Chapter Summaries

Cao Fengqi found a safe route to a deep section of a vast metal vein containing level 9 resources and reached it with Guilou’s help. After discovering the exceptionally hard level 8 Radiant Obsidian Gold, he began mining and realized the work would be far more difficult than expected.

• Cao Fengqi mapped the metal vein and found that most of its shallower sections were guarded by dangerous evil spirits or evil beasts.
• Cao Fengqi chose a safe section two kilometers underground that contained level 9 metal and ordered Guilou to dig a tunnel to it.
• Guilou and Xiaotian Dog helped dig for five hours until they reached the vein.
• Cao Fengqi discovered Radiant Obsidian Gold Ore and celebrated the fortune the mine could bring him.
• Cao Fengqi tried mining the hard metal with Transcendent Emberfire, then had Guilou attempt it, but realized he would have to do most of the difficult work himself.

Cao Fengqi mined level 8 metal to strengthen his battle pets and planned to use their gains to hunt the Three-Eyed Crows and Bloody Scarecrows. After six days, he met Feng Qinglan and gave her the seven perfect-grade level 8 weapons he had forged.

• Cao Fengqi returned home exhausted after mining 2,000 jin of level 8 metal in ten hours and decided the pay made the work worthwhile.
• Cao Fengqi planned to feed metal to Xiaotian Dog and the Fangelanya Demons, then use the remaining metal to strengthen Guilou and the Gray Feather Moth.
• After a day of feeding, Xiaotian Dog gained 60 physique and 2 spirit, while the Fangelanya Demons gained 50 physique each, and Cao Fengqi planned to work for half a month before attacking the Three-Eyed Crows and Bloody Scarecrows.
• Cao Fengqi told Zhiyan to come collect the weapons and agreed with Cao Jiancheng to visit his eldest uncle the next day.
• Feng Qinglan arrived, and Cao Fengqi gave her seven weapons; she was astonished that he had forged seven perfect-grade level 8 pieces in six days.

The Spark Guild’s elders were stunned by Cao Fengqi’s seven level-eight items, forged in only six days, and hoped Feng Qinglan would win him over. Cao Fengqi remained unaware as he visited his eldest uncle with his family, where relatives welcomed him as the man who had transformed the Cao Family’s standing.

• Feng Qinglan brought seven level-eight pieces to the Spark Guild, and the elders marveled at how quickly Cao Fengqi had forged them.
• Old Hu concluded that Cao Fengqi’s forging talent was extraordinary, and the elders looked to Feng Qinglan to draw him into the family.
• Feng Qinglan worried about how Sister Youya would react, while Feng Qingxuan lamented that Cao Fengqi had taken both the woman he liked and, apparently, his sister.
• Cao Fengqi’s family prepared level-eight Fangelanya Demon meat and went to visit his eldest uncle’s family.
• Dozens of Cao Fengqi’s relatives welcomed him, praising him for becoming a major general and raising the Cao Family’s status.

Cao Fengqi attended a generals’ meeting where Xu Zhenjiang revealed that the Land of Dawn was real and likely located in Great Xia’s Fifth Land of Shelter. The news left Cao Fengqi considering how his family might reach it from Tianbei Base City.

• Cao Fengqi received a message from Cao Jianjun inviting him to a generals’ meeting and went to the Transcendent Shelter the next morning.
• Cao Fengqi greeted Xu Fenghua at the meeting and learned that Tianbei Base City had nineteen major generals, seven lieutenant generals, and three generals.
• Xu Zhenjiang announced that the capital had confirmed the Land of Dawn’s existence and that eternal night would soon cover everywhere beyond it.
• Xu Zhenjiang said the Land of Dawn was very likely in Great Xia’s Fifth Land of Shelter, about 900 kilometers from Tianbei Base City.
• Cao Fengqi considered that he could travel to the Fifth Land of Shelter quickly and might make the Cao Family’s Transcendent Shelter mobile by obtaining a power system.

Xu Zhenjiang discussed the dangers and uncertainties of the Lands of Dawn, including food shortages, limited space, and conflict over territory, and ordered Great Xia to strengthen its forces and technology. With the SS-class Ruin Demon near Tianbei Base City and blocking the route to the Fifth Land of Shelter, he called for a coordinated strike, surprising Cao Fengqi.

• Xu Zhenjiang told the generals that prophets had predicted four Lands of Dawn, but this one might be only a hundred li across and unable to shelter many people.
• The generals considered the risk of famine and conflict over land, while Xu Zhenjiang ordered stronger Transcendent Shelters and plans to conquer the Lost Land's main cities.
• Xu Zhenjiang assigned Major General Li to oversee the arcane tower and learned that level 7 transcendent tanks and fighters existed, but level 8 models lacked sufficient metal.
• Xu Zhenjiang revealed that the SS-class Ruin Demon was twenty kilometers south of Tianbei Base City and ordered everyone to prepare for a joint attack.
• Cao Fengqi was surprised to hear the generals planned to attack the Ruin Demon, whose Ruins Nightmare Domain he had once entered to rescue Xu Fenghua.

Cao Fengqi agreed to inspect a Ruin Demon and help with research at the Transcendent Arsenal, where Xu Fenghua followed him. After explaining her interest in his swordsmanship and movement technique to her father, Xu Fenghua promised Cao Fengqi she would protect him if Xu Zhenjiang beat him again, and Cao immediately tried to trade the promise for a kiss.

• Cao Fengqi agreed to go to the Transcendent Arsenal with Director Xu to inspect research projects, while Xu Fenghua followed him.
• Cao Fengqi complained that Xu Zhenjiang had beaten him, and Xu Zhenjiang denied the accusation as Xu Fenghua returned to her father.
• Xu Fenghua told Xu Zhenjiang that Cao Fengqi had tenth-level swordsmanship and ninth-level movement technique, and asked her father not to interfere in her affairs.
• Xu Zhenjiang agreed to stop interfering, and Xu Fenghua went to find Cao Fengqi for swordsmanship pointers.
• Xu Fenghua assured Cao Fengqi that her father would not beat him again and promised to retaliate if he did.
• Cao Fengqi asked Xu Fenghua for a kiss as compensation for his previous beating, and she rejected him.

Cao Fengqi visited the Transcendent Arsenal’s top research lab and examined its transcendent war chariot, warplane, and explosive rounds. He asked to study the Arsenal’s available metals so he could help develop more powerful weapons.

• Director Xu led Cao Fengqi and Xu Fenghua into the Arsenal’s research lab, where they saw two enormous transcendent vehicles and met the lab’s artificers.
• Cao Fengqi scanned the level 7 war chariot and learned that it could travel at high speed, cross complex terrain, and fire powerful weapons.
• Director Xu showed Cao Fengqi a level 6 explosive round that could inflict damage comparable to level 7.
• Director Xu explained the Arsenal’s plan to combine low-level metals and their reactions to produce weapons with level 8 or level 9 power.
• Cao Fengqi asked to inspect the Arsenal’s available metals below level 8 so he could assess their properties.

Cao Fengqi studied level 7 metals and Lost Land weapon diagrams to develop a shell capable of unleashing level 8 power. He began testing his design on a level 9 forging platform, but repeated explosions and faulty proportions left his first successful attempt at only Mundane Forged grade.

• Cao Fengqi reviewed the available metals and weapon diagrams, then calculated combinations of thirteen level 7 metals for a powerful shell.
• Director Xu and Xu Fenghua watched as Cao Fengqi worked, and Director Xu explained how a mass-produced level 8 shell could strengthen Great Xia’s forces.
• Cao Fengqi revealed that he had already advanced to the Smelter Sequence and asked about protections before forging on the level 9 platform.
• Cao Fengqi’s first two forging attempts exploded because of incorrect metal amounts and proportions.
• Cao Fengqi tried again after Director Xu reassured him about the many failures involved in weapon research, but the result was only Mundane Forged grade.

Cao Fengqi developed a level 8 shell weapon in under three hours, impressing Director Xu and prompting promises of rewards and possible promotion. He declined to stay behind and continue researching, choosing instead to enter the Ruin Demon's Nightmare Domain with Xu Fenghua, who made him teach her swordsmanship before they went.

• Cao Fengqi explained that he had stabilized the shell weapon's metals with Rushing Thunder Meteoric Iron, and Director Xu recognized the speed and difficulty of his achievement.
• Director Xu and Xu Fenghua offered Cao Fengqi resources and support, and Director Xu said a Perfect level 8 shell could help secure his promotion to lieutenant general and a thousand level 7 souls.
• Cao Fengqi asked for the souls so he could advance to the Fourth Sequence, then chose to inspect the Ruin Demon's Nightmare Domain rather than remain to research the shell.
• Xu Fenghua said she would enter the Nightmare Domain because she had encountered its evil spirit before, and Cao Fengqi promised to save her if she was in danger.
• After lunch, Xu Fenghua insisted that Cao Fengqi teach her swordsmanship while they waited to head to the entrance at one o'clock.

Cao Fengqi forged a level 8 shell in under three hours, impressing Tianbei Base City’s leaders and prompting them to consider his promotion. He claimed he could develop a level 9 shell if supplied with enough level 8 metals, while Xu Zhenjiang remained exasperated by his antics.

• Director Xu told Xu Zhenjiang, General Song, and General Chen that Cao Fengqi had forged a level 8 shell in less than three hours and might be able to develop a perfect-grade level 8 or level 9 shell.
• Cao Fengqi confronted Xu Zhenjiang over calling him a bastard, and Xu Fenghua tried to keep her father from hitting him.
• General Chen ordered the assembled powerhouses to move out, and General Song invited Cao Fengqi to discuss his research.
• Cao Fengqi said he was certain he could develop a perfect-grade level 8 shell and could attempt a level 9 shell if he obtained at least ten kinds of level 8 metal.
• General Song said the leaders would recommend Cao Fengqi for lieutenant general if he made a perfect-grade level 8 shell, and that a level 9 shell could qualify him to stand alongside them.

Cao Fengqi joined Tianbei Base City’s forces aboard the Thundercloud Flying Boat and received a level 11 Creation Clay Figurine that could resurrect him. The generals then mobilized their forces to attack the Ruin Demon, confident after ten prophets unanimously divined that they could defeat it.

• Major General Zhou showed Cao Fengqi the Thundercloud Flying Boat and General Chen warned him about powerful evil beasts emerging in the oceans.
• General Chen gave Cao Fengqi a level 11 Creation Clay Figurine, and Cao Fengqi accepted it while teasing Xu Zhenjiang.
• Xu Zhenjiang ordered Tianbei Base City’s forces to seal off the Ruin Demon’s territory and begin the operation.
• Xu Fenghua and a prophet explained that ten Mad Whisper Prophets had divined the generals could kill the Ruin Demon if they all deployed.
• Cao Fengqi admired the authorities’ formidable forces and considered how he might strengthen his battle pets.

Tianbei Base City's experts attacked the level 10 Ruin Demon with the Thundercloud Flying Boat's grand array, then descended into its nightmare domain to finish it off. As the array neared its limit and the demon remained alive, Cao Fengqi realized he might be the only general who had not joined the fight.

• Cao Fengqi considered whether his level 9 Gu-Fusing Altar and level 8 mineral vein could help him raise all 48 battle pets to level 9.
• Xu Zhenjiang ordered the Thundercloud Flying Boat to locate the Ruin Demon and activate the Thundercloud Grand Array, which the level 10 demon's mental shock wave began to distort.
• Major General Guo and Lieutenant General Zhou confirmed the demon's position, and Xu Zhenjiang ordered Thunder Judgment to strike it across a five-kilometer area.
• Cao Fengqi used Weakness Analysis and Insight and saw that the demon could be easily killed once his teammates had severely injured it.
• Major General Guo and Lieutenant General Zhou reported that Thunder Judgment had weakened the demon, so Xu Zhenjiang, Xu Fenghua, and the other experts leaped into the nightmare domain.
• Cao Fengqi heard that the Ruin Demon was still alive as the grand array neared its limit, and realized he might be the only general who had not gone down to fight.

Cao Fengqi used a level 9 Transcendent Fighter Jet to find and kill the hidden Ruin Demon after the other generals failed to locate it. He reached the demon’s corpse and claimed it, though its evil energy made the body dangerous to use.

• Xu Zhenjiang and the others failed to locate the Ruin Demon, and the Thundercloud Grand Array was about to dissipate.
• Cao Fengqi pointed out that General Cao was missing, then told Xu Zhenjiang to send a Transcendent Fighter Jet to pick him up.
• Cao Fengqi used the script to locate the Ruin Demon and bombarded it with the fighter jet’s Charged Strike until it died.
• Cao Fengqi claimed the Ruin Demon’s corpse and flew over to inspect it as the other generals rushed toward the explosions.
• Cao Fengqi saw that the level 10 corpse could yield a soul but was filled with evil energy and needed special destruction or purification.

Cao Fengqi killed the Ruin Demon, claimed its corpse, and secured official support for his research on level 8 shells. As the group returned to Tianbei Base City, he planned to use the corpse to raise the Dream-Eyed Butterfly to level 9 and grow powerful enough to challenge Xu Zhenjiang.

• Cao Fengqi told the officials he found the Ruin Demon using Beast Shepherd skills, and they thanked him for preventing it from escaping.
• Cao Fengqi claimed the Ruin Demon's corpse, and the officials agreed he could keep the level 9 forging table and receive metals for his shell research.
• Xu Fenghua suggested Cao Fengqi work with the official forces, but he declined and teased her about wanting to see him every day.
• Cao Fengqi privately planned to raise the Dream-Eyed Butterfly to level 9 with the Ruin Demon's corpse, then deal with the Three-Eyed Crows and Bloody Scarecrows.

Cao Fengqi used the Gu-Fusing Altar to fuse the Dream-Eyed Butterfly with the Ruin Demon's corpse. The butterfly emerged as his first level 9 battle pet, and Cao Fengqi prepared to continue toward the Fate Witch Grand Church.

• Director Xu and General Chen praised Cao Fengqi's talent and discussed bringing him and the Spark Guild over to their side.
• Cao Fengqi collected a level 9 forging table and metal materials, then entered the Lost Land and headed toward the Fate Witch Grand Church.
• At the Great Fog Forest, Cao Fengqi found his territory undisturbed and took the Dream-Eyed Butterfly to the Gu-Fusing Altar.
• Cao Fengqi placed the level 7 Dream-Eyed Butterfly in the altar with the Ruin Demon's corpse and rested while it underwent eight hours of nurturing.
• The Dream-Eyed Butterfly emerged as a level 9 Aberrant Witch Worm with powerful new talents and skills, becoming Cao Fengqi's first level 9 battle pet.

Cao Fengqi raised his Fangelanya Demons to the level 8 constitution limit, then took his upgraded war pets to the Fate Witch Grand Church. There, the level 9 Dream-Eyed Butterfly attacked a group of Three-Eyed Crows and Bloody Scarecrows with its Nightmare Domain, leaving Cao Fengqi amazed by its power.

• Cao Fengqi fused Radiant Obsidian Gold with a Fangelanya Demon, raising its constitution to 3800 but not advancing it to level 9.
• Cao Fengqi concluded that breaking the level 8 limit would require level 9 metal, a level 9 soul, or another level 9 catalyst, then brought a second Fangelanya Demon to the same limit.
• Cao Fengqi went to the Fate Witch Grand Church with the Dream-Eyed Butterfly and his war pets, and the butterfly detected ten Three-Eyed Crows and thirty-two Bloody Scarecrows.
• Cao Fengqi told the Dream-Eyed Butterfly that Bloody Scarecrows were vulnerable to fire and lightning, and it gathered those elements to attack all thirty-two at once.
• The Dream-Eyed Butterfly's Nightmare Domain caused the Three-Eyed Crows' spells to veer away from the Bloody Scarecrows, astonishing Cao Fengqi.

Cao Fengqi examined the Three-Eyed Crows and Bloody Scarecrows he had defeated, weighing which battle pets to contract because his available slots were limited. He decided to prioritize raising his Beast Shepherd Sequence, then began contracting four Three-Eyed Crows and the Bloody Scarecrows.

• Cao Fengqi used the Dream-Eyed Butterfly to suppress ten Three-Eyed Crows and preserve five Bloody Scarecrows.
• Cao Fengqi inspected a Three-Eyed Crow and found it had powerful skills and 3,099 Spirit.
• Cao Fengqi inspected a Bloody Scarecrow and saw its strong abilities, along with its vulnerability to fire and lightning.
• Cao Fengqi decided to put five Three-Eyed Crows under Mirage Sleep until he reached the Beast Shepherd's Fourth Sequence.
• Cao Fengqi chose to raise his Beast Shepherd Sequence before his Artifact Refiner Sequence and began contracting four Three-Eyed Crows and the Bloody Scarecrows.

Cao Fengqi discovered a level 9 Dawn Spirit Field Disk and its valuable crops in the Fate Witch Grand Church’s abandoned cultivation grounds. As he headed toward another treasure, his resource cheat detected numerous powerful moving resources nearby, possibly Blade Angels.

• Cao Fengqi considered whether the corpses of the Bloody Scarecrows could be used to fuse a level 9 Bloody Scarecrow, then set out to collect nearby resources.
• Cao Fengqi found a Dawn Spirit Field Disk compartment containing Star Rice Trees and realized their annual harvest could feed hundreds of people.
• Cao Fengqi examined the disk’s other compartments and found Golden-Patterned Peach Trees, Moonheart Fruit Trees, and Starspirit Leaves.
• Cao Fengqi collected the level 9 Dawn Spirit Field Disk, which could unfold across 1,000 square meters.
• Cao Fengqi’s resource cheat detected many moving level 8 and level 9 resources, leading him to suspect Blade Angels were nearby.

Cao Fengqi found and fused a level 9 Prison Eye, then upgraded his Bloody Scarecrow to level 9 using the remaining corpses. He tested its mining speed and realized it could harvest enough Radiant Obsidian Gold to strengthen the Cao Family's Transcendent Shelter.

• Cao Fengqi avoided five level 9 Blade Angels and found a level 9 Prison Eye that could trap a target in a one-on-one domain.
• Cao Fengqi fused the Prison Eye into his forehead and brought twenty-seven level 8 Bloody Scarecrow corpses to the Gu-Fusing Altar.
• After six hours, the Bloody Scarecrow emerged at level 9 with greatly increased attributes and two new skills.
• Cao Fengqi decided to test whether the Bloody Scarecrow could mine Radiant Obsidian Gold faster than he could.
• The Bloody Scarecrow mined 110 jin of level 8 Radiant Obsidian Gold in two minutes, leading Cao Fengqi to estimate it could harvest ten tons a day.

Cao Fengqi used his level 9 Bloody Scarecrow to mine Radiant Obsidian Gold Ore, then forged a Perfect-grade level 8 shell to advance his lieutenant-general task. He learned Tianbei Base City would migrate in twenty days and that its exchange meeting had been moved up to ten days away, and he ended the chapter considering the greater challenge of developing a level 9 shell.

• Cao Fengqi returned to the Lost Land after resting and found the Bloody Scarecrow had mined 30,000 jin of Radiant Obsidian Gold Ore.
• Cao Fengqi brought fruit home and learned from Cao Jiancheng that Tianbei Base City would migrate to the Fifth Land of Shelter in twenty days and hold its exchange meeting in ten days.
• Cao Fengqi returned to the mine and experimented with level 6 and level 7 metals to improve his level 8 shell design.
• Cao Fengqi succeeded after more than thirty failed attempts and forged a Perfect-grade level 8 shell with lightning paralysis and armor-piercing effects.
• Cao Fengqi judged his lieutenant-general task easy but recognized that limited supplies of level 8 metals would make developing a level 9 shell difficult.