Chapter Summaries

Lu Qibin recalled how drought and corrupt relief efforts had devastated Lanke Village, where he, Li Ming, and Li Gong arrived while searching for Li Ming’s parents. Li Jiang learned his father had come looking for him and prepared to face him, entrusting his younger daughter Li Zhao to Edward and ordering their research destroyed.

• Lu Qibin explained that drought and officials’ embezzlement had left Lanke Village destitute despite the emperor’s relief order.
• Li Gong went to a nearby mountain, while Li Ming and Lu Qibin split up to search the village; Li Ming warned Lu Qibin to flee if her parents found him.
• Edward told Li Jiang that Li Gong and two young people had arrived, and Li Jiang realized his father was among them.
• Li Jiang and his wife entrusted their younger daughter, Li Zhao, to Edward and asked him to keep her away from sects and nobles.
• Li Jiang told Edward to burn their research results and said he would meet his father rather than leave him without an answer.

Li Gong killed Li Jiang and his wife after they refused to abandon the Earth as a Star Theory, then spared Edward and ordered him to guard their grave. Edward told Li Zhao that her parents would never return and gave her the fifty Gold Soul Coins they left behind.

• Li Zhao woke and asked Edward where her parents were, and he told her they had gone to the city for rice.
• Edward found Li Jiang and his wife dead beside Li Gong, who took their Storage Soul Tool and questioned him.
• Edward claimed to be Elder Xu Ming’s servant, and Li Gong spared him on condition that he bury the couple and remain in Lanke Village as their gravekeeper.
• Li Gong returned to Lu Qibin and Li Ming, then took Li Ming away from Lanke Village without letting her see her parents.
• Edward told Li Zhao that her parents had gone somewhere far away and would not return, then gave her their fifty Gold Soul Coins.
• Li Zhao broke down crying, and Edward offered to take her home and live with her.

After completing the Earth as a Star Theory, Li Yang gave Li Ming a star-based cultivation method, then recognized the danger of Lu Qibin and Li Gong discovering her identity. She destroyed her research and ordered Huo Xing to leave with the remaining backup, but he refused, and she pointed him toward Holy Soul Village.

• Li Yang celebrated completing the Earth as a Star Theory with Li Ming and Huo Xing, then gave Li Ming her unfinished star-based cultivation method.
• Li Gong and Lu Qibin arrived at the Adventurer's Guild, and Lu Qibin recognized Li Yang despite her denial.
• Li Yang hurried back to Chaoyang Village with Huo Xing, hid her research and cultivation method in a disguised metal ball, and burned her other materials.
• Li Yang burned Huo Xing's book to keep it from the Star Crown Sect, then told him to take the metal ball and leave.
• Huo Xing refused to leave Li Yang, so she warned him he would be safer alone and directed him north toward Holy Soul Village.

Li Yang sent Huo Xing away to preserve the metal ball, but he refused and stayed behind to buy her time. Li Gong and Lu Qibin tracked them to Chaoyang Village, where Huo Xing faced Li Gong and was crushed by his Soul Pressure; Lu Qibin then began to question what made people risk their lives for the Earth as a Star Theory.

• Li Yang urged Huo Xing to flee with the metal ball, but he returned it and ran toward the village outskirts to stall their pursuers.
• Li Gong sent Li Ming away on an errand, then took Lu Qibin to the Star Luo Adventurer's Guild, where they found no trace of Li Yang.
• Li Gong learned from the beggars Huo Xing had supported which way he had gone, and he and Lu Qibin tracked him to Chaoyang Village.
• Huo Xing stood at the village entrance and refused to let Li Gong pass, so Li Gong crushed him with Soul Pressure before continuing to search for Li Yang.
• Lu Qibin asked Huo Xing why he risked his life, and Huo Xing said the Earth as a Star Theory moved him; Lu Qibin wondered whether studying the stars was truly important.

Li Yang was captured by Star Crown Sect elders after a seven-day fight, while Elder Li Gong struggled with the revelation that she had survived and the sect was willing to bargain for her research. At ruined Lanke Village, Edward tried to comfort Li Zhao and offered to teach her three powerful skills.

• Lu Qibin brought the badly injured Huo Xing to the Star Crown Sect base, where Li Ming learned that Li Yang was still alive and had fled toward the Heaven Dou Empire.
• Four Soul Emperor-level elders, including Elder Li Gong, cornered Li Yang outside ruined Lanke Village and offered her a place in the sect in exchange for her Starry Sky Meditation Method.
• Li Yang surrendered after seven days of fighting because her exhausted body could not keep going, and the elders took her back to the Star Crown Sect.
• Elder Li Gong returned to the base devastated that Li Yang had survived and that the sect was willing to compromise for her research.
• Li Zhao found a necklace with a rust-covered metal ball and bloodstained Gold Soul Coins among the rubble, and Edward told her he would teach her three skills.

Edward taught Li Zhao lessons about self-belief, thinking, and conviction, while she decided that money might ease her unease. Meanwhile, Li Ming smuggled the injured Huo Xing out of Star Luo City and left him in Edward and Li Zhao’s care before fleeing herself.

• Edward taught Li Zhao three skills and said he would begin teaching her to read the next day.
• Li Zhao decided she needed to get lots of money to stop feeling uneasy.
• The Star Crown Sect Leader learned Li Ming had been in contact with Li Yang and secretly brought Li Ming back for interrogation while Li Yang remained imprisoned.
• Li Ming carried the recovering Huo Xing out of the sect compound and took him to Lanke Village, paying Edward and Li Zhao to shelter him.
• Li Ming left a letter in Huo Xing’s clothes and fled toward a nearby town rather than return to the sect.

After Li Ming was declared dead to keep Li Gong compliant, Lu Qibin returned to the Star Crown Sect and began working in its Hall of Punishment. Years later, he confronted Li Yang during her interrogation and resolved to save her, even if she was using him.

• The Star Crown Sect Leader told Li Gong that Li Ming had been killed, prompting Li Gong to leave the Hall of Punishment and recommend Lu Qibin for his former post.
• Lu Qibin promised Li Gong he would avenge Li Ming, but Li Gong urged him to focus on cultivation and blamed the Earth as a Star Theory for the tragedy.
• A Hall of Punishment elder subjected disciples to cruel interrogations, and Lu Qibin later discussed the sect’s punishments and Godhood Plan with Zhou Qing.
• Lu Qibin endured ridicule for his gentle methods until the sect leaders ordered him to interrogate Li Yang, expecting him to weaken her defenses.
• Li Yang barely recognized Lu Qibin, then declared she had changed after returning from the dead; Lu Qibin decided he would save her because he loved her.

Huo Xing recovered from his injuries and returned to Star Luo City, where Li Ming’s secret copies of his book were preserved through tattoos on fifty beggars. Lu Qibin then revealed that Huo Xing was killed ten years later by a Star Crown Sect disciple, leaving the story of his life at its final stage.

• Huo Xing woke in Lanke Village and read Li Ming’s letter, which urged him to avoid Li Yang, return to his hometown, and seek the backup of his book.
• After recovering, Huo Xing left Lanke Village for Star Luo City and earned money for paper and ink while saving Li Ming’s fifty Gold Soul Coins.
• Huo Xing visited the alley and discovered that fifty beggars had preserved his book by tattooing its pages on their scalps.
• Huo Xing paid the beggars to have the book transcribed and decided to add Li Ming’s deeds to it.
• Lu Qibin told Zhou Qing that Huo Xing was captured and killed by a Star Crown Sect disciple ten years later, just as he planned to publish his book.
• Zhou Qing said Li Yang had passed her feelings on to others but forgotten them herself, and Lu Qibin declared that this part of the past had reached its final stage.

Fifteen-year-old Li Zhao helped Lanke Village recover by organizing refugees and directing them to salvage goods, but she clashed with the village chief over how to divide the earnings. She left after admitting she felt uneasy, while the village chief offered her communal money.

• Li Zhao led a new group of refugees, including a mother and son surnamed Huo, into Lanke Village and found them shelter.
• Li Zhao organized the villagers to salvage cloth and clay jars for sale, avoiding metal to reduce the risk of violent conflicts and injuries.
• Li Zhao urged the village chief to recruit able-bodied refugees and later proposed rewarding scavengers according to their work.
• The village chief rejected performance-based shares, arguing that competition would undermine the village's unity and attract the attention of tax officials.
• The village chief offered Li Zhao Copper Soul Coins, but she said she was not short of money and felt uneasy before leaving.

Li Zhao considered how to replace Lanke Village’s old chief while Edward secretly visited her parents’ graves and encountered Lu Qibin and two Star Crown Sect disciples. To save himself, Edward agreed to deliver Li Zhao to them as a maidservant the next night.

• Li Zhao counted her hidden Soul Coins and considered installing Edward as village chief, but worried she lacked the courage and authority to challenge the old chief.
• Edward borrowed two Copper Soul Coins from Li Zhao, then drank alone beside the graves of Li Jiang and his wife and worried that Li Zhao might share their fate.
• Lu Qibin and two Star Crown Sect disciples found Edward at his liquor cave and suspected he was a spy.
• A disciple proposed sending a maidservant to the Star Crown Sect’s Young Sect Leader to build influence, and Lu Qibin tacitly agreed.
• Edward promised to bring Li Zhao to the cave at the same time the next day so the disciples would spare his life.

Li Zhao left Lanke Village with Edward and found a notebook hidden between her parents’ graves, then began considering what its plain account of a commoner’s life meant. Lu Qibin explained that Huo Xing’s writings had been hidden there and that he had come to the area searching for them.

• Li Zhao worried that she could not feel safe or prosper as an ordinary person without strength, and considered persuading Lanke Village’s chief to help her.
• Edward told Li Zhao he might not have many years left and took her out of Lanke Village at night to her parents’ burial mounds.
• After Edward disappeared into the woods, Li Zhao dug between the mounds and found an iron box containing a notebook.
• Li Zhao read the notebook’s account of a commoner’s life and began thinking about why her parents had left it for her.
• Lu Qibin told Zhou Qing that Huo Xing had hidden copies of his writings before the Star Crown Sect executed him, and that Lu Qibin had come to the area to search for them.
• Li Zhao realized that commoners feared Soul Masters and nobles and considered that ordinary people might need a distraction to ease their unease.

Li Zhao considered publishing a book to earn money, but her uncle Edward betrayed her and handed her over to Star Crown Sect disciples. Lu Qibin recognized the black-cloaked Soul Emperor as Li Ming, who revealed she had been attacking Star Crown Sect descendants to force the sect to abandon its plan to become gods.

• Li Zhao weighed the costs and potential market for publishing her book for common readers.
• Edward led Star Crown Sect disciples to Li Zhao and admitted he had sold her to secure his own survival.
• Lu Qibin and two Star Crown disciples prepared to fight three black-cloaked figures, including a Soul Emperor.
• Lu Qibin recognized the Soul Emperor as Li Ming, and she rejected his invitation to return to the sect.
• Li Ming revealed that she had attacked Star Crown Sect descendants because Huo Xing had been killed by sect disciples, and vowed to continue until the sect changed its plan to become gods.

Li Ming confronted Li Zhao after Lu Qibin backed down, then sought the notebook Li Zhao had memorized. Li Zhao followed Li Ming, who suspected she was her younger sister and learned their father was Li Jiang.

• Li Ming thanked Li Zhao for once entrusting Huo Xing to her and asked for Huo Xing's notebook.
• Li Zhao tore the notebook apart, scattered its pages over the cliff, and offered to trade her memorized account for a reward.
• Li Ming killed Edward after learning he had tried to sell Li Zhao, and warned Li Zhao that the Star Crown Sect would have tortured him.
• Li Zhao followed Li Ming and introduced herself as Li Zhao; she said Edward had been her late father's friend, not her real uncle.
• Li Zhao said her parents were buried on the cliff and named her father Li Jiang, prompting Li Ming to suspect Grandpa had been despondent since returning from Lanke Village.

After leaving Lanke Village, Li Zhao negotiated with Li Ming to publish the book she had memorized for profit, while imagining how education could give commoners more opportunities. Li Ming agreed to work with her but claimed nearly all the profits, and Li Zhao remained determined to make money.

• Li Zhao told Li Ming and her companion that she had no attachment to her former home and wanted to make a fortune.
• Li Ming explained that the book could trouble the Star Crown Sect and that she needed money to strike at it, then offered to work with Li Zhao.
• Li Zhao proposed several profit splits, but Li Ming insisted on taking ninety-nine percent and giving Li Zhao one percent.
• Li Zhao considered opening an academy to teach commoner children before their Martial Soul awakenings, seeing it as both useful and profitable.
• Li Zhao argued that commoners lacked strength and learning opportunities rather than intelligence, and Li Ming said she liked her dangerous ideas.

Lu Qibin recounted how the Star Crown Sect deceived Li Gong and drove him and Lu Qibin from the sect, leaving Li Gong resentful and determined to protect Li Ming. Meanwhile, Li Ming and Li Zhao reached Star Luo City, where Li Ming planned to stay beyond the sect’s reach and visit her grandfather.

• Lu Qibin told Li Gong that Li Ming was alive, and Li Gong realized the sect’s elders and Sect Leader had lied to him.
• After Li Gong confronted the sect’s leadership, they ordered him to capture Li Ming and threatened to cripple him; they also stripped Lu Qibin of his elder status and expelled them both from the sect.
• Li Gong resolved to find Li Ming and take her to the Heaven Dou Empire, while Lu Qibin recognized the sect’s mistreatment of non-clan disciples.
• Li Ming and Li Zhao arrived in Star Luo City, and Li Zhao reasoned that its crowds and imperial presence made it a safer place to hide from soul masters.

Li Ming tried to get Li Zhao and a book safely out of Star Luo City, but the Star Crown Sect’s pursuit led to Li Zhao’s fatal injury. As Li Zhao died, she passed Li Yang’s pendant to Lu Qibin, who recognized the burden of fate but could not bring himself to face it.

• Li Ming had Li Zhao copy fifty pages of Huo Xing’s writing and explained how movable type printing could make the book easier to reproduce.
• Li Ming sent Li Zhao out of Star Luo City with beggars, a copied book, and a request to bring it to Holy Soul Village.
• Li Gong confronted Li Ming, and she revealed that Li Zhao was her younger sister before fleeing west to draw attention away from her.
• Li Gong sent Lu Qibin after Li Zhao, but he found her mortally wounded after sect disciples had incited beggars to attack her.
• Li Zhao gave Lu Qibin the pendant passed down from Li Yang, then died as dawn broke.
• Lu Qibin understood that the pendant and the deaths surrounding it had brought fate to him, but he could not face the stars or accept that burden.

Lu Qibin told Zhou Qing how Li Yang’s research and their old tragedy had haunted him for decades. After hearing her fate, Zhou Qing helped Lu Qibin face the stars again, leaving him ready to pursue his ambitions despite his age.

• Lu Qibin explained that Li Ming had been betrayed and captured, while his teacher assassinated the Star Crown Sect Leader before Lu fled to Heaven Dou.
• Zhou Qing opened the metal ball and examined Li Yang’s research, her Starry Sky Meditation Method, and Huo Xing’s book.
• Lu Qibin revealed that Li Yang later became one of the Fallen Ones, killed people in experiments, and was burned alive by Spirit Hall.
• Zhou Qing explained why he sought people who could keep him accountable if he ever lost sight of his original purpose.
• Lu Qibin accepted the metal ball and gazed at the stars again, while Zhou Qing reminded him that ambition was not bound by age.

Lu Qibin resumed Star Gazing at Zhou Qing's home, while Flender worried about how to repay Zhou Qing if he helped Ma Hongjun. Zhou Qing began training the Nuoding Team by letting its main team and Deputy Team choose between team-focused and individual-focused training.

• Lu Qibin agreed to let Zhou Qing include his past experiences in Hope Primary School's teaching materials.
• Flender asked Lu Qibin about Zhou Qing's Star Gazing and worried that helping Ma Hongjun would leave him owing Zhou Qing a debt.
• The Nuoding Team's main team and Deputy Team gathered with Zhou Qing, Flender, Shao Xin, and Yu Xiaogang to begin training.
• Dai Mubai's main team chose team-focused training, while Qingzhu Zhu's Deputy Team chose individual-focused training.
• Zhou Qing explained that the choices were genuine, not a test, and told Qingzhu Zhu to address him as Teacher Zhou.

Zhou Qing assigned different training tasks to the students, giving the team-option group an intelligence-gathering exercise and designing individual programs for the others. She began by guiding Qingzhu Zhu’s training, leaving her with the task of tending to the Spirit Rhyme Turtle.

• Zhou Qing sent Dai Mubai and the other team-option students to find Tang San and Wang Sheng and get their autographs as a lesson in intelligence gathering and teamwork.
• Qingzhu Zhu explained that she chose individual training because of her special identity and her need to face her own destiny.
• Zhou Qing assessed Qingzhu Zhu’s Hell Spirit Cat skills and praised her self-developed attacks and Netherworld Shadow Domain.
• Zhou Qing explained that mastering a Martial Soul Self-Combination Skill required harmonizing her own and her Martial Soul’s Soul Power circulation.
• Zhou Qing assigned Qingzhu Zhu to clean the Spirit Rhyme Turtle’s shell during the break, and she accepted the task.

Zhou Qing inspected Ning Rongrong’s Soul Power circulation and taught her a way to apply the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda’s enhancement skills to herself. Ning Rongrong discovered her new strength and speed, and Zhou Qing said she could potentially become a Battle Soul Master or create a Martial Soul Self-Combination Skill.

• Zhou Qing explained that Ning Rongrong’s agility and endurance were already sufficient and said he would inspect how her Soul Power circulated through her body.
• Zhou Qing examined Ning Rongrong’s Martial Soul and learned that its enhancement skills could not normally be applied to herself.
• Ning Rongrong asked about the Martial Cauldron Soul Furnace, but Zhou Qing said teaching it would require the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect to join the Red Assembly.
• Zhou Qing guided Ning Rongrong’s Soul Power through unused meridians as she released her three Soul Skills, causing the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to float above her and direct its enhancements back onto her.
• Ning Rongrong demonstrated her increased strength and speed, and Zhou Qing explained how to use the new circulation methods and suggested she might become a Battle Soul Master or develop a Martial Soul Self-Combination Skill.