Chapter Summaries

• Qin Shujian completes the star installation: After ordering the Celestial Court’s gods to keep gathering stars and star cores, Qin visits the Heavenly Cycle Star Chart. He releases more than a hundred stored stars and uses his growing strength to compress and place them in the chart’s nodes. They must remain unsealed so the chart can draw out their power.
• The Celestial Court is transformed: The newly installed stars unleash a vast river of concentrated starlight, filling the Court and sweeping away the surrounding astral winds. The immortals and gods watch in awe; even Chu Kuangtu and Niu Dali are struck by the scale of the power.
• Niu Dali reflects and resumes cultivation: He compares the Court’s power to that of the First Era. Though it does not yet match the greatest Court of Di Jun and Taiyi, he believes it rivals Haotian’s and may eventually surpass both once all 365 chart nodes are filled. The abundant star power could strengthen the myriad races and help him attempt a breakthrough to the seventh level of immortality. It also offers him a chance to make up for a long-standing regret: as the Grand Pure Dao Venerable’s mount, he had never been able to cultivate in the First Era’s Celestial Court. He settles into meditation, where the river of rules slowly repairs his fractured laws and strengthens him.
  Character developments and interactions: Qin’s increasing power is demonstrated by his ability to suppress more than a hundred stars at once. Scattered Flowers, still stationed by the chart and accustomed to Qin’s visits, continues to wait for the purpose behind his appointment. Niu Dali shifts from recalling the past to embracing the present opportunity, while the Court’s gods collectively witness the fruits of Qin’s project.
  Themes: The chapter emphasizes the power of ambition and preparation, the benefits—and deliberate recklessness—of exploiting a rare opportunity, and the way present circumstances can heal old regrets.

Plot and events

• Chu Kuangtu begins repairing his damaged rules, drawing on the Celestial Court’s abundant star power as he attempts to reach seventh-level immortal. Unlike Niu Dali, who is still recovering and seeking the chance to advance, Chu is already at the breakthrough stage.
• Qin Shujian senses Chu’s progress and welcomes it: Chu’s advancement would give the Celestial Court another exceptionally powerful fighter and improve its prospects against the three great clans.
• Qin explains that defeating the Demon Monarchs is the key to victory. He, Chu Kuangtu, and eventually Niu Dali are expected to handle the strongest enemies, while the Celestial Court and allied races deal with the remaining forces.
• Qin checks the star cores stored in the Investiture of the Gods List. He has gathered 157 of the 365 required to refine the true Heavenly Cycle Star Chart and expects to collect the rest in about two years.

Character developments and interactions

• Chu Kuangtu is close to a major breakthrough, aided by his strong foundation, Dao Fruit-level understanding, and the star power Qin has gathered.
• Qin Shujian shows confidence in Chu’s success and in the Celestial Court’s long-term military advantage. He views star power chiefly as a means of restoring the old reincarnated experts, not merely strengthening ordinary cultivators.
• Niu Dali remains behind Chu in recovery and advancement, though Qin expects him to break through within the next few years.
• Scattered Flowers, the Sword Master’s divine weapon, senses Chu’s breakthrough and reflects on his past clashes with the Blade Master. The Sword Master has fallen, while Scattered Flowers now serves the Celestial Court and Chu is rising again.

Significant themes

• Foundation and experience matter: Progress depends not just on talent, but on a cultivator’s accumulated foundation and understanding.
• The decisive role of top-tier power: A few elite combatants can matter more than vast numbers of ordinary immortals.
• Old rivalries amid changed fortunes: Scattered Flowers’s reaction highlights how former opponents have been reshaped by time, defeat, and allegiance.
• Preparation for war: The Celestial Court’s growth—in powerful fighters and in the future Star Chart—is part of Qin’s plan to defeat the three great clans.

Plot points and events

• Star power has grown denser, accelerating cultivation across the Four Great Continents. Zhu Chen, the Nine-Headed Dog Race’s strongest expert beneath the Dog Emperor, expects to reach the point where he can attempt a True Immortal breakthrough within a month.
• Zhu Chen asks whether he should pursue the new cultivation system used by Xiao Chengfeng and Muyang, rather than the conventional route. He hopes it might make him stronger, but is wary of the dangerous immortality thunder tribulation.
• The Dog Emperor explains that he knows little about the new system and warns Zhu Chen not to attempt the tribulation without a reliable answer: failure could cost the race its best chance at gaining another True Immortal. He agrees to consult the Heavenly Emperor.
• Visiting the Celestial Court, the Dog Emperor is struck by its transformation into a star-filled realm. He asks Muyang, the Guardian Divine General, to announce him, then enters the Heavenly Palace to meet the Heavenly Emperor.

Character developments and interactions

• Zhu Chen shows ambition but also sound judgment. He wants the possibility of greater strength, yet recognizes that surviving the breakthrough matters more than the rewards of success.
• The Dog Emperor balances support for Zhu Chen’s advancement with concern for the Nine-Headed Dog Race’s fragile foundations. He treats Muyang courteously because of his close relationship with the Heavenly Emperor, despite the difference in their official ranks.
• Muyang acts as the Dog Emperor’s courteous guide into the Heavenly Palace.
• Zhu Chen seeks the Dog Emperor’s counsel; the Dog Emperor, in turn, seeks the Heavenly Emperor’s knowledge.

Significant themes

• Risk versus reward: The new path may yield greater power, but a failed tribulation means death and a major loss for the race.
• A rapidly changing world: The spread of star power and the Celestial Court’s transformation reflect how quickly the balance of power is shifting.
• Collective responsibility: Zhu Chen’s personal breakthrough carries consequences for his entire race, while the Dog Emperor must weigh individual ambition against the group’s survival.

Key plot points and events

• The Dog Emperor visits Qin Shujian to ask why Xiao Chengfeng and Muyang faced thunder tribulations when they attained immortality.
• Qin sends him knowledge of the three cultivation systems: rule-proving, fleshly sainthood, and the Heaven-Evolving Path. The Dog Emperor realizes that Xiao Chengfeng and Muyang—and likely Chu Kuangtu and Niu Dali—follow the fleshly sainthood path.
• Qin explains that fleshly sainthood requires surviving an exceptionally dangerous immortality tribulation. It can produce greater strength than rule-proving, but that advantage is not guaranteed; cultivators must choose their path themselves.
• Realizing the system is already becoming known, Qin decides to share the information with the Celestial Court’s gods rather than let ambitious cultivators attempt it without understanding the risks. He transmits it through the Investiture of the Gods List.
• Xi Yang receives the knowledge and concludes that Qin himself must follow the Heaven-Evolving Path, which he assumes is the strongest system.

Character developments

• The Dog Emperor moves from curiosity about particular tribulations to a broader understanding of the three cultivation paths. He accepts Qin’s explanation and leaves informed.
• Qin Shujian shifts from considering the danger of publicizing fleshly sainthood to deciding that openness is safer and may strengthen the Celestial Court.
• Xi Yang gains a new framework for understanding the power differences among cultivators—and forms a confident, though unconfirmed, theory about Qin’s own path.

Significant themes

• Power and risk: The more demanding cultivation paths may yield greater strength but carry far greater danger.
• Knowledge and responsibility: Qin shares potentially hazardous information to prevent reckless, uninformed breakthroughs.
• Orthodoxy and unconventional paths: Rule-proving is presented as the era’s safest, proper route, while fleshly sainthood and the Heaven-Evolving Path are considered unorthodox.
• Perception and inference: Xi Yang interprets Qin’s lack of visible tribulation or rule-related signs as proof that he follows the Heaven-Evolving Path, though the chapter does not confirm this.

Character interactions

• The Dog Emperor approaches Qin respectfully, asks for clarification, and receives both an explanation and direct knowledge transmitted into his consciousness.
• Qin’s decision to inform the Celestial Court extends the chapter’s exchange beyond the two characters: Xi Yang and the other gods receive the same information, prompting new judgments about Xiao Chengfeng and Qin.

Key plot points and events

• After receiving the news of the three cultivation systems, Xi Yang’s doubts about Qin Shujian are resolved. He understands that the revelation will unsettle the Myriad Races, but chooses not to change paths: as a True Immortal, he cannot switch systems without destroying his cultivation and starting over.
• Xi Yang focuses on reaching fourth-stage immortality. Such a breakthrough would make him a mid-tier True Immortal and significantly strengthen the Human Race’s influence in the Celestial Court.
• Celestial Court gods spread information about the three systems to their own races. Through personal connections, the news spreads across the Four Great Continents in less than a month.
• Zhu Chen learns that the heaven-evolving path is considered the strongest system, but its requirements remain unknown. He suspects Qin Shujian followed it and decides not to risk asking him about its secrets.
• Instead, Zhu Chen chooses to pursue fleshly sainthood. Believing his race’s naturally strong body gives him a good chance of surviving the immortality tribulation, he postpones his breakthrough and commits to further body tempering.
• Many other cultivators at the heavenly-being limit likewise delay their breakthroughs to strengthen their foundations and attempt fleshly sainthood. Others, however, proceed with the traditional system.

Character developments and interactions

• Xi Yang accepts that his cultivation path is fixed and redirects his ambition toward advancing within it, tying his personal progress to the Human Race’s standing.
• Zhu Chen shifts from wanting to break through promptly to pursuing a potentially more powerful route. He weighs the risks of the tribulation, the advantages of his physical constitution, and the unknowns surrounding the heaven-evolving path.
• Qin Shujian remains absent from the events but shapes them through the information he revealed; Zhu Chen decides that questioning him would be dangerous and unproductive.
• Cultivators across the races respond differently to the news: some prepare for fleshly sainthood, while others favor the familiar traditional route.

Significant themes

• Choice and irreversible commitment: A cultivator’s options narrow sharply after reaching True Immortal, making the decision of how to attain immortality consequential.
• Ambition versus risk: Fleshly sainthood promises greater strength, but requires arduous preparation and survival of a formidable tribulation.
• Unequal knowledge: The systems are publicly known, but the most powerful path’s practical requirements remain secret.
• Collective change: The revelation reshapes cultivation plans across the Myriad Races, even as individuals pursue different goals.

Key events

• The three cultivation systems for reaching True Immortal are now public. Although Star Power has grown denser, fewer cultivators are breaking through, as many are waiting to attempt tribulation.
• Qin Shujian explains that he publicized the Fleshly Sainthood system so cultivators would not have to risk tribulation uninformed.
• Qin and Chu Kuangtu discuss the competing paths. Qin declares that his Heaven-Evolving Path is the strongest for as long as he is alive; Chu declines to test that claim until he reaches Ninth-Level Immortal.
• Qin asks how Chu would fare against Demon Monarch Yezuo. Chu boasts that, with his weapon Jingzhe, he could easily kill the injured Eighth-Level Immortal.
• Qin reveals that the Celestial Court plans to attack the Three Great Clans soon, but will wait until Azure Bull also advances. He stresses that letting Demon Monarchs escape could be disastrous.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian presents himself as confident in his cultivation path, but also as a pragmatic leader: he shares dangerous knowledge to reduce needless deaths and insists that the coming campaign take priority over personal grudges.
• Chu Kuangtu is proud of his strength and eager to prove himself, yet recognizes that Qin currently outmatches him. He still resents Azure Bull (Niu Dali) over an old grievance, but agrees to defer revenge until after the Great Calamity.
• Their conversation is cordial but edged with rivalry: Chu probes Qin’s claim of supremacy and bristles at being told to hold back, while Qin sets firm boundaries and reminds him that he will intervene if necessary.

Significant themes

• Knowledge and responsibility: Making a dangerous cultivation method public can help others prepare, even if it cannot eliminate the risks.
• Rivalry and the meaning of strength: Claims of being “the strongest” invite challenge, but power depends on both cultivation and weapons.
• Duty over revenge: Personal disputes must wait when a larger catastrophe threatens.
• Strategic restraint: Defeating lesser enemies is pointless if the most dangerous Demon Monarchs can escape.

Key plot points and events

• Chu Kuangtu and Qin Shujian agree to wait before moving against the three great clans. Their goal is to strike only when they can trap every Demon Monarch, since even one unrestrained upper-third-tier immortal could force the Celestial Court to abandon the Outer Battlefield.
• Chu Kuangtu has reached seventh-level immortal, but still needs to advance further; recovering his former Dao Fruit-level cultivation remains uncertain. Qin Shujian, already at ninth-level immortal, admits that he cannot yet see a clear path to Dao Fruit.
• Qin Shujian dispatches three indistinguishable projections to recruit suitable players from the Primordial, Ninth Moon, and Red Jade worlds.
• He monitors Fu Moyan’s work in the Wilds Great World: over a year, Fu has killed dozens of its children of fortune. Qin considers using powerful manuals and techniques to keep Fu motivated, but decides rewards must be carefully timed.
• With other tasks delegated, Qin returns to the Mother River of Rules to strengthen his understanding. Three months later, he opens a rule battlefield above the Four Great Continents and shatters the Rule Stele before witnesses.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian remains the decisive strategist, but his confidence is tempered by anxiety over whether advancing his inner world to a Great Thousand World will truly unlock Dao Fruit. He pushes those doubts aside and focuses on cultivation and long-term planning.
• Chu Kuangtu defers to Qin’s judgment on major affairs, recognizing him as the strongest reincarnated cultivator of the era. His own breakthrough is only an early step toward restoring his former power.
• Fu Moyan is portrayed as a highly effective, if self-interested, ally. Qin views him as useful precisely because he can be incentivized with benefits.
• Qin’s conversations with Chu are brief and respectful; his later directions to his projections and thoughts about rewarding Fu reveal a leader delegating tasks while carefully managing loyalty.

Significant themes

• The difficulty of reaching the peak: Even exceptional or reincarnated cultivators cannot assume they will regain Dao Fruit.
• Preparation and risk management: The Celestial Court must wait for the right moment to eliminate the Demon Monarchs without allowing any to escape.
• Loyalty and incentives: Qin treats betrayal pragmatically, believing that sufficient rewards can make a traitor dependable—but that rewards must be balanced.
• Patience and disciplined focus: Qin suppresses unproductive doubts and continues building his foundations through cultivation.

• The Gold Spirit Emperor seeks immortality through fleshly sainthood. He reaches the Rule Stele already transformed into a half-immortal and just one step short of becoming a True Immortal. He feels pressure to restore the Gold Spirit Race’s former standing: unlike the Wood and Water Spirit Races, which already have immortal emperors, the Gold Spirit Race has fallen behind.
• He rejects the conventional route. Rather than inscribe his name on the Rule Stele and attain immortality through the established system, he attacks and shatters it. He seizes a fragment of the broken rules and merges it into his body, triggering heaven and earth’s fury and the Immortality Tribulation. His body and true essence have already become an immortal body and immortal essence, giving him strength comparable to a First-Tier Immortal—though he still faces the danger of the tribulation.
• The other races watch from a safe distance. True Immortals and other powerful cultivators gather ten thousand miles away, wary of provoking the tribulation. Zhu Chen, of the Nine-Headed Dog Race, watches closely because the Gold Spirit Emperor is the first cultivator to attempt this path since the Celestial Court announced the three major systems. His success could encourage others; failure could make them hesitate.
• Zhu Chen and Kong Ye discuss their own prospects. Kong Ye asks whether Zhu Chen would still pursue fleshly sainthood if the Gold Spirit Emperor fails. Zhu Chen says one failure would not determine his own fate, especially given the emperor’s strong foundations. He notes that Kong Ye has reached the tenth level of Heavenly Being, but Kong Ye doubts he can break through soon: access to viable rules is limited, and he expects it could take twenty or thirty years.
• The tribulation begins. The Gold Spirit Emperor faces the first bolt without fear, answering it with Geng Metal Sword Qi. Their collision shatters the void and sends destructive shock waves outward; the chapter ends as the contest between emperor and tribulation is underway.
  Key themes: The ambition to restore a fallen race’s status; the risks and potential rewards of pursuing strength through a new cultivation path; and the scarcity of accessible rules, which makes immortality difficult even for powerful cultivators.

Plot and events

• The Gold Spirit Emperor’s immortality tribulation proves far more powerful than expected. His Geng Metal Sword Qi can barely counter the early lightning, and as the tribulation intensifies, his attacks become ineffective.
• After a day, the growing storm attracts attention from across the Myriad Races. The Heavenly Emperor’s avatar estimates the Gold Spirit Emperor has roughly even odds of surviving.
• The Heavenly Emperor’s avatar continues searching the Four Great Continents for a player suitable to become a Realm Traitor—someone with sufficient aptitude, fortune, and intelligence. Two other avatars are searching the Outer Battlefield.
• At the tribulation’s critical stage, lightning badly injures the Gold Spirit Emperor. Unable to recover quickly, he sends the Gold Spirit Race’s ancestral great hall to block a later strike. The hall’s old Emperor imprints are destroyed, and the hall itself soon shatters.
• The weakened lightning then strikes the Gold Spirit Emperor and, as he heals, he discovers that the tribulation’s energy is tempering and strengthening his body. He realizes he may have made a mistake by trying to block the earlier bolts instead of letting them refine him—but another strike arrives before he can act on the insight.

Character developments and interactions

• Gold Spirit Emperor: Moves from confidence in his sword qi to alarm as the tribulation overwhelms him. His discovery that lightning strengthens his body gives him a new understanding of the trial, though he recognizes it too late to undo his earlier strategy.
• Heavenly Emperor’s avatar: Observes the tribulation briefly, then resumes his mission. He is patient about finding a Realm Traitor and emphasizes that intelligence matters as much as strength.
• Gold Spirit Emperor and his heritage: He sacrifices the Gold Spirit Race’s ancestral hall, a treasured legacy of past rulers, to buy time to heal.

Significant themes

• Trial through adversity: The tribulation is both destructive and transformative; enduring its power can strengthen the body.
• Misjudgment and adaptation: The Gold Spirit Emperor’s instinct to resist every blow prevents him from recognizing the tribulation’s refining purpose sooner.
• Legacy and sacrifice: The ancestral hall carries the imprints of former Emperors, yet is spent to protect the present ruler.
• Power and strategy: The Heavenly Emperor’s search for a traitor shows that influence depends not only on raw strength but also on judgment, aptitude, and opportunity.

Plot points and events

• After an immense thunder tribulation, the Gold Spirit Emperor’s fate remains unclear until he releases a powerful force that clears away the lightning. Heavenly signs—golden flowers and lotuses—confirm his success.
• The Gold Spirit Emperor becomes the Gold Spirit Race’s first True Immortal, having advanced through the fleshly sainthood system. His aura suggests he may be stronger than True Immortals who followed rule-proving.
• Watching cultivators withdraw after witnessing the breakthrough. The event provides a major demonstration that the newly announced cultivation paths are viable.

Character developments and interactions

• The Gold Spirit Emperor survives a dangerous, life-or-death tribulation, heals many of his injuries, and departs without addressing the observers. His success raises the standing and prospects of his race.
• The Water Spirit Emperor is impressed but uneasy, recognizing that he might not match the Gold Spirit Emperor in a fight. He exchanges a silent, knowing look with the Wood Spirit Emperor, wondering how the latter will respond.
• The Wood Spirit Emperor is confident rather than intimidated. After gaining and absorbing insights from his earlier clash with Qin Shujian, he believes he can match the Gold Spirit Emperor despite not having broken through.
• Zhu Chen, who watched the tribulation closely, gains valuable insight and estimates that his own chance of surviving a future tribulation has improved by twenty percent. Still wary of risking his long cultivation, he decides to strengthen his foundation before attempting it. He advises Kong Ye to consider the fleshly sainthood path. Kong Ye agrees to leave with him and asks when Zhu Chen will undergo his tribulation; Zhu Chen says within one to three years.

Significant themes

• Risk and perseverance: Immortality offers life or death, so even a promising path demands careful preparation.
• New paths and changing power: The Gold Spirit Emperor’s success validates fleshly sainthood and suggests it may outclass rule-proving in strength.
• Confidence and rivalry: The Water and Wood Spirit Emperors react differently to the same breakthrough, revealing their contrasting assessments of their own power.
• Collective consequences: The breakthrough gives the Gold Spirit Race renewed hope and is likely to encourage cultivators across the myriad races to pursue fleshly sainthood.

Key plot points

• Qin Shujian watches the Gold Spirit Emperor’s successful tribulation through a Profound Heaven Mirror. He judges that the emperor took a flawed approach and survived largely thanks to luck and his race’s deep reserves.
• Inspired by the Third Era’s Celestial Court, Qin decides to forge a Heaven-Connecting Mirror—a supreme treasure for observing and monitoring the world. He refuses to delegate the work, since the era’s forge masters lack the skill to make such an artifact.
• Qin inspects his materials in the Investiture of the Gods List. He preserves his star cores for the unfinished Heavenly Cycle Star Chart and chooses instead to use a Star Beast corpse.
• He expands the Heavenly Palace and brings in the enormous corpse of a Star Beast that had possessed at least sixth-level Immortal strength. The palace withstands its formidable lingering aura.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin is confident and resourceful, but recognizes that his valuable materials are limited. His ambition to build the Celestial Court’s capabilities drives him to take on the mirror’s forging himself.
• The Godslayer Saber reacts with awe to the corpse and recalls the dangers sealed within the ancient stars. It compares the relatively small, weaker ranks of the Primordial Heavenly Court with the present court’s more than a thousand True Immortals.
• Qin and the Saber’s exchange underscores how dramatically the Myriad Races have advanced: just over a decade earlier, they had no True Immortals.

Significant themes

• Power and progress: The present Celestial Court has surpassed the Primordial Heavenly Court in numbers and is rapidly growing stronger.
• Ambition and preparation: Qin seeks to equip his court with a supreme artifact suited to its growing authority.
• Risk and fortune: The Gold Spirit Emperor’s tribulation shows that success may depend not only on strength but also on luck and accumulated resources.
• The hidden dangers of the past: The sealed Star Beasts reveal how much more dangerous the ancient era might have been if those seals had broken earlier.

Key plot points and events

• Over a little more than a decade, the myriad races have grown from having no True Immortals to possessing more than a thousand, bringing their strength close to that of ancient times. Qin Shujian is credited with leading this rise.
• The Godslayer Saber compares Qin Shujian with the Ancient Heavenly Emperor, Qin Cang. Though Qin Shujian is not yet as strong, the Saber believes he could eventually match or surpass him—and may be the key to the Saber’s own future.
• Qin Shujian identifies the sealed Star Beasts inside ancient stars as a future danger. He plans to deal with them after the Three Great Clans, either by subduing or killing them before they can threaten the Celestial Court.
• He extracts a powerful star core from a Star Beast’s corpse and stores both the core and the body in the Investiture of the Gods List. The core may help him create a much more powerful Heavenly Cycle Star Chart.
• Qin Shujian leaves the Heavenly Palace unnoticed and travels deep into the Heaven and Earth Astral Wind Layer, seeking a remote place to refine the Heaven-Connecting Mirror.
• The Vermilion Bird Emperor follows him there after sensing his summons.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian is increasingly confident in his growing strength. His Inner World is nearing greater completeness, and he expects to reach the half-step Dao Fruit realm once its first-generation inhabitants become True Immortals.
• The Godslayer Saber expresses strong faith in Qin Shujian, viewing him as an extraordinary talent and a potential turning point in its existence.
• The Vermilion Bird Emperor greets Qin Shujian formally and wonders why he summoned her. She is pleased by the private summons, interpreting it as a sign that he values her.

Significant themes

• Rapid advancement and exceptional talent: The growth of the myriad races and Qin Shujian’s progress stand out against the long timescales of cultivation.
• Power and responsibility: Qin Shujian treats the sealed Star Beasts as a threat the Celestial Court must address before disaster strikes.
• Ambition and opportunity: The rare Star Beast core offers a chance to create a formidable treasure, while the Godslayer Saber sees Qin Shujian as a path toward its own rise.
• Recognition and personal regard: The Vermilion Bird Emperor’s reaction shows how a summons from Qin Shujian carries both political and personal significance.

• Qin Shujian summons the Vermilion Bird Emperor and asks to borrow her xiantian divine fire to refine the corpse of a Star Beast, which he plans to use in forging a supreme treasure. The beast had reached the sixth level of the Immortal realm, making its body exceptionally difficult to refine.
• Confident in her fire’s strength, the Vermilion Bird Emperor agrees. She transforms into her true form and burns the enormous corpse in the heaven-and-earth astral wind layer. The fire begins to break down the Star Beast’s faintly glowing dao resonance, but progress is slow. Qin estimates that the process will take about a year and remarks that her divine fire still has room to improve.
• Qin reflects that Samadhi True Fire, a powerful flame cultivated in earlier eras and better suited to forging divine weapons, is unavailable to him because he never learned how to cultivate it.
• Meanwhile, Qin’s Heavenly Emperor avatar has spent nearly a month searching the Northern Continent for a suitable recruit. Seeing the Vermilion Bird Emperor’s effort, the avatar mockingly predicts that refining the Star Beast will humble her. He then encounters a young man and opens with a recruitment pitch: “Would you be interested in becoming a Realm Traitor?”
  Character developments and interactions: The Vermilion Bird Emperor’s confidence is tested by the vast strength of the Star Beast, but she honors her commitment and undertakes the daunting task. Qin remains composed and practical, assessing the fire’s effectiveness while pursuing his plans. The avatar’s sardonic, independent manner contrasts with Qin’s calmness, and the chapter ends by setting up its attempt to recruit the young stranger.
  Themes: The chapter highlights the limits of power, the immense effort required to master and refine extraordinary forces, and the contrast between confidence and experience. It also emphasizes Qin’s strategic use of powerful allies and hints at the ongoing search for recruits.

Plot and events

• Ye Hong, a once-privileged cultivator from the Ninth Moon World, recounts how his family broke his talented younger sister’s engagement to a crippled young man. The man regained his power, rapidly became formidable, and eventually destroyed the family, took Ye Hong’s sister, and crippled Ye Hong for having insulted him.
• After three years of begging, Ye Hong entered a game that restored his ability to cultivate: progress in the game could strengthen him in reality. He became the first player to leave the Novice Village, but the man’s followers ambushed him and then hunted and killed him repeatedly for ten years.
• When the attacks stopped, Ye Hong found that the game world had grown far more dangerous while he remained at level zero. Unable to fight monsters or join sects, he spent years searching for a way forward, dying hundreds or thousands of times without gaining strength.
• He learned that monsters grew stronger by absorbing star power, but he lacked the introductory manual needed to cultivate it himself. Despairing, he considered ending his life—until a strange Daoist appeared and called him a “Realm Traitor.” Ye Hong rejects the accusation, insisting he would never betray his world.

Character development and interactions

• Ye Hong shifts from a spoiled, status-conscious heir who shared his family’s contempt for the crippled fiancé into a determined survivor seeking redemption and revenge. Though years of defeat nearly break him, his pride and resolve remain.
• The now-powerful former fiancé is presented as Ye Hong’s chief antagonist: he defeats Ye Hong’s family, takes Ye Hong’s sister, and uses his followers to keep Ye Hong powerless in the game.
• Ye Hong’s sister is central to the original family conflict, though she has little direct presence in the account.
• The strange Daoist’s unexpected accusation introduces a new conflict and interrupts Ye Hong’s despair.

Significant themes

• Reversal of fortune: A disgraced, crippled man rises to power, while Ye Hong falls from privilege to helplessness.
• Consequences of arrogance: Ye Hong’s past insult helps explain his punishment, and his family’s contempt for the former fiancé proves disastrous.
• Persistence amid despair: Ye Hong continues searching for a chance to rise even after years of failure.
• Power and access: Talent alone is useless without the means—here, a cultivation manual—to develop it.
• Loyalty and identity: The chapter ends by framing Ye Hong’s refusal to be a traitor as a declaration of principle.

Key plot points and events

• Ye Hong, desperate and recently defeated, throws himself at the feet of the mysterious Daoist Qin Er, hoping to gain protection and escape his predicament.
• Qin Er introduces himself and flatters Ye Hong with a prophecy that he has the potential to rise to greatness—if he receives the right opportunity.
• Qin Er offers to provide that opportunity in exchange for a task. He demonstrates his knowledge by showing Ye Hong scenes from his past through the River of Time, including his arrival in the game and repeated deaths.
• Though the display impresses him, Ye Hong senses danger. He nevertheless accepts the possibility of the quest, reasoning that death in the game only means resurrection.
• Qin Er reveals the task: eliminate people in the Ninth Moon World.

Character developments and interactions

• Ye Hong is opportunistic and shamelessly eager to attach himself to someone powerful. His desperation and hope for revenge outweigh his growing suspicion of Qin Er.
• Qin Er presents himself as a generous mentor, using praise and a display of supernatural knowledge to win Ye Hong’s trust and steer him toward a dangerous mission.
• Their relationship is transactional: Ye Hong wants power and a way out, while Qin Er wants Ye Hong to carry out a targeted killing.

Significant themes

• Ambition and manipulation: Qin Er exploits Ye Hong’s desire to rise above his low status.
• Risk versus opportunity: Ye Hong recognizes the danger but chooses to pursue the chance Qin Er offers.
• Immortality and repeated failure: Ye Hong’s familiarity with death and resurrection has made him unusually willing to face lethal risks.
• Worlds converging: The growing integration of the Player Worlds with the Great Thousand World allows Qin Er to perceive players through the River of Time.

Plot points and events

• Qin Shujian continues refining the Star Beast’s body in the Heaven and Earth Astral Wind Layer, while the Vermilion Bird Emperor sustains the xiantian divine fire for months.
• As the Star Beast’s Dao resonance disappears, Qin begins the decisive stage of refinement. He replenishes the Vermilion Bird Emperor with star power and orders her to intensify the fire.
• The refinement consumes her essence blood and leaves her exhausted, but Qin insists she continue, promising compensation. A powerful heavenly tribulation forms and strikes the Star Beast as the fire and Qin’s seals melt away its flesh, leaving pale golden bones.
• The tribulation grows strong enough for its aura to reach the Celestial Court. Xiao Chengfeng and the Heaven-Splitting Halberd discuss the weapon being forged: although it must remain a nine-mark Dao artifact under heaven-and-earth’s rules, it may be exceptionally powerful—potentially beyond an ordinary Ancestral Weapon.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian remains controlled and focused, carefully timing his intervention to preserve the refinement’s quality. He supports the Vermilion Bird Emperor with star power but also demands further sacrifice at the critical moment.
• The Vermilion Bird Emperor demonstrates extraordinary endurance and loyalty, repeatedly spending her essence blood to maintain the fire despite nearing her limit.
• Xiao Chengfeng is alarmed by the tribulation’s aura and questions whether the resulting treasure could be an ordinary nine-mark Dao artifact.
• Nameless, the Heaven-Splitting Halberd, provides historical context, explaining that nine-mark Dao artifacts vary greatly in strength. Xiao Chengfeng listens and acknowledges Nameless’s greater knowledge.

Significant themes

• Endurance and sacrifice: The Vermilion Bird Emperor’s depleted strength and essence blood are essential to the refinement.
• Power and limits: The forging challenges expectations, yet the world’s rules still cap the weapon at the nine-mark Dao artifact category.
• Knowledge and perspective: Nameless’s ancient experience helps explain why the weapon’s classification alone cannot predict its true power.

Key events

• Xiao Chengfeng encourages Nameless, an ancient Ancestral Weapon, to stop suppressing his cultivation and undergo his fourth tribulation.
• Nameless’s tribulation takes place in the heaven-and-earth astral wind layer to protect the Celestial Court. It lasts less than seven days, and Nameless survives with remarkable ease.
• Onlookers realize that, with Nameless and the five-tribulation Heaven-Splitting Halberd, Xiao Chengfeng may be the strongest figure in the Celestial Court beneath the Heavenly Emperor—though no one has settled this by direct combat.
• Xiao Chengfeng remarks that Nameless might even manage the fifth tribulation. Nameless cautions that it is far more dangerous: an Ancestral Weapon’s odds may drop from roughly 80% at the fourth tribulation to 10% at the fifth. The Heaven-Splitting Halberd confirms that the fifth tribulation brings a major transformation.
• Xiao Chengfeng respects Nameless’s silence about his past and returns to the Celestial Court with both weapons.
• Elsewhere, the Vermilion Bird Emperor is told she can stop using her xiantian divine fire. She withdraws it after exhausting much of her essence blood, leaving her pale, unstable, and close to death.

Character developments and interactions

• Nameless reveals immense accumulated strength, but remains composed and guarded about his history. He is honest about the risks of advancing further.
• Xiao Chengfeng shows confidence in Nameless while respecting his privacy. His possession of two powerful Ancestral Weapons greatly enhances his standing.
• The Heaven-Splitting Halberd provides expertise on the escalating danger of weapon tribulations.
• The Vermilion Bird Emperor endures severe physical cost before being allowed to withdraw her divine fire.

Themes

• Power comes with escalating danger: later tribulations are dramatically riskier than earlier ones.
• Long-term accumulation can yield extraordinary strength, but strength is not the same as safety.
• Trust and respect allow secrets to remain private.
• Power is unevenly distributed: possessing an Ancestral Weapon can create a major advantage over those without one.

Key plot points and events

• The Vermilion Bird Emperor has spent a great deal of essence blood helping Qin Shujian forge a divine weapon. Though she is not near death, the loss threatens to lower her cultivation. Qin gives her three drops of exceptionally powerful star-beast essence blood to restore her; she returns to the Celestial Court to refine it away from the thunder tribulation.
• Qin continues forging alone. He has refined the star beast’s body into a vast sea of lightning and is imprinting it with Dao resonance.
• A deep bell toll suddenly rings out across the Great Thousand World. Its sound reaches even the Death Sea and the Heavenly Abyss, places normally insulated from the outside world.
• The toll awakens Yang in the Death Sea. He recognizes Qin as the one connected to the sound and furiously vows to kill him, still resentful that Qin previously stole his power. His rage kills nearby true immortal beasts and sends others fleeing.
• Zhang Ergou, hunting in the Death Sea, hears the bell. His Heaven and Earth Bow identifies it as the sign of an extraordinarily powerful divine weapon. When a horde of true immortal beasts approaches, Zhang flees.
• Yin is also awakened in the Heavenly Abyss and tries to rise toward Qin, but cosmic chains suppress him. The bell eventually stops.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian acts generously toward the depleted Vermilion Bird Emperor, then focuses on completing the weapon. The bell’s reach suggests the weapon is nearing completion and possesses immense power.
• The Vermilion Bird Emperor recognizes the essence blood as extraordinarily potent and sees a chance not only to recover but possibly to advance her cultivation.
• Yang remains furious and vengeful toward Qin, though his seal still prevents him from acting directly.
• Zhang Ergou responds pragmatically to danger: he relies on the Heaven and Earth Bow’s warning and escapes rather than investigate further.
• Yin shares Yang’s anger toward Qin, but the chains binding him keep him from reaching the surface.

Significant themes

• The cost and support behind creation: the Vermilion Bird Emperor’s sacrifice helps Qin’s forging, while Qin’s gift enables her recovery.
• Power and unintended consequences: the emerging weapon’s bell reaches beings normally isolated from the world, awakening dangerous enemies and stirring chaos.
• Restraint and imprisonment: Yang and Yin possess formidable power but remain confined by forces they cannot overcome.
• Survival and caution: Zhang’s escape contrasts with the immense, destructive forces set in motion by the bell.

Plot points and events

• After the lightning sea parts, Qin Shujian retrieves a newly forged mirror and bronze bell. The mirror can survey all four continents, including the forbidden Death Sea and Heavenly Abyss; only beings at half-step Dao Fruit can sense its gaze.
• Qin names the artifacts the Heaven-Connecting Mirror and the Heavenly Emperor Bell. Though technically pinnacle spirit weapons, their rare material and Qin’s exceptional forging skill make them as powerful as formidable nine-mark Dao artifacts.
• The Godslayer Saber says they match—or, in truth, surpass—the Primordial Heavenly Court’s Heaven-Connecting Mirror and Myriad Races Immortal Ranking. Incorporating rules could make them stronger still.
• Qin tears open the void and forcibly extracts the Mother River of Rules. The unprecedented spectacle alarms experts throughout the Great Thousand World, who assume at first that someone is about to attain immortality.
• Xiao Chengfeng recognizes the act as rule extraction and deduces that Qin intends to incorporate rules into his new treasures.

Character developments

• Qin Shujian demonstrates confidence in his extraordinary forging ability and power over the rules, moving from completing the treasures to enhancing them.
• The Godslayer Saber acknowledges Qin’s superiority while tactfully protecting the prestige of the Primordial Heavenly Court, which it once served.
• Xiao Chengfeng draws on his Ancient Times knowledge to identify Qin’s technique and infer his purpose.

Character interactions

• Qin tests the mirror’s reach, provoking angry reactions from Yang and Yin when their domains appear in it, but dismisses them without engaging.
• Qin asks the Godslayer Saber to compare his treasures with those of the Primordial Heavenly Court; the Saber gives a carefully phrased assessment.
• Xiao Chengfeng’s understanding of Qin’s actions contrasts with the confusion of the other experts.

Significant themes

• Power beyond formal rankings: A weapon’s official grade matters less than its actual materials, craftsmanship, and strength.
• Innovation and surpassing the past: Qin’s creations exceed legendary treasures of the Primordial Heavenly Court.
• Authority over cosmic laws: Qin’s ability to extract rules marks a rare, era-defining level of power.
• Legacy and pride: The Godslayer Saber’s tact reveals its lingering loyalty to the former Heavenly Court.

Key plot points and events

• Qin Shujian withstands the rules river’s thunder by striking the Heavenly Emperor Bell, whose toll shatters the lightning and disperses the tribulation clouds.
• He forcibly pulls a river of rules from the mother river and merges it into the Heaven-Connecting Mirror. The mirror transforms, gaining overwhelming power and an aura that rivals a five-tribulation ancestral weapon.
• This act triggers a blood-red rules thunder tribulation, alarming cultivators across the myriad races. The Heaven-Connecting Mirror intercepts the lightning and even damages the tribulation’s blood-red mass, which quickly regenerates.
• Qin Shujian then draws out a second river of rules. The Heavenly Emperor Bell absorbs it, shrinking the river until it vanishes and leaving the bell suffused with immense Dao resonance. Heaven and earth erupt in response.
• Elsewhere, Niu Dali’s fractured rule begins repairing faster under the mysterious aura accompanying the tribulation.

Character developments and interactions

• Qin Shujian remains composed, using the bell and mirror as tools to seize and absorb rules despite the danger.
• The Godslayer Saber, watching from Qin Shujian’s sea of consciousness, is astonished by the transformed mirror’s power and feels its own standing diminished by comparison.
• Xiao Chengfeng recognizes the danger of the rules tribulation but stays calm, reasoning that Qin Shujian must have a means to survive it.
• The Heavenly Emperor Bell acts independently, defending Qin Shujian and then absorbing a second rule river.

Significant themes

• Defying heaven and earth: Seizing the world’s rules provokes a potentially endless, lethal response.
• Power and transformation: Incorporating rules elevates divine weapons beyond their expected classifications.
• Confidence grounded in preparation: Qin’s calm—and Xiao Chengfeng’s faith in him—suggest the attempt is deliberate rather than reckless.