Chapter Summaries

Zhang Chu Cheng exposed and killed two Xing Tian Sect spies, clearing Xu Yi’s name after the Council had suspected him. Xu Yi then tried to withdraw from the Refining Soldier ranks, but Song Huanshan urged him to stay, and Xu Yi explained that he wanted to strengthen himself before entering the Imperial Decree Platform.

• Zhang Chu Cheng killed the two Xing Tian Sect spies who had tried to pass off Cloud Crane Pure Qi as Jade Void Sacred Qi.
• Dong Guo Shun told the crowd that the spies had been caught, and Xu Yi asked him to referee his duel with Bei Qihan a month later.
• Bei Qihan called the duel a joke and publicly acknowledged Xu Yi’s superior skill to avoid further humiliation.
• Song Huanshan came to Qilong Hall to persuade Xu Yi not to leave the Refining Soldier ranks.
• Xu Yi complained that the Council’s suspicion and recent dangers had made him regret joining the Righteous Alliance’s affairs.
• Xu Yi told Song Huanshan he planned to enter the Imperial Decree Platform and needed to improve his strength first.

Xu Yi secured increased support from the Righteous Alliance and began training as an artifact refiner at the Spring City Council. After receiving the Fourth Star Pattern Jade Slip, he learned Huang Mei had recognized a secret behind its patterns.

• Xu Yi refused to abandon his plan to pursue the Imperial Decree Platform, and Song Huanshan offered him increased Incense Spirit Essence support from the Righteous Alliance.
• Yan Jingming delivered Xu Yi a new token with double pay, and Xu Yi later received another token from the Council, bringing the total absorbing Incense Spirit Essence for him to four.
• Xu Yi joined the Council's artifact-refining team, which first made weapons and armor before being given Star Pattern Jade Slips to study.
• Huang Mei told Xu Yi to take the Fourth Star Pattern Jade Slip because Wu Yashi was aiming for Furnace Four, and Xu Yi kept that slip after accidentally catching five.
• Xu Yi activated the Fourth Star Pattern Jade Slip, and Huang Mei recognized why the Xing Tian Sect had gone to great lengths to obtain it.

Huang Mei explained how star mines and Star Refining Furnace secrets were protected, and Xu Yi began deciphering the sealed Star Patterns. Xu Yi unlocked one pattern and started studying a second while keeping his breakthrough secret.

• Huang Mei explained that star mines required imprinted mineral foundations and that the Star Refining Furnace’s five sets of Star Patterns remained secret behind Mandarin Duck Spirit Locks.
• Xu Yi entered the No. 4 Star Pattern Jade Slip and used Cloud Crane Pure Qi to stabilize the first pattern’s talisman marks.
• Xu Yi spent three days deciphering the first Star Pattern, and the golden mandarin duck on the left disappeared on the fifth morning as a white imprint appeared on the Refining Furnace Embryo.
• Huang Mei urged Xu Yi to keep the breakthrough secret and study another pattern, and Xu Yi slept before beginning the second one.

Xu Yi secretly deciphered all five Subordinate Star Patterns on the No. 4 Star Refining Furnace, then concealed his success and reported mastering one pattern after ten days. His record-breaking achievement earned him the Spring City Council’s attention and an early Star Refining Master badge, which was to be awarded three days later.

• Xu Yi completed all five Star Patterns, restored the furnace, and destroyed the Star Pattern Jade Slip to hide his progress.
• Xu Yi pretended he had failed to decipher any Star Pattern and claimed frustration had led him to break the jade slip; Dong Guo Shun accepted the fragments and let him rest.
• After reporting one Star Pattern at random, Xu Yi studied it and announced on the tenth day that he had comprehended the metal Star Pattern.
• Dong Guo Shun, Song Huanshan, and Zhong Changming celebrated Xu Yi’s achievement, and Zhong Changming personally met with him.
• Dong Guo Shun told Xu Yi that he would receive the Star Refining Master badge in three days, granting him certification ahead of the usual requirements.

Xu Yi earned the Spring City Council’s Star Refining Master title early and stunned his doubters with his rapid progress. When he learned the Imperial Decree Platform would open in just over a year, he worried his Incense Spirit Essence would not be enough to reach the Third Realm and began searching for a solution.

• Song Huanshan congratulated Xu Yi on his coming promotion and strengthened their ties, while other Refining Soldiers came to offer their congratulations.
• Zhong Changming presided over Xu Yi’s Star Refining Master badge ceremony and praised him publicly, drawing both admiration and jealousy.
• Xu Yi engraved the metal-element Star Pattern on Furnace No. 4’s Refining Furnace Embryo in three months, silencing those who had expected him to fail.
• Xu Yi learned the Imperial Decree Platform would open on the fifteenth day of the eighth month next year and realized he had little time to reach the Third Realm.
• Xu Yi confined Huang Mei when he advised him to wait decades, then calmed himself and concluded that Incense Spirit Essence was the key to solving his problem.

Xu Yi tried to find a way into the Xing Tian Sect to obtain Incense Spirit Essence, but a mysterious pale cultivator approached him with an offer involving the Imperial Decree Platform. The cultivator later praised Xu Yi as a promising candidate and rewarded the undercover Officer Dayuan.

• Xu Yi concluded that working with the Xing Tian Sect was his best option, but he could not think of a plausible way to contact its Tu Hun Star branch.
• A pale-faced cultivator appeared in Xu Yi’s private room at Yanran Residence, and they drank together behind a barrier.
• The cultivator asked whether Xu Yi had an Imperial Decree Tablet and warned him against entering the Imperial Decree Platform rashly, then proposed a deal.
• Xu Yi refused to trust the stranger at their first meeting and concealed his suspicion that the man was a senior Xing Tian Sect member.
• The pale cultivator vanished and met a blue-robed undercover cultivator, Officer Dayuan, in a secluded courtyard.
• The pale cultivator praised Xu Yi as an excellent candidate and asked Officer Dayuan what reward he wanted.

Lie Yan Yang killed the blue-robed cultivator to conceal the Left Arm’s interest in Xu Yi, whom its leaders hoped to recruit. Xu Yi instead reported a recruitment attempt to Zhong Changming, leaving Xia Huosong to consider why he had turned himself in.

• Lie Yan Yang absorbed and killed the blue-robed cultivator after hearing his report about Xu Yi.
• Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City discussed how Xu Yi might serve as the Left Arm’s remaining opportunity and decided not to place a heart-demon restriction on him.
• Xu Yi returned to the Spring City Council headquarters and told Zhong Changming that a powerful cultivator had tried to recruit him, so he suspected a threat and was turning himself in.
• Zhong Changming asked Dong Guo Shun to stay with Xu Yi and contacted Director General Xia Huosong for guidance.
• Xia Huosong suspected the Xing Tian Sect was behind the approach and asked Zhong Changming what he thought Xu Yi intended by reporting it.

Zhong Changming and Xia Huosong decided to send Xu Yi to infiltrate the Xing Tian Sect, hoping he could become a spy like Zhuge Ming. Xu Yi accepted after negotiating for an elder-level token and an Imperial Decree Tablet, while Dong Guo Shun feared for his life after hearing the secret.

• Xia Huosong persuaded Zhong Changming to use Xu Yi as a spy inside the Xing Tian Sect instead of simply clearing his name.
• Zhong Changming returned to Xu Yi and told him about the infiltration plan, while Dong Guo Shun tried to leave but was ordered to stay.
• Xu Yi initially refused the assignment, saying he had never been a spy and was busy collecting Incense Spirit Essence.
• Zhong Changming offered to raise Xu Yi's token rank to elder and seek an Imperial Decree Tablet for him.
• Xu Yi agreed to infiltrate the Xing Tian Sect on the condition that the elder-level token helped him gather Incense Spirit Essence quickly.
• Dong Guo Shun pleaded with Xu Yi to save him, fearing he would be killed for hearing the secret.

Xu Yi advanced to green-grade Star Refining Master after achieving remarkable results, strengthening his cover for infiltrating the Tian Xing Sect. He met Lie Yan Yang again and agreed to visit the sect’s Left Arm headquarters to verify his identity.

• Xu Yi persuaded Zhong Changming to spare Dong Guo Shun and work with him directly, while Dong Guo Shun continued his Star Refining Master duties alongside the spy assignment.
• Zhong Changming provided Xu Yi with abundant refining work, and Xu Yi completed twenty metal-type Refining Furnace Embryos in two months with a fifty percent success rate.
• The Tu Hun Alliance sent a purple-grade Star Refining Master to observe Xu Yi, who passed the promotion ceremony and became a green-grade Star Refining Master.
• After Zhong Changming signaled that the time was right, Xu Yi returned to the tavern and met Lie Yan Yang.
• Lie Yan Yang identified himself as a chief inquisitor of the Tian Xing Sect’s Left Arm, and Xu Yi agreed to accompany him to its headquarters.

Xu Yi met Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City, negotiated for Incense Spirit Essence, then revealed himself as Li Daoyuan, a member of the Xing Tian Sect’s Right Arm. After his identity was verified, he refused to accept a mission from the Left Arm, leaving the alliance uncertain.

• Lie Yan Yang brought Xu Yi to a desolate valley hall, where they met Xi Jin City and discussed Xu Yi’s need for Incense Spirit Essence.
• Lie Yan Yang promised Xu Yi access to enough Incense Spirit Essence for five allotments within a year, while Xu Yi postponed hearing what the Xing Tian Sect wanted from him.
• Xi Jin City showed Xu Yi a recording that could ruin his reputation, but Xu Yi revealed a Xing Tian Sect command token and claimed he was Li Daoyuan, a Right Arm squad leader.
• Xu Yi accused the Left Arm’s Punishment Masters of causing Wu Yashi’s death, and Lie Yan Yang verified his identity by having him drip blood onto the token.
• After the token confirmed Xu Yi’s identity, Xi Jin City tried to assign him an important mission, but Xu Yi refused to take orders from the Left Arm.

Xu Yi negotiated with Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City to secure support while preserving his ties to the Right Arm. After Lie Yan Yang gave him a Left Arm identity and boosted his Incense Spirit Essence, Xu Yi proposed infiltrating the Left Arm openly and demanded full details of any operation involving him.

• Xu Yi refused to be intimidated by Xi Jin City and agreed to serve the Left Arm only if his safety and interests were protected.
• Lie Yan Yang promised to help Xu Yi collect Incense Spirit Essence and gave him a Ruyi Pearl before Xu Yi left.
• Three days later, Lie Yan Yang gave Xu Yi a command talisman that made him a Black Rank Xing Zhe of the Left Arm and rapidly increased his Incense Spirit Essence.
• Xu Yi insisted that accepting the Left Arm identity did not mean betraying the Right Arm, then proposed telling the Spring City Council about the contact so he could infiltrate the Left Arm openly.
• Xu Yi warned Lie Yan Yang that he would refuse to join any operation unless he knew all its details, citing Wu Yashi's death.

Xu Yi tested Big Yellow's strength against a White Core Strange Beast and learned from Desolate Charm that the wolfdog could not yet challenge an Earth Immortal. He returned to headquarters after sending Big Yellow back out, where Zhong Changming was waiting for him.

• Xu Yi met Big Yellow west of Spring City and learned that it had lost fights against two White Core Strange Beasts.
• Big Yellow carried Xu Yi inside its body to watch it battle a four-armed humanoid White Core Strange Beast for more than three hours.
• Xu Yi ordered Big Yellow to retreat when the fight proved too dangerous, then fed it spirit liquid in a mountain valley.
• Desolate Charm assessed Big Yellow as formidable but said even a Fifth Realm Human Immortal could overpower White-level Strange Beasts, while an Earth Immortal was beyond its reach.
• Xu Yi sent Big Yellow back out and returned to headquarters, where Zhong Changming was waiting anxiously.

Xu Yi reported that he had begun infiltrating Xing Tian Sect while preserving his freedom to act, then secretly pursued the Star Patterns needed for his own research. He returned three Star Pattern Jade Slips to Zhong Changming intact after using critical-point decryption to uncover their Subordinate Star Patterns without visibly unlocking them.

• Xu Yi told Zhong Changming that his contact with Xing Tian Sect had gone well but that he had set conditions and would need time to gain their trust.
• Xu Yi persuaded Zhong Changming to let him continue forging the Refining Furnace in secret so he could improve his star-refining skills.
• Xu Yi chose Refining Furnaces one, two, and five for the Fourth Turn and received their Star Pattern Jade Slips, with a one-month deadline.
• Xu Yi returned the three slips to Zhong Changming before the deadline and said he would choose the metal element for all three furnaces.
• Huang Mei learned that Xu Yi had used critical-point decryption to uncover the Subordinate Star Patterns on all three slips while leaving the golden mandarin ducks apparently intact.

Xu Yi rose to white-rank Star Refining Master, gaining influence and a Spring City Order, then joined Yan Jingming to confront the Sea of Stars Alliance after it detained Zhao Che and his team. They headed toward the estates north of Spring City to retrieve them.

• Xu Yi advanced to white rank, impressed the Tu Hun Alliance’s gold-rank assessor, and declined an offer to work at its headquarters.
• Xia Huosong met Xu Yi, praised his talent, and gave him a Spring City Order while hinting that he should avoid the upcoming Imperial Decree Platform.
• Yan Jingming invited Xu Yi to a banquet, where Xu Yi reunited with the woman and boy he had rescued before arriving on Tu Hun Star.
• Jingyue Xuan’s elderly steward reported that the Sea of Stars Alliance had detained Zhao Che and his team, and Zhao Wenlong said they had broken auction rules.
• Xu Yi insisted on accompanying Yan Jingming to retrieve Zhao Che, and Yan Jingming gathered Jingyue Xuan’s experts and led them north of the city.

Jiang Boyue’s strategists identified Xu Yi as the likely Lei Chiyan and lured Yan Jingming into a trap at Jingyue Xuan. Xu Yi and Yan Jingming were captured, leaving Jia Zhen convinced he had exposed Lei Chiyan’s identity.

• Yan Jingming led Xu Yi and more than twenty Righteous Alliance experts into Zhao Wenlong’s manor to demand a settlement.
• Jiang Wei struck the group, knocking the experts unconscious and sending Xu Yi crashing into a wall.
• Jia Zhen revealed that he had invited Yan Jingming to question him about Xu Yi, and Yan Jingming crushed a warning talisman for Song Huanshan.
• Xu Yi recognized Jiang Wei and Jia Zhen and realized they suspected him of being Lei Chiyan.
• Jia Zhen explained that he and Chu Cai had connected Xu Yi to Lei Chiyan through their shared timeline, cultivation, and exceptional abilities, then declared that Xu Yi had fallen into his trap.

Xu Yi faced capture after the Sea of Stars Alliance accused him of being Lei Chiyan, but Song Huanshan arrived and fought Jiang Boyue to protect him. As the battle destroyed the manor, an unknown streak of light targeted Xu Yi and vanished just before striking.

• Xu Yi revealed his White-rank Star Refining Token, but Jia Zhen ordered Jiang Wei to seize him anyway and planned to prove he was Lei Chiyan.
• Xu Yi prepared to summon his hidden little wolfdog, but Song Huanshan arrived before he did.
• Xu Yi told Song Huanshan that the Sea of Stars Alliance had trapped him and accused him of being Lei Chiyan.
• Jiang Boyue arrived and offered Song Huanshan all the ore veins in Huicheng in exchange for Xu Yi, but Song Huanshan attacked him.
• Song Huanshan and Jiang Boyue's battle destroyed the manor, while a streak of light shot toward Xu Yi and disappeared just before hitting him.

Chen Sihai and Zuo Xinghai confronted each other over Xu Yi, while a Spring City Token and Zhong Changming’s arrival changed the balance of power. Zhong Changming lifted his restriction on the crowd after Xu Yi suggested the crisis had been a misunderstanding.

• Chen Sihai challenged Zuo Xinghai for trying to take Xu Yi, and Zuo Xinghai offered him a top-grade mineral essence vein to stand aside.
• Xu Yi tried to leave, but Jiang Wei prepared to attack until Xu Yi displayed the Spring City Token.
• Jiang Boyue identified the token as one personally held by council director Xia Huosong, and Chen Sihai declared he would not hand Xu Yi over.
• Zuo Xinghai tried to speak, but Zhong Changming sealed the area, slapped him, and then turned his stern gaze on Chen Sihai.
• Xu Yi told Zhong Changming he had arrived just in time and suggested there had been a misunderstanding, prompting Zhong Changming to lift the restriction.

Xu Yi avoided further trouble in Spring City before meeting Lie Yan Yang at Black Duck Ridge, where Lie Yan Yang asked him to obtain the Subordinate Star Patterns for Star Refining Furnace No. 4. The chapter ended with Xu Yi demanding to know the full plan before accepting the task.

• Xu Yi told Zuo Xinghai he would settle their score another day, and Zhong Changming and Chen Sihai left the scene.
• Zuo Xinghai killed Jia Zhen for continuing to provoke him, while Chen Sihai ingratiated himself with Yan Jingming in hopes of reaching Xu Yi.
• Zhong Changming warned Xu Yi to stay at the main base while he handled the fallout from the battle between the Righteous Alliance and the Sea of Stars Alliance.
• Xu Yi stayed behind closed doors for half a month, then went to Black Duck Ridge to meet Lie Yan Yang.
• Lie Yan Yang asked Xu Yi to obtain all the Subordinate Star Patterns for Star Refining Furnace No. 4, and Xu Yi demanded an explanation before agreeing.

Xu Yi pressed Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City for details about their Furnace Four operation, hoping to gain access to rare cultivation resources. They urged him to avoid the Imperial Decree Platform, but Xu Yi insisted he would go, while Lie Yan Yang offered him Incense Spirit Essence to stay with Xing Tian Sect.

• Xu Yi rejected a formal partnership with Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City, saying he only wanted to understand the risks of their operation.
• Xi Jin City revealed that they wanted Xu Yi to obtain Furnace Four's Subordinate Star Patterns so they could test it, and Xu Yi warned them that stealing its Main Star Pattern would implicate him.
• Xu Yi considered how making Furnace Four could raise his value and help him obtain the rare essence needed to advance his cultivation.
• Xi Jin City and Lie Yan Yang told Xu Yi not to attend the Imperial Decree Platform battle because Earth Immortals would take part and his strength was inadequate.
• Xu Yi claimed that entering the Imperial Decree Platform was a long-held dream he would pursue even if he died there.
• Lie Yan Yang offered Xu Yi Incense Spirit Essence equivalent to a lowest-grade divine rank if he stayed with Xing Tian Sect.

Xu Yi asked Lie Yan Yang for White-level Ore Essence and learned that refining it depended on rare star patterns controlled by the Tu Hun Alliance. After Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City discussed the Imperial Decree Platform and the limits of their knowledge, Xu Yi lured two White-level beasts to them and obtained their cores.

• Xu Yi asked Lie Yan Yang for White-level Ore Essence, and Xi Jin City explained how difficult Ore Essence was to produce and obtain.
• Xu Yi asked Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City about their realms and whether Human Immortals could challenge Earth Immortals, but received few clear answers.
• Two White-level beasts charged toward Xu Yi, Lie Yan Yang, and Xi Jin City, and Xu Yi admitted he had lured them there to obtain their valuable cores.
• Lie Yan Yang and Xi Jin City fought the beasts and killed them, leaving Xu Yi with both white cores.
• Xu Yi declined to explain how he had lured the beasts, keeping secret the role of his demon pets.