Chapter Summaries

Qing Luo and two Grandmasters entered the final trial site in the Star Sect Underground Palace, while Chen Fan prepared to visit the ruins himself. Before he departed, Mao Wangchen warned him that the Seamless Gate had placed him on its second-class assassination list and might send a ninth-level Grandmaster after him.

• In Yan Guo Commandery, Qing Luo opened the final trial entrance with her blood after securing the Grandmasters' promise of a Heaven-grade pill.
• Chen Fan prepared supplies, applied to enter the Star Sect Ruins, and received approval without spending Origin Points.
• Mao Wangchen summoned Chen Fan and warned that the ruins were open to outside martial artists who might target him.
• Mao Wangchen told Chen Fan that the Seamless Gate had placed him on its second-class assassination list and could send a ninth-level Grandmaster to kill him.

Mao Wangchen warned Chen Fan that a ninth-layer Grandmaster might target him and gave him a Vanishing Trail Talisman to escape danger. After Chen Fan left, a Bright Sun Hall disciple named Le Shaoyuan attacked a room in the central hall with a flying sword, and Mao Wangchen confronted him.

• Mao Wangchen explained that Chen Fan lacked the resources and accumulated foundation of senior disciples, then gave him a Vanishing Trail Talisman that could transport him up to ten thousand li.
• Mao Wangchen warned Chen Fan that an air-sealing formation could nullify the talisman and advised him to prepare thoroughly before visiting the ruins.
• Chen Fan left Mao Wangchen's room carrying the talisman and noticed a Bright Sun Hall disciple entering the central hall.
• Le Shaoyuan used spiritual sense to locate someone and sent a giant crimson flying sword into a room, destroying it and collapsing a pillar.
• Golden light suppressed Chen Fan's True Essence, and Mao Wangchen appeared to confront Le Shaoyuan.

Le Shaoyuan killed a Martial Academy vice headmaster whom he accused of serving the Seamless Gate, and Headmaster Mao Wangchen let him leave after reviewing the evidence. Chen Fan, impressed by the Embroidered Garment Tower’s influence, traveled to the Star Sect ruins in Yan Guo Commandery and chose to enter alone.

• Le Shaoyuan killed a ninth-realm vice headmaster with a flying-sword strike, prompting Mao Wangchen and the Martial Academy’s other leaders to confront him.
• Le Shaoyuan presented Mao Wangchen with evidence that the dead vice headmaster worked for the Seamless Gate and explained that the killing was his personal Embroidered Garment Tower mission.
• Mao Wangchen returned Le Shaoyuan’s sword and allowed him to leave, while Chen Fan wondered about the Embroidered Garment Tower’s power and resolved to pursue greater strength.
• Chen Fan traveled by spirit eagle to the Star Sect ruins entrance in Yan Guo Commandery and reflected on how the ruins drew martial artists seeking treasure.
• Three Bright Moon Tower disciples invited Chen Fan to enter the underground palace with them, but he declined and chose to go alone.

Chen Fan met Pan Wuying, learned that increased Star Sect remnant activity had tightened inspections at the underground palace, and entered using his Martial Academy identity. Guided by Star Spirit’s map, he headed for a pill chamber, but found the nearest palace already looted.

• Pan Wuying introduced himself as a half-step Grandmaster from Yanguo Martial Academy and offered to buy any extra Heavenly Origin Pills Chen Fan found.
• Pan Wuying explained that rumors of Star Sect remnants entering the ruins had increased inspections and the number of visitors, which he hoped would reveal hidden trials and treasures.
• Chen Fan learned that the entry formation detected star power and realized his Stellar Body Tempering Art might expose him, though his Martial Academy plaque let him bypass the test.
• After entering, Chen Fan concealed his identity, compared the academy map with Star Spirit’s map, and hurried toward a nearby trial site with a pill chamber.
• Chen Fan arrived at the palace and saw its open doors and ransacked interior, suggesting it had already been discovered.

Chen Fan searched the Star Sect Underground Palace for undiscovered treasures, but found mostly looted or disappointing trial sites. On the third level, he rushed toward a newly opened hidden pavilion and saw a Star Sect disciple facing a Martial Academy disciple and his servant.

• Chen Fan found the first-level trial sites ruined and empty, then moved deeper into the underground palace in search of hidden areas.
• He explored several sites over the next two days but gained little, eventually descending to the third level.
• Chen Fan heard a hidden trial site opening and rushed toward the sound.
• A massive white-jade pavilion emerged from a rotating rock wall, revealing a Star Sect disciple and a Martial Academy disciple accompanied by an elderly servant.

Shi Wenxing, Hu Zhongxin, and others gathered at the White Jade Pavilion and forced a wounded Star Sect disciple to open its entrance. Chen Fan arrived disguised as a young swordsman and joined them, and the group entered the pavilion together.

• Hu Zhongxin arrived with a bald companion and attacked the wounded Star Sect disciple, but Shi Wenxing intervened.
• Shi Wenxing explained that the Star Sect disciple was needed to open the pavilion, and Hu Zhongxin and his companion lowered their weapons.
• The Star Sect disciple demanded a Heavenly Dao Oath, and Shi Wenxing, Hu Zhongxin, and their companions swore not to attack him first.
• Chen Fan arrived in disguise, and the others let him join without requiring an oath.
• The group channeled True Essence into the White Jade Pavilion's gateway, and its light engulfed them.

Chen Fan chose the trial’s highest difficulty and fought twelve silver-armored spell soldiers, using their pressure to improve his Ninefold Thunder Blade before defeating them with his Nine-Star Origin Gallbladder and Thunder-Slaying Sword. He entered the next hall, where he met a Star Sect disciple who was surprised to see him arrive first.

• Chen Fan learned that the twelve doors offered trials against increasing numbers of silver-armored spell soldiers and chose to face all twelve.
• Chen Fan fought the spell soldiers as they used a formation to unleash Grandmaster-level power, and he honed his Ninefold Thunder Blade under their pressure.
• Chen Fan activated his third-level Nine-Star Origin Gallbladder and destroyed the twelve soldiers with Jade Rainbow Pierces the Sun.
• Chen Fan collected the twelve silver beads and passed through the opened door into another hall.
• Chen Fan encountered a Star Sect disciple, who remarked that he had not expected Chen Fan to arrive first.

Chen Fan and the other trial participants entered the White Jade Pavilion’s reward room, where Hu Zhongxin and Shi Wenxing attacked their injured companions. The black-clothed man revealed that he was a Grandmaster who had tricked them into gathering silver beads for him, leaving Hu Zhongxin and Shi Wenxing helpless before his power.

• The black-clothed man explained that silver beads could remove the restrictions protecting treasures in the reward room, then opened its hidden entrance.
• Shi Wenxing attacked the injured bald man while Hu Zhongxin turned on the old man, and Chen Fan stayed back as the others fought.
• Hu Zhongxin killed the old man, and Shi Wenxing severely wounded the bald man before Hu Zhongxin and Shi Wenxing clashed over their silver beads.
• Hu Zhongxin and Shi Wenxing paused their duel and agreed to kill the remaining opponents before settling their dispute.
• The black-clothed man revealed his Grandmaster strength, blasted Hu Zhongxin and Shi Wenxing aside, and killed the bald man.
• The black-clothed man admitted that he had used a Heavenly Dao oath to secure their cooperation and brought them along to collect more silver beads.

Chen Fan killed the injured Grandmaster and Hu Zhongxin, then forced Shi Wenxing to offer a Kunwu Token in exchange for his life. Chen Fan accepted the bargain, while Shi Wenxing realized that his opponent was not yet a Grandmaster.

• Shi Wenxing and Hu Zhongxin attacked the injured Grandmaster together but were overwhelmed by the power of heaven and earth.
• Chen Fan stepped in and killed the black-clad Grandmaster with a single strike of the Drawing Sword Technique and the Ninefold Thunder Blade.
• Chen Fan turned on Shi Wenxing and Hu Zhongxin, demanding a reason to spare them.
• Chen Fan battered Shi Wenxing's defensive barrier while Hu Zhongxin tried to flee, then killed Hu Zhongxin with a sword strike.
• Shi Wenxing offered Chen Fan a Kunwu Token that granted entry to the Kunwu Secret Realm, and Chen Fan agreed to spare him.

After killing Shi Wenxing and the others, Chen Fan searched their bodies, found no Kunwu Token, and entered the Star Sect Underground Palace’s pill room. He claimed a Heavenly Origin Pill and found that the only remaining heaven-grade pill was a Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill.

• Chen Fan tested Shi Wenxing’s claim about the Kunwu Token, noticed his hesitation, and killed him before searching his corpse.
• Chen Fan found a spirit-artifact heart-protecting mirror and seven silver beads on Shi Wenxing, but no Kunwu Token; he collected the other dead men’s treasures and thirty more silver beads.
• Chen Fan passed through the exit into the rooms beyond the trial ground and went directly to the pill room.
• Chen Fan used silver beads to break the seal on a Heavenly Origin Pill and stored it in his Sumeru Ring.
• Chen Fan saw that only one pill remained in the heaven-grade section and identified it as the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill.

Chen Fan looted several Earth-grade pills from the Star Sect trial ground before fleeing its silver-armored defenses. In a secluded hall, he swallowed the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill and felt its scorching effects spread through his body.

• Chen Fan exchanged thirty silver beads for the trial ground’s Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill.
• Chen Fan used the Sword-Nurturing Form and Thunder-Slaying Sword to shatter pill-shelf barriers, collecting seven or eight Earth-grade pills before the silver-armored men appeared.
• Chen Fan’s sword attacks passed through the silver-armored figures, and he escaped through the gate when they overwhelmed the Luminous Feather Robe’s defenses.
• Chen Fan reached a secluded hall, opened the pill bottle, and swallowed the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill.
• The pill’s scorching aura spread through Chen Fan’s limbs and bones, leaving him numb, itchy, and crimson-skinned.

Chen Fan refined the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill while his rise to Clear River Commandery’s top young experts spread across Great Qian. After learning Chen Fan was an ordinary-born sixteen-year-old who could rival a grandmaster, Crown Prince Liu Lun decided to recommend him for the Embroidered Garment Tower.

• Chen Fan chose to refine the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill to improve his innate bones and accelerate his cultivation.
• Mao Wangchen learned from Ye Wuji that Chen Fan had been ranked among Clear River Commandery’s ten greatest young experts and worried the fame could bring trouble.
• Martial artists across Great Qian reacted to Chen Fan’s ranking, and visitors bearing gifts crowded the Bao Residence because Chen Fan remained its retainer.
• Crown Prince Liu Lun read a report identifying Chen Fan as a sixteen-year-old ordinary-born martial artist capable of rivaling a grandmaster.
• Liu Lun ordered his guard to draft a memorial recommending Chen Fan for the Embroidered Garment Tower.

Chen Fan refined the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill, explored the fourth floor of the Star Sect Ruins, and risked the fifth floor in search of the Star Hall. He discovered a hidden entrance and descended toward an unknown place beneath the palace.

• Liu Lun ordered that Chen Fan be admitted to the Embroidered Garment Tower, while Chen Fan remained unaware of the Crown Prince's attention.
• Chen Fan finished refining the Qianyuan Bone-Transmutation Pill and felt that his innate foundation had improved, though his strength had not changed.
• Chen Fan refined two spirit artifacts, explored the fourth floor's trial sites, and found little treasure before moving on to the fifth floor.
• Chen Fan survived several dangerous trials on the fifth floor and used Star Spirit's map to locate the area near the Star Hall.
• Chen Fan revealed a hidden doorway in a dilapidated palace, entered a concealed passage, and descended on a stone platform into a brilliantly lit cavern of strange mineral formations.

Chen Fan entered a one-way trial passage and found two wounded Grandmasters confronting each other near a massive gate. After they joined forces against him, he overwhelmed the seductive woman and killed her, while the other Grandmaster, Wei Baichuan, held back.

• Chen Fan entered the passage, found scattered bones and triggered mechanisms, then came upon a blue-lit gate and three people locked in a standoff.
• The seductive woman released her young hostage, and she and Wei Baichuan attacked Chen Fan together.
• Chen Fan unleashed his Thunder-Slaying Sword, disrupting the Grandmasters’ combined pressure and charging at the seductive woman.
• The woman countered with frost power, but Chen Fan swallowed a Jade Recovery Elixir and continued striking until her spiritual barrier collapsed.
• The wounded woman begged Wei Baichuan to save her, but he widened the distance instead, and Chen Fan killed her with a sword strike.

Chen Fan defeated the seductive woman and learned from Wei Baichuan that the trapped group needed a blood sacrifice to open the Star Hall. After claiming the woman’s treasure robe and giving Wei Baichuan the false name Zhang Fan, Chen Fan handed the corpse to Qing Luo to perform the sacrifice.

• Chen Fan killed the seductive woman, and Wei Baichuan threatened him with ten Thunder Shakers before explaining the need for a blood sacrifice.
• Wei Baichuan told Chen Fan that Qing Luo had brought them to the ruin and knew how to open its gate, so they had chosen Chen Fan as a sacrifice instead.
• Chen Fan searched the woman’s corpse, found a spirit-artifact robe, and began refining it.
• Wei Baichuan introduced himself, and Chen Fan gave him the false name Zhang Fan.
• Chen Fan carried the corpse to Qing Luo and told her to conduct the blood sacrifice, and she nodded.

Chen Fan and his companions entered a secret realm where the first test measured strength, then learned the next required them to comprehend a martial technique’s true intent. Qing Luo revealed her deception and passed through the guardian’s warning, leaving Chen Fan and Wei Baichuan facing an aptitude test with no apparent way out.

• Qing Luo sacrificed the female grandmaster’s corpse, opening the great hall’s entrance, and Chen Fan, Wei Baichuan, and Qing Luo entered.
• Chen Fan defeated a powerful armored guardian in a black hall with one sword strike, turned it into a key, and opened the next door.
• Chen Fan, Wei Baichuan, and Qing Luo watched a starry vision reveal a destructive martial technique before a glowing doorway appeared.
• Qing Luo explained that the next test required them to comprehend the technique’s true intent and gain the guardian’s approval.
• Wei Baichuan attacked Qing Luo after realizing she had deceived him, but the three-headed golden-armored guardian injured him and forbade fighting.
• Qing Luo told Chen Fan that only one of the ten Thunder Shakers he had used was real, then walked toward the guardian.

Chen Fan studied the Star Sect trial’s sword projection and, after its return three days later, comprehended a rough version of the Shattered Star Sword. He and Wei Baichuan remained trapped in the hall, where Wei’s dwindling supplies became a concern.

• Qing Luo entered through the trial doors, while Wei Baichuan tried to rush out and was thrown back by the guardian’s restriction.
• Chen Fan suspected Qing Luo had deliberately stirred up conflict and questioned whether Wei Baichuan’s Thunder Shakers were genuine.
• The golden-armored man explained that the sword projection reappeared every three days and could be shown at most ten times as it consumed the hall’s essence.
• Chen Fan refined the spirit artifact robe and waited until the projection returned, then used his observations to form a faint sword technique.
• The guardian praised Chen Fan’s progress, and Chen Fan named his move the Shattered Star Sword; Wei Baichuan’s saber attempt was judged inferior.
• Wei Baichuan realized his dry rations were nearly gone because most of his backup supplies had been carried by the female Grandmaster.

Chen Fan continued comprehending the Shattered Star Sword while Wei Baichuan struggled with the trial’s dwindling vital energy and supplies. After Chen Fan finished refining the spirit artifact robe and found more provisions inside, Wei Baichuan offered two earth-grade pills for thirty Refined Rice Pills.

• Wei Baichuan asked Chen Fan for fasting pills and True Essence-restoring pills, but rejected Chen Fan’s price of one top-grade treasured artifact per Refined Rice Pill.
• Chen Fan repeatedly observed the Shattered Star Sword projection, deepened his comprehension, and advanced his swordsmanship progress to 20%.
• As the trial’s vital energy and his supplies dwindled, Wei Baichuan grew increasingly anxious about how long he would need to master the move.
• Chen Fan fully refined the spirit artifact robe, opened its internal pockets, and found dry rations and pills left by the female Grandmaster.
• Wei Baichuan offered two earth-grade pills for thirty Refined Rice Pills, and Chen Fan considered the offer.

Chen Fan passed the swordsmanship trial after a month, traded Refined Rice Pills to Wei Baichuan for a mysterious metal fragment, and entered another hall. There, he confronted Qing Luo about the deadly formation protecting Star Hall.

• Chen Fan passed the swordsmanship test and received a golden Restriction-Breaking Pearl, surprising Wei Baichuan with how quickly he had succeeded.
• Wei Baichuan traded Chen Fan a metal fragment that even a ninth-level grandmaster artificer with a Fire Spirit could not melt in exchange for ten Refined Rice Pills.
• Chen Fan left the trial hall, detected a hidden formation at the next chamber's door, and realized it had spared him because he possessed a Star Sect technique.
• Chen Fan entered another hall and found Qing Luo studying a stone wall; she asked who he was and explained that the Star-Killing Blood-Refining Formation targeted those who coveted Star Sect treasures without being members.

Chen Fan and Qing Luo reached the Star Hall’s true trial, where a stone wall recorded the Spirit Tempering Art. Chen Fan quickly comprehended its first level and learned that the Star Hall still held a heaven-grade lightning spirit, the Azure-Water Azure-Thunder Soul.

• Qing Luo identified Chen Fan as likely belonging to Lingyun Grotto, while Chen Fan avoided confirming his origins and asked which Star Sect branch she came from.
• Chen Fan saw a portrait of Star Demon Lord and realized the figure resembled Star Spirit, raising questions about their connection.
• The golden-armored guardian explained that the trial required comprehending the five-level secret art inscribed on the stone wall, and Qing Luo said she had taken a year to master its first level.
• Chen Fan recognized the art as a way to strengthen the spirit, and the guardian named it the Spirit Tempering Art.
• Chen Fan learned that the Star Hall had no thunder demons or Thunder Crystals but still offered the heaven-grade Azure-Water Azure-Thunder Soul.