Chapter Summaries

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.

Qin Tiexin completed the All Laws Return to Artifacts mission in the imperial treasury and gained the Eye of Ancient Identification and intermediate Spiritual Material Sensing. He confirmed that his three unusual finds were objects from High Antiquity, then saw a map pointing to Bone-Melting Mountain’s Ancient Smelting Mystic Realm.

• Qin Tiexin identified eight precious materials in the treasury, completing the mission’s first stage objective.
• Qin Tiexin received the Eye of Ancient Identification and intermediate Spiritual Material Sensing as rewards.
• Qin Tiexin used his new ability to identify the three-phase grass, Bloodline Stone, and turtle egg as objects from High Antiquity.
• Qin Tiexin saw a map in the catalog marked Bone-Melting Mountain, Furnace Valley, and the Ancient Smelting Mystic Realm.

Qin Tiexin discovered that the Illustrated Catalog of Ten Thousand Artifacts had closed his Illusory Realm Hall and revealed an unfamiliar map, leading him to suspect a new stage of its assessment. After returning from the treasury, he reached the martial practice grounds and agreed to spar with Xiao Zhenyue.

• Qin Tiexin found a map naming Bone-Melting Mountain, Furnace Valley, and the Ancient Smelting Mystic Realm, then realized the Illusory Realm Hall had vanished.
• Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan registered their treasury items and left the treasury.
• Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan went to the martial practice grounds, where they watched Lan Lingwei defend against Fu Qingge's talismans.
• Xiao Zhenyue asked Qin Tiexin to spar, and Qin Tiexin accepted before removing his outer robe and stepping onto the grounds.

Qin Tiexin sparred with Xiao Zhenyue and defeated him by breaking his shield with precisely repeated blows. After the fight, Qin Tiexin reflected on how his developing grasp of the Extreme Sharpness Principle had made his attacks more effective, while Xiao Zhenyue accepted defeat and invited him to join the army.

• Qin Tiexin and Xiao Zhenyue began a spar, with Qin Tiexin fighting barehanded against Xiao Zhenyue's shield, armor, and halberd.
• Qin Tiexin repeatedly struck a weak point in Xiao Zhenyue's shield while dodging or deflecting the halberd, and the two traded blows across the field.
• Qin Tiexin focused several punches on the same spot, breaking the shield and prompting Xiao Zhenyue to concede defeat.
• Xiao Zhenyue praised Qin Tiexin and offered him a military rank of commandant or higher, but Qin Tiexin declined because he preferred a carefree life.
• Qin Tiexin considered how precise, layered strikes had helped him break the shield and recognized that he was beginning to grasp the Extreme Sharpness Principle.

Qin Tiexin, still posing as Master Mingjue, defeated Yan Yue in a spar and denied having eaten Blood Demon Fruit. He then endured Fu Qingge’s increasingly powerful talisman attacks without his Qi Gang breaking, leaving the onlookers wondering about his strength.

• Yan Yue challenged Qin Tiexin after Xiao Zhenyue’s bout, and Qin Tiexin recovered most of his Qi and Blood before accepting.
• Qin Tiexin turned aside Yan Yue’s short-halberd attacks, and Yan Yue admitted defeat after a dozen exchanges.
• Yan Yue asked whether Qin Tiexin had eaten Blood Demon Fruit, and Qin Tiexin denied it; Yan Yue left, deciding he could not avenge his junior brothers.
• Fu Qingge challenged Qin Tiexin and bombarded him with talismans while he defended himself with his Qi Gang.
• Qin Tiexin concentrated his Qi Gang where the third-tier talismans struck, and the attacks failed to break through.

After the Star Selection candidates fought through the night, an imperial decree summoned them to Chenyang Hall to receive their rewards and placements. Qin Tiexin entered the palace with the others and searched a territorial map for Bone-Melting Mountain and Furnace Valley, but neither he nor Lin Chuan recognized the names.

• Fu Qingge ran out of spiritual power after bombarding Qin Tiexin with talismans and conceded their match.
• Lu Qingye, Chen Chen, and Lin Chuan decided not to challenge Qin Tiexin, while Lan Lingwei and Xie Chen remained the candidates most likely to pressure him.
• After Qin Tiexin recovered, Xie Chen approached to fight, but a palace attendant arrived with the emperor’s summons before he could draw his sword.
• The candidates followed the attendant to Chenyang Hall, where they waited in a side chamber and confirmed they would not change their submitted preferences.
• Qin Tiexin searched the dynasty’s territorial map for Bone-Melting Mountain and Furnace Valley, and Lin Chuan joined the search after admitting he had never heard of either place.

The top ten of the Star Selection entered Chenyang Hall, where the emperor announced the selection’s results and began revealing their postings. Lin Chuan received an assignment to Jade Star City, where he could remain near Xu Ying.

• Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan waited while officials argued in the main hall over a border crisis with the Great Brahma Dynasty.
• The top ten entered Chenyang Hall and felt the pressure of the many Golden Core experts until the emperor told them to rein it in.
• The head of the Star Selection Bureau reported the examination results, including 497 deaths and 86 rule violators.
• The emperor ordered a thorough investigation of those who cheated or broke the rules, with severe punishment for the guilty.
• A palace attendant announced Lin Chuan’s posting as a subordinate seventh-rank military adjutant in Jade Star City’s Fifteenth Legion.
• Lin Chuan realized he would be near Xu Ying, and Marquis Lin’s nod suggested he had helped arrange the posting.

The Star Selection winners received imperial appointments suited to their wishes, while Qin Tiexin was named abbot of the rebuilt Royal Zhaoming Temple and chief instructor of the monk-soldier corps. As he left the palace, the severed arm revealed that the emperor was afflicted with a Bloodline Curse.

• Lu Qingye, Chen Chen, Yan Yue, Xiao Zhenyue, Fu Qingge, Xie Chen, Gu Ting, and Lan Lingwei received their assigned posts across the dynasty.
• Mingjue was appointed abbot of the Royal Zhaoming Temple on Pure Light Mountain and chief instructor of the Imperial City monk-soldier corps.
• Qin Tiexin learned that the temple would be rebuilt in about a month, and he and the other winners were given a month to prepare before taking office.
• The ten winners thanked the emperor and left the hall after their superiors offered congratulations and instructions.
• The severed arm told Qin Tiexin that the emperor was afflicted with a Bloodline Curse, and Qin Tiexin silently looked back toward the imperial desk.

After the Star Selection investiture, Lin Chuan learned that he would serve in Jade Star City, while Qin Tiexin returned to the Lin Residence and reunited with Ming'an. Qin Tiexin questioned the severed arm about the Bloodline Curse and learned it afflicted the emperor, the crown prince, and Chen Chen, leaving him concerned that he had been drawn into a larger conspiracy.

• Marquis Lin confirmed that he had arranged Lin Chuan’s posting to Jade Star City and praised his growth during the Star Selection.
• Marquis Lin told Lin Chuan that he and Madam Lin would propose to Xu Ying once Lin Chuan reached Core Formation.
• Qin Tiexin returned to the Lin Residence, carefully kept Ming'an from touching his hidden right arm, and later listened as the boy shared pastries and stories with him.
• Lin Chuan told Lin Wei that Sister Lan would remain at Supreme Splendor Academy as a spell instructor, delighting Lin Wei.
• After Ming'an fell asleep, Qin Tiexin asked the severed arm about the Bloodline Curse and learned that it was gnawing at the emperor’s power of the stars and also afflicted the crown prince and Chen Chen.
• The severed arm said that lifting the curse required a large quantity of objects of faith, and Qin Tiexin suspected he was already caught up in the Dynasty’s deeper troubles.

Qin Tiexin recalled meeting Chen Zhao during his treatment and learning that her unexplained bloodline disorder had trapped Su Qing in the palace as her physician. He suspected her illness was connected to the imperial family's bloodline curse, but the severed arm's proposed remedy required far more objects of faith than he possessed.

• Qin Tiexin overheard Su Qing treating Chen Zhao, who endured severe pain while insisting that she was not hurting.
• Su Qing explained that Chen Zhao's star physique had developed chaotic celestial star power and that the imperial family had confined her physicians to the palace until they found a cure.
• Chen Xi offered to take Su Qing away, but Su Qing refused because Chen Zhao depended on her meridian treatments and might otherwise die from the pain.
• Chen Zhao saw Qin Tiexin in his medicinal vat and offered him her calming sachet to ease his apparent suffering.
• Qin Tiexin connected Chen Zhao's illness with the bloodline curse mentioned outside Chenyang Hall and hoped the severed arm could resolve it.
• Qin Tiexin learned that the remedy required a vast quantity of objects of faith, while he possessed only the great bell from Zhaoming Temple.

Qin Tiexin learned that a bloodline curse was slowly consuming the Chen Household's Power of the Stars and suspected it was connected to Buddhist forces and the Great Brahma Dynasty. He decided to seek Senior Brother Chen Xi's help and planned to address the severed arm as well.

• Qin Tiexin learned from the severed arm that the curse gnawed away at the Chen Household's Power of the Stars and would eventually erupt unless its source was cut off.
• The severed arm sensed a Buddhist presence and faint fiendish Qi in the curse, leading Qin Tiexin to connect it with Zhaoming Temple, Golden Summit Temple, Xiao Wan, and Devil Venerable Xuanli's bracelet.
• Qin Tiexin concluded that the Great Brahma Dynasty might be behind the threat to the Myriad Stars imperial family and kept his suspicions from Lin Chuan, Marquis Lin, and Ming'an.
• Qin Tiexin decided that Senior Brother Chen Xi was the best person to help untangle the connected events.
• The severed arm said the curse might be worn away through cultivation if its source could be found and stopped from growing.
• Qin Tiexin decided to visit Senior Brother Chen Xi the next day and resolve the matter of the severed arm.