Recaps

Lu Li used No Distance to reach Great Xia, where the story shifted to Lin Yuan, an eighteen-year-old Kepler-22b student preparing for the Dragon Abyss University Grand Examination. With the exam seven days away, Lin Yuan joined the final-prep crowd at school and heard rumors about a chief examiner from Blue Star headquarters before an Interstellar Sea Demon appeared.

• Lu Li sent Ye Chenfeng and Elder Jian into his Blessed Land, then used No Distance to travel through Great Desolation Heaven to the Milky Way Galaxy.
• The chapter described Great Xia's expansion across the Milky Way and Kepler-22b's transformation into a major habitable world.
• Lin Yuan woke, ate breakfast, and left home to attend the seven-day intensive training for the Dragon Abyss University Grand Examination.
• On the rail shuttle, Lin Yuan saw that 470 million people had applied for 1.2 million places at top-tier institutions.
• At Source Continent No. 3 Middle School, Lin Yuan overheard rumors that a powerful figure from Blue Star headquarters would serve as a chief examiner.
• A cry of alarm announced that an Interstellar Sea Demon had appeared nearby.

Lin Yuan witnessed a Star-Devouring Jellyfish swarm attack Kepler-22b, led by an immortal Emperor that survived the planet’s full-power Star-Annihilating Cannon. As the city faced destruction and awaited distant reinforcements, an unfamiliar voice asked whether Great Desolation’s ecosystem had become this good.

• A Star-Defense-Class Star-Annihilating Cannon killed a Nascent Soul Star-Devouring Jellyfish as residents watched calmly.
• Lin Yuan and the city saw the Star-Devouring Jellyfish Emperor arrive with a swarm, and its immortal pressure forced even Cultivation Administration cultivators to the ground.
• Kepler-22b’s Star-Annihilating Cannon fired at full capacity, but the Emperor emerged completely unharmed.
• Residents realized only a True Immortal could stop the Emperor, while reinforcements from 600 light-years away would take about a month to arrive.
• Lin Yuan closed his eyes, expecting the planet’s destruction, until a voice rang across the city and asked whether Great Desolation’s ecosystem had gotten this good.

Lu Li returned to Great Xia after years of travel and stopped a Star-Devouring Jellyfish Demon Immortal from threatening Kepler-22b. He reunited with his father and Great Xia’s leaders on Blue Star, then prepared to introduce them to the members of his Dao Court.

• Lu Li confronted a native True Immortal Star-Devouring Jellyfish on Kepler-22b and ordered its offspring and descendants to disperse.
• Lu Li took the Demon Immortal into his Blessed Land, confirmed that Kepler-22b held no other hidden fiends, and departed as its people recognized and cheered for him.
• Lu Li reflected on Great Xia’s growth into a galactic civilization and planned to use the resources he had gathered to strengthen its Immortal Dao combat power.
• Lu Li arrived at Blue Star, where Lu Dahai welcomed him and Li Qingshan and other familiar figures soon joined them.
• Lu Li greeted the group and announced that he would introduce them to those under the Dao Court he had founded in Imprisoned Dragon Heaven.

Lu Li returned to Great Xia with more than a hundred thousand Dao Court cultivators, prompting a massive reception at East Sea Immortal-Welcoming Port. The exchange meeting began as Great Xia welcomed its visitors from the Imprisoned Dragon Heavenly Dao Court.

• Li Qingshan learned that Lu Li had brought a little over a hundred thousand cultivators and ordered a special-grade foreign affairs reception.
• Xia Cheng and the Cultivation Administration staff rushed to prepare East Sea Immortal-Welcoming Port for the visitors.
• Great Xia representatives and media gathered at the venue as Lu Li arrived with Lu Dahai, Li Qingshan, Xu Mu, and Zhang Xuanqing.
• Li Qingshan opened the first exchange and guidance meeting and welcomed the Imprisoned Dragon Heavenly Dao Court comrades.

Lu Li welcomed the Dao Court cultivators to Great Xia, where Li Qingshan addressed them as comrades and Lu Li began introducing the delegations. The ceremony was interrupted when Nether Toad, Heavenly Wolf, and Golden Ape stood to report that they had completed their mission, leaving the Dao Court leaders confused and Yuanhao with a dawning realization.

• Lu Li summoned the Dao Court cultivators, who appeared above the venue and greeted him and Great Xia's representatives.
• Li Qingshan welcomed the Dao Court as comrades, stirring excitement and a sense of belonging among its cultivators.
• Great Xia staff seated the Dao Court delegation, and Lu Li rose to introduce its leaders and members.
• Lu Li reflected on his long life and the friends and disciples he had lost before continuing the introductions.
• Nether Toad, Heavenly Wolf, and Golden Ape saluted and announced that they had returned to Blue Star after completing their mission.
• The Dao Court leaders were bewildered by the demons' report, while Yuanhao seemed to understand what it meant.

Lu Li introduced Great Xia’s leaders to the Dao Court, prompting astonishment over his father Lu Dahai’s True Immortal cultivation and speculation from Elder Jian and Yinyang Qingfan. As the reception ended, Li Qingshan presented the Great Xia-Litian Collaborative Development and Virgo Supercluster Strategic Plan.

• After Nether Toad gave an impassioned speech, Lu Qingshan arranged for Nether Toad, Heavenly Wolf, and Golden Ape to leave the stage.
• Lu Li introduced Great Xia’s senior leaders, including Li Qingshan, Xu Mu, Zhang Xuanqing, Qi Hao, and his father, Lu Dahai.
• The Dao Court members were astonished that Lu Dahai was a True Immortal, and Elder Jian privately speculated to Yinyang Qingfan that he might be an ancient immortal of Great Desolation.
• Great Xia and the Dao Court introduced themselves and exchanged words as the reception continued in a harmonious atmosphere.
• As the reception drew to a close, Li Qingshan handed Lu Li the proposal titled “Great Xia-Litian Collaborative Development and Virgo Supercluster Strategic Plan.”

Lu Li assigned the hundred thousand Dao Court cultivators to Great Xia’s cultivation departments to help develop the Milky Way, then attended to further planning with Li Qingshan. Nether Toad, Golden Ape, and Heavenly Wolf received commendations for their mission, and a short figure appeared as the ceremony ended.

• Li Qingshan explained that Great Xia needed the Dao Court cultivators to accelerate the exploration and development of the Milky Way.
• Lu Li assigned the cultivators to Great Xia’s departments according to their specialties and ordered them to complete scientific training before joining their posts.
• The meeting concluded, and Lu Li prepared to brief Li Qingshan and other officials on his Immortal Realm travels and the resources he had brought back.
• Great Xia’s Cultivator Administration awarded Nether Toad, Golden Ape, and Heavenly Wolf medals, merit citations, Spirit Currency, and Spirit Machinery Law Artifacts.
• The three demons celebrated their return to Great Xia and accepted their medals, then a short figure walked out from the back of the auditorium.

Old Five recruited Nether Toad and two other Dao Integration demons into the General Department of Demon Affairs and sent them to work on Kepler-22b. After teleporting them away, he planned to spend his newly freed time in Vast Cold City.

• Old Five introduced himself as a Tribulation Transcendence tortoise demon and ordered Nether Toad, Golden Ape, and Heavenly Wolf to serve under him as department directors.
• Old Five escorted the three demons to a ninth-tier interstellar shuttle and took them to Vast Cold City on the Moon.
• Old Five explained that the three demons would serve a thirty-year term on Kepler-22b, Great Xia's second-largest interstellar city.
• The teleportation center sent Nether Toad and the other two demons to Kepler-22b, and Old Five decided to visit Maozi and play a few rounds.

Old Five visited Maozi on the Moon and wagered against him over their expected personal shares of the returning Immortal Dao resources. At a high-level Great Xia meeting, Qi Hao learned that remnants of the Gray Tide had appeared on Kepler-452b.

• Old Five arrived at the Cultivation Administration in Vast Cold City to visit Maozi, who accused him of seeking another wager.
• Old Five told Maozi that Lu Li had returned with Immortal Dao resources and proposed betting for their expected personal shares.
• Maozi accepted Old Five's wager, and after half an hour Old Five left smiling while Maozi's office calligraphy had changed to warn that heavy gambling harmed the body.
• Great Xia convened an exceptionally high-level meeting attended by Qi Hao and other powerful cultivators.
• A subordinate reported to Qi Hao that Gray Tide remnants had appeared on Kepler-452b.

Qi Hao learned that the Gray Tide Remnants had resurfaced on Kepler-452b and ordered the Dragon Group to prepare a response rather than rely on Lu Li to hunt them across the galaxy. He then received an invitation to a meeting on recreating the Heavenly Court, and the chapter ended as the long-awaited meeting day arrived.

• Qi Hao heard that the Gray Tide Remnants, descendants of factions that had fled Blue Star a thousand years earlier, had appeared on Kepler-452b.
• Qi Hao rejected a subordinate’s suggestion to have Lu Li eliminate them, saying the Dragon Group had to search for and root out the scattered remnants itself.
• Qi Hao ordered members on Kepler-22b to prepare to strike the Gray Tide Remnants if conditions allowed.
• Qi Hao opened an invitation to the highest command’s preparatory meeting on recreating the Heavenly Court, also known as the Litian Dao Court.
• Senior officials across Great Xia’s departments grew excited as news of the meeting spread, and the meeting day arrived.

Great Xia’s leaders agreed to remake the Heavenly Court with the Litian Dao Court and establish the Great Xia Dao Court to govern Great Desolation Heaven and Imprisoned Dragon Heaven. After an eight-hour meeting finalized its structure and name, they turned to a plan for security and deep-space deployment.

• Li Qingshan opened a high-level meeting attended by Great Xia’s department heads and Dao Court representatives, with Lu Li present.
• Li Qingshan announced that the Great Xia Milky Way Federation and the Litian Dao Court would remake the Heavenly Court to oversee Great Desolation Heaven and Imprisoned Dragon Heaven.
• Lu Li assured Zhang Xuanqing that the existing federal system would remain, while Qi Hao learned the Dragon Group’s authority over high-risk internal security would not change.
• Li Qingshan explained the proposed Heavenly Court’s structure, powers, staffing, and operations during an eight-hour meeting.
• Li Qingshan announced the name Great Xia Ancient Desolation Star River Purple Pole High Heaven Dao Court, shortened to the Great Xia Dao Court, and declared this its first calendar year.
• Li Qingshan introduced the next agenda item: the Great Xia Dao Court’s General Outline for Two-Realm Security and Deep-Space Strategic Deployment.

Lu Li presented the Immortal Dao resources he had brought from Mystic Capital Heaven and warned that Ji Wan had already sent an Earth Immortal to probe Great Xia. The Dao Court discussed the danger of Ji Wan uncovering Lu Li’s background, and Shen Zhu revealed that Great Xia had devised plans for “ordinary” Immortal Dao Spirit Machinery experiments.

• Li Qingshan introduced the Great Xia Dao Court’s strategic outline for two-realm security and deep-space deployment.
• Lu Li listed the Immortal Dao resources he had brought back and urged Great Xia to develop defenses against powerful immortals before the nine realms’ Great Daos dissolved.
• Lu Li said he had killed an Earth Immortal sent by Ji Wan, prompting the meeting to assess the likelihood of further probes.
• Li Qingshan argued that Ji Wan would act cautiously because Lu Li’s Emperor Fate suggested a formidable hidden background, while Ye Chenfeng considered the possibility that Lu Li might pursue Emperor Venerablehood.
• Yinyang Qingfan and others contemplated the danger of Ji Wan discovering Lu Li’s true background, while Great Xia’s department heads remained confident.
• Shen Zhu announced that Great Xia had already conceived several “ordinary” Immortal Dao Spirit Machinery experiments.

Shen Zhu introduced the Virtual Universe, an Immortal Dao Spirit Machinery project designed to anchor subdimensional spaces and unleash their combined spatial force against enemies. Lu Li endorsed the project and offered to help, while Shen Zhu revealed a more ambitious idea: making the Virtual Universe real to enable strategic defenses against even higher-ranked immortals.

• Shen Zhu explained Great Xia’s Spirit Machinery research history and asked Lu Li to help overcome technical problems in its newest project.
• Shen Zhu presented the Virtual Universe, a device meant to link anchored subdimensional spaces and use their crushing force to attack enemies.
• Lu Li recognized the design’s potential to rival Earth Immortals and Heavenly Immortals and promised to help develop it.
• Shen Zhu said his further ideas might allow Great Xia to build strategic defenses against Profound Immortals and Golden Immortals.
• Shen Zhu proposed adding mass to virtual illusion technology and making the Virtual Universe real.

Shen Du described how hit virtual games could feed data back into reality, prompting Lu Li to consider making the virtual universe real and linking it to the strength of its citizens. Ye Sheng then presented a plan for artificial planetary life-forms, while Lu Li judged the project too resource-intensive for now; the meeting continued with further ambitious proposals that left the Imprisoned Dragon Heaven officials stunned.

• Shen Du explained that data from hugely popular virtual games could improve players' real-world abilities and even slightly affect cultivation, surprising Lu Li and the others.
• Lu Li connected the virtual universe's potential strength to its citizens and resolved to focus on developing it in Great Xia.
• Ye Sheng proposed creating self-sustaining artificial planetary life-forms and demonstrated a spherical organism that could evolve under bloodline-based control.
• Lu Li examined the organism and decided Great Xia lacked the time and resources to pursue the project for now.
• The officials discussed more ambitious research proposals, leaving Yinyang Qingfan, Elder Jian, and the other Imprisoned Dragon Heaven officials bewildered by Great Xia's capabilities.

Ten years after the Virtual Universe project began, Great Xia conducted its first physical trial and deployed a spatial layer that stopped Elder Jian. At Lu Li’s request, Elder Jian pushed beyond his initial effort, and the layer began to crack.

• Great Xia activated the Virtual Universe at the Spirit Machinery Industry General Administration after ten years of development.
• Shen Zhu’s team deployed the first spatial layer across the designated area, and the system reported that it had anchored to the shallow void.
• Elder Jian charged the experimental zone and was halted by the dense spatial power, which the technicians measured as capable of resisting a Second-Turn True Immortal.
• Shen Zhu asked Lu Li to have Elder Jian test the layer’s limits, and Lu Li relayed the request.
• Elder Jian gathered his strength and used his Innate Divine Ability, Man and Sword as One, causing the void to tremble and a crack to sound.

Lu Li tested the Virtual Universe’s three spatial layers, which grew powerful enough to make him defend himself and threaten a Ninth-Turn Human Immortal. He declared the research project a success and recognized that future layers and illusion-reality technology could make it even more formidable.

• The Virtual Universe’s first layer broke under Jian Canglan’s strike, and Lu Li found Elder Jian unconscious in the second layer and moved him to his Blessed Land foundation.
• Lu Li took over testing as Shen Zhu deployed the second layer at full power, blocking Yinyang Qingfan’s True Immortal sense and revealing how the overlapping layers multiplied their strength.
• Lu Li asked Shen Zhu to activate the third layer, combining real-space power with the first two layers and destabilizing space around him.
• The third layer forced Lu Li to protect himself with Immortal Power, though he judged it insufficient to threaten an Earth Immortal.
• Lu Li returned to the control room after the technicians shut down the Virtual Universe and declared the research project a success.

Lu Li and Great Xia’s scholars planned a second-generation Virtual Universe with a fourth, mind-accessible spatial layer, and Lu Li proposed using a high-quality spatial realm as its foundation. After realizing that the Imperial Discourse might threaten Great Xia within a few hundred years, he considered whether his own Blessed Land could serve as that foundation.

• At the Spirit Machinery Industry General Administration, Shen Zhu and the scholars discussed ways to create a fourth-layer virtual reality space for the second-generation Virtual Universe.
• Lu Li recalled the Jade Capital Immortal Palace and suggested that a naturally excellent spatial secret realm could make a stronger foundation for the virtual layer.
• Lu Li agreed to provide a spatial foundation and urged the scholars to continue their research because Great Xia had little time to prepare.
• Lu Li returned to his Bureau 749 cultivation chamber and calculated that the Imperial Discourse might begin in just over two hundred years, possibly targeting him and Great Xia.
• Lu Li examined his Blessed Land, saw True Immortal Qi emerging within it, and wondered whether it could become the Virtual Universe’s fourth spatial layer.

Lu Li realized that his powerful blessed land could anchor the fourth layer of the Virtual Universe, then watched Luo Wuchen ascend as the Dragon-Rising Blessed Land’s first human True Immortal. Luo Wuchen’s breakthrough completed Lu Li’s World-Nurturing Method and triggered his First-Turn Earth Immortal Vein-Bearing Tribulation, which ended with the formation of the Dragon-Taming Vein.

• Lu Li decided to use his blessed land as the foundation of the Virtual Universe and sensed that its inhabitants needed only one human True Immortal to complete the World-Nurturing Method.
• Luo Wuchen prepared to ascend at the Immortal Spirit Sect after reaching Mahayana faster and with greater potential than in his previous life.
• Great Chen Star’s cultivators gathered to witness Luo Wuchen’s ascension, and their hopes formed powerful Wishes of the People that strengthened his reception light.
• Lu Li summoned Immortal Power from the Dragon-Rising Blessed Land, allowing Luo Wuchen to become its first human True Immortal.
• Luo Wuchen’s breakthrough triggered Lu Li’s Vein-Bearing Tribulation, and Lu Li connected a Dao Root to the blessed land without difficulty.
• Lu Li’s Earth Immortal Dao Vein manifested in the blessed land as the Dragon-Taming Vein.

Lu Li broke through to First-Turn Earth Immortal, forming the Dragon-Taming Vein in his Blessed Land and allowing Falling Firmament to absorb Immortal Venerable Qingming’s remains more freely. He then went to the Spirit Machinery Industry General Administration to discuss making his Blessed Land the Virtual Universe’s fourth layer, while Lu Yao proposed a Puppet Dao research plan.

• Lu Li attained Earth Immortal and formed the Dragon-Taming Vein, linking the fortunes and cultivation of his Blessed Land’s living beings to his Imperial Dao.
• Lu Li let Falling Firmament devour Immortal Venerable Qingming’s demon core, which strengthened the treasure and returned pure cultivation to him.
• Lu Li wondered why Falling Firmament had gained no new function after his breakthrough and speculated it might be preparing something significant.
• Lu Li headed to the Great Xia Spirit Machinery Industry General Administration to discuss using his Blessed Land as the Virtual Universe’s fourth layer.
• Ye Chenfeng, Yinyang Qingfan, and Elder Jian helped Great Xia conduct Immortal Dao experiments, while Lu Yao proposed the Puppet Dao True Immortal Countryside Outreach Plan.

Lu Yao pushed Great Xia to develop True Immortal puppets so its first generation of Puppet Dao veterans could survive their approaching lifespans, and Yinyang Qingfan explained that ascension depended more on the puppet cultivators’ souls than on immortal materials. The researchers proposed an Immortal Puppet Soul Simulator, and Lu Yao set the project in motion while deciding to seek Lu Li’s help with autonomous puppets.

• Lu Yao asked Yinyang Qingfan and Elder Jian whether Great Xia could refine True Immortal-level puppets in batches, and they said the country lacked the necessary resources and foundations.
• Lu Yao explained that the first generation of Great Xia’s Puppet Dao veterans, including Li Yuanchao, Wang Zhiwen, and Yuan Yi, faced their soul lifespan limits after a thousand years.
• Yinyang Qingfan said puppet cultivators could ascend using ninth-tier spirit materials, making the cultivator’s soul and talent more important than the puppet’s materials.
• A researcher proposed an Immortal Puppet Soul Simulator to strengthen puppet cultivators’ souls and improve their chances of ascending to True Immortals.
• Lu Yao approved the research and said she would go find Lu Li while continuing to pursue fully autonomous True Immortal puppets.

After breaking through to Earth Immortal, Lu Li refined a True Immortal puppet for Lu Yao and named it Xian Yi. He then went to the Great Xia Spirit Machinery Industry General Administration to begin researching the fourth layer of the Virtual Universe, anchored by his Dragon-Rising Blessed Land.

• Lu Yao asked Lu Li for a True Immortal puppet, and he agreed to refine one using his Solar Divine Fire.
• Lu Li melted immortal materials, shaped them with Immortal Inscriptions, and awakened a true spirit within the puppet.
• The puppet gained form as a True Immortal and greeted Lu Li and Lu Yao; Lu Li named him Xian Yi and assigned him to Lu Yao.
• Lu Li sent Lu Yao away and turned his attention to perfecting the fourth layer of the Virtual Universe.
• Lu Li traveled to the Great Xia Spirit Machinery Industry General Administration and told Shen Zhu that his Earth Immortal breakthrough meant they could begin researching the fourth layer.

Great Xia advanced its research and cultivation while the great Immortal Courts gathered for the Nine Heavens Imperial Discourse without their Emperor Lords. Furious that she could not use their karmic power to investigate Lu Li, Ji Wan decided to stake their blood descendants and direct disciples in a new scheme.

• Lu Li and Great Xia's researchers made slow progress on the Virtual Universe's fourth layer as Lu Yao worked to develop a simulator for True Immortal puppets.
• The six great Immortal Courts arrived at Jade Capital Heaven, and Lord Wandi Zhaoming Zhenhuan welcomed them on Ji Wan's behalf.
• Ji Wan learned that no other Emperor Lords had attended and lamented that she could not borrow their karma to investigate Lu Li's origins.
• Ji Wan resolved to continue pursuing Lu Li's fortuitous opportunity, believing he might attain Emperor Venerable and help her take that step herself.
• Ji Wan swept her immortal sense across the visiting courts' residences, then decided to stake the Emperor Lords' blood descendants and direct disciples.

Ji Wan summoned representatives of the six great Immortal Courts to discuss the Imperial Discourse and revealed that it would be held in Great Desolation Heaven. After easing their concerns about Heavenly Dao punishment, she prepared to explain the rules.

• Ji Wan received Di Tianshu, Xuanyin Wanshuang, Chen Yuan, Chi Changsheng, Shen Wuya, and Lu Guiyuan at the Hall of Law.
• Ji Wan and Wanshuang greeted each other as old acquaintances, surprising the other representatives.
• Ji Wan explained that the nine realms had merged into the Boundless Realm and announced that the Imperial Discourse would take place in Great Desolation Heaven.
• The representatives questioned the venue, and Ji Wan said she would use a supreme treasure to stabilize a stretch of the River of Time so they could fight without drawing the Heavenly Dao's attention.
• Ji Wan settled the venue as Great Desolation Heaven and began to explain the Imperial Discourse's rules.

Ji Wan announced the Imperial Discourse in Great Desolation and revealed that its top victor would receive Emperor Lord Origin. After the gathering, Xuanyin Wanshuang stayed behind to speak with Ji Wan about her stalled reincarnation cultivation and asked whether Ji Wan’s ninth lifetime had gone poorly and Li Taixuan belonged to another lifetime.

• Ji Wan explained that the Imperial Discourse would take place across all of Great Desolation, with a supreme treasure manifesting its River of Time and sealing off the Heavenly Dao.
• Ji Wan announced that the highest-merit participants would receive a wisp of Emperor Lord Origin, astonishing the six attendees and stirring their determination to win.
• Ji Wan introduced her personal disciple, Li Taixuan, and told the gathered representatives they would depart for Great Desolation in three years.
• Ji Wan asked Xuanyin Wanshuang to remain after the others left, and Xuanyin Wanshuang admitted she had been unable to cultivate her fourth reincarnation.
• Xuanyin Wanshuang asked Ji Wan whether her ninth lifetime had gone poorly and whether Li Taixuan came from another lifetime.

Ji Wan explained Li Taixuan’s reincarnation to Xuanyin Wanshuang, then recalled how they had met and endured hardship together in her seventh lifetime. Their shared Human Immortal Tribulation awakened Ji Wan’s sealed memories, and the chapter ended as she began to reveal the terrible truth of the Human Immortal Tribulation in her ninth lifetime.

• Ji Wan told Xuanyin Wanshuang that Li Taixuan had been a ruler in his previous life, died, and reincarnated under her protection.
• Ji Wan promised that Li Taixuan and Xuanyin Wanshuang could travel together during the Great Desolation Imperial Discourse, while their merits would depend on their own opportunities.
• Ji Wan and Xuanyin Wanshuang reminisced about meeting as poor outer disciples in the Great Cloud Sect and helping each other survive its dangers.
• Ji Wan recalled how Xuanyin Wanshuang took a bite from a Crypt Spider to protect her, and how Ji Wan carried her through a marsh to safety.
• Their shared Human Immortal Tribulation awakened Ji Wan’s sealed past-life memories and revealed her identity as a seventh-reincarnation Taiyi Golden Immortal.
• Ji Wan said the Human Immortal Tribulation of her ninth lifetime had been her greatest tribulation and began to explain what she had witnessed.