Chapter Summaries

Qin Tiexin left the Lin Residence for a month to seek treatment for his arm, while keeping his plans concerning Meridian Opening and the Bloodline Curse secret from Ming'an. After disguising himself, he reached Chen Xi’s courtyard and waited for a reply as he studied his cultivation method.

• Qin Tiexin told Marquis Lin he was leaving for a month to seek treatment for his arm.
• Ming'an asked to accompany Qin Tiexin, but Qin Tiexin refused and gave him a daily prayer task to help him wait for his return.
• Lin Chuan offered Qin Tiexin Spirit Stones and suggested they share a meal before everyone went their separate ways.
• Qin Tiexin left the Lin Residence alone, disguised himself with Chen Xi’s Form-Changing Talisman, and carefully made his way to Chen Xi’s courtyard.
• Qin Tiexin checked the courtyard’s formation, replaced its Spirit Stones, and sent Chen Xi a message asking him to return quickly.
• While waiting, Qin Tiexin put away the Bloodline Stone and studied the Meridian Opening section of the True Fire Furnace Scripture.

Qin Tiexin studied the Meridian Opening Realm and the process of breaking through from the Qi and Blood Realm. He compared its power to his earlier fight with Xiao Zhenyue, then learned that the True Fire Furnace Scripture offered a different cultivation method.

• Qin Tiexin recalled that Golden Core cultivators could enter the Central Heaven Great Region and that he might meet the age requirement before the other conditions.
• Qin Tiexin considered how meridian opening would let him channel more of his Qi and Blood into each attack and potentially shatter Xiao Zhenyue's shield with one punch.
• Qin Tiexin read about the five steps of opening a meridian: gathering Qi and Blood, assaulting the meridian, rebuilding it, opening it, and consolidating it.
• Qin Tiexin learned how opening the conception and governing vessels, the twelve primary meridians, and the eight extraordinary meridians led to the Meridian Opening peak and a body cultivator's Golden Core.
• Qin Tiexin discovered that the True Fire Furnace Scripture had a different method of cultivation.

Chen Xi learned that the Bloodline Curse was afflicting the Chen Household and suspected Buddhist sects in Ten Thousand Stars City were sustaining it. He left to investigate and told Qin Tiexin to stay hidden, leaving him with Demon Beast flesh to aid his cultivation.

• Qin Tiexin told Chen Xi about the Bloodline Curse, Chen Zhao's illness, Su Qing's confinement, Zhaoming Temple's destruction, and the severed arm's assessment that the curse was draining the Chen Household's Power of the Stars.
• Chen Xi concluded that the imperial family was detaining medical cultivators to prevent information from leaking and that someone was nurturing the curse from outside.
• Chen Xi decided to investigate Buddhist sects in Ten Thousand Stars City and warned Qin Tiexin not to discuss the matter or act rashly.
• Chen Xi gave Qin Tiexin a Storage Bag of Demon Beast flesh, reinforced the courtyard formation, and left.
• Qin Tiexin found that the bag held many fresh Golden Core Realm Demon Beasts, each dead with an expression of terror and no visible signs of struggle.

Qin Tiexin prepared Demon Beast flesh in his great cauldron and studied the True Fire Furnace Scripture’s method of opening meridians. He realized the process could also burn away the hidden injuries and blockages accumulated through years of cultivation, and began preparing to try it.

• Qin Tiexin examined the great cauldron and recalled how he had acquired it from the Iron Spine Sect ruins.
• He remembered Xu Ying explaining the cauldron’s Spirit Artifact abilities and offering to buy it, but he had kept it because it helped him stew Demon Beast flesh.
• Qin Tiexin put Demon Beast meat and spirit spring water into the cauldron, then activated its heating runes.
• As the broth cooked, Qin Tiexin reviewed the True Fire Furnace Scripture’s method of using the Fire of Life to clear meridians.
• Qin Tiexin recognized that the method could burn away the hidden injuries and blockages left by his past cultivation and battles.

Qin Tiexin began preparing a Meridian Seed by compressing the Qi and Blood from Golden Core Demon Beast meat around his Fire of Life, using spiritual liquid to accelerate the process despite the severe pain. The seed remained far from formed, so he resolved to continue slowly and practice martial skills before stewing another cauldron the next day.

• Qin Tiexin ate more than half a cauldron of Golden Core Early Stage Demon Beast meat, and its energy swelled through his body.
• Qin Tiexin followed the True Fire Furnace Scripture to gather and compress his Qi and Blood around the Fire of Life, forming the embryonic point of a Meridian Seed.
• Qin Tiexin turned spiritual liquid from his Dantian into mist and sent it to his heart, making the Fire of Life burn stronger and speeding up the compression while causing intense pain.
• Qin Tiexin stopped after more than two hours and estimated that forming a Meridian Seed would require at least thirty cauldrons of meat.
• Qin Tiexin decided to save the stored Qi and Blood for emergencies, then practiced martial skills in the courtyard and planned to stew another cauldron the next day.

After twenty days of secluded cultivation, Qin Tiexin had condensed his Qi and Blood into a bead but still needed more time to form a Meridian Seed. Chen Xi arrived disguised as a monk and tested him with a surprise attack, then revealed he had been injured fighting a Golden Core Peak opponent and hinted that he had found something interesting.

• Qin Tiexin spent twenty days cultivating, condensing his Qi and Blood into a bead that was still short of becoming a Meridian Seed.
• Chen Xi appeared in the courtyard disguised as a monk, and Qin Tiexin attacked him before recognizing his voice.
• Chen Xi praised Qin Tiexin's improved combat strength after their brief clash.
• Qin Tiexin noticed Chen Xi was injured, and Chen Xi said he had been caught by a dirty trick while fighting a Golden Core Peak monk.
• Qin Tiexin described his cultivation progress, and Chen Xi said he had found something interesting.

Chen Xi revealed that the Holy Buddha Son planned to weaken the Myriad Stars Dynasty by cursing the Chen Household’s bloodline with Devil Venerable Xuanli’s bracelet. He warned Qin Tiexin to focus on cultivation while he tried to keep them out of the conflict, though the Holy Buddha Son’s hidden power remained unknown.

• Chen Xi told Qin Tiexin how he infiltrated Jialan City and discovered the Holy Buddha Son’s plan to use a Buddhist Devil Artifact and Chen blood to curse the imperial family.
• Chen Xi explained that the curse targeted the Chen Household’s star power, had first affected the little princess, and could leave the dynasty vulnerable to invasion by Great Brahma.
• Chen Xi identified Devil Venerable Xuanli’s bracelet as the catalyst and explained why the Buddhist sects, including Xiao Wan, had searched for it; he also revealed that the Golden Summit Temple hired Chen Du to kill Qin Tiexin.
• Qin Tiexin said the purified bracelet was with Ming'an, and Chen Xi advised keeping it hidden because it might help break the curse.
• Chen Xi told Qin Tiexin to focus on reaching Meridian Opening while he handled the danger, and Qin Tiexin asked about the elusive Holy Buddha Son’s cultivation.

Chen Xi uncovered the Xiao Household's role in the curse scheme and planned to target its allies while drawing in the Myriad Stars court. After three days of seclusion and Qin Tiexin's accelerated cultivation, Qin attended Lin Chuan's gathering with his restored arm exposed, shocking everyone.

• Chen Xi told Qin Tiexin that the Xiao Household had supplied the Chen Household bloodline and information to Brahma Sound Valley, and had helped Xiao Wan and Xiao Yan during the Star Selection.
• Chen Xi planned to strike the Xiao Household, Golden Summit Temple's base, and Bodhi Monastery's base, then use the Myriad Stars court to pressure the Great Brahma Dynasty; he told Qin to pass the information to Su Qing.
• Qin Tiexin trained for three days by practicing martial techniques while absorbing Demon Beast flesh, strengthening his Meridian Seed and Blood Bead despite pain and discomfort.
• Qin Tiexin left for the Gathering Stars Teahouse after Chen Xi gave him permission, disguising himself along the way before restoring Mingjue's appearance.
• At the gathering, Lin Chuan, Xu Ying, Liu Suifeng, Du Heng, and Ling Shuyao saw Qin Tiexin's restored right arm, and Lin Chuan asked whether it had been successfully reattached.

Qin Tiexin reunited with his companions after having his severed arm reattached and learned about their new postings. As the group shared an evening together, they prepared to part ways for different futures.

• Liu Suifeng examined Qin Tiexin’s reattached arm, and Qin explained that a secluded medical cultivator had restored it.
• Qin Tiexin congratulated Lin Chuan on his cultivation breakthrough and asked about the charred willow branch, which Lin said had great potential despite not matching his current path.
• Lin Chuan told Qin Tiexin that Liu Suifeng would serve as an assistant formation master at Southern Barrier Pass, where Du Heng would administer the Demon Beast Hunting Association.
• Xu Ying said she would travel with Lin Chuan to Jade Star City to work as an alchemist at the government workshop, prompting Liu Suifeng to tease them.
• As the companions joked together in the teahouse, Qin Tiexin reflected that they would soon go their separate ways.

As the group prepared to leave Ten Thousand Stars City, they promised to reunite there every three years. They gave Qin Tiexin an advance gift for rebuilding Zhaoming Temple, leaving him with arrays, pills, cultivation texts, and talismans.

• Ling Shuyao said she would stay in Ten Thousand Stars City as a female official in the Eldest Princess's residence while managing the Imperial Dao Arts Workshop.
• Liu Suifeng proposed that the group meet in Ten Thousand Stars City every three years, and Lin Chuan, Du Heng, Xu Ying, and Qin Tiexin agreed.
• Liu Suifeng, Du Heng, Xu Ying, Ling Shuyao, and Lin Chuan presented Qin Tiexin with gifts in advance of Zhaoming Temple's completion.
• Liu Suifeng gave Qin Tiexin Golden Core Realm spirit-gathering and defensive array discs, while Du Heng gave him two hundred Qi and Blood Pills.
• Xu Ying gave Qin Tiexin healing and other medicinal pills, and Ling Shuyao supplied a storage ring containing one hundred organized Jade Slips.
• Lin Chuan gave Qin Tiexin two hundred talismans, including another hundred Fu Qingge had added to congratulate him.

Qin Tiexin accepted his companions’ gifts and gave each of them a finely crafted upper-grade law artifact dagger in return. The group shared a toast to Senior Brother Ming, Zhaoming Temple, and their bright future together.

• Qin Tiexin carefully packed away the gifts his companions had prepared for him as Mingjue.
• Qin Tiexin gave Lin Chuan, Du Heng, Liu Suifeng, Xu Ying, and Ling Shuyao individually crafted daggers suited to their abilities.
• Liu Suifeng, Xu Ying, and Ling Shuyao tested their daggers and discovered their special features.
• Liu Suifeng called for wine and food, and the companions gathered around the table.
• Liu Suifeng led a toast to Senior Brother Ming, Zhaoming Temple, and their shared road ahead, and Qin Tiexin drained his cup.

Qin Tiexin asked Xu Ying to sell him a Life-Extension Pill for an elder whose lifespan was nearly exhausted, but learned that the pill cost six hundred thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones. When he offered to gather the money within seven days, Xu Ying told him someone had already bought it two months earlier.

• Liu Suifeng, Du Heng, Lin Chuan, Xu Ying, Ling Shuyao, and Qin Tiexin drank together and discussed the dangers awaiting them in Jade Star City and the need to gain real combat experience.
• After Du Heng and Ling Shuyao left, Qin Tiexin asked Xu Ying about the Life-Extension Pill at the Jade Cauldron Pill Pavilion.
• Xu Ying explained that the third-tier pill cost six hundred thousand Lower-Grade Spirit Stones, far more than Qin Tiexin had estimated.
• Qin Tiexin said he would pay a hundred-thousand-Stone deposit and gather the rest within seven days.
• Xu Ying stopped Qin Tiexin and revealed that someone had bought the pill two months earlier, leaving Qin Tiexin and Lin Chuan stunned.

Qin Tiexin learned that the Life-Extension Pill he sought for Martial Uncle Wu had been bought by a disguised gambler who made a fortune betting on him. After arranging medicines for two mortals, he heard Xu Ying offer a risky alternative for Martial Uncle Wu’s predicament.

• Xu Ying told Qin Tiexin that a disguised old man bought the Jade Cauldron Pill Pavilion’s Life-Extension Pill for six hundred thousand spirit stones after winning a million by betting on Senior Brother Ming.
• Qin Tiexin accepted that he had missed his chance and asked whether the pavilion had other lifespan-extending medicines.
• Qin Tiexin bought medicines for mortals and learned that Zhou Cang’s lost leg could not be restored, while Tu Dazhu’s severed fingers could be regrown with two pills at the cost of one to three years of his lifespan.
• Qin Tiexin described Martial Uncle Wu’s damaged foundation and dwindling lifespan to Xu Ying.
• Xu Ying said she knew of a risky method involving a special pill and asked whether Qin Tiexin could accept it.

Qin Tiexin learned about a forbidden pill that could give Martial Uncle Wu a False Golden Core and a longer lifespan at the cost of severe pain and a permanently locked cultivation. He bought the pill so Martial Uncle Wu and Luo Ling could decide whether to use it, then walked home wondering whether Ming'an should return with them to the Azure Xuan Region.

• Xu Ying explained that the Origin-Locking False Golden Core Pill could grant Martial Uncle Wu a Golden Core lifespan but carried a low success rate, lasting pain, and an irreversible limit on his cultivation.
• Qin Tiexin weighed the pill’s risks against Martial Uncle Wu’s limited lifespan and worried about how Luo Ling would feel about the choice.
• Qin Tiexin decided the choice belonged to Martial Uncle Wu and Luo Ling, and bought the pill from Xu Ying for a hundred and fifty thousand Spirit Stones.
• Qin Tiexin declined to give Xu Ying the courtyard’s address and arranged to collect the pill himself another day.
• Qin Tiexin left the teahouse and wondered whether Ming'an should return to the Azure Xuan Region with them or remain in the Heavenly South Domain.

Chen Xi used his puppet to help Su Qing trace the curse against the Chen Clan to the Great Brahma Dynasty, prompting the imperial family to launch an investigation. After seeing his companions off, Qin Tiexin learned that Zhaoming Temple would be completed in seven days, as the city’s crackdown on Buddhists intensified.

• Qin Tiexin guarded Chen Xi while Chen Xi transferred his consciousness into the palace puppet and shared his findings with Su Qing.
• Su Qing verified that the curse likely originated with the Great Brahma Dynasty and reported her suspicions without naming Chen Xi or Qin Tiexin.
• The emperor ordered a thorough investigation, and Ten Thousand Stars City tightened its guards and questioned or detained people suspected of being Buddhists.
• Chen Xi returned to his body after four nights and told Qin Tiexin that the imperial family had acted.
• Qin Tiexin and Ling Shuyao saw Lin Chuan, Xu Ying, Du Heng, and Liu Suifeng leave the capital.
• Qin Tiexin visited the Ministry of Rites, registered himself and Ming'an with Zhaoming Temple, and learned that the temple would be completed in seven days.

After the imperial investigation exposed the Xiao Household’s crimes and destroyed the household, Qin Tiexin and Chen Xi watched as the city’s purge gradually eased. With Xiao Wan, Xiao Yan, and Benhong still at large and the rebuilt Zhaoming Temple nearing completion, Qin Tiexin learned the final plan had begun.

• Chen Xi helped steer the imperial investigation toward the Great Brahma Dynasty, and the evidence implicated the Xiao Household in treason, murder, blood curses, and a formation targeting the imperial palace.
• The Old Duke of Tranquil Peace took a golden pill and fought four Chen Household ancestors outside Ten Thousand Stars City, but they sealed and killed him.
• The authorities captured most of the Xiao Household and confiscated its property, while Xiao Wan, Xiao Yan, and Benhong escaped.
• Qin Tiexin and Chen Xi discussed the escaped women’s threat, and Chen Xi urged Qin Tiexin to train his saber faster.
• The city’s purge eased, and Qin Tiexin received word that Zhaoming Temple would be completed the next day with the Crown Prince and Ninth Prince attending its ceremony.

Qin Tiexin brought Ming'an to the newly rebuilt Zhaoming Temple for its opening ceremony and showed him the old bronze bell recovered from Golden Summit Temple. The bell was hung in the temple’s bell platform, where it remained tied to Senior Brother Chen Xi’s plans and the possible lifting of the curse.

• Qin Tiexin showed Ming'an his healed arm and gave him new monastic robes, telling him that Zhaoming Temple was being rebuilt and they had a home again.
• Qin Tiexin and Ming'an left before dawn for Pure Light Mountain, where the new Zhaoming Temple was being prepared for its opening ceremony.
• Qin Tiexin inspected the temple and found that the Ministry of Rites had left its bell platform empty as he had requested.
• Ming'an asked about the missing bell, and Qin Tiexin brought out the old bronze bell he had recovered, which still held some power of faith.
• Qin Tiexin hung the bell in the platform and told Ming'an they would ring it when the time came.

Chen Zhao, recovering from her curse, was steered toward the emperor and her brothers as part of Chen Xi and Su Qing’s plan. After learning that Master Mingjue would attend Zhaoming Temple’s Dharma assembly, she asked to go too.

• Su Qing finished Chen Zhao’s acupuncture and suggested she visit her brothers, while privately suppressing her unease about using the child as a catalyst.
• A jade puppet quietly reassured Su Qing that the plan would also help Chen Zhao recover sooner.
• The emperor discussed the tense border situation and tomorrow’s Zhaoming Temple Dharma assembly with Chen Xiao and Chen Chen, who praised Master Mingjue.
• Chen Zhao visited the emperor and asked to play with her brothers, then recognized Mingjue as the injured man she had seen at Su Qing’s residence.
• Chen Zhao asked the emperor to let her attend the Dharma assembly at Zhaoming Temple.

Chen Zhao persuaded the emperor to let her attend Zhaoming Temple’s inaugural Dharma assembly with her brothers and Su Qing. As the ceremony began, Ming'an honored the temple’s departed monks, and Chen Zhao spotted Qin Tiexin and Ming'an from a tower overlooking the grounds.

• Chen Zhao pleaded to attend the Dharma assembly, and the emperor agreed on the condition that Chen Xiao, Chen Chen, doubled guards, and Su Qing accompany her.
• Su Qing packed medicine and supplies for the outing, while a white jade puppet turned toward the doorway and a distant voice said everything was ready for tomorrow.
• Qin Tiexin largely left the temple preparations to the Ministry of Rites and showed Ming'an around Zhaoming Temple.
• The monks purified the temple and opened the first layer of its protective formation as the Dharma assembly began.
• Ming'an offered incense and prayed at the Hall of Ancestral Virtue, promising the departed monks that he and Qin Tiexin would rebuild Zhaoming Temple.
• Chen Chen brought Chen Zhao and Su Qing to a guarded tower, where Chen Zhao saw Qin Tiexin and Ming'an in front of the Mahavira Hall.

Zhaoming Temple’s opening ceremony culminated in Qin Tiexin ringing the great bell, activating the temple’s protective formation and affecting the curse in Chen Zhao’s bloodline. Chen Xiao hurried to report the breakthrough to the emperor, while Qin Tiexin heard that the plan had worked.

• Qin Tiexin and the crown prince unveiled the imperial stele and proclaimed Zhaoming Temple the imperial Buddhist monastery.
• Qin Tiexin and Ming'an opened the mountain gate and consecrated the Buddha statue as Chen Zhao watched from the pavilion.
• Qin Tiexin rang the great bell, spreading Buddhist power and Dragon Qi and activating Zhaoming Temple’s protective formation.
• The bell’s sound stirred Chen Zhao’s curse, causing her blood to surge before she fell asleep; Su Qing said part of the curse had been dispelled.
• After Chen Chen reported Chen Zhao’s condition, Chen Xiao hurried back to the imperial palace to inform the emperor.
• A voice told Qin Tiexin, “Junior Brother, it worked!”