Chapter Summaries

Five Divine Land cultivators brought the Soul-Guiding Banner into space near Venus to search for the souls lost in the battle. After locating the battlefield from its records, they began sweeping the area, while powerful people back in the Divine Land still coveted the banner.

• The Divine Land put alien prisoners to work repairing Venus and constructing roads in exchange for food.
• Five cultivators arrived on Venus with the Soul-Guiding Banner after the military forced the delayed soul-summoning mission to proceed.
• The team flew into space, and Old Eagle analyzed the battle records to calculate where the battlefield had been.
• The cultivators followed Old Eagle's marker to the search area, where their leader activated the banner and began scanning for souls.

A Divine Land team searched the battlefield with the Soul-Guiding Banner for the souls of fallen cultivators but initially found only a Snail Person's soul. By using its memories, they located the missing souls and headed back as the Earthly Capital prepared new bodies for the dead cultivators.

• The Soul-Guiding Banner revealed a lone Snail Person's soul, which the team decided to keep for questioning.
• After searching the calculated battlefield area for several days without finding their fallen comrades, the team considered widening the search.
• Old Eagle realized the Snail Person's memories could reveal where the cultivators had gone, and the leader used the banner to draw out its memories.
• The team learned the cultivators had advanced beyond the area Old Eagle had calculated and flew to the cruiser's destruction site.
• The team found every fallen cultivator's soul, along with another Snail Person's soul, and ended the search.
• The Earthly Capital began preparing new physical bodies for the cultivators whose original bodies had been lost.

The Earthly Capital developed two ways to resurrect the souls in the Soul-Guiding Banner: grow them new bodies or bind them to artifacts that controlled Earth Star’s arrays. Li Xingkong supported the artifact method and began designing a suitable device, while the souls awaited a chance to choose their futures.

• The Earthly Capital proposed cloning bodies for the souls, which meant they would have to grow up again, and offered merging souls with array-control artifacts as an alternative.
• The Earthly Capital approached Li Xingkong about the artifact method, which could give loyal, accomplished people an alternative route to longevity but would prevent their souls from cultivating further.
• Li Xingkong agreed with the proposal and began designing an artifact that could bind a soul to Earth Star’s existing arrays.
• Li Xingkong focused on simplifying the artifact’s refinement so the Divine Land could produce it on a large scale.

Tie Xingzhen awakened as a soul inside the Soul-Guiding Banner and learned that the Divine Land planned to resurrect the dead by placing them in cloned bodies or turning them into gods. He chose rebirth in an infant body, while the other cultivators waited for the Snail People to test deification first.

• Tie Xingzhen explored the strange world inside the Soul-Guiding Banner and discovered that he could neither touch anything nor use magic power.
• The cultivators brought Tie Xingzhen out of the banner into a medical laboratory, where doctors questioned him about his memories.
• The Divine Land offered Tie Xingzhen two resurrection methods, and he chose to live again as an infant rather than become a god.
• Tie Xingzhen's soul entered his cloned body, and the infant opened his eyes before falling asleep as his body continued developing.
• The other cultivators awakened, and most chose deification, but Li Xingkong ordered them to wait until the Snail People had been used as test subjects.

Li Xingkong used information from an interrogated Snail Person to learn about its civilization, then fused its soul with an artifact and shaped Venus wreckage into a giant snail monster. The experiment succeeded, and the creature was restrained while researchers began testing it as a potential Venus Showdown boss.

• The Divine Land interrogated the captured Snail Person and learned about its society, including its rigid career assignments and brutal competition for leadership.
• Li Xingkong fused the Snail Person's soul with an artifact that was linked to a toy rather than any authority.
• Li Xingkong traveled with the laboratory researchers to Venus and molded wreckage from a planet-destroying warship into a giant snail-shaped monster.
• The Snail Person awakened inside the monster, attacked Li Xingkong with its tentacles, and was pinned down by his Divine Sense.
• Li Xingkong ordered the researchers to track the creature's condition as they discussed its future role and possible name as a Venus Showdown boss.

Researchers confirmed that fusing souls with magic artifacts worked, allowing the cultivators to take divine offices across the Divine Land. The newly appointed gods set out for their posts while Li Xingkong looked forward to reviving myths throughout the country.

• After nearly half a month of tests, researchers confirmed that the Snail Person had suffered no abnormalities after fusing with the monstrous body.
• Researchers told the cultivators that the experiment had succeeded and presented divine offices for mountain gods, land gods, wind masters, and rain masters.
• A cultivator from Hanzhong chose to become its Rain Master and fused with a cloud-patterned jade pendant that granted him the power to summon rain there.
• The cultivators chose offices suited to their hometowns, including a land god from Chuanshu and wind masters from coastal regions.
• Li Xingkong checked the fused cultivators with his Divine Sense, then sent researchers with them to their assigned posts to collect more data.

After resurrecting the cultivators, Li Xingkong considered the threat of the Snail People and searched for a way to help Divine Land’s cultivators grow stronger before they returned. He realized his own rapid cultivation came from the system, leaving him without an obvious method others could copy.

• Li Xingkong successfully used the Soul-Guiding Banner to resurrect several cultivators and advanced his plans to establish the Underworld.
• Li Xingkong concluded the Snail People would likely investigate their lost planet destroyer and return with a powerful force, possibly within twenty-four years.
• Li Xingkong decided Divine Land needed faster cultivation methods, especially to develop more Foundation Establishment cultivators and stronger combatants.
• Li Xingkong considered the Scarlet Heart Art and wondered whether learning why he cultivated quickly could help others improve.
• Li Xingkong examined himself and realized the system was responsible for his rapid cultivation.

Li Xingkong planned a wristwatch-like cultivation aid and asked Divine Land to survey cultivators about their difficulties. After reviewing the responses, he found that ordinary people struggled to sense Spiritual Qi, while Qi Refining cultivators resisted replacing simplified techniques and struggled to understand the complete versions.

• Li Xingkong asked Old Tang to organize a survey so he could learn what problems the cultivation aid should address.
• Divine Land surveyed nearly every cultivator, sorted the responses by cultivation stage, and delivered the compiled document to Li Xingkong.
• Li Xingkong found that ordinary people struggled to sense and control Spiritual Qi, while some also had trouble reading or understanding cultivation techniques.
• Li Xingkong read that many Qi Refining cultivators refused to abandon simplified techniques because they did not want to cultivate again from the beginning.
• Li Xingkong found that Qi Refining cultivators also struggled to comprehend the more complicated complete techniques.

Li Xingkong reviewed cultivators’ survey responses and redesigned his auxiliary item to address their lack of time and difficulty understanding complex knowledge. He planned to connect it to a projected Hexagram near Earth Star, creating a shared supercomputer that would calculate cultivation instructions and track attributes, though cultivators relying on it would become less versatile.

• Li Xingkong concluded that Qi Refining cultivators struggled to choose suitable methods and skills, while Foundation Establishment cultivators lacked time to study anything beyond cultivation and combat.
• Li Xingkong recognized that an attribute panel and progress bar alone could not meaningfully solve cultivators’ problems.
• Li Xingkong decided to project a Hexagram near Earth Star and connect it to his auxiliary item as a shared supercomputer for cultivators in the Divine Land.
• Li Xingkong planned for cultivators to submit texts and problems to the supercomputer and receive calculated instructions for formations, spells, cultivation techniques, and other skills.
• Li Xingkong accepted that relying on black-box instructions would make cultivators less capable than those who studied independently, but judged the trade-off necessary.
• Li Xingkong also planned detailed attribute panels and a cultivation-based ranking for cultivators in the Divine Land.

Li Xingkong designed an implanted Spiritual Root system that would help cultivators control Spiritual Qi and techniques while allocating Hexagrams' computing power by specialty and grade. Unsure whether it would benefit the Divine Land or make cultivators dependent, he decided to build samples and first create a larger Qian Hexagram as their public supercomputer.

• Li Xingkong planned to make the cultivation aid assist with controlling Spiritual Qi and techniques, and decided to implant it near the Qi Sea as a Spiritual Root.
• Li Xingkong divided Spiritual Roots into combat, support, research, skills, and calculation types, with their proportions tailored to each cultivator.
• Li Xingkong designed a process for changing Spiritual Roots and assigned grades according to how much computing power the Hexagrams would allocate.
• Li Xingkong worried that cultivators might become dependent on Spiritual Roots and stop learning the principles behind spells, so he decided to let the public judge the system after seeing samples.
• Li Xingkong decided to mold a larger Hexagram as a public supercomputer and chose the Qian Hexagram as its core.

Li Xingkong built a giant Hexagram server inside the moon to support Divine Land’s cultivators. After a month of work, he activated it and tested its ability to process calculations.

• Li Xingkong chose the moon as a safe, steady place to house the spirit root server without interfering with Divine Land’s lunar settlements.
• Li Xingkong cast the Thick Earth City Fortification Technique and transformed the moon’s interior into a giant Hexagram while preserving its outer shell.
• The spell formation shone over the moon for nearly a month as people on Earth Star speculated about what Li Xingkong was doing.
• Li Xingkong completed the Hexagram, channeled Magic Power into it, and connected to it to test its calculations.

After completing the Hexagram on the moon, Li Xingkong refined Spiritual Root Seeds and prepared to have Earthly Capital test them. The seeds could adapt to recipients and pass Spiritual Roots to their descendants, but their functions still needed verification.

• Li Xingkong finished installing the Hexagram and shielded it with protective arrays around its location inside the moon.
• He refined several Spiritual Root Seeds that could merge with a person, adapt to their body and cultivation level, and encode Spiritual Roots into their descendants.
• Li Xingkong stored the seeds and returned to Earth Star to arrange formal experiments with Earthly Capital's professionals.
• The chapter explained that experiment participation could help otherwise restricted criminals and their descendants earn eligibility to cultivate.

Li Xingkong brought his newly refined Spiritual Root Seeds to Old Tang, hoping the Earthly Capital would help test whether they could speed up cultivation. Old Tang called for a large group of elite soldiers so they could choose the best candidates for the experiment.

• Old Tang teased Li Xingkong for missing the victory banquet, then asked what had brought him to the Earthly Capital.
• Li Xingkong showed Old Tang a Spiritual Root Seed and explained that it could assist with cultivation without restricting who could cultivate.
• Li Xingkong said he had made the seeds to strengthen Earth Star against the Snail People and their planet-destroying warships.
• Old Tang agreed that Divine Land needed stronger defenders and said the untested seeds were too important to delay testing.
• Old Tang called for soldiers from different cultivation stages and requested thirty candidates, while Li Xingkong revealed that he had only ten Spiritual Root Seeds.

Li Xingkong tested Spiritual Root Seeds on ten selected military cultivators, who gained stats panels and personalized cultivation guidance. The experiment showed that the Spiritual Roots could improve cultivation speed by identifying and correcting inefficiencies.

• Old Tang told Li Xingkong that the experimental group had assembled, and Li Xingkong went to the lab with the Spiritual Root Seeds.
• Li Xingkong randomly selected ten cultivators from the thirty participants and implanted a Spiritual Root Seed in each of them.
• The seeds adapted to each cultivator’s Mana Circuit and formed colored polyhedral Spiritual Roots, with red combat-type traits dominant.
• The cultivators reported their stats panels, which showed their attributes and cultivation levels.
• The cultivators began practicing and received red-text suggestions for improving their cultivation techniques and Mana Circuits.
• The cultivators adjusted their methods according to the suggestions, and their cultivation speed noticeably increased.

Li Xingkong’s experiment showed that Spiritual Roots could rapidly teach cultivators new spells, though their control remained poor enough to cause accidents. He discussed whether to deploy the assistance broadly with Old Tang, who argued that fighting the Snail People took priority and that the system would not prevent people from pursuing deeper study.

• The cultivators used Spiritual Roots and the Hexagram Server to construct Spell Seeds and learn newly chosen spells in under half an hour.
• A cultivator injured himself with his newly learned Fireball Spell, and Li Xingkong extinguished the flames before explaining that weak control could cause spells to harm their users or teammates.
• After the experiment, Li Xingkong left the remaining data collection to the laboratory staff and returned to Old Tang’s office.
• Li Xingkong questioned whether widespread cultivation assistance would discourage people from understanding underlying principles.
• Old Tang said the Divine Land needed to prioritize the Snail People and argued that Spiritual Root assistance would not interfere with its education system or deter natural researchers.

Li Xingkong decided to test Spiritual Roots in the military and built a giant Spiritual Root Mother Tree in space to produce them. He left the tree orbiting Earth Star and brought back a meteoroid to serve as its first nourishment.

• Old Tang argued that Spiritual Roots were tools, and Li Xingkong agreed to test them in the military.
• Li Xingkong chose to make a spirit tree that could produce Spiritual Roots while keeping their manufacturing process secret.
• He gathered meteoroids from the Kuiper Belt and shaped them into a giant Mother Tree between Earth Star and the moon.
• Li Xingkong set the Mother Tree into orbit around Earth Star.
• He returned to the Kuiper Belt and brought back a meteoroid as the tree’s first nourishment.

Li Xingkong harvested nearly a million Spiritual Root Seeds from the Spiritual Root Mother Tree and arranged for the Earthly Capital to collect them and send guards. The guards arrived in space and learned to protect the tree from debris and meteorites.

• The Spiritual Root Mother Tree absorbed meteorites and rapidly grew branches, leaves, and golden buds that produced crystal-clear Spiritual Root Seeds.
• Li Xingkong harvested nearly a million Spiritual Root Seeds and estimated that the tree would need to produce more than two thousand batches to supply the Divine Land's eligible cultivators.
• Li Xingkong contacted Old Tang, who arranged for cultivators to collect the seeds and asked the military to provide people to guard the tree.
• A platoon of cultivators entered the beacon warehouse, collected the marked Spiritual Root Seeds, and carried them away for further use.
• A group of guards arrived in space through Li Xingkong's spatial gate, recovered with spells, and learned that they were to protect the Spiritual Root Mother Tree from debris and meteorites.

Li Xingkong reviewed how Spiritual Roots had accelerated cultivation and planned a journey to the Snail People's star system to learn about the Pan-Civilization Convention and assess the Snail People's strength. He prepared Earth Star for his absence by arranging faster cultivation for its remaining defenders, then set his sights on giving the Snail People a grand gift.

• Earthly Capital reported that Spiritual Roots let ordinary people begin cultivation immediately, guided Qi Refining cultivators past theoretical study, and greatly sped up Foundation Establishment cultivators' Divine Sense progress.
• The military forces of the various regions divided the first million Spiritual Roots among themselves, while researchers studied the Spiritual Root Mother Tree at space outposts.
• Earthly Capital took responsibility for developing faster spaceships so it could gather resources in space and help the mother tree produce more Spiritual Roots.
• Li Xingkong decided to travel to the Snail People's star system to contact the Pan-Civilization Convention and judge whether the Snail People posed a threat.
• Li Xingkong planned to leave Tang Cheng and the other strongest cultivators on Earth Star with faster cultivation methods before setting off to give the Snail People a grand gift.

Li Xingkong finalized his plan to travel to the Snail People's star region and intercept their forces before they could reach Earth Star. The Earthly Capital arranged a Snail Person soul as his guide, and Li Xingkong prepared to depart with the prisoner trapped in a magical artifact.

• Li Xingkong spent time with his parents, told Old Tang he was leaving for seclusion, and informed Divine Land of his plans.
• Li Xingkong argued that the Snail People should be confronted in their own star region rather than allowed to bring the war into the Solar System.
• Questioning the Snail People confirmed that their battle report had not arrived and that their intelligent brains were unlikely to calculate a new invasion route.
• The Earthly Capital agreed that Li Xingkong could follow the known route in reverse and intercept the Snail People's warships.
• Divine Land repeatedly killed and resurrected a Snail Person until his soul emerged, then trapped it in a magical artifact to guide Li Xingkong.
• The Snail Person scorned Li Xingkong's chances and vowed to teach him a lesson when they reached Snail territory.

Li Xingkong entered the spatial jump passage near Pluto and traveled toward the Snail People's territory while cultivating Five Elements Divine Light. He emerged in Frontier Star System No. 4, where the Snail Person compass identified the uninhabitable system, and Li Xingkong prepared to continue to the next jump node.

• Li Xingkong found the spatial node near Pluto and entered the jump passage with the Snail Person artifact spirit.
• Li Xingkong studied Five Elements Divine Light during the long journey while the Snail Person endured the passage in solitude.
• Li Xingkong and the Snail Person emerged beside a blue planet and several moons in a distant star system.
• Li Xingkong used a three-dimensional coordinate map to locate the Solar System relative to his position.
• The Snail Person identified the system as Frontier Star System No. 4 and reported that it was uninhabitable and had no signs of life.
• Li Xingkong arrived within Snail Person territory and set out toward the next jump node.