Chapter Summaries

Yue Shuo used the Little Winged Snake to find palaces rich in Spirit Crystals, then cultivated until his Body Tempering advanced and his Earth Spirit Root improved. After connecting the southern palaces to the Wingfire Serpent, he sought a palace that might help restore his Earth Spirit Root and found a strange ninth palace that vanished after he left.

• Yue Shuo broke into a palace the Little Winged Snake indicated and collected two hundred Spirit Crystals and two Ancient Treasures.
• Yue Shuo gathered enough Spirit Crystals, formed a Spirit-Gathering Array across eight palaces, and cultivated until his Body Tempering reached Late Fourth-Tier and his Earth Spirit Root rose to 9 points.
• Yue Shuo noticed the nearby palaces' fire-element rewards and formations, then connected the cluster to the Wingfire Serpent of the Southern Vermilion Bird.
• Yue Shuo decided to search for earth-element resources and spent a week breaking the formation of a ninth palace, where he found a token with unreadable characters.
• Yue Shuo took the palace's rewards outside and discovered that the palace had disappeared.

Yue Shuo advanced his Artifact Refining and Talisman Crafting, experimented with synthesizing Spirit Essence Pills, and continued opening palace chests while trapped in the grotto-heaven. After clearing the forty-third Vermilion Bird palace, he learned the ruin had awakened early to recruit competitors, and he prepared to protect his remaining rewards.

• Yue Shuo refined a Fourth-Tier pill furnace and quickly advanced his Talisman Crafting, then experimented with making Spirit Essence Pills from spirit materials.
• After repeated experiments consumed much of his materials, Yue Shuo decided to keep breaking formations and opening chests in the southern palace complex.
• Yue Shuo cleared the formations of the forty-third palace, and his token named him an inheritor of the Myriad Stars Grotto-Heaven of the Stellar Dao Sect.
• Yue Shuo learned that the grotto-heaven had opened ahead of schedule to bring in competitors and select the best inheritor.
• Yue Shuo calmed his fury by visualizing the Black and White Taiji Diagram and spending time with Azure Feather, his winged snake, and the Spirit Cranes, then resolved not to let anyone take his treasure chests.

Yue Shuo learned that the Myriad Stars Grotto-Heaven would open in fifteen days and prepared to exploit his advantages as the Vermilion Bird Token’s holder. Before the gates opened, he secured tokens from the White Tiger, Black Tortoise, and Azure Dragon Star Palaces, fortified the palaces under his control, and took out Senior Ze’s Stellar Gold mirror.

• Yue Shuo learned that the Grotto-Heaven would open in fifteen days and discovered that his inherited cultivation technique and Vermilion Bird Token gave him advantages in the heir selection.
• Yue Shuo sent more than three hundred assistants to make arrangements, then broke into a White Tiger Star Palace and took its token.
• Yue Shuo learned that the Vermilion Bird Token contained an artifact spirit that favored him and wanted him to become the Grotto-Heaven’s master.
• Yue Shuo broke into a Northern Black Tortoise Star Palace and an Eastern Azure Dragon Star Palace, taking their tokens before the countdown ran out.
• Yue Shuo spent his remaining time modifying and reinforcing the palaces under his control, then took out the Stellar Gold mirror Senior Ze had given him.

Yue Shuo stayed inside the Grotto-Heaven rather than risk losing his Vermilion Bird Token and the Star Palaces he had claimed, while sensing a flood of cultivators entering as the gateway opened. Outside, the gateway admitted cultivators up to Foundation Establishment but excluded Golden Core Cultivators, and the sect master arrived to ask Bai Shen how many disciples had entered.

• Yue Shuo strengthened the killing formations in his Star Palaces, concealed himself, and sensed the gateway opening and the Dao Resonance within the Grotto-Heaven.
• Yue Shuo sent He Qing'er to report his safety to his master, martial uncles, and Senior Ze, then chose to leave the sect's participation to chance.
• Yue Shuo sensed through the Vermilion Bird Token that more than a thousand cultivators were entering the Grotto-Heaven as its age and cultivation limits expanded.
• Bai Shen watched from his flying palace as the gateway admitted Foundation Establishment cultivators but excluded Golden Core Cultivators, leaving him unable to pursue the opportunity with his White Tiger cub.
• The sect master appeared before Bai Shen and asked how many sect disciples had entered; Bai Shen replied that none had.

Bai Shen told Sect Master Jiang Chen his theory that the Eastern Sea Region Secret Realm was tied to the Qin Clan and posed a threat to those trapped inside. After confirming Yue Shuo was within it, Jiang Chen and Elder Ze sent three hundred Beast Taming Sect disciples into the realm and arranged for the Grotto-Heaven Spirit to rescue them if they faced mortal danger.

• Bai Shen explained that the Secret Realm might be connected to the Qin Clan’s destruction and its descendants’ alleged schemes.
• Jiang Chen contacted Elder Ze, who confirmed that Yue Shuo was inside the Secret Realm and helped devise rescue plans.
• Jiang Chen and Elder Ze organized an optional exploration mission for three hundred Outer Sect Foundation Establishment disciples.
• Jiang Chen negotiated with the Grotto-Heaven Spirit and opened a protected passage that sent the disciples to the island.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit swept the three hundred disciples into the Secret Realm, with an agreement to teleport any token-holder out of a life-or-death crisis.
• Jiang Chen confirmed Yue Shuo was inside and concluded that the Secret Realm contained an Outer Realm Inheritance.

Jiang Chen and Senior Ze discussed the shrewd Grotto-Heaven Spirit and agreed to prioritize Yue Shuo's safety and cultivation. Reassured that the sect could guide him out whenever he wished, Yue Shuo chose to stay and explore the Grotto-Heaven.

• Senior Ze warned Jiang Chen to watch the Grotto-Heaven Spirit and keep Yue Shuo safe, while Jiang Chen asked about the spirit's demands for Immortal Crystals.
• Senior Ze told Jiang Chen that Yue Shuo was in a relatively safe location and instructed him to bring Yue Shuo out when he wanted to leave.
• Jiang Chen and Senior Ze considered the possibility that the Grotto-Heaven Spirit did not want a master, then focused on nurturing Yue Shuo.
• Yue Shuo contacted the sect and Senior Ze after the Grotto-Heaven gate opened and learned that a sect senior could guide him out using the Astral Gold Mirror.
• Feeling reassured by the Beast Taming Sect's support, Yue Shuo told Senior Ze that he wanted to gain experience inside the Grotto-Heaven, and Senior Ze approved.

Yue Shuo discovered that the Grotto-Heaven’s spatial isolation could be partly bypassed through his Taiji Diagram and issued a lucrative resource-gathering task to the sect disciples inside. As they rushed to explore, he began using the Vermilion Bird Star Palace’s formations to pursue Fifth-Tier Body Tempering.

• Yue Shuo used his Soul Contracts and Taiji Diagram to sense presences beyond the Grotto-Heaven, realizing his panel could overcome some of the spatial blockade.
• Yue Shuo set a goal of advancing his Divine Soul and issued a resource-gathering task with double points and half-price exchanges for valuable items.
• Beast Taming Sect disciples grew excited by the rewards, formed teams, and set out to explore the mist-covered Outer Zone.
• Gu Yang joined several fellow disciples and ventured deeper into the Grotto-Heaven.
• Yue Shuo combined the Vermilion Bird Star Palace’s formations into a Spirit-Gathering Grand Formation and began charging toward Fifth-Tier Body Tempering.

Yue Shuo used a Body Tempering breakthrough to restore his remaining Metal Spirit Root, while the Vermilion Bird Token’s artifact spirit drew energy from the Grotto-Heaven to help him. Outside, Jiang Chen welcomed the major sects’ elders and prepared to share the Grotto-Heaven opportunity as suspicions about the Beast Taming Sect lingered.

• Yue Shuo cultivated until he sensed a breakthrough from Peak Fourth-Tier Body Tempering to Fifth-Tier.
• Yue Shuo redirected the breakthrough’s power of origin to perfect his Earth Spirit Root and then repair his Metal Spirit Root.
• The Vermilion Bird Token’s artifact spirit awakened, connected to nearby Star Palace buildings, and gathered metal-element energy for Yue Shuo.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit contacted Jiang Chen and requested more Immortal Crystals, prompting him to consider what had happened inside.
• Several major sects’ grand elders arrived, and Jiang Chen offered to convey the Grotto-Heaven Spirit’s opportunity to them.

The Grotto-Heaven Spirit discovered that Yue Shuo was absorbing the Immortal Crystal energy meant to restore it, and began to suspect he was an extraordinary potential inheritor. It asked the cultivators outside for more supplies to reopen the gate, while Jiang Chen wondered whether Golden Core cultivators could enter.

• At Jiang Chen's suggestion, Central Province's Spirit Transformation cultivators each negotiated with the Grotto-Heaven Spirit for thirty slots in exchange for Immortal Crystals.
• Yue Shuo absorbed the newly converted energy, leaving the Grotto-Heaven Spirit confused when its energy supply dwindled almost immediately.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit reviewed its inheritance rules and judged Yue Shuo far superior to the other seekers of opportunity it had encountered.
• After realizing Yue Shuo could absorb Immortal Crystal energy and was still breaking through, the Grotto-Heaven Spirit suspected he had an innate Immortal Body or Immortal Soul and considered accepting him as its master.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit contacted the waiting cultivators and offered to negotiate more slots in exchange for additional energy and metal-aligned spiritual materials.
• Jiang Chen glanced at the little White Tiger, then asked the Grotto-Heaven Spirit whether Golden Core cultivators could enter.

The Grotto-Heaven Spirit negotiated resources from the major sects in exchange for raising the cultivation limit and opening the inheritance selection to more entrants. Yue Shuo learned that the Spirit had effectively sold access to his territory, then confirmed the conditions for opening the final inheritance and sent the Spirit Cranes into the Outer Zone.

• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit convinced the other sects to provide energy resources by promising to raise the cultivation limit and admit their Golden Core cultivators.
• Yue Shuo broke through to Early Fifth-Tier Divine Soul, gained insight into Stellar Formation Dao, and sensed the Grotto-Heaven’s living core.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit explained that it had accepted payment to open the gates and bring additional cultivators into the inheritance selection.
• Yue Shuo learned the Spirit would try to teleport endangered entrants out, though it could not guarantee it would act before they died.
• With the Grotto-Heaven Spirit’s support, Yue Shuo sent the Spirit Cranes into the Outer Zone and confirmed the requirements for opening the final inheritance.

Yue Shuo used the Grotto-Heaven Spirit and Spirit Cranes to collect resources and charge cultivators fees while he waited for the cultivation limit to reach Golden Core. He sent He Tian to find inheritance cultivators and discovered that Cheng Fan was one of them, carrying immense black and blood-red Sinful Debt.

• Yue Shuo ordered Spirit Cranes to collect entrance fees, resource taxes, and information fees from cultivators exploring the Outer Zones, and the Grotto-Heaven Spirit teleported away those who resisted.
• Yue Shuo exchanged refined pills and artifacts for resources, while the Spirit Cranes’ observations revealed extensive ruins and signs of an ancient war in the Grotto-Heaven.
• Yue Shuo learned that the Grotto-Heaven Spirit could not show him who cultivated its inheritances, but the Vermilion Bird Artifact Spirit could identify them.
• After the Grotto-Heaven’s cultivation limit rose to Golden Core, Yue Shuo released He Tian with the Vermilion Bird Token to find inheritance cultivators.
• The token led He Tian to Cheng Fan, whom Yue Shuo recognized as an old acquaintance at Foundation Establishment Grand Completion and an inheritance cultivator.
• Yue Shuo’s Eye of Spiritual Insight revealed immense black and blood-red Sinful Debt on Cheng Fan, prompting him to wonder whether mortals in the Eastern Sea Region had suffered catastrophic casualties.

Yue Shuo learned that Cheng Fan had become an inheritor, so he devised a way to have sect disciples target him without violating the Grotto-Heaven’s rules. After Cheng Fan was teleported to the Star Palace District, Yue Shuo watched him advance toward Golden Core without a heavenly tribulation and realized something about his breakthrough.

• Yue Shuo ordered He Tian to attack Cheng Fan, but the Grotto-Heaven Spirit teleported He Tian away and explained that Cheng Fan was an inheritor carrying a Star Palace Ancient Treasure.
• Yue Shuo decided to use opportunity seekers to seize Cheng Fan’s inheritance qualification and sent sect disciples a mission portraying Cheng Fan as a Demon Venerable-possessed enemy with Third-Tier combat power.
• Yue Shuo sent He Tian to search for other potential inheritors and asked the Grotto-Heaven Spirit to reveal the locations of foundational inheritance techniques.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit told Yue Shuo that Third-Tier cultivators with foundational inheritance techniques would be teleported to the Star Palace District, where Cheng Fan was already breaking through.
• Yue Shuo sent Spirit Cranes to observe Cheng Fan and watched him take a crucial step toward Golden Core without undergoing a Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation.

Yue Shuo completed his Three Tribulations, gained deeper insight into his Chaos Sacred Body, and killed an inheritor who teleported into his Star Palace. He sensed a connection to the blood-shadow being through Cheng Fan’s Blood Pill, but the Grotto-Heaven Spirit’s rules blocked his attempt to pursue it.

• Yue Shuo activated his Earth Spirit Root, absorbed Heaven-Earth Spiritual Essence, and formed another Dao Seed mark, but no fourth tribulation appeared because there was not enough Tribulation Aura.
• A young man teleported into Yue Shuo’s Star Palace, and Yue Shuo struck him down with a fist that shattered space and erased him.
• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit questioned why the rules had not detected Yue Shuo’s attack or punished him, and Yue Shuo dismissed its concerns.
• Yue Shuo retrieved Cheng Fan’s Blood Pill and sensed that it was connected to a clone or flesh-and-blood puppet resembling the blood-shadow Golden Core.
• Yue Shuo tried to cross space and follow the connection, but the Grotto-Heaven Spirit’s rules obstructed him.

The Grotto-Heaven Spirit secretly guided Yue Shuo toward refining the Grotto-Heaven, and he cultivated before mastering a new escape divine ability. After turning the timid Winged Serpent into a hairpin, Yue Shuo worried that the sleeping Azure Feather would fall behind.

• The Grotto-Heaven Spirit secretly shared information with Yue Shuo after the Grotto-Heaven Rules prevented it from helping him directly.
• Yue Shuo replaced Cheng Fan on the sect disciples' encirclement-and-kill mission with the cultivator he had sensed through the blood pill.
• Yue Shuo cultivated, noticed the Grotto-Heaven's energy was being depleted, and practiced space-breaking transmission in the Star Palace.
• Yue Shuo combined laws from the Space Fire Feather and the Lunar Spirit-Congealing Spike, using the Taiji Visualization Diagram to comprehend the Escape divine ability.
• The Lunar Spirit-Congealing Spike crumbled, and Yue Shuo gathered energy before placing the little Winged Serpent atop his head as a hairpin.
• Yue Shuo glanced at the sleeping Azure Feather and hoped it would keep improving despite its constant naps.

Yue Shuo completed an Enlightenment attempt, cultivated Fire- and Earth-element Divine Ability Arts, and learned how his spatial comprehension affected the Grotto-Heaven’s laws. Meanwhile, Gu Yang’s team killed the wanted possessed cultivator, and Yue Shuo checked the Blood Pill to see whether Cheng Fan had been completely destroyed.

• Yue Shuo learned from the Grotto-Heaven Spirit that the next portal opening could be more than one hundred and fifty days away and received authority to adjust its timing.
• Yue Shuo cultivated Pure Yang Fire alongside Nirvana Fire, then began cultivating an Earth-Element Divine Ability Technique, reasoning that his spatial comprehension could improve the Grotto-Heaven’s laws.
• Beast Taming Sect cultivators repeatedly tracked and pursued the possessed cultivator under Yue Shuo’s kill-on-sight order until Gu Yang beheaded him and his companions sealed the head.
• He Tian reported the mission’s success to Yue Shuo after secretly helping the sect disciples track the wanted cultivator.
• Yue Shuo paused his cultivation, took out the Blood Pill, and sensed it while asking whether Cheng Fan had been completely destroyed.

Yue Shuo traced the Blood Pill’s connection to Cheng Fan’s substitute and discovered a blood-colored Remnant Spirit inside the frozen head. After capturing it, he received information about it from the Imperial Spirit Golden Page.

• Yue Shuo sensed a connection between the Blood Pill, Cheng Fan, and his flesh-and-blood substitute, then sent He Tian to retrieve the substitute’s frozen head from Gu Yang.
• Yue Shuo had Gu Yang prompted to cultivate the Grotto-Heaven’s foundational inheritance techniques and studied the Stellar Body Tempering Art and Qi Refining Five Virtues Technique himself.
• Yue Shuo asked the Grotto-Heaven Spirit to examine the sealed head and learned that it contained a Remnant Spirit.
• Yue Shuo opened the seal and captured the blood-colored Remnant Spirit in an Ancient Treasure Spirit-Sealing Bottle.
• The Imperial Spirit Golden Page scanned the captured Remnant Spirit and gave Yue Shuo information titled the Asura Blood Spirit Bestiary.

After dealing with Cheng Fan and capturing the alien Blood Spirit, Yue Shuo focused on refining his cultivation system. He saw a path from the Five Elements through the Four Symbols and onward to Taiji, and began breaking into the White Tiger Star Palace to pursue it.

• Yue Shuo learned from the Grotto-Heaven Spirit that the remnant spirit was an alien Blood Spirit connected to Cheng Fan, and he stored it in a Spirit-Sealing Bottle for Senior Ze to inspect.
• Yue Shuo considered how acquiring Tribulation Aura could improve his Qi Refining, but chose to keep developing a cultivation system suited to himself.
• Yue Shuo studied the Five Virtues Technique and realized he could derive Taiji by moving from the Five Elements to the Four Symbols, then to the Three Powers and Two Polarities.
• Yue Shuo identified the Four Symbols Star Palace as his opportunity and headed for the White Tiger Star Palace Cluster to obtain metal before seeking the Black Tortoise's water.
• Yue Shuo used his Fifth-Tier Divine Soul power to begin breaking the White Tiger Star Palace formation.

Yue Shuo completed the White Tiger and Black Tortoise Tokens while advancing his Formation Dao and preparing the Eastern Azure Dragon Star Palace before the Grotto-Heaven portal reopened. He informed Senior Ze that an Asura Blood Spirit had appeared, learned the sect would send no more disciples, and began observing the incoming Golden Core cultivators.

• Gu Yang entered seclusion to cultivate the Stellar Body Tempering Art and drew in a wisp of the Western White Tiger's star power.
• Yue Shuo broke through to Fifth-Tier Formation Dao, then completed fifty-four Western White Tiger Star Palace formations and condensed the White Tiger Token.
• Yue Shuo opened the Northern Black Tortoise Star Palace's palaces and condensed the Black Tortoise Token.
• Yue Shuo modified the formations in the sixteen outer-ring palaces of the Eastern Azure Dragon Star Palace before the Grotto-Heaven portal reopened.
• Yue Shuo told Senior Ze that the Asura Blood Spirit had appeared, learned the sect would send no Golden Core cultivators, and agreed on a plan for the next portal opening.
• Yue Shuo watched the Golden Core cultivators from the major sects begin breaking formations and found their efforts unimpressive.

Yue Shuo completed the Eastern Azure Dragon Star Palace and gathered the Four Symbols Tokens, triggering the Grotto-Heaven’s final inheritance and a sweeping transformation. As the other cultivators were teleported away and the artifact spirits fell asleep, Yue Shuo used the Imperial Spirit Golden Page to bind them and began condensing Sub-Panels, but a wave of teleportation reached him before he could finish.

• Yue Shuo learned that Golden Core cultivators could remain in the Grotto-Heaven for up to one hundred years, while the other sects made little progress breaking their Star Palace formations.
• Yue Shuo spent about a month breaking the Eastern Azure Dragon Star Palace formations and opening its boxes, then condensed the Four Symbols Azure Dragon Token.
• The Four Symbols Tokens triggered a transformation: mist and formations spread through the Star Palace Clusters, the Grotto-Heaven darkened, and the Golden Core cultivators fell asleep and were teleported away.
• Yue Shuo used the Imperial Spirit Golden Page to refine the Asura Blood Spirit’s contract and successfully condensed Sub-Panels for the sleeping artifact spirits by pouring in Primordial Spirit power and Spell Power.
• As Yue Shuo began working on the fourth artifact spirit, the Grotto-Heaven’s transformation finished and teleportation fluctuations enveloped him.

Yue Shuo resisted the Grotto-Heaven’s teleportation and inheritance, using Taiji Body Tempering and Visualization to absorb the spatial force while condensing a Sub-Panel for the final Four Symbols Token’s artifact spirit. Outside, Jiang Chen and the sect elders began locating and stabilizing the abnormal Grotto-Heaven, but Senior Ze stopped Jiang Chen from breaking in because Yue Shuo had not asked for help.

• Yue Shuo noticed that the Four Symbols Tokens’ artifact spirits all bore the status “Incomplete Soul Seal” and suspected they already had masters, so he rejected the prescribed inheritance process.
• Yue Shuo used Taiji Visualization to gain the prompt “Visualization and Body Tempering?” and absorbed the teleportation force while resisting being sent away.
• Yue Shuo continued cultivating and began condensing a Sub-Panel for the final Four Symbols Token’s artifact spirit.
• Jiang Chen and the other sect elders lost contact with the Grotto-Heaven Spirit and used tracking markers and spatial treasures to locate and stabilize the Grotto-Heaven.
• Jiang Chen prepared to break open the Grotto-Heaven, but Senior Ze stopped him because Yue Shuo had not called for help and still had Stellar Gold remaining.