Chapter Summaries

After passing the Foundation Establishment assessment, Li Xingkong learned about Golden Core cultivation and its requirements. He aimed for a Leakless Golden Core and began preparing for the next stage, which required radioactive materials.

• The system told Li Xingkong that he had passed the Foundation Establishment assessment and claimed it had predicted the result.
• The system explained that Golden Core cultivation centered on forging an internal energy source, and described the Golden Core Nine Revolutions.
• Li Xingkong decided to pursue a Leakless Golden Core and learned about spatial cultivation and advanced control over matter.
• The system told Li Xingkong that he needed radioactive materials to prepare for forming his core, noting that nuclear fusion reactors already used a Golden Core prototype.

Li Xingkong prepared to form a Golden Core using the Heaven-Encircling Baleful Qi Refining Core Formation Art, which suited his access to radiation. The system explained that different Baleful Qi could grant a Golden Core additional effects, including innate divine abilities, and identified two sources available to him on Earth Star.

• Li Xingkong reviewed the core formation art and realized that radiation could serve as its Baleful Qi.
• Li Xingkong asked why cultivation sects controlled Baleful Qi, and the system described its uses in body refining, demon subjugation, and wondrous arts.
• The system explained that the kind of Baleful Qi used to form a Golden Core could affect its later abilities and might grant an innate divine ability.
• Li Xingkong asked which available Baleful Qi could grant him a divine ability, and the system named two possibilities.
• The system identified nuclear-power-station radiation as Fallen Demon Baleful Qi, which could cause mutations, and solar wind as Great Sun Gold-Tempering Baleful Qi, which could help cultivate an indestructible golden body.

Li Xingkong chose to pursue the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art and traveled toward the sun to gather Great Sun Gold-Tempering Baleful Qi. He reached a suitable orbit near the sun and began collecting solar baleful qi, but had yet to practice the refining technique itself.

• Li Xingkong chose the second option, pursuing the Eight-Nine Mysterious Art rather than transformations that would alter his appearance.
• Li Xingkong left Earth Star and flew toward the sun while cultivating the Heaven-Circling Baleful Qi Gathering Technique during the journey.
• Li Xingkong's Hexagram guided him past Venus and Mercury to an orbit near the sun, where the intense heat interrupted his cultivation.
• Li Xingkong used magic power and Divine Sense to spread a net that gathered passing solar baleful qi, which he stored in an organ he had cultivated for that purpose.

Li Xingkong cultivated the Heaven-Encircling Baleful Qi Refining Technique, transforming his cells and forming a False Core in his Qi Sea. He remained beside the sun to gather more Baleful Qi, which he needed to finish refining the hollow core before he could ignite it and enter the Golden Core realm.

• Li Xingkong refined Baleful Qi through his body, transforming his cells and greatly increasing their strength.
• Li Xingkong directed the Baleful Qi into his Qi Sea, where it clashed with Magic Power and expanded the sea.
• A tiny embryonic core formed in Li Xingkong’s Qi Sea and absorbed Baleful Qi and Magic Power until it became a False Core.
• Li Xingkong determined that the False Core still needed extensive refining before radioactive materials could ignite it and trigger fission.
• Li Xingkong planned to remain beside the sun and gather dozens more nets of Baleful Qi, unlike cultivators who had limited access to stars.

Divine Land focused on reverse-engineering cultivation and spatial technology, but a high-energy experiment with Spatial Rings caused a catastrophic spatial collapse that destroyed much of a research complex. The disturbance alerted an unknown civilization, which dispatched a battleship under an extermination directive.

• Divine Land expanded scientific research because Foundation Establishment cultivation progressed slowly, with spatial gates becoming a major project.
• Researchers at an Imperial Capital institute increased the energy supplied to an experiment involving Spatial Rings to try to manipulate space.
• The experiment triggered a rapid spatial collapse, and researchers evacuated before the laboratory and nearby facilities vanished into a hemispherical cavity.
• The researchers discovered that the Spatial Rings had been lost and were ordered to prepare lengthy self-criticisms.
• An apparatus in a nearby star system detected the spatial disturbance, classified it as a threat from an unknown civilization, and sent a colossal battleship toward its source.

Lao Mu and Aozile prepared their warship for a mission to a civilization that had begun exploring spatial technology, discussing how to eliminate its natives and Aozile’s hoped-for promotion. As the ship calculated a route to the spatial explosion, Aozile left to collect tree women for the voyage, while crew members discussed his rise from fifth-class citizenship.

• Lao Mu and Aozile discussed making the operation cleaner than their previous mission, and Lao Mu warned that a planet-destroying weapon should be used only if necessary.
• Aozile asked Lao Mu about life as a second-class citizen and said he had earned enough military merit to seek promotion.
• The ship’s artificial intelligence reported that wormhole calculations needed three more days and that the journey would take about ten years across twelve space jumps.
• Lao Mu ordered the ship to arrange the planned jumps, and Aozile complained about the delay before leaving to obtain tree women for the voyage.
• A little snail man learned from Grandpa Kuchaged(e)huang that Aozile had once been a fifth-class citizen named Aozilebozi.

Li Xingkong completed his False Core and began the dangerous process of igniting the Core Fire near the sun. As his Golden Core neared completion, the Hexagram warned him of an incoming particle beam from the sun, which struck him while he was unable to defend himself.

• Li Xingkong discovered that his False Core was complete and that excess Baleful Qi was now tempering his body.
• Li Xingkong prepared carefully, worshipping deities and great cultivators before attempting to ignite the Core Fire.
• Li Xingkong filled the False Core with magic power and triggered nuclear fission with a fire-dragon array.
• The fission spread through the False Core, igniting its Baleful Qi as its outer wall began transforming into a force field.
• The Hexagram warned Li Xingkong of a massive particle beam from the sun, but it struck him while he was at the critical stage of Core Formation.

Li Xingkong completed Core Formation despite a particle stream disrupting the process, and the resulting golden light tempered his body and granted him an unexpected divine ability. After testing it near Mercury’s orbit, he learned from the system that he had acquired Earth-Traversing Golden Light at the Golden Core Stage.

• Li Xingkong used the Heaven-Encircling Baleful Qi Refining Art to endure the particle stream while he formed a binding formation around his unstable Golden Core.
• Li Xingkong completed his Golden Core, whose golden Magic Power absorbed the particles and tempered his body for a month.
• Li Xingkong examined his transformed body and realized he had instinctively acquired a divine ability unlike the Indestructible Golden Body.
• Li Xingkong demonstrated the ability by turning into golden light and flying at the speed of light to Mercury’s orbit.
• The system identified Li Xingkong’s ability as Earth-Traversing Golden Light and wondered whether the particle storm had caused the unexpected result.

Li Xingkong learned that Earth-Traversing Golden Light let him travel at light speed and escape many formations, then used it to return to Earth Star. After checking the changes to South Americas, he headed toward the Divine Land and encountered cultivators helping other regions with their weather.

• The system explained that Earth-Traversing Golden Light transformed Li Xingkong into light, making it a powerful travel and escape ability, though his senses could not keep up with its speed.
• Li Xingkong used the divine ability to fly toward Earth Star, stopped to rest when he found himself unable to see his surroundings, then resumed the journey.
• Li Xingkong dispelled the ability near Earth Star and used his Golden Core to travel toward the surface at a more manageable speed.
• Li Xingkong checked the Americas and confirmed that South Americas had shifted slightly north, showing that his grand formation was still working.
• Li Xingkong encountered robed cultivators heading toward the Pacific Ocean and overheard them discussing rainmaking and their efforts to win over other ethnic groups.

Li Xingkong asked the system how cultivators entertained themselves, and their talk led to the idea of staging a real-life battle royale. The system explained that a Golden Core cultivator could revive participants as long as their memories remained intact, leaving Li Xingkong considering a game with no lasting casualties.

• Li Xingkong grew bored with ordinary games and asked the system how cultivators of the past entertained themselves.
• The system described grand games played by cultivators and suggested that Li Xingkong could create a larger one now that he had reached the Golden Core Stage.
• The system proposed adapting PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, and Li Xingkong objected to making people kill one another.
• The system argued that Golden Core cultivators could repair ordinary people by restoring their brains and memories after death.
• Li Xingkong realized he might be able to run a real-life battle royale with no lasting casualties.

Li Xingkong learned that souls and reincarnation were constructs made possible by cultivation, and the system assigned him an Artificial Underworld project for the Golden Core Stage. He outlined plans to deepen his cultivation and develop an Artificial Spiritual Root that could speed cultivation and distribute techniques, leaving the idea ready for experimentation.

• The system explained to Li Xingkong that a soul was a Magic Power structure created at death and that an Underworld could preserve it for reincarnation.
• The system told Li Xingkong that his new Golden Core practical course was to create an Artificial Underworld.
• Li Xingkong realized that the battle royale game could help him practice for the course, while the system said it was mostly for fun.
• Li Xingkong planned to prioritize cultivation and spells while continuing his studies of space, formations, and artifact refining.
• Li Xingkong proposed an Artificial Spiritual Root that would help cultivators absorb Spiritual Qi faster and connect them to a repository for cultivation techniques.

Li Xingkong decided to terraform Venus into a live-action battle royale arena and considered how his Golden Core abilities could solve its atmospheric, temperature, and rotation problems. He began by searching the Kuiper Belt for asteroids to hurl at Venus, but first sent a gold-rich asteroid toward Earth Star.

• Li Xingkong chose Venus as the site for a large-scale battle royale game and planned to terraform it.
• Li Xingkong determined that he could alter Venus's atmosphere by breaking and rearranging chemical bonds, and could manage its heat by absorbing sunlight.
• Li Xingkong decided to speed up Venus's rotation by throwing water-rich asteroids at it before making other changes.
• Li Xingkong flew to the Kuiper Belt and searched the asteroids with his Divine Sense.
• Li Xingkong found an asteroid made almost entirely of gold and pushed it toward Earth Star.

After finding an enormous ice asteroid with enough fresh water to support Venus’s initial transformation, Li Xingkong sent it toward Venus and used the journey to select Golden Core Stage spells. He considered two powerful offensive options: the Ten Thousand Swords Art and Space-Severing Slash.

• Li Xingkong found an ice asteroid containing dormant microorganisms and a quantity of fresh water roughly equal to all of Earth Star’s fresh water.
• Li Xingkong used his Divine Sense to send the asteroid along a planned route toward Venus, then prepared to meet it at its destination.
• Li Xingkong decided to choose Golden Core Stage spells while waiting and set out requirements for powerful, wide-ranging attacks that could counter different methods.
• The system presented the Ten Thousand Swords Art, which let Li Xingkong control nearby materials as weapons, and Space-Severing Slash, which attacked the space around a target.

Li Xingkong examined the Five Elements Divine Light, a powerful set of five divine abilities he could learn because he possessed Earth-Traversing Golden Light. He realized his limited brain capacity had brought on the Soul Tribulation early, and the system explained that his extensive learning was the cause.

• The system recommended Five Elements Divine Light to Li Xingkong, who discovered that it comprised five distinct abilities with different combat uses.
• Li Xingkong learned that Earth-Traversing Golden Light gave him the foundation to pursue the divine ability, though mastering it would be difficult.
• Li Xingkong realized his remaining brain capacity might not be enough to learn Golden Core spells and identified the problem as his Soul Tribulation.
• Li Xingkong asked the system why his Soul Tribulation had arrived so soon after his Physical Body Tribulation.
• The system explained that Li Xingkong's extensive study of cultivation, spells, alchemy, artifact refinement, and spirit plants had consumed his brain capacity and brought on the tribulation.

Li Xingkong learned how cultivators managed the Soul Tribulation by deleting old memories or expanding memory capacity, then chose a practical solution for his current realm. After enlarging his memory capacity, he began studying the Ten Thousand Swords Art.

• Li Xingkong asked the system how cultivators had dealt with the Soul Tribulation, and it explained memory deletion and capacity expansion.
• Li Xingkong questioned whether either method could solve the tribulation permanently, but the system told him to focus on what he needed for his current stage.
• Li Xingkong decided that a solution only needed to carry him through the Golden Core Stage and used his Divine Sense to add several memory units to his body.
• With his memory capacity expanded severalfold, Li Xingkong turned to the Ten Thousand Swords Art and considered the power of kinetic attacks.

Li Xingkong studied the Ten Thousand Swords Art in Venus's orbit until the icy asteroid he had sent out crashed into him. He inscribed the asteroid with spell structures and kicked it toward Venus, where its impact made the planet spin faster.

• Li Xingkong became absorbed in studying the Ten Thousand Swords Art for several months without keeping any Hexagrams ready to guard him.
• The icy asteroid he had sent out struck Li Xingkong and stopped, leaving cracks in its surface.
• Li Xingkong used Magic Power structures from the Ten Thousand Swords Art to cover the asteroid and reinforce its attack.
• Li Xingkong kicked the spell-covered asteroid toward Venus, and its impact made the planet spin faster.

Li Xingkong began terraforming Venus by striking it with a magically reinforced asteroid, accelerating its rotation, stripping away part of its atmosphere, and bringing rain to the planet. After observing the changes, he began designing and inscribing a planetary formation to shade Venus and regulate the energy reaching its surface.

• Li Xingkong's asteroid struck Venus, triggering global earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and faster rotation.
• The asteroid bounced across Venus, stripping away atmospheric gases before breaking apart and releasing enough water to cause the planet's first rain in tens of thousands of years.
• After observing Venus for several days, Li Xingkong designed a formation to weaken sunlight, distribute Spiritual Qi and Magic Power, and defend the planet with energy cannons.
• As the planet's upheaval continued, Li Xingkong detected anaerobic microorganisms and noticed that Venus's atmosphere was changing in ways favorable to life.
• Li Xingkong began inscribing the Heaven-Shrouding Sun-Veiling Formation across Venus itself, using the planet as one enormous formation plate.

Li Xingkong finished transforming Venus’s atmosphere and discovered an artificial underground complex containing murals about the Snake-People Race. The murals revealed that the race’s homeworld had been destroyed, and Li Xingkong connected its remains to the Kuiper Belt.

• Li Xingkong completed the Heaven-Shrouding Sun-Obscuring Array and entered Venus to alter its atmosphere.
• Li Xingkong spent two months breaking apart and recombining atmospheric molecules until Venus’s air became mostly similar to Earth Star’s.
• Li Xingkong detected an artificial space deep beneath Venus and descended into it.
• Li Xingkong examined murals showing that the Snake-People Race had controlled several planets, using Venus as a technology center, Earth Star as a dinosaur ranch, and Mars as a residential area.
• Li Xingkong saw that another civilization had destroyed the Snake-People Race’s homeworld and realized its remains had formed the Kuiper Belt.

After discovering records of the Snake-People Race’s destruction by a careless alien fleet, Li Xingkong resolved to remain vigilant and continued transforming Venus into a battle royale training ground. He finished reshaping its surface and began rebuilding its ecosystem with samples from Earth Star.

• Li Xingkong deciphered the Snake-People Race’s records and learned that an alien fleet had nearly destroyed their civilization for amusement.
• The records left Li Xingkong uneasy about Earth Star’s weakness, so he protected the ruins and returned to Venus.
• Li Xingkong used the Thick Earth City Fortification Technique to reshape Venus into varied terrain suited to solo, team, and legion battles.
• After nearly half a year of work, Li Xingkong completed Venus’s surface remodeling, accounting for its terrain, resources, water, and climate.
• Li Xingkong repeatedly traveled to Earth Star to bring plant and animal samples to Venus and recreate its ecosystem.

Li Xingkong captured notorious criminals for an experiment on Venus, where a formation he had designed was supposed to test resurrection. He gathered hundreds of prisoners and ordered them to fight to the death in two camps, leaving the experiment about to begin.

• Two cultivators held a girl hostage in Divine Land until Li Xingkong immobilized them and carried them off to Venus.
• The Supervisory Department officers recognized that a mysterious senior had intervened, as officials had been warned about his capture of notorious criminals.
• Li Xingkong used his Space Bag to bring hundreds of criminals to Venus, while Divine Land received a formation that broadcast events there to Earth Star.
• Li Xingkong assigned markers to the prisoners and ordered them to fight a battle of annihilation in Attack and Defense Zone One, promising sentence reductions for winners.