In the sixtieth year of Liang Ji's seclusion, as he cultivated his Natal Star and improved his strength,
he received a message from Wu Shanshan: their comrade Peng Xuanding had failed to break through to the Eighth-Tier Earth Immortal realm. He had merged with the Dao and perished within the "Earth Immortal Blessed Land" star he had been refining.
Liang Ji immediately emerged from seclusion and hurried to the "Earth Immortal Blessed Land" star Peng Xuanding had refined. Sure enough, there was no trace of Peng Xuanding left—not his figure, nor his aura. He had completely merged with the Dao and perished, becoming part of the star.
The "Earth Immortal Blessed Land" star had successfully advanced to the eighth tier, but Peng Xuanding had failed to pass the life-or-death trial of "joining the Dao." He had merged into the star's Great Dao.
This was one of the differences between the Earth Immortal Orthodox path and the Star Lord Orthodox path. When cultivators of the Star Lord Orthodox path failed to break through to the Eighth Rank Star Lord realm, they perished and merged with the Dao within their Natal Star. Their Natal Star would also suffer severe damage, its rank continually falling until, in the end, it inevitably returned to the state of its original dead star.
But the "Earth Immortal Blessed Land" stars refined by Earth Immortals were Life Stars to begin with. Even when a cultivator failed to break through to the Eighth-Tier Earth Immortal realm and perished, merging with the Dao within their "Earth Immortal Blessed Land" star, the star usually suffered no damage or ill effects.
On the contrary, such a star often benefited from it, growing in rank without declining or turning into a dead star.
Perhaps, many years later, someone might still refine that