Chapter Summaries

Nan Li learned that the Fusang Tree’s flowers could help revive Dan Hong, but they would not last until the Dragon Bone Torch Epiphyllum’s bloom without intervention. After Dong Yun spent half a month nurturing the epiphyllum’s companion rock with Great Sun Golden Flame, Nan Li summoned Nan Xing to bring Dan Hong as the flower was about to bloom.

• The Goddess of Life’s golden light caused the Fusang Tree to bloom, and Fu Guang identified its ordinary Fusang Flowers, Futuo Buddha Jin, and Fire-Bearing Vermilion Hibiscus.
• Nan Li asked whether the flowers could last decades until the Dragon Bone Torch Epiphyllum bloomed, but Fu Guang said they would last only a few months.
• Fu Guang told Nan Li that the epiphyllum’s companion rock could be nurtured with Great Sun Golden Flame, and Dong Yun volunteered to do it.
• After half a month, Nan Li summoned Nan Xing to bring Dan Hong to the epiphyllum just before it bloomed.
• Dong Yun reflected that Ling Guang might have regarded the three clans as living beings rather than merely tools.

Dan Hong was reborn in human form, and Nan Li and Dong Yun began preparing for their fifth Life God Trial on Sun Island’s eastern coast. They faced a choice between fighting the Deep Sea Emperor Whale and Madam Lan Xi separately or battling both together, and they asked to try both methods.

• Dan Hong emerged from the flames with six Soul Rings, which changed before settling into her original configuration, and she reunited with Nan Li.
• After the Dragon Bone Torch Epiphyllum withered, seedlings grew from the ruined rock, and Fu Guang identified them as Golden Crow.
• Dan Hong sent Qing Ya word that she was safe, while Nan Li and Dong Yun went to the eastern coast for their fifth trial.
• The Deep Sea Emperor Whale and Madam Lan Xi explained the trial’s two methods and the strength each would require.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun said they had not decided which method to choose, and Dong Yun proposed trying both.
• The Deep Sea Emperor Whale agreed to let them attempt whichever trial method they wanted.

Lan Xi overwhelmed Zhuzhao, Nan Li, and Dong Yun during their battle at sea. Nan Li and Dong Yun were thrown into the water, while Zhuzhao remained trapped by Lan Xi’s star threads.

• Zhuzhao attacked Lan Xi with wind blades and a barrage of fiery arrows.
• Lan Xi blocked Zhuzhao’s attacks with Star Prison and Perishing Moon, then marked Zhuzhao with star threads.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun broke out of their Martial Soul Fusion state and fled in different directions.
• Lan Xi struck Nan Li into the sea, then seized Dong Yun and hurled her into the water.
• Lan Xi’s star threads kept Zhuzhao from escaping.

Lan Xi defeated Nan Li and Dong Yun by trapping them with her star-thread and mist soul skills. The next day, the two began their assessment against Di Yan, trying to survive for one incense stick’s time.

• Lan Xi’s combined soul skills restrained Nan Li and Dong Yun, and she separated them before striking Nan Li down.
• The Deep Sea Emperor Whale lifted Nan Li and Dong Yun from the sea, and Nan Li rested on Dong Yun while they discussed their next challenge.
• The next day, Nan Li and Dong Yun ran as soon as Lan Xi announced their assessment against Di Yan.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun split up, with Dong Yun fleeing at speed while Nan Li tried to delay Di Yan and later vanish with her Domain Skill.
• Di Yan struck the sea with his tail and sent a thunderous whale cry spreading across the ocean.

Nan Li and Dong Yun stalled Di Yan during the Life God Trial and decided to face both examiners together in a later attempt. During a break, Nan Li sought information about Lan Xi from Dan Qing, who demanded that Nan Li call her sister-in-law first.

• Nan Li used her Soul Bone skill and Sixth Soul Skill to hold back Di Yan, then joined Dong Yun in their Martial Soul Fusion Skill to escape.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun kept the Deep Sea Emperor Whale from returning to the sea briefly with Zhuzhao’s array of flaming sun wheels, then ended their attempt before Lan Xi’s incense stick burned out.
• Di Yan gave Nan Li and Dong Yun half a year to complete the trial, and Dong Yun proposed that Di Yan and Lan Xi attack them together.
• Nan Li met Dan Qing at the foot of Heaven Mountain and asked for advice on Lan Xi’s methods.
• Dan Qing agreed to help Nan Li only if she called her sister-in-law.

Nan Li reunited with Luo Gu and Dan Qing, then rescued Dong Yun from the clans’ elders and teased her on the way to ask about Lan Xi’s Soul Skills. Dan Qing explained that Lan Xi’s first six skills were auxiliary abilities, including concealment that could also trap and kill enemies after Lan Xi gained a second Martial Soul.

• Luo Gu reunited with Nan Li and Dan Qing, and Nan Li teased them about their relationship.
• Nan Li pulled Dong Yun away from the elders and warned the four birds not to crowd her again.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun joked about their embarrassing past behavior as they went to find Dan Qing.
• Dan Qing described the effects of her first six Soul Skills and explained how Lan Xi’s Coral Illusion could conceal, trap, and kill enemies.

Nan Li and Dong Yun prepared a strategy for Madam Lan Xi’s trial after Dan Qing explained her abilities and Nan Li assessed her Soul Bone skills. At dawn, they began their next attempt, intending to reveal their full strength and press on in one burst.

• Dan Qing explained Lan Xi’s Coral Illusion, Soul Skills, and other abilities, while Nan Li asked how they could deal with the star threads.
• Luo Gu offered to test Lan Xi’s abilities, but Nan Li warned him against provoking his mother, and the group decided they might drag Lan Xi toward them instead.
• Nan Li told Dong Yun that her Heart Protecting Dragon Bone could likely provide absolute defense at least three times, provided she had enough Soul Power.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun spent nearly three days planning their approach and chose dawn for the trial to avoid both midday danger to other creatures and Lan Xi’s growing evening strength.
• At dawn, Nan Li concealed one end of the Southern Bright Domain in the Fusang Tree and prepared to reveal their full strength in the trial.

Nan Li and Dong Yun faced Lan Xi and Di Yan in the fifth Life God Trial, using suppression, speed, and ranged attacks to escape and counter their examiners. After Lan Xi and Di Yan trapped them in midair, Nan Li and Dong Yun completed their Martial Soul Fusion, and Zhuzhao hurled the Great Sun Burning Gold Spear at Di Yan.

• Nan Li warned Lan Xi that she would attack only to pass the trial, and Lan Xi promised to leave her with one breath for her mother's sake.
• Lan Xi and Di Yan attacked, and Nan Li used Tiger Shark Overlord Suppression while Dong Yun carried her north in his Golden Crow Martial Soul Avatar.
• Nan Li intercepted Lan Xi's arrows as they fled, but Lan Xi summoned mist and starlight while Di Yan gathered water vapor to immobilize the Great Sun Domain.
• Lan Xi's strike against the domain was blocked, giving Nan Li and Dong Yun time to complete their Martial Soul Fusion as Zhuzhao.
• Zhuzhao evaded Lan Xi and threw the Great Sun Burning Gold Spear at Di Yan.

Zhuzhao used Nan Li and Dong Yun’s alternating control to attack Lan Xi during the trial, but Lan Xi revealed a hidden ninth Soul Skill and nearly destroyed them. Zhuzhao escaped with the Southern Bright Domain, leaving the fight’s outcome unresolved.

• Nan Li used Zhuzhao to seize Lan Xi and carry her away, then struck her with Void Bright Pupils.
• Lan Xi trapped Zhuzhao and herself in Star Prison, but Dong Yun took control and attacked Lan Xi’s vital acupoints to break the cage.
• Dong Yun wounded Lan Xi with the Great Sun Burning Gold Spear, but Lan Xi recovered with her defensive soul skill and Fountain of Healing.
• Lan Xi unleashed her previously unrevealed ninth Soul Skill, Demon Shark Meteorfall, as Di Yan arrived.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun activated the Southern Bright Domain’s Chongming skill and escaped the devastating attack, appearing at the Heavenly Pool atop the mountain.

Nan Li and Dong Yun’s fifth trial shifted into a fragment of the Divine Realm, where they had fifteen minutes to keep a participant standing or defeat an examiner. They attacked Lan Xi while Di Yan was occupied, leaving Lan Xi struggling against Dong Yun’s spear assault.

• Nan Li learned that using her domain before the trial began had extended the trial time, then the Goddess of Life transported the four participants into a fragment of the Divine Realm.
• The Goddess of Life waived travel time and set a fifteen-minute condition: at least one participant had to remain standing, or an examiner had to be defeated.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun decided to target Lan Xi while Di Yan was distracted, and Nan Li unleashed her Vermilion Bird True Form to keep him occupied.
• Dong Yun drove Lan Xi back with a rapid series of spear techniques, overpowering her crescent-moon longbow and leaving her unable to find an opening.

Nan Li and Dong Yun fought Lan Xi and Di Yan in the trial, where Nan Li shattered her Heart Protecting Dragon Bone to protect Dong Yun and then used her final Soul Skill to restore Dong Yun. After Dong Yun won the trial by using Golden Crow Devouring Sun, Nan Li woke at the Heavenly Pool and learned that the reward had strengthened all their Soul Bones and granted a God-Bestowed Soul Ring.

• Dong Yun's spear kept Lan Xi under pressure, but Lan Xi used starlight threads to expose Dong Yun and struck her waist and abdomen, leaving her unable to use Martial Soul Fusion.
• Nan Li fought Lan Xi while protecting Dong Yun, and Lan Xi shattered Nan Li's Heart Protecting Dragon Bone after its seven seconds of absolute defense expired.
• Nan Li counterattacked with Endless Annihilation, then used her Sixth Soul Skill to heal Dong Yun and restore her Spirit Power before losing consciousness.
• Dong Yun unleashed Golden Crow Devouring Sun, defeated the trial, and carried Nan Li away despite Lan Xi warning that the skill would destroy her foundation.
• Nan Li woke after two days and one night in the Heavenly Pool, where Dong Yun explained that the trial reward increased every Soul Bone's age by thirty thousand years and granted a God-Bestowed Soul Ring.
• Nan Li realized her shattered Heart Protecting Dragon Bone had evolved and remembered how many times it had protected her.

Nan Li discussed Long Lingyun’s feelings for her with Dong Yun, then completed the fusion of her God-Bestowed Eighth Soul Ring. The ring raised her Soul Power to level eighty-seven and granted her two new skills, leaving her eager to use her expanded abilities.

• Dong Yun told Nan Li that her warm, smiling personality had encouraged Long Lingyun’s affection, though Nan Li insisted she had no romantic feelings for anyone.
• Nan Li tried to ask Dong Yun about the Golden Crow’s third leg, prompting Dong Yun to retreat and Fu Guang to tease them.
• Ten days later, Nan Li finished fusing her God-Bestowed Soul Ring and reached level eighty-seven after passing the fifth life trial.
• Nan Li discovered that her Eighth Soul Ring granted Myriad Beasts Without Borders, a control skill, and Bright Shield, a defensive skill inspired by Chong Yang’s concern for her.

After Nan Li condensed her Soul Ring, she tested her new skill on Dong Yun, who quickly turned the tables on her. The two then began the sixth Life Trial, Truth and Delusion, and found themselves in the Divine Realm before the Life Divine Tree.

• Nan Li used Myriad Beasts Without Borders on Dong Yun and tried to make her call Nan Li big sister.
• Dong Yun revealed she had already regained her senses, pinned Nan Li against the Fusang Tree, and told her to call Dong Yun Mom.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun arrived at the Heavenly Pool on Heaven Mountain to begin the sixth Life Trial, titled Truth and Delusion.
• After Nan Li and Dong Yun agreed to start the trial, Fu Guang activated it and sent them to the Divine Realm.
• Nan Li and Dong Yun saw the Life Divine Tree transform into a woman dressed in an aqua-green gown.

The Goddess of Life presented Nan Li and Dong Yun with the Trolley Problem before the Sixth Trial and asked how they would choose. Dong Yun said she would minimize losses unless Nan Li were involved, while Nan Li insisted she would seek a way to save everyone; the Goddess of Life acknowledged that she had misspoken by weighing lives.

• The Goddess of Life showed Nan Li and Dong Yun a train dilemma and asked whether they would sacrifice one person to save five.
• Dong Yun argued that she had no right to decide whose life mattered more, but said she would protect Nan Li if Nan Li were among those at risk.
• Nan Li said she would look for a way to save everyone by freeing the people and directing the train onto an empty track.
• Nan Li said the person who tied the six people to the tracks deserved punishment and admitted she would protect those close to her first.
• The Goddess of Life asked what if the people on the tracks were criminals, then admitted she had misspoken by weighing the value of their lives.

Nan Li began the sixth Trial of Life, called “Truth and Falsehood,” and awoke in a hospital in the Blue Star world as Jiang E Li. She recognized her twin sister Jiang Mingzhao, whose eyes were bandaged, and tried to understand why they were both there.

• The Goddess of Life named the sixth Trial of Life “Truth and Falsehood” and allowed Nan Li one chance to use her Martial Souls until her Soul Power ran out.
• The Goddess of Life sent Nan Li and Dong Yun into the trial, and they closed their eyes as points of light enveloped them.
• Nan Li awoke in a hospital room wearing a hospital gown and realized she had returned to the Blue Star world.
• Nan Li recognized the woman with bandaged eyes as her twin sister, Jiang Mingzhao, and remembered that her Blue Star name was Jiang E Li.
• Jiang Mingzhao hugged Nan Li, pinched her waist, and asked her to speak while Nan Li questioned what had happened and why they were in the hospital.

Jiang E Li recovered in Blue Star after her electrocution and wondered how the sixth Life God Trial, “Truth and Falsehood,” related to her return. In the trial, Dong Yun endured visions of her past and imagined a future in which she protected Nan Li, only for that vision to end with Nan Li pierced by a golden sword.

• Jiang E Li woke in the hospital with Jiang Mingzhao, learned she would remain under observation for a week, and later returned home with her twin sister.
• On the train, Jiang E Li found that her Soul Power was gone and her Spirit Power sealed, leaving only a trace of Spiritual Power as proof that her return to Blue Star was real.
• Dong Yun woke in the Rakshasa Divine Realm and calmly watched the divine statue collapse before scenes from her life appeared.
• Dong Yun relived her childhood with Qing Wu and Nan Li, the beast tide’s attack on Sun Island, and her resolve to protect Nan Li and their Clan Members.
• The visions showed Dong Yun aiding Qian Renxue in destroying the Clear Sky Sect and defeating Tang San and Tang Hao, then maintaining peace while Nan Li stayed near her.
• Dong Yun turned to invite Nan Li along, but a golden sword pierced Nan Li and blood dripped from her body.

Dong Yun rejected the Rakshasa God’s illusion and refused to let it manipulate her into inheriting the Rakshasa God position. Back in the Blue Star World, Jiang E Li discovered her Double Pupils were gone, learned that Jiang Mingzhao could see, and decided to enlist after watching the news.

• Dong Yun saw an illusion in which Qian Renxue killed Nan Li, but recognized it as a ploy and rejected the Rakshasa God’s attempt to control her.
• Jiang Mingzhao admitted to Jiang E Li that she could see but could not be exposed to light.
• Jiang E Li discovered that her Double Pupils had disappeared and checked that Jiang Mingzhao’s eyes remained intact.
• Jiang Mingzhao said Jiang E Li had been electrocuted and unconscious for days, while the news reported Duopa’s arrest and Sanka’s continued disappearance.
• Jiang E Li asked whether her physical indicators were normal and announced that she would enlist.

Jiang E Li decided to enlist, and Jiang Mingzhao helped prepare her for recruitment despite their approaching separation. By mid-September, Jiang E Li entered the military, with Jiang Mingzhao accompanying her.

• Jiang E Li told Jiang Mingzhao she planned to enlist, and Jiang Mingzhao promised to train her and personally send her in.
• Jiang Mingzhao secretly called someone to report that Jiang E Li had not noticed anything and asked whether there was news about their parents.
• Jiang Mingzhao took over cooking after Jiang E Li nearly turned the kitchen into a laboratory, and the sisters shared a bed that night.
• Jiang Mingzhao began training Jiang E Li at five thirty the next morning, exposing how poor Jiang E Li's fitness was.
• By mid-September, Jiang E Li left in a special car, and Jiang Mingzhao accompanied her as she entered the military.

Jiang E Li enlisted and fought her way through special forces selection, determined to earn a chance to serve on the front lines. During the New Year, Jiang Mingzhao visited her at the base, but Jiang E Li did not know the visit might be their last before chaos spread south of Southern Xinjiang.

• Jiang Mingzhao told Jiang E Li that their parents were in Southern Xinjiang and warned her that events outside the region were about to become chaotic.
• Jiang E Li refused an assignment to the communications unit and requested sniper training, then qualified for special forces selection through outstanding shooting results and grueling physical trials.
• Jiang E Li discovered that her Spiritual Power had been repairing her body and continued training as selection progressed.
• Jiang Mingzhao visited Jiang E Li at the military base for the New Year, but Jiang E Li refused to let her stay in the dorm and returned to training.
• Jiang Mingzhao watched Jiang E Li train, knowing she had come to say goodbye and that this might be their last chance to spend time together.

Jiang Mingzhao left for a dangerous investigation in the Gray Triangle, and Jiang E Li resolved to join the Yaoguang Special Forces so she could bring her home. During recruit assignments, a Yaoguang representative selected Jiang E Li’s file and asked about her marksmanship.

• Jiang Mingzhao cooked with Jiang E Li in the barracks before leaving, and the two traded teasing remarks.
• After Jiang Mingzhao departed in a police uniform, Jiang E Li recognized her badge number and remembered that her father had also served in Southern Xinjiang.
• Jiang Mingzhao had volunteered to investigate the whereabouts of Duopa’s former drug researchers in the Gray Triangle, taking over her father’s badge number.
• Jiang E Li trained relentlessly and aimed to join the Yaoguang Special Forces, the unit most likely to operate in Southern Xinjiang.
• During recruit assignments, a Yaoguang representative pulled Jiang E Li’s file and asked whether her marksmanship was accurate.