Recaps

Li Yang accepted Si Kui as her teacher and began harvesting mutated wheat, while Yu Hongyuan joined the Agronomy Department and Feng Yiqiao took charge of teaching him. A week later, a new wheat crop ripened, leaving Xia Putao looking forward to four months of rest after the harvest.

• Li Yang decided that she needed to grow stronger, performed the ceremony to acknowledge Si Kui as her teacher, and agreed to return after harvesting wheat.
• Yu Hongyuan begged Li Yang to help him join the Agronomy Department, but Si Kui approved his application and told Li Yang to teach him.
• Si Kui stayed away, so Feng Yiqiao volunteered to teach Yu Hongyuan how to draw a star into his body.
• Li Yang harvested the ripe wheat and saved up 820 years of lifespan, while Lü Shunshun and Xia Putao planted and fertilized the next crop.
• A week later, the new wheat ripened, and Xia Putao said they could rest for four months once it was harvested.

Li Yang prepared to use a purified Realm-Breaking Pill to advance, but Si Kui stopped her and explained that pills could damage her Star Apertures. Si Kui revealed that she had spent 400 years of lifespan carving Li Yang’s apertures and promised to retrieve the Agronomy Department’s Master-level Tree Tower so Li Yang could learn better Star Skills.

• Li Yang learned that the mutated wheat fields needed four months to recover and decided to wait before harvesting again.
• Li Yang bought a cheap Realm-Breaking Pill, purified it to 100%, and prepared to swallow it.
• Si Kui interrupted Li Yang, warned her against using pills, and said true advancement required defeating someone of a higher grade.
• Si Kui told Li Yang that carving her four Star Apertures had cost 400 years of lifespan and urged her not to waste her potential.
• Si Kui criticized Li Yang’s Star Skills and said she would retrieve the Agronomy Department’s Master-level Tree Tower the next day.

Si Kui reimbursed Li Yang for the Realm-Breaking Pill and settled her into the east wing before visiting Niu Qianqian to demand the Agronomy Department’s Tree Tower back. Niu Qianqian persuaded her to avoid provoking the Star Magic Department and proposed getting Li Yang a place in the Tree Tower when it opened next week.

• Li Yang received 70 merit points from Si Kui and joked that her Agronomy Department codename should be Quinoa.
• Li Yang admired her comfortable room, hoped to cultivate in her sleep after opening more Star Apertures, and fell asleep.
• Si Kui visited Niu Qianqian at the Academic Affairs Office and learned that Li Yang’s background was clean and her sea of consciousness bore no imprints.
• Si Kui demanded the Tree Tower back from the Star Magic Department so she could train Li Yang, but Niu Qianqian warned that retaliation could harm her student.
• Niu Qianqian suggested securing Li Yang a place when the Star Magic Department opened the Tree Tower next week, and Si Kui asked her to explain the plan.

Si Kui arranged for Li Yang to enter the Tree Tower with the Star Magic Department the next day, while insisting that its rewards belong equally to both departments. Li Yang planned to demonstrate the tower’s proper use and prove the Agronomy Department’s claim, but Si Kui’s dangerous instructions and threat to blow up the Star Magic Department left her alarmed.

• Niu Qianqian persuaded Si Kui to let Li Yang enter the Tree Tower with the Star Magic Department, and Si Kui demanded an equal share of its Star Cores for each department.
• Si Kui told the waking Li Yang that the Tree Tower belonged to the Agronomy Department and explained how its star plants could produce Star Cores.
• Li Yang learned that the Tree Tower recorded its last three entries and proposed demonstrating its proper use to establish the Agronomy Department’s claim.
• Si Kui explained that Li Yang should draw out and kill the tower’s dangerous star plants, but Li Yang worried that her limited strength would get her killed.
• Si Kui threatened to blow up the Star Magic Department and flee with Li Yang to the Astral Realm rather than endure further negotiations.

Li Yang persuaded Si Kui to teach her Star Skills to help her survive the tree tower’s astral plants, enduring the painful imprinting of two skills. After Si Kui left, Li Yang used her system to practice Invincible Sun Shield, but its proficiency rose by only one percent.

• Li Yang used her system to forget Fist Burst by spending six years of lifespan, and Si Kui recognized the change as Li Yang’s fortuitous encounter.
• Li Yang asked Si Kui for help gathering monsters, and Si Kui agreed to teach her defensive Star Skills for the tree tower.
• Si Kui imprinted Invincible Sun Shield into Li Yang’s mental sea, leaving her in severe pain.
• Li Yang insisted on learning another skill immediately, and Si Kui imprinted Willow God's Binding to restrain the astral plants.
• Si Kui explained that Invincible Sun Shield could block attacks from those in Li Yang’s realm and Willow God's Binding could briefly bind targets.
• After Si Kui left, Li Yang spent one year of lifespan practicing Invincible Sun Shield, raising its proficiency from one percent to two percent.

Li Yang upgraded Invincible Sun Shield to Tier 2, while Niu Qianqian secured her entry into the Tree Tower by negotiating with Shen Binghua. Shen Binghua arranged for students to protect Li Yang there, and Li Yang learned that only Shen Shangchi and Ying Qi were otherwise qualified to enter.

• Li Yang spent ninety-nine years of lifespan to raise Invincible Sun Shield to Tier 2, allowing it to convert some incoming damage into Starlight.
• Niu Qianqian persuaded Shen Binghua to let Li Yang enter the Tree Tower the next day and promised that Li Yang would receive half the Star Cores.
• Shen Binghua ordered the Tree Tower opened and instructed students to protect Li Yang and keep her from fighting the star plants.
• Li Yang traveled to the Star Magic Department and met Fang Chuyun, who had been sent by Senior Chu to greet her.
• Fang Chuyun told Li Yang that she could not enter the Tree Tower and that only Shen Shangchi and Ying Qi among the freshmen were qualified.

Li Yang arrived at the Tree Tower and joined the Star Magic Department team as a special member, despite hostility from some of its students. As Chu Runxi stirred up public resentment by implying she had entered through connections, Fang Chuyun defended her, and the team prepared to enter the tower.

• Fang Chuyun told Li Yang that the Tree Tower's first floor usually admitted five or six people, then brought her to see it.
• Li Yang met Chu Runxi, Shen Shangchi, Ying Qi, and the other members of the team, and suspected the extra members might be there to keep her from helping kill star plants.
• Chu Runxi announced that Li Yang was a special member of the team and said Director Niu had ordered them to take care of her, prompting students to accuse her of receiving special treatment.
• Fang Chuyun defended Li Yang and suggested that her teacher had arranged the opportunity, shifting some students' opinions.
• Chu Runxi called the team to enter the Tree Tower, and Li Yang reassured Fang Chuyun that she was doing well in the Agronomy Department.

Li Yang entered the Tree Tower under close supervision, but slipped away to confront a powerful star plant. She survived its poisonous attacks with Invincible Sun Shield and joined the fight, leaving Chu Runxi scrambling to regain control of the group.

• Chu Runxi led Li Yang and the senior students into the Tree Tower in a formation designed to keep her surrounded and supervised.
• The group encountered a peak First Grade star plant with a four-star difficulty rating, and Chu Runxi explained its Star Skills as the others prepared to fight.
• Li Yang used Hidden Shadow to slip past her watchers and attack the star plant, intending to gather the creatures together for a better chance at obtaining a rare Star Core.
• Li Yang activated Invincible Sun Shield, which blocked the star plant's poisonous mist and left her unharmed.
• Shen Shangchi and Ying Qi urged the others to join the fight, while Chu Runxi abandoned his surprise at Li Yang's actions and focused on defeating the star plant.

Li Yang deliberately gathered twenty star plants by drawing them after her through the Tree Tower, then used Hidden Shadow to make them attack one another. She told the ten Star Magic Department students to prepare to strike once the remaining plants finished devouring each other, but Chu Runxi challenged her claim that she knew how to use the Tree Tower.

• Li Yang ran through the Tree Tower while star plants pursued her, and Chu Runxi and Shen Shangchi tried to catch up and help her.
• Li Yang led an increasing number of star plants on a chase while the ten students followed and struggled to keep up.
• With ten star plants attacking, Li Yang withdrew her Sun Shield and activated Hidden Shadow, causing the plants to turn on one another.
• Li Yang resumed the chase and gathered enough star plants to make a more powerful mass, then used Hidden Shadow again and approached the squad unseen.
• Li Yang told the squad to unleash their attacks after the star plants finished devouring one another and said she had done it because it was the proper way to use the Tree Tower.
• Chu Runxi cursed and questioned how Li Yang, a freshman who had never entered the Tree Tower, could know how to use it.

Li Yang led the Star Magic Department students in defeating the fused Star Plant on the Tree Tower’s first floor, then seized the final blow herself. The plant died, granting Li Yang 200 years of lifespan, while the squad watched her in shock.

• The squad joined forces to attack the Star Plant, following Li Yang’s warnings about its ground spikes, poison mist, and vines.
• Chu Runxi joined the battle, and the ten students weakened the Star Plant while Li Yang recovered and watched for a chance to strike.
• Li Yang dropped Hidden Shadow, drawing the Star Plant’s attention, then used Willow God's Binding to pierce and restrain it.
• Li Yang stabbed the Star Plant repeatedly with her battered knife while protected by Sun Shield, despite the squad mistaking her actions for deliberate torment.
• The Star Plant collapsed, and Li Yang received a system notification granting her 200 years of lifespan.

Li Yang used the Tree Tower correctly and led her squad to an unusually abundant haul of Star Cores, including a rare one, then revealed that the Tree Tower belonged to the Agronomy Department. The chapter ended with Ying Qi promising to investigate and apologize if Li Yang was right, leaving the gathered Star Magic Department students stunned.

• Li Yang’s squad found eight Star Cores, including one rare and three excellent-grade cores, after she used the Tree Tower in a way that shocked the Star Magic Department students.
• Li Yang told the squad that the Tree Tower was the Agronomy Department’s, then divided the Star Cores and offered four ordinary ones to the Star Magic Department squad.
• Chu Runxi threatened to stop Li Yang, but Shen Shangchi intervened and warned him that harming a fellow student could bring military punishment and expulsion.
• Li Yang emerged from the Tree Tower and showed Fang Chuyun the four Star Cores she had kept, including the unappraised rare core.
• Ying Qi told Li Yang she would investigate the Tree Tower’s ownership and apologize if it really belonged to the Agronomy Department, shocking the gathered students.

Li Yang revealed that the Star Magic Department's Tree Tower belonged to the Agronomy Department, stirring outrage across Zhongdu Military Academy. After Si Kui retrieved the tower challenge record, Li Yang returned to the Agronomy Department and waited for the controversy to spread before making her next move.

• Li Yang told the crowd that her teacher, a senior from the Agronomy Department, had created the Tree Tower, while Spirit and Pill Department students mocked the Star Magic Department for claiming it.
• Si Kui retrieved the record of Li Yang's tower challenge and told her to return; Li Yang left the Star Magic Department using Hidden Shadow.
• News of the Tree Tower's ownership spread across the academy forum, where Star Magic Department students joined the criticism and posts began disappearing.
• Li Yang told her senior brothers and sister to let public opinion grow before revealing the challenge record, then went to have her Star Cores appraised.
• Si Kui examined Li Yang's Star Cores and remarked that she had obtained green ones as well.

Li Yang learned that she needed to kill a being with spiritual awareness to advance, and Si Kui warned her against relying on pills before helping her forget two dangerous Star Skills. The chapter ended with the Star Magic Department dean, Shen Binghua, calling to explain the Tree Tower dispute to Li Yang.

• Li Yang learned that her blue Star Core was beyond Si Kui’s ability to appraise, and Si Kui warned her that the golden Star Skills could devour her sea of consciousness.
• Si Kui explained that Li Yang needed to kill a being with spiritual awareness to advance and forbade her from using Realm-Breaking Pills.
• Li Yang chose to grow stronger, then spent 81 years of lifespan forgetting Invincible Sun Shield and Willow God's Binding.
• Shen Binghua called Li Yang and asked to meet, while Si Kui challenged her about what she wanted with her student.
• Shen Binghua told Si Kui that the Tree Tower belonged to the Agronomy Department and that she had maintained it because she could not bear to see Cheng Rui’s work wither.

Li Yang confronted Shen Binghua over the Tree Tower and established that Shen Binghua had no claim to it after separating from Cheng Rui. Shen Binghua agreed she had no intention of keeping it, but the costs and risks of maintaining the tower left Li Yang facing a difficult problem.

• Li Yang asked Shen Binghua to return the Tree Tower, and Shen Binghua explained that she had cared for it in memory of Cheng Rui.
• Li Yang pointed out that Shen Binghua and Cheng Rui had separated before his death, and Shen Binghua acknowledged the Tree Tower was not hers.
• Shen Binghua gave Li Yang a document detailing the tower’s upkeep costs, including expensive Phoenix Ling Soil and Bright Moon Water.
• Li Yang confirmed with Si Kui that the maintenance details were true and learned that Si Kui could not leave the Agronomy Department because it was suppressing a dangerous presence.
• Shen Binghua waited as Li Yang considered the tower’s upkeep, while Li Yang realized that obtaining the necessary materials might be difficult even with money.

Li Yang rejected Shen Binghua’s offer to rent the Tree Tower, insisting that the Star Magic Department return the Agronomy Department’s secret treasure. She then explained to Si Kui how the rental deal could let the Star Magic Department occupy it permanently and proposed charging students an admission fee instead.

• Shen Binghua offered Li Yang unrestricted access to the Tree Tower and ten thousand Merit Points a year if the Agronomy Department rented it to the Star Magic Department.
• Li Yang refused the offer and demanded that Shen Binghua return the Tree Tower to its rightful owner.
• Shen Binghua warned Li Yang that the Agronomy Department could not operate the tower and admitted she could delay handing it over, but Li Yang stood firm.
• After Shen Binghua left, Si Kui asked why Li Yang had refused, and Li Yang explained that the Star Magic Department could use excuses to avoid future rent payments.
• Li Yang proposed changing the arrangement into an admission fee so the Agronomy Department could retain control of the Tree Tower and charge students who entered it.

Li Yang posted the Tree Tower recording and a detailed guide to prove that the Agronomy Department knew how to use the tower properly, turning the school forum against the Star Magic Department. She ended by publicly demanding that Shen Binghua return the tower, while students continued debating the evidence.

• Li Yang posted a public demand for the Star Magic Department to return the Tree Tower, and Shen Binghua told her vice dean to ignore it and stall.
• Li Yang released a recording of her tower run, showing her gathering and defeating star plants while the Star Magic team chased her.
• Li Yang posted a guide explaining the Tree Tower's history and mechanisms, including how Agronomy Department students could obtain more and rarer Star Cores.
• Students on the forum rallied against the Star Magic Department, though some questioned whether the video was genuine.
• Li Yang explained that the Tree Tower recorded its three most recent runs for Agronomy Department teachers to review, prompting further discussion about the tower's functions.

Li Yang countered Shen Binghua’s defense of the Star Magic Department’s control over the Tree Tower by proposing to return it to the Agronomy Department and presell tickets to fund its maintenance. The story left Shen Binghua facing pressure from the Masters as Ying Qi publicly apologized to Li Yang and her family reserved the first batch of tickets.

• An Agronomy Department student explained how department marks in students’ mental seas identified them and granted access to the Tree Tower’s functions.
• Shen Binghua posted her account of the Tree Tower dispute, portraying herself as helpful and Li Yang as unreasonable, which reignited criticism of Li Yang on the forum.
• Li Yang said she had rejected Shen Binghua’s offer for the department’s sake and proposed returning the Tree Tower to Agronomy while preselling tickets for maintenance funds.
• Ying Qi asked her great-grandmother whether the Star Magic Department had taken Agronomy’s treasure, then decided to apologize to Li Yang after reading the forum.
• Old Madam Ying posted Ying Qi’s apology and offered Phoenix Ling Soil and Bright Moon Water, announcing that the Ying Family would reserve the first batch of presale tickets.

Li Yang appraised several Star Cores, learned defensive and offensive Star Skills, and improved her proficiency while spending much of her lifespan. The next day, onlookers gathered at the Agronomy Department to witness the Tree Tower's return, but Li Yang rushed toward the wheat field with a sickle first.

• Ying Qi's post prompted Shen Binghua to accept the vice principal's order to return the Tree Tower to the Agronomy Department.
• Li Yang appraised three green Star Cores and learned Earth Spike, Light Blade, and Wood Shield, then spent more lifespan to appraise a blue Star Core.
• The blue Star Core revealed the defensive skill People Need Face, Trees Need Bark, which Si Kui found highly compatible with Li Yang and told her to comprehend.
• Si Kui advised Li Yang to use Wood Shield to conceal the bark skill and Light Blade in a combat combo, and Li Yang raised the proficiency of her skills.
• Li Yang's remark about spending a thousand years in the First Grade Realm made the Ninth-Grade Lianxin tremble, but Si Kui detected nothing when she investigated.
• The next morning, people gathered outside the Agronomy Department to watch the Tree Tower's return, while Li Yang grabbed a sickle and hurried toward the wheat field.

Li Yang waited for the Star Magic Department to return the Tree Tower while harvesting wheat, then sought a bounty mission to help her break through to Second Grade. She joined Teaching Assistant He Song’s recruitment team and learned that his parents had taught in the Agronomy Department before dying in battle in the Astral Realm.

• Li Yang stayed patient as the Tree Tower’s return was delayed, while the Ying Family secured next year’s access by giving her Phoenix Ling Soil and Bright Moon Water.
• After harvesting wheat, Li Yang went to the mission office and searched Second Grade bounty missions for a cultist she could kill to advance.
• Li Yang applied to He Song’s team mission and met him at a campus teahouse to discuss joining the hunt.
• He Song recognized Li Yang as the former Donghua Province top scorer and said his parents had taught in the Agronomy Department before dying in the Astral Realm.
• Li Yang asked He Song why he had not joined the Agronomy Department.

Li Yang joined He Song's team for a dangerous operation to infiltrate a cultist gathering and kill its leader and three deputies. After the team reviewed the plan and introduced their Star Skills, Li Yang began describing her own.

• He Song explained that the team would attack a cultist hideout in two days, with city defense forces drawing attention from the front while the team struck from the rear.
• Li Yang agreed to join the mission after He Song warned her that the team would prioritize safety over helping her break through.
• He Song called the other three teammates to the teahouse, and Li Yang met Zhan Fei, Wang Zaishan, and Sun Anmo.
• He Song sent the operation details to the team chat and explained the battle plan to everyone.
• Zhan Fei, Wang Zaishan, Sun Anmo, and He Song introduced their Star Skills to help Li Yang understand how they could coordinate.
• Li Yang confirmed she had comprehended the blue Star Skill from the Tree Tower and began introducing her four Star Skills.

Li Yang revealed her Star Skills and explained that she had chosen the Agronomy Department simply because she loved studying Star Plants, then prepared with her team for a mission against cultists. After Shen Binghua returned the Tree Tower, Li Yang demanded that she protect her during the upcoming mission, warning that Si Kui would blame Shen if Li Yang died.

• Li Yang clarified that she had two blue and two green Star Skills, and He Song explained that Dean Si was a Half-Step Supreme who had given her one of them.
• Li Yang said she had joined the Agronomy Department because she liked agronomy, prompting He Song to reflect on why Dean Si had reassigned him to the Star Combat Department.
• The five discussed their battle plan and arranged to meet the city defense forces in two days to encircle and eliminate cultists.
• Shen Binghua arrived late at night to return the Tree Tower to Si Kui, but Li Yang stopped her before she could leave.
• Li Yang argued that Shen Binghua would be suspected if anything happened to her off campus and asked Shen to protect her during the mission.
• Si Kui threatened to retaliate against the Star Magic Department if Li Yang were killed, while Shen Binghua angrily challenged Li Yang's demand.

Li Yang prepared for her first mission against a cultist gathering while Shen Binghua realized she might have to protect her after leaving the academy. At the abandoned factory, Li Yang and her companions entered the cultists’ gathering and found a horrific blood ritual underway.

• Li Yang forced Shen Binghua to accept responsibility for protecting her, and Shen Binghua later worried that Li Yang might be killed and the blame pinned on her.
• A hidden group arranged for Red Scorpion to ambush Si Kui’s personal disciple and companions, intending to frame Shen Binghua and provoke Si Kui.
• Li Yang studied mission advice, bought and upgraded weapons and healing pills, then joined He Song, Wala Bro, and Zhan Fei for the operation.
• He Song’s group coordinated with the City Defense Army and moved toward the cultists’ gathering at an abandoned factory as the diversion began.
• Li Yang entered the factory with her companions and saw six young boys tied to pillars around a blood-soaked altar, while He Song charged at the Third Grade hall master.

Li Yang and her teammates fought the cultists after their leader gained twelve Star Apertures and advanced to the Third Grade High Stage. Li Yang helped defeat two deputies, and she and Sun Anmo joined the others against the wounded leader while Red Scorpion waited in hiding for a chance to kill them.

• Zhan Fei and the others held off the Second Grade deputies while He Song fought the strengthened cultist leader, who wounded him badly.
• Li Yang shielded He Song from an attack, allowing him to strike the leader and inflict a serious wound.
• Red Scorpion watched from hiding and planned to kill Li Yang and her teammates after their fight, but he could not see through her Hidden Shadow.
• Li Yang distracted the Peak Second Grade deputy attacking Cool and Dashing Sis, endured his saber strike, and killed him with Light Blade.
• Li Yang helped Wala Bro defeat another deputy, then joined him and Cool and Dashing Sis in supporting He Song against the wounded leader.
• Sun Anmo killed her opponent, and she and Li Yang rushed to join the fight against the leader.

Li Yang and her teammates survived a deadly mission after she shielded them from a cultist leader’s self-destruction and Shen Binghua defeated a Fifth Grade attacker. Back at school, Li Yang reunited with Si Kui, still wondering who had sent the attacker.

• Li Yang used Wood Shield and Bark to knock the self-destructing cultist leader away from her teammates, then survived the blast with severe injuries.
• A masked Fifth Grade Star Wielder called Red Scorpion appeared and immobilized the team, but Li Yang called for Teacher Shen.
• Shen Binghua arrived and attacked Red Scorpion, who self-destructed; she protected the students from the blast and survived unharmed.
• The team returned to school, thanked Li Yang for saving their lives, and wondered why the mission had gone so wrong.
• Li Yang returned to the Agronomy Department, where Si Kui examined her; Li Yang threw herself into her teacher’s arms and pretended to cry while worrying over who had sent Red Scorpion.

After Li Yang persuaded Si Kui to calm down and pushed Shen Binghua into the investigation, she asked Si Kui about the Agronomy Department’s past and learned how the Astral Realm connected different realms. Si Kui explained that Huaxia’s main city in the Astral Realm protected its people from other realms, while humanity’s ability to consume many kinds of life made it both dangerous and isolated.

• Li Yang calmed Si Kui by pretending to cry, then blamed the attempted assassination on Shen Binghua’s enemies and pressured Shen Binghua to investigate.
• Shen Binghua left in a rage, while Si Kui mocked her reluctance to get involved; Li Yang said Shen Binghua could no longer avoid being implicated.
• Li Yang asked Si Kui what had happened to the Agronomy Department, and Si Kui agreed to explain the Astral Realm because Li Yang would soon be strong enough to enter it.
• Si Kui explained that the Astral Realm connected multiple realms and that each realm’s main city guarded the entrance back home; if Huaxia’s city fell, its people would be prey to invading creatures.
• Si Kui told Li Yang that humans could absorb Starlight from almost any living thing, but their broad diet made other realms see humanity as a threat rather than an ally.