Chapter Summaries

Shen Qian absorbed the Heaven-Seizing Array’s starlight and entered the Dao Sea, where he began seeking his own Dao with the system’s help. After spending more than a day unconscious while different Dao Rhymes repeatedly appeared around him, he awakened to find his senior brothers gathered around him.

• Shen Qian’s consciousness entered the Dao Sea, where he recognized Tantai Qin’s Great Dao Meridians and realized he had reached the Path Seeking stage as a Beginner Martial Artist.
• Shen Qian rejected the chance to follow Tantai Qin’s Dao and searched among the myriad phenomena for an endpoint suited to himself.
• Shen Qian submitted an idle-mode request, and the system generated a mission before he lost consciousness.
• Shi Dingyan, Ling Xiao, Liu Changqing, and Wu Jun observed different Dao Rhymes appearing and vanishing around Shen Qian for more than a day.
• Gao Wenyuan left just before Shen Qian awakened, and Shen Qian opened his eyes to find four burly men staring at him.

Shen Qian told his senior brothers that he had seen the Dao Sea, found a solitary Dao, and stepped onto it before stepping back off. They verified that the Dao led to the powerful Seven Absolute Spirit Flame and discovered that Shen Qian could turn back from a Dao without harm, leaving them stunned by the possibility.

• Shen Qian described seeing the Dao Sea, and Shi Dingyan and Ling Xiao warned him to keep the experience secret because others might suspect he was a foreign race.
• Shen Qian revealed that he believed he had already sought his Dao, stunning his senior brothers and prompting Liu Changqing to question him about its shape and branches.
• Shen Qian said he had stepped onto a solitary Dao, and his senior brothers worried that he might have chosen a dead end.
• Shen Qian clarified that he had stepped onto the Dao and then stepped back out, leaving his senior brothers doubtful that such a thing was possible.
• Shi Dingyan identified the Dao's endpoint as the Seven Absolute Spirit Flame, and Wu Jun tested Shen Qian by setting him ablaze.
• Shen Qian emerged unharmed apart from his burned clothes, confirming traces of the Path of Fire on him and leaving the others astonished that he could turn back from a Dao.

After Shen Qian completed Path Seeking, he discovered that the system had revealed 217 clear, completed Daos to him, potentially allowing him to advance without bottlenecks. He thanked Ji Ruoshui for giving him the Heaven-Seizing opportunity, then told Liu Changqing he could help him seek his path.

• Shen Qian explained that he could see and step onto the Blazing Fire Dao but could not bear its weight long enough to take another step.
• After returning to his cultivation room, Shen Qian reflected that the system had shown him 217 straight Daos with visible endpoints, unlike the fog-shrouded paths others described.
• Shen Qian visited Ji Ruoshui and learned that she had given him the Heaven-Seizing opportunity because she could not cultivate; she asked if he wanted to eat a peach, then fled when he turned to her.
• Shen Qian visited Liu Changqing and pressed him to admit that he had not yet succeeded in Path Seeking.
• Shen Qian told Liu Changqing that he could help him seek his path, leaving Liu stunned.

Shen Qian trusted Liu Changqing with his secret about seeing multiple Paths, but Liu Changqing chose to seek his own Path. Shen Qian prepared for a training trip, booked every beginner secondary-profession assessment, and used the Heaven-Seizing Array’s gains to dramatically strengthen himself before studying a trove of professional books.

• Shen Qian told Liu Changqing that he had seen multiple Paths and offered to help him seek one, but Liu Changqing insisted on pursuing his own road and becoming a king or marquis.
• Gu Zifang reminded Shen Qian that their group would leave for training in three days, and Shen Qian booked beginner assessments for all nine secondary professions.
• Shen Qian absorbed the remaining starlight from the Heaven-Seizing Array, raising his physical strength until his unaided burst strength neared 4,000 kilograms and his speed fell below two seconds per 100 meters.
• Shen Qian tested his strength in idle mode, reaching 4,604 kilograms of burst strength, and wondered whether his Ten Apertures Body could exceed normal genetic limits.
• Shen Qian bought training supplies and nearly two hundred books, then extracted their knowledge memories and plunged into studying.

Shen Qian joined Gu Zifang, Ouyang Fei, and Chen Peng to meet Yuan You and discuss joining the Dark Star Squad for training in restricted zones. At the Martial Arts Association’s Blade Cultivation Squad hall, Shen Qian spotted a Night Bounty on the mission board, and Yuan You reacted with alarm.

• Gu Zifang and Ouyang Fei waited for Shen Qian at the Martial Arts Association, while Chen Peng arrived with Yuan You, a high-level Scholar and veteran Dark Star Squad navigator.
• Yuan You explained that the Dark Star Squad had been founded by Thousand Stars Society members and that Gu Zifang’s membership could help the group join; Gu Zifang worried about Shen Qian’s past conflict with the society.
• Shen Qian arrived with his new Intermediate Martial Artist badge and agreed to meet the Dark Star Squad despite its ties to the Thousand Stars Society.
• Yuan You led the group to the Blade Cultivation Squad Affairs Management Office, where Shen Qian paused to examine the squad rankings and bounty boards.
• Shen Qian said he had come over after hearing people mention a Night Bounty, and Yuan You abruptly turned toward the mission screen with her smile gone.

Shen Qian and his friends learned about the dangerous Night Bounty, then joined Dark Star Squad after Captain He Weichen warned Shen Qian to follow orders. When a squad mysteriously accepted the bounty, Yuan You began to suspect Shen Qian had something to do with it.

• Yuan You explained the Night Bounty system and showed the group the one-star mission to retrieve a drop of Prisoner Girl's Tears, which guaranteed a reward worth at least ten million.
• Yuan You introduced Shen Qian and his friends to Dark Star Squad, and He Weichen agreed to accept them after privately warning Shen Qian to put aside his pride and obey the squad.
• Shen Qian told He Weichen he was confident he would not hold the squad back, and He Weichen welcomed the newcomers and arranged for them to join Dark Star Squad.
• After Shen Qian left the group, He Weichen and Du Qiu learned that someone had accepted the Night Bounty, but Yuan You could not discover which squad had taken it.
• Yuan You noticed Shen Qian had returned from a direction that did not lead to the restroom and began to suspect something was wrong.

Shen Qian joined the Dark Star Squad for a three-day forbidden-zone expedition after the team learned that memories of a past “door” incident had resurfaced. At Santou Town, the squad discovered Shen Qian had vanished moments after getting out of the vehicle.

• Yuan You gave Shen Qian, Ouyang Fei, Gu Zifang, and Chen Peng a classified guide, prompting the three rookies to remember the people who had died at Buya Valley and recall Shen Qian’s extraordinary actions there.
• He Weichen introduced the Dark Star Squad’s members, reviewed their eleven bounty missions and route on a real-time map, and ordered everyone to follow commands and stay alert.
• Shen Qian briefly left the restaurant before rejoining the team, and the squad departed Jing City in an armored vehicle with supplies and logistical support.
• During the ride, Gu Zifang comforted Shen Qian about someone he remembered, and the team reached Santou Town to begin a Dawn Bounty and a Daylight Bounty.
• After the squad disembarked, Du Qiu noticed Shen Qian was missing; He Weichen assembled everyone, but Yang Ni confirmed that nobody had left the area around the vehicle.

After Shen Qian returned from mysteriously disappearing into the woods with a sack of spiritual herbs, Yuan You discovered that he was a Grandmaster Alchemist, astonishing the Dark Star Squad. As the squad headed toward Small King Village for its next mission, He Weichen gave Shen Qian the confidential mission details, signaling that he had accepted him as a core team member.

• He Weichen ordered the squad to search for Shen Qian, but Yuan You spotted him emerging from the woods before the search began.
• Shen Qian explained that he had gone to use the bathroom, then handed Yuan You a sack containing spiritual herbs from Santou Town.
• Shen Qian showed the squad his alchemist badge, and Yuan You recognized him as a Grandmaster Alchemist.
• The squad resumed its journey after Shen Qian's unexpected gathering of herbs completed the two Santou Town missions.
• Yang Ni warned Shen Qian not to wander off again because the next destination, Small King Village, was a Dusk Bounty location.
• He Weichen tossed Shen Qian a scroll containing the mission details, acknowledging him as part of the core team.

Shen Qian and the Dark Star Squad entered Small King Village to hunt a Night Fin, but found the target dead beside a strange pavilion and statue. After Shen Qian uncovered several more hidden demonic beast corpses, Yuan You asked how he had detected them.

• The Dark Star Squad reached Small King Village, and Shen Qian joined the team as it entered the ruins on foot.
• A Shadow Rabbit attacked Chen Peng, but He Weichen blocked it and Yang Ni captured it.
• He Weichen noticed the village was unnaturally quiet, and the team advanced cautiously toward a pavilion beside a stone statue.
• Yang Ni identified a dead Night Fin as their bounty target, while Shen Qian discovered a blood-red message carved into the statue's base.
• Shen Qian sensed and uncovered three more demonic beast corpses, and Yuan You questioned how he had found them.

Shen Qian used his Scout knowledge to identify the wounded Candle Serpent and challenged Xiang Qi’s claim to it. As the Pebble Squad prepared to leave with the dead snake, Shen Qian warned them that taking it would mean death, and dozens of Candle Serpents emerged around the group.

• Shen Qian revealed his Scout Badge, and a wounded R-Class Candle Serpent burst from the ground and attacked the squads.
• Gu Yungao killed the injured Candle Serpent despite Shen Qian and a distant voice shouting for him to stop.
• Xiang Qi confronted the Dark Star Squad, demanded compensation for the dead serpent, and revealed that the Pebble Squad’s bounty required it alive.
• Shen Qian pointed out that the serpent’s wound did not appear to come from human weapons, and Xiang Qi admitted that his squad had only just found it.
• Shen Qian warned Xiang Qi not to take the serpent away, and more than thirty Candle Serpents emerged around the group with their eyes fixed on him.

Surrounded by Candle Serpents at Small King Village, Shen Qian relied on his Mountains and Seas bodyguard Dao Jiu and fluent Snake Language to negotiate their escape. The Serpents departed with Gu Yungao and their demanded spoils, but Shen Qian warned that Small King Village had become dangerous for reasons beyond the swarm.

• More than thirty Candle Serpents surrounded the squads, and Xiang Qi and Yuan You could find no way to escape.
• Shen Qian silenced Gu Yungao, then revealed that he had called for help as Dao Jiu arrived and deferred to him.
• Shen Qian identified three Q-Class Serpents and negotiated with their leader in fluent Snake Language.
• The Serpents demanded the demon beast corpses, Snake Fruits, and Gu Yungao; He Weichen knocked Gu unconscious, and Xiang Qi handed him over.
• After the Serpents disappeared, Shen Qian warned everyone not to rest and said Small King Village was no longer the place they remembered.

Shen Qian pursued his Night Bounty into the spreading fog with Yuan You, who deduced his solo-squad plan and joined him as navigator. The fog transported them to an unfamiliar grassland, separated them from Dao Jiu, and left them facing an unknown presence.

• As Candle Serpents gathered in Small King Village, the Pebble Squad and Dark Star Squad withdrew, while Shen Qian stayed to investigate the danger linked to his warming bounty scroll.
• Yuan You caught up with Shen Qian and persuaded him to take her along by explaining her expertise and the need for a navigator to record his bounty achievements.
• Yuan You identified the fog as potentially connected to a Gate, and Shen Qian agreed to let her stay after she explained its possible causes.
• Shen Qian, Yuan You, and Dao Jiu entered the fog, which vanished and left Shen Qian and Yuan You on a vast grassland with Dao Jiu missing.
• Shen Qian and Yuan You began exploring the strange landscape, and Shen Qian suddenly spotted something ahead.

Shen Qian and Yuan You escaped a vast swarm of Killer Mosquitoes by finding the formation’s Gate of Life and taking shelter underground. Yuan You identified the place as the Goddess Tomb, where they discovered a colossal bronze gate.

• Shen Qian and Yuan You found giant-eyed statues across a grassland, and the statues collapsed to reveal pits filled with Killer Mosquitoes.
• Shen Qian used his Origin Energy to burn back the swarms while Yuan You recorded their discovery with her Heart-Questioning Brush.
• Yuan You suspected the statues and pits formed a formation, and Shen Qian calculated its layout and located the Gate of Life.
• Shen Qian toppled the lone statue at the Gate of Life and carried Yuan You into the pit, escaping the mosquitoes that could not pass its entrance.
• Yuan You explained her theory that the Will of the Masses could manifest imagined worlds and identified their location as the Goddess Tomb.
• Shen Qian lit the underground passage, revealing a colossal bronze tomb gate flanked by stone beasts.

Shen Qian and Yuan You reached the heart of the Goddess Tomb, where the Stone Coffin and its imprisoned woman awaited them. After fighting off revived mummies, Shen Qian resisted the woman's illusion and advanced on her.

• Shen Qian kicked down the bronze doors and flew with Yuan You across the tomb's maze of bridges and dangerous chambers.
• They found mummified explorers on the stone platforms, and Shen Qian discovered a bag of Cat's Eye Spirit Stones among the corpses.
• Shore Flowers bloomed as the Stone Coffin opened, and the mummies rose to attack; Shen Qian cut them down with his saber.
• A woman in red floated from the coffin, and Yuan You warned Shen Qian that she was nearly as strong as a Mountains and Seas expert.
• The woman screamed and cast an illusion over Yuan You, but Shen Qian broke through it and walked toward her, declaring, "Die!"

Shen Qian and Yuan You discovered that Nai Luoli was trapped in a repeating cycle in the Goddess Tomb, helped her remember her past, and obtained her tear before escaping with Dao Jiu. Outside Small King Village, the world around them began to shatter in a blizzard, and they saw an unidentified presence that horrified them.

• Shen Qian repeatedly destroyed Nai Luoli, then realized her deaths reset the time and flowers around the coffin.
• Shen Qian recited a line that awakened Nai Luoli's memories, and she cried a tear that he caught in a bottle.
• Nai Luoli revealed she was a Saintess from beyond the Divine Path who had fallen in love with Xiao Yuan, but she turned hostile when she learned Shen Qian wanted her tear to save someone.
• Dao Jiu arrived and helped Shen Qian and Yuan You escape the tomb, though the three remained trapped in the projection beyond the door.
• The system briefly warned Shen Qian of danger as snow fell and the projection shattered, returning the three to Small King Village.
• Dao Jiu drew his nine blades as the group saw an unidentified sight ahead.

Shen Qian, Yuan You, and Dao Jiu encountered an overwhelming army of Abyssal Ghosts near Jing City, but a colossal Great Serpent’s shadow appeared and annihilated them. Big Shot Gao later explained that the creature was a Candle Dragon whose shadow had crossed the dimensional barrier, leaving Shen Qian eager to understand the world’s greater powers.

• Shen Qian and Yuan You spotted an army of Abyssal Ghosts approaching Jing City, including nearly a hundred powerful mounted knights.
• The snowstorm’s strange force froze Shen Qian and Yuan You’s vital energy, while undead dragons and skeletal birds surrounded them.
• Dao Jiu prepared to cover Shen Qian and Yuan You’s escape, but Shen Qian chose to stand and fight alongside them.
• A vast Great Serpent’s shadow appeared above the clouds and, with a command to annihilate, reduced the undead creatures to ash.
• Big Shot Gao arrived and told Shen Qian that Mountains and Seas were only the beginning, then identified the Great Serpent as the Candle Dragon.

After Candle Dragon destroyed the Abyssal Ghosts, Shen Qian discovered the dead Candle Serpents and realized the creatures had killed them first. Back in Jing City, the completion of the Night Bounty revealed that the newly ranked Old Days Squad had only one true member: Shen Qian.

• Gao Wenyuan told Shen Qian that Candle Dragon was close to transcending the kings-and-marquises realm, then vanished after advising him to return to Jing City.
• Shen Qian, Yuan You, and Dao Jiu found twenty-three frozen Candle Serpent corpses near Small King Village, and Shen Qian inferred that the Abyssal Ghosts had killed them before Candle Dragon retaliated.
• Dao Jiu uncovered Gu Yungao's mangled corpse, and Yuan You asked them to bring his body back to Jing City.
• At the Martial Arts Association, He Weichen and Du Qiu discussed the city's ban on Blade Cultivation Squads leaving and worried about Shen Qian and Yuan You.
• The completed Night Bounty appeared on the rankings under the newly listed Old Days Squad, whose member count stunned the crowd by showing only two people.
• He Weichen received confirmation that Yuan You had withdrawn from the Dark Star Squad and realized Shen Qian had formed Old Days as a one-person squad.

After completing a mission at the Goddess Tomb, Shen Qian chose Dragon Saliva as his reward and uncovered clues suggesting Longyuan Group’s rise may have involved Nai Luoli’s witchcraft and a Marquis. The chapter ended with Yuan You suddenly pouncing on Shen Qian.

• Shen Qian and Yuan You met Longyuan Group chairman Xiao Dalong, who explained that Nai Luoli’s curse had left his son Xiao Yuan bedridden for twenty-four years.
• Xiao Dalong offered Shen Qian either eighty million in cash or Dragon Saliva, and Shen Qian chose the rare plant, believing he could refine it into several Evergreen Pills.
• After paying the Martial Arts Association’s handling fee, Shen Qian told Yuan You that Longyuan Group’s early Lucky Charm business coincided with Nai Luoli’s arrival and Xiao Yuan’s curse.
• Shen Qian suggested that Xiao Yuan may have learned witchcraft from Nai Luoli and that a Marquis could have orchestrated the events behind their relationship.
• Yuan You praised Shen Qian’s intelligence, asked him to kiss her, and then pounced on him.

Shen Qian arranged the sale of twenty-three Candle Serpent corpses through Shi Dingyan and planned a two-month expedition outside the city with Yuan You. Before departing, he returned home, where Huo Ling'er confessed her feelings and Big Shot Gao overheard them.

• Shen Qian read newspaper reports about his university choice and rumors that he had become a lecturer at Northern Martial University.
• Shen Qian asked Shi Dingyan to help sell twenty-three Candle Serpent corpses, including two Q-Class corpses, and Shi Dingyan agreed to arrange an auction.
• Shen Qian told Yuan You to prepare for a two-month trip outside the city and planned to leave the next day.
• Shen Qian visited his parents, gave Wang Xiaojuan another bank card, and packed clothes before heading back to the Sky-Reaching Tower.
• Huo Ling'er stopped Shen Qian, confessed that she liked him, and admitted she knew he had a girlfriend; Big Shot Gao overheard their conversation.

Shen Qian spent two months training in the restricted zone with Yuan You and Dao Jiu, making rapid progress before deciding to return to Jing City. Back in the city, Huo Ling'er studied for her exams, while Liu Changqing broke through to Mountains and Seas and was immediately punished for boasting.

• Shen Qian showed Yuan You the bounty scrolls he had collected, then left Jing City with her and their team to train in the restricted zone.
• Huo Ling'er fell asleep among her study guides in the National Library, where a librarian offered to share study-planning notes with her.
• Liu Changqing broke through to Mountains and Seas, proclaimed himself the strongest in the realm, and Gao Wenyuan sealed him away for ten days of secluded cultivation.
• Ling Xiao and Shi Dingyan discussed Liu Changqing's breakthrough, Shen Qian's possible influence on it, and preparing a university send-off gift for Shen Qian.
• Fifty-nine days into their journey, Shen Qian broke through again in the mountain forest, and Yuan You said he was doing well.
• Shen Qian reflected on his rapid cultivation and growing strength, then told Yuan You it was time to return home.