Chapter Summaries

Yi Xuan searched the Artifact Sect's great hall for clues about the ancient sect's disappearance, but conventional scans showed nothing unusual. An ornithopter's Spiritual Qi detection revealed that the hall itself was likely the Artifact Ruins' greatest Law Artifact, leaving Yi Xuan to investigate its hidden nature.

• Yi Xuan wondered why the Artifact Sect of High Antiquity had vanished without leaving traces of its disciples' lives.
• Yan Siruo offered to give Yi Xuan a fortuitous opportunity, but Qu Ling explained that Yi Xuan had already obtained more Law Artifacts than the others combined.
• Yi Xuan piloted the Pangu into the great hall and used its sensors to scan the apparently empty space.
• Butler reported that ornithopters had detected something unusual while scanning the hall for Spiritual Qi.
• Yi Xuan saw that the hall blended into its surroundings in the Spiritual Qi image, revealing that its Spiritual Qi concentration matched the environment and suggesting the hall itself was a Law Artifact.

Yi Xuan weighed the dangers of entering the Artifact Sect's main hall against the rare chance to investigate it, then chose to take the risk. He reached the hall in the damaged Firmament and set up hidden defenses and a holographic disguise in a side room.

• Butler advised Yi Xuan not to enter the hall, warning that the Firmament was damaged and that his True Qi was too weak to refine the enormous Law Artifact in time.
• Yi Xuan decided to go despite the risks, and Butler brought the Firmament to collect him.
• Yi Xuan flew the Little Eagle from the stealthy Firmament and landed unnoticed near the Artifact Sect's main hall.
• Yi Xuan entered the hall, then chose a side room and installed sensing equipment, combat robots, Gatlings, and Spiritual Qi bombs.
• Yi Xuan used a holographic device to disguise the side room's entrance as part of the surrounding wall.

Yi Xuan refined the Artifact Sect's great hall, but as the Artifact Ruins neared its closing time, the hall suddenly drew in his True Qi and completed the process. The hall became his just as the ruins' entrance reopened.

• Yi Xuan concealed the side chamber and began refining the Artifact Sect's great hall, finding that the process went unusually smoothly.
• After five days, Butler calculated that the Artifact Ruins might close in about two hours, while Yi Xuan had refined only half of the hall.
• When Yi Xuan tried to stop, the hall began drawing huge amounts of True Qi from him, and the black hole in his Dantian released its reserves to keep up.
• Yi Xuan completed the refinement in less than two hours, making the Artifact Sect's great hall his but leaving the black hole empty.
• A rumble sounded as the entrance to the Artifact Ruins opened again, signaling that the ruins were nearing their closing time.

After the Artifact Ruins finally opened, the surviving disciples exposed the Gazing Immortal Sect’s plot to slaughter the other sects and claim the ruins. Yi Xuan emerged with the Artifact Sect’s main hall, and the enraged sects prepared to move against the Gazing Immortal Sect as he contacted Cui Yan.

• After more than twenty days, the Artifact Ruins opened, and disciples from the various sects emerged, with the Azure Cloud Sect led by Yi Xuan coming out last.
• Once the other sects had left, Yi Xuan took the Artifact Sect’s main hall and shrank it into a ring on his hand.
• The returning disciples blamed the Gazing Immortal Sect, and Elder Liu led his people away without answering the other elders’ questions.
• The disciples told their elders that the Gazing Immortal Sect had tried to eliminate the other sects and seize the Artifact Ruins, prompting the elders to plan a united attack.
• Qu Ling urged Yi Xuan to alert the Azure Cloud Sect’s leaders, and Yi Xuan contacted sect master Cui Yan through his wristband.

Yi Xuan warned Cui Yan that the Gazing Immortal Sect was doomed after offending the Southern Frontier’s sects at the Artifact Ruins, prompting Azure Cloud Sect to mobilize against it. After returning safely and resting, Yi Xuan explored the great hall he had acquired and discovered a chamber with a mysterious warning not to cultivate.

• Yi Xuan contacted Cui Yan through their bracelets and urged him to convene the sect’s senior members to discuss the destruction of the Gazing Immortal Sect.
• Cui Yan gathered Azure Cloud Sect’s leaders, and Grand Elder Xiao led elders to the Gazing Immortal Sect while Yi Xuan and the nine disciples returned home.
• Cui Yan welcomed Yi Xuan and the disciples back safely and told them to rest until Grand Elder Xiao returned.
• Yi Xuan slept for a day and night, then traveled to No. 2 Base and summoned the great hall he had obtained in the Artifact Ruins.
• Yi Xuan entered a hidden chamber inside the hall and found an unknown weapon hilt and the words, “Don’t cultivate! Don’t cultivate! Don’t cultivate!”

Yi Xuan investigated the Artifact Sect's great hall, found a mysterious weapon and a warning against cultivation, and decided to turn the hall into a portable research base. After returning to No. 1 Base to copy its equipment and redesign damaged machines, he learned that his venerable master had returned and wanted to see him.

• Yi Xuan found twelve warning characters and a strange weapon in the Artifact Sect's great hall, but could not identify or refine the weapon.
• Yi Xuan returned to No. 2 Base and decided to replicate No. 1 Base's equipment inside the great hall.
• Yi Xuan checked on Shi Zhenghao, who had remained in his cave, and told Zhuo Ning to stop watching him so closely.
• Yi Xuan returned to No. 1 Base and set the Pangu robots to work copying its equipment while he planned upgrades to the Black Tortoise and laser emitter.
• Ten days later, Liang Shi told Yi Xuan that his venerable master had returned and summoned him, so Yi Xuan went to the sect's mountain.

The Azure Cloud Sect received a large share of the spoils after the Southern Frontier's sects destroyed the Gazing Immortal Sect, and Yi Xuan learned that his role in stopping its plot had earned him a province. He wondered whether the province could be useful, while Xiao Anhe offered to let him merge it into the sect's newly acquired mortal kingdom.

• Xiao Anhe announced that the Gazing Immortal Sect had been destroyed and credited Yi Xuan with helping foil its plot in the Artifact Ruins.
• Xiao Anhe explained that the Azure Cloud Sect had gained cultivation resources, two Spirit Stone mines, and a mortal kingdom from the division of the Gazing Immortal Sect's spoils.
• Xiao Anhe told Yi Xuan that the major sects had granted him a province as thanks for his actions.
• Cui Yan explained that the province was ordinary mortal territory taken from the Gazing Immortal Sect's former kingdom, not a Spirit Stone mine.
• Xiao Anhe offered to let Yi Xuan merge the province into the Azure Cloud Sect's new kingdom and said Yi Xuan and nine other disciples could keep their Artifact Ruins gains.

Yi Xuan claimed Xiong Province so he could develop technology among its population, while deciding to proceed cautiously to avoid provoking powerful cultivators. He went to No. 2 Base and called out to Old Zhuo near Shi Zhenghao’s cave.

• Xiao Anhe proposed that the sect manage Xiong Province while giving Yi Xuan its annual tribute, but Yi Xuan asked to manage the province himself.
• Xiao Anhe mistakenly assumed Yi Xuan was planning for his descendants and formally granted Xiong Province to him in the sect rules.
• Yi Xuan left the hall and headed by subway to No. 2 Base, considering the dangers of spreading technology in the cultivation world.
• Yi Xuan decided to develop technology in Xiong Province gradually, wary that cultivators might eliminate him if they saw technology as a threat.
• Yi Xuan ran toward Shi Zhenghao’s seclusion cave and shouted to Old Zhuo, asking if he wanted a wife.

Yi Xuan persuaded Zhuo Ning to govern Xiong Province by promising him a dedicated Martial Dao deduction system and a Black Tortoise. He declared the province the Xia Kingdom, made Zhuo Ning its founding emperor, and left him stunned by how quickly he had ascended the throne.

• Yi Xuan startled Zhuo Ning by asking whether he wanted many spouses, then explained he wanted Zhuo Ning to become an emperor.
• Yi Xuan told Zhuo Ning how he had acquired Xiong Province, and Zhuo Ning worried that ruling it would interfere with his martial arts cultivation.
• Yi Xuan offered to arrange a Primordial artificial intelligence for Zhuo Ning's martial arts deductions, and Zhuo Ning accepted the post after Yi Xuan promised him a Black Tortoise.
• Yi Xuan declared Xiong Province the Xia Kingdom, handed Zhuo Ning a steel imperial seal, and named him its founding emperor.
• Zhuo Ning wondered if his ascension had happened too quickly, and Yi Xuan confirmed that he had just become emperor before leaving.

Yi Xuan began building three railway tunnels between the Azure Cloud Sect and the Xia Kingdom to ensure reliable transport for his plans to develop the region. He visited Fatty Lin for construction materials and learned that someone had made counterfeit air conditioners.

• Yi Xuan ordered No. 01 to build all three proposed railway routes after deciding that a single line would leave transportation vulnerable to attack.
• No. 01 started construction, and the project quickly consumed materials from Yi Xuan's warehouse.
• Yi Xuan went to Fatty Lin's residence to discuss the materials needed for the railway project.
• Fatty Lin told Yi Xuan that counterfeit air conditioners threatened their air conditioner business.
• Yi Xuan reacted with disbelief that someone had copied his air conditioners.

Yi Xuan investigated why Fatty Lin’s air-conditioning business had collapsed after a cheap metal knockoff took most of the market. He promised Fatty Lin another business opportunity and asked him what kind of people were most numerous in the world.

• Fatty Lin told Yi Xuan that a cheaper, crude metal air conditioner had driven his market share below twenty percent.
• Yi Xuan cut open the knockoff with his lightsaber and found that it worked on the same principle as his air conditioner, though less smoothly and with fewer settings.
• Yi Xuan explained that the knockoff’s lower price had attracted ordinary customers who could afford his product but preferred a cheaper option.
• Fatty Lin pleaded with Yi Xuan to save the business and hinted that he still wanted to join the grenade venture.
• Yi Xuan told Fatty Lin he had another profitable deal for him if he answered what kind of people were most numerous in the world.

Yi Xuan proposed targeting the world’s many farmers with an inexpensive farming machine called a “donkey killer,” rather than focusing on high-profit products for wealthy customers. He told Fatty Lin they would give the machines away, but the chapter ended before he explained how they would profit.

• Yi Xuan pointed out that their earlier business strategy had gone wrong by neglecting ordinary people who could not afford expensive products.
• Fatty Lin realized cheap, high-quality fans had resisted knockoffs better than their costly air conditioners.
• Yi Xuan showed Fatty Lin a farming machine that could till soil, make ridges, and sow seeds without draft animals.
• Fatty Lin worried tenant farmers would not be able to afford the machine, and Yi Xuan said they would give it away.

Yi Xuan explained that the donkey enrager ran on diesel rather than Spirit Stones and proposed giving Fatty Lin the machinery and technology to build a lucrative petroleum business. They agreed that Fatty Lin would run the business and help develop the Xia Kingdom, while Yi Xuan took a share of the profits.

• Yi Xuan argued that the donkey enrager was only bait because its mechanical design could eventually be copied.
• Yi Xuan revealed that diesel powered the donkey enrager and explained that it came from petroleum.
• Yi Xuan told Fatty Lin that selling petroleum could earn more than the grenade business, and offered him ten percent of the profits.
• Yi Xuan agreed to hand Fatty Lin the petroleum extraction and refining equipment and technology, while staying out of production and sales.
• Yi Xuan asked Fatty Lin to send merchant caravans to develop the Xia Kingdom and establish its oil industry; Fatty Lin also promised to supply materials for the subway.
• Yi Xuan and Fatty Lin settled their plans and drank together at the Lin residence that night.

Yi Xuan completed the upgraded Black Tortoise No. 2 mechs and tested their basic functions and combat performance. They withstood a powerful collision without damage and demonstrated sharp saber techniques.

• Yi Xuan finished two four-meter-tall Black Tortoise No. 2 mechs after upgrading them to address the original model’s failure against Qi Yun.
• No. 01 and No. 07 supervised the mechs’ first startup and basic inspection, which they passed with smoother movement thanks to flexible metal in their joints.
• Yi Xuan stored the mechs in the Artifact Sect’s great hall ring while robots and construction machinery built his portable research center inside its folded space.
• Yi Xuan took one mech into the valley and set the other under its artificial intelligence’s control for combat tests.
• The two mechs collided with only paint scuffs, then fought with two-meter sabers using martial arts data Yi Xuan had loaded into their computers.

Yi Xuan tested the upgraded Black Tortoise No. 2, comparing its new energy shield against a laser emitter capable of killing a Nascent Soul expert. The shield held, and Yi Xuan concluded that the mech could now contend with a Nascent Soul Realm expert.

• Yi Xuan watched two identical Black Tortoise No. 2 mechs fight for over ten minutes without either damaging the other.
• Yi Xuan activated the upgraded energy shield, which offered about three times the defense and stored up to a hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Yi Xuan had the opposing mech fire its new arm-mounted laser emitter, powered by a one-percent-size High-Grade Spirit Stone, at his shield.
• The shield blocked the laser until the emitter ran out of energy, though the test consumed a hundred Mid-Grade Spirit Stones.
• Yi Xuan declared that the upgraded mech could contend with a Nascent Soul Realm expert and shouted, "Who else?!"

Yi Xuan supplied Zhuo Ning with a mechanical army and the Black Tortoise No. 2, allowing Zhuo Ning to conquer the Xia Kingdom and restore order. With Fatty Lin’s caravan and a new petroleum industry established, the kingdom’s economy began to recover.

• Zhuo Ning investigated the Xia Kingdom’s factions and presented Yi Xuan with three plans to bring the chaotic kingdom under control.
• Yi Xuan chose force and sent Zhuo Ning nearly ten thousand Nüwa units, five hundred Pangu units, and the Black Tortoise No. 2.
• Zhuo Ning used the mechanical army to destroy the major factions and take control of the Xia Kingdom in less than a month.
• Zhuo Ning restored the government, and the people saw city administration, production, and trade begin to recover.
• Fatty Lin’s caravan arrived, and Yi Xuan’s machines established the Xia Kingdom’s petroleum processing industry.
• After the first oil was extracted, Fatty Lin’s Donkey-Killer began to be distributed across the kingdom.

After the Donkey-Killer went unclaimed at first, Old Man Liu and his son tried one and showed the villagers how efficiently it could plow, making the machine a farming necessity across the Xia Kingdom. As Fatty Lin profited from rising diesel sales, Yi Xuan expanded the kingdom’s infrastructure and opened vocational schools to train young people in practical skills.

• On the first day, nobody took a free Donkey-Killer, but Yi Xuan and Fatty Lin stayed confident that people would come to understand its use.
• After plague killed his livestock, Old Man Liu took a free Donkey-Killer and diesel barrel, then used the machine to plow his fields quickly through the night.
• Old Man Liu's neighbors watched him work and, after his son explained where the machine came from, hurried to the city to claim Donkey-Killers of their own.
• News of the machine spread through the villages, and within a month farmers across the Xia Kingdom considered it essential; rising diesel sales soon covered Fatty Lin's giveaway losses.
• Yi Xuan began planning city infrastructure, including roads, sewage systems, and streetlights, while opening vocational schools for children aged fourteen to eighteen.

Yi Xuan brought Liang Shi to the Xia Kingdom's imperial city to make him take a break from his research into Demon Beast cloning. After witnessing a street fight and recognizing one of the fighters, Yi Xuan decided to visit the law enforcement team.

• Yi Xuan explained that Liang Shi needed to balance his research with rest, and Liang Shi apologized for becoming too absorbed in his experiments.
• Yi Xuan praised Liang Shi for reaching the Twelfth Level of the Qi Refining Realm and reminded him that, unlike Yi Xuan, he had a chance to pursue cultivation and extend his lifespan.
• Liang Shi asked whether Spirit Roots might be connected to genes, and Yi Xuan encouraged him to investigate the possibility of helping Yi Xuan overcome being a Rootless Person.
• Two martial artists fought in the street until the Xia Kingdom's law enforcement team subdued them and took them away.
• Yi Xuan said that one of the fighters looked familiar and decided to visit the law enforcement team with Liang Shi.

Qian Lei recounted the destruction of the Gazing Immortal Sect, his flight from the Southern Frontier, and how he and the surviving disciples ended up serving in the Xia Kingdom’s law enforcement team. After his shift, he came face-to-face with Yi Xuan, who asked whether he remembered him.

• After the Southern Frontier sects attacked the Gazing Immortal Sect, Qian Lei’s master took his own life, and Qian Lei fled as the sect fell.
• Wanted by the sects that had conquered their home, Qian Lei and other surviving disciples hid across the Southern Frontier before deciding to seek refuge in Xiong Province.
• Qian Lei recognized the Black Tortoise No. 2 when Zhuo Ning’s mechanical army stopped the group at the entrance to the Xia Kingdom, so he ordered the disciples to surrender.
• Yi Xuan advised Zhuo Ning to release compliant cultivators and establish city law enforcement teams, and Qian Lei and the other disciples joined the imperial city team.
• After finishing his shift as a squad captain, Qian Lei met Yi Xuan, who asked, “Do you remember me?”

Yi Xuan reunited with Qian Lei, whose calmness surprised him despite Yi Xuan’s role in the Gazing Immortal Sect’s destruction. After explaining that he no longer blamed Yi Xuan and saw his former sect leader’s ambition as the true cause, Qian Lei asked how Yi Xuan planned to deal with him, and Yi Xuan said his perspective was too narrow.

• Yi Xuan met Qian Lei and accepted his invitation to eat at a restaurant, while Liang Shi struggled to understand how the two could be friendly despite being enemies.
• Qian Lei ordered food and wine, then told Yi Xuan and Liang Shi about his hardships over the past half year.
• Liang Shi tensed and reached for the Black Tortoise No. 2 mecha in his Storage Bag as Qian Lei recounted the Gazing Immortal Sect’s destruction.
• Qian Lei told Liang Shi that he no longer hated Yi Xuan and blamed his former sect leader’s ambition for the sect’s downfall.
• Qian Lei asked how Yi Xuan planned to deal with him, and Yi Xuan replied that Qian Lei’s perspective was too narrow.