Chapter Summaries

Han Xiao completed the mission to end the population trade, then spent nine months preparing players for a version update while the universe readied itself for war. In Galaxy Calendar year 797, the World Tree fleet reached the Shattered World's border, and the Tranquil Tree King prepared to invade Han Xiao's territory.

• Han Xiao completed [The End of Darkness], earning experience, rewards, a milestone, and three Universe Legend Points, but chose to let the crackdown continue.
• Han Xiao learned that the players would go offline for a version 5.5 update in nine months and planned to sell them skills and supplies before it began.
• Han Xiao ran promotions for nine months, and the players spent heavily before going offline for the update.
• Han Xiao and the Three Universal Civilizations continued war preparations, fortified the Shattered World's borders, trained new Beyond Grade A experts, and moved the Black Star Army away from frontier regions.
• On February 5, Galaxy Calendar year 797, the World Tree fleet arrived at the Shattered World's border, and the Tranquil Tree King vowed to make Han Xiao taste despair.

As the World Tree vanguard approached the Shattered World, Han Xiao prepared the Three Universal Civilizations and the Beyond Grade A Association for a prolonged invasion. The first battle ended in a stalemate at the border, with the World Tree establishing bridgeheads for the war to come.

• At Sibert Fortress, Han Xiao predicted that the World Tree would build bridgeheads and wage a war of attrition, and he said he would wait for a Tree King before entering the fight.
• Han Xiao ended the decade-long training program, sent the trainees to their units, and gathered Hila, Aurora, Fording, and Evans to prepare them for the invasion.
• Ten days later, the World Tree vanguard attacked the Shattered World's outer defenses from several directions, but the Three Universal Civilizations repelled its first probing assault.
• The World Tree avoided deploying Beyond Grade A fighters, wary of Black Star after the Heart Tree King's fate, while both sides' powerhouses largely held back.
• The World Tree established bridgeheads beyond the Shattered World's border and amassed troops, leaving the Three Universal Civilizations to defend their territory against repeated attacks.

The World Tree launched another assault on the Shattered World's defenses, bringing the Tranquil Tree King and the Anchor Tree King's Dominion clone into battle. Han Xiao stayed back while Hila confronted the Tranquil Tree King, who was shocked by how much the enemy's Beyond Grade As had improved.

• The Interstellar Joint Army held the World Tree outside the Shattered World while the Three Universal Civilizations concealed most of their Beyond Grade A fighters and revived allies.
• The World Tree's Beyond Grade As appeared with the Tranquil Tree King and the Anchor Tree King's Dominion clone, and Han Xiao chose not to join the battle.
• Hila volunteered to fight the Tranquil Tree King, while Evans admitted he was nervous about entering his first major battlefield.
• The two armies clashed at the border, and their Beyond Grade As charged into battle.
• Hila intercepted the Tranquil Tree King and revealed Peak Beyond Grade A strength, leaving him astonished by the enemy's rapid improvement.

Hila used her Death God Liberation form to fight the Tranquil Tree King, while Fording’s Soul-Switching Device killed crews across the World Tree fleet. The World Tree forces retreated, but Dilron’s taunt made the Tranquil Tree King stop and turn back despite himself.

• Hila transformed into the Spirit Burial stage of Death God Liberation and fought the Tranquil Tree King in close combat, briefly driving him back.
• Han Xiao assessed Hila’s strength and watched the other battles as the Three Universal Civilizations and World Tree forces reached a stalemate.
• Fording activated the Soul-Switching Device, killing crews aboard tens of thousands of World Tree warships and forcing the fleet to adjust its formation.
• The Tranquil Tree King decided to withdraw, struck Hila away, and led the World Tree experts in retreat as Kasuyi ordered the fighters to pursue.
• Dilron taunted the fleeing Tranquil Tree King, who abruptly stopped and turned back, unable to resist the urge to fight him.

Dilron’s taunts disrupted the World Tree retreat and enraged the Tranquil Tree King, who fought Hila off before Sorokin appeared to stop him. Sorokin revealed dozens of powerful doppelgangers and overwhelmed the Tranquil Tree King, leaving him unsure whether Sorokin could kill him alone.

• Dilron’s insults repeatedly halted the Tranquil Tree King’s retreat until the Anchor Tree King ordered the World Tree experts to turn back and support him.
• The Tranquil Tree King battered Hila, dispersed her Death God Liberation form, and forced her to retreat after she realized she could not hold him back.
• Sorokin appeared beside Hila, and the Tranquil Tree King fled before Sorokin teleported in front of him and deflected his attacks.
• Sorokin absorbed and reflected the Tranquil Tree King’s power, then summoned sixty or seventy doppelgangers with different abilities.
• Sorokin and his doppelgangers attacked together, leaving the Tranquil Tree King under overwhelming pressure and unable to find an opening.

Sorokin overwhelmed Tranquil Tree King with a wide range of abilities, but Tranquil Tree King mistakenly believed Black Star was waiting to ambush him and self-destructed to avoid capture. The World Tree forces retreated after losing a Tree King, while Han Xiao was pleased that his side had concealed its revived fighters and other capabilities.

• Sorokin used his many clones and chained abilities to dominate Tranquil Tree King, while the other fighters tried to support their respective sides.
• Tranquil Tree King concluded that Black Star was hiding nearby to ambush and seal him, then self-destructed before Sorokin could stop him.
• Anchor Tree King learned Tranquil Tree King's reason for self-destructing and ordered the World Tree experts to retreat.
• The Three Universal Civilizations' leaders praised Black Star's training after their Beyond Grade As repelled the World Tree forces without his help.
• Han Xiao noted that the battle had concealed the Sanctum's revival and other trump cards, and decided to save his prepared surprise for a more important Tree King.

After the World Tree vanguard was repelled, Han Xiao praised the Beyond Grade As and left to investigate unusual activity from the Pivot Snake Egg. At the World Tree headquarters, the Tree Kings discussed their losses and planned a joint attack while seeking ways around the enemy's defenses.

• The Beyond Grade As returned to Sibert Fortress after driving off the World Tree powerhouses, and Han Xiao praised their victory and Aurora's healing.
• Han Xiao credited Sorokin with forcing the Tranquil Tree King to die and explained that keeping the enemy's forces intact could lure another Tree King into battle.
• Jotina clung to Han Xiao, provoking Ames, before Han Xiao moved beside Ames and discussed starting a family with her.
• The expedition outpost reported unusual activity from the Pivot Snake Egg, so Han Xiao left the fortress and put Kasuyi in charge.
• The Anchor Tree King, Ancestral Tree King, and Secret Tree King reviewed the battle and decided to make a joint move while seeking intelligence and alternate routes around the border defenses.

The World Tree sensed the birth of a new natural enemy and sent Secret Tree King to hunt it, while Han Xiao arrived to witness the Pivot Snake Egg hatch. He discovered that the juvenile Pivot Snake could eventually sense the World Tree's main body and arranged for the King of the Boundless to feed it, though the creature remained hostile and unresponsive.

• The Tree Kings received the Mother Tree's message about a newly born natural enemy, and Ancestral Tree King assigned Secret Tree King to find and kill it.
• Han Xiao arrived at the expeditionary outpost and learned that the Pivot Snake Egg was rapidly draining its dimension and nearing hatching.
• The Pivot Snake emerged in a cloud of protective gray mist, and Han Xiao restrained it when it tried to flee.
• Han Xiao discovered that the juvenile Pivot Snake would gain the ability to sense the World Tree's main body as an adult.
• Han Xiao persuaded the King of the Boundless to feed the Pivot Snake with Secondary Dimensions in exchange for main-universe matter.
• The Pivot Snake remained aloof and hostile toward Han Xiao, leaving him uncertain how difficult it would be to raise.

Han Xiao secured the newborn Pivot Snake while the Three Universal Civilizations celebrated another victory against the World Tree. As the World Tree launched a search for its natural enemy, hidden agents allied with the Star Alliance prepared to give it intelligence about the Three Universal Civilizations.

• Han Xiao left an Observation Mark on the Pivot Snake, brought it to the outpost under guard, and the Three Universal Civilizations ordered the expeditionary forces to feed and protect it.
• Han Xiao stayed with the Pivot Snake for several days, but it remained indifferent to him as it absorbed energy from a Secondary Dimension.
• The Three Universal Civilizations repelled the World Tree's attack, and the Sanctum's revived members discussed their frustration at being kept out of the war.
• Secret Tree King assembled a search corps to find the Mother Tree's natural enemy and ordered his troops to capture enemy teams and gather intelligence.
• Two agents at a secret base reported the stalemate and agreed to provide the World Tree with intelligence and strategic coordinates on behalf of their superiors and the Star Alliance.

Sevinis and the head of the Star Alliance prepared to use the World Tree’s invasion against the Three Universal Civilizations while keeping the Star Alliance hidden. In a Secondary Dimension, the Secret Tree King captured and transformed an expeditionary squad, then traced its records to the Star Alliance’s hiding place; his counterattack on Iso’s foresight left Iso severely injured.

• Sevinis told the head of the Star Alliance that the lurker would act soon, and they discussed using the war to weaken the Three Universal Civilizations and the World Tree.
• The chapter recounted how the defeated Lorl Civilization joined the Star Alliance and helped it establish the Observer Plan to infiltrate and monitor the Explored Universe.
• World Tree relatives pursued a Three Universal Civilizations expeditionary squad through several Secondary Dimensions until its commander prepared to self-destruct the fleet.
• The Secret Tree King stopped time, absorbed the squad into the World Tree, and searched its memories and navigation logs to locate the Star Alliance’s nest.
• The Secret Tree King struck back through Iso’s foresight, shattering his vision and severely injuring him on Floating Dragon Island.

The World Tree ambushed and destroyed the Three Universal Civilizations’ outposts in the Secondary Dimension, while the Secret Tree King learned that the Pivot Snake could locate the Mother Tree’s true body. After Han Xiao learned the World Tree had opened a second front, he agreed to lead reinforcements and planned to call on the Sanctum Organization.

• Harrison’s expeditionary squad returned to the outpost, but a World Tree force suddenly breached the dimensional barrier and forced the base to evacuate and self-destruct.
• The Secret Tree King searched the King of the Boundless’s lair, found him absent, and planted surveillance spells before leaving.
• The King of the Boundless sensed the attack and the Secret Tree King’s visit, then decided to commit fully to the Three Universal Civilizations.
• The Secret Tree King learned from captured expeditionary army members that the Pivot Snake was the Mother Tree’s natural enemy and could lead the enemy to its true body, so he reported the danger to the Ancestral Tree King.
• Han Xiao received news that the outposts had fallen and identified the Secret Tree King as the enemy commander.
• Han Xiao agreed to reinforce the Secondary Dimension front and said he could use Sovereign Mechas and the Sanctum Organization to cover both fronts.

Harrison and his teammates escaped the destroyed outpost, and Han Xiao collected them before the World Tree launched a second front across the shallow dimensions. The Three Universal Civilizations’ forces received unexpected help from revived members of The First Ones, leaving their leaders demanding an explanation from Han Xiao.

• Harrison’s damaged ship crash-landed in the desert, and he and his teammates worried that the outpost had fallen and Han Xiao had not answered their distress call.
• Han Xiao teleported aboard, told Harrison that the outpost was lost, and evacuated the team to the Three Universal Civilizations’ main base area.
• The World Tree’s forces attacked across the shallow dimensions, igniting battles in hundreds of war zones while many of the Three Universal Civilizations’ high-level combatants struggled without Aurora’s support.
• The Sanctum sent Dimensional Banishment Projectiles and revived members of The First Ones to reinforce the besieged Beyond Grade As, including Austin and Baigel.
• The Three Universal Civilizations’ leaders saw the revived fighters join the battle and asked Han Xiao to explain their sudden appearance.

Han Xiao revealed that he had kept a group of revived people hidden, then joined the battle against the Secret Tree King. After the Secret Tree King trapped Han Xiao in a one-on-one barrier and the Ancestral Tree King moved in to ambush him, Han Xiao revealed his Beyond God Grade power and shattered the barrier and spells.

• Han Xiao told the Arcane pontiff and the other leaders that the revived people in the association were not the only ones he had brought back, but refused to explain where the hidden group came from.
• The Secret Tree King badly wounded Clottey, but Oathkeeper arrived and took over the fight so Clottey could help elsewhere.
• The Secret Tree King and the Ancestral Tree King planned to use the fight as bait to draw Han Xiao out and ambush him.
• Han Xiao entered the Shadow Dimension and told the Secret Tree King that he had three opponents, prompting the Secret Tree King to isolate them in a spatial barrier and challenge Han Xiao alone.
• Han Xiao transformed into the Supreme Heavenly Venerate and released his Beyond God Grade power, then tore through the Secret Tree King's spells and barrier as the Ancestral Tree King froze during his ambush.

Han Xiao overwhelmed the Secret Tree King and sealed him in Space-Time Amber as the Ancestral Tree King invoked Tree God Descent. The incomplete Tree God battled Han Xiao, who suspected that sealing two Tree Kings had weakened the World Tree’s trump card.

• Han Xiao pinned the Secret Tree King with the Emperor's Space-Rending Blade and suppressed him with the Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
• The Secret Tree King tried to break free, but the Ancestral Tree King reclaimed his Tree King Crown and drained his power to activate Tree God Descent.
• Han Xiao sealed the Secret Tree King in Space-Time Amber and stored him inside the mechanical finger.
• The Ancestral Tree King transformed into the incomplete Tree God, whose chaotic thoughts and World Tree roots launched an attack on Han Xiao.
• Han Xiao fought the Tree God and gradually gained the advantage as Oathkeeper and Clottey watched from a distance.
• Han Xiao suspected the Tree God was incomplete because he had sealed the Heart Tree King and the Secret Tree King.

Han Xiao fought the World Tree’s Tree God, learning to project his internal dimension as a domain and using Virtual Genesis to create a massive cannon that blasted the Tree God apart. The Tree God escaped through a World Tree root, leaving Han Xiao to consider the enemy’s hidden abilities and the consequences of revealing his strength.

• Han Xiao and the Tree God clashed across the spatial storm, tearing open rifts that spilled the contents of Secondary Dimensions onto the battlefield.
• The Tree God projected his internal dimension to suppress Han Xiao and strengthen himself, but Han Xiao countered with a projection of his Void Dimension and pushed the Tree God’s domain back.
• Han Xiao used Virtual Genesis to create a colossal projectile cannon and blasted the Tree God into mangled pieces.
• The Tree God shrank into a World Tree root and escaped, and Han Xiao realized his domain let him teleport across World Tree territory.
• Han Xiao considered the Tree God’s possible Information State attack and the risk of the World Tree responding to his revealed power, while the Oathkeeper and Clottey recovered from the battle’s pressure.

Han Xiao joined the battle across the shallow dimensions and used the Supreme Heavenly Venerate to devastate the World Tree fleets, forcing them to retreat. The Three Universal Civilizations celebrated the victory, while the Ancestral Tree King faced the loss of the Secret Tree King and new threats to the World Tree.

• Han Xiao sent Oathkeeper and Clottey back to the fighting, then entered a shallow-dimension battlefield in the Supreme Heavenly Venerate.
• Han Xiao used a Psionic Energy Wave to disable World Tree warships and dispatched the Mechanical Divine Apostles to support the Three Universal Civilizations.
• Han Xiao swept through multiple battlefields until the World Tree forces withdrew, and the Three Universal Civilizations' leaders credited him with stabilizing the war.
• The Ancestral Tree King and the Anchor Tree King discussed the Secret Tree King's sealing, the costs and limits of Tree God Descent, and the World Tree's inability to let its members advance to Beyond God Grade.
• The Ancestral Tree King worried that Black Star and the Pivot Snake threatened the Mother Tree, and considered destroying the Three Universal Civilizations before Black Star could attack its main body.

After the World Tree Familia retreated, Han Xiao agreed to guard the Secondary Dimension and protect the Pivot Snake while investigating whether it had exposed the expeditionary outpost. He claimed the Tree God challenge rewards and gained Information State Erasure, leaving him wondering what would happen if he severed the unknown information link connected to his interface.

• Han Xiao told the leaders of the Three Universal Civilizations that the Tree God was difficult to kill and agreed to guard the Secondary Dimension alone.
• Han Xiao suspected the World Tree had sensed the Pivot Snake and exposed the expeditionary outpost, so he decided to keep the snake under his protection.
• Han Xiao checked on the Pivot Snake, left Mechanical Divine Apostles to guard it, and returned to Sibert Fortress to claim his Tree God challenge rewards.
• Han Xiao chose Information State Erasure from five abilities and concluded that it could destroy information traces and counter some forms of immortality.
• Han Xiao sensed information connections extending from objects, then found two connections attached to his interface and decided not to cut the unknown one.

Han Xiao ordered the Sanctum Organization to remain hidden while supplying its technologies, and he explained the revived group’s role to the Beyond Grade A Association. After the Three Universal Civilizations publicized their victory, the players returned with version 5.5, titled “Black Star Era: All-out War,” leaving Han Xiao wary of a new escalation.

• Han Xiao told Oathkeeper to keep the Sanctum Organization in hiding, route communications through him, and contribute its battlefield technologies.
• The Super Star Cluster Alliance abandoned its hopes of escaping the Three Universal Civilizations amid the war and rejected a proposal to secretly aid the World Tree.
• The Three Universal Civilizations publicized their victory, easing public unrest and prompting speculation about the revived Beyond Grade As.
• Han Xiao told the Association that he had formed the hidden group as a contingency and intended it as a refuge for Beyond Grade As who wanted to retire from public life.
• Kasuyi revealed that he had guessed the secret, while the other Beyond Grade As accepted Han Xiao’s explanation and supported his plan.
• The players returned with version 5.5, “Black Star Era: All-out War,” and Han Xiao began investigating what the ominous update name might signal.

Army players logged in as the World Tree war approached, while Han Xiao investigated a mysterious mage who had injured Iso during a prophecy. The chapter ended with the Star Alliance preparing to secretly send encoded intelligence to the World Tree.

• Army players returned after a short time skip, learned that the World Tree had reached the border, and headed for the front line as the level cap rose to 200.
• Han Xiao considered the players’ potential growth and his plans to gain experience from World Tree forces, then visited Iso to ask about the chapter’s unexplained clues.
• Iso revealed that a mysterious mage had injured him during a prophecy shortly before the expeditionary army’s outpost was attacked, and Han Xiao suspected the Secret Tree King.
• Han Xiao asked the Child of Destiny to make a prophecy, but it could not foresee anything, so he decided to rely on conventional screening.
• At the Star Alliance’s secret base, observers received three canisters of microscopically encoded particles intended to carry stolen intelligence to the World Tree.

Han Xiao grew suspicious of the Super Star Cluster Alliance’s preparations and considered ways to accelerate Pivot Snake’s growth. Meanwhile, the World Tree Civilization uncovered intelligence particles near its outpost, and the Three Universal Civilizations detected a nearby wormhole, leaving both sides investigating the same anomaly.

• Han Xiao noticed that the Super Star Cluster Alliance had secretly prepared stargates, supplies, civilians, and warships, and he told Phillip to monitor the alliance for secrets.
• Han Xiao examined Pivot Snake, learned how it reproduced, and considered using [Life Transformation · Virtual] to speed its growth, but worried that the change might disrupt its ability to sense the World Tree.
• The Ancestral Tree King learned that particles collected near the World Tree outpost contained coordinates and star charts from inside enemy territory, and he ordered them deciphered and their wormhole origin traced.
• Military intelligence at Sibert Fortress detected an abnormal spatial reaction beyond the border and recommended an on-site investigation, though the officers recognized that sending a fleet would be dangerous.