Chapter Summaries

Lu Xueqi kept watch as Bi Yao recovered, and the two spoke about Bi Yao’s feelings for Su Han despite the divide between righteous and demonic paths. After Elder Mu checked their condition and left medicine and instructions, Bi Yao woke and called for Su Han.

• Bi Yao told Lu Xueqi that she could not control her feelings for Su Han and did not want to, though she knew their paths made a future difficult.
• Lu Xueqi urged Bi Yao to rest while she stayed beside her and Su Han recovered in the adjacent room.
• Su Han emerged from the Quiet Room, saw Bi Yao sleeping peacefully, and joined Lu Xueqi in greeting Elder Mu.
• Elder Mu examined Bi Yao, gave Su Han a vial of Hundred Herbs Marrow Nourishing Pill, and instructed him to keep the Soul Stabilizing Pearl close to her for seven days.
• Su Han thanked Lu Xueqi for watching over Bi Yao, but Bi Yao woke and softly called his name.

Bi Yao recovered enough to speak with Su Han and Lu Xueqi, then asked to speak with Lu Xueqi alone about the danger her identity and relationship with Su Han posed to them. She explained that she did not regret loving Su Han but feared becoming a burden to Lu Xueqi, leaving Lu Xueqi silent.

• Su Han gave Bi Yao half of the Hundred Herbs Marrow Nourishing Pill and told her she had been unconscious for nearly a day and night.
• Bi Yao urged Lu Xueqi to return to Qingyun Mountain, but Lu Xueqi said she knew what she was doing and stayed.
• Bi Yao asked Su Han to leave so she could speak privately with Lu Xueqi, and he went outside the hall.
• Bi Yao told Lu Xueqi that her relationship with Su Han and her Ghost King Sect identity could bring hardship and criticism to them both.
• Bi Yao said she did not regret loving Su Han but did not want to burden Lu Xueqi or put her at odds with Qingyun, and Lu Xueqi fell silent.

Lu Xueqi explained why she chose to protect Bi Yao and decided to remain with Su Han while the East Sea mystery remained unresolved. The three stayed at Town Yue Tower as Bi Yao recovered and Su Han and Lu Xueqi planned their next steps.

• Lu Xueqi told Bi Yao that she would follow her own principles and report the matter to her sect, while Bi Yao recovered and decided what to do next.
• Bi Yao thanked Lu Xueqi by name and praised her as a good person and a fortunate fellow disciple for Su Han.
• Lu Xueqi told Su Han that she had contacted the Qingyun Sect, and that True Lord Daoxuan had instructed her to prioritize their safety and investigate the East Sea disturbances.
• Lu Xueqi and Su Han agreed to wait for Bi Yao to recover and for Elder Mu to investigate Town Yue Tower's connection to the East Sea.
• Lu Xueqi and Su Han discussed the Black Qi and abyssal creatures, then agreed that they needed to strengthen themselves through cultivation.

Su Han, Bi Yao, and Lu Xueqi recovered and cultivated in Town Yue Tower until a hostile spiritual sense linked to the East Sea black qi probed the tower. Elder Mu warned that the tower had been marked and enemies might find their general location, leaving them to prepare for a possible attack.

• Bi Yao continued recovering under Su Han's care while Su Han and Lu Xueqi cultivated and Elder Mu investigated the East Sea black qi without finding its source.
• A cold, sinister ripple swept through Town Yue Tower, alerting Su Han and Lu Xueqi to the East Sea black qi.
• Elder Mu revealed that a concealed spiritual sense had tried to spy on the tower, but the tower spirit repelled it and left the intruder's side with a faint mark to follow.
• Elder Mu explained that the enemies might be able to estimate the tower's location, and that the tower's defenses would depend on Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and the others if they attacked.
• Lu Xueqi drew the Tian Ya Divine Sword and vowed to defeat any enemies who came.

Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu prepared Town Yue Tower for the enemy’s return while Bi Yao recovered with the ancient tortoiseshell. The attacker breached the tower’s defenses and launched an assault, drawn to Bi Yao’s Soul Stabilizing Divine Pearl and the tortoiseshell, as Elder Mu raised a barrier around her bed.

• Su Han gave Bi Yao the ancient tortoiseshell, and Elder Mu activated Town Yue Tower’s defenses.
• Su Han and Lu Xueqi kept watch while Elder Mu monitored the tower and Bi Yao slept.
• Town Yue Tower shook as Black Mist and scraping claws attacked its barrier, and Elder Mu warned that the Black Qi could corrupt spiritual power and minds.
• A blurred figure formed from the Black Qi, recognized the Soul Stabilizing Divine Pearl and the tortoiseshell, and demanded that they surrender both.
• The figure unleashed a torrent of Black Qi, and Elder Mu fought it while the tower’s runes formed a barrier around Bi Yao’s bed.

Su Han and Lu Xueqi worked with Elder Mu to resist the black shadow in the Town Yue Tower, then combined their attacks to expose and strike its true form. The shadow repelled Lu Xueqi’s blow and lunged for her throat as Su Han and Elder Mu moved to intervene.

• Su Han and Lu Xueqi defended the golden barrier together while Elder Mu warned that the shadow’s attacks were probing their defenses.
• At Elder Mu’s urging, Su Han used his Primal Spiritual Power and a trace of Axe Intent of World Creation to cleave through the Black Qi and force the shadow to condense.
• Lu Xueqi followed Su Han’s opening with a Tian Ya Sword strike that pierced the black shield and pushed toward the shadow.
• The shadow shattered its shield, sent Lu Xueqi flying, and lunged at her throat with a deadly claw.
• Su Han swung his sword at the claw while Elder Mu sent a verdant vine toward the shadow, but it remained focused on Lu Xueqi.

Bi Yao’s tortoiseshell awakened and revealed its power to suppress and purify the shadow’s Black Qi, prompting the shadow to attack with its full strength. As Su Han faced a deadly strike, he gathered his will and Axe Intent into his sword and prepared to defend his companions.

• Bi Yao’s tortoiseshell emitted a pale-blue glow that repelled the Black Qi and forced the shadow to recoil.
• Elder Mu recognized the tortoiseshell as a Fragment of the Guixu Key, while Bi Yao explained that she could not control its activation.
• The shadow revealed its desire to seize the tortoiseshell and Soul Stabilizing Divine Pearl, but Su Han refused to surrender Bi Yao.
• The shadow gathered its Black Qi into a giant form and launched two powerful hands at Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Bi Yao.
• Su Han stepped in front of Lu Xueqi and focused his will and Axe Intent into his sword as the attack closed in.

Su Han’s sword strike split the black shadow’s attack, but the shadow’s mental assault left Bi Yao near collapse and the tortoise shell’s protection faltering. The shell awakened a projection of Return to the Void that froze the hall and struck the black hand with dark blue light.

• Su Han used a nearly invisible sword line to split the black hand, while Lu Xueqi attacked the black-robed giant’s head.
• The giant blocked Lu Xueqi with Black Qi and sent a mental assault at Bi Yao to disrupt her control of the tortoise shell.
• Bi Yao was badly injured, and the pale blue halo shrank as the giant hand pressed against it.
• The tortoise shell awakened and formed the dark blue Return to the Void Phantom, freezing the hall and stopping the black hand.
• The phantom sent a hair-thin ray of dark blue light toward the black hand.

After Bi Yao's tortoise shell drove off the shadow in Town Yue Tower, Su Han and the others learned they needed to flee and seek answers about Return to the Void. Elder Mu proposed taking the weakened Bi Yao to Falling Star Lake, then revealed a hidden staircase whose destination was unknown.

• Bi Yao's tortoise shell manifested Return to the Void and erased the shadow's attack, forcing the black-robed giant to flee after threatening to return with its true body.
• Bi Yao fainted from exhaustion, while Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu recovered from the battle and found the tower badly damaged.
• Elder Mu warned that the shadow coveted the Soul Stabilizing Pearl and the tortoise shell, and urged the group to leave Town Yue Tower and investigate the shell's secrets.
• Su Han took the tortoise shell, and Elder Mu recommended the remote Falling Star Lake for its ancient protective barrier and ability to disrupt tracking.
• Elder Mu opened a hidden door in the hall, revealing a narrow staircase leading downward.

Su Han, Lu Xueqi, Elder Mu, and the unconscious Bi Yao escaped Town Yue Tower through an underground river and traveled by submersible into the East Sea. They reached the Sea of Lost Ways and began following Elder Mu’s star-guided route toward Falling Star Lake, while Bi Yao’s connection to the Guixu Key remained uncertain.

• Elder Mu led Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Bi Yao through a secret passage beneath Town Yue Tower to a cavern with formation-powered submersibles.
• Su Han and Bi Yao boarded one submersible while Elder Mu and Lu Xueqi took another, and the group traveled through an underground river into the East Sea.
• Su Han examined the Guixu Key fragment and worried it might be linked to Bi Yao’s failing life force.
• Bi Yao briefly woke and told Su Han she had dreamed of a black sea calling to her before falling asleep again.
• Elder Mu guided the submersibles toward Falling Star Lake and entered the Sea of Lost Ways using the North Star to navigate its chaotic waters.

Su Han, Lu Xueqi, Bi Yao, and Elder Mu crossed Falling Star Lake's perception-warping Star Mist Barrier and reached the ancient sacred site within the lake. They took shelter in a surviving side hall, while the warm tortoise shell warned Su Han that the threat from the Return to the Void remained.

• Su Han followed Elder Mu through the Star Mist Barrier, guided by the faint blue glow of the tortoise shell.
• The purple fog parted to reveal Falling Star Lake, whose star-filled waters and central pillar of light formed a secret realm that disrupted fate and blocked investigation.
• Su Han's group crossed the lake's boundary, and Bi Yao's aura stabilized slightly as they approached the ancient lakeshore buildings.
• Elder Mu explained that the ruins had once been the Ancient Water Tribe's sacred ground for worshipping Star Source and brought the group to a moss-covered stone dock.
• Elder Mu led Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Bi Yao to an intact side hall for shelter, while the tortoise shell remained faintly hot in Su Han's arms.

Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu took shelter in an ancient hall at Falling Star Lake, where Elder Mu discovered that Su Han’s turtle shell was connected to the lake’s fallen Star Core. They set up a Star Gathering Formation to test whether the shell could help Bi Yao, and the chapter ended as Su Han placed it at the formation’s center.

• Elder Mu led Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and the unconscious Bi Yao into a side hall and said the sacred ground would shield them from tracking.
• Su Han laid Bi Yao down, and he and Elder Mu found that the star-filled environment seemed to suppress the Guixu Power weakening her.
• Elder Mu examined Su Han’s turtle shell and concluded that its natural Star-Track Runes likely linked it to Falling Star Lake and its Star Core.
• Elder Mu said the shell might stabilize Bi Yao but could not likely remove the Guixu Power, so he proposed awakening it with the lake’s Power of Stars.
• Elder Mu arranged a Star Gathering Formation, and Su Han placed the turtle shell at its center to begin testing its power.

Su Han and Elder Mu activated the turtle shell with the Star Gathering Formation, and its Power of Stars slightly eased Bi Yao’s condition. They concluded the artifact was damaged and that the Source Light of Stars at Falling Star Lake might restore it, leaving them to investigate the ruins and recover before deciding how to proceed.

• The turtle shell absorbed starlight and sent a gentle ray into Bi Yao, reviving her faint vitality and stirring her dormant magical power.
• Elder Mu explained that the damaged turtle shell could only delay the Guixu Power and might need the Source Light of Stars to be restored.
• Su Han resolved to learn more about the turtle shell, Falling Star Lake, the Ancient Water Tribe, and the Source Light of Stars.
• Elder Mu ordered the group to rest and explore the ruins, while warning Su Han to stabilize his cultivation and assigning Lu Xueqi to guard the area.
• Elder Mu studied the turtle shell as Su Han meditated beside Bi Yao and absorbed the nourishing Power of Stars.

Su Han recovered while Elder Mu investigated the tortoiseshell and uncovered its possible origins as a fragment of the Ancient Water Tribe’s sacred Myriad Star Armor. The tortoiseshell was drawing on Bi Yao’s trace of Return to the Void, and Su Han learned that finding the complete armor might cure her.

• Su Han awoke from meditation after recovering much of his strength and checked on Bi Yao, whose condition had slightly improved.
• Elder Mu told Su Han that the tortoiseshell shared the origin of Falling Star Lake’s core and might predate the lake itself.
• Elder Mu explained that the Ancient Water Tribe worshipped a sacred artifact resembling the tortoiseshell, called the Myriad Star Armor, which had shattered and been lost.
• Elder Mu revealed that the tortoiseshell was nourishing Bi Yao while drawing a faint trace of Return to the Void from her body.
• Su Han and Elder Mu concluded that the complete Myriad Star Armor might be able to resolve Bi Yao’s condition.

Su Han stayed with the unconscious Bi Yao while cultivating the Power of Stars, hoping to prepare for a journey to the center of Falling Star Lake. He discovered that his Stone Bead resonated faintly with the star power, and the chapter ended when Elder Mu and Lu Xueqi returned from exploring the ruins with news of both a discovery and trouble.

• Su Han agreed to Elder Mu’s plan to investigate the ruins, prepare magical artifacts, and strengthen his cultivation before approaching the lake’s center.
• Elder Mu left with Lu Xueqi to search deeper into the ruins while Su Han watched over Bi Yao and cultivated in the side hall.
• Su Han successfully refined a tiny point of star power in his dantian, while Bi Yao’s condition appeared to improve slightly but she remained unconscious.
• Su Han’s mysterious Stone Bead warmed and glowed faintly, resonating with the tortoise shell and the lake-center light pillar when he infused it with star power.
• Elder Mu and Lu Xueqi returned after about half a day, and Elder Mu told Su Han they had found something but also encountered trouble.

Elder Mu explained the Ancient Water Tribe’s origins, the shattered Myriad Star Armor, and the Star Beasts guarding the route to the lake’s heart. As Su Han cultivated his star seed and Bi Yao remained stable, Elder Mu began refining protective artifacts while Lu Xueqi and Elder Mu continued exploring.

• Elder Mu told Su Han that the Ancient Water Tribe came from the Guixu Star Sea and had worshipped the Star Source and the Myriad Star Armor, which could open the Gate of the Star Vast.
• Elder Mu explained that a conflict over returning to their homeland had destroyed the tribe’s holy land and shattered the armor, and that the true core altar lay beneath the pillar of light at the lake’s heart.
• Lu Xueqi warned that packs of powerful Star Beasts occupied the deep ruins and guarded the paths toward the lake’s heart.
• Elder Mu showed Su Han star-powered materials he had gathered and planned to refine them into artifacts that could resist star power.
• Su Han reported forming a star seed, and Elder Mu urged him to strengthen it while he and Lu Xueqi studied the Star Beasts and the route ahead.
• Over the following days, Su Han cultivated and cared for Bi Yao as her condition stabilized, while Elder Mu worked through several failures to refine artifacts from the gathered materials.

As a Star Power Tide approached, Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu prepared to travel toward the lake’s center, where the silver-white pillar of light shone. They left Bi Yao protected in a formation and began their dangerous journey through the increasingly bright underwater ruins.

• Lu Xueqi and Su Han practiced using the Power of Stars, and Su Han noticed the light pillar and Bi Yao’s tortoise shell responding to a change at the lake’s center.
• Elder Mu identified the approaching Star Power Tide and warned that it could reveal a route to the center while making the star power and Star Beasts more dangerous.
• Elder Mu gave Su Han a Star Fixing Token and Starlight Gauze Robe, assigned Lu Xueqi to clear the way, and kept the Star Guiding Bead for himself.
• Elder Mu built a defensive formation around Bi Yao and gave Su Han a Jade Talisman to warn them if it came under attack.
• Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu left the side hall and headed toward the lake’s center through glowing waters and ancient ruins.

Lu Xueqi, Su Han, and Elder Mu fought off Star Beasts and explored the Water Clan’s ruins, finding murals that suggested the clan’s destruction involved both internal conflict and an external threat. They reached the edge of the intense Primordial Star Power field surrounding the lake’s center, where enormous structures lay within the blinding silver light.

• Lu Xueqi and Su Han defeated several dozen Star Beasts while Elder Mu used the Star Guiding Bead to gather star power and disrupt the creatures.
• Elder Mu explained that the Star Beasts’ crystals contained chaotic star power and collected them as potential materials.
• Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu followed a concealed route through Water Clan ruins and saw murals depicting the complete Myriad Star Armor and the clan’s prosperous holy land.
• Lu Xueqi showed Su Han and Elder Mu a mural of Water Clan factions in conflict beneath a distorted sky, prompting Elder Mu to wonder whether an external threat had also caused the clan’s destruction.
• As they neared the lake’s center, Su Han used his star power seed to withstand the growing pressure, while Lu Xueqi and Elder Mu relied on protective barriers.
• Elder Mu stopped at the edge of the star power field, where they saw blinding silver-white water, the pillar of light, and outlines of enormous structures beyond it.

Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu followed the Water Tribe’s Star Road through the Lightwater toward the core of Falling Star Lake. They reached the palace complex and altar, where countless powerful Star Beasts guarded the Star Source.

• Elder Mu identified three meteorite iron pillars as the entrance to a Star Road that could lead them safely toward the core altar.
• Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu attacked the Star Beasts guarding the pillars and defeated them, including an Early Golden Core Stage beast.
• The three entered the Star Road and pressed onward through its twisting path, fending off starlight tentacles and dangerous star-power traps.
• Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu emerged at the Star Road’s end and saw the vast palace complex, the empty altar, and the rotating Star Source.
• They noticed countless Star Beasts surrounding the altar, including enormous ones with auras at the Mid Golden Core Stage or higher.

Su Han, Lu Xueqi, and Elder Mu discovered the Ancient Water Tribe’s Star Pivot Hall and learned that a Star Power Tide would soon awaken its many Star Beasts. They found a Starlight Corridor that might let Su Han approach the altar safely, and he prepared to infiltrate it despite Lu Xueqi’s objections.

• The three entered the Star Pivot Hall and saw a False Nascent Soul Star Spirit Guard and two Late Golden Core Star Beasts protecting the altar.
• Su Han sensed that the tortoise shell in his arms resonated with the altar and proposed using his Star Power to blend in with the Star Beasts.
• Su Han assimilated his aura into the surrounding Star Power, impressing Elder Mu, though Lu Xueqi still doubted he could evade the altar guards.
• Elder Mu found a map fragment describing a Starlight Corridor that ran from the Guiding Star Monument to the altar and might avoid triggering the Star Beasts.
• Su Han said he would infiltrate along the corridor while Elder Mu and Lu Xueqi waited, but Lu Xueqi objected again.