Chapter Summaries

Lin Xinghe wounded Ning Ying while Tian Xingzi’s flame giant fought Xue Qianzong, who spent the origin power of his demonic core to break through its defenses. Tian Xingzi lost control of the formation and warned Lin Xinghe that he had only ten breaths before using the Spirit Aperture Star-Shattering Grand Art.

• Lin Xinghe blasted away Ning Ying’s left shoulder with the Spirit Aperture Star-Shattering Grand Art, leaving her gravely wounded.
• Xue Qianzong unleashed the origin power of his demonic core, summoning a snow-white giant wolf to attack Tian Xingzi’s flame giant.
• The flame giant restrained Xue Qianzong, but his wolf claws and ice spikes pierced it and split it apart.
• Lin Xinghe sensed the flame giant’s collapse as Tian Xingzi warned him that he could no longer control the formation and had only ten breaths.
• Tian Xingzi prepared to use the Spirit Aperture Star-Shattering Grand Art, despite the damage threatening to shatter his Golden Core and kill him.

After Qingyu arrived at Falling Star Valley, he helped finish the battle against the invading sects and brought the unconscious Lin Xinghe to Tianxingzi. With the immediate attackers defeated, Tianxingzi proposed that they seize the remaining sects’ holdings, but Qingyu suspected he was being lured into a trap.

• Qingyu arrived at Falling Star Valley with ten Foundation Establishment Daoists as Tianxingzi called for help from the cave battle.
• Li Yan hid near a cave and watched Qingyu arrive; the pressure sealing the cave disappeared, and flames burst from its entrance.
• Tianxingzi returned to his courtyard and took pills to stabilize his injuries after the battle.
• Qingyu entered Tianxingzi’s courtyard carrying the unconscious Lin Xinghe and reported that Xue Qianzong and Ning Ying were dead.
• Tianxingzi explained that Lie Changfeng had reached the Pseudo-Nascent Soul realm and proposed splitting the resources of the remaining sects with Qingyu.
• Qingyu warned that Yu Rong could kill his disciples and stepped back, suspecting Tianxingzi was plotting against him.

Tianxingzi and Daoist Qingyu discovered that Li Yan had killed Yurong and negotiated how to divide the spoils from the four sects. Tianxingzi removed Li Yan’s restriction and planned Falling Star Valley’s recovery, while Li Yan waited for his promised entry to the Shattered Star Chamber.

• Tianxingzi and Daoist Qingyu searched the valley and found traces of Yurong’s fight with Zhang Ming, leading Tianxingzi to realize that a powerful body cultivator had killed her.
• Tianxingzi concealed what he knew and negotiated with Daoist Qingyu to divide the resources from the four sects, agreeing that the Azure Wind Sect would attack the Cangyu Sect first.
• Li Yan watched Qingyu rescue the unconscious Lin Xinghe, then cautiously inspected the burned-out cave after the Daoist left.
• Tianxingzi contacted Li Yan, confirmed that he had killed Yurong, promised to honor their agreement, and removed the restriction in Li Yan’s body.
• Tianxingzi arranged for Li Yan to enter the underground Shattered Star Chamber in half a month and considered using Xingming’s return to strengthen Falling Star Valley’s standing.

Falling Star Valley, Azure Wind Sect, and Six Plates Hall destroyed four rival factions, shifting the balance of power across the region. In Saint Demon City, Shanggong Changge secured a rare reward after revealing Zhao Min’s constitution, while Zhao Min advanced toward forming her golden core and questioned the connection between the Lost Continent and Qingqing Continent.

• Falling Star Valley, Azure Wind Sect, and Six Plates Hall eliminated the Cangyu Sect, Snowmoon Wolf Clan, Rending Wind Clan, and Night Fox Clan, killing seven Golden Core cultivators and expanding their influence.
• Shanggong Changge learned that the Holy Devil Palace had declined to intervene against the alliance, and she dismissed the destruction of the Cangyu Sect as a minor setback.
• Shanggong Changge revealed Zhao Min’s Ice Soul Blue Jade Body, and the Supreme Elders arranged for Zhao Min to cultivate in the inner palace and rewarded Shanggong Changge with permission to choose a high-level cultivation method.
• Zhao Min visited the Hall of Sacred Arts, where she received access to its fifth floor and privileges normally reserved for powerful cultivators.
• Zhao Min sensed that her golden-core tribulation could arrive soon, reflected on the Heavenly Demon White Jade Disk’s rapid advancement, and wondered whether the Lost Continent connected only to Qingqing Continent.

Zhao Min concealed her plans to return to the Desolate Moon Continent while avoiding Dongli Qing’s attempt to recruit and court her. Meanwhile, Li Yan prepared to refine his natal magic treasure in Tuban and kept his deadly poisons ready in case Tian Xingzi betrayed him.

• Zhao Min used the Sacred Arts Hall to research cultivation methods and spells while secretly preparing for a chance to return home.
• Zhao Min sensed that Li Yan was south of Sacred Devil City and believed he had gone into hiding while searching for a way back.
• Dongli Qing intercepted Zhao Min, claimed her status made them equals, and offered his clan’s support in exchange for her alliance.
• Zhao Min avoided Dongli Qing by saying the Supreme Elders had summoned her, then dismissed his offer of political support.
• Li Yan returned to Tuban, prepared to refine the Guiyi Water-Parting Spike, and spread his deadly poisons through his body whenever he left the space.
• Li Yan remained ready to unleash his poisons if Tian Xingzi betrayed him, even though doing so could kill Zhao Min through the Heart-Twining Twin Lotus Gu.

Li Yan was confronted by Xing Ming, who tested his strength before revealing that he had come to take him to Shattered Star Cavern and thank him for saving Xing Ming’s disciples. Xing Ming then challenged Li Yan’s account of his origins, leaving Li Yan afraid that his cover had been exposed.

• The Snow Mosquito King warned Li Yan that someone was coming, and Li Yan sent it back into Tuban before meeting the visitor.
• Xing Ming attacked Li Yan to test him, and Li Yan dodged the first strike before absorbing the force of the second and steadying himself in the courtyard.
• Xing Ming introduced himself as the person overseeing Falling Star Valley’s affairs and said he had come to take Li Yan to Shattered Star Cavern to refine artifacts.
• Xing Ming explained that he had personally come because Li Yan had saved three of his disciples and two grand-disciples, and Li Yan recognized him as Feng Tao’s grandmaster.
• Xing Ming asked Li Yan to repeat his account of his origins, then declared that it was not entirely true, making Li Yan fear that his deception had been uncovered.

Li Yan explained to Xing Ming that he had entered Falling Star Valley to hide from his master's enemy while gathering information in Sacred Demon City. After reviewing Li Yan's actions and strength, Xing Ming offered him a position as a guest elder, leaving Li Yan to weigh the proposal.

• Li Yan told Xing Ming that his master had sent him to Sacred Demon City to investigate an enemy who had pursued his master over a Sea Star Jasmine auction.
• Xing Ming compared Li Yan's account with the clues Falling Star Valley had gathered and asked whether the enemy was connected to the Sacred Demon Palace.
• Li Yan explained that his natal magic treasure required his own essence blood throughout its refinement, so another artifact refiner could not make it for him.
• Xing Ming offered to make Li Yan a guest elder after he left the Shattered Star Chamber, with the possibility of becoming a true elder if he formed a Golden Core.
• Li Yan considered whether the offer concealed a threat and realized Xing Ming was likely seeking to recruit him because of his demonstrated strength and command of the strange insects.

Li Yan accepted Fallen Star Valley’s Guest Elder position after negotiating for help finding materials if his bonded magic treasure failed to refine. He entered the Shattered Star Caverns and began testing the earthfire in a Shattered Star Chamber.

• Xingming explained the Guest Elder’s benefits and rules, including a monthly spirit-stone stipend and access to Foundation Establishment cultivation texts.
• Li Yan agreed to become a Guest Elder but asked Fallen Star Valley to help locate or purchase materials if he needed another attempt at refining his bonded magic treasure.
• Xingming accepted Li Yan’s request and granted him unlimited time in a Shattered Star Chamber, agreeing to hold the appointment ceremony after Li Yan left seclusion.
• Li Yan passed the guards’ inspection and entered an underground Shattered Star Chamber, where he examined a dragon-shaped earthfire mechanism modeled after an Amethyst Dragon.
• Li Yan activated the mechanism with green-jade coral, released the scarlet-and-gold earthfire, and threw a mid-grade magic artifact into the flames.

Li Yan began refining the Crimson Mother Essence in the earthfire of Falling Star Valley, using Crystal Bone Water and the Five Elements Fire-Tempering method. As he continued the lengthy process, Falling Star Valley grew stronger and faced fewer open threats, though powerful sects sought to bring it under their influence.

• Li Yan tested the earthfire by burning a magical artifact, discovered its yin within extreme yang, and confirmed the Shattered Star Fire Jade Vein’s exceptional grade.
• After meditating and preparing his materials, Li Yan suspended the Crimson Mother Essence in the flames and covered it with black runes.
• Li Yan added three drops of Crystal Bone Water to the Crimson Mother Essence and began refining it with the Five Elements Fire-Tempering method.
• After a day of channeling spiritual power, Li Yan saw the Crimson Mother Essence begin to melt and added Bitterless Powder and seven auxiliary materials.
• Falling Star Valley prospered under Xing Ming’s leadership, who killed fifteen spies and subjected prospective Foundation Establishment disciples to severe tests.
• Other forces held back from opposing Falling Star Valley, while Heaven-Burning Sect and Unity Sect considered bringing it and Azure Wind Sect into their spheres of influence.

Su Yuan lost the chance to earn rewards and keep his Starlit Pavilion stewardship after the battle, then became fixated on the mysterious Li Yan, who had remained inside a Ding-class artifact-refining chamber for more than half a year. When Su Yuan checked with Junior Brother Liu about when the chamber had been activated, Liu claimed it had happened during Su Yuan’s shift, leaving Su Yuan alarmed.

• Su Yuan’s squad killed a small enemy group near the Inner Valley, but the quick victory brought him little reward.
• Xing Ming returned, reassigned the Starlit Pavilion stewardship to Zhu Luomu’s group, and left Su Yuan fearing that he could not appeal the decision.
• Su Yuan was assigned to guard the Shattered Star Chambers and blamed the battle’s other participants for his losses.
• Su Yuan recalled bringing Li Yan into a Ding-class artifact-refining chamber with a voice-recording jade slip from the sect master, and noticed that Li Yan had remained inside for months.
• When Su Yuan found the chamber still in use during another shift, Junior Brother Liu told him it had been activated during Su Yuan’s shift, contrary to what Su Yuan remembered.

Li Yan emerged after more than seven months in Refining Room D and returned the jade coral star to Su Yuan, who recognized him as the mysterious cultivator. As Li Yan headed toward Falling Star Valley’s forbidden inner grounds with two cultivators following him, Xingming continued helping Zhu Luomu improve his meridians.

• Xingming ordered Su Yuan and the other stewards to keep Zhang Ming’s presence in Refining Room D secret and leave him undisturbed.
• After three months without Zhang Ming emerging, Xingming used Divine Sense to inspect the room and later ordered monthly checks.
• Li Yan left the refining room after more than seven months and returned the jade coral star to Su Yuan.
• Su Yuan recognized Li Yan as the room’s mysterious occupant and watched him leave, eager to learn where he was going.
• Li Yan noticed two Foundation Establishment cultivators following him and turned toward Falling Star Valley’s forbidden inner grounds.
• Xingming used Spirit-Awakening Dew to clear eleven fine meridians in Zhu Luomu’s body.

Li Yan emerged from the Shattered Star Chamber, accepted a Guest Elder appointment from Xingming, and settled into a new courtyard while concealing the extent of his strength. After purging the fire poison and checking on the young Purple God Dragon-Elephant in Tuban, he tested his newly refined Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes against a powerful axe treasure.

• Xingming offered Zhang Ming a Guest Elder appointment and agreed to delay its announcement while he recovered and refined his bonded treasure.
• Li Yan followed Xingming's jade slip to a well-protected courtyard near the sect master's cave, then set up the Great Dragon-Elephant Array in his cultivation chamber.
• Li Yan checked on the Purple God Dragon-Elephant's egg in Tuban and found the creature still refining its spirit beneath the five-colored halo.
• Li Yan expelled the fire poison from his body in fifteen minutes, concealing how much stronger he was than Xingming believed.
• Li Yan summoned his Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes and brought out a low-grade great-axe treasure to test their power.

Li Yan tested the Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes and discovered their extraordinary hardness, shapeshifting, and near-teleporting speed, then began refining them further with the Gui Water Immortal Sect’s ancient ritual. He subdued the Northern Abyss Kunpeng phantom after it turned against him and continued the refinement by forming a yin-yang diagram beneath it.

• Li Yan used the Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes to pierce the metal-element great axe’s defenses, destroying its array patterns and reducing it to a high-grade magical artifact.
• Li Yan tested the spikes’ ability to change shape and move nearly instantaneously across ten zhang, and wondered whether they had absorbed spatial power from the Ice Cloud Plume.
• Li Yan began the life-bound treasure refinement by offering essence blood and summoning the Northern Abyss Kunpeng phantom with Gui Water spiritual power.
• The Northern Abyss Kunpeng phantom developed killing intent toward Li Yan, but he used an ancient incantation to bind it with black chains and bring it under control.
• Li Yan formed streams of black spiritual power beneath the Kunpeng’s claws, creating a yin-yang taiji diagram for the next stage of the refinement.

Li Yan completed the refinement of the Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes and entered a profound Primordial Spirit experience beneath a boundless starry sky. Xingming discovered him but left him undisturbed, and Li Yan remained in seclusion for years as Falling Star Valley’s affairs passed increasingly into Zhu Luomu’s hands.

• Li Yan completed the Guiyi Water-Parting Spikes after using more than thirty mid-grade spirit stones, then drew the spikes into his Dantian to nourish them.
• As the spikes’ power stirred something within him, Li Yan’s awareness left his body and entered a void filled with brilliant stars.
• Xingming sensed a Primordial Spirit ascending and followed it to Zhang Ming’s courtyard, where he realized Zhang Ming was undergoing the experience.
• Xingming regretted that Zhang Ming’s poor aptitude might limit the benefits, but chose not to interrupt him and left the courtyard.
• Li Yan remained in seclusion for years, while Xingming returned to cultivation and Zhu Luomu took on more of Falling Star Valley’s affairs.

Feng Tao discovered that her heart demon stemmed from an oath involving Zhang Ming, then overcame it after searching for him in vain. Years later, a sudden heavenly phenomenon gathered over Falling Star Valley, where an unknown figure stopped Zhu Luomu and the others from approaching.

• Twenty years after Zhang Ming disappeared, Feng Tao tested new disciples and reflected on how she was the only one of her original companions left in the sect.
• Feng Tao recalled that Zhang Ming’s oath had caused the heart demon that repeatedly disrupted her cultivation, so she searched for him through the Affairs Hall and continued searching for three months.
• After Feng Tao could not find Zhang Ming, the heart demon faded and her cultivation resumed its rapid progress.
• Violent winds, dark clouds, and lightning suddenly engulfed Falling Star Valley, prompting Feng Tao and Zhu Luomu’s group to fly toward the gathering clouds.
• An unidentified figure appeared before Zhu Luomu and the others and ordered them to remain where they were.

A Heavenly Tribulation gathered over Zhang Ming’s courtyard, revealing that he was attempting to form a Golden Core despite his profound spirit roots and body-cultivator background. Xing Ming and Tian Xingzi suspected Zhang Ming possessed Hidden Dragon Blood and watched the tribulation, considering whether they could seize him if he survived gravely injured.

• Xing Ming ordered the disciples to stay three hundred li from the storm, and Zhu Luomu and the others suspected someone was forming a Golden Core.
• Xing Ming met Tian Xingzi near the storm, and they identified Zhang Ming’s courtyard as the tribulation’s center.
• Tian Xingzi was shocked by the tribulation’s power and questioned how Zhang Ming could form a Golden Core with his spiritual roots.
• Tian Xingzi proposed that Zhang Ming possessed Hidden Dragon Blood, which might explain his physical strength and unusual tribulation.
• Tian Xingzi and Xing Ming waited for the tribulation to end and considered taking Zhang Ming’s blood essence if he survived gravely injured.

Li Yan absorbed nethergold stardust and unknowingly cultivated for more than a decade, transforming his spiritual energy and beginning Golden Core formation. His first Heavenly Tribulation bolt struck, and he countered it with a punch as distant observers watched in shock at his physical strength.

• Li Yan absorbed the nethergold stardust, which turned his five cauldrons nethergold and drew his bonded treasures into them.
• Li Yan cultivated for more than a decade as frost spread through his cauldrons and froze his Dantian lake.
• Li Yan’s lake shattered into five-colored crystals, and he formed them into a five-colored python as the Heavenly Tribulation gathered overhead.
• Li Yan put away the Great Dragon-Elephant Array’s purple flag before a massive lightning bolt descended toward him.
• Li Yan punched the lightning bolt, destroying his courtyard and leaving a deep crater beneath him.
• Xingming watched from afar and wondered how Li Yan’s physical body could be so powerful.

Zhang Ming endured the opening strikes of an exceptionally powerful Golden Core tribulation, alarming the observers who mistook his strength and debated his origins. After he survived the fourteenth strike, Xingming and Tianxingzi began to question how powerful his Foundation Establishment had truly been.

• Xingming and Tianxingzi watched Zhang Ming smash the first tribulation bolt with a punch and suspected his Body Refining Technique had an ancient lineage.
• Tianxingzi judged that Zhang Ming was unlikely to survive the increasingly powerful tribulation, while cultivators across Falling Star Valley watched from a safe distance.
• Xingming urged the Foundation Establishment cultivators to study how Zhang Ming faced the tribulation rather than let its power shake their resolve.
• Feng Tao asked Zhu Luomu who the tribulation's target was, and Zhu Luomu recalled that Zhang Ming was among the disciples who had vanished after the great battle.
• Li Yan endured the fourteenth strike, which split into three blows, while his body showed the strain and his five-colored spirit python continued condensing.
• Xingming and Tianxingzi questioned their earlier assumptions as Li Yan survived strikes far beyond what they thought his cultivation and body could withstand.

Li Yan endured increasingly powerful Heavenly Tribulations while Tian Xingzi and Xing Ming watched and reconsidered their plans to attack him. After revealing his formidable body-refining strength and movement art, he began striking back against the tribulation, surviving twenty-six attacks as the devastation around him grew.

• Li Yan kept Tian Xingzi and Xing Ming at bay by making them believe he might die beneath the next Heavenly Tribulation, while the first twenty strikes battered him and forced him to suppress destructive power inside his body.
• Tian Xingzi concluded that Zhang Ming cultivated a top-tier body-refining technique, and Xing Ming's stirring aura alerted Li Yan that they had seen through his concealment.
• Li Yan met the twenty-first strike with forceful blows and a burst of black energy, shattering all five descending rays without suffering a wound.
• Li Yan began actively attacking the later tribulation strikes, darting through the air with his movement art even as the lightning repeatedly battered him down.
• After Li Yan endured twenty-six strikes with his fleshly body, Xing Ming compared his endurance to that of a Devil Race cultivator forming a Golden Core Realm.

Li Yan continued enduring the Golden Core Heavenly Tribulation with his body alone, stunning Xing Ming and Tian Xingzi as he shattered bolt after bolt. When the tribulation gathered its power and formed a giant eye, Tian Xingzi recognized that four bolts had merged into a strike threatening everything within a hundred li, and Falling Star Valley rushed to protect its people.

• Xing Ming and Tian Xingzi watched in disbelief as Li Yan shattered six more bolts without using defensive treasures.
• Li Yan used Melted Bamboo Shoot to restore his spiritual power, but his body remained badly injured and his Divine Sense had fallen below forty percent.
• After Li Yan shattered the twenty-sixth bolt, the twenty-seventh did not descend, and Tian Xingzi feared that the Heavenly Tribulation was gathering power in response to Li Yan's rapid counterattacks.
• A giant eye emerged from the storm clouds, and Xing Ming cried out that the thirtieth bolt had appeared while Tian Xingzi realized it had merged with the three preceding bolts.
• Tian Xingzi fled with Xing Ming and ordered him to activate the sect-protecting formation as Xing Ming warned Falling Star Valley's disciples to take shelter in nearby defensive restrictions.