There was a time when Wang Geng and the others enjoyed tormenting Chen Zhou with matters concerning Beidou.

They would tell him how miserable Beidou was, insult his fellow disciples and masters to his face, watching him endure without daring to react. After learning of Ming Li’s death, they even held feasts with drums and gongs in front of Chen Zhou to celebrate. That day, any slave who said “Congratulations on your junior sister Ming Li’s death” to Chen Zhou would receive a meat-filled pancake.

Chen Zhou couldn’t remember how many “congratulations” he had heard. It was from that day on that he became like a substitute spirit without emotions or thoughts, only knowing how to work.

He was enduring, waiting.

Waiting for the day when the time was right.

Initially, Wang Geng and the others didn’t believe in his numbness. So they would have people pretend to be outsiders who knew his identity, claiming to be fellow disciples from Beidou, or people who knew Beidou, or new disciples from Beidou who had finally found this place and wanted to rescue him, and so on.

They wanted to see Chen Zhou struggle in the abyss, to see him gain hope and then despair, over and over again.

But Chen Zhou ignored everyone. He was already very familiar with Wang Geng and Xu Liangzhi’s methods of torture.

In the past two years, Wang Geng had finally given up on these tricks and no longer focused solely on him, occasionally tormenting other unfortunate souls, but he never stopped humiliating and beating Chen Zhou.

The reason Chen Zhou responded to Cheng Jingbai and the others was because these three earth ghosts, unlike the people arranged by Wang Geng, didn’t claim to be his master or people sent by Beidou. Instead, they specifically mentioned being friends of his junior brother Zhou Zixi.

Most importantly, Chen Zhou knew that Zhou Zixi was an earth ghost.

*

It started on a winter day years ago when Zhou Zixi and Qing Ying were taken out to have fun by Dong Yenu, traveling to distant Dongyang.

When Chen Zhou came to Ming Li’s small courtyard to mooch a meal, he heard her say, “Song Tianjiu sent me a message saying that my brother and the others have caused quite a bit of trouble in the east, making a scene in the territory of the Six Bandits of East Water.”

“Since Zixi and the others didn’t use the Seven Star Command, it means they can resolve it themselves. Could it be that Song Tianjiu deliberately told you because he wants you to go east?” Chen Zhou said. “Song Tianjiu’s actions are quite interesting.”

Ming Li crushed the sound note in her hand and rested her chin on one hand, saying, “Just to be safe, Senior Brother, you should go bring them back.”

Chen Zhou: “Do I look like I have nothing to do?”

Ming Li nodded.

Chen Zhou continued eating without looking at her: “Then I’ll still have to finish eating before I go.”

Ming Li added, “I’ve been studying Song Tianjiu’s divine miracle ability recently. His Divine Miracle – Sacrificial Spirit Sound awakened from the heart meridian and functions as instant insight. As long as someone has thoughts about him in his presence, he will see through and know them. So I can’t go. If he knew I was thinking about how to break his moves and kill him right in front of everyone, how awkward would that be?”

Only then did Chen Zhou look up at her: “You’ve reached the point of wanting to kill him?”

Ming Li smiled slightly and said, “He always uses the Sacrificial Spirit Sound to probe me. This attempt to peer into my heart becomes annoying after a long time.”

Hearing this, Chen Zhou realized she wasn’t joking but had truly harbored thoughts of killing Song Tianjiu.

Others believed that Ming Li had changed drastically after breaking through to become a pilgrim, but Chen Zhou felt she hadn’t changed. His junior sister had merely contained her former arrogance and malice, becoming better at disguising herself, appearing calm and gentle, yet making it harder than before to guess her true thoughts about you.

Dong Yenu was excessively indulgent of Ming Li, accepting her most quickly with the mindset that “my sister is my sister no matter what she becomes.”

Ming Li had always been gentle with Qing Ying, so Qing Ying had no trouble adapting.

On the contrary, Chen Zhou had grown accustomed to Ming Li’s displayed “malice,” making him more sensitive to the thoughts beneath her outward gentleness, perceiving them more quickly.

Even so, she was indeed more relaxed around those close to her than before. Chen Zhou could feel that she truly enjoyed daily life at Beidou. Many times, it wasn’t that Ming Li couldn’t leave Beidou, but that she preferred staying there with everyone.

Ming Li found satisfaction just in chatting with her fellow disciples on ordinary days.

As Chen Zhou thought about this, he couldn’t help but smile. When his junior sister tilted her head to look at him, he said, “You’ve been sticking more and more with Zixi lately.”

Ming Li held her bowl, drinking soup: “Zixi often asks me about the eight meridians. Senior Brother, if you want to consult me, I can teach you both together.”

Chen Zhou continued, “If I remember correctly, isn’t his master our Yaoguang Academy head?”

Ming Li said indifferently, “As it happens, I am his senior sister.”

Chen Zhou pointed at himself and said, “As it happens, I am his senior brother, yet he’s never sought my guidance on the eight meridians.”

Ming Li put down her soup bowl and explained thoroughly: “He has approached you, hasn’t he asked about the heart meridian? It’s just that I’m more versatile, with all eight meridians at their peak. With such a comparison, of course, he would come to me more often.”

Chen Zhou looked at her with a forced smile for a moment. Ming Li maintained her expression of smiling with narrowed eyes.

“I can’t fathom your thoughts, but I can see through Zixi’s affection for you quite clearly,” Chen Zhou didn’t speak in riddles, saying directly, “This is the downside of primarily cultivating the heart meridian—you can immediately know others’ thoughts, and knowing them only adds to your worries.”

Ming Li laughed dryly: “What worries you, Senior Brother?”

Chen Zhou lightly tapped the table with his fingers, his eyes full of disgust: “I don’t want to spend every Qixi Festival drinking on the city tower with him.”

But Ming Li was in a good mood as she looked at the snowy scenery in the courtyard. “Senior Brother, you needn’t overthink. If I wanted to end his feelings, I have many ways.”

Yet she had never stopped him and had become increasingly indulgent.

Chen Zhou understood her meaning at this point, so he got up to leave for the east, planning to drag Zhou Zixi back to accompany his senior sister.

He went to the territory of the Seven Bandits of East Water, but his timing was unfortunate. Two of these seven bandits had simultaneously advanced to the life-death boundary, just one realm below a pilgrim.

Even more unfortunately, both of these life-death boundary cultivators were pursuing Zhou Zixi alone. Chen Zhou burst into the tower where the battle was taking place, trying to block these two’s killing moves. One sliding door after another was broken through, and the killing moves of the Seven Bandits of East Water ultimately reached Zhou Zixi faster than Chen Zhou could, killing him in the deepest part of the tower.

Chen Zhou stopped at the shattered door, looking at the bloody figure on the ground, almost using the Seven Star Command to summon Ming Li. As rage welled up in him, when he turned back to block another killing move, from the corner of his eye, he saw Zhou Zixi’s shattered body reforming. Only then did he halt his action of using the Seven Star Command.

In that moment, both Chen Zhou and Zhou Zixi were greatly shocked—one surprised that his junior brother was an earth ghost, the other surprised by his senior brother’s arrival and the unfortunate timing of his identity being exposed.

But Chen Zhou thought more deeply.

After his initial shock, his first reaction was to stop the Seven Bandits of East Water, preventing them from spreading the news that Zhou Zixi was an earth ghost. They had to seal their mouths before Song Tianjiu arrived.

So the two said nothing, yet worked together against their enemies with perfect tacit understanding in that moment.

Zhou Zixi had been confident in his ability to handle these two opponents, deliberately keeping Qing Ying and Dong Yenu away to prevent accidents. He hadn’t expected his opponents to advance to the life-death boundary at this time. Even so, he could still win with an earth ghost’s reckless fighting style—he had to win.

But he never anticipated that Chen Zhou would appear at this moment.

Zhou Zixi experienced a long-forgotten sense of panic. After defeating the Seven Bandits of East Water with his reckless fighting style, he collapsed on the ground but remained tense, not daring to relax in the slightest, even finding it difficult to face his senior brother walking toward him.

In the short distance of a few steps, many thoughts ran through his mind. Zhou Zixi saw the Seven Star Command in Chen Zhou’s hand, and cold sweat slid down his forehead. Supporting himself with both hands, he half-sat up, his throat moving as he lowered his head, not daring to look at Chen Zhou.

The wavering door finally fell to the ground. The fighting had caused candles to fall, igniting a corner of the tower. Flames climbed up the walls, and the crackling sounds of burning exploded throughout the tower.

The blood-covered earth ghost said hoarsely, “Senior Brother…”

Chen Zhou stared at him for a moment and said, “This reckless fighting style of yours, doesn’t it hurt?”

Zhou Zixi’s fingers pressed against the ground trembled as he slowly raised his head to look at him.

Chen Zhou had seen this junior brother cold and proud, wild and untamable. He had also seen him docile and obedient, understanding and considerate. But this was the first time he had seen him so humble and pleading.

He knew what Zhou Zixi wanted to say and felt unable to bear it. So Chen Zhou reached out to his junior brother and said, “I won’t tell her, as long as you act like a human.”

People rarely heard news of earth ghosts being slaughtered in the north, believing that earth ghosts were rarely seen there. But the truth was that the north was more tolerant of earth ghosts than other regions, even turning a blind eye to their existence.

The earth ghosts Ming Li slaughtered were all those who had exposed their identities, becoming beings without emotions or thoughts, knowing only how to kill, despised and feared by the world.

From Dong Yeshou to Ming Li, after her breakthrough, their gentle attitude toward earth ghosts indirectly influenced Chen Zhou and the others’ attitudes toward earth ghosts.

After bringing Zhou Zixi back to Beidou, Chen Zhou would occasionally wonder: Did Ming Li not know? She was a pilgrim, one of those with the deepest understanding of earth ghosts on this continent. His junior brother was often by her side—had she truly never noticed?

Chen Zhou was someone who would tell his master everything, big or small.

When Fu Yuan, Black Fox Mask, and the others privately discussed gossip about the academy head or fellow disciples, they would cover Chen Zhou’s ears. Everyone knew Chen Zhou couldn’t keep secrets. He wouldn’t broadcast them widely, but he would share them with the Yaoguang Academy head.

The only secret Chen Zhou had never shared with his master concerned his junior brother.

Regarding Zhou Zixi being an earth ghost, Chen Zhou had thought a lot about it. Afterward, he paid more attention to his junior brother, fearing that someone would discover his identity. When his junior brother went out for training, he repeatedly urged him to prioritize his safety. Sometimes, even Qing Ying would ask in confusion, “Senior Brother, do you look down on Zixi? Why do you act as if he’s going to die every time he goes down the mountain?”

Occasionally, Zhou Zixi would be both amused and helpless at his nagging, but wouldn’t dare stop Chen Zhou, obediently listening to his complete lecture.

Chen Zhou thought that Ming Li was growing increasingly fond of Zixi, and she would discover it someday. Perhaps it would be best if Zixi confessed to her directly.

He had even calculated all the possibilities and responses: what to do if Zhou Zixi’s earth ghost identity was accidentally exposed, what to do if Ming Li didn’t accept him, how his junior brother should confess to Ming Li, and so on.

But in the end, he didn’t have time to do anything.

*

Chen Zhou didn’t know the situation outside the Skypit. He didn’t even fully believe what Wang Geng and others said about Ming Li’s death and Beidou’s miserable state. These were facts he found impossible and unwilling to accept.

He preferred to believe these were all lies from Wang Geng meant to torture him.

But Zhou Yi’s earlier mutterings confirmed what Wang Geng had said, making Chen Zhou’s heart sink to the bottom.

If Ming Li hadn’t died, it would have been impossible for Gu Qi to impersonate him at Beidou for years.

And he should have known—if Ming Li hadn’t died, he wouldn’t have been trapped in the skypit for five long years.

Just as Chen Zhou was accepting the news of his junior sister Ming Li’s death, a new turn of events arrived.

Cheng Jingbai said, “I can probably guess how the people here tortured you. You must have been tricked by people pretending to be from Beidou, afraid this is another scheme set up by the Skypit’s Star Lord.”

Chen Zhou released his hand from the black mud and asked hoarsely, “Which side of the earth are ghosts from?”

Cheng Jingbai was stunned, very surprised that Chen Zhou would ask such a question.

Lin Xiao answered frankly, “Ice Wastes.”

Chen Zhou was silent at first, then lowered his eyes and smiled. Cheng Jingbai thought of a possibility and rubbed his nose, saying, “You couldn’t possibly know that Zixi is…”

Before he could finish, he already had his answer from Chen Zhou’s look.

“He told you,” Cheng Jingbai couldn’t believe it.

“Just an accident,” Chen Zhou’s gaze swept over the three of them. “How is he doing outside?”

Lin Xiao said, “We don’t know where he’s being held, so we came west to find the Star-Shattering Talisman, trying to rescue him.”

Chen Zhou frowned upon hearing this. Not all the news was good.

“But what we can confirm is that he’s not dead yet. We’ll always find a way,” Cheng Jingbai and the other two sat down next to Chen Zhou, digging black mud together while telling him about what had happened in Nan Que.

From encountering Ming Li in Nan Que Mountain to Beidou’s people wreaking havoc in Nan Que, reclaiming Shi Fei, rescuing Qing Ying, and imprisoning Nan Que’s pilgrim Cui Yaocen in a formation.

Chen Zhou appeared calm, but Cheng Jingbai felt he was listening very attentively. Lin Xiao occasionally added a few details, while only Li Bushuo focused on digging for firestone jade in the black mud.

“That impostor was rescued by someone using a Yang meridian spirit technique to virtualize matter. He almost slit the throat of one of your fellow disciples, but when I arrived, your Tianji Academy head had already helped with the treatment. He was hanging on by a thread but wouldn’t die,” Cheng Jingbai said. “When we parted in Nan Que, I vaguely heard Ming Li mention that she would first go to the Kingdom of Wufang to find Xiang An’ge to save her junior sister.”

Chen Zhou thought that Xiang An’ge, with his supreme artifact skill and good relationship with Ming Li, was indeed currently the only person who could save Qing Ying.

“But Beidou already knows someone was impersonating you. Next, they will surely hunt down that fake with all their might to get information about you and come looking. We just didn’t expect to find you first,” Cheng Jingbai spread his hands and shook his head. “If we could use star power, I could contact Zixi to tell him, and he could tell Ming Li. But we didn’t expect this place to lock out star power so completely, making it impossible to sense or use.”

Lin Xiao played with the fire stone jade in his hand and asked Chen Zhou, “During these five years here, have you had any ideas?”

Chen Zhou didn’t answer but instead asked, “Since you came to steal the Star-Shattering Talisman, why did you come to the skypit?”

“The trick of infiltrating Nan Que couldn’t be used on Tai Yi, especially since the recruitment season for the sect’s martial academy is over. We knew that Western Earth’s ghosts were bred as slaves. Among the many merchant guilds in the west, only those controlled by Ye Yuanqing could secretly use earth ghosts as slaves.”

Cheng Jingbai patiently explained, “From Zixi, we learned that the Star-Shattering Talisman isn’t at Tai Yi but is with Ye Yuanqing. Where he is, the talisman is there. Ye Yuanqing would rarely set aside the Star-Shattering Talisman.”

This made Chen Zhou frown again. For Zixi to know these things, he must either be very familiar with Ye Yuanqing or have seen it with his own eyes.

Whatever the reason, it indicated that his predicament was related to the pilgrims.

“Infiltrating the Earth ghost slave camp is also a way to get close to Ye Yuanqing, because in this world, only pilgrims dare to face Earth ghosts. We just didn’t expect the living conditions of Western Earth ghosts to be even worse than we imagined,” Lin Xiao said. “We also miscalculated the star power aspect.”

Chen Zhou asked, “Can earth ghosts kill earth ghosts?”

Lin Xiao smiled and said, “Yes, if you use the right method.”

Chen Zhou laughed softly: “I see.”

He had also misunderstood the meaning of these words, believing that earth ghosts could kill earth ghosts, that “killing” would result in death. So he had told the earth ghost slaves who couldn’t bear the humiliation and sought death, but they would revive no matter what. In the end, they were thrown into the cremation pit by Wang Geng, suffering day and night in a state worse than death.

Lin Xiao said, “But these earth ghosts don’t know. They aren’t educated, their understanding of this world is insufficient, and their self-awareness is also inadequate, so they cannot achieve death even if they seek it.”

Or rather, western earth ghosts had no opportunity—no opportunity to choose whether to live as humans or as ghosts. They could only be slaves.

“I could also tell you how to kill earth ghosts, but you wouldn’t be able to do it,” Cheng Jingbai smiled with narrowed eyes. “The fatal weakness can only be seen by pilgrims and earth ghosts, not by others.”

Chen Zhou glanced at him. “Then there’s no need to tell me.”

Cheng Jingbai asked in surprise, “You don’t want to know?”

Chen Zhou: “It’s that you never intended to tell me.”

Cheng Jingbai scratched his head. “Alright, no more jokes. We’ve clarified our purpose for coming. Do you have any plans after these years?”

“Yes,” Chen Zhou dug out a fire stone jade from the black mud, squinting slightly. “To kill Ye Yuanqing when he comes here.”

“That’s excellent,” Cheng Jingbai gently applauded. “Our objectives align. You kill Ye Yuanqing, and we take the Star-Shattering Talisman.”

Lin Xiao glanced at him, his gaze conveying the words “shameless.”

Cheng Jingbai pretended not to see and continued to discuss, “How to lure him here is a problem. This skypit isolates star power. Someone as clever as Ye Yuanqing certainly wouldn’t easily enter.”

“I previously overheard Xu Liangzhi and Wang Geng talking about how the skypit formed after a meteorite fell from the sky after the Ancient Continent took shape, making it nearly as old as the continent itself. One day, the star fire in the sky pit extinguished, and someone ventured in to explore, discovering the existence of fire stone jade.”

Chen Zhou opened his palm, revealing three to five small but beautiful golden-red firestone jades.

“It’s considered the first type of special jade on the Ancient Continent that can store star power, so it has many uses—crafting ornaments, cultivating weapons, medicinal materials, elixirs, even eight-meridian formations. Given enough quantity, creating a superior divine weapon isn’t impossible.”

In short, it was versatile.

Cheng Jingbai stroked his chin, examining it: “No wonder Tai Yi could secure its position as the continent’s leading merchant guild.”

Lin Xiao focused on the key point and asked, “Since it can store star power itself, could we find a breakthrough from the fire stone jade to reestablish a connection with star power in the skypit?”

“Reestablishing awareness isn’t very feasible,” Chen Zhou shook his head slightly. “First, we need to determine the reason why star vein power can’t be used in the skypit—is the skypit devouring star power, or is it isolating the star power between heaven and earth?”

If it were the latter, it could render the star power stored in the fire stone jade ineffective. Before being sent out for processing, it would just be a beautiful but useless jade.

While Cheng Jingbai and Li Bushuo were still considering the difference between these two possibilities, Lin Xiao had already understood Chen Zhou’s meaning and raised an eyebrow: “What if it’s the first type?”

Chen Zhou looked down at the fire stone jade in his palm and smiled coldly: “If it’s devouring star power… then eat it.”

Cheng Jingbai heard this and covered his mouth with both hands, while Li Bushuo’s face twisted slightly.

But Lin Xiao understood, nodding and saying, “If the skypit is devouring star power, then fire stone jade is a product that exists independently from the star power it devours. And it’s not just the skypit that devours star power—our star meridians themselves advance by absorbing and transforming star power.”

Hearing this, Cheng Jingbai also understood and exclaimed in realization, “So… eating fire stone jade and absorbing its stored star power is a gamble with the skypit—whether the skypit devours star power faster or our star meridians absorb star power faster.”

Lin Xiao nodded and asked Chen Zhou, “Do you already have an answer?”

Chen Zhou opened his fingers and then closed them, saying softly, “I’ve been eating them for more than four years. Only recently have I begun to feel star power, intermittently, coming and going, yet proving my guess wasn’t wrong.”

The fire stone jade he had eaten hadn’t killed him nor caused any abnormal reactions. Instead, it had been silently absorbed and digested by his star meridians.

Once the star power stabilized a bit more, even if he could only use some low-level spirit techniques, it would give him a good chance of leaving this place.

“We don’t have time to eat for four years here,” Cheng Jingbai shook his head and sighed. “So our first idea was to kill earth ghosts to create panic and make Wang Geng summon Ye Yuanqing.”

“Wang Geng fears death. With only seven or eight earth ghosts dead, he won’t immediately call Ye Yuanqing,” Chen Zhou said. “Although he always says that even if a pilgrim came to the skypit, it would be useless, he is very afraid of Ye Yuanqing. Unless necessary, he wouldn’t let Ye Yuanqing come.”

Because letting Ye Yuanqing come to the skypit would likely result in his death, making Ye Yuanqing think he was an incompetent waste. If someone else were to be appointed to oversee the skypit, Wang Geng would certainly die.

Cheng Jingbai turned to look at Lin Xiao, hearing him say, “If we can’t get out within seven days, Zhou Xiang will come looking. The location of the skypit will likely be exposed if she isn’t discovered by Ye Yuanqing.”

“Can’t you say something positive?” Cheng Jingbai was exasperated. “She’s not a fool.”

But Lin Xiao shook his head and said, “It’s a bit precarious without you watching. This is the first time she’s acting alone.”

Due to the state of her heart meridian, Zhou Xiang had too many unstable variables.

What Lin Xiao worried about most was the vast disparity in strength between Zhou Xiang and Ye Yuanqing. If she were unfortunate enough to encounter Ye Yuanqing, she would certainly die.

Cheng Jingbai added, “Her heart meridian is in a much better state than before. Don’t worry needlessly.”

Chen Zhou had already formed a profound and unique impression of these three earth ghosts.

Cheng Jingbai was a bird of good news, Lin Xiao was a bird of ill omen, and Li Bushuo was mute.

Chen Zhou believed that his junior brother Zixi might be a forest guardian from the Ice Wastes.

“Although the skypit devours star power, it is the best place for us to fight Ye Yuanqing,” Cheng Jingbai pointed at Li Bushuo and said, “We can kill earth ghosts to create chaos. Chen Zhou can wait for star power to stabilize and use spirit techniques to control Wang Geng and the others. You draw us a battle plan, simple and intuitive.”

Li Bushuo used the fire stone jade to write and draw on a relatively intact section of the black wall.

Chen Zhou said, “Xu Liangzhi is different from Wang Geng. He’s a cultivator who has studied star vein power and is the vice president of the First Red Line Merchant Guild outside. He’s not often in the skypit, but the goods going in and out of the skypit are all checked by him at the entrance. Trying to control Wang Geng to remove the road checkpoints and leave isn’t very realistic; we’ll ultimately be stopped by Xu Liangzhi.”

Lin Xiao said, “Then we won’t go out. We’ll either have people from outside come in or choose a time when Xu Liangzhi is in the skypit to act.”

Chen Zhou added, “Compared to Wang Geng, Xu Liangzhi is more capable of persuading Ye Yuanqing to come.”

As the three of them, excluding Li Bushuo, discussed how to get Ye Yuanqing to come to the skypit, they noticed that Li Bushuo had stopped writing and was pointing at the little figures on the black wall, saying, “It’s done.”

Cheng Jingbai wiped his face and asked, “What did you draw?”

Li Bushuo pointed at the drawn figures and said, “This one is you.”

“This one is him.”

“This one is Ye Yuanqing.”

“…”

The three people looked at Li Bushuo’s battle diagram and fell into a long silence.

*Author’s Note:*

Let me chat a bit in the author’s notes.

This book switches perspectives because many events happen simultaneously. Although it seems like many chapters have passed, not much time has elapsed in the story. Each person experiences different plots on the same timeline, with many events occurring that need to be written out to connect to later storylines.

When I read, I also desperately want to immediately reach the climactic plot points I want to see, but it’s different when writing myself.

My mind has already reached the grand finale, but my hands are still rushing to catch up.

In my previous works, I wrote too hastily, hurriedly reaching the ending, and afterward felt that I hadn’t been able to write out or clarify many things.

This time, I want to calm down and write everything I want to express.

For impatient friends, I suggest letting the chapters accumulate before reading. Following a series is indeed quite difficult, as sometimes the plot gets stuck in awkward places.

I’m enjoying writing this book, so I’m not worried about it being a standalone.

–

Some people in the comments section are arguing about the plot and characters, which is unnecessary. Let’s discuss harmoniously without getting angry.

I’m okay with both good and bad comments.

–

Regarding the CP (character pairing) aspect, apart from Ming Li and her junior brother, the relationships in Beidou are those of family, friendship, fellow disciples, and life-and-death companions.

Senior Brother and Wen Su are more like a male idol and a fangirl. Wen Su wants to become someone like Senior Brother and thinks such a good person has suffered too much hardship. Given their circumstances, they will become life-and-death companions rather than lovers.

However, you can ship whatever you like, as long as you don’t argue about it.

–

Finally, as I always say, the most important thing is that you enjoy reading it yourself.