It was as if she had fallen into an endless abyss, lost and directionless, until a faint glimmer of light appeared, allowing her to make her way to the starry sea.
When the power of the stars lifted Shangguan Qiuyue up, the mud and dust of the side Courtyard were nowhere to be seen.
She only felt a vast darkness before her eyes, and then—her whole body floated up as if weightless.
Her hand tightened instinctively, trying to grasp the handwritten letter she had yet to deliver.
Strangely enough, though she could clearly feel herself exerting all her strength, she could no longer sense the letter in her grasp.
All she saw was a pale yellow streak drifting down from her body, always just out of reach.
It was the very letter.
At this moment, she seemed to enter a state that was almost ethereal, as if she had slipped into the depths of her own soul.
She tried to escape, but it was futile—until she arrived in a world washed in ink-black and scattered with golden starlight, where she finally regained control over her own body.
“Could this be… the Star Path?”
The girl drifted lightly through this space, eyes slowly opening.
No matter if she lifted her gaze or looked down, all she could see was the radiance of the stars.
Yet what caught her attention first was her own body, now glowing with a blue, ghostly light.
Raising a hand, she poked her waist, and her finger slipped in—like a droplet meeting water, sending out ripples.
“So strange…”
She tried poking at several other spots in succession, making herself giggle uncontrollably.
The girl did not cherish her time just because she was in the midst of awakening.
She let herself play for a while, and only after she was satisfied did she begin to recall the repeated advice from Shangguan Hongzhi and Lin Yayue, muttering to herself.
“I remember, Father and Mother said that every star represents a kind of power. I need to find the one that makes me feel most at ease.”
She glanced around, fixing her eyes on a pleasing spot of light and slowly drifted toward it.
Gently, she cupped it in her hand and closed her eyes to feel.
“There’s a power within this one. It feels like a long sword… A sword, huh…”
The girl had never touched a sword before.
She relied solely on her intuition to feel it, so she simply returned it to its original spot based on that same feeling.
“Sorry, you’re quite obedient, but it seems you’re not quite right for me. I have to keep going.”
She sensed the star tremble at being rejected.
She bowed slightly in apology, then set her sights even higher, her body naturally beginning to swim upward along the Star Path.
“I remember, Father and Mother said that when I first entered the Star Path, the place I arrived at was the First Heavenly Layer. The other layers—Second, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Heavenly Layers—can be reached as long as I keep moving upward in order.”
Changing her posture, she moved upward, reaching the Second Heavenly Layer, and then bypassed it entirely to ascend even higher.
At her throat, the glazed bone faintly emitted a milky white light, wrapping her up bit by bit, letting her speed—which was already fast—become even more effortless, like a tiger that has grown wings.
But as soon as Shangguan Qiuyue entered the Third Heavenly Layer, she felt her body waver slightly.
Though she did not feel any discomfort, she clearly sensed a change.
This was the first time she had felt pressure in this space.
The girl slowed herself, adapting to the environment as she continued her ascent.
“There really are fewer and fewer stars, but the light they give off is getting brighter and brighter. Is this… the value of rarity?”
She noticed the sudden drop in the number of stars and instinctively paused in the middle of the Third Heavenly Layer, marveling aloud, before continuing her journey upward.
The pressure bearing down on her grew ever stronger, but she still pressed on, never intending to stop, until she reached another boundary—there she suddenly halted.
An unprecedented pressure surged from every star above her, sweeping over her.
Shangguan Qiuyue knew that if she took another step forward, things would no longer be so easy.
Normally, with her personality, reaching this point, she should have simply chosen a suitable star and left.
But for some reason, she felt as though something was waiting for her above.
If she gave up now, she would regret it for the rest of her life.
She gritted her teeth and once again summoned all her strength to charge upward.
“Ugh… it hurts…”
With a soft moan, the simple touch sent violent tremors through her very soul.
Though she had no body, she could clearly feel the pain as if her skin were being torn apart.
She stopped at the lowest point of the Fourth Heavenly Layer, unable to move another inch forward.
“No… that familiar feeling is getting closer… Shangguan Qiuyue, you can’t stop here…”
After resting for a long while, the girl set off again.
But this time, she was like a “lame climber,” struggling with every step.
She gently pushed aside the starlight that approached her, brushing away the special powers that countless cultivators dreamed of in their first awakening—the kind that could strengthen a particular path.
Upward, ever upward, she continued.
It was the only thought in her mind.
The only action her body would perform, like a machine.
When she reached the very top of the Fourth Heavenly Layer, she still didn’t stop.
Yet now, she was blocked by an invisible, soft, yet tenacious membrane.
Her strength was being consumed; her soul grew ever more transparent.
But the hands she reached out gathered all her power, and she began, bit by bit, to tear through that thin veil.
First, her five fingers pushed through.
Then her head.
Finally, all of her slipped completely through.
“I made it…”
Shangguan Qiuyue whispered, lifting her gaze upward.
A star, shaped like a tiny person, appeared before her eyes.
Its face was unclear, yet it seemed to meet her gaze.
After a long moment, the tiny figure gently raised its right hand and tapped the darkness.
No sound was heard, only a dazzling beam of light flared suddenly.
Seeing that starry brilliance flying towards her, the girl smiled radiantly from her heart.
She reached out, caught it, and held it close.
A wondrous sensation surged within her, and in just a brief instant, the seven emotions—joy, anger, worry, thought, sadness, fear, and shock—flooded her mind like a tide, each transforming into a different color that enveloped her.
Unconsciously, she began to recite an incantation:
“Spirit of the Heart, Jindan, governs joy and thought, manifested as Suzaku; Spirit of the Lungs, Hao Hua, governs sadness and grief, form of White Tiger; Spirit of the Liver, Long Yan, governs anger and catharsis, transforms into Azure Dragon; Spirit of the Kidneys, Xuanming, governs fear and essence, Xuanwu, Water God; Spirit of the Spleen, Chang Zai, governs contemplation and transformation, Gouchen Yellow Phoenix; Spirit of the Gallbladder, Dragon Radiance, governs decisiveness and courage, Teng Snake rides your command.”
“Spirit Palm of Four Gods, Seven Emotions, Six Spirits Master Six Organs, thus is Six Spirits With a Master.”
In a short span, she seemed to live through countless lives, experiencing all the vicissitudes of the world.
Finally, when a hundred lifetimes ended and became a single cycle of reincarnation, she found herself sent to a familiar yet strange Courtyard.
Beneath the great peach tree, Yun Mu sat there, smiling at her.
She couldn’t stop herself from moving forward.
“Yun… Mu…?”
Murmuring, with every step she took, flowers of a different color blossomed beneath her feet, and the divine beings corresponding to each emotion appeared behind her.
Yet with every step, the youth’s figure rippled and faded further away.
“No… I can’t keep going…”
She wanted to stop her steps, but she couldn’t control herself, only able to move forward.
Two steps, three steps, and when she took the seventh, the image of Dragon Radiance—symbolizing decisiveness—appeared behind her.
No more flowers bloomed beneath her feet, no youth remained under the tree.
All that was left before her was a ground covered in fallen blossoms and the withered trunk of the peach tree.
Her body, too, scattered completely into this space, turning into starlight.
The clouds gradually dispersed, the moonlit night remained bright and glorious, and the starlight that had shrouded Shangguan Qiuyue’s body began to seep into her through her forehead.
Not far away, Shangguan Hongzhi and Lin Yayue still stood where they were, not approaching.
They were both cultivators and had experienced awakening themselves.
They knew that at this stage, the girl had to rely on her own strength to get through.
If they were to intervene out of pity, judging by the commotion just now, it would definitely provoke a powerful backlash.
“Hongzhi, just now in the thunderclouds, I faintly sensed the power of Law. You must have noticed too, right?”
The beautiful woman spoke softly, lifting her eyes to the man at her side.
Before he could answer, she could already see from his excited expression that she was right.
Her feeling had been correct.
“It came from the Fifth Heavenly Layer, but at the very least, it’s directly connected to stars above the Seventh Heavenly Layer.”
Shangguan Hongzhi spoke slowly, his voice tinged with irrepressible excitement—he finally had a worthy successor.
“Really? Truly?”
Usually so calm, Lin Yayue could not help but grow excited at his words.
No one could blame her.
After all, for someone to communicate with a Fifth Heavenly Layer star during their first awakening—throughout all of Lixun, even the entire continent, such talent could be counted on one’s fingers.
It was truly monstrous.
In the world of cultivation, there had always been an unspoken rule regarding the classification of stars:
Generally, the stars from the First to Third Heavenly Layers were considered the bottom three grades.
These stars could provide only ordinary enhancements to cultivators—strengthening a certain part of the body, or granting access to higher-level sword arts, spear arts, beast mastery, and the like.
Even the Third Heavenly Layer only barely touched upon enhancements with special meaning.
The Fourth Heavenly Layer was seen as a transition zone, called the middle-first grade.
Here, stars could grant cultivators unique, personal abilities, often focused on a particular path—such as the way of the sword, which encompassed a broader array of sword techniques.
Although the Fourth Heavenly Layer was neither high nor low, those who could communicate with its stars on their very first awakening were all geniuses among geniuses.
As for the top five grades, these belonged to the stars above the Fifth Heavenly Layer.
From this level onward, one began to touch upon the origin power of certain stars.
Each ascension to a higher Heavenly Layer allowed access to stronger origin power.
The Fifth Heavenly Layer could not grant direct use of the origin power, but it could allow comprehension of the divine abilities derived from it.
“Even among origins, there are strong and weak—some exist only in the Sixth Heavenly Layer, while others have a place in the Ninth. I wonder… the star that Qiuyue connected with, to which higher star does it correspond?”
Shangguan Hongzhi muttered to himself, his gaze blazing as he watched his daughter gently descend to the ground.
But only a moment later, his attention shifted.
He looked off into the distant sky, momentarily stunned, before speaking up:
“Wife, go ahead and take Qiuyue back inside. The remaining power from the Kingdom of Zhou within her has faded.”
Lin Yayue understood and hurriedly left, heading for the side Courtyard.
Meanwhile, the head of the Shangguan family flew straight toward the direction he had just noticed.
On the other side, Qin Junyin and Lu Qi had just emerged from the mountains.
On either side of them stood two Jin Armor Guards, each at the peak of Fifth Revolution.
“The Star Domain Forbidden Zone is open right now, and it’s when the formation is weakest. Guard it well, or else there will be Nine Familial Extermination… Do you understand?”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
“Very good. In that case, let’s go, Lord Lu… as for the bet you mentioned in the cave just now, shall we see who wins?”
“Your Majesty, about the wager, could we…?”
“As you wish. If you win, I’ll give you a Dragon Pellet containing the blood of an ancient true dragon…”
“But if you lose… I haven’t decided yet. Let me think about it some more, alright?”
“It is better to obey than to refuse, Your Majesty.”