Recaps

The Star Selection results were announced after Qin Tiexin, also called Mingjue, won first place when Mingjue conceded the final. Xiao Yan was disqualified for using a proxy, Lin Chuan rose to tenth, and Qin Tiexin collected his reward while planning to return home after reattaching his arm.

• The prince and crown prince stopped the factions from pressing Qin Tiexin about his future, leaving his destination for the emperor to decide.
• Qin Tiexin returned to the rest area and reflected that he had wanted to fight Xiao Wan, but restoring his arm took priority.
• A mysterious bettor collected one million Spirit Stones after wagering on Mingjue, while the gambling house still profited from bets on Xiao Yan.
• Crown Prince Chen Xiao announced the rankings, disqualified Xiao Yan for using a proxy, and awarded Lin Chuan tenth place after Chen Du's disappearance left a vacancy.
• Qin Tiexin accepted fifty thousand Spirit Stones for first place and planned to return to the Azure Xuan Region once his arm was reattached.

The Star Selection challenges ended with the top ten rankings confirmed, and Qin Tiexin prepared to enter the imperial city in three days. He returned with Lin Chuan to the Lin Residence, aware that concealed observers were following them, and asked Lin Chuan about the imperial palace treasury.

• Lin Chuan and Lu Qingye defended their top-ten places against three challengers each, while Yan Yue, Xiao Zhenyue, and Xie Chen also turned back those who challenged them.
• The crown prince confirmed the top ten and ordered them to gather at the Eastern Star Gate in three days to cultivate in the imperial city and select treasures.
• Qin Tiexin chose to stay at the Lin Residence rather than return to his courtyard, and Lin Chuan told him that Ming'an had been asking when he would come back.
• Qin Tiexin sensed concealed observers with killing intent following him and Lin Chuan as they walked toward the Lin Residence.
• Liu Suifeng proposed a celebration, but Lin Chuan declined so they could prepare for the imperial palace; Qin Tiexin then asked Lin Chuan about its treasury.

Lin Chuan explained Golden Core formation and the roles of sacred treasures, Principles, and the transitional stages to Qin Tiexin. After they returned to the Lin Residence, Marquis Lin prepared to share what he knew about the Star Selection, leaving Qin Tiexin poised to hear about his experience.

• Lin Chuan explained how a sacred treasure for Core Formation anchors a cultivator’s Principle and affects the grade of the Golden Core.
• Lin Chuan described half-step Golden Core and False Core, and Qin Tiexin recognized that conceding to Xiao Wan had been the safest choice.
• Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin entered the Lin Residence, where Madam Lin and Ming'an welcomed them and noticed Qin Tiexin’s changed build.
• Marquis Lin congratulated Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin, sealed the hall with barriers, and offered to share his experience from the Star Selection.

Marquis Lin advised Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin on choosing treasures from the imperial treasury, emphasizing compatible martial techniques and Core Formation Sacred Relics. After explaining how sacred relics form and their categories, he left them considering his advice to favor the oldest relic when several suited them equally well.

• Marquis Lin recalled entering the imperial treasury and advised Lin Chuan and Qin Tiexin to choose a resonant martial technique or a Core Formation Sacred Relic.
• Marquis Lin told them to prioritize a sacred relic that suited them, but to choose the oldest if several were equally compatible.
• Lin Chuan argued that modern cultivation methods and techniques were more refined than ancient ones, while Qin Tiexin silently agreed.
• Lin Chuan explained how Golden Core Sacred Relics formed from principles of heaven and earth settling over long periods, and Marquis Lin described them as nascent seeds of the Heavenly Dao's rules.
• Lin Chuan outlined Innate and Acquired Sacred Relics, noting that extracted Golden Cores could serve as seeds of principles but carried resentment and were generally used only by Evil Cultivators.

Marquis Lin explained why ancient Golden Core sacred objects were valuable and gave Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan the Sacred Object Qi-Sensing Instruction to help them find compatible ones. Qin Tiexin returned to his courtyard determined to master the method before entering the imperial city in three days.

• Lin Chuan described artificial sacred objects and warned that their incomplete Principles could limit cultivators to the Core Formation stage.
• Marquis Lin explained that only sacred objects capable of preserving their Principles survived, making age valuable when objects were equally compatible.
• Marquis Lin clarified that compatibility came before age and told Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan how the instruction measured resonance with sacred objects.
• Marquis Lin gave Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan Jade Slips containing the Sacred Object Qi-Sensing Instruction and told them to practice it for three days.
• Qin Tiexin returned to his courtyard, carried the waiting Ming'an inside, and began studying the instruction before their trip to the imperial city.

Qin Tiexin practiced the Sacred Object Qi-Sensing Instruction while staying with Ming'an at the Lin Residence, then asked whether Ming'an would leave the Heavenly South Domain with him. Ming'an chose to follow his senior brother, and they agreed that wherever the two of them were together would be Zhaoming Temple.

• Qin Tiexin studied and repeatedly practiced the three steps of the Sacred Object Qi-Sensing Instruction, using Spirit Stones to replenish his spiritual power.
• Qin Tiexin observed that Ming'an was healthy and thriving at the Lin Residence, and Ming'an said he cultivated diligently and was happy wherever he was with his senior brother.
• Qin Tiexin asked whether Ming'an would accompany him somewhere far away, and Ming'an clung to him and said he did not want them to be apart.
• Qin Tiexin suggested rebuilding Zhaoming Temple and making Ming'an its abbot, but Ming'an said he wanted to become a Scripture Pavilion elder and that wherever the two of them were would be Zhaoming Temple.
• Qin Tiexin promised to build a bigger Zhaoming Temple with Ming'an someday, and Ming'an happily agreed.

Qin Tiexin formed a detection net with the Qi Sensing Instruction and tested the objects in his storage ring for Golden Core sacred objects. He discovered that the Void Spirit Python’s skull held a rare spatial principle and decided to refine it into a bone artifact for protection.

• Qin Tiexin practiced the Qi Sensing Instruction until his detection net stabilized and covered three feet around him.
• Qin Tiexin tested Marquis Lin’s Essence Condensation Stone and sensed its faint power of principle.
• Qin Tiexin searched his stored beast cores and Spirit Bones with the detection net.
• Qin Tiexin discovered that the Void Spirit Python’s skull contained a high-grade spatial principle.
• Qin Tiexin set the skull aside, deciding to refine it into a bone artifact to gain the python’s intangibility and protect himself during his planned imperial palace mission.

Qin Tiexin refined the Void Spirit Python's skull into a bone bracelet that gave him access to Intangibility and Space Blade. After improving the bracelet with auxiliary Spirit Bones, he tested its abilities and prepared to enter the imperial city with a new means of defense and attack.

• Qin Tiexin studied the skull's intact Intangibility and Space Blade patterns and carefully carved Spirit Runes around them.
• Qin Tiexin activated Intangibility and confirmed that it made his body immune to physical attacks and most spells for one breath, with an hour-long recovery time.
• Qin Tiexin carved Gathering Spirit and Spirit-Conducting Runes onto auxiliary Spirit Bones and strung them around the skull to form a bracelet.
• Qin Tiexin found that the bracelet shortened Intangibility's recovery time and allowed him to activate Space Blade through the same spiritual-power circuit.
• Qin Tiexin tested Space Blade on a millstone, cutting it cleanly in half, then covered the bracelet with his sleeve so it would not frighten Ming'an.

Qin Tiexin and the other finalists entered the imperial city through the Eastern Star Gate, passing increasingly strict inspections while Qin concealed a white jade puppet for Senior Brother Chen Xi. The puppet vanished inside the city, and Qin realized Chen Xi had entered as the group waited to meet the crown prince.

• Qin Tiexin left Ming'an at the Lin Residence and joined Lin Chuan on the way to the Eastern Star Gate.
• Qin Tiexin, Lin Chuan, Lan Lingwei, Gu Ting, Xie Chen, Fu Qingge, Xiao Zhenyue, Yan Yue, Chen Chen, and Lu Qingye passed identity checks and entered the outer city.
• Qin Tiexin passed two inspections without the guards discovering the white jade puppet in his storage ring.
• After the inner gate inspection, Qin Tiexin let the puppet slip from his palm, and it turned transparent and vanished as Senior Brother Chen Xi entered the imperial city.
• Qin Tiexin sensed the power of the stars near the main hall, then waited with the others for the crown prince to arrive.

Crown Prince Chen Xiao brought the ten Star Selection cultivators before the emperor, who confirmed their rewards and cultivation time in the imperial Spirit Vein. The group reached the Spirit Vein’s sealed entrance, and Qin Tiexin stepped inside to begin his allotted cultivation.

• Chen Xiao led the ten cultivators into the golden hall, where the emperor praised their Arena Trial performances and issued their rewards.
• The imperial edict granted the cultivators Spirit Vein cultivation time according to rank and the right to choose treasures from the treasury.
• Lin Chuan worried that his five days would leave him behind Qin Tiexin, who advised him to find a suitable sacred item.
• A guard opened a hidden entrance beneath the palace grounds and led the group down to the Spirit Vein’s guarded stone door.
• Xiao Zhenyue greeted his eldest uncle at the entrance, and the guard checked the cultivators’ identity jade tokens before opening the door.
• Qin Tiexin entered the Spirit Vein as dense Spiritual Qi poured through the open doorway.

Qin Tiexin cultivated in the imperial Spirit Vein until Senior Brother Chen Xi signaled him to fake a meridian injury and be taken to the infirmary. Medical Cultivator Su treated him in her secluded courtyard, then revealed she knew he was pretending.

• Qin Tiexin and the others began cultivating in the Spirit Vein, while he restrained his progress to avoid breaking through before his arm was reattached.
• After two days of cultivation, Qin Tiexin saw his spiritual liquid rise and realized he needed to slow down further.
• On the third day, Senior Brother Chen Xi sent Qin Tiexin the signal to act, and Qin activated a talisman that made him appear to suffer a cultivation injury.
• Lin Chuan summoned the person in charge, who sent Qin Tiexin to the imperial infirmary while Lin Chuan stayed behind.
• Medical Cultivator Su volunteered to treat Qin Tiexin and took him to her secluded courtyard, where she confirmed his injuries were fake and told him to stop pretending.

Chen Xi brought his junior brother Qin Tiexin to Su Qing for treatment to reattach his severed arm. Su Qing began a ten-day procedure to clear the lingering Principle damage from Qin Tiexin’s shoulder and the arm before reconnecting them.

• Su Qing identified Qin Tiexin and sealed the courtyard so she and Chen Xi could speak privately with him.
• Chen Xi revealed himself from a puppet and joined Su Qing in preparing Qin Tiexin for treatment.
• Qin Tiexin restored his original appearance, then climbed into a vat of medicinal liquid as Chen Xi brought out his severed arm.
• Su Qing explained the treatment and warned Qin Tiexin that it would be painful.
• Su Qing used silver needles to seal Qin Tiexin’s acupoints and began cutting into his healed shoulder to remove stagnant blood and lingering Principle damage.

Over five days, Su Qing painstakingly removed the extreme sharpness principle from Qin Tiexin’s shoulder and severed arm, then prepared the meridians for reattachment. With the principle cleared, she offered to transfer its strongest strand onto his short saber, Star Scar.

• Su Qing used medicine to draw the sharpness principle from Qin Tiexin’s shoulder and began repairing the meridians in his severed arm.
• Chen Xi quietly assisted Su Qing while Qin Tiexin endured the painful treatment.
• Over five days, Su Qing cleared the principle, regrew damaged meridians, and matched the meridians, blood vessels, and bones at the severed ends.
• Su Qing confirmed that the principle had been cleared and Qin Tiexin’s meridians were ready for reattachment.
• Su Qing took Star Scar and proposed transferring the strongest strand of principle onto it, and Qin Tiexin agreed.

Su Qing reattached Qin Tiexin’s severed right arm after clearing away the harmful Principle, using a precious pill to help the wound heal. Qin Tiexin regained his arm, which was stronger than his left, and learned that Su Qing had left a harmless trace of extreme sharpness inside it for him to study.

• Su Qing infused a wisp of silver light into Star Scar and returned the saber to Qin Tiexin after clearing the Principle from his wound.
• Qin Tiexin rested overnight, then prepared for Su Qing to reattach his right arm.
• Su Qing aligned and connected the meridians, bones, and blood vessels in Qin Tiexin’s arm while Chen Xi supported it.
• Su Qing crushed a fourth-tier pill into medicinal liquid and applied it until the arm fused with Qin Tiexin’s shoulder.
• Qin Tiexin regained sensation and clenched his right fist, discovering the arm was stronger than his left.
• Su Qing wrapped the healing shoulder and revealed she had left a harmless trace of extreme sharpness in Qin Tiexin’s arm for him to study.

Qin Tiexin's severed arm fully healed and was reattached, and he prepared to return to the Spirit Vein with it concealed. He left the courtyard under orders to protect the arm and keep his recovery hidden.

• Su Qing removed Qin Tiexin's bandages and confirmed that his reattached arm had healed well, though she warned him not to take heavy blows or use Edgeless for at least twenty days.
• Qin Tiexin demonstrated his restored strength, while Su Qing recalled how she had panicked when he swung his two-hundred-thousand-jin saber Edgeless.
• Chen Xi affixed four talismans that made Qin Tiexin's right arm invisible so he could keep appearing injured in the imperial palace.
• Qin Tiexin restored Mingjue's face and prepared to return to the Spirit Vein, while Chen Xi reminded him to act as usual and conceal his arm.
• Su Qing told Qin Tiexin not to force his comprehension of the wisp of a Principle Seed, and Qin Tiexin left with the guards.

Qin Tiexin returned to the Spirit Vein after his right arm was restored, then resumed cultivation while carefully controlling his progress. As he circulated spiritual power through the arm, he sensed the lingering principle of extreme sharpness and began reconsidering how it differed from the brute force he had relied on in battle.

• Qin Tiexin returned to the Spirit Vein with his restored right arm invisible beneath the talisman, and Lin Chuan welcomed him back.
• Lin Chuan told Qin Tiexin that five days in the Spirit Vein had brought him to the Foundation Establishment peak stage and described a flexible-sword technique he had found.
• The supervisor let Qin Tiexin enter the Spirit Vein after warning him to take care of himself and praising Medical Cultivator Su's treatment.
• Qin Tiexin joined Lan Lingwei, Gu Ting, Xie Chen, Fu Qingge, and Xiao Zhenyue, then cultivated at a deliberately restrained pace to avoid weakening his foundation.
• Qin Tiexin sent spiritual power through his restored right arm, stirred the trace of extreme sharpness within it, and reflected on how it differed from the brute force he had used in battle.

Qin Tiexin reached ninety percent spiritual liquid after cultivating in the imperial Spirit Vein, then left to choose an item from the imperial treasury. Lin Chuan told him what the others had selected, including Xie Chen’s rusty scabbard, which might belong with Remnant Firmament.

• Qin Tiexin reflected on True Person Xueying’s sharp saber and sensed a subtle sharpness in himself as he cultivated, which Xie Chen briefly noticed.
• Over eight days, Qin Tiexin’s spiritual liquid rose from seventy to eighty percent, and Gu Ting left the Spirit Vein.
• Qin Tiexin continued cultivating cautiously until his spiritual liquid reached ninety percent, while Lan Lingwei left five days before his allotted time ended.
• Qin Tiexin left the Spirit Vein and met Lin Chuan, who said the other eight had already chosen their imperial treasury items.
• Lin Chuan told Qin Tiexin that Xie Chen had chosen a rusty scabbard and a sword instruction, while Lan Lingwei, Gu Ting, and the others had selected sacred relics or other items.

Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan entered the imperial treasury so Qin Tiexin could choose his reward before attending an imperial audience. Inside, Qin Tiexin surveyed the enormous collection of treasures, considering what to select.

• Lin Chuan recounted the recent sparring matches and told Qin Tiexin that several cultivators wanted to challenge him.
• Qin Tiexin set aside the challenges and asked Lin Chuan to advise him on choosing treasury items.
• The attendant verified their identities, led them past three restrictions, and explained that Qin Tiexin could choose three items while Lin Chuan could choose one.
• Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan entered the treasury and saw its thousands of neatly arranged treasures.
• Qin Tiexin surveyed the treasury's sections and recognized several rare spiritual materials, prompting an idea.

Qin Tiexin advised Lin Chuan to choose an ancient charred willow branch as his Golden Core Sacred Relic, following a message from the awakened severed arm. Lin Chuan gambled on the branch as a chance to catch up with his rivals, and Qin Tiexin then moved on to choose his own relics.

• Lin Chuan showed Qin Tiexin three sacred relics he was considering: a sword-infused blade of grass, a sword-shaped jade pendant, and a charred willow branch from High Antiquity.
• The severed arm awakened inside Qin Tiexin's Storage Bag and told him to choose the willow branch.
• Qin Tiexin recommended the willow branch to Lin Chuan, who admitted he felt compelled to choose it despite having favored the grass.
• Lin Chuan chose the willow branch, hoping it could help him close the gap with Lan Lingwei, Gu Ting, and the other geniuses.
• The willow branch trembled in Lin Chuan's hand as a faint strand of sword intent emerged from within him, and he placed the branch in a jade case before accompanying Qin Tiexin onward.

Qin Tiexin searched the sacred relic section for an item suited to his cultivation and future Principle, with the severed arm offering to help. He stopped at a gray-black stone carrying an embryonic Keenness Principle and both metal and earth attributes.

• Qin Tiexin tested a grass blade and a sword-shaped jade pendant, but neither suited his path.
• The severed arm told Qin Tiexin it had recovered some memories and could advise him as he chose a relic.
• Qin Tiexin considered his Five Spirit Roots, Body Refining, artifact refining, and possible future Principles while inspecting the shelves.
• Qin Tiexin passed over relics that were damaged, mismatched, or too low-grade to suit him.
• Qin Tiexin stopped at a fist-sized Acquired Sacred Relic from a battlefield ruin, marked with an embryonic Keenness Principle and dual metal and earth attributes.

Qin Tiexin searched the treasury for a sacred relic that suited his cultivation and found a powerful ancient beast fang, but he remained uncertain whether to choose it. He returned it to its compartment and continued weighing his options, keeping Edgeless’s ability to purify its Sha Qi secret.

• Qin Tiexin examined a second-stage stone with metal and earth attributes but returned it because its principles felt young and unsettled.
• Qin Tiexin discovered an ancient black beast fang whose second-stage response was stronger than the stone’s and whose sharpness principle stirred the one in his right arm.
• Qin Tiexin asked the severed arm about the fang and learned that it was average because it was too new and had poor aptitude.
• Qin Tiexin decided the fang’s sharpness principle and lack of elemental attributes made it an imperfect fit, then memorized where it was stored.
• Lin Chuan warned Qin Tiexin that purifying the fang’s heavy Sha Qi could consume substantial resources and damage it, while Qin Tiexin concealed that Edgeless could handle the Sha Qi.

Qin Tiexin discovered that a little grass growing from a stone was an ancient sacred relic that resonated with his Spirit Roots, and he chose to keep it. After finding no relics to pair with it in the final shelf, he left to choose his remaining items elsewhere.

• Qin Tiexin searched the second-to-last row and found a three-element grass relic that triggered Celestial Person Resonance.
• Qin Tiexin recognized that the grass’s earth, wood, and fire Principles were far older and more stable than its plaque suggested.
• Lin Chuan learned that Qin Tiexin had the three Spirit Roots needed to use the relic and said it seemed suited to him.
• The severed arm approved of the grass but warned Qin Tiexin that he still needed to supply its other two attributes.
• Qin Tiexin placed the grass and its stone in a jade case, then searched the final row with Lin Chuan and found nothing suitable to pair with it.
• Qin Tiexin abandoned his plan to combine the grass with metal- and water-attribute relics and decided to choose his other two items from different shelves.

Qin Tiexin searched the imperial treasury for a lifespan-extending pill for Martial Uncle Wu and a defensive martial technique, but learned that lifespan-extending pills were controlled in the Heavenly South Domain. A clue to a hundred-year pill at the Jade Cauldron Pill Pavilion gave him hope, then his grandfather's ring stirred and led him toward the miscellaneous treasures section.

• Qin Tiexin searched the pill section but found no lifespan-extending pills in the treasury.
• Lin Chuan told Qin Tiexin that lifespan-extending pills were controlled and that the Jade Cauldron Pill Pavilion had one capable of extending the life of someone below Golden Core by a hundred years.
• Qin Tiexin decided to ask Xu Ying about the pill after leaving the treasury and turned toward the cultivation manuals to seek a defensive technique.
• Qin Tiexin's ring grew hot, and the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts shuddered, pointing him toward the miscellaneous treasures section.
• Qin Tiexin brought Lin Chuan into the miscellaneous treasures section as the ring and catalog trembled more strongly.

Qin Tiexin followed his ring and the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts to a seemingly ordinary stone containing golden blood and the faint image of a giant. The severed arm identified it as a bloodline-related object that might awaken Qin Tiexin’s bloodline power once he reached the Meridian Opening Realm, and Qin Tiexin took it before heading to choose his final item.

• Qin Tiexin followed the ring’s growing heat and the catalog’s vibrations through the miscellaneous treasures section until he found a dark red stone marked with faint golden runes.
• Qin Tiexin used the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts to see a drop of golden blood and a faint giant sealed inside the stone.
• The severed arm told Qin Tiexin that the stone was bloodline-related and might awaken his bloodline power after he reached the Meridian Opening Realm, then instructed him to keep it safe.
• Qin Tiexin decided he felt a fated connection to the stone, stored it in his ring, and watched the ring’s heat and the catalog’s activity subside.
• Qin Tiexin left with Lin Chuan and entered the cultivation methods and texts section to choose his final item, a defensive martial technique.

Qin Tiexin found no suitable defensive technique and followed the severed arm’s guidance to choose a seemingly lifeless tortoise egg from the Demon Beast materials section. After leaving with the egg, bloodline stone, and Three-Phase Grass, he turned back toward the artifact materials, intent on working on the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts’ task.

• Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan searched the cultivation-method shelves, but Qin Tiexin rejected the defensive techniques as unsuitable for his strengths and needs.
• Qin Tiexin asked the severed arm for guidance, and it directed him to a section containing materials from powerful Demon Beasts.
• Qin Tiexin found a heavy, apparently dead tortoise egg and chose it after the severed arm said it could help him.
• The bone chain on Qin Tiexin’s wrist trembled when he stored the egg, and Lin Chuan questioned why he had chosen it alongside the bloodline stone.
• Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan headed for the storeroom exit, but Qin Tiexin turned back toward the spiritual materials and Law Artifact section to pursue the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts’ task.