Chapter Summaries

After emerging from three years of seclusion as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, Li Xingkong toured the rapidly developing lunar base and reunited with Tang Cheng. He told Tang Cheng he would not enter seclusion again soon because he planned to pursue a Spiritual Qi revival.

• Li Xingkong toured the lunar base and learned that his Body Tempering Grass had become the foundation for lunar construction.
• After returning to Moon-Chasing Island, Li Xingkong received congratulations from acquaintances on Earth Star.
• Tang Cheng hurried back from a gathering mission to reunite with Li Xingkong and ask about his cultivation.
• Li Xingkong told Tang Cheng that he had reached Foundation Establishment and planned to work on producing Spiritual Qi in bulk.
• Li Xingkong asked Tang Cheng whether he had heard of the Spiritual Qi revival.

Li Xingkong told Tang Cheng that, after reaching Foundation Establishment, he could produce Spiritual Qi in bulk and planned to trigger a Spiritual Qi revival on Earth Star. They discussed how universal cultivation could disrupt society, and Li Xingkong believed an accessible cultivation technique could help liberate productive forces.

• Tang Cheng asked whether Li Xingkong was leading a Spiritual Qi revival, and Li Xingkong explained that Spiritual Qi did not occur naturally in their part of the universe.
• Li Xingkong recalled that, while cultivating in an Age of Dharma Decline, he had produced only one particle of Spiritual Qi and modified Tang Cheng and Wu Ting so they could begin their extraordinary paths.
• Li Xingkong told Tang Cheng that his Foundation Establishment realm now let him produce Spiritual Qi in bulk and that he intended to bring about a revival on Earth Star.
• Tang Cheng became excited about the chance to cultivate, then raised concerns that universal cultivation could overturn society and leave modern industries without workers.
• Li Xingkong reasoned that an easy Qi Refining technique could let everyone cultivate and meet basic material needs, while he would support Divine Land's development.

Li Xingkong discussed how universal cultivation could reshape Earth Star and acknowledged that his strength gave him the power to direct its civilization, though he preferred a gradual cultural victory to ruling by force. He planned to control who could cultivate by embedding his moral principles in the Qi Refining Method, leaving the future of cultivation under his authority.

• Tang Cheng and Li Xingkong set aside their concerns about the political effects of reviving Spiritual Qi and compared their expectations of the cultivation world with their actual experience.
• Li Xingkong explained that a cultivation civilization depended heavily on its strongest cultivator, whose power could shape society from the top down.
• Li Xingkong admitted that he could take control of Earth Star but preferred to let the contest between civilizations continue and win through cultural influence.
• Li Xingkong argued that cultivation should complement everyday life and that power should not be given indiscriminately to people who might disrupt society.
• Li Xingkong planned to embed his views of good and evil in the Qi Refining Method so that people whose beliefs aligned with his could cultivate smoothly, while others would face obstacles or have to abandon their beliefs.

Li Xingkong asked the system how to produce Spiritual Qi in large quantities and learned about two conventional methods: letting Spiritual Qi multiply or refining earth veins. The system explained the dangers of uncontrolled multiplication and the Earth Vein Method’s advantages, leaving Li Xingkong to consider which method to use.

• Li Xingkong returned to Moon-Chasing Island after speaking with Tang Cheng and asked the system about conventional ways to produce Spiritual Qi.
• The system described Spiritual Qi multiplying itself and refined earth veins producing Spiritual Qi as the two commonly used methods.
• Li Xingkong asked why the system had not started Spiritual Qi multiplying after it produced the first particle, and the system said the choice had been his to make.
• The system warned that multiplying Spiritual Qi consumed surrounding matter, could become uncontrollable, and might develop self-awareness.
• The system explained that the Earth Vein Method was slower but let cultivators control where Spiritual Qi gathered, how quickly it formed, and who could command it.

Li Xingkong compared two methods of producing Spiritual Qi in bulk and chose to refine an Earth Vein, which offered greater control and avoided endangering his homeworld. After receiving the technique from the system, he quickly grasped its principles and began preparing to use it.

• The system explained that Spiritual Qi had no consciousness and required human will to control, unlike robots developed to replace people.
• Li Xingkong rejected the less controlled method because it could endanger his homeworld, and he decided he would choose where Spiritual Qi spread, excluding places such as Prisoner Continent, Cherry Blossom Country, and Eagle Country.
• Li Xingkong chose to refine an Earth Vein, and the system transmitted the specific technique to him.
• Li Xingkong understood that an Earth Vein produced and dispersed Spiritual Qi across a designated area, while allowing limited control over the Qi that remained connected to it.
• With his Foundation Establishment cultivation and the Qian Hexagram's aid, Li Xingkong grasped the refining method in less than half a day.

Li Xingkong finished building and testing the four modules of an Earth Vein, a device designed to gather materials and produce Spiritual Qi. After the individual tests succeeded, he began assembling the modules, bringing the possible start of Spiritual Qi revival on Earth Star within reach.

• Li Xingkong used the Spiritual Qi particle provided by the system as a template for refining an Earth Vein and relied on it, his Divine Sense Seed, and his Hexagram to extract microscopic materials.
• After about half a month, Li Xingkong completed four Earth Vein modules and prepared to test them separately.
• Li Xingkong activated the material-gathering module and confirmed that it collected microscopic matter and processed it into suitable raw material for Spiritual Qi.
• Li Xingkong tested the remaining modules, found that they operated normally, and recalled them.
• Li Xingkong began putting the four modules together, the final step before testing whether the Earth Vein could produce Spiritual Qi.

Li Xingkong completed the Earth Vein and went to Tang Cheng to arrange a test at the lunar base. There, he learned that Eagle Country had spotted the base and that Divine Land planned to reveal the Xi People first; Li Xingkong offered to add the Earth Vein’s effects to their showcase.

• Li Xingkong left his room with the completed Earth Vein and told the guards to stop watching his door.
• Li Xingkong went to Tang Cheng’s office, where Tang Cheng discussed Eagle Country’s demand to visit the lunar base after its satellite spotted it.
• Tang Cheng told Li Xingkong that Divine Land planned to publicize the Xi People before Eagle Country could make its move.
• Li Xingkong agreed to join the effort and announced that he would test the Earth Vein at the lunar base.

Li Xingkong and Tang Cheng deployed an Earth Vein on Moon-Embracing Mountain to test whether it could trigger a resurgence of Spiritual Qi. Li Xingkong sacrificed his only particle of Spiritual Qi to activate it, and they were left waiting to see whether the Earth Vein would produce more.

• Tang Cheng asked Li Xingkong about the Earth Vein, and Li Xingkong explained that it could cover roughly the area of a city.
• Tang Cheng chose Moon-Embracing Mountain as the Earth Vein’s test site, and Li Xingkong agreed to place it near the lunar base.
• Li Xingkong channeled mana into the Earth Vein, which dispersed into Moon-Embracing Mountain.
• Li Xingkong sent his sole particle of Spiritual Qi into the Earth Vein, severing his connection to it so the device could use it as a template.
• Li Xingkong felt intensely uncomfortable without Spiritual Qi as he and Tang Cheng waited for the Earth Vein to take effect.

Li Xingkong and Tang Cheng waited for Moon-Embracing Mountain’s Earth Vein to produce Spiritual Qi, and Li Xingkong sensed it emerge in abundance. He began using Spiritual Qi to manipulate objects and urged Tang Cheng to organize a group trial at the lunar base after Tang Cheng failed to meditate.

• Li Xingkong explained to Tang Cheng how to sense Spiritual Qi and learned that Tang Cheng had made progress with the Hibernating Dragon Technique.
• Li Xingkong sensed Moon-Embracing Mountain release a vast amount of jade-colored Spiritual Qi and drew it into his body.
• Li Xingkong used his Divine Sense and Spiritual Qi to lift and fly a nearby pen.
• Tang Cheng tried to enter a meditative state and sense Spiritual Qi but could not calm his mind.
• Li Xingkong told Tang Cheng to gather the lunar base members for a group trial, and Tang Cheng went to organize them.

Tang Cheng gathered the lunar base staff to help test whether they could sense spiritual qi created by Li Xingkong. Most participants failed to enter meditation, but one young researcher sensed the qi and saw points of light around him.

• Tang Cheng assembled the lunar base staff and explained that Li Xingkong had created spiritual qi for an experiment.
• Tang Cheng asked everyone to meditate and try to sense the spiritual qi, prompting skepticism and confusion among the researchers.
• Li Xingkong watched as most of the staff gave up and returned to work, while Tang Cheng fell asleep and fewer than ten people remained.
• A young researcher suddenly sensed the spiritual qi and saw points of light around him, and Li Xingkong asked him his name.

Ji Nanzhi and Tang Cheng became the first people to sense Spiritual Qi after Li Xingkong released the Earth Vein. Ji Nanzhi’s intense focus on his research had led him into a meditative state, while the others continued trying to sense it.

• Li Xingkong explained how to connect with Spiritual Qi after Ji Nanzhi became the first person to sense it.
• Ji Nanzhi used Spiritual Qi to explore inside his body, and Li Xingkong warned him not to injure himself.
• Ji Nanzhi described his beef-cattle research, and Li Xingkong realized that his total absorption in his work had brought him into a meditative state.
• Li Xingkong planned to teach Ji Nanzhi the Qi Refining Method after more people sensed Spiritual Qi, but Ji Nanzhi remained absorbed in studying it.
• On the third day after Li Xingkong released the Earth Vein, Tang Cheng reported that he had sensed Spiritual Qi and examined the magical power structure inside his body.
• Tang Cheng told Li Xingkong that everyone else was still trying to sense Spiritual Qi and praised its potential to accelerate the Divine Land’s technological breakthroughs.

Li Xingkong decided to create a simplified Qi Refining method so newcomers could begin cultivating without first learning the extensive theory in the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method. He named it the Rising Sun Guide and reduced its Mana Circuits to a few pathways aligned with the eight extraordinary meridians.

• Tang Cheng described how difficult it was for people to sense Spiritual Qi, while Li Xingkong argued that patience and repeated attempts were enough.
• Li Xingkong asked Tang Cheng to monitor the newcomers’ progress and said he would prepare a cultivation method for them.
• Li Xingkong decided to remove theoretical material from the Sun and Moon Qi Refining Method, giving beginners straightforward instructions for constructing Mana Circuits and opening a Qi Sea.
• Li Xingkong named the simplified method the Rising Sun Guide because it absorbed solar energy and converted it into mana.
• Li Xingkong stripped backup and minor circuits from his Mana Circuit diagram until only a few main pathways remained, then aligned them with the eight extraordinary meridians to help practitioners find their way.

Li Xingkong designed a simplified Qi Refining Method for beginners and added a Divine Sense threshold to restrict who could receive it. The method allowed anyone who met one of five virtues to cultivate, while reinforcing that virtue until they reached Foundation Establishment.

• Li Xingkong scaled down his Mana Circuit and Qi Sea designs, preserving the Qi Sea’s ability to expand if cultivators later changed methods.
• Li Xingkong tested the beginner technique and decided he could not distribute it without screening prospective cultivators.
• Li Xingkong planned to embed a threshold in the Divine Sense transmission that delivered the Qi Refining Method to a person’s mind.
• Li Xingkong chose benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness as the five virtues that could unlock the method.
• Li Xingkong arranged for the Divine Sense used in transmission to strengthen whichever virtue unlocked the method, preventing cultivators from violating it until they reached Foundation Establishment.

Li Xingkong created a rune-bearing token that could teach the Rising Sun Guide to people who activated it with Spiritual Qi. At the lunar base, he discovered that the cultivators had developed Spiritual Qi battles and learned that people differed in how easily they controlled Spiritual Qi.

• Li Xingkong formed a rune that projected the Rising Sun Guide into the mind of anyone who contacted it with Spiritual Qi.
• Li Xingkong pressed the rune into a metal token and realized people could share its design online to spread the cultivation method.
• Li Xingkong went to the lunar base and found Tang Cheng and others resting or watching Spiritual Qi battles near Moon-Embracing Mountain.
• Tang Cheng explained that the group had invented Spiritual Qi battles to practice control and pass the time.
• Li Xingkong learned that Spiritual Qi control felt natural to some people but awkward or cumbersome to most, and wondered whether Spiritual Qi had different affinities.

Li Xingkong learned that the Spiritual Qi he created favored people genetically similar to him, then explained the affinity differences to Tang Cheng. He left the system in place and agreed to test a Spiritual Qi battle.

• Li Xingkong asked the system about Spiritual Qi affinity and learned that his sample was most compatible with him, while affinity varied with genetic similarity.
• The system explained that people could adjust their genes to improve compatibility and said the differences among people in Divine Land were small.
• Li Xingkong realized the researchers' lower affinity was likely due to their foreign ancestry and decided to explain the cause to avoid suspicion.
• Li Xingkong told Tang Cheng that Spiritual Qi had been designed around the bloodlines of people from Divine Land, and Tang Cheng teased him about nationalism.
• Tang Cheng invited Li Xingkong to have a Spiritual Qi battle, and Li Xingkong agreed.

Li Xingkong fought Tang Cheng in a Spiritual Qi match, using his superior control to exploit Tang Cheng’s limited field of vision and overwhelm his attacks. The match ended with Tang Cheng’s Spiritual Qi blasted out of the arena and into Moon-Embracing Mountain.

• Tang Cheng agreed to a match with Li Xingkong, and both prepared their Spiritual Qi.
• Tang Cheng charged at Li Xingkong, but Li Xingkong dodged while Tang Cheng’s attack carried him past his opponent.
• Li Xingkong used the Shadow Concealment Step to stay outside Tang Cheng’s field of vision, prompting Tang Cheng to switch to an all-round view.
• Tang Cheng found Li Xingkong and launched a curved attack, but Li Xingkong held his ground and absorbed the impact.
• Li Xingkong struck Tang Cheng’s Spiritual Qi with a forceful collision, sending it out of the arena and into Moon-Embracing Mountain.

Li Xingkong explained how he had used Spiritual Qi to overpower Tang Cheng and advised him to adjust his control to its unique properties. He then gave Tang Cheng a token that revealed a cultivation technique after Tang Cheng unlocked its memory-based wheel.

• Li Xingkong reassured Tang Cheng and used a Restoration Technique to calm him after their Spiritual Qi battle.
• Li Xingkong explained that vibrating in place had let him stack the force of his Spiritual Qi, and Tang Cheng recognized that he had been controlling it too much like a human body.
• Li Xingkong gave Tang Cheng a token and told him to touch its design with Spiritual Qi.
• The token’s design entered Tang Cheng’s mind and formed a wheel lock based on his memories and understanding of benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trustworthiness.
• Tang Cheng quickly unlocked the wheel and received the cultivation technique in his memory, and Li Xingkong asked whether he could see it.

Tang Cheng received the Rising Sun Guide through the inheritance token, and Li Xingkong explained how the chosen wisdom path would shape his actions. The base personnel also acquired techniques and began cultivating, while Ji Nanzhi remained on his way back to Earth Star to modify beef cattle.

• Tang Cheng unlocked the Rising Sun Guide by choosing wisdom and told Li Xingkong he had qualified using memories of online flame wars.
• Li Xingkong explained that the inheritance would compel Tang Cheng to act according to his judgments, and Tang Cheng said he did not expect it to affect him much.
• Tang Cheng and Li Xingkong discussed how choosing trustworthiness might have kept Tang Cheng from joining the Xi People Plan.
• The base personnel, including several scientists, received inheritance techniques and began studying and cultivating.
• Tang Cheng told Li Xingkong that Ji Nanzhi had left for Earth Star to modify beef cattle after gaining microscopic blade-wielding ability through Spiritual Qi.

Li Xingkong observed the moon pioneers who had received his cultivation method, then began cultivating with abundant Spiritual Qi. His accelerated progress made him think he might soon break through Foundation Establishment, but the system warned that he could not sustain the pace once his magic power recovery slowed.

• Li Xingkong decided to observe the moon pioneers as they practiced his simplified cultivation method.
• Li Xingkong began cultivating his Divine Sense, strengthening his Qi Refining Method, and constructing his Qian Hexagram at the same time.
• Li Xingkong used the abundant Spiritual Qi to form a pattern around himself that drew in sunlight and multiplied his magic power recovery speed.
• Li Xingkong felt his cultivation advancing rapidly and asked the system whether he would soon break through Foundation Establishment.
• The system cautioned Li Xingkong that his current pace depended on a temporary state and that his magic power recovery would not keep up afterward.

Li Xingkong weighed rapid cultivation against staying strong enough to protect himself and remain involved in the lives of his family and friends, then chose to cultivate steadily. The system explained how cultivation societies sorted Foundation Establishment cultivators into protected core disciples and workers, leaving Li Xingkong struck by the similarity to ordinary society.

• Li Xingkong confirmed that cultivating faster increased his mana consumption and learned he could not sustain the recovery method in daily life.
• The system advised Li Xingkong to master the Qi Refining Method, develop his Divine Sense, and then cultivate the Hexagram, warning that advancing everything at once would reduce his ability to fight.
• Li Xingkong considered pursuing rapid cultivation despite the danger, but chose a slower path because he could not abandon his family, friends, or responsibilities on Earth Star.
• Li Xingkong asked whether earlier cultivation civilizations had faced the same choice, and the system said the problem was common.
• The system explained that cultivation societies protected talented Foundation Establishment disciples while directing ordinary cultivators toward production work, and Li Xingkong recognized the harsh social structure behind the system.