating a dream space.
• Mei Yiqiu made Qingmu responsible for accompanying Su Huilan around Suzhou after she asked to see its sights.
• Mei Yiqiu explained that investigators had found Captain Church’s diary, but it had disappeared while being restored after water damage.

Mei Ziqing, Mei Yiqiu, Su Huilan, and Qingmu discussed the missing diary and suspected that someone in the US military had taken it. Qingmu then visited Ghost’s isolated computer room to continue training the machine consciousness, where Ghost greeted him in its dream.

• Mei Ziqing suspected a parasite host on the investigation team had taken Captain Church’s diary, but Mei Yiqiu and Su Huilan said the US military was a likelier culprit.
• Mei Yiqiu explained that American forces had found some of the crew’s luggage first, and Qingmu and Su Huilan considered whether the diary might still exist or its contents had been passed to superiors.
• Qingmu decided to visit Ghost and check on its training.
• Qingmu went alone to the first basement computer room, disconnected its servers from external devices and networks, and entered Ghost’s dream.
• Ghost’s dream formed into an ancient landscape, where a pale figure appeared and said, “You’re here!”

Qingmu checked Ghost’s progress and asked her to investigate who had transmitted Captain Church’s diary from the South Pacific. Before leaving, he also asked Ghost to relay messages to Duwa and Zhao Pengcheng.

• Qingmu criticized Ghost’s eerie humanlike appearance, and Ghost decided to use the name Ling’er.
• Qingmu tested Ghost’s mental power and noted that she had developed humanlike emotions and could draw energy from the Internet.
• Qingmu asked Ghost to trace information about Captain Church’s diary using its time and location, and she said she could track transmissions through cables or satellites.
• Ghost revealed that the Internet’s boss already knew about Qingmu’s independent quantum communications network.
• Qingmu asked Ghost to contact Duwa and Zhao Pengcheng as an intermediary for his messages.

Zhao Pengcheng went to Wuzhong Prison’s new computer room to write an application for winter clothes and a statement of remorse, but he deliberately lingered as he waited for contact from Qingmu. Text then began appearing in his document without his input, and Zhao Pengcheng recognized the strange message and pretended to type along.

• Zhao Pengcheng agreed to write the documents after learning he could use a computer, and the correctional officer escorted him to the prison computer room.
• Zhao Pengcheng asked about internet access, learned it cost fifty yuan an hour and was limited to the prison intranet, then opened a WPS document.
• As he wrote slowly, Zhao Pengcheng reflected on his cooperation with Qingmu and resolved to keep his plans hidden from both humans and the organization.
• When text began appearing on the fifth page without Zhao Pengcheng touching the keyboard, he recognized what was happening and hurriedly pretended to type.

Zhao Pengcheng exchanged messages with Qingmu through a prison computer, then returned to his routine while waiting for the prison to respond to his application and statement of repentance. He received winter clothing and was promoted to lead quality inspector, but still had no news about his statement.

• Zhao Pengcheng discovered that Qingmu was communicating with him through the prison computer and learned that Qingmu had passed along words from his teacher.
• Zhao Pengcheng deleted their conversation, finished his application and statement of repentance, and uploaded them as instructed.
• Zhao Pengcheng observed the prison corridor and counted his steps while being escorted back to his cell.
• Zhao Pengcheng resumed his regular routine and worked soldering printed circuit boards in the prison workshop.
• The prison authorities recognized Zhao Pengcheng's technical skills and made him head of the quality inspection team.
• Zhao Pengcheng received winter clothing, but the prison still had not responded to his statement of repentance.

While imprisoned, Zhao Pengcheng reflected on time, consciousness, and his race’s hidden past, then continued secretly strengthening his mental power in dreams. The Dream Corridor reopened, and a foreign old man arrived to meet him.

• Zhao Pengcheng concluded that time jumps threatened beings bound to matter, while his race’s pure consciousness could survive them by finding new hosts.
• Zhao Pengcheng wondered whether the Lost Ancestors existed and what hidden force had given his race its memories and invasion plans.
• Zhao Pengcheng worked overtime in prison, fell asleep in a warehouse, and entered a lucid dream where he practiced with the scalpel containing Qingmu’s mental power.
• A spatial passage opened in the dream, and a gaunt foreign old man emerged and remarked that Zhao Pengcheng looked stronger.

Zhao Pengcheng learned from Howard that the passage to Earth had been sealed and the organization would have to wait before bringing in more of its people. After Howard warned him to conserve his strength, Zhao proposed escaping prison through a prison break.

• Howard visited Zhao Pengcheng and praised his increased mental power while confirming that the organization had not abandoned him.
• Howard told Zhao that the passage into Earth had been sealed, leaving their people to fight alone and wait for it to reopen.
• Zhao asked about the organization's strategy, and Howard said they should conserve their strength, undermine humanity, and avoid human cultivators.
• Howard tested Zhao with his mental power and said the prison's other comrade had fallen, warning Zhao to report any unusual human cultivators.
• Zhao asked Howard to help him leave prison and proposed a prison break instead of overturning his conviction.

Zhao Pengcheng and Howard planned a prison escape while Zhao Pengcheng gained access to the computer room as a training assistant and secretly contacted Ghost. When a visitor arrived, Zhao Pengcheng found Yu Jianguo waiting in the visiting room.

• Howard agreed to help Zhao Pengcheng escape after seeing his growing mental power and the risks of changing hosts.
• Zhao Pengcheng worked overtime at the electronics factory and became familiar with its inspector and driver.
• After officials praised Zhao Pengcheng's written repentance, a guard recruited him to help inmates learn computer skills and write documents.
• Zhao Pengcheng used the computer room to communicate secretly with Ghost, while his shackles continued to complicate his escape plan.
• A guard took Zhao Pengcheng to the visiting room, where he saw Yu Jianguo.

Zhao Pengcheng met Yu Jianguo and reassured him that he would stay alive and take care of himself. After receiving a concealed message, he escaped the prison in a truck while a lookalike took his place.

• Zhao Pengcheng cried as he met Yu Jianguo through the visiting-room glass, and they reassured each other that they were doing well.
• After an overtime shift, Zhao Pengcheng opened the cigarette the driver had given him, read the faint writing inside, and destroyed it.
• Zhao Pengcheng worked through the next night, then hid in the truck’s cargo compartment beside a shackled prisoner who resembled him.
• A lookalike stayed behind in Zhao Pengcheng’s place, and the guards later transferred him to the sixth prison section for training.