Chapter Summaries

Li Xingkong traveled through Snail People territory, destroying a cross-space communication device before forcing open a jump channel. He emerged in a bustling system where the Snail Person artifact spirit identified a stargate as belonging to the Snail People's suzerain state.

• Li Xingkong crossed several desolate star systems and reached a jump node marked by a Snail People communication device.
• The Snail Person artifact spirit explained that the device maintained rapid communication across jump channels and admitted that the captain had resold some devices to save money.
• Li Xingkong tore apart the device, crushed it into an iron ball, and kicked it into a lifeless planet, causing a massive impact and volcanic eruptions.
• Li Xingkong forced open the jump channel and traveled to a star system more than ten light-years away.
• Li Xingkong saw aliens mining a planet and transporting minerals through a stargate, which the Snail Person artifact spirit identified as belonging to the suzerain state.

Li Xingkong traveled through the Snail People's territory and learned that their suzerain controlled its resources and military technology. After spotting a vast fleet that turned out to be a caravan, he accepted a language helmet and followed its guide ship toward the flagship's entrance.

• Li Xingkong learned that the Snail People's suzerain owned the mining operation in their territory and controlled the resources there.
• The Snail People's artifact spirit explained that they could not challenge their suzerain because their military equipment was imported and obsolete.
• Li Xingkong left the mining system and sensed a disturbance in space as an enormous unfamiliar fleet emerged.
• Li Xingkong recognized the fleet as a caravan and approached it to learn more.
• A guide ship gave Li Xingkong a helmet that taught him the caravan's language, then led him toward the flagship's entrance.

Li Xingkong explored the merchant association's flagship and learned that his ability to travel through space without a ship had frightened the independent merchants. He reached the entrance to the commercial district and asked how to pay, but the mention of the Axiom Arc left him with another unfamiliar term.

• Li Xingkong entered the landing pad behind a small spaceship, and the aliens there fell silent or looked away when they saw him.
• Two octopus freaks discussed how only someone from an advanced civilization or a body-modification researcher could cross between star systems without a ship, and Li Xingkong overheard them with his Divine Sense.
• Li Xingkong asked the small spaceship about the merchants, scanned their wares, and decided not to stop at their stalls.
• The small spaceship guided Li Xingkong to the commercial district entrance and explained that he could pay with supported currencies, exchange money, pawn technical documents, obtain a loan, or earn money through bounty missions.
• The small spaceship warned that fighting was prohibited and violators would become lifelong criminals of the Axiom Arc, prompting Li Xingkong to ask what the Axiom Arc was.

Li Xingkong entered the chamber of commerce and explored its currency exchange district, where he had no money or goods to trade. Routed to the bounty mission district, he accepted a nearby ore-processing job to earn universal currency and buy information.

• Li Xingkong entered the chamber of commerce and found the crowded currency exchange district, but refused to reveal or exchange Earth Star currency.
• A small flying robot offered to guide Li Xingkong for a fee, then suggested he visit the pawn district when he said he had no money.
• Li Xingkong walked through the currency exchange district and entered the bounty mission district, where the chamber of commerce had routed him because he had nothing to spend or pawn.
• Li Xingkong examined the missions and chose urgent ore processing at 227 Mining Street because it was nearby and suited his Golden Core Stage cultivation.
• Li Xingkong copied other visitors and accepted the ore-processing mission, receiving a wristwatch that displayed its details.

Li Xingkong arrived at Mining Street to fulfill a bounty mission refining ore, despite having no equipment. A female giant led him to the worksite and showed him the mountain of ore he was expected to refine.

• Li Xingkong entered Mining Street and searched for the shop that had posted the refining mission.
• He found a factory-like shop and showed the female giant who answered the door his mission wristband.
• Li Xingkong told the female giant he could refine ore without equipment, and she let him try on the condition that he would only be paid for his output.
• The female giant took Li Xingkong to the backyard, where other workers used furnaces, machinery, and hammers to process a huge mountain of ore.
• The female giant pointed out Li Xingkong's workstation and left him to prove his skills.

Li Xingkong used a formation to refine thousands of tons of ore, impressing the giantess who ran the factory. After earning 100,000 universal coins, he received a business card that could guide him back to the merchant caravan and decided to seek information about the civilizations of the Pan-Civilization Convention.

• Li Xingkong used a module of the Thick Earth City Fortification Technique to refine ore into high-quality ingots while the other workers watched.
• The aliens saw how quickly Li Xingkong refined the metal and hurried to process their own shares of the ore.
• Li Xingkong stopped after refining 3,000 tons of metal, and the giantess checked the ingots and praised their quality.
• The giantess paid Li Xingkong 100,000 universal coins and introduced herself as Twenty-Seventh Pillar.
• Twenty-Seventh Pillar gave Li Xingkong a business card that pointed toward the merchant caravan, and he considered learning more about the powerful civilizations in the universe.

Li Xingkong was cornered by local gamblers on Fortune Street and forced into a Russian roulette game. His body survived a direct shot, and when one opponent tried to shoot him instead, the chamber of commerce executed the monster for violating its code.

• Li Xingkong tried to leave Fortune Street but three rat-headed men and two centipede monsters blocked his way and pressured him into gambling.
• Li Xingkong agreed to Russian roulette against the group, and a centipede monster took the first turn with a custom gun loaded with five bullets.
• The centipede monster fired into an empty chamber, then Li Xingkong shot himself in the forehead and survived without a mark.
• Li Xingkong pushed the gun back to the centipede monster and demanded that he take his turn.
• The centipede monster tried to aim the gun at Li Xingkong, but the chamber of commerce's code froze and reduced him to ash.

Li Xingkong forced the aliens on Fortune Street to pay him and direct him to an intelligence shop. At Knows Everything, he learned that the Pan-Civilization Convention was dominated by three powers capable of altering fundamental laws of the universe.

• Li Xingkong intimidated the rat-headed gang into handing over their money and a card for Knows Everything on Intelligence Street.
• Li Xingkong accepted the card and let the thugs go after the rat-headed alien claimed a centipede freak needed burial money.
• Li Xingkong found Knows Everything and was escorted into its library-like intelligence room.
• Li Xingkong read about the Pan-Civilization Convention and its three leading powers: the Kingdom of Fixed Light, the Kilometer Arc, and the Holy Church of Truth.
• Li Xingkong learned that the three powers could redefine the speed of light, π, and universal constants, rendering other civilizations' technology useless.

Li Xingkong learned how the Pan-Civilization Convention ranked civilizations and realized that the Snail People and their suzerain were minor powers. He concluded that the Divine Land needed to join the convention and keep fighting the Snail People to secure its independence.

• The introduction explained the convention’s origins, its three dominant powers, and the military standards used to rank civilizations.
• Li Xingkong learned that Earth Star was unranked and outside the convention, while the Snail People were fifth-tier and their suzerain was fourth-tier.
• Li Xingkong considered how the Divine Land might avoid becoming a puppet and concluded that immortal cultivation could let it eventually reach third-tier status.
• Li Xingkong recognized that joining the convention would protect the Divine Land from neighboring powers exploiting its conflict with the Snail People.
• Li Xingkong decided the war with the Snail People could not be mediated and that the Divine Land had to strike hard and make a name for itself.

Li Xingkong learned that joining the Convention required a sponsoring civilization, but he had no contacts who could vouch for Earth Star. After he left Knows Everything, its president ordered someone to find him and offer sponsorship, seeing his restraint as a sign that his civilization could make a useful ally.

• Li Xingkong searched Knows Everything and learned that a country needed a Convention member to vouch for it, with strong sponsors able to bypass the review.
• Li Xingkong realized he had no way to contact a suitable sponsor and left the business card at the front desk before departing Intelligence Street.
• The front desk worker told the president that Li Xingkong had consulted information about the Convention and left the card behind.
• The president ordered the worker to find Li Xingkong and offer to vouch for him.
• The president explained that Li Xingkong's restraint suggested his civilization had been peaceful for a long time and could be trusted as an underling.

Li Xingkong sought a civilization willing to vouch for Earth Star so it could join the convention, and considered selling cultivation principles to pay for information. A rat-headed intelligence worker told him their president had agreed to vouch for him, and Li Xingkong went to meet the president.

• Li Xingkong decided he could sell basic cultivation principles for money after the system gave him permission to dispose of its knowledge.
• Li Xingkong stayed on Intelligence Street to look for a place to sell knowledge and ask about vouching slots.
• A rat-headed man called to Li Xingkong and told him his president could vouch for him.
• Li Xingkong agreed to return to the shop and discuss the offer with the president.

Li Xingkong met Xuanyizi, the proprietor of Knows Everything, and learned that the Sihali Kingdom wanted a local ally because major powers were secretly searching the nearby star domain for the Axiom Arc. He realized the sought-after secret might be the system he carried, though the system insisted no one could detect it.

• Li Xingkong met Xuanyizi, who apologized for investigating him and said he had offered a guarantee because their civilizations shared values and could become allies.
• Xuanyizi explained that the Sihali Kingdom needed a reliable local ally in the nearby region.
• Xuanyizi told Li Xingkong that the Axiom Arc, the Kingdom of Fixed Light, and the Holy Church of Truth were investigating the star domain for a secret that might involve rules.
• Li Xingkong realized that the secret might be the system within him and privately questioned the system about whether the civilizations were searching for it.
• The system said the civilizations probably could not detect how it entered the universe and claimed that, since it had fused with Li Xingkong, no one could find it.

Li Xingkong agreed to let the Sihali Kingdom guarantee Earth Star's civilization's entry into the Convention, while keeping its location secret. As he waited for Xuanyizi's representative, he discovered that the gifted Longing for Home leaves could help cool his Hexagram, and then prepared to go to the Convention's office.

• Li Xingkong accepted Xuanyizi's offer for the Sihali Kingdom to act as guarantor, and Xuanyizi promised not to contact Earth Star's civilization before it joined the Convention.
• Xuanyizi gave Li Xingkong two Longing for Home leaves and left after saying their future cooperation could be discussed later.
• Li Xingkong analyzed and tasted the leaves, discovering that they could improve ordinary people's thinking and reduce the heat produced by his Hexagram.
• A younger rat-headed person arrived, told Li Xingkong that Xuanyizi had delegated the necessary authority, and invited him to the Convention's office.

Li Xingkong accompanied Baili Qiu from Knows Everything to the Convention’s registration office, checking the Sihali Kingdom’s reputation and the merchant association’s relationship with the Convention along the way. The visit left him reassured that Knows Everything was unlikely to be interested in Earth Star’s limited resources.

• Li Xingkong used his Divine Sense to listen to conversations on Intelligence Street while walking with Baili Qiu, seeking views of the Sihali Kingdom beyond Xuanyizi’s account.
• Li Xingkong heard aliens describe Knows Everything as trustworthy and powerful, with strong ties to the three major powers and a reputation for fair contracts.
• Li Xingkong and Baili Qiu left Intelligence Street and went to the Convention’s registration office, where Li Xingkong felt reassured by the Convention’s vast presence aboard the merchant association’s ship.
• Officials quickly escorted Li Xingkong and Baili Qiu to the office area responsible for civilization records, a massive library filled with books, documents, and maintenance robots.

Li Xingkong completed Divine Land’s Convention membership and received an emblem that eased worries about Earth Star’s safety. After accepting Baili Qiu’s teleportation bracelet, he left the merchant ship to deal with the Snail People.

• Li Xingkong submitted the required documents, and the Convention approved Divine Land’s membership in less than half an hour.
• Baili Qiu gave Li Xingkong an emblem to place on a planet and a bracelet containing a teleportation platform connected to the Convention network.
• Li Xingkong accepted the bracelet, and Baili Qiu said Knows Everything would await news from him.
• Li Xingkong left the merchant ship’s commercial street and returned to the landing pad.
• Li Xingkong flew away from the merchant ship toward the transition point for his next jump, intending to deal with the Snail People.

Li Xingkong reached the Snail People's core territory and discovered that oppressed aliens were forced to scavenge garbage on a planet used as a dump by thirteen civilizations. After killing the Snail Person supervisor, he began turning the planet's iron waste into weapons for the workers.

• Li Xingkong entered the Snail People's territory under invisibility and found seven unusually colored planets around a star.
• The Snail Person artifact spirit explained that the planets were dumps where thirteen civilizations sent their sorted garbage for the Snail People to clean up.
• Li Xingkong saw chained aliens scavenging the trash under the watch of Snail Person supervisors, and decided to help them.
• Li Xingkong entered the control room and killed the supervisor by making its exoskeleton grow spikes that pierced its body.
• Li Xingkong descended to the rust-colored planet, spread a magic array across it, and forged the garbage into weapons that rained down for the aliens.

Li Xingkong tested whether the enslaved aliens still wanted to resist the Snail People and discovered they were secretly building a warship. He used his power to turn the planet’s garbage into metal that completed the ship, leaving the aliens amazed at their sudden chance to fight back.

• Li Xingkong scattered weapons across the planet to see whether the aliens would show any desire to resist.
• The aliens gathered most of the weapons on the surface but secretly took nearly one percent underground.
• Li Xingkong discovered the aliens’ hidden smelter and the unfinished warship they were building to fight the Snail People.
• Li Xingkong left the planet and caused the surface garbage to melt into metal that flowed through the caves toward the warship.
• The metal formed the warship’s cabins, floors, furnishings, and weapons, leaving the aliens astonished by their completed vessel.

Li Xingkong crossed the Snail People's polluted industrial systems and reached their densely populated core star region, learning about their harsh social order from the artifact spirit. After naming him Xiaowo, Li Xingkong approached the Snail People's home planet and saw its regimented, centrally managed cities.

• Li Xingkong surveyed the garbage planets, cleared out the Snail People there, and continued toward their core star system.
• He skirted heavily polluted industrial systems after seeing the conditions faced by mechanically modified alien workers.
• The Snail Person artifact spirit explained that it lived aboard its frigate and that pilots were easily replaced, prompting Li Xingkong to give it the name Xiaowo.
• Xiaowo explained that shorter names indicated higher citizen rank and revealed its former name was Zhangyuge.
• Li Xingkong reached the Snail People's planet and observed its orderly districts, state-run facilities, and birth-determined job prospects.

Li Xingkong confronted a Snail People intelligent brain and demanded that the civilization stop attacking Earth Star, apologize, and pay compensation. Although the brain verified that Earth Star had joined the Convention, the surrounding intelligent brains secretly agreed to continue the attack and capture Li Xingkong.

• Li Xingkong entered a Snail People settlement planet and tore the roof off the structure housing its intelligent brain.
• The intelligent brain alerted armed forces on the planet and neighboring planets, then ordered Li Xingkong captured and killed after failing to identify his civilization.
• Li Xingkong identified himself and showed the Convention emblem, prompting the intelligent brain to suspend combat and speak with him.
• Li Xingkong demanded an end to attacks on Earth Star, an apology, and compensation for the previous assault.
• The intelligent brain convened with others nearby, which learned that its fleet had been destroyed and agreed to attack Earth Star and capture Li Xingkong.

Li Xingkong destroyed the Snail People’s intelligent brain and devastated their forces on the planet, but their fleet retaliated by destroying the planet. After Li Xingkong fought through the fleet, the Snail People began collapsing their star to annihilate the entire star system, leaving him facing a world-ending threat.

• The intelligent brain tried to kill Li Xingkong, but he tore it from the building and hurled it into space.
• When the Snail People attacked Li Xingkong with missiles and air strikes, he swept the planet with Sword Qi, destroying its defenses and killing nearly a tenth of its population.
• Li Xingkong sensed danger and escaped as a planet-destroying cannon split the planet into fragments.
• Li Xingkong used the fragments to unleash the Ten Thousand Swords Art, breaking through the fleet’s encirclement and destroying many ships.
• The Snail People raised Li Xingkong’s threat level and attacked with their fleet, but his Magic Power recovered under the star’s light as he fought back.
• The intelligent brains approved using a star-system annihilation bomb, and Li Xingkong saw the system’s star begin to collapse toward a single point.