Chapter Summaries

Yi Xuan and Venerable Yuan searched the Immortal Court’s asteroid-belt ruins but found nothing until Yi Xuan switched the Dawn’s sensors to quantum mode. They discovered countless hidden souls wailing in agony, leaving them to confront the mystery of why the souls had been undetectable.

• Venerable Yuan thanked No. 01 for comforting him and agreed with Yi Xuan to investigate the destruction of the Immortal Court.
• Yi Xuan used the Dawn’s reconnaissance craft to survey the asteroid belt, but they found only Immortal Script and no signs of energy, life, or signals.
• As Yi Xuan prepared to leave, he noticed the character for “soul” on the display and ordered No. 01 to switch the survey system to quantum mode.
• The quantum scan revealed dense blue points throughout the asteroid belt, and Yi Xuan’s Divine Sense surged outside the Dawn as he sensed them.
• Yi Xuan told Venerable Yuan to send out a small portion of his Divine Sense at the same frequency, allowing Venerable Yuan to hear the souls’ agonized wails.

Yi Xuan and Venerable Yuan discovered that the wailing souls in the planetary belt vanished whenever they were taken beyond its boundary, leaving them unable to investigate the Immortal Court’s collapse. After returning to the Mother Planet, Yi Xuan found its reconstruction had turned it into a gigantic steel sphere that he planned to develop into a space fortress, though humanity could no longer cultivate there.

• Yi Xuan and Venerable Yuan captured a wailing soul, but neither cultivation techniques nor immortal methods could make it respond or manifest.
• After the Dawn left the asteroid belt, the captured soul and the other surrounding souls disappeared, so Yi Xuan returned to the belt to test his theory.
• Yi Xuan and Venerable Yuan captured another soul, which vanished as soon as the Dawn crossed beyond the belt, confirming that the souls could not leave it.
• Yi Xuan ordered the Dawn back to the Mother Planet, and the round trip took half a year.
• Yi Xuan found that the Evil Corpse had overseen the Mother Planet’s reconstruction into a gigantic steel sphere and decided to turn it into a planetary-scale space fortress.
• Yi Xuan’s plan would provide humanity with a fortified base, but the transformation meant they could no longer cultivate.

After returning to the Mother Planet, Yi Xuan began awakening researchers and settling them into the space fortress, where they studied the technology accumulated over fifty thousand years. He also shared what he and Venerable Yuan had seen in the asteroid belt with a group of immortals, and one of them recognized something there as a formation.

• The Evil Corpse finished protecting the Mother Planet’s surface and building the first living area before Yi Xuan and Venerable Yuan arrived.
• Yi Xuan awakened the first group, mostly researchers, and arranged cultivation or life-extending genetic drugs for those who needed them.
• After their recovery, the researchers entered living area No. 1 and studied fifty thousand years of technological knowledge in virtual space.
• Yi Xuan added his and Venerable Yuan’s observations of the asteroid belt to virtual space for the researchers to examine.
• Yi Xuan told the hundred or so immortals that the Immortal Court had fallen, then described the asteroid belt to them.
• One immortal recognized something in the asteroid belt as a formation.

Elder Hai discovered that the asteroid belt contained a vast formation that revealed more than ten thousand related formations as it rotated. Yi Xuan sent a research team to investigate it while remaining on the Mother Planet to strengthen himself against the unknown being who created it.

• Elder Hai told Yi Xuan that the planetary belt was a formation, and Yi Xuan trusted his judgment because of his scientific rigor.
• Elder Hai carefully adjusted the projection until Yi Xuan and Supreme Elder Li could see a grand formation within the asteroid belt.
• Elder Hai rotated the projection, revealing more than ten thousand distinct formations that could operate independently or together.
• Yi Xuan ordered No. 01 to send Chen Jiaping, Elder Hai, and Venerable Yuan to the asteroid belt to analyze the formations.
• Yi Xuan stayed on the Mother Planet and focused on improving his strength because he feared the being who had created the formation.

After fifty years, humanity had settled into life aboard the transformed Mother Planet, but the loss of Spiritual Qi left people unable to cultivate and worried about their lifespans. Yi Xuan’s Good Corpse asked Venerable Yuan how immortals’ descendants cultivated in the Immortal Realm and learned they used Immortal Qi directly.

• The Mother Planet completed its transformation into a space fortress, and humans from the secret realms moved into its residential districts.
• Yi Xuan failed to find a way to create Spiritual Qi, while probes sent to search for a planet suitable for cultivation found none.
• Yi Xuan’s Good Corpse met Venerable Yuan and explained that Yi Xuan’s original self had grown worse and withdrawn from public life to focus on research.
• Yi Xuan asked Venerable Yuan how immortals’ descendants cultivated when born in the Immortal Realm.
• Venerable Yuan told Yi Xuan that those descendants cultivated in the Immortal Realm using Immortal Qi instead of Spiritual Qi.

Yi Xuan learned that the formation trapping souls in the asteroid belt gathered and refined their soul power, while the team could analyze but not reproduce it. He proposed rescuing the souls by uploading them as digital life, and revealed a quantum biological computer that might host them all.

• Venerable Yuan told Yi Xuan he did not know the cultivation method used by second-generation immortals, but Yi Xuan decided it gave him another path to pursue.
• Chen Jiaping and Elder Hai reported that they had finished analyzing the formation but could not break, imitate, or reproduce it.
• Yi Xuan read their analysis and learned that the formation gathered souls, drained their soul power, and sent it into an unknown void.
• Chen Jiaping and Elder Hai agreed that the souls might be rescued as digital life, though hosting over ten billion lives would require powerful hardware.
• Yi Xuan showed Chen Jiaping and Elder Hai a quantum biological computer that he believed could meet their needs.

Yi Xuan began converting souls into digital lives using Adam and a biological quantum computer, after learning that souls were contradictory forms of nonsteady-state matter. The conversion proceeded without disturbing the grand formation, and Yi Xuan returned to the Mother Planet while Chen Jiaping and the others monitored the ongoing process.

• Yi Xuan learned from the Book of Technology that souls had traits described by several scientific theories, yet were nonsteady-state matter that could not control the dimensions, time, and space they involved.
• After a year of refinement, the biological quantum computer was ready to support more than ten billion digital lives, so Yi Xuan and the research team deployed it in the asteroid belt.
• Chen Jiaping and Elder Hai finished placing the grand formation under surveillance, and Yi Xuan ordered Adam to begin converting souls into digital lives for the Garden of Eden.
• Yi Xuan checked with Chen Jiaping and learned that the soul power showed no fluctuations during the conversion.
• After staying for three days, Yi Xuan returned to the Mother Planet while Chen Jiaping and the others continued monitoring the conversion and studying the grand formation.

Zhang Yang recounted his rise from a shepherd boy with a Ninth-Grade Spirit Root to commander of the Immortal Emperor’s personal guard, then described the Golden Crow’s attack and the Demon Race’s conquest. As his consciousness faded, more than ten billion captured humans were being sacrificed to revive the Golden Crow.

• Zhang Yang was chosen by an immortal sect as a child, discovered to have a Ninth-Grade Spirit Root, and rose to Late Tribulation Transcendence before ascending.
• In the Immortal Realm, Zhang Yang tested with a Seventh-Grade Immortal Root, joined the Immortal Army, and became commander of the Immortal Emperor’s personal guard.
• A great sun appeared above the Immortal Court, and the Immortal Emperor ordered Zhang Yang to get away before fighting the Three-Legged Golden Crow.
• The Immortal Emperor fought the Golden Crow for a year, then self-destructed to destroy its physical body, while the Demon Race army surrounded the Immortal Court.
• The Demon Race defeated the humans, captured more than ten billion people, and sacrificed them in a True Yang Nirvana Grand Array to resurrect the Golden Crow.
• Zhang Yang’s consciousness faded as the butcher’s blade fell.

Zhang Yang recounted how his lifelong dream led him to study mythology, then recognized the dream’s giant and three-legged bird on an ancient mural. A familiar voice urged him to flee, and Zhang Yang answered as a subordinate before his surroundings disappeared and Doctor Bai appeared.

• Zhang Yang described his recurring childhood dream of a golden-armored giant fighting a three-legged monstrous bird and said Doctor Bai was the first psychologist who took it seriously.
• Doctor Bai told Zhang Yang to pursue his curiosity but never forget who he was, prompting Zhang Yang to study mythology.
• Zhang Yang became a world-renowned mythology expert over thirty years but found no explanation for his dream.
• Zhang Yang read unknown writing on an archaeological mural, which described the Demon Race’s invasion, the Immortal Court’s destruction, the Immortal Emperor’s death, and the Golden Crow’s nirvana.
• Zhang Yang recognized the mural’s giant and bird from his dream, heard a voice tell him to hide, and cried, "Your subordinate obeys!"
• The world around Zhang Yang vanished, and Doctor Bai appeared before him.

Zhang Yang recovered memories of his past life as an Immortal Emperor’s guard and learned from Adam that he had been reborn as a digital life-form in a world created for him. After Adam implanted more memories, he sent Zhang Yang through a black hole to continue his journey.

• Zhang Yang’s sealed memories returned as he relived his current life and his past life as the commander of the Personal Guard Camp under the Immortal Emperor of the Ziwei Domain.
• Zhang Yang cried out to warn the giant he recognized as the Immortal Emperor before fainting.
• Zhang Yang woke in Doctor Bai’s office, identified himself to Adam, and learned that Adam administered a world Heavenly Father had created for him.
• Adam implanted memories into Zhang Yang, who learned that he had died and been reborn as a digital life-form.
• Adam declared Zhang Yang’s activation complete and sent him through a black hole.

After emerging from the black hole, Zhang Yang met another Adam, who explained the virtual world and answered his questions. Yi Xuan learned from Zhang Yang’s memories about the sleeping Three-Legged Golden Crow and reconsidered fleeing the Ziwei Domain, choosing to meet Zhang Yang in the Inner World instead.

• Zhang Yang emerged from the darkness and met an Adam who explained that he and the other Adams were separate clones of the real Adam.
• Adam told Zhang Yang that the virtual world had an Outer World where digital lifeforms recovered their memories and an Inner World where they could live indefinitely.
• Adam explained that Yi Xuan valued the memories of billions of digital lifeforms, many of whom had been immortals, as an immense source of knowledge.
• Yi Xuan learned that the Demon Race had forged the supergiant star to nurture the Three-Legged Golden Crow, which remained asleep in the True Yang Nirvana Grand Array.
• Yi Xuan considered restarting the Bullet Plan to take the Mother Planet out of the Ziwei Domain, but Zhang Yang’s memories made him postpone it.
• Yi Xuan entered the Inner World to meet Zhang Yang.

Yi Xuan told Zhang Yang about the Inner World and asked for his advice on the Demon Race and whether to leave or stay. After studying the True Yang Nirvana Grand Array, Zhang Yang warned that two more planetary belts surrounded its core and urged Yi Xuan to destroy them.

• Yi Xuan visited Zhang Yang after he began cultivating in the Inner World and introduced himself as Heavenly Father.
• Yi Xuan sent Zhang Yang information about the Inner World, digital life, and the situation outside, then asked whether he should leave or stay.
• Zhang Yang asked how long it had been since the Immortal Court collapsed and examined a projection of the supermassive star at the array's core.
• Zhang Yang concluded that two more planetary belts surrounded the core and told Yi Xuan to destroy them to keep the Three-Legged Golden Crow asleep.

Yi Xuan considered fleeing the Ziwei Domain, but Zhang Yang warned that the Demon Race had turned it into a sealed breeding nest. The chapter ended with Zhang Yang revealing that escape might be possible when the grand array shut down.

• Yi Xuan rejected Zhang Yang's proposal to break the True Yang Nirvana Grand Array and decided to leave the Ziwei Domain instead.
• Zhang Yang agreed that leaving would normally be best, but warned that escaping under the current circumstances would mean certain death.
• Zhang Yang explained that the Demon Race converted conquered territories into nests where their young grew before joining the army.
• Yi Xuan realized the immature Heavenly Dog they had encountered was likely born in the Ziwei Domain and feared the nest held many more Demon Beasts.
• Zhang Yang explained that the Demon Race sealed nests with a grand array that attacked anything trying to pass through, then said they could leave when it was shut down.

Yi Xuan recognized that fear of the Demon Race and the Heavenly Dog had shaken his confidence in technology, and his original self helped him regain control. He left decisions to his original self, who began investigating the True Yang Nirvana Grand Array and the Three-Legged Golden Crow.

• Yi Xuan realized that fear had made him doubt technology and rely on Zhang Yang, despite the Bullet Plan’s success.
• Yi Xuan’s original self reminded him that the Heavenly Dog was the source of his fear, helping him recover his reason and resolve to defeat it with technology.
• Yi Xuan entrusted decisions to his original self, while the Good Corpse stayed with Zhang Yang to gather information about the Demon Race.
• Zhang Yang told the Good Corpse that three Soul Refining Grand Arrays held billions of Human Clan souls that nourished the Three-Legged Golden Crow.
• Yi Xuan’s original self began investigating the True Yang Nirvana Grand Array and planned to prevent the Three-Legged Golden Crow from being reborn.

Yi Xuan’s forces found and broke the two remaining Soul Refining Grand Arrays, severing the connection to the Three-Legged Golden Crow and restarting cultivation on the Mother Planet. The original body watched a departing light vanish into the universe while the Good Corpse remained puzzled by the Evil Corpse’s disappearance.

• Yi Xuan dispatched most of the spaceships to search for the other Soul Refining Grand Arrays, while the Dawn carried researchers to find a way to break them and the Good Corpse restarted the Dyson Sphere Project around the supergiant star.
• The spaceships found the first additional Soul Refining Grand Array after fifteen years and the second ten years later, then built space fortresses and connected them to the Mother Planet with quantum communications.
• The Good Corpse’s team built a sparse Dyson Swarm around the supergiant star, and Elder Hai and Chen Jiaping used knowledge from the Garden of Eden to devise a way to break the arrays.
• After the original body returned with Liang Shi, Chen Jiaping and Elder Hai severed the Soul Refining Grand Array’s connection to the Three-Legged Golden Crow, which cried out and fell silent.
• Yi Xuan uploaded Immortal Realm cultivation methods to the Cultivation Assistance System, and cultivation on the Mother Planet resumed.
• The Good Corpse wondered where the Evil Corpse had gone, while the original body watched a point of light speed away from the star domain map and disappear into the universe.

Yi Xuan used Unit-01, modified into a genuine member of the Demon Race, to search the universe for other demons but found none for fifty years. When Unit-01 was suddenly trapped in a giant monster’s jaws, Yi Xuan encountered a creature he recognized as Paoxiao.

• Yi Xuan explained that Unit-01 had been modified to produce genuine Yao Qi, allowing him to enter the Demon Race without being detected.
• Yi Xuan sent Unit-01 into the universe to contact the Demon Race and learn when the nest's grand array would shut down.
• After fifty years without finding demons or a habitable planet, Yi Xuan left Unit-01 to cultivate and returned his consciousness to the virtual space.
• Unit-01 warned Yi Xuan and stopped moving after a huge monster caught it in its mouth.
• Yi Xuan controlled Unit-01, roared, and recognized the monster with eyes beneath its armpits as Paoxiao.

Yi Xuan’s Evil Corpse encountered Taotie, who mistook Unit-01 for a lowly mixed-blood demon and threatened to eat him. After Yi Xuan’s true self sent the words “Human Clan,” he rushed after Taotie to ask what the term meant.

• Taotie inspected Unit-01, called him a mongrel, and lost interest in eating him after judging his bloodline impure.
• Yi Xuan told Taotie that he had no Bloodline Inheritance and did not know who his parents were.
• Taotie guessed that Yi Xuan’s parents were ashamed of his lowly bloodline, then ordered him to leave or be eaten.
• Yi Xuan sent word to his true self, who replied, “Human Clan!”
• Yi Xuan chased Taotie down and asked what the Human Clan was, explaining that he lacked the Bloodline Inheritance that might have taught him.

Yi Xuan used the Human Clan to draw Taotie into conversation, but Taotie carried him to a gathering of Demon Beasts awaiting the Three-Legged Golden Crow’s return. When Taotie led the demons toward a nearby star to feed, Yi Xuan discovered humans on its surface.

• Yi Xuan brought up the Human Clan, and Taotie clamped him in his jaws without biting down before taking Unit-01 through a space jump.
• Taotie arrived at a gathering of Demon Beasts, introduced Yi Xuan as a lowly demon, and announced that Lord Golden Crow would emerge from seclusion within at most a thousand years.
• Yi Xuan warned his true self that the demons might expose the Mother Planet, but his true self told him to follow the original plan.
• Taotie announced that the demons would fill their bellies before welcoming Lord Golden Crow, then led them toward a massive nearby star with Yi Xuan in his mouth.
• Yi Xuan used his Divine Sense to inspect the star and discovered humans living on its surface.

Yi Xuan watched Taotie attack the Human Clan across a strange star system and devour an entire city, while struggling to restrain the Evil Corpse’s urge to fight back. Taotie brought him to another city and urged him to eat as its people fled in panic.

• Taotie carried Yi Xuan toward a planet inhabited by the Human Clan and called the Demon Race to feast across the star system.
• Taotie arrived on the planet with Yi Xuan and used his suction to pull an entire city into the air.
• Taotie crushed the city and its inhabitants into a blood-red meatball, then swallowed it after chewing twenty-three times.
• Yi Xuan restrained the Evil Corpse’s urge to attack by drawing on his true self’s rationality, though killing intent poured from Unit-01.
• Taotie took Yi Xuan to another city, where its residents panicked and fought to escape as Taotie urged Yi Xuan to eat.

Yi Xuan watched Taotie devour the people of another city, then finally acted to stop him from chewing their remains. He threw the mass of flesh and blood out of Taotie's mouth, but Unit-01 disappeared between the demon's closing jaws.

• Taotie kicked Yi Xuan into the city and ordered him to gather people, so Yi Xuan tossed a dozen Human Clan members into Taotie's mouth.
• Taotie used his suction to lift the city's people into the air, compress them into a ball of flesh and blood, and swallow them.
• Yi Xuan endured his revulsion and anger because he needed to learn more about the Demon Race from Taotie.
• Yi Xuan shouted at Taotie to shut up, vanished into his mouth, and forced his jaws apart.
• Yi Xuan grabbed the half-chewed remains and threw them out, but Taotie bit down and Unit-01 disappeared into his mouth.