Chapter Summaries

True Lord Huode was given a chance to regain his Star Lord Palace position by killing Xiao Hua, while Kong Hongwu and Linghu Piran discussed their plans and other powerful cultivators at the Yaotai Gathering. Xiao Hua emerged from a void interstice into a vast starry space resembling a scene he had seen before.

• True Lord Huode blamed Xiao Hua for Shangguan Yeran’s death and volunteered to execute him in exchange for redeeming his crimes.
• Linghu Piran persuaded Kong Hongwu to let True Lord Huode pursue Xiao Hua, and Kong promised to restore his position if he succeeded.
• After True Lord Huode left, Kong Hongwu and Linghu Piran admitted they were using him to test Xiao Hua and discussed Xunkong Shangren, Zhang Daoran, and Zhai Xingzi.
• Kong Hongwu warned Linghu Piran to beware of Xiao Hua, then departed; Linghu Piran went to inspect a starlit space near the camp.
• Xiao Hua emerged from a void interstice and saw a colossal sphere encircled by a slowly rotating belt of immense shattered rocks, a sight that reminded him of the Cai Family Ancestral Hall.

Xiao Hua considered joining Zhang Daoran’s group of Daoist cultivators as they crossed the star formation, where Confucian soldiers and generals had ambushed them. A second flying boat arrived carrying High Person Xunkong, who contested Zhang Daoran over the Qing Ming Dragon Saliva and then treated Xiao Hua as an equal.

• Xiao Hua recognized the star formation’s connection to the Star Moon Palace and watched Zhang Daoran arrive aboard a flying boat with dozens of cultivators.
• Fairy Jing urged Xiao Hua to join Zhang Daoran, explaining that he had stopped the Daoist cultivators from fighting and was leading them toward the formation’s end.
• Zhang Daoran invited Xiao Hua aboard, and Xiao Hua began to explain that his battles against the Star Lord Palace might make his presence unwelcome.
• A second flying boat emerged from the void carrying High Person Xunkong, who challenged Zhang Daoran over who should claim the Qing Ming Dragon Saliva.
• After sensing something unusual about Xiao Hua, High Person Xunkong reconsidered his stance and asked where Xiao Hua cultivated.

Xiao Hua tried to keep Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren from clashing, but Xunkong Shangren killed three cultivators who rushed to seize a jade box. Xiao Hua then helped Zhang Daoran expose and kill four cultivators who had been stirring up trouble, while the surviving Nascent Souls fled amid strange purple energy.

• Xiao Hua told Xunkong Shangren that he sought only the National Teacher's token and would not contend for the three treasures, and Zhang Daoran proposed a temporary alliance.
• A jade box appeared after a blast struck the sphere's band, and three cultivators from Zhang Daoran's boat flew off to claim it.
• Xunkong Shangren attacked the three cultivators, killing them despite Zhang Daoran's pleas for mercy; their Nascent Souls vanished into purple Vast Righteous Qi.
• Xunkong Shangren confronted Zhang Daoran over his leniency, and Xiao Hua used a golden great hand to suppress the cultivators who had incited discord.
• Xiao Hua killed four instigators with a flash of golden light, while their weakened Nascent Souls escaped with their magic treasures.

Xiao Hua killed four Nascent Soul cultivators and helped settle the dispute between Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren over the jade boxes. After revealing that he had killed a Star Lord, he learned that both men still wanted to join forces with him.

• Xiao Hua restrained and killed four early Nascent Soul cultivators with his giant hand and magical treasure.
• Xunkong Shangren tried to swear brotherhood with Xiao Hua, and Xiao Hua's joke eased the tension with Zhang Daoran.
• Blood-red clouds released jade boxes, and Xiao Hua directed Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren to send cultivators to retrieve them.
• Zhang Daoran told Xiao Hua that he sought the Chilling Phantom Gall to break through to the Out-of-Body realm, while Xunkong Shangren wanted the Qing Ming Dragon Saliva.
• Xiao Hua declined their offer to join forces, explaining that he had killed a Star Lord and feared Star Lord Palace would target him.
• Xunkong Shangren and Zhang Daoran agreed to join forces with Xiao Hua after he openly revealed the killing.

Xiao Hua, Zhang Daoran, and Xunkong Shangren agreed to cooperate against the Star Lord Palace and to keep Daoist cultivators from fighting one another at the Yaotai Gathering. They made a pact by clapping hands and began organizing the jade-box treasures and the cultivators, leaving the group poised to search for a way out of the formation-controlling mechanism.

• Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren told Xiao Hua that the Yaotai Gathering had become a trap aimed at wiping out Nascent Soul cultivators, and Zhang proposed striking back at the Star Lord Palace.
• Xiao Hua agreed to help the two men compete for rare treasures and urged Daoist cultivators to unite, while warning Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren not to risk their lives against a Star Lord.
• Xiao Hua, Zhang Daoran, and Xunkong Shangren sealed their mutual trust with a hand-clapping pact rather than a blood oath.
• Zhang Daoran proposed trading the jade-box contents and assigning cultivators to inspect the formation-controlling mechanism, while Xunkong Shangren offered a magic treasure to find its flaws.
• Xiao Hua advised Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren to gather the cultivators aboard their flying boats before trading, and Fairy Jing returned to Xiao Hua's side.
• Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren urged the cultivators to follow an orderly distribution of the treasures, and the gathered juniors agreed.

Xiao Hua, Zhang Daoran, and Xunkong Shangren prepared to lead the cultivators through the Imperial Formation’s sudden storm of falling giant stones. With the Nether Macaque searching for a spatial weak point and Xiao Hua and Zhang Daoran taking the front, the first enormous stones descended upon them.

• Zhang Daoran, Xunkong Shangren, and Xiao Hua agreed to exchange their recovered treasures later at Haofeng Mountain, and the other cultivators handed their jade boxes to Xunkong Shangren for safekeeping.
• The Imperial Formation shook apart its surrounding stone belt, sending giant stones crashing across the formation, and Xiao Hua warned that it might be trying to kill them all.
• Zhang Daoran arranged the cultivators into ranks behind him while Xunkong Shangren put away his flying boat and released his Nether Macaque, Chang Geng, to find a path out.
• Xunkong Shangren fed Chang Geng a tri-colored pearl, awakening its Void Piercing Eyes, and followed it as it searched for a spatial weak point.
• Zhang Daoran and Xiao Hua summoned their Dharma Bodies and massive weapons to block the stones, and Zhang Daoran challenged Xiao Hua to a contest over who could destroy more.

Xiao Hua and Zhang Daoran defended their cultivators against an endless rain of boulders inside the formation, but Zhang Daoran grew exhausted while Xiao Hua continued smashing the stones with his As-You-Wish Staff. They joined their groups so Zhang Daoran could rest and reorganize the cultivators as the barrage continued.

• Zhang Daoran shattered falling boulders with his magic treasure while Xiao Hua used the As-You-Wish Staff to break them apart with precise strikes.
• After an hour, Zhang Daoran’s body and meridians grew numb, and his giant hand cleared a brief space so he could recover.
• Zhang Daoran called to Xunkong Shangren, who said Chang Geng had not found anything amid the immense fluctuations.
• Zhang Daoran tried using a semicircular magic treasure as a shield, but successive boulders damaged it and overwhelmed his giant hand.
• Xiao Hua offered to take some of Zhang Daoran’s boulders while Zhang Daoran organized the cultivators, and Zhang Daoran accepted.
• Xiao Hua and Zhang Daoran combined their groups, Zhang Daoran withdrew to rest, and Xiao Hua continued smashing the boulders.

Xiao Hua protected the cultivators trapped in the Giant Stone Array, discovering that he could use his spiritual thoughts to redirect and shatter the boulders while tempering his mind. After Xunkong Shangren found the array’s control exit, Xiao Hua led the others toward it amid their cheers.

• Xiao Hua continued smashing the increasingly massive boulders while Zhang Daoran went to protect Xunkong Shangren as he searched for the array’s flaw.
• Xiao Hua abandoned his staff and dodged upward through the falling stones, alarming the cultivators who feared he was fleeing.
• Xiao Hua used his spiritual thoughts to redirect boulders into one another, destroying them and rapidly strengthening his spiritual thoughts.
• Xunkong Shangren found the exit for controlling the array, and Zhang Daoran called Xiao Hua to bring the cultivators to them.
• Xiao Hua carved a path through the boulder rain with his spiritual thoughts and Sleeve Universe technique as the cultivators cheered him.

Xiao Hua saved the cultivators trapped beneath the falling boulders and urged them to uphold the Daoist sect’s principles before letting them escape through an array exit. He stayed behind to cultivate his Wind Escape Technique and rescue anyone else who entered, and after several days he spotted another group of cultivators in danger.

• Xiao Hua crushed the falling boulders and declared that Daoist disciples should act with humanity and defend one another.
• Zhang Daoran and Xunkong Shangren discussed Xiao Hua’s resemblance to a formidable figure, then Xunkong opened an exit while Zhang Daoran waited for the others.
• The Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators passed through the exit in turn, and Zhang Daoran gave Xiao Hua his cave-abode location and medicinal pills before leaving.
• Xiao Hua chose to stay in the array, reasoning that he could save future arrivals and cultivate his Wind Escape Technique while searching for traces of green-robed Xiao Hua.
• After several days of training among the boulders, Xiao Hua heard screams and spotted more than a dozen Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators struggling nearby.

Xiao Hua rescued cultivators trapped in the Giant Stone Formation in exchange for five hundred years of service, then trained in Wind Escape and body-tempering techniques amid the falling stones. After his Buddha Sarira’s display drew the attention of Yaotai Mountain’s Star Lord, Kong Hongwu arrived and challenged the Star Lord for activating the formation’s star chart too soon.

• Xiao Hua took Lan Dianzi, several Golden Core disciples, and four Nascent Soul cultivators into his space after they swore blood oaths to serve him for five hundred years.
• Xiao Hua spent more than two months cultivating Wind Escape and Divine Thought while collecting additional Nascent Soul and Golden Core cultivators, then rested inside a hollowed-out giant stone.
• Xiao Hua began tempering his body by letting falling stones strike him, then summoned his Buddha Sarira to cultivate Mountain Power with Buddhist prayer power.
• The horse-faced Star Lord identified the Buddhist display inside the formation and ordered an immortal soldier to send in a star chart and strengthen the formation.
• Kong Hongwu appeared before the Star Lord and rebuked him for using the formation’s star chart before the final stage.

Kong Hongwu ordered Taishi Zhanran to ensure that Bodhi did not leave the defensive formation alive, while Xiao Hua and Bodhi endured its deadly attacks and advanced their cultivation. After half a year, Taishi Zhanran finally decided to call in Star Lord Palace reinforcements, choosing whom to summon.

• Kong Hongwu warned Taishi Zhanran that the Buddhist disciple in the formation must be killed before he discovered the Yaotai Gathering's secrets.
• Xiao Hua allowed Bodhi to fight freely, and Bodhi used the formation's dangers to temper his golden body.
• Xiao Hua chose to face the death tribulation alongside Bodhi, and both were badly injured by a falling sphere before healing.
• Over the next half year, Xiao Hua improved his physical cultivation, Bodhi's golden body neared six feet, and Xiao Hua rescued several trapped cultivators.
• Taishi Zhanran saw that nearby formations had stopped and surviving Daoist cultivators had gathered at the Red Star, so he decided which Star Lords to summon for help.

Taishi Zhanran sought Linghu Piran’s help against a Buddhist expert trapped in his crimson star formation, but Linghu left him with a star shuttle instead. After the shuttle struck the formation without ending the struggle, Taishi recruited Ouyang Jingran, who told him the Hall Master had scolded her for letting Zhai Xingzi escape.

• Taishi Zhanran saw the Crimson Star Great Formation break and learned from Linghu Piran that Zhang Daoran had obtained its strange treasure with Xunkong Shangren.
• Taishi told Linghu Piran that a Buddhist expert remained alive in his star formation, and Linghu gave him an Immortal Palace star shuttle rather than entering the formation himself.
• Taishi sent the star shuttle into the formation, where it became a lightning-wreathed meteor and shattered a giant star as Xiao Hua and Bodhi moved to confront the falling fragments.
• After months of waiting while other crimson formations turned white, Taishi failed to reach Linghu Piran and asked Tail Fire Tiger Ouyang Jingran for help.
• Ouyang Jingran told Taishi that Zhai Xingzi had escaped her formation and that the Hall Master had personally reprimanded her.

Taishi Zhanran and Ouyang Jingran waited for the star formation to change, then entered it to intercept the monk they believed was trapped inside. Linghu Piran followed after suspecting Xiao Hua was in danger, while Xiao Hua continued cultivating until signs appeared that the Yaotai Gathering was ending.

• Taishi Zhanran persuaded Ouyang Jingran to help him wait for the star formation to open rather than enter it blindly.
• When the formation’s clouds changed color, Taishi Zhanran and Ouyang Jingran followed a star path inside, but neither returned.
• Linghu Piran arrived, suspected Xiao Hua was trapped in the formation with Taishi Zhanran and Ouyang Jingran, and entered by a separate star path.
• The Haoyue sank and its radiance dimmed as the Blazing Sun brightened, prompting Linghu Piran to conclude that a Daoist sect cultivator had obtained the rare treasure from the Haoyue formation.
• Xiao Hua spent several more months cultivating his body, divine sense, Buddhist consciousness, and soul consciousness, while Bodhi strengthened his Future Buddha Lord phantom.
• Xiao Hua and Bodhi noticed white rays seeping into the formation and concluded that the Yaotai Gathering was nearly over and the formation was preparing to close.

Xiao Hua left the star array troubled by the growing divisions among his ten Primordial Spirits, then was trapped by two Star Lords who attacked him without warning. He repelled their first assault, but the fight continued as Ouyang Jingran warned Taishi Zhanran about Xiao Hua’s staff.

• Xiao Hua rejected Bodhi’s advice to abandon his worldly commitments, then threatened the Primordial Spirits after Confucian cultivator Xiao Hua tried to seize control of his body.
• Xiao Hua left the star array and worried that his ten Primordial Spirits’ different paths of cultivation would eventually become a danger he could not resolve.
• A defensive array froze Xiao Hua’s surroundings, but he broke free and encountered Ouyang Jingran and Taishi Zhanran, who sealed him in with Vast Righteous Qi.
• Xiao Hua denounced the two Star Lords and used his As-You-Wish Staff to knock back their attacks while releasing the Divine Strength Centipede against Ouyang Jingran’s white tiger.
• Taishi Zhanran formed an armored secondary body and punched at Xiao Hua, but Xiao Hua shattered the fist with his staff; Ouyang Jingran then warned Taishi that the staff had helped Xiao Hua endure the star array.

Xiao Hua and Bodhi fought Taishi Zhanran and Ouyang Jingran, countering their powerful scroll, fire, and saber attacks. The two opponents decided to retreat, but Xiao Hua and Bodhi struck to block their escape.

• Taishi Zhanran unleashed a powerful literary scroll as Ouyang Jingran attacked with a fire wall, and Xiao Hua summoned Bodhi and his golden Dharma Body to meet them.
• Ouyang Jingran turned her bamboo rod into a fire dragon and formed a giant sword from Righteous Qi, but Bodhi struck back with the Nine-Character Mantra.
• Xiao Hua smashed Taishi Zhanran's scroll and endured its attacks without injury, prompting Taishi to realize Xiao Hua had cultivated inside the star formation for a year.
• Taishi attacked with his Azure Dragon saber, but Xiao Hua used the Eye of Delusion Breaking to reveal the hidden saber wave and blocked it with his staff.
• Ouyang Jingran and Taishi Zhanran exchanged a glance and tried to flee as Xiao Hua and Bodhi attacked; Bodhi spread a curtain of Innate True Water to seal Ouyang Jingran's retreat.

Xiao Hua and Bodhi killed Star Lords Taishi Zhanran and Ouyang Jingran, then escaped the star formation using Taishi's armor. After learning that the Immortal Palace had arranged deadly formations to eliminate Daoist cultivators, Xiao Hua emerged atop Yaotai Mountain and headed toward the formidable formation beneath it.

• Bodhi used the Mountain Buddha Seal against Ouyang Jingran while Xiao Hua struck Taishi Zhanran with his Divine Thought Hammer.
• Xiao Hua pierced both Star Lords with the python spear, and Bodhi delivered their souls into reincarnation after Xiao Hua destroyed their Primordial Spirits.
• Xiao Hua collected the defeated enemies' belongings, concealed traces of the battle, and learned from their memories that the Immortal Palace had arranged the deadly formations at Yaotai Mountain.
• Xiao Hua put on Taishi Zhanran's armor, took his appearance, and passed through the remaining formations to emerge atop Yaotai Mountain.
• Xiao Hua considered the powerful formation beneath Yaotai Mountain and flew toward it.

Xiao Hua risked entering Yaotai Mountain’s forbidden area to find the great formation and reach green-robed Xiao Hua. After deceiving its guardian with the Immortal Palace Token, he opened a hidden star path and entered it.

• Xiao Hua weighed the danger of opposing the Immortal Palace but decided to continue toward the great formation, despite his trapped Primordial Spirit and his enemies in Star Lord Palace.
• Xiao Hua descended into the forbidden area and encountered a gigantic water man that challenged him for trespassing.
• Xiao Hua passed the water man’s test by presenting the Immortal Palace Token and claiming the Hall Master had sent him to inspect the area.
• Xiao Hua placed the token on a hidden cloud bed, which opened the Immortal Palace’s phantom gates and revealed a star path in the mountain wall.
• Xiao Hua sensed green-robed Xiao Hua beyond the star path and entered it as the water man’s eyes closed beneath the pool.

Xiao Hua navigated a deceptive star path and discovered a vast formation collecting Nascent Souls into the Immortal Palace’s Demon Refining Pot. He found green-robed Xiao Hua trapped inside the formation as Kong Hongwu abruptly vanished after sensing a disturbance.

• Kong Hongwu blamed Fire Virtue for the low casualties in the Blazing Sun Great Formation, summoned Gusu Qiuran, then suddenly disappeared after sensing something alarming.
• Gusu Qiuran watched Kong Hongwu vanish, smiled faintly toward the blazing sun, and descended into the clouds.
• Xiao Hua realized the star path was a trap, stepped into the darkness, and followed his senses until green-robed Xiao Hua’s cries grew stronger.
• Xiao Hua emerged before a gigantic vortex filled with Vast Righteous Qi and recognized its countless illusory Nascent Souls as cultivators captured by the Sun Moon Star Three Formations.
• Xiao Hua found green-robed Xiao Hua inside the vortex, saw that the flow led into a fist-sized lamp pot, and recognized it as the Immortal Palace’s Demon Refining Pot.

Xiao Hua confronted Kong Hongwu over the Demon Refining Pot and the slaughter of the Daoist cultivators, then tried to kill him before Kong Hongwu could expose him. Kong Hongwu’s star armor trapped Xiao Hua, but Xiao Hua broke free enough to reveal his Daoist powers, and Kong Hongwu recognized him as Daoist Xiao Hua.

• Xiao Hua found Kong Hongwu above the vortex and questioned him about the Demon Refining Pot and the deaths of hundreds of Nascent Soul cultivators.
• Xiao Hua pretended to accept Kong Hongwu’s authority and tried to leave, while both men suspected the other had ties to an Immortal Palace envoy.
• Xiao Hua feigned a message from the envoy, then attacked Kong Hongwu at close range with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors.
• Kong Hongwu evaded the strike and activated the inscriptions in Xiao Hua’s star armor, which tightened around him and tried to seal his Confucian true qi.
• Xiao Hua unleashed Heaven and Earth Manifestation and the Five Qi Grand Formation to resist the armor, prompting Kong Hongwu to recognize him as Daoist Xiao Hua.

Xiao Hua escaped Kong Hongwu’s star armor and revealed himself, then refused Kong Hongwu’s offer to join the Star Lord Palace. Kong Hongwu used the Demon Refining Pot’s vortex and a calculated barrage of Righteous Qi Pillars to trap Xiao Hua in its growing suction.

• Xiao Hua used Five Qi Ascending to the Origin and the Lightning Travel Technique to escape Kong Hongwu’s star armor, then revealed his true appearance and attacked with the Soaring Flood Dragon Scissors.
• Xiao Hua admitted he had killed Star Horse, Jing Mu An, and Tail Fire Tiger, and Kong Hongwu welcomed their deaths before offering to make him a Star General.
• Xiao Hua rejected Kong Hongwu’s offer, declaring that he would not become anyone’s lackey.
• Kong Hongwu attacked Xiao Hua with Righteous Qi Pillars and drove him toward the Demon Refining Pot’s vortex.
• Xiao Hua shattered the incoming pillars, but doing so disrupted the surrounding Righteous Qi and intensified the vortex’s suction, leaving him trapped in Kong Hongwu’s scheme.