Chapter Summaries

Qin Shaofeng used the Heavenly Void Worm King to subdue the Emerald Dragon King, then led his group safely out of Tian Lian Mountain. At the mountain’s outskirts, Golan Ye thanked Qin Shaofeng and prepared to part ways.

• Qin Shaofeng watched as the Heavenly Void Worm King entered the Emerald Dragon King and subdued it almost instantly.
• Qin Shaofeng confirmed the Emerald Dragon King was under control, wore it around his wrist, and had Ran Zun hide in his shadow.
• Qin Shaofeng ordered the group to leave while the Black-headed Strange Snakes retreated, and Golan Ye and his companions abandoned Haldo.
• Qin Shaofeng led the group through Tian Lian Mountain’s outskirts, where they reached safety in less than ten days without losing anyone.
• Golan Ye told Qin Shaofeng they were about five hundred li from leaving Tian Lian Mountain and offered to build closer ties between Huoyun Kingdom and Qin Shaofeng’s sect.

Qin Shaofeng led his group through Tian Lian Mountain to avoid Tianxiang Sect and the Four Symbols Sect learning of their presence. He disguised the group’s strength and assigned Zhou Qing the role of a Chasing Stars Sect seed disciple, but familiar-robed figures appeared as they approached Tianlan Sect’s territory.

• Qin Shaofeng chose to travel through Tian Lian Mountain rather than enter the Land of Shining Stars, avoiding Tianxiang Sect and its backing, Four Symbols Sect.
• Qin Shaofeng gathered aura-concealing jade pendants and distributed them among the group, while Ran Zun said his Light Spirit Ring could hide his cultivation.
• Qin Shaofeng gave Zhou Qing a broken pendant and told him to pose as the group’s young master and a Chasing Stars Sect seed disciple.
• Qin Shaofeng arranged the group’s formation, and Zhou Qing set off with a folding fan, pretending to lead them back to the sect.
• As the group neared Tianlan Sect’s territory, figures wearing familiar robes appeared before them.

Qin Shaofeng’s group encountered Jin Yangqi of the Seven Luminaries Sect, who recognized Qin and revealed his desire for revenge. Zhou Qing provoked Jin Yangqi and ordered Qi Ying to slap him, turning the confrontation into a fight after Jin Yangqi’s companions struck Qi Ying.

• Jin Yangqi recognized Qin Shaofeng and introduced himself as a member of the Jin family’s Sun Luminance lineage.
• Zhou Qing contemptuously refused to reveal his identity and interrupted Jin Yangqi when he mentioned Qin’s blood feud with the Seven Luminaries Sect.
• Zhou Qing ordered Qi Ying to slap Jin Yangqi, and Qi Ying struck him several times.
• Three Seven Luminaries Sect experts rushed in, pulled Jin Yangqi away, and attacked Qi Ying, injuring him.
• Zhou Qing angrily ordered his men to cripple the attackers, and Hao Liang and Yang Liang charged forward.

Zhou Qing’s group slaughtered Jin Yangqi’s followers after Jin Yangqi’s men injured Qi Ying. Zhou Qing pretended to spare Jin Yangqi, then used blood on his beloved fan as an excuse to order Qi Ying to cripple him.

• Hao Liang and Yang Liang attacked Jin Yangqi’s group while Yang Liang seized Jin Yangqi, and Qi Ying joined the fight.
• Hao Liang, Yang Liang, and Qi Ying killed the dozen or so people Jin Yangqi had brought and dragged Jin Yangqi before Zhou Qing.
• Zhou Qing mocked Jin Yangqi’s Seven Luminaries Sect lineage and told him he would spare his life if he learned not to interrogate people by force.
• Jin Yangqi sprang up and splattered blood onto Zhou Qing’s fan, and Zhou Qing erupted in fury over the stain.
• Zhou Qing ordered Qi Ying to cripple Jin Yangqi, claiming the fan had belonged to the person he loved most.

Qin Shaofeng’s group left Tian Lian Mountain after nearly four months, while travelers discovered Jin Yangqi and his subordinates had been attacked over blood on a keepsake fan. The group continued toward the Land of Shining Stars, but news they received upon buying carriages left them troubled.

• A Tianlan Sect party heard screams and encountered a furious young master complaining that blood had stained his keepsake fan.
• After the group passed, the Tianlan Sect members found Jin Yangqi badly mutilated and his subordinates dead, and recognized him as a member of the Seven Luminaries Sect.
• Once out of Tian Lian Mountain, Yang Zhen and the others celebrated their return to the Land of Shining Stars, and Qin Shaofeng urged them to keep moving.
• The group traveled by two carriages driven by Qi Ying and Yang Liang after leaving the mountain’s suppressive effects behind.
• The travelers learned troubling news when they bought the carriages, leaving everyone inside them in low spirits.

Qin Shaofeng and his companions weighed the dangers of going to the Chasing Stars Sect, where rival forces sought its God-grade martial skill, Ghost Three Slashes. Qin Shaofeng argued that the sect remained powerful and that its enemies were still using peaceful methods; after two days, they reached the sect and found crowds gathered outside its gates.

• Yang Zhen and Luo Ying worried that the Four Symbols Sect and other infiltrators made the Chasing Stars Sect too dangerous to approach.
• Qin Shaofeng reasoned that the rival forces were still trying to enter the sect rather than provoking open conflict, and predicted the sect would appear prosperous.
• Qin Shaofeng's group traveled for two days through the Land of Shining Stars without incident.
• The group reached the nine mountains of the Chasing Stars Sect and learned that the sect occupied seven of them, with its core grounds protected within three inner mountains.
• After Qi Ying called everyone out of the carriage, Yang Zhen saw crowds filling the roads to the sect and wondered why so many people still sought to enter despite the danger.

Qin Shaofeng and the others returned to the Chasing Stars Sect and found a group of young people protesting outside its gates, apparently sent to stir up trouble. Qin Shaofeng ordered Zhou Qing to confront them, while a Seven Stars Sect elder failed to recognize Zhou Qing as a member of the sect.

• Qin Shaofeng had Qi Ying and Yang Liang release their auras and told Zhou Qing to act overbearing as the group made its way through the crowd toward the sect.
• Two Third-tier Heavenly Venerate auras cleared a path to the Chasing Stars Sect, and observers immediately sent news of the returning disciples to their factions.
• At the sect gates, a dozen Heaven Star Position youths demanded to take the entrance examination and accused the Chasing Stars Sect of treating them unfairly.
• Qin Shaofeng suspected the youths had been sent by the major factions to cause trouble and instructed Zhou Qing to deal with them as supposed Rogue Cultivators.
• Zhou Qing led the group in cursing the protesters, who shouted back and threatened to spread word of the sect’s alleged misconduct.
• A Seven Stars Sect elder overseeing the assessments wondered who Zhou Qing was, since he had never heard of anyone by that name in the sect.

Ximen Tianyun questioned the identity of the group led by Yang Zhen, but recognized Ximen Li’s token and sent word to the Vice Sect Master. Zhou Qing then offered the people who had been cursing him special admission to the Chasing Stars Sect, leaving them afraid to accept and warning others away.

• Ximen Tianyun suspected the newcomers might be impostors until Yang Zhen showed Ximen Li’s token and asked for the Vice Sect Master to be notified.
• Ximen Tianyun sent a disciple to inform the Vice Sect Master that the group had obtained the item and requested a personal reception.
• Zhou Qing offered the dozen people who had been cursing him a chance to enter the sect, saying he would speak to the Vice Sect Master.
• One of the people tried to refuse and leave, but Zhou Qing intimidated him and announced that he would specially approve anyone’s entry without an examination.
• The people nearby stopped others from approaching, fearing Zhou Qing would take his anger out on them.

Zhou Qing brought four impoverished youths into his group and ordered Uncle Hao to help Ximen Tianyun. He then brutally killed two of Ximen Tianyun’s subordinates, disguising the attacks as punishment for faking an injury and farting.

• Four ragged youths stepped forward to join Zhou Qing, who accepted them and prepared to return to the sect.
• Zhou Qing asked for two of Ximen Tianyun’s subordinates and left Uncle Hao behind to help guard the sect gate.
• Zhou Qing lightly patted an arrogant youth, shattered his bones, then claimed the youth was faking an injury as he kicked him to death.
• When another youth let out a fart in fear, Zhou Qing kicked him until he became a mangled mass.
• Zhou Qing ordered two others to hang the dead youths from a tree for three days and three nights.

Hao Liang helped Ximen Tianyun intimidate suspicious people at the Chasing Stars Sect’s entrance examination. After entering the sect, Zhou Qing ordered Yang Liang and Qi Ying to kill the group he had brought inside, revealing their strength to Ximen Tianyun’s disciples.

• Hao Liang warned that he would kill anyone who bothered him, helping Ximen Tianyun intimidate those waiting for the examination.
• Hao Liang killed a suspicious Heaven Star Position youth and threatened the others, while Ximen Tianyun used his outbursts to deal with more suspicious entrants.
• Zhou Qing stopped inside the Chasing Stars Sect and reminded the group he had brought in that they had cursed him.
• Zhou Qing ordered Yang Liang and Qi Ying to beat the group to death, and they quickly killed the Heaven Star Position experts.
• Ximen Tianyun’s two disciples realized that Yang Liang and Qi Ying were Third-tier Heavenly Venerate experts.

Zhou Qing assigned the four youths to three years of menial work and arranged for all newly recruited disciples to do the same. Sha Longxing welcomed Qin Shaofeng’s group after they returned with a Heavenly Wolf Spider hatchling, but the news quickly spread and sparked speculation across the Land of Shining Stars.

• Zhou Qing ordered the four youths to serve as menial disciples for three years and suggested that all newly recruited disciples be assigned menial work under trusted supervision.
• The disciples who remained collected the dead and divided the belongings of those killed in the battle.
• Sha Longxing recognized Qin Shaofeng among Zhou Qing’s group and eagerly accepted the Heavenly Wolf Spider hatchling they had brought back.
• Sha Longxing led the group to meet the sect master and praised them for their achievement.
• News of the hatchling spread throughout the Land of Shining Stars, prompting powerful forces to speculate that it was connected to Ghost Three Slashes.

Qin Shaofeng reunited with Ximen Li at the Chasing Stars Sect and introduced Ran Zun, whose Myriad Stars Chessboard exposed a hidden watcher in the supposedly secure room. Qin Shaofeng ordered the group to capture the intruder.

• Ximen Li joyfully welcomed Qin Shaofeng and asked him to introduce the powerful companions with him.
• Qin Shaofeng explained that the group had been under strain and confirmed Ximen Li’s private room was guarded by his sworn elder brother, Beitang Chen.
• Beitang Chen sensed a concealed presence, and Qin Shaofeng called Ran Zun out of hiding.
• Ran Zun used the Myriad Stars Chessboard to reveal a blood-red piece marking someone hidden on the beam.
• Qin Shaofeng shouted for them to take down the hidden person as Ran Zun vanished and the chessboard tracked the intruder.

Qin Shaofeng exposed a hidden intruder in the Chasing Stars Sect, who attacked him after revealing himself as a Fifth Grade Saint Star Position expert. War Shadow and Ran Zun countered the ambush, but the intruder’s Black Tortoise Armor left the defenders preparing to call on the sect ancestor.

• Qin Shaofeng used the Myriad Stars Chessboard to reveal a hidden person, and Ximen Li confirmed the intruder was not one of his people.
• The intruder revealed himself and rushed to kill Qin Shaofeng, prompting Beitang Chen to identify him as a Fifth Grade Saint Star Position expert.
• War Shadow appeared before Qin Shaofeng and struck the attacker with Sky Shadow Sword, Gift of Shadow, blasting him back.
• Ran Zun ambushed the intruder from behind, but he countered with the Four Symbols Sect’s Black Tortoise Armor.
• War Shadow unleashed Shadow Slash while Beitang Chen urged Ximen Li to summon the sect ancestor before the intruder could escape.

Qin Shaofeng baited Yan Zhen while Ran Zun and War Shadow struck the Four Symbols Sect deputy hall master, then revealed that War Shadow could hold him off for ten breaths. The chapter left Yan Zhen facing an imminent threat, with Qin Shaofeng hinting that he had even less time than that.

• Qin Shaofeng stayed calm and used himself and the Myriad Stars Chessboard as bait while the Emerald Dragon King prepared to strike.
• Ran Zun pierced Yan Zhen's defenses with the Demon Subduing Pestle, and War Shadow's sword hit Yan Zhen's shoulder but was stopped by the Black Tortoise Armor.
• Ran Zun vanished, and Ximen Li recognized Yan Zhen as the deputy hall master of Black Tortoise Hall of the Four Symbols Sect.
• Yan Zhen demanded the Myriad Stars Chessboard and an explanation for how Ran Zun had breached his defenses, threatening to spare Qin Shaofeng only if he complied.
• Qin Shaofeng revealed that War Shadow was a Third Grade Saint Star Position battle puppet capable of holding Yan Zhen off for ten breaths, then warned that Yan Zhen had less time than that.

Qin Shaofeng taunted Yan Zhen while the poison on Ran Zun’s sword weakened him, leaving Yan Zhen shocked to discover he had been poisoned. Yan Zhen demanded an antidote and threatened the Chasing Stars Sect with war if he died.

• Yan Zhen doubted Qin Shaofeng could harm him, while Qin Shaofeng calmly implied that he had less than ten breaths left.
• Ximen Li and Beitang Chen noticed the black blood and realized Ran Zun’s sword poison had taken effect.
• Yan Zhen sensed the poison in his wound and found that his qi and blood were difficult to control.
• Yan Zhen demanded the antidote and Ran Zun’s short sword, offering to spare Qin Shaofeng’s life.
• Qin Shaofeng insulted Yan Zhen and challenged his authority to make demands.
• Yan Zhen identified himself as the Deputy Hall Master of Black Tortoise Hall and threatened the Chasing Stars Sect with war if he died.

Qin Shaofeng dismissed Yan Zhen’s threats of war and challenged him to explain how a Four Symbols Sect deputy hall master could justify his actions. He asked Ran Zun to reveal his former allegiance and identity, leaving Yan Zhen and the Chasing Stars Sect leaders alarmed and curious.

• Yan Zhen threatened war against the Chasing Stars Sect and warned that the Seven Stars Sect would also be destroyed if Qin Shaofeng harmed him.
• Ximen Li and Sha Longxing mocked Yan Zhen for expecting the Four Symbols Sect to wage war over his secretive actions.
• Qin Shaofeng stopped Yan Zhen from threatening Sha Longxing and challenged him for relying on his status to intimidate others.
• Qin Shaofeng asked Ran Zun to reveal which force he had served and what identity he had held before following him.
• Ximen Li, Beitang Chen, and Sha Longxing wondered who Ran Zun was because they did not recognize him among the Land of Shining Stars’ known Saint Star Position experts.

Ran Zun revealed his former rank in the Carefree Gate and warned Yan Zhen that his assassin skills made him far more dangerous than his cultivation suggested. Qin Shaofeng killed Yan Zhen, then gave Ximen Li Yan Zhen’s valuables and a copy of Black Tortoise Armor to study and share.

• Ran Zun revealed that he had been the fourth of the Four Saints of Tianxiao in the Carefree Gate and claimed he was the world’s second-greatest assassin.
• Ran Zun explained that Yan Zhen would not have survived if he had attacked him as an assassin instead of serving as a bodyguard.
• Qin Shaofeng introduced War Shadow as another former member of the Four Saints of Tianxiao, now refined into his battle puppet.
• Qin Shaofeng used his battle saber to behead the poisoned Yan Zhen and gained 30,000,000 Real Value.
• Qin Shaofeng gave Yan Zhen’s Storage Bag to Ximen Li and handed him a handwritten copy of Black Tortoise Armor to learn and pass on.

Qin Shaofeng arranged for his companions to stay at the Chasing Stars Sect while he planned to visit the Seven Stars Sect. He asked Ximen Li to make him a true Vice Sect Master, and the chapter ended with Sha Longxing rushing to announce the appointment.

• Qin Shaofeng reassured Ximen Li that using the Black Tortoise Armor would not cause trouble and explained that his companions could not openly accompany him to the Seven Stars Sect.
• Qin Shaofeng introduced Zi Bingning and his other companions, then asked Ximen Li to give them places in the sect and arrange special protection for Zi Bingning.
• Qin Shaofeng asked Ximen Li to nurture Zhou Qing in subjects beyond cultivation, and Ximen Li agreed.
• Qin Shaofeng requested the Vice Sect Master position and said he still intended to visit the Seven Stars Sect before deciding how to settle matters there.
• Ximen Li declared Qin Shaofeng a true Vice Sect Master, and Sha Longxing hurried off to arrange the appointment and notify the sect’s upper echelon.

Qin Shaofeng accepted the position of Vice Sect Master of the Chasing Stars Sect, and Ximen Li arranged for him and his companions to rest in a secluded courtyard. Ximen Zhuiyue objected to the appointment, warning that the sect was in a perilous situation and Qin Shaofeng was an outsider.

• Sha Longxing announced Qin Shaofeng as Vice Sect Master, and Ximen Li laughed that the appointment was already settled.
• Ximen Li proposed telling Chen Xing that his grandson had insisted on bringing Qin Shaofeng to the Chasing Stars Sect, and Qin Shaofeng agreed to leave the arrangements to him.
• Qin Shaofeng asked about Hao Liang, and Ximen Li approved the plan for Hao Liang to build a reputation at the mountain gate.
• Ximen Li led Qin Shaofeng and his companions to a secluded courtyard, where they chose rooms and rested.
• Ximen Li told Ximen Zhuiyue that the sect had gained a powerful ally and another Vice Sect Master, and Ximen Zhuiyue questioned appointing an outsider during the crisis.

Ximen Li revealed that Qin Shaofeng would become the Chasing Stars Sect’s Vice Sect Master and sent Lu Tianxing to deliver an urgent letter to the Seven Stars Sect. Lu Tianxing reached its mountain gate after a grueling ride and demanded to see its Sect Master within half an hour.

• Ximen Zhuiyue guessed that Qin Shaofeng was the new Vice Sect Master, and Ximen Li confirmed it, revealing Qin Shaofeng’s apparent Fifth Grade Heavenly Venerate Realm cultivation.
• Ximen Li ordered Ximen Zhuiyue to summon senior elders and sent Lu Tianxing to the Seven Stars Sect with a letter for Chen Xing.
• Lu Tianxing learned Qin Shaofeng had come and departed immediately, riding three of the sect’s finest horses to make the journey.
• Lu Tianxing reached the Seven Stars Sect in one day and demanded an audience with its Sect Master within half an hour.
• A gate disciple sent Junior Brother Cheng to escort Lu Tianxing to the reception hall while he rushed to report the visit.